Search results for: industrial building

Authors: Neel Ahuja

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as ”forever chemicals”, are one of the most common and dangerous water pollutants, having carcinogenic effects and causing 382,000 global deaths annually. Current methods to purify PFAS-contaminated water can cost millions of dollars and require existing infrastructure, making them difficult to implement in low-income and rural areas without industrial treatment plants. Hydroponics plants colonized by beneficial mycorrhizal fungi present an affordable and sustainable solution to purifying PFAS-contaminated water. In this study, mycorrhizal-inoculated basil and lettuce plants were cultivated in hydroponics systems under controlled conditions. Root samples were stained and analyzed under a light microscope to confirm mycorrhizal presence. PFAS was added to the systems and an LC/QQQ-MS instrument was used to measure the reduction in PFAS concentrations over 72 hours. Results showed that mycorrhizal plants removed 71.1% of PFAS in a water system compared to 59.9% by non-mycorrhizal plants, and a t-test (p-value=0.00367) was used to prove statistical significance. Relative health of plants was measured through root length, with results revealing that mycorrhizal plant roots were 2.8 inches longer on average than non-mycorrhizal roots. Further analysis revealed a direct relationship between plant root length and PFAS purification, indicating the suitability of species with naturally longer roots for real-world phytoremediation applications, such as at stormwater detention ponds. This study provided a proof-of-concept of the effectiveness of mycorrhizal hydroponics plants in reducing PFAS contamination in water systems, presenting applications as an inexpensive and large-scale purification system.

Keywords: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, hydroponics, mycorrhizal fungi, water contamination, stormwater detention ponds

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Authors: S. Bellagamba, S. Malinconico, P. De Simone, F. Paglietti

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Until the 1990s, Italy was among the world’s leading producers of raw asbestos fibres and Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) and one of the most contaminated Countries in Europe. To reduce asbestos-related health effects, Italy has adopted many laws and regulations regarding exposure thresholds, limits, and remediation tools. The Italian Environmental Ministry (MASE) has identified 42 Italian Superfund sites, 11 of which are mainly contaminated by Asbestos. The highest levels of exposure occur during remediation activities in the 42 superfund-sites and during the management of asbestos containing waste in landfills, which requires specific procedures. INAIL-DIT play a role as MASE scientific consultant on issues concerning pollution, remediation, and Asbestos Containing Waste (ACW) management. The aim is to identify the best Emergency Safety Measures, to suggest specific best pratics for remediation through occupational on site monitorings and laboratory analysis. Moreover, the aim of INAIL research is testing the available technologies for working activities and analytical methodologies. This paper describes the remediation of Bagnoli industrial facility (Naples), an Eternit factory which produced asbestos cement products. The remediation has been analyzed, considering a first phase focused on the demolition of structures and plants and a second phase regarding the characterization, screening, removal, and disposal of polluted soils. The project planned the complete removal of all the asbestos dispersed in the soil and subsoil and the recovery of the clean fraction. This work highlights the remediation techniques used and the prevention measures provide for workers and daily life areas protection. This study, considering the high number of asbestos cement factories in the world, can to serve as an important reference for similar situation at European or international scale.

Keywords: safety, asbestos, workers, contaminated sites, hazardous waste

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Authors: Ayesha Sanjana Kawser Parsha

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S-acylation is an irreversible bond in which cysteine residues are linked to fatty acids palmitate (74%) or stearate (22%), either at the COOH or NH2 terminal, via a thioester linkage. There are several experimental methods that can be used to identify the S-palmitoylation site; however, since they require a lot of time, computational methods are becoming increasingly necessary. There aren't many predictors, however, that can locate S- palmitoylation sites in Arabidopsis Thaliana with sufficient accuracy. This research is based on the importance of building a better prediction tool. To identify the type of machine learning algorithm that predicts this site more accurately for the experimental dataset, several prediction tools were examined in this research, including the GPS PALM 6.0, pCysMod, GPS LIPID 1.0, CSS PALM 4.0, and NBA PALM. These analyses were conducted by constructing the receiver operating characteristics plot and the area under the curve score. An AI-driven deep learning-based prediction tool has been developed utilizing the analysis and three sequence-based input data, such as the amino acid composition, binary encoding profile, and autocorrelation features. The model was developed using five layers, two activation functions, associated parameters, and hyperparameters. The model was built using various combinations of features, and after training and validation, it performed better when all the features were present while using the experimental dataset for 8 and 10-fold cross-validations. While testing the model with unseen and new data, such as the GPS PALM 6.0 plant and pCysMod mouse, the model performed better, and the area under the curve score was near 1. It can be demonstrated that this model outperforms the prior tools in predicting the S- palmitoylation site in the experimental data set by comparing the area under curve score of 10-fold cross-validation of the new model with the established tools' area under curve score with their respective training sets. The objective of this study is to develop a prediction tool for Arabidopsis Thaliana that is more accurate than current tools, as measured by the area under the curve score. Plant food production and immunological treatment targets can both be managed by utilizing this method to forecast S- palmitoylation sites.

Keywords: S- palmitoylation, ROC PLOT, area under the curve, cross- validation score

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Authors: Mohd Afif Md Nasir, Mohd Faizal Amin Nur, Jamaluddin Hasim, Abd Samad Hasan Basari, Mohd Halim Sahelan

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This study is aimed to investigate the suitability of Computer-Based Training (CBT) as one of the approaches in skills competency development at the Centre of Instructor and Advanced Skills Training (CIAST) Shah Alam Selangor and National Youth Skills Institute (NYSI) Pagoh Muar Johor. This study has also examined the perception among trainees toward Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as to realize the development of skills in Welding Technology. The significance of the study is to create a computer-based skills development approach in welding technology among new trainees in CIAST and IKBN as well as to cultivate the element of general skills among them. This study is also important in elevating the number of individual knowledge workers (K-Workers) working in manufacturing industry in order to achieve the national vision which is to be an industrial nation in the year 2020. The design is a survey of research which using questionnaires as the instruments and is conducted towards 136 trainees from CIAST and IKBN. Data from the questionnaires is proceeding in a Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) in order to find the frequency, mean and chi-square testing. The findings of the study show the welding technology skills have developed in the trainees as a result of the application of the Virtual Reality simulator at a high level (mean=3.90) and the respondents agreed the skills could be embedded through the application of the Virtual Reality simulator (78.01%). The Study also found that there is a significant difference between trainee skill characteristics through the application of the Virtual Reality simulator (p<0.05). Thereby, the Virtual Reality simulator is suitable to be used in the development of welding skills among trainees through the skills training institute.

Keywords: computer-based training, virtual learning environment, welding technology, virtual reality simulator, virtual learning environment

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Authors: Abdulmalik Altuwayjiri, Milad Pirhadi, Sina Taghvaee, Constantinos Sioutas

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A significant portion of PM₂.₅ mass concentration is carbonaceous matter (CM), which majorly exists in the form of organic carbon (OC). Ambient OC originates from a multitude of sources and plays an important role in global climate effects, visibility degradation, and human health. In this study, positive matrix factorization (PMF) was utilized to identify and quantify the long-term contribution of PM₂.₅ sources to total OC mass concentration in central Los Angeles (CELA) and Riverside (i.e., receptor site), using the chemical speciation network (CSN) database between 2005 and 2015, a period during which several state and local regulations on tailpipe emissions were implemented in the area. Our PMF resolved five different factors, including tailpipe emissions, non-tailpipe emissions, biomass burning, secondary organic aerosol (SOA), and local industrial activities for both sampling sites. The contribution of vehicular exhaust emissions to the OC mass concentrations significantly decreased from 3.5 µg/m³ in 2005 to 1.5 µg/m³ in 2015 (by about 58%) at CELA, and from 3.3 µg/m³ in 2005 to 1.2 µg/m³ in 2015 (by nearly 62%) at Riverside. Additionally, SOA contribution to the total OC mass, showing higher levels at the receptor site, increased from 23% in 2005 to 33% and 29% in 2010 and 2015, respectively, in Riverside, whereas the corresponding contribution at the CELA site was 16%, 21% and 19% during the same period. The biomass burning maintained an almost constant relative contribution over the whole period. Moreover, while the adopted regulations and policies were very effective at reducing the contribution of tailpipe emissions, they have led to an overall increase in the fractional contributions of non-tailpipe emissions to total OC in CELA (about 14%, 28%, and 28% in 2005, 2010 and 2015, respectively) and Riverside (22%, 27% and 26% in 2005, 2010 and 2015), underscoring the necessity to develop equally effective mitigation policies targeting non-tailpipe PM emissions.

Keywords: PM₂.₅, organic carbon, Los Angeles megacity, PMF, source apportionment, non-tailpipe emissions

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Authors: Gabrielle Peck, Ryan Hayes

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Four façade systems were tested using a reduced height BS 8414-2 (5 m) test rig. An L-shaped masonry test wall was clad with three types of insulation and an aluminum composite panel with a non-combustible filling (meeting Euroclass A2). A large (3 MW) wooden crib was ignited in a recess at the base of the L, and the fire was allowed to burn for 30 minutes. Air velocity measurements and gas samples were taken from the main ventilation duct and also a small additional ventilation duct, like those in an apartment bathroom or kitchen. This provided a direct route of travel for smoke from the building façade to a theoretical room using a similar design to many high-rise buildings where the vent is connected to (approximately) 30 m³ rooms. The times to incapacitation and lethality of the effluent were calculated for both the main exhaust vent and for a vent connected to a theoretical 30 m³ room. The rainscreen façade systems tested were the common combinations seen in many tower blocks across the UK. Three tests using ACM A2 with Stonewool, Phenolic foam, and Polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam. A fourth test was conducted with PIR and ACM-PE (polyethylene core). Measurements in the main exhaust duct were representative of the effluent from the burning wood crib. FEDs showed incapacitation could occur up to 30 times quicker with combustible insulation than non-combustible insulation, with lethal gas concentrations accumulating up to 2.7 times faster than other combinations. The PE-cored ACM/PIR combination produced a ferocious fire, resulting in the termination of the test after 13.5 minutes for safety reasons. Occupants of the theoretical room in the PIR/ACM A2 test reached a FED of 1 after 22 minutes; for PF/ACM A2, this took 25 minutes, and for stone wool, a lethal dose measurement of 0.6 was reached at the end of the 30-minute test. In conclusion, when measuring smoke toxicity in the exhaust duct, there is little difference between smoke toxicity measurements between façade systems. Toxicity measured in the main exhaust is largely a result of the wood crib used to ignite the façade system. The addition of a vent allowed smoke toxicity to be quantified in the cavity of the façade, providing a realistic way of measuring the toxicity of smoke that could enter an apartment from a façade fire.

Keywords: smoke toxicity, large-scale testing, BS8414, FED

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Authors: Mohamed Gherbi

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The informal trade has invaded the Algerian cities, especially in their peripherals. About 1368 informal markets have been registrated during 2013 where the important ones are known by Doubaï Markets. They appeared since the adoption of the new system of the economy market in 1990. It permitted the intervention of new actors: the importers but also the fake ones. The majority of them were 'ex-Trabendistes' who have chosen to settle and invest in big and small cities of center and east of Algeria, mainly Algiers, El Eulma, Aïn El Fekroun, Tadjnenent, and Aïn M’lila. This study will focus on the case of the city of El Eulma which contains more of 1000 importers (most of them are fake). They have changed the image and architecture of some important streets of the city, without respecting rules of urbanism such as those included in the building permit for instance. The case of 'Doubaï' place in El Eulma illustrates this situation. This area is not covered by a Soil Occupation Plan (responsible of the design of urban spaces), even if this last covers other zones nearby surrounding of it. These importers helped by the wholesale and retail traders installed in 'Doubaï' place, have converted spaces inside and outside of residential buildings in deposits and sales of goods. They have squatted sidewalks to expose their goods imported predominantly from the South-East Asian countries. The scenery that reigns resembles partly to the bazaar of the Middle East and Chinese cities like Yiwu. These signs characterize the local ambiance and give the particularity to this part of the city. A customer tide from different cities and outside of Algeria comes daily to visit this district. The other zones surrounding have underwent the same change and have followed the model of 'Doubaï' place. Consequently, the mechanical movement has finished by stifling an important part of the city and the prices of land and real estate have reached exorbitant values and can be compared to prices charged in Paris due to the rampant speculation that has reached alarming dimensions. Similarly, renting commercial premises did not escape this logic. This paper will explain the reasons responsible of this change, the logic of importers through their acts in different spaces of the city.

Keywords: Doubaï place, design of urban spaces, fake importers, informal trade

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Authors: Adam Y. Sulaiman, Donal F. Cotter, Ming J. Huang, Neil J. Hewitt

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Suitable low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants that conform to F-gas regulations are required to extend the operational envelope of high-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) used for industrial waste heat recovery processes. The thermophysical properties and characteristics of these working fluids need to be assessed to provide a comprehensive understanding of operational effectiveness in HTHP applications. This paper presents the results of a theoretical simulation to investigate a range of low-GWP refrigerants and their suitability to supersede refrigerants HFC-245fa and HFC-365mfc. A steady-state thermodynamic model of a single-stage HTHP with an internal heat exchanger (IHX) was developed to assess system cycle characteristics at temperature ranges between 50 to 80 °C heat source and 90 to 150 °C heat sink. A practical approach to maximize the operational efficiency was examined to determine the effects of regulating minimum superheat within the process and subsequent influence on energetic and exergetic efficiencies. A comprehensive map of minimum superheat across the HTHP operating variables were used to assess specific tipping points in performance at 30 and 70 K temperature lifts. Based on initial results, the refrigerants HCFO-1233zd(E) and HFO-1336mzz(Z) were found to be closely aligned matches for refrigerants HFC-245fa and HFC-365mfc. The overall results show effective performance for HCFO-1233zd(E) occurs between 5-7 K minimum superheat, and HFO-1336mzz(Z) between 18-21 K dependant on temperature lift. This work provides a method to optimize refrigerant selection based on operational indicators to maximize overall HTHPs system performance.

Keywords: high-temperature heat pump, minimum superheat, energy & exergy efficiency, low GWP refrigerants

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Authors: F. Bellali, M. Kharroubi, Y. Rady, N. Bourhim

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In Morocco, fish processing industry is an important source income for a large amount of by-products including skins, bones, heads, guts, and scales. Those underutilized resources particularly scales contain a large amount of proteins and calcium. Sardina plichardus scales from resulting from the transformation operation have the potential to be used as raw material for the collagen production. Taking into account this strong expectation of the regional fish industry, scales sardine upgrading is well justified. In addition, political and societal demands for sustainability and environment-friendly industrial production systems, coupled with the depletion of fish resources, drive this trend forward. Therefore, fish scale used as a potential source to isolate collagen has a wide large of applications in food, cosmetic, and biomedical industry. The main aim of this study is to isolate and characterize the acid solubilize collagen from sardine fish scale, Sardina pilchardus. Experimental design methodology was adopted in collagen processing for extracting optimization. The first stage of this work is to investigate the optimization conditions of the sardine scale deproteinization on using response surface methodology (RSM). The second part focus on the demineralization with HCl solution or EDTA. And the last one is to establish the optimum condition for the isolation of collagen from fish scale by solvent extraction. The advancement from lab scale to pilot scale is a critical stage in the technological development. In this study, the optimal condition for the deproteinization which was validated at laboratory scale was employed in the pilot scale procedure. The deproteinization of fish scale was then demonstrated on a pilot scale (2Kg scales, 20l NaOH), resulting in protein content (0,2mg/ml) and hydroxyproline content (2,11mg/l). These results indicated that the pilot-scale showed similar performances to those of lab-scale one.

Keywords: deproteinization, pilot scale, scale, sardine pilchardus

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Authors: Gizachew Belay Adugna

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Scalable and cost-effective device fabrication techniques are urgent to commercialize the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for the next photovoltaic (PV) technology. Herein, large-area films of perovskite and hole-transporting materials (HTMs) were developed via a rapid and scalable thermal-assisting bar-coating process in the open air. High-quality and large crystalline grains of MAPbI₃ with homogenous morphology and thickness were obtained on a large-area (10 cm×10 cm) solution-sheared mp-TiO₂/c-TiO₂/FTO substrate. Encouraging photovoltaic performance of 19.02% was achieved for devices fabricated from the bar-coated perovskite film compared to that from the small-scale spin-coated film (17.27%) with 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as an HTM whereas a higher power conversion efficiency of 19.89% with improved device stability was achieved by capping a fluorinated (HYC-2) HTM as an alternative to the traditional spiro-OMeTAD. The fluorinated exhibited better molecular packing in the HTM film and deeper HOMO level compared to the nonfluorinated counterpart; thus, improved hole mobility and overall charge extraction in the device were demonstrated. Furthermore, excellent film processability and an impressive PCE of 18.52% were achieved in the large area bar-coated HYC-2 prepared sequentially on the perovskite underlayer in the open atmosphere, compared to the bar-coated spiro-OMeTAD/perovskite (17.51%). This all-solution approach demonstrated the feasibility of high-quality films on a large-area substrate for PSCs, which is a vital step toward industrial-scale PV production.

Keywords: perovskite solar cells, hole transporting materials, up-scaling process, power conversion efficiency

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Authors: Xiaoshuang Jia, Huiling Feng, Li Niu, Wei Hai

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Led by Humanistic Beijing Studies Center in Renmin University of China, My Peking Memory Project(MPMP) is a long-time digital memory project under guarantee of public participation to enable the cultural and intellectual memory of Beijing to be collected, organized, preserved and promoted for discovery and research. Taking digital memory as a new way, MPMP is an important part of Peking Memory Project(PMP) which is aimed at using digital technologies to protect and (re)present the cultural heritage in Beijing. The key outcome of MPMP is the co-building of a total digital collection of knowledge assets about Beijing. Institutional memories are central to Beijing’s collection and consist of the official published documentary content of Beijing. These have already fall under the archival collection purview. The advances in information and communication technology and the knowledge form social memory theory have allowed us to collect more comprehensively beyond institutional collections. It is now possible to engage citizens on a large scale to collect private memories through crowdsourcing in digital formats. Private memories go beyond official published content to include personal narratives, some of which are just in people’s minds until they are captured by MPMP. One aim of MPMP is to engage individuals, communities, groups or institutions who have formed memories and content about Beijing, and would like to contribute them. The project hopes to build a culture of remembering and it believes ‘Every Memory Matters’. Digital memory contribution was achieved through the development of the MPMP. In reducing barriers to digital contribution and promoting high public Participation, MPMP has taken explored the harvesting of transcribe service for digital ingestion, mobile platform and some off-line activities like holding social forum. MPMP has also cooperated with the ‘Implementation Plan of Support Plan for Growth of Talents in Renmin University of China’ to get manpower and intellectual support. After six months of operation, now MPMP have more than 2000 memories added and 7 Special Memory Collections now online. The work of MPMP has ultimately helped to highlight the important role in safeguarding the documentary heritage and intellectual memory of Beijing.

Keywords: digital memory, public participation, MPMP, cultural heritage, collection

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Wadood, Fatemeh Babaeian

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By developing ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, there is a high demand for UWB filters with low insertion loss, wide bandwidth, and having a planar structure which is compatible with other components of the UWB system. A microstrip interdigital filter is a great option for designing UWB filters. However, the presence of via holes in this structure creates difficulties in the fabrication procedure of the filter. Especially in the higher frequency band, any misalignment of the drilled via hole with the Microstrip stubs causes large errors in the measurement results compared to the desired results. Moreover, in this case (high-frequency designs), the line width of the stubs are very narrow, so highly precise small via holes are required to be implemented, which increases the cost of fabrication significantly. Also, in this case, there is a risk of having fabrication errors. To combat this issue, in this paper, a via-less UWB microstrip filter is proposed which is designed based on a modification of a conventional inter-digital bandpass filter. The novel approaches in this filter design are 1) replacement of each via hole with a quarter-wavelength open circuit stub to avoid the complexity of manufacturing, 2) using a bend structure to reduce the unwanted coupling effects and 3) minimising the size. Using the proposed structure, a UWB filter operating in the frequency band of 3.9-6.6 GHz (1-dB bandwidth) is designed and fabricated. The promising results of the simulation and measurement are presented in this paper. The selected substrate for these designs was Rogers RO4003 with a thickness of 20 mils. This is a common substrate in most of the industrial projects. The compact size of the proposed filter is highly beneficial for applications which require a very miniature size of hardware.

Keywords: band-pass filters, inter-digital filter, microstrip, via-less

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Authors: O. Onoriode Emoyan, E. Eyitemi Akporhonor, Charles Otobrise

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed mainly as a result of incomplete combustion of organic materials during industrial, domestic activities or natural occurrence. Their toxicity and contamination of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem have been established. Though with limited validity index, previous research has focused on PAHs isomer pair ratios of variable physicochemical properties in source identification. The objective of this investigation was to determine the empirical validity of Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) and cluster analysis (CA) in PAHs source identification along soil samples of different land uses. Therefore, 16 PAHs grouped as endocrine disruption substances (EDSs) were determined in 10 sample stations in top and sub soils seasonally. PAHs was determined the use of Varian 300 gas chromatograph interfaced with flame ionization detector. Instruments and reagents used are of standard and chromatographic grades respectively. PCC and CA results showed that the classification of PAHs along kinetically and thermodyanamically-favoured and those derived directly from plants product through biologically mediated processes used in source signature is about the predominance PAHs are likely to be. Therefore the observed PAHs in the studied stations have trace quantities of the vast majority of the sixteen un-substituted PAHs which may ultimately inhabit the actual source signature authentication. Type and extent of bacterial metabolism, transformation products/substrates, and environmental factors such as: salinity, pH, oxygen concentration, nutrients, light intensity, temperature, co-substrates and environmental medium are hereby recommended as factors to be considered when evaluating possible sources of PAHs.

Keywords: comparative correlation, kinetically and thermodynamically-favored PAHs, pearson correlation coefficient, cluster analysis, sources evaluation

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Authors: Debora Caetano Dahas

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In ‘Ethics’ and in ‘A Political Treatise’ Spinoza presents his very influential take on natural law and the principles that guide his philosophical work and observations. Spinoza’s ideas about rationalization, God, and ethical behavior are undeniably relevant to many debates in the field of legal theory. In addition, it is important to note that Spinoza's takes on body, mind, and imagination played an important role in building a certain way of understanding the female figure in western societies and of their differences in regards to the male figure. It is important to emphasize that the constant and insistent presentation of women as inferior and irrational beings corroborates the institutionalization of discriminatory public policies and practices legitimized by the legal system that cooperates with the aggravation of gender inequalities. Therefore, his arguments in relation to women and their nature have been highly criticized, especially by feminist theorists during the second half of the 21st century. The questioning of this traditional philosophy –often phallocentric– and its way of describing women as irrational and less capable than men, as well as the attempt to reformulate postulates and concepts, takes place in such a way as to create a deconstruction of classical concepts. Some of the arguments developed by Spinoza, however, can serve as a basis for elucidating in what way and to what extent the social and political construction of the feminine identity served as a basis for gender inequality. Thus, based on to the observations elaborated by Moira Gantes, the present research addresses the relationship between Spinoza and the feminist demands in the juridical and political spheres, elaborating arguments that corroborate the convergence between his philosophy and feminist critical theory. Finally, this research aims to discuss how the feminists' critics of Spinoza’s writings have deconstructed and rehabilitated his principles and, in doing so, can further help to illustrate the importance of his philosophy –and, consequently, of his notes on Natural Law– in understanding gender equality as a vital part of the effective implementation of democratic debate and inclusive political participation and representation. In doing so, philosophical and legal arguments based on the feminist re-reading of Spinoza’s principles are presented and then used to explain the controversial political reform in Brazil, especially in regards to the applicability of the legislative act known as Law n. 9.504/1997 which establishes that at least 30% of legislative seats must be occupied by women.

Keywords: natural law, feminism, politics, gender equality

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Authors: Andrey Makarov

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This article will focus on the development of antitrust policy in transition economies in the context of preventing explicit and tacit collusion. Experience of BRICS, CIS (Ukraine, Kazakhstan) and CEE countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Estonia) in the creation of antitrust institutions was analyzed, including both legislation and enforcement practice. Most of these countries in the early 90th were forced to develop completely new legislation in the field of protection of competition and it is important to compare different ways of building antitrust institutions and policy results. The article proposes a special approach to evaluation of preventing collusion mechanisms. This approach takes into account such enforcement problems as: classification problems (tacit vs explicit collusion, vertical vs horizontal agreements), flexibility of prohibitions (the balance between “per se” vs “rule of reason” approaches de jure and in practice), design of sanctions, private enforcement challenge, leniency program mechanisms, the role of antitrust authorities etc. The analysis is conducted using both official data, published by competition authorities, and expert assessments. The paper will show how the integration process within the EU predetermined some aspects of the development of antitrust policy in CEE countries, including the trend of the use of "rule of reason" approach. Simultaneously was analyzed the experience of CEE countries in special mechanisms of government intervention. CIS countries in the development of antitrust policy followed more or less original ways, without such a great impact from the European Union, more attention will be given to Russian experience in this field, including the analysis of judicial decisions in antitrust cases. Main problems and challenges for transition economies in this field will be shown, including: Legal uncertainty problem; Problem of rigidity of prohibitions; Enforcement priorities of the regulator; Interaction of administrative and criminal law, limited effectiveness of criminal sanctions in the antitrust field; The effectiveness of leniency program design; Private enforcement challenge.

Keywords: collusion, antitrust policy, leniency program, transition economies, Russia, CEE

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Authors: Elvin Çomo, Edlira Tako, Albana Hasimi, Rrapo Ormeni, Olger Gjuzi, Mirela Ndrita

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In Albania, only low enthalpy geothermal springs and wells are known, the temperatures of some of them are almost at the upper limits of low enthalpy, reaching over 60°C. These resources can be used to improve the country's energy balance, as well as for profitable economic purposes. The region of Elbasan has the greatest geothermal energy potential in Albania. This bass is one of the most popular and used in our country. This area is a surface with a number of sources, located in the form of a chain, in the sector between Llixha and Hidraj and constitutes a thermo-mineral basin with stable discharge and high temperature. The sources of Elbasan Springs, with the current average flow of thermo mineral water of 12-18 l/s and its temperature 55-65oC, have specific reserves of 39.6 GJ/m2 and potential power to install 2760 kW. For the assessment of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals, water samples were taken at 5 monitoring stations throughout the year 2022. The levels of basic parameters were analyzed using ISO, EU and APHA 21-th edition standard methods. This study presents the current state of the physico-chemical parameters of this thermal basin, the evaluation of these parameters for curative activities and for industrial processes, as well as the integrated utilization of geothermal energy. Possibilities for using thermomineral waters for heating homes in the area around them or even further, depending on the flow from the source or geothermal well. Sensitization of Albanian investors, medical research and the community for the high economic and curative effectiveness, for the integral use of geothermal energy in this area and the development of the tourist sector. An analysis of the negative environmental impact from the use of thermal water is also provided.

Keywords: geothermal energy, Llixha, physic-chemical parameters, thermal water

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Authors: Arbolino Roberta, Boffardi Raffaele

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Achieving the highest effectiveness for the National Plans for Recovery and Resilience (NPRR) while strengthening the objectives of cohesion and reduction of intra-EU unbalances is only possible by means of strategic, coordinated, and coherent policy planning. Therefore, the present research aims at assessing and quantifying the potential impact of NPRRs across the twenty-seven European Member States in terms of economic convergence, considering disaggregated data on industrial, construction, and service sectors. The first step of the research involves a performance analysis of the main macroeconomic indicators describing the trends of twenty-seven EU economies before the pandemic outbreak. Subsequently, in order to define the potential effect of the resources allocated, we perform an impact analysis of previous similar EU investment policies, estimating national-level sectoral elasticity associated with the expenditure of the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 Cohesion programmes funds. These coefficients are then exploited to construct adjustment scenarios. Finally, convergence analysis is performed on the data used for constructing scenarios in order to understand whether the expenditure of funds might be useful to foster economic convergence besides driving recovery. The results of our analysis show that the allocation of resources largely mirrors the aims of the policy framework underlying the NPRR, thus reporting the largest investments in both those sectors most affected by the economic shock (services) and those considered fundamental for the digital and green transition. Notwithstanding an overall positive effect, large differences exist among European countries, while no convergence process seems to be activated or fostered by these interventions.

Keywords: NPRR, policy evaluation, cohesion policy, scenario Nalsysi

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Authors: Medhat Gad

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Wastewater treatment became a big issue in this decade due to shortage of water resources, growth of population and modern live requirements. Reuse of treated wastewater in industrial and agriculture sectors has a big demand to substitute the shortage of clean water supply as well as to save the eco system from dangerous pollutants in insufficient treated wastewater In last decades, most of wastewater treatment plants are built using primary or secondary biological treatment technology which almost does not provide enough treatment and removal of phosphorus and nitrogen. those plants which built ten to 15 years ago also now suffering from overflow which decrease the treatment efficiency of the plant. Discharging treated wastewater which contains phosphorus and nitrogen to water reservoirs and irrigation canals destroy ecosystem and aquatic life. Using chemical material to enhance treatment efficiency for domestic wastewater but it leads to huge amount of sludge which cost a lot of money. To enhance wastewater treatment, we used INNPT nano material which consists of calcium, aluminum and iron oxides and compounds plus silica, sodium and magnesium. INNPT nano material used with a dose of 100 mg/l to upgrade SBR treatment plant in Cairo Egypt -which has three treatment tanks each with a capacity of 2500 cubic meters per day - to tertiary treatment level by removing Phosphorus, Nitrogen and increase dissolved oxygen in final effluent. The results showed that the treatment retention time decreased from 9 hours in SBR system to one hour using INNPT nano material with improvement in effluent quality while increasing plant capacity to 20 k cubic meters per day. Nitrogen removal efficiency achieved 77%, while phosphorus removal efficiency achieved 90% and COD removal efficiency was 93% which all comply with tertiary treatment limits according to Egyptian law.

Keywords: INNPT technology, nanomaterial, tertiary wastewater treatment, capacity extending

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Authors: Pooja Kumbhare

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Water is an important resource for the survival of life. The inadequate availability of surface water makes people depend on ground water for fulfilling their needs. However, ground water is generally too hard to satisfy the requirements for domestic as well as industrial applications. Removal of hardness involves various techniques such as lime soda process, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, nano-filtration, distillation, and, evaporation, etc. These techniques have individual problems such as high annual operating cost, sediment formation on membrane, sludge disposal problem, etc. Electrocoagulation (EC) is being explored as modern and cost-effective technology to cope up with the growing demand of high water quality at the consumer end. In general, earlier studies on electrocoagulation for hardness removal are found to deploy batch processes. As batch processes are always inappropriate to deal with large volume of water to be treated, it is essential to develop continuous flow EC process. So, in the present study, an attempt is made to investigate continuous flow EC process for decreasing excessive hardness of bore-well water. The experimental study has been conducted using 12 aluminum electrodes (25cm*10cm, 1cm thick) provided in EC reactor with volume of 8 L. Bore well water sample, collected from a local bore-well (i.e. at – Vishrambag, Sangli; Maharashtra) having average initial hardness of 680 mg/l (Range: 650 – 700 mg/l), was used for the study. Continuous flow electrocoagulation experiments were carried out by varying operating parameters specifically reaction time (Range: 10 – 60 min), voltage (Range: 5 – 20 V), current (Range: 1 – 5A). Based on the experimental study, it is found that hardness removal to the desired extent could be achieved even for continuous flow EC reactor, so the use of it is found promising.

Keywords: hardness, continuous flow EC process, aluminum electrode, optimal operating parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Alafara A. Baba, Kuranga I. Ayinla, Folahan A. Adekola, Rafiu B. Bale

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Due to increasing demands and diverse applications of copper oxide as pigment in ceramics, cuprammonium hydroxide solution for rayon, p-type semi-conductor, dry cell batteries production and as safety disposal of hazardous materials, a study on the hydrometallurgical operations involving leaching, solvent extraction and precipitation for the recovery of copper for producing high grade copper oxide from a Nigerian chalcopyrite ore in chloride media has been examined. At a particular set of experimental parameter with respect to acid concentration, reaction temperature and particle size, the leaching investigation showed that the ore dissolution increases with increasing acid concentration, temperature and decreasing particle diameter at a moderate stirring. The kinetics data has been analyzed and was found to follow diffusion control mechanism. At optimal conditions, the extent of ore dissolution reached 94.3%. The recovery of the total copper from the hydrochloric acid-leached chalcopyrite ore was undertaken by solvent extraction and precipitation techniques, prior to the beneficiation of the purified solution as copper oxide. The purification of the leach liquor was firstly done by precipitation of total iron and manganese using Ca(OH)2 and H2O2 as oxidizer at pH 3.5 and 4.25, respectively. An extraction efficiency of 97.3% total copper was obtained by 0.2 mol/L Dithizone in kerosene at 25±2ºC within 40 minutes, from which ≈98% Cu from loaded organic phase was successfully stripped by 0.1 mol/L HCl solution. The beneficiation of the recovered pure copper solution was carried out by crystallization through alkali addition followed by calcination at 600ºC to obtain high grade copper oxide (Tenorite, CuO: 05-0661). Finally, a simple hydrometallurgical scheme for the operational extraction procedure amenable for industrial utilization and economic sustainability was provided.

Keywords: chalcopyrite ore, Nigeria, copper, copper oxide, solvent extraction

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Authors: Muhammad Shoaib, Hassan M. Al-Swaidan

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Air pollution has been a major challenge for the scientists today, due to the release of toxic emissions from various industries like power plants, desalination plants, industrial processes and transportation vehicles. Harmful emissions into the air represent an environmental pressure that reflects negatively on human health and productivity, thus leading to a real loss in the national economy. Variety of air pollutants in the form of carbon oxides, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, suspended particulate material etc. are present in air due to the combustion of different types of fuels like crude oil, diesel oil and natural gas. Among various pollutants, NOx and SOx emissions are considered as highly toxic due to its carcinogenicity and its relation with various health disorders. In Kingdom of Saudi Arabia electricity is generated by burning of crude, diesel or natural gas in the turbines of electricity stations. Out of these three, crude oil is used extensively for electricity generation. Due to the burning of the crude oil there are heavy contents of gaseous pollutants like sulfur dioxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), gases which are ultimately discharged in to the environment and is a serious environmental threat. The breakthrough point in case of lab studies using 1 gm of sliced activated carbon adsorbant comes after 20 and 30 minutes for NOx and SOx, respectively, whereas in case of PP8 plant breakthrough point comes in seconds. The saturation point in case of lab studies comes after 100 and 120 minutes and for actual PP8 plant it comes after 60 and 90 minutes for NOx and SOx adsorption, respectively. Surface characterization of NOx and SOx adsorption on SAC confirms the presence of peaks in the FT-IR spectrum. CHNS study verifies that the SAC is suitable for NOx and SOx along with some other C and H containing compounds coming out from stack emission stream from the turbines of a power plant.

Keywords: activated carbon, flue gases, NOx and SOx adsorption, physical activation, power plants

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Authors: Zi-Yan Chao

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With the rapid development of urbanization and increasing demand for efficient transportation systems, the interaction between land use diversity and transportation resource allocation has become a critical issue in urban planning. Achieving a balance of land use types, such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas, is crucial role in ensuring social equity and sustainable urban development. Simultaneously, optimizing multimodal transportation networks, including bus, subway, and car routes, is essential for minimizing total travel time and costs, while ensuring fairness for all social groups, particularly in meeting the transportation needs of low-income populations. This study develops a bilevel programming model to address these challenges, with land use diversity as the foundation for measuring equity. The upper-level model maximizes land use diversity for balanced land distribution across regions. The lower-level model optimizes multimodal transportation networks to minimize travel time and costs while maintaining user equilibrium. The model also incorporates constraints to ensure fair resource allocation, such as balancing transportation accessibility and cost differences across various social groups. A solution approach is developed to solve the bilevel optimization problem, ensuring efficient exploration of the solution space for land use and transportation resource allocation. This study maximizes social equity by maximizing land use diversity and achieving user equilibrium with optimal transportation resource distribution. The proposed method provides a robust framework for addressing urban planning challenges, contributing to sustainable and equitable urban development.

Keywords: bilevel programming model, genetic algorithms, land use diversity, multimodal transportation optimization, social equity

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Authors: Yonosuke Murayama

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We have developed and studied a metastable beta Ti alloy, which shows super-elasticity and low Young’s modulus according to the phase stability of its beta phase. The super-elasticity and low Young’s modulus are required in a wide range of applications in various industrial fields. For example, the metallic implant with low Young’s modulus and non-toxicity is desirable because the large difference of Young’s modulus between the human bone and the implant material may cause a stress-shielding phenomenon. We have investigated the role of Sn and Al in metastable beta Ti-Cr-Sn, Ti-Cr-Al, Ti-V-Sn, and Ti-V-Al alloys. The metastable beta Ti-Cr-Sn, Ti-Cr-Al, Ti-V-Sn, and Ti-V-Al alloys form during quenching from the beta field at high temperature. While Cr and V act as beta stabilizers, Sn and Al are considered as elements to suppress the athermal omega phase produced during quenching. The athermal omega phase degrades the properties of super-elasticity and Young’s modulus. Although Al and Sn as single elements are considered as an alpha stabilizer and neutral, respectively, Sn and Al acted also as beta stabilizers when added simultaneously with beta stabilized element of Cr or V in this experiment. The quenched microstructure of Ti-Cr-Sn, Ti-Cr-Al, Ti-V-Sn, and Ti-V-Al alloys shifts from martensitic structure to beta single-phase structure with increasing Cr or V. The Young’s modulus of Ti-Cr-Sn, Ti-Cr-Al, Ti-V-Sn, and Ti-V-Al alloys decreased and then increased with increasing Cr or V, each showing its own minimum value of Young's modulus respectively. The composition of the alloy with the minimum Young’s modulus is a near border composition where the quenched microstructure shifts from martensite to beta. The border composition of Ti-Cr-Sn and Ti-V-Sn alloys required only less amount of each beta stabilizer, Cr or V, than Ti-Cr-Al and Ti-V-Al alloys. This indicates that the effect of Sn as a beta stabilizer is stronger than Al. Sn and Al influenced the competitive relation between stress-induced martensitic transformation and slip deformation. Thus, super-elastic properties of metastable beta Ti-Cr-Sn, Ti-Cr-Al, Ti-V-Sn, and Ti-V-Al alloys varied depending on the alloyed element, Sn or Al.

Keywords: metastable beta Ti alloy, super-elasticity, low Young’s modulus, stress-induced martensitic transformation, beta stabilized element

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Authors: Ivan A. Sandoval Salazar, Silvia F. Valderrama

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The microalgae oil emerges as a promising source of raw material for many industrial applications. Thus, this study had as a main focus on the cultivation of the microalgae species Desmodesmus sp. in laboratory scale with a view to maximizing biomass production and triglyceride content in the lipid fraction. Initially, culture conditions were selected to optimize biomass production, which was subsequently subjected to nutritional stress by varying nitrate and phosphate concentrations in order to increase the content and productivity of fatty acids. The culture medium BOLD 3N, nitrate and phosphate, light intensity 250,500 and 1000 μmol photons.m².s⁻¹, photoperiod of 12:12 were evaluated. Under the best conditions of the tests, a maximum cell division of 1.13 div.dia⁻¹ was obtained on the sixth day of culture, beginning of the exponential phase, and a maximum concentration of 8.42x107 cell.mL⁻¹ and dry biomass of 3.49 gL⁻¹ on the 20th day, in the stationary phase. The lipid content in the first stage of culture was approximately 8% after 12 days and at the end of the culture in the stationary phase ranged from 12% to 16% (20 days). In the microalgae grown at 250 μmol fotons.m2.s-1 the fatty acid profile was mostly polyunsaturated (52%). The total of unsaturated fatty acids, identified in this species of microalga, reached values between 70 and 75%, being qualified for use in the food and pharmaceutical industry. In addition, this study showed that the cultivation conditions influenced mainly the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids, with the predominance of γ-linolenic acid. However, in the cultures submitted to the highest the intensity of light (1000 μmol photons.m².s⁻¹) and low concentrations of nitrate and phosphate, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, which present greater oxidative stability, were identified mainly (60 to 70 %) being qualified for the production of biodiesel and for oleochemistry.

Keywords: microalgae, Desmodesmus sp, fatty acids, biodiesel

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Authors: N. Kashif, M. K. Naseer

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This is an undeniable fact that parents are the very first role model for their children and children are the silent observers and followers of their parents. The environment they would be provided will leave either positive or negative lasting impact on their physical and mental behavior and abilities to grow, progress and conquer. This paper focuses on the observation particularly in South Asian countries where females have been facing problems in accessing education and getting financially independent or stable. This paper emphasizes on a survey conducted in rural areas of Punjab State in Pakistan. It explains how the parents’ educational background, financial status, conservative and interdependent accommodation style influence a prominent inequality of giving their female child right to study and get empowered. The forces behind this gender discrimination are not limited to parents’ life style impact but also include some major social problems like distant schools, gender-based harassment, and threat, insecurities, employment opportunities, so on. As a grass root level solution, it is proposed to develop an institution which collects data regarding child birth in their region and can contact the parent when their child is ready to start school. Building up trust based relationship with parents is the most crucial and significant factor. Secondly, celebrities and public figures can play an extraordinary role in running a campaign to advocate and encourage people living in rural areas, villages and small towns. All possible solutions can never be implemented without the support of the state government. Therefore, this paper invites more thoughtful actions, properly planned strategies, initiators to take the lead and make a platform for those who are underprivileged and deprived of their basic rights. Any country, where female constitute 49% of its entire population can never progress without promoting female empowerment and their right to compulsory education, and it is never late or impossible to admit the facts and practically start a flexible solution- oriented approach.

Keywords: employment opportunities, female empowerment, gender based harassment, gender discrimination, inequality, parents' life style impact

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Peter Akayuure

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Geometry is considered an important strand in mathematics due to its wide-ranging utilitarian value and because it serves as a building block for understanding other aspects of undergraduate mathematics, including algebra and calculus. Matters regarding students’ geometric thinking have therefore long been pursued by mathematics researchers and educators globally via different theoretical lenses, curriculum reform efforts, and innovative instructional practices. However, so far, studies remain inconclusive about the instructional platforms that effectively promote geometric thinking. At the University of Education, Winneba, an undergraduate geometry course was designed and delivered on UEW Learning Management System (LMS) using Moodle platform. This study utilizes van Hiele’s theoretical lens to examine the entry and exit’s geometric thinking behaviours of prospective teachers who took the undergraduate geometry course in the LMS platform. The study was a descriptive survey that involved an intact class of 280 first-year students enrolled to pursue a bachelor's in mathematics education at the university. The van Hiele’s Geometric thinking test was used to assess participants’ entry and exit behaviours, while semi-structured interviews were used to obtain data for triangulation. Data were analysed descriptively and displayed in tables and charts. An Independent t-test was used to test for significant differences in geometric thinking behaviours between those who entered the university with a diploma certificate and with senior high certificate. The results show that on entry, more than 70% of the prospective teachers operated within the visualization level of van Hiele’s geometric thinking. Less than 20% reached analysis and abstraction levels, and no participant reached deduction and rigor levels. On exit, participants’ geometric thinking levels increased markedly across levels, but the difference from entry was not significant and might have occurred by chance. The geometric thinking behaviours of those enrolled with diploma certificates did not differ significant from those enrolled directly from senior high school. The study recommends that the design principles and delivery of undergraduate geometry course via LMS should be structured and tackled using van Hiele’s geometric thinking levels to serve as means of bridging the existing learning gaps of undergraduate students.

Keywords: geometric thinking, van Hiele’s, UEW learning management system, undergraduate geometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Hamidreza Joudaki, Yousefali Ziari

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The appearance of city and urbanism is one of the important processes which have affected social communities. Being industrialized urbanism developed along with each other in the history. In addition, they have had simple relationship for more than six thousand years, that is, from the appearance of the first cities. In 18th century by coming out of industrial capitalism, progressive development took place in urbanism in the world. In Iran, the city of each region made its decision by itself and the capital of region (downtown) was the only central part and also the regional city without any hierarchy, controlled its realm. However, this method of ruling during these three decays, because of changing in political, social and economic issues that have caused changes in rural and urban relationship. Moreover, it has changed the variety of performance of cities and systematic urban network in Iran. Today, urban system has very vast imbalanced apace and performance. In Isfahan, the trend of urbanism is like the other part of Iran and systematic urban hierarchy is not suitable and normal. This article is a quantitative and analytical. The statistical communities are Isfahan Province cities and the changes in urban network and its hierarchy during the period of fifty years (1956 -2006) has been surveyed. In addition, those data have been analyzed by model of Rank and size and Entropy index. In this article Iran cities and also the factor of entropy of primate city and urban hierarchy of Isfahan Province have been introduced. Urban residents of this Province have been reached from 55 percent to 83% (2006). As we see the analytical data reflects that there is mismatching and imbalance between cities. Because the entropy index was.91 in 1956.And it decreased to.63 in 2006. Isfahan city is the primate city in the whole of these periods. Moreover, the second and the third cities have population gap with regard to the other cities and finally, they do not follow the system of rank-size.

Keywords: urban network, urban hierarchy, primate city, Isfahan province, urbanism, first cities

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Meha Singla, Shankhadeep Chaudhuri, Yadunandan Batchu

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Rental Housing is a more cost effective and flexible housing solution for the low income families than home-ownership. While India is undergoing a new industrial metamorphosis with multiple government initiatives that emphasise on the growth of manufacturing sector through policy frameworks and corridor development proposals, there is going to be a huge influx of low-income working population to the upcoming urban centres. As per stats, about 70 per cent of the housing demand at these centres fall into the affordable segment. And in the midst of this rapid urbanisation and huge immigration of young population, there is a lack of proper rental housing framework in the country. A large number of immigrants will be unable to support home-ownership thereby leading to proliferation of slums in urban centres. As a result, there is a dire need for immediate articulation of a comprehensive rental housing policy and affordable housing initiatives. In this paper, CommonFloor attempts to analyse successful rental housing case studies of the world followed by establishing a correlation between the gap in urban rental housing stock and the per capita income statistics to devise rental housing affordability specific to major Indian cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai). Further, with the corroboration of market price trends, it will try to locate feasible micro-markets for immediate rental housing action. Final research findings will provide key data points thereby helping to design the approach for efficient utilisation of unsold residential inventory in the country in order to compensate the rental housing deficiency. This data set is believed to express viable model(s) of the rental housing approach for the government and private participants.

Keywords: housing prices, migration of population, real estate, rental housing, rental markets, residential property market, urbanisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Abdulmalik Altuwayjiri, Milad Pirhadi, Mohammed Kalafy, Badr Alharbi, Constantinos Sioutas

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In this study, we investigated the chemical and toxicological characteristics of PM10 in the metropolitan area of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. PM10 samples were collected on quartz and teflon filters during cold (December 2019–April 2020) and warm (May 2020–August 2020) seasons, including dust and non-dust events. The PM10 constituents were chemically analyzed for their metal, inorganic ions, and elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC) contents. Additionally, the PM10 oxidative potential was measured by means of the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay. Our findings revealed that the oxidative potential of the collected ambient PM10 samples was significantly higher than those measured in many urban areas worldwide. The oxidative potential of the collected ambient PM¹⁰⁻ samples was also higher during dust episodes compared to non-dust events, mainly due to higher concentrations of metals during these events. We performed Pearson correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and multi-linear regression (MLR) to identify the most significant sources contributing to the toxicity of PM¹⁰⁻ The results of the MLR analyses indicated that the major pollution sources contributing to the oxidative potential of ambient PM10 were soil and resuspended dust emissions (identified by Al, K, Fe, and Li) (31%), followed by secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation (traced by SO₄-² and NH+₄) (20%), and industrial activities (identified by Se and La) (19%), and traffic emissions (characterized by EC, Zn, and Cu) (17%). Results from this study underscore the impact of transported dust emissions on the oxidative potential of ambient PM10 in Riyadh and can be helpful in adopting appropriate public health policies regarding detrimental outcomes of exposure to PM₁₀-

Keywords: ambient PM10, oxidative potential, source apportionment, Riyadh, dust episodes

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Mokgadi Malatji, Tebogo Mothiba, Rambelani Malema

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Absenteeism is a global problem in the working force and this is no exception in the nursing profession. A lot of attention has been drawn to factors that contribute to absenteeism however little attention has been placed on the effects of absenteeism on the remaining workers/nurses being left behind in the workplace by their colleagues. Nurses absent themselves leaving behind their colleagues to do their work. Nurses who are committed to their work often find themselves working under strenuous conditions due to inadequate staff. These may lead to poor patient care provision, nurses feeling overworked and sick due to the increased workload. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of absenteeism on nurses that remained at work at Mankweng Hospital in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative research design was conducted to determine if there were any effects of absenteeism on nurses remaining at work. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. The respondents (n=107), consisted of different categories of registered nurses (professional nurses (n=43), auxiliary nurses (n=40) and staff nurses (n=24)) who participated in this study. The findings indicated that most nurses (76, 6%) are demotivated and they struggle with completion of duties when their colleagues are absent. Patient care that nurses provided when their colleagues were absent was of poor quality as set standards and principles were not adhered to. Individualized patient care was not being implemented due to absenteeism. This simply implies that routine work is being done to cover basic duties. Most nurses (74, 8%) believed that favoritism and lack of appreciation of nurse’s skills and capabilities are being displayed by managers and that this contributes to absenteeism. Nurses who are loyal sacrifice their time and work overtime for absent colleagues and this led to fatigue and stress. From the study findings, it is recommended that nurses be trained frequently to upgrade their studies to motivate them to work. The government can provide this training to improve their skills as this will motivate nurses to work harder and be committed to their work. Training can be offered after a stipulated period. For example, after every five years, a nurse can be provided with a new skill. Team building events must be encouraged for the whole hospital to motivate staff. In conclusion, the study revealed that absenteeism poses detrimental effects on nurses, the hospital and patients. More and more nurses end up changing workplace due to these effects.

Keywords: absenteeism, effects, nurses, remaining at work

Procedia PDF Downloads 254