Search results for: environmental degradation

Authors: Leonardo Parra, Daniel Martínez, Jorge Pizarro, Fernando Ortega, Manuel Chacón-Fuentes, Andrés Quiroz

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Control of Dalaca pallens or blackworms, one of the most important hypogeous pest in grassland in southern Chile, is based on the use of broad-spectrum insecticides such as organophosphates and pyrethroids. However, the rapid development of insecticide resistance in field populations of this insect and public concern over the environmental impact of these insecticides has resulted in the search for other control methods. Specifically, the use of endophyte fungi for controlling pest has emerged as an interesting and promising strategy. Endophytes from ryegrass (Lolium perenne), establish a biotrophic relationship with the host, defined as mutualistic symbiosis. The plant-fungi association produces alkaloids where peramine is the main toxic substance against Listronotus bonariensis, the most important epigean pest of ryegrass. Nevertheless, the effect of peramina on others pest insects, such as D. pallens, to our knowledge has not been studied, and also its possible metabolization in the body of the larvae. Therefore, we addressed the following research question: Do larvae of D. pallens store peramine after consumption of ryegrass endophyte infected (E+)? For this, specimens of blackworms were fed with ryegrass plant of seven experimental lines and one commercial cultivar endophyte free (E-) sown at the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Carillanca (Vilcún, Chile). Once the feeding period was over, ten larvae of each treatment were examined. Individuals were dissected, and their gut was removed to exclude any influence of remaining material. The rest of the larva's body was dried at 60°C by 24-48 h and ground into a fine powder using a mortar. 25 mg of dry powder was transferred to a microcentrifuge tube and extracted in 1 mL of a mixture of methanol:water:formic acid. Then, the samples were centrifuged at 16,000 rpm for 3 min, and the supernatant was colected and injected in the liquid chromatography of high resolution (HPLC). The results confirmed the presence of peramine in the larva's body of D. pallens. The insects that fed the experimental lines LQE-2 and LQE-6 were those where peramine was present in high proportion (0.205 and 0.199 ppm, respectively); while LQE-7 and LQE-3 obtained the lowest concentrations of the alkaloid (0.047 and 0.053 ppm, respectively). Peramine was not detected in the insects when the control cultivar Jumbo (E-) was tested. These results evidenced the storage and metabolism of peramine during consumption of the larvae. However, the effect of this alkaloid present in 'future ryegrass cultivars' (LQE-2 and LQE-6) on the performance and survival of blackworms must be studied and confirmed experimentally.

Keywords: blackworms, HPLC, alkaloid, pest

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Authors: Yonwaba Atyosi, Moses Cho, Abel Ramoelo, Nobuhle Majozi, Cecilia Masemola, Yoliswa Mkhize

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Spectroscopy has been widely used to understand the hyperspectral remote sensing of soils. Accurate and efficient measurement of soil moisture is essential for precision agriculture. The aim of this study was to understand the spectral behavior of soil at different soil water content levels and identify the significant spectral bands for soil moisture content retrieval at field-scale. The study consisted of 60 soil samples from a maize farm, divided into four different treatments representing different moisture levels. Spectral signatures were measured for each sample in laboratory under artificial light using an Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) spectrometer, covering a wavelength range from 350 nm to 2500 nm, with a spectral resolution of 1 nm. The results showed that the absorption features at 1450 nm, 1900 nm, and 2200 nm were particularly sensitive to soil moisture content and exhibited strong correlations with the water content levels. Continuum removal was developed in the R programming language to enhance the absorption features of soil moisture and to precisely understand its spectral behavior at different water content levels. Statistical analysis using partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were performed to quantify the correlation between the spectral bands and soil moisture content. This study provides insights into the spectral behavior of soil at different water content levels and identifies the significant spectral bands for soil moisture content retrieval. The findings highlight the potential of spectroscopy for non-destructive and rapid soil moisture measurement, which can be applied to various fields such as precision agriculture, hydrology, and environmental monitoring. However, it is important to note that the spectral behavior of soil can be influenced by various factors such as soil type, texture, and organic matter content, and caution should be taken when applying the results to other soil systems. The results of this study showed a good agreement between measured and predicted values of Soil Moisture Content with high R2 and low root mean square error (RMSE) values. Model validation using independent data was satisfactory for all the studied soil samples. The results has significant implications for developing high-resolution and precise field-scale soil moisture retrieval models. These models can be used to understand the spatial and temporal variation of soil moisture content in agricultural fields, which is essential for managing irrigation and optimizing crop yield.

Keywords: soil moisture content retrieval, precision agriculture, continuum removal, remote sensing, machine learning, spectroscopy

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Authors: Hani Alkayed, Belal Omar, Eileen Roddy

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This study focuses on investigating the determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD) extent and quality in Jordan. The study examines factors that influence CSR disclosure extent and quality, such as corporate characteristics (size, gearing, firm’s age, and industry type), corporate governance (board size, number of meetings, non-executive directors, female directors in the board, family directors in the board, foreign members, audit committee, type of external auditors, and CEO duality) and ownership structure (government ownership, institutional ownership, and ownership concentration). Legitimacy theory is utilised as the main theory for our theoretical framework. A quantitative approach is adopted for this research and content analysis technique is used to gather CSR disclosure extent and quality from the annual reports. The sample is withdrawn from the annual reports of 118 Jordanian companies over the period of 2010-2015. A CSRD index is constructed, and includes the disclosures of the following categories; environmental, human resources, product and consumers, and community involvement. A 7 point-scale measurement was developed to examine the quality of disclosure, were 0= No Disclosures, 1= General disclosures, (Non-monetary), 2= General disclosures, (Non-monetary) with pictures, charts, and graphs 3= Descriptive/ qualitative disclosures, specific details (Non-monetary), 4= Descriptive/ qualitative disclosures, specific details with pictures, charts, and graphs, 5= Numeric disclosures, full descriptions with supporting numbers, 6= Numeric disclosures, full descriptions with supporting numbers, pictures, and Charts. This study fills the gap in the literature regarding CSRD in Jordan, and the fact that all the previous studies have ignored a clear categorisation as a measurement of quality. The result shows that the extent of CSRD is higher than the quality in Jordan. Regarding the determinants of CSR disclosures, the followings were found to have a significant relationship with both extent and quality of CSRD except non-executives, were the significant relationship was found just with the extent of CSRD: board size, non-executive directors, firm’s age, foreign members on the board, number of boards meetings, the presence of audit committees, big 4, government ownership, firm’s size, industry type.

Keywords: content analysis, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility disclosure, Jordan, quality of disclosure

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Authors: Natasha Gabriella, Josef-Peter Schöggl, Alfred Posch

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Being a mature industry, pulp and paper industry (PPI) possess strength points coming from its existing infrastructure, technology know-how, and abundant availability of biomass. However, the declining trend of the wood-based products sales sends a clear signal to the industry to transform its business model in order to increase its profitability. With the emerging global attention on bio-based economy and circular economy, coupled with the low price of fossil feedstock, the PPI starts to integrate biorefinery as a value-added business model to keep the industry’s competitiveness. Nonetheless, biorefinery as an innovation exposes the PPI with some barriers, of which the uncertainty of the promising product becomes one of the major hurdles. This study aims to assess factors that affect the diffusion and development of forest biorefinery in the PPI, including drivers, barriers, advantages, disadvantages, as well as the most promising bio-based products of forest biorefinery. The study examines the identified factors according to the layer of business environment, being the macro-environment, industry, and strategic group level. Besides, an overview of future state of the identified factors is elaborated as to map necessary improvements for implementing forest biorefinery. A two-phase Delphi method is used to collect the empirical data for the study, comprising of an online-based survey and interviews. Delphi method is an effective communication tools to elicit ideas from a group of experts to further reach a consensus of forecasting future trends. Collaborating a total of 50 experts in the panel, the study reveals that influential factors are found in every layers of business of the PPI. The politic dimension is apparent to have a significant influence for tackling the economy barrier while reinforcing the environmental and social benefits in the macro-environment. In the industry level, the biomass availability appears to be a strength point of the PPI while the knowledge gap on technology and market seem to be barriers. Consequently, cooperation with academia and the chemical industry has to be improved. Human resources issue is indicated as one important premise behind the preceding barrier, along with the indication of the PPI’s resistance towards biorefinery implementation as an innovation. Further, cellulose-based products are acknowledged for near-term product development whereas lignin-based products are emphasized to gain importance in the long-term future.

Keywords: forest biorefinery, pulp and paper, bio-based product, Delphi method

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Authors: Vasiliki Kolake, Christos Kavalaris, Sofia Megoudi, Maria Maxouri, Panagiotis A. Karas, Aris Kyparissis, Efi Levizou

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Conservation agriculture (CA), is a production system approach that can tackle the challenges of climate change mainly through facilitating carbon storage into the soil and increasing crop resilience. This is extremely important for the vulnerable Mediterranean agroecosystems, which already face adverse environmental conditions. The agronomic practices used in CA, i.e. permanent soil cover and no-tillage, result in reduced soil erosion and increased soil organic matter, preservation of water and improvement of quality and fertility of the soil in the long-term. Thus the functional characteristics and processes of the soil are considerably affected by the implementation of CA. The aim of the present work was to assess the effects of CA on soil nitrification potential and mycorrhizal colonization about the above-ground production in a wheat field. Two adjacent but independent field sites of 1.5ha each were used (Thessaly plain, Central Greece), comprising the no-till and conventional tillage treatments. The no-tillage site was covered by residues of the previous crop (cotton). Potential nitrification and the nitrate and ammonium content of the soil were measured at two different soil depths (3 and 15cm) at 20-days intervals throughout the growth period. Additionally, the leaf area index (LAI) was monitored at the same time-course. The mycorrhizal colonization was measured at the commencement and end of the experiment. At the final harvest, total yield and plant biomass were also recorded. The results indicate that wheat yield was considerably favored by CA practices, exhibiting a 42% increase compared to the conventional tillage treatment. The superior performance of the CA crop was also depicted in the above-ground plant biomass, where a 26% increase was recorded. LAI, which is considered a reliable growth index, did not show statistically significant differences between treatments throughout the growth period. On the contrary, significant differences were recorded in endomycorrhizal colonization one day before the final harvest, with CA plants exhibiting 20% colonization, while the conventional tillage plants hardly reached 1%. The on-going analyses of potential nitrification measurements, as well as nitrate and ammonium determination, will shed light on the effects of CA on key processes in the soil. These results will integrate the assessment of CA impact on certain below and above-ground processes during wheat cultivation under the Mediterranean climate.

Keywords: conservation agriculture, LAI, mycorrhizal colonization, potential nitrification, wheat, yield

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Authors: Havva Tutar Kahraman, Erol Pehlivan

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In recent years, environmental pollution by wastewater rises very critically. Effluents discharged from various industries cause this challenge. Different type of pollutants such as organic compounds, oxyanions, and heavy metal ions create this threat for human bodies and all other living things. However, heavy metals are considered one of the main pollutant groups of wastewater. Therefore, this case creates a great need to apply and enhance the water treatment technologies. Among adopted treatment technologies, adsorption process is one of the methods, which is gaining more and more attention because of its easy operations, the simplicity of design and versatility. Ion exchange process is one of the preferred methods for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. It has found widespread application in water remediation technologies, during the past several decades. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to the removal of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), from aqueous solutions. Cr(VI) is considered as a well-known highly toxic metal which modifies the DNA transcription process and causes important chromosomic aberrations. The treatment and removal of this heavy metal have received great attention to maintaining its allowed legal standards. The purpose of the present paper is an attempt to investigate some aspects of the use of three anion exchange resins: Eichrom 1-X4, Lewatit Monoplus M800 and Lewatit A8071. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the adsorption capacity of these three commercial resins in the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. The chromium solutions used in the experiments were synthetic solutions. The parameters that affect the adsorption, solution pH, adsorbent concentration, contact time, and initial Cr(VI) concentration, were performed at room temperature. High adsorption rates of metal ions for the three resins were reported at the onset, and then plateau values were gradually reached within 60 min. The optimum pH for Cr(VI) adsorption was found as 3.0 for these three resins. The adsorption decreases with the increase in pH for three anion exchangers. The suitability of Freundlich, Langmuir and Scatchard models were investigated for Cr(VI)-resin equilibrium. Results, obtained in this study, demonstrate excellent comparability between three anion exchange resins indicating that Eichrom 1-X4 is more effective and showing highest adsorption capacity for the removal of Cr(VI) ions. Investigated anion exchange resins in this study can be used for the efficient removal of chromium from water and wastewater.

Keywords: adsorption, anion exchange resin, chromium, kinetics

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Authors: Olumuyiwa Ayoola Kokapi, Olugbenga Solomon Bello

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Dyes are organic compounds with complex aromatic molecular structure that resulted in fast colour on a substance. Dye effluent found in wastewater generated from the dyeing industries is one of the greatest contributors to water pollution. Groundnut hull (GH) is an agricultural material that constitutes waste in the environment. Environmental contamination by hazardous organic chemicals is an urgent problem, which is partially solved through adsorption technologies. The choice of groundnut hull was promised on the understanding that some materials of agricultural origin have shown potentials to act as Adsorbate for hazardous organic chemicals. The aim of this research is to evaluate the potential of groundnut hull to adsorb Crystal violet dye through kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies. The prepared groundnut hulls was characterized using Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Operational parameters such as contact time, initial dye concentration, pH, and effect of temperature were studied. Equilibrium time for the adsorption process was attained in 80 minutes. Adsorption isotherms used to test the adsorption data were Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms model. Thermodynamic parameters such as ∆G°, ∆H°, and ∆S° of the adsorption processes were determined. The results showed that the uptake of dye by groundnut hulls occurred at a faster rate, corresponding to an increase in adsorption capacity at equilibrium time of 80 min from 0.78 to 4.45 mg/g and 0.77 to 4.45mg/g with an increase in the initial dye concentration from 10 to 50 mg/L for pH 3.0 and 8.0 respectively. High regression values obtained for pseudo-second-order kinetic model, sum of square error (SSE%) values along with strong agreement between experimental and calculated values of qe proved that pseudo second-order kinetic model fitted more than pseudo first-order kinetic model. The result of Langmuir and Freundlich model showed that the adsorption data fit the Langmuir model more than the Freundlich model. Thermodynamic study demonstrated the feasibility, spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption process due to negative values of free energy change (∆G) at all temperatures and positive value of enthalpy change (∆H) respectively. The positive values of ∆S showed that there was increased disorderliness and randomness at the solid/solution interface of crystal violet dye and groundnut hulls. The present investigation showed that, groundnut hulls (GH) is a good low-cost alternative adsorbent for the removal of Crystal Violet (CV) dye from aqueous solution.

Keywords: adsorption, crystal violet dye, groundnut halls, kinetics

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Authors: Satam Alotibi, Haya A. Al-Sunaidi, Almaymunah M. AlRoibah, Zahraa H. Al-Omaran, Mohammed Alyami, Fatehia S. Alhakami, Abdellah Kaiba, Mazen Alshaaer, Talal F. Qahtan

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This research study presents a novel approach to harnessing the potential of natural geopolymer in conjunction with TiO₂ nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) for the development of highly efficient photocatalytic materials for water decontamination. The study begins with the formulation of a geopolymer paste derived from natural sources, which is subsequently applied as a coating on glass substrates and allowed to air-dry at room temperature. The result is a series of geopolymer-coated glass films, serving as the foundation for further experimentation. To enhance the photocatalytic capabilities of these films, a critical step involves immersing them in a suspension of TiO₂ nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) in water for varying durations. This immersion process yields geopolymer-loaded TiO₂ NPs films with varying concentrations, setting the stage for comprehensive characterization and analysis. A range of advanced analytical techniques, including UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), were meticulously employed to assess the structural, morphological, and chemical properties of the geopolymer-based TiO₂ films. These analyses provided invaluable insights into the materials' composition and surface characteristics. The culmination of this research effort sees the geopolymer-based TiO₂ films being repurposed as immobilized photocatalytic reactors for water decontamination under natural sunlight irradiation. Remarkably, the results revealed exceptional photocatalytic performance that exceeded the capabilities of conventional TiO₂-based photocatalysts. This breakthrough underscores the significant potential of natural geopolymer as a versatile and highly effective matrix for enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO₂ nanoparticles in water treatment applications. In summary, this study represents a significant advancement in the quest for sustainable and efficient photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation. By harnessing the synergistic effects of natural geopolymer and TiO₂ nanoparticles, these geopolymer-based films exhibit outstanding promise in addressing water decontamination challenges and contribute to the development of eco-friendly solutions for a cleaner and healthier environment.

Keywords: geopolymer, TiO2 nanoparticles, photocatalytic materials, water decontamination, sustainable remediation

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Authors: Serpil Kilic, Ihsan Burak Cam, Murat Kilic, Timur Tongur

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Interest in the lead (Pb) has considerably increased due to knowledge about the potential toxic effects of this element, recently. Exposure to heavy metals above the acceptable limit affects human health. Indeed, Pb is accumulated through food chains up to toxic concentrations; therefore, it can pose an adverse potential threat to human health. A sensitive and reliable method for determination of Pb element in red pepper were improved in the present study. Samples (33 red pepper products having different brands) were purchased from different markets in Turkey. The selected method validation criteria (linearity, Limit of Detection, Limit of Quantification, recovery, and trueness) demonstrated. Recovery values close to 100% showed adequate precision and accuracy for analysis. According to the results of red pepper analysis, all of the tested lead element in the samples was determined at various concentrations. A Perkin- Elmer ELAN DRC-e model ICP-MS system was used for detection of Pb. Organic red pepper was used to obtain a matrix for all method validation studies. The certified reference material, Fapas chili powder, was digested and analyzed, together with the different sample batches. Three replicates from each sample were digested and analyzed. The results of the exposure levels of the elements were discussed considering the scientific opinions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is the European Union’s (EU) risk assessment source associated with food safety. The Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) was described by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the calculation of potential health risks associated with long-term exposure to chemical pollutants. THQ value contains intake of elements, exposure frequency and duration, body weight and the oral reference dose (RfD). If the THQ value is lower than one, it means that the exposed population is assumed to be safe and 1 < THQ < 5 means that the exposed population is in a level of concern interval. In this study, the THQ of Pb was obtained as < 1. The results of THQ calculations showed that the values were below one for all the tested, meaning the samples did not pose a health risk to the local population. This work was supported by The Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Akdeniz University. Project Number: FBA-2017-2494.

Keywords: lead analyses, red pepper, risk assessment, daily exposure

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Authors: Arul Ayyaswami, Vidhya Ramalingam

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a significant environmental concern due to their ubiquity and persistence in the environment. Their chemical characteristics and adverse effects on human health demands more effective and sustainable solutions in remediation of the PFAS. The work presented here encompasses an overview of treatment technologies with two case studies that utilize effective approaches in addressing PFAS contaminated media. Currently the options for treatment of PFAS compounds include Activated carbon adsorption, Ion Exchange, Membrane Filtration, Advanced oxidation processes, Electrochemical treatment, and Precipitation and Coagulation. In the first case study, a pilot study application of colloidal activated carbon (CAC) was completed to address PFAS from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) used to extinguish a large fire. The pilot study was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a CAC in situ permeable reactive barrier (PRB) in effectively stopping the migration of PFOS and PFOA, moving from the source area at high concentrations. Before the CAC PRB installation, an injection test using - fluorescein dye was conducted to determine the primary fracture-induced groundwater flow pathways. A straddle packer injection delivery system was used to isolate discrete intervals and gain resolution over the 70 feet saturated zone targeted for treatment. Flow rates were adjusted, and aquifer responses were recorded for each interval. The results from the injection test were used to design the pilot test injection plan using CAC PRB. Following the CAC PRB application, the combined initial concentration 91,400 ng/L of PFOS and PFOA were reduced to approximately 70 ng/L (99.9% reduction), after only one month following the injection event. The results demonstrate the remedy's effectiveness to quickly and safely contain high concentrations of PFAS in fractured bedrock, reducing the risk to downgradient receptors. The second study involves developing a reductive defluorination treatment process using UV and electron acceptor. This experiment indicates a significant potential in treatment of PFAS contaminated waste media such as landfill leachates. The technology also shows a promising way of tacking these contaminants without the need for secondary waste disposal or any additional pre-treatments.

Keywords: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloidal activated carbon (CAC), destructive PFAS treatment technology, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF)

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Authors: Ruzanna Muradyan

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Medical data mining is a crucial field in contemporary healthcare that offers cutting-edge tactics with enormous potential to transform patient care. This abstract examines how sophisticated data mining techniques could transform the healthcare industry, with a special focus on how they might improve patient outcomes. Healthcare data repositories have dynamically evolved, producing a rich tapestry of different, multi-dimensional information that includes genetic profiles, lifestyle markers, electronic health records, and more. By utilizing data mining techniques inside this vast library, a variety of prospects for precision medicine, predictive analytics, and insight production become visible. Predictive modeling for illness prediction, risk stratification, and therapy efficacy evaluations are important points of focus. Healthcare providers may use this abundance of data to tailor treatment plans, identify high-risk patient populations, and forecast disease trajectories by applying machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics. Better patient outcomes, more efficient use of resources, and early treatments are made possible by this proactive strategy. Furthermore, data mining techniques act as catalysts to reveal complex relationships between apparently unrelated data pieces, providing enhanced insights into the cause of disease, genetic susceptibilities, and environmental factors. Healthcare practitioners can get practical insights that guide disease prevention, customized patient counseling, and focused therapies by analyzing these associations. The abstract explores the problems and ethical issues that come with using data mining techniques in the healthcare industry. In order to properly use these approaches, it is essential to find a balance between data privacy, security issues, and the interpretability of complex models. Finally, this abstract demonstrates the revolutionary power of modern data mining methodologies in transforming the healthcare sector. Healthcare practitioners and researchers can uncover unique insights, enhance clinical decision-making, and ultimately elevate patient care to unprecedented levels of precision and efficacy by employing cutting-edge methodologies.

Keywords: data mining, healthcare, patient care, predictive analytics, precision medicine, electronic health records, machine learning, predictive modeling, disease prognosis, risk stratification, treatment efficacy, genetic profiles, precision health

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Authors: Navid Nasrolah Mazandarani, Faezeh Mohammadi Tahrodi, Jr., Norshida Ujang, Richard Jan Pech

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Human evolution has designed us to be dependent on social and natural settings, but designed of our modern cities often ignore this fact. It is evident that high-rise buildings dominate most metropolitan city centers. As a result urban parks are very limited and in many cases are not socially responsive to our social needs in these urban ‘jungles’. This paper emphasizes the functions of urban morphology in supporting socialization in Lake Garden, one of the main urban parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It discusses two relevant theories; first the concept of users’ experience coined by Kevin Lynch (1960) which states that way-finding is related to the process of forming mental maps of environmental surroundings. Second, the concept of social activity coined by Jan Gehl (1987) which holds that urban public spaces can be more attractive when they provide welcoming places in which people can walk around and spend time. Until recently, research on socio-spatial behavior mainly focused on social ties, place attachment and human well-being; with less focus on the spatial dimension of social behavior. This paper examines the socio-spatial behavior within the spatial structure of the urban park by exploring the relationship between way-finding and social activity. The urban structures defined by the paths and nodes were analyzed as the fundamental topological structure of space to understand their effects on the social engagement pattern. The study uses a photo questionnaire survey to inspect the spatial dimension in relation to the social activities within paths and nodes. To understand the legibility of the park, spatial cognition was evaluated using sketch maps produced by 30 participants who visited the park. The results of the sketch mapping indicated that a spatial image has a strong interrelation with socio-spatial behavior. Moreover, an integrated spatial structure of the park generated integrated use and social activity. It was found that people recognized and remembered the spaces where they engaged in social activities. They could experience the park more thoroughly, when they found their way continuously through an integrated park structure. Therefore, the benefits of both perceptual and social dimensions of planning and design happened simultaneously. The findings can assist urban planners and designers to redevelop urban parks by considering the social quality design that contributes to clear mental images of these places.

Keywords: spatial structure, social activities, sketch map, urban park, way-finding

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Authors: Qiyao Han, Xianhai Meng

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Urban infrastructures refer to the fundamental facilities and systems that serve cities. Due to the global climate change and human activities in recent years, many urban areas around the world are facing enormous challenges from natural and man-made disasters, like flood, earthquake and terrorist attack. For this reason, urban resilience to disasters has attracted increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. Given the complexity of infrastructure systems and the uncertainty of disasters, this paper suggests that studies of resilience could focus on urban functional sustainability (in social, economic and environmental dimensions) supported by infrastructure systems under disturbance. It is supposed that urban infrastructure systems with high resilience should be able to reconfigure themselves without significant declines in critical functions (services), such as primary productivity, hydrological cycles, social relations and economic prosperity. Despite that some methods have been developed to integrate the resilience and sustainability of individual infrastructure components, more work is needed to enable system-level integration. This research presents a conceptual analysis framework for integrating resilience and sustainability based on fractal theory. It is believed that the ability of an ecological system to maintain structure and function in face of disturbance and to reorganize following disturbance-driven change is largely dependent on its self-similar and hierarchical fractal structure, in which cross-scale resilience is produced by the replication of ecosystem processes dominating at different levels. Urban infrastructure systems are analogous to ecological systems because they are interconnected, complex and adaptive, are comprised of interconnected components, and exhibit characteristic scaling properties. Therefore, analyzing resilience of ecological system provides a better understanding about the dynamics and interactions of infrastructure systems. This paper discusses fractal characteristics of ecosystem resilience, reviews literature related to system-level infrastructure resilience, identifies resilience criteria associated with sustainability dimensions, and develops a conceptual analysis framework. Exploration of the relevance of identified criteria to fractal characteristics reveals that there is a great potential to analyze infrastructure systems based on fractal. In the conceptual analysis framework, it is proposed that in order to be resilient, urban infrastructure system needs to be capable of “maintaining” and “reorganizing” multi-scale critical functions under disasters. Finally, the paper identifies areas where further research efforts are needed.

Keywords: fractal, urban infrastructure, sustainability, system-level resilience

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Authors: Reena Aggarwal

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The use of textile chemicals in the various pre and post-textile manufacturing processes has made the textile industry conscious of its negative contribution to environmental pollution. Popular environmentally friendly fibers such as recycled polyester and organic cotton have been now increasingly used by fabrics and apparel manufacturers. However, after these textiles or the finished apparel are manufactured, they have to be dyed in the same chemical dyes that are harmful and toxic to the environment. Dyeing is a major area of concern for the environment as well as for people who have chemical sensitivities as it may cause nausea, breathing difficulties, seizures, etc. Ayurvastra or herbal medical textiles are one step ahead of the organic lifestyle, which supports the core concept of holistic well-being and also eliminates the impact of harmful chemicals and pesticides. There is a wide range of herbs that can be used not only for dyeing but also for providing medicinal properties to the textiles like antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, antidepressant and for treating insomnia, skin diseases, etc. The concept of herbal dyeing of fabric is to manifest herbal essence in every aspect of clothing, i.e., from production to end-use, additionally to eliminate the impact of harmful chemical dyes and chemicals which are known to result in problems like skin rashes, headache, trouble concentrating, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, dizziness, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat and seizures. Herbal dyeing or finishing on textiles will give an extra edge to the textiles as it adds an extra function to the fabric. The herbal extracts can be applied to the textiles by a simple process like the pad dry cure method and mainly acts on the human body through the skin for aiding in the treatment of disease or managing the medical condition through its herbal properties. This paper, therefore, delves into producing Ayurvastra, which is a perfect amalgamation of cloth and wellness. The aim of the paper is to design and create herbal disposable and non-disposable medical textile products acting mainly topically (through the skin) for providing medicinal properties/managing medical conditions. Keeping that in mind, a range of antifungal socks and antibacterial napkins treated with turmeric and aloe vera were developed, which are recommended for the treatment of fungal and bacterial infections, respectively. Both Herbal Antifungal socks and Antibacterial napkins have proved to be efficient enough in managing and treating fungal and bacterial infections of the skin, respectively.

Keywords: ayurvastra, ayurveda, herbal, pandemic, sustainable

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Authors: Robert John Godby

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To be responsive now and in the future, workplaces must address the demands of multicultural teams as they become more common elements of the global labor force. This is especially the case for aged care due to the aging population, industry growth and migrant recruitment. This research identifies influences on and improvements for learning in these environments. Its unique contribution is to illuminate how culturally diverse workplaces can work and learn together more effectively. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather data about this topic in two phases. Firstly, the research methods included a survey of 102 aged care workers around Australia from two multi-site aged care organisations. The questionnaire elicited both quantitative and qualitative data about worker characteristics and perspectives on working and learning in aged care. Secondly, a case study of one aged care worksite was formulated drawing on worksite information and interviews with workers. A review of the literature suggests that learning in multicultural work environments is influenced by three main factors: 1) the individual workers themselves, 2) their interaction with each other and 3) the environment in which they work. There are various accounts of these three factors, how they are manifested and how they lead to a change in workers’ disposition, knowledge, or expertise when confronted with new circumstances. The study has found that a key individual factor influencing learning is cultural background. Their unique view of the world was shown to affect their approach to both their work and co-working. Interactional factors suggest that the high requirement for collaboration in aged care positively supports learning in this context; however, it can be hindered by cultural bias and spoken accent. The study also found that environmental factors, such as disruptions caused by the pandemic, were another key influence. For example, the need to wear face masks hindered the communication needed for workplace learning. This was especially challenging due to the diverse language backgrounds and abilities within the teams. Potential improvements for learning in multicultural aged care work environments were identified. These include more frequent and structured inter-peer learning (e.g. buddying), communication training (e.g. English language usage for both native and non-native speaking workers) and support for cross-cultural habitude (e.g. recognizing and adapting to cultural differences). Workplace learning in cross-cultural aged care environments is an area that is not extensively dealt with in the literature. This study addresses this gap and holds the potential to contribute practical insights to aged care and other diverse industries.

Keywords: cross-cultural learning, learning in aged care, migrant learning, workplace learning

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Authors: Falana Yetunde Olaitan, Ijah U. J. J, Solebo Shakirat O.

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Genetically modified crops are already phenomenally successful and are grown worldwide in more than eighteen countries on more than 67 million hectares. Nigeria, in October 2018, approved Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and maize; therefore, the need to carry out environmental risk assessment studies. A total of 15 4L octagonal ceramic pots were filled with 4kg of soil and placed on the bench in 2 rows of 10 pots each and the 3rd row of 5 pots, 1st-row pots were used to plant GM cotton seeds, while the 2nd-row pots were used for non-GM cotton seeds and the 3rd row of 5 pots served as control, all in the screen house. Soil samples for metagenomic DNA extraction were collected at random and at the monthly interval after planting at a distance of 2mm from the plant’s root and at a depth of 10cm using a sterile spatula. Soil samples for physicochemical analysis were collected before planting and after harvesting the GM and non-GM crops as well as from the control soil. The DNA was extracted, quantified and sequenced; Sample 1A (DNA from GM cotton Soil at 1st interval) gave the lowest sequence read with 0.853M while sample 2B (DNA from GM cotton Soil at 2nd interval) gave the highest with 5.785M, others gave between 1.8M and 4.7M. The samples treatment were grouped into four, Group 1 (GM cotton soil from 1 to 3 intervals) had between 800,000 and 5,700,000 strains of microbes (SOM), Group 2 (non GM cotton soil from 1 to 3 intervals) had between 1,400,600 and 4,200,000 SOM, Group 3 (control soil) had between 900,000 and 3,600,000 SOM and Group 4 (initial soil) had between 3,700,000 and 4,000,000 SOM. The microbes observed were predominantly bacteria (including archaea), fungi, dark matter alongside protists and phages. The predominant bacterial groups were the Terrabacteria (Bacillus funiculus, Bacillus sp.), the Proteobacteria (Microvirga massiliensis, sphingomonas sp.) and the Archaea (Nitrososphaera sp.), while the fungi were Aspergillus fischeri and Fusarium falciforme. The comparative analysis between groups was done using JACCARD PERMANOVA beta diversity analysis at P-value not more than 0.76 and there was no significant pair found. The pH for initial, GM cotton, non-GM cotton and control soil were 6.28, 6.26, 7.25, 8.26 and the percentage moisture was 0.63, 0.78, 0.89 and 0.82, respectively, while the percentage Nitrogen was observed to be 17.79, 1.14, 1.10 and 0.56 respectively. Other parameters include, varying concentrations of Potassium (0.46, 1,284.47, 1,785.48, 1,252.83 mg/kg) and Phosphorus (18.76, 17.76, 16.87, 15.23 mg/kg) were recorded for the four treatments respectively. The soil consisted mainly of silt (32.09 to 34.66%) and clay (58.89 to 60.23%), reflecting the soil texture as silty – clay. The results were then tested with ANOVA at less than 0.05 P-value and no pair was found to be significant as well. The results suggest that the GM crops have no significant effect on microbial ecology and physicochemical properties of the soil and, in turn, no direct or indirect effects on human health.

Keywords: genetically modified crop, microbial ecology, physicochemical properties, metagenomics, DNA, soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: R. Barbour

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Peace-building organisations act as a network of information for communities. Through fieldwork, it was highlighted that grassroots organisations and activists may cooperate with each other in their actions of peace-building; however, they would not collaborate. Within two divided societies; Nicosia in Cyprus and Jerusalem in Israel, there is a distinction made by organisations and activists with regards to activities being more ‘co-operative’ than ‘collaborative’. This theme became apparent when having informal conversations and semi-structured interviews with various members of the activist communities. This idea needs further exploration as these distinctions could impact upon the efficiency of peacebuilding activities within divided societies. Civil societies within divided landscapes, both physically and socially, play an important role in conflict resolution. How organisations and activists interact with each other has the possibility to be very influential with regards to peacebuilding activities. Working together sets a positive example for divided communities. Cooperation may be considered a primary level of interaction between CSOs. Therefore, at the beginning of a working relationship, organisations cooperate over basic agendas, parallel power structures and focus, which led to the same objective. Over time, in some instances, due to varying factors such as funding, more trust and understanding within the relationship, it could be seen that processes progressed to more collaborative ways. It is evident to see that NGOs and activist groups are highly independent and focus on their own agendas before coming together over shared issues. At this time, there appears to be more collaboration in Nicosia among CSOs and activists than Jerusalem. The aims and objectives of agendas also influence how organisations work together. In recent years, Nicosia, and Cyprus in general, have perhaps changed their focus from peace-building initiatives to more environmental issues which have become new-age reconciliation topics. Civil society does not automatically indicate like-minded organisations however solidarity within social groups can create ties that bring people and resources together. In unequal societies, such as those in Nicosia and Jerusalem, it is these ties that cut across groups and are essential for social cohesion. Societies are a collection of social groups; individuals who have come together over common beliefs. These groups in turn shape the identities and determine the values and structures within societies. At many different levels and stages, social groups work together through cooperation and collaboration. These structures in turn have the capabilities to open up networks to less powerful or excluded groups, with the aim to produce social cohesion which may contribute social stability and economic welfare over any extended period.

Keywords: collaboration, cooperation, grassroots activism, networks of communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Ernest Tambo, Ghislaine Madjou, Jeanne Y. Ngogang, Shenglan Tang, Zhou XiaoNong

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Implementing national to community-based 'One Health' surveillance approach for human, animal and environmental consequences mitigation offers great opportunities and value-added in sustainable development and wellbeing. 'One Health' surveillance approach global partnerships, policy commitment and financial investment are much needed in addressing the evolving threats and epidemics crises mitigation in African countries. The paper provides insights onto how China-Africa health development cooperation in promoting “One Health” surveillance approach in response advocacy and mitigation. China-Africa health development initiatives provide new prospects in guiding and moving forward appropriate and evidence-based advocacy and mitigation management approaches and strategies in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Early and continuous quality and timely surveillance data collection and coordinated information sharing practices in malaria and other diseases are demonstrated in Comoros, Zanzibar, Ghana and Cameroon. Improvements of variety of access to contextual sources and network of data sharing platforms are needed in guiding evidence-based and tailored detection and response to unusual hazardous events. Moreover, understanding threats and diseases trends, frontline or point of care response delivery is crucial to promote integrated and sustainable targeted local, national “One Health” surveillance and response approach needs implementation. Importantly, operational guidelines are vital in increasing coherent financing and national workforce capacity development mechanisms. Strengthening participatory partnerships, collaboration and monitoring strategies in achieving global health agenda effectiveness in Africa. At the same enhancing surveillance data information streams reporting and dissemination usefulness in informing policies decisions, health systems programming and financial mobilization and prioritized allocation pre, during and post threats and epidemics crises programs strengths and weaknesses. Thus, capitalizing on “One Health” surveillance and response approach advocacy and mitigation implementation is timely in consolidating Africa Union 2063 agenda and Africa renaissance capabilities and expectations.

Keywords: Africa, one health approach, surveillance, response

Procedia PDF Downloads 400

Authors: Najma Najam, Rukhsana Kausar, Rabia Hussain Kanwal, Saira Batool, Anum Javed

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In Pakistan, elderly population though increasing but it has been neglected by the researchers and policy makers which resulted in compromised quality of life of the ageing population. Two regions, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) were selected for comparison as Lahore and Multan (Punjab) are highly urbanized, large cities whereas Gilgit and Skardu are remote and mountain bounded valleys in GB. This study focuses on psychological and emotional functioning of elderly and a series of measures translated and adapted in Urdu language was used to assess quality of life, psychological and mental well-being, actual and perceived social support, attachment patterns, forgiveness, affects, geriatric depression, and emotional disturbance patterns (depression, anxiety, and stress) in elderly. A gender-equated sample of 201 elderly participants, 93 from GB (60 from Gilgit, 33 from Skardu) and 108 from Punjab (61 from Lahore, 47 from Multan) with over 60 years age was collected from the multiethnic community of Punjab and GB through purposive convenient sampling technique. Findings revealed that elderly from Multan have better psychological and emotional functioning, higher levels of social support, tendency to forgive, better mental wellbeing and quality of life and lower levels of stress, anxiety, depression, negative affect and attachment avoidance and anxiety related to partner as compared to the elderly from Lahore. Furthermore, both elderly male of Gilgit & Skardu have adequate mental well-being including subjective well-being and psychological functioning which showed positive aspects of mental health but elderly female are more attached to their home and neighbourhood which shows their social and environmental mastery. Gilgiti elderly male reported more degree of positive affect such as enthusiasm, active, alertness, excitement and strong whereas among elderly from Skardu shows more negative affect i.e. aversive mood states, irritability, hostility, and general distress. The need of psychosocial therapy and family counseling for the elderly in urban areas has been identified, which can facilitate in reducing or preventing the depressive and stressful tendencies. The findings are expected to have implications for improving quality of life of the elderly, designing interventions, support system and rehabilitation services to help them. However, findings may attract attention of policy makers and researchers as currently this is the most neglected population in Pakistan.

Keywords: psychological, emotional, aging, elderly, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 507

Authors: Medhat Tawfik, Ezzat Abd El Lateef, Bahr Amany, Mohamed Magda

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Applying organic farming systems in biosaline agriculture is unconventional approach for sustainable use of marginal soil and desert land for planting non-traditional halophytic crops such as Leptochloa fusca, Kochia indica, Sporobolus virginicus and Spartina patens. These plants are highly salt tolerant C4 halophytic forage plants grown well in coastal salt marsh. These halophytic plant will take important place in the farming system, especially in the coastal areas and salt-affected land. We can call it environmentally smart crops because they ensure food security, contribute to energy security, guarantee environmental sustainability, and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Organic Agriculture is the most important and widely practiced agro-ecological farming system. It is claimed to be the most sustainable approach and long term adaptation strategy. It promotes soil fertility and diversity at all levels and makes soils less susceptible to erosion. It is also reported to be climate change resilience farming systems as it promotes the proper management of soil, water, biodiversity and local knowledge and provides producers with ecologically sound management decisions. A field experiment was carried out at the Model Farm of National Research Centre, El Tour, South Sinai to study the impact of (Mycorrhiza 1kg/fed., charcoal 4 tons/fed., chicken manure 5 tons/fed., in addition to control treatment) on some growth characters, photosynthetic pigments content, and some physiological aspects i.e. prolind and soluble carbohydrates content, succulence and osmotic pressure values, as well as nutritive values i.e. Crude fat (CF), Acid detergent fiber (ADF), Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), Ether extract (EE) and Nitrogen-free extract (NFE) of five halophytic plant species (Leptochloa fusca, Kochia indica, Sporobolus virginicus and Spartina patens). Our results showed that organic fertilizer treatment enhanced all the previous character as compared with control with superiority to chicken manure over the other treatments.

Keywords: organic agriculture, halophytic plants, saline environment, water security

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: M. Sakthivel, A. Devaki, D. Balasubramanyam, P. Kumarasamy, A. Raja, R. Anilkumar, H. Gopi

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The New Zealand White breed of rabbit is one of the most commonly used, well adapted exotic breeds in India. Earlier studies were limited only to analyze the environmental factors affecting the growth and reproductive performance. In the present study, the population of the New Zealand White rabbits in a closed herd was evaluated for its genetic structure. Data on pedigree information (n=2508) for 18 years (1995-2012) were utilized for the study. Pedigree analysis and the estimates of population genetic parameters based on gene origin probabilities were performed using the software program ENDOG (version 4.8). The analysis revealed that the mean values of generation interval, coefficients of inbreeding and equivalent inbreeding were 1.489 years, 13.233 percent and 17.585 percent, respectively. The proportion of population inbred was 100 percent. The estimated mean values of average relatedness and the individual increase in inbreeding were 22.727 and 3.004 percent, respectively. The percent increase in inbreeding over generations was 1.94, 3.06 and 3.98 estimated through maximum generations, equivalent generations, and complete generations, respectively. The number of ancestors contributing the most of 50% genes (fₐ₅₀) to the gene pool of reference population was 4 which might have led to the reduction in genetic variability and increased amount of inbreeding. The extent of genetic bottleneck assessed by calculating the effective number of founders (fₑ) and the effective number of ancestors (fₐ), as expressed by the fₑ/fₐ ratio was 1.1 which is indicative of the absence of stringent bottlenecks. Up to 5th generation, 71.29 percent pedigree was complete reflecting the well-maintained pedigree records. The maximum known generations were 15 with an average of 7.9 and the average equivalent generations traced were 5.6 indicating of a fairly good depth in pedigree. The realized effective population size was 14.93 which is very critical, and with the increasing trend of inbreeding, the situation has been assessed to be worse in future. The proportion of animals with the genetic conservation index (GCI) greater than 9 was 39.10 percent which can be used as a scale to use such animals with higher GCI to maintain balanced contribution from the founders. From the study, it was evident that the herd was completely inbred with very high inbreeding coefficient and the effective population size was critical. Recommendations were made to reduce the probability of deleterious effects of inbreeding and to improve the genetic variability in the herd. The present study can help in carrying out similar studies to meet the demand for animal protein in developing countries.

Keywords: effective population size, genetic structure, pedigree analysis, rabbit genetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Razaq A. Olaitan, Ayansina Ayanlade

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Understanding aerosol properties is the main goal of global research in order to lower the uncertainty associated with climate change in the trends and magnitude of aerosol particles. In order to identify aerosol particle types, optical properties, and the relationship between aerosol properties and particle concentration between 2019 and 2021, a study conducted in Ilorin, Nigeria, examined the aerosol robotic network's ground-based sun/sky scanning radiometer. The AERONET algorithm version 2 was utilized to retrieve monthly data on aerosol optical depth and angstrom exponent. The version 3 algorithm, which is an almucantar level 2 inversion, was employed to retrieve daily data on single scattering albedo and aerosol size distribution. Excel 2016 was used to analyze the data's monthly, seasonal, and annual mean averages. The distribution of different types of aerosols was analyzed using scatterplots, and the optical properties of the aerosol were investigated using pertinent mathematical theorems. To comprehend the relationships between particle concentration and properties, correlation statistics were employed. Based on the premise that aerosol characteristics must remain constant in both magnitude and trend across time and space, the study's findings indicate that the types of aerosols identified between 2019 and 2021 are as follows: 29.22% urban industrial (UI) aerosol type, 37.08% desert (D) aerosol type, 10.67% biomass burning (BB), and 23.03% urban mix (Um) aerosol type. Convective wind systems, which frequently carry particles as they blow over long distances in the atmosphere, have been responsible for the peak-of-the-columnar aerosol loadings, which were observed during August of the study period. The study has shown that while coarse mode particles dominate, fine particles are increasing in seasonal and annual trends. Burning biomass and human activities in the city are linked to these trends. The study found that the majority of particles are highly absorbing black carbon, with the fine mode having a volume median radius of 0.08 to 0.12 meters. The investigation also revealed that there is a positive coefficient of correlation (r = 0.57) between changes in aerosol particle concentration and changes in aerosol properties. Human activity is rapidly increasing in Ilorin, causing changes in aerosol properties, indicating potential health risks from climate change and human influence on geological and environmental systems.

Keywords: aerosol loading, aerosol types, health risks, optical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: Kaddour Fellague Mohammed

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The world has seen in recent years, significant developments affected various aspects of life and influenced the different types of institutions, thus was born a new world is a world of globalization, which dominated the scientific revolution and the tremendous technological developments, and that contributed to the re-formation of human resources in contemporary organizations, and made patterns new regulatory and at the same time raised and strongly values and new ideas, the organizations have become more flexible, and faster response to consumer and environmental conditions, and exceeded the problem of time and place in the framework of communication and human interaction and use of advanced information technology and adoption mainly mechanism in running its operations , focused on performance and based strategic thinking and approach in order to achieve its strategic goals high degrees of superiority and excellence, this new reality created an increasing need for a new type of human resources, quality aims to renew and aspire to be a strategic player in managing the organization and drafting of various strategies, think globally and act locally, to accommodate local variables in the international markets, which began organizations tend to strongly as well as the ability to work under different cultures. Human resources management of the most important management functions to focus on the human element, which is considered the most valuable resource of the Department and the most influential in productivity at all, that the management and development of human resources Tattabra a cornerstone in the majority of organizations which aims to strengthen the organizational capacity, and enable companies to attract and rehabilitation of the necessary competencies and are able to keep up with current and future challenges, human resources can contribute to and strongly in achieving the objectives and profit organization, and even expand more than contribute to the creation of new jobs to alleviate unemployment and achieve full operation, administration and human resources mean short optimal use of the human element is available and expected, where he was the efficiency and capabilities, and experience of this human element, and his enthusiasm for the work stop the efficiency and success in reaching their goals, so interested administration scientists developed the principles and foundations that help to make the most of each individual benefit in the organization through human resources management, these foundations start of the planning and selection, training and incentives and evaluation, which is not separate from each other, but are integrated with each other as a system systemic order to reach the efficient functioning of the human resources management and has been the organization as a whole in the context of development sustainable.

Keywords: configuration, training, development, human resources, operating

Procedia PDF Downloads 405

Authors: Katie E. Jennings

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The interactions between family dynamics and environmental factors with mental health vulnerability in individuals are well known and are a theme for on-going research and debate. The impact upon mental health issues and forensic issues on family dynamics, experience, and emotional wellbeing cannot be over-Emphasised. For forensic patients with diagnosed mental disorders, these relationships and environments may have also been functionally linked to the development and maintenance of those disorders; with significant adverse childhood experiences being a common feature of many Patient’s histories. Mental health hospitals remove the patient from their home environments and provide treatment outside of these relationships and often outside of the home area. There is, therefore, a major focus on Services ensuring that patients are able to build and maintain relationships with family and friends, requiring services to involve families in Patients' care and treatment wherever possible. There are standards set by Government and clinical bodies that require absolute demonstration of the inclusion of family and friends in all aspects of the care and treatment of forensic patients. For some patients and family members, this push to take on a “role” in care can be unhelpful, extremely stressful, and has constant implications for the potential delicate reparation of relationships. Based on work undertaken for over 20 years in forensic mental health settings, this paper explores the positive psychology approach to a dimensional model to family inclusion in mental health care that learns from family court work and allows for the maintenance of relationships to be at both proximal and Distil levels; to prevent the replication of abuse, decrease the need for falsehoods and assist the recovery of all. The model is based on allowing families to choose to not be involved or be involved in different ways if this is seen to be more helpful. It also allows patients to choose the level of potential involvement that they would find helpful, and for this to be reviewed at a timeframe agreed by all parties, rather than when the next survey is due or the patient has a significant care meeting. This paper is significant as there is a lack of research to support services to use a positive psychology approach to work in this area, the assumption that being asked to be involved must be positive for all seems naïve at best for this patient group. Work relating to the psychology of family can significantly contribute to the development of knowledge in this area. The development of a dimensional model will support choice within families and assist in the development of more honest and open relationships.

Keywords: family dynamics, forensic, mental disorder, positive psychology

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Zorica Tomičić, Ružica Tomičić, Peter Raspor

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Growing resistance of pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata to many classes of antifungal drugs has stimulated efforts to discover new agents to combat a rising number of invasive C. glabrata infections, which deserves a great deal of concern due to the high mortality rate in immunocompromised populations. One promising strategy is the use of probiotic microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confers a health benefit. A selected number of probiotic organisms, Saccharomyces boulardii among them, have been tested as potential biotherapeutic agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the probiotic yeast S. boulardii on the adhesion of clinical isolates of C. glabrata at different temperatures, pH values, and in the presence of three clinically important antifungal drugs, such as fluconazole, itraconazole and amphotericin B. The method used to assess adhesion was crystal violet staining. The selection of antimycotics concentrations used in the adhesion assay was based on minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) obtained by the preliminarily performed microdilution modification of the Reference method for broth dilution antifungal susceptibility testing of yeast (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), standard M27-A2). the results showed that despite the nonadhesiveness of S. boulardii cells, probiotic yeast significantly suppressed the adhesion of C. glabrata strains. Besides, at specific strain ratios, a slight stimulatory effect was observed in some C. glabrata strains, which highlights the importance of strain specificity and opens up further research interests. When environmental conditions are considered, temperature and pH significantly influenced co-culture adhesion of C. glabrata and S. boulardii. The adhesion of C. glabrata strains was relatively equally reduced over all tested temperature range (28°C, 37°C, 39°C and 42°C) in the presence of S. boulardii cells, while the adhesion of a few C. glabrata strains were significantly stimulated at 28°C and suppressed at 42°C. Further, the adhesion was highly dependent on pH, with the highest adherence at pH 4 and lowest at pH 8.5. It was observed that S. boulardii did not manage to suppress the adhesion of C. glabrata strains at high pH. Antimycotics on the other hand showed a greater impact, since S. boulardii failed to affect co-culture adhesion at higher antimycotics concentrations. As expected, exposure to various concentrations of amphotericin B significantly reduced the adherence ability of C.glabrata strains both in a single culture and co-culture with S. boulardii. Therefore, it can be speculated that S. boulardii could substitute the effect of antimycotics in a range concentrations and with specific type of strains. This would certainly change the view on the treatment of yeast infections in the future.

Keywords: adhesion, antimycotics, candida glabrata, saccharomyces boulardii

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: G .D. B. N. Kulasaooriya, H. B. S. Ariyarathne, I. Abeygunawardene, A. A. J. Rafarathne, B. V. Perera

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Elephant is the largest resident of the wild and has small surface to volume ratio as well as less number of sweat glands which cause challenges to the thermoregulation of this mammal. However, this megaherbivore has adopted specialised meachanisms to maintain its thermal balance through behavioral adaptations, ear flapping and well anastomosed arterioles and venules of the ear. Nevertheless, little is known on the involvement of the skin in the process of thermoregulation. The present study was undertaken to monitor the water evaporation rate from the skin of unrestrained wild elephant calves throughout the day and to understand its importance in the thermoregulation. Seven baby elephants housed in the elephant transit home, Udawalawe were used. Ambient temparature, relative humidity (RH) and radiation heat load was monitored throughout the day of the study period. Similarly, surface temparature of the skin was taken at six points including lateral ear pinna, lateral body and the rump during the same period. The skin water evaporation was also measured from the same sites using cobolt chloride method. The surface are of the skin was determined by assigning geometrical shapes to each body part. The results showed that the ambient temperature gradually increased with the day reaching maximum around 3.00 pm. The relative humidity was lowest early in the morning. The radiation heat load did not show any significant change in the study period. The skin temperature was different among lateral ear pinna, lateral body and the rump where the highest temperature was on the rump and the lowest on the lateral ear pinna. The skin temperature gradually increase with increasing ambient temperature but there was not a strong correlation (R2 =53.53) between these two. The skin temperature had strong correlation with RH (p<0.05 R2 =70.84% ) but a significant relationship was not considered since the radiation heat load was not varying in large scale. The skin evaporative water loss had a weak negative correlation with ambient temperature (correlation coefficient= -0.01) whereas strong positive correlation with RH (correlation coefficient= 25.275 ) and no corelation with radiation heat load. It also appeared that skin water loss increases as the skin temperature increased. In the present study, it was observed that on average, skin of the baby elephant looses 403 g/m2/h of water. Based on these observations it can be concluded that a large volume of water is evaporated from the skin of baby elephants and evaporative heat loss may be contributing significantly to the thermoregulation. However, further investigation on the influence of environmental factors on evaporative heat loss has to be conducted to understand the thermoregulatory mechanisms of the baby elephant.

Keywords: thermoregulation, behavioral adaptations, evaporation, elephant

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Ankit Tyagi, Reet Kamal Tiwari, Naveen James

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Landslide is the major geo-environmental problem of Himalaya because of high ridges, steep slopes, deep valleys, and complex system of streams. They are mainly triggered by rainfall and earthquake and causing severe damage to life and property. In Uttarakhand, the Tehri reservoir rim area, which is situated in the lesser Himalaya of Garhwal hills, was selected for landslide hazard zonation (LHZ). The study utilized different types of data, including geological maps, topographic maps from the survey of India, Landsat 8, and Cartosat DEM data. This paper presents the use of a weighted overlay method in LHZ using fourteen causative factors. The various data layers generated and co-registered were slope, aspect, relative relief, soil cover, intensity of rainfall, seismic ground shaking, seismic amplification at surface level, lithology, land use/land cover (LULC), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI), drainage buffer and reservoir buffer. Seismic analysis is performed using peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) intensity and amplification factors in the evaluation of the landslide hazard index (LHI). Several digital image processing techniques such as topographic correction, NDVI, and supervised classification were widely used in the process of terrain factor extraction. Lithological features, LULC, drainage pattern, lineaments, and structural features are extracted using digital image processing techniques. Colour, tones, topography, and stream drainage pattern from the imageries are used to analyse geological features. Slope map, aspect map, relative relief are created by using Cartosat DEM data. DEM data is also used for the detailed drainage analysis, which includes TWI, SPI, drainage buffer, and reservoir buffer. In the weighted overlay method, the comparative importance of several causative factors obtained from experience. In this method, after multiplying the influence factor with the corresponding rating of a particular class, it is reclassified, and the LHZ map is prepared. Further, based on the land-use map developed from remote sensing images, a landslide vulnerability study for the study area is carried out and presented in this paper.

Keywords: weighted overlay method, GIS, landslide hazard zonation, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Kauser Jahan, Jason Halvorsen, Kara Banks, Kara Natoli, Elizabeth McWeeney, Brittany LeMasney, Nicole Caramanna, Justin Hillman, Christopher Hauske, Meghan Sparks

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The Virtual Engineers on Wheels (ViEW) is a revised version of our established mobile K-12 outreach program Engineers on Wheels in order to address the pandemic. The Virtual Engineers on Wheels' (VIEW) goal has stayed the same as in prior years: to provide K-12 students and educators with the necessary resources to peak interest in the expanding fields of engineering. With these trying times, the Virtual Engineers on Wheels outreach has adapted its medium of instruction to be more seamless with the online approach to teaching and outreach. In the midst of COVID-19, providing a safe transfer of information has become a constraint for research. The focus has become how to uphold a level of quality instruction without diminishing the safety of those involved by promoting proper health practices and giving hope to students as well as their families. Furthermore, ViEW has created resources on effective strategies that minimize risk factors of COVID-19 and inform families that there is still a promising future ahead. To obtain these goals while still maintaining true to the hands-on learning that is so crucial to young minds, the approach is online video lectures followed by experiments within different engineering disciplines. ViEW has created a comprehensive website that students can leverage to explore the different fields of study. One of the experiments entails teaching about drone usage and how it might play a factor in the future of unmanned deliveries. Some of the other experiments focus on the differences in mask materials and their effectiveness, as well as their environmental outlook. Having students perform from home enables them a safe environment to learn at their own pace while still providing quality instruction that would normally be achieved in the classroom. Contact information is readily available on the website to provide interested parties with a means to ask their inquiries. As it currently stands, the interest in engineering/STEM-related fields is underrepresented from women and certain minority groups. So alongside the desire to grow interest, helping balance the scales is one of the main priorities of VIEW. In previous years, VIEW surveyed students before and after instruction to see if their perception of engineering has changed. In general, it is the understanding that being exposed to engineering/STEM at a young age increases the chances that it will be pursued later in life.

Keywords: STEM, engineering outreach, teaching pedagogy, pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Joseph Mwiti Marangu, Joseph Karanja Thiong'o, Jackson Muthengia Wachira

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The mechanical performance of hydrated cements mortars mainly depends on its compressive strength and setting time. These properties are crucial in the construction industry. Pozzolana based cements are mostly characterized by low 28 day compressive strength and long setting times. These are some of the major impediments to their production and diverse uses despite numerous technological and environmental benefits associated with them. The study investigated the effects of potential chemical activators on calcined clay- Portland cement blends with an aim to achieve high early compressive strength and shorter setting times in cement mortar. In addition, standard consistency, soundness and insoluble residue of all cement categories was determined. The test cement was made by blending calcined clays with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) at replacement levels from 35 to 50 percent by mass of the OPC to make test cement labeled PCC for the purposes of this study. Mortar prisms measuring 40mmx40mmx160mm were prepared and cured in accordance with KS EAS 148-3:2000 standard. Solutions of Na2SO4, NaOH, Na2SiO3 and Na2CO3 containing 0.5- 2.5M were separately added during casting. Compressive strength was determined at 2rd, 7th, 28th and 90th day of curing. For comparison purposes, commercial Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) were also investigated without activators under similar conditions. X-Ray Florescence (XRF) was used for chemical analysis while X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were used for mineralogical analysis of the test samples. The results indicated that addition of activators significantly increased the 2nd and 7th day compressive strength but minimal increase on the 28th and 90th day compressive strength. A relatively linear relationship was observed between compressive strength and concentration of activator solutions up to 28th of curing. Addition of the said activators significantly reduced both initial and final setting time. Standard consistency and soundness varied with increased amount of clay in the test cement and concentration of activators. Amount of insoluble residues increased with increased replacement of OPC with calcined clays. Mineralogical studies showed that N-A-S-H is formed in addition to C-S-H. In conclusion, the concentration of 2 molar for all activator solutions produced the optimum compressive strength and greatly reduced the setting times for all cement mortars.

Keywords: activators, admixture, cement, clay, pozzolana

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Judit Perjessy, Zsolt Zalan, Ferenc Hegyi, Eniko Horvath-Szanics, Krisztina Takacs, Andras Nagy, Adel Klupacs, Erika Koppany-Szabo, Zhirong Wang, Kaituo Wang, Muying Du, Jianquan Kan

Abstract:

The post-harvest diseases cause great economic losses in the fruit and vegetables; the prevention of these deterioration has great importance. Against the fungi, which cause most of the diseases, are extensively used the fungicides. However, there are increasing consumer concerns over the presence of pesticide residues in food. An alternative and in recent years, increasingly studied method for the prevention of the diseases is biocontrol, where antagonistic microorganisms are used for the control of fungi. The genera of Lactobacillus is well known and extensively studied, but its applicability as biocontrol agents in post-harvest preservation of fruit and vegetables is poorly investigated. However these bacteria can be found on the surface of the plants and have great antimicrobial activity. In our study we have investigated the chitinase activity, the antifungal effect and the applicability of several Lactobacillus strains to select potential biocontrol agents. We investigated the determination of the environmental parameters of a gene (encoding chitinase) expression and we also investigated the relationship between actual antifungal activity and potential chitinase activity. Mixed cultures were also developed to enhance the antifungal activity and determined the optimal mold spore and bacteria concentration ratio for the appropriate efficacy. Five Lactobacillus strains (L. acidophilus N2, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus B397, L. sp. 2231, L. sake subsp. sake 2471, L. buchneri 1145) possess chitinase-coding gene from the 43 investigated Lactobacillus strains. Proteins with similar molecular weight and separation properties like bacterial chitinases were detected from these strains, which also possess chitin-binding property. Nevertheless, they were inactive, lacks the chitinolytic activity. In point of the cumulative activity of inhibition, our results showed that certain strains were statistically significant in a positive direction compared to other strains, e.g., L. rhamnosus VT1 and L. Casey 154 have shown great general antifungal effect against 11 molds from the genera Penicillium and Botrytis and isolated from spoiled fruit and vegetables. Also, some mixed cultures (L. rhamnosus VT1 - L. Plantarum 299v) showed significant antifungal effects against the indigenous molds on the surface of apple fruit during the industrial storage experiment. Thus, they could be promising for post-harvest biopreservation.

Keywords: biocontrol, chitinase, Lactobacillus, post-harvest

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