Search results for: adaptation and reuse

Authors: Tsegaye Adane Birhan

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Recently, rapid industrialization has led to the excessive release of heavy metals such as Cr (VI) into the environment. Exposure to chromium (VI) can cause kidney and liver damage, depressed immune systems, and a variety of cancers. Therefore, treatment of Cr (VI) containing wastewater is mandatory. This study aims to optimize the removal of Cr (VI) from an aqueous solution using locally available Teff husk-activated carbon adsorbent. The laboratory-based study was conducted on the optimization of Cr (VI) removal efficiency of Teff husk-activated carbon from aqueous solution. A central composite design was used to examine the effect of the interaction of process parameters and to optimize the process using Design Expert version 7.0 software. The optimized removal efficiency of Teff husk activated carbon (95.597%) was achieved at 1.92 pH, 87.83mg/L initial concentration, 20.22g/L adsorbent dose and 2.07Hrs contact time. The adsorption of Cr (VI) on Teff husk-activated carbon was found to be best fitted with pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model of the adsorption. Teff husk-activated carbon can be used as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of chromium (VI) from contaminated water. Column adsorption needs to be studied in the future.

Keywords: batch adsorption, chromium (VI), teff husk activated carbon, response surface methodology, tannery wastewater

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Authors: Maider Gómez Palmero, Ana Carrasco Pérez, Paula de la Sen de la Cruz, Francisco Javier Royo Herrer, Sonia Ascaso Malo

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The production of bio-based products for different purposes is one of the strategies that has grown the most at European and even global levels, seeking to contribute to mitigating the impacts associated with climate change and to achieve the ambitious objectives set in this regard. However, the substitution of fossil-based products for bio-based products requires a challenging and deep transformation and adaptation of the secondary and primary sectors and, more specifically, in the latter, the agro-industries. The first step to developing a bio-based value chain focuses on the availability of a resource with the right characteristics for the substitution sought. This, in turn, requires a significant reshaping of the forestry/agricultural sector but also of the agro-industry, which has a relevant potential to be deployed as a supplier and develop a robust logistical supply chain and to market a biobased raw material at a competitive price. However, this transformation may involve a profound restructuring of its traditional business model to incorporate biorefinery concepts. In this sense, agro-industries that generate by-products in their processes that are currently not valorized, such as potato processing rejects or the starch found in washing water, constitute a potential raw material that can be used for different bio-applications. This article aims to explore this potential to evaluate the most suitable bio applications to target and identify opportunities and challenges.

Keywords: starch valorisation, biorefinery, bio-based raw materials, bio-applications

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Authors: William Adzawla

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In the midst of climate variability and change, the role of gender in ensuring food production remains vital. Therefore, this study analysed the gendered productivity among maize farmers, and the effects of climate change and variability as well as livelihood diversification on gendered productivity gap. This involved a total of 619 farmers selected through a multistage sampling procedure. The data was analysed using Oaxaca Blinder decomposition model. From the result, there is a significant productivity gap of 58.8% and 44.8% between male and female heads, and between male heads and female spouses, respectively. About 87.47% and 98.08% of the variations in gendered productivity were explained by resource endowment. While livelihood diversification significantly influenced gendered productivity through endowment and coefficient effect, climate variables significantly affect productivity gap through only coefficient effects. The study concluded that there is a substantial gendered productivity gap among farmers and this is particularly due to differences in endowment. Generally, there is a high potential of reducing gendered productivity gaps through the provision of equal diversification opportunities and reducing females’ vulnerability to climate change. Among the livelihood activities, off-farm activities such as agro-processing and shea butter processing should be promoted. Similarly, the adoption of on-farm adaptation strategies should be promoted among the farmers.

Keywords: climate change and variability, gender, livelihood diversification, oaxaca-blinder decomposition, productivity gap

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Authors: Vikrant Sinha, Himanshu Singh, Nitish Kumar Singh, Sujal Nag

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This research creates an urgent and complex challenge for marine ecosystems. Microplastics were primarily found on land, but now they are pervasive in marine environments as well, affecting a wide range of marine species, from zooplankton to larger mammals that live in those environments. These pollutants interfere with major biological processes like feeding and reproduction, causing disruption throughout the food web as microplastics are getting accumulated at different tropic levels. Meanwhile, climatic changes made these effects more accelerated, and the concentration of microplastics due to these occurrences is increasing day by day. Rising temperatures, melting ice, increased runoff due to rainfall, and shifting wind patterns are transforming marine life in a way that intensifies the burden on marine life. This dual stress is particularly present in fragile ecosystems of marine life, such as coral reefs and mangroves. Addressing this twisted crisis requires not only efforts to restrain plastic pollution but also adapts strategies for climate mitigation. This research emphasizes the critical need to combine approaches to save marine biodiversity and withstand the rapid changes in the environment.

Keywords: microplastic pollution, climate change impacts, marine ecosystems, biodiversity threats, zooplankton ingestion, trophic accumulation, coral reef degradation, ecosystem resilience, plastic pollution mitigation, climate adaptation strategies, SST, sea surface temperature

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Authors: Osatuyi Kehinde Micheal

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There is much research that has contributed to an improved understanding of the future of food security, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A pathway was developed by using a local community kitchen in Muizenberg in western cape province, cape town, south Africa, a case study to map out the future of food security in times of crisis. This kitchen aims to provide nutritious, affordable, plant-based meals to our community. It is also a place of diverse learning, sharing, empowering the volunteers, and growth to support the local economy and future resilience by sustaining our community kitchen for the community. This document contains an overview of the story of the community kitchen on how we create self-sustainability as a new pathway development to sustain the community and reduce Zero hunger in the regional food system. This paper describes the key elements of how we respond to covid-19 pandemic by sharing food parcels and creating 13 soup kitchens across the community to tackle the immediate response to covid-19 pandemic and agricultural systems by growing home food gardening in different homes, also having a consciousness Dry goods store to reduce Zero waste and a local currency as an innovation to reduce food crisis. Insights gained from our article and outreach and their value in how we create adaptation, transformation, and sustainability as a new development pathway to solve any future problem crisis in the food security system in our society.

Keywords: sustainability, food security, community development, adapatation, transformation

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Authors: Jana Vermaas, Carien Denner

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Waste has become a global issue and the management regarding it a priority. Some of the main problems in South Africa (SA) include: (1) the lack of information and education, (2) waste collection services, (3) reusing and recycling is not encouraged, (4) illegal dumping, and the biggest problem of all (5) the lack of waste related regulations and enforcement by the government and municipalities. In SA, there are provinces such as Gauteng and the Western Cape that have some recycling programs in place, but nothing yet in the central part of the country. By identifying the barriers preventing these businesses from recycling, the local municipalities and recycling services could create a solution. Owners or employees of eateries and bars completed a self-administered questionnaire. Information were obtained on knowledge of recycling, participation in recycling and to which extent, barriers that prevent them from recycling and motives that would encourage recycling. The data obtained from the questionnaire indicated that most (98%) participants knew only the basics, that recycling is a process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. Further knowledge questions indicated that individuals were not educated about recycling as almost half (49%) of the participants believe that they can’t reuse plastic bottles. They do not understand which items of their waste could be re-used or recycled. They had limited knowledge about the recycling opportunities or practices in the area. Only a small number (34%) were involved in recycling or sustainable practices. Many did not even know of any collection services or buy-back centres in their vicinity. Most of the participants (94%) indicated that they would be willing to recycle if it would have a financial benefit. Many also stated that they would be more willing to recycle if the recyclable waste will be collected from their establishment, on a regular basis. The enforcement of recycling by municipalities or government by awarding fines for waste offenders was indicated as a significant motive. It could be concluded that the most significant barrier is knowledge and lack of information. These businesses do not comprehend the impact that they can have with their recycling contributions, not only on the environment, but also on the consumers that they serve. Another barrier is the lack of collection services. There are currently no government or municipal services for the collection of recyclable waste. All waste are taken to landfills. Many of the larger recycling initiatives and companies do not reach as far as central SA. Therefore, the buy-back component of recycling is not present.

Keywords: eateries, recycling, sustainable practices, waste

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Authors: Hanna Corsini

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This article provides an analysis of counter-hegemonic movements and their consequences for the neoliberal world order at the international level. Even if calls for change are becoming louder, current research on populist forces at the domestic level in comparative politics is lacking an investigation of the international dimensions of the rise of such movements. At the same time, in the International Relations field, the focus still remains on the surge of challengers at the global level, while the national one stays neglected. This paper argues that to fill this gap as identified in the academic literature, the concept of hegemony, and more precisely, as deployed by Antonio Gramsci, can bear some interesting insights. An adaptation to the 21st century of Gramsci’s concept is proposed, highlighting the explanatory power that key concepts of his theoretical framework have. Transposing it to contemporary politics provides precious elements for an in-depth understanding of counter-hegemonic movements and the consequences of their rise for the neoliberal world order. In an era of disruption and turmoil in national politics, International Relations theory cannot avoid to engage with this dimension. However, populism as a theoretical concept lacks the capacity to go beyond the domestic border. It is therefore essential to create a dialogue between these two fields. Ultimately, the paper claims that (counter-)hegemony is crucial to build a bridge between the international and the domestic level.

Keywords: counter-hegemonic movements, Gramsci, hegemony, international relations

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Authors: Baba Hassane Ahmed Hisseini, Abdelkrim Bennabi, Rabah Hamzaoui, Lamis Makki, Gaetan Blanck

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Most of the clay soils are known as problematic soils due to their water content, which varies greatly over time. It is observed that they are used to be subject to shrinkage and swelling, thus causing a problem of stability on the structures of civil engineering construction work. They are often excavated and placed in a storage area giving rise to the opening of new quarries. This method has become obsolete today because to protect the environment, we are leading to think differently and opening the way to new research for the improvement of the performance of this type of clay soils to reuse them in the construction field. The solidification and stabilization technique is used to improve the properties of poor quality soils to transform them into materials with a suitable performance for a new use in the civil engineering field rather than to excavate them and store them in the discharge area. In our case, the polymerization method is used for bad clay soils classified as high plasticity soil class A4 according to the French standard NF P11-300, where classical treatment methods with cement or lime are not efficient. Our work concerns clay soil treatment study using raw materials as additives for solidification and stabilization. The geopolymers are synthesized by aluminosilicates materials like fly ash, metakaolin, or blast furnace slag and activated by alkaline solution based on sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) or a mixture of both of them. In this study, we present the mechanical properties of the soil clay (A4 type) evolution with geopolymerisation methods treatment. Various mix design of aluminosilicates materials and alkaline solutions were carried at different percentages and different curing times of 1, 7, and 28 days. The compressive strength of the untreated clayey soil could be increased from simple to triple. It is observed that the improvement of compressive strength is associated with a geopolymerization mechanism. The highest compressive strength was found with metakaolin at 28 days.

Keywords: treatment and valorization of clay-soil, solidification and stabilization, alkali-activation of co-product, geopolymerization

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Authors: Zbigniew Czyz, Ksenia Siadkowska, Krzysztof Skiba, Karol Scislowski

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Today’s progress in the rotorcraft is mostly associated with an optimization of aircraft performance achieved by active and passive modifications of main rotor assemblies and a tail propeller. The key task is to improve their performance, improve the hover quality factor for rotors but not change in specific fuel consumption. One of the tasks to improve the helicopter is an active optimization of the main rotor providing for flight stages, i.e., an ascend, flight, a descend. An active interference with the airflow around the rotor blade section can significantly change characteristics of the aerodynamic airfoil. The efficiency of actuator systems modifying aerodynamic coefficients in the current solutions is relatively high and significantly affects the increase in strength. The solution to actively change aerodynamic characteristics assumes a periodic change of geometric features of blades depending on flight stages. Changing geometric parameters of blade warping enables an optimization of main rotor performance depending on helicopter flight stages. Structurally, an adaptation of shape memory alloys does not significantly affect rotor blade fatigue strength, which contributes to reduce costs associated with an adaptation of the system to the existing blades, and gains from a better performance can easily amortize such a modification and improve profitability of such a structure. In order to obtain quantitative and qualitative data to solve this research problem, a number of numerical analyses have been necessary. The main problem is a selection of design parameters of the main rotor and a preliminary optimization of its performance to improve the hover quality factor for rotors. This design concept assumes a three-bladed main rotor with a chord of 0.07 m and radius R = 1 m. The value of rotor speed is a calculated parameter of an optimization function. To specify the initial distribution of geometric warping, a special software has been created that uses a numerical method of a blade element which respects dynamic design features such as fluctuations of a blade in its joints. A number of performance analyses as a function of rotor speed, forward speed, and altitude have been performed. The calculations were carried out for the full model assembly. This approach makes it possible to observe the behavior of components and their mutual interaction resulting from the forces. The key element of each rotor is the shaft, hub and pins holding the joints and blade yokes. These components are exposed to the highest loads. As a result of the analysis, the safety factor was determined at the level of k > 1.5, which gives grounds to obtain certification for the strength of the structure. The construction of the joint rotor has numerous moving elements in its structure. Despite the high safety factor, the places with the highest stresses, where the signs of wear and tear may appear, have been indicated. The numerical analysis carried out showed that the most loaded element is the pin connecting the modular bearing of the blade yoke with the element of the horizontal oscillation joint. The stresses in this element result in a safety factor of k=1.7. The other analysed rotor components have a safety factor of more than 2 and in the case of the shaft, this factor is more than 3. However, it must be remembered that the structure is as strong as the weakest cell is. Designed rotor for unmanned aerial vehicles adapted to work with blades with intelligent materials in its structure meets the requirements for certification testing. Acknowledgement: This work has been financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development under the LIDER program, Grant Agreement No. LIDER/45/0177/L-9/17/NCBR/2018.

Keywords: main rotor, rotorcraft aerodynamics, shape memory alloy, materials, unmanned helicopter

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Authors: Pelin Yılmaz Çetiner, Metin Mert İlgün, Nazlı Çetindağ, Emine Birci, Gizemnur Yıldız Uysal, Özcan Hatipoğlu, Ehsan Tuzcuoğlu, Gökhan Sır

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Water scarcity is an inevitable problem affecting more and more people day by day. It is a worldwide crisis and a consequence of rapid population growth, urbanization and overexploitation. Thus, the solutions providing the reclamation of the wastewater are the desired approach. Wastewater contains various substances such as organic, soaps and detergents, solvents, biological substances, and inorganic substances. The physical properties of the wastewater differs regarding to its origin such as commerical, domestic or hospital usage. Thus, the treatment strategy of this type of wastewater is should be comprehensively investigated and properly treated. The advanced oxidation process comes up as a hopeful method associated with the formation of reactive hydroxyl radicals that are highly reactive to oxidize of organic pollutants. This process has a priority on other methods such as coagulation, flocuation, sedimentation and filtration since it was not cause any undesirable by-products. In the present study, it was aimed to investigate the applicability of advanced oxidation process for the treatment of household appliances wastewater. For this purpose, the laboratory studies providing the effectively addressing of the formed radicals to organic pollutants were carried out. Then the effect of process parameters were comprehensively studied by using response surface methodology, Box-Benhken experimental desing. The final chemical oxygen demand (COD) was the main output to evaluate the optimum point providing the expected COD removal. The linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LAS), total dissolved solids (TDS) and color were measured for the optimum point providing the expected COD removal. Finally, present study pointed out that advanced oxidation process might be efficiently preffered to treat of the household appliances wastewater and the optimum process parameters provided that expected removal of COD.

Keywords: advanced oxidation process, household appliances wastewater, modelling, water reuse

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Authors: Aftab Ali

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Cryopreservation of semen is one of the key factors for a successful breeding business along with other factors. To achieve high fertility in boar, one should know about spermatozoa response to different treatments proceeds during cryopreservation. The running project is highly focused on cryopreservation and its effects on sperm quality parameters in both boar and bull semen. Semen sample from A, B, C, and D, were subjected to different thawing conditions and were analyzed upon different treatments in the study. Parameters like sperm cell motility, viability, acrosome, DNA integrity, and phospholipase C zeta were detected by different established methods. Different techniques were used to assess different parameters. Motility was detected using computer assisted sperm analysis, phospholipase C zeta using luminometry while viability, acrosome integrity, and DNA integrity were analyzed using flow cytometry. Thawing conditions were noted to have an effect on sperm quality parameters with motility being the most critical parameter. The results further indicated that the most critical step during cryopreservation of boar semen is when sperm cells are subjected to freezing and thawing. The findings of the present study provide insight that; boar semen cryopreservation is still suboptimal in comparison to bull semen cryopreservation. Thus, there is a need to conduct more research to improve the fertilizing potential of cryopreserved boar semen.

Keywords: cryopreservation, computer assisted sperm, flow cytometry, luminometry

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Authors: Reinhold Kosfeld, Andreas Gohs

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In the reduction of CO₂ emissions, the transition to environmentally friendly transport modes has a high significance. In Germany, the climate protection programme 2030 includes various measures for promoting electromobility. Although electric cars at present hold a market share of just over one percent, its stock more than doubled in the past two years. Special measures like tax incentives and a buyer’s premium have been put in place to promote the shift towards electric cars and boost their diffusion. Knowledge of the future expansion of electric cars is required for planning purposes and adaptation measures. With a view of these objectives, we particularly investigate the effect of spatial spillovers on forecasting performance. For this purpose, time series econometrics and panel econometric models are designed for pure electric cars and hybrid cars for Germany. Regional forecasting models with spatial interactions are consistently estimated by using spatial econometric techniques. Regional data on the stocks of electric cars and their determinants at the district level (NUTS 3 regions) are available from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) for the period 2017 - 2019. A comparative examination of aggregated regional and national predictions provides quantitative information on accuracy gains by allowing for spatial spillovers in forecasting electric mobility.

Keywords: electric mobility, forecasting market diffusion, regional panel data model, spatial interaction

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Authors: Shang-Hsin Ou, Yang-Chun Lin, Ke-Hao Cheng

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The year 2021 marked a historic drought in Taiwan, posing unprecedented challenges due to record-low rainfall and inadequate reservoir storage. The central region experienced water scarcity, leading to the implementation of "Groundwater Utilization at Construction Sites" for drought-resilient livelihood water supply. This study focuses on the establishment process of temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites in Taichung City, serving as a reference for future emergency response and the utilization of construction site groundwater. To identify suitable sites for groundwater reuse projects, site selection operations were carried out based on relevant water quality regulations and assessment principles. Subsequently, the planning and design of temporary water treatment plants were conducted, considering the water quality, quantity, and on-site conditions of groundwater wells associated with construction projects. The study consolidates the major water treatment facilities at each site and addresses encountered challenges during the establishment process. Practical insights gained from operating temporary groundwater treatment plants are presented, including improvements related to stable water quality, water quantity, equipment operation, and hydraulic control. In light of possible future droughts, this study provides an outlook and recommendations to expedite and improve the setup of groundwater treatment plants at construction sites. This includes considering on-site water abstraction, treatment, and distribution conditions. The study's results aim to offer practical guidelines for effectively establishing and managing such treatment plants, while offering experiences and recommendations for other regions facing similar emergencies, water shortages, and drought situations. These endeavors contribute to ensuring sustainable water supply for drought-resilient livelihoods and maintaining societal stability.

Keywords: drought resilience, groundwater treatment, construction site, water supply

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Authors: Harry Aginta

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Using Phillips curve framework, this paper seeks for new empirical evidence on the relationship between inflation and output in a major emerging economy. By exploiting sub-national data, the contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it resolves the issue of using on-target national inflation rates that potentially causes weakening inflation-output nexus. This is very relevant for Indonesia as its central bank has been adopting inflation targeting framework based on national consumer price index (CPI) inflation. Second, the study tests the relevance of mining sector in output gap estimation. The test for mining sector is important to control for the effects of mining regulation and nominal effects of coal prices on real economic activities. Third, the paper applies panel econometric method by incorporating regional variation that help to improve model estimation. The results from this paper confirm the strong presence of Phillips curve in Indonesia. Positive output gap that reflects excess demand condition gives rise to the inflation rates. In addition, the elasticity of output gap is higher if the mining sector is excluded from output gap estimation. In addition to inflation adaptation, the dynamics of exchange rate and international commodity price are also found to affect inflation significantly. The results are robust to the alternative measurement of output gap

Keywords: Phillips curve, inflation, Indonesia, panel data

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Authors: Claudiu Marcu, Cristina Paul, Adelina Andelescu, Corneliu Mircea Davidescu, Francisc Péter

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Heavy metal pollution has become a more serious environmental problem in the last several decades as a result of its toxicity and insusceptibility to the environment. Methods for removing metal ions from aqueous solution mainly consist of physical, chemical and biochemical procedures. Biosorption is defined as the removal of metal or metalloid species, compounds and particulates from solution by a biological material. Biosorption represents a very attractive method for the removal of toxic metal ions from aqueous effluents because it uses the ability of various biomass to bind the metal ions without the risk of releasing other toxic chemical compounds into the environment. The problem with using biomass or living cells as biosorbents is that their regeneration/reuse is often either impossible or very laborious. One of the most common chelating group found in biosorbents is the thiol group in cysteine. Therefore, we immobilized cysteine using covalent binding using glutaraldehyde as a linker on a synthetic sol-gel support obtained using 3-amino-propyl-trimetoxysilane and trimetoxysilane as precursors. The obtained adsorbents were used for removal of cadmium from aqueous solutions and the removal capacity was investigated in relation to the composition of the sol-gel hybrid composite, the loading of the biomolecule and the physical parameters of the biosorption process. In the same conditions, the bare sol-gel support without cysteine had no Cd removal effect, while the adsorbent with cysteine had an adsorption capacity up to 25.8 mg Cd/g adsorbent at pH 2.0 and 119 mg Cd/g adsorbent at pH 6.6, depending on cadmium concentration and adsorption conditions. We used atomic adsorption spectrometry to assess the cadmium concentration in the samples after the biosorbtion process. The parameters for the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms where calculated from plotting the results of the adsorption experiments. The results for cysteine immobilization show a good loading capacity of the sol-gel support which indicates it could be used to immobilize metal binding proteins and by doing so boosting the heavy metal adsorption capacity of the biosorbent.

Keywords: biosorbtion, cadmium, cysteine covalent binding, sol-gel

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Authors: Viviana Letelier, Ester Tarela, Bianca Lopez, Pedro Muñoz, Giacomo Moriconi

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The environmental impact has become a global concern during the last decades. Several alternatives have been proposed and studied to minimize this impact in different areas. The reuse of aggregates from old concretes to manufacture new ones not only can reduce this impact but is also a way to optimize the resource management. The effect of the origin of the reused aggregates from two different origin materials in recycled concrete pavement is studied here. Using the dosing applied by a pavement company, coarse aggregates in the 6.3-25 mm fraction are replaced by recycled aggregates with two different origins: old concrete pavements with similar origin strength to the one of the control concrete, and precast concrete pipes with smaller strengths than the one of the control concrete. The replacement percentages tested are 30%, 40% and 50% in both cases. The compressive strength tests are performed after 7, 14, 28 and 90 curing days, the flexural strength tests and the elasticity modulus tests after 28 and 90 curing days. Results show that the influence of the quality of the origin concrete in the mechanical properties of recycled concretes is not despicable. Concretes with up to a 50% of recycled aggregates from the concrete pavement have similar compressive strengths to the ones of the control concrete and slightly smaller flexural strengths that, however, in all cases exceed the minimum of 5MPa after 28 curing days stablished by the Chilean regulation for pavement concretes. On the other hand, concretes with recycled aggregates from precast concrete pipes show significantly lower compressive strengths after 28 curing days. The differences with the compressive strength of the control concrete increase with the percentage of replacement, reaching a 13% reduction when 50% of the aggregates are replaced. The flexural strength also suffers significant reductions that increase with the percentage of replacement, only obeying the Chilean regulation when 30% of the aggregates are recycled after 28 curing days. Nevertheless, after 90 curing days, all series obey the regulation requirements. Results show, not only the importance of the quality of the origin concrete, but also the significance of the curing days, that may allow the use of less quality recycled material without important strength losses.

Keywords: flexural strength of recycled concrete., mechanical properties of recycled concrete, recycled aggregates, recycled concrete pavements

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Authors: D. T. Tran, H. P. Tran, L. G. Hoang, V. N. H. Bui, Q. T. Nguyen, A. K. Das

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This paper provides some insight information about a current situation of e-procurement implementation in Vietnam, including opportunities and challenges. A case study of Phuc Thien Company which is classified as a medium enterprise in the country, specialising on animal feed production. Since the technological development rapidly changes, companies have implemented advanced technologies in supply chain management to increase efficiency and gain collaboration amidst partners in their manufacturing and development activities. The findings of this research reveal strengths and ongoing weaknesses when Phuc Thien company internally implemented eProcurement system. Although cost savings, visibility of payment and speedy procurement process are one of the largest benefits of eProcurement implementation, the company faces greater hurdles, such as employee capability to use technology and their resistance to change, that overshadow everything else. In terms of governmental policy, the adaptation of e-invoicing has commenced since June 2015 in Vietnam, legal regulations and administrative framework related to e-Procurement carries various ambiguous in its content and extremely fragment. Hence, this adds a great burden to enterprises in general and Phuc Thien in particular in view of creating higher competitive advantage for animal feed industry in Vietnam as well as South East Asia region.

Keywords: procurement, e-procurement, animal feed industry, efficiency

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Authors: Angela Maria Fasnacht

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Detection of anomalies due to contaminants’ presence, also known as early detection systems in water treatment plants, has become a critical point that deserves an in-depth study for their improvement and adaptation to current requirements. The design of these systems requires a detailed analysis and processing of the data in real-time, so it is necessary to apply various statistical methods appropriate to the data generated, such as Spearman’s Correlation, Factor Analysis, Cross-Correlation, and k-fold Cross-validation. Statistical analysis and methods allow the evaluation of large data sets to model the behavior of variables; in this sense, statistical treatment or analysis could be considered a vital step to be able to develop advanced models focused on machine learning that allows optimized data management in real-time, applied to early detection systems in water treatment processes. These techniques facilitate the development of new technologies used in advanced sensors. In this work, these methods were applied to identify the possible correlations between the measured parameters and the presence of the glyphosate contaminant in the single-pass system. The interaction between the initial concentration of glyphosate and the location of the sensors on the reading of the reported parameters was studied.

Keywords: glyphosate, emergent contaminants, machine learning, probes, sensors, predictive

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Authors: Damian Janecki, Anna Jaskólska, Jarosław Marusiak, Artur Jaskólski

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The aim of this study was to assess double to single twitch ratio after two bouts of eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors. Maximal isometric torque, single and double twitch responses and low-frequency fatigue were assessed on the elbow flexors in 19 untrained male volunteers before, immediately after, 24 and 48 hours following two bouts of eccentric exercise consisted of 30 repetitions of lowering a dumbbell adjusted to ~75% of each individual's maximal isometric torque. Maximal isometric torque and electrically evoked responses decreased significantly in all measurements after the first bout of eccentric exercise (P<0.05). In measurements performed at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout both maximal voluntary isometric torque and electrically evoked contractions were significantly higher than in measurements performed after the fist bout (P<0.05). Although low-frequency fatigue significantly increased up to 48 hours after each bout of eccentric exercise, its values at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout were significantly lower than at respective time points after the first bout (P<0.05). Smaller changes in double to single twitch ratio at 24 and 48 hours after the second bout of eccentric exercise reflects repeated bout effect that confers protection against subsequent exercise-induced muscle damage.

Keywords: biceps brachii, electrical stimulation, lenghtening contractions, repeated bout effect

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Authors: Djouhou Fowe Michelle Carole

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In the last few decades, there have been considerable efforts by the international community to develop strategies that reduce global poverty and hunger. Despite the modest success in reducing food insecurity, there are still around 795 million people worldwide who remain undernourished, the majority of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. In many of these impoverished communities, agriculture still remains one of the most important sectors in driving economic growth and reducing poverty. For the growing population, with higher food demand and fixed agricultural land, sustainable intensification is proposed as an important strategy to respond to the challenges of low yields, environmental degradation, and adaptation to climate change. Adoption of agroforestry technologies is increasingly being promoted as a promising solution. This study was conducted to determine the perceptions of the Cameroonian population and farmers on agroforestry. The methodology used was based on a survey to determine their knowledge level of agroforestry, their representation of its advantages and disadvantages, and the reasons that might motivate them whether or not to adopt agroforestry. Participants were randomly selected and received a questionnaire. Data were subjected to a descriptive analysis using SPSS software. The obtained results showed that less than 50% of the general population had already heard about agroforestry at least once; they have basic knowledge about this concept and its advantages. Farmers had been particularly sensitive to tree's food production function and seemed to value their environmental assets. However, various constraints could affect the possible adoption of agroforestry techniques.

Keywords: agroforestry, quality and sustainable agriculture, perceptions, advantages, limits

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Authors: Alejandra Yanez, Teresa Benavides, Zita Lopez

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Even before COVID-19, one of the most important challenges that Higher Education faces today is the need for innovative educational methodologies and flexibility. We could all agree that one of the objectives of Higher Education is to provide students with a variety of intellectual and practical skills that, at the same time, will help them develop competitive advantages such as adaptation and critical thinking. Among the strategic objectives of Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) has been to provide flexibility and satisfaction to students in the delivery modes of the academic offer. UDEM implemented a methodology that combines face to face with synchronous and asynchronous as delivery modes. UDEM goal, in this case, was to implement new technologies and different teaching methodologies that will improve the students learning experience. In this study, the experience of students during courses implemented in new delivery mode was compared with students in courses with traditional delivery modes. Students chose openly either way freely. After everything students around the world lived in 2020 and 2021, one can think that the face to face (traditional) delivery mode would be the one chosen by students. The results obtained in this study reveal that both delivery modes satisfy students and favor their learning process. We will show how the combination of delivery modes provides flexibility, so the proposal is that universities can include them in their academic offer as a response to the current student's learning interests and needs.

Keywords: flexibility, new delivery modes, student satisfaction, academic offer

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Authors: Shahad Alkhalifah, Jonh Wright

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder associated, for 42% to 88% of people with ASD, with sensory processing disorders. Sensory processing disorders (SPD) impact daily functioning, and it is, therefore, essential to be able to diagnose them accurately. Currently, however, there is no assessment tool available for the Saudi Arabia (SA) population that would cover a wider enough age range. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Sensory Processing Measure Preschool-Home Form (SPM-P) when used in English, with a population of English-speaking Saudi participants. This was chosen due to time limitations and the urgency in providing practitioners with appropriate tools. Using a convenience sampling approach group of caregivers of typically developing (TD) children and a group of caregivers for children with ASD were recruited (N = 40 and N = 16, respectively), and completed the SPM-P Home Form. Participants were also invited to complete it again after two weeks for test-retest reliability, and respectively, nine and five agreed. Reliability analyses suggested some issues with a few items when used in the Saudi culture, and, along with interscale correlations, it highlighted concerns with the factor structure. However, it was also found that the SPM-P Home has good criterion-based validity, and it is, therefore, suggested that it can be used until a tool is developed through translation and cultural adaptation. It is also suggested that the current factor structure of SPM-P Home is reassessed using a large sample.

Keywords: autism, sensory, assessment, reliability, sensory processing dysfunction, preschool, validity

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Authors: Silvia Rahmita

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Entrepreneurial success is crucial for economic growth, competitiveness, and job creation, yet many entrepreneurs face failure due to various challenges. This paper explores the critical role of strategic thinking in mitigating entrepreneurial failure. Entrepreneurial competencies—encompassing knowledge, skills, and traits—are essential for creating and growing ventures. Despite these competencies, numerous entrepreneurs fail due to poor management, inadequate support, and ineffective policies. The paper categorizes entrepreneurial failures into financial, operational, market, product or service, strategic, leadership, legal, human capital, technological, and environmental failures. Each failure type can be addressed through strategic thinking, which involves foresight, balancing short-term and long-term goals, and hypothesis-driven processes. By integrating strategic thinking into their approach, entrepreneurs can enhance risk management, adapt to market changes, and sustain growth. This process involves setting clear goals, innovating products, and maintaining a competitive edge. Ultimately, strategic thinking provides a framework for proactive planning, adaptation, and continuous improvement, reducing the likelihood of failure and ensuring long-term success. Entrepreneurs who prioritize strategic thinking are better equipped to navigate the complexities of the business environment and achieve sustainable growth.

Keywords: entrepreneurial failure, strategic thinking, risk management, business failure

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Authors: Jakub Adamec, Svatava Janouskova, Tomas Hak

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The necessity of sustainable housing is explicitly embedded in ‘The 2030 agenda for sustainable development’, in particular, goal 11 ‘sustainable cities and communities’. Every UN member state is obligated to implement strategies from the agenda, including a strategy for sustainable housing into the practice in the local context. As shown in many countries, the lack of knowledge represses the adaptation process of sustainable strategies by governments. Hence, this study explores the concept of sustainable housing within the Czech Republic. The research elaborates on this term, and its current definition concerning ‘Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing’. To this day, the charter represents the most comprehensive framework for a sustainable housing concept. Researchers conducted a comparative analysis of 38 international and 195 Czech national strategic documents. As a result, the charter‘s and strategic documents‘ goals were interconnected, identifying the most represented targets (e.g. improved environmental and energy performance of dwellings, resilient urban settlements which use renewable energy, and sustainable and integrated transport systems). The research revealed, even though the concept of sustainable housing is still dominated by environmental aspects, that social aspects significantly increased its importance. Additionally, this theoretical framework will serve as a foundation for the sustainable housing index development for the Czech Republic.

Keywords: comparative analysis, Czech national strategy, Geneva un charter, sustainable housing, urban theory

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Authors: Marcia Figueira

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Context: Positivist transformations in agriculture were responsible for top-down – often coercive – mechanisms of uniformed modernization that weathered local diversities and agency. New development pathways need to now shift according to comprehensive integrations of knowledge - scientific, indigenous, and local, and to be sustained on political interventions, bottom-up change, and social learning if climate goals are to be met – both in mitigation and adaptation. Objectives The objectives of this research are to understand how social-ecological and socio-technical systems characterisation can be nested to bridge scientific research/knowledge into a local context and knowledge system; and, with it, stem sustainable innovation. Methods To do so, we conducted a scoping review to explore theoretical and empirical works linked to Ostrom’s Social-Ecological Systems framework and Geels’ multi-level perspective of socio-technical systems transformations in the context of agriculture. Results As a result, we were able to identify key variables and connections to 1- understand the rules in use and the community attributes influencing resource management; and 2- how they are and have been shaped and shaping systems innovations. Conclusion Based on these results, we discuss how to leverage action research for mutual learning toward a replicable but highly place-based agriculture transformation frame.

Keywords: agriculture systems innovations, social-ecological systems, socio-technical systems, action research

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Authors: Stella Chioma Nwizu, Emmanuel Nwangwu

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Entrepreneurship, Vocational, and Technical education is an education that prepares one for effective adaptation to the world of work. It equally makes individuals self-reliant, self-sufficient and contributes to the development of society. It is, therefore, imperative that this type of education should be a priority in the development of any nation and should be given the utmost political support because of its importance and increasing demand on a global scale. This paper qualitatively explores three research questions on the policy status of Entrepreneurial, Vocational, and Technical Education (EVTE) in Nigeria, challenges hindering the enhancement of Entrepreneurial skills, Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria, and strategies for the way forward. The major sources of data are secondary, interview and observation. Findings revealed the need to revise the policy of ETVE to meet the needs of the changing world of work. Challenges identified include corruption, inadequate funding, inadequate equipment, unqualified TVET Teachers/Instructors, poor documentation, policy implementation, poor conditions of service, and poor supervision of TVET programmes. Finally, the study identified policy revision, improvement in budgetary allocation, collaboration, sensitization, Public-Private Partnership, and training and retraining of instructors as the way forward toward the amelioration of the issues raised.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial skills, vocational and technical education, technical and vocational education and training, VTE policy

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Authors: Charuvan Kasemsap

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This research was studied in Bangnampriao District, Chachernsao Province, Thailand. The primary data relating to flooding, drought, and saline intrusion problem on agriculture were collected by surveying, focus group, and in-depth interview with agricultural officers, technical officers of irrigation department, and local government leader of Bangnampriao District. The likelihood and consequence of risk were determined the risk index by risk assessment matrix. In addition, the risk index and the total coping capacity scores were investigated the vulnerability index by vulnerability matrix. It was found that the high-risk drought and saline intrusion was dramatically along Bang Pakong River owing to the end destination of Chao Phraya Irrigation system of Central Thailand. This leads yearly the damage of rice paddy, mango tree, orchard, and fish pond. Therefore, some agriculture avoids rice growing during January to May, and also pumps fresh water from a canal into individual storage pond. However, Bangnampriao District will be strongly affected by the impacts of climate change. Monthly precipitations are expected to decrease in number; dry seasons are expected to be more in number and longer in duration. Thus, the risk and vulnerability of agriculture are also increasing. Adaptation strategies need to be put in place in order to enhance the resilience of the agriculture.

Keywords: agriculture, bangnampriao, climate change, risk assessment

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Authors: Muna A. Eissawi, Safaa Abed Elfataah, Haytham Hago, Fatima E Abukunna, Ibtisam Amin Goreish, Nahid Gornas

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The study examined and analyzed the genetic diversity of DRB1locus of exon 2 of major histocompatibility complex of Sudanese desert sheep using PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing. Five hundred samples belonging to five ecotypes of Desert Sudanese sheep (Abrag (Ab), Ashgar (Ash), Hamari (H), Kabashi (K) and Watish (W) were included. Amplification of exon 2 of the DRB1 gene yielded (300bp) amplified product in different ecotypes. Nine different digestion patterns corresponding to Five distinct alleles were observed with Rsa1 digestion. Genotype (ag) was the most common among all ecotypes, with a percentage comprised (40.4 %). The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) test showed that the studied ecotypes have significantly deviated from the theoretical proportions of Rsa1 patterns; probability values of the Chi-square test for HWE for MHC-DRB1 gene in SDS were 0.00 in all ecotypes. The constructed phylogenetic tree revealed the relation of 22 Sudanese isolates with each other and showed the shared sequences with 47 published foreign sequences randomly selected from different geographic regions. The results of this study highlight the effect of heterozygosity of MHC genes of the Desert sheep of Sudan which may clarify some of genetic back ground of their disease resistance and adaptation to environment.

Keywords: desert sheep, MHC, Ovar-DRB1, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)

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Authors: Sujing Wang, Song Wang, Jian Zhang, Qiang Xu

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Flaring emissions during abnormal operating conditions such as plant start-ups, shut-downs, and upsets in chemical process industries (CPI) are usually significant. Flare minimization can help to save raw material and energy for CPI plants, and to improve local environmental sustainability. In this paper, a systematic methodology based on plant-wide dynamic simulation is presented for CPI plant flare minimizations under abnormal operating conditions. Since off-specification emission sources are inevitable during abnormal operating conditions, to significantly reduce flaring emission in a CPI plant, they must be either recycled to the upstream process for online reuse, or stored somewhere temporarily for future reprocessing, when the CPI plant manufacturing returns to stable operation. Thus, the off-spec products could be reused instead of being flared. This can be achieved through the identification of viable design and operational strategies during normal and abnormal operations through plant-wide dynamic scheduling, simulation, and optimization. The proposed study includes three stages of simulation works: (i) developing and validating a steady-state model of a CPI plant; (ii) transiting the obtained steady-state plant model to the dynamic modeling environment; and refining and validating the plant dynamic model; and (iii) developing flare minimization strategies for abnormal operating conditions of a CPI plant via a validated plant-wide dynamic model. This cost-effective methodology has two main merits: (i) employing large-scale dynamic modeling and simulations for industrial flare minimization, which involves various unit models for modeling hundreds of CPI plant facilities; (ii) dealing with critical abnormal operating conditions of CPI plants such as plant start-up and shut-down. Two virtual case studies on flare minimizations for start-up operation (over 50% of emission savings) and shut-down operation (over 70% of emission savings) of an ethylene plant have been employed to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed study.

Keywords: flare minimization, large-scale modeling and simulation, plant shut-down, plant start-up

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Authors: Lungile Maliba, O. I. Nkwonta, E Onyari

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Water resources development and management are regarded as crucial for poverty reduction in many developing countries and sustainable economic growth such as South Africa. The contribution of large hydraulic infrastructure and management of it, particularly reservoirs, to development remains controversial. This controversy stems from the fact that from a historical point of view construction of reservoirs has brought fewer benefits than envisaged and has resulted in significant environmental and social costs. A further complexity in reservoir management is the variety of stakeholders involved, all with different objectives, including domestic and industrial water use, flood control, irrigation and hydropower generation. The objective was to evaluate technical adaptation options for kleinfontein Dam’s current operating rule curves. To achieve this objective, the current operating rules curves being used in the sub-basin were analysed. An objective methodology was implemented in other to get the operating rules with regards to the target storage curves. These were derived using the Water Resources Yield/Planning Model (WRY/PM), with the aim of maximising of releases to demand zones. The result showed that the system is over allocated and in addition the demands exceed the long-term yield that is available for the system. It was concluded that the current operating rules in the system do not produce the optimum operation such as target storage curves to avoid supply failures in the system.

Keywords: infrastructure, Kleinfontein dam, operating rule curve, water resources yield and planning model

Procedia PDF Downloads 139