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Authors: K. C. Sharda

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Introduction: In the world, almost half of the population are lacking proper access to improved sanitation services. In Nepal, large number of people are living without access to any sanitation facility. Ecological sanitation toilet which is defined as water conserving and nutrient recycling system for use of human urine and excreta in agriculture would count a lot to utilize locally available resources, to regenerate soil fertility, to save national currency and to achieve the goal of elimination open defecation in country like Nepal. The objectives of the research were to test the efficacy of human urine for improving crop performance and to evaluate the feasibility of ecological sanitation in rural area of Central Nepal. Materials and Methods: The field investigation was carried out at Palung Village Development Committee (VDC) of Makawanpur District, Nepal from March – August, 2016. Five eco-san toilets in two villages (Angare and Bhot Khoriya) were constructed and questionnaire survey was carried out. During the questionnaire survey, respondents were asked about socio-economic parameters, farming practices, awareness of ecological sanitation and fertilizer value of human urine and excreta in agriculture. In prior to a field experiment, soil was sampled for analysis of basic characteristics. In the field experiment, cauliflower was cultivated for a month in the two sites to compare the fertilizer value of urine with chemical fertilizer and no fertilizer with three replications. The harvested plant samples were analyzed to understand the nutrient content in plant with different treatments. Results and Discussion: Eighty three percent respondents were engaged in agriculture growing mainly vegetables, which may raise the feasibility of ecological sanitation. In the study area, water deficiencies in dry season, high demand of chemical fertilizer, lack of sanitation awareness were found to be solved. The soil at Angare has sandier texture and lower nitrogen content compared to that in Bhot Khoriya. While the field experiment in Angare showed that the aboveground biomass of cauliflower in the urine fertilized plot were similar with that in the chemically fertilized plot and higher than those in the non-fertilized plots, no significant difference among the treatments were found in Bhot Khoriya. The more distinctive response of crop growth to the three treatments in the former might be attributed to the poorer soil productivity, which in turn could be caused by the poorer inherent soil fertility and the poorer past management by the farmer in Angare. Thus, use of urine as fertilizer could help poor farmers with low quality soil. The significantly different content of nitrogen and potassium in the plant samples among three treatments in Bhot Khoriya would require further investigation. When urine is utilized as a fertilizer, the productivity could be increased and the money to buy chemical fertilizer would be utilized in other livelihood activities. Ecological sanitation is feasible in the area with similar socio-economic parameter.

Keywords: cauliflower, chemical fertilizer, ecological sanitation, Nepal, urine

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Authors: Vanessa G. P. Severino, Eliangela Cristina Candida Costa, Nubia Alves Mariano Teixeira Pires Gomides, Lucilia Kato, Afif Felix Monteiro, Maria Anita Lemos Vasconcelos Ambrosio, Carlos Henrique Gomes Martins

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One of the biomes present in Brazil is known as Cerrado, which is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Minas Gerais. Many species of plants are characterized as endemic and they have therapeutic value for a large part of the population, especially to the rural communities. Given that, the southeastern region of the state of Goiás contains about 21 rural communities, which present a form of organization based on the use of natural resources available. One of these rural communities is named of Coqueiros, where the knowledge about the medicinal plants was very important to this research. Thus, this study focuses on the ethnobotanical survey of this community on the use of Kielmeyera coriacea to treat diseases. From the 37 members interviewed, 76% indicated this species for the treatment of intestinal infection, leukemia, anemia, gastritis, gum pain, toothache, cavity, arthritis, arthrosis, healing, vermifuge, rheumatism, antibiotic, skin problems, mycoses and all kinds of infections. The medicinal properties attributed during the interviews were framed in the body system (disease categories), adapted from ICD 10; thus, 20 indications of use were obtained, among five body systems. Therefore, the root of this species was select to chemical and biological (antioxidant and antimicrobial) studies. From the liquid-liquid extraction of ethanolic extract of root (EER), the hexane (FH), ethyl acetate (FAE), and hydro alcoholic (FHA) fractions were obtained. The chemical profile study of these fractions was performed by LC-MS, identifying major compounds such as δ-tocotrienol, prenylated acylphoroglucinol, 2-hydroxy-1-methoxyxanthone and quercitrin. EER, FH, FAE and FHA were submitted to biological tests. FHA presented the best antioxidant action (EC50 201.53 μg mL-1). EER inhibited the bacterial growth of Streptococcus pyogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, microorganisms associated with rheumatism, at Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 6.25 μg mL-1. In addition, the FH-10 subfraction, obtained from FH fractionation, presented MIC of 1.56 μg mL-1 against S. pneumoniae; EER also inhibited the fungus Candida glabrata (MIC 7.81 μg mL- 1). The FAE-4.7.3 fraction, from the fractionation of FAE, presented MIC of 200 μg mL-1 against Lactobacillus casei, which is one of the causes of caries and oral infections. By the correlation of the chemical and biological data, it is possible to note that the FAE-4.7.3 and FH-10 are constituted 4-hydroxy-2,3-methylenedioxy xanthone, 3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethoxy xanthone, lupeol, prenylated acylphoroglucinol and quercitrin, which could be associated with the biological potential found. Therefore, this study provides an important basis for further investigations regarding the compounds present in the active fractions of K. coriacea, which will permit the establishment of a correlation between ethnobotanical survey and bioactivity.

Keywords: biological activity, ethnobotanical survey, Kielmeyera coriacea Mart., LC-MS profile

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Authors: I. Hosni, L. Bennaceur Farah, N. Saber, R Bennaceur

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Soil moisture content is a key variable in many environmental sciences. Even though it represents a small proportion of the liquid freshwater on Earth, it modulates interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere, thereby influencing climate and weather. Accurate modeling of the above processes depends on the ability to provide a proper spatial characterization of soil moisture. The measurement of soil moisture content allows assessment of soil water resources in the field of hydrology and agronomy. The second parameter in interaction with the radar signal is the geometric structure of the soil. Most traditional electromagnetic models consider natural surfaces as single scale zero mean stationary Gaussian random processes. Roughness behavior is characterized by statistical parameters like the Root Mean Square (RMS) height and the correlation length. Then, the main problem is that the agreement between experimental measurements and theoretical values is usually poor due to the large variability of the correlation function, and as a consequence, backscattering models have often failed to predict correctly backscattering. In this study, surfaces are considered as band-limited fractal random processes corresponding to a superposition of a finite number of one-dimensional Gaussian process each one having a spatial scale. Multiscale roughness is characterized by two parameters, the first one is proportional to the RMS height, and the other one is related to the fractal dimension. Soil moisture is related to the complex dielectric constant. This multiscale description has been adapted to two-dimensional profiles using the bi-dimensional wavelet transform and the Mallat algorithm to describe more correctly natural surfaces. We characterize the soil surfaces and sub-surfaces by a three layers geo-electrical model. The upper layer is described by its dielectric constant, thickness, a multiscale bi-dimensional surface roughness model by using the wavelet transform and the Mallat algorithm, and volume scattering parameters. The lower layer is divided into three fictive layers separated by an assumed plane interface. These three layers were modeled by an effective medium characterized by an apparent effective dielectric constant taking into account the presence of air pockets in the soil. We have adopted the 2D multiscale three layers small perturbations model including, firstly air pockets in the soil sub-structure, and then a vegetable canopy in the soil surface structure, that is to simulate the radar backscattering. A sensitivity analysis of backscattering coefficient dependence on multiscale roughness and new soil moisture has been performed. Later, we proposed to change the dielectric constant of the multilayer medium because it takes into account the different moisture values of each layer in the soil. A sensitivity analysis of the backscattering coefficient, including the air pockets in the volume structure with respect to the multiscale roughness parameters and the apparent dielectric constant, was carried out. Finally, we proposed to study the behavior of the backscattering coefficient of the radar on a soil having a vegetable layer in its surface structure.

Keywords: multiscale, bidimensional, wavelets, backscattering, multilayer, SPM, air pockets

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Authors: Hatem Abou-Senna, Essam Radwan

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With increasing traffic and limited resources, accommodating left-turning traffic has been a challenge for traffic engineers as they seek balance between intersection capacity and safety; these are two conflicting goals in the operation of a signalized intersection that are mitigated through signal phasing techniques. Hence, to increase the left-turn capacity and reduce the delay at the intersections, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) moves forward with a vision of optimizing intersection control using innovative intersection designs through the Transportation Systems Management & Operations (TSM&O) program. These alternative designs successfully eliminate the left-turn phase, which otherwise reduces the conventional intersection’s (CI) efficiency considerably, and divide the intersection into smaller networks that would operate in a one-way fashion. This study focused on the Crossover Displaced Left-turn intersections (XDL), also known as Continuous Flow Intersections (CFI). The XDL concept is best suited for intersections with moderate to high overall traffic volumes, especially those with very high or unbalanced left turn volumes. There is little guidance on determining whether partial XDL intersections are adequate to mitigate the overall intersection condition or full XDL is always required. The primary objective of this paper was to evaluate the overall intersection performance in the case of different partial XDL designs compared to a full XDL. The XDL alternative was investigated for 4 different scenarios; partial XDL on the east-west approaches, partial XDL on the north-south approaches, partial XDL on the north and east approaches and full XDL on all 4 approaches. Also, the impact of increasing volume on the intersection performance was considered by modeling the unbalanced volumes with 10% increment resulting in 5 different traffic scenarios. The study intersection, located in Orlando Florida, is experiencing recurring congestion in the PM peak hour and is operating near capacity with volume to a capacity ratio closer to 1.00 due to the presence of two heavy conflicting movements; southbound and westbound. The results showed that a partial EN XDL alternative proved to be effective and compared favorably to a full XDL alternative followed by the partial EW XDL alternative. The analysis also showed that Full, EW and EN XDL alternatives outperformed the NS XDL and the CI alternatives with respect to the throughput, delay and queue lengths. Significant throughput improvements were remarkable at the higher volume level with percent increase in capacity of 25%. The percent reduction in delay for the critical movements in the XDL scenarios compared to the CI scenario ranged from 30-45%. Similarly, queue lengths showed percent reduction in the XDL scenarios ranging from 25-40%. The analysis revealed how partial XDL design can improve the overall intersection performance at various demands, reduce the costs associated with full XDL and proved to outperform the conventional intersection. However, partial XDL serving low volumes or only one of the critical movements while other critical movements are operating near or above capacity do not provide significant benefits when compared to the conventional intersection.

Keywords: continuous flow intersections, crossover displaced left-turn, microscopic traffic simulation, transportation system management and operations, VISSIM simulation model

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Authors: Melanie Redding

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Historic widespread nitrate contamination of the Lower Yakima Valley aquifer in Washington State initiated a community-based effort to reduce nitrate concentrations to below-drinking water standards. This group commissioned studies on characterizing local nitrogen sources, deep soil assessments, drinking water, and assessing nitrate concentrations at the water table. Nitrate is the most prevalent groundwater contaminant with common sources from animal and human waste, fertilizers, plants and precipitation. It is challenging to address groundwater contamination when common sources, such as agriculture, on-site sewage systems, and animal production, are widespread. Remediation is not possible, so mitigation is essential. The Lower Yakima Valley is located over 175,000 acres, with a population of 56,000 residents. Approximately 25% of the population do not have access to safe, clean drinking water, and 20% of the population is at or below the poverty level. Agriculture is the primary economic land-use activity. Irrigated agriculture and livestock production make up the largest percentage of acreage and nitrogen load. Commodities include apples, grapes, hops, dairy, silage corn, triticale, alfalfa and cherries. These commodities are important to the economic viability of the residents of the Lower Yakima Valley, as well as Washington State. Mitigation of nitrate in groundwater is challenging. The goal is to ensure everyone has safe drinking water. There are no easy remedies due to the extensive and pervasiveness of the contamination. Monitoring at the water table indicates that 45% of the 30 spatially distributed monitoring wells exceeded the drinking water standard. This indicates that there are multiple sources that are impacting water quality. Washington State has several areas which have extensive groundwater nitrate contamination. The groundwater in these areas continues to degrade over time. However, the Lower Yakima Valley is being successful in addressing this health issue because of the following reasons: the community is engaged and committed; there is one common goal; there has been extensive public education and outreach to citizens; and generating credible data using sound scientific methods. Work in this area is continuing as an ambient groundwater monitoring network is established to assess the condition of the aquifer over time. Nitrate samples are being collected from 170 wells, spatially distributed across the aquifer. This research entails quarterly sampling for two years to characterize seasonal variability and then continue annually afterward. This assessment will provide the data to statistically determine trends in nitrate concentrations across the aquifer, over time. Thirty-three of these wells are monitoring wells that are screened across the aquifer. The water quality from these wells are indicative of activities at the land surface. Additional work is being conducted to identify land use management practices that are effective in limiting nitrate migration through the soil column. Tracking nitrate in the soil column every season is an important component of bridging land-use practices with the fate and transport of nitrate through the subsurface. Patience, tenacity, and the ability to think outside the box are essential for dealing with widespread nitrate contamination of groundwater.

Keywords: community, groundwater, monitoring, nitrate

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Authors: Ghadir Hummeid

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Undoubtedly, our world is leading all the purposes and efforts to achieve sustainable development in life in all respects. Sustainability has been regarded as a solution to many challenges of our world today, materiality and immateriality. With the new consequences and challenges our world today, such as global climate change, the use of non-renewable resources, environmental pollution, the decreasing of urban health, the urban areas’ aging, the highly increasing migrations into urban areas linked to many consequences such as highly infrastructure density, social segregation. All of that required new forms of governance, new urban policies, and more efficient efforts and urban applications. Based on the fact that cities are the core of life and it is a fundamental life axis, their development can increase or decrease the life quality of their inhabitants. Architects and planners see themselves today in the need to create new approaches and new sustainable policies to develop urban areas to correspond with the physical and non-physical transformations that cities are nowadays experiencing. To enhance people's lives and provide for their needs in this present without compromising the needs and lives of future generations. The application of sustainability has become an inescapable part of the development and projections of cities' planning. Yet its definition has been indefinable due to the plurality and difference of its applications. As the conceptualizations of technology are arising and have dominated all life aspects today, from smart citizens and smart life rhythms to smart production and smart structures to smart frameworks, it has influenced the sustainability applications as well in the planning and urbanization of cities. The term "smart city" emerged from this influence as one of the possible key solutions to sustainability. The term “smart city” has various perspectives of applications and definitions in the literature and in urban applications. However, after the observation of smart city applications in current cities, this paper defined the smart city as an urban environment that is controlled by technologies yet lacks the physical architectural representation of this smartness as the current smart applications are mostly obscured from the public as they are applied now on a diminutive scale and highly integrated into the built environment. Regardless of the importance of these technologies in improving the quality of people's lives and in facing cities' challenges, it is important not to neglect their architectural and urban presentations will affect the shaping and development of city neighborhoods. By investigating the concept of smart cities and exploring its potential applications on a neighbourhood scale, this paper aims to shed light on understanding the challenges faced by cities and exploring innovative solutions such as smart city applications in urban mobility and how they affect the different aspects of communities. The paper aims to shape better articulations of smart neighborhoods’ morphologies on the social, architectural, functional, and material levels. To understand how to create more sustainable and liveable future approaches to developing urban environments inside cities. The findings of this paper will contribute to ongoing discussions and efforts in achieving sustainable urban development.

Keywords: sustainability, urban development, smart city, resilience, sense of belonging

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Authors: Carlos Minguez, Christian F. Sagbay, Erika E. Ordoñez

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Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) play prominent roles as experimental models for medical research and as pets. However, in developing countries like South America, the Philippines, and sub-Saharan Africa, the meat of guinea pigs is an economic source of animal protein for the poor and malnourished humans because guinea pigs are mainly fed with forage and do not compete directly with human beings for food resources, such as corn or wheat. To achieve efficient production of guinea pigs, it is essential to provide insurance against vitamin C deficiency. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the partial replacement of alfalfa with fresh citrus pulp (Citrus sinensis) in a diet of guinea pigs on the growth performance, slaughter traits and mortality during the fattening period (between 20 and 74 days of age). A total of 300 guinea pigs were housed in collective cages of about ten animals (2 x 1 x 0.4 m) and were distributed into two completely randomized groups. Guinea pigs in both groups were fed ad libitum, with a standard commercial pellet diet (10 MJ of digestible energy/kg, 17% crude protein, 11% crude fiber, and 4.5% crude fat). Control group was supplied with fresh alfalfa as forage. In the treatment group, 30% of alfalfa was replaced by fresh citrus pulp. Growth traits, including body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), were measured weekly. On day 74, the animals were slaughtered, and slaughter traits, including live weight at slaughter (LWS), full gastrointestinal tract weight (FGTW), hot carcass weight (with head; HCW), cold carcass weight (with head; CCW), drip loss percentage (DLP) and dressing out carcass yield percentage (DCY), were evaluated. Contrasts between groups were obtained by calculated generalized least squares values. Mortality was evaluated by Fisher's exact test due to low numbers in some cells. In the first week, there were significant differences in the growth traits BW, ADG, FI, and FCR, which were superior in control group. These differences may have been due to the origin of the young guinea pigs, which, before weaning, were all raised without fresh citrus pulp, and they were not familiarized with the new supplement. In the second week, treatment group had significantly increased ADG compared with control group, which may have been the result of a process of compensatory growth. During subsequent weeks, no significant differences were observed between animals raised in the two groups. Neither were any significant differences observed across the total fattening period. No significant differences in slaughter traits or mortality rate were observed between animals from the two groups. In conclusion, although there were no significant differences in growth performance, slaughter traits, or mortality, the use of fresh citrus pulp is recommended. Fresh citrus pulp is a by-product of orange juice industry and it is cheap or free. Forage made with fresh citrus pulp could reduce about of 30 % the quantity of alfalfa in guinea pig for meat and as consequence, reduce the production costs.

Keywords: fresh citrus, growth, Guinea pig, mortality

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Authors: Muhammad Umer Mehmood, Muhammad Luqman, Muhammad Yaseen, Imtiaz Hussain

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Climate change is an arduous fact, which could not be unheeded easily. It is a phenomenon which has brought a collection of challenges for the mankind. Scientists have found many of its negative impacts on the life of human being and the resources on which the life of humanity is dependent. There are many issues which are associated with the factor of prime importance in this study, 'climate change'. Whenever changes happen in nature, they strike the whole globe. Effects of these changes vary from region to region. Climate of every region of this globe is different from the other. Even within a state, country or the province has different climatic conditions. So it is mandatory that the response in that specific region and the coping strategy of this specific region should be according to the prevailing risk. In the present study, the objective was to assess the coping strategies and vulnerability of small landholders. So that a professional suggestion could be made to cope with the vulnerability factor of small farmers. The cross-sectional research design was used with the intervention of quantitative approach. The study was conducted in the Khanewal district, of Punjab, Pakistan. 120 small farmers were interviewed after randomized sampling from the population of respective area. All respondents were above the age of 15 years. A questionnaire was developed after keen observation of facts in the respective area. Content and face validity of the instrument was assessed with SPSS and experts in the field. Data were analyzed through SPSS using descriptive statistics. From the sample of 120, 81.67% of the respondents claimed that the environment is getting warmer and not fit for their present agricultural practices. 84.17% of the sample expressed serious concern that they are disturbed due to change in rainfall pattern and vulnerability towards the climatic effects. On the other hand, they expressed that they are not good at tackling the effects of climate change. Adaptation of coping strategies like change in cropping pattern, use of resistant varieties, varieties with minimum water requirement, intercropping and tree planting was low by more than half of the sample. From the sample 63.33% small farmers said that the coping strategies they adopt are not effective enough. The present study showed that subsistence farming, lack of marketing and overall infrastructure, lack of access to social security networks, limited access to agriculture extension services, inappropriate access to agrometeorological system, unawareness and access to scientific development and low crop yield are the prominent factors which are responsible for the vulnerability of small farmers. A comprehensive study should be conducted at national level so that a national policy could be formulated to cope with the dilemma in future with relevance to climate change. Mainstreaming and collaboration among the researchers and academicians could prove beneficiary in this regard the interest of national leaders’ does matter. Proper policies to avoid the vulnerability factors should be the top priority. The world is taking up this issue with full responsibility as should we, keeping in view the local situation.

Keywords: adaptation, coping strategies, climate change, Pakistan, small farmers, vulnerability

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Authors: Areej Al-Hamad, Yasin Yasin, Kateryna Metersky

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This mixed-method systematic review and meta-analysis provide an encompassing understanding of the barriers, facilitators, and predictors of refugee women's employment and economic inclusion. The study sheds light on the complex interplay of sociocultural, personal, political, and environmental factors influencing these outcomes, underlining the urgent need for a multifaceted, tailored approach to devising strategies, policies, and interventions aimed at boosting refugee women's economic empowerment. Our findings suggest that sociocultural factors, including gender norms, societal attitudes, language proficiency, and social networks, profoundly shape refugee women's access to and participation in the labor market. Personal factors such as age, educational attainment, health status, skills, and previous work experience also play significant roles. Political factors like immigration policies, regulations, and rights to work, alongside environmental factors like labor market conditions, availability of employment opportunities, and access to resources and support services, further contribute to the complex dynamics influencing refugee women's economic inclusion. The significant variability observed in the impacts of these factors across different contexts underscores the necessity of adopting population and region-specific strategies. A one-size-fits-all approach may prove to be ineffective due to the diversity and unique circumstances of refugee women across different geographical, cultural, and political contexts. The study's findings have profound implications for policy-making, practice, education, and research. The insights garnered a call for coordinated efforts across these domains to bolster refugee women's economic participation. In policy-making, the findings necessitate a reassessment of current immigration and labor market policies to ensure they adequately support refugee women's employment and economic integration. In practice, they highlight the need for comprehensive, tailored employment services and interventions that address the specific barriers and leverage the facilitators identified. In education, they underline the importance of language and skills training programs that cater to the unique needs and circumstances of refugee women. Lastly, in research, they emphasize the need for ongoing investigations into the multifaceted factors influencing refugee women's employment experiences, allowing for continuous refinement of our understanding and interventions. Through this comprehensive exploration, the study contributes to ongoing efforts aimed at creating more inclusive, equitable societies. By continually refining our understanding of the complex factors influencing refugee women's employment experiences, we can pave the way toward enhanced economic empowerment for this vulnerable population.

Keywords: refugee women, employment barriers, systematic review, employment facilitators

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Authors: Szymon Kuczynski, Krystian Liszka, Mariusz Laciak, Andrii Oliinyk, Adam Szurlej

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Currently, in automotive transport to power vehicles, almost exclusively hydrocarbon based fuels are used. Due to increase of hydrocarbon fuels consumption, quality parameters are tightend for clean environment. At the same time efforts are undertaken for development of alternative fuels. The reasons why looking for alternative fuels for petroleum and diesel are: to increase vehicle efficiency and to reduce the environmental impact, reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and savings in consumption of limited oil resources. Significant progress was performed on development of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, natural gas (CNG / LNG), LPG, dimethyl ether (DME) and biodiesel. In addition, biggest vehicle manufacturers work on fuel cell vehicles and its introduction to the market. Alcohols such as methanol and ethanol create the perfect fuel for spark-ignition engines. Their advantages are high-value antiknock which determines their application as additive (10%) to unleaded petrol and relative purity of produced exhaust gasses. Ethanol is produced in distillation process of plant products, which value as a food can be irrational. Ethanol production can be costly also for the entire economy of the country, because it requires a large complex distillation plants, large amounts of biomass and finally a significant amount of fuel to sustain the process. At the same time, the fermentation process of plants releases into the atmosphere large quantities of carbon dioxide. Natural gas cannot be directly converted into liquid fuels, although such arrangements have been proposed in the literature. Going through stage of intermediates is inevitable yet. Most popular one is conversion to methanol, which can be processed further to dimethyl ether (DME) or olefin (ethylene and propylene) for the petrochemical sector. Methanol uses natural gas as a raw material, however, requires expensive and advanced production processes. In relation to pollution emissions, the optimal vehicle fuel is LPG which is used in many countries as an engine fuel. Production of LPG is inextricably linked with production and processing of oil and gas, and which represents a small percentage. Its potential as an alternative for traditional fuels is therefore proportionately reduced. Excellent engine fuel may be biogas, however, follows to the same limitations as ethanol - the same production process is used and raw materials. Most essential fuel in the campaign of environment protection against pollution is natural gas. Natural gas as fuel may be either compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG). Natural gas can also be used for hydrogen production in steam reforming. Hydrogen can be used as a basic starting material for the chemical industry, an important raw material in the refinery processes, as well as a fuel vehicle transportation. Natural gas can be used as CNG which represents an excellent compromise between the availability of the technology that is proven and relatively cheap to use in many areas of the automotive industry. Natural gas can also be seen as an important bridge to other alternative sources of energy derived from fuel and harmless to the environment. For these reasons CNG as a fuel stimulates considerable interest in the worldwide.

Keywords: alternative fuels, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), NGVs (Natural Gas Vehicles)

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Authors: Walter W. Loo

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China declared the “zero discharge rules which leave no toxics into our living environment and deliver blue sky, green land and clean water to many generations to come”. The achievement of ZWD will provide conservation of water, soil and energy and provide drastic increase in Gross Domestic Products (GDP). Our society’s engine needs a major tune up; it is sputtering. ZWD is achieved in world’s space stations – no toxic air emission and the water is totally recycled and solid wastes all come back to earth. This is all done with solar power. These are all achieved under extreme temperature, pressure and zero gravity in space. ZWD can be achieved on earth under much less fluctuations in temperature, pressure and normal gravity environment. ZWD systems are not expensive and will have multiple beneficial returns on investment which are both financially and environmentally acceptable. The paper will include successful case histories since the mid-1970s. ZWD discharge can be applied to the following types of projects: nuclear and coal fire power plants with a closed loop system that will eliminate thermal water discharge; residential communities with wastewater treatment sump and recycle the water use as a secondary water supply; waste water treatment Plants with complete water recycling including water distillation to produce distilled water by very economical 24-hours solar power plant. Landfill remediation is based on neutralization of landfilled gas odor and preventing anaerobic leachate formation. It is an aerobic condition which will render landfill gas emission explosion proof. Desert development is the development of recovering soil moisture from soil and completing a closed loop water cycle by solar energy within and underneath an enclosed greenhouse. Salt-alkali land development can be achieved by solar distillation of salty shallow water into distilled water. The distilled water can be used for soil washing and irrigation and complete a closed loop water cycle with energy and water conservation. Heavy metals remediation can be achieved by precipitation of dissolved toxic metals below the plant or vegetation root zone by solar electricity without pumping and treating. Soil and groundwater remediation - abandoned refineries, chemical and pesticide factories can be remediated by in-situ electrobiochemical and bioventing treatment method without pumping or excavation. Toxic organic chemicals are oxidized into carbon dioxide and heavy metals precipitated below plant and vegetation root zone. New water sources: low temperature distilled water can be recycled for repeated use within a greenhouse environment by solar distillation; nano bubble water can be made from the distilled water with nano bubbles of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide from air (fertilizer water) and also eliminate the use of pesticides because the nano oxygen will break the insect growth chain in the larvae state. Three dimensional high yield greenhouses can be constructed by complete water recycling using the vadose zone soil as a filter with no farming wastewater discharge.

Keywords: greenhouses, no discharge, remediation of soil and water, wastewater

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Authors: Tuyuan Cheng

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As we age, many things become more difficult. Among the abilities are the linguistic and cognitive ones. Competing theories have shown that these two functions could diminish together or that one is selectively affected by the other. In other words, some proposes aging affects sentence production in the same way it affects sentence comprehension and other cognitive functions, while some argues it does not.To address this question, the current investigation is conducted into the critical aspect of sentences as well as cognitive abilities – the syntactic complexity and the number of perspective shifts being contained in the elicited production. Healthy non-pathological aging is often characterized by a cognitive and neural decline in a number of cognitive abilities. Although the language is assumed to be of the more stable domain, a variety of findings in the cognitive aging literature would suggest otherwise. Older adults often show deficits in language production and multiple aspects of comprehension. Nevertheless, while some age differences likely reflect cognitive decline, others might reflect changes in communicative goals, and some even display cognitive advantages. In the domain of language processing, research efforts have been made in tests that probed a variety of communicative abilities. In general, there exists a distinction: Comprehension seems to be selectively unaffected, while production does not. The current study raises a novel question and investigates whether aging affects the production of relative clauses (RCs) under the cognitive factor of perspective shifts. Based on Perspective Hypothesis (MacWhinney, 2000, 2005), our cognitive processes build upon a fundamental system of perspective-taking, and language provides a series of cues to facilitate the construction and shifting of perspectives. These cues include a wide variety of constructions, including RCs structures. In this regard, linguistic complexity can be determined by the number of perspective shifts, and the processing difficulties of RCs can be interpreted within the theory of perspective shifting. Two experiments were conducted to study language production under controlled conditions. In Experiment 1, older healthy participants were tested on standard measures of cognitive aging, including MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination), ToMI-2 (a simplified Theory of Mind Inventory-2), and a perspective-shifting comprehension task programmed with E-Prime. The results were analyzed to examine if/how they are correlated with aging people’s subsequent production data. In Experiment 2, the production profile of differing RCs, SRC vs. ORC, were collected with healthy aging participants who perform a picture elicitation task. Variable containing 0, 1, or 2 perspective shifts were juxtaposed respectively to the pictures and counterbalanced presented for elicitation. In parallel, a controlled group of young adults were recruited to examine the linguistic and cognitive abilities in question. The results lead us to the discussion whetheraging affects RCs production in a manner determined by its semantic structure or the number of perspective shifts it contains or the status of participants’ mental understanding. The major findingsare: (1) Elders’ production on Chinese RCtypes did not display intrinsic difficulty asymmetry. (2) RC types (the linguistic structural features) and the cognitiveperspective shifts jointly play important roles in the elders’ RCproduction. (3) The production of RC may defy the aging in the case offlexibly preserved cognitive ability.

Keywords: cognition aging, perspective hypothesis, perspective shift, relative clauses, sentence complexity

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Authors: I. Brezeanu, J. Mackrill, A. Cajo, C. Mogollon

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Modern Slavery is a serious crime, where often the victims are unable to leave their situation of exploitation, being controlled by threats, punishment, violence, coercion, and deception. In the UK, this term encompasses both Slavery and Human Trafficking. The number of potential victims who were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) increased exponentially in the past decade, passing from fewer than 700 potential victims referred in 2010 to more than 12.000 in 2021. Our study aims to explore how the concept of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approach can be adopted by services working with survivors of Modern Slavery and Trafficking (MST). Notably, in this paper, we will elaborate on how the complex needs of survivors are related to their traumatic experiences and what are the necessary steps and resources for implementing a Modern Slavery Trauma-Informed model. While there are relatively few services in the UK that have a deep understanding of the survivors’ and practitioners’ views of how trauma impacts their daily life, there is a strong need for developing services that are organised and delivered in ways that prevent retraumatisation and enable trauma survivors to engage safely with the right professionals at the right time, promoting healing through positive relationships. Such models, known as Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIAs), are seen as crucial to the empowerment of survivors, yet they remain a marginal implementation model by governments, law enforcement, judiciary, or care providers, who are frequently survivors’ first point of contact in the recovery process. In order to understand better how to provide best practice and to adopt the concept, this study is based on a multi-disciplinary approach, encompassing both theoretical perspectives and co-production. By combining qualitative and quantitative research and comparing different analysis of applied examples of TIC in the US and the UK, we gained important insights about the prevention and impact of trauma on survivors’ life. The articulation between more general expertise on Trauma-Informed Care developed by other institutions operating in the field, and the SJOG delivery, based on the Salvation Army’s Modern Slavery Victim Care and Coordination Contract (MSVCC) and the Care Quality Commission regulations, allowed to identify on one side what are the complex needs of survivors derived from their traumatic experiences, and on the other side, how could MST services prevent retraumatisation. Additional, two in-depth interviews with survivors, who receive support from one of our services at Olallo House in London, and a survey shared among all colleagues working with MST services completed the findings of the research with their personal experience and knowledge. Ultimately, we developed an evidence-based Trauma-Informed Care Pathway that aims to improve the wellbeing of survivors and to support them to live a meaningful life. The establishedpathway delivers three main outcomes belonging to the social determinants of health criteria – health and wellbeing, purpose and relationship, and covers key themes of the context of trauma, needs of individuals, and service support.

Keywords: trauma-informed care, modern slavery, human trafficking, trauma, retraumatisation

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Authors: Wim Hollander, Petrus Louis Nolte

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University sport in South Africa is not isolated from the complexity of globalization and professionalization of sport, as it forms an integral part of the sports development environment in South Africa. In order to align their sports programs with global and professional requirements, several universities opted to develop elite sports programs; recruit specialized personnel such as coaches, administrators, and athletes; provide expert coaching; scientific and medical services; sports testing; fitness, technical and tactical expertise; sport psychological and rehabilitation support; academic guidance and career assistance; and student-athlete accommodation. In addition, universities provide administrative support and high-quality physical resources (training facilities) for the benefit of the overall South African sport system. Although it is not compulsory for universities to develop elite sports programs to prepare their teams for competitions, elite competitions such as the annual Varsity Sport, University Sport South Africa (USSA) and local club competitions and leagues within international university competitions where universities not only compete but also deliver players for representative national netball teams. The aim of this study is, therefore, to describe the perceptions of players of the university elite netball programs they were participating in. This study adopted a descriptive design with a quantitative approach, utilizing a self-structured questionnaire as a research technique. As this research formed part of a national research project for NSA with a population of 172 national and provincial netball players, a sample of 92 university netball players from the population was selected. Content validity of the self-structured questionnaire was secured through a test-retest process, with construct validity through a member of the Statistical Consultation Services (STATCON) of the University of Johannesburg that provided feedback on the structural format of the questionnaire. Reliability was measured utilizing Cronbach Alpha on p < 0.005 level of significance. A reliability score of 0.87 was measured. The research was approved by the Board of Netball South Africa and ethical conduct implemented according to the processes and procedures approved by the Ethics Committees of the Faculty of Health Sciences, the University of Johannesburg with clearance number REC-01-30-2019. From the results, it is evident that university elite netball programs are professional, especially with regards to the employment of knowledgeable and competent coaches and technical officials such as team managers and sport sciences staff. These professionals have access to elite training facilities, support staff, and relatively large groups of elite players, all elements of an elite program that could enhance the national federation’s (Netball South Africa) system. Universities could serve the dual purpose of serving as university netball clubs, as well as providing elite training services and facilities as performance hubs for national players.

Keywords: elite sport programmes, university netball, player experiences, varsity sport netball

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Authors: Ajay Kumar Pandey

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White grub (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), locally known as Kurmula, Pagra, Chinchu, is a major destructive pest in western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand state of India. Various crops like cereals (up land paddy, wheat, and barley), vegetables (capsicum, cabbage, tomato, cauliflower, carrot etc) and some pulse (like pigeon pea, green gram, black gram) are grown with limited availability of primary resources. Among the various limitations in successful cultivation of these crops, white grub has been proved a major constraint in for all crops grown in hilly area. The losses incurred due to white grubs are huge in case of commercial crops like sugarcane, groundnut, potato, maize and upland rice. Moreover, it has been proved major constraint in potato production in mid and higher hills of India. Adults emerge in May-June following the onset of monsoon and thereafter defoliate the apple, apricot, plum, and walnut during night while 2nd and 3rd instar grubs feed on live roots of cultivated as well as non cultivated crops from August to January. Survey was conducted in hilly (Pauri and Tehri) as well as plain area (Haridwar district) of Uttarakhand state. Collection of beetle was done from various locations from August to September of five consecutive years with the help of light trap and directly from host plant. The grub was also collected by excavating one square meter area from different locations and reared in laboratory to find out adult. During the collection, the diseased or dead cadaver were also collected and brought in the laboratory and identified the causal organisms. Total 25 species of white grub was identified out of which Holotrichia longipennis, Anomala dimidiata, Holotrichia lineatopennis, Maladera insanabilis, Brahmina sp. make complex problem in different area of Uttarakhand where they cause severe damage to various crops. During the survey, it was observed that white grubs beetles have variation in preference of host plant, even in choice of fruit and leaves of host plant. It was observed that, a white grub species, which identified as Lepidiota mansueta Burmeister., was causing severe havoc to sugarcane crop grown in major sugarcane growing belt of Haridwar district. The study also revealed that Bacillus cereus, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernema, Heterorhabditis are major disease causing agents in immature stage of white grub under rain-fed condition of Uttarakhand which caused 15.55 to 21.63 percent natural mortality of grubs with an average of 18.91 percent. However, among the microorganisms, B. cereus found to be significantly more efficient (7.03 percent mortality) then the entomopathogenic fungi (3.80 percent mortality) and nematodes (3.20 percent mortality).

Keywords: Lepidiota, profiling, Uttarakhand, whitegrub

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Authors: Indre Brazauskaite, Vilte Auruskeviciene

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Significance of the study is outlined through current strategic management challenges faced by SMEs. First, innovation is recognized as competitive advantage in the market, having ever changing market conditions. It is of constant interest from both practitioners and academics to capture and capitalize on business opportunities or mitigate the foreseen risks. Secondly, it is recognized that integrated system is needed for proper implementation of innovation process, especially during the period of business incubation, associated with relatively high risks of new product failure. Finally, ability to successful commercialize innovations leads to tangible business results that allow to grow organizations further. This is particularly relevant to SMEs due to limited structures, resources, or capabilities. Cooperation between scientific and business institutions could be a tool of mutual interest to observe, address, and further develop innovations during the incubation period, which is the most demanding and challenging during the innovation process. Material aims to address the following problematics: i) indicate the major barriers and challenges in innovation process that SMEs are facing, ii) outline the possibilities for these barriers and challenges to be addressed by cooperation between scientific and business institutions. Basis for this research is stage-by-stage integrated innovation management process which presents existing challenges and needed aid in operational decision making. The stage-by-stage innovation management process exploration highlights relevant research opportunities that have high practical relevance in the field. It is expected to reveal the possibility for business incubation programs that could combine interest from both – practices and academia. Methodology. Scientific meta-analysis of to-date scientific literature that explores innovation process. Research model is built on the combination of stage-gate model and lean six sigma approach. It outlines the following steps: i) pre-incubation (discovery and screening), ii) incubation (scoping, planning, development, and testing), and iii) post-incubation (launch and commercialization) periods. Empirical quantitative research is conducted to address barriers and challenges related to innovation process among SMEs that limits innovations from successful launch and commercialization and allows to identify potential areas for cooperation between scientific and business institutions. Research sample, high level decision makers representing trading SMEs, are approached with structured survey based on the research model to investigate the challenges associated with each of the innovation management step. Expected findings. First, the current business challenges in the innovation process are revealed. It will outline strengths and weaknesses of innovation management practices and systems across SMEs. Secondly, it will present material for relevant business case investigation for scholars to serve as future research directions. It will contribute to a better understanding of quality innovation management systems. Third, it will contribute to the understanding the need for business incubation systems for mutual contribution from practices and academia. It can increase relevance and adaptation of business research.

Keywords: cooperation between scientific and business institutions, innovation barriers and challenges, innovation measure, innovation process, SMEs

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Authors: Ana Paula S. Horodenski, Priscila Pelegrini, Salli Baggenstoss

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The brewing industry with artisanal concepts seeks to serve a specific market, with diversified production that has been gaining ground in the national environment, also in the Amazon region. This growth is due to the more demanding consumer, with a diversified taste that wants to try new types of beer, enjoying products with new aromas, flavors, as a differential of what is so widely spread through the big industrial brands. Thus, through qualitative research methods, the study aimed to investigate how is the process of managing the production of a craft brewery in a city in the northern State of Mato Grosso (BRAZIL), providing knowledge of production processes and strategies in the industry. With the efficient use of resources, it is possible to obtain the necessary quality and provide better performance and differentiation of the company, besides analyzing the best management model. The research is descriptive with a qualitative approach through a case study. For the data collection, a semi-structured interview was elaborated, composed of the areas: microbrewery characterization, artisan beer production process, and the company supply chain management. Also, production processes were observed during technical visits. With the study, it was verified that the artisan brewery researched develops preventive maintenance strategies with the inputs, machines, and equipment, so that the quality of the product and the production process are achieved. It was observed that the distance from the supplying centers makes the management of processes and the supply chain be carried out with a longer planning time so that the delivery of the final product is satisfactory. The production process of the brewery is composed of machines and equipment that allows the control and quality of the product, which the manager states that for the productive capacity of the industry and its consumer market, the available equipment meets the demand. This study also contributes to highlight one of the challenges for the development of small breweries in front of the market giants, that is, the legislation, which fits the microbreweries as producers of alcoholic beverages. This makes the micro and small business segment to be taxed as a major, who has advantages in purchasing large batches of raw materials and tax incentives because they are large employers and tax pickers. It was possible to observe that the supply chain management system relies on spreadsheets and notes that are done manually, which could be simplified with a computer program to streamline procedures and reduce risks and failures of the manual process. In relation to the control of waste and effluents affected by the industry is outsourced and meets the needs. Finally, the results showed that the industry uses preventive maintenance as a productive strategy, which allows better conditions for the production and quality of artisanal beer. The quality is directly related to the satisfaction of the final consumer, being prized and performed throughout the production process, with the selection of better inputs, the effectiveness of the production processes and the relationship with the commercial partners.

Keywords: artisanal brewery, production management, production processes, supply chain

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Authors: Behnaz Baghaei, Mikael Skrifvars

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Sustainability is today a trend that is seen everywhere, with no exception for the textiles 31 industry. However, there is a rather significant downside regarding how the textile industry currently operates, namely the huge amount of end-of-life textiles coming along with it. Approximately 73% of the 53 million tonnes of fibres used annually for textile production is landfilled or incinerated, while only 12% is recycled as secondary products. Mechanical recycling of end-of-life textile fabrics into yarns and fabrics was before very common, but due to the low costs for virgin man-made fibres, the current textile material composition diversity, the fibre material quality variations and the high recycling costs this route is not feasible. Another way to decrease the ever-growing pile of textile waste is to repurpose the textile. If a feasible methodology can be found to reuse end-of life textiles as secondary market products including a manufacturing process that requires rather low investment costs, then this can be highly beneficial to counteract the increasing textile waste volumes. In structural composites, glass fibre textiles are used as reinforcements, but today there is a growing interest in biocomposites where the reinforcement and/or the resin are from a biomass resource. All-cellulose composites (ACCs) are monocomponent or single polymer composites, and they are entirely made from cellulose, ideally leading to a homogeneous biocomposite. Since the matrix and the reinforcement are both made from cellulose, and therefore chemically identical, they are fully compatible with each other which allow efficient stress transfer and adhesion at their interface. Apart from improving the mechanical performance of the final products, the recycling of the composites will be facilitated. This paper reports the recycling of end-of-life cellulose containing textiles by fabrication of all-cellulose composites (ACCs). Composite laminates were prepared by using an ionic liquid (IL) in a hot process, involving a partial dissolving of the cellulose fibres. Discharged denim fabrics were used as the reinforcement while dissolved cellulose from two different cellulose resources was used as the matrix phase. Virgin cotton staple fibres and recovered cotton from polyester/cotton (polycotton) waste fabrics were used to form the matrix phase. The process comprises the dissolving 6 wt.% cellulose solution in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate ([BMIM][Ac]), this solution acted as a precursor for the matrix component. The denim fabrics were embedded in the cellulose/IL solution after which laminates were formed, which also involved removal of the IL by washing. The effect of reuse of the recovered IL was also investigated. The mechanical properties of the obtained ACCs were determined regarding tensile, impact and flexural properties. Mechanical testing revealed that there are no clear differences between the values measured for mechanical strength and modulus of the manufactured ACCs from denim/cotton-fresh IL, denim/recovered cotton-fresh IL and denim/cotton-recycled IL. This could be due to the low weight fraction of the cellulose matrix in the final ACC laminates and presumably the denim as cellulose reinforcement strongly influences and dominates the mechanical properties. Fabricated ACC composite laminates were further characterized regarding scanning electron microscopy.

Keywords: all-cellulose composites, denim fabrics, ionic liquid, mechanical properties

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Authors: Aleksandra Jonas, Aleksandra Gronowska, Maciej Ścigacz, Szymon Jadczak

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Exact Data is a smart tool which helps with meaningful marketing content creation. It helps marketers achieve this by analyzing the text of an advertisement before and after its publication on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. In our research we focus on four areas of natural language processing (NLP): grammar correction, sentiment analysis, irony detection and advertisement interpretation. Our research has identified a considerable lack of NLP tools for the Polish language, which specifically aid online marketers. In light of this, our research team has set out to create a robust and versatile NLP tool for the Polish language. The primary objective of our research is to develop a tool that can perform a range of language processing tasks in this language, such as sentiment analysis, text classification, text correction and text interpretation. Our team has been working diligently to create a tool that is accurate, reliable, and adaptable to the specific linguistic features of Polish, and that can provide valuable insights for a wide range of marketers needs. In addition to the Polish language version, we are also developing an English version of the tool, which will enable us to expand the reach and impact of our research to a wider audience. Another area of focus in our research involves tackling the challenge of the limited availability of linguistically diverse corpora for non-English languages, which presents a significant barrier in the development of NLP applications. One approach we have been pursuing is the translation of existing English corpora, which would enable us to use the wealth of linguistic resources available in English for other languages. Furthermore, we are looking into other methods, such as gathering language samples from social media platforms. By analyzing the language used in social media posts, we can collect a wide range of data that reflects the unique linguistic characteristics of specific regions and communities, which can then be used to enhance the accuracy and performance of NLP algorithms for non-English languages. In doing so, we hope to broaden the scope and capabilities of NLP applications. Our research focuses on several key NLP techniques including sentiment analysis, text classification, text interpretation and text correction. To ensure that we can achieve the best possible performance for these techniques, we are evaluating and comparing different approaches and strategies for implementing them. We are exploring a range of different methods, including transformers and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), to determine which ones are most effective for different types of NLP tasks. By analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, we can identify the most effective techniques for specific use cases, and further enhance the performance of our tool. Our research aims to create a tool, which can provide a comprehensive analysis of advertising effectiveness, allowing marketers to identify areas for improvement and optimize their advertising strategies. The results of this study suggest that a smart tool for advertisement analysis can provide valuable insights for businesses seeking to create effective advertising campaigns.

Keywords: NLP, AI, IT, language, marketing, analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Owen Cegielski, Kristi Maida, Danny Morales, Sylvia L. Mendez

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This study explores the challenges and threats US secondary educators experience in incorporating culturally relevant education (CRE) practices in their classrooms. CRE is a social justice pedagogical practice used to connect student’s cultural references to academic skills and content, to promote critical reflection, to facilitate cultural competence, and to critique discourses of power and oppression. Empirical evidence on CRE demonstrates positive student educational outcomes in terms of achievement, engagement, and motivation. Additionally, due to the direct focus on uplifting diverse cultures through the curriculum, students experience greater feelings of belonging, increased interest in the subject matter, and stronger racial/ethnic identities. When these teaching practices are in place, educators develop deeper relationships with their students and appreciate the multitude of gifts they (and their families) bring to the classroom environment. Yet, educators regularly report being unprepared to incorporate CRE in their daily teaching practice and identify substantive gaps in their knowledge and skills in this area. Often, they were not exposed to CRE in their educator preparation program, nor do they receive adequate support through school- or district-wide professional development programming. Through a descriptive phenomenological research design, 20 interviews were conducted with a diverse set of secondary school educators to explore the challenges and threats they experience in incorporating CRE practices in their classrooms. The guiding research question for this study is: What are the challenges and threats US secondary educators face when seeking to incorporate CRE practices in their classrooms? Interviews were grounded by the theory of challenge and threat states, which highlights the ways in which challenges and threats are appraised and how resources factor into emotional valence and perception, as well as the potential to meet the task at hand. Descriptive phenomenological data analysis strategies were utilized to develop an essential structure of the educators’ views of challenges and threats in regard to incorporating CRE practices in their secondary classrooms. The attitude of the phenomenological reduction method was adopted, and the data were analyzed through five steps: sense of the whole, meaning units, transformation, structure, and essential structure. The essential structure that emerged was while secondary educators display genuine interest in learning how to successfully incorporate CRE practices, they perceive it to be a challenge (and not a threat) due to lack of exposure which diminishes educator capacity, comfort, and confidence in employing CRE practices. These findings reveal the value of attending to emotional valence and perception of CRE in promoting this social justice pedagogical practice. Findings also reveal the importance of appropriately resourcing educators with CRE support to ensure they develop and utilize this practice.

Keywords: culturally relevant education, descriptive phenomenology, social justice practice, US secondary education

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Authors: Mayantoinette F. Watson

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During such an unprecedented time of the largest public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing students are of the utmost concern regarding their psychological and physical well-being. Questions are emerging and circulating about what will happen to the nursing students and the long-term effects of the pandemic, especially now that hospitals are being overwhelmed with a significant need for nursing staff. Expectations, demands, change, and the fear of the unknown during this unprecedented time can only contribute to the many stressors that accompany nursing students through laborious clinical and didactic courses in nursing programs. The risk of psychological distress is at a maximum, and its effects can negatively impact not only nursing students but also nursing education and academia. The high exposures to interpersonal, economic, and academic demands contribute to the major health concerns, which include a potential risk for psychological distress. Achievement of educational success among nursing students is directly affected by the high exposure to anxiety and depression from experiences within the program. Working relationships and achieving academic success is imperative to positive student outcomes within the nursing program. The purpose of this study is to identify and establish influences and associations within multilevel factors, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress in nursing students. Neuman’s Systems Model Theory was used to determine nursing students’ responses to internal and external stressors. The research in this study utilized a mixed-methods, convergent study design. The study population included undergraduate nursing students from Southeastern U.S. The research surveyed a convenience sample of undergraduate nursing students. The quantitative survey was completed by 202 participants, and 11 participants participated in the qualitative follow-up interview surveys. Participants completed the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS4), and the Dundee Readiness Educational Environment Scale (DREEM12) to measure psychological distress, perceived stress, and perceived educational environment. Participants also answered open-ended questions regarding their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical tests, including bivariate analyses, multiple linear regression analyses, and binary logistics regression analyses were performed in effort to identify and highlight the effects of independent variables on the dependent variable, psychological distress. Coding and qualitative content analysis were performed to identify overarching themes within participants’ interviews. Quantitative data were sufficient in identifying correlations between psychological distress and multilevel factors of coping, marital status, COVID-19 stress, perceived stress, educational environment, and social support in nursing students. Qualitative data were sufficient in identifying common themes of students’ perceptions during COVID-19 and included online learning, workload, finances, experience, breaks, time, unknown, support, encouragement, unchanged, communication, and transmission. The findings are significant, specifically regarding contributing factors to nursing students’ psychological distress, which will help to improve learning in the academic environment.

Keywords: nursing education, nursing students, pandemic, psychological distress

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Authors: V. V. Fomin, A. P. Mikhailovich, E. M. Agapitov, V. E. Rogachev, E. A. Kostousova, E. S. Perekhodova

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Ground-level landscape photos can be used as a source of objective data on woody vegetation and vegetation dynamics. We proposed a method for processing, analyzing, and presenting ground photographs, which has the following advantages: 1) researcher has to form holistic representation of the study area in form of a set of interlapping ground-level landscape photographs; 2) it is necessary to define or obtain characteristics of the landscape, objects, and phenomena present on the photographs; 3) it is necessary to create new or supplement existing textual descriptions and annotations for the ground-level landscape photographs; 4) single or multiple ground-level landscape photographs can be used to develop specialized geoinformation layers, schematic maps or thematic maps; 5) it is necessary to determine quantitative data that describes both images as a whole, and displayed objects and phenomena, using algorithms for automated image analysis. It is suggested to match each photo with a polygonal geoinformation layer, which is a sector consisting of areas corresponding with parts of the landscape visible in the photos. Calculation of visibility areas is performed in a geoinformation system within a sector using a digital model of a study area relief and visibility analysis functions. Superposition of the visibility sectors corresponding with various camera viewpoints allows matching landscape photos with each other to create a complete and wholesome representation of the space in question. It is suggested to user-defined data or phenomenons on the images with the following superposition over the visibility sector in the form of map symbols. The technology of geoinformation layers’ spatial superposition over the visibility sector creates opportunities for image geotagging using quantitative data obtained from raster or vector layers within the sector with the ability to generate annotations in natural language. The proposed method has proven itself well for relatively open and clearly visible areas with well-defined relief, for example, in mountainous areas in the treeline ecotone. When the polygonal layers of visibility sectors for a large number of different points of photography are topologically superimposed, a layer of visibility of sections of the entire study area is formed, which is displayed in the photographs. Also, as a result of this overlapping of sectors, areas that did not appear in the photo will be assessed as gaps. According to the results of this procedure, it becomes possible to obtain information about the photos that display a specific area and from which points of photography it is visible. This information may be obtained either as a query on the map or as a query for the attribute table of the layer. The method was tested using repeated photos taken from forty camera viewpoints located on Ray-Iz mountain massif (Polar Urals, Russia) from 1960 until 2023. It has been successfully used in combination with other ground-based and remote sensing methods of studying the climate-driven dynamics of woody vegetation in the Polar Urals. Acknowledgment: This research was collaboratively funded by the Russian Ministry for Science and Education project No. FEUG-2023-0002 (image representation) and Russian Science Foundation project No. 24-24-00235 (automated textual description).

Keywords: woody, vegetation, repeated, photographs

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Authors: Faride Peña, Teresita Castillo, Concepción Campo

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Sexual violence, and particularly child sexual abuse, is a serious problem all over the world, México included. Given its importance, there are several preventive and care programs done by the government and the civil society all over the country but most of them are developed in urban areas even though these problems are especially serious in rural areas. Yucatán, a state in southern México, occupies one of the first places in child sexual abuse. Considering the above, the University Unit of Clinical Research and Victimological Attention (UNIVICT) of the Autonomous University of Yucatan, designed, implemented and is currently evaluating the program named “Sharing Mouth to Mouth: My Body, Nobody Can Touch It”, a program to prevent child sexual abuse in rural communities of Yucatán, México. Its aim was to develop skills for the detection of risk situations, providing protection strategies and mechanisms for prevention through culturally relevant psycho-educative strategies to increase personal resources in children, in collaboration with parents, teachers, police and municipal authorities. The diagnosis identified that a particularly vulnerable population were children between 4 and 10 years. The program run during 2015 in primary schools in the municipality whose inhabitants are mostly Mayan. The aim of this paper is to present its evaluation in terms of its effectiveness and efficiency. This evaluation included documental analysis of the work done in the field, psycho-educational and recreational activities with children, evaluation of knowledge by participating children and interviews with parents and teachers. The results show high efficiency in fulfilling the tasks and achieving primary objectives. The efficiency shows satisfactory results but also opportunity areas that can be resolved with minor adjustments to the program. The results also show the importance of including culturally relevant strategies and activities otherwise it minimizes possible achievements. Another highlight is the importance of participatory action research in preventive approaches to child sexual abuse since by becoming aware of the importance of the subject people participate more actively; in addition to design culturally appropriate strategies and measures so that the proposal may not be distant to the people. Discussion emphasizes the methodological implications of prevention programs (convenience of using participatory action research (PAR), importance of monitoring and mediation during implementation, developing detection skills tools in creative ways using psycho-educational interactive techniques and working assessment issued by the participants themselves). As well, it is important to consider the holistic character this type of program should have, in terms of incorporating social and culturally relevant characteristics, according to the community individuality and uniqueness, consider type of communication to be used and children’ language skills considering that there should be variations strongly linked to a specific cultural context.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, evaluation, PAR, prevention

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Authors: Tran Tran

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Mental health issues are prevalent among Vietnamese undergraduate students, and they are greatly exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic for this population. While there is empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness and efficiency of therapy on mental health issues among college students, the rates of Vietnamese college students seeking professional mental health services were alarmingly low. Multiple factors can prevent those in need from finding support. The Internalized Stigma Model posits that public stigma directly affects intentions to seek psychological help via self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking help. However, little research has focused on what factors can predict public stigma toward seeking professional psychological support, especially among this population. A potential predictor is academic majors since academic majors can influence undergraduate students' perceptions, attitudes, and intentions. A study suggested that students who have completed two or more psychology courses have a more positive attitude toward seeking care for mental health issues and reduced stigma, which might be attributed to increased mental health literacy. In addition, research has shown that women are more likely to utilize mental health services and have lower stigma than men. Finally, studies have also suggested that experience of mental health services can increase endorsement of perceived need and lower stigma. Thus, it is expected that perceived helpfulness from past service uses can reduce stigma. This study aims to address this gap in the literature and investigate which factors can predict public stigma, specifically academic major, gender, and perceived helpfulness, potentially suggesting an avenue of prevention and ultimately improving the well-being of Vietnamese college students. The sample includes 408 undergraduate students (Mage = 20.44; 80.88% female) Hanoi city, Vietnam. Participants completed a pen-and-paper questionnaire. Students completed the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, which yielded a mean public stigma score. Participants also completed a measurement assessing their perceived helpfulness of their university’s counseling center, which included eight subscales: future self-development, learning issues, career counseling, medical and health issues, mental health issues, conflicts between teachers and students, conflicts between parents and students, and interpersonal relationships. Items were summed to create a composite perceived helpfulness score. Finally, participants provided demographic information. This included gender, which was dichotomized between female and other. Additionally, it included academic major, which was also similarly dichotomized between psychology and other (e.g., natural science, social science, and pedagogy & social work). Linear relationships between public stigma and gender, academic major, and perceived helpfulness were analyzed individually with a regression model. Findings suggested that academic major, gender, and perceived counseling center's helpfulness predicted stigma against seeking professional psychological help. Specifically, being a psychology major predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.25, p < .001). Additionally, gender female predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.11, p < .05). Lastly, higher levels of perceived helpfulness of the counseling center also predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.16, p < .01). The study’s results offer potential intervention avenues to help reduce stigma and increase well-being for Vietnamese college students.

Keywords: stigma, vietnamese college students, counseling services, help-seeking

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Authors: M. Isabel Santos, Ana Breda, Ana Margarida Almeida

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Research on academic abilities of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) underlines the importance of mathematics interventions. Yet the proposal of digital applications for children and youth with ASD continues to attract little attention, namely, regarding the development of mathematical reasoning, being the use of the digital technologies an area of great interest for individuals with this disorder and its use is certainly a facilitative strategy in the development of their mathematical abilities. The use of digital technologies can be an effective way to create innovative learning opportunities to these students and to develop creative, personalized and constructive environments, where they can develop differentiated abilities. The children with ASD often respond well to learning activities involving information presented visually. In this context, we present the digital Learning Environment on Mathematics for Autistic children (LEMA) that was a research project conducive to a PhD in Multimedia in Education and was developed by the Thematic Line Geometrix, located in the Department of Mathematics, in a collaboration effort with DigiMedia Research Center, of the Department of Communication and Art (University of Aveiro, Portugal). LEMA is a digital mathematical learning environment which activities are dynamically adapted to the user’s profile, towards the development of mathematical abilities of children aged 6–12 years diagnosed with ASD. LEMA has already been evaluated with end-users (both students and teacher’s experts) and based on the analysis of the collected data readjustments were made, enabling the continuous improvement of the prototype, namely considering the integration of universal design for learning (UDL) approaches, which are of most importance in ASD, due to its heterogeneity. The learning strategies incorporated in LEMA are: (i) provide options to custom choice of math activities, according to user’s profile; (ii) integrates simple interfaces with few elements, presenting only the features and content needed for the ongoing task; (iii) uses a simple visual and textual language; (iv) uses of different types of feedbacks (auditory, visual, positive/negative reinforcement, hints with helpful instructions including math concept definitions, solved math activities using split and easier tasks and, finally, the use of videos/animations that show a solution to the proposed activity); (v) provides information in multiple representation, such as text, video, audio and image for better content and vocabulary understanding in order to stimulate, motivate and engage users to mathematical learning, also helping users to focus on content; (vi) avoids using elements that distract or interfere with focus and attention; (vii) provides clear instructions and orientation about tasks to ease the user understanding of the content and the content language, in order to stimulate, motivate and engage the user; and (viii) uses buttons, familiarly icons and contrast between font and background. Since these children may experience little sensory tolerance and may have an impaired motor skill, besides the user to have the possibility to interact with LEMA through the mouse (point and click with a single button), the user has the possibility to interact with LEMA through Kinect device (using simple gesture moves).

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, digital technologies, inclusion, mathematical abilities, mathematical learning activities

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Authors: M. Fry, L. Fitzpatrick, Julie Considine, R. Z. Shaban, Kate Curtis

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Introduction: The vast majority of older Australians lives independently and are self-managing at home, despite a growing number living with a chronic illness that requires health intervention. Evidence shows that between 50% and 80% of people presenting to the emergency department (ED) are in pain. Australian EDs manage 7.2 million attendances every year and 1.4 million of these are people aged 65 years or more. Research shows that 28% of ED patients aged 65 years or more have Cognitive impairment (CI) associated with dementia, delirium and neurological conditions. Background: Traditional ED service delivery may not be suitable for older people who present with multiple, complex and ongoing illnesses. Likewise, ED clinical staff often perceive that their role should be focused more on immediate and potential lifethreatening illness and conditions which are episodic in nature. Therefore, the needs of older people and their family/carers may not be adequately addressed in the context of an ED presentation. Aim: We aimed to explore the utilisation and characteristics of older people presenting to four metropolitan EDs. Method: The findings being presented are part of a program of research exploring pain management practices for older persons with long bone fractures. The study was conducted across four metropolitan emergency departments of older patients (65years and over) and involved a 12-month randomised medical record audit (n=255). Results: ED presentations across four ED sites in 2012 numbered 168021, with 44778 (26.6%) patients aged 65 and over. Of the 44778 patients, the average age was 79.1 years (SD 8.54). There were more females 23932 (53.5%). The majority (26925: 85.0%) of older persons self-referred to the ED and lived independently. The majority arrived by ambulance (n=18553: 41.4%) and were allocated triage category was 3 (n=19,507:43.65%) or Triage category 4 at (n=15,389: 34.43%). The top five triage symptom presentations involved pain (n=8088; 18.25%), dyspnoea (n=4735; 10.7%), falls (n=4032; 9.1%), other (n=3984; 9.0%), cardiac (n=2987; 6.7%). The top five system based diagnostic presentations involved musculoskeletal (n=8902; 20.1%), cardiac (n=6704:15.0%), respiratory (n=4933; 11.0%), neurological (n=4909; 11.0%), gastroenterology (n=4321; 9.7%). On review of one tertiary hospital database the vital signs on average at time triage: Systolic Blood Pressure 143.6mmHg. Heart Rate 83.4 beats/minute; Respiratory Rate 18.5 breaths/ minute; Oxygen saturation 97.0% and Tympanic temperature 36.7 and Blood Glucose Level 7.4mmols/litre. The majority presented with a Glasgow Coma Score of 14 or higher. On average the older person stayed in the ED 4:56 (SD 3:28minutes).The average time to be seen was 39 minutes (SD 48 minutes). The majority of older persons were admitted (n=27562: 61.5%), did not wait for treatment (n= 8879: 0.02%) discharged home (n=16256: 36.0%). Conclusion: The vast majority of older persons are living independently, although many require admission on arrival to the ED. Many arrived in pain and with musculoskeletal injuries and or conditions. New models of care need to be considered, which may better support self-management and independent living of the older person and the National Emergency Access Targets.

Keywords: chronic, older person, aged care, emergency department

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Authors: Jiazhi Zeng, Leiyu Shi, Xia Zou, Wen Chen, Li Ling

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Background: China is facing the unprecedented challenge of rapidly increasing rural-to-urban migration. Due to the household registration system, migrants are in a vulnerable state when they attempt to access to primary care services. A strong primary care system can reduce health inequities and mitigate socioeconomic disparities in healthcare utilization. Literature indicated that migrants were more reliant on the primary care system than local residents. Although the Chinese government has attached great importance to creating an efficient health system, primary care services are still underutilized. The referral system between primary care institutions and hospitals has not yet been completely established in China. The general populations often go directly to hospitals instead of primary care institutions for their primary care. Primary care institutions generally consist of community health centers (CHCs) and community health stations (CHSs) in urban areas, and township health centers (THCs) and rural health stations (THSs) in rural areas. In addition, primary care services are also provided by the outpatient department of municipal hospitals and tertiary hospitals. A better understanding of migrants’ experiences with primary care in the above-mentioned medical institutions is critical for improving the performance of primary care institutions and providing indications of the attributes that require further attention. The purpose of this pioneering study is to explore rural-to-urban migrants’ experiences in primary care, compare their primary care experiences in four types of medical institutions in Guangzhou, China, and suggest implications for targeted interventions to improve primary care for the migrants. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 736 rural-to-urban migrants in Guangzhou, China, in 2014. A multistage sampling method was employed. A validated Chinese version of Primary Care Assessment Tool - Adult Short Version (PCAT-AS) was used to collect information on migrants’ primary care experiences. The PCAT-AS consists of 10 domains. Analysis of covariance was conducted for comparison on PCAT domain scores and total scores among migrants accessing four types of medical institutions. Multiple linear regression models were used to explore factors associated with PCAT total scores. Results: After controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, migrant characteristics, health status and health insurance status, migrants accessing primary care in tertiary hospitals had the highest PCAT total scores when compared with those accessing primary care THCs/ RHSs (25.49 vs. 24.18, P=0.007) and CHCs/ CHSs(25.49 vs. 24.24, P=0.006). There was no statistical significant difference for PCAT total scores between migrants accessing primary care in CHCs/CHSs and those in municipal hospitals (24.24 vs. 25.02, P=0.436). Factors positively associated with higher PCAT total scores also included insurance covering parts of healthcare payment (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study highlights the need for improvement in primary care provided by primary care institutions for rural-to-urban migrants. Migrants receiving primary care from THCs, RHSs, CHSs and CHSs reported worse primary care experiences than those receiving primary care from tertiary hospitals. Relevant policies related to medical insurance should be implemented for providing affordable healthcare services for migrants accessing primary care. Further research exploring the specific reasons for poorer PCAT scores of primary care institutions users will be needed.

Keywords: China, PCAT, primary care, rural-to-urban migrants

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Authors: Hyunjoo Park, Taehyun Kim, Taehyun Kim

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Human life, activity, and culture depend on the wider environment. Cities offer economic opportunities for goods and services, but cannot exist in environments without food, energy, and water supply. Technological innovation in energy supply and transport speeds up the expansion of urban areas and the physical separation from agricultural land. As a result, division of urban agricultural areas causes more energy demand for food and goods transport between the regions. As the energy resources are leaking all over the world, the impact on the environment crossing the boundaries of cities is also growing. While advances in energy and other technologies can reduce the environmental impact of consumption, there is still a gap between energy supply and demand by current technology, even in technically advanced countries. Therefore, reducing energy demand is more realistic than relying solely on the development of technology for sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to introduce the application of carbon footprint assessment in fields of urban planning and geography. In urban studies, carbon footprint has been assessed at different geographical scales, such as nation, city, region, household, and individual. Carbon footprint assessment for a nation and a city is available by using national or city level statistics of energy consumption categories. By means of carbon footprint calculation, it is possible to compare the ecological capacity and deficit among nations and cities. Carbon footprint also offers great insight on the geographical distribution of carbon intensity at a regional level in the agricultural field. The study shows the background of carbon footprint applications in urban planning and geography by case studies such as figuring out sustainable land-use measures in urban planning and geography. For micro level, footprint quiz or survey can be adapted to measure household and individual carbon footprint. For example, first case study collected carbon footprint data from the survey measuring home energy use and travel behavior of 2,064 households in eight cities in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Second case study analyzed the effects of the net and gross population densities on carbon footprint of residents at an intra-urban scale in the capital city of Seoul, Korea. In this study, the individual carbon footprint of residents was calculated by converting the carbon intensities of home and travel fossil fuel use of respondents to the unit of metric ton of carbon dioxide (tCO₂) by multiplying the conversion factors equivalent to the carbon intensities of each energy source, such as electricity, natural gas, and gasoline. Carbon footprint is an important concept not only for reducing climate change but also for sustainable development. As seen in case studies carbon footprint may be measured and applied in various spatial units, including but not limited to countries and regions. These examples may provide new perspectives on carbon footprint application in planning and geography. In addition, additional concerns for consumption of food, goods, and services can be included in carbon footprint calculation in the area of urban planning and geography.

Keywords: carbon footprint, case study, geography, urban planning

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Authors: Adrien Chatel, Ehsan Askari Mahvelati, Laurent Fitschy

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Once-Through-Steam-Generators are commonly used in the oil-sand industry in the heavy fuel oil extraction process. They are composed of three main parts: the burner, the radiant and convective sections. Natural gas is burned through staged diffusive flames stabilized by the burner. The heat generated by the combustion is transferred to the water flowing through the piping system in the radiant and convective sections. The steam produced within the pipes is then directed to the ground to reduce the oil viscosity and allow its pumping. With the rapid development of the oil-sand industry, the number of OTSG in operation has increased as well as the associated emissions of environmental pollutants, especially the Nitrous Oxides (NOₓ). To limit the environmental degradation, various international environmental agencies have established regulations on the pollutant discharge and pushed to reduce the NOₓ release. To meet these constraints, OTSG constructors have to rely on more and more advanced tools to study and predict the NOₓ emission. With the increase of the computational resources, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a flexible tool to analyze the combustion and pollutant formation process. Moreover, to optimize the burner operating condition regarding the NOx emission, field characterization and measurements are usually accomplished. However, these kinds of experimental campaigns are particularly time-consuming and sometimes even impossible for industrial plants with strict operation schedule constraints. Therefore, the application of CFD seems to be more adequate in order to provide guidelines on the NOₓ emission and reduction problem. In the present work, two different software are employed to simulate the combustion process in an OTSG, namely the commercial software ANSYS Fluent and the open source software OpenFOAM. RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes) equations combined with the Eddy Dissipation Concept to model the combustion and closed by the k-epsilon model are solved. A mesh sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the independence of the solution on the mesh. In the first part, the results given by the two software are compared and confronted with experimental data as a mean to assess the numerical modelling. Flame temperatures and chemical composition are used as reference fields to perform this validation. Results show a fair agreement between experimental and numerical data. In the last part, OpenFOAM is employed to simulate several operating conditions, and an Emission Characteristic Map of the combustion system is generated. The sources of high NOₓ production inside the OTSG are pointed and correlated to the physics of the flow. CFD is, therefore, a useful tool for providing an insight into the NOₓ emission phenomena in OTSG. Sources of high NOₓ production can be identified, and operating conditions can be adjusted accordingly. With the help of RANS simulations, an Emission Characteristics Map can be produced and then be used as a guide for a field tune-up.

Keywords: combustion, computational fluid dynamics, nitrous oxides emission, once-through-steam-generators

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Authors: Etienne Herrick

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As an economically and ecologically feasible method for farmers to introduce greater diversity into their crop rotations, cover cropping presents a valuable opportunity for improving the sustainability of food production. Planted in-between cash crop growing seasons, cover crops serve to enhance agroecosystem functioning, rather than being destined for sale or consumption. In fact, cover crops may hold the capacity to deliver multiple ecosystem functions or services simultaneously (multifunctionality). Building upon this line of research will not only benefit society at present, but also support its continued survival through its potential for restoring depleted soils and reducing the need for energy-intensive and harmful external inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. This study utilizes a trait-based approach to explore the influence of inter- and intra-specific interactions in summer cover crop mixtures and monocultures on functional trait expression and ecosystem services. Functional traits that enhance ecosystem services related to agricultural production include height, specific leaf area (SLA), root, shoot ratio, leaf C and N concentrations, and flowering phenology. Ecosystem services include biomass production, weed suppression, reduced N leaching, N recycling, and support of pollinators. Employing a trait-based approach may allow for the elucidation of mechanistic links between plant structure and resulting ecosystem service delivery. While relationships between some functional traits and the delivery of particular ecosystem services may be readily apparent through existing ecological knowledge (e.g. height positively correlating with weed suppression), this study will begin to quantify those relationships so as to gain further understanding of whether and how measurable variation in functional trait expression across cover crop mixtures and monocultures can serve as a reliable predictor of variation in the types and abundances of ecosystem services delivered. Six cover crop species, including legume, grass, and broadleaf functional types, were selected for growth in six mixtures and their component monocultures based upon the principle of trait complementarity. The tricultures (three-way mixtures) are comprised of a legume, grass, and broadleaf species, and include cowpea/sudex/buckwheat, sunnhemp/sudex/buckwheat, and chickling vetch/oat/buckwheat combinations; the dicultures contain the same legume and grass combinations as above, without the buckwheat broadleaf. By combining species with expectedly complimentary traits (for example, legumes are N suppliers and grasses are N acquirers, creating a nutrient cycling loop) the cover crop mixtures may elicit a broader range of ecosystem services than that provided by a monoculture, though trade-offs could exist. Collecting functional trait data will enable the investigation of the types of interactions driving these ecosystem service outcomes. It also allows for generalizability across a broader range of species than just those selected for this study, which may aid in informing further research efforts exploring species and ecosystem functioning, as well as on-farm management decisions.

Keywords: agroecology, cover crops, functional traits, multifunctionality, trait complementarity

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