Search results for: good agriculture practices

Authors: Berengere Vire, Nicolas Salvetat, Yoann Lannay, Guillaume Marcellin, Siem Van Der Laan, Franck Molina, Dinah Weissmann

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Predicting suicidal behaviors is one of the most complex challenges of daily psychiatric practices. Today, suicide risk prediction using biological tools is not validated and is only based on subjective clinical reports of the at-risk individual. Therefore, there is a great need to identify biomarkers that would allow early identification of individuals at risk of suicide. Alterations of adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing of neurotransmitter receptors and other proteins have been shown to be involved in etiology of different psychiatric disorders and linked to suicidal behavior. RNA editing is a co- or post-transcriptional process leading to a site-specific alteration in RNA sequences. It plays an important role in the epi transcriptomic regulation of RNA metabolism. On postmortem human brain tissue (prefrontal cortex) of depressed suicide victims, Alcediag found specific alterations of RNA editing activity on the mRNA coding for the serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2cR). Additionally, an increase in expression levels of ADARs, the RNA editing enzymes, and modifications of RNA editing profiles of prime targets, such as phosphodiesterase 8A (PDE8A) mRNA, have also been observed. Interestingly, the PDE8A gene is located on chromosome 15q25.3, a genomic region that has recurrently been associated with the early-onset major depressive disorder (MDD). In the current study, we examined whether modifications in RNA editing profile of prime targets allow identifying disease-relevant blood biomarkers and evaluating suicide risk in patients. To address this question, we performed a clinical study to identify an RNA editing signature in blood of depressed patients with and without the history of suicide attempts. Patient’s samples were drawn in PAXgene tubes and analyzed on Alcediag’s proprietary RNA editing platform using next generation sequencing technology. In addition, gene expression analysis by quantitative PCR was performed. We generated a multivariate algorithm comprising various selected biomarkers to detect patients with a high risk to attempt suicide. We evaluated the diagnostic performance using the relative proportion of PDE8A mRNA editing at different sites and/or isoforms as well as the expression of PDE8A and the ADARs. The significance of these biomarkers for suicidality was evaluated using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). The generated algorithm comprising the biomarkers was found to have strong diagnostic performances with high specificity and sensitivity. In conclusion, we developed tools to measure disease-specific biomarkers in blood samples of patients for identifying individuals at the greatest risk for future suicide attempts. This technology not only fosters patient management but is also suitable to predict the risk of drug-induced psychiatric side effects such as iatrogenic increase of suicidal ideas/behaviors.

Keywords: blood biomarker, next-generation-sequencing, RNA editing, suicide

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Authors: Lauren G. Coggins

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Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAI), contributing to prolonged lengths of stay, greater costs of patient care, and increased patient mortality. Evidence-based preventative care bundles exist to establish consistent, safe patient-care practices throughout an entire organization, helping to ensure the collective application of care strategies that aim to improve patient outcomes and minimize complications. The cardiac intensive care unit at a nationally ranked teaching and research hospital in the United States exceeded its annual CAUTI and CLABSI targets in the fiscal year 2019, prompting examination into the unit’s infection prevention efforts that included preventative care bundles for both HAIs. Adherence to the CAUTI and CLABSI preventative care bundles was evaluated through frequent audits conducted over three months, using standards and resources from The Joint Commission, a globally recognized leader in quality improvement in healthcare and patient care safety. The bundle elements with the lowest scores were identified as the most commonly missed elements. Three elements from both bundles, six elements in total, served as key content areas for the educational interventions targeted to bedside nurses. The CAUTI elements included appropriate urinary catheter order, appropriate continuation criteria, and urinary catheter care. The CLABSI elements included primary tubing compliance, needleless connector compliance, and dressing change compliance. An integrated, multi-platform education campaign featured content on each CAUTI and CLABSI preventative care bundle in its entirety, with additional reinforcement focused on the lowest scoring elements. One-on-one educational materials included an informational pamphlet, badge buddy, a presentation to reinforce nursing care standards, and real-time application through case studies and electronic health record demonstrations. A digital hub was developed on the hospital’s Intranet for quick access to unit resources, and a bulletin board helped track the number of days since the last CAUTI and CLABSI incident. Audits continued to be conducted throughout the education campaign, and staff were given real-time feedback to address any gaps in adherence. Nearly every nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit received all educational materials, and adherence to all six key bundle elements increased after the implementation of educational interventions. Recommendations from this implementation include providing consistent, comprehensive education across multiple teaching tools and regular audits to track adherence. The multi-platform education campaign brought focus to the evidence-based CAUTI and CLABSI bundles, which in turn will help to reduce CAUTI and CLABSI rates in clinical practice.

Keywords: education, healthcare-associated infections, infection, nursing, prevention

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Authors: Rosemary R. Carlton, Roxane Caron

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Almost three decades ago, bell hooks (1994) identified the classroom as “the most radical space of possibility in the academy”. A feminist scholar, educator, and activist, hooks urged educators to transgress the boundaries of what might be customary or considered acceptable in teaching, thus encouraging the pursuit of new ways of knowing and different strategies for sharing knowledge. This paper reflects upon a particular response to hooks’ still relevant call for transgression in teaching. Specifically, this paper reports on the design, implementation, and preliminary analysis of a social work course integrating active pedagogy and transnational exchange to encourage students’ critical thinking and autonomous learning in their development as social workers in a global context. The bachelor’s level course, Pratiques spécifiques: Projet international, was developed collaboratively across three francophone institutions of higher learning in Belgium, Canada, and France: the Haute École de Namur-Liège-Luxembourg (Hénallux); the Université de Montréal; and, the Institut d’enseignement supérieur et professionnel, l’IRTS Paris Île-de-France. The driving aims of the course are to promote autonomous learning and critical thinking through a lens of transnational understandings of social problems -competencies indispensable to students’ development as social workers. The course is offered to two paired cohorts, one addressing the subject of “migrations” (Canada/France) and the other the subject of “sexual exploitation” (Canada/Belgium). Through the adaptation of a critical pedagogy of problem-based learning, students are called upon to actively engage in acquiring and applying knowledge to respond to “real life” social issues relating to migration or sexual exploitation. At the conclusion of the course, each cohort of students is brought together for a week-long intensive period of transnational exchange either at the Université de Montréal in Canada or at Hénallux in Belgium. Extending the bounds of the classroom across international borders allows students novel opportunities to deepen and expand their understandings of issues relating to predefined social issues and to critically examine associated social work practices. The paper opens with a presentation of the social work course. Specifically, the authors will outline their adaptation of a pedagogy of problem-based learning integrating transnational exchange in the design and implementation of the course. Returning to hooks’ notion of transgression in teaching, the paper offers a preliminary analysis of how and with what effect the course provides opportunities to transgress hierarchical student-teacher relationships; transgress conventional modes of learning to explore diverse sources of knowledge and transgress the walls of the university to engage with and learn from local and global partners. The paper concludes with a consideration of the potential influence of such transgressions in teaching for students’ development of critical thinking in their practice of social work in global context.

Keywords: active learning, critical pedagogy, social work intervention, transnational learning

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Authors: Priya Kulkarni, Soumya Koppikar, Narendrakumar Wagh, Dhanshri Ingle, Onkar Lande, Abhay Harsulkar

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Cartilage is an extracellular matrix composed of aggrecan, which imparts it with a great tensile strength, stiffness and resilience. Disruption in cartilage metabolism leading to progressive degeneration is a characteristic feature of Osteoarthritis (OA). The process involves enzymatic depolymerisation of cartilage specific proteoglycan, releasing free glycosaminoglycan (GAG). This released GAG in synovial fluid (SF) of knee joint serves as a direct measure of cartilage loss, however, limited due to its invasive nature. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) is widely used for assessing pain, stiffness and physical-functions in OA patients. The scale is comprised of three subscales namely, pain, stiffness and physical-function, intends to measure patient’s perspective of disease severity as well as efficacy of prescribed treatment. Twenty SF samples obtained from OA patients were analysed for their GAG values in SF using DMMB based assay. LK 1.0 vernacular version was used to attain WOMAC scale. The results were evaluated using SAS University software (Edition 1.0) for statistical significance. All OA patients revealed higher GAG values compared to the control value of 78.4±30.1µg/ml (obtained from our non-OA patients). Average WOMAC calculated was 51.3 while pain, stiffness and function estimated were 9.7, 3.9 and 37.7, respectively. Interestingly, a strong statistical correlation was established between WOMAC function subscale and GAG (p = 0.0102). This subscale is based on day-to-day activities like stair-use, bending, walking, getting in/out of car, rising from bed. However, pain and stiffness subscale did not show correlation with any of the studied markers and endorsed the atypical inflammation in OA pathology. On one side, where knee pain showed poor correlation with GAG, it is often noted that radiography is insensitive to cartilage degenerative changes; thus OA remains undiagnosed for long. Moreover, active cartilage degradation phase remains elusive to both, patient and clinician. Through analysis of large number of OA patients we have established a close association of Kellgren-Lawrence grades and increased cartilage loss. A direct attempt to correlate WOMAC and radiographic progression of OA with various biomarkers has not been attempted so far. We found a good correlation in GAG levels in SF and the function subscale.

Keywords: cartilage, Glycosaminoglycan, synovial fluid, western ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index

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Authors: Y. Mateyshina, A.Ulihin, N.Uvarov

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Electrolytes with different type of charge carrier can find widely application in different using, e.g. sensors, electrochemical equipments, batteries and others. One of important components ensuring stable functioning of the equipment is electrolyte. Electrolyte has to be characterized by high conductivity, thermal stability, and wide electrochemical window. In addition to many advantageous characteristic for liquid electrolytes, the solid state electrolytes have good mechanical stability, wide working range of temperature range. Thus search of new system of solid electrolytes with high conductivity is an actual task of solid state chemistry. Families of alkali perchlorates and nitrates have been investigated by us earlier. In literature data about transport properties of alkali nitrites are absent. Nevertheless, alkali nitrites MeNO2 (Me= Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+ and Cs+), except for the lithium salt, have high-temperature phases with crystal structure of the NaCl-type. High-temperature phases of nitrites are orientationally disordered, i.e. non-spherical anions are reoriented over several equivalents directions in the crystal lattice. Pure lithium nitrite LiNO2 is characterized by ionic conductivity near 10-4 S/cm at 180°C and more stable as compared with lithium nitrate and can be used as a component for synthesis of composite electrolytes. In this work composite solid electrolytes in the binary system LiNO2 - A (A= MgO, -Al2O3, Fe2O3, CeO2, SnO2, SiO2) were synthesized and their structural, thermodynamic and electrical properties investigated. Alkali nitrite was obtained by exchange reaction from water solutions of barium nitrite and alkali sulfate. The synthesized salt was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction technique using D8 Advance X-Ray Diffractometer with Cu K radiation. Using thermal analysis, the temperatures of dehydration and thermal decomposition of salt were determined.. The conductivity was measured using a two electrode scheme in a forevacuum (6.7 Pa) with an HP 4284A (Precision LCR meter) in a frequency range 20 Hz < ν < 1 MHz. Solid composite electrolytes LiNO2 - A A (A= MgO, -Al2O3, Fe2O3, CeO2, SnO2, SiO2) have been synthesized by mixing of preliminary dehydrated components followed by sintering at 250°C. In the series of nitrite of alkaline metals Li+-Cs+, the conductivity varies not monotonically with increasing radius of cation. The minimum conductivity is observed for KNO2; however, with further increase in the radius of cation in the series, the conductivity tends to increase. The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic research, grant #14-03-31442.

Keywords: conductivity, alkali nitrites, composite electrolytes, transport properties

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Authors: M. Kharrat, G. Moreau, Z. Aboura

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The latest advances in the weaving industry, combined with increasingly sophisticated means of materials processing, have made it possible to produce complex 3D composite structures. Mainly used in aeronautics, composite materials with 3D architecture offer better mechanical properties than 2D reinforced composites. Nevertheless, these materials require a good understanding of their behavior. Because of the complexity of such materials, the damage mechanisms are multiple, and the scenario of their appearance and evolution depends on the nature of the exerted solicitations. The AE technique is a well-established tool for discriminating between the damage mechanisms. Suitable sensors are used during the mechanical test to monitor the structural health of the material. Relevant AE-features are then extracted from the recorded signals, followed by a data analysis using pattern recognition techniques. In order to better understand the damage scenarios of interlock composite materials, a multi-instrumentation was set-up in this work for tracking damage initiation and development, especially in the vicinity of the first significant damage, called macro-damage. The deployed instrumentation includes video-microscopy, Digital Image Correlation, Acoustic Emission (AE) and micro-tomography. In this study, a multi-variable AE data analysis approach was developed for the discrimination between the different signal classes representing the different emission sources during testing. An unsupervised classification technique was adopted to perform AE data clustering without a priori knowledge. The multi-instrumentation and the clustered data served to label the different signal families and to build a learning database. This latter is useful to construct a supervised classifier that can be used for automatic recognition of the AE signals. Several materials with different ingredients were tested under various solicitations in order to feed and enrich the learning database. The methodology presented in this work was useful to refine the damage threshold for the new generation materials. The damage mechanisms around this threshold were highlighted. The obtained signal classes were assigned to the different mechanisms. The isolation of a 'noise' class makes it possible to discriminate between the signals emitted by damages without resorting to spatial filtering or increasing the AE detection threshold. The approach was validated on different material configurations. For the same material and the same type of solicitation, the identified classes are reproducible and little disturbed. The supervised classifier constructed based on the learning database was able to predict the labels of the classified signals.

Keywords: acoustic emission, classifier, damage mechanisms, first damage threshold, interlock composite materials, pattern recognition

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Authors: Z. Terzopoulou, I. Koliakou, D. Bikiaris

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Tissue engineering offers a new approach to regenerate diseased or damaged tissues such as bone. Great effort is devoted to eliminating the need of removing non-degradable implants at the end of their life span, with biodegradable polymers playing a major part. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is one of the best candidates for this purpose due to its high permeability, good biodegradability and exceptional biocompatibility, which has stimulated extensive research into its potential application in the biomedical fields. However, PCL degrades much slower than other known biodegradable polymers and has a total degradation of 2-4 years depending on the initial molecular weight of the device. This is due to its relatively hydrophobic character and high crystallinity. Consequently, much attention has been given to the tunable degradation of PCL to meet the diverse requirements of biomedicine. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that lacks bioactivity, so when used in bone tissue engineering, new bone tissue cannot bond tightly on the polymeric surface. Therefore, it is important to incorporate reinforcing fillers into PCL matrix in order to result in a promising combination of bioactivity, biodegradability, and strength. Natural clay halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were incorporated into PCL polymeric matrix, via in situ ring-opening polymerization of caprolactone, in concentrations 0.5, 1 and 2.5 wt%. Both unmodified and modified with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTES) HNTs were used in this study. The effect of nanofiller concentration and functionalization with end-amino groups on the physicochemical properties of the prepared nanocomposites was studied. Mechanical properties were found enhanced after the incorporation of nanofillers, while the modification increased further the values of tensile and impact strength. Thermal stability of PCL was not affected by the presence of nanofillers, while the crystallization rate that was studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Polarized Light Optical Microscopy (POM) increased. All materials were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis in phosphate buffer in the presence of lipases. Due to the hydrophilic nature of HNTs, the biodegradation rate of nanocomposites was higher compared to neat PCL. In order to confirm the effect of hydrophilicity, contact angle measurements were also performed. In vitro biomineralization test confirmed that all samples were bioactive as mineral deposits were detected by X-ray diffractometry after incubation in SBF. All scaffolds were tested in relevant cell culture using osteoblast-like cells (MG-63) to demonstrate their biocompatibility

Keywords: biomaterials, nanocomposites, scaffolds, tissue engineering

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Authors: Farah Vierra

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Following the 2016 US presidential election and the advancement of the Brexit referendum, the concept of “post-truth”, defined by Oxford Dictionary as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”, came into prominent use in public, political and educational circles. What this essentially entails is that in this age, individuals are increasingly confronted with subjective perpetuations of truth in their discourse spheres that are informed by beliefs and opinions as opposed to any form of coherence to the reality of those who these truth claims concern. In principle, a subjective delineation of truth is progressive and liberating – especially considering its potential in providing marginalised groups in the diverse communities of our globalised world with the voice to articulate truths that are representative of themselves and their experiences. However, any form of human flourishing that seems to be promised here collapses as the tenets of subjective truths initially in place to liberate has been distorted through post-truth to allow individuals to purport selective and individualistic truth claims that further oppress and silence certain groups within society without due accountability. The evidence of which is prevalent through the conception of terms such as "alternative facts" and "fake news" that we observe individuals declare when their problematic truth claims are questioned. Considering the pervasiveness of post-truth and the ethical issues that accompany it, educators and scholars alike have increasingly noted the need to adapt educational practices and pedagogies to account for the diminishing objectivity of truth in the twenty-first century, especially because students, as digital natives, find themselves in the firing line of post-truth; engulfed in digital societies that proliferate post-truth through the surge of truth claims allowed in various media sites. In an attempt to equip students with the vital skills to navigate the post-truth age and oppose its proliferation of social injustices, English educators find themselves having to devise instructional strategies that not only teach students the ways they can critically and ethically scrutinise truth claims but also teach them to mediate the subjectivity of truth in a manner that does not undermine the voices of diverse communities. In hopes of providing educators with the roadmap to do so, this paper will first examine the challenges that confront students as a result of post-truth. Following which, the paper will elucidate the role English education can play in helping students overcome the complex ramifications of post-truth. Scholars have consistently touted the affordances of literary texts in providing students with imagined spaces to explore societal issues through a critical discernment of language and an ethical engagement with its narrative developments. Therefore, this paper will explain and demonstrate how literary texts, when used alongside a critical-ethical post-truth pedagogy that equips students with interpretive strategies informed by literary traditions such as literary and ethical criticism, can be effective in helping students develop the pertinent skills to comprehensively examine truth claims and overcome the challenges of the post-truth age.

Keywords: post-truth, pedagogy, ethics, English, education

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Authors: D. Norton

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This qualitative study focuses on the lived experience and displacement of young white-collar masculinities in Japan. In recent years, the salaryman lifestyle has undergone significant disruption - increased competition for regular employment, rise in non-regular structurings of labour across public/private sectors, and shifting role expectations within the home. Despite this, related scholarship hints at a continued reinforcement of the traditional male gender role - that the salaryman remains a key benchmark of Japanese masculine identity. For those in structural proximity to these more ‘normative’ performativities, interest lies their engagement with such narratives - how they make sense of their masculinity in response to stated changes. In light of the historical emphasis on labour and breadwinning logics, notions of respective security or precarity generated as a result remain unclear. Similarly, concern extends to developments within the private sphere - by what means young white-collar men construct ideas of singlehood and companionship according to traditional gender ideologies or more contemporary, flexible readings. The influence of these still-emergent status distinctions on the logics of the social group in question is yet to be explored in depth by gender scholars. This project, therefore, focuses on a salaryman archetype as hegemonic - its transformation amidst these changes and socialising mechanisms that continue to legitimate unequal gender hierarchies. For data collection, a series of ethnographic interviews were held over a period of 12 months with university-educated, white-collar male employees from both Osaka and the Greater Tokyo Area. Findings suggest a modern salaryman ideal reflecting both continuities and shifts within white-collar employment. Whilst receptive to more contemporary workplace practices, the narratives of those interviewed remain imbued with logics supporting patterns of internal hegemony. Regular/non-regular distinction emerged as the foremost variable for both material and discursive patterns of white-collar stratification, with variants of displacement for each social group. Despite the heightened valorisation of stable employment, regular workers articulated various concerns over a model of corporate masculinity seen to be incompatible with recent socioeconomic developments. Likewise, non-regular employees face detachment owing to a still-inflexible perception of their working masculinity as marginalized amidst economic precarity. In seeking to negotiate respective challenges, those interviewed demonstrated an engagement with various concurrent social changes that would often either accommodate, reinforce, or expand upon traditional role behaviours. Few of these narratives offered any notable transgression of said ideal, however, suggesting that within the spectre of white-collar employment in Japan for the near future, any substantive transformation of corporate masculinity remains dependant upon economic developments, less so the agency of those involved.

Keywords: gender ideologies, hegemonic masculinity, Japan, white-collar employment

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Authors: Sara Gallo, Margherita Pasini, Margherita Brondino, Daniela Raccanello, Roberto Burro, Elisa Menardo

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Most of the studies on the ability of environments to recover people’s cognitive resources have been conducted in laboratory using simulated environments (e.g., photographs, videos, or virtual reality), based on the implicit assumption that exposure to simulated environments has the same effects of exposure to real environments. However, the technical characteristics of simulated environments, such as the dynamic or static characteristics of the stimulus, critically affect their perception. Measuring perceived restorativeness in situ rather than in laboratory could increase the validity of the obtained measurements. Personal mobile devices could be useful because they allow accessing immediately online surveys when people are directly exposed to an environment. At the same time, it becomes important to develop short and reliable measuring instruments that allow a quick assessment of the restorative qualities of the environments. One of the frequently used self-report measures to assess perceived restorativeness is the “Perceived Restorativeness Scale” (PRS) based on Attention Restoration Theory. A lot of different versions have been proposed and used according to different research purposes and needs, without studying their validity. This longitudinal study reported some preliminary validation analyses on a short version of original scale, the PRS-6, developed to be quick and mobile-friendly. It is composed of 6 items assessing fascination and being-away. 102 Italian university students participated to the study, 84% female with age ranging from 18 to 47 (M = 20.7; SD = 2.9). Data were obtained through a survey online that asked them to report their perceived restorativeness of the environment they were in (and the kind of environment) and their positive emotion (Positive and Negative Affective Schedule, PANAS) once a day for seven days. Cronbach alpha and item-total correlations were used to assess reliability and internal consistency. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) models were run to study the factorial structure (construct validity). Correlation analyses between PRS and PANAS scores were used to check discriminant validity. In the end, multigroup CFA models were used to study measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar, strict) between different mobile devices and between day of assessment. On the whole, the PRS-6 showed good psychometric proprieties, similar to those of the original scale, and invariance across devices and days. These results suggested that the PRS-6 could be a valid alternative to assess perceived restorativeness when researchers need a brief and immediate evaluation of the recovery quality of an environment.

Keywords: restorativeness, validation, short scale development, psychometrics proprieties

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Authors: Hongmei Wang, Ziyun Xiang, Ying liu, Li Yu, Dongsheng Yue

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Intro: The COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) has greatly changed the global economic, political and financial ecology. The mutation of the coronavirus in the UK in December 2020 has brought new panic to the world. Deep learning was performed on Chest Computed tomography (CT) of COVID-19 and Influenza and describes their characteristics. The predominant features of COVID-19 pneumonia was ground-glass opacification, followed by consolidation. Lesion density: most lesions appear as ground-glass shadows, and some lesions coexist with solid lesions. Lesion distribution: the focus is mainly on the dorsal side of the periphery of the lung, with the lower lobe of the lungs as the focus, and it is often close to the pleura. Other features it has are grid-like shadows in ground glass lesions, thickening signs of diseased vessels, air bronchi signs and halo signs. The severe disease involves whole bilateral lungs, showing white lung signs, air bronchograms can be seen, and there can be a small amount of pleural effusion in the bilateral chest cavity. At the same time, this year's flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. Chest CT for Influenza infection is characterized by focal ground glass shadows in the lungs, with or without patchy consolidation, and bronchiole air bronchograms are visible in the concentration. There are patchy ground-glass shadows, consolidation, air bronchus signs, mosaic lung perfusion, etc. The lesions are mostly fused, which is prominent near the hilar and two lungs. Grid-like shadows and small patchy ground-glass shadows are visible. Deep neural networks have great potential in image analysis and diagnosis that traditional machine learning algorithms do not. Method: Aiming at the two major infectious diseases COVID-19 and influenza, which are currently circulating in the world, the chest CT of patients with two infectious diseases is classified and diagnosed using deep learning algorithms. The residual network is proposed to solve the problem of network degradation when there are too many hidden layers in a deep neural network (DNN). The proposed deep residual system (ResNet) is a milestone in the history of the Convolutional neural network (CNN) images, which solves the problem of difficult training of deep CNN models. Many visual tasks can get excellent results through fine-tuning ResNet. The pre-trained convolutional neural network ResNet is introduced as a feature extractor, eliminating the need to design complex models and time-consuming training. Fastai is based on Pytorch, packaging best practices for in-depth learning strategies, and finding the best way to handle diagnoses issues. Based on the one-cycle approach of the Fastai algorithm, the classification diagnosis of lung CT for two infectious diseases is realized, and a higher recognition rate is obtained. Results: A deep learning model was developed to efficiently identify the differences between COVID-19 and influenza using chest CT.

Keywords: COVID-19, Fastai, influenza, transfer network

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Authors: Meenakshi Pappu

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The terms like liveability, Sustainable Development Goals and pandemic have been widely analysed in proving sustainable cities and community living in growing urban areas by 2030. The pandemic has made us all ruminate about how we look into different fast-growing cities which vary in geographical location, climatic zones, terrains, land use and varying cultural backgrounds & traditions belong to the mother soil. India has taken up huge steps to move towards achieving UN-SDGs. Smart city missions have played a vital role in moving towards SDG. Visakhapatnam city is the executive capital in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Located on the Eastern Ghats in South India, it is surrounded by a mountain range on three sides and the Indian Ocean on one side. This unique geographical location and fast urbanization in the last two decades, has put up immense pressure on the natural environment and recourses. It's observed that a lot of investigation to address the existing and proposed land-use, spatial, natural resources, air quality, environmental challenges, and a range of socio-economic, economic challenges were identified during the assessment phase. The citizen concerns with quality and quantity of access to water, sewerage, energy, transportation (public & private) and safety for the public were found out through surveying. Urban infrastructure plays a major part in city building. These cities are occupied by people who come for a better living. This paper aims to provide off-center way of approach to citizens-oriented community habits by addressing SDG 11: Sustainable cities & community by enkindling a characteristic framework of amalgamating 1.eco-design principal, 2. three factors of liveability and 3. a local traditional planning solution. Aiming towards a sustainable development utilized with the focus on the quality of the life and experience of the people who live in urban areas integrating life with soil & water. Building strong social agenda that includes affordable housing for all levels of households, secure and place for good quality public realm for the local people with activity in green corridor, open meeting space & adding recreational places for advantage..

Keywords: livability, eco-design, smart city mission, sustainable

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Authors: Priya Nangia, Sanchita Bansal

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As fashion cycles become more rapid, some segments of the fashion industry have adopted increasingly unsustainable production processes to keep up with demand and enhance profit margins. The growing threat to environmental and social wellbeing posed by unethical fast fashion practices and the need to integrate the targets of SDGs into this industry necessitates a shift in the fashion industry's unsustainable nature, which can only be accomplished in the long run if consumers support sustainable fashion by purchasing it. Fast fashion is defined as low-cost, trendy apparel that takes inspiration from the catwalk or celebrity culture and rapidly transforms it into garments at high-street stores to meet consumer demand. Given the importance of identity formation to many consumers, the desire to be “fashionable” often outweighs the desire to be ethical or sustainable. This paradox exemplifies the tension between the human drive to consume and the will to do so in moderation. Previous research suggests that there is an attitude-behavior gap when it comes to determining consumer purchasing behavior, but to the best of our knowledge, no study has analysed how to encourage customers to shift from fast to slow fashion. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is twofold: first, to identify and examine the factors that impact consumers' decisions to engage in sustainable fashion, and second, the authors develop a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing and encouraging researchers and practitioners to foster sustainable consumer behavior. This study used a systematic approach to collect data and analyse literature. The approach included three key steps: review planning, review execution, and findings reporting. Authors identified the keywords “sustainable consumption” and “sustainable fashion” and retrieved studies from the Web of Science (WoS) (126 records) and Scopus database (449 records). To make the study more specific, the authors refined the subject area to management, business, and economics in the second step, retrieving 265 records. In the third step, the authors removed the duplicate records and manually reviewed the articles to examine their relevance to the research issue. The final 96 research articles were used to develop this study's systematic scheme. The findings indicate that societal norms, demographics, positive emotions, self-efficacy, and awareness all have an effect on customers' decisions to purchase sustainable apparel. The authors propose a framework, denoted by the acronym SHIFT, in which consumers are more likely to engage in sustainable behaviors when the message or context leverages the following factors: (s)social influence, (h)habit formation, (i)individual self, (f)feelings, emotions, and cognition, and (t)tangibility. Furthermore, the authors identify five broad challenges that encourage sustainable consumer behavior and use them to develop novel propositions. Finally, the authors discuss how the SHIFT framework can be used in practice to drive sustainable consumer behaviors. This research sought to define the boundaries of existing research while also providing new perspectives on future research, with the goal of being useful for the development and discovery of new fields of study, thereby expanding knowledge.

Keywords: consumer behavior, fast fashion, sustainable consumption, sustainable fashion, systematic literature review

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Authors: Muhammad Waqas Baqai, Noman Shahzad, Rehman Alvi

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Communication among health care givers is the essence of quality patient care and any compromise results in errors and inefficiency leading to cumbersome outcomes. The use of smartphone among health professionals has increased tremendously. Almost every health professional carries it and majority of them uses a third party communication software called whatsApp for work related communications. It gives instant access to the person responsible for any particular query and therefore helps in efficient and timely decision making. It is also an easy way of sharing medical documents, multimedia and provides platform for consensual decision making through group discussions. However clinical communication through whatsApp has some demerits too including reduction in verbal communication, worsening professional relations, unprofessional behavior, risk of confidentiality breach and threats from cyber-attacks. On the other hand the traditional pager device being used in many health care systems is a unidirectional communication that lacks the ability to convey any information other than the number to which the receiver has to respond. Our study focused on these two widely used modalities of communication among doctors of the largest tertiary care center of Pakistan i.e. The Aga Khan University Hospital. Our aim was to note which modality is considered better and has fewer threats to medical data. Approval from ethical review committee of the institute was taken prior to conduction of this study. We submitted an online survey form to all the interns and residents working at our institute and collected their response in a month’s time. 162 submissions were recorded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Only 20% of them were comfortable with using pagers exclusively, 52% with whatsApp and 28% with both. 65% think that whatsApp is time-saving and quicker than pager. 54% of them considered whatsApp to be causing nuisance from work related notifications in their off-work hours. 60% think that they are more likely to miss information through pager system because of the unidirectional nature. Almost all (96%) of residents and interns found whatsApp to be useful in terms of saving information for future reference. For urgent issues, majority (70%) preferred pager over whatsApp and also pager was considered more valid in terms of hospital policies and legal issues. Among major advantages of whatsApp as listed by them were; easy mass communication, sharing of clinical pictures, universal access and no need of carrying additional device. However the major drawback of using whatsApp for clinical communication that everyone shared was threat to patients’ confidentiality as clinicians usually share pictures of wounds, clinical documents etc. Lastly we asked them if they think there is a need of a separate application for instant communication dedicated to clinical communication only and 90% responded positively. Therefore, we concluded that both modalities have their merits and demerits but the greatest drawback with whatsApp is the risk of breach in patients’ confidentiality and off-work disturbance. Hence, we recommend a more secure, institute-run application for all intra hospital communications where they can share documents, pictures etc. easily under a controlled environment.

Keywords: WhatsApp, pager, clinical communication, confidentiality

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Authors: Samrat Paul, Satyajit Pahari, Krishnendu Basak, Amitava Roy

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Fishing is one of the pivotal livelihood activities, especially in developing countries. Today it is considered an important occupation for human society from the era of human settlement began. In simple terms, non-target catches of any species during fishing can be considered as ‘bycatch,’ and fishing bycatch is neither a new fishery management issue nor a new problem. Sundarban is one of the world’s largest mangrove land expanding up to 10,200 sq. km in India and Bangladesh. This largest mangrove biome resource is used by the local inhabitants commercially to run their livelihood, especially by forest fringe villagers (FFVs). In Sundarban, over-fishing, especially post larvae collection of wild Penaeus monodon, is one of the major concerns, as during the collection of P. monodon, different aquatic species are destroyed as a result of bycatch mortality which changes in productivity and may negatively impact entire biodiversity, of the ecosystem. Wild prawn seed collection gear like a small mesh sized net poses a serious threat to aquatic stocks, where the collection isn’t only limited to prawn seed larvae. As prawn seed collection processes are inexpensive, require less monetary investment, and are lucrative; people are easily engaged here as their source of income. Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) intervention in selected forest fringe villages of Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) was to estimate and reduce the mortality of aquatic bycatches by involving local communities in newly developed release method and their time engagement in prawn seed collection (PSC) by involving them in Alternate Income Generation (AIG). The study was conducted for their taxonomic identification during the period of March to October 2019. Collected samples were preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol for identification, and all the preserved bycatch samples were identified morphologically by the expertise of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata. Around 74 different aquatic species, where 11 different species are molluscs, 41 fish species, out of which 31 species were identified, and 22 species of crustacean collected, out of which 18 species were identified. Around 13 different species belong to a different order, and families were unable to identify them morphologically as they were collected in the juvenile stage. The study reveals that for collecting one single prawn seed, eight individual life of associated faunas are being lost. Zero bycatch mortality is not practical; rather, collectors should focus on bycatch reduction by avoiding capturing, allowing escaping, and mortality reduction, and must make changes in their fishing method by increasing net mesh size, which will avoid non-target captures. But as the prawns are small in size (generally 1-1.5 inches in length), thus increase net size making economically less or no profit for collectors if they do so. In this case, returning bycatches is considered one of the best ways to a reduction in bycatch mortality which is a more sustainable practice.

Keywords: bycatch mortality, biodiversity, mangrove biome resource, sustainable practice, Alternate Income Generation (AIG)

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Authors: Paresh Patel, Priya Patel, Vaidehi Sorathiya, Navin Sheth

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The aim of present work was to fabricate Salmeterol Xinafoate (SX) metered dose inhaler (MDI) for asthma and to evaluate the SX loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) for pulmonary delivery. Solid lipid nanoparticles can be used to deliver particles to the lungs via MDI. A modified solvent emulsification diffusion technique was used to prepare Salmeterol Xinafoate loaded solid lipid nanoparticles by using compritol 888 ATO as lipid, tween 80 as surfactant, D-mannitol as cryoprotecting agent and L-leucine was used to improve aerosolization behaviour. Box-Behnken design was applied with 17 runs. 3-D surface response plots and contour plots were drawn and optimized formulation was selected based on minimum particle size and maximum % EE. % yield, in vitro diffusion study, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, DSC, FTIR also characterized. Particle size, zeta potential analyzed by Zetatrac particle size analyzer and aerodynamic properties was carried out by cascade impactor. Pre convulsion time was examined for control group, treatment group and compare with marketed group. MDI was evaluated for leakage test, flammability test, spray test and content per puff. By experimental design, particle size and % EE found to be in range between 119-337 nm and 62.04-76.77% by solvent emulsification diffusion technique. Morphologically, particles have spherical shape and uniform distribution. DSC & FTIR study showed that no interaction between drug and excipients. Zeta potential shows good stability of SLNs. % respirable fraction found to be 52.78% indicating reach to the deep part of lung such as alveoli. Animal study showed that fabricated MDI protect the lungs against histamine induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs. MDI showed sphericity of particle in spray pattern, 96.34% content per puff and non-flammable. SLNs prepared by Solvent emulsification diffusion technique provide desirable size for deposition into the alveoli. This delivery platform opens up a wide range of treatment application of pulmonary disease like asthma via solid lipid nanoparticles.

Keywords: salmeterol xinafoate, solid lipid nanoparticles, box-behnken design, solvent emulsification diffusion technique, pulmonary delivery

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Authors: Chalachew Kassaw, Henok Ababu, Bethelhem Sileshy, Lulu Abebe, Birhanie Mekuriaw

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Background: Psychological discomfort is a state of emotional distress caused by everyday stressors and obligations that are difficult to manage. Orthopedic trauma has a wide range of effects on survivors' physical health, as well as a variety of mental health concerns that impede recovery. Psychiatric and behavioral conditions are 3-5 times more common in people who have undergone physical trauma, and they are a predictor of poor outcomes. Despite the above facts, there is a shortage of research done on the subject. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of psychological distress and associated factor among patients attending orthopedic treatment at Gedeo zone, South Ethiopia 2022. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken at Dilla University Referral Hospital from October –November 2022. The data was collected via a face-to-face interview, and the Kessler psychological distress scale (K-10) was used to assess psychological distress. A total of 386 patients receiving outpatient and inpatient services at the orthopedic unit were chosen using a simple random selection technique. A Statistical Package for the Social Science version 21 (SPSS-21) was used to enter and evaluate the data. To find related factors, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regressions were used. Variables having a p-value of less than 0.05 were deemed statistically significant. Result: A total of 386 participants with a response rate of 94.8% were included in the study. Out of all respondents, 114 (31.4%) of the individuals have experienced psychological distress. Independent variables such as Females [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=5.8, 95%CI=(4.6-15.6)], Average monthly income of <3500 birrs [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =4.8, 95% CI=(2.4-9.8) ], Current history of substance use [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =2.6, 95% CI=(1.66-4.7)], Strong social support [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.4, 95% CI= 0.4(0.2-0.8)], and Poor sleep quality (PSQI score>5) [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.0, 95%CI= 2.0(1.2-2.8)] were significantly associated with psychological distress. Conclusion: The prevalence of psychological distress was high. Being female, having poor social support, and having a high PSQI score were significantly associated factors with psychological distress. It is good if clinicians emphasize orthopedic patients, especially females and those having poor social support and low sleep quality symptoms.

Keywords: psychological distress, orthopedic unit, Dilla University hospital, Dilla Town, Southern Ethiopia

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Authors: Shilpi Bora, Abhirup Chatterjee, Debkumar Chakrabarti

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Organizations of all the sectors around the world are increasingly revisiting their workplace strategies with due concern for women working therein. Limited office space and rigid work arrangements contribute to lesser job satisfaction and greater work impoundments for any organization. Flexible workspace strategies are indispensable to accommodate the progressive rise of modular workstations and involvement of women. Today’s generation of employees deserves malleable office environments with employee-friendly job conditions and strategies. The workplace nowadays stands on rapid organizational changes in progressive and flexible work culture. Occupational well-being practices need to keep pace with the rapid changes in office-based work. Working at the office (workspace) with awkward postures or for long periods can cause pain, discomfort, and injury. The world is stirring towards the era of globalization and progress. The 4000 women police personnel constitute less than one per cent of the total police strength of India. Lots of innovative fields are growing fast, and it is important that we should accommodate women in those arenas. The timeworn trends should be set apart to set out for fresh opportunities and possibilities of development and success through more involvement of women in the workplace. The notion of women policing is gaining position throughout the world, and various countries are putting solemn efforts to mainstream women in policing. As the role of women policing in a society is budding, and thus it is also notable that the accessibility of women at general police stations should be considered. Accordingly, the impact of workspace at police station on the employee productivity has been widely deliberated as a crucial contributor to employee satisfaction leading to better functional motivation. Thus the present research aimed to look into the office workstation design of police station with reference to womanhood specific issues to uplift occupational wellbeing of the policewomen. Personal interview and individual responses collected through administering to a subjective assessment questionnaire on thirty women police as well as to have their views on these issues by purposive non-probability sampling of women police personnel of different ranks posted in Guwahati, Assam, India. Scrutiny of the collected data revealed that office design has a substantial impact on the policewomen job satisfaction in the police station. In this study, the workspace was designed in such a way that the set of factors would impact on the individual to ensure increased productivity. Office design such as furniture, noise, temperature, lighting and spatial arrangement were considered. The primary feature which affected the productivity of policewomen was the furniture used in the workspace, which was found to disturb the everyday and overall productivity of policewomen. Therefore, it was recommended to have proper and adequate ergonomics design intervention to improve the office design for better performance. This type of study is today’s need-of-the-hour to empower women and facilitate their inner talent to come up in service of the nation. The office workspace design also finds critical importance at several other occupations also – where office workstation needs further improvement.

Keywords: office workspace design, policewomen, womanhood concerns at workspace, occupational wellbeing

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Authors: Aditya Purohit, Neha Bansal

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Unplanned urbanization and multidirectional sprawl of the cities have resulted in increased motorization and deteriorating transport conditions like traffic congestion, longer commuting, pollution, increased carbon footprint, and above all increased fatalities. In order to overcome these problems, various practices have been adopted including– promoting and implementing mass transport; traffic junction channelization; smart transport etc. However, these methods are found to be primarily focusing on vehicular mobility rather than people accessibility. With this research gap, this paper tries to resolve the mobility issues for Ahmedabad city in India, which being the economic capital Gujarat state has a huge commuter and visitor inflow. This research aims to resolve the traffic congestion and urban mobility issues focusing on Gujarat State Regional Transport Corporation (GSRTC) for the city of Ahmadabad by analyzing the existing operations and network structure of GSRTC followed by finding possibilities of integrating it with other modes of urban transport. The network restructuring (NR) methodology is used with appropriate variations, based on commuter demand and growth pattern of the city. To do these ‘scenarios’ based on priority issues (using 12 parameters) and their best possible solution, are established after route network analysis for 2700 population sample of 20 traffic junctions/nodes across the city. Approximately 5% sample (of passenger inflow) at each node is considered using random stratified sampling technique two scenarios are – Scenario 1: Resolving mobility issues by use of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in joint venture to GSRTC and Private Operators for establishing feeder service, which shall provide a transfer service for passenger for movement from inner city area to identified peripheral terminals; and Scenario 2: Augmenting existing mass transport services such as BRTS and AMTS for using them as feeder service to the identified peripheral terminals. Each of these has now been analyzed for the best suitability/feasibility in network restructuring. A desire-line diagram is constructed using this analysis which indicated that on an average 62% of designated GSRTC routes are overlapping with mass transportation service routes of BRTS and AMTS in the city. This has resulted in duplication of bus services causing traffic congestion especially in the Central Bus Station (CBS). Terminating GSRTC services on the periphery of the city is found to be the best restructuring network proposal. This limits the GSRTC buses at city fringe area and prevents them from entering into the city core areas. These end-terminals of GSRTC are integrated with BRTS and AMTS services which help in segregating intra-state and inter-state bus services. The research concludes that absence of integrated multimodal transport network resulted in complexity of transport access to the commuters. As a further scope of research comparing and understanding of value of access time in total travel time and its implication on generalized cost on trip and how it varies city wise may be taken up.

Keywords: mass transportation, multi-modal integration, network restructuring, travel behavior, urban transport

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Authors: Erimias Firre

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This study is situated within the religio-cultural milieu of Coptic Orthodox Christians of the Tigrinya ethnic group in Eritrea. With this ethnic group being conservative and traditionally bound, extended family structures dissected along various clans and expansive community networks are the distinguishing mark of its members. Notably, Coptic Tigrinya constitutes the largest percentage of all Christian denominations in Eritrea. As religious, cultural beliefs, rituals and teachings permeate in all aspects of social life, a distinct worldview and traditionalized health and illness conceptualization are common. Accordingly, this study argues that religio-culturally bound illness ideologies immensely determine the perception, help seeking behavior and healing preference of Coptic Tigrinya in Eritrea. The study bears significance in the sense that it bridges an important knowledge gap, given that it is ethno-linguistically (within the Tigrinya ethnic group), spatially (central region of Eritrea) and religiously (Coptic Christianity) specific. The conceptual framework guiding this research centered on the social determinants of mental health, and explores through the lens of critical theory how existing systems generate social vulnerability and structural inequality, providing a platform to reveal how the psychosocial model has the capacity to emancipate and empower those with mental disorders to live productive and meaningful lives. A case study approach was employed to explore the interrelationship between religio-cultural beliefs and practices and perception of common mental disorders of depression, anxiety, bipolar affective, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorders and the impact of these perceptions on people with those mental disorders. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 41 participants representing seven diverse cohorts; people with common mental disorders, family caregivers, general community members, ex-fighters , priests, staff at St. Mary’s and Biet-Mekae Community Health Center; resulting in rich data for thematic analysis. Findings highlighted current religio-cultural perceptions, causes and treatment of mental disorders among Coptic Tigrinya result in widespread labelling, stigma and discrimination, both of those with mental disorders and their families. Traditional healing sources are almost exclusively tried, sometimes for many years, before families and sufferers seek formal medical assessment and treatment, resulting difficult to treat illness chronicity. Service gaps in the formal medical system result in the inability to meet the principles enshrined in the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 to which the Eritrean Government is a signatory. However, the study found that across all participant cohorts, there was a desire for change that will create a culture whereby those with mental disorders will have restored hope, connectedness, healing and self-determination.

Keywords: Coptic Tigrinya, mental disorders, psychosocial model social integration and recovery, traditional healing

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Authors: Manjinder Singh, Jasvinder Singh

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Existing theories of Titanic/Liberty ship, Sydney bridge accidents and practical experience generated an interest in developing weldments those has high toughness under sub-zero temperature conditions. The purpose was to protect the joint from undergoing DBT (Ductile to brittle transition), when ambient temperature reach sub-zero levels. Metallurgical improvement such as low carbonization or addition of deoxidization elements like Mn and Si was effective to prevent fracture in weldments (crack) at low temperature. In the present research, an attempt has been made to investigate the reason behind ductile to brittle transition of mild steel weldments when subjected to sub-zero temperatures and method of its mitigation. Nickel is added to weldments using manual metal arc welding (MMAW) preventing the DBT, but progressive reduction in charpy impact values as temperature is lowered. The variation in toughness with respect to nickel content being added to the weld pool is analyzed quantitatively to evaluate the rise in toughness value with increasing nickel amount. The impact performance of welded specimens was evaluated by Charpy V-notch impact tests at various temperatures (20 °C, 0 °C, -20 °C, -40 °C, -60 °C). Notch is made in the weldments, as notch sensitive failure is particularly likely to occur at zones of high stress concentration caused by a notch. Then the effect of nickel to weldments is investigated at various temperatures was studied by mechanical and metallurgical tests. It was noted that a large gain in impact toughness could be achieved by adding nickel content. The highest yield strength (462J) in combination with good impact toughness (over 220J at – 60 °C) was achieved with an alloying content of 16 wt. %nickel. Based on metallurgical behavior it was concluded that the weld metals solidify as austenite with increase in nickel. The microstructure was characterized using optical and high resolution SEM (scanning electron microscopy). At inter-dendritic regions mainly martensite was found. In dendrite core regions of the low carbon weld metals a mixture of upper bainite, lower bainite and a novel constituent coalesced bainite formed. Coalesced bainite was characterized by large bainitic ferrite grains with cementite precipitates and is believed to form when the bainite and martensite start temperatures are close to each other. Mechanical properties could be rationalized in terms of micro structural constituents as a function of nickel content.

Keywords: MMAW, Toughness, DBT, Notch, SEM, Coalesced bainite

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Authors: Teresa Carlone, Matteo Mannocchi

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In the last decade, a growing number of International Organizations are pushing toward green solutions for adaptation to climate change. This is particularly true in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and land planning, where Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) had been sponsored through funding programs and planning tools. Stakeholder engagement and co-creation of NBS is growing as a practice and research field in environmental projects, fostering the consolidation of a multidisciplinary socio-ecological approach in addressing hydro-meteorological risk. Even thou research and financial interests are constantly spread, the NBS mainstreaming process is still at an early stage as innovative concepts and practices make it difficult to be fully accepted and adopted by a multitude of different actors to produce wide scale societal change. The monitoring and impact evaluation of stakeholders’ participation in these processes represent a crucial aspect and should be seen as a continuous and integral element of the co-creation approach. However, setting up a fit for purpose-monitoring strategy for different contexts is not an easy task, and multiple challenges emerge. In this scenario, the Horizon 2020 OPERANDUM project, designed to address the major hydro-meteorological risks that negatively affect European rural and natural territories through the co-design, co-deployment, and assessment of Nature-based Solution, represents a valid case study to test a monitoring strategy from which set a broader, general and scalable monitoring framework. Applying a participative monitoring methodology, based on selected indicators list that combines quantitative and qualitative data developed within the activity of the project, the paper proposes an experimental in-depth analysis of the stakeholder engagement impact in the co-creation process of NBS. The main focus will be to spot and analyze which factors increase knowledge, social acceptance, and mainstreaming of NBS, promoting also a base-experience guideline to could be integrated with the stakeholder engagement strategy in current and future similar strongly collaborative approach-based environmental projects, such as OPERANDUM. Measurement will be carried out through survey submitted at a different timescale to the same sample (stakeholder: policy makers, business, researchers, interest groups). Changes will be recorded and analyzed through focus groups in order to highlight causal explanation and to assess the proposed list of indicators to steer the conduction of similar activities in other projects and/or contexts. The idea of the paper is to contribute to the construction of a more structured and shared corpus of indicators that can support the evaluation of the activities of involvement and participation of various levels of stakeholders in the co-production, planning, and implementation of NBS to address climate change challenges.

Keywords: co-creation and collaborative planning, monitoring, nature-based solution, participation & inclusion, stakeholder engagement

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Authors: Yuna Lee

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In the current policy process, there has been a growing interest in more open approaches that incorporate creativity and innovation based on the forecasting groups composed by the public and experts together into scientific data-driven foresight methods to implement more effective policymaking. Especially, citizen participation as collective intelligence in policymaking with design and deep scale of innovation at the global level has been developed and human-centred design thinking is considered as one of the most promising methods for strategic foresight. Yet, there is a lack of a common theoretical foundation for a comprehensive approach for the current situation of and post-COVID-19 era, and substantial changes in policymaking practice are insignificant and ongoing with trial and error. This project hypothesized that rigorously developed policy systems and tools that support strategic foresight by considering the public understanding could maximize ways to create new possibilities for a preferable future, however, it must involve a better understating of Behavioural Insights, including individual and cultural values, profit motives and needs, and psychological motivations, for implementing holistic and multilateral foresight and creating more positive possibilities. To what extent is the policymaking system theoretically possible that incorporates the holistic and comprehensive foresight and policy process implementation, assuming that theory and practice, in reality, are different and not connected? What components and environmental conditions should be included in the strategic foresight system to enhance the capacity of decision from policymakers to predict alternative futures, or detect uncertainties of the future more accurately? And, compared to the required environmental condition, what are the environmental vulnerabilities of the current policymaking system? In this light, this research contemplates the question of how effectively policymaking practices have been implemented through the synthesis of scientific, technology-oriented innovation with the strategic design for tackling complex societal challenges and devising more significant insights to make society greener and more liveable. Here, this study conceptualizes the notions of a new collaborative way of strategic foresight that aims to maximize mutual benefits between policy actors and citizens through the cooperation stemming from evolutionary game theory. This study applies mixed methodology, including interviews of policy experts, with the case in which digital transformation and strategic design provided future-oriented solutions or directions to cities’ sustainable development goals and society-wide urgent challenges such as COVID-19. As a result, artistic and sensual interpreting capabilities through strategic design promote a concrete form of ideas toward a stable connection from the present to the future and enhance the understanding and active cooperation among decision-makers, stakeholders, and citizens. Ultimately, an improved theoretical foundation proposed in this study is expected to help strategically respond to the highly interconnected future changes of the post-COVID-19 world.

Keywords: policymaking, strategic design, sustainable innovation, evolution of cooperation

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Authors: Rowshan Mamtaz, Shuvo Ahmed, Imran Noor, Sumaiya Rahman, Prithvi Shams, Fahmida Gulshan

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Last few decades have witnessed a phenomenal rise in the use of electrical and electronic equipment globally in our everyday life. As these items reach the end of their lifecycle, they turn into e-wastes and contribute to the waste stream. Bangladesh, in conformity with the global trend and due to its ongoing rapid growth, is also using electronics-based appliances and equipment at an increasing rate. This has caused a corresponding increase in the generation of e-wastes. Bangladesh is a developing country; its overall waste management system, is not yet efficient, nor is it environmentally sustainable. Most of its solid wastes are disposed of in a crude way at dumping sites. Addition of e-wastes, which often contain toxic heavy metals, into its waste stream has made the situation more difficult and challenging. Assessment of generation of e-wastes is an important step towards addressing the challenges posed by e-wastes, setting targets, and identifying the best practices for their management. Understanding and proper management of e-wastes is a stated item of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) campaign, and Bangladesh is committed to fulfilling it. A better understanding and availability of reliable baseline data on e-wastes will help in preventing illegal dumping, promote recycling, and create jobs in the recycling sectors and thus facilitate sustainable e-waste management. With this objective in mind, the present study has attempted to estimate the amount of e-wastes and its future generation trend in Bangladesh. To achieve this, sales data on eight selected electrical and electronic products (TV, Refrigerator, Fan, Mobile phone, Computer, IT equipment, CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) bulbs, and Air Conditioner) have been collected from different sources. Primary and secondary data on the collection, recycling, and disposal of the e-wastes have also been gathered by questionnaire survey, field visits, interviews, and formal and informal meetings with the stakeholders. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) method has been applied, and mathematical models have been developed in the present study to estimate e-waste amounts and their future trends up to the year 2035 for the eight selected electrical and electronic equipment. End of life (EOL) method is adopted in the estimation. Model inputs are products’ annual sale/import data, past and future sales data, and average life span. From the model outputs, it is estimated that the generation of e-wastes in Bangladesh in 2018 is 0.40 million tons and by 2035 the amount will be 4.62 million tons with an average annual growth rate of 20%. Among the eight selected products, the number of e-wastes generated from seven products are increasing whereas only one product, CFL bulb, showed a decreasing trend of waste generation. The average growth rate of e-waste from TV sets is the highest (28%) while those from Fans and IT equipment are the lowest (11%). Field surveys conducted in the e-waste recycling sector also revealed that every year around 0.0133 million tons of e-wastes enter into the recycling business in Bangladesh which may increase in the near future.

Keywords: Bangladesh, end of life, e-waste, material flow analysis

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Authors: Jia-Chao Wang

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A model of the universe without invoking space expansion is proposed to explain the observed redshift-distance relation and the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). The main hypothesized feature of the model is that photons traveling in space interact with the CMB photon gas. This interaction causes the photons to gradually lose energy through dissipation and, therefore, experience redshift. The interaction also causes some of the photons to be scattered off their track toward an observer and, therefore, results in beam intensity attenuation. As observed, the CMB exists everywhere in space and its photon density is relatively high (about 410 per cm³). The small average energy of the CMB photons (about 6.3×10⁻⁴ eV) can reduce the energies of traveling photons gradually and will not alter their momenta drastically as in, for example, Compton scattering, to totally blur the images of distant objects. An object moving through a thermalized photon gas, such as the CMB, experiences a drag. The cause is that the object sees a blue shifted photon gas along the direction of motion and a redshifted one in the opposite direction. An example of this effect can be the observed CMB dipole: The earth travels at about 368 km/s (600 km/s) relative to the CMB. In the all-sky map from the COBE satellite, radiation in the Earth's direction of motion appears 0.35 mK hotter than the average temperature, 2.725 K, while radiation on the opposite side of the sky is 0.35 mK colder. The pressure of a thermalized photon gas is given by Pγ = Eγ/3 = αT⁴/3, where Eγ is the energy density of the photon gas and α is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. The observed CMB dipole, therefore, implies a pressure difference between the two sides of the earth and results in a CMB drag on the earth. By plugging in suitable estimates of quantities involved, such as the cross section of the earth and the temperatures on the two sides, this drag can be estimated to be tiny. But for a photon traveling at the speed of light, 300,000 km/s, the drag can be significant. In the present model, for the dissipation part, it is assumed that a photon traveling from a distant object toward an observer has an effective interaction cross section pushing against the pressure of the CMB photon gas. For the attenuation part, the coefficient of the typical attenuation equation is used as a parameter. The values of these two parameters are determined by fitting the 748 µ vs. z data points compiled from 643 supernova and 105 γ-ray burst observations with z values up to 8.1. The fit is as good as that obtained from the lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model using online cosmological calculators and Planck 2015 results. The model can be used to interpret Hubble's constant, Olbers' paradox, the origin and blackbody nature of the CMB radiation, the broadening of supernova light curves, and the size of the observable universe.

Keywords: CMB as the lowest energy state, model of the universe, origin of CMB in a static universe, photon-CMB photon gas interaction

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Authors: Olumuyiwa Ayoola Kokapi, Olugbenga Solomon Bello

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

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

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Authors: Serena Salvi

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Ageistic stereotypes and practices have become a normal and therefore pervasive phenomenon in various aspects of everyday life. Over the past years, renewed awareness towards self-directed age stereotyping in older adults has given rise to a line of research focused on the potential role of attitudes towards ageing on seniors’ health and functioning. This set of studies has showed how a negative internalisation of ageistic stereotypes would discourage older adults in seeking medical advice, in addition to be associated to negative subjective health evaluation. An important dimension of mental health that is often affected in older adults is represented by sleep quality. Self-reported sleep quality among older adults has shown to be often unreliable when compared to their objective sleep measures. Investigations focused on self-reported sleep quality among older adults have suggested how this portion of the population would tend to accept disrupted sleep if believed to be up to standard for their age. On the other hand, unrealistic expectations, and dysfunctional beliefs towards sleep in ageing, might prompt older adults to report sleep disruption even in the absence of objective disrupted sleep. Objective of this study is to examine an association between personal attitudes towards ageing in adults aged 60+ and dysfunctional sleep related cognition. More in detail, this study aims to investigate a potential association between personal attitudes towards ageing, sleep locus of control and dysfunctional beliefs towards sleep among this portion of the population. Data in this study were statistically analysed in SPSS software. Participants were recruited through the online participants recruitment system Prolific. Inclusion of attention check questions throughout the questionnaire and consistency of responses were looked at. Prior to the commencement of this study, Ethical Approval was granted (ref. 39396). Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency, mean, and SDs of the variables. Pearson coefficient was used for interval variables, independent T-test for comparing means between two independent groups, analysis of variance (ANOVA) test for comparing the means in several independent groups, and hierarchical linear regression models for predicting criterion variables based on predictor variables. In this study self-perceptions of ageing were assessed using APQ-B’s subscales, while dysfunctional sleep related cognition was operationalised using the SLOC and the DBAS16 scales. Of the final subscales taken in consideration in the brief version of the APQ questionnaire, Emotional Representations (ER), Control Positive (PC) and Control and Consequences Negative (NC) have shown to be of particularly relevance for the remits of this study. Regression analysis show how an increase in the APQ-B subscale Emotional Representations (ER) predicts an increase in dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes towards sleep in this sample, after controlling for subjective sleep quality, level of depression and chronological age. A second regression analysis showed that APQ-B subscales Control Positive (PC) and Control and Consequences Negative (NC) were significant predictors in the change of variance of SLOC, after controlling for subjective sleep quality, level of depression and dysfunctional beliefs about sleep.

Keywords: sleep-related cognition, perceptions of aging, older adults, sleep quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Anupama Singh, Papia Raj

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Though Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a worldwide problem, yet its implications are enormous in developing countries, as they are unable to provide proper Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) for the large volume of MSW. As a result, the collected wastes are dumped in open dumping at landfilling sites while the uncollected wastes remain strewn on the roadside, many-a-time clogging drainage. Such unsafe and inadequate management of MSW causes various public health hazards. For example, MSW directly on contact or by leachate contaminate the soil, surface water, and ground water; open burning causes air pollution; anaerobic digestion between the piles of MSW enhance the greenhouse gases i.e., carbon dioxide and methane (CO2 and CH4) into the atmosphere. Moreover, open dumping can cause spread of vector borne disease like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and so on. Patna, the capital city of Bihar, one of the most underdeveloped provinces in India, is a unique representation of this situation. Patna has been identified as the ‘garbage city’. Over the last decade there has been an exponential increase in the quantity of MSW generation in Patna. Though a large proportion of such MSW is recyclable in nature, only a negligible portion is recycled. Plastic constitutes the major chunk of the recyclable waste. The chemical composition of plastic is versatile consisting of toxic compounds, such as, plasticizers, like adipates and phthalates. Pigmented plastic is highly toxic and it contains harmful metals such as copper, lead, chromium, cobalt, selenium, and cadmium. Human population becomes vulnerable to an array of health problems as they are exposed to these toxic chemicals multiple times a day through air, water, dust, and food. Based on analysis of health data it can be emphasized that in Patna there has been an increase in the incidence of specific diseases, such as, diarrhoea, dysentry, acute respiratory infection (ARI), asthma, and other chronic respiratory diseases (CRD). This trend can be attributed to improper MSWM. The results were reiterated through a survey (N=127) conducted during 2014-15 in selected areas of Patna. Random sampling method of data collection was used to better understand the relationship between different variables affecting public health due to exposure to MSW and lack of MSWM. The results derived through bivariate and logistic regression analysis of the survey data indicate that segregation of wastes at source, segregation behavior, collection bins in the area, distance of collection bins from residential area, and transportation of MSW are the major determinants of public health issues. Sustainable recycling is a robust method for MSWM with its pioneer concerns being environment, society, and economy. It thus ensures minimal threat to environment and ecology consequently improving public health conditions. Hence, this paper concludes that sustainable recycling would be the most viable approach to manage MSW in Patna and would eventually reduce public health hazards.

Keywords: municipal solid waste, Patna, public health, sustainable recycling

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Fernandez liporace, Mercedes Uriel Fabiana

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Academic achievement in high school and college students is currently a matter of concern. National and international assessments show high schoolers as low achievers, and local statistics indicate alarming dropout percentages in this educational level. Even so, 80% of those students intend attending higher education. On the other hand, applications to Public National Universities are free and non-selective by examination procedures. Though initial registrations are massive (307.894 students), only 50% of freshmen pass their first year classes, and 23% achieves a degree. Low performances use to be a common problem. Hence, freshmen adaptation, their adjustment, dropout and low academic achievement arise as topics of agenda. Besides, the hinge between high school and college must be examined in depth, in order to get an integrated and successful path from one educational stratum to the other. Psychology aims at developing two main research lines to analyse the situation. One regarding psychometric scales, designing and/or adapting tests, examining their technical properties and their theoretical validity (e.g., academic motivation, learning strategies, learning styles, coping, perceived social support, parenting styles and parental consistency, paradoxical personality as correlated to creative skills, psychopathological symptomatology). The second research line emphasizes relationships within the variables measured by the former scales, facing the formulation and testing of predictive models of academic achievement, establishing differences by sex, age, educational level (high school vs college), and career. Pursuing these goals, several studies were carried out in recent years, reporting findings and producing assessment technology useful to detect students academically at risk as well as good achievers. Multiple samples were analysed totalizing more than 3500 participants (2500 from college and 1000 from high school), including descriptive, correlational, group differences and explicative designs. A brief on the most relevant results is presented. Providing information to design specific interventions according to every learner’s features and his/her educational environment comes up as a mid-term accomplishment. Furthermore, that information might be helpful to adapt curricula by career, as well as for implementing special didactic strategies differentiated by sex and personal characteristics.

Keywords: academic achievement, higher education, high school, psychological assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Giselly Barros Rodrigues, Carlos Leite de Souza

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In recent years, there has been a great discussion about urbanism, the right to the city, the search for the public space and the occupation and appropriation of people in the spaces of the city. This movement happens all over the world and also in the great Brazilian metropolises. The more human-friendly city - the desirable construction of urbanity - as well as the encouragement of walking or bicycling to the detriment of cars is one of the major issues addressed by urban planners and challenges in the process of reviewing regulatory frameworks. The fact is that even if there are public spaces or space for public use in private areas - it is essential that there be, besides a project focused on the people and the use of space, a good management not to generate excess of control and consequently the segregation between different ethnicities, classes or creed. With the insertion of the Strategic Master Plan of Sao Paulo (2014), there is great incentive for them to implement - in the private spaces - of mixed uses and active facades (Services and commerce in the basement of buildings), these incentives will generate a city for people in the medium and long term. This research seeks to discuss the extent to which these spaces are democratic, what their perceptions are in relation to the space of public use in private areas and why this perception may be the one that was originally idealized. For this study, we carried out bibliographic reviews where applied research were carried out in three case studies listed in Sao Paulo. Questionnaires were also applied to the actors who gave answers regarding their perceptions and how they were approached in the places analyzed. After analyzing the material, it was verified that in the three case studies analyzed, sitting on the floor is prohibited. In the two places in Paulista Avenue (Cetenco Plaza and Square of Mall Cidade Sao Paulo) there was no problem whatsoever in relation to the clothes or attitudes of the actors in the streets of Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo city. Different from what happened in the Itaim neighborhood (Brascan Century Plaza), with more conservative characteristics, where the actors were heavily watched by security and observed by others due to their clothes and attitudes in that area. The city of Sao Paulo is slowly changing, people are increasingly looking for places of quality in public use in their daily lives. The Strategic Master Plan of Sao Paulo (2014) and the Legislation approved in 2016 envision a city more humane and people-oriented in the future. It is up to the private sector, the public, and society to work together so that this glimpse becomes an abundant reality in every city, generating quality of life and urbanity for all.

Keywords: urbanity, space for public use, appropriation of space, segregation

Procedia PDF Downloads 237