Search results for: total quality environmental management (TQEM)

Authors: Jonas De Kerf, Rein De Cooman, Sara De Gieter

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For many decades, scholars have aimed to understand how work can become more meaningful by maximizing both potential and enhancing feelings of satisfaction. One of the largest contributions towards such positive psychology was made with the introduction of the concept of ‘flow,’ which refers to a condition in which people feel intense engagement and effortless action. Since then, valuable research on work-related flow has indicated that this state of mind is related to positive outcomes for both organizations (e.g., social, supportive climates) and workers (e.g., job satisfaction). Yet, scholars still do not fully comprehend how such deep involvement at work is obtained, given the notion that flow is considered a short-term, complex, and dynamic experience. Most research neglects that people who experience flow ought to be optimally challenged so that intense concentration is required. Because attention is at the core of this enjoyable state of mind, this study aims to comprehend how elements that affect workers’ cognitive functioning impact flow at work. Research on cognitive performance suggests that working on mentally demanding tasks (e.g., information processing tasks) requires workers to concentrate deeply, as a result leading to flow experiences. Based on social facilitation theory, working on such tasks in an isolated environment eases concentration. Prior research has indicated that working at home (instead of working at the office) or in a closed office (rather than in an open-plan office) impacts employees’ overall functioning in terms of concentration and productivity. Consequently, we advance such knowledge and propose an interaction by combining cognitive task characteristics and work environments among part-time teleworkers. Hence, we not only aim to shed light on the relation between cognitive tasks and flow but also provide empirical evidence that workers performing such tasks achieve the highest states of flow while working either at home or in closed offices. In July 2022, an experience-sampling study will be conducted that uses a semi-random signal schedule to understand how task and environment predictors together impact part-time teleworkers’ flow. More precisely, about 150 knowledge workers will fill in multiple surveys a day for two consecutive workweeks to report their flow experiences, cognitive tasks, and work environments. Preliminary results from a pilot study indicate that on a between level, tasks high in information processing go along with high self-reported fluent productivity (i.e., making progress). As expected, evidence was found for higher fluency in productivity for workers performing information processing tasks both at home and in a closed office, compared to those performing the same tasks at the office or in open-plan offices. This study expands the current knowledge on work-related flow by looking at a task and environmental predictors that enable workers to obtain such a peak state. While doing so, our findings suggest that practitioners should strive for ideal alignments between tasks and work locations to work with both deep involvement and gratification.

Keywords: cognitive work, office lay-out, work location, work-related flow

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Authors: Ayman Hijazi, Witold Kwapinski, J. J. Leahy

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Finding a sustainable alternative energy to fossil fuel is an urgent need as various environmental challenges in the world arise. Therefore, formic acid (FA) decomposition has been an attractive field that lies at the center of the biomass platform, comprising a potential pool of hydrogen energy that stands as a distinct energy vector. Liquid FA features considerable volumetric energy density of 6.4 MJ/L and a specific energy density of 5.3 MJ/Kg that qualifies it in the prime seat as an energy source for transportation infrastructure. Additionally, the increasing research interest in FA decomposition is driven by the need for in-situ H₂ production, which plays a key role in the hydrogenation reactions of biomass into higher-value components. It is reported elsewhere in the literature that catalytic decomposition of FA is usually performed in poorly designed setups using simple glassware under magnetic stirring, thus demanding further energy investment to retain the used catalyst. Our work suggests an approach that integrates designing a distinct catalyst featuring magnetic properties with a robust setup that minimizes experimental & measurement discrepancies. One of the most prominent active species for the dehydrogenation/hydrogenation of biomass compounds is palladium. Accordingly, we investigate the potential of engrafting palladium metal onto functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst to favor the production of CO-free H₂ gas from FA. Using an ordinary magnet to collect the spent catalyst renders core-shell magnetic nanoparticles as the backbone of the process. Catalytic experiments were performed in a jacketed batch reactor equipped with an overhead stirrer under an inert medium. Through a distinct approach, FA is charged into the reactor via a high-pressure positive displacement pump at steady-state conditions. The produced gas (H₂+CO₂) was measured by connecting the gas outlet to a measuring system based on the amount of the displaced water. The uniqueness of this work lies in designing a very responsive catalyst, pumping a consistent amount of FA into a sealed reactor running at steady-state mild temperatures, and continuous gas measurement, along with collecting the used catalyst without the need for centrifugation. Catalyst characterization using TEM, XRD, SEM, and CHN elemental analyzer provided us with details of catalyst preparation and facilitated new venues to alter the nanostructure of the catalyst framework. Consequently, the introduction of amine groups has led to appreciable improvements in terms of dispersion of the doped metals and eventually attaining nearly complete conversion (100%) of FA after 7 hours. The relative importance of the process parameters such as temperature (35-85°C), stirring speed (150-450rpm), catalyst loading (50-200mgr.), and Pd doping ratio (0.75-1.80wt.%) on gas yield was assessed by a Taguchi design-of-experiment based model. Experimental results showed that operating at a lower temperature range (35-50°C) yielded more gas, while the catalyst loading and Pd doping wt.% were found to be the most significant factors with P-values 0.026 & 0.031, respectively.

Keywords: formic acid decomposition, green catalysis, hydrogen, mesoporous silica, process optimization, nanoparticles

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Authors: L. Donelle, S. Regan, R. Booth, M. Kerr, J. McMurray, D. Fitzsimmons

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Palliative home health care provision within the Canadian context is challenged by: (i) a shortage of registered nurses (RN) and RNs with palliative care expertise, (ii) an aging population, (iii) reliance on unpaid family caregivers to sustain home care services with limited support to conduct this ‘care work’, (iv) a model of healthcare that assumes client self-care, and (v) competing economic priorities. In response, an interprofessional team of service provider organizations, a software/technology provider, and health care providers developed and implemented a technology-enabled model of home care, the eShift model of palliative home care (eShift). The eShift model combines communication and documentation technology with non-traditional utilization of health human resources to meet patient needs for palliative care in the home. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure, processes, and outcomes of the eShift model of care. Methodology: Guided by Donebedian’s evaluation framework for health care, this qualitative-descriptive study investigated the structure, processes, and outcomes care of the eShift model of palliative home care. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with health care providers (n= 45), decision-makers (n=13), technology providers (n=3) and family care givers (n=8). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and a deductive analysis of transcripts was conducted. Study Findings (1) Structure: The eShift model consists of a remotely-situated RN using technology to direct care provision virtually to patients in their home. The remote RN is connected virtually to a health technician (an unregulated care provider) in the patient’s home using real-time communication. The health technician uses a smartphone modified with the eShift application and communicates with the RN who uses a computer with the eShift application/dashboard. Documentation and communication about patient observations and care activities occur in the eShift portal. The RN is typically accountable for four to six health technicians and patients over an 8-hour shift. The technology provider was identified as an important member of the healthcare team. Other members of the team include family members, care coordinators, nurse practitioners, physicians, and allied health. (2) Processes: Conventionally, patient needs are the focus of care; however within eShift, the patient and the family caregiver were the focus of care. Enhanced medication administration was seen as one of the most important processes, and family caregivers reported high satisfaction with the care provided. There was perceived enhanced teamwork among health care providers. (3) Outcomes: Patients were able to die at home. The eShift model enabled consistency and continuity of care, and effective management of patient symptoms and caregiver respite. Conclusion: More than a technology solution, the eShift model of care was viewed as transforming home care practice and an innovative way to resolve the shortage of palliative care nurses within home care.

Keywords: palliative home care, health information technology, patient-centred care, interprofessional health care team

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Authors: Anita Richter

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Innovation is one of the key foundations of competitive advantage, generating growth and welfare worldwide. Consequently, all firms should innovate to bring new ideas to the market. Innovation is a vital growth driver, particularly for transition countries to move towards knowledge-based, high-income economies. However, numerous barriers, such as financial, regulatory or infrastructural constraints prevent, in particular, new and small firms in transition countries from innovating. Thus SMEs’ innovation output may benefit substantially from government support. This research paper aims to assess the effect of government interventions on innovation activities in SMEs in emerging countries. Until now academic research related to the innovation policies focused either on single country and/or high-income countries assessments and less on cross-country and/or low and middle-income countries. Therefore the paper seeks to close the research gap by providing empirical evidence from 8,500 firms in 15 transition countries (Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, South East Europe, Middle East and North Africa). Using firm-level data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey of the World Bank and EBRD and policy data from the SME Policy Index of the OECD, the paper investigates how government interventions affect SME’s likelihood of investing in any technological and non-technological innovation. Using the Standard Linear Regression, the impact of government interventions on SMEs’ innovation output and R&D activities is measured. The empirical analysis suggests that a firm’s decision to invest into innovative activities is sensitive to government interventions. A firm’s likelihood to invest into innovative activities increases by 3% to 8%, if the innovation eco-system noticeably improves (measured by an increase of 1 level in the SME Policy Index). At the same time, a better eco-system encourages SMEs to invest more in R&D. Government reforms in establishing a dedicated policy framework (IP legislation), institutional infrastructure (science and technology parks, incubators) and financial support (public R&D grants, innovation vouchers) are particularly relevant to stimulate innovation performance in SMEs. Particular segments of the SME population, namely micro and manufacturing firms, are more likely to benefit from an increased innovation framework conditions. The marginal effects are particularly strong on product innovation, process innovation, and marketing innovation, but less on management innovation. In conclusion, government interventions supporting innovation will likely lead to higher innovation performance of SMEs. They increase productivity at both firm and country level, which is a vital step in transitioning towards knowledge-based market economies.

Keywords: innovation, research and development, government interventions, economic development, small and medium-sized enterprises, transition countries

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Authors: Gerald Gwamba

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Formation and oil well sand production is one of the greatest and oldest concerns for the Oil and gas industry. The production of sand particles may vary from very small and limited amounts to far elevated levels which has the potential to block or plug the pore spaces near the perforated points to blocking production from surface facilities. Therefore, the timely and reliable investigation of conditions leading to the onset or quantifying sanding while producing is imperative. The challenges of sand production are even more elevated while producing in Waxy and Heavy wells with Clay Fine sands (WHFC). Existing research argues that both waxy and heavy hydrocarbons exhibit far differing characteristics with waxy more paraffinic while heavy crude oils exhibit more asphaltenic properties. Moreover, the combined effect of WHFC conditions presents more complexity in production as opposed to individual effects that could be attributed to a consolidation of a surmountable opposing force. However, research on a combined high WHFC system could depict a better representation of the surmountable effect which in essence is more comparable to field conditions where a one-sided view of either individual effects on sanding has been argued to some extent misrepresentative of actual field conditions since all factors act surmountably. In recognition of the limited customized research on sand production studies with the combined effect of WHFC however, our research seeks to apply the Design of Experiments (DOE) methodology based on latest literature to analyze the relationship between various interparticle factors in relation to selected sand control methods. Our research aims to unearth a better understanding of how the combined effect of interparticle factors including: strength, cementation, particle size and production rate among others could better assist in the design of an optimal sand control system for the WHFC well conditions. In this regard, we seek to answer the following research question: How does the combined effect of interparticle factors affect the optimization of sand control systems for WHFC wells? Results from experimental data collection will inform a better justification for a sand control design for WHFC. In doing so, we hope to contribute to earlier contrasts arguing that sand production could potentially enable well self-permeability enhancement caused by the establishment of new flow channels created by loosening and detachment of sand grains. We hope that our research will contribute to future sand control designs capable of adapting to flexible production adjustments in controlled sand management. This paper presents results which are part of an ongoing research towards the authors' PhD project in the optimization of sand control systems for WHFC wells.

Keywords: waxy-heavy oils, clay-fine sands, sand control optimization, interparticle factors, design of experiments

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Authors: Sigal Gat-Lazer, Ronny Geva, Dan Ramon, Eitan Gur, Daniel Stein

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Introduction: Eating disorders (ED) are common psychopathologies which involve distorted body image and eating disturbances. Binge-purge eating disorders (B/P ED) are characterized by repetitive events of binge eating followed by purges. Patients with B/P ED behavior may be seen as impulsive especially when relate to food stimulation and affective conditions. The current study included innovative modification of the day-night task targeted to assess inhibitory control among patients with B/P ED. Methods: This prospective study included 50 patients with B/P ED during acute phase of illness (T1) upon their admission to specialized ED department in tertiary center. 34 patients repeated the study towards discharge to ambulatory care (T2). Treatment effect was evaluated by BMI and emotional questionnaires regarding depression and anxiety by the Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaires. Control group included 36 healthy controls with matched demographic parameters who performed both T1 and T2 assessments. The current modification is based on the emotional day-night task (EDNT) which involves five emotional stimulation added to the sun and moon pictures presented to participants. In the current study, we designed the food-emotional modification day night task (F-EDNT) food stimulations of egg and banana which resemble the sun and moon, respectively, in five emotional states (angry, sad, happy, scrambled and neutral). During this computerized task, participants were instructed to push on “day” bottom in response to moon and banana stimulations and on “night” bottom when sun and egg were presented. Accuracy (A) and reaction time (RT) were evaluated and compared between EDNT and F-EDNT as a reflection of participants’ inhibitory control. Results: Patients with B/P ED had significantly improved BMI, depression and anxiety scores on T2 compared to T1 (all p<0.001). Task performance was similar among patients and controls in the EDNT without significant A or RT differences in both T1 and T2. On F-EDNT during T1, B/P ED patients had significantly reduced accuracy in 4/5 emotional stimulation compared to controls: angry (73±25% vs. 84±15%, respectively), sad (69±25% vs. 80±18%, respectively), happy (73±24% vs. 82±18%, respectively) and scrambled (74±24% vs. 84±13%, respectively, all p<0.05). Additionally, patients’ RT to food stimuli was significantly faster compared to neutral ones, in both cry and neutral emotional stimulations (356±146 vs. 400±141 and 378±124 vs. 412±116 msec, respectively, p<0.05). These significant differences between groups as a function of stimulus type were diminished on T2. Conclusion: Having to process food related content, in particular in emotional context seems to be impaired in patients with B/P ED during the acute phase of their illness and elicits greater impulsivity. Innovative modification using such procedures seem to be sensitive to patients’ illness phase and thus may be implemented during screening and follow up through the clinical management of these patients.

Keywords: binge purge eating disorders, day night task modification, eating disorders, food related stimulations

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Authors: Kyoungrean Kim

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Importance of deep-sea mineral resources is dramatically increasing due to the depletion of land mineral resources corresponding to increasing human’s economic activities. Korea has acquired exclusive exploration licenses at four areas which are the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Pacific Ocean (2002), Tonga (2008), Fiji (2011) and Indian Ocean (2014). The preparation for commercial mining of Nautilus minerals (Canada) and Lockheed martin minerals (USA) is expected by 2020. The London Protocol 1996 (LP) under International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Seabed Authority (ISA) will set environmental guidelines for deep-sea mining until 2020, to protect marine environment. In this research, the applicability of washing/extraction treatment for the remediation of deep-sea mining tailings was mainly evaluated in order to present preliminary data to develop practical remediation technology in near future. Polymetallic nodule samples were collected at the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Pacific Ocean, then stored at room temperature. Samples were pulverized by using jaw crusher and ball mill then, classified into 3 particle sizes (> 63 µm, 63-20 µm, < 20 µm) by using vibratory sieve shakers (Analysette 3 Pro, Fritsch, Germany) with 63 µm and 20 µm sieve. Only the particle size 63-20 µm was used as the samples for investigation considering the lower limit of ore dressing process which is tens to 100 µm. Rhamnolipid and sodium alginate as biosurfactant and aluminum sulfate which are mainly used as flocculant were used as environmentally friendly additives. Samples were adjusted to 2% liquid with deionized water then mixed with various concentrations of additives. The mixture was stirred with a magnetic bar during specific reaction times and then the liquid phase was separated by a centrifugal separator (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) under 4,000 rpm for 1 h. The separated liquid was filtered with a syringe and acrylic-based filter (0.45 µm). The extracted heavy metals in the filtered liquid were then determined using a UV-Vis spectrometer (DR-5000, Hach, USA) and a heat block (DBR 200, Hach, USA) followed by US EPA methods (8506, 8009, 10217 and 10220). Polymetallic nodule was mainly composed of manganese (27%), iron (8%), nickel (1.4%), cupper (1.3 %), cobalt (1.3%) and molybdenum (0.04%). Based on remediation standards of various countries, Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Zinc (Zn) were selected as primary target materials. Throughout this research, the use of rhamnolipid was shown to be an effective approach for removing heavy metals in samples originated from manganese nodules. Sodium alginate might also be one of the effective additives for the remediation of deep-sea mining tailings such as polymetallic nodules. Compare to the use of rhamnolipid and sodium alginate, aluminum sulfate was more effective additive at short reaction time within 4 h. Based on these results, sequencing particle separation, selective extraction/washing, advanced filtration of liquid phase, water treatment without dewatering and solidification/stabilization may be considered as candidate technologies for the remediation of deep-sea mining tailings.

Keywords: deep-sea mining tailings, heavy metals, remediation, extraction, additives

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Authors: Wenfa Yu, Thuva Gnanasampanthan, John Finlay, Jessica Clarke, Charlotte Anderson, Tony Clare, Axel Rosenhahn

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Marine biofouling is a worldwide problem at vast economic and ecological costs. Historically it was combated with toxic coatings such as tributyltin. As those coatings being banned nowadays, finding environmental friendly antifouling solution has become an urgent topic. In this study antifouling coatings consisted of natural occurring polysaccharides hyaluronic acid (HA), alginic acid (AA), chitosan (Ch) and polyelectrolyte polyethylenimine (PEI) are constructed into polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) in a Layer-by-Layer (LbL) method. LbL PEM construction is a straightforward way to assemble biomacromolecular coatings on surfaces. Advantages about PEM include ease of handling, highly diverse PEM composition, precise control over the thickness and so on. PEMs have been widely employed in medical application and there are numerous studies regarding their protein adsorption, elasticity and cell adhesive properties. With the adjustment of coating composition, termination layer charge, coating morphology and cross-linking method, it is possible to prepare low marine biofouling coatings with PEMs. In this study, using spin coating technology, PEM construction was achieved at smooth multilayers with roughness as low as 2nm rms and highly reproducible thickness around 50nm. To obtain stability in sea water, the multilayers were covalently cross-linked either thermally or chemically. The cross-linking method affected surface energy, which was reflected in water contact angle, thermal cross-linking led to hydrophobic surfaces and chemical cross-linking generated hydrophilic surfaces. The coatings were then evaluated regarding its protein resistance and biological species resistance. While the hydrophobic thermally cross-linked PEM had low resistance towards proteins, the resistance of chemically cross-linked PEM strongly depended on the PEM termination layer and the charge of the protein, opposite charge caused high adsorption and same charge low adsorption, indicating electrostatic interaction plays a crucial role in the protein adsorption processes. Ulva linza was chosen as the biological species for antifouling performance evaluation. Despite of the poor resistance towards protein adsorption, thermally cross-linked PEM showed good resistance against Ulva spores settlement, the chemically cross-linked multilayers showed poor resistance regardless of the termination layer. Marine species adhesion is a complex process, although it involves proteins as bioadhesives, protein resistance its own is not a fully indicator for its antifouling performance. The species will pre select the surface, responding to cues like surface energy, chemistry, or charge and so on. Thus making it difficult for one single factors to determine its antifouling performance. Preparing PEM coating is a comprehensive work involving choosing polyelectrolyte combination, determining termination layer and the method for cross-linking. These decisions will affect PEM properties such as surface energy, charge, which is crucial, since biofouling is a process responding to surface properties in a highly sensitive and dynamic way.

Keywords: hyaluronic acid, polyelectrolyte multilayers, protein resistance, Ulva linza zoospores

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Authors: Huidan Yu, Anurag Deb, Rou Chen, I-Wen Wang

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The use of left ventricle assist devices (LVADs) in patients with heart failure has been a proven and effective therapy for patients with severe end-stage heart failure. Due to the limited availability of suitable donor hearts, LVADs will probably become the alternative solution for patient with heart failure in the near future. While the LVAD is being continuously improved toward enhanced performance, increased device durability, reduced size, a better understanding of implantation management becomes critical in order to achieve better long-term blood supplies and less post-surgical complications such as thrombi generation. Important issues related to the LVAD implantation include the location of outflow grafting (OG), the angle of the OG, the combination between LVAD and native heart pumping, uniform or pulsatile flow at OG, etc. We have hypothesized that an optimal implantation of LVAD is patient specific. To test this hypothesis, we employ a novel in-house computational modeling technique, named InVascular, to conduct a systematic evaluation of cardiac output at aortic arch together with other pertinent hemodynamic quantities for each patient under various implantation scenarios aiming to get an optimal implantation strategy. InVacular is a powerful computational modeling technique that integrates unified mesoscale modeling for both image segmentation and fluid dynamics with the cutting-edge GPU parallel computing. It first segments the aortic artery from patient’s CT image, then seamlessly feeds extracted morphology, together with the velocity wave from Echo Ultrasound image of the same patient, to the computation model to quantify 4-D (time+space) velocity and pressure fields. Using one NVIDIA Tesla K40 GPU card, InVascular completes a computation from CT image to 4-D hemodynamics within 30 minutes. Thus it has the great potential to conduct massive numerical simulation and analysis. The systematic evaluation for one patient includes three OG anastomosis (ascending aorta, descending thoracic aorta, and subclavian artery), three combinations of LVAD and native heart pumping (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3), three angles of OG anastomosis (inclined upward, perpendicular, and inclined downward), and two LVAD inflow conditions (uniform and pulsatile). The optimal LVAD implantation is suggested through a comprehensive analysis of the cardiac output and related hemodynamics from the simulations over the fifty-four scenarios. To confirm the hypothesis, 5 random patient cases will be evaluated.

Keywords: graphic processing unit (GPU) parallel computing, left ventricle assist device (LVAD), lumped-parameter model, patient-specific computational hemodynamics

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Authors: Jara Kaye S. Villanueva, M. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

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For the past few years, Philippines has depended most of its energy source on oil, coal, and fossil fuel. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the dominance of coal in the energy mix will continue until the year 2020. The expanding energy needs in the country have led to increasing efforts to promote and develop renewable energy. This research is a part of the government initiative in preparation for renewable energy development and expansion in the country. The Philippine Renewable Energy Resource Mapping from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Surveys is a three-year government project which aims to assess and quantify the renewable energy potential of the country and to put them into usable maps. This study focuses on the site suitability analysis of the four renewable energy sources – biomass (coconut, corn, rice, and sugarcane), hydro, solar, and wind energy. The site assessment is a key component in determining and assessing the most suitable locations for the construction of renewable energy power plants. This method maximizes the use of both the technical methods in resource assessment, as well as taking into account the environmental, social, and accessibility aspect in identifying potential sites by utilizing and integrating two different methods: the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. For the MCDA, Analytical Hierarchy Processing (AHP) is employed to determine the parameters needed for the suitability analysis. To structure these site suitability parameters, various experts from different fields were consulted – scientists, policy makers, environmentalists, and industrialists. The need to have a well-represented group of people to consult with is relevant to avoid bias in the output parameter of hierarchy levels and weight matrices. AHP pairwise matrix computation is utilized to derive weights per level out of the expert’s gathered feedback. Whereas from the threshold values derived from related literature, international studies, and government laws, the output values were then consulted with energy specialists from the DOE. Geospatial analysis using GIS tools translate this decision support outputs into visual maps. Particularly, this study uses Euclidean distance to compute for the distance values of each parameter, Fuzzy Membership algorithm which normalizes the output from the Euclidean Distance, and the Weighted Overlay tool for the aggregation of the layers. Using the Natural Breaks algorithm, the suitability ratings of each of the map are classified into 5 discrete categories of suitability index: (1) not suitable (2) least suitable, (3) suitable, (4) moderately suitable, and (5) highly suitable. In this method, the classes are grouped based on the best groups similar values wherein each subdivision are set from the rest based on the big difference in boundary values. Results show that in the entire Philippine area of responsibility, biomass has the highest suitability rating with rice as the most suitable at 75.76% suitability percentage, whereas wind has the least suitability percentage with score 10.28%. Solar and Hydro fall in the middle of the two, with suitability values 28.77% and 21.27%.

Keywords: site suitability, biomass energy, hydro energy, solar energy, wind energy, GIS

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Authors: Katri K. Cornelissen, Lise Gulli Brokjob, Kristofor McCarty, Jiri Gumancik, Martin J. Tovee, Piers L. Cornelissen

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Recent research has shown that body size estimation of healthy women is driven by independent attitudinal and perceptual components. The attitudinal component represents psychological concerns about body, coupled to low self-esteem and a tendency towards depressive symptomatology, leading to over-estimation of body size, independent of the Body Mass Index (BMI) someone actually has. The perceptual component is a normal bias known as contraction bias, which, for bodies is dependent on actual BMI. Women with a BMI less than the population norm tend to overestimate their size, while women with a BMI greater than the population norm tend to underestimate their size. Women whose BMI is close to the population mean are most accurate. This is indexed by a regression of estimated BMI on actual BMI with a slope less than one. It is well established that body dissatisfaction, i.e. an attitudinal distortion, leads to body size overestimation in eating disordered individuals. However, debate persists as to whether women with eating disorders may also suffer a perceptual body distortion. Therefore, the current study was set to ask whether women with eating disorders exhibit the normal contraction bias when they estimate their own body size. If they do not, this would suggest differences in the way that women with eating disorders process the perceptual aspects of body shape and size in comparison to healthy controls. 100 healthy controls and 33 women with a history of eating disorders were recruited. Critically, it was ensured that both groups of participants represented comparable and adequate ranges of actual BMI (e.g. ~18 to ~40). Of those with eating disorders, 19 had a history of anorexia nervosa, 6 bulimia nervosa, and 8 OSFED. 87.5% of the women with a history of eating disorders self-reported that they were either recovered or recovering, and 89.7% of them self-reported that they had had one or more instances of relapse. The mean time lapsed since first diagnosis was 5 years and on average participants had experienced two relapses. Participants were asked to fill number of psychometric measures (EDE-Q, BSQ, RSE, BDI) to establish the attitudinal component of their body image as well as their tendency to internalize socio-cultural body ideals. Additionally, participants completed a method of adjustment psychophysical task, using photorealistic avatars calibrated for BMI, in order to provide an estimate of their own body size and shape. The data from the healthy controls replicate previous findings, revealing independent contributions to body size estimation from both attitudinal and perceptual (i.e. contraction bias) body image components, as described above. For the eating disorder group, once the adequacy of their actual BMI ranges was established, a regression of estimated BMI on actual BMI had a slope greater than 1, significantly different to that from controls. This suggests that (some) eating disordered individuals process the perceptual aspects of body image differently from healthy controls. It therefore is necessary to develop interventions which are specific to the perceptual processing of body shape and size for the management of (some) individuals with eating disorders.

Keywords: body image distortion, perception, recovery, relapse, BMI, eating disorders

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Authors: Xu Qian

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This abstract examines the concept of resilience in adolescents from both adolescent medicine and child psychology perspectives. It discusses the role of healthcare providers in fostering resilience among adolescents, encompassing physical, psychological, and social aspects. The paper highlights evidence-based interventions and practical strategies for promoting resilience in this population. Introduction: Resilience plays a crucial role in the healthy development of adolescents, enabling them to navigate through the challenges of this transitional period. This abstract explores the concept of resilience from the perspectives of adolescent medicine and child psychology, shedding light on the collective efforts of healthcare providers in fostering resilience. By integrating the principles and practices of these two disciplines, this abstract emphasizes the multidimensional nature of resilience and its significance in the overall well-being of adolescents. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted, encompassing research articles, empirical studies, and expert opinions from both adolescent medicine and child psychology fields. The search included databases such as PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, focusing on publications from the past decade. The review aimed to identify evidence-based interventions and practical strategies employed by healthcare providers to promote resilience among adolescents. Results: The review revealed several key findings regarding the promotion of resilience in adolescents. Firstly, resilience is a dynamic process influenced by individual characteristics, environmental factors, and the interaction between the two. Secondly, healthcare providers play a critical role in fostering resilience by addressing the physical, psychological, and social needs of adolescents. This entails comprehensive healthcare services that integrate medical care, mental health support, and social interventions. Thirdly, evidence-based interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, social skills training, and positive youth development programs have shown promising outcomes in enhancing resilience. Discussion: The integration of adolescent medicine and child psychology perspectives provides a comprehensive framework for promoting resilience in adolescents. By acknowledging the interplay between physical health, psychological well-being, and social functioning, healthcare providers can tailor interventions to address the specific needs and challenges faced by adolescents. Collaborative efforts between medical professionals, psychologists, educators, and families are vital in creating a supportive environment that fosters resilience. Additionally, the findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention, emphasizing the need for routine screening and assessment to identify adolescents at risk and provide timely support. Conclusion: Promoting resilience in adolescents requires a holistic approach that integrates adolescent medicine and child psychology perspectives. By recognizing the multifaceted nature of resilience, healthcare providers can implement evidence-based interventions and practical strategies to enhance the well-being of adolescents. The collaboration between healthcare professionals from different disciplines, alongside the involvement of families and communities, is crucial for creating a resilient support system. By investing in the promotion of resilience during adolescence, we can empower young individuals to overcome adversity and thrive in their journey toward adulthood.

Keywords: psychology, clinical psychology, child psychology, adolescent psychology, adolescent

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Authors: Ngwako Daniel Sebola

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Introductory Statement: Religions are necessary as they offer and teach something to their adherence. People in one religion may not have a complete understanding of the Supreme Being (Deity) in a certain religion other than their own. South Africa, like other countries in the world, consists of various religions, including Christianity. Almost 80% of South African population adheres to the Christian faith, though in different denominations and sects. Each church fulfils spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot fill. African Independent Churches is one of the denominations in the country. These churches arose as a protest to the Western forms and expressions of Christianity. Their major concern was to develop an indigenous expression of Christianity. The relevance of African Independent Churches includes addressing the needs of the people holistically. Controlling diseases was an important aspect of change in different historical periods. Through healing services, leaders of African churches are able to attract many followers. The healing power associated with the founders of many African Initiated Churches leads to people following and respecting them as true leaders within many African communities. Despite its strong points, African Independent Churches, like many others, face a variety of challenges, especially conflicts. Ironically, destructive conflicts resulted in violence.. Such violence demonstrates a lack of informed religious orientation among those concerned. This paper investigates and analyses the causes of conflict and violence in the African Independent Church. The researcher used the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches, in South Africa, as a point of departure. As a solution to curb violence, the researcher suggests useful strategies in handling conflicts. Methodology: Comparative and qualitative approaches have been used as methods of collecting data in this research. The intention is to analyse the similarities and differences of violence among members of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Equally important, the researcher aims to obtain data through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, among others. The researcher aims to interview fifteen individuals from both churches. Finding: Leadership squabbles and power struggle appear to be the main contributing factors of violence in many Independent Churches. Ironically, violence resulted in the loss of life and destruction of properties, like in the case of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Violence is an indication that congregations and some leaders have not been properly equipped to deal with conflict. Concluding Statement: Conflict is a common part of every human existence in any given community. The concern is when such conflict becomes contagious; it leads to violence. There is a need to understand consciously and objectively towards devising the appropriate measures to handle the conflict. Conflict management calls for emotional maturity, self-control, empathy, patience, tolerance and informed religious orientation.

Keywords: African, church, religion, violence

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Authors: CA Kishore S. Peshori

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Introduction: India, a country with vast diversity and huge population is going to have largest young population by 2020. Higher education has and will always be the basic requirement for making a developing nation to a developed nation. To improve any system it needs to be bench-marked. There have been various tools for bench-marking the systems. Education is delivered in India by universities which are mainly funded by government. This universities for delivering the education sets up colleges which are again funded mainly by government. Recently however there has also been autonomy given to universities and colleges. Moreover foreign universities are waiting to enter Indian boundaries. With a large number of universities and colleges it has become more and more necessary to measure this institutes for bench-marking. There have been various tools for measuring the institute. In India college assessments have been made compulsory by UGC. Naac has been offically recognised as the accrediation criteria. The Naac criteria has been based on seven criterias namely: 1. Curricular assessments, 2. Teaching learning and evaluation, 3. Research Consultancy and Extension, 4. Infrastructure and learning resources, 5. Student support and progression, 6. Governance leadership and management, 7. Innovation and best practices. The Naac tries to bench mark the institution for identification, sustainability, dissemination and adaption of best practices. It grades the institution according to this seven criteria and the funding of institution is based on these grades. Many of the colleges are struggling to get best of grades but they have not come across a systematic tool to achieve the results. Balanced Scorecard developed by Kaplan has been a successful tool for corporates to develop best of practices so as to increase their financial performance and also retain and increase their customers so as to grow the organization to next level.It is time to test this tool for an educational institute. Methodology: The paper tries to develop a prototype for college based on the secondary data. Once a prototype is developed the researcher based on questionnaire will try to test this tool for successful implementation. The success of this research will depend on its implementation of BSC on an institute and its grading improved due to this successful implementation. Limitation of time is a major constraint in this research as Naac cycle takes minimum 4 years for accreditation and reaccreditation the methodology will limit itself to secondary data and questionnaire to be circulated to colleges along with the prototype model of BSC. Conclusion: BSC is a successful tool for enhancing growth of an organization. Educational institutes are no exception to these. BSC will only have to be realigned to suit the Naac criteria. Once this prototype is developed the success will be tested only on its implementation but this research paper will be the first step towards developing this tool and will also initiate the success by developing a questionnaire and getting and evaluating the responses for moving to the next level of actual implementation

Keywords: balanced scorecard, bench marking, Naac, UGC

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Authors: Imen Soltani, Takoua Soltani, Taoufik Aguili

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Metamaterials crossover classic physical boundaries and gives rise to new phenomena and applications in the domain of beam steering and shaping. Where electromagnetic near and far field manipulations were achieved in an accurate manner. In this sense, 3D imaging is one of the beneficiaries and in particular Denis Gabor’s invention: holography. But, the major difficulty here is the lack of a suitable recording medium. So some enhancements were essential, where the 2D version of bulk metamaterials have been introduced the so-called metasurface. This new class of interfaces simplifies the problem of recording medium with the capability of tuning the phase, amplitude, and polarization at a given frequency. In order to achieve an intelligible wavefront control, the electromagnetic properties of the metasurface should be optimized by means of solving Maxwell’s equations. In this context, integral methods are emerging as an important method to study electromagnetic from microwave to optical frequencies. The method of moment presents an accurate solution to reduce the problem of dimensions by writing its boundary conditions in the form of integral equations. But solving this kind of equations tends to be more complicated and time-consuming as the structural complexity increases. Here, the use of equivalent circuit’s method exhibits the most scalable experience to develop an integral method formulation. In fact, for allaying the resolution of Maxwell’s equations, the method of Generalised Equivalent Circuit was proposed to convey the resolution from the domain of integral equations to the domain of equivalent circuits. In point of fact, this technique consists in creating an electric image of the studied structure using discontinuity plan paradigm and taken into account its environment. So that, the electromagnetic state of the discontinuity plan is described by generalised test functions which are modelled by virtual sources not storing energy. The environmental effects are included by the use of an impedance or admittance operator. Here, we propose a tunable metasurface composed of graphene-based elements which combine the advantages of reflectarrays concept and graphene as a pillar constituent element at Terahertz frequencies. The metasurface’s building block consists of a thin gold film, a dielectric spacer SiO₂ and graphene patch antenna. Our electromagnetic analysis is based on the method of moment combined with generalised equivalent circuit (MoM-GEC). We begin by restricting our attention to study the effects of varying graphene’s chemical potential on the unit cell input impedance. So, it was found that the variation of complex conductivity of graphene allows controlling the phase and amplitude of the reflection coefficient at each element of the array. From the results obtained here, we were able to determine that the phase modulation is realized by adjusting graphene’s complex conductivity. This modulation is a viable solution compared to tunning the phase by varying the antenna length because it offers a full 2π reflection phase control.

Keywords: graphene, method of moment combined with generalised equivalent circuit, reconfigurable metasurface, reflectarray, terahertz domain

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Authors: Éva Pintér, Péter Bagó, Nikolett Deutsch, Miklós Hetényi

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The process of digital transformation has a profound influence on all sectors of the worldwide economy and the business environment. The influence of blockchain technology can be observed in the digital economy and e-government, rendering it an essential element of a nation's growth strategy. The banking industry is experiencing significant expansion and development of financial technology firms. Utilizing developing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data (BD), these entrants are offering more streamlined financial solutions, promptly addressing client demands, and presenting a challenge to incumbent institutions. The advantages of digital transformation are evident in the corporate realm, and firms that resist its adoption put their survival at risk. The advent of digital technologies has revolutionized the business environment, streamlining processes and creating opportunities for enhanced communication and collaboration. Thanks to the aid of digital technologies, businesses can now swiftly and effortlessly retrieve vast quantities of information, all the while accelerating the process of creating new and improved products and services. Big data analytics is generally recognized as a transformative force in business, considered the fourth paradigm of science, and seen as the next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity. Big data, an emerging technology that is shaping the future of the banking sector, offers numerous advantages to banks. It enables them to effectively track consumer behavior and make informed decisions, thereby enhancing their operational efficiency. Banks may embrace big data technologies to promptly and efficiently identify fraud, as well as gain insights into client preferences, which can then be leveraged to create better-tailored products and services. Moreover, the utilization of big data technology empowers banks to develop more intelligent and streamlined models for accurately recognizing and focusing on the suitable clientele with pertinent offers. There is a scarcity of research on big data analytics in the banking industry, with the majority of existing studies only examining the advantages and prospects associated with big data. Although big data technologies are crucial, there is a dearth of empirical evidence about the role of big data analytics (BDA) capabilities in bank performance. This research addresses a gap in the existing literature by introducing a model that combines the resource-based view (RBV), the technical organization environment framework (TOE), and dynamic capability theory (DC). This study investigates the influence of Big Data Analytics (BDA) utilization on the performance of market and risk management. This is supported by a comparative examination of Hungarian mobile banking services.

Keywords: big data, digital transformation, dynamic capabilities, mobile banking

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Authors: Felicisimo Azagra Tejuco Jr.

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Mentoring architecture thesis students is a very critical and exhausting task for both the adviser and advisee. It poses the challenges of resource and time management for the candidate while the best professional guidance from the mentor. The University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines) is Asia's oldest university. Among its notable program is its Architecture curriculum. Presently, the five-year Architecture program requires ten semesters of academic coursework. The last three semesters are relevant to each Architecture graduating student's thesis proposal and defense. The thesis proposal is developed and submitted for approval in the subject Research Methods for Architecture (RMA). Data gathering and initial schemes are conducted in Architectural Design (AD), 9, and are finalized and defended in AD 10. In recent years, their graduating students have maintained an average of 300 candidates before the pandemic. They are encouraged to explore any topic of interest or relevance. Since 2019-2020, one thesis class has used a community planning approach in mentoring the class. Compared to other sections, the first meeting of RMA has been allocated for a visioning exercise and assessment of the class's strengths-weaknesses and opportunities-threats (SWOT). Here, the work activities of the group have been finetuned to address some identified concerns while still being aligned with the academic calendar. Occasional peer critics complement class lectures. The course will end with the approval of the student's proposal. The final year or last two semesters of the graduating class will be focused on the approved proposal. Compared to the other class, the 18 weeks of the first semester consist of regular consultations, complemented by lectures from the adviser or guest speakers. Through remote peer consultations, the mentor maximized each meeting in groups of three to five, encouraging constructive criticism among the class. At the end of the first semester, mock presentations to the external jury are conducted to check the design outputs for improvement. The final semester is spent more on the finalization of the plans. Feedback from the previous semester is expected to be integrated into the final outputs. Before the final deliberations, at least two technical rehearsals were conducted per group. Regardless of the outcome, an assessment of each student's performance is held as a class. Personal realizations and observations are encouraged. Through Online surveys, Interviews, and Focused Group Discussions with the former students, the effectiveness of the mentoring strategies was reviewed and evaluated. Initial feedback highlighted the relevance of setting a positive tone for the course, constructive criticisms from peers & experts, and consciousness of deadlines as essential elements for a practical semester.

Keywords: cooperation, competition, student empowerment, class vision

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Authors: Sunil Kumar, Rajesh Sharma

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Toxic epidermal necrolysis, pruritis, rashes, lichen planus like eruption, hyper pigmentation of skin are rare toxic effects of choloroquine used over a long time. Skin and mucus membrane hyper pigmentation is generally of a bluish black or grayish color and irreversible after discontinuation of the drug. According to Ayurveda, Dushivisha is the name given to any poisonous substance which is not fully endowed with the qualities of poison by nature (i.e. it acts as an impoverished or weak poison) and because of its mild potency, it remains in the body for many years causing various symptoms, one among them being discoloration of skin.The objective of this case report is to investigate the effect of Ayurvedic management of chloroquine induced hyper-pigmentation on the line of treatment of Dushivisha. Case Report: A 26-year-old female was suffering from hyper-pigmentation of the skin over the neck, forehead, temporo-mandibular joints, upper back and posterior aspect of both the arms since 8 years had history of taking Chloroquine came to Out Patient Department of National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, India in Jan. 2015. The routine investigations (CBC, ESR, Eosinophil count) were within normal limits. Punch biopsy skin studied for histopathology under hematoxylin and eosin staining showed epidermis with hyper-pigmentation of the basal layer. In the papillary dermis as well as deep dermis there were scattered melanophages along with infiltration by mononuclear cells. There was no deposition of amyloid-like substances. These histopathological findings were suggestive of Chloroquine induced hyper-pigmentation. The case was treated on the line of treatment of Dushivisha and was given Vamana and Virechana (therapeutic emesis and purgation) every six months followed by Snehana karma (oleation therapy) with Panchatikta Ghrit and Swedana (sudation). Arogyavardhini Vati -1 g, Dushivishari Vati 500 mg, Mahamanjisthadi Quath 20 ml were given twelve hourly and Aragwadhadi Quath 25 ml at bed time orally. The patient started showing lightening of the pigments after six months and almost complete remission after 12 months of the treatment. Conclusion: This patient presented with the Dushivisha effect of Chloroquineandwas administered two relevant procedures from Panchakarma viz. Vamana and Virechana. Both Vamana and Virechanakarma here referred to Shodhana karma (purification procedures) eliminates accumulated toxins from the body. In this process, oleation dislodge the toxins from the tissues and sudation helps to bring them to the alimentary tract. The line of treatment did not target direct hypo pigmentary effects; rather aimed to eliminate the Dushivisha. This gave promising results in this condition.

Keywords: Ayurveda, chloroquine, Dushivisha, hyper-pigmentation

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Authors: Kathryn McMillan

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A recent study of 8500 adult Australians aged 16 and over revealed 62% had experienced childhood maltreatment. In response to multiple recommendations by bodies such as the Australian Law Reform Commission, parliamentary reports and stakeholder input, a number of key initiatives have been developed to grapple with the difficulties of a federal-state system and to screen and triage high-risk families navigating their way through the court system. The Lighthouse Project (LHP) is a world-first initiative of the Federal Circuit and Family Courts in Australia (FCFOCA) to screen family law litigants for major risk factors, including family violence, child abuse, alcohol or substance abuse and mental ill-health at the point of filing in all applications that seek parenting orders. It commenced on 7 December 2020 on a pilot basis but has now been expanded to 15 registries across the country. A specialist risk screen, Family DOORS, Triage has been developed – focused on improving the safety and wellbeing of families involved in the family law system safety planning and service referral, and ¬ differentiated case management based on risk level, with the Evatt List specifically designed to manage the highest risk cases. Early signs are that this approach is meeting the needs of families with multiple risks moving through the Court system. Before the LHP, there was no data available about the prevalence of risk factors experienced by litigants entering the family courts and it was often assumed that it was the litigation process that was fueling family violence and other risks such as suicidality. Data from the 2022 FCFCOA annual report indicated that in parenting proceedings, 70% alleged a child had been or was at risk of abuse, 80% alleged a party had experienced Family Violence, 74 % of children had been exposed to Family Violence, 53% alleged through substance misuse by party children had caused or was at risk of causing harm to children and 58% of matters allege mental health issues of a party had caused or placed a child at risk of harm. Those figures reveal the significant overlap between child protection and family violence, both of which are under the responsibility of state and territory governments. Since 2020, a further key initiative has been the co-location of child protection and police officials amongst a number of registries of the FCFOCA. The ability to access in a time-effective way details of family violence or child protection orders, weapons licenses, criminal convictions or proceedings is key to managing issues across the state and federal divide. It ensures a more cohesive and effective response to family law, family violence and child protection systems.

Keywords: child protection, family violence, parenting, risk screening, triage.

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Authors: Abdoulaye Maihatchi Ahamed, Zubin Arora, Benjamin Swobada, Jean-yves Lansot, Alexandre Chagnes

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Lithium-ion battery (LiB) is the technology of choice in the development of electric vehicles. But there are still many challenges, including the development of positive electrode materials exhibiting high cycle ability, high energy density, and low environmental impact. For this latter, LiBs must be manufactured in a circular approach by developing the appropriate strategies to reuse and recycle them. Presently, the recycling of LiBs is carried out by the pyrometallurgical route, but more and more processes implement or will implement the hydrometallurgical route or a combination of pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical operations. After producing the black mass by mineral processing, the hydrometallurgical process consists in leaching the black mass in order to uptake the metals contained in the cathodic material. Then, these metals are extracted selectively by liquid-liquid extraction, solid-liquid extraction, and/or precipitation stages. However, liquid-liquid extraction combined with precipitation/crystallization steps is the most implemented operation in the LiB recycling process to selectively extract copper, aluminum, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium from the leaching solution and precipitate these metals as high-grade sulfate or carbonate salts. Liquid-liquid extraction consists in contacting an organic solvent and an aqueous feed solution containing several metals, including the targeted metal(s) to extract. The organic phase is non-miscible with the aqueous phase. It is composed of an extractant to extract the target metals and a diluent, which is usually aliphatic kerosene produced from the petroleum industry. Sometimes, a phase modifier is added in the formulation of the extraction solvent to avoid the third phase formation. The extraction properties of the diluent do not depend only on the chemical structure of the extractant, but it may also depend on the nature of the diluent. Indeed, the interactions between the diluent can influence more or less the interactions between extractant molecules besides the extractant-diluent interactions. Only a few studies in the literature addressed the influence of the diluent on the extraction properties, while many studies focused on the effect of the extractants. Recently, new low-carbon footprint aliphatic diluents were produced by catalytic dearomatisation and distillation of bio-based oil. This study aims at investigating the influence of the nature of the diluent on the extraction properties of three extractants towards cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum, and lithium: Cyanex®272 for nickel-cobalt separation, DEHPA for manganese extraction, and Acorga M5640 for copper extraction. The diluents used in the formulation of the extraction solvents are (i) low-odor aliphatic kerosene produced from the petroleum industry (ELIXORE 180, ELIXORE 230, ELIXORE 205, and ISANE IP 175) and (ii) bio-sourced aliphatic diluents (DEV 2138, DEV 2139, DEV 1763, DEV 2160, DEV 2161 and DEV 2063). After discussing the effect of the diluents on the extraction properties, this conference will address the development of a low carbon footprint process based on the use of the best bio-sourced diluent for the production of high-grade cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, manganese sulfate, and lithium carbonate, as well as metal copper.

Keywords: diluent, hydrometallurgy, lithium-ion battery, recycling

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Authors: German Ricci

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The research aims to analyse the symbolic power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its relationship with a borrowing country, drawing upon Pierre Bourdieu’s Field Theory. This theory of power, typical of constructivist structuralism, has been minor used in international relations. Thus, selecting this perspective offers a new understanding of how the IMF's power operates and is structured. The IMF makes periodic economic reviews in which the staff evaluates the Government's performance. It also offers “last instance” loans when private external credit is not accessible. This relationship generates great expectations in financial agents because the IMF’s statements indicate the capacity of the Nation-State to meet its payment obligations (or not). Therefore, it is argued that the IMF is a legitimate actor for financial agents concerned about a government facing an economic crisis both for the effects of its immediate economic contribution through loans and the promotion of adjustment programs, helpful to guarantee the payment of the external debt. This legitimacy implies a symbolic power relationship in addition to the already known economic power relationship. Obtaining the IMF's consent implies that the government partially puts its political-economic decisions into play since the monetary policy must be agreed upon with the Fund. This has consequences at the local level. First, it implies that the debtor state must establish a daily relationship with the Fund. This everyday interaction with the Fund influences how officials and policymakers internalize the meaning of political management. On the other hand, if the Government has access to the IMF's seal of approval, the State will be again in a position to re-enter the financial market and go back into debt to face external debt. This means that private creditors increase the chances of collecting the debt and, again, grant credits. Thus, it is argued that the borrowing country submits to the relationship with the IMF in search of the latter's economic and symbolic capital. Access to this symbolic capital has objective and subjective repercussions at the national level that might tend to reproduce the relevance of the financial market and legitimizes the IMF’s intervention during economic crises. The paper has Argentina as its case study, given its historical relationship with the IMF and the relevance of the current indebtedness period, which remains largely unexplored. Argentina’s economy is characterized by recurrent financial crises, and it is the country to which the Fund has lent the most in its entire history. It surpasses more than three times the second, Egypt. In addition, Argentina is currently the country that owes the most to the Fund after receiving the largest loan ever granted by the IMF in 2018, and a new agreement in 2022. While the historical strong association with the Fund culminated in the most acute economic and social crisis in the country’s contemporary history, producing an unprecedented political and institutional crisis in 2001, Argentina still recognized the IMF as the only way out during economic crises.

Keywords: IMF, fields theory, symbolic power, Argentina, Bourdieu

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Authors: Oluseun A. Akinsorotan, Louise K. Gentle, Md. Mofakkarul Islam, Richard W. Yarnell

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High levels of anthropogenic activity such as habitat destruction, poaching and encroachment into natural habitat have resulted in significant global wildlife declines. In order to protect wildlife, many protected areas such as national parks have been created. However, it is argued that many protected areas are only protected in name and are often exposed to continued, and often illegal, anthropogenic pressure. In West African protected areas, declines of large mammals have been documented between 1962 and 2008. This study aimed to produce occupancy estimates of the remaining large mammal fauna in the third largest National Park in Nigeria, Old Oyo, and to compare the estimates with historic estimates while also attempting to quantify levels of illegal anthropogenic activity using a multi-disciplinary approach. Large mammal populations and levels of illegal anthropogenic activity were assessed using empirical field data (camera trapping and transect surveys) in combination with data from questionnaires completed by local villagers and park rangers. Four of the historically recorded species in the park, lion (Panthera leo), hunting dog (Lycaon pictus), elephant (Loxodonta africana) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer) were not detected during field studies nor were they reported by respondents. In addition, occupancy estimates of hunters and illegal grazers were higher than the majority of large mammal species inside the park. This finding was reinforced by responses from the villagers and rangers who’s perception was that large mammal densities in the park were declining, and that a large proportion of the local people were entering the park to hunt wild animals and graze their domestic livestock. Our findings also suggest that widespread poverty and a lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, culture of consuming bushmeat, lack of education and awareness of the value of protected areas, and weak law enforcement are some of the reasons for the illegal activity. Law enforcement authorities were often constrained by insufficient on-site personnel and a lack of modern equipment and infrastructure to deter illegal activities. We conclude that there is a need to address the issue of illegal hunting and livestock grazing, via provision of alternative livelihoods, in combination with community outreach programmes that aim to improve conservation education and awareness and develop the capacity of the conservation authorities in order to achieve conservation goals. Our findings have implications for the conservation management of all protected areas that are available for exploitation by local communities.

Keywords: camera trapping, conservation, extirpation, illegal grazing, large mammals, national park, occupancy estimates, poaching

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Authors: Vivek Hokam, Vishrut Landge

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An ideal maintenance program for an industrial road network is one that would maintain all sections at a sufficiently high level of functional and structural conditions. However, due to various constraints such as budget, manpower and equipment, it is not possible to carry out maintenance on all the needy industrial road sections within a given planning period. A rational and systematic priority scheme needs to be employed to select and schedule industrial road sections for maintenance. Priority analysis is a multi-criteria process that determines the best ranking list of sections for maintenance based on several factors. In priority setting, difficult decisions are required to be made for selection of sections for maintenance. It is more important to repair a section with poor functional conditions which includes uncomfortable ride etc. or poor structural conditions i.e. sections those are in danger of becoming structurally unsound. It would seem therefore that any rational priority setting approach must consider the relative importance of functional and structural condition of the section. The maintenance priority index and pavement performance models tend to focus mainly on the pavement condition, traffic criteria etc. There is a need to develop the model which is suitably used with respect to limited budget provisions for maintenance of pavement. Linear programming is one of the most popular and widely used quantitative techniques. A linear programming model provides an efficient method for determining an optimal decision chosen from a large number of possible decisions. The optimum decision is one that meets a specified objective of management, subject to various constraints and restrictions. The objective is mainly minimization of maintenance cost of roads in industrial area. In order to determine the objective function for analysis of distress model it is necessary to fix the realistic data into a formulation. Each type of repair is to be quantified in a number of stretches by considering 1000 m as one stretch. A stretch considered under study is having 3750 m length. The quantity has to be put into an objective function for maximizing the number of repairs in a stretch related to quantity. The distress observed in this stretch are potholes, surface cracks, rutting and ravelling. The distress data is measured manually by observing each distress level on a stretch of 1000 m. The maintenance and rehabilitation measured that are followed currently are based on subjective judgments. Hence, there is a need to adopt a scientific approach in order to effectively use the limited resources. It is also necessary to determine the pavement performance and deterioration prediction relationship with more accurate and economic benefits of road networks with respect to vehicle operating cost. The infrastructure of road network should have best results expected from available funds. In this paper objective function for distress model is determined by linear programming and deterioration model considering overloading is discussed.

Keywords: budget, maintenance, deterioration, priority

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Authors: Akhentoolove Corbin, Leta De Jonge, Charmaine De Jonge

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Introduction: Various writers have promoted the adoption of the 4th R in the education curricula (relationships, respect, reasoning, religion, computing, science, art, conflict management, music) and the 5th R (responsibility). They argue that the traditional 3 Rs are not adequate for the modern environment and the requirements for students to become functional citizens in society. In particular, the developing countries of the anglophone Caribbean (most of which are tiny islands) are susceptible to the dangers and complexities of climate change and global economic volatility. These proposed additions to the 3Rs do have some justification, but this research considers Resilience as even more important and relevant in a world that is faced with the negative prospects of climate change, poverty, discrimination, and economic volatility. It is argued that the foundation for resilient citizens, workers, and workplaces, must be built in the elementary and secondary/middle schools and then through the tertiary level, to achieve an outcome of more resilient students. Government, business, and society require widespread resilience to be capable of ‘bouncing back’ and be more adaptable, transformational, and sustainable. Methodology: The paper utilises a mixed-methods approach incorporating a questionnaire and interviews to determine participants’ opinions on the importance and relevance of resilience in the schools’ curricula and to government, business, and society. The target groups are as follows: educators at all levels, education administrators, members of the business sector, public sector, and 3rd sector. The research specifically targets the anglophone Caribbean developing countries (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and St Vincent, and the Grenadines). The research utilises SPSS for data analysis. Major Findings: The preliminary findings suggest that the majority of participants support the adoption of resilience as a 4th R in the curricula of the elementary, secondary/middle schools, and tertiary level in the anglophone Caribbean. The final results will allow the researchers to reveal more specific details on any variations among the islands in the sample andto engage in an in-depth discussion of the relevance and importance of resilience as the 4th R. Conclusion: Results seem to suggest that the education system should adopt the 4th R of resilience so that educators working in collaboration with the family and community/village can develop young citizens who are more resilient and capable of manifesting the behaviours and attitudes associated with ‘bouncing back,’ adaptability, transformation, and sustainability. These findings may be useful for education decision-makers and governments in these Caribbean islands, who have the authority and responsibility for the development of education policy, laws, and regulations.

Keywords: education, resilient students, adaptable, transformational, resilient citizens, workplaces, government

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Authors: Hyemi Kim, Jay Kim, Kyunghoon Han, Ra-Yeong Choi, In-Woo Kim, Hyung Joo Suh, Ki-Bae Hong, Sung Hee Han

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Chitosan is used in various industries such as food and medical care because it is known to have various functions such as anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. Most of the commercial chitosan is extracted from crustaceans. As the harvest rate of snow crabs and red snow crabs decreases and safety issues arise due to environmental pollution, research is underway to extract chitosan from insects. In this study, we used Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to predict the optimal conditions to produce chitosan oligosaccharides from mealworms (MCOS), which can be absorbed through the intestine as low-molecular-weight chitosan. The experimentally confirmed optimal conditions for MCOS production using chitosanase were found to be a substrate concentration of 2.5%, enzyme addition of 30 mg/g and a reaction time of 6 hours. The chemical structure and physicochemical properties of the produced MCOS were measured using MALDI-TOF mass spectra and FTIR spectra. The MALDI-TOF mass spectra revealed peaks corresponding to the dimer (375.045), trimer (525.214), tetramer (693.243), pentamer (826.296), and hexamer (987.360). In the FTIR spectra, commercial chitosan oligosaccharides exhibited a weak peak pattern at 3500-2500 cm-1, unlike chitosan or chitosan oligosaccharides. There was a difference in the peak at 3200~3500 cm-1, where different vibrations corresponding to OH and amine groups overlapped. Chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharide, and commercial chitosan oligosaccharide showed peaks at 2849, 2884, and 2885 cm-1, respectively, attributed to the absorption of the C-H stretching vibration of methyl or methine. The amide I, amide II, and amide III bands of chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharide, and commercial chitosan oligosaccharide exhibited peaks at 1620/1620/1602, 1553/1555/1505, and 1310/1309/1317 cm-1, respectively. Furthermore, the solubility of MCOS was 45.15±3.43, water binding capacity (WBC) was 299.25±4.57, and fat binding capacity (FBC) was 325.61±2.28 and the solubility of commercial chitosan oligosaccharides was 49.04±9.52, WBC was 280.55±0.50, and FBC was 157.22±18.15. Thus, the characteristics of MCOS and commercial chitosan oligosaccharides are similar. The results of investigating the impact of chitosan oligosaccharide on the proliferation of probiotics revealed increased growth in L. casei, L. acidophilus, and Bif. Bifidum. Therefore, the major short-chain fatty acids produced by gut microorganisms, such as acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid, increased within 24 hours of adding 1% (p<0.01) and 2% (p<0.001) MCOS. The impact of MCOS on the overall gut microbiota was assessed, revealing that the Chao1 index did not show significant differences, but the Simpson index decreased in a concentration-dependent manner, indicating a higher species diversity. The addition of MCOS resulted in changes in the overall microbial composition, with an increase in Firmicutes and Verrucomicrobia (p<0.05) compared to the control group, while Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria (p<0.05) decreased. At the genus level, changes in microbiota due to MCOS supplementation showed an increase in beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus, Romboutsia, Turicibacter, and Akkermansia (p<0.0001) while harmful bacteria like Enterococcus, Morganella, Proterus, and Bacteroides (p<0.0001) decreased. In this study, chitosan oligosaccharides were successfully produced under established conditions from mealworms, and these chitosan oligosaccharides are expected to have prebiotic effects, similar to those obtained from crabs.

Keywords: mealworms, chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharide, prebiotics

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Authors: Amandeep Kaur

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Farming is one of the most influential traditions which started around 10000 BC and has revolutionized human civilization. It is believed that farming originated at a separate location. Thus it has a great impact on local culture, which in turn gave rise to diversified farming practices. Farming activities are influenced by the culture of a particular region or community as local people have their own knowledge and belief system about soil and crops. With the inception of the Green Revolution, 'a high tech machinery model' in Punjab, various traditional farming methods and techniques changed. The present research concentrates on the local knowledge of farmers and local farming systems from an anthropological perspective. In view of the prevailing agrarian crisis in Punjab, this research is focused on farmer’s experiences and their perception regarding farming practices. Thus an attempt has to be made to focus on the local knowledge, perception, and experience of farmers for eco-friendly and sustainable agricultural development. Farmers voices are used to understand the relationship between farming practices and socio-cultural life of farmers in Faridkot district, Punjab. The research aims to comprehend the nature of changes taking place in the socio-cultural life of people with the development of capitalism and agricultural modernization. The study is based on qualitative methods of ethnography in Sarawan village of Faridkot District. Inferences drawn from in-depth case studies collected from 60 agricultural households lead to the concept of the process of diffusion, innovation, and adoption of farming technology, a variety of crops and the dissemination of agricultural skills regarding various cultural farming practices. The data is based on random sampling; the respondents were both males and females above the age of 18 years to attain a holistic understanding across the generations. A Quasi-participant observation related to lifestyle, the standard of living, and various farming practices performed by them were done. Narratives derived from the fieldwork depicts that farmers usually oppose the restrictions imposed by the government on certain farming practices, especially ban on stubble burning. This paper presents the narratives of farmers regarding the dissemination of awareness about the use of new varieties of seeds, technology, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. The study reveals that farming systems have developed in ways reflecting the activities and choices of farmers influenced by environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political situations. Modern farming practices have forced small farmers into debt as farmers feel pride in buying new machinery. It has also led to the loss of work culture and excessive use of drugs among youngsters. Even laborers did not want to work on the land with cultivating farmers primarily for social and political reasons. Due to lack of proper marketing of crops, there is a continuum of the wheat-rice cycle instead of crop diversification in Punjab. Change in the farming system also affects the social structure of society. Agricultural modernization has commercialized the socio-cultural relations in Punjab and is slowly urbanizing the rural landscape revolutionizing the traditional social relations to capitalistic relations.

Keywords: agricultural modernization, capitalism, farming practices, narratives

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Authors: Oliver Fuo

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One of the central features of post-apartheid constitutional reform was the establishment of local government as a distinct sphere of government in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Local government, constituted by about 279 wall-to-wall municipalities, have legislative and executive powers vested in democratically elected municipal councils to govern areas within their jurisdiction subject only to limits imposed by the Constitution. In addition, unlike the past where municipalities merely played a service delivery role, they are now mandated to realise an expanded developmental mandate – pursue social justice and sustainable development; contribute, together with national and provincial government, to the realisation of socio-economic rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights; and facilitate public participation in local governance. In order to finance their developmental programmes, municipalities receive equitable allocations from national government and have legal powers to generate additional finances by charging rates on property and imposing surcharges on services provided. In addition to its general obligation to foster public participation in local governance, the law requires municipalities to facilitate public participation in their budgeting processes. This requirement is generally consistent with recent trends in local government democratic reforms which call for inclusive budget planning and implementation whereby citizens, civil society and NGOs participate in the allocation of resources. This trend is best captured in the concept of participatory budgeting. This paper specifically analyses the legal and policy framework for participatory budgeting at the local government level in South Africa. Using Borbet South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Others v Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality 2014 (5) SA 256 (ECP) as an example, this paper argues that the legal framework for participatory budgeting creates an illusory right for citizens to participate in municipal budgeting processes. This challenge is further compounded by the barrenness of the jurisprudence of courts that interpret the obligation of municipalities in this regard. It is submitted that the wording of s 27(4) of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 53 of 2003 - which expressly stipulates that non-compliance by a municipality with a provision relating to the budget process or a provision in any legislation relating to the approval of a budget-related policy, does not affect the validity of an annual or adjustments budget – is problematic as it seems to trivialise the obligation to facilitate public participation in budgeting processes. It is submitted that where this provision is abused by municipal officials, this could lead to the sidelining of the real interests of communities in local budgets. This research is based on a critical and integrated review of primary and secondary sources of law.

Keywords: courts and jurisprudence, local government law, participatory budgeting, South Africa

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Authors: Alison L. Miles

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Almost all major financial institutions in the world suffered losses due to the financial crisis of 2007, but the extent varied widely. The causes of the crash of 2007 are well documented and predominately focus on the role and complexity of the financial markets. The dominant theme of the literature suggests the causes of the crash were a combination of globalization, financial sector innovation, moribund regulation and short termism. While these arguments are undoubtedly true, they do not tell the whole story. A key weakness in the current analysis is the lack of consideration of those leading the banks pre and during times of crisis. This purpose of this study is to examine the possible link between the leadership styles and characteristics of the CEO, CFO and chairman and the financial institutions that failed or needed recapitalization. As such, it contributes to the literature and debate on international financial crises and systemic risk and also to the debate on risk management and regulatory reform in the banking sector. In order to first test the proposition (p1) that there are prevalent leadership characteristics or traits in financial institutions, an initial study was conducted using a sample of the top 65 largest global banks and financial institutions according to the Banker Top 1000 banks 2014. Secondary data from publically available and official documents, annual reports, treasury and parliamentary reports together with a selection of press articles and analyst meeting transcripts was collected longitudinally from the period 1998 to 2013. A computer aided key word search was used in order to identify the leadership styles and characteristics of the chairman, CEO and CFO. The results were then compared with the leadership models to form a picture of leadership in the sector during the research period. As this resulted in separate results that needed combining, SPSS data editor was used to aggregate the results across the studies using the variables ‘leadership style’ and ‘company financial performance’ together with the size of the company. In order to test the proposition (p2) that there was a prevalent leadership style in the banks that failed and the proposition (P3) that this was different to those that did not, further quantitative analysis was carried out on the leadership styles of the chair, CEO and CFO of banks that needed recapitalization, were taken over, or required government bail-out assistance during 2007-8. These included: Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Barclays, Northern Rock, Fortis and Allied Irish. The findings show that although regulatory reform has been a key mechanism of control of behavior in the banking sector, consideration of the leadership characteristics of those running the board are a key factor. They add weight to the argument that if each crisis is met with the same pattern of popular fury with the financier, increased regulation, followed by back to business as usual, the cycle of failure will always be repeated and show that through a different lens, new paradigms can be formed and future clashes avoided.

Keywords: banking, financial crisis, leadership, risk

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Authors: Nicholas Aerne, John P. Parmigiani

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There is an increasing desire for renewable and sustainable energy sources to replace fossil fuels. This desire is the result of several factors. First, is the role of fossil fuels in climate change. Scientific data clearly shows that global warming is occurring. It has also been concluded that it is highly likely human activity; specifically, the combustion of fossil fuels, is a major cause of this warming. Second, despite the current surplus of petroleum, fossil fuels are a finite resource and will eventually become scarce and alternatives, such as clean or renewable energy will be needed. Third, operations to obtain fossil fuels such as fracking, off-shore oil drilling, and strip mining are expensive and harmful to the environment. Given these environmental impacts, there is a need to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources as a primary energy source. Various sources of renewable energy exist. Many familiar sources obtain renewable energy from the sun and natural environments of the earth. Common examples include solar, hydropower, geothermal heat, ocean waves and tides, and wind energy. Often obtaining significant energy from these sources requires physically-large, sophisticated, and expensive equipment (e.g., wind turbines, dams, solar panels, etc.). Other sources of renewable energy are from the man-made environment. An example is municipal water distribution systems. The movement of water through the pipelines of these systems typically requires the reduction of hydraulic pressure through the use of pressure reducing valves. These valves are needed to reduce upstream supply-line pressures to levels suitable downstream users. The energy associated with this reduction of pressure is significant but is currently not harvested and is simply lost. While the integrity of municipal water supplies is of paramount importance, one can certainly envision means by which this lost energy source could be safely accessed. This paper provides a technical description and analysis of one such means by the technology company InPipe Energy to generate hydroelectricity by harvesting energy from municipal water distribution pressure reducing valve stations. Specifically, InPipe Energy proposes to install hydropower turbines in parallel with existing pressure reducing valves in municipal water distribution systems. InPipe Energy in partnership with Oregon State University has evaluated this approach and built a prototype system at the O. H. Hinsdale Wave Research Lab. The Oregon State University evaluation showed that the prototype system rapidly and safely initiates, maintains, and ceases power production as directed. The outgoing water pressure remained constant at the specified set point throughout all testing. The system replicates the functionality of the pressure reducing valve and ensures accurate control of down-stream pressure. At a typical water-distribution-system pressure drop of 60 psi the prototype, operating at an efficiency 64%, produced approximately 5 kW of electricity. Based on the results of this study, this proposed method appears to offer a viable means of producing significant amounts of clean renewable energy from existing pressure reducing valves.

Keywords: pressure reducing valve, renewable energy, sustainable energy, water supply

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Sergey Nikitenko, Vladimir Klishin, Yury Malakhov, Elena Goosen

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Transition to renewable energy sources (solar, wind, bioenergy, etc.) and launching of alternative energy generation has weakened the role of coal as a source of energy. The Paris Agreement and assumption of obligations by many nations to orderly reduce CO₂ emissions by means of technological modernization and climate change adaptation has abridged coal demand yet more. This paper aims to assess current resilience of the coal industry to stress and to define prospects for coal production optimization using high technologies pursuant to global challenges and requirements of energy transition. Our research is based on the resilience concept adapted to the coal industry. It is proposed to divide the coal sector into segments depending on the prevailing value chains (VC). Four representative models of VC are identified in the coal sector. The most promising lines of upgrading VC in the coal industry include: •Elongation of VC owing to introduction of clean technologies of coal conversion and utilization; •Creation of parallel VC by means of waste management; •Branching of VC (conversion of a company’s VC into a production network). The upgrade effectiveness is governed in many ways by applicability of advanced coal processing technologies, usability of waste, expandability of production, entrance to non-rival markets and localization of new segments of VC in receiving regions. It is also important that upgrade of VC by means of formation of agile high-tech inter-industry production networks within the framework of operating surface and underground mines can reduce social, economic and ecological risks associated with closure of coal mines. Such promising route of VC upgrade is application of methanotrophic bacteria to produce protein to be used as feed-stuff in fish, poultry and cattle breeding, or in production of ferments, lipoids, sterols, antioxidants, pigments and polysaccharides. Closed mines can use recovered methane as a clean energy source. There exist methods of methane utilization from uncontrollable sources, including preliminary treatment and recovery of methane from air-and-methane mixture, or decomposition of methane to hydrogen and acetylene. Separated hydrogen is used in hydrogen fuel cells to generate power to feed the process of methane utilization and to supply external consumers. Despite the recent paradigm of carbon-free energy generation, it is possible to preserve the coal mining industry using the differentiated approach to upgrade of value chains based on flexible technologies with regard to specificity of mining companies.

Keywords: resilience, resilience concept, resilience indicator, resilience in the Russian coal industry, value chains

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