Search results for: higher order cognitive processes

Authors: Mahbuba Kaneez Hasna

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Introductory Statement outlining the background: Little has been written about political ecology of urban gardening, such as a network of knowledge generation, technologies of food production and distribution, food consumption practices, and the regulation of ‘agricultural activities. For urban food gardens to sustain as a long-term food security enterprise, we will need to better understand the anthropological, ecological, political, and institutional factors influencing their development, management, and ongoing viability. Significance of the study: Dhaka as one of the fastest growing city. There are currently no studies regards to Bangladesh on how urban slum dwellerscope with the changing urban environment in the city, where they overcome challenges, and how they cope with the urban ecological cycle of food and vegetable production. It is also essential to understand the importance of their access to confined spaces in the slums they apply their indigenous knowledge. These relationships in nature are important factors in community and conservation ecology. Until now, there has been no significant published academic work on relationships between urban and environmental anthropology, urban planning, geography, ecology, and social anthropology with a focus on urban agriculture and how this contributes to the moral economies, indigenous knowledge, and government policies in order to improve the lives and livelihoods of slum dwellers surrounding parks and open spaces in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methodology: it have applied participant observation, semi-structured questionnaire-based interviews, and focus group discussions to collect social data. Interviews were conducted with the urban agriculture practitioners who are slum dwellers who carry out their urban agriculture activities. Some of the interviews were conducted with non-government organisations (NGOs) and local and state government officials, using semi-structured interviews. Using these methods developed a clearer understanding of how green space cultivation, local economic self-reliance, and urban gardening are producing distinctive urban ecologies in Dhaka and their policy-implications on urban sustainability. Major findings of the study: The research provided an in-depth knowledge on the challenges that slum dwellers encounter in establishing and maintaining urban gardens, such as the economic development of the city, conflicting political agendas, and environmental constraints in areas within which gardening activities take place. The research investigated (i) How do slum dwellers perform gardening practices from rural areas to open spaces in the city? (ii) How do men and women’s ethno-botanical knowledge contribute to urban biodiversity; (iii) And how do slum dwellers navigate complex constellations of land use policy, competing political agendas, and conflicting land and water tenures to meet livelihood functions provided by their gardens. Concluding statement: Lack of infrastructure facilities such as water supply and sanitation, micro-drains and waste disposal areas, and poor access to basic health care services increase the misery of people in the slum areas. Lack of environmental health awareness information for farmers, such as the risks from the use of chemical pesticides in gardens and from grazing animals in contaminated fields or cropping and planting trees or vegetable in contaminated dumping grounds, can all cause high health risk to humans and their environment.

Keywords: gender, urban agriculture, ecosystem health, urban slum systems

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Authors: Glauco M. M. M. Lustosa, João Paulo C. Costa, Sonia M. Zanetti, Mario Cilense, Leinig Antônio Perazolli, Maria Aparecida Zaghete

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The contamination of the environment has been one of the biggest problems of our time, mostly due to developments of many industries. SnO2 is an n-type semiconductor with band gap about 3.5 eV and has its electrical conductivity dependent of type and amount of modifiers agents added into matrix ceramic during synthesis process, allowing applications as sensing of gaseous pollutants on ambient. The chemical synthesis by polymeric precursor method consists in a complexation reaction between tin ion and citric acid at 90 °C/2 hours and subsequently addition of ethyleneglycol for polymerization at 130 °C/2 hours. It also prepared polymeric resin of zinc, cobalt and niobium ions. Stoichiometric amounts of the solutions were mixed to obtain the systems (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 . The metal immobilization reduces its segregation during the calcination resulting in a crystalline oxide with high chemical homogeneity. The resin was pre-calcined at 300 °C/1 hour, milled in Atritor Mill at 500 rpm/1 hour, and then calcined at 600 °C/2 hours. X-Ray Diffraction (XDR) indicated formation of SnO2 -rutile phase (JCPDS card nº 41-1445). The characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope of High Resolution showed spherical ceramic powder nanostructured with 10-20 nm of diameter. 20 mg of SnO2 -based powder was kept in 20 ml of isopropyl alcohol and then taken to an electrophoretic deposition (EPD) system. The EPD method allows control the thickness films through the voltage or current applied in the electrophoretic cell and by the time used for deposition of ceramics particles. This procedure obtains films in a short time with low costs, bringing prospects for a new generation of smaller size devices with easy integration technology. In this research, films were obtained in an alumina substrate with interdigital electrodes after applying 2 kV during 5 and 10 minutes in cells containing alcoholic suspension of (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 of powders, forming a sensing layer. The substrate has designed integrated micro hotplates that provide an instantaneous and precise temperature control capability when a voltage is applied. The films were sintered at 900 and 1000 °C in a microwave oven of 770 W, adapted by the research group itself with a temperature controller. This sintering is a fast process with homogeneous heating rate which promotes controlled growth of grain size and also the diffusion of modifiers agents, inducing the creation of intrinsic defects which will change the electrical characteristics of SnO2 -based powders. This study has successfully demonstrated a microfabricated system with an integrated micro-hotplate for detection of CO and NO2 gas at different concentrations and temperature, with self-heating SnO2 - based nanoparticles films, being suitable for both industrial process monitoring and detection of low concentrations in buildings/residences in order to safeguard human health. The results indicate the possibility for development of gas sensors devices with low power consumption for integration in portable electronic equipment with fast analysis. Acknowledgments The authors thanks to the LMA-IQ for providing the FEG-SEM images, and the financial support of this project by the Brazilian research funding agencies CNPq, FAPESP 2014/11314-9 and CEPID/CDMF- FAPESP 2013/07296-2.

Keywords: chemical synthesis, electrophoretic deposition, self-heating, gas sensor

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Authors: Rachel Danielson, Brendan Bohannan, S.M. Tsai, Kyle Meyer, Jorge L.M. Rodrigues

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The Amazon Rainforest is a global diversity hotspot and crucial carbon sink, but approximately 20% of its total extent has been deforested- primarily for the establishment of cattle pasture. Understanding the impact of this large-scale disturbance on soil microbial community composition and activity is crucial in understanding potentially consequential shifts in nutrient or greenhouse gas cycling, as well as adding to the body of knowledge concerning how these complex communities respond to human disturbance. In this study, surface soils (0-10cm) were collected from three forests and three 45-year-old pastures in Rondonia, Brazil (the Amazon state with the greatest rate of forest destruction) in order to determine the impact of forest conversion on microbial communities involved in nitrogen fixation. Soil chemical and physical parameters were paired with measurements of microbial activity and genetic profiles to determine how community composition and process rates relate to environmental conditions. Measuring both the natural abundance of 15N in total soil N, as well as incorporation of enriched 15N2 under incubation has revealed that conversion of primary forest to cattle pasture results in a significant increase in the rate of nitrogen fixation by free-living diazotrophs. Quantification of nifH gene copy numbers (an essential subunit encoding the nitrogenase enzyme) correspondingly reveals a significant increase of genes in pasture compared to forest soils. Additionally, genetic sequencing of both nifH genes and transcripts shows a significant increase in the diversity of the present and metabolically active diazotrophs within the soil community. Levels of both organic and inorganic nitrogen tend to be lower in pastures compared to forests, with ammonium rather than nitrate as the dominant inorganic form. However, no significant or consistent differences in total, extractable, permanganate-oxidizable, or loss-on-ignition carbon are present between the two land-use types. Forest conversion is associated with a 0.5- 1.0 unit pH increase, but concentrations of many biologically relevant nutrients such as phosphorus do not increase consistently. Increases in free-living diazotrophic community abundance and activity appear to be related to shifts in carbon to nitrogen pool ratios. Furthermore, there may be an important impact of transient, low molecular weight plant-root-derived organic carbon on free-living diazotroph communities not captured in this study. Preliminary analysis of nitrogenase gene variant composition using NovoSeq metagenomic sequencing indicates that conversion of forest to pasture may significantly enrich vanadium-based nitrogenases. This indication is complemented by a significant decrease in available soil molybdenum. Very little is known about the ecology of diazotrophs utilizing vanadium-based nitrogenases, so further analysis may reveal important environmental conditions favoring their abundance and diversity in soil systems. Taken together, the results of this study indicate a significant change in nitrogen cycling and diazotroph community composition with the conversion of the Amazon Rainforest. This may have important implications for the sustainability of cattle pastures once established since nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for forage grass productivity.

Keywords: free-living diazotrophs, land use change, metagenomic sequencing, nitrogen fixation

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Authors: T. Heikkinen, J. Oksman, T. Bragge, A. Nurmi, O. Kontkanen, T. Ahtoniemi

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Motor impairment is an inherent phenotypic feature of several chronic neurodegenerative diseases, and pharmacological therapies aimed to counterbalance the motor disability have a great market potential. Animal models of chronic neurodegenerative diseases display a number deteriorating motor phenotype during the disease progression. There is a wide array of behavioral tools to evaluate motor functions in rodents. However, currently existing methods to study motor functions in rodents are often limited to evaluate gross motor functions only at advanced stages of the disease phenotype. The most commonly applied traditional motor assays used in CNS rodent models, lack the sensitivity to capture fine motor impairments or improvements. Fine motor skill characterization in rodents provides a more sensitive tool to capture more subtle motor dysfunctions and therapeutic effects. Importantly, similar approach, kinematic movement analysis, is also used in clinic, and applied both in diagnosis and determination of therapeutic response to pharmacological interventions. The aim of this study was to apply kinematic gait analysis, a novel and automated high precision movement analysis system, to characterize phenotypic deficits in three different chronic neurodegenerative animal models, a transgenic mouse model (SOD1 G93A) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and R6/2 and Q175KI mouse models for Huntington’s disease (HD). The readouts from walking behavior included gait properties with kinematic data, and body movement trajectories including analysis of various points of interest such as movement and position of landmarks in the torso, tail and joints. Mice (transgenic and wild-type) from each model were analyzed for the fine motor kinematic properties at young ages, prior to the age when gross motor deficits are clearly pronounced. Fine motor kinematic Evaluation was continued in the same animals until clear motor dysfunction with conventional motor assays was evident. Time course analysis revealed clear fine motor skill impairments in each transgenic model earlier than what is seen with conventional gross motor tests. Motor changes were quantitatively analyzed for up to ~80 parameters, and the largest data sets of HD models were further processed with principal component analysis (PCA) to transform the pool of individual parameters into a smaller and focused set of mutually uncorrelated gait parameters showing strong genotype difference. Kinematic fine motor analysis of transgenic animal models described in this presentation show that this method isa sensitive, objective and fully automated tool that allows earlier and more sensitive detection of progressive neuromuscular and CNS disease phenotypes. As a result of the analysis a comprehensive set of fine motor parameters for each model is created, and these parameters provide better understanding of the disease progression and enhanced sensitivity of this assay for therapeutic testing compared to classical motor behavior tests. In SOD1 G93A, R6/2, and Q175KI mice, the alterations in gait were evident already several weeks earlier than with traditional gross motor assays. Kinematic testing can be applied to a wider set of motor readouts beyond gait in order to study whole body movement patterns such as with relation to joints and various body parts longitudinally, providing a sophisticated and translatable method for disseminating motor components in rodent disease models and evaluating therapeutic interventions.

Keywords: Gait analysis, kinematic, motor impairment, inherent feature

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Authors: Elsie M. Nolte, Annie M. Joubert, Roy Lakier, Maryke Etsebeth, Jolene M. Helena, Marcel Verwey, Laurence Lafanechere, Anne E. Theron

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Treatment regimens for breast- and lung cancers may include both radiation- and chemotherapy. Ideally, a pharmaceutical agent which selectively sensitizes cancer cells to gamma (γ)-radiation would allow administration of lower doses of each modality, yielding synergistic anti-cancer benefits and lower metastasis occurrence, in addition to decreasing the side-effect profiles. A range of 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) analogues, namely 2-ethyl-3-O-sulphamoyl-estra-1,3,5 (10) 15-tetraene-3-ol-17one (ESE-15-one), 2-ethyl-3-O-sulphamoyl-estra-1,3,5(10),15-tetraen-17-ol (ESE-15-ol) and 2-ethyl-3-O-sulphamoyl-estra-1,3,5(10)16-tetraene (ESE-16) were in silico-designed by our laboratory, with the aim of improving the parent compound’s bioavailability in vivo. The main effect of these compounds is the disruption of microtubule dynamics with a resultant mitotic accumulation and induction of programmed cell death in various cancer cell lines. This in vitro study aimed to determine the cellular responses involved in the radiation sensitization effects of these analogues at low doses in breast- and lung cancer cell lines. The oestrogen receptor positive MCF-7-, oestrogen receptor negative MDA-MB-231- and triple negative BT-20 breast cancer cell lines as well as the A549 lung cancer cell line were used. The minimal compound- and radiation doses able to induce apoptosis were determined using annexin-V and cell cycle progression markers. These doses (cell line dependent) were used to pre-sensitize the cancer cells 24 hours prior to 6 gray (Gy) radiation. Experiments were conducted on samples exposed to the individual- as well as the combination treatment conditions in order to determine whether the combination treatment yielded an additive cell death response. Morphological studies included light-, fluorescence- and transmission electron microscopy. Apoptosis induction was determined by flow cytometry employing annexin V, cell cycle analysis, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) signalling, as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Clonogenic studies were performed by allowing colony formation for 10 days post radiation. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage was quantified via γ-H2AX foci and micronuclei quantification. Amplification of the p53 signalling pathway was determined by western blot. Results indicated that exposing breast- and lung cancer cells to nanomolar concentrations of these analogues 24 hours prior to γ-radiation induced more cell death than the compound- and radiation treatments alone. Hypercondensed chromatin, decreased cell density, a damaged cytoskeleton and an increase in apoptotic body formation were observed in cells exposed to the combination treatment condition. An increased number of cells present in the sub-G1 phase as well as increased annexin-V staining, elevation of ROS formation and decreased Bcl-2 signalling confirmed the additive effect of the combination treatment. In addition, colony formation decreased significantly. p53 signalling pathways were significantly amplified in cells exposed to the analogues 24 hours prior to radiation, as was the amount of DNA damage. In conclusion, our results indicated that pre-treatment of breast- and lung cancer cells with low doses of 2-ME analogues sensitized breast- and lung cancer cells to γ-radiation and induced apoptosis more so than the individual treatments alone. Future studies will focus on the effect of the combination treatment on non-malignant cellular counterparts.

Keywords: cancer, microtubule dynamics, radiation therapy, radiosensitization

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Authors: Adriana De Serio, Adrian Korek

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Aims: This experiential research work presents a Group-MusicTherapy-Theatre-Plan (MusThePlan) the authors have carried out to support the actors. The MusicTherapy gives rise to individual psychophysical feedback and influences the emotional centres of the brain and the subconsciousness. Therefore, the authors underline the effectiveness of the preventive, educational, and training goals of the MusThePlan to lead theatre students and actors to deal with anxiety and to overcome psychophysical weaknesses, shyness, emotional stress in stage performances, to increase flexibility, awareness of one's identity and resources for a positive self-development and psychophysical health, to develop and strengthen social bonds, increasing a network of subjects working for social inclusion and reduction of stigma. Materials-Methods: Thirty students from the University Theatre Faculty participated in weekly music therapy sessions for two months; each session lasted 120 minutes. MusThePlan: Each session began with a free group rhythmic-sonorous-musical-production by body-percussion, voice-canto, instruments, to stimulate communication. Then, a synchronized-structured bodily-rhythmic-sonorous-musical production also involved acting, dances, movements of hands and arms, hearing, and more sensorial perceptions and speech to balance motor skills and the muscular tone. Each student could be the director-leader of the group indicating a story to inspire the group's musical production. The third step involved the students in rhythmic speech and singing drills and in vocal exercises focusing on the musical pitch to improve the intonation and on the diction to improve the articulation and lead up it to an increased intelligibility. At the end of each musictherapy session and of the two months, the Musictherapy Assessment Document was drawn up by analysis of observation protocols and two Indices by the authors: Patient-Environment-Music-Index (time to - tn) to estimate the behavior evolution, Somatic Pattern Index to monitor subject’s eye and mouth and limb motility, perspiration, before, during and after musictherapy sessions. Results: After the first month, the students (non musicians) learned to play percussion instruments and formed a musical band that played classical/modern music on the percussion instruments with the musictherapist/pianist/conductor in a public concert. At the end of the second month, the students performed a public musical theatre show, acting, dancing, singing, and playing percussion instruments. The students highlighted the importance of the playful aspects of the group musical production in order to achieve emotional contact and harmony within the group. The students said they had improved kinetic and vocal and all the skills useful for acting activity and the nourishment of the bodily and emotional balance. Conclusions: The MusThePlan makes use of some specific MusicTherapy methodological models, techniques, and strategies useful for the actors. The MusThePlan can destroy the individual "mask" and can be useful when the verbal language is unable to undermine the defense mechanisms of the subject. The MusThePlan improves actor’s psychophysical activation, motivation, gratification, knowledge of one's own possibilities, and the quality of life. Therefore, the MusThePlan could be useful to carry out targeted interventions for the actors with characteristics of repeatability, objectivity, and predictability of results. Furthermore, it would be useful to plan a University course/master in “MusicTherapy for the Theatre”.

Keywords: musictherapy, sonorous-musical energy, quality of life, theatre

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Authors: Chales Mumbere Musavandalo, Lucie B. Mugherwa, Gloire Kayitoghera Mulondi, Naanson Bweya, Muyisa Musongora, Francis Lelo Nzuzi

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The landscape of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo harbors a large community of Mbuti indigenous peoples, often described as the guardians of nature. Living in and off the forest has long been a sustainable strategy for preserving natural resources. This strategy, seen as a form of eco-responsible citizenship, draws upon ethnobotanical knowledge passed down through generations. However, these indigenous communities are facing socio-cultural upheaval, which impacts their traditional way of life. This study aims to assess the relationship between the Mbuti indigenous people’s way of life and the preservation of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The study was conducted under the assumption that, despite socio-cultural upheavals, the forest and its resources remain central to the Mbuti way of life. The study was conducted in six encampments, three of which were located inside the forest and two in the anthropized zone. The methodological approach initially involved group interviews in six Mbuti encampments. The objective of these interviews was to determine how these people perceive the various services provided by the forest and the resources obtained from this habitat. The technique of using pebbles was adopted to adapt the exercise of weighting services and resources to the understanding of these people. Subsequently, the study carried out ethnobotanical surveys to identify the wood resources frequently used by these communities. This survey was completed in third position by a transect inventory of 1000 m length and 25 m width in order to enhance the understanding of the abundance of these resources around the camps. Two transects were installed in each camp to carry out this inventory. Traditionally, the Mbuti communities sustain their livelihood through hunting, fishing, gathering for self-consumption, and basketry. The Manniophyton fulvum-based net remains the main hunting tool. The primary forest and the swamp are two habitats from which these peoples derive the majority of their resources. However, with the arrival of the Bantu people, who introduced agriculture based on cocoa production, the Mbuti communities started providing services to the Bantu in the form of labor and field guarding. This cultural symbiosis between Mbute and Bantu has also led to non-traditional practices, such as the use of hunting rifles instead of nets and fishing nets instead of creels. The socio-economic and ecological environment in which Mbuti communities live is changing rapidly, including the resources they depend on. By incorporating the time factor into their perception of ecosystem services, only their future (p-value = 0, 0,121), the provision of wood for energy (p-value = 0,1976), and construction (p-value = 0,2548) would be closely associated with the forest in their future. For other services, such as food supply, medicine, and hunting, adaptation to Bantu customs is conceivable. Additionally, the abundance of wood used by the Mbuti people has been high around encampments located in intact forests and low in those in anthropized areas. The traditional way of life of the Mbuti communities is influenced by the cultural symbiosis, reflected in their habits and the availability of resources. The land tenure security of Mbuti areas is crucial to preserve their tradition and forest biodiversity. Conservation efforts in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve must consider this cultural dynamism and promote positive values for the flagship species. The oversight of subsistence hunting is imperative to curtail the transition of these communities to poaching.

Keywords: traditional life, conservation, Indigenous people, cultural symbiosis, forest

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Authors: Dean Sinković, Tea Golja, Morena Paulišić

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Upon the end of the vicious war in former Yugoslavia in 1995, international development community widely promoted microfinance as the key development framework to eradicate poverty, create jobs, increase income. Widespread claims were made that microfinance institutions would play vital role in creating a bedrock for sustainable ‘bottom-up’ economic development trajectory, thus, helping newly formed states to find proper way from economic post-war depression. This uplifting neoliberal narrative has no empirical support in the Republic of Croatia. Firstly, the type of enterprises created via microfinance sector are small, unskilled, labor intensive, no technology and with huge debt burden. This results in extremely high failure rates of microenterprises and poor individuals plunging into even deeper poverty, acute indebtedness and social marginalization. Secondly, evidence shows that microcredit is exact reflection of dangerous and destructive sub-prime lending model with ‘boom-to-bust’ scenarios in which benefits are solely extracted by the tiny financial and political elite working around the microfinance sector. We argue that microcredit providers are not proper financial structures through which developing countries should look way out of underdevelopment and poverty. In order to achieve sustainable long-term growth goals, public policy needs to focus on creating, supporting and facilitating the small and mid-size enterprises development. These enterprises should be technically sophisticated, capable of creating new capabilities and innovations, with managerial expertise (skills formation) and inter-connected with other organizations (i.e. clusters, networks, supply chains, etc.). Evidence from South-East Europe suggest that such structures are not created via microfinance model but can be fostered through various forms of social enterprises. Various legal entities may operate as social enterprises: limited liability private company, limited liability public company, cooperative, associations, foundations, institutions, Mutual Insurances and Credit union. Our main hypothesis is that cooperatives are potential agents of social and economic transformation and community development in the region. Financial cooperatives are structures that can foster more efficient allocation of financial resources involving deeper democratic arrangements and more socially just outcomes. In Croatia, pioneers of the first social enterprises were civil society organizations whilst forming a separated legal entity. (i.e. cooperatives, associations, commercial companies working on the principles of returning the investment to the founder). Ever since 1995 cooperatives in Croatia have not grown by pursuing their own internal growth but mostly by relying on external financial support. The greater part of today’s registered cooperatives tend to be agricultural (39%), followed by war veterans cooperatives (38%) and others. There are no financial cooperatives in Croatia. Due to the above mentioned we look at the historical developments and the prevailing social enterprises forms and discuss their advantages and disadvantages as potential agents for social and economic transformation and community development in the region. There is an evident lack of understanding of this business model and of its potential for social and economic development followed by an unfavorable institutional environment. Thus, we discuss the role of governance and management in the formation of social enterprises in Croatia, stressing the challenges for the governance of the country’s social enterprise movement.

Keywords: financial cooperatives, governance and management models, microfinance institutions, social enterprises

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Authors: Maria Areias, Diogo Simões, Ana Figueiredo, Anishur Rahman, Filipa Figueiredo, João Nunes

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It is expected that close to 7 billion people will live in urban areas by 2050. In order to improve the sustainability of the territories and its transition towards circular economy, it’s necessary to understand its metabolism and promote and guide the entrepreneurship answer. The study of a macroeconomic metabolism involves the quantification of the inputs, outputs and storage of energy, water, materials and wastes for an urban region. This quantification and analysis representing one opportunity for the promotion of green entrepreneurship. There are several methods to assess the environmental impacts of an urban territory, such as human and environmental risk assessment (HERA), life cycle assessment (LCA), ecological footprint assessment (EF), material flow analysis (MFA), physical input-output table (PIOT), ecological network analysis (ENA), multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) among others. However, no consensus exists about which of those assessment methods are best to analyze the sustainability of these complex systems. Taking into account the weaknesses and needs identified, the CiiM - Circular Innovation Inter-Municipality project aims to define an uniform and globally accepted methodology through the integration of various methodologies and dynamic approaches to increase the efficiency of macroeconomic metabolisms and promoting entrepreneurship in a circular economy. The pilot territory considered in CiiM project has a total area of 969,428 ha, comprising a total of 897,256 inhabitants (about 41% of the population of the Center Region). The main economic activities in the pilot territory, which contribute to a gross domestic product of 14.4 billion euros, are: social support activities for the elderly; construction of buildings; road transport of goods, retailing in supermarkets and hypermarkets; mass production of other garments; inpatient health facilities; and the manufacture of other components and accessories for motor vehicles. The region's business network is mostly constituted of micro and small companies (similar to the Central Region of Portugal), with a total of 53,708 companies identified in the CIM Region of Coimbra (39 large companies), 28,146 in the CIM Viseu Dão Lafões (22 large companies) and 24,953 in CIM Beiras and Serra da Estrela (13 large companies). For the construction of the database was taking into account data available at the National Institute of Statistics (INE), General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG), Eurostat, Pordata, Strategy and Planning Office (GEP), Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), Commission for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR) and Inter-municipal Community (CIM), as well as dedicated databases. In addition to the collection of statistical data, it was necessary to identify and characterize the different stakeholder groups in the pilot territory that are relevant to the different metabolism components under analysis. The CIIM project also adds the potential of a Geographic Information System (GIS) so that it is be possible to obtain geospatial results of the territorial metabolisms (rural and urban) of the pilot region. This platform will be a powerful visualization tool of flows of products/services that occur within the region and will support the stakeholders, improving their circular performance and identifying new business ideas and symbiotic partnerships.

Keywords: circular economy tools, life cycle assessment macroeconomic metabolism, multicriteria decision analysis, decision support tools, circular entrepreneurship, industrial and regional symbiosis

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Authors: Jatziri Y. Moreno-Martínez, Arturo Galván, Israel Enrique Herrera Díaz, José Ramón Gasca Tirado

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In recent years, for the elevated viaducts in Mexico City, a construction system based on precast/pre-stressed concrete elements has been used, in which the bridge girders are divided in two parts by imposing a hinged support in sections where the bending moments that are originated by the gravity loads in a continuous beam are minimal. Precast concrete girders with dapped ends are a representative sample of a behavior that has complex configurations of stresses that make them more vulnerable to cracking due to flexure–shear interaction. The design procedures for ends of the dapped girders are well established and are based primarily on experimental tests performed for different configurations of reinforcement. The critical failure modes that can govern the design have been identified, and for each of them, the methods for computing the reinforcing steel that is needed to achieve adequate safety against failure have been proposed. Nevertheless, the design recommendations do not include procedures for controlling diagonal cracking at the entrant corner under service loading. These cracks could cause water penetration and degradation because of the corrosion of the steel reinforcement. The lack of visual access to the area makes it difficult to detect this damage and take timely corrective actions. Three-dimensional non-linear numerical models based on Finite Element Method to study the cracking at the entrant corner of dapped-end beams were performed using the software package ANSYS v. 11.0. The cracking was numerically simulated by using the smeared crack approach. The concrete structure was modeled using three-dimensional solid elements SOLID65 capable of cracking in tension and crushing in compression. Drucker-Prager yield surface was used to include the plastic deformations. The longitudinal post-tension was modeled using LINK8 elements with multilinear isotropic hardening behavior using von Misses plasticity. The reinforcement was introduced with smeared approach. The numerical models were calibrated using experimental tests carried out in “Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México”. In these numerical models the characteristics of the specimens were considered: typical solution based on vertical stirrups (hangers) and on vertical and horizontal hoops with a post-tensioned steel which contributed to a 74% of the flexural resistance. The post-tension is given by four steel wires with a 5/8’’ (16 mm) diameter. Each wire was tensioned to 147 kN and induced an average compressive stress of 4.90 MPa on the concrete section of the dapped end. The loading protocol consisted on applying symmetrical loading to reach the service load (180 kN). Due to the good correlation between experimental and numerical models some additional numerical models were proposed by considering different percentages of post-tension in order to find out how much it influences in the appearance of the cracking in the reentrant corner of the dapped-end beams. It was concluded that the increasing of percentage of post-tension decreases the displacements and the cracking in the reentrant corner takes longer to appear. The authors acknowledge at “Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus Celaya-Salvatierra” and the financial support of PRODEP-SEP (UGTO-PTC-460) of the Mexican government. The first author acknowledges at “Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México”.

Keywords: concrete dapped-end beams, cracking control, finite element analysis, postension

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Authors: Faranak Felfeliyan, Parvaneh Shokrani, Maryam Atarod

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Introduction Using electron beam is widespread in radiotherapy. The main criteria in radiation therapy is to irradiate the tumor volume with maximum prescribed dose and minimum dose to vital organs around it. Using abutting fields is common in radiotherapy. The main problem in using abutting fields is dose inhomogeneity in the junction region. Electron beam divergence and lateral scattering may lead to hot and cold spots in the junction region. One solution for this problem is using of a spoiler to broaden the penumbra and uniform dose in the junction region. The goal of this research was to compare titanium and aluminum effects as a spoiler for dose uniformity achievement in the junction region of oblique electron fields with Monte Carlo simulation. Dose uniformity in the junction region depends on density, scattering power, thickness of the spoiler and the angle between two fields. Materials and Methods In this study, Monte Carlo model of Siemens Primus linear accelerator was simulated for a 5 MeV nominal energy electron beam using manufacture provided specifications. BEAMnrc and EGSnrc user code were used to simulate the treatment head in electron mode (simulation of beam model). The resulting phase space file was used as a source for dose calculations for 10×10 cm2 field size at SSD=100 cm in a 30×30×45 cm3 water phantom using DOSXYZnrc user code (dose calculations). An automatic MP3-M water phantom tank, MEPHYSTO mc2 software platform and a Semi-Flex Chamber-31010 with sensitive vol­ume of 0.125 cm3 (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) were used for dose distribution measurements. Moreover, the electron field size was 10×10 cm2 and SSD=100 cm. Validation of devel­oped beam model was done by comparing the measured and calculated depth and lateral dose distributions (verification of electron beam model). Simulation of spoilers (using SLAB compo­nent module) placed at the end of the electron applicator, was done using previously vali­dated phase space file for a 5 MeV nominal energy and 10×10 cm2 field size (simulation of spoiler). An in-house routine was developed in order to calculate the combined isodose curves re­sulting from the two simulated abutting fields (calculation of dose distribution in abutting electron fields). Results Verification of the developed 5.9 MeV elec­tron beam model was done by comparing the calculated and measured dose distributions. The maximum percentage difference between calculated and measured PDD was 1%, except for the build-up region in which the difference was 2%. The difference between calculated and measured profile was 2% at the edges of the field and less than 1% in other regions. The effect of PMMA, aluminum, titanium and chromium in dose uniformity achievement in abutting normal electron fields with equivalent thicknesses to 5mm PMMA was evaluated. Comparing R90 and uniformity index of different materials, aluminum was chosen as the optimum spoiler. Titanium has the maximum surface dose. Thus, aluminum and titanium had been chosen to use for dose uniformity achievement in oblique electron fields. Using the optimum beam spoiler, junction dose decreased from 160% to 110% for 15 degrees, from 180% to 120% for 30 degrees, from 160% to 120% for 45 degrees and from 180% to 100% for 60 degrees oblique abutting fields. Using Titanium spoiler, junction dose decreased from 160% to 120% for 15 degrees, 180% to 120% for 30 degrees, 160% to 120% for 45 degrees and 180% to 110% for 60 degrees. In addition, penumbra width for 15 degrees, without spoiler in the surface was 10 mm and was increased to 15.5 mm with titanium spoiler. For 30 degrees, from 9 mm to 15 mm, for 45 degrees from 4 mm to 6 mm and for 60 degrees, from 5 mm to 8 mm. Conclusion Using spoilers, penumbra width at the surface increased, size and depth of hot spots was decreased and dose homogeneity improved at the junc­tion of abutting electron fields. Dose at the junction region of abutting oblique fields was improved significantly by using spoiler. Maximum dose at the junction region for 15⁰, 30⁰, 45⁰ and 60⁰ was decreased about 40%, 60%, 40% and 70% respectively for Titanium and about 50%, 60%, 40% and 80% for Aluminum. Considering significantly decrease in maximum dose using titanium spoiler, unfortunately, dose distribution in the junction region was not decreased less than 110%.

Keywords: abutting fields, electron beam, radiation therapy, spoilers

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Julien Caudeville, Muriel Ismert

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Analyzing the relationship between environment and health has become a major preoccupation for public health as evidenced by the emergence of the French national plans for health and environment. These plans have identified the following two priorities: (1) to identify and manage geographic areas, where hotspot exposures are suspected to generate a potential hazard to human health; (2) to reduce exposure inequalities. At a regional scale and fine resolution of exposure outcome prerequisite, environmental monitoring networks are not sufficient to characterize the multidimensionality of the exposure concept. In an attempt to increase representativeness of spatial exposure assessment approaches, risk composite indicators could be built using additional available databases and theoretical framework approaches to combine factor risks. To achieve those objectives, combining data process and transfer modeling with a spatial approach is a fundamental prerequisite that implies the need to first overcome different scientific limitations: to define interest variables and indicators that could be built to associate and describe the global source-effect chain; to link and process data from different sources and different spatial supports; to develop adapted methods in order to improve spatial data representativeness and resolution. A GIS-based modeling platform for quantifying human exposure to chemical substances (PLAINE: environmental inequalities analysis platform) was used to build health risk indicators within the Lorraine region (France). Those indicators combined chemical substances (in soil, air and water) and noise risk factors. Tools have been developed using modeling, spatial analysis and geostatistic methods to build and discretize interest variables from different supports and resolutions on a 1 km2 regular grid within the Lorraine region. By example, surface soil concentrations have been estimated by developing a Kriging method able to integrate surface and point spatial supports. Then, an exposure model developed by INERIS was used to assess the transfer from soil to individual exposure through ingestion pathways. We used distance from polluted soil site to build a proxy for contaminated site. Air indicator combined modeled concentrations and estimated emissions to take in account 30 polluants in the analysis. For water, drinking water concentrations were compared to drinking water standards to build a score spatialized using a distribution unit serve map. The Lden (day-evening-night) indicator was used to map noise around road infrastructures. Aggregation of the different factor risks was made using different methodologies to discuss weighting and aggregation procedures impact on the effectiveness of risk maps to take decisions for safeguarding citizen health. Results permit to identify pollutant sources, determinants of exposure, and potential hotspots areas. A diagnostic tool was developed for stakeholders to visualize and analyze the composite indicators in an operational and accurate manner. The designed support system will be used in many applications and contexts: (1) mapping environmental disparities throughout the Lorraine region; (2) identifying vulnerable population and determinants of exposure to set priorities and target for pollution prevention, regulation and remediation; (3) providing exposure database to quantify relationships between environmental indicators and cancer mortality data provided by French Regional Health Observatories.

Keywords: health risk, environment, composite indicator, hotspot areas

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Manon Frédout, Laëtitia Bucari, Mathias Aloui, Gaëtan Duhamel, Olivier Rovellotti, Javier Blanco

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Ecosystems must be resilient to ensure cleaner air, better water and soil quality, and thus healthier citizens. Technology can be an excellent tool to support urban ecosystem restoration projects, especially when based on Open Source and promoting Open Data. This is the goal of the ecoTeka application: one single digital tool for tree management which allows decision-makers to improve their urban forestry practices, enabling more responsible urban planning and climate change adaptation. EcoTeka provides city councils with three main functionalities tackling three of their challenges: easier biodiversity inventories, better green space management, and more efficient planning. To answer the cities’ need for reliable tree inventories, the application has been first built with open data coming from the websites OpenStreetMap and OpenTrees, but it will also include very soon the possibility of creating new data. To achieve this, a multi-source algorithm will be elaborated, based on existing artificial intelligence Deep Forest, integrating open-source satellite images, 3D representations from LiDAR, and street views from Mapillary. This data processing will permit identifying individual trees' position, height, crown diameter, and taxonomic genus. To support urban forestry management, ecoTeka offers a dashboard for monitoring the city’s tree inventory and trigger alerts to inform about upcoming due interventions. This tool was co-constructed with the green space departments of the French cities of Alès, Marseille, and Rouen. The third functionality of the application is a decision-making tool for urban planning, promoting biodiversity and landscape connectivity metrics to drive ecosystem restoration roadmap. Based on landscape graph theory, we are currently experimenting with new methodological approaches to scale down regional ecological connectivity principles to local biodiversity conservation and urban planning policies. This methodological framework will couple graph theoretic approach and biological data, mainly biodiversity occurrences (presence/absence) data available on both international (e.g., GBIF), national (e.g., Système d’Information Nature et Paysage) and local (e.g., Atlas de la Biodiversté Communale) biodiversity data sharing platforms in order to help reasoning new decisions for ecological networks conservation and restoration in urban areas. An experiment on this subject is currently ongoing with Montpellier Mediterranee Metropole. These projects and studies have shown that only 26% of tree inventory data is currently geo-localized in France - the rest is still being done on paper or Excel sheets. It seems that technology is not yet used enough to enrich the knowledge city councils have about biodiversity in their city and that existing biodiversity open data (e.g., occurrences, telemetry, or genetic data), species distribution models, landscape graph connectivity metrics are still underexploited to make rational decisions for landscape and urban planning projects. This is the goal of ecoTeka: to support easier inventories of urban biodiversity and better management of urban spaces through rational planning and decisions relying on open databases. Future studies and projects will focus on the development of tools for reducing the artificialization of soils, selecting plant species adapted to climate change, and highlighting the need for ecosystem and biodiversity services in cities.

Keywords: digital software, ecological design of urban landscapes, sustainable urban development, urban ecological corridor, urban forestry, urban planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Cory B. Portner, Julie A. Grauert, Lisa M. Stromme, Shelby D. Anderson, Franji H. Mayes

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Introduction: WASHINGTON state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is internationally known for its technology industry, fisheries, agriculture, and vistas. On January 21, 2020, Washington state also became known as the first state with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the United States, thrusting the state into the international spotlight as the world came to grips with the global threat of this disease presented. Tourism is Washington state’s fourth-largest industry. Tourism to the state generates over 1.8 billion dollars (USD) in local and state tax revenue and employs over 180,000 people. Communicating with residents, stakeholders, and visitors on the status of disease activity, prevention measures, and response updates was vital to stopping the pandemic and increasing compliance and awareness. Significance: In order to communicate vital public health updates, guidance implementation, and safety measures to the public, the Washington State Department of Health established routine live virtual media briefings to reach audiences via social media, internet television, and broadcast television. Through close partnership with regional broadcast news stations and the state public affairs news network, the Washington State Department of Health hosted 95 media briefings from January 2020 through September 2022 and continues to regularly host live virtual media briefings to accommodate the needs of the public and media. Methods: Our methods quickly evolved from hosting briefings in the cement closet of a military base to being able to produce and stream the briefings live from any home-office location. The content was tailored to the hot topic of the day and to the reporter's questions and needs. Virtual media briefings hosted through inexpensive or free platforms online are extremely cost-effective: the only mandatory components are WiFi, a laptop, and a monitor. There is no longer a need for a fancy studio or expensive production software to achieve the goal of communicating credible, reliable information promptly. With minimal investment and a small learning curve, facilitators and panelists are able to host highly produced and engaging media availabilities from their living rooms. Results: The briefings quickly developed a reputation as the best source for local and national journalists to get the latest and most factually accurate information about the pandemic. In the height of the COVID-19 response, 135 unique media outlets logged on to participate in the briefing. The briefings typically featured 4-5 panelists, with as many as 9 experts in attendance to provide information and respond to media questions. Preparation was always a priority: Public Affairs staff for the Washington State Department of Health produced over 170 presenter remarks, including guidance on talking points for 63 expert guest panelists. Implication For Practice: Information is today’s most valuable currency. The ability to disseminate correct information urgently and on a wide scale is the most effective tool in crisis communication. Due to our role as the first state with a confirmed COVID-19 case, we were forced to develop the most accurate and effective way to get life-saving information to the public. The cost-effective, web-based methods we developed can be applied in any crisis to educate and protect communities under threat, ultimately saving lives from a laptop.

Keywords: crisis communications, public relations, media management, news media

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

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

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Hooshag Asadi Haroni, Maryam Veiskarami, Yongjun Lu

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The Dalli gold-rich porphyry deposit (17 Mt @ 0.5% Cu and 0.65 g/t Au) is located in the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA), a small segment of the Tethyan metallogenic belt, hosting several porphyry Cu (Mo-Au) systems in Iran. This research characterizes the Dalli deposit to define exploration criteria in advanced exploration such as the drilling of possible blind porphyry centers. Geological map, trench/drill hole geochemical and ground magnetic data, and age dating and isotope trace element analyses, carried out at the John De Laeter Research Center of Curtin University, were used to characterize the Delli deposit. Mineralization at Dalli is hosted by NE-trending quartz-diorite porphyry stocks (~ 200m in diameter) intruded by a wall-rock andesite porphyry. Disseminated and stockwork Cu-Au mineralization is related to potassic alteration, comprising magnetite, late K-feldspar and biotite, and quartz-sericite-specularite overprint, surrounded by extensive barren argillic and propylitic alterations. In the peripheries of the porphyry centers, there are N-trending vuggy quartz veins, hosting epithermal Au-Ag-As-Sb mineralization. Geochemical analyses of drill core samples showed that the core of the porphyry stocks is low-grade, whereas the high-grade disseminated and stockwork mineralization (~ 1% Cu and ~ 1.2 g/t Au) occurred at the contact of the porphyry stocks and andesite porphyry. Geochemical studies of the drill hole and trench samples showed a strong correlation between Cu and Au and both show a second-order correlation with Fe and As. Magnetic survey revealed two significant magnetic anomalies, associated with intensive potassic alteration, in the reduced-to-the-pole magnetic map of the area. A relatively weaker magnetic anomaly, showing no surface porphyry expressions, is located on a lithocap, consisting of advanced argillic alteration, vuggy quartz veins, and surface expressions of epithermal geochemical signatures. The association of the lithocap and the weak magnetic anomaly could be indicative of a hidden mineralized porphyry center. Litho-geochemical analyses of the least altered Dalli intrusions and volcanic rocks indicated high Sr/Y (49-61) and Eu/Eu* (0.89-0.92), features typical of Cu porphyries. The U-Pb dating of zircons of the mineralized quartz diorite and andesite porphyry, carried out by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, yielded magmatic crystallization ages of 15.4-16.0 Ma (Middle Miocene). The zircon trace element concentrations of Dalli are characterized by high Eu/Eu* (0.3-0.8), (Ce/Nd)/Y (0.01-0.3), and 10000*(Eu/Eu*)/Y (2-15) ratios, similar to fertile porphyry suites such as the giant Sar-Cheshmeh and Qulong porphyry Cu deposits along the Tethyan belt. This suggests that the Middle Miocene Dalli intrusions are fertile and require extensive deep drillings to define their potential. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns show no significant Eu anomalies, and are characterized by light-REE enrichments (La/Sm)n = 2.57–6.40). In normalized multi-element diagrams, analyzed rocks are characterized by enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and depletions in high field strength elements (HFSE), and display typical features of subduction-related calc-alkaline magmas. The characteristics of the Dalli deposit provided several recognition criteria for detailed exploration of Cu-Au porphyry deposits and highlighted the importance of the UDMA as a potentially significant, economically important, but relatively underexplored porphyry province.

Keywords: porphyry, gold, geochronology, magnetic, exploration

Procedia PDF Downloads 35

Authors: Maria João Ferreira, Natalia Sierra-Garcia, Javier Cremades, Carla António, Ana M. Rodrigues, Helena Silva, Ângela Cunha

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Salicornia ramosissima, a halophyte that grows naturally in coastal areas of the northern hemisphere, is often considered the most promising halophyte candidate for extensive crop cultivation and saline agriculture practices. The expanding interest in this plant surpasses its use as gourmet food and includes their potential application as a source of bioactive compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. Despite growing well in saline soils, sustainable and ecologically friendly techniques to enhance crop production and the nutritional value of this plant are still needed. The root microbiome of S. ramosissima proved to be a source of taxonomically diverse plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Halotolerant strains of Bacillus, Salinicola, Pseudomonas, and Brevibacterium, among other genera, exhibit a broad spectrum of plant-growth promotion traits [e.g., 3-indole acetic acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, siderophores, phosphate solubilization, Nitrogen fixation] and express a wide range of extracellular enzyme activities. In this work, three plant growth-promoting bacteria strains (Brevibacterium casei EB3, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans RL18, and Bacillus aryabhattai SP20) isolated from the rhizosphere and the endosphere of S. ramosissima roots from different saltmarshes along the Portuguese coast were inoculated in S. ramosissima seeds. Plants germinated from inoculated seeds were grown for three months in pots filled with a mixture of perlite and estuarine sediment (1:1) in greenhouse conditions and later transferred to a growth chamber, where they were maintained two months with controlled photoperiod, temperature, and humidity. Pots were placed on trays containing the irrigation solution (Hoagland’s solution 20% added with 10‰ marine salt). Before reaching the flowering stage, plants were collected, and the fresh and dry weight of aerial parts was determined. Non-inoculated seeds were used as a negative control. Selected dried stems from the most promising treatments were later analyzed by GC-TOF-MS for primary metabolite composition. The efficiency of inoculation and persistence of the inoculum was assessed by Next Generation Sequencing. Inoculations with single strain EB3 and co-inoculations with EB3+RL18 and EB3+RL18+SP20 (All treatment) resulted in significantly higher biomass production (fresh and dry weight) compared to non-inoculated plants. Considering fresh weight alone, inoculation with isolates SP20 and RL18 also caused a significant positive effect. Combined inoculation with the consortia SP20+EB3 or SP20+RL18 did not significantly improve biomass production. The analysis of the profile of primary metabolites will provide clues on the mechanisms by which the growth-enhancement effect of the inoculants operates in the plants. These results sustain promising prospects for the use of rhizospheric and endophytic PGPB as biofertilizers, reducing environmental impacts and operational costs of agrochemicals and contributing to the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of saline agriculture. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by project Rhizomis PTDC/BIA-MIC/29736/2017 financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the Regional Operational Program of the Center (02/SAICT/2017) with FEDER funds (European Regional Development Fund, FNR, and OE) and by FCT through CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020), LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020). We also acknowledge FCT/FSE for the financial support to Maria João Ferreira through a PhD grant (PD/BD/150363/2019). We are grateful to Horta dos Peixinhos for their help and support during sampling and seed collection. We also thank Glória Pinto for her collaboration providing us the use of the growth chambers during the final months of the experiment and Enrique Mateos-Naranjo and Jennifer Mesa-Marín of the Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, the University of Sevilla for their advice regarding the growth of salicornia plants in greenhouse conditions.

Keywords: halophytes, PGPB, rhizosphere engineering, biofertilizers, primary metabolite profiling, plant inoculation, Salicornia ramosissima

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Radovan Čobanović, Milica Rankov Šicar

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New attitudes about nutrition impose new styles, and therefore a neNew attitudes about nutrition impose new styles, and therefore a new kind of food. The goal of our work was to define the shelf life of new extruded soya product with minimum 65% of protein based on the analyses. According to the plan it was defined that a certain quantity of the same batch of new product (soybean flakes) which had predicted shelf life of 2 years had to be stored for 24 months in storage and analyzed at the beginning and end of sustainability plan on instrumental analyses (heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins) and every month on sensory analyses (odor, taste, color, consistency), microbiological analyses (Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, sulfite-reducing clostridia, Listeria monocytogenes), chemical analyses (protein, ash, fat, crude cellulose, granulation) and at the beginning on GMO analyses. All analyses were tested according to: sensory analyses ISO 6658, Salmonella spp ISO 6579, Escherichia coli ISO 16649-2, Enterobacteriaceae ISO 21528-2, sulfite-reducing clostridia ISO 15213 and Listeria monocytogenes ISO 11290-2, chemical and instrumental analyses Serbian ordinance on the methods of physico-chemical analyses and GMO analyses JRC Compendium. The results obtained after the analyses which were done according to the plan during the 24 months indicate that are no changes of products concerning both sensory and chemical analyses. As far as microbiological results are concerned Salmonella spp was not detected and all other quantitative analyses showed values <10 cfu/g. The other parameters for food safety (heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins) were not present in analyzed samples and also all analyzed samples were negative concerning genetic testing. On the basis of monitoring the sample under defined storage conditions and analyses of quality control, GMO analyses and food safety of the sample during the shelf within two years, the results showed that all the parameters of the sample during defined period is in accordance with Serbian regulative so that indicate that predicted shelf life can be adopted.w kind of food. The goal of our work was to define the shelf life of new extruded soya product with minimum 65% of protein based on the analyses. According to the plan it was defined that a certain quantity of the same batch of new product (soybean flakes) which had predicted shelf life of 2 years had to be stored for 24 months in storage and analyzed at the beginning and end of sustainability plan on instrumental analyses (heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins) and every month on sensory analyses (odor, taste, color, consistency), microbiological analyses (Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, sulfite-reducin clostridia, Listeria monocytogenes), chemical analyses (protein, ash, fat, crude cellulose, granulation) and at the beginning on GMO analyses. All analyses were tested according: sensory analyses ISO 6658, Salmonella spp ISO 6579, Escherichia coli ISO 16649-2, Enterobacteriaceae ISO 21528-2, sulfite-reducing clostridia ISO 15213 and Listeria monocytogenes ISO 11290-2, chemical and instrumental analyses Serbian ordinance on the methods of physico-chemical analyses and GMO analyses JRC Compendium. The results obtained after the analyses which were done according to the plan during the 24 months indicate that are no changes of products concerning both sensory and chemical analyses. As far as microbiological results are concerned Salmonella spp was not detected and all other quantitative analyses showed values <10 cfu/g. The other parameters for food safety (heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins) were not present in analyzed samples and also all analyzed samples were negative concerning genetic testing. On the basis of monitoring the sample under defined storage conditions and analyses of quality control, GMO analyses and food safety of the sample during the shelf within two years, the results showed that all the parameters of the sample during defined period is in accordance with Serbian regulative so that indicate that predicted shelf life can be adopted.

Keywords: extruded soya product, food safety analyses, GMO analyses, shelf life

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Jocelyn Doucet, Jean-Philippe Laviolette, Ali Eslami

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The end-of-life management and recycling of polymer wastes remains a key environment issue in on-going efforts to increase resource efficiency and attaining GHG emission reduction targets. Half of all the plastics ever produced were made in the last 13 years, and only about 16% of that plastic waste is collected for recycling, while 25% is incinerated, 40% is landfilled, and 19% is unmanaged and leaks in the environment and waterways. In addition to the plastic collection issue, the UN recently published a report on chemicals in plastics, which adds another layer of challenge when integrating recycled content containing toxic products into new products. To tackle these important issues, innovative solutions are required. Chemical recycling of plastics provides new complementary alternatives to the current recycled plastic market by converting waste material into a high value chemical commodity that can be reintegrated in a variety of applications, making the total market size of the output – virgin-like, high value products - larger than the market size of the input – plastic waste. Access to high-quality feedstock also remains a major obstacle, primarily due to material contamination issues. Pyrowave approaches this challenge with its innovative nano-recycling technology, which purifies polymers at the molecular level, removing undesirable contaminants and restoring the resin to its virgin state without having to depolymerise it. This breakthrough approach expands the range of plastics that can be effectively recycled, including mixed plastics with various contaminants such as lead, inorganic pigments, and flame retardants. The technology allows yields below 100ppm, and purity can be adjusted to an infinitesimal level depending on the customer's specifications. The separation of the polymer and contaminants in Pyrowave's nano-recycling process offers the unique ability to customize the solution on targeted additives and contaminants to be removed based on the difference in molecular size. This precise control enables the attainment of a final polymer purity equivalent to virgin resin. The patented process involves dissolving the contaminated material using a specially formulated solvent, purifying the mixture at the molecular level, and subsequently extracting the solvent to yield a purified polymer resin that can directly be reintegrated in new products without further treatment. Notably, this technology offers simplicity, effectiveness, and flexibility while minimizing environmental impact and preserving valuable resources in the manufacturing circuit. Pyrowave has successfully applied this nano-recycling technology to decontaminate polymers and supply purified, high-quality recycled plastics to critical industries, including food-contact compliance. The technology is low-carbon, electrified, and provides 100% traceable resins with properties identical to those of virgin resins. Additionally, the issue of low recycling rates and the limited market for traditionally hard-to-recycle plastic waste has fueled the need for new complementary alternatives. Chemical recycling, such as Pyrowave's microwave depolymerization, presents a sustainable and efficient solution by converting plastic waste into high-value commodities. By employing microwave catalytic depolymerization, Pyrowave enables a truly circular economy of plastics, particularly in treating polystyrene waste to produce virgin-like styrene monomers. This revolutionary approach boasts low energy consumption, high yields, and a reduced carbon footprint. Pyrowave offers a portfolio of sustainable, low-carbon, electric solutions to give plastic waste a second life and paves the way to the new circular economy of plastics. Here, particularly for polystyrene, we show that styrene monomer yields from Pyrowave’s polystyrene microwave depolymerization reactor is 2,2 to 1,5 times higher than that of the thermal conventional pyrolysis. In addition, we provide a detailed understanding of the microwave assisted depolymerization via analyzing the effects of microwave power, pyrolysis time, microwave receptor and temperature on the styrene product yields. Furthermore, we investigate life cycle environmental impact assessment of microwave assisted pyrolysis of polystyrene in commercial-scale production. Finally, it is worth pointing out that Pyrowave is able to treat several tons of polystyrene to produce virgin styrene monomers and manage waste/contaminated polymeric materials as well in a truly circular economy.

Keywords: nanorecycling, nanomaterials, plastic recycling, depolymerization

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Yu-Hsiu Lin, Wen-Chun Lin, Yen-Chang Cheng, Chia-Ju Yeh, Yu-Chuan Chen, Tai-You Li

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Demand-Side Management (DSM) has the potential to reduce electricity costs and carbon emission, which are associated with electricity used in the modern society. A home Energy Management System (EMS) commonly used by residential consumers in a down-stream sector of a smart grid to monitor, control, and optimize energy efficiency to domestic appliances is a system of computer-aided functionalities as an energy audit for residential DSM. Implementing fault detection and classification to domestic appliances monitored, controlled, and optimized is one of the most important steps to realize preventive maintenance, such as residential air conditioning and heating preventative maintenance in residential/industrial DSM. In this study, a cloud intelligence-based green EMS that comes up with an Internet of Things (IoT) technology stack for residential DSM is developed. In the EMS, Arduino MEGA Ethernet communication-based smart sockets that module a Real Time Clock chip to keep track of current time as timestamps via Network Time Protocol are designed and implemented for readings of load phenomena reflecting on voltage and current signals sensed. Also, a Network-Attached Storage providing data access to a heterogeneous group of IoT clients via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) methods is configured to data stores of parsed sensor readings. Lastly, a desktop computer with a WAMP software bundle (the Microsoft® Windows operating system, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL relational database management system, and PHP programming language) serves as a data science analytics engine for dynamic Web APP/REpresentational State Transfer-ful web service of the residential DSM having globally-Advanced Internet of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Computational Intelligence. Where, an abstract computing machine, Java Virtual Machine, enables the desktop computer to run Java programs, and a mash-up of Java, R language, and Python is well-suited and -configured for AI in this study. Having the ability of sending real-time push notifications to IoT clients, the desktop computer implements Google-maintained Firebase Cloud Messaging to engage IoT clients across Android/iOS devices and provide mobile notification service to residential/industrial DSM. In this study, in order to realize edge intelligence that edge devices avoiding network latency and much-needed connectivity of Internet connections for Internet of Services can support secure access to data stores and provide immediate analytical and real-time actionable insights at the edge of the network, we upgrade the designed and implemented smart sockets to be embedded AI Arduino ones (called embedded AIduino). With the realization of edge analytics by the proposed embedded AIduino for data analytics, an Arduino Ethernet shield WizNet W5100 having a micro SD card connector is conducted and used. The SD library is included for reading parsed data from and writing parsed data to an SD card. And, an Artificial Neural Network library, ArduinoANN, for Arduino MEGA is imported and used for locally-embedded AI implementation. The embedded AIduino in this study can be developed for further applications in manufacturing industry energy management and sustainable energy management, wherein in sustainable energy management rotating machinery diagnostics works to identify energy loss from gross misalignment and unbalance of rotating machines in power plants as an example.

Keywords: demand-side management, edge intelligence, energy management system, fault detection and classification

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Authors: Krishna Raj Regmi

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A “Climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable agriculture” project was implemented in Nepal, a Himalayan country during 2008 to 2013 sponsored jointly by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nepal. The paper is based on the results and findings of this joint pilot project. The climate change events such as increased intensity of erratic rains in short spells, trend of prolonged drought, gradual rise in temperature in the higher elevations and occurrence of cold and hot waves in Terai (lower plains) has led to flash floods, massive erosion in the hills particularly in Churia range and drying of water sources. These recurring natural and climate-induced disasters are causing heavy damages through sedimentation and inundation of agricultural lands, crops, livestock, infrastructures and rural settlements in the downstream plains and thus reducing agriculture productivity and food security in the country. About 65% of the cultivated land in Nepal is rainfed with drought-prone characteristics and stabilization of agricultural production and productivity in these tracts will be possible through adoption of rainfed and drought-tolerant technologies as well as efficient soil-water management by the local communities. The adaptation and mitigation technologies and options identified by the project for soil erosion, flash floods and landslide control are on-farm watershed management, sloping land agriculture technologies (SALT), agro-forestry practices, agri-silvi-pastoral management, hedge-row contour planting, bio-engineering along slopes and river banks, plantation of multi-purpose trees and management of degraded waste land including sandy river-bed flood plains. The stress tolerant technologies with respect to drought, floods and temperature stress for efficient utilization of nutrient, soil, water and other resources for increased productivity are adoption of stress tolerant crop varieties and breeds of animals, indigenous proven technologies, mixed and inter-cropping systems, system of rice/wheat intensification (SRI), direct rice seeding, double transplanting of rice, off-season vegetable production and regular management of nurseries, orchards and animal sheds. The alternate energy use options and resource conservation practices for use by local communities are installation of bio-gas plants and clean stoves (Chulla range) for mitigation of green house gas (GHG) emissions, use of organic manures and bio-pesticides, jatropha cultivation, green manuring in rice fields and minimum/zero tillage practices for marshy lands. The efficient water management practices for increasing productivity of crops and livestock are use of micro-irrigation practices, construction of water conservation and water harvesting ponds, use of overhead water tanks and Thai jars for rain water harvesting and rehabilitation of on-farm irrigation systems. Initiation of some works on community-based early warning system, strengthening of met stations and disaster database management has made genuine efforts in providing disaster-tailored early warning, meteorological and insurance services to the local communities. Contingent planning is recommended to develop coping strategies and capacities of local communities to adopt necessary changes in the cropping patterns and practices in relation to adverse climatic and disaster risk conditions. At the end, adoption of awareness raising and capacity development activities (technical and institutional) and networking on climate-induced disaster and risks through training, visits and knowledge sharing workshops, dissemination of technical know-how and technologies, conduct of farmers' field schools, development of extension materials and their displays are being promoted. However, there is still need of strong coordination and linkage between agriculture, environment, forestry, meteorology, irrigation, climate-induced pro-active disaster preparedness and research at the ministry, department and district level for up-scaling, implementation and institutionalization of climate change and disaster risk management activities and adaptation mitigation options in agriculture for sustainable livelihoods of the communities.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, soil-water management practices, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Murat Arıbaş, Uğur Özcan

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Due to the increasing number of universities and academics, the fund of the universities for research activities and grants/supports given by government institutions have increased number and quality of academic research projects. Although every academic research project has a specific purpose and importance, limited resources (money, time, manpower etc.) require choosing the best ones from all (Amiri, 2010). It is a pretty hard process to compare and determine which project is better such that the projects serve different purposes. In addition, the evaluation process has become complicated since there are more than one evaluator and multiple criteria for the evaluation (Dodangeh, Mojahed and Yusuff, 2009). Mehrez and Sinuany-Stern (1983) determined project selection problem as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. If a decision problem involves multiple criteria and objectives, it is called as a Multi Attribute Decision Making problem (Ömürbek & Kınay, 2013). There are many MCDM methods in the literature for the solution of such problems. These methods are AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), ANP (Analytic Network Process), TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation), UTADIS (Utilities Additives Discriminantes), ELECTRE (Elimination et Choix Traduisant la Realite), MAUT (Multiattribute Utility Theory), GRA (Grey Relational Analysis) etc. Teach method has some advantages compared with others (Ömürbek, Blacksmith & Akalın, 2013). Hence, to decide which MCDM method will be used for solution of the problem, factors like the nature of the problem, types of choices, measurement scales, type of uncertainty, dependency among the attributes, expectations of decision maker, and quantity and quality of the data should be considered (Tavana & Hatami-Marbini, 2011). By this study, it is aimed to develop a systematic decision process for the grant support applications that are expected to be evaluated according to their scientific adequacy by multiple evaluators under certain criteria. In this context, project evaluation process applied by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) the leading institutions in our country, was investigated. Firstly in the study, criteria that will be used on the project evaluation were decided. The main criteria were selected among TÜBİTAK evaluation criteria. These criteria were originality of project, methodology, project management/team and research opportunities and extensive impact of project. Moreover, for each main criteria, 2-4 sub criteria were defined, hence it was decided to evaluate projects over 13 sub-criterion in total. Due to superiority of determination criteria weights AHP method and provided opportunity ranking great number of alternatives TOPSIS method, they are used together. AHP method, developed by Saaty (1977), is based on selection by pairwise comparisons. Because of its simple structure and being easy to understand, AHP is the very popular method in the literature for determining criteria weights in MCDM problems. Besides, the TOPSIS method developed by Hwang and Yoon (1981) as a MCDM technique is an alternative to ELECTRE method and it is used in many areas. In the method, distance from each decision point to ideal and to negative ideal solution point was calculated by using Euclidian Distance Approach. In the study, main criteria and sub-criteria were compared on their own merits by using questionnaires that were developed based on an importance scale by four relative groups of people (i.e. TUBITAK specialists, TUBITAK managers, academics and individuals from business world ) After these pairwise comparisons, weight of the each main criteria and sub-criteria were calculated by using AHP method. Then these calculated criteria’ weights used as an input in TOPSİS method, a sample consisting 200 projects were ranked on their own merits. This new system supported to opportunity to get views of the people that take part of project process including preparation, evaluation and implementation on the evaluation of academic research projects. Moreover, instead of using four main criteria in equal weight to evaluate projects, by using weighted 13 sub-criteria and decision point’s distance from the ideal solution, systematic decision making process was developed. By this evaluation process, new approach was created to determine importance of academic research projects.

Keywords: Academic projects, Ahp method, Research projects evaluation, Topsis method.

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Authors: S. M. A. Ismail, M. I. Ibrahim, H. Masdar, F. M. Effendi, M. F. Suhaimi, A. Suun

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Introduction: It is generally known that the rehabilitation process is as important as the reconstruction surgery. Several literature has focused on how early the rehabilitation modalities can be initiated after the surgery to ensure a safe return of patients to sports or at least regaining the pre-injury level of function following an ACL reconstruction. Objectives: The main objective is to study and evaluate the outcome of early balance exercises and agility training in sports rehabilitation for patients post ACL reconstruction. To compare between early balance exercises and agility training as intervention and control. (material or non-material). All of them were recruited for material exercise (balance exercises and agility training with strengthening) and strengthening only rehabilitation protocol (non-material). Followed the prospective intervention trial. Materials and Methods: Post-operative ACL reconstruction patients performed in Selayang and Sg Buloh Hospitals from 2012 to 2014 were selected for this study. They were taken from Malaysian Knee Ligament Registry (MKLR) and all patients had single bundle reconstruction with autograft hamstring tendon (semitendinosus and gracilis). ACL injury from any type of sports were included. Subjects performed various type of physical activity for rehabilitation in every 18 week for a different type of rehab activity. All subject attended all 18 sessions of rehabilitation exercises and evaluation was done during the first, 9th and 18th session. Evaluation format were based on clinical assessment (anterior drawer, Lachmann, pivot shift, laxity with rolimeter, the end point and thigh circumference) and scoring (Lysholm Knee scoring and Tegner Activity Level scale). Rehabilitation protocol initiated from 24 week after the surgery. Evaluation format were based on clinical assessment (anterior drawer, Lachmann, pivot shift, laxity with rolimeter, the end point and thigh circumference) and scoring (Lysholm Knee scoring and Tegner Activity Level scale). Results and Discussion: 100 patients were selected of which 94 patients are male and 6 female. Age range is 18 to 54 year with the average of 28 years old for included 100 patients. All patients are evaluated after 24 week after the surgery. 50 of them were recruited for material exercise (balance exercises and agility training with strengthening) and 50 for strengthening only rehabilitation protocol (non-material). Demographically showed 85% suffering sports injury mainly from futsal and football. 39 % of them have abnormal BMI (26 – 38) and involving of the left knee. 100% of patient had the basic radiographic x-ray of knee and 98% had MRI. All patients had negative anterior drawer’s, Lachman test and Pivot shift test during the post ACL reconstruction after the complete rehabilitation. There was 95 subject sustained grade I injury, 5 of grade II and 0 of grade III with 90% of them had soft end-point. Overall they scored badly on presentation with 53% of Lysholm score (poor) and Tegner activity score level 3/10. After completing 9 weeks of exercises, of material group 90% had grade I laxity, 75% with firm end-point, Lysholm score 71% (fair) and Tegner activity level 5/10 comparing non-material group who had 62% of grade I laxity , 54% of firm end-point, Lyhslom score 62 % (poor) and Tegner activity level 4/10. After completed 18 weeks of exercises, of material group maintained 90% grade I laxity with 100 % with firm end-point, Lysholm score increase 91% (excellent) and Tegner activity level 7/10 comparing non-material group who had 69% of grade I laxity but maintained 54% of firm end-point, Lysholm score 76% (fair) and Tegner activity level 5/10. These showed the improvement were achieved fast on material group who have achieved satisfactory level after 9th cycle of exercises 75% (15/20) comparing non-material group who only achieved 54% (7/13) after completed 18th session. Most of them were grade I. These concepts are consolidated into our approach to prepare patients for return to play including field testing and maintenance training. Conclusions: The basic approach in ACL rehabilitation is to ensure return to sports at post-operative 6 month. Grade I and II laxity has favourable and early satisfactory outcome base on clinical assessment and Lysholm and Tegner scoring point. Reduction of laxity grading indicates satisfactory outcome. Firm end-point showed the adequacy of rehabilitation before starting previous sports game. Material exercise (balance exercises and agility training with strengthening) were beneficial and reliable in order to achieve favourable and early satisfactory outcome comparing strengthening only (non-material).We have identified that rehabilitation protocol varies between different patients. Therefore future post ACL reconstruction rehabilitation guidelines should look into focusing on rehabilitation techniques instead of time.

Keywords: post anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, single bundle, hamstring tendon, sports rehabilitation, balance exercises, agility balance

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Lizinis Cassendra Frederick Dony, Jirom Jeremy Frederick Dony, Cyril Supain Christopher

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The purpose of this paper is to improve the devotion to leadership through HR practices implementation at the PETRONAS stations. This emphasize the importance of personal grooming and Customer Care hospitality training for their front line working individuals and teams’ at PETRONAS stations in Sabah. Based on Thomas Edison, International Leadership Journal, theory, research, education and development practice and application to all organizational phenomena may affect or be affected by leadership. FINDINGS – PETRONAS in short called Petroliam Nasional Berhad is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources. Fortune ranks PETRONAS as the 68th largest company in the world in 2012. It also ranks PETRONAS as the 12th most profitable company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. As of the end of March 2005, the PETRONAS Group comprised 103 wholly owned subsidiaries, 19 partly owned outfits and 57 associated companies. The group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining, marketing and distribution of petroleum products, trading, gas processing and liquefaction, gas transmission pipeline network operations, marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering and property investment. PETRONAS has growing their marketing channel in a competitive market. They have combined their resources to pursue common goals. PETRONAS provides opportunity to carry out Industrial Training Job Placement to the University students in Malaysia for 6-8 months. The effects of the Industrial Training have exposed them to the real working environment experience acting representing on behalf of General Manager for almost one year. Thus, the management education and reward incentives schemes have aspire the working teams transformed to gain their good leadership. Furthermore, knowledge and experiences are very important in the human capital development transformation. SPSS extends the accurate analysis PETRONAS achievement through 280 questionnaires and 81 questionnaires through excel calculation distributed to interview face to face with the customers, PETRONAS dealers and front desk staffs stations in the 17 stations in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Hence, this research study will improve its service quality innovation and business sustainability performance optimization. ORIGINALITY / VALUE – The impact of Transformational Leadership practices have influenced the working team’s behaviour as a Brand Ambassadors of PETRONAS. Finally, the findings correlation indicated that PETRONAS stations needs more HR resources practices to deploy more customer care retention resources in mitigating the business challenges in oil and gas industry. Therefore, as the business established at stiff competition globally (Cooper, 2006; Marques and Simon, 2006), it is crucial for the team management should be capable to minimize noises risk, financial risk and mitigating any other risks as a whole at the optimum level. CONCLUSION- As to conclude this research found that both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership4 were positively correlated with ratings of platoon potency and ratings of leadership for the platoon leader and sergeant were moderately inter correlated. Due to this identification, we recommended that PETRONAS management should offers quality team management in PETRONAS stations in a broader variety of leadership training specialization in the operation efficiency at the front desk Customer Care hospitality. By having the reliability and validity of job experiences, it leverages diversity teamwork and cross collaboration. Other than leveraging factor, PETRONAS also will strengthen the interpersonal front liners effectiveness and enhance quality of interaction through effective communication. Finally, through numerous CSR correlation studies regression PETRONAS performance on Corporate Social Performance and several control variables.1 CSR model activities can be mis-specified if it is not controllable under R & D which evident in various feedbacks collected from the local communities and younger generation is inclined to higher financial expectation from PETRONAS. But, however, it created a huge impact on the nation building as part of its social adaptability overreaching their business stakeholders’ satisfaction in Sabah.

Keywords: human resources practices implementation (hrpi), source of competitive advantage in people’s development (socaipd), corporate social responsibility (csr), service quality at front desk stations (sqafd), impacts of petronas leadership (iopl)

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Authors: Manavjit Singh Dhindsa, Ursula Das, Kshirasagar Naik, Marzia Zaman, Richard Purcell, Srinivas Sampalli, Abdul Mutakabbir, Chung-Horng Lung, Thambirajah Ravichandran

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These days, wildland fires, also known as forest fires, are more prevalent than ever. Wildfires have major repercussions that affect ecosystems, communities, and the environment in several ways. Wildfires lead to habitat destruction and biodiversity loss, affecting ecosystems and causing soil erosion. They also contribute to poor air quality by releasing smoke and pollutants that pose health risks, especially for individuals with respiratory conditions. Wildfires can damage infrastructure, disrupt communities, and cause economic losses. The economic impact of firefighting efforts, combined with their direct effects on forestry and agriculture, causes significant financial difficulties for the areas impacted. This research explores different forest fire spread models and presents a comprehensive review of various techniques and methodologies used in the field. A forest fire spread model is a computational or mathematical representation that is used to simulate and predict the behavior of a forest fire. By applying scientific concepts and data from empirical studies, these models attempt to capture the intricate dynamics of how a fire spreads, taking into consideration a variety of factors like weather patterns, topography, fuel types, and environmental conditions. These models assist authorities in understanding and forecasting the potential trajectory and intensity of a wildfire. Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of wildfire dynamics, this research explores the approaches, assumptions, and findings derived from various models. By using a comparison approach, a critical analysis is provided by identifying patterns, strengths, and weaknesses among these models. The purpose of the survey is to further wildfire research and management techniques. Decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners can benefit from the useful insights that are provided by synthesizing established information. Fire spread models provide insights into potential fire behavior, facilitating authorities to make informed decisions about evacuation activities, allocating resources for fire-fighting efforts, and planning for preventive actions. Wildfire spread models are also useful in post-wildfire mitigation strategies as they help in assessing the fire's severity, determining high-risk regions for post-fire dangers, and forecasting soil erosion trends. The analysis highlights the importance of customized modeling approaches for various circumstances and promotes our understanding of the way forest fires spread. Some of the known models in this field are Rothermel’s wildland fuel model, FARSITE, WRF-SFIRE, FIRETEC, FlamMap, FSPro, cellular automata model, and others. The key characteristics that these models consider include weather (includes factors such as wind speed and direction), topography (includes factors like landscape elevation), and fuel availability (includes factors like types of vegetation) among other factors. The models discussed are physics-based, data-driven, or hybrid models, also utilizing ML techniques like attention-based neural networks to enhance the performance of the model. In order to lessen the destructive effects of forest fires, this initiative aims to promote the development of more precise prediction tools and effective management techniques. The survey expands its scope to address the practical needs of numerous stakeholders. Access to enhanced early warning systems enables decision-makers to take prompt action. Emergency responders benefit from improved resource allocation strategies, strengthening the efficacy of firefighting efforts.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, deep learning, forest fire management, fire risk assessment, fire simulation, machine learning, remote sensing, wildfire modeling

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