Search results for: rural productivity

Authors: Pirakorn Sukonthaman, Paphitchaya Temphattharachok, Warangkana Thammasanya, Kraichart Tantrakarnarpa, Tanongson Tientavorn

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Agriculture is the main occupation in Thailand. Excessive amount of pesticides are used to increase the products but are toxic to human body. In 2009, Bureau of Epidemiology received 1,691 cases reported with pesticides toxicity (2.66:100,000) which 10.61 % of them is caused by Organophosphate. The purposes are to find factors associated with pesticides used and plasma cholinesterase level and other emerging issues that previous studies did not explain among agricultural workers in Baan Na Yao, Chachoengsao, Thailand. This research was an exploratory mixed method study. Qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires were used together in order to gather information from the agricultural workers (mainly cassava and rice farming) directly exposed to pesticides within 2 months simultaneously. Qualitative participants were selected by purposive sampling and a total survey for quantitative ones. The quantitative data was statistically analyzed by using multiple logistic regression model. Qualitative data was transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. For qualitative study, 15 participants were interviewed and 300/323 participants (92.88%) were given questionnaires, of which were 175 male and 125 female and 113 among them were spraymen. The prevalence of abnormal plasma cholinesterase level was 92.28% (Safe 7.72% Risky 49.33% and Unsafe 42.95%). Participants with inappropriate behaviors during spraying had a significant association with plasma cholinesterase level (95%CI=1.399-14.858) but other factors such as age, gender, education, attitude and knowledge had no association. They also had encountered various symptoms from pesticides such as fatigue (61%), vertigo (59.67%) and headache (58.86%), etc. Although they had high knowledge and attitude they still had poor behaviors. Moreover, our qualitative component showed that though they had worn the personal protective equipment (PPE) regularly, their PPE was not standard. Not only substandard PPE, but also there were obstacles of wearing such as the hot climate and inconvenience. They misunderstood their symptoms from using pesticides as allergy. Therefore, they did not seek for proper medical check-ups and treatment. This research revealed almost all of the participants have abnormal levels of plasma cholinesterase related especially those with poor behaviors. They also wore PPE but inadequately and misunderstood the symptoms produced by organophosphate use as allergy. Therefore, they did not seek for medical treatment. Occupation health education, modification of PPE and periodic medical checking are ways to make agricultural workers concern and know if there is any progression in a long term.

Keywords: pesticides, plasma cholinesterase level, spraymen, agricultural workers

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Authors: Sheillah Hlamalani Mboweni, Lufuno Makhado

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Background: The increasing number of people who tested HIV positive and who demand antiretroviral therapy (ART) prompted the National Department of Health to adopt WHO recommendations of task shifting where Professional Nurses(PNs) initiate ART rather than doctors in the hospital. This resulted in the decentralization of services to primary health care(PHC), generating a need to capacitate PNs on NIMART. After years of training, the impact of NIMART was assessed where it was established that even though there was an increased number who accessed ART, the quality of care is of serious concern. The study aims to answer the following question: What are the challenges influencing NIMART implementation in primary health care. Objectives: This study explores challenges influencing NIMART training and implementation and makes recommendations to improve patient and HIV program outcomes. Methods: A qualitative explorative program evaluation research design. The study was conducted in the rural districts of North West province. Purposive sampling was used to sample PNs trained on NIMART. FGDs were used to collect data with 6-9 participants and data was analysed using ATLAS ti. Results: Five FGDs, n=28 PNs and three program managers were interviewed. The study results revealed two themes: inadequacy in NIMART training and the health care system challenges. Conclusion: The deficiency in NIMART training and health care system challenges is a public health concern as it compromises the quality of HIV management resulting in poor patients’ outcomes and retard the goal of ending the HIV epidemic. These should be dealt with decisively by all stakeholders. Recommendations: The national department of health should improve NIMART training and HIV management: standardization of NIMART training curriculum through the involvement of all relevant stakeholders skilled facilitators, the introduction of pre-service NIMART training in institutions of higher learning, support of PNs by district and program managers, plan on how to deal with the shortage of staff, negative attitude to ensure compliance to guidelines. There is a need to develop a conceptual framework that provides guidance and strengthens NIMART implementation in PHC facilities.

Keywords: antiretroviral therapy, nurse initiated management of retroviral therapy, primary health care, professional nurses

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Authors: David Ofosu-Hamilton, John K. E. Edumadze

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Universities have come to recognize the role Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills plays in the daily activities of tertiary students. The ability to use ICT – essentially, computers and their diverse applications – are important resources that influence an individual’s economic and social participation and human capital development. Our society now increasingly relies on the Internet, and the Cloud as a means to communicate and disseminate information. The educated individual should, therefore, be able to use ICT to create and share knowledge that will improve society. It is, therefore, important that universities require incoming students to demonstrate a level of computer proficiency or trained to do so at a minimal cost by deploying advanced educational technologies. The training and standardized assessment of all in-coming first-year students of the University of Cape Coast in Information Technology Skills (ITS) have become a necessity as students’ most often than not highly overestimate their digital skill and digital ignorance is costly to any economy. The one-semester course is targeted at fresh students and aimed at enhancing the productivity and software skills of students. In this respect, emphasis is placed on skills that will enable students to be proficient in using Microsoft Office and Google Apps for Education for their academic work and future professional work whiles using emerging digital multimedia technologies in a safe, ethical, responsible, and legal manner. The course is delivered in blended mode - online and self-paced (student centered) using Alison’s free cloud-based tutorial (Moodle) of Microsoft Office videos. Online support is provided via discussion forums on the University’s Moodle platform and tutor-directed and assisted at the ICT Centre and Google E-learning laboratory. All students are required to register for the ITS course during either the first or second semester of the first year and must participate and complete it within a semester. Assessment focuses on Alison online assessment on Microsoft Office, Alison online assessment on ALISON ABC IT, Peer assessment on e-portfolio created using Google Apps/Office 365 and an End of Semester’s online assessment at the ICT Centre whenever the student was ready in the cause of the semester. This paper, therefore, focuses on the digital culture approach of hybrid teaching, learning and paperless examinations and the possible adoption by other courses or programs at the University of Cape Coast.

Keywords: assessment, blended, cloud, paperless

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Authors: Barbara Farinon, Maurizio E. Picarella, Lorenzo Mancini, Andrea Mazzucato

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Italy is notoriously a secondary center of diversification for cultivated tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The study of phenotypic and genetic diversity in landrace collections is important for germplasm conservation and biodiversity protection. Here, we set up to study the germplasm collected in the region of Lazio in Central Italy with a focus on the distinctiveness among landraces and the attribution of membership to unnamed accessions. Our regional collection included 30 accessions belonging to six different locally recognized landraces and 21 unnamed accessions. All accessions were gathered in Lazio and belonged to the collection held at the Regional Agency for the Development and Innovation of Agriculture in Lazio (ARSIAL, in the application of the Regional Act n. 15/2000, funded by Lazio Rural Development Plan 2014 – 2020 Agro-environmental Measure, Action 10.2.1) and at the University of Tuscia. We included 13 control genotypes as references. The collection showed wide phenotypic variability for several traits, such as fruit weight (range 14-277 g), locule number (2-12), shape index (0.54-2.65), yield (0.24-3.08 kg/plant), and soluble solids (3.4-7.5 °B). A few landraces showed uncommon phenotypes, such as potato leaf, colorless fruit epidermis, or delayed ripening. Multivariate analysis of 25 cardinal phenotypic variables grouped the named varieties and allowed to assign of some of the unnamed to recognized groups. A case study for distinctiveness is presented for the flattened-ribbed types that presented overlapping distribution according to the phenotypic data. Molecular markers retrieved by previous studies revealed differences compared to the phenotyping clustering, indicating that the named varieties “Scatolone di Bolsena” and “Pantano Romanesco” belong to the Marmande group, together with the reference landrace from Tuscany “Costoluto Fiorentino”. Differently, the landrace “Spagnoletta di Formia e Gaeta” was clearly distinct from the former at the molecular level. Therefore, a genotypic analysis of the analyzed collection appears needed to better define the molecular distinctiveness among the flattened-ribbed accessions, as well as to properly attribute the membership group of the unnamed accessions.

Keywords: distinctiveness, flattened-ribbed fruits, regional landraces, tomato

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Authors: Seemabahen Dave, Maria Varua, Basant Maheshwari, Roger Packham

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The declining groundwater levels and quality are acknowledged to be affecting the well-being of farmers especially those located in the semi-arid regions where groundwater is the only source of water for domestic and agricultural use. Further, previous studies have identified the need to examine the quality of life of farmers beyond economic parameters and for a shift in setting rural development policy goals to the perspective of beneficiaries. To address these gaps, this paper attempts to ascertain the subjective wellbeing of farmers from two semi-arid regions of India. The study employs the integrated conceptual framework for the assessment of individual and regional subjective wellbeing developed by Larson in 2009 at Australia. The method integrates three domains i.e. society, natural environment and economic services consisting of 37 wellbeing factors. The original set of 27 revised wellbeing factors identified by John Ward is further revised in current study to make it more region specific. Generally, researchers in past studies select factors of wellbeing based on literature and assign the weights arbitrary. In contrast, the present methodology employs a unique approach by asking respondents to identify the factors most important to their wellbeing and assign weights of importance based on their responses. This method minimises the selection bias and assesses the wellbeing from farmers’ perspectives. The primary objectives of this study are to identify key wellbeing attributes and to assess the influence of groundwater on subjective wellbeing of farmers. Findings from 507 farmers from 11 villages of two watershed areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, India chosen randomly and were surveyed using a structured face-to-face questionnaire are presented in this paper. The results indicate that significant differences exist in the ranking of wellbeing factors at individual, village and regional levels. The top five most important factors in the study areas include electricity, irrigation infrastructure, housing, land ownership, and income. However, respondents are also most dissatisfied with these factors and correspondingly perceive a high influence of groundwater on them. The results thus indicate that intervention related to improvement of groundwater availability and quality will greatly improve the satisfaction level of well-being factors identified by the farmers.

Keywords: groundwater, farmers, semi-arid regions, subjective wellbeing

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Authors: Uswah Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Moazam Fraz, Humayoon Shafique Satti, Qasim Aziz

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Approximately 10-14% of the global population experiences a functional disorder known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The disorder is defined by persistent abdominal pain and an irregular bowel pattern. IBS significantly impairs work productivity and disrupts patients' daily lives and activities. Although IBS is widespread, there is still an incomplete understanding of its underlying pathophysiology. This study aims to help characterize the phenotype of IBS patients by differentiating the comorbidities found in IBS patients from those in non-IBS patients using machine learning algorithms. In this study, we extracted samples coding for IBS from the UK BioBank cohort and randomly selected patients without a code for IBS to create a total sample size of 18,000. We selected the codes for comorbidities of these cases from 2 years before and after their IBS diagnosis and compared them to the comorbidities in the non-IBS cohort. Machine learning models, including Decision Trees, Gradient Boosting, Support Vector Machine (SVM), AdaBoost, Logistic Regression, and XGBoost, were employed to assess their accuracy in predicting IBS. The most accurate model was then chosen to identify the features associated with IBS. In our case, we used XGBoost feature importance as a feature selection method. We applied different models to the top 10% of features, which numbered 50. Gradient Boosting, Logistic Regression and XGBoost algorithms yielded a diagnosis of IBS with an optimal accuracy of 71.08%, 71.427%, and 71.53%, respectively. Among the comorbidities most closely associated with IBS included gut diseases (Haemorrhoids, diverticular diseases), atopic conditions(asthma), and psychiatric comorbidities (depressive episodes or disorder, anxiety). This finding emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach when evaluating the phenotype of IBS, suggesting the possibility of identifying new subsets of IBS rather than relying solely on the conventional classification based on stool type. Additionally, our study demonstrates the potential of machine learning algorithms in predicting the development of IBS based on comorbidities, which may enhance diagnosis and facilitate better management of modifiable risk factors for IBS. Further research is necessary to confirm our findings and establish cause and effect. Alternative feature selection methods and even larger and more diverse datasets may lead to more accurate classification models. Despite these limitations, our findings highlight the effectiveness of Logistic Regression and XGBoost in predicting IBS diagnosis.

Keywords: comorbidities, disease association, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), predictive analytics

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Authors: Julie Ramain, Christine Mohr, Ahmad Abu-Akel

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Divergent thinking—a cognitive component of creativity—and particularly the ability to generate unique and novel ideas, has been linked to both autistic and schizotypal traits. However, to our knowledge, the concurrent effect of these trait dimensions on divergent thinking has not been investigated. Moreover, it has been suggested that creativity is associated with different types of attention and cognitive control, and consequently how information is processed in a given context. Intriguingly, consistent with the diametric model, autistic and schizotypal traits have been associated with contrasting attentional and cognitive control styles. Positive schizotypal traits have been associated with reactive cognitive control and attentional flexibility, while autistic traits have been associated with proactive cognitive control and the increased focus of attention. The current study investigated the relationship between divergent thinking, autistic and schizotypal traits and cognitive control in a non-clinical sample of 83 individuals (Males = 42%; Mean age = 22.37, SD = 2.93), sufficient to detect a medium effect size. Divergent thinking was evaluated in an adapted version of-of the Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. Crucially, since we were interested in testing divergent thinking productivity across contexts, participants were asked to generate items from basic shapes in four different contexts. The variance of the proportion of unique to total responses across contexts represented a measure of context adaptability, with lower variance indicating increased context adaptability. Cognitive control was estimated with the Behavioral Proactive Index of the AX-CPT task, with higher scores representing the ability to actively maintain goal-relevant information in a sustained/anticipatory manner. Autistic and schizotypal traits were assessed with the Autism Quotient (AQ) and the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE-42). Generalized linear models revealed a 3-way interaction of autistic and positive schizotypal traits, and proactive cognitive control, associated with increased context adaptability. Specifically, the concurrent effect of autistic and positive schizotypal traits on increased context adaptability was moderated by the level of proactive control and was only significant when proactive cognitive control was high. Our study reveals that autistic and positive schizotypal traits interactively facilitate the capacity to generate unique ideas across various contexts. However, this effect depends on cognitive control mechanisms indicative of the ability to proactively maintain attention when needed. The current results point to a unique profile of divergent thinkers who have the ability to respectively tap both systematic and flexible processing modes within and across contexts. This is particularly intriguing as such combination of phenotypes has been proposed to explain the genius of Beethoven, Nash, and Newton.

Keywords: autism, schizotypy, creativity, cognitive control

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Authors: Eugene Y. J. Aw, J. W. Koh, S. H. Chew, K. E. Chua, P. L. Goh, Grace H. B. Foo, M. L. Leong

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This paper presents the evaluation of various soil testing methods such as the four-probe soil electrical resistivity method and cone penetration test (CPT) that can complement a newly developed novel rapid soil classification scheme using computer vision, to improve the accuracy and productivity of on-site classification of excavated soil. In Singapore, excavated soils from the local construction industry are transported to Staging Grounds (SGs) to be reused as fill material for land reclamation. Excavated soils are mainly categorized into two groups (“Good Earth” and “Soft Clay”) based on particle size distribution (PSD) and water content (w) from soil investigation reports and on-site visual survey, such that proper treatment and usage can be exercised. However, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Thus, a rapid classification method is needed at the SGs. Four-probe soil electrical resistivity and CPT were evaluated for their feasibility as suitable additions to the computer vision system to further develop this innovative non-destructive and instantaneous classification method. The computer vision technique comprises soil image acquisition using an industrial-grade camera; image processing and analysis via calculation of Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) textural parameters; and decision-making using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). It was found from the previous study that the ANN model coupled with ρ can classify soils into “Good Earth” and “Soft Clay” in less than a minute, with an accuracy of 85% based on selected representative soil images. To further improve the technique, the following three items were targeted to be added onto the computer vision scheme: the apparent electrical resistivity of soil (ρ) measured using a set of four probes arranged in Wenner’s array, the soil strength measured using a modified mini cone penetrometer, and w measured using a set of time-domain reflectometry (TDR) probes. Laboratory proof-of-concept was conducted through a series of seven tests with three types of soils – “Good Earth”, “Soft Clay,” and a mix of the two. Validation was performed against the PSD and w of each soil type obtained from conventional laboratory tests. The results show that ρ, w and CPT measurements can be collectively analyzed to classify soils into “Good Earth” or “Soft Clay” and are feasible as complementing methods to the computer vision system.

Keywords: computer vision technique, cone penetration test, electrical resistivity, rapid and non-destructive, soil classification

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Authors: Mwehe Mathenge, Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, Jacqueline E. W. Broerse

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Smallholder farmers are important drivers of agriculture productivity, food security, and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, they are faced with myriad challenges in their efforts at participating in agribusiness markets. How the geographic explicit factors existing at the local level interact to impede smallholder farmers' decision to participates (or not) in agribusiness markets is not well understood. Deconstructing the spatial complexity of the local environment could provide a deeper insight into how geographically explicit determinants promote or impede resource-poor smallholder farmers from participating in agribusiness. This paper’s objective was to identify, map, and analyze local spatial autocorrelation in factors that impede poor smallholders from participating in agribusiness markets. Data were collected using geocoded researcher-administered survey questionnaires from 392 households in Western Kenya. Three spatial statistics methods in geographic information system (GIS) were used to analyze data -Global Moran’s I, Cluster and Outliers Analysis (Anselin Local Moran’s I), and geographically weighted regression. The results of Global Moran’s I reveal the presence of spatial patterns in the dataset that was not caused by spatial randomness of data. Subsequently, Anselin Local Moran’s I result identified spatially and statistically significant local spatial clustering (hot spots and cold spots) in factors hindering smallholder participation. Finally, the geographically weighted regression results unearthed those specific geographic explicit factors impeding market participation in the study area. The results confirm that geographically explicit factors are indispensable in influencing the smallholder farming decisions, and policymakers should take cognizance of them. Additionally, this research demonstrated how geospatial explicit analysis conducted at the local level, using geographically disaggregated data, could help in identifying households and localities where the most impoverished and resource-poor smallholder households reside. In designing spatially targeted interventions, policymakers could benefit from geospatial analysis methods in understanding complex geographic factors and processes that interact to influence smallholder farmers' decision-making processes and choices.

Keywords: agribusiness markets, GIS, smallholder farmers, spatial statistics, disaggregated spatial data

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Authors: Marija Milašinović-Šeremešić, Valentina Semenčenko, Milica Radosavljević, Dušanka Terzić, Ljiljana Mojović, Ljubica Dokić

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Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important cereal crops, and as such, one of the most significant naturally renewable carbohydrate raw materials for the production of energy and multitude of different products. The main goal of the present study was to investigate a suitability of selected maize hybrids of different genetic background produced in Maize Research Institute ‘Zemun Polje’, Belgrade, Serbia, for starch, bioethanol and animal feed production. All the hybrids are commercial and their detailed characterization is important for the expansion of their different uses. The starches were isolated by using a 100-g laboratory maize wet-milling procedure. Hydrolysis experiments were done in two steps (liquefaction with Termamyl SC, and saccharification with SAN Extra L). Starch hydrolysates obtained by the two-step hydrolysis of the corn flour starch were subjected to fermentation by S. cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus under semi-anaerobic conditions. The digestibility based on enzymatic solubility was performed by the Aufréré method. All investigated ZP maize hybrids had very different physical characteristics and chemical composition which could allow various possibilities of their use. The amount of hard (vitreous) and soft (floury) endosperm in kernel is considered one of the most important parameters that can influence the starch and bioethanol yields. Hybrids with a lower test weight and density and a greater proportion of soft endosperm fraction had a higher yield, recovery and purity of starch. Among the chemical composition parameters only starch content significantly affected the starch yield. Starch yields of studied maize hybrids ranged from 58.8% in ZP 633 to 69.0% in ZP 808. The lowest bioethanol yield of 7.25% w/w was obtained for hybrid ZP 611k and the highest by hybrid ZP 434 (8.96% w/w). A very significant correlation was determined between kernel starch content and the bioethanol yield, as well as volumetric productivity (48h) (r=0.66). Obtained results showed that the NDF, ADF and ADL contents in the whole maize plant of the observed ZP maize hybrids varied from 40.0% to 60.1%, 18.6% to 32.1%, and 1.4% to 3.1%, respectively. The difference in the digestibility of the dry matter of the whole plant among hybrids (ZP 735 and ZP 560) amounted to 18.1%. Moreover, the differences in the contents of the lignocelluloses fraction affected the differences in dry matter digestibility. From the results it can be concluded that genetic background of the selected maize hybrids plays an important part in estimation of the technological value of maize hybrids for various purposes. Obtained results are of an exceptional importance for the breeding programs and selection of potentially most suitable maize hybrids for starch, bioethanol and animal feed production.

Keywords: bioethanol, biomass quality, maize, starch

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Authors: Shohei Matsuo, Saki Mikai, Hiroshi Morita

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Objectives: Shochu is a popular Japanese distilled spirits. In the production of shochu, the filamentous fungus Aspergillus kawachii has traditionally been used. A. kawachii produces two types of starch hydrolytic enzymes, α-amylase (enzymatic liquefaction) and glucoamylase (enzymatic saccharification). Liquid culture system is a relatively easy microorganism to ferment with relatively low cost of production compared for solid culture. In liquid culture system, acid-unstable α-amylase (α-A) was produced abundantly, but, acid-stable α-amylase (Aα-A) was not produced. Since there is high enzyme productivity, most in shochu brewing have been adopted by a solid culture method. In this study, therefore, we investigated production of Aα-A in liquid culture system. Materials and methods: Microorganism Aspergillus kawachii NBRC 4308 was used. The mold was cultured at 30 °C for 7~14 d to allow formation of conidiospores on slant agar medium. Liquid Culture System: A. kawachii was cultured in a 100 ml of following altered SLS medium: 1.0 g of rice flour, 0.1 g of K2HPO4, 0.1 g of KCl, 0.6 g of tryptone, 0.05 g of MgSO4・7H2O, 0.001 g of FeSO4・7H2O, 0.0003 g of ZnSO4・7H2O, 0.021 g of CaCl2, 0.33 of citric acid (pH 3.0). The pH of the medium was adjusted to the designated value with 10 % HCl solution. The cultivation was shaking at 30 °C and 200 rpm for 72 h. It was filtered to obtain a crude enzyme solution. Aα-A assay: The crude enzyme solution was analyzed. An acid-stable α-amylase activity was carried out using an α-amylase assay kit (Kikkoman Corporation, Noda, Japan). It was conducted after adding 9 ml of 100 mM acetate buffer (pH 3.0) to 1 ml of the culture product supernatant and acid treatment at 37°C for 1 h. One unit of a-amylase activity was defined as the amount of enzyme that yielded 1 mmol of 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl 6-azide-6-deoxy-b-maltopentaoside (CNP) per minute. Results and Conclusion: We experimented with co-culture of A. kawachii and lactobacillus in order to get control of pH in altered SLS medium. However, high production of acid-stable α-amylase was not obtained. We experimented with yoghurt or milk made an addition to liquid culture. The result indicated that high production of acid-stable α-amylase (964 U/g-substrate) was obtained when milk made an addition to liquid culture. Phosphate concentration in the liquid medium was a major cause of increased acid-stable α-amylase activity. In liquid culture, acid-stable α-amylase activity was enhanced by milk, but Fats and oils in the milk were oxidized. In addition, Tryptone is not approved as a food additive in Japan. Thus, alter SLS medium added to skim milk excepting for the fats and oils in the milk instead of tryptone. The result indicated that high production of acid-stable α-amylase was obtained with the same effect as milk.

Keywords: acid-stable α-amylase, liquid culture, milk, shochu

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Authors: Qiyao Han, Xianhai Meng

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Urban infrastructures refer to the fundamental facilities and systems that serve cities. Due to the global climate change and human activities in recent years, many urban areas around the world are facing enormous challenges from natural and man-made disasters, like flood, earthquake and terrorist attack. For this reason, urban resilience to disasters has attracted increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. Given the complexity of infrastructure systems and the uncertainty of disasters, this paper suggests that studies of resilience could focus on urban functional sustainability (in social, economic and environmental dimensions) supported by infrastructure systems under disturbance. It is supposed that urban infrastructure systems with high resilience should be able to reconfigure themselves without significant declines in critical functions (services), such as primary productivity, hydrological cycles, social relations and economic prosperity. Despite that some methods have been developed to integrate the resilience and sustainability of individual infrastructure components, more work is needed to enable system-level integration. This research presents a conceptual analysis framework for integrating resilience and sustainability based on fractal theory. It is believed that the ability of an ecological system to maintain structure and function in face of disturbance and to reorganize following disturbance-driven change is largely dependent on its self-similar and hierarchical fractal structure, in which cross-scale resilience is produced by the replication of ecosystem processes dominating at different levels. Urban infrastructure systems are analogous to ecological systems because they are interconnected, complex and adaptive, are comprised of interconnected components, and exhibit characteristic scaling properties. Therefore, analyzing resilience of ecological system provides a better understanding about the dynamics and interactions of infrastructure systems. This paper discusses fractal characteristics of ecosystem resilience, reviews literature related to system-level infrastructure resilience, identifies resilience criteria associated with sustainability dimensions, and develops a conceptual analysis framework. Exploration of the relevance of identified criteria to fractal characteristics reveals that there is a great potential to analyze infrastructure systems based on fractal. In the conceptual analysis framework, it is proposed that in order to be resilient, urban infrastructure system needs to be capable of “maintaining” and “reorganizing” multi-scale critical functions under disasters. Finally, the paper identifies areas where further research efforts are needed.

Keywords: fractal, urban infrastructure, sustainability, system-level resilience

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Authors: Marine Shavlakadze

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Hydroponic greenhouses systems (production of the artificial substrate without soil) are becoming popular in the world. Mostly the system is used to grow vegetables and berries. Different countries are taking action to participate in the development of hydroponic technology and solutions such as EU members, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Scandinavian countries, etc. Many vegetables and berries are grown by hydroponics in Europe. As a result of our research, we have obtained material containing manganese and nitrogen. It became possible to produce this fertilizer by means of one-stage thermal processing, using industrial waste containing manganese (ores and sludges) and mineral substance (ammonium nitrate) that exist in Georgia. The received material is usable as a micro-fertilizer with economic efficiency. It became possible to turn practically water-insoluble manganese dioxide substance into the soluble condition from industrial waste in an indirect way. The ability to use the material as a fertilizer is predetermined by its chemical and phase composition, as the amount of the active component of the material in relation to manganese is 30%. At the same time, the active component elements presented non-ballast sustained action compounds. The studies implemented in Poland and in Georgia by us have shown that the manganese-containing micro-fertilizer- Mn(NO₃)₂ can provide the plant with nitrate nitrogen, which is a form that can be used for plants, providing the economy and simplicity of the application of fertilizers. Given the fact that the application of the manganese-containing micro-fertilizers significantly increases the productivity and improves the quality of the big number of agricultural products, it is necessary to mention that it is recommended to introduce the manganese containing fertilizers into the following cultures: sugar beet, corn, potato, vegetables, vine grape, fruit, berries, and other cultures. Also, as a result of the study, it was established that the material obtained is the predominant fertilizer for vegetable cultures in the soil. Based on the positive results of the research, we consider it expedient to conduct research in hydroponic systems, which will enable us to provide plants the required amount of manganese; we also introduce nitrogen in solution and regulate the solution of pH, which is one of the main problems in hydroponic production. The findings of our research will be used in hydroponic greenhouse farms to increase the fertility of vegetable crops and, consequently, to get bountiful and high-quality harvests, which will promote the development of hydroponic greenhouses in Georgia as well as abroad.

Keywords: hydroponics, micro-fertilizers, manganese-containing materials, industrial wastes

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Authors: Shusmita Khan, Shams El Arifeen, Kanta Jamil

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Background: Nutrition transition in Bangladesh has progressed across various relevant socio-demographic contextual issues. For a developing country like Bangladesh, its is believed that, overnutrition is less prevalent than undernutrition. However, recent evidence suggests that a rapid shift is taking place where overweight is subduing underweight. With this rapid increase, for Bangladesh, it will be challenging to achieve the global agenda on halting overweight and obesity. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed from six successive national demographic and health surveys to get the trend on undernutrition and overnutrition for women from reproductive age. In addition, national relevant policy papers were reviewed to determine the countries readiness for whole of the systems approach to tackle this epidemic. Results: Over the last decade, the proportion of women with low body mass index (BMI<18.5), an indicator of undernutrition, has decreased markedly from 34% to 19%. However, the proportion of overweight women (BMI ≥25) increased alarmingly from 9% to 24% over the same period. If the WHO cutoff for public health action (BMI ≥23) is used, the proportion of overweight women has increased from 17% in 2004 to 39% in 2014. The increasing rate of obesity among women is a major challenge to obstetric practice for both women and fetuses. In the long term, overweight women are also at risk of future obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and heart disease. These diseases have serious impact on health care systems. Costs associated with overweight and obesity involves direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to obesity. Indirect costs relate to morbidity and mortality costs including productivity. Looking at the Bangladesh Health Facility Survey, it is found that the country is bot prepared for providing nutrition-related health services, regarding prevention, screening, management and treatment. Therefore, if this nutrition transition is not addressed properly, Bangladesh will not be able to achieve the target of the NCD global monitoring framework of the WHO. Conclusion: Addressing this nutrition transition requires contending ‘malnutrition in all its forms’ and addressing it with integrated approaches. Whole of the systems action is required at all levels—starting from improving multi-sectoral coordination to scaling up nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive mainstreamed interventions keeping health system in mind.

Keywords: nutrition transition, Bangladesh, health system, undernutrition, overnutrition, obesity

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Authors: Francis C. Emejeamara, Alison S. Tomlin, James Gooding

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Due to the highly turbulent nature of urban air flows, and by virtue of the fact that turbines are likely to be located within the roughness sublayer of the urban boundary layer, proposed urban wind installations are faced with major challenges compared to rural installations. The challenge of operating within turbulent winds can however, be counteracted by the development of suitable gust tracking solutions. In order to assess the cost effectiveness of such controls, a detailed understanding of the urban wind resource, including its turbulent characteristics, is required. Estimating the ambient turbulence and total kinetic energy available at different control response times is essential in evaluating the potential performance of wind systems within the urban environment should effective control solutions be employed. However, high resolution wind measurements within the urban roughness sub-layer are uncommon, and detailed CFD modelling approaches are too computationally expensive to apply routinely on a city wide scale. This paper therefore presents an alternative semi-empirical methodology for estimating the excess energy content (EEC) present in the complex and gusty urban wind. An analytical methodology for predicting the total wind energy available at a potential turbine site is proposed by assessing the relationship between turbulence intensities and EEC, for different control response times. The semi-empirical model is then incorporated with an analytical methodology that was initially developed to predict mean wind speeds at various heights within the built environment based on detailed mapping of its aerodynamic characteristics. Based on the current methodology, additional estimates of turbulence intensities and EEC allow a more complete assessment of the available wind resource. The methodology is applied to 4 UK cities with results showing the potential of mapping turbulence intensities and the total wind energy available at different heights within each city. Considering the effect of ambient turbulence and choice of wind system, the wind resource over neighbourhood regions (of 250 m uniform resolution) and building rooftops within the 4 cities were assessed with results highlighting the promise of mapping potential turbine sites within each city.

Keywords: excess energy content, small-scale wind, turbulence intensity, urban wind energy, wind resource assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Ghaneshree Moonsamy, Nodumo N. Zulu, Rajesh Lalloo, Suren Singh, Santosh O. Ramchuran

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The abalone industry of South Africa is under severe pressure due to illegal harvesting and poaching of this seafood delicacy. These abalones are harvested excessively; as a result, these animals do not have a chance to replace themselves in their habitats, ensuing in a drastic decrease in natural stocks of abalone. Abalone has an extremely slow growth rate and takes approximately four years to reach a size that is market acceptable; therefore, it was imperative to investigate methods to boost the overall growth rate and immunity of the animal. The University of Cape Town (UCT) began to research, which resulted in the isolation of two microorganisms, a yeast isolate Debaryomyces hansenii and a bacterial isolate Vibrio midae, from the gut of the abalone and characterised them for their probiotic abilities. This work resulted in an internationally competitive concept technology that was patented. The next stage of research was to develop a suitable bioprocess to enable commercial production. Numerous steps were taken to develop an efficient production process for V. midae, one of the isolates found by UCT. The initial stages of research involved the development of a stable and robust inoculum and the optimization of physiological growth parameters such as temperature and pH. A range of temperature and pH conditions were evaluated, and data obtained revealed an optimum growth temperature of 30ᵒC and a pH of 6.5. Once these critical growth parameters were established further media optimization studies were performed. Corn steep liquor (CSL) and high test molasses (HTM) were selected as suitable alternatives to more expensive, conventionally used growth medium additives. The optimization of CSL (6.4 g.l⁻¹) and HTM (24 g.l⁻¹) concentrations in the growth medium resulted in a 180% increase in cell concentration, a 5716-fold increase in cell productivity and a 97.2% decrease in the material cost of production in comparison to conventional growth conditions and parameters used at the onset of the study. In addition, a stable market-ready liquid probiotic product, encompassing the viable but not culturable (VBNC) state of Vibrio midae cells, was developed during the downstream processing aspect of the study. The demonstration of this technology at a full manufacturing scale has further enhanced the attractiveness and commercial feasibility of this production process.

Keywords: probiotics, abalone aquaculture, bioprocess technology, manufacturing scale technology development

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Pramit Garg, Vikas Kumar

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In December 2015, all the members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) unanimously adopted the historic Paris Agreement. As per the convention, 197 countries have followed the guidelines of the agreement and have agreed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and also reduce the carbon emission to reach net carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce the global temperature by 2°C by the year 2100. Globally, transport accounts for 23% of the energy-related CO2 that feeds global warming. Decarbonization of the transport sector is an essential step towards achieving India’s nationally determined contributions and net zero emissions by 2050. Metro rail systems are playing a vital role in the decarbonization of the transport sector as they create metro cities for the “21st-century world” that could ensure “mobility, connectivity, productivity, safety and sustainability” for the populace. Metro rail was introduced in Delhi in 2002 to decarbonize Delhi-National Capital Region and to provide a sustainable mode of public transportation. Metro Rail Projects significantly contribute to pollution reduction and are thus a prerequisite for sustainable development. The Delhi Metro is the 1ˢᵗ metro system in the world to earn carbon credits from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects registered under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A good Metro Project with reasonable network coverage attracts a modal shift from various private modes and hence fewer vehicles on the road, thus restraining the pollution at the source. The absence of Greenhouse Gas emissions from the vehicle of modal shift passengers and lower emissions due to decongested roads contribute to the reduction in Green House Gas emissions and hence overall reduction in atmospheric pollution. The reduction in emission during the horizon year 2002 to 2019 has been estimated using emission standards and deterioration factor(s) for different categories of vehicles. Presently, our results indicate that the Delhi Metro system has reduced approximately 17.3% of motorized trips by road resulting in an emission reduction significantly. Overall, Delhi Metro, with an immediate catchment area of 17% of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD), is helping today to reduce 387 tonnes of emissions per day and 141.2 ktonnes of emissions yearly. The findings indicate that the Metro rail system is driving cities towards a more livable environment.

Keywords: Delhi metro, GHG emission, sustainable public transport, urban transport

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Kaddour Fellague Mohammed

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The world has seen in recent years, significant developments affected various aspects of life and influenced the different types of institutions, thus was born a new world is a world of globalization, which dominated the scientific revolution and the tremendous technological developments, and that contributed to the re-formation of human resources in contemporary organizations, and made patterns new regulatory and at the same time raised and strongly values and new ideas, the organizations have become more flexible, and faster response to consumer and environmental conditions, and exceeded the problem of time and place in the framework of communication and human interaction and use of advanced information technology and adoption mainly mechanism in running its operations , focused on performance and based strategic thinking and approach in order to achieve its strategic goals high degrees of superiority and excellence, this new reality created an increasing need for a new type of human resources, quality aims to renew and aspire to be a strategic player in managing the organization and drafting of various strategies, think globally and act locally, to accommodate local variables in the international markets, which began organizations tend to strongly as well as the ability to work under different cultures. Human resources management of the most important management functions to focus on the human element, which is considered the most valuable resource of the Department and the most influential in productivity at all, that the management and development of human resources Tattabra a cornerstone in the majority of organizations which aims to strengthen the organizational capacity, and enable companies to attract and rehabilitation of the necessary competencies and are able to keep up with current and future challenges, human resources can contribute to and strongly in achieving the objectives and profit organization, and even expand more than contribute to the creation of new jobs to alleviate unemployment and achieve full operation, administration and human resources mean short optimal use of the human element is available and expected, where he was the efficiency and capabilities, and experience of this human element, and his enthusiasm for the work stop the efficiency and success in reaching their goals, so interested administration scientists developed the principles and foundations that help to make the most of each individual benefit in the organization through human resources management, these foundations start of the planning and selection, training and incentives and evaluation, which is not separate from each other, but are integrated with each other as a system systemic order to reach the efficient functioning of the human resources management and has been the organization as a whole in the context of development sustainable.

Keywords: configuration, training, development, human resources, operating

Procedia PDF Downloads 432

Authors: A. G. Gashua, T. T. Bello, I. Alhassan, K. K. Gwiokura

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Weeds are known to interfere seriously with crop growth, thereby affecting the productivity and quality of crops. Crops are also known to compete for natural growth resources if they are not adequately spaced, also affecting the performance of the growing crop. Farmers grow cowpea in mixtures with cereals and this is known to affect its yield. For this reason, a field experiment was conducted at Yobe State College of Agriculture Gujba, Damaturu station in the 2014 and 2015 rainy seasons to determine the appropriate intra row spacing and weeding regime for optimum growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in pure stand in Sudan Savanna ecology. The treatments consist of three levels of spacing within rows (20 cm, 30 cm and 40 cm) and four weeding regimes (none, once at 3 weeks after sowing (WAS), twice at 3 and 6WAS, thrice at 3WAS, 6WAS and 9WAS); arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The variety used was the local cowpea variety (white, early and spreading) commonly grown by farmers. The growth and yield data were collected and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software, and the significant means were ranked by Students Newman Keul’s test (SNK). The findings of this study revealed better crop performance in 2015 than in 2014 despite poor soil condition. Intra row spacing significantly influenced vegetative growth especially the number of main branches, leaves and canopy spread at 6WAS and 9WAS with the highest values obtained at wider spacing (40 cm). The values obtained in 2015 doubled those obtained in 2014 in most cases. Spacing also significantly affected the number of pods in 2015, seed weight in both years and grain yield in 2014 with the highest values obtained when the crop was spaced at 30-40 cm. Similarly, weeding regime significantly influenced almost all the growth attributes of cowpea with higher values obtained from where cowpea was weeded three times at 3-week intervals, though statistically similar results were obtained even from where cowpea was weeded twice. Weeding also affected the entire yield and yield components in 2015 with the highest values obtained with increase weeding. Based on these findings, it is recommended that spreading cowpea varieties should be grown at 40 cm (or wider spacing) within rows and be weeded twice at three-week intervals for better crop performance in related ecologies.

Keywords: intra-row spacing, local cowpea, Nigeria, weeding

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Folorunsho J. O., Umar M. A.

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Access to potable water supply in both the rural and urban regions of the world has been neglected, and this has severely affected man and the aesthetics of the natural environment of man. This has further worsened the issue of diseases prevalence. This study considered the effects of inadequate domestic water supply on human health in selected neighbourhoods of Lokoja. The study used descriptive statistics such as relative frequencies, percentages and inferential statistics to analyse the data obtained through the use of structured questionnaire. The results revealed that the females and male constituted 56% and 44% of the respondents respectively; 62% of the respondents married and 32% are unmarried; respondents between ages 31 and 40 years constitute majority of the study population, while respondents with tertiary education constituted 35%, and those with secondary education were 32% of the total respondents. Furthermore, civil servants constituted 40% and unemployed 16% of the total respondents. In terms of monthly income, 40% of the respondents was found to earn between ₦31,000 - 40,000 monthly. On the perception of households on the availability and adequacy of domestic water supply, the study revealed that 64.7% of the respondents have pipe-borne water as their main source of water supply, with only 28.5% out of the 64.7% have pipe-borne water supply daily. On the relationship between water supply characteristics and health status among households, the result shows that 76% of the respondents perceived a strong relationship between water supply and health status. Cumulatively, 67% of the respondents confirm that both the quality and quantity of water supplied play a critical role in determining health status of residents of the study area. The respondents also reported skin diseases (96%), diarrhoea (96%), malaria (91%), cholera (67%), dysentery (67%), and respiratory diseases (67%) as the most perceived and experienced in the area, the disease rate in the prevalence order of malaria (81%), diarrhoea (61%), skin diseases (58%), cholera (34%), dysentery (31%) and respiratory disease (14%) respectively. Finally, the results further showed how households cope with inadequate water supply with 52% of the respondents confirm that they regularly treat their water before it was deployed for domestic uses, while 35%, 26%, 25%, 10% and 4% of the 52% respectively, adopted boiling, addition of alums, filtering with fabrics, chlorination and bleaching as the preferred treatment methods. The study thus recommended policy options that will aggressively launch adequate potable water supply infrastructure in the study area.Keywords: Potable Water, Supply, Human Health, Perception, Chlorination

Keywords: potable water, human health, perception, chlorination

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Weldeabrha Kiros Kidanemaryam

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The investigation is to examine intra-organizational supply chain relationships of firms, which will help to look at and give an emphasis on internal processes and operations strength and achievements to make an influence even for external relationship management and outstanding performances of organizations. The purpose of the study is to scrutinize the internal supply chain relationships within manufacturing companies located in Tigray. The qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed during the study by applying the primary data sources (questionnaires & interviews) and secondary data sources (organizational reports and documents) with the purposive sampling method. Thus, a descriptive research design was also applied in the research project in line with the cross-sectional research design which portrays simply the magnitude of the issues and problems by collecting the required and necessary data once from the sample respondents. This is because the study variables don’t have any cause-and-effect relationship in the research project that requires other types of research design than a descriptive research design; it already needs to be assessed and analyzed with a detailed description of the results after quantifying the outcomes and degree of the issues and problems based on the data gathered from respondents. The collected data was also analyzed by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version 20). The intra-organizational relationships of the companies are moderately accomplished, which requires an improvement for enhancing the performances of each unit or department within the firms so as to upgrade and ensure the progress of the companies’ effectiveness and efficiency. Moreover, the manufacturing companies have low industrial discipline and working culture, weak supervision of manpower, delayed delivery in the process within the companies, unsatisfactory quality of products, underutilization of capacity, and low productivity and profitability, which in turn results in minimizing the performance of intra-organizational supply chain relationships and to reduce the companies’ organizational efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. Hence, the companies should have to give emphasize building and managing the intra-organizational supply chain relationships effectively because nothing can be done without creating successful and progressive relationships with internal units or functional areas and individuals for the production and provision of the required and qualified products that permits to meet the intended customers’ desires. The study contributes to improving the practical applications and gives an emphasis on the policy measurements and implications of the manufacturing companies with regard to intra-organizational supply chain relationships.

Keywords: supply chain, supply chain relationships, intra-organizational relationships, manufacturing companies

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Authors: Elif Gencturk, Ekin Yurdakul, Ahmet Y. Celik, Senol Mutlu, Kutlu O. Ulgen

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Yeast cells are generally used as a model system of eukaryotes due to their complex genetic structure, rapid growth ability in optimum conditions, easy replication and well-defined genetic system properties. Thus, yeast cells increased the knowledge of the principal pathways in humans. During fermentation, carbohydrates (hexoses and pentoses) degrade into some toxic by-products such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF or HMF) and furfural. HMF influences the ethanol yield, and ethanol productivity; it interferes with microbial growth and is considered as a potent inhibitor of bioethanol production. In this study, yeast single cell behavior under HMF application was monitored by using a continuous flow single phase microfluidic platform. Microfluidic device in operation is fabricated by hot embossing and thermo-compression techniques from cyclo-olefin polymer (COP). COP is biocompatible, transparent and rigid material and it is suitable for observing fluorescence of cells considering its low auto-fluorescence characteristic. The response of yeast cells was recorded through Red Fluorescent Protein (RFP) tagged Nop56 gene product, which is an essential evolutionary-conserved nucleolar protein, and also a member of the box C/D snoRNP complexes. With the application of HMF, yeast cell proliferation continued but HMF slowed down the cell growth, and after HMF treatment the cell proliferation stopped. By the addition of fresh nutrient medium, the yeast cells recovered after 6 hours of HMF exposure. Thus, HMF application suppresses normal functioning of cell cycle but it does not cause cells to die. The monitoring of Nop56 expression phases of the individual cells shed light on the protein and ribosome synthesis cycles along with their link to growth. Further computational study revealed that the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory or inductive effects of HMF on growth are enriched in functional categories of protein degradation, protein processing, DNA repair and multidrug resistance. The present microfluidic device can successfully be used for studying the effects of inhibitory agents on growth by single cell tracking, thus capturing cell to cell variations. By metabolic engineering techniques, engineered strains can be developed, and the metabolic network of the microorganism can thus be manipulated such that chemical overproduction of target metabolite is achieved along with the maximum growth/biomass yield.  

Keywords: COP, HMF, ribosome biogenesis, thermoplastic microbioreactor, yeast

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Mariateresa Torchia, Helene Cristini, Hannele Kauppinen

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Leadership plays a vital role in organizations. Leaders provide directions and facilitate the processes that enable organizations to achieve their goals and objectives. However, while productivity and financial objectives are often given the greatest emphasis, leaders also have the responsibility for instituting standards of ethical conduct and moral values that guide the behavior of employees. Leaders’ behaviors such as support, empowerment and a high-quality relationship with their employees might not only prevent stress, but also improve employees’ stress coping meanwhile contributing to their affective well-being. Stemming from Girard’s Mimetic Theory, this study aims at understanding how leaders can foster well-being in organizations. To do so, we explore which is the role leaders play in conflict management, resentment management and negative emotions dissipation. Furthermore, we examine whether and to what extent religiosity impacts the way in which leaders operate in relation to employees’ well-being. Indeed, given that organizational values are crucial to ethical behavior and firms’ values may be steeled by a deep sense of spirituality and religious identification, there is a need to take a closer look at the role religion and spirituality play in influencing the way leaders impact employees’ well-being. Thus, religion might work as an overarching logic that provides a set of principles guiding leaders’ everyday practices and relations with employees. We answer our research questions using a qualitative approach. We interviewed 27 Christian leaders (members of the Christian Entrepreneurs and Leaders Association – EDC, a non-profit organization created in 1926 including 3,000 French Christian Leaders & Entrepreneurs). Our results show that well-being can have a different meaning in relation to the type of companies, size, culture, country of analysis. Moreover the values and believes of leaders influence the way they see and foster well-being among employees. Furthermore, leaders can have both a positive or negative impact on well-being. Indeed on the one side, they could increase well-being in the company while on the other hand, they could be the source of resentment and conflicts among employees. Finally, we observed that Christian leaders possess characteristics that are sometimes missing in leaders (humility, inability to compare with others, attempt to be coherent with their values and beliefs, interest in the common good instead of the personal interest, having tougher dilemmas, collectively undertaking the firm). Moreover the Christian leader believes that the common good should come before personal interest. In other words, to them, not only short –termed profit shouldn’t guide strategical decisions but also leaders should feel responsible for their employees’ well-being. Last but not least, the study is not an apologia of Christian, yet it discusses the implications of these values through the light of Girard’s mimetic theory for both theory and practice.

Keywords: Christian leaders, employees well-being, leadership, mimetic theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Cledinaldo A. Dias, Isabela C. Santos, Marcus V. S. Siqueira

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In the contemporary globalization, the competitiveness generated in the search of new markets aiming at the growth of productivity and, consequently, of profits, implies the redefinition of productive processes and new forms of work organization. As a result of this structuring, unemployment, labor force turnover and the increase in outsourcing and informal work occur. Considering the different relationships and working conditions of outsourced employees, this study aims to identify the most present stressors among outsourced service providers from a Federal Institution of Higher Education in Brazil. To reach this objective, a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach was carried out. The qualitative approach was chosen to provide an in-depth analysis of the occupational conditions of outsourced workers since this method seeks to focus on the social as a world of investigated meanings and the language or speech of each subject as the object of this approach. The survey was conducted in the city of Montes Claros - Minas Gerais (Brazil) and involved eighty workers from companies hired by the institution, including armed security guards, porters, cleaners, drivers, gardeners, and administrative assistants. The choice of professionals obeyed non-probabilistic criteria for convenience or accessibility. Data collection was performed by means of a structured questionnaire composed of sixty questions, in a Likert-type frequency interval scale format, in order to identify potential organizational stressors. The results obtained evidence that the stress factors pointed out by the workers are, in most cases, a determining factor due to the low productive performance at work. Amongst the factors associated with stress, the ones that stood out most were those related to organizational communication failures, the incentive to competition, lack of expectations of professional growth, insecurity and job instability. Based on the results, the need for greater concern and organizational responsibility with the well-being and mental health of the outsourced worker and the recognition of their physical and psychological limitations, and care that goes beyond the functional capacity for the work. Specifically for the preservation of mental health, physical and quality of life, it is concluded that it is necessary for the professional to be inserted in the external world that favors it internally since this set is complemented so that the individual remains in balance and obtain satisfaction in your work.

Keywords: occupational health, outsourced, organizational studies, stressors

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Flackson Tshuma, James Bennett, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, Johan Labuschagne, Stephan van der Westhuizen, Francis Rayns

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Amongst other things, tillage and synthetic agrochemicals can be effective methods of seedbed preparation and pest control. Nonetheless, frequent and intensive tillage and excessive application of synthetic agrochemicals, such as herbicides and insecticides, can reduce soil microbial enzyme activity. A decline in soil microbial enzyme activity can negatively affect nutrient cycling and crop productivity. In this study, the effects of four tillage treatments; continuous mouldboard plough; shallow tine-tillage to a depth of about 75 mm; no-tillage; and tillage rotation (involving shallow tine-tillage once every four years in rotation with three years of no-tillage), and two rates of synthetic agrochemicals (standard: with regular application of synthetic agrochemicals; and reduced: fewer synthetic agrochemicals in combination with bio-chemicals/ or bio-stimulants) on soil microbial enzyme activity were investigated between 2018 and 2020 in a typical Mediterranean climate zone in South Africa. Four different bio-stimulants applied contained: Trichoderma asperellum, fulvic acid, silicic acid, and Nereocystis luetkeana extracts, respectively. The study was laid out as a complete randomised block design with four replicated blocks. Each block had 14 plots, and each plot measured 50 m x 6 m. The study aimed to assess the combined impact of tillage practices and reduced rates of synthetic agrochemical application on soil microbial enzyme activity in a dryland cropping system. It was hypothesised that the application of bio-stimulants in combination with minimum soil disturbance will lead to a greater increase in microbial enzyme activity than the effect of applying either in isolation. Six soil cores were randomly and aseptically collected from each plot for microbial enzyme activity analysis from the 0-150 mm layer of a field trial under a dryland crop rotation system in the Swartland region. The activities of four microbial enzymes, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and urease, were assessed. The enzymes are essential for the cycling of glucose, phosphorus, and nitrogen, respectively. Microbial enzyme activity generally increased with a reduction of both tillage intensity and synthetic agrochemical application. The use of the mouldboard plough led to the least (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the reduced tillage treatments, whereas the system with bio-stimulants (reduced synthetic agrochemicals) led to the highest (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the standard systems. The application of bio-stimulants in combination with reduced tillage, particularly no-tillage, could be beneficial for enzyme activity in a dryland farming system.

Keywords: bio-stimulants, soil microbial enzymes, synthetic agrochemicals, tillage

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Authors: Madhvi Bhayani

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Introduction: Due to the rapid pace of urbanization, the urban health issues have become one of the significant threats to future development in India. It also poses serious repercussions on the citizen’s health. As urbanization in India is increasing at an unprecedented rate and it has generated the urban health crisis among the city dwellers especially the urban poor. The increasing proportion of the urban poor and vulnerable to the health indicators worse than the rural counterparts, they face social and financial barriers in accessing healthcare services and these conditions make human health at risk. The Local as well as the State and National governments are alike tackling with the challenges of urbanization as it has become very essential for the government to provide the basic necessities and better infrastructure that make life in cities safe and healthy. Thus, the paper argues that if no major realistic steps are taken with immediate effect, the citizens will face a huge burden of health hazards. Aim: This paper attempts to analyze the current infrastructure, government planning, and its future policy, it also discusses the challenges and outcomes of urbanization on health and its impact on it and it will also predict the future trend with regard to disease burden in the urban areas. Methods: The paper analyzes on the basis of the secondary data by taking into consideration the connection between the Rapid Urbanization and Public Health Challenges, health and health care system and its services delivery to the citizens especially to the urban poor. Extensive analyses of government census reports, health information and policy, the government health-related schemes, urban development and based on the past trends, the future status of urban infrastructure and health outcomes are predicted. The social-economic and political dimensions are also taken into consideration from regional, national and global perspectives, which are incorporated in the paper to make realistic predictions for the future. Findings and Conclusion: The findings of the paper show that India suffers a lot due to the double burden of rapidly increasing in diseases and also growing health inequalities and disparities in health outcomes. Existing tools of governance of urban health are falling short to provide the better health care services. They need to strengthen the collaboration and communication among the state, national and local governments and also with the non-governmental partners. Based on the findings the policy implications are then described and areas for future research are defined.

Keywords: health care, urbanization, urban health, service delivery

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Authors: Iris Vogeler, Rogerio Cichota, Armin Werner

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Dairy farms are under pressure to increase productivity while reducing environmental impacts. Effective fertiliser management practices are critical to achieve this. Determination of optimum nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates which maximise pasture growth and minimise N losses is challenging due to variability in plant requirements and likely near-future supply of N by the soil. Remote sensing can be used for mapping N nutrition status of plants and to rapidly assess the spatial variability within a field. An algorithm is, however, lacking which relates the N status of the plants to the expected yield response to additions of N. The aim of this simulation study was to develop a multi-variate model for determining N fertilisation rate for a target percentage of the maximum achievable yield based on the pasture N concentration (ii) use of an algorithm for guiding fertilisation rates, and (iii) evaluation of the model regarding pasture yield and N losses, including N leaching, denitrification and volatilisation. A simulation study was carried out using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). The simulations were done for an irrigated ryegrass pasture in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. A multi-variate model was developed and used to determine monthly required N fertilisation rates based on pasture N content prior to fertilisation and targets of 50, 75, 90 and 100% of the potential monthly yield. These monthly optimised fertilisation rules were evaluated by running APSIM for a ten-year period to provide yield and N loss estimates from both nonurine and urine affected areas. Comparison with typical fertilisation rates of 150 and 400 kg N/ha/year was also done. Assessment of pasture yield and leaching from fertiliser and urine patches indicated a large reduction in N losses when N fertilisation rates were controlled by the multi-variate model. However, the reduction in leaching losses was much smaller when taking into account the effects of urine patches. The proposed approach based on biophysical modelling to develop a multi-variate model for determining optimum N fertilisation rates dependent on pasture N content is very promising. Further analysis, under different environmental conditions and validation is required before the approach can be used to help adjust fertiliser management practices to temporal and spatial N demand based on the nitrogen status of the pasture.

Keywords: APSIM modelling, optimum N fertilization rate, pasture N content, ryegrass pasture, three dimensional surface response function.

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Lalita Subedi, Jae Kyoung Chae, Yong Un Park, Cho Kyo Hee, Lee Jae Hyuk, Kang Min Cheol, Sun Yeou Kim

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Neuroinflammation may mediate the relationship between low levels of estrogens and neurodegenerative disease. Estrogens are neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory in neurodegenerative disease models. Due to the long term side effects of estrogens, researches have been focused on finding an effective phytoestrogens for biological activities. Daidzein present in soybeans and its active metabolite equol (7-hydroxy-3-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-chroman) bears strong antioxidant and anticancer showed more potent anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective role in neuroinflammatory model confirmed its in vitro activity with molecular mechanism through NF-κB pathway. Three major CNS cells Microglia (BV-2), Astrocyte (C6), Neuron (N2a) were used to find the effect of equol in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX-2), MAPKs signaling proteins, apoptosis related proteins by western blot analysis. Nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was measured by the Gries method and ELISA, respectively. Cytokines like tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-6 were also measured in the conditioned medium of LPS activated cells with or without equol. Equol inhibited the NO production, PGE-2 production and expression of COX-2 and iNOS in LPS-stimulated microglial cells at a dose dependent without any cellular toxicity. At the same time Equol also showed promising effect in modulation of MAPK’s and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expression with significant inhibition of the production of proinflammatory cytokine like interleukin -6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor -α (TNF-α). Additionally, it inhibited the LPS activated microglia-induced neuronal cell death by downregulating the apoptotic phenomenon in neuronal cells. Furthermore, equol increases the production of neurotrophins like NGF and increase the neurite outgrowth as well. In conclusion the natural daidzein metabolite equol are more active than daidzein, which showed a promising effectiveness as an anti-neuroinflammatory and neuroprotective agent via downregulating the LPS stimulated microglial activation and neuronal apoptosis. This work was supported by Brain Korea 21 Plus project and High Value-added Food Technology Development Program 114006-4, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Keywords: apoptosis, equol, neuroinflammation, phytoestrogen

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Authors: Benson Tette, Thomas Mensah

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As a developing country, Ghana has a high potential to harness the economic value of every industry. Two of the industries that produce below capacity are handicrafts (for instance, carpentry) and information technology (i.e., computer science). To boost production and maintain competitiveness, the carpentry sector in Ghana needs more effective manufacturing procedures that are also more affordable. This issue can be resolved using computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology, which automates the fabrication process and decreases the amount of time and labor needed to make wood goods. Yet, the integration of CAM in carpentry-related production is rarely explored. To streamline the manufacturing process, this research investigates the equipment and technology that are currently used in the Ghanaian carpentry sector for automated fabrication. The research looks at the various CAM technologies, such as Computer Numerical Control routers, laser cutters, and plasma cutters, that are accessible to Ghanaian carpenters yet unexplored. We also investigate their potential to enhance the production process. To achieve the objective, 150 carpenters, 15 software engineers, and 10 policymakers were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The responses provided by the 175 respondents were processed to eliminate outliers and omissions were corrected using multiple imputations techniques. The processed responses were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings showed that adaptation and integration of CAD software with CAM technologies would speed up the design-to-manufacturing process for carpenters. It must be noted that achieving such results entails first; examining the capabilities of current CAD software, then determining what new functions and resources are required to improve the software's suitability for carpentry tasks. Responses from both carpenters and computer scientists showed that it is highly practical and achievable to streamline the design-to-manufacturing process through processes such as modifying and combining CAD software with CAM technology. Making the carpentry-software integration program more useful for carpentry projects would necessitate investigating the capabilities of the current CAD software and identifying additional features in the Ghanaian ecosystem and tools that are required. In conclusion, the Ghanaian carpentry sector has a chance to increase productivity and competitiveness through the integration of CAM technology with CAD software. Carpentry companies may lower labor costs and boost production capacity by automating the fabrication process, giving them a competitive advantage. This study offers implementation-ready and representative recommendations for successful implementation as well as important insights into the equipment and technologies available for automated fabrication in the Ghanaian carpentry sector.

Keywords: carpentry, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), Ghana, information technology(IT)

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Malte Brettel, Niklas Friederichsen, Michael Keller, Marius Rosenberg

Abstract:

The German manufacturing industry has to withstand an increasing global competition on product quality and production costs. As labor costs are high, several industries have suffered severely under the relocation of production facilities towards aspiring countries, which have managed to close the productivity and quality gap substantially. Established manufacturing companies have recognized that customers are not willing to pay large price premiums for incremental quality improvements. As a consequence, many companies from the German manufacturing industry adjust their production focusing on customized products and fast time to market. Leveraging the advantages of novel production strategies such as Agile Manufacturing and Mass Customization, manufacturing companies transform into integrated networks, in which companies unite their core competencies. Hereby, virtualization of the process- and supply-chain ensures smooth inter-company operations providing real-time access to relevant product and production information for all participating entities. Boundaries of companies deteriorate, as autonomous systems exchange data, gained by embedded systems throughout the entire value chain. By including Cyber-Physical-Systems, advanced communication between machines is tantamount to their dialogue with humans. The increasing utilization of information and communication technology allows digital engineering of products and production processes alike. Modular simulation and modeling techniques allow decentralized units to flexibly alter products and thereby enable rapid product innovation. The present article describes the developments of Industry 4.0 within the literature and reviews the associated research streams. Hereby, we analyze eight scientific journals with regards to the following research fields: Individualized production, end-to-end engineering in a virtual process chain and production networks. We employ cluster analysis to assign sub-topics into the respective research field. To assess the practical implications, we conducted face-to-face interviews with managers from the industry as well as from the consulting business using a structured interview guideline. The results reveal reasons for the adaption and refusal of Industry 4.0 practices from a managerial point of view. Our findings contribute to the upcoming research stream of Industry 4.0 and support decision-makers to assess their need for transformation towards Industry 4.0 practices.

Keywords: Industry 4.0., mass customization, production networks, virtual process-chain

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