This paper analyzes the theoretical and pragmatic implications, for international relations and world politics, of the new holistic approach to climate change articulated by Pope Francis in the Encyclical Laudato si’, particularly through the notion “integral ecology”. Far for being just a new chapter in the unfolding process of the “greening” of religions, the document raises in radical terms the issue of the sustainability of the present world system. I contend that the perspective of the Encyclical calls for a radical transformation of international relations, since it puts emphasis on the deep implications of environmental issues on the entire spectrum of security, development, economic and ethical challenges of contemporary world politics. Against this backdrop, I connect the main tenets of the Encyclical to the environmental turn in International Relations Theory and to the new epistemological challenges related to paradigm shift induced by the new planetary condition of the Anthropocene and the questions arising for a justice encompassing the humanity-earth system. Practicing sustainable international relations means exiting the logic of power or hegemony, operationalizing the concept of care.

The important characteristic that could assist in autonomous navigation is the ability of a mobile robot to concurrently construct a map for an unknown environment and localize itself within the same environment. This computational problem is known as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). In literature, researchers have studied this approach extensively and have proposed a lot of improvement towards it. More so, we are experiencing a steady transition of this technology to industries. However, there are still setbacks limiting the full acceptance of this technology even though the research had been conducted over the last 30 years. Thus, to determine the problems facing SLAM, this paper conducted a review on various foundation and recent SLAM algorithms. Challenges and open issues alongside the research direction for this area were discussed. However, towards addressing the problem discussed, a novel SLAM technique will be proposed.

Abstract: The study focuses on how socio-economic and demographic indicators affect fertilization sustainability (excessive amount of fertilization). Principally we aim to examine the significance magnitude of the effects of three socio-demographic variables such as traditional way of fertilization, rental land farming, and farmers’ younger age on over-fertilization in Bangladesh and other developing countries. In 1960s, Bangladesh state authority launched a campaign ‘Grow more Food’ to feed huge numbers of population and thus the farmers are provided chemical fertilizers and pesticides at a subsidized low price. Farmers began to use huge amount of fertilizers for gaining high yields and continued it to present causing environmental woes a lot. We interview (face-to-face, focus group discussion, and phone interview) 210 Bangladesh farmers in 2016 by semi-structured questionnaire. Data has been analyzed using General Linear Model (GLM) in Univariate Analysis of Variance. The study found the effect of traditional way of fertilization on excessive amount of fertilization is strongly significant at 1% level. Apart from, rental land farming and farmers’ younger age have a significant influence on over- fertilization; though their significance level (5% and 10% respectively) is quasi-strong. Policy makers can be able to formulate fertilizer policy on the basis of these findings.

Intelligent systems are driven by the latest technological advances in so different areas as sensing, embedded systems, wireless communications or context recognition. This paper focuses on some of those areas. Concretely, the paper deals with wireless communications issues on embedded systems. More precisely, the paper combines the multi-hop networking with Bluetooth technology and a quality of service (QoS) metric, the latency. Bluetooth is a radio license free worldwide communication standard that makes low power multi-hop wireless networking available. It establishes piconets (point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links) and scatternets (multi-hop networks). As a result, many Bluetooth nodes can be interconnected to set up ambient intelligent networks. Then, this paper presents the results of the investigation on multi-hop latency with park and sniff Bluetooth low power modes conducted over the hardware test bench previously implemented. In addition, the empirical models to estimate the latency of multi-hop communications over Bluetooth Asynchronous Connectionless Links (ACL) in park and sniff mode are given. The designers of devices and networks for intelligent systems will benefit from the estimation of the latency in Bluetooth multi-hop communications that the models provide.

In urban area, one of the great problem is the rise of temperature, which leads to form the urban heat island effect. This paper refers to the trend of the urban surface temperature extracted from the Landsat images from which to consider changes in the formation of surface urban heat island for the north of Ho Chi Minh city in period 1995-2015. Research has identified land surface temperature from thermal infrared band, according to the ability of the surface emission based on characteristics of normalized difference vegetation index NDVI. The results showed that temperature fluctuated over the city with a growing trend and the gradual expansion of the area of the high-temperature zone towards the suburbs. Within 20 years, the trend of the formation of surface urban heat island with two typical locations showed a clear difference between the surface temperature of urban areas and rural areas with space expansion of heat island in 4 times in 2015 compared to 1995. An extreme heat island located in the inner city has an area of approximately 18% compared to the total area of the region. Since then, the solution to reduce the impact of urban heat island has been proposed, in order to protect the urban environment and the lives of residents in Ho Chi Minh City becoming better

Banana (Musa spp.) is an important crop to the economies of many developing countries. In the north of Argentina, a sub-tropical region, banana plants grow in a suboptimal environment that limits yield because only one harvest per year is achieved. The objective of this work was to characterize the agroecological aptitude of Formosa, Argentina, for banana production, through the behavior of three varieties of international use: Willians, Jafa and Gran Enano, evaluated during five consecutive campaigns. The three-way data analysis technique called Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) was used for evaluating varieties’ performances across cycles of production. The results allowed inferring the existence of genotype x environment (GEI) interaction, corroborated by two-way factorial ANOVA. In order to determine how this suboptimal environment affects the development of each genotype of this perennial crop, Dual Multiple Factor Analysis (DMFA) was applied to jointly analyze the correlation structure among traits contributing to the performance of each variety at each campaign. The correlation structures between variables were different in each population and varied among campaigns. All traits showed a great variation across years and genotypes, the fruit peel thickness being the most discrepant throughout the campaigns. However, Formosa appeared as a promising subtropical agroecological environment to produce banana because varieties’ performances were acceptable for large scale production systems. In addition to evaluating the adequate aptitude for cultivating banana in Formosa considering the significant effect of GEI, this research makes a methodological contribution by proposing the use of three-way data analysis MFA and DMFA in Agronomy Science.

Agricultural drainage canals that connect upstream fish spawning areas to downstream rivers and lakes serve as crucial habitats for migrating fish. However, disconnections, such as drops and chutes, have been constructed in these canals due to agricultural modernization and flood control measures, hindering the movement of fish with limited swimming abilities. Portable fishways offer a promising solution to reconnect water bodies in agricultural canals, as they can be easily removed during high water discharges to avoid impeding the canals' drainage function. In addition to experimental assessments of fishway functionality, employing a hydrodynamic model to explore effective placement strategies for portable fishways is essential to maximize their effectiveness. This study presents a method to determine the best horizontal location of a portable fishway in an agricultural drainage canal using two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations within the specified cases. The applicability of this method is demonstrated by addressing the positioning challenge of a portable fishway on a chute in an agricultural drainage canal in Japan. Results indicate that the proposed method allows for the selection of a suitable location, considering preferable hydraulic conditions both within the portable fishway and around its entrance.

In recent years, in order to serve as effective solutions to outdoor human thermal environments under the influence of urban heat islands, adaptation measures such as awnings, louvers, directional reflective materials, mist sprays, and evaporative materials have been developed. In this study, a simplified evaluation framework for adaptation measures to urban heat islands is examined. Adaptation measures to urban heat islands are classified into the following three categories; measures to reduce solar radiation incident on the human body, measures to control and cool ground and wall surface temperature, and measures to control and cool air temperature and human body. Case studies are conducted to evaluate the effects of the implementation of cool water circulation sunshade and to examine the adverse effects of cool pavements on the human thermal environment, in addition to the effects of mist sprays on the human body. The effect of the sunshade, watering road, and mist spray, which are typical adaptation measures to urban heat islands, on the human thermal environment was estimated using Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) as an indicator for heat stroke prevention and Standard New Effective Temperature (SET*) as an indicator for thermal comfort assessment.

In order to solve the problems of complicated steering control of unmanned vehicles in the field and difficult steering on complex roads, we designed a wheel-track composite vehicle equipped with a novel power differential steering mechanism with dual driving, which drove the steering of the vehicle through the differential rotation of the rear two wheels. The unmanned vehicle was simple to control, small in size, and able to work under the conditions of complex roads, such as hills, mountains, and muddy land. Firstly, a steering mechanism with both differential speed and force was designed to prevent the vehicle from skidding into muddy land and stopping motionless. Secondly, the kinematics model and dynamics model of the two drive shafts and the two output shafts (wheel shafts) were established. Thirdly, according to the relationship between the rotational speed of the two output shafts and the steering radius of the vehicle, the kinematic model of the rotational speed of the two input shafts and the steering radius of the wheel-track composite vehicle was obtained. Finally, according to the test data, the mathematical model of rotational speeds of the two input shafts and the actual steering radius of the vehicle was obtained by neural network fitting, and the maximum relative error between the model results and the actual steering radius value was 3.53%. The combination of power differential steering mechanism and wheel-track composite unmanned vehicle increased the adhesion with the ground and could better adapt to the complex road environment. In conclusion, the unmanned vehicle had the advantages of continuous radius steering, deceleration and torsion increase, differential lock, etc. It was suitable for all-terrain military and civilian vehicles and various special equipment mobile platforms of the walking device, and the research results could provide theoretical references for the steering control and structural optimization of the wheel-track composite vehicle under the environment of complex road surface.

Rather high speed of modern water bikes that they develop using only human muscle power increases their popularity. For example, the maximum speed of prototypes reaches the value 3 m/s. Similar vehicles can be used not only for recreation and fitness, but also for transportation. To increase their speed and tonnage, we recommend improving the pontoon shape and using electrical power. The total drag and maximal speeds of the vehicles with the human muscle and electrical power are estimated. Expected success in improving the pontoon shape opens wide prospects for the use of these special shaped hulls in shipbuilding.

Vernacular architecture constitutes a rich source of information and ancestral knowledge that can become a key resource for sustainable development through its passive design strategies, which effectively respond to local climatic and weather conditions using locally sourced materials for the construction of its supporting structure and enveloping elements, as well as spatial organization and the incorporation of a buffer area (patio) that optimize the use of renewable resources. This qualitative study analyzes a traditional housing typology with a central patio located in the Historic Center of Azogues city, Ecuador, to evaluate its interior thermal comfort through in-situ monitoring in the different building spaces. Using the open-source software Open Studio and EnergyPlus, a simulation model was built to assess the annual thermal performance of the house. Field records were used to verify the effectiveness of the strategies that respond to the climatic conditions of the area. The analysis carried out on the passive strategies used in the selected house with regard to natural ventilation, solar protection, and thermal insulation, which depend on various aspects of the building, such as its location, internal space arrangement, design of openings (doors and windows), among others. The thermal simulations reveal that the traditional house located in the Historic Center of Azogues city is well adapted to the local climate, although interior thermal comfort is not entirely satisfactory.

The implications related to the fight against alien organisms often affect different sectors, from the economic to the landscape one or from the public health to the ecological one. This paper is an upgrade of our previous study focused on the evolution of the red palm weevil in a coastal urban area (central Italy); we investigate the evolution of this parasite in the following period (2013-2020), considering both the effectiveness of the chemicals used and their potential effects. With a multidisciplinary approach, on the one hand we carried out a spatio-temporal analysis to analyze the extent and mode of pest spread over time using historical aerial photos, freely available remote sensing images and field surveys, integrated in a GIS environment, and on the other hand we performed an assessment of the chemical risk associated with the substances used to protect the palms from the red weevil. The fight against weevil is now concentrated in specific areas (parks, relevant roads, villas, hotels, farmhouses, nurseries); the applied preventive chemical treatments are very effective in preserving the palms, but they show a toxic potential for all organisms. We discuss current local management of this pest focusing on the several aspects involve into the fight against this beetle in an urban area.

Coastal flooding exacerbated by climate change is recognised as a major global threat which is expected to impact more than a quarter of people currently residing in Pacific Islands countries. While most research in the last decade has focused on understanding the dynamics and impacts of future coastal flooding from extreme sea levels, relative sea level rise (RSLR) effects on tsunami hazards are not well understood. Far-field or distant-sourced tsunamis tend to have relatively lower impacts in Pacific Island states compared with locally sourced events, but there is limited understanding on how the impact of far-field tsunamis changes over time due to RSLR. Using the hydrodynamics software BG-Flood, we modelled the Tōhoku tsunami from propagation to inundation in Samoa under incremental SLR to examine the effects that RSLR has on changing the exposure of the built environment (e.g., buildings) to a far-field tsunami. Outputs of maximum tsunami inundation and flow depth intensities which incorporate incremental SLR were then combined with digital representations of buildings and depth-damage functions in the RiskScape multi-hazard risk modelling software to assess the changes in building exposure over time. Results indicate that present day buildings exposure in Samoa to a Tōhoku-oki type far-field tsunami will increase by approx. 600% with 1 m RSLR by 2080–2130, and approx. 2,350% with 2 m RSLR by 2130–2140. These findings provide a useful baseline for tsunami hazard risk assessment under changing sea level conditions in analogous island environments.

The implementation of One Health/EcoHealth/Planetary Health approaches has been identified as key (i) to address the strong interconnections between risk for pandemics, climate change and biodiversity loss, and (ii) to develop and implement solutions to these interlinked crises. As a response to the multiple calls of scientists in that direction, we have put forward seven long term research questions regarding COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) that are based on an effective integration of environmental, ecological, evolutionary, and social sciences to better anticipate and mitigate EIDs. Research needs cover the social-ecology of infectious disease agents, their evolution, the determinants of susceptibility of humans and animals to infections, and the human and ecological factors accelerating infectious disease emergence. For comprehensive investigation, they include the development of nature-based solutions to interlinked global planetary crises, addressing ethical and philosophical questions regarding the relationship of humans to nature and regarding transformative changes to safeguard the environment and human health. In support of this research, we propose the implementation of innovative multidisciplinary facilities embedded in social-ecosystems locally: the “ecological health observatories” and the “living laboratories”. This work has been carried out in the frame of the EC project HERA (www.HERAresearchEU.eu) that aims to set the priorities for an environment, climate and health research agenda in the EU by adopting a systemic approach in the face of global environmental change.

The world is looking towards organizations for social responsibility to contribute to a sustainable environment. Employees’ organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) is a voluntary environmental-oriented behavior that is important for organizations’ environmental performance. Based on social learning theory, the study examined the effects of responsible leadership in connection with OCBE by using a sample of 520 employees of manufacturing and service sector including engine manufacturing, petroleum plants banking and insurance sector organizations of China. Further, the role of psychological ownership and employee environmental commitment were used as mediators and moderators simultaneously. The direct, mediation, and moderation model results exposed a positive relationship between responsible leadership and OCBE via employee psychological ownership and employee environmental commitment. The study also revealed that the indirect effect is stronger when employees hold higher employee environmental commitment. The theoretical and practical implications for environmental sustainability in respect of organizations as well as future research directions are discussed.

The horse chestnut leaf miner Cameraria ohridella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is an invasive pest of horse chestnut and has spread through Europe since 1985. The horse chestnut leaf blotch Guignardia aesculi (Botryosphaeriales: Botryosphaeriaceae) is a fungal disease that also seriously damages horse chestnut trees in Europe. The interaction between the leaf miner and the fungus has not yet been sufficiently described. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess leaf damage inflicted to horse chestnut by both C. ohridella and G. aesculi during the vegetation season and to model their interaction. The damage to leaf area was measured monthly from May to September 2013 in České Budějovice, the Czech Republic. A simple phenomenological model describing the expected dynamics of the two species was developed. The study revealed a significant effect of sampling site and sampling period on the damage caused by both the pest and the fungus. The mathematical model indicates that infestation by C. ohridella is more affected by G. aesculi than vice versa. The possible mechanisms affecting the relationship between G. aesculi and C. ohridella are discussed.

The potential of the Additive Manufacturing technologies is impeded by the surface finish obtained on the as-manufactured material. Therefore, the influence of various surface treatments, commonly applied to space hardware, on the mechanical properties of three selected metallic alloys (SS316L, AlSi10Mg, Ti6Al4V) prepared by using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Electron Beam Melting (EBM) additive manufacturing processes have been investigated. Within this study, SLM using EOS M400 and EOS M280 equipment and in addition EBM using an ARCAM Q20 machine have been applied for sample manufacturing. A half-automated shot-peening process followed by a chemical and/or electrochemical polishing or Hirtisation® process has been applied in order to obtain lower surface roughness compared to their as-received states. Special emphasize has been taken on their tensile, fatigue, and fracture toughness properties. In addition, their stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviour including microstructural analysis using HR-SEM have been investigated.

CASBEE-City tool determines the city’s Built Environment Efficiency (BEE) by calculating the improvement of Quality of Life (Q) over human activities’ Environmental Load (L) within the city’s hypothetical boundary. A total of 58 variables (57 Q indicators and one variable for L) are used in the worldwide version of CASBEE-City which were grounded using ISO 37120:2014 Sustainable Development of Communities and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (UN). This paper examines the application of CASBEE-City for Malaysian cities using the case of Johor Bahru City and identifies assessment indicators which are customised based on the data availability, reliability and suitability through focus group discussions (FGDs) which involved 36 respondents (researchers, urban planners and stakeholders). This paper reveals Johor Bahru with moderate score B+ in 2010 and 2025. Consensus were also achieved from the 36 FGD respondents for the practicability and future potential of CASBEE-City and BEE framework in Johor Bahru.

Depending on human body conditions and environmental conditions, it is sometimes difficult to conduct subject experiments. In such cases, it is effective to use a thermal manikin. There are few studies that investigate the effect of the non-uniform and asymmetric outdoor thermal environment on the mean skin temperature. The purpose of this study is to clarify the influence of the non-uniform and asymmetric thermal radiation of short-wavelength solar radiation in an outdoor environment on the calculation of the mean skin temperature. The skin temperature of the front of the coronal surface, which was facing the sun and where the body received direct short-wavelength solar radiation, and the skin temperature of the rear of the coronal surface, which was in the shadow and did not receive direct short-wavelength solar radiation were respectively measured. The feet, upper arm, forearm, hand and lower leg, which are susceptible to short-wavelength solar radiation in a standing posture, had a noticeable difference in skin temperature between sites in the sun and in shade. The mean skin temperature of sites facing the sun was significantly higher than the mean skin temperature of those in the shade.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of technology configuration capability on the relationship between strategic flexibility and organizational performance through different stages of technological life cycle. Through the empirical research on the 439 Chinese high-tech organizations, it shows that a technological configuration capability has enhanced the effect of strategic flexibility to the organizational performance in the complex dynamic environment. However, the impact on the different stages of technological life cycle is different. In addition, this paper explored strategic flexibility on different stages of technological life cycle on the basis of empirical study.

The early-mid Paleocene Farewell Formation is stratigraphically distributed across the southern Taranaki Basin (STB) which is also encountered within the Maui Gas Field. Using available 3D seismic and well log data, a challenging task to delineate the spatial distribution and geobody patterns of the potential reservoir sands of the formation was performed. Object based modeling coupled with sequential indicator simulation were used to analyze the spatial distribution of facies configuration and a conceptual model was developed based on the outputs from the structurally- modeled grids. The facies modeling followed a hierarchical object-based mechanism which was set to perform with constraints like channel geometry and heterogeneity within the formation. The resultant 3D geobody model showed that the distributary channels, mainly braided geobodies flowed from northeast cutting through several regional normal-fault systems to the southwest. Overbank facies was adhered to the fringe of the channels whereas the floodplain facies was at the periphery of the model. Meandering channel-sand facies were mostly observed at the center of the model flowing in a more random manner, occupying major flow directions of northwest to southwest and southeast to northwest within the model.

Urban development and planning are increasingly centered on matters of sustainability, balancing economic development with ecosystem services and biotic structures within urban environments. In addition to these institutional and structural factors, the decision-making process within individual households must be understood to address rising concerns about water use. Therefore, individual characteristics and preferences that influence the use of water also warrant examination. In response to a survey of occupants of single-family residences in the Fresno Clovis Metropolitan Area of California, contextual interviews and focus group interviews with a homeowner sub-sample, we find evidence of an interplay of social-structural, institutional, and cultural factors involved in influencing individual water use behaviors and landscape decision making. The complexity of residential behaviors and decision-making poses some potential issues with regards to the interactions between individual households and institutional actors in matters of water usage and landscaping, as survey respondents indicate relatively little confidence in institutions and groups to make wise water policy decisions. We conclude that the promotion and implementation of sustainable water use practices will require not only environmental education for the citizenry, but also a tailoring of information for environmental educational initiatives that address the particularities of individual neighborhoods and communities.

Riparian zones represent ecotones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are of utmost importance to biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Modelling/mapping of these valuable and fragile areas is needed for an improved ecosystem management, based on an accounting of changes and on monitoring of their functioning in time. In Europe, the main legislative driver behind this goal is the European Commission’s Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, on one hand aiming at reducing biodiversity loss, on the other hand enhancing ecosystem services by 2020, and restoring them as far as feasible. A model, based on Earth Observation data, including Digital Elevation Models, hydrological, soil, land cover/land use data, and vegetation indices is employed in a multi-modular and stratified approach, based on fuzzy logic and object based image analysis, to delineate potential, observed and actual riparian zones. The approach is designed in an open modular way, allowing future modifications and repeatability. The results represent a first step of a future monitoring and assessment campaign for European riparian zones and their implications on biodiversity and on ecosystem functions and services. Considering the complexity and the enormous extent of the area, covering 39 European countries, including Turkey, the level of detail is unprecedented. Depending on the accounting modus, 0.95%–1.19% of the study area can be attributed as actual riparian area (considering Strahler’s stream orders 3-8, based on the Copernicus EU-Hydro dataset), corresponding to 55,558–69.128 km². Similarly depending on the accounting approach, the potential riparian zones are accounted for about 3-5 times larger. Land cover/land use in detected riparian areas was mainly of semi-natural characteristics, while the potential riparian areas are predominately covered by agriculture, followed by semi-natural and urban areas.

The feeling of beauty is one of the positive human feelings. In architecture and design, it is associated with forms appropriate to their purpose. The usefulness of products to meet needs is also important. They are well received by users. The task of designers is to achieve perfection in their work. The rational design and use of artificial living environments are expressions of concern for natural resources (sustainable environment). These issues are addressed, i.e., by an interdisciplinary initiative of the New European Bauhaus. The aim of the paper is to expand knowledge about beauty and utility. They are important when choosing mass-produced goods. The article uses research methods: interpretive research, analyses, comparisons, logical argumentation, etc. Experimental qualitative research using a checklist was used. The results expand the knowledge on the selected topic and research scope of the research of the paper. The survey can be used to rationally evaluate architecture, interiors, and design facilities. It can be helpful for various aesthetic and functional strategies dedicated to different users. The paper demonstrates the role of beauty and functionality in the built environment. They are analyzed in the context of social and technical conditions, as well as contemporary sustainable design

Biodiversity conservation is a key factor in meeting sustainable development goals. This is even more important in cities, where green spaces are becoming increasingly scarce. This study analyzes the Kinshasa's proliferating ornamental plant nurseries, known as informal horticultural sites (IHS). The analysis focused on characterizing the profile of horticulturists, their production conditions and the ornamental species produced. Fifteen IHSs were sampled using the "snowball" technique, and 178 horticulturists were surveyed. Based on the socio-professional profile of the horticulturists, five groups of IHS are distinguished after a hierarchical classification on principal components. We found that IHSs exclusively employed men, most of whom were new to the trade, from all levels of education, and most of whom ranged from 19 to 45 years old. Production conditions are relatively similar from one site to another. However, all IHS are characterized by permanent land insecurity, the use of phytosanitary products, plant conditioning methods that are not very diversified and calibrated to growers' investment capacities, and diversified seed acquisition methods. A total of 139 ornamental species, most of them exotic, were identified. Of these, 37% are phanerophytes and 24% are considered potentially invasive. We suggest ways of professionalizing the activity and protecting the urban environment.

Urban mobility and sustainable transportation are fundamental for the European Union's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The EU encourages national governments to prioritize zero-emission urban transport systems that emphasize safety, accessibility, and inclusiveness. Promoting walking plays a fundamental role in sustainable urban mobility, offering advantages such as emission reduction, better air quality, and enhanced public health. Recent research underscores the importance of creating appealing and safe pedestrian environments to encourage walking. These efforts align with the United Nations' Agenda 2030 sustainability goals, particularly Objective 11, which aims to build inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities and communities. This paper explores the factors influencing pedestrians' willingness to walk and categorizes them into four main groups: Physical Characteristics, Comfort, Safety, and Attractiveness. Significantly, the study reveals that the importance of these factors varies based on demographics, mainly the age of the users. Understanding these factors and their relative significance for pedestrian satisfaction is crucial for shaping effective policies and urban planning strategies aimed at promoting sustainable mobility. By prioritizing pedestrian satisfaction and addressing the specific needs and preferences of diverse groups, cities can create more walkable and environmentally friendly urban environments. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners working toward EU climate-neutral objectives and enhancing the well-being of citizens.

Capturing and storing CO2 (CCS) was once regarded as a significant, urgent, and required option for reducing the emissions of CO2 from coal and oil and gas industries and mitigating the serious impacts of CO2 on the atmosphere and the environment. This recognition came about as a result of extensive research conducted in the past. The CCS cycle comes to a close with the last phase of CO2 storage, which is accomplished primarily by the adsorption of CO2 in the ocean and injection of CO2 subsurface reservoir formation, in addition to the formation of limestone by the process of CO2 reactivity with reservoir formation minerals through injectivities. CCS is the last stage in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) cycle and is accomplished chiefly via oceanic and subterranean geological sequestration, as well as mineral carbonation. The injection of supercritical CO2 into geological formations disrupts the sub-surface's existing physical and chemical conditions; changes can occur in the pore fluid pressure, temperature state, chemical reactivity, and stress distribution of the reservoir rock. This paper aims at advancing our current knowledge in CO2 injection and storage systems particularly CO2 storage methods and the challenges encountered during the implementation of each method and analyses on how key uncertainties in CCS can be reduced. CCS sites are essentially unified systems; yet, given the scientific context, these storage systems are typically split during scientific investigations based on the physics and spatial scales involved. Separating the physics by using the chosen system as a boundary condition is a strategy that works effectively for a wide variety of physical applications. Unfortunately, the separation technique does not accurately capture the behaviour of the larger important system in the case of water and gas flow in porous media. This is due to the complexity of geological subsurface systems, which prevents the approach from being able to effectively capture the behaviour of the larger relevant system. This consequently gives rise to different CCS technology with different applications, costs and social and environmental impacts. The findings of this study can help improve understanding of selecting a suitable CCS application method and can further improve the efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions and their environmental impact, promoting the process sustainability and helping to tackle some of the most important issues that human being is currently accounting global climate change. Though this technology has already had large-scale development for the last decade, some issues and uncertainties are identified. Special attention was focused on the basic findings achieved in CO2 storage operational projects to date. The study has demonstrated that though a number of CCS technology has been researched and implemented to date, choosing a suitable and acceptable CCS technology is still daunting in terms of its technological application, cost-effectiveness and socio-environmental acceptance.

Food insecurity is a pervasive issue for Allegheny County as one in five residents experience food insecurity. Food insecurity is linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease and hypertension and disproportionately affects women in the United States, particularly women who are head of household. There are multiple dimensions used to measure regional food insecurity, one of which is food accessibility. Prior research has examined the linkages between food access and food insecurity, and this study aims to further explore the relationship between equitable access to sustainable food and levels of regional food insecurity. This study examines food outlets in Allegheny County to determine if there is a significant relationship between food outlet availability and food insecurity. Both the presence and accessibility of these food outlets were examined. To measure accessibility, the walking distance to the nearest public transportation stop was calculated for each public transportation stop. The minimum distance to each food outlet was compared to food insecurity rates on a Census Tract level. Results showed that communities without grocery stores did, on average, have higher rates of food insecurity. Also, communities with a higher proportion of female-headed households experienced greater food insecurity, regardless of access to food outlets. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the distance from public transportation stops to grocery stores and rates of food insecurity. Based on these findings, we suggest that sole reliance on distance as an indicator of food insecurity can be misleading, and there should be a greater focus on walkability within the community as using opposed to physical distance alone.

There are strong indications that the built environment intertwines consistently with the advent of Covid-19 and the need for post-disaster recovery. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has exerted adverse effects on both human and global developments; while the efforts to combat this menace call for an integrated human social capital index. This research seeks to adequately enhance the comprehension of how the built environment can be enhanced through resilience in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study's goal is to investigate the impact of a resilient built environment on increasing resilience in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Overall, the quantitative study test the impact of four built environments resilience indices (Built Environment capitals; Disaster management indices, Awareness of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and Built Environment adaptive strategies) on Human social capital and Covid-19 pandemic Indices. This study reveals the role of human social capital in achieving a resilient built environment in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic in Nigeria. Also, built environment capitals, disaster management indices, and awareness on the Covid-19 have indirect effects on Covid-19 pandemic indices through the human social capital. The implication of the study is useful for Post-Covid 19 recovery; which is important for future planning of the built environment in Nigeria.

Telemedicine and remote survey of physiological parameters may significantly increase the health and safety of people working in extreme environmental conditions, like firefighters, maintain rescuers, soldiers, and others. We highlight this problem and give an overview of the historical development and the actual status of systems available. Ruggedized systems, as small, lightweight, and flexible as possible, are needed to optimize the goal of increasing occupational health and safety of persons at risk and maximizing their performance during missions.

Carbon subsurface storage (CSS) has already been recognised as a critical, urgent, and essential method for reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions and mitigating the severe effects of climate change. CSS is the last stage in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) cycle and is accomplished chiefly via oceanic and subterranean geological sequestration, as well as mineral carbonation. The injection of supercritical CO2 into geological formations causes a disruption in the subsurface's existing physical and chemical conditions; changes can occur in the pore fluid pressure, temperature state, chemical reactivity, and stress distribution of the reservoir rock. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review on the current advances in CSS, particularly CO2 storage methods and the challenges encountered during the implementation of each methods and analyses on how key uncertainties in CSS can be reduce. CSS sites are essentially unified systems; yet, given the scientific context, these systems are typically split during scientific investigations based on the physics and temporal/spatial scales involved. Separating the physics by using the system as a boundary condition is a strategy that works effectively for a wide variety of physical applications. Unfortunately, the separation technique does not accurately capture the behaviour of the larger important system in the case of water and gas flow in porous media. This is due to the complexity of geological subsurface systems, which prevents the approach from being able to effectively capture the behaviour of the larger relevant system. This consequently give rise to different CSS methods. A good CSS application method can further improve the efficiency of greenhouse gas emission and their environmental impact, promoting the process sustainability and helping to tackle some of the most important issues that human being is currently accounting, global climate change. Though this technology is already large-scale development for the last decade, some issues and uncertainties are identified. Special attention was focused on the basic findings achieved in CO2 storage operational projects to date.

Material selection for product design is a complex task. Thus, one of the objectives of this work is to analyze, understand and promote the importance of selection of materials to conceive quality products with help of designers' that promote green self-identity in the early stage of the conception of new products. A questionnaire was sent to professional designers and engineers. 38 responses were validated, this being the sample of our study. The aspects that influence the complex selection of materials and the final quality of the products through the design and production process is presented. As a result of the answers carried out with product designers who work in the market, with students who are graduating and with some engineers, a new approach for the selection of materials was developed. Based on a collection of main ideas from traditional and non-traditional methods of material selection, seeking to group the maximum requirements of both methods, inspired by the "Canvas" model on the basic modular methodology, a new model for a project of new product is presented. Our study focuses on the selection of materials, since this aspect is one of the most relevant steps in early stage of the prototyping phase of new products, with a view to reducing CO² from the air in the atmosphere that we all breathe. The classification of materials is complex, due to the diversity of available options. The novelty of this model is that all properties of the newly designed product, such as technical, aesthetic, productive, environmental and other properties, are all grouped in a model, which serves as an innovative support. Thus, the designer has at his disposal a tool that can help him in the selection of the best material for the products he designs. This study intends to make a contribution in the field of material selection, quality and design of new products, promoting a green self-identity for designers in the initial phase of product design. Consequently, all consumers in search of a sustainable planet will profit from it.

The metro station ridership features are associated significantly with the built environment factors of the pedestrian catchment area surrounding metro stations. The existing studies have focused on the impact on total ridership at metro stations, ignoring the impact on varying patterns of metro station ridership. Therefore, the reasonable identification of metro station categories and built environment factors affecting the varying patterns of ridership in different categories of stations is very important for metro construction. In this study, we developed a data-driven framework to examine the relationship between varying patterns of metro station ridership and built environment factors in these areas. By leveraging smart card data, we extracted the dynamic characteristics of ridership and utilized hierarchical clustering and K-means clustering to identify diverse patterns of metro station ridership, and finally identified six main ridership patterns. We then developed a new built environment measurement framework and adopted multinomial logistic regression analysis to explore the association between ridership patterns and built environment factors. (1) The clustering analysis result revealed that six station types were classified based on varying patterns of passenger flow, representing distinct functional characteristics. (2) The regression analysis indicated that diversity, density, and location factors were significantly associated with most station function types, while destination accessibility was only positively associated with employment-oriented type station, and centrality was only associated with employment-oriented hybrid type station. These results could inform the coordinated development of rail transit and land use, and the renewal and enhancement of the built environment in the pedestrian catchment area surrounding metro stations.

Red mud (RM) is a residue obtained from the production of alumina. It contains a high concentration of metal oxides and waste concentrated sodium hydroxide solution (pH = 13). To increase the value of RM, an environmentally friendly process of transesterification using waste cooking oil (WCO), MeOH and concentrated sodium hydroxide solution (CSHS) from aluminum production was proposed. Triglycerides of WCO reacted with MeOH at 60 oC to yield mixtures of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) in the presence of 2.03% (w/w) CSHS/WCO using the CSHS (0.204 mol L-1, predetermined by potentiometric titration) from aluminum production by the Bayer process or with the addition of 0.68% (w/w) fabric softener (3% w/w cetyltrimethylammonium chloride in solution) as a phase transfer (PTA) agent. The addition of PTA to the catalyst resulted in a better yield of the products (greater than 98% yield). A simplified mechanism is presented to account for the experimental results.

Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are the most commonly diagnosed neurodegenerative disorders. Though these disorders differ in terms of their underlying pathophysiology as well as in their clinical features and course, there is a certain degree of overlap between them. This overlap may be partly related to α-synuclein-mediated neuropathological changes. Recent evidence has found that depression is associated with an increased subsequent risk of both these neurological disorders, and that α-synuclein may also play a pathogenic role in depression. The current study examines epidemiological, population genetic and environmental exposure data in relation to the estimated prevalence of depressive disorders, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease using a cross-sectional, country-level analysis. The results of this study are consistent with a significant relationship between depressive disorders and neurodegenerative disorders, a possible shared genetic vulnerability related to functional polymorphisms of the α-synuclein gene SNCA, and potential gene-environment interactions involving fine particulate matter pollution. The significance of these results is discussed in the light of existing translational, clinical and epidemiological research on the links between these disorders.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is increasingly recognized as a complex metabolic disorder that manifests in genetically susceptible women following a range of negative exposures to nutritional and environmental factors related to contemporary lifestyle. The hypothesis that PCOS phenotypes are derived from a mismatch between ancient genetic survival mechanisms and modern lifestyle practices is supported by a diversity of research findings. The proposed evolutionary model of the pathogenesis of PCOS incorporates evidence related to evolutionary theory, genetic studies, in-utero developmental epigenetic programming, transgenerational inheritance, metabolic features including insulin resistance, obesity and the apparent paradox of lean phenotypes, reproductive effects and subfertility, the impact of the microbiome and dysbiosis, endocrine disrupting chemical exposure, and the influence of lifestyle factors such as poor quality diet and physical inactivity. Based on these premises, the diverse lines of research are synthesized into a composite evolutionary model of the pathogenesis of PCOS. It is hoped that this model will assist clinicians and patients to understand the importance of lifestyle interventions in the prevention and management of PCOS and provide a conceptual framework for future research. It is appreciated that this theory represents a synthesis of the current evidence and that it is expected to evolve and change over time.

Virtual Reality(VR) is an emerging technology with a broad range of application in training, entertainment, and business. To maximize the potentials of virtual reality as a medium, the unwelcome feeling of simulation sickness needs to be minimized. Even with advancements in VR, the usability concerns are barriers for a wide-spread acceptance. Several factors (hardware, software, human) play a part towards a pleasant VR experience. The reviewed scientific articles are mostly part of documents indexed in digital libraries. In this paper, we review the potential factors which cause simulation sickness and minimize the usability of virtual reality systems. We review the best practices from a developer’s perspective and some of the safety measures a user must follow while using the VR systems from existing research. Even after following some of the guidelines and best practices VR environments do not guarantee a pleasant experience for users. Limited research in VR environments towards requirement specification, design, and development for maximum usability and adaptability was the main motive for this work.

Cryonotothenioidea is the main group of fishes that thrive in the extremely cold Antarctic environment, thanks to the acquisition of peculiar morphological, physiological and molecular adaptations. We have previously disclosed that IgM, the main immunoglobulin isotype in teleosts, display typical cold-adapted features. Recently, we have analyzed the gene encoding the heavy chain constant region (CH) of the IgT isotype from the Antarctic teleost Trematomus bernacchii (family Nototheniidae), characterized by the near-complete deletion of the CH2 domain. Here, we aimed to track the loss of the CH2 domain along notothenioid phylogeny and to identify its ancestral origins. To this end, we obtained the IgT gene sequences from several species belonging to the Antarctic families Nototheniidae, Bathydraconidae and Artedidraconidae. All species display a CH2 remnant of variable size, encoded by a short Cτ2 exon, which retains functional splicing sites and therefore is included in the mature transcript. We also considered representative species from the three non-Antarctic families: Eleginopsioidea (Eleginops maclovinus), Pseudaphritioidea (Pseudaphritis urvillii) and Bovichtidae (Bovichtus diacanthus and Cottoperca gobio). Even though only E. maclovinus, the sister taxa of Cryonotothenioidea, shared the partial loss of Cτ2, the other non-Antarctic notothenioid species displayed early molecular signatures of this event. These results shed light on the evolutionary path that underlies the origins of this remarkable gene structural modification.

The commitment of the EU to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is projected in the EU law about annual reporting by businesses. Since EU member states further develop this framework by their own domestic laws, annual reporting with CSR information is not unified and just partially mandatory in the EU. Do all European businesses report CSR information and what public declaration to society do they provide with it? The main dual purpose of this paper is identifying the parameters of this annual reporting duty and studying the CSR information provided by the ten largest Czech companies in their annual statements for 2013-2017. Based on legislative research and the teleological interpretation, the current EU legislative framework with Czech particularities is presented and, via a case study exploring 50 annual reports, the data about the type, extent and depth of the CSR is dynamically and comparatively assessed. It appears that, at a minimum, large Czech businesses satisfy their legal duty and e-report on CSR in a similar extent, but in dramatically different quality. Employee matters and adherence to international standards are used as a public declaration to society more than the data on environmental protection, while social matters and R&D are played down.

We estimated the daily intakes of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin via ingestion of indoor dust and outdoor soils using the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Model on a probabilistic approach for Taiwan’s homes. Variable information for the daily intake estimation, such as concentration, ingestion rate, body weight, was adopted from previous studies. Monte Carlo simulation was performed with 1,000,000 iterations to simulate a single daily intake, which was shown in terms of percentage of the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of either insecticide. The daily intakes were minimal with a 99% probability; at 99.9th percentile, however, the total intakes leaped to 13.1% and 20.0% of the respective ADIs of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin. The sensitivity analysis indicated that concentration was the most determinant variable. Compared to the data of daily intakes via dietary ingestion of vegetables derived from a previous study, the estimated intakes by this study were considerable at the highest percentile, which referred to insecticide residues few days after insecticide application. Consequently, the non-dietary ingestion exposure to either insecticide was negligible in most cases; nevertheless, for those with indoor insecticide applications, the daily intakes for young children could be of concern. Frequently home cleaning is recommended to reduce the exposure.

: This study aimed to validate the effects of self-compassion-based forest healing therapy as an intervention for reducing stress and promoting coping resources. Therefore, we investigated the effects of self-compassion-based forest healing therapy on stress, self-compassion, and connectedness to nature. A total of 30 participants were divided into an experimental and control group. Two sessions of forest healing meditation activities were held at the Forest of Healing every two weeks between October and November 2023. As a repeated measures experiment, data were collected before the intervention, after the first intervention, and after the second intervention. Perceived stress, positive and negative affect, and salivary cortisol were measured to assess physiological and psychological stress in participants. Connectedness to nature and self-compassion were measured to evaluate stress-coping resources. The results showed that the forest healing program had significant positive effects on stress and emotional states in the experimental group after the intervention. Further, there was a significant incremental effect on connectedness to nature and self-compassion in the experimental group. Therefore, self-compassion meditation-based forest healing therapy is a feasible and efficient approach for facilitating stress management and coping resource building.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected not only individuals but also families. The purpose of this study was to clarify the temporal changes in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on entire families with older adults susceptible to infection living on small islands in Japan over the duration of the pandemic. Family ethnographic research was conducted from 2021 to 2023, using the Concentric Sphere Family Environment Theory as the theoretical framework. Formal interviews were conducted with 20 families. In addition, data from informal interviews, participant observation and other sources were compiled into field notes. All data on the impact on the entire family were extracted and content analysis was conducted. Five categories and a total of 85 subcategories were extracted. The results show that COVID-19 exerted not only negative but also positive impacts on the entire family, and their temporal changes are clarified. The impact on families is believed to have been influenced by the family external environment, such as increases and decreases of infection cases or events that occurred outside the family. The knowledge acquired from these studies will help healthcare professionals in providing appropriate family support.

Current and dynamic developments in green technologies have led to several innovation practices in the manufacturing sector only to become the top approaches used for achieving and accelerating sustainable development (SD) in the current business markets. In addition, manufacturing firms is in need of green innovation to be able to monitor and control their operations and enhance their environmental performance. However, regardless of its many benefits, the level of green innovation adoption and implementation is still lower than expected among manufacturing industries. Thus, this study aimed to minimize the gap by developing and validating a study model underpinned by Resource based view and Institutional theories, along with the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework in combination to convince firms to adopt green innovation. The study gathered data from 179 respondents using a survey distributed to manufacturing firms, after which data was exposed to Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, for analysis. Based on the approach deliverables, all the integrated constructs of the model, namely perceived benefits, top management support, coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure all predicted green management accounting practices. Moreover, green management accounting practices were found to directly and significantly affect green environmental performance. The developed integrated model provides a clear implication to decision-makers, indicating the importance of adopting and using green practices and innovative technologies for enhancing environmental performance. Based on the results from the reviewed advanced green technologies studies, there is considerable connection between green management accounting practices and environmental performance in the context of developing economies.

A claim management office (CMO) is a new intra-organisation fit based on an organisational project management (OPM) approach and deals specifically with improving claim performance. However, CMO is either misunderstood or often overlooked in construction companies, mainly due to ignorance of the OPM context but further exacerbated by a lack of real case study research on how to adopt CMO in these organisations. This study addresses this prevailing knowledge gap by investigating the nature of the construction industry from the CMO viewpoint and developing an extensive framework through which to improve organisational claims performance. Organisational ambidexterity theory integrated with X-inefficiency theory is adopted for claims performance outcomes, due to organisation intra-firm irrational decisions when managing such claims. Data was obtained and analysed from a international large construction company (which used CMOs) and its internal focus group discussion (as a multi-method approach). The reference framework provides new perspectives on how construction-related companies can adopt a CMO structure, which enables them to improve claims performance by planning in three interrelated activities viz. function-, process- and performance-based-. Furthermore, findings contribute to researchers and practitioners by providing a true understanding of the CMO-related mechanism and plausible roadmap for future work.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is increasingly being characterized as an evolutionary mismatch disorder that presents with a complex mixture of metabolic and endocrine symptoms. The Evolutionary Model proposes that PCOS arises from a collection of inherited polymorphisms that have been consistently demonstrated in a variety of ethnic groups and races. In-utero developmental programming of susceptible genomic variants are thought to predispose the offspring to develop PCOS. Postnatal exposure to lifestyle and environmental risk factors results in epigenetic activation of developmentally programmed genes and disturbance of the hallmarks of health. The resulting pathophysiological changes represent the consequences of poor-quality diet, sedentary behaviour, endocrine disrupting chemicals, stress, circadian disruption, and other lifestyle factors. Emerging evidence suggests that lifestyle-induced gastrointestinal dysbiosis plays a central role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Lifestyle and environmental exposures initiate changes that result in disturbance of the gastrointestinal microbiome (dysbiosis), immune dysregulation (chronic inflammation), altered metabolism (insulin resistance), endocrine and reproductive imbalance (hyperandrogenism), and central nervous system dysfunction (neuroendocrine, autonomic nervous system). PCOS can be a progressive metabolic condition that leads to obesity, gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. This review explores the mechanisms that underpin the evolutionary mismatch between ancient survival pathways and contemporary lifestyle factors involved in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of PCOS.

The interactions between work and personal life are important for ensuring well-being especially during COVID-19 where the lines between work and home are blurred. Work-life interference/imbalance can result in work-related burnout, which has been shown to have negative effects on faculty members’ physical and psychological health. Although our understanding of burnout has advanced considerably in recent years, little is known about the effects of burnout on nursing faculty turnover intentions and career satisfaction. Thus, this study aimed to test a hypothesized model examining the effects of work-life inference on nursing faculty burnout (emotional exhaustion and cynicism), turnover intentions and ultimately, career satisfaction. A predictive cross-sectional design was used. An online national survey of nursing faculty members was administered throughout Canada in Summer 2021. Nursing faculty who held full-time or part-time positions in Canadian academic settings were invited via email to participate in the study. Data was collected from an anonymous survey housed on Qualtrics. Descriptive statistics and reliability estimates were computed. The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. Data suggest that work-life interference significantly increase burnout which contribute to both higher turnover intentions and lower career satisfaction. Turnover intentions in turn was negatively associated with career satisfaction. The findings add to the growing body of literature linking burnout to turnover and dissatisfaction, highlighting key antecedents and/or drivers of burnout among nurse academics. These results provide suggestions for suitable areas for the development of interventions and policies within the organizational structure to reduce the risk of burnout during and post-COVID-19 and improve faculty retention.

China's implementation of public-private partnerships projects has been quite effective, involving infrastructure and other livelihood projects, a total of 19 industries, and an investment of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan. The characteristics of PPP projects such as long construction period and large investment amount determine the risks of PPP projects are also great, and the PPP projects of comprehensive environmental governance are also the same. The government and social capital use the PPP model to cooperate, and use the principal component analysis method to assess the risks of the entire life cycle of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. Therefore, it plays an important role in ensuring the smooth implementation of projects and reducing the losses caused by risks. According to the risk factors of the whole life cycle of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, an indicator system of 5 first-level indicators, 18 second-level indicators, and 43 third-level indicators has been established. Principal component analysis is used to analyze the influence weight of risk factors at each stage. The analysis shows that among the four stages, environmental pollution risk, project approval delay risk, completion risk, interest rate and financial fluctuation risk, and franchise life risk are the most influential risks in the implementation of PPP projects. Therefore, suggestions are made through the risk factors of each stage in the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. For example, strengthen the response to the external environment risks of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, standardize the bidding and procurement of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, and strengthen the subsequent management of the transfer of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. In this way, the ability to resist risks of comprehensive environmental governance PPP projects is improved; the smooth implementation of the project is guaranteed, and the long-term development of comprehensive environmental governance PPP projects is promoted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has great adverse impacts on personal life, the U.S. economy, and the world economy. Freezing all human activities is not a sustainable measure. Thus we want to develop a public intervention framework that allows people to resume personal and economic activities. In this article, we examined transmission routes, disease severity, personal vulnerability, available treatments, and person-person interactions to establish a general public intervention framework. We divide people into risk groups, non-risk group and group that may serve as viral transmitters, explore interactions between individual persons within each group and between different groups, and propose interaction behavior modifications to mitigate viral exposures. For the non-risk groups, we identified preventive measures that can help them avoid the most serious exposures and infections that pose higher death risks. The invention measures for the vulnerable groups include prior-exposure measures, heightened protective measures, interaction behavior changes, post-exposure remedial measures, and multiple factors treatments to reduce death and disability risks. The multiple interventions and two-ways defensive behavior modifications are expected to result in reduced rate of detectable infections and lowered disease severity for the vulnerable groups. In this framework, most human activities and economic activities can continue as normal. With time passing, the population acquires population immunity against the COVID-19 virus. Implementation of this intervention framework requires considerable resources and governmental effects while the multiple factors treatment protocol requires the support of health care professionals.

Immersion in salt-lake solution was adopted to periodically test the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient. The regression analysis was also completed. Also investigated was the time-dependent law of concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient with time. The influence of chloride-ion concentration in solution, water-to-cement ratio, and corrosion time on the largeness and accumulation rate of the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was also analyzed. Test results show that the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient gradually decreased with increasing time and increased with increasing chloride-ion concentration in a salt lake . Taking into account the influence of factors such as water–binder ratio, chloride-ion concentration, and time-varying characteristics, a multi-factor calculation model for the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was established. Combining the prediction results and the measured data reported in this paper, the effectiveness and applicability of the established concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient calculation model were compared and verified, and the durability design and service life of a concrete structure under cool chlorine were compared. The results of analysis provide important boundary conditions.

Health literacy describes skills and competencies that enable people to gain access to, understand and apply health information to positively influence their own health and the health of those in the social environment. In an increasingly media saturated and digitized world, these skill sets are necessary for accessing and navigating sources of health information and tools, such as television, the Internet, and mobile apps. The concepts of Media Health Literacy (MHL) and eHealth Literacy (eHL) describe the specific competencies such tasks require. This article introduces the two concepts, and then reviews findings on the associations of MHL and eHL with several contextual variables in the social environment such as socio-demographics, social support, and system complexity, as a structural variable. As eHL and MHL are crucial for empowering people to actively engage in their own health, a growing body of literature reports of the potential and the effectiveness of intervention initiatives to positively influence these competencies. From an ethical standpoint, equity is emphasized, stressing the importance of accessible media environments for all - including those at risk of exclusion from (digital) media sources. Alignment of micro and macro contextual spheres will ultimately facilitate both non-digital and digital media to effectively support and promote public health.

Contact with nature is suggested to be as an important resource for human health and well-being. Stress alleviation and reduction of mental fatigue are main instances of improvement of human health and well-being in contact with nature. Although the term restoration experience in contact with nature has been used repeatedly for concepts of stress alleviation and reduction of mental fatigue, these refer to different sets of theories and research studies. In this paper, by reviewing the nature-health related theories of Biophilia, Stress Recovery Theory, Attention Restoration Theory and Supportive Environment Theory (SET), the similarities and differences between these two concepts have been discussed. Moreover, the measurement approach instruments based on different study methodologies and aims are provided. This paper could provide information for future studies with focus on factors to be of benefit for restoration experience in design and planning of natural landscape environments with the aim of health and well-being development.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are technologies that provide drivers with essential information or take over difficult and repetitive tasks. They contribute to improving road safety and increasing driving comfort. Apart from the technical development challenges, training and demonstration of ADAS in safe environments are important concerns for automobile manufacturers and suppliers. This paper presents the concept and prototypical implementation of an innovative training station for learning ADAS with driving simulators. The training station has a scalable and modular architecture, so that more than one driving simulator can be connected to a common instructor unit. Fully immersive visualization is provided by utilizing head-mounted displays for the participating driving simulators. The instructor unit consists of a computer with a developed software tool for session control, monitoring, and evaluation. Moreover, the instructor can use a head-mounted display and participate within the same virtual environment of a selected trainee. A simulation model for an autonomous driving system was implemented and a group of test persons were involved to show the usability and validity of the developed training station for ADAS learning and demonstration.

Understanding the genotype x environment (GE) interaction for traget trait is valuable for growers, agronomists, breeders and the seed industry. The objective of this study was to see and explore the genotype x environment interaction for grain yield of wheat to better guide genotype selection and breeding. The genotype main effect and GE interaction effect (GGE) biplots resolved the following three genotypes: 85 (ETW17-377), 82 (ETW17-374) and 13 (ETW17-281) for being the best yielding and stable. The Kulumsa site planted on 4^th of July 2017 (environment 7=E7) and the DebreZeit site on 20^th of July 2017 (E3) were the most effective environments in distinguishing the test genotypes and are thus suitable environments for future evaluation and selection with specific adaptation. Melkasa site planted on 4^th July (E9) was a representative environment where genotypes can be evaluated for wide adpaptation. The genetic covariate biplot indicated that thousand kernel weight (TKW) and plant height (PH) had significant positive associations with grain yield implying the possible concurrent indirect selection of both traits for exploiting GE interaction for grain yield of wheat.

With the constant growth of Software Defined Radio (SDR) technologies in wireless communications related fields the need for efficient ways to test and evaluate the Physical Layer (PHY) protocols developed for these technologies in real life traffic scenarios become more critical. This paper proposes a software testbed that enhances the creation of network environments that allow feeding GNU Radio applications with test traffic in a simple way and through an interoperable interface. This makes possible the use of any traffic generator, existent one or custom built to evaluate the GNU Radio application. In addition, the paper proposes an efficient way to collect PHY layer specific monitoring data that improves the performance of the critical components of the message delivery path by employing the Protocol Buffers library. The paper considers the entire testing and evaluation ecosystem and demonstrates how PHY layer specific monitoring information is collected, handled, stored, and processed as time series allowing complex visualization and real time monitoring.

The main objective of this paper is to assess pro-environmental behavior, climate change perception, anxiety, hope and despair in different political orientations. Specific aims included to validate all the instruments; to assess whether the factor structure of the scales were valid across political orientations; to evaluate their reliability; to assess differences concerning age, gender and political orientation; to know the variables that explain pro-environment behavior; and to evaluate the moderating role of climate change perception, despair and hope in the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs), multi-group CFAs (to measurement invariance), multiple linear regressions and moderations were performed. Results showed that pro-environment behavior and climate change hope achieved the four levels of invariance across different political orientations; climate change anxiety achieved the three first levels of invariance; climate change perception and climate change despair achieved configural invariance. Climate change anxiety personal experience, climate change perception total, reality and consequences present higher values in left political orientation that in right or center. Climate change anxiety variables contribute most to explaining pro-environmental behaviors. Hope, despair and climate change perception consequences moderate de relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environment behavior. These results open up new avenues of investigation, namely, to understand why high levels of anxiety lead to more pro-environment al behaviors.

The mobile payment has been emerging as an alternative to cash and credit cards and is rapidly evolving around the world. This study integrated the general model of innovation diffusion theory (IDT) with the technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine the impact of near-field-communication (NFC) mobile payment environment on the restaurant operating performance (ROP). This paper used convenience sampling to distribute questionnaires to restaurant owners and managers in order to investigate the impact of NFC mobile payment environment on ROP. A total of 279 valid questionnaires were collected. The empirical results show that sales growth, cost saving, flexibility, accessibility and trust & safety had significantly positive impacts on ROP. After considering the restaurant size as a moderator for analysis, there are only two constructs- accessibility and trust & safety had significant impacts on ROP. This empirical finding could provide restaurateurs with a reference to improve ROP by increasing the mobile payment environment.

Introduction: The primary objective of researchers in the biology of ageing is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the ageing process while developing practical solutions that can enhance the quality of life for older individuals. This involves a continuous effort to bridge the gap between fundamental biological research and its real-world applications. Purpose: In this narrative review, we attempt to link research findings concerning the hormetic relationship between neurons and germ cells, and translate these findings into clinically relevant concepts. Methods: We conducted a literature search using PubMed, Embase, PLOS, Digital Commons Network, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library from 2000 to 2023, analyzing studies dealing with the relationship between hormetic, cognitive, and reproductive aspects of human ageing. Results: The process of hormesis serves as a bridge between the biology of neuron-germ cell interactions on one hand, and the clinical relevance of these interactions on the other. Details concerning these processes are discussed here, emphasizing new research which strengthens the overall concept. Conclusions: This review presents a scientifically and clinically relevant argument, claiming that maintaining a cognitively active lifestyle may decrease age-related degeneration, and improve overall health in ageing.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the behavior of user-defined avatars in different virtual environments, and compare the differences in public self-awareness, self-expression, and emotional expression among customized avatars in multiple virtual contexts. Methods: Using a between-subjects experimental design, two random groups of participants were asked to customize avatars for themselves in two contexts, a multiplayer online social game (MOSG) and a virtual meeting (VM). i.e. a relaxed and a serious social environment. Results: When subjects perceived a more relaxed environment, the customized avatars had less self-similarity, and the subjects exhibited a stronger self-disclosure willingness and enhanced avatar wishful identification; nevertheless, public self-consciousness was not increased. When subjects perceived a more serious environment, the customized avatars exhibited a higher degree of self-similarity, and the subjects exhibited a greater self-presentation willingness, along with enhanced identification of avatar similarity, and increased public self-consciousness. Conclusions: Participants expressed positive emotions, suggesting that avatars play a positive role in various virtual contexts. The virtual context affects the self-similarity of user-customized avatars, and avatar self-similarity affects self-presentation and self-disclosure willingness, and these factors will affect the behavior of the user-customized avatar. This study contributes suggestions to the Metaverse avatar customization platform design.

By 2020, over 100 countries expanded electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (EV/PHEV) technologies, with global sales surpassing 7 million units. Governments are adopting cleaner vehicle technologies due to proven environmental and health implications of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), evidenced by the recent COP26 meeting. This article proposes an agent-based model of vehicle activity as a tool for quantifying energy consumption by simulating a fleet of EV/PHEVs within an urban street network at various spatio-temporal resolutions. Driver behaviour plays a significant role in fuel consumption, thus, simulating various levels of individual behaviour enhancing heterogeneity should provide more accurate results of potential energy demand in cities. The study found that 1) energy consumption is lowest when speed limit adherence increases (low variance in behaviour) and is highest when acceleration/deceleration patterns vary (high variance in behaviour) and 2) on average, for tested vehicles, EV/PHEVs were £116.33 cheaper to run than ICEVs across all experiment conditions. The difference in the average fuel costs (electricity and petrol) shrinks at the vehicle level as driver behaviour is less varied (more homogeneous). This research should allow policymakers to quantify the demand for energy and subsequent fuel costs in cities.

The ability to monitor Sprained Ankle Rehabilitation Exercises (SPAREs) in home environments can help therapists to ascertain if exercises have been performed as prescribed. Whilst wearable devices have been shown to provide advantages such as high accuracy and precision during monitoring activities, disadvantages such as limited battery life, users' inability to remember to charge and wear the devices are often the challenges for their usage. Also, video cameras, which are notable for high frame rates and granularity, are not privacy-friendly. This paper, therefore, proposes the use and fusion of unobtrusive and privacy-friendly sensing solutions for data collection and processing during SPAREs in home environments. Two Infrared Thermopile Array (ITA-32) thermal sensors and two Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Radar sensors were used to simultaneously monitor 15 healthy participants during SPAREs which involved twisting their ankle in 4-fundamental movement patterns namely (i) extension, (ii) flexion, (iii) eversion and (iv) inversion. Experimental results indicated the ability to identify thermal blobs of participants performing the 4 fundamental movement patterns of the human ankle. Cluster-based analysis of data gleaned from the ITA-32 sensors and the FMCW Radar sensors indicated average classification accuracy of 96.9% with K-Nearest Neighbours, Neural Network, AdaBoost, Decision Tree, Stochastic Gradient Descent and Support Vector Machine, amongst others.

Multiple social and environmental justice concerns are linked to urban form such as the distribution of socioeconomic class populations, healthcare spending, air pollution exposure, and human mobility. This study used 1m resolved LIDAR data to characterize land use in Salt Lake County, Utah and associate it with sociodemographic and air quality data at the census block group and zip code levels. We found that increasing tree cover was associated with higher per capita income and lower minority populations while increasing built cover was linked to lower per capita income and higher minority populations. Air quality showed less strong correlations, however, decreased non irrigated cover, increased built cover, and higher amounts of households living under poverty was related to higher long-term PM2.5 exposure. Several policy efforts have been undertaken to improve air quality and reduce negative health outcomes in Utah which are being informed by regulatory and research grade air quality sensors.

: Following the phenomenal growth of and competition among coffee chain retailers, the coffee chain market has expanded substantially thanks to rising income levels, the increasing young population, and rapidly changing lifestyles. Attracting consumers’ attention and enhancing their loyalty behaviors have become very difficult for coffee chain retailers. This study seeks to understand the mechanisms through which emotions and the dedication-constraint model lead to brand loyalty and willingness to pay more to certain coffee chain retailers. Emotions and the dedication-constraint model are major factors in the research, but few studies have combined them to examine the formation of loyalty behaviors. This study synthesizes emotional responses and the dedication-constraint model to develop a theoretical model. Based on the ambivalent view of emotions, it also examines how positive and negative emotions affect the combination of brand loyalty and willingness to pay more to certain coffee chain retailers. Moreover, it identifies the antecedents of affective and calculative commitments in the context of coffee chain retailers. Our findings indicate that loyalty behaviors (dedication- and constraint-based mechanisms from brand loyalty and willingness to pay more to certain coffee chain retailers), emotional responses, and affective and calculative commitments significantly affect brand loyalty directly and indirectly through both positive and negative emotions. Furthermore, service quality, physical environment quality, and price fairness significantly affect affective commitments, while price fairness significantly affects both affective and calculative commitments. Finally, affective and calculative commitments significantly affect willingness to pay more, both directly and indirectly, through positive emotions and affect it directly through negative emotions. The results’ theoretical and managerial implications and possible future research directions are discussed.

Fluid flow in human body is generally known to influence a variety of cellular behaviors. Different nanoparticle properties as well as cell type, interaction with other cells and cellular environments also show significant effect on nanoparticle uptake and drug efficacy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of shear stress on cellular behaviors of biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles to cancer cells (A549 cell lines) in a biomimetic microfluidic system. We prepared a gelatin-oleic conjugate (GOC) as an amphiphilic biomaterial to prepare self-assembled gelatin-oleic nanoparticles (GON). Coumarin-6 and paclitaxel were used as the fluorescence marker and model drug, respectively, and were loaded into GONs by incubation (C-GONs; PTX-GONs). Additionally, we evaluated the cellular uptake of fluorescence labeled C-GONs and the drug efficacy of PTX-GONs. The cellular uptake of C-GONs by A549 cells in the absence of shear stress revealed that the mean fluorescence intensity was slightly decreased compared to that in the presence of shear stress. The results also indicated that negatively charged PTX-GONs had a lower cancer killing effect under dynamic conditions than that under static conditions. It also suggested that fluidic shear stress did not significantly affect drug uptake and efficiency in case of PTX-GONs. The cellular interactions between nanoparticles and cells in drug delivery should be carefully examined according to the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles such as the type of materials, size and mainly surface charge in a biomimetic microfluidic condition.

The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area containing approximately 40% of the currently identified total coal reserves in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase of mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particle with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. This paper summarises the spatial and temporal variability modes of PM10 pollution in the region, based on long-term multi-site monitoring data and the application of the rotated principal component analysis (RPCA) and wavelet analysis techniques. RPCA identified two distinct air quality clusters/subregions in the valley, one in the west/northwest, the other in the southeast. Wavelet analysis revealed the annual cycle to be most persistent temporal mode of PM10 variability in both subregions, with intermittent signals observed at time scales of around 120, 30~90 and under 30 days. How these variation modes are related to the effects of local PM10 emissions and the influence of meteorology at different time scales deserves further attention in future work. The findings will be used in air quality reporting and forecasting in NSW. The methodology and results can also be useful for air quality research in similar regions elsewhere.

A novel educational platform called Shared Modeling and Simulation Environment (SMSE) was initiated in the ERASMUS+ “CybPhys” project. It integrates the Jupyter platform, including Ju-pyter Notebooks, for e-learning in the STEM field. A novel platform enhances e-learning by combining Moodle with Jupyter's capabilities to create virtual labs. A survey was conducted in the spring of 2023 among bachelor and master students of Chernihiv National Polytechnic Uni-versity aimed to gather feedback from students using SMSE in their e-learning process. Two student groups were involved: one of them consisted of students using SMSE in both the autumn and spring semesters and another represented the students starting with SMSE in the spring se-mester. The survey based on the adjusted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was conducted to understand the acceptance of this e-learning approach. A comprehensive analysis of students’ answers based on the TAM approach revealed the inside of the process of transformation of stu-dents’ perceptions during the acquisition of the SMSE platform. Our research demonstrates that SMSE effectively merges Moodle's online learning capabilities with Jupyter notebooks, provid-ing a flexible and interactive learning experience for both in-class and remote students. It pro-vides a web-based, multifunctional e-learning environment that combines a variety of tools and technologies, giving students the possibility to be involved in all sorts of teaching activities, such as lectures, exercises, simulations, etc., through the use of one single online environment.

Hungary's first national park was created in 1973 in the Hortobágy area to protect Europe's largest contiguous steppe area with its flora and fauna. The Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape in 1999. The park's outstanding importance is due to the predominantly non-arboreal steppe vegetation, home to a unique bird fauna, and the alkaline and chernozem soils with a complex, mosaic-like spatial structure. In addition, the landscape of the Hortobágy has a pastoral history stretching back thousands of years. Several hypotheses have been put forward, which suggest that the alkaline soils and the habitats that cover them were formed as a result of human activities related to river regulation that began in the second half of the 19th century. However, palaeoecological and palaeobiological studies over the last 30-40 years have pointed to the natural origin of the alkaline steppes, dating back to the end of the Ice Age. For thousands of years human activities, in particular grazing by domestic animals, hardly influenced the natural evolution of the area. Drainage of marshy and flooded areas began in the 19th century, and the introduction of more and more intensive agriculture, had a significant impact on the landscape. This paper aims to describe the past natural development of this special alkaline steppe ecosystem, with particular reference to the impacts of past and present human activities, including conservation measures.

The Direction-of-Arrival (DoA) estimation methods are highly versatile and find extensive applications in satellite communication. The DoA methods are employed across a range of orbits, from Low Earth Orbits (LEO) to Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO). They serve multiple applications, including altitude determination, geolocation and estimation accuracy, target localization, and relative and collaborative positioning. This paper presents a novel approach for modeling the DoA angle using a closed-form expression, incorporating the boresight angle and satellite and Earth station position data. The method uses the geographic coordinate system in the satellite communication system, precisely the latitude and longitude of the Earth station and altitude parameters of the satellite stations, to calculate the Earth station’s elevation angle and accurately model the DoA angle. Furthermore, this paper performs a comprehensive comparative analysis of various DoA methods to gain deeper insights into the performance of DoA estimation in multi-antenna systems operating under spatially correlated channels. Accordingly, this paper evaluates DoA estimation performance using root-mean-square-error (RMSE) statistics for uplink and downlink conditions through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation’s effectiveness is validated against the Cramer-Rao Bound (CRB) performance metric for the Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) case. (i.e., thermal noise). The simulation results demonstrate improved RMSE performance in satellite systems by incorporating spatial correlation into the system model.

The IgM and IgT classes were previously identified and characterized in the Antarctic teleost Trematomus bernacchii, a species belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenoidei. Herein we characterized the gene encoding the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) in the same species and compared it to pIgR of multiple teleost species belonging to five perciform sub-orders, including 11 Antarctic and one non-Antarctic (Cottoperca gobio) notothenioid species, the latter living in less cold periantarctic sea. Antarctic pIgR genes displayed particularly long in-trons marked by sites of transposable elements and transcription factors. Furthermore, analysis of T. bernacchii pIgR cDNA unveiled multiple amino acid substitutions unique to Antarctic species, all introducing adaptive features, including N-glycosylation sequons. Interestingly, C. gobio shared most features with the other perciforms rather than with the cold adapted relatives. T. bernacchii pIgR transcripts were predominantly expressed in mucosal tissues, as indicated by q-PCR and in situ hybridization analysis. These results suggest that in cold adapted species pIgR preserved its fundamental role in mucosal immune defense, although remarkable gene structure modifications occurred.

A reliable Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is proposed and implemented in this study, which is integrated with a biometric fingerprint scanner to ensure a secure election process. This biometric EVM includes features such as an interactive user interface, hack-free design and master lock. The EVM system has the capability of registering user data and storing them in a database through proper authentication. Moreover, the system proposed lowers the requirement for human resources. This paper provides a detailed description of the systematic development of the hardware and software used. The software part includes algorithm development and implementation. A thorough and in-depth understanding of the data and the communication protocols along with the pathways used for storage of data in the devices is provided. Additionally, the cost of the system is 62.82% less than the officially existing EVM machines of India. Furthermore, this study seeks to demonstrate the benefits of such an approach from a technological and a social standpoint.

Statistical data extracted from national databases demonstrate a continuous growth in the incidence and prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the ineffectiveness of current policies and strategies based on individual risk factors to reduce them, as well as their mortality and costs. Some innovative programs, telemedicine and government interest in the prevention of CKD, did not facilitate timely access to care, continuing the increased demand for dialysis and transplants, high morbidity and long-term disability. In contrast, new forms of kidney disease of unknown etiology affected populations in developing countries and underrepresented minorities, who face socioeconomic and cultural disadvantages. With this background, we analyze in the existing literature the effects of social determinants in CKD, concluding that it is necessary to strengthen current kidney health strategies, designing in a transdisciplinary way, a model that considers demographic characteristics integrated into individual risk factors and risk factors population, incorporating the population health perspective in public health policies to improve results in kidney health care, since CKD continues to be an important and growing contributor to chronic diseases.

Humans are evolutionary-driven to adult mating and conceive social expectations on the quality of their affiliations. The genetic susceptibility to adverse environments in critical periods can alter close relationships. The current research investigates how the promoter region of the Serotonin Transporter Gene (5-HTTLPR) and perceived caregiving behavior in childhood could influence the social expectations on close adult relationships. For this purpose, 5-HTTLPR data was collected from the buccal mucosa of 65 Italian individuals (33 males). The participants filled a) the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to provide the levels of care and overprotection from mother and father, and b) the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) to report the social expectations on the intimate relationship assessed in terms of anxiety and avoidance from the partner. An interaction effect between 5-HTTLPR and PBI dimensions on the ECR-R scores was hypothesized. Results confirmed that the interplay between the genetic groups and history of maternal overprotection predicted avoidance experienced in romantic relationships in adulthood. Moreover, both adult anxiety and avoidance felt in an intimate relationship were found to covary as a function of maternal overprotection. The present work proposes further evidence of the genetic and parental mechanisms regulating social expectations involved in close relationships.

Advanced paternal age at fertilization is a risk factor for multiple disorders in offspring and may be linked with age-related epigenetic changes in fathers sperm. Understanding of aging-related epigenetic changes in sperm and environmental factors that modify such changes is needed. Here we characterize changes in sperm sncRNA between young pubertal and mature rats. We also analyze modification of these changes by exposure to environmental xenobiotic 2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47). SncRNA libraries prepared from epididymal spermatozoa were sequenced and analyzed using DESeq 2. Distribution of small RNA fractions changed with age, with fractions mapping to rRNA and lncRNA decreasing and fractions mapping to tRNA and miRNA increasing. 249 miRNA, 908 piRNA and 227 tRNA-derived RNA were differentially expressed (2-fold change, FDR p ≤ 0.05) between age groups in control animals. Differentially expressed miRNA and piRNA were enriched for protein-coding targets involved in development and metabolism, piRNA were enriched for LTR targets. BDE-47 accelerated age dependent changes in sncRNA in younger animals, decelerated these changes in older animals and increased the variance in expression of all sncRNA. Our results indicate that the natural aging process has profound effects on sperm sncRNA profiles and this effect may be modified by environmental exposures.

The capacity and the mechanism of the adsorption of aqueous barium (Ba), cobalt (Co), strontium (Sr) and zinc (Zn) by Ecuadorian (NatAllo) and synthetic (SynAllo-1 and SynAllo-2) allophanes were studied as a function of contact time, pH and metal ion concentration using kinetic and equilibrium experiments. The mineralogy, nano-structure and chemical composition of the allophanes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and specific surface area analyses. The evolution of adsorption fitted to a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics, where equilibrium between aqueous metal ions and allophane was reached within < 10 min. The metal ion removal efficiencies varied from 0.7 to 99.7 % at pH 4.0 to 8.5. At equilibrium, the adsorption behavior is better described by the Langmuir model than by the Dubinin-Radushkevich model, yielding sorption capacities of 10.6, 17.2 and 38.6 mg/g for Ba^(2+), 12.4, 19.3 and 29.0 mg/g for HCoO_2^-, 7.2, 15.9 and 34.4 mg/g for Sr^(2+) and 20.9, 26.9 and 36.9 mg/g for Zn^(2+), respectively, by NatAllo, SynAllo-2 and SynAllo-1. The uptake mechanism is based on a physical adsorption process. Allophane holds great potential to remove aqueous metal ions and could be used instead of zeolites, montmorillonite, carbonates and phosphates for wastewater treatment.

We present observations from evaluation of internal environmental quality of industrial halls with priority on daylighting in combination with the integral lighting. The physical parameters related to indoor lighting in large industrial halls in winter and summer periods were analyzed using in situ measurements and computational methods. These are part of a comprehensive research on indoor environmental quality of industrial halls with the aims of saving energy and providing a comfortable environment for the workers while improving the productivity. The results showed that the procedures used for evaluation of residential or office buildings may not be used for industrial buildings. We also observed that the criteria of occupants’ comforts for indoor industrial buildings may differ from those of other kinds of buildings. Based on these results, an adequate attention is required for designing the industrial buildings. For this reason, appropriate evaluation methods and criteria should be created. We found the measured values of daylight factor very close to the skylight component of the total illumination. The skylight component was observed on average 30% that of the measured daylight factor values. Although the daylight is not emphasized when designing the industrial buildings and its contribution is small, but it is very important for the workers psychology and physiology. The workers must feel a connection with the exterior environment; otherwise, their productivity decreases.

Interdisciplinary STEM and STEAM education give us an opportunity for creativity and educational innovation in a world scenario that needs training in which students can achieve all educational objectives and are prepared to achieve sustainable development. The rural environment with its land is a scenario that provides us with a range of educational resources for the development of STEM and STEAM projects in which students who are better trained and prepared for the needs of today's world are developed, as well as students who are more linked and sensitized to the environment, with the rural environment and its land, so important in our time.  In this article, we will collect examples from Latin America; STEM projects are being developed in which young people establish links with their environment, territory, and the local environment surrounding them. We must look carefully at projects and works in which students' ties with their land and environment are valued through the STEM and STEAM education necessary today. In this scenario, a comparison has been made between Latin American countries and Spain.

Smart farm is a technology that greatly helps improve the productivity and quality of crops and is being actively introduced into indoor environments such as green houses. However, it has not yet been distributed to field-grown crops. The main reason is that, unlike indoor environments, it is very difficult to collect sensor data for monitoring the growth environment of crops in open fields where weather conditions change significantly and power supply is difficult. Additionally, because various sensors are used, the data formats of the devices are different, making it difficult to process. This paper presents a field crop growth environment monitoring and big data analysis system. The proposed system first solves power supply and data communication problems using solar power generation and LPWA technology. Additionally, based on the oneM2M architecture, data from various sensors is transmitted to the server using standardized technology. The transmitted data is stored and managed on the server as big data, and can be used to predict the production and quality of field-grown crops and take appropriate measures. The proposed system is expected to create an environment optimized for the growth of field crops and help prevent and manage diseases.

The focus of recent research shifts towards complex ‘whole organism’ responses (i.e., in multiple functional traits) in adaptation to or to defend against stressors under complex environmental conditions. This increasing complexity is challenging to analyse and demands sophisticated tools to drive meaningful conclusions from those data. Trait-based regression models, multivariate analyses, like principal component analyses, and plasticity indices can be used to tackle challenges with those complex investigations. But those methods have substantial limitations, like the need for high sample size, multi-dimensionality of results or the need for trait coordination in high-dimensional space, or the calculation on the population level, which might buffer or cover the de facto occurring individual effects. To improve and simplify studies on ‘whole organism’ responses, analyses, and their interpretation, we developed the Index for Adaptive Responses. This straightforward framework can unite all traits of an organism in one number. A newly developed transformation method, included in this framework, comprises a normalisation and standardisation to a baseline or control without changing the data or variance structure of the original data. We assessed the performance and accuracy of the framework with an application in an extensive predator-prey case study, with simulations and application examples using literature data. We show that the Index for Adaptive Responses respects adaptations as well as maladaptations and outperforms established approaches. The framework is robust against outliers and non-gaussian distribution. We further show that the qualitative prediction of the adaptiveness of included traits is highly accurate, even under challenging conditions, e.g., low replicate numbers. Functions and algorithms of the framework are provided with an R package but can easily be translated into other programming languages. The Index for Adaptive Responses will simplify future research on complex adaptive responses and improves our understanding of these responses’ ecological as well as evolutionary implications.

Important first phases in the process of implementing CO2 subsurface and ocean storage projects include selecting of best possible location(s) for CO2 storage, site selection evaluation. Sites must fulfil a number of criteria that boil down to the following basics: they must be able to accept the desired volume of CO2 at the rate at which it is supplied from the CO2 source(s); they must as well be safe and reliable; and must comply with regulatory and other societal requirements. They also must have at least public acceptance and be based on sound financial analysis. Site geology; hydrogeological, pressure, and geothermal regimes; land features; location, climate, and access, etc. can all be refined from these basic criteria. In addition to aiding in site selection, site characterization is essential for other purposes, such as foreseeing the fate and impacts of the injected CO2, and informing subsequent phases of site development, including design, permitting, operation, monitoring, and eventual abandonment. According to data from the IEA, in 2022, emissions from Africa and Asia's emerging markets and developing economies, excluding China's, increased by 4.2%, which is equivalent to 206 million tonnes of CO2 and were higher than those from developed economies. Coal-fired power generation was responsible for more than half of the rise in emissions that were recorded in the region. The difficulty of achieving sustainable socio-economic progress in the developing countries is entwined with the work of reducing CO2 emissions, which is a demanding project for the economy. Organisations from developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, and Nigeria, have formed partnerships with organisations in other countries for lessons learn and investment within the climate change arena. The basaltic rocks, coal seams, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, soils, deep saline aquifers, and sedimentary basins that developing countries (Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, and Nigeria etc) possesses all contribute to the individual country's significant geological sequestration potential. There are limited or no carbon capture and storage or clean development mechanism projects running in these countries at this time. The site selection and characterization procedure are not complete without an estimate of the storage capacity of a storage location. Estimating storage capacity relies on volumetric estimates because a site must accept the planned volume of CO2 during the active injection period. As more and more applications make use of site characterization, so too does the body of written material on the topic. As the science of CO2 storage develops, regulatory requirements are implemented, field experience grows, and the economics of CO2 capture and storage improve, so too will site selection and characterisation change.

Digital Twin Cities (DTCs) play a fundamental role in city planning and management. They allow three-dimensional modeling and simulation of cities. 3D semantic segmentation is the foundation for automatically creating enriched DTCs, as well as their updates. Past studies indicate that prior level fusion approaches demonstrate more promising precisions in 3D semantic segmentation compared to point level fusion, features level fusion, and decision level fusion families. In order to improve point cloud enriched semantic segmentation outcomes, this article proposes a new approach for 3D point cloud semantic segmentation through developing and benchmarking three prior level fusion scenarios. A reference approach based on point clouds and aerial images was proposed to compare it with the different developed scenarios. In each scenario, we inject a specific prior knowledge (geometric features,classified images ,etc) and aerial images as attributes of point clouds into the neural network’s learning pipeline. The objective is to find the one that integrates the most significant prior knowledge and enhances neural network knowledge more profoundly, which we have named the "smart fusion approach". The advanced Deep Learning algorithm "RandLaNet" was adopted to implement the different proposed scenarios and the reference approach, due to its excellent performance demonstrated in the literature. The introduction of some significant features associated with the label classes facilitated the learning process and improved the semantic segmentation results that can be achievable with the same neural network alone. Overall, our contribution provides a promising solution for addressing some challenges, in particular more accurate extraction of semantically rich objects from the urban fabric. An assessment of the semantic segmentation results obtained by the different scenarios is performed based on metrics computation and visual investigations. Finally,the smart fusion approach was derived based on the obtained qualitative and quantitative results.

Plant geneticists and breeders have used marker technology since the 1980s in quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification. Marker-assisted selection is effective for large-effect QTL but has been challenging to use with quantitative traits controlled by multiple minor effect alleles. Therefore, genomic selection (GS) was proposed to estimate all markers simultaneously, thereby capturing all their effects. However, breeding programs are still struggling to identify the best strategy to implement it into their programs. Traditional breeding programs need to be optimized to implement GS effectively. This review explores the optimization of breeding programs for variety release based on aspects of the breeder’s equation. Optimizations include reorganizing field designs, training populations, increasing the number of lines evaluated, and leveraging the large amount of genomic and phenotypic data collected across different growing seasons and environments to increase heritability estimates, selection intensity, and selection accuracy. Breeding programs can leverage their phenotypic and genotypic data to maximize genetic gain and selection accuracy through GS methods utilizing multi-trait and, multi-environment models, high-throughput phenotyping, and deep learning approaches. Overall, this review describes various methods that plant breeders can utilize to increase genetic gains and effectively implement GS in breeding .

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) plant fruits are well-known for their high nutritional value, unique test, and healthy oil. It has a history of about 10,000 years. Avocado fruit offers many health benefits, and its production is rapidly increasing. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s recent data suggest that the Avocados produced in the world in 2019 was twice that of 2010 (3778010 tons). Avocado’s global Gross Production Value was about 5.812 billion USD in 2018, and it is likely to increase rapidly because of the increasing demand for Avocado fruits. Avocado oil is also used in the cosmetic industry because of its therapeutic properties, and it boosts the economic value of the Avocado industry. Avocado fruits have a rough green-gold skin; however, fruits are called ‘the green gold’ because of their massive global demand in the worldwide market and a lucrative business. The cultivation of Avocado has tremendous potential in increasing the rural economy, rural agriculture-based employment and reducing the poverty rate of growers. On the other hand, the Avocado industry is highly criticised because of deforestation, massive water utilisation, polluting water bodies with insecticides and fertilisers, posing a threat to other plant species, and environmental pollution. However, it doesn’t preclude the importance of Avocado. Cameroon’s average temperature is about 23 °C, which is considered optimal for Avocado propagation and commercial cultivation. Cameroon Association of Active Youths (CAMAAY) want to explore the possibilities of engaging Cameroon youths in Avocado cultivation. This review is aimed to provide an overview of Avocado. The review also highlights Avocado cultivation related issues from one health and sustainability perspective in line with the global goals.

Perinatal mortality is a major issue in laboratory mouse breeding. We compared a counting method using daily checks (DAILY_CHECK) with a method combining daily checks with detailed video analyses to detect cannibalisms (VIDEO_TRACK) for estimating the number of C57BL/6 pups born, died and weaned in 193 litters from trios with (TRIO-OVERLAP) or without (TRIO-NO_OVERLAP) the presence of another litter. Linear mixed models were used at litter level. To understand if cannibalism was associated with active killing (infanticide), we analysed VIDEO_TRACK recordings of 109 litters from TRIO-OVERLAP, TRIO-NO_OVERLAP or SOLO (single dams). We used Kaplan-Meier method and logistic regression at pup level. For DAILY_CHECK, the mean litter size was 35% smaller than for VIDEO_TRACK (P&lt;0.0001) and the number of dead pups was twice lower (P&lt;0.0001). The risk of pup loss was higher for TRIO-OVERLAP than TRIO-NO_OVERLAP (P&lt;0.0001). A high number of pup losses occurred between birth and the first cage checking. Analyses of VIDEO_TRACK data indicated that pups were clearly dead at the start of most of the cannibalism events and infanticide was rare. As most pups die and disappear before the first cage check, many breeding facilities are likely to be unaware of their real rates of mouse pup mortality.

This review documents an emerging body of evidence concerning the neurological effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure, with regard to cognitive function and increased risk of neurodegeneration. Two electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science were systematically searched. The 37/428 studies selected included outcomes measuring cognitive function, neurobehavioral symptoms of impaired cognition, and pathologies associated with neurodegeneration from prenatal (21/37 studies), childhood (14/37 studies), and adult (8/37 studies) PAH exposure. Sufficient evidence surrounding prenatal exposure negatively impacting child intelligence, mental development, average overall development, verbal IQ, memory impairment, externalizing, internalizing, anxious, depressed behaviours, behavioural development and child attentiveness was found. Evidence concerning exposure during childhood and as an adult was scarce and highly heterogeneous, however presence of neurodegenerative biomarkers and increased concentrations of cryptic “self” antigens in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples suggest a higher risk of neurodegenerative disease. Associations with lowered cognitive ability, and impaired attentiveness were found in children and memory disturbances, specifically auditory memory, verbal learning and general memory in adults. Although evidence is not yet conclusive and further research is needed the studies included supported the hypothesis that PAH exposure negatively impacts cognitive function and increases the risk of neurodegeneration in humans, and recommends considering the introduction of a variable “rural vs. urban” as covariate for adjusting analyses where the neurological functions affected (as result of our review) are outcome variables.

The research aims to examine the extent to which the perceived organizational support (POS) predicted career related self and environmental exploration via the mediation effect of career adaptability. Multi-group comparisons based on the gender, majors and places of origin were also performed to evaluate the differences among these variables. An internet survey was conducted to collect empirical data from 611 Chinese undergraduates. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to demonstrate the proposed relations in the model and multiple group analysis. Clearly supported was the direct relations between POS and career related self and environmental exploration and the mediation effect of career adaptability. The results also showed that gender and major are the moderating variables for the proposed model, and no significance difference among the rural and urban subgroups was found. POS could be effectively delivered to students in general, marginalized social groups, such as females and those majored in the humanities and social sciences in particular. Four dimensions of career adaptability (concern, control, curiosity and confidence) could also be targeted at in order to promote students’ sustainable employment. The findings provide a better understanding of the career construction model by incorporating the contextual factor in a collective cultural environment.

: Healthcare workers are affected by mental health issues, burnout and turnover, and this burden is even greater during epidemics and pandemics, such as COVID-19. The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of the measures introduced or supported in the institutions of Quebec’s health and social services network during the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of protecting healthcare workers’ mental health. An online questionnaire survey was administered in 2021 among human resources department personnel in health and social services network institutions involved in workplace mental health in Quebec. A total of 223 key informants representing 31 of the 34 public health and social services institutions in the province of Quebec in Canada responded to the questionnaire. Measures that focus on the needs of staff, involve all levels of authority and the ones that provide flexibility, support and recognition at work were more successful, according to the advisors surveyed. Future research into whether the same measures are considered effective or ineffective outside of a pandemic context is needed.

Today, numerous studies have shown that the physical environment in hospitals can significantly influence patients' well-being, comfort, and recovery. However, this is currently neglected in hospitals in the Global South. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the awareness to make it more applicable worldwide. Thus, this study focuses on improving the healing environment standards, by exploring the impact of evidence-based design and patient-centred care in hospitals for cancer patients; particularly the architectural space quality, on patient health outcomes as well as hospital staff health and wellbeing. In Global North countries, such as the UK, the Achieving Excellence Design Evaluation Toolkit (AEDET), is used by its National Health Services, to assess the effectiveness of various environmental attributes. However, these toolkits have not been designed for and do not work well within Global South countries, such as Northern Cyprus. To examine and compare the effectiveness of different physical environmental attributes and to evaluate user responses, the Post-Occupancy Evaluation Method and the AEDET toolkit have been used in the study. These were applied to both public and private hospitals in Northern Cyprus, involving cancer patients, staff, and professionals (n=220). The findings reveal the strength and weaknesses in terms of environmental comfort based on the aspects of evidence-based design of the hospitals such as natural light, air quality, noise, view, infection control, etc., to create a more optimal physical environment for better psychological outcomes. This is the first study to propose an adaptation of the AEDET toolkit to assist architects in designing healthcare facilities that are responsive to the requirements of hospital patients and staff; and to promote the quality of healing environment for improved health and well-being outcomes.

Despite several studies on learner-to-teacher workplace violence and harassment, the problem persists in some South African schools. Learner-to-teacher violence and harassment is a form of workplace violence and harassment as schools are workplaces for teachers. Learner-to-teacher violence and harassment is therefore an important occupational health and safety issues for teachers. The employer is obliged to provide a safe working environment for the teachers to enable quality teaching and learning in the schools. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of high school teachers who have been targets of workplace violence and harassment perpetrated by learners at selected schools in Limpopo province of South Africa. Many teachers were willing to share their lived-experiences but due to data saturation, only eleven participated after being selected through purposive sampling from seven high schools under a particular circuit. Research ethics of voluntary participation, informed consent, ethical clearance and gatekeeper permission were observed. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. Interviews were audio-taped, and field notes were also taken. Voice recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis into themes and sub-themes. Findings were confirmed by an independent coder to achieve trustworthiness. Teachers experienced physical workplace violence and harassment, verbal workplace violence and harassment as well as nonverbal workplace violence and harassment from learners. Learner-to-teacher workplace violence and harassment affects teachers emotionally and in turn affects quality teaching and learning in the schools. Some teachers propose involvement of community policing forum, strengthening of School Governing Bodies as well as reducing overcrowding in the classroom as possible solutions to deal with learner-to-teacher bullying.

The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of glutamate cysteine ligase (GCLC) are associated with the risk and clinical features of psoriasis. A total of 944 unrelated individuals, including 474 patients with a diagnosis of psoriasis and 470 healthy controls, were recruited for the study. Six common SNPs in the GCLC gene were genotyped using the MassArray-4 system. Polymorphisms rs648595 (OR=0.56 95%CI 0.35-0.90, Pperm=0.017) and rs2397147 (OR=0.54 95%CI 0.30-0.98, Pperm=0.05) were associated with susceptibility to psoriasis in males. In the male group, diplotype rs2397147-C/C×rs17883901-G/G was associated with decreased risk of psoriasis (FDR-adjusted P=0.014), whereas diplotype rs6933870-G/G×rs17883901-G/G (FDR-adjusted P=0.045) showed association with increased disease risk in females. Joint effects of SNPs with tobacco smoking (rs648595 and rs17883901) and alcohol abuse (rs648595 and rs542914) on the risk of psoriasis were observed (Pperm≤0.05). Furthermore, we found multiple sex-independent associations between GCLC gene polymorphisms and various clinical features such as earlier disease onset, the psoriatic triad, and specific localizations of skin lesions. The present study is the first to show that polymorphisms of the GCLC gene are significantly associated with the risk of psoriasis and related to its clinical features.

Addressing factors modulating COVID-19 is crucial since abundant clinical evidence shows that outcomes are markedly heterogeneous between patients. This requires identifying the factors and understanding how they mechanistically influence COVID-19. Here, we describe how eleven selected factors influence COVID-19 by applying the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework well-established in regulatory toxicology. This framework aims to model the sequence of events starting from an initial interaction of a stressor with the organism and the progress through key biological events leading to an adverse health outcome. Several linear AOPs depicting pathways from the binding of the virus to ACE2 up to clinical outcomes observed in COVID-19 patients have been developed and integrated into a network offering a unique overview of the mechanisms underlying the disease. As SARS-CoV-2 infectibility and ACE2 activity are the major starting points and inflammatory response is central in the development of COVID-19, we evaluated how eleven intrinsic and extrinsic factors modulate those processes impacting clinical outcomes. Applying this AOP-aligned approach enables the identification of current knowledge gaps orientating for further research and allows to propose biomarkers to identify of high-risk patients. This approach also facilitates expertise synergy from different disciplines to address public health issues.

Rapid search and localization for nuclear sources can be an important aspect in preventing human harm from illicit material in dirty bombs or from contamination. In the case of a single mobile radiation detector, there are numerous challenges to overcome such as weak source intensity, multiple sources, background radiation, and the presence of obstructions, i.e., a non-convex environment. In this work, we investigate the sequential decision making capability of deep reinforcement learning in the nuclear source search context. A novel neural network architecture (RAD-A2C) based on the actor critic (A2C) framework and a particle filter gated recurrent unit for localization is proposed. Performance is studied in a randomized 20 x 20 m convex and non-convex environment across a range of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)s for a single detector and single source. RAD-A2C performance is compared to both an information-driven controller that uses a bootstrap particle filter and to a gradient search (GS) algorithm. We find that the RAD-A2C has comparable performance to the information-driven controller across SNR in a convex environment and at lower computational complexity per action. The RAD-A2C far outperforms the GS algorithm in the non-convex environment with greater than 95% median completion rate for up to seven obstructions.

Advanced paternal age at fertilization has been suggested to be a risk factor for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and other disorders in offspring. One emerging hypothesis suggests that altered offspring phenotype is linked with age-related accumulation of epigenetic changes in the sperm of fathers. Given that paternal age is increasing in the developed world, understanding aging-related epigenetic changes in sperm is needed as well as environmental factors that modify such changes. In this study, we characterize age-dependent changes in sperm DNA methylation profiles between young pubertal (postnatal day (PNDs) 65) and mature (PND120) Wistar rats. We also analyze these changes in rats exposed perinatally to 0.2 mg/kg of ubiquitous environmental xenobiotic 2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47). Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) libraries were prepared from caudal epididymal sperm DNA and differentially methylated regions (DMRs; ≥ 10x coverage depth, ≥ 3 CpGs per cluster, ≥ 5% methylation change, q < 0.05) were identified via MethPipe package. In control animals, 5,319 age-dependent DMRs were identified, with 99.3% DMRs hypermethylated in mature animals compared to young pubertal rats. These age-related DMRs were enriched for functional categories essential for embryonic development, such as pattern specification, forebrain and sensory organ development, Hippo and Wnt pathways. Age-related changes in sncRNA, reported in different study, target similar list of genes and biological categories.In BDE-47 exposed rats, sperm DNA methylation was higher in young pubertal and lower in mature animals when compared to controls, which resulted in a significant attenuation in the number of age-dependent DMRs (N = 189) identified in the exposed group. In conclusion, our results indicate that the natural aging process has profound effects on sperm methylation levels and this effect may be modified by environmental exposures. Moreover, our results further support the role of epigenetic mechanisms as a likely link betwen paternal age and offspring health and development.

An evaluation of emerging issues in One Health (OH) in Sub-Saharan Africa was undertaken to map the existing OH initiatives in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Desk review, expert opinions survey, limited interviews and wider consultations with selected OH stakeholders were conducted. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to OH initiatives were identified. OH influence, interest and impacts were evaluated. One Health is transiting from multidisciplinary to transdisciplinary concepts and OH viewpoint should move from ‘proxy for zoonoses’, to include issues of climate change, nutrition and food safety, social sciences, geography, policy and planning, economics, welfare and well-being, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), vector-borne diseases, toxicosis and pesticides issues. While the identified major strengths should be boosted, the weaknesses should be addressed.OH Networks in SSA were spatially and temporally spread across SSA and stakeholders were classified as key, latent, marginal and OH defenders. Imbalance in stakeholders’ representation led to hesitation in buying-in from stakeholders who are outside the main networks. Theory of change, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and tools to standardized evaluation of OH policies is needed for sustained future of OH and the future OH engagement should be outputs and outcomes-driven and not activity-driven.National roadmap for OH implementation and institutionalization is necessary and proofs of concepts in OH should be verified and scaled-up. Dependence on external funding is unsustainable and must be addressed. Necessary policy and legal instrument to support OH nationally and sub-nationally should be implemented taking cognizance of contemporary issues like urbanization, endemic poverty and other emerging issues. Utilizing current technologies and OH approach to address ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 and other emerging diseases is desirable. Finally, OH implementation should be anticipatory and not reactive to significantly benefit budgeting and contain disease outbreaks in animal sources before the risk of spillover to human can be envisaged.

Sensors available on mobile devices allow the automatic identification of Activities of Daily Living (ADL). This paper describes an approach for the creation of a framework for the identification of ADL, taking in account several concepts, including data acquisition, data processing, data fusion, pattern recognition, and machine learning. These concepts can be mapped in a module of the framework, including the use and creation of several algorithms. For the development of a framework that works in several conditions, e.g., without Internet connection, these algorithms should take in account the hardware and software limitations of the mobile devices to run all main tasks locally. The main purpose of this paper is related to the presentation the sensors, algorithms, and architecture of the proposed approach.

The field of water management is continually changing. Water has been subject to external shocks in the form of climate change and globalization. Analysis of water management is subject to disciplinary developments and inter-disciplinary interactions. Are these developments well documented in the literature? Initial observations on interdisciplinary literature suggest that results are fragmented, implying that a state-of-the-art review is needed. The objective of this paper is to close this gap by reviewing recent developments in water economics that address the increasing perceptions of water scarcity by looking first at changes in supply and quality of water, and then at impacts of climate change on water extremes. Among responses to such challenges, the paper identifies changes to water use patterns by including and co-managing water from different sources—surface and groundwater, wastewater, and desalinated water. Technological advancements also are among the resources that address water challenges. Water challenges reflect also on management of internationally shared water. A recent surge in scientific work identified international treaties as playing a significant role in water management. The paper reviews recently employed economic tools, such as experimental economics, game theory, institutional economics, and valuation methods. And finally, it explores modeling approaches, including hydro-economic and computable general equilibrium models that are being used to deal with water challenges.

During the construction of buildings, dangerous chemicals such as benzene, formaldehyde and others are used, which accumulate during the operation of the building. High concentrations of these substances can harm human health. In this article, we have analyzed the possible impact of modular green wall systems on improving of the air. During the research, four different modular green wall systems and various plant species were considered. The result showed that a modular green wall system can improve the air quality by removing harmful pollutants from the air in the buildings. Urban design used to be turned greener and more sustainable using the modern technologies of modular green wall systems. This study focuses on the air-cleaning benefits provided by modular green wall systems and their assessment. This research contributes to fill existing literature gaps on the green wall systems on the buildings and biophilic architecture.

Inhalation is the main route of exposure to airborne pollutants. To evaluate the safety and assess the risks of occupational hazards different testing approaches are used. 3D airway epithelial tissues allow to mimic exposure conditions in vitro, generates human-relevant toxicology data, allows to elucidate mode of action of pollutants. Gilian 3500 pumps equipped with Standard Midget Impingers were used to collect the airborne particulate from woodworking and metalworking environments. EpiAirway™ tissues were used to model half working day (4 h), full working day (8 h), and 3 working day exposures to occupational pollutants. Tissue viability was assessed using MTT assay. RT-qPCR analyses performed to analyze the expression of gelsolin, caspase-3, and IL-6. Tissue morphology was assessed by hematoxylin/eosin staining. Acute exposure to workspace pollutants slightly affected tissue viability and did not change the morphology. Both types of particles suppressed expression of gelsolin, with metalworking samples showing the most pronounced effect. A slight reduction in caspase-3 expression was observed. Particles from metalworking suppressed IL-6 expression. 3D Epithelial tissues can be used to model exposures to airborne pollutants. Exposure to particles from woodworking and metalworking had a minor effect on tissue viability but affected the expression of inflammation and apoptosis-related genes.

As on 31.03.2020, 55.4 % (205135 MW) of total installed capacity (370106 MW) in India is through coal and lignite based power plants. These plants, set up by central, state and private utilities with substantial capital investment are facing consistently reducing Plant Utilization Factor (known as Plant Load Factor, PLF, in India). In the year 2019-20 the national average thermal power PLF stood at 55.4%, down from 78.6 % in 2007-08. On the other hand, the electricity demand is consistently rising in the country and there exists a peak and energy shortage at national level. In 2019-20 energy shortage was 0.7 % and peak shortage was 0.5 %. A disturbing paradox therefore exists here. On one hand, the country is power deficit, and on the other hand, a large amount of coal based affordable power, ready to be generated by thermal power generators, remains grossly unused. Looking into the fact that considerable investment has gone into developing these thermal power generation assets in the country, the falling PLF is a matter of concern for all the key stakeholders including the power producers, lenders, regulators and consumers. This paper identifies seven major factors that are affecting PLF of thermal power plants and then makes an attempt to project future scenario of PLF so that critical stakeholders can intervene through appropriate actions. Primary research with responses from power professionals has been used to find out the major factors. Future projection of PLF has been done using Partial Least Square (PLS) regression. Projection shows that in the Business As Usual case (Factors increasing at the current CAGR rate), the thermal power plants will face very low level of PLF (14.76 %) by 2024-25. This will mean that many plants will be shut down and many will run for only few hours in a day that too at very low loads. If the future generation mix is kept as indicated by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a Govt. of India in its report (Draft report on optimal generation capacity mix for 2029-30- CEA- Govt of India) then the thermal power plant average PLF can sustain above 68 % until 2024-25. If followed, this path can be a breather for the thermal power plants.

An emerging picture in cancer biology is that, paradoxically, chemotherapy can actively induce changes that favor cancer progression. These pro-cancer changes can be either inside (intrinsic) or outside (extrinsic) the cancer cells. In this review, we will discuss the extrinsic pro-cancer effect of chemotherapy; that is, the effect of chemotherapy on the non-cancer host cells to promote cancer progression. We will focus on metastasis, and will first discuss recent data from mouse models of breast cancer. Intriguingly, despite reducing the size of primary tumors, chemotherapy changes the tumor microenvironment, resulting in an increased escape of cancer cells into the blood stream. Furthermore, chemotherapry changes the tissue microenvironment at the distant sites, making it more hospitable to cancer cells upon their arrival. We will then discuss the idea and evidence that these devastating pro-metastatic effects of chemotherapy can be explained in the context of stress response. At the end, we will discuss the potential relevance of these mouse data to human breast cancer and their implication on chemotherapy in the clinic.

Improper sitting positions are known as the primary reason for back pain and the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among individuals who spend prolonged time working with computer screens, keyboards, and mice. At the same time, it is well understood that automated technological tools can play an important role in the process of unhealthy habit alteration, so plenty of research efforts are focused on research and technology development (RTD) activities that aim to provide support to the prevention of back pain or the development of MSD. Here, we report on creating a new resource in support of RTD activities aiming at the automated detection of improper sitting positions. It consists of multimodal multisensory recordings of 100 persons made with a video recorder, camera, and wrist-attached sensors that capture physiological signals (PPG, EDA, Skin temperature), as well as motion sensors (three-axis accelerometer). Our multimodal multisensory dataset (MMD-MSD) opens new opportunities for modeling the body stance (sitting posture and movements), physiological state (stress level, attention, emotional arousal, valence), and performance (success rate on the Stroop test) of people working with a computer. Finally, we demonstrate two use cases: improper neck posture detection from pictures and cognitive load detection from physiological signals.

Multilingual classrooms are becoming more common worldwide due to increasing mobility. Teaching foreign languages using the mother tongue in multilingual classrooms has become problematic; some of the significant concerns in Japanese language acquisition – such as the high contextuality of the language, vocabulary and kanji learning – make the direct teaching method confusing for many students, especially at the beginner and elementary levels. This article provides the preliminary results of a study carried out as a component of a more extensive empirical research project on instructional languages in classrooms teaching Japanese as a foreign language. It aims to gather, analyse and synthesise data from a survey conducted at a supranational level. The results of the first two sections of a questionnaire containing closed and open-ended questions were used for a quantitative analysis of the profile of Japanese language instructors with a focus on finding possible connections. The wide geographic distribution of the respondents (274 teachers from fifty-seven countries and regions) made it possible to collect data from a more representative sample and draw meaningful conclusions about the spread of multilingual classrooms that would be impossible in smaller-scale research. The study’s primary results show the proportion of multilingual classrooms among countries in different regions and across different educational stages, the distribution of Japanese language instructors in various educational stages depending on the highest level of formal education attained, and the proportion of part-time instructors working in different academic institutions.