Bilingual Publishing Co. (BPC): E-Journals
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Between the Craft and the Mud: An Analysis of the Work and Health Relationship of Firefighters in the Breach of the Córrego do Feijão Dam—Brumadinho/MG
No full textFaced with the rupture of the VALE S.A. tailings dam that hit the city of Brumadinho (MG), the article sought to better understand the organisation of work of military firefighters who participated in the search and rescue operation and the relationship between work and health present in this scenario. This is a qualitative research with a focus on the subjective production of the speeches of seven firefighters who were interviewed individually with a semi-structured script, using as a basis of analysis the ergological perspective and the productions of the psychodynamics of work. The firefighters experienced a scenario with risks of injury, contamination, and even death. In the interviews, they showed that more than twelve hours of work was responsible for sleep problems during and after the performance, as well as the food provided and the lack of time for physical exercise proved to be aggravating factors for their health. Working in the tailing’s mud combined the development of musculoskeletal problems and anxiety, due to the possibility of contamination by metals present in the mud. The work relationships show a high degree of trust and recognition between the firefighters and the affected population, which helped in the motivation and continuation of the operation until the present moment. The work in this operation that gained national prominence was responsible for the feeling of pride and for feeling more capable and prepared to act in other disasters. This research is expected to broaden the discussion about the work-health relationship of military firefighters exposed to disasters, as well as serve as a subsidy to encourage the creation of public policies focused on the health of these workers
Research and Experience Reference on London’s Response to Climate Change in the Twenty-first Century
No full textLondon’s approaches to tackling climate change after the 21st century are multifaceted and relatively systematic. The aim of this research paper is to analyse London’s actions in response to climate change and to draw out what valuable lessons London has for the world in terms of its response to climate change. This paper provides an in depth analysis of London’s policies and actions on climate mitigation in the areas of “greenhouse gas emissions” and “energy infrastructure”, and climate adaptation actions in the areas of “city green belt and urban afforestation”, “UHI and thermal crisis management” and “water supply infrastructure and sustainable drainage”. It then examines the positive aspects of these actions to determine what London has to say about climate change to the rest of the world and other cities. This paper also discovers that to effectively mitigate and adapt to climate change, London has not only established carbon reduction targets, but also created a large academic research network, represented by the LCCP. At the same time, London has developed a scientific climate change adaptation planning framework (P2R2) that focuses on four key areas: Economic, environmental, health, and infrastructure sectors, and three types of risks: Flooding, heat, and water supply, and emphasizes the dynamics and flexibility of each adaptation strateg
Data Analytics of an Information System Based on a Markov Decision Process and a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process
No full textData analytics of an information system is conducted based on a Markov decision process (MDP) and a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) in this paper. Data analytics over a finite planning horizon and an infinite planning horizon for a discounted MDP is performed, respectively. Value iteration (VI), policy iteration (PI), and Q-learning are utilized in the data analytics for a discounted MDP over an infinite planning horizon to evaluate the validity of the MDP model. The optimal policy to minimize the total expected cost of states of the information system is obtained based on the MDP. In the analytics for a discounted POMDP over an infinite planning horizon of the information system, the effects of various parameters on the total expected cost of the information system are studied
Development of Low-carbon and Sustainable Magnesium-bearing Cementitious Materials-based Solidification Approaches for Management of Problematic Soils
No full textThe production of traditional cementitious binders such as calcium-based Portland cement poses a serious challenge to the environment and society. Therefore, low-carbon, green and sustainable magnesium-based cementitious materials are developed to replace fully or partly Portland cement and reduce the consumption of natural resources and CO2 emissions. Three interesting techniques, including reactive MgO-activated industrial solid wastes, MgObased cement and carbonation of magnesium-bearing materials, are elucidated to point to the necessity for developing novel magnesium-based cementitious materials. In the coming future, the carbonation of magnesium-rich industrial solid wastes or its combination with reactive MgO for application in various construction sectors such as soft ground improvement and concrete fabrication would be a promising approach to generate high-value products based on industrial solid wastes
Bank Credit and Agricultural Output in Bangladesh: An Econometric Analysis
No full textIn this study, the authors tried to identify the relationship between bank credit and agricultural output in Bangladesh. Simultaneously impact assessment of bank credit on agricultural output is also investigated. Different econometric techniques are used to determine the nature of the relationship between bank credit and agricultural output and the impact of bank credit. A total of 40 years (1981-2020) of annual time series data were collected from the Annual Reports of the Bangladesh Bank and World Bank’s world development indicators. Stationarity and cointegration tests were performed initially and then analyzed with Vector Error Correction Model, confirming a long-run relationship between bank credit and agricultural output. Additionally, univariate and multivariate OLS models are performed to identify the magnitude of bank credit’s impact on agricultural output. Both models revealed that bank credit positively and significantly affects agricultural production in Bangladesh. Based on these findings, the authors recommend additional fund allocation to the agricultural production system by the banks in Bangladesh
Design and Implementation of a Control System to Mitigate Osteonecrosis in Orthopedic Bone Drilling Procedures
No full textThe drilling process in orthopedic surgery can sometimes lead to an undesired increase in temperature, which can cause serious damage to bones and soft tissues. This overheating is typically identified as a temperature above 47 °C, known as the critical limit, and can result in the condition known as osteonecrosis. This study aims to develop a new control system, using a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, to prevent overheating and the resulting osteonecrosis. The bone temperature is constantly measured using a thermocouple and, when it reaches the critical temperature of 47 °C, the cooling device is activated by the PID-controlled system. This new control system makes the drill machine with cooling device more user-friendly and allows surgeons to set a desired temperature level manually
Geometrical Effect of Under-reamed Pile in Clay under Compression Load Numerical-Study
No full textRecently, the use of deep foundations has increased as a result of the expansion in the construction of high-rise buildings, train tracks, and port berths. As a result of this expansion, it was necessary to use deep foundations that have low cost, high bearing loads, low settlement, and construction time, and such foundations are subjected to different types of loads such as lateral, vertical compression, and tension loads. This research paper will present one of the most important types of deep foundations that are aptly used in such structures and the most important factors affecting their bearing capacity and settlement in stiff clay. This type of deep foundation is called an under-reamed pile. The factors used in this study are pile length to diameter ratio L/D = 30, bulb diameter ratio (Du/D = 1.5, 2, 2.25, and 2.5), number of bulbs (N = 1, 2, and 3), and spacing ratio (S/D = 2 to 8). To investigate the effects of these parameters and obtain optimal results, the PLAXIS 3D was used. The analysis shows that the increase in bulb diameter increases the bearing load by 43%. Bulb spacing controls the failure mechanisms, whether cylindrical shear failure or individual failure and increases the capacity by 66% and 99%, respectively, for two and three bulbs when the bulb spacing becomes S/D = 8. When the number of bulbs increases to three, the capacity increases by 90%. If each bulb works individually, the bearing capacity double
The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China
No full textThe Yangtze River Basin's water resource utilization efficiency (WUE) and scientific and technological innovation level (STI) are closely connected, and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water. This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River's mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between the two subsystems of WUE and STI. The findings show that: (1) Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period, but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE; (2) The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend, and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees, but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage; (3) The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern, and there were only two types: high-high (H-H) urbanization areas and low-low (L-L) urbanization areas; (4) The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE, while the WUE responded greatly to the STI, and both of them were highly dependent on themselves. Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future. These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development
The Impact of Leadership on the Growth of ICT Companies
No full textNowadays, one of the major purposes of any company is to survive in the competitive business markets. This purpose would be achievable through improving and developing growth in most cases. Prior studies suggest that leadership is a vitally important factor in achieving growth in any company. Some researchers studied leadership topics as one of the significant motivations for developing and improving the growth of a company and agreed that understanding the role of leadership and its effect on the growth of the company is influential. In all countries, Information Communication Technology (ICT) companies are recognized as significant growth drivers by leaving considerable impacts on that. According to the literature, growth is a determining factor for the productivity of any company. Based on the literature of the ICTs, weak and insufficient leadership skills are considered as the main factors that cause failure in achieving the planned growth and development of ICT. Consequently, the goal of this study is to clarify how leadership affects the development of ICT enterprises
Prediction of Production Capability for Subcontractors in Automotive Rubber Part Supply Chain Using Neuro-Fuzzy System
No full textThe paper proposes prediction production capability for automotive rubber part supply chain subcontractors in order to remain competitive in the global market. Rubber parts are used widely in automotive, motorcycles, trucks and other types of vehicles which are mostly small sizes but huge quantities to support original equipment manufacturer (OEM) brands with specific parts. The rubber part manufacturing process is complex and uncertain with compression molding and rubber curing conditions. Therefore, good conditions can predict to obtain high production capability for customer commissioning and delivery on schedule. The Neuro-fuzzy system is adopted and developed to deal with the uncertain capability under multi-criteria decision making. The methodology development can be used in the actual situation of the rubber part manufacturing supply chain environment and can predict uncertain problems that might occur in the subcontractor factories. The prediction of the production capability of the rubber part supply chain might be more effective on the real-time monitoring control system and can be tracked location part progressive for further planning both successful or has to be rescheduled. The platform was applied to audit and test in the actual industrial supply chain in Thailand. The methodology development was originally created for the particular supply chain in rubber automotive parts that can replace the existing manual approach to obtain a more efficient process of monthly performance evaluation