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How can entrepreneurial interventions in a university context impact the entrepreneurial intention of their students?
Get PDFThis paper explores the link between the entrepreneurial intention of students in higher education and the entrepreneurial interventions an institution can provide to support them. The study uses data collected from 679 undergraduate students from Chinese and UK Universities. The instrument for data collection was a paper-based questionnaire. This study uses the integrated model of entrepreneurial intentions as the theoretical underpinning for this approach. The initial findings highlight the perceived need for a range of entrepreneurship interventions, with business training programmes being the highest priority, followed by mentoring, specialist business advice, low-cost finance, business networking events and enterprise clubs. It also shows that those with different Intention Horizons do request a different portfolio of interventions. The paper provides an evidence-based approach to entrepreneurship education design and the development of interventions to support a range of students with and without entrepreneurial intention. This work suggests a previously under-articulated relationship between the nascent entrepreneur’s Intention Horizon, university interventions, and entrepreneurial action. There are numerous calls for further contextualisation of entrepreneurship education which this paper fulfils (Baron and Shane in Psychol Entrepreneurship 19-39, 2007; Byrne et al. in Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014). It further develops the narrative around both contextualisation, the previous experience of the students and the range and importance of these interventions to support the creation of a new venture
Long-term Environmental Performance of Stormwater Biofiltration Sorption Media in Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
Get PDFIn this climate impacted world, there is an increasing need for countries facing potential water extremes to improve the reuse potential of grey water and storm water. By implementing best management practices for the treatment of stormwater and urban run-off, contaminants can be removed, and the water recycled and reused. The effectiveness of stormwater treatment is impacted by the clogging of equipment or where contaminant storage exceeds performance design. Poorly or untreated stormwater runoff can impact the environment through the release of total dissolved solids (TDS), suspended solids (turbidity), phosphate, ammonia, and elevated chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD, respectively). This study evaluated the hydraulic and environmental performance of gravity flow stormwater filters over a three-year period with the average filter life cycle four months. Six bespoke gravity stormwater filters employing sorbent pillows, and including peat moss, were tested for their effectiveness, including for nitrite and nitrate. An improvement in water quality of 80-98% was recorded. Oil and grease were managed effectively (peat moss and sorbent pillows reduced BOD, COD, color, and turbidity) but not significantly when compared to conventional filter media. The findings demonstrate that stormwater biofilters can be an innovative, low-cost, and sustainable solution for both urban and sub-urban runoff management, addressing water quality and resource quantity challenges
Discourses of positive welfare by UK sheep farmers and industrial actors
No full textFarm animal welfare science promotes positive welfare to facilitate positive experiences for animals instead of focusing solely on minimising negative experiences that can only achieve the concept is still in its infancy, it is communicated and interpreted differently by the scientific community, farmers, other industry actors (veterinarians, farming organisations, and advisors), and the public. There are growing numbers of studies exploring the impact of this development in the veterinary and critical social science literature, which explore the framing and perceptions of positive welfare. Previous studies have focused more on content-based analyses and have not unravelled the complexity of the discourses, and the meanings of positive welfare. Furthermore, there is less focus on what positive welfare means for extensively reared outdoor livestock such as sheep. This study explores the views, meanings and understanding of positive welfare by sheep industry actors in the United Kingdom (UK) using a participatory research methodology. Taking a close look at how farmers and other industry actors view, understand and articulate positive welfare, the study found a series of counter-narratives regarding the concept of positive welfare. The study also highlights evidence that shows the adoption of positive welfare in practice, even though the practices are not necessarily narrated as being positive welfare by those actors. This study is of value to policy makers and industry actors in how they frame and facilitate positive welfare in extensively reared livestock systems. It demonstrates the importance of a participatory, co-design approach mobilising those affected by a societal issue in order to empower farmers and industry in implementing social change
Comprehensive assessment of soil and dust heavy metal(loid)s exposure scenarios at residential playgrounds in Beijing, China
Get PDFSmall playgrounds situated within residential communities are popular recreational areas. However, heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) in soil or equipment dust may pose a public health risk. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the health risk associated with HMs exposure at residential playgrounds in cities, a field that has not been thoroughly investigated previously. 70 soil and 70 equipment dust samples were collected from 30 urban and 40 suburban playgrounds in Beijing. Results indicated significant enrichment of Cu, As, and Ni in the soil with Enrichment Factors (EFs) >5 from both anthropogenic and lithogenic sources. Correlation analyses showed that the levels of Be, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni in soil and Be, Mn, As, Cd in dust were positively correlated with the distance to the nearest highway, with p-values < 0.01. Enrichment and correlation analyses contributed to a better understanding of the sources and transport pathways of HMs in urban environment. Based on a site-specific Conceptual Site Model (CSM), the carcinogenic risks (CRs) and Hazard Quotients (HQs) were quantified for residents as the ratio of HMs exposure to reference doses. Risk assessment indicated the mean predicted CR for children and adults exposed to soil was 3.75 × 10−6 and 5.29 × 10−6, respectively, while that at dust exposure scenarios was lower, at 2.47 × 10−6 and 3.49 × 10−6, respectively, all of which were at the upper end of U.S. EPA's acceptable criteria of 1 × 10−6 to 1 × 10−4. Among the HMs, As and Ni were identified as the priority control contaminants due to significant contribution to CRs. Furthermore, the spatial distribution revealed an increasing trend in health risk from the urban center to the suburbs. This study emphasizes the need for effective measures to mitigate potential health risk and enhance the safety of recreational areas, particularly for susceptible individuals
Enzymatic and proteomic exploration into the inhibitory activities of lemongrass and lemon essential oils against Botrytis cinerea (causative pathogen of gray mold)
Get PDFIntroduction: Essential oils (EOs) have been demonstrated as efficacious against
B. cinerea. However, the underpinning enzymatic and proteomic mechanism for
these inhibitory effects is not entirely clear.
Methods: Thus, this study examined the effects of lemon (Le) and lemongrass
(Lg) EOs (individually and in combination) against B. cinerea based on enzymatic
and proteomic analyses. Proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with
identifier PXD038894.
Results and discussion: Both EOs (individually and in combination) displayed
abilities to induce scavenging as observed with the reduction of H2O2. Measured
malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were increased in
all EOs treated B. cinerea mycelia compared to the control. Ascorbate peroxidase
(APX) activity was highest in Lg treated B. cinerea (206% increase), followed by
combined (Le + Lg) treatment with 73% compared to the untreated control. Based
on GC-MS analysis, the number of volatile compounds identified in lemon and
lemongrass EOs were 7 and 10, respectively. Major chemical constituent of lemon
EO was d-limonene (71%), while lemongrass EO was a-citral (50.1%). Based on the
interrogated LC-MS data, 42 distinct proteins were identified, and 13 of these proteins
were unique with 1, 8, and 4 found in Le-, Lg-, and (Le + Lg) EOs treated B. cinerea,
respectively, and none in control. Overall, 72% of identified proteins were localized
within cellular anatomical entity, and 28% in protein-complexes. Proteins involved in
translation initiation, antioxidant activity, protein macromolecule adaptor activity and
microtubule motor activity were only identified in the Lg and (Le + Lg) EOs treated
B. cinerea mycelia, which was consistent with their APX activities
A Cost–Benefit Analysis of Preparing National Veterinary Services for Transboundary Animal Disease Emergencies
Get PDFThe natural, accidental, or deliberate release of pathogens into livestock populations carries with it a range of consequences for society, from zoonotic disease outbreaks, to changes in food security and economic welfare. An important contribution to mitigating the risk ofdisease outbreaks comes from having well-prepared emergency response plans and agencies with the capacity to put those plans into operation. In the case ofanimal disease, national Veterinary Services (VS) take a central role. Unknown and uncertain events, such as if, when and where the next disease outbreak will occur makes economic decision-making a challenge. While the costs of preparing for emergencies can be quantified in a conventional manner, the scope, scale, and likelihood of benefits actually accruing are all subject to uncertainty. This study attempts to examine the costs and benefits ofpreparing national VS for animal disease emergencies, including natural, accidental, or deliberate release of pathogens. Data collected as part of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s Performance of VS program for countries in East and West Africa and South East Asia were used for estimating investment costs. A state-contingent approach is used to constrain the uncertainty space in terms of disease impact. The probability of a disease event occurring and the probability of that event being contained by emergency preparation are used to describe a frontier at which investment breaks-even in a variety of scenarios. An increased probability of breaking-even on investment was found with high livestock numbers per capita and increasing intensification in livestock production systems. The method and findings provide a means to understand the benefits of preparing for uncertain events and are aimed to further the dialogue around policy development for livestock disease emergencies in lower-income countries
Assembling Islamic practice in a Swahili urban landscape, 11th�16th centuries
Get PDFSpanning c. 1050�1500 CE, a burgeoning Swahili community called Chwaka built a sequence of four mortared coral mosques in their town of wattle-and-daub houses on Pemba Island, Tanzania. The mosques� placement, construction, and use played an active role in creating and strengthening an Islamic community and help us define changes in social practice within the town and the larger polity in which it existed. It is argued that the construction of each mosque was an act of assembling, drawing people, other-than-human things and affective social practices together in ways that help tell an urban story. This research provides insights into the residents� socioeconomic and cultural priorities and the town�s changing relationship with villagers from the surrounding region, contributing to understandings of Swahili urbanism and urban practice
Overcoming Deterministic Limits to Robustness Tests of Decision-Making Given Incomplete Information: The State Contingent Analysis Approach
Get PDFIncomplete information may result in multiple factors combining to jointly affect the consequences of decision-making. The typical response to incomplete information has been tests of robustness and a fixed decisions? capacity to withstand a wide variety of future conditions. But what of reversed contexts, where the revealed future alters decision-making via experience, learning and innovation such that the decision itself changes? In this paper we contrast a commonly applied expected value robustness metric to state contingent analysis which allows for learning and innovation. State contingent analysis views robustness as how decision-makers achieve profits across all future states by reallocating resources ex post to maximize payoffs and/or minimize losses via outputs that are conditionally specific. Consequently, the state-contingent approach enables researchers to identify the benefits and constraints of resource reallocation?rather than fixed decision-making?over plausible scenarios. Within SCA, scenarios can thus be uncoupled from the historical averages to explore rare events, even if never before experienced, including thin- and fat-tailed probability distribution outcomes and their impact on decision-making, innovation and future solutions. A case study assessment of water resource management in a large river basin provides the basis for our comparison. We find that expected value models mask innovation and adaptation reactions by decision-makers in response to external stimuli (e.g., increased droughts) and under-represent water reallocation outcomes. Conversely, state contingent models represent and report decision-maker reactions that can be more readily interpreted and linked to stimuli including policy interventions, expanding the study of complex human-water systems
Contaminant containment for sustainable remediation of persistent contaminants in soil and groundwater
Get PDFContaminant containment measures are often necessary to prevent or minimize offsite movement of contaminated materials for disposal or other purposes when they can be buried or left in place due to extensive subsurface contamination. These measures can include physical, chemical, and biological technologies such as impermeable and permeable barriers, stabilization and solidification, and phytostabilization. Contaminant containment is advantageous because it can stop contaminant plumes from migrating further and allow for pollutant reduction at sites where the source is inaccessible or cannot be removed. Moreover, unlike other options, contaminant containment measures do not require the excavation of contaminated substrates. However, contaminant containment measures require regular inspections to monitor for contaminant mobilization and migration. This review critically evaluates the sources of persistent contaminants, the different approaches to contaminant remediation, and the various physical-chemical-biological processes of contaminant containment. Additionally, the review provides case studies of contaminant containment operations under real or simulated field conditions. In summary, contaminant containment measures are essential for preventing further contamination and reducing risks to public health and the environment. While periodic monitoring is necessary, the benefits of contaminant containment make it a valuable remediation option when other methods are not feasible