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Evolving Sustainable Material Culture (SMC): Emerging Trends and Strategic Implications for Green Finance
Get PDFThis paper examines the integration of Sustainable Material Culture (SMC) within the Green Finance (GF) framework, focusing on decision-making strategies inspired by game theory, inference rules, and advanced financial modeling to support sustainable economic principles. Since the 2008 financial crisis, traditional investment strategies have increasingly sought alignment with long-term sustainability goals. However, they inherently carry risks when adapting to the evolving complexities of environmental challenges, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and infrastructure inequity. SMC is defined here as the material objects, practices, and frameworks reflecting human efforts to promote sustainability, driven by individual and collective investments. Our analysis identifies significant challenges in GF, such as the dual roles of investors as contributors to and beneficiaries of SMC, alongside the application of advanced decision-making frameworks, including Pareto efficiency and Bayesian-Nash equilibrium, to support these roles effectively. We explore how GF initiatives, exemplified by global sustainable finance instruments, address (and sometimes struggle to meet) the multidimensional requirements of SMC. We illustrate how these investments foster economic transformation and resilience by building on case studies of innovative GF initiatives—including sovereign green bond issuances, community-led projects, and energy transition programs in emerging markets. Nuanced trade-offs between commissions and omissions by stakeholders highlight the ethical challenges in designing and promoting sustainable financial products
Evaluating the Impact of Collaborative Art, Therapy and Training on Police Legitimacy: The Perceptions Held by Individuals with Substance Abuse Disorder and Police Officers
Get PDFThis qualitative pilot study was funded by a federal micro-grant to seek to fill a void in the literature on police legitimacy. The focus of this pilot study was to determine if collaborative art therapy and training can change the perceptions of police legitimacy held by individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) or the perceptions of the police toward individuals with SUD. Besides the collaborative activities, individuals with SUD and police officers were provided with therapy and/or training sessions during the period of collaboration.
The methodology for this study included the use of electronic survey instruments to evaluate any changes in perception. These instruments were administered anonymously before and after all therapy, training, and collaboration activities occurred. Each instrument contained open-ended questions relating to Police Legitimacy Scale (PLS) (Tankebe et al., 2016) categories, as well as additional measures. Analysis included qualitative methods to provide context and identify themes for content analysis. Findings did not confirm change overall however, positive responses support police legitimacy, perceptual changes and relationship building. Recommendations are made for relationship building through increased interaction, excluding enforcement activities between individuals with SUD and the police using collaborative projects such as art therapy
The Nexus between Criminology and the Corporate Sector: A Critical Overview
Get PDFThe intricate interaction between criminology, company operations, and the regional and historical differences in criminal laws is examined in this study using a qualitative research methodology. This study compares how the criminal justice system handles corporate malfeasance to how it handles crimes committed by individuals in order to investigate the effectiveness and challenges of applying criminal law to enterprises. The majority of the data collected comes from secondary sources. The results show that managing corporate misconduct is different from managing individual transgressions, which creates challenges for enforcement and punishment. The results of the study show that the criminalisation of particular behaviors is significantly influenced by legal frameworks and social norms. The researchers came to the conclusion that improving corporate governance, strengthening enforcement protocols, passing laws protecting whistleblowers, and launching community education-based public awareness campaigns could all potentially increase the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in combating corporate crime
Comparison of Different DNA Sampling and Extraction Protocols for Bacterial and Archaeal Populations Analysis in Water Buffalo
Get PDFMethane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas, and ruminants are a significant source of agricultural emissions. It has been hypothesized that the host's genome controls rumen microbial communities, but robust results require numerous samples. The feasibility of a research project will depend on the ease and representativeness of the sampling method, as well as the cost-efficiency of large-scale sequencing. This study aimed to compare different protocols to investigate whether non-invasive samples could serve as a substitute for ruminal digesta. DNA recovery was tested in various matrices (whole rumen content, feces, and buccal swabs) from five cannulated buffalo cows. Three types of buccal swabs were tested, as well as feces in different forms (as-is, pelleted, or in a glycerol solution) and the rumen content. The study compared different protocols for DNA extraction, including WUR protocol, Maxwell®, and Quick Extract™, and two sampling times. Saliva was a challenging matrix to process, obtaining unsatisfactory DNA yield. Feces showed higher yields when pelleted but lower than rumen. The highest amount of DNA was obtained from whole rumen content using all three DNA extraction methods. Quick Extract was the easiest method to perform, while WUR resulted in the highest yield of DNA, swabs excluded. The Maxwell® method gave satisfactory results with all three matrices. However, further metagenomic analysis is required to verify if the species composition is comparable
Support of Characteristics, Physical Environmental and Psychological On Quality Of Life Of Patients With DM Type II
Get PDFBackground: Diabetes mellitus is one of the diseases that ranks high in the list of non-communicable diseases in Indonesia. Factors that can affect quality of life such as physical environment and psychological.
Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between characteristic, physical environment and psychological on quality of life of type II diabetes mellitus patients at the Barombong Public Health Center, Makkasar City.
Methodology: This study is a quantitative research with an analytical observational approach using a cross-sectional design. The population size in this study is 578 individuals, sample calculation using the WHO formula yielded a sample size of 385 individuals with predefined exclusion an inclusion criteria. The sampling technique employed is simple random sampling (SRS), and the hypothesis test used is chi-square.
Results: Bivariate statistical analysis shows that there is a relationship between quality of life and age (p=0,000), duration of illness (p=0,000), temperature (p=0,000), noise (p=0,000), positive feelings (p=0,000), thinking, learning, and concentration (p=0,000), self-esteem (p=0,000), while variables that are not associated with quality of life are gender (p=0,111), marital status (p=0,228) and social support (p=0,645). Based on logistic regression analysis, it was found that the factors that most influence quality of life are duration of illness (p=0,000) and positive feelings (p=0,000).
Conclusion: Length of suffering and positive feelings are the most dominant variables associated with quality of life with a probability level of 99.8%
Estimating Optimum Length of Stay in a Hospital to Control the Infection Spread during an Epidemic Using Left-Right Truncated Poisson Model
Get PDFBackground: The unprecedented havoc of COVID-19 pandemic stressed medical infrastructure of every affected country. The developing countries were more affected as their already inadequate medical resources were strained further.
Material and Methods: In order to estimate the time of onset of recovery through the period of hospitalisation stay, the retrospective data on the number of days that 83 COVID-19 patients stayed in a hospital in New Delhi, India was obtained. A Left-Right Truncated Poisson Distribution Model (LRTPD) was developed to estimate the average number of days that patients had to spend in the hospital before the onset of recovery and they were no longer infected. Left truncation is on the ‘u’ left most classes of the random variable and right truncation is after ‘v’ classes. The parametric estimates of the LOS were validated using the Monte-Carlo method.
Results and Conclusion: The models suggested that if appropriate truncation limits (both the data-specific and as per expert advice) are used in case of critical medical emergencies, approximately 90 percent of the patients will be able to get hospital admission, without over-burdening the hospital infrastructure. The median recovery onset time/ Length of stay (LOS) obtained using the Kaplan-Meier estimator was consistent with the results of the parametric modeling and simulation. However, the Kaplan-Meier method overestimated the mean LOS as compared to the parametric methods
Physicochemical and Structural Investigation of Argeli (Edgeworthia gardneri) Bast Fibers
Get PDFThe structure and some physicochemical properties of Argeli (Edgeworthia gardneri) bast fibers were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopies, Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The neat fibers were found to contain about 54.47% cellulose, 25.98% hemicellulose, 10.5 % lignin, 6.1% extractives, and about 2.9% ash. The fibers on chemical treatments changed several properties, some of them being quite significant. Fiber density was increased by 8.5% in the alkali-treated samples which may be due to the loss of less dense components such as lignin and hemicelluloses. The tensile strength of the fiber increased by 34 % and 61 %, respectively, after alkali and bleaching treatments. However, the thermal properties of treated samples did not change significantly. The mechanical properties of Argeli fiber were improved on chemical treatments making them attractive in the fabrication of polymer composites, textiles, and papers
Financial Development and Income Inequality: Evidence from Latin America, 2001-2021
Get PDFNumerous studies delve into the theoretical frameworks on finance and inequality. However, there are too few empirical tests on its theoretical relations due to a lack of data to capture financial development. Additionally, due to the many social and economic dimensions of a large economy such as Brazil or Argentina, it is unrealistic to consider that labor market or political issues are the only culprits of income inequality. More research is needed to understand the dynamics of inequality. In this paper, we evaluate the influence of financial development on income inequality using nineteen countries in Latin America from 2001 to 2021. Two indicators of financial development are employed. First, I use the broader definition of money, M3, as a percentage of GDP to capture the liquid liabilities because M1 or M2 may be a poor proxy in economies with weak financial systems. Secondly, the ratio of credit to private sector to GDP is employed because financial intermediaries with higher volumes of credit are more involved in financial development, such as diversifying risk, saving mobilization, facilitating transactions, allocating funding to economic activities, and monitoring borrowers’ activities. Based on the GMM estimator, our empirical findings support that better-developed financial markets reduce inequality
Impact Assessment of Counselling on Family of Children with Intellectual Disability in Cross River State, Nigeria
No full textThis study examined the impact of counseling on the families of children with intellectual disability (ID) in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three research questions were generated to guide the study while the Ex-post-Facto research design was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used, and 100 parents of children with ID were selected from the Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of Nigeria (AIDDN), Cross River State Chapter. These parents have been exposed to psychodynamic counseling in the past. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Impact of Counseling on Parents of Children with ID (ICPCID)”. The instrument was validated by three experts, two in special education and one in measurement and evaluation. The reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentages, frequencies, and mean scores. The findings revealed, among others, that counseling has a higher impact on the information needs of parents of children with ID. Counseling has a significant positive impact on the emotional stability of parents of children with ID. Counseling has a significant positive impact on stabilizing families of children with ID. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the Cross River State Government should establish a department of guidance and counseling under the State Ministry of Education that regularly caters for the counseling needs of parents of children with ID in the state
Physicochemical Properties of Films from Semirefined Carrageenan/TiO2 Integrated with Cinnamaldehyde Pickering Emulsion for Active Food Packaging
Get PDFPlastic waste has become a significant global environmental issue, particularly in the context of food packaging. In the present study, active packaging films were fabricated by integrating chitosan-stabilized cinnamaldehyde Pickering emulsion (PE) and titanium dioxide particles (TNPs) into the semirefined carrageenan (SRC) matrix. The impact of cinnamaldehyde PE and TNPs on the physical and mechanical attributes of the SRC films was explored. The integration of TNPs (3%, w/v) and 0.5% cinnamaldehyde PE revealed promising mechanical properties, with 21.86 MPa tensile strength and 34.21% of elongation at break value. The inclusion of TNPs and cinnamaldehyde PE led to enhancements in the moisture content and water solubility of the SRC films. The thermal stability of the film was marginally increased with 0.5% cinnamaldehyde PE. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a uniform distribution of active compounds in the SRC matrix. The study findings highlight the potential of cinnamaldehyde PE and TNPs in active food packaging films as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional petrochemical-derived plastics in food packaging