Wastewater Purification from Permanganate Ions by Sorption on the Ocimum basilicum Leaves Powder Modified by Zinc Chloride

The powder of Ocimum Basilicum leaves was treated by zinc chloride (ZnCl2) and applied as a new and low-cost sorbent for extraction of permanganate anions (MnO4−) from liquid phase. The functional groups of the ring stretching vibration, –NH2 deformation, stretching of C-O, stretching of CH, and stretching of –NH were found in the sorbent of zinc chloride Ocimum basilicum leaves powder (ZCOBLP) at 1516.21, 1629.33, 1047.00, 2929.88, and 3294.93 cm−1, respectively. This adsorbent has 8.3 pHZPC, 117.27 m2·g−1 surface area, 0.00711 cc·g−1 pore volume and average pore diameter of 264.144 Å. The outcomes of sorption experiments designate the positive impact for temperature, time of agitation, and started concentration of MnO4− and negative impact for pH. The optimal conditions were 1300 mg·L−1 as started adsorbate concentration, 55°C as solution temperature, agitation time of 420 min, and pH of 1.5. The outcomes of the equilibrium and dynamic approve that this sorption is spontaneous and heat-absorbing process, and the obtained data were described well by isotherm model of Langmuir and 2nd-order dynamic model. The capacities of this sorption were 588.235, 625.000, 666.667, and 714.286 mg·g−1 at 25, 35, 45, and 55 (°C), respectively. The superior sorption capacities of the uncostly ZCOBLP will make it successfully used for MnO4− ions extraction from liquid phases.

Download Full-text

Development and production experience of the multilayer curtain-coated linerboard of Ji’an PM No. 3,

TAPPI Journal ◽

10.32964/tj13.2.17 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 17-25

Author(s):

JUNMING SHU ◽

ARTHAS YANG ◽

PEKKA SALMINEN ◽

HENRI VAITTINEN

Keyword(s):

Titanium Dioxide ◽

High Speed ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Production Efficiency ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Low Cost ◽

Board Structure ◽

Flexographic Printing ◽

Curtain Coating ◽

Coating Formulations

The Ji’an PM No. 3 is the first linerboard machine in China to use multilayer curtain coating technology. Since successful startup at the end of 2011, further development has been carried out to optimize running conditions, coating formulations, and the base paper to provide a product with satisfactory quality and lower cost to manufacture. The key challenges include designing the base board structure for the desired mechanical strength, designing the surface properties for subsequent coating operations, optimizing the high-speed running of the curtain coater to enhance production efficiency, minimizing the amount of titanium dioxide in the coating color, and balancing the coated board properties to make them suitable for both offset and flexographic printing. The pilot and mill scale results show that curtain coating has a major positive impact on brightness, while smoothness is improved mainly by the blade coating and calendering conditions. Optimization of base board properties and the blade + curtain + blade concept has resulted in the successful use of 100% recycled fiber to produce base board. The optical, mechanical, and printability properties of the final coated board meet market requirements for both offset and flexographic printing. Machine runnability is excellent at the current speed of 1000 m/min, and titanium dioxide has been eliminated in the coating formulations without affecting the coating coverage. A significant improvement in the total cost of coated white liner production has been achieved, compared to the conventional concept of using virgin fiber in the top ply. Future development will focus on combining low cost with further quality improvements to make linerboard suitable for a wider range of end-use applications, including frozen-food packaging and folding boxboard.

Download Full-text

TURN-OVER GURU PADA MADRASAH ALIYAH NAHDLATUL ULAMA

JURNAL PENELITIAN ◽

10.28918/jupe.v13i1.704 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mochamad Iskarim

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

New Teacher ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Depth Interview ◽

Nahdlatul Ulama ◽

Turn Over ◽

Interview Questionnaire ◽

Collection Methods

Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk mengetahui dampak positif dan negatif dari adanya pergantian (turn-over) guru di Madrasah Aliyah Nahdlatul Ulama Banyuputih kabupaten Batang. Penelitian inimenggunakan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif analitis dengan metode pengumpulan data berupa wawancara mendalam, angket, dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya turn-over yang tinggi pada guru atau pendidik di madrasah tersebut; keuntungan yang bersifat positif justru didapatkan ketika adanya turn-over guru dibandingkan dampak negatifnya; dan kehadiran guru baru menjadi hal yang sangat disukai oleh siswa dalam hal kreativitas, inovasi pembelajaran, motivasi, dan lain sebagainya.The aims of this research were to know the positive and negative impact of teacher turn over at Madrasah Aliyah Nahdlatul Ulama Banyuputih Kabupaten Batang. This research was use analytical descriptive qualitative approach with depth interview, questionnaire and documentation as data collection methods. The results of this research shows that the positive impact occur more than the negative impact when there was teacher turn over; and the presence of a new teacher become student’s favourite on creativity, learning innovation, and motivation aspects.

Download Full-text

Accidental Sustainability

10.1093/oso/9780198706977.003.0005 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Geoffrey Jones

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Organic Food ◽

The United States ◽

Air Travel ◽

Business Leaders ◽

Natural Beauty ◽

And Diffusion ◽

Whole Foods

This chapter examines the scaling and diffusion of green entrepreneurship between 1980 and the present. It explores how entrepreneurs and business leaders promoted the idea that business and sustainability were compatible. It then examines the rapid growth of organic foods, natural beauty, ecological architecture, and eco-tourism. Green firms sometimes grew to a large scale, such as the retailer Whole Foods Market in the United States. The chapter explores how greater mainstreaming of these businesses resulted in a new set of challenges arising from scaling. Organic food was now transported across large distances causing a negative impact on carbon emissions. More eco-tourism resulted in more air travel and bigger airports. In other industries scaling had a more positive impact. Towns were major polluters, so more ecological buildings had a positive impact.

Download Full-text

Socioeconomic Conditions and Landowners’ Perception Affect the Intention to Restore Polylepis Forests in the Central Andes of Peru

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12020118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 118

Author(s):

Lunel Joseph ◽

Raúl Marino Yaranga Cano ◽

Marco Arizapana-Almonacid ◽

Marcela Venelli Pyles ◽

Flávia Freire de Siqueira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Linear Mixed Model ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Central Andes ◽

Socioeconomic Conditions ◽

Native Flora ◽

The Family ◽

Andes Region

Research Highlights: Families more dependent on crops as the main source of income of properties have a greater intention of restoring Polylepis forest areas. However, this intention reduces with the increase of family dependence on subsistence products supplied by Polylepis forests. Properties where the chances of restoration of Polylepis forests are greater are those where the educational and technical level is better. Objectives: We aimed to comprehend which socioeconomic factors of rural properties and families’ perception were determinant for the intention to restore Polylepis forests in the Central Andes region of Peru. Material and Methods: We collected data through visits and the application of questionnaires. We selected 13 rural communities in the Tulumayo River Basin. We randomly sampled 10 to 20 families in each community, depending on its size, totaling 200 families. We used generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to test which variables affect the intention to restore the forest. Results: When crops are the main source of income in the property, the families have more intention to restore Polylepis areas, on the other hand, when Polylepis forests are an important source of products for the family subsistence, the intention to restore forests reduces, indicating that higher technological status has a positive impact on restoration. The perception that Polylepis forests are important for the existence of water sources had a positive impact on the families’ intention to restore the areas. However, the perception that Polylepis forests are important for native flora persistence had a negative impact on the intention to restore their areas. Conclusions: Our results showed that investment in improving the productivity of the properties and in the education of their landowners should increase the success of eventual programs for restoration of Polylepis forests.

Download Full-text

043 Sleep Restriction Affects Memory in Healthy Adults: Preliminary Findings

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsab072.042 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. A18-A19

Author(s):

Molly Zimmerman ◽

Christiane Hale ◽

Adam Brickman ◽

Lok-Kin Yeung ◽

Justin Cochran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Task Demands ◽

Sleep Restriction ◽

Neuropsychological Function ◽

Wake Time ◽

Sleep Condition ◽

The Impact

Abstract Introduction Sleep loss has a range of detrimental effects on cognitive ability. However, few studies have examined the impact of sleep restriction on neuropsychological function using an experimental design. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which maintained insufficient sleep affects cognition in healthy adults compared to habitual adequate sleep. Methods This study used a randomized, crossover, outpatient sleep restriction design. Adults who regularly slept at least 7 h/night, verified by 2 weeks of screening with actigraphy, completed 2 phases of 6 weeks each: habitual sleep (>7 h of sleep/night) or sleep restriction (habitual sleep minus 1.5 h) separated by a 6-week washout period. During the sleep restriction phase, participants were asked to delay their bedtime by 1.5 hours/night while maintaining their habitual wake time. Neuropsychological function was evaluated with the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery at baseline (week 0) and endpoint (week 6) of each intervention phase. The NIH Toolbox evaluates a range of cognitive abilities, including attention, executive functioning, and working memory. General linear models with post hoc paired t-tests were used to assess demographically-adjusted test scores prior to and following each sleep condition. Results At the time of analyses, 16 participants were enrolled (age 34.5□14.5 years, 9 women), 10 of whom had completed study procedures. An interaction between sleep condition and testing session revealed that individuals performed worse on List Sorting, a working memory test, after sleep restriction but improved slightly after habitual sleep (p<0.001). While not statistically reliable, the pattern of test results was similar on the other tests of processing speed, executive function, and attention. Conclusion In these preliminary results from this randomized experimental study, we demonstrated that sleep restriction has a negative impact while stable habitual adequate sleep has a positive impact on working memory, or the ability to temporarily hold information in mind while executing task demands. This finding contributes to our understanding of the complex interplay between different aspects of sleep quality (i.e., both sleep restriction as well as the maintenance of stable sleep patterns) on cognition and underscores the importance of routine sleep screening as part of medical evaluations. Support (if any):

Download Full-text

Exploring the Relationship between Communication and Success of Construction Projects: The Mediating Role of Conflict

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084513 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4513

Author(s):

Summaira Malik ◽

Muhammad Taqi ◽

José Moleiro Martins ◽

Mário Nuno Mata ◽

João Manuel Pereira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Project Success ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Construction Project ◽

Project Team ◽

Relationship Conflict ◽

Team Members ◽

Mediating Role ◽

The Impact

The success of a construction project is a widely discussed topic, even today, and there exists a difference of opinion. The impact of communication and conflict on project success is an important, but least addressed, issue in literature, especially in the case of underdeveloped countries. Miscommunication and conflict not only hinder the success of a project but also may lead to conflicts. The focus of this paper was to examine the impact of communication on project success with the mediating role of conflict. By using SPSS, demographics, descriptive statistics and correlation were determined. Smart PLS version 3.0 was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal accuracy and validity estimates, hypothesis checking and mediation testing. The results showed that formal communication has a negative impact on the success of a construction project, resulting in conflicts among project team members, whereas informal communication and communication willingness have a positive impact on project success because people tend to know each other, and trust is developed. Task, process and relationship conflicts were used as mediating variables. It was found that task conflict effects the relations positively because project team members suggest different ways to do a certain task, and, hence, project success is achieved. On the contrary, process conflict and relationship conflict have a negative impact on communication and project success. Both of these conflicts lead to miscommunication, and project success is compromised. Hence, it is the responsibility of the project manager to enhance communication among project team members and to reduce the detrimental effects of process and relationship conflict on project success.

Download Full-text

The Urbanisation Impacts on the Policy Effects of the Carbon Tax in China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126749 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6749

Author(s):

Shuyang Chen

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Computable General Equilibrium ◽

Carbon Tax ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Evaluation Framework ◽

Socioeconomic Impacts ◽

Policy Effects ◽

Distributed Lag

In the literature, very few studies have focused on how urbanisation will influence the policy effects of a climate policy even though urbanisation does have profound socioeconomic impacts. This paper has explored the interrelations among the urbanisation, carbon emissions, GDP, and energy consumption in China using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Then, the unit urbanisation impacts are inputted into the policy evaluation framework of the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model in 2015–2030. The results show that the urbanisation had a positive impact on the GDP but a negative impact on the carbon emissions in 1980–2014. These impacts were statistically significant, but its impact on the energy consumption was not statistically significant. In 2015–2030, the urbanisation will have negative impacts on the carbon emissions and intensity. It will decrease the GDP and the household welfare under the carbon tax. The urbanisation will increase the average social cost of carbon (ASCC). Hence, the urbanisation will reinforce the policy effects of the carbon tax on the emissions and welfare.

Download Full-text

Environmental Regulation, Environmental Awareness and Environmental Governance Satisfaction

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13073960 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 3960

Author(s):

Meng-Meng Geng ◽

Ling-Yun He

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Environmental Governance ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Subjective Evaluation ◽

Environmental Awareness ◽

General Social Survey ◽

Probit Model ◽

The People ◽

The Impact

It is a problem worth thinking about whether the government’s environmental regulation policies can meet the residents’ requirements for environmental quality, and benefit the people. The study of the public’s subjective evaluation can more intuitively judge whether the government’s environmental regulation has realized “ecological benefits for the people”. Based on the data of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2013, this paper studied the impact of environmental regulation and environmental awareness on environmental governance satisfaction by an ordered probit model. The study found that environmental regulation has a significant positive impact on environmental governance satisfaction, while environmental awareness has a significant negative impact on environmental governance satisfaction. We also found that when public environmental awareness is taken into account, the positive relationship between environmental regulation and environmental governance satisfaction is affected. The robustness test proved this conclusion.

Download Full-text

A performance model for mobile robot-based part feeding systems to supermarkets

Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal ◽

10.1007/s10696-021-09427-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Emilio Moretti ◽

Elena Tappia ◽

Martina Mauri ◽

Marco Melacini

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Waiting Times ◽

Performance Model ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Shop Floor ◽

Storage And Retrieval ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Part Feeding ◽

Feeding Systems

AbstractIn a context where companies are striving to produce highly customised goods in small batches and within short lead times, increasing attention is being put on the design and management of part feeding systems. This research is the first to model automated part feeding to supermarkets in a factory environment, considering an innovative technology called vertical robotic storage and retrieval systems. This technology allows automating the storage, picking, and internal transportation activities in an integrated process, thanks to rack-climbing robots roaming in both the shop floor and the storage racks. We develop an analytical model based on the queuing network approach to analyse the system performance, and we use it to perform numerical experiments and to evaluate the design trade-offs with reference to a real case in the automotive industry. Results show that an increase in the number of robots leads to better performance since the positive impact on the response time is stronger than the negative impact on the waiting times of robots at the supermarkets due to congestion. Furthermore, a configuration with multiple small supermarkets improves the efficiency of the replenishment process, compared to a setting with few big supermarkets.

Download Full-text

The Impact of the Business Environment on the Formalization of Informal Firms. The Case of Kosovo

Südosteuropa ◽

10.1515/soeu-2020-0035 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 505-529

Author(s):

Kujtim Zylfijaj ◽

Dimitar Nikoloski ◽

Nadine Tournois

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Business Environment ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Tax Reforms ◽

Firm Level ◽

Characteristics Analysis ◽

Significant Negative Impact ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe research presented here investigates the impact of the business environment on the formalization of informal firms, using firm-level data for 243 informal firms in Kosovo. The findings indicate that business-environment variables such as limited access to financing, the cost of financing, the unavailability of subsidies, tax rates, and corruption have a significant negative impact on the formalization of informal firms. In addition, firm-level characteristics analysis suggests that the age of the firm also exercises a significant negative impact, whereas sales volume exerts a significant positive impact on the formalization of informal firms. These findings have important policy implications and suggest that the abolition of barriers preventing access to financing, as well as tax reforms and a consistent struggle against corruption may have a positive influence on the formalization of informal firms. On the other hand, firm owners should consider formalization to be a means to help them have greater opportunities for survival and growth.

Download Full-text