scholarly journals Application of Photovoltaic Systems for Agriculture: A Study on the Relationship between Power Generation and Farming for the Improvement of Photovoltaic Applications in Agriculture

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4815
Author(s):  
Jaiyoung Cho ◽  
Sung Min Park ◽  
A Reum Park ◽  
On Chan Lee ◽  
Geemoon Nam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Sugar Content ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Photovoltaic Module ◽  
Solar Energy Harvesting ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Agrivoltaic (agriculture–photovoltaic) or solar sharing has gained growing recognition as a promising means of integrating agriculture and solar-energy harvesting. Although this field offers great potential, data on the impact on crop growth and development are insufficient. As such, this study examines the impact of agriculture–photovoltaic farming on crops using energy information and communications technology (ICT). The researched crops were grapes, cultivated land was divided into six sections, photovoltaic panels were installed in three test areas, and not installed in the other three. A 1300 × 520 mm photovoltaic module was installed on a screen that was designed with a shading rate of 30%. In addition, to collect farming-cultivation-environment data and to analyze power generation, sensors for growing environments and wireless-communication devices were used. As a result, normal modules generated 25.2 MWh, bifacial modules generated 21.6 MWh, and transparent modules generated 25.7 MWh over a five-month period. We could not find a difference in grape growth according to the difference of each module. However, a slight slowing of grape growth was found in the experiment group compared to the control group. Nevertheless, the sugar content of the test area of the grape fruit in the harvest season was 17.6 Brix on average, and the sugar content of the control area was measured at 17.2 Brix. Grape sugar-content level was shown to be at almost the same level as that in the control group by delaying the harvest time by about 10 days. In conclusion, this study shows that it is possible to produce renewable energy without any meaningful negative impact on normal grape farming.

scholarly journals The Role of Internal Control in Firms’ Coping with the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6294
Author(s):  
Peiqing Zhu ◽  
Jianbo Song
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Risk Prevention ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Obvious Effect ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Internal control plays a role in risk prevention for firms when dealing with serious emergencies, which ensures the sustainable development of firms during a crisis. Based on the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in China, this paper empirically tests whether internal control alleviates the negative impact of the pandemic on firm performance. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from the first quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020 and employing the difference-in-difference (DID) method, we find that the firms with a higher quality of internal control achieve better financial performance during the pandemic period; the more serious the pandemic is, the more obvious effect internal control plays. Furthermore, we consider the industry heterogeneity and firm heterogeneity of the risk resistance effect of internal control. In the manufacturing industry, which is a “disaster zone” of the pandemic, and the non-high-tech industry with a low degree of digitization, internal control can play a more important role in firms’ performance. Moreover, for state-owned enterprises, and firms with strong financing constraints, the role of internal control is more prominent. The above results provide empirical evidence for the risk prevention function of internal control and shed new light on the measures for firms to resist emergencies in the future.

scholarly journals Using the Concept of Game-Based Learning in Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (14) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Zi-Yu Liu ◽  
Zaffar Ahmed Shaikh ◽  
Farida Gazizova
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Educational Material ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Impact

A modern school deals with a generation of students who were born and grown up in a digital environment and require other teaching methods. Changes in the technological and social conditions of modern society need new professional skills, which are often called “21st century skills”. These skills should be devel-oped starting from the primary school, as they are psychological and behavioural, rather than practical. Game-based learning and gamification are effective means of such skills development. The use of video games in teaching practice is studied multifaceted, along with formats and requirements of educational game, methods for effectiveness assessment, and the effect of games on students. The controver-sial nature of game-based learning effect on students require deeper research, as the increase in motivation and learning efficiency cannot be disputed, as well as the negative impact of a long gaming on cognitive abilities, emotional state and social skills of students. The study tested both an increase in the motivation and attraction of school students for the learning process, and the impact on the prac-tical results of information assimilation. There was conducted a survey on the re-sults of the application of game training to determine the motivation and attraction of students. Likewise, we counted time, spent by the study and control group, for mastering the main educational material and the post-class study of game content and the educational material it presents. A comparative test was conducted on the results of educational material comprehension to determine the effectiveness of the methodology in mastering knowledge. The group, with game-based learning and gamification applied, showed an increase in motivation and attraction to learning, students paid additional efforts for assimilating the material studied, and also showed significantly higher learning outcomes compared to the control group.

Analysis of the Impact of Personalized Nursing Service and Hospice Care on the Quality of Life of Elderly Cancer Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-473
Author(s):  
Ting Fang ◽  
Nian Wang ◽  
Meng Chen ◽  
Hongmei Ma
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Pain Treatment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Study Group ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Objective Explore the impact of personalized nursing services and hospice care on the quality of life of elderly patients with advanced cancer. Method We selected 80 elderly cancer patients admitted to our hospital from September 2020 to May 2021, and divided these patients into a study group and a control group using a random number table method. The patients in the control group used conventional nursing methods to treat and care for the patients, and the patients in the study group used hospice care measures and combined personalized nursing measures. The quality of life and pain treatment effects of the two groups of patients before and after treatment were compared. Result Before treatment, the quality-of-life scores of the two groups of patients were low, and there was no statistical difference (P>0.05); After treatment, the quality of life of the two groups of patients improved, but compared with the control group, the improvement was more obvious in the study group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). In terms of pain treatment effect, the total effective rate of pain treatment in the study group was 87.5%, which was significantly better than the 62.5% in the control group. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Personalized nursing services and hospice care are conducive to improving the survival and treatment of elderly patients with advanced cancer, and can be used as a clinical application program for the care of advanced cancer patients.

The Impact of Domestic Violence on Women’s Self-Attitude in Kazakhstan

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Zhanna Kalmatayeva
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Attitude Test ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Student’S T ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of the article was to study the problems of domestic violence of women and its consequences in Kazakhstan. The analysis of the results of the study of self-attitude and self-esteem of women subjected to domestic violence. Revealed there is a correlation between the level of self-attitude of domestic violence victims and the non-differentiated I-concept. 140 women participated in the present study, 70 women are control group which not subjected to domestic violence and 70 women of them who have currently reported domestic violence in the Crisis Center "Umit" in Nur-Sultan in the period from November 2017 to October 2019. Quantitative research method was used in terms of survey model by implementing a psychological test “The self-attitude test questionnaire (SA)” that assesses self-relation, differentiated by self-esteem, self-sympathy, self-interest, and expectations of self-reliance of participants. Also, during the study was used personal questionnaire “Who am I?” a variant of non-standardized self-report, approaching the projective methods of personality research. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the answers in terms of their levels of the participants’ self-esteem and self-relation and further, since it was revealed according to the results reflect the difference in the two groups by the values obtained from these scales, the Student's t-test for independent groups was used [2] was used to reveal whether there is any correlation between the components of the scale. The obtained results can be used to interventions and training of family for counselors in order to promote women's self-esteem and self-relation.

Influence of Tobacco on Physical Fitness Recovery of College Students After Sports

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 3445-3451
Author(s):  
Chen Yake
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Aerobic Exercise ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Exercise Time ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Group I ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Experimental Group

Objectives: In this paper, the effects of tobacco on aerobic exercise ability and physical fitness recovery of college students were studied. Methods: University group sports intervention form: traditional characteristic project (basketball) + Taiji soft ball (R&D intervention project). Exercise time: 3 times/week; Activity duration: 30min; Activity intensity: the heart rate is controlled at 120-140 beats/min. All the college students in the experimental group are students who have never smoked, and the college students in the control group are students who have smoked for more than two years. The other conditions are the same. Results: The exercise time and endurance of experimental groups I and II were significantly lower than those of the control group, and the cardiopulmonary function was significantly lower than that of the control group. The indexes of experimental group II changed significantly compared with experimental group I, and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Cigarette smoke can significantly reduce the aerobic exercise ability and anti fatigue ability. The longer the smoking time, the more serious the adverse effects. Therefore, tobacco smoke and nicotine will damage college students’ aerobic exercise ability and have a negative impact on the recovery of physical fitness after exercise.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Capture of Leaders of Criminal Organizations on the Labor Market: Evidence from Mexico

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Osuna Gómez ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Difference Analysis ◽  
Criminal Organizations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Economic Census ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Integral Assessment ◽  
The Impact

This paper estimates the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market in municipalities where these organizations operated between 2004 and 2006. The difference-in-difference analysis compares different employment outcomes in cartel locations and the rest, before and after the capture of cartel leaders. The results show that captures caused a decrease in nominal wages and paid employment in cartel municipalities. Using Economic Census Data, I find that captures also caused a fall in the number of establishments and had a negative impact on other establishment outcomes. This document focuses exclusively on the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market until 2011 without studying other possible consequences, and thus does not make an integral assessment of this policy

scholarly journals Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: an Italian Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Marta Altieri ◽  
◽  
Mariangela Fratino ◽  
Flavia Pauri ◽  
Antonella Conte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Family Caregiving ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Clinical Effects ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
The Impact

Background: Italy was one of the first affected countries by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Public health measures like quarantine or national lockdown were adopted, with negative psychological and clinical effects on patients with chronic diseases. To investigate the impact of lockdown on patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), we developed a 36 items self-report questionnaire. Methods: Questionnaires were emailed to 120 patients with MS and 100 with chronic migraine (CM) as a control group, matched for age, sex, and education. The questionnaire was divided into five domains, evaluating concerns about 1) MS and therapy during COVID-19 pandemic, 2) personal and family caregiving, 3) working activities, 4) general and disease-related emotions during the lockdown, 5) future expectations concerning health status, social life, and working activity. Results: patients with MS had higher scores than those with CM in domains 4 and 5, investigating respectively general and disease-related emotions and future expectations (p= 0.05 and 0.02 respectively). About half of the patients with MS expressed some concern about the need to continue their therapy during the pandemic compared to people with CM (p= 0.0002). Conclusions: Covid-19 pandemic had a more negative impact on psychological status of patients with MS compared with those with CM

A Proposal of an innovative program for informal caregivers of patients with mood disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S603-S603
Author(s):  
J. Cabral ◽  
C. Barreto Carvalho ◽  
P. Castilho Freitas ◽  
C. Pato
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mood Disorders ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Compassion Focused Therapy ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionIntervention with informal caregivers (IC) of psychiatric patients is internationally recognized as relevant and a priority. However, the existing responses in this area are still insufficient, especially regarding caregivers of individuals with mood disorders (MD). Mindfulness and compassion focused therapy have proven to be an effective approach in stress reduction and in improving emotional and social well-being of caregivers of patients with other conditions. However, no studies testing these new approaches in IC of patients with MD have been carried out. The objective of this work is to present a research project that aims to develop, implement and empirically test the effectiveness of an innovative group program to help informal caregivers of individuals with mood disorders to cope with the negative impact of the disease and reduce caregiver burdens.MethodsThe design of this experimental study to test the program's efficacy is a non-randomised controlled trial (nrct) with 12 months follow-up, with a mixed assessment methodology (quantitative and qualitative analysis). A sample of 60 informal caregivers of individuals with chronic MD will be constituted (n = 30 Control group; n= 30 Experimental group).ResultsWe expect the program to promote significant changes in participants in terms of several emotional variables (eg: burden, stress, resilience, compassion and quality of life).ConclusionsFurther efforts to continue studying the impact of interventions in caregivers should be carried out, as a way to improve the quality of life of caregivers and their ability to provide informal care to MD patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Prevalence of ADHD in children born by mothers consuming Frankincense during pregnancy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alimohammad Ranjbar ◽  
Elahe Kamali Ardakani ◽  
Rahele Zareshahi
Keyword(s):  
Data Gathering ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Case Group ◽  
Dsm V ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Positive Effect

Aims: In Iranian culture, due to some narratives from the prophet Mohammad about the use of frankincense during pregnancy for increasing IQ in children, some women consume frankincense during expectancy. This study's goal is to evaluate the relationship between frankincense used during pregnancy and the incidence of ADHD. Methods: In this study, the case group comprised children 4-17 years old referring to Shahid Chamran Pharmacy in Yazd from summer to winter 2018 for receiving Methylphenidate, those with whom a psychologist had identified ADHD based on DSM-V factors.  The control group included children of the same age group but without ADHD. For data gathering, a checklist was used with some questions on smoking, family history of ADHD, presence/absence of a specific disease during pregnancy, frankincense used during pregnancy, and a chemical medication consumed during pregnancy. Results: The main result demonstrated that the children whose mothers used frankincense during pregnancy were 0.67 times less likely to be affected by ADHD than those whose mothers did not use this substance. However, the difference failed to be statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: Some studies report that frankincense can bear a positive effect on the development of the brain and possibly adequate formation of dendrites trees, axons and induce proper communication between them, so the impact of frankincense on the brain may be justified by its protective effect against the hyperactive child.

scholarly journals Quality of Life in Patients with Psoriasis Seen in the Department of Dermatology, Antananarivo, Madagascar

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Fandresena Arilala Sendrasoa ◽  
Naina Harinjara Razanakoto ◽  
Volatantely Ratovonjanahary ◽  
Onivola Raharolahy ◽  
Irina Mamisoa Ranaivo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Young Patients ◽  
The Body ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Background. Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, and multifactorial dermatosis that impairs quality of life (QoL). Health-related QoL has become an important element in medical decision-making along with the effectiveness and the harmlessness of the treatments. Objective. To assess the impact of psoriasis in the QoL of patients with psoriasis by using the DLQI scales. Methods. A cross-sectional study from January to June 2018 was conducted in the Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital Joseph Raseta Befelatanana, Antananarivo, Madagascar, including patients more than 18 years old with mild to severe psoriasis. The severity of psoriasis was assessed using the “Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)”. QoL of patients with psoriasis was evaluated by using the DLQI scales. Results. 80 patients were included, their mean age was 36.5 years, and the male to female was 1.5 : 1. The mean DLQI score was 13.8. Symptoms, feelings, and psychic were the most altered dimensions. QoL was impaired in young patients, single, having medium level education. Even though patients with disease duration more than 5 years had higher DLQI score than other patients, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.36). Furthermore, the clinical presentation of psoriasis did not influence the patient’s QoL (p=0.73). Patients with nail involvement had QoL impaired but the difference with another localization was not statistically significant (p=0.2). The quality of life was influenced by body area involved. The higher the body surface area involved, the more QoL is impaired (p=0.002). Furthermore, the higher the PASI, the more QoL is altered (p=0.002). Conclusion. Psoriasis has a negative impact in the quality of life in Malagasy patients with psoriasis, especially in younger and single patients. Worse quality of life is correlated to severity of psoriasis.

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