scholarly journals An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Glued Wood Building Elements

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Darius Albrektas ◽  
Ernestas Ivanauskas
Keyword(s):  
Modulus Of Elasticity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Laminated Veneer Lumber ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Service Period ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Increasing Temperature ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Partial Destruction

The research investigated the impact of environmental factors (temperature and humidity) on pine glulam, oak glulam, and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) elements, all of which can be used in building structures. Elements underwent freezing, heating, drying, and wetting processes in different modes, thereby simulating different environmental conditions that could be encountered during the service period of the materials. Their mechanical properties (modulus of elasticity - MOE and coefficient of damping) were recorded at each stage. It was determined that, in the case of dry construction elements (where a moisture content was between 7.0 and 14.0 %), the MOE increases by a few percentage points with decreasing temperature and humidity levels, and decreases with increasing temperature and humidity levels. The coefficient of damping varied by 20 % - in most cases, when the modulus of elasticity increased, this decreased, and vice versa. Under extreme environmental changes (with the elements being soaked, frozen at -25 °C, and dried at 40 °C), the MOE of the glued timber decreased by 16 % when this parameter of LVL decreased by about 10 %. Alterations in viscous properties produced similar results (the coefficient of damping increased by 50 % for the glued timber and by 66 % for the LVL). This is explained by the partial destruction of the element structure, the occurrence of cracks, and the decreased anisotropy of the LVL structure.

The Effect of Taxation and Corruption on Firm Growth: An Empirical Investigation for Vietnam

2016 ◽  
pp. 5-29
Author(s):  
Bich Le Thi Ngoc
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Firm Growth ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Economic Management ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Percentage Point Increase ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Point Increase ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study is to analyze empirically the impact of taxation and corruption on the growth of manufacturing firms in Vietnam. The study employed pooled OLS estimation and then instrument variables with fixed effect for the panel data of 1377 firms in Vietnam from 2005 to 2011. These data were obtained from the survey of the Central Institute for Economic Management and the Danish International Development Agency. The results show that both taxation and corruption are negatively associated with firm growth measured by firm sales adjusted according to the GDP deflator. A one-percentage point increase in the bribery rate is linked with a reduction of 16,883 percentage points in firm revenue, over four and a half times bigger than the effect of a one-percentage point increase in the tax rate. From the findings of this research, the author recommends the Vietnam government to lessen taxation on firms and that there should be an urgent revolution in anti-corruption policies as well as bureaucratic improvement in Vietnam.

Designing a CRM Framework for online & offline sports footwear retailers

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Cueva ◽  
Guillem Rufian ◽  
Maria Gabriela Valdes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Running Shoes ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Impact

The use of Customer Relationship Managers to foster customers loyalty has become one of the most common business strategies in the past years.  However, CRM solutions do not fill the abundance of happily ever-after relationships that business needs, and each client’s perception is different in the buying process.  Therefore, the experience must be precise, in order to extend the loyalty period of a customer as much as possible. One of the economic sectors in which CRM’s have improved this experience is retailing, where the personalized attention to the customer is a key factor.  However, brick and mortar experiences are not enough to be aware in how environmental changes could affect the industry trends in the long term.  A base unified theoretical framework must be taken into consideration, in order to develop an adaptable model for constructing or implementing CRMs into companies. Thanks to this approximation, the information is complemented, and the outcome will increment the quality in any Marketing/Sales initiative. The goal of this article is to explore the different factors grouped by three main domains within the impact of service quality, from a consumer’s perspective, in both on-line and off-line retailing sector.  Secondly, we plan to go a step further and extract base guidelines about previous analysis for designing CRM’s solutions focused on the loyalty of the customers for a specific retailing sector and its product: Sports Running Shoes.

scholarly journals Police-involved Deaths and the Impact on Homicide Rates in the Post-Ferguson Era: A Study of 44 U.S. Cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110283
Author(s):  
Tyler J Lane
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
Aggravated Assault ◽  
Series Design ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Black Populations ◽  
Fbi Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interrupted Time Series Design

This study investigated whether homicides increased after protested police-involved deaths, focusing on the period after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson in August 2014. It also tests for effects of legal cynicism by comparing effects in homicide and aggravated assault on the assumption that reporting of the latter is discretionary and police abuses may make communities reluctant to notify police. Using FBI data from 44 U.S. cities, homicide and assault rates from 2011 to 2019 were analyzed using an interrupted time series design and combined in a meta-analysis to calculate pooled effects. A meta-regression tested effect moderators including external investigations and city/county sociodemographic characteristics. With a conservative threshold of p ≤ .01, 21 of the 44 cities experienced a significant increase and one had a significant decrease. The pooled effect was a 26.1% increase in the homicide (99% CI: 15.3% to 36.8%). Aggravated assaults increased above baseline, though the effect was 15.2 percentage points smaller (99% CI: –26.7 to –3.6) than the effect in homicides. When outcomes were measured as percent change, there were no significant effect moderators, but when measured as absolute change, homicides increased to a greater extent when the death was subject to external investigation and in cities with higher Black populations, poverty rates, and baseline homicide rates. The findings suggest that protested police-involved deaths led to an increase in homicides and other violence due to the distrust fomented within the very communities whom police are meant to protect.

scholarly journals Quit Experiences among Primary Care Patients Enrolled in a Smoking Cessation Pilot RCT Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1011
Author(s):  
Andrea A. Joyce ◽  
Grace M. Styklunas ◽  
Nancy A. Rigotti ◽  
Jordan M. Neil ◽  
Elyse R. Park ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Primary Care Patients ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on US adults’ smoking and quitting behaviors is unclear. We explored the impact of COVID-19 on smoking behaviors, risk perceptions, and reactions to text messages during a statewide stay-at-home advisory among primary care patients who were trying to quit. From May–June 2020, we interviewed smokers enrolled in a 12-week, pilot cessation trial providing text messaging and mailed nicotine replacement medication (NCT04020718). Twenty-two individuals (82% white, mean age 55 years), representing 88% of trial participants during the stay-at-home advisory, completed exit interviews; four (18%) of them reported abstinence. Interviews were thematically analyzed by two coders. COVID-19-induced environmental changes had mixed effects, facilitating quitting for some and impeding quitting for others. While stress increased for many, those who quit found ways to cope with stress. Generally, participants felt at risk for COVID-19 complications but not at increased risk of becoming infected. Reactions to COVID-19 and quitting behaviors differed across age groups, older participants reported difficulties coping with isolation (e.g., feeling disappointed when a text message came from the study and not a live person). Findings suggest that cessation interventions addressing stress and boredom are needed during COVID-19, while smokers experiencing isolation may benefit from live-person supports.

scholarly journals The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1405-1423
Author(s):  
Dariusz Strzyżowski ◽  
Elżbieta Gorczyca ◽  
Kazimierz Krzemień ◽  
Mirosław Żelazny
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Bedload Transport ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Tatra Mountains ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Fluvial Processes ◽  
Wind Events ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Tatra Mountains ◽  
The Impact

AbstractStrong wind events frequently result in creating large areas of windthrow, which causes abrupt environmental changes. Bare soil surfaces within pits and root plates potentially expose soil to erosion. Absence of forest may alter the dynamics of water circulation. In this study we attempt to answer the question of whether extensive windthrows influence the magnitude of geomorphic processes in 6 small second- to third-order catchments with area ranging from 0.09 km2 to 0.8 km2. Three of the catchments were significantly affected by a windthrow which occurred in December 2013 in the Polish part of the Tatra Mountains, and the other three catchments were mostly forested and served as control catchments. We mapped the pits created by the windthrow and the linear scars created by salvage logging operations in search of any signs of erosion within them. We also mapped all post-windthrow landslides created in the windthrow-affected catchments. The impact of the windthrow on the fluvial system was investigated by measuring a set of channel characteristics and determining bedload transport intensity using painted tracers in all the windthrow-affected and control catchments. Both pits and linear scars created by harvesting tend to become overgrown by vegetation in the first several years after the windthrow. The only signs of erosion were observed in 10% of the pits located on convergent slopes. During the period from the windthrow event in 2013 until 2019, 5 very small (total area <100 m2) shallow landslides were created. The mean distance of bedload transport was similar (t-test, p=0.05) in most of the windthrow-affected and control catchments. The mapping of channels revealed many cases of root plates fallen into a channel and pits created near a channel. A significant amount of woody debris delivered into the channels influenced the activity of fluvial processes by creating alternating zones of erosion and accumulation.

scholarly journals Environmental Changes and Cultural Transitions in SW Iberia during the Early-Mid Holocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3580
Author(s):  
Cristina Val-Peón ◽  
Juan I. Santisteban ◽  
José A. López-Sáez ◽  
Gerd-Christian Weniger ◽  
Klaus Reicherter
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Climate Events ◽  
The Impact

The SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula experiences a lack of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data. With the aim to fill this gap, we contribute with a new palynological and geochemical dataset obtained from a sediment core drilled in the continental shelf of the Algarve coast. Archaeological data have been correlated with our multi-proxy dataset to understand how human groups adapted to environmental changes during the Early-Mid Holocene, with special focus on the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition. Vegetation trends indicate warm conditions at the onset of the Holocene followed by increased moisture and forest development ca. 10–7 ka BP, after which woodlands are progressively replaced by heaths. Peaks of aridity were identified at 8.2 and 7. 5 ka BP. Compositional, textural, redox state, and weathering of source area geochemical proxies indicates abrupt palaeoceanographic modifications and gradual terrestrial changes at 8.2 ka BP, while the 7.5 ka BP event mirrors a decrease in land moisture availability. Mesolithic sites are mainly composed of seasonal camps with direct access to the coast for the exploitation of local resources. This pattern extends into the Early Neolithic, when these sites coexist with seasonal and permanent occupations located in inland areas near rivers. Changes in settlement patterns and dietary habits may be influenced by changes in coastal environments caused by the sea-level rise and the impact of the 8.2 and 7.5 ka BP climate events.

scholarly journals Social Evaluation of Public Open Space Services and Their Impact on Well-Being: A Micro-Scale Assessment from a Coastal University

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4372
Author(s):  
Abdullah Addas ◽  
Ahmad Maghrabi
Keyword(s):  
Open Space ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Public Open Space ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Public Open Spaces

Public open spaces services have been shown to be profoundly affected by rapid urbanization and environmental changes, and in turn, they have influenced socio-cultural relationships and human well-being. However, the impact of these changes on public open space services (POSS) remains unexplored, particularly in the Saudi Arabian context. This study examines the socio-cultural influence of POSS on the King Abdulaziz University campus, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the impact of these services on well-being. A field survey and questionnaire were used to collect data. Non-parametric tests (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) were used to find significant differences in the importance of POSS as perceived by stakeholders based on socio-demographic attributes. Factor analysis was performed for 14 POSS to identify those that are most important. The study showed that (i) university stakeholders are closely linked to services provided by public open spaces (POS) and dependent on POSS, (ii) there were significant differences in the perceived importance of POSS according to gender, age, and social groups, and (iii) 70 to 90% of stakeholders reported POSS as having a positive impact on well-being. Thus, the findings will help design and plan POSS to meet the needs of society and promote well-being.

scholarly journals Debt Relief and Debtor Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Consumer Bankruptcy Protection

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 1272-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Dobbie ◽  
Jae Song
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Random Assignment ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Consumer Bankruptcy ◽  
Annual Earnings ◽  
The Impact

Consumer bankruptcy is one of the largest social insurance programs in the United States, but little is known about its impact on debtors. We use 500,000 bankruptcy filings matched to administrative tax and foreclosure data to estimate the impact of Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on subsequent outcomes. Exploiting the random assignment of bankruptcy filings to judges, we find that Chapter 13 protection increases annual earnings by $5,562, decreases five-year mortality by 1.2 percentage points, and decreases five-year foreclo-sure rates by 19.1 percentage points. These results come primarily from the deterioration of outcomes among dismissed filers, not gains by granted filers. (JEL D14, I12, J22, J31, K35)

scholarly journals Impact of the municipal merger on watershed management: a study of Lake Kasumigaura, Japan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Mizunoya ◽  
Noriko Nozaki ◽  
Rajeev Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Watershed Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Pollution Reduction ◽  
Lake Kasumigaura ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn the early 2000s, Japan instituted the Great Heisei Consolidation, a national strategy to promote large-scale municipal mergers. This study analyzes the impact that this strategy could have on watershed management. We select the Lake Kasumigaura Basin, the second largest lake in Japan, for the case study and construct a dynamic expanded input–output model to simulate the ecological system around the Lake, the socio-environmental changes over the period, and their mutual dependency for the period 2012–2020. In the model, we regulate and control the following water pollutants: total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand. The results show that a trade-off between economic activity and the environment can be avoided within a specific range of pollution reduction, given that the prefectural government implements optimal water environment policies, assuming that other factors constraining economic growth exist. Additionally, municipal mergers are found to significantly reduce the budget required to improve the water environment, but merger budget efficiency varies nonlinearly with the reduction rate. Furthermore, despite the increase in financial efficiency from the merger, the efficiency of installing domestic wastewater treatment systems decreases drastically beyond a certain pollution reduction level and eventually reaches a limit. Further reductions require direct regulatory instruments in addition to economic policies, along with limiting the output of each industry. Most studies on municipal mergers apply a political, administrative, or financial perspective; few evaluate the quantitative impact of municipal mergers on the environment and environmental policy implications. This study addresses these gaps.

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on the Resistance of Rice Near-Isogenic Lines with Resistance Genes Against Brown Planthopper

Rice ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Hung Kuang ◽  
Yu-Fu Fang ◽  
Shau-Ching Lin ◽  
Shin-Fu Tsai ◽  
Zhi-Wei Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Gene Pyramiding ◽  
Brown Planthopper ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Near Isogenic Lines ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Isogenic Lines ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The impact of climate change on insect resistance genes is elusive. Hence, we investigated the responses of rice near-isogenic lines (NILs) that carry resistance genes against brown planthopper (BPH) under different environmental conditions. Results We tested these NILs under three environmental settings (the atmospheric temperature with corresponding carbon dioxide at the ambient, year 2050 and year 2100) based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change prediction. Comparing between different environments, two of nine NILs that carried a single BPH-resistant gene maintained their resistance under the environmental changes, whereas two of three NILs showed gene pyramiding with two maintained BPH resistance genes despite the environmental changes. In addition, two NILs (NIL-BPH17 and NIL-BPH20) were examined in their antibiosis and antixenosis effects under these environmental changes. BPH showed different responses to these two NILs, where the inhibitory effect of NIL-BPH17 on the BPH growth and development was unaffected, while NIL-BPH20 may have lost its resistance during the environmental changes. Conclusion Our results indicate that BPH resistance genes could be affected by climate change. NIL-BPH17 has a strong inhibitory effect on BPH feeding on phloem and would be unaffected by environmental changes, while NIL-BPH20 would lose its ability during the environmental changes.

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