Impact of Na/Al Ratio on the Extent of Alkali-Activation Reaction: Non-linearity and Diminishing Returns

To address the high CO2 footprint associated with cement production, many alternative, sustainable binders are now gaining worldwide attention–including alkali-activated materials. The alkali-activation reaction of metakaolin is a fairly complex process involving transformation of one amorphous reactant (precursor metakaolin) into another amorphous product or products (N-A-S-H gel and/or disordered zeolite type phases). In spite of this complexity, researchers in the past 2 decades have gained significant knowledge on the nature of this reaction at multiple scales. Understanding and developing a clear relationship between the alkalinity of the mix and the extent of reaction is of high interest for practical applications. However, detailed and thorough investigations on this important relationship are limited. Here, in this study, we address this gap by systematically investigating a series of alkali-activated materials samples with a wide range of Na/Al ratios (0.5–1.8) using seven different yet complementary analytical techniques (isothermal calorimetry, FTIR, XRD, TGA, NMR, and Raman imaging). Applied in tandem, these tools reveal a clear but non-linear relationship between the Na/Al ratio and the extent of alkali-activation reaction indicating diminishing returns at higher Na/Al ratios, where higher Na/Al ratios cause an increase in the degree of reaction until a certain point at which the increase in Na/Al ratio does not significantly affect the reaction kinetics, but may affect the gel polymerization. These findings could potentially aid decision making for commercial applications of AAMs where alkalinity of the mix is an important parameter for performance as well as safety.

Human Resources Management and Training in Metropolitan Municipalities in Turkey

By the 2000s, human resources management in local government in Turkey had become an important issue. Training is one of the most important functions of human resources management; there is an important relationship between the development and increase of the capacities of local government personnel and training. Within the context of the metropolitan municipalities organizational structures in Turkey, there are ‘human resources and education departments'. Firstly, the relation between human resources management and training will be searched. Secondly, the regulations of human resources and education departments of metropolitan municipalities in Turkey have been examined to put forth the main duties and responsibilities of those departments and their branch offices on training. In the last part of the study, human resources and education departments' training programs in Turkey will be clarified.

Understanding Rivalry: Staging Jealousy in Karnad’s “Broken Images”

Acclaimed Kannada and English playwright, Girish Karnad’s play Broken Images focuses on human relationships and their intricacies, as well as on the relationship between languages. Outwardly, it addresses the sibling relationship and focuses on its destructive side. However, on a close reading, this monologue unfolds a series of diverse human relationships, viz., the relationship of the two sisters, Manjula and Malini; the husband-wife relationship between Manjula and Pramod; the camaraderie of Pramod and Malini; the friendship between Pramod and Lucy; and the amity between Lucy and Manjula. Besides these personal relationships, the play deals with and explores at length another important relationship, the one between two languages, one regional and one global, the legacy of the erstwhile colonizers. The relationship between Manjula and Malini acts as a metaphor for the mismatch and the hierarchy between regional language writers and Indian English writers on the Indian literary scene. This paper, therefore, examines the aforementioned human relationships in the play to reveal the motives behind the enmity and the causes which lead to sinful actions that remain invisible at all times, and in the process comments upon the relationship between different language writers, as well as what leads to the formation of existing hierarchies. First, the paper investigates the sororal bond between Manjula and Malini; second, it examines the tripartite relationships and how the third party is perceived as a rival in the relationships of Manjula-Lucy-Pramod and Manjula-Malini-Pramod; and finally, it looks at the relationship that exists between the Bhasha writers and Indian English writers, and exposes the enmity in these relationships and its various causes.

Relationship of Nutritional Status to Incidency Symptom Respiratory on Online Ojek Drivers in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia

Backgrounds/Aims: Respiratory disease is one of occupational disease that increasing and becoming the biggest three diseases that contribute more than three-quarters of total work-related deaths with circulations disease and neoplasm. Exposure to dust, allergens and toxins are some of the risk factors for respiratory diseases. One of the jobs with a high risk of exposure to air pollution is online motorcycle taxi drivers, they inhale pollution from the transportation sector and pollutant gases in the air which can cause respiratory problems. In addition, nutrition and respiratory disorders have an important relationship. In the recovery process, nutritional status has an important impact in the process of breaking down proteins contained in muscles including respiratory muscles in the catabolism process. Methods: This study was an analytic observation and the data was collected retrospectively in online motorcycle taxi drivers in Malang City with inclusion criteria on April 2021. Results: 108 online motorcycle taxi drivers in Malang, aged 15-55 years, 96.3% men, respiratory disorders 76.9% respondents with 93.6% underweight. Respiratory symptom more having common cold 66,7%, cough 42,6% and phlegm 38,9%. The relationship between nutritional status and the incidence of respiratory symptoms was 8.1 times (95% CI (1.9-16.4) p = 0.017). Conclusions: There is a significant relationship between nutritional status and symptoms of respiratory disorders in online motorcycle taxi drivers in Malang City with 8 times. Keywords: acute ischemic, stroke, platelet lymphocyte ratio, poor outcome.

The Practice of Total Quality Management and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Perspectives from Commercial Banks in Nigeria

The practices of Total Quality Management result in stimulating property competitive advantage in elected Nigerian business banks. Was the fulcrum of this study. The survey analysis style was adopted to extract acceptable information from respondents (contract and permanent) staff chosen from old (3) and new (3) generation banks quoted within the Nigerian securities market. The five point Likert scale for structured questionnaire was administered by the investigator at the banks used in Delta State. The sampling technique used for the study is the chance sampling technique (simple random sampling) with a sample size of 262. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics in establishing the link among the freelance and dependent variables whereas multiple correlation analysis was accustomed to look at the hypotheses. The correlation result disclosed that the two independent variables for the study (leadership and high management commitment in management with total quality and continuous improvement have a powerful relationship with the variable quantity (sustainable competitive advantage). The regression result indicated that each one of the freelance variables had a positive result and an important relationship with a property competitive advantage. Amongst others, the study suggested that: the leadership/top management team should always live by example by incessantly exhibiting behaviors that support the operational objectives and show huge support in each means potential. They have to perpetually make sure also that there's no disconnect between the building blocks of operational excellence: individuals, strategy, structure processes, and technology and encourage perpetually on the means. The study additionally suggested that for Nigerian banks to perform optimally, there's a desire for all TQM practices to be tangled towards enhancing property competitive advantage, and there ought to exist a larger commitment to TQM practices.

Transparency level of the electronic procurement system in Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to examine the level of transparency of the electronic procurement (e-procurement) system in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Using the content analysis method, 23 transparency disclosure items from the Website Attribute Evaluation System (WAES) checklist were used to evaluate the transparency level of the e-procurement system. The data gathered from the WAES were analysed using frequency and percentage based on the various categories of transparency. Findings The study reveals that the e-procurement system disclosed 17 out of the 23 WAES transparency disclosure items, which represents a transparency disclosure level of 73.91%. Of the five categories of disclosure, i.e. ownership, contact information, organizational information, citizen consequences and freshness, the detailed results show that the items are fully disclosed for only two categories, and for three categories, i.e. ownership, contact information and organizational information, the items are not fully disclosed. Research limitations/implications The findings of the present research offer a positive indication that the government is moving in the right direction, particularly in efforts to reduce the corruption level in procurement activities and to improve the accountability level of the government. Originality/value The present study is among the few studies that attempts to address a fundamental issue of transparency in the public procurement system that has an important relationship with the occurrence of corruption in procurement activities.

The Relationship Between Parent and Adolescent Autobiographical Memory Specificity

<p>The ways we remember our past have been demonstrated to have important implications regarding our psychological functioning (Waters, 2014). Research suggests parents scaffold early remembering skills which can shape the amount of specific detail children can recall from their autobiographical memories (Autobiographical Memory Specificity; AMS) (Reese & Fivush, 1993; Reese, Haden, & Fivush, 1993; Valentino et al., 2014). The current study investigated whether parents and their adolescent children display similar patterns of AMS. In addition, previous literature has predominately utilised only one measure of AMS – the Autobiographical Memory Test (Williams & Broadbent, 1986). A critique of this measure and an argument for adopting a new measure of AMS is provided. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between parent and adolescent rumination which has been shown to share an important relationship with AMS (Williams et al., 2007) and, like AMS, is suggested to be socialised early in the life span (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyuboirsky, 2008). Sixty-seven parent-adolescent dyads were recruited, and measures of AMS and rumination were administered. A significant positive relationship between parent and adolescent rumination was found, however, the relationships between parent and adolescent AMS were non-significant. Implications regarding existing theory, limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed.</p>

The Relationship Between Parent and Adolescent Autobiographical Memory Specificity

<p>The ways we remember our past have been demonstrated to have important implications regarding our psychological functioning (Waters, 2014). Research suggests parents scaffold early remembering skills which can shape the amount of specific detail children can recall from their autobiographical memories (Autobiographical Memory Specificity; AMS) (Reese & Fivush, 1993; Reese, Haden, & Fivush, 1993; Valentino et al., 2014). The current study investigated whether parents and their adolescent children display similar patterns of AMS. In addition, previous literature has predominately utilised only one measure of AMS – the Autobiographical Memory Test (Williams & Broadbent, 1986). A critique of this measure and an argument for adopting a new measure of AMS is provided. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between parent and adolescent rumination which has been shown to share an important relationship with AMS (Williams et al., 2007) and, like AMS, is suggested to be socialised early in the life span (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyuboirsky, 2008). Sixty-seven parent-adolescent dyads were recruited, and measures of AMS and rumination were administered. A significant positive relationship between parent and adolescent rumination was found, however, the relationships between parent and adolescent AMS were non-significant. Implications regarding existing theory, limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed.</p>

Disclosure of innovation on sustainability report

PurposeThere are several studies on various aspects of the disclosure of companies but there is little research on elements related to the disclosure of innovation in particular. The work aims to fill this important gap by examining to what extent the companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, which prepare the sustainability report (non-financial declaration – NFS), disseminate information relating to innovative activities.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used to achieve the research goal has used multiple linear regression models (OLS), to study the factors that influence disclosure. The data were collected through the content analysis. The sample is made up of 171 companies listed on the Italian stock exchange which prepared a sustainability report for the period of four years 2016–2019 (Sustainability Reports and Integrated Documentation) and which contain information on innovative activity.FindingsThe research confirms a positive relationship between information on innovation and the economic variables of corporate investment. In addition, an important relationship emerges linked to the disclosure of innovative information and the business sector, innovation investments and R&D activity.Research limitations/implicationsThe work suffers from some limitations: the short period of observation subject to analysis, the lack of sustainability report 2020, the extension of the variables taken into consideration for the implementation of the regression models; it is desirable to consider a wider pool of variables in the future in order to implement further specific tests.Practical implicationsOn a practical level, the research suggests the adoption of a framework on the dissemination of innovative activity that allows easy reading of information (regardless of the sector and company size), built starting from the most representative keywords of the activities innovative, to be included in a specific section of the Sustainability Report. This work contributes to filling a cognitive gap connected to the disclosure of the innovative activity. There is much research on disclosure related to business activities, but no specific research regarding the communication of innovation.Originality/valueThe study conducted contributes to fill a gap in the literature related to the disclosure of the innovative activity. The latter is a strategic element for effective and clear communication with stakeholders.

Physical and psychological correlates of self and body compassion in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

This international cross-sectional study examined the level and potential correlates of self and body compassion in women ( n = 227) with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Participants completed an online survey examining quality of life, psychological health, body image and self and body compassion. Low levels of self and body compassion were found, with depression and body image concern identified as negative correlates of self and body compassion. Physical health was identified as a positive correlate of body compassion. The findings identify the important relationship between body image, psychological health and self and body compassion in women with PCOS.