Practices Followed to Manage Plastic Waste including Shopping Bags and Lunch Sheets in Sri Lanka: A Preliminary Study in Western Province

Although plastics have made the workings of our lives easier, it has created many different environmental and social problems due to poor management practices. The problem of plastic waste has been exacerbated due to various regulations that have been introduced from time to time for the sustainable management of plastic waste. However, those are not properly implemented. The main objective of this study is to examine the best practices in Sri Lanka for the management of plastic waste, including shopping bags and lunch sheets (PBLS). Further, the study illustrated the prevailing and possible alternatives for polythene products in Sri Lanka and weaknesses in the identification of alternatives. The study was conducted in the Western Province covering three districts: Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara. Data collection was conducted through different structured questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and a major workshop from a sample of 1314 respondents. Results revealed that 59% of households in the survey confirm that they were discouraged from switching to alternatives as a result of freely available low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags in the market. Also, 67% of the households and 74% of the supermarkets pointed out that, the current polythene bag usage was higher prior to the ban, due to the poor strength and quality of the bag. Further, the study reveals that ‘Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)’ has the potential to influence material management systems and prevent pollution and has been successfully tested in many countries around the world.

Contribution of Mining Operations Towards Education, Healthcare, Food Security, Housing, Sports, and Recreation in Katanga Province of the DRC

Some resource-rich countries face challenges when it comes to the socio-economic development of its employees and the community at large. This study seeks to examine Gecamines' contribution to the socio-economic conditions of its employees based in the Lubumbashi area and to some extent the province of Katanga under the rubric of resource curse theory. Through this study, lessons can be learnt from the findings on how state-owned mining companies could work on improving their socio-economic contributions in the interest of the employees and the entire population through generated revenues for the state. The study employed a case study design with a qualitative approach research in its endeavour of exploring Gecamines' socio-economic contribution to its employees in the city of Lubumbashi and the development of Katanga Province as a whole. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Gecamines' managers, unskilled mine workers, and the Provincial Department of Mines' officers in the city of Lubumbashi. The key findings from these interactions are that the company's low level of production caused by poor management, political interference, corruption, and poor institutions had negative ramifications on the socio-economic conditions of the workers. A remedy to these challenges lies in strengthening the country's institutions to fight corruption and poor management of parastatals. Autonomy of parastatals from political influence and control is also important to enable the company to play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of employees.

Exploring Lean Production System Adoption in the Moroccan Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Industries: Awareness, Benefits and Barriers

Although lean manufacturing emerged in the 1990s, and since then, it has become known and recognised worldwide, companies still struggle to implement it successfully, especially in less developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of maturity of lean production within small and medium-sized companies, identify what the benefits of lean implementation are, and present an exploration and analysis of the barriers that influence the implementation of lean production in these companies.To achieve this objective, items from previous studies were extracted through a systematic literature review and then validated by interviews with Moroccan experts in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing industry; on the other hand, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 78 small and medium enterprises in Morocco. Subsequently, all collected responses were statistically analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V21.0). The results show that the lean approach is unfortunately not yet adopted and applied by all Moroccan SMEs (24% of our respondents have not yet tried to apply lean). In addition, the most significant benefits announced by Moroccan small and medium enterprises are ‘the elimination of waste (82.1%)’, ‘the reduction of costs (78.2%)’, and ‘the improvement of efficiency and performance of production units (70.5%)’. Finally, the principal component analysis indicated that the two main difficulties that need to be maintained are poor management (with 63.6 % of the total variance) and lack of financial resources, monitoring, and skilled labours (with 7.7 % of the total variance).

A Battery Voltage Level Monitoring System for Telecommunication Towers

Voltage fluctuations in batteries form a major challenge the telecommunication towers face. These fluctuations mostly occur due to poor management and the lack of a battery voltage level monitoring system. The current paper presents a battery voltage-level monitoring system to be used in telecommunication towers. The proposed solution is incorporated with a centralized mobile application dashboard for accessing the live data of the installed battery, integrated with voltage-level, current, temperature, fire, and gas sensors. An Arduino Uno microcontroller board is used to process and analyze the collected data from the sensors. The Global Service Message (GSM) module is used to monitor and store data to the cloud. Users are alerted in the case of low voltage, fire, and increase in harmful gases in the tower through Short Message Service (SMS). The experiment was conducted at Ngorongoro and Manyara telecommunication towers. The developed system can be used in accessing battery information remotely while allowing real-time continuous monitoring of battery usage. The proposed battery voltage-level monitoring system contributes to the elimination of battery hazards in towers. Therefore, the proposed battery voltage level monitoring system can be adopted by telecommunication tower engineers for the reduction of voltage fluctuation risks.

Hypertension Diagnosis, Treatment, and Control among Older Chinese: Trends in the Hypertension Care Cascade

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in China. Older persons are at higher risk of elevated blood pressure and are more likely to have insufficient hypertension care, including delayed diagnosis and poor management. However, we know little about hypertension care among older Chinese at a population level. We use a nationally representative sample of older adults from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011 and 2015 (n = 9,083), to clarify the hypertension care cascade for the older population in China by specifying the level of diagnosis, treatment, and control of hypertension. We then examine the characteristics of those (1) who received appropriate hypertension care and (2) whose care improved over time. Diagnosis and care improved between 2011 and 2015. Among those with hypertension, 55% and 67% were diagnosed in 2011 and 2015 respectively; 46% and 60% were treated with modern medication; and 20% and 29% were effectively controlled. Those who had higher income (OR=1.52; P<0.01) or obese (OR=2.43; P<0.001) were relatively more likely to be diagnosed, while those living in the western region (OR=0.65; P<0.01) or living in urban areas with a rural hukou (OR=0.54; P<0.01) were less likely. Persons age 75+ (OR=0.55; P<0.05) were less likely to have their blood pressure controlled, while those who had higher income (OR=1.50; P<0.05) were more likely. The improvement from 2011 to 2015 in hypertension care was concentrated among those that are obese or living in the West.

Park visitation in the context of Khartoum town

Parks improve people's physical and mental well-being, strengthen communities, and make towns and neighborhoods more appealing places to live and work. Many reasons discourage frequent park visitations, such as poor park characteristics, poor management system, and the lack of programs to encourage park visitation. Participation in different outdoor activities has become a necessity for many people nowadays. However, many residents are not engaged in recreational activities in Khartoum, making parks an important element. Therefore, the study aimed at investigating parks characteristics and different patterns of users based on societal needs. The study concentrates on the residents' characteristics such as age, gender, income, education level; these characteristics are tested against park visitation patterns such as type of visitation, the best day for visitation, and visit frequency. A two hundred and fifty (250) participant questionnaire survey was carried out in Al Tifl Park to assess the park's visitation pattern based on the purposive sampling technique. The result shows that most of the visitation patterns were not frequent regardless of the visitors' characteristics. It proves that the visitation pattern was not based on the visitors' characteristics but rather on the park characteristics. The study recommends that the park's features be redesigned based on user affinity to improve visitation, visitor benefits, and income generation.

Epidemiology, Haemato-biochemical and Pathological Changes Related to Field Outbreaks of PPR in Small Ruminants in Odisha

Background: Odisha experiencing sporadic outbreaks of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) throughout the year. There is a scarcity of available literature on PPR in Odisha till today. This is the first ever detail investigative approach in the state undertaken with an objective to corelate the epidemiological risk factors, haemato-biochemical and pathological changes in natural field outbreaks occurring in eight different districts. Methods: Fourteen field outbreaks of PPR were evaluated clinically as well as epidemiologically and confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood, serum, faecal and tissue samples were collected to observe haemato-biochemical and pathomorphological changes to asses disease severity. Result: Present study concluded an overall mortality rate of 46.81%. Chi-square analysis revealed significant highest prevalence among 7-12 months (46.13%) age, Ganjam breed (45.51%) and females (80.49%). Frequent migration among the border areas along with poor management and helminthic infection was major precipitating factor. There was polycythemia along with neutrophilia and lymphopenia. Significant increase in alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), K+ and Ca+2 along with creatinine, urea and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) BUN was observed in affected flocks. Antero-ventral consolidation of lungs, syncytia and presence of both eosinophilic intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were major pathological changes.

Risk Management Maturity, its Determinants and Impact on Firm Value: Empirical Evidence from Joint-Stock Companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The current extremely volatile business environment requires companies to manage a wide range of risks. Poor management of the company’s main risks can lead to significant value losses for key stakeholders. Companies strive to preserve and protect their value by developing risk management models based on organisational culture, processes and structure. The main objective of this paper is to assess the maturity of risk management, explore its determinants and examine its impact on firm value. In order to quantify the maturity of the risk management model, we have created an index based on 31 reference components whose weighting values have been determined by a group of experts using the Delphi technique. In addition, this paper aims to identify the determinants of the risk management model maturity in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Based on the estimated ordinary least squares (OLS) model, the results confirm that companies from the financial sector have more mature risk management models compared to the real sector. Moreover, the size of the firm and the type of auditor were identified as additional determinants of risk management maturity. The OLS model confirms the positive and statistically significant impact of risk management model maturity on Tobin’s Q value.

Aging Through the Time of COVID-19: Healthcare Access for Older Adults Living With Chronic Conditions

Chronic conditions require on-going continuous management and preventive treatment. Over 80% of adults aged 65 and older have multiple chronic conditions. Concerns have arisen about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the management of chronic conditions. Delay, avoidance, and poor management of healthcare during the COVID- 19 pandemic may increase the risk of unnecessary hospitalizations and mortality. This study aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare access in a U.S. sample of Americans 50 years of age or older. Participants completed an online survey about healthcare access and other risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multinomial regression analysis examined the results of two key access points: healthcare provider /doctor (n=468) and medication (n=754). One-half (56%) of those who needed access to a provider were able to be seen. Participants who were older, had multiple chronic conditions, and those with a provider were more likely to have access. However, when individuals with more chronic conditions did not have access, they indicated that this lack of access was due to COVID-19. When not receiving access to medications, unemployed participants attributed the lack of access more often to COVID-19 than other reasons. These findings demonstrate an important lack of access to providers and medication among older adults during the pandemic. In multivariate models, this lack of access was most often due to COVID-19, in addition to traditional factors such as insurance, employment, and medical and behavioral comorbidity. Interventions are needed to lower access barriers to care even further during COVID-19.

Opinion: Early COVID-19 testing in Peru and its implications on transmission

As of September 8, 2021, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 222 million and killed more than 4.3 million people. Peru is among the countries most affected by COVID-19, with more than 2.1 million cases and a fatality rate of 9.2 %. To limit SARS-CoV-2 spread into the country, Peru closed its borders to international travel in March 2020, and established strict lockdowns, while at the public health front, interventions including laboratory testing, contact tracing and isolation of suspected and/or infected individuals were largely inaccessible in communities with active transmission. Anecdotal reports suggest that a weak healthcare system and political instability contributed to the poor management of COVID-19 in the country. Here, we provide an opinion focused on the country’s early testing response to the pandemic and discuss how it could have effectively leveraged diagnostic tools to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.