Final Destination Research Articles

Optimization of municipal solid waste collection system: systematic review with bibliometric literature analysis

AbstractMunicipal solid waste management (MSWM) requires significant planning and objective definitions of each of its stages. Waste collection and transportation stages are of utmost importance, and they represent a significant cost of the process. In this context, a systematic study using bibliometric analysis was conducted, seeking to identify and understand the applied methodologies and tools, as well as which parameters and approaches are employed to optimize the solid urban waste collection system. The analysis portfolio features 12 publications, focusing on the optimization of municipal solid waste (MSW) collection systems, mostly with the aim of optimizing routes for transporting waste from the collection points to the final destination, with the goal of reducing the costs of this stage. Results highlight how these studies only consider as optimization criteria the reduction of the travelled distance and lack other dimensions (such as an environmental impact perspective). Some of the studies demonstrate the vital role of technology in optimizing the waste collection operation, from the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to using sensors or smart bins. Future research efforts should widen the scope of what is considered in optimizing the waste collection system.

Public Bus Transportation Systems During the Pandemic: Barriers For Passengers with Disabilities

Participation in employment, education and social life is a critical challenge for people with disabilities. In order to identify the difficulties that disabled people face throughout the day, it is necessary to understand their characteristics and problems realistically. In this study, the obstacles experienced by disabled passengers who prefer bus transportation to meet their transportation needs, especially in physically accessing the transportation system and obtaining information, were examined and focused on how these obstacles took shape during the pandemic period. In the study, within the framework of a semi-structured survey, 43 disabled passengers were asked to describe the entire process of bus services, from the stage of obtaining information about the journey to reaching the final destination. It was focused on what kind of additional obstacles were created to the experiences and difficulties experienced by disabled passengers during the pandemic precaution measures implemented in Istanbul. It has been determined that the pandemic period and subsequent measures have revealed many additional obstacles, such as psychological distress, for disabled passengers, and that the society should be made aware of the unique characteristics of disabled people (for example, disability is not just a physical issue) and other concerns. One of the results of the study is that service providers and decision makers should consider a more detailed approach depending on the type of disability in the decision-making process.

Sustainable composites based on polypropylene and clay

The production and consumption of plastic materials have been increasingly studied, since the excessive use of its raw material, oil, and its incorrect final destination can cause serious damage to the environment. For this reason, plastic recycling has been frequently used due to its economic, social and ecological viability. Due to reprocessing, plastics lose properties with each recycling cycle. To optimize the properties of plastics, which are often recycled, natural fibers are mixed with these materials, forming composites. Polymeric composites are increasingly used in a wide range of applications due to their excellent physical-mechanical properties. Recycled HDPE composites were obtained in a twin-screw extruder, with three different fibers in the presence and absence of compatibilizer. Overall, the presence of the fiber promoted a reduction in impact resistance and thermal deflection temperature. On the other hand, it provided an increase in the softening temperature of the composites. Considering the results obtained, the PEZMA composite resulted in a material with greater impact resistance and a higher softening temperature.

Modeling airport choice for a multi-airport area using a random parameter logit model

Recent years have seen a growing demand for air transport which has led to an increase in the number of airports providing a significant number of flights in Spain and throughout the rest of Europe. Choosing which airport to use depends on the competition between the airlines operating from them and how accessible they are to the residents in the surrounding areas. This research introduces an efficient design based on D-error using a stated preferences survey to study user behaviour when choosing between competing airports. The data is modelled using a Multinomial Logit Model and a Random Parameter Error Component Logit (RPECL), a discrete choice model which allows us to study user preferences taking into account their varying systemic and random tastes, as well as find specific correlations which may exist between similar alternatives. This meant the authors were also able to calculate the direct and cross elasticities to examine the weight of the different variables involved in making the choice of airport. The results showed, for a study case in Spain (Bilbao and Seve Ballesteros - Santander airports), that increased access time to the furthest airport caused an important fall in demand (choice) for that airport. It was also shown that access fees had a lower elasticity than the flight cost and that the fewer the transfers required to reach the final destination increased the probability of choosing an airport. Therefore, in order for smaller airports to compete with larger airports they need to invest more in reducing the cost of flights, attracting more low-cost companies and offering more direct complementary destinations than those provided by larger airports.

Pengaruh Kualitas Pelayanan Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan Apotek Rafa Farma 2 Surabaya

A pharmacy is a type of retail business whose commodities or goods traded consist of pharmaceutical supplies, which include medicines and medicinal ingredients, as well as health supplies. A pharmacy is also a specific place where pharmaceutical work is carried out and distribution of pharmaceutical supplies and other health supplies to the public. Pharmacies have two uses, namely in providing health services and in business/competition. In line with the development of science and technology in the pharmaceutical sector, there has been a shift in the orientation of pharmaceutical services and the management of drugs as a commodity to comprehensive services (pharmaceutical care) in the sense of not only managing drugs but in a broader sense includes the implementation of providing information to support the correct and rational use of drugs, monitoring drug use to determine the final destination and the possibility of medication errors (Ministry of Health, 2014).

Final destination: senescence - NtNAC56 and jasmonic acid in the regulation of leaf senescence in tobacco.

Final destination: senescence - NtNAC56 and jasmonic acid in the regulation of leaf senescence in tobacco.

Study of Spatial Disorientation and Wayfinding Challenges in Buildings Using Axial Analysis: A Case of Hospital Buildings in Nigeria

All living creatures rely on spatial orientation to navigate through familiar environments. For humans, everyday activities depend on spatial orientation for navigating routes from outside locations to final destinations. The study suggests that the larger buildings get, the more the challenges of spatial orientation for their users. Likewise, building forms and configurations impact significantly on the course of wayfinding. In the case of hospitals, spatial configuration has been identified as significant in influencing human movements, performances of users and efficiency of services. This paper analyses the layout configurations of selected large hospital buildings in Nigeria using axial lines and relates the analysis with spatial orientation and wayfinding process. The aim of the study was to identify the extent of the impact of building layout configuration on spatial orientation and wayfinding process. The three large-sized hospitals selected for the study presented different scenarios which identified simplicities and complexities of building layout configurations as significant in the process of wayfinding. A comparative summary of the three hospitals in the study suggests that the less complex hospital layout presented the least spatial disorientation effect. This is mostly due to the linear sightlines utilized in the layout configuration design with fewer turns that enable visual connectivity to destination points thus indicating lesser challenges for wayfinding.

Pork belly quality variation and its association with fatness level

Belly is a very popular pork cut composed of different layers of fat and muscle tissue. This work aims to investigate the effect of belly fatness on the morphological, mechanical (firmness) and compositional characteristics of fresh pork bellies and the distribution of the fat within the belly slice. A total of 182 bellies, selected to ensure variability of fatness, sexes and genotypes, were scanned by computed tomography (CT) to determine the fat content which, together with the genotype, led to the formation of 5 classes: F1 class below 26%, F2 class from 26% to 33.9%, and F3 class above 33.9% of fat content from common commercial crossbred pigs; F4 class with an average fatness of 47.3% from pure Duroc pigs; and last, F5 class with 62.6% average fat content from Iberian×Duroc pigs. The distribution of the fat in the central belly slice obtained by CT revealed important differences by region although the fat content was proportional to the overall fatness of the belly. Both belly weight and belly firmness increased with higher fatness. In bellies from common commercial pigs, an increase of SFA and MUFA and a decrease of PUFA as fatness increased was observed. This study highlights variations in belly characteristics among different fat classes, indicating considerable differences in the quality of bellies currently available in the market. This may influence producers and consumers acceptability such that fat content could be considered as a quality criterion to pre-classify bellies and better match the raw product with its final destination.

SUSTAINABLE ACTIONS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DENTISTRY

Purpose: Examine the social and economic functions of companies and their actions, mainly regarding the protection and use of natural resources, minerals and the disposal of contaminated materials.
 Theoretical Framework: The government created regulations that thoroughly describe the management, classification and importance of implementing a Health Service Waste Management Plan in all health institutions.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: It is an exploratory case study, which compared the disposal of Health Service Waste in two dental clinics.
 Findings: The clinics' Health Service Waste Management Plan aims to minimize the production of waste, treat it and send it safely to its final destination, which prevents and controls occupational, public health and environmental risks environment.
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: We suggest that knowledge of the standards and monitoring of their compliance, together with the education and training of professionals who deal directly or indirectly with Health Service Waste, to create awareness and change habits.
 Originality/Value: Taking measures based on saving resources, preserving the environment, ethics and responsibility can guarantee a healthier future for future generations, where dental professionals learn about the correct management of waste and their participation in maintenance the environmental integrity of the planet.

Machine Learning Driven Smart Transportation Sharing

In many urban areas, traffic congestion has become one of the most challenging issues of modern life, resulting in detrimental effects on the environment, productivity loss, fuel wastage, and longer travel times. As a solution, people are increasingly turning to shared transportation modes due to the convenience of multi-modal journeys facilitated by smart transportation systems. The last mile problem refers to the fact that, in large cities, buses and trains deliver passengers to transit stations close to retail and job areas, leaving them needing another form of transportation to reach their final destination. By promoting the use of public transportation and addressing this issue, a smart bike-sharing system can contribute to reducing traffic congestion. The study presents a review of various methods that are associated with the designing of the bike sharing system and suggests a model incorporating various methods to derive solutions, with a focus on utilizing clustering algorithms for the analysis of the provided time series dataset. The study reveals that the application of algorithms such as the K-Means algorithm, Fuzzy C-means, etc. would be very effective in visualizing the resulting clusters and improve the forecasting accuracy.

Probabilistic modeling and simulation of drivers’ lane selection and its impact on highway traffic using fuzzy-based decision-making

Traffic on highways has increased significantly in the past few years. Consequently, this has caused delays for the drivers in reaching their final destination and increased the highway’s congestion level. Many options have been proposed to ease these issues. In this paper, a model of the highway drivers’ population was built based on several factors, including the behavioral patterns of the drivers, like drivers’ time flexibility to reach the destination, their carpool eligibility, and their tolerance to pay the toll price, in addition to the traffic information from the system. A fuzzy logic decision-making model is presented to emulate how drivers would choose the lane to use based on the aforementioned factors and the current congestion levels of all the lanes on the highway. The presented model, along with the simulation results from applying the model to different simulation scenarios, show the usefulness of such a model in predicting an optimal toll value. Such optimal value would reduce congestion on the highway at one end while maximizing the revenue for the toll company.

Impact of Home Environment on Spiritual Intelligence of Primary School Students in Bhutan

This study investigates the impact of the home environment on the spiritual intelligence (SQ) of primary school students in Bhutan. Spiritual intelligence, denoted as SQ, provides a framework for deriving meaning from life's experiences, prompting individuals to view their goals and objectives as a continuous journey rather than a final destination. The home environment, encompassing dimensions such as physical, emotional, social, cultural, intellectual, moral, and nutritional aspects, plays a crucial role in shaping an individual's overall development. Each dimension contributes to the upbringing, influencing behavior, beliefs, and life perspectives. The research holds significance by offering valuable insights for primary education stakeholders and presenting practical strategies to enhance both academic and spiritual growth. The study aims to explore spiritual intelligence and the home environment, examine gender-based variations in spiritual intelligence and the home environment, and analyze the relationship between spiritual intelligence and the home environment among primary school students. Employing a descriptive survey method, the research is conducted among primary school students in Bhutan, utilizing a purposive sampling technique to select a diverse sample of 200 participants based on grade level (V and VI) and gender. Data collection involves a scale developed according to Dhar and Upinder (1971), various dimensions of spiritual intelligence were assessed by Dr. Santosh Dhar and Dr. Upinder Dhar (1971) assessing various dimensions of spiritual intelligence, and Dr. Karuna Shankar Misra's Home Environment Scale (HES), a comprehensive tool featuring 100 items designed to evaluate different aspects of the home environment. The conclusions underscore the intricate relationship between the home environment, spiritual intelligence, and gender dynamics among primary school students, providing valuable insights for educators, parents, and policymakers. Future research and interventions may delve into specific elements within the home environment contributing to spiritual intelligence, and explore the influence of gender on these dynamics.

Construction waste in Brazil: a narrative review

The final destination or disposition given to the RS, especially in developing countries, as in Brazil, is carried out in greater proportions in an inadequate manner, which corroborates, in the case of the DRC, in serious problems of an aesthetic, environmental and public health order. The objective is to quantitatively analyze the correlation between population growth and CPR generation, in a timeframe between 2017 and 2022 in Brazil. The method applied was deductive. The research was exploratory in nature and applied. Secondary data collection was carried out from access to the free data platform of the Panorama of Solid Waste in Brazil published by the Brazilian Association of Public Cleaning Companies and Special Residues - ABRELPE. A qualitative analysis of the population growth and CPR index collected between 2017 and 2021 was performed to verify the correlation between these variables in each Region of Brazil. The five Regions of Brazil presented population growth as a strong influence factor in the rate of CPR collected in the five years of this analysis, in addition, other factors are linked to this action such as: Processing losses related to inefficiency in the working methods and disqualified labor, besides losses in stocks: associated with inadequate storage of materials, as well as excess stock. There was a tendency of increasing collection of the DRC in the five Brazilian Regions. The North Region has the lowest per capita production of the five Brazilian regions, being influenced by the low economic influence of civil construction of this period. The population growth variable has a direct influence with the CPR collected in the five regions of the country.

Analytical characterization of the reality of municipal “dumps” in the Amazon of Pará

This work aimed to analyze the general aspects of landfills in the Amazon in the territorialities of the municipalities of Pará, emphasizing the social and economic aspects of collectors of recyclable materials in these areas. This research was based on the bases of bibliographic and documentary research. It was identified that several municipalities in the state of Pará still have an environmentally inadequate final destination for landfills, causing various impacts on biodiversity, in addition to the presence of collectors of recyclable materials who work on the precariousness of these places, with scientific research being a possibility for recognizing these problems. and assistance to municipal and environmental management. It can be concluded that the state's municipalities urgently need mitigating measures to eradicate landfills, taking into account the deadline stipulated by the new legal framework for sanitation, and it is important to include, in a non-perverse way, waste pickers to comply with the adequate and effective management of solid waste, to promote sustainable and economic development in the Amazon.

What Do JNC Youth Workers Conceive of as ‘Professional Maturity’ in Youth Work Practice

AbstractThis research set out to take a snapshot of what JNC practitioners in youth and community work defined as ‘Professional Maturity’ and to explore if this notion impacted on practice. To achieve this, the researchers worked with the Institute for youth work, to garner responses from practitioners in the youth work sector via an online questionnaire and an online semi-structured interview. In the inductive phenomenological approach taken to data analysis, some surprising patterns emerged that will require further exploration. The result of these findings has generated an ‘in the moment’ snapshot of ‘Professional Maturity’ for youth work in the shape of a model for practice that will still require critical examination. The data generated and the subsequent analysis highlights six themes: Qualification, Professional Transference, Attributes, Values, Beyond Self, and Chameleon. The key finding of this research has shown that Professional Maturity is an ever-evolving aspect of a youth workers journey rather than a final destination. However, research respondents did appear to have different expectations on what Professional Maturity should look like and how it affects individuals practice across the field.

A Systematic Analysis, Outstanding Challenges, and Future Prospects for Routing Protocols and Machine Learning Algorithms in Underwater Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

Water has covered a wide part of the earth’s surface. Oceans and other water bodies contain significant natural and environmental resources as well as aquatic life. Due to humans’ hazardous and unsuitable underwater (UW) settings, these are generally undiscovered and unknown. As a result of its widespread utility in fields as diverse as oceanography, ecology, seismology, and oceanography, underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have emerged as a cutting-edge area of study. Despite their usefulness, the performance of the network is hampered by factors including excessive propagation delay, a changing network architecture, a lack of bandwidth, and a battery life that is too short on sensor nodes. Developing effective routing protocols is the best way to overcome these challenges. An effective routing protocol can relay data from the network’s root node to its final destination. Therefore, the state of the art in underwater wireless acoustic sensor network (UWASN) routing protocols is assessed with an eye toward their potential for development. In real-world applications, sensor node positions are frequently used to locate relevant information. As a result, it is crucial to conduct research on routing protocols. Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms have the ability to enhance routing under a variety of conditions because they are experience-based learning algorithms. Underwater routing methods for UWSN are reviewed in detail, including those that rely on machine learning (ML), energy, clustering and evolutionary approaches. Tables are incorporated for the suggested protocols by including the benefits, drawbacks, and performance assessments, which make the information easier to digest. Also, several applications of UWSN are discussed with security considerations. In addition to this, the analysis of node deployment and residual energy is discussed in this review. Furthermore, the domain review emphasizes UW routing protocol research difficulties and future directions, which can help researchers create more efficient routing protocols based on ML in the future.

The Counteraction of Corruption in Indonesia Based On the International Agreement (Extradition) Between Indonesia and Singapore

In early 2022, Indonesia signed an extradition agreement with Singapore. This extradition agreement with Singapore is crucial because Singapore has been one of the destinations for Indonesian fugitives, particularly in corruption cases. The territory of Singapore, with its direct proximity to Indonesia and the visa-free arrangement for Indonesian citizens visiting Singapore, creates an environment where criminals can potentially use Singapore as a final destination or transit point for their illegal activities. This analysis examines the counteraction of corruption in Indonesia based on the international agreement (Extradition) between Indonesia and Singapore. The research adopts a normative legal research approach. The extradition agreement between Indonesia and Singapore will facilitate law enforcement authorities in Indonesia in resolving criminal cases where the perpetrators are located in Singapore. This allows law enforcement to take action against the criminals. Extradition also makes potential wrongdoers think twice before attempting to flee to another country, knowing that the destination country has an extradition agreement in place. In the fight against corruption, the Indonesia-Singapore extradition agreement is beneficial in preventing criminals from escaping to other countries, enabling the apprehension of wrongdoers, and facilitating the recovery of assets obtained through corruption.

Mineral Resources Policy for a Circular Flow of Critical Minerals: An Input–Output Approach to the Case of Their Final Destination in Japan

This study indicates that the volume and distribution of critical minerals’ final destination are essential for an objective decision to create a circular flow of critical minerals from national security and circular economy aspects in mineral resources policy. We demonstrate the estimation of critical minerals’ final destination and propose a decision flow framework to identify the prioritized products and their parts to be reused or recycled. We conclude that policymakers need to consider the final destination of critical minerals, not their economic importance or intermediate volumes or distributions alone, to implement effective actions to ensure critical minerals’ circularity. This study estimates the final destination of several critical minerals (lithium, cobalt, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and dysprosium) and base metals (iron, copper and aluminum) in the Japanese economy for 2015. A uniquely expanded and the latest input–output table is used for the estimation. The results reveal a detailed distribution of critical minerals and indicate prioritized implementation for creating and maintaining domestic and international circular flows of critical minerals. The developed decision flow framework provides a practical approach to national security and circular economy aspects for policymakers. For further actions, inclusive indicator development is required for policymakers to support the determination of implementation possibilities from social and technological aspects.

New modifications of PBAT by a small amount of oxalic acid: Fast crystallization and enhanced degradation in all natural environments

Biodegradable plastics are often mistakenly thought to be capable of degrading in any environment, but their slow degradation rate in the natural environment is still unsatisfactory. We synthetized a novel series of poly(butylene oxalate-co-adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBOAT) with unchanged melting point (135 °C), high elastic modulus (140 - 219 MPa) and elongation at break (478 - 769%). Fast isothermal crystallization with a semi-crystallization time < 20 s was demonstrated by the PBOAT. In N2 and air atmospheres, the PBOAT maintained the Td,5% higher than 329 °C. They also had good thermal stability at melt processing temperature for more than 20 min. PBOAT exhibited faster hydrolysis and seawater degradation, even under natural soil burial without light, but still kept stable under low humidity conditions during the storage and the shelf-life. Moreover, the hydrolysis mechanisms were clarified based on Fukui function analysis and DFT calculation, indicating that the hydrolysis of PBOAT would be more straightforward. The mechanism of soil burial is also elucidated through detailed characterization of the structure changes. The PBOAT offered a fresh approach to the development of high-performing, naturally degradable materials.

Tumor-specific migration routes of xenotransplanted human glioblastoma cells in mouse brain

The migration of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) to their final destination during development follows well-defined pathways, such as along blood vessels. Cells originating from the highly malignant tumor glioblastoma (GBM) seem to exploit similar routes for infiltrating the brain parenchyma. In this report, we have examined the migration of GBM cells using three-dimensional high-resolution confocal microscopy in brain tumors derived from eight different human GBM cell lines xenografted into immunodeficient mice. The primary invasion routes identified were long-distance migration along white matter tracts and local migration along blood vessels. We found that GBM cells in the majority of tumors (6 out of 8) did not exhibit association with blood vessels. These tumors, derived from low lamin A/C expressing GBM cells, were comparatively highly diffusive and invasive. Conversely, in 2 out of 8 tumors, we noted perivascular invasion and displacement of astrocyte end-feet. These tumors exhibited less diffusive migration, grew as solid tumors, and were distinguished by elevated expression of lamin A/C. We conclude that the migration pattern of glioblastoma is distinctly tumor cell-specific. Furthermore, the ability to invade the confined spaces within white matter tracts may necessitate low expression of lamin A/C, contributing to increased nuclear plasticity. This study highlights the role of GBM heterogeneity in driving the aggressive growth of glioblastoma.