High Level Of Impact Research Articles

THE USE OF WASTE MINERAL WOOL IN THE PRODUCTION OF CERAMIC WALL MATERIALS

The environmental situation in Russia is characterized by a high level of anthropogenic impact on the environment, significant environmental consequences of past economic activity. Their disposal and storage costs 8-10 % of the cost of products, so the disposal of such waste is of paramount importance.Due to the involvement of multi-tonnage waste in the production of ceramic materials of mass consumption, which include wall materials, it is possible to radically change the parameters of the raw material base of Russia, which also helps to reduce environmental tensions in the regions. The reduction of reserves of traditional natural raw materials makes us look for new ways to replace it with different types of waste. The experience of advanced foreign countries has shown the technical feasibility of this area and the use of more as a tool to protect the environment from pollution. However, almost all basic building materials can be made from waste or from waste in combination with natural raw materials. On the basis of fusible clay and waste basalt-gabbro-norite charge, which is formed in the production of mineral wool obtained ceramic brick with high physical and mechanical properties, brick grade M150 and above. The absolute advantage of the use of multi-tonnage waste is the unloading of the environmental situation, which contributes to the solution of industrial waste disposal and environmental protection. Innovative proposals for the use of waste from the production of mineral wool in the production of wall materials - ceramic bricks based on fusible clay, the novelty of which is confirmed by patents of the Russian Federation.

When Workplace Wellness Programs Work: Lessons Learned from a Large Employer in Texas

ABSTRACTBackground: Workplace wellness programs have been widely implemented to promote employee health outcomes and reduce health costs. However, little is known about how designs of wellness programs matter for best promoting positive employee health outcomes. Purpose: This research aims to identify the most effective designs of workplace wellness programs resulting in positive employee health outcomes. Methods: We conducted endogenous treatment analyses to compare the effectiveness of three wellness programs (diabetes prevention, hypertension prevention, and nutrition classes) on employees’ health outcomes. Data were analyzed from 24,117 full-time employees who received the pre- and post-intervention biometric screening in 2012–2016 at a large employer in Texas, U.S. Results: Unlike the mixed effects in diabetes and hypertension prevention programs, the nutrition program, which exhibited a high level of topic relevance, impact, and intensity, significantly decreases all four biometric indicators: decreasing systolic blood pressure (4%), diastolic blood pressure (10%), glucose (2%), and cholesterol (26%), which improves health outcomes. Discussion: This study prompts health educators to consider comparative effectiveness of workplace wellness programs for maximized impact on employees’ health outcomes. Translation to Health Education Practice: Designing wellness programs with high topic relevance, impact, and intensity should be emphasized in implementing workplace wellness programs.

Multidimensional impact of severe mental illness on family members: systematic review

ObjectiveThe impact of severe mental illnesses (SMIs) is not limited to the person with the illness but extends to their family members and the community where the patient comes from....

Stock Volatility in Muscat Securities Market

Research studies proved that share prices keep on changing every day in the stock markets. Hence this particular research article is very relevant to analyse the Volatility of Muscat Securities Market over a specified period. Here, six Oil and Gas companies were selected for this research article. The study aimed at analysing the stock market volatility of Regular market players and Parallel market players of Muscat Oil and Gas companies and evaluating their relationship.This research article used GARCH model for measuring the volatility of Muscat Securities Market with special reference to Oil and Gas companies listed in the MSM. The study resulted that highest volatile companies are Shell Oman Marketing from regular market and Oman Oil Market from parallel market. Study also found that National Gas and Shell Oman Marketing companies has the probability of producing positive return and Almaha Petroleum Products Mar. Study also found that positive shock has higher level of impact on conditional variance while connected with negative shock. From the Parallel market it is found that Muscat Gases has the probability of positive return in future. Based on the descriptive result it is found that there are two companies i.e., National Gas and Shell Oman Marketing were expecting positive return in future. Therefore, investors can focus to these companies while they enter into the Muscat stock market, Study found that there is no significant price variation between the three regular market companies.

Bridging the gap between will and action on climate change adaptation in large cities in Brazil

All over the world, there is a pressing need to better understand how climate change has been incorporated into governmental agendas, and evaluate the status of adaptation planning and interventions at the local level. In this paper, we seek to contribute towards bridging this gap by identifying local practices connected to climate adaptation in six large Brazilian cities, and presenting a framework, based on the existing literature, for assessing constraints to adaptation across the municipal level. Although local governments are not the only actors who can take the lead through their actions, the employed framework considers that effective adaptation planning in urban areas is highly dependent on municipal efforts. Our findings indicate that six aspects have the highest levels of impact on adaptation in the Brazilian cities studied: administrative practices, political will, level of commitment, mismatch between the scale of urban issues and the extent of local government authority, pressures from private sectors, and inspection. Although these barriers are not specific only to climate issues and can be identified in other environmental arenas, when combined, they cause and worsen constraints to advancing urban adaptation at the local level. Specifically concerning the local dynamics of urban planning, the combination of pressures from private sectors and insufficient inspection negatively affects the ability of these cities to consolidate adaptation interventions. Our results are helpful in the context of large cities, particularly in Global South, where, as in Brazil, competitive urbanism and specific interest groups confront municipal efforts, and make achieving adaptation more difficult.

Understanding the Impact of Empowerment on Employees Innovation Performance: Evidence from the Jordanian Hotel Industry

This research aimed to measure the impact of empowerment on employees’ innovation performance at five-star hotels in Jordan. The research applied the two main perspectives of empowerment (i.e., structural empowerment and psychological empowerment). A 35-item questionnaire, measuring empowerment and innovation performance, was distributed to 400 employees working in 12 five-star hotels in Jordan with a 63.5 response rate. Principle component analysis was utilized to determine the factor structure for both empowerment and innovation performance and regression analysis to determine the impact of empowerment on innovation performance. The results reveal that both forms of empowerment have a positive and significant impact on innovation performance. However, structural empowerment has a stronger impact on innovation performance than psychological empowerment. The results also show that integrating the two perspectives of empowerment together has clearly a higher level of impact on innovation performance than structural and psychological empowerment does when both taken separately. This research provides new insights into the existing literature, implications and directions for future research. Keywords: employee empowerment, structural / psychological empowerment, innovation performance, hotels, and Jordan DOI : 10.7176/JTHS/44-02 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Evaluating different stakeholder impacts on the occurrence of quality defects in offsite construction projects: A Bayesian-network-based model

Abstract Offsite construction has been identified as an effective approach for enhancing the sustainability of the construction industry. However, due to the fragmented production processes of offsite construction, quality defect control has become a significant challenge in the promotion of offsite construction projects. Offsite construction projects involve multiple interdependent stakeholders in close collaboration. These stakeholders play various roles in quality management and have different degrees of impact on the occurrence of quality defects. To enhance quality defect management in offsite construction projects, it is important to evaluate the different stakeholder impacts on the occurrence of quality defect. Through impact evaluations, critical stakeholders can be identified and their responsibilities clarified with respect to project quality, thereby motivating these key stakeholders to improve their quality defect control. In this study, we developed an evaluation model using the Bayesian network approach to measure stakeholder impacts on defect occurrence in offsite construction projects. Quality defects and stakeholder-related factors that might incur defects were modeled as a Bayesian network and the dependencies among network nodes examined. Then, the stakeholder impacts on the occurrence of quality defects were evaluated using Bayesian analysis. Finally, this Bayesian-network-based evaluation model was applied to a real project in Shenzhen, China. The results indicate that use of precast components with quality defects, misoperations by construction workers, and ineffective quality inspection and testing during onsite assembly and construction were the major factors affecting quality defect control. Additionally, in this case study, we found the contractor to have the highest level of impact on the occurrence of quality defects. This study contributes to the fields of stakeholder impact evaluation and quality defect analysis, and links defect management with key project stakeholders.

FUZZY MULTI-ATTRIBUTE DECISION MAKING FOR THE SELECTION OF A SUITABLE RAILWAY TRACK MAINTENANCE PLAN: A CASE STUDY IN THAILAND

Degradation of infrastructure has affected service quality; in other words, the rail freight transportation rate has been considerably low at only 2%. As a result, for the purposes of safety and highreliability levels in infrastructure, several organizations have conducted serious research on the interesting topic of railway track degradation. As the focus of the present study was degradation factors, the Fuzzy MultiAttribute Decision Making Method (FMADM) was used to analyze railway track defects and degradation and to select a maintenance plan schedule. Related research and literature were reviewed, and a questionnaire was designed to collect opinions from experts working for the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). The experts prioritized risk levels likely to result in the worst breaks or damage, using UIC defect codes. These consisted of transverse break defects without apparent origin (code 200) with the highest level of impact and relative weight of 0.396, followed by star-cracking of fish bolt holes (code 135) with a relative weight of 0.276 and transverse cracking of profile thermite welding (code 421) with a weight of 0.187. The least severe impact was said to come from horizontal cracking at web-head (code 1321) with a relative weight of 0.142. Analysis results based on FMADM indicated that the railway track structure replacement plan, as considered by the experts, was better than the railway track rehabilitation plan, as shown by their importance weights of 0.575 and 0.425, respectively.

Barriers to Effective Stakeholder Management in the Delivery of Multifarious Infrastructure Projects (MIPs)

Abstract Effective Stakeholder Management (ESM) has been identified as one of the key requirements for successful project delivery by several scholars. This study, aimed at improving the chances of achieving successful Multifarious Infrastructure Projects’ (MIPs) delivery in Nigeria, was conducted through literature review, questionnaire survey and Relative Importance Index (RII) method of data analysis. The study identified 39 barriers to ESM in the delivery of MIPs in Nigeria, evaluated their respective impacts on projects’ delivery and ranked the barriers in ascending order of their respective impact levels. Failure to understand stakeholders’ needs and expectations, uncooperative attitude of stakeholders, failure to identify key stakeholders, failure to identify potential conflict areas, project manager’s poor knowledge of stakeholder management (SM), late identification of stakeholders, issuance of incorrect information to stakeholders, lack of stakeholder engagement/involvement, conflicts between stakeholders, misunderstanding of roles by stakeholders, lack of fairness and equity for all stakeholders and lack of continuity in SM process were ranked as the ten top barriers, in descending order, with highest levels of impact against ESM in MIPs delivery. The study also provided MIPs managers with an insight on the barriers to address/focus on in order to achieve ESM in the delivery of their projects. The study concluded that there was need to pay special attention to the above barriers due to their high impact level on ESM and improve current approaches to stakeholder management in MIPs delivery in order to improve the success rate of the projects. The study recommends development and effective implementation of an appropriate strategy for handling stakeholder management in the delivery of MIPs and other projects.

Analysis of trends and performance of CSR mining companies

Concept of social responsibility has become part of the strategic management theory; interaction with stakeholders is becoming an object of control, the categories of relationship and social capital are being formed and developed, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is morphing into corporate responsibility. This modern approach is aimed at creating a relationship of trust with stakeholders, which helps to contribute to the development of both the local community and the country, as well as to the sustainable development of both the company and the national economy. The main characteristics of mining companies operating in mineral-extracting countries are their significant contribution to GDP and tax revenues, the influence of many unfavourable factors on the workers and the need to compensate for their effects, and a high level of human impact on the environment. All this determines the importance of ensuring their sustainable development and designing a strategy and mechanisms of interaction with society based on corporate social responsibility. The purpose of the study is to justify a systematic approach to corporate responsibility management in the development strategies of mining companies. In the article examines the position of CSR in the activities of mining companies, justifies the need for the transition to a proactive approach in the field of managing corporate social responsibility of mining companies.

Sustainable Human Resource Management Nurtures Change-Oriented Employees: Relationship between High-Commitment Work Systems and Employees’ Taking Charge Behaviors

In today’s business world, the environment is changing rapidly. Employers need to rely upon their employees in order to produce long-term competitive advantage and sustainable performance. However, little research has investigated whether sustainable human resource management could prompt change-oriented behaviors in employees. By integrating the job demands–resources (JD-R) model and the proactive motivation model with the existing literature on sustainable human resource management, we explored the relationship between high-commitment work systems (HCWS) and the employees’ taking charge behaviors. Data from 352 employees of 96 organizations provided support for the positive effect of HCWS on the employees’ taking charge behaviors. The results of this study showed that HCWS affect the employees’ taking charge behaviors through their work engagement only when they felt a high level of impact. Based on these results, we not only provide several theoretical contributions to the literature on HCWS and taking charge, but also provide some practical suggestions for how to nurture change-oriented employees using sustainable human resource management within the organizations.

Water usage and seasonality as primary drivers of benthic diatom assemblages in a lowland reservoir

Abstract In general, reservoirs are multi-purpose objects and they often have to fulfil different tasks at the same time. The compliance with these different expectations is more manageable in reservoirs with well-separated heterogeneous basins than in homogenous ones. The Kiskore Reservoir is the second largest standing water in the Carpathian Basin. Its water level is artificially regulated which creates unique habitats with high nature conservation value. Furthermore, the Reservoir is also considered as an important recreation centre in the region. It consists of four basins with different protection degree and management strategy. Here, we tested whether spatial (usage-dependent) or seasonal (time-dependent) segregations characterized the benthic diatom composition in the Reservoir. We also tested the influence of different water usage of basins using diatom metrics and diversity indices. We hypothesized that spatial heterogeneity in diatom composition will be more pronounced than seasonal ones. We also supposed that composition and diversity of diatom assemblages as well as diatom based ecological status will clearly reflect to different management strategies in the basins, whereas we expected moderate ecological status and low diversity in basins with high level of human impact. Our first hypothesis was not confirmed by the results. While diatom composition was clearly heterogeneous in time, surprisingly no usage-dependent segregation was found. Furthermore, our second hypothesis was also only partially confirmed by the results. In early summer, diversity was significantly lower in basins with higher level of human impact, than in the other basins. In late summer, however, diversity was rather directly controlled by nutrients and light not by water usage. Moreover, diatom based ecological status positively correlated to the intensity of recreation activities and negatively to protection degree. Although these results were surprising at the first time, they clearly confirm that a balanced ecological-economical relation can be maintained with properly designed and performed strategies in artificial reservoirs. But protection strategies, because of their exclusive interest to habitat conservation of macroscopic not microscopic organisms, require careful revisions.

Theoretical basis for the calculation of energy parameters of a paddle mixer with high-speed operation

The article touches upon the issues related to the obtaining dry modified building mixes in a paddle mixer of forced action with a high level of power impact on the mixed components and with a minimum consumption of power resources. The analysis of modern structures of paddle mixers of forced action is given. The promising directions for their improvement are provided. An improved structure of a high-speed mixer with a vertical shaft and a fixed drum is presented. The description of the principle of a mixer is given. The dependence for calculating the total power of a high-speed blade mixer taking into account its structural and technological parameters is obtained. The analysis of the results of experimental studies is given, which allows evaluating the influence of the structural parameters of a mixer on the specific power consumption. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed structure of a paddle mixer with a high-speed mixing mode for obtaining high-quality dry modified building mixes with minimal power consumption.

Influence of Empowerment on Teachers’ Organizational Behaviors

<p style="text-align:justify">This descriptive and regression research was conducted to determine the influence of empowerment on organizational behaviors of 215 teachers in Catholic Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines. The results revealed that Catholic teachers have high levels of teacher empowerment. Specifically, they have very high level of status, professional growth, self-efficacy, and impact and high level of decision-making and autonomy in scheduling. Meanwhile, they also high level of organizational behaviors. Furthermore, three of the subscales of teacher empowerment tend to predict almost all dimensions of organizational behaviors of teachers in the school. The research concludes that Catholic Higher Education teachers are empowered to their organization as they feel respected, have opportunities for professional growth, feel efficient and effective in the classroom, and have the capacity to influence students and the school life. However, they do not have enough avenues to be involved in the decision-making process of their institution and do not have enough freedom and opportunities to choose their own schedules and teaching loads. Furthermore, they exhibit positive organizational behaviors in their institutions as manifested in their strong attachment to their organization, high level of involvement to their work, harmonious relationship with their supervisors and middle level managers. Also, they exhibit discretionary actions that goes beyond their functions, and have a desire and passion to continue and uphold the teaching profession.</p>

Comparing the Efficiency of River Water Quality Parameterization by Different Methods Under a Significant Human-Induced Impact

We examine the different approaches in assessing the water quality of water bodies located within the territories with a significant human-induced impact. The hydrological region of Norilsk was used as a test site. The data used in the analysis characterize the period between 2001 and 2003; however, they are still relevant because of a high level of human-induced impact on water bodies. For the purposes of parameterization, the water quality indices which are being most abundantly used in Russia and abroad were evaluated. Results from parameterizing the water quality, obtained by various methods and combined into an overall scheme, were used to generate the rating scale for assessing the hydro-ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. These calculations show that the method of Specific Combinatorial Water Pollution Index (SCWPI) established by the departmental standard of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia (Rosgidromet) provides the most objective water quality assessment for water bodies experiencing a significant human-induced impact. Similar results also apply for water quality parameterization using the Canadian CCME WQI method, which is confirmed by the closeness of correlation between the values of these indices. According to the SCWPI method, in none of the streams was the hydro-ecological status assessed as “normal”. In the sources of four rivers, it was found to be close to class 1, and their hydro-ecological status was assessed as “risk”. The water in 11 measuring sections corresponds to quality class 3, or a “critical” status of the aquatic ecosystem. In 12 measuring sections corresponding mainly to the estuarine segments of the rivers and some brooks, the hydro-ecological status of the1 water bodies is characterized as “disaster”, i. e. the water pertains to quality class 4 and 5. Furthermore, in none of the water bodies under study is the environmental “catastrophe” not recorded.

The Potential of Manor Gardens for Natural Habitats Conservation

Abstract Historical gardens established around manors form an integral part of the European cultural landscape. Recent studies have revealed that manor gardens may serve as local hotspots of biodiversity and provide cultural ecosystem services within urban areas but also in rural landscapes. As a consequence of dramatic land-use changes in recent centuries, followed by a significant loss and degradation of natural habitats, manor gardens often serve as refugia for organisms within the cultural landscape. To compare the proportion of natural habitats in manor gardens with the surrounding landscape, intensively used and semi-natural landscapes were distinguished within a grid using Coordinated Information on the Environment (CORINE) land cover data for the Czech Republic. One hundred manor gardens were randomly selected, followed by a grid overlay of data from the Natura 2000 mapping system. Proportions of natural habitats were calculated for each garden in relation to the surrounding landscape. The results confirmed that manor gardens, compared with the surrounding landscape, play an important role in the conservation of natural habitats, especially in areas with a high level of human impact. For the gardens studied, occurrences of the following natural habitat types from the Natura 2000 system were recorded: forests (25.4 % of the garden area), secondary grasslands (4.4 %), streams and water bodies (1.6 %) and wetlands and riverine vegetation (0.5 %). The proportion of natural habitats within the gardens compared to the surrounding areas was significantly higher in the majority of cases.

Examination of the Relationships between Mobbing and Psychological Symptoms in Teachers

The aim of this research is to examine the relationships between mobbing and psychological symptoms in teachers and determine the impact of mobbing levels on psychological symptom levels. The study was carried out with 185 teachers in total – 116 female and 69 male – working in Burdur Province. Research data was collected using mobbing scale for teachers and Symptom Check List. In data analysis, Mann Whitney U test was conducted to determine whether gender and marital status vary according to mobbing and psychological symptoms. In addition, correlation analysis was conducted between mobbing and psychological symptoms and the model established for the relationship was tested with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In the analyses, it was determined that there is significant difference only on psychological symptom levels of teachers according to their genders. Relationships were identified between prevention of teachers' professional applications and situations such as somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, anger and hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts, psychoticism, sleep, appetite and guilt. Furthermore, it was determined that there is a low-level positive significant relationship between mobbing and psychological symptom levels of teachers and mobbing levels have direct high-level impact on psychological symptom levels.

Lodz – Metamorphosis of the River System

Political transformations which affected Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the 20th century opened up new transformation opportunities before its towns and cities. Poland, burdened with its geopolitical baggage, tries to keep up with contemporary trends in urban planning, which are the domain not only of Western European countries, but which are dictated by the need to secure the quality of living in towns and cities of the entire developing world. Transformations in riverside towns and cities, strongly connected with the development of the environmental policy, are particularly interesting. The growing significance attached to the co-existence of a natural ecosystem and an urban structure becomes one of the crucial factors deciding about the quality of life in the city, and consequently about its competitiveness. Amongst complex and broad topics concerning riverside areas in cities, the topic that becomes one of the most important ones is the recovery of lost watercourses. An analysis of relevant examples all over the world clearly points to a high level of impact of projects connected with the reconstruction or renaturalisation of urban sections of rivers. The paper is divided into two analytical parts. The first one presents the topic of recovering watercourses in the perspective of contemporary urban planning solutions and an attempt to identify crucial elements that influence the attractivity of the city. The second part focuses on an analysis of the development, decline, and reconstruction of rivers in Łódź. This analysis is to lead to an attempt to define a new image of Łódź as an eco-city, based on its reconstructed river system.

Impact of Corporate Actions on Shareholder Wealth: A Study on the Bombay Stock Exchange

This study focuses on five corporate actions (dividend announcement, stock split, bonus issue, right issues, buy-back, and right issue) and attempts to determine their impact on shareholders’ wealth. The companies in the S&P BSE 500 index are taken as the total population, and the performance of those with corporate actions is compared to that in the broader universe. The study analyzes the impact by taking the share price of sampled companies for 30 days before and 30 days after the announcement of corporate actions. A paired-sample t-test is used to determine the impact of the corporate actions on share price in the event window period. The study concludes that corporate actions have significant impact on shareholders’ wealth; the level of impact is different for different corporate actions, but it does not differ according to the nature of the industry. The dividend and buy-back have a low level of impact, and bonus issues, rights issues, and stock splits have a high level of impact on shareholders’ wealth. Finally, the study proves that corporate actions are quite relevant to shareholders’ wealth.

Can Lung Transplant Surgeons Still Be Scientists? High Productivity Despite Competitive Funding

Today's declining federal budget for scientific research is making it consistently more difficult to become federally funded. We hypothesized that even in this difficult era, surgeon-scientists have remained among the most productive and impactful researchers in lung transplantation. Grants awarded by the NIH for the study of lung transplantation between 1985 and 2015 were identified by searching NIH RePORTER for 5 lung transplantation research areas. A grant impact metric was calculated for each grant by dividing the sum of impact factors for all associated manuscripts by the total funding for that grant. We used nonparametric univariate analysis to compare grant impact metrics by department. We identified 109 lung transplantation grants, totaling approximately $300 million, resulting in 2304 papers published in 421 different journals. Surgery has the third highest median grant impact metric (4.2 per $100,000). The department of surgery had a higher median grant impact metric compared to private companies (P <.0001). There was no statistical difference in the grant impact metric compared to all other medical specialties, individual departments with multiple grants, or all basic science departments (all P >.05). Surgeon-scientists in the field of lung transplantation have received fewer grants and less total funding compared to other researchers but have maintained an equally high level of productivity and impact. The dual-threat academic surgeon-scientist is an important asset to the research community and should continue to be supported by the NIH.