Macro Aspects Research Articles

Overlap of Ethics and Sustainability for Responsibility Mindset: Insights for an Educational Approach Change in Ethics of Engineering

The mandate of universities and higher education institutes is to shape students' ethical wisdom and catalyze sustainable development. However, everyone does not have equal access to higher education which drives the above mindsets, leading to unequal quality of education. Today, most ethics teaching in engineering schools is narrowly micro-ethics and does not attempt to define macro-ethics’ special challenges. Micro-ethics concentrates on concerns related to the individual and the innermost workings of the profession. However, macro-ethics encompasses sustainable development with a focus on the collective social responsibility of the profession and public concerns about technology. This study examined undergraduate engineering programs in 25 major Canadian universities to see if they are adequately prepared to navigate both the micro and macro aspects of ethics education. The curricula of the programs show many courses focusing on micro-ethical concepts. The lack of explicit macro-ethical agendas for advancing society invites further work on curricula to enhance the efficacy of the content and delivery modes. This inadequate commitment to socially responsible engineering is conceptualized as a “culture of disengagement”. The study introduces important moments of change to strengthen ethics education. These include twinning engineering and computing ethics; embedding overlapped ethics, sustainability, and responsibility mindsets; and promoting the scholarship of integration through research, synthesis, practice, and teaching. By adopting these approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, the students will effectively cultivate a critical understanding of and obligation to the profession’s collective responsibility and the well-being of the greater society. These changes provide crucial insights into broadening sociotechnical-minded prospects of engineering ethics education.

Bioinspired Slippery Surfaces for Liquid Manipulation from Tiny Droplet to Bulk Fluid.

Slippery surfaces, which originate in nature with special wettability, have attracted considerable attention in both fundamental research and practical applications in a variety of fields due to their unique characteristics of superlow liquid friction and adhesion. Although research on bioinspired slippery surfaces is still in its infancy, it is a rapidly growing and enormously promising field. Herein, a systematic review of recent progress in bioinspired slippery surfaces, beginning with a brief introduction of several typical creatures with slippery property in nature, is presented. Subsequently,this review gives a detailed discussion on the basic concepts of the wetting, friction, and drag from micro- and macro-aspects and focuses on the underlying slippery mechanism. Next, the state-of-the-art developments in three categories of slippery surfaces of air-trapped, liquid-infused, and liquid-like slippery surfaces, including materials, design principles, and preparation methods, are summarized and the emerging applications are highlighted. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects of various slippery surfaces are addressed.

Current honey bee stressor investigations and mitigation methods in the United States and Canada.

Honey bees are the most important managed insect pollinators in the US and Canadian crop systems. However, the annual mortality of colonies in the past 15 years has been consistently higher than historical records. Because they are eusocial generalist pollinators and amenable to management, honey bees provide a unique opportunity to investigate a wide range of questions at molecular, organismal, and ecological scales. Here, the American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA) and the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA) created 2 collections of articles featuring investigations on micro and macro aspects of honey bee health, sociobiology, and management showcasing new applied research from diverse groups studying honey bees (Apis mellifera) in the United States and Canada. Research presented in this special issue includes examinations of abiotic and biotic stressors of honey bees, and evaluations and introductions of various stress mitigation measures that may be valuable to both scientists and the beekeeping community. These investigations from throughout the United States and Canada showcase the wide breadth of current work done and point out areas that need further research.

Internet of Things assisted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Pest Detection with Optimized Deep Learning Model

IoT technologies & UAVs are frequently utilized in ecological monitoring areas. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) & IoT in farming technology can evaluate crop disease & pest incidence from the ground’s micro & macro aspects, correspondingly. UAVs could capture images of farms using a spectral camera system, and these images are been used to examine the presence of agricultural pests and diseases. In this research work, a novel IoT- assisted UAV- based pest detection with Arithmetic Crossover based Black Widow Optimization-Convolutional Neural Network (ACBWO-CNN) model is developed in the field of agriculture. Cloud computing mechanism is used for monitoring and discovering the pest during crop production by using UAVs. The need for this method is to provide data centers, so there is a necessary amount of memory storage in addition to the processing of several images. Initially, the collected input image by the UAV is assumed on handling the via-IoT-cloud server, from which the pest identification takes place. The pest detection unit will be designed with three major phases: (a) background &foreground Segmentation, (b) Feature Extraction & (c) Classification. In the foreground and background Segmentation phase, the K-means clustering will be utilized for segmenting the pest images. From the segmented images, it extracts the features including Local Binary Pattern (LBP) &improved Local Vector Pattern (LVP) features. With these features, the optimized CNN classifier in the classification phase will be trained for the identification of pests in crops. Since the final detection outcome is from the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN); its weights are fine-tuned through the ACBWO approach. Thus, the output from optimized CNN will portray the type of pest identified in the field. This method’s performance is compared to other existing methods concerning a few measures.

Ageing of the Australian LGBQ population: estimates and projections to mid-century

Abstract Although evidence on aspects of individual ageing of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or intersex) people is mounting, there is a poor understanding of the macro aspects of population ageing within the LGBTQI population itself. This paper seeks to address this lacuna through an examination of structural and numerical ageing of the Australian LGBQ population. Drawing upon new data sources, alongside recent advances in demographic modelling, we utilised a modified multi-state cohort-component projection model to produce estimates and projections of the ageing of the Australian LGBQ population from 2016 to 2041. Our results indicate that the LGBQ population is significantly younger than the heterosexual population and is ageing structurally (in relative terms) at a slower rate. However, the LGBQ population is ageing considerably faster numerically (in absolute percentage growth terms) relative to the heterosexual population. We show the LGBQ population aged 65+ is projected to grow between 150 and 170 per cent between 2016 and 2041, under relatively conservative assumptions. This strong numerical ageing counters traditional assumptions about ageing of the LGBQ population and provides data to improve visibility of this population and to ameliorate future planning for health, care and social service provision that is appropriate and well-funded. The methods and materials we develop in this paper provide new opportunities for other countries to improve planning for LGBQ populations similarly.

Laser forward and backward scattering characteristics and experimental study of bubbles in ship wake.

The detection and tracking of ships can be realized by using the laser forward and backward scattering characteristics of ship wake bubbles. In this paper, the detection ability of two kinds of scattering to wake bubbles is studied. Based on the distribution characteristics of ship wake and bubble targets, typical bubble targets are selected to study from both micro and macro aspects. The light scattering model of water is established from the microscopic aspect, and the forward and backward scattering light intensity equations of water are derived. The circumferential scattering characteristics of a single bubble are analyzed based on the Mie scattering theory. According to the transmission characteristics of light in wake bubbles, the secondary scattering model of wake bubbles is established, and the forward and backward scattering light intensity equations are derived. In the macroscopic aspect, the laser scattering simulation model of wake bubbles is established by Monte Carlo, and the forward and backward scattering characteristics of wake bubble clusters with different radii, densities, and thicknesses are analyzed emphatically. A laser forward scattering and backscattering detection system under typical bubble characteristics was built, and the composite scattering characteristics of wake bubbles with different parameter characteristics were experimentally analyzed. The theoretical and experimental results show that with the increase of bubble radius, density, and thickness, the amplitude of laser forward scattering signal of bubble groups decreases gradually, the amplitude of backward scattering signal increases gradually, the change rate of forward and backward scattering amplitude increases, and the change rate of backscattering is obviously larger than that of forward scattering. The detection of wake bubbles by backscattering has more characteristic changes than that by forward scattering, and the detection success rate is higher. The research results can provide theoretical and experimental support for the design of a ship wake laser detection system.

Micro and Macro Scale Policy Framework to Decrease Risk of Flood Disasters in Central Java Province

Flood disasters dominate disaster events in Central Java Province, as many as twenty-three out of thirty-five regencies/cities in Central Java Province fall into the category of high-level flood disaster areas. The potential population exposed to floods is 25,463,472 people. Physical loss and the economy due to the flood 79,846.4 million rupiah so there are in the high class while environmental damage is 1,080 hectares which is also in the high class. The purpose of this study is to examine macro and micro scale policies to increase flood resilience in Central Java Province. The research approach was conducted using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. A quantitative approach is used to evaluate the determinants of flood disaster resilience on a micro scale; while the qualitative approach is used to find patterns relationship of flood disaster resilience that is interactive on a macro scale. The results of the research show that the macro aspects of policy are related to technology, infrastructure, ecology, and socio-political aspects related to flood disaster management. While the micro aspect is related to community livelihood assets in the form of human resource assets. Implementation of macro & micro scale policies in Central Java (in this case Semarang City) is closely related to increasing community resilience to reduce the risk of flooding in the region.

The great pretenders? Individuals' responses to threats to their remote worker identities.

This study aims to understand (a) how remote workers respond to threats to their identity and (b) the conditions in which each coping response tends to occur more frequently. To this end, we pursued a grounded theory approach, conducting interviews with 71 individuals who chose to work remotely. Our model and theoretical propositions create insights into how remote workers respond to negative stigma from a range of origins. While some responses lead to restructuring the remote workers' identity (identity restructuring responses), others involve keeping the enactment of such identity (identity-preserving responses) or maintaining a paradoxical relationship between restructuring and preserving the identity (paradoxical identity work responses). We also theorise on the conditions under which each response is more likely to occur. We expand the predominant focus on the meso and macro aspects of this type of work to the micro-interactions in which these individuals engage, thus highlighting how identity is made, performed, created, and enacted, within specific boundary conditions. In addition, by reflecting upon remote workers' identity threats in light of the wider macro context. We also explore the conditions under which specific kinds of responses tend to emerge.

Energy sustainability blueprint: A critical analysis of macro and micro influential factors in Pakistan

Achieving energy sustainability requires conceptualised strategies that identify governing aspects and influential factors. Energy sustainability has been attempted by focusing mainly on macro aspects of the energy infrastructure (EI), while its conjunction with the micro-environment has been overlooked. Additionally, the previous literature mostly focused on other issues and ignored assessing energy sustainability considering macro and micro aspects of energy in the context of developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, in this study, a comprehensive decision-making framework (DMF) was constructed by adopting a multiple-case study approach, which was a novel contribution to the literature. The DMF constituted influential factors (IFs) discovered by focusing on the macro and micro aspects of the entire EI and analysed by soliciting the experts’ opinions. To establish the presence of discovered IFs in the DMF, the IFs were first tested and validated by calculating the content validity index. Second, the sustainability aspects and factors were ranked based on their optimal weights calculated using the best-worst method (BWM) and compared using a statistical mean scoring technique. The significance index of IFs was then calculated to determine their essential potential for the DMF. Referring to the quantitative assessment of IFs, the problem and objectives trees encompassing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the EI of Pakistan were established. Findings revealed that micro aspects, such as ‘energy system flexibility’, ‘share of renewables in the energy mix’, and ‘durability of renewables’ were more critical than macro aspects. The study findings will aid policymakers, stakeholders, and government agencies from developing countries like Pakistan to get better insight into the impact of each macro and micro factor for developing sustainable energy infrastructure.

Financial market frictions and portfolio investment performance in Nigeria

In reallocating resources from the fund surplus unit to the fund deficit unit, financial markets face some interference which is referred to as financial market frictions. The study examines the micro and macro aspects of the effects of financial markets frictions on portfolio investments decisions and performance of financial market participants (individual firms and the entire economy). The study employs secondary data collected from firms annual reports and accounts and the World Bank data bank for national economic data. The firm level data covers a period of five years while the macro level data covers a period of seven (11) years. The study used EView 8.0 for generating the estimation results for the study. The study uses panel least square and two stage least square estimation techniques for the analysis of the data and to test the hypotheses. The study find, amongst other findings, that financial markets frictions and changes in financial market frictions across specific financial markets significantly affect investor’s portfolio decision and performance at the firm level and national economies. The study concludes that financial market frictions affect both portfolio investment decisions and portfolio investment performance in all financial markets and that exchange rate cheanges and changes in other financial markets frictions result in significant changes in investor’s decisions and performance across the globe. The study also concludes that the portfolio constituent of an investor changes with regards to changes in financial frictions. That portfolio investment decisions in all financial markets are significantly influenced by financial markets frictions at varying degrees and magnitudes and that these frictions changes frequently in financial markets. The study recommends, amongst other recommendations, that investors should give considerable attention to minimizing varied financial markets frictions that affect their investment decisions and the performance of their investment portfolio.

Is the second generation of transmigrants more prosperous? A study of intergenerational welfare in ex-transmigration settlements

Purpose. This study aims to analyze: (1) the characteristics of the second generation of transmigrants; (2) the welfare of the second generation compared to the first generation.
 Methodology / approach. The research setting is two villages in Rimbo Bujang District, Tebo Regency, Jambi Province, Indonesia. The population of this study consists of second-generation transmigrant families over the age of 20 or married. A simple random sampling method determined the sample. The number of samples is 40 respondents for each selected village; the total sample is 80 respondents for the second generation and 80 for the first generation. A descriptive analysis was conducted with the help of single and cross-frequency tables.
 Results. The welfare of the second generation is improved compared to the first generation. The study found that land fragmentation occurred in transmigrant families, but this did not cause a decrease in welfare, as there are job opportunities outside the agricultural sector and land fragmentation already within the family. The second generation of transmigrants can take advantage of these job opportunities outside the agricultural sector because their education is better than the first generation.
 Originality / scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this research is related to the object of research, namely the welfare of transmigrant descendants. So far, research on transmigration has focused more on the first generation of transmigration and the macro aspects of the transmigration program.
 Practical value / implications. The government is recommended to facilitate and create a favorable investment climate so that non-agricultural business activities in transmigration villages can develop better. The development of these non-agricultural activities will open up new job opportunities and be able to eliminate the decline in welfare due to the fragmentation of land within the family.

Micro–macro analysis of shear band formation in various normalised reverse fault throws

Two-dimensional discrete-element modelling was adopted to study the engineering and fundamental aspects of shear band formation in reverse faulting through sandy soils of varying densities. The employed discrete-element methodology was verified with experimental centrifuge results. From an engineering perspective, the results showed that the shear bands formed due to a reverse fault consisted of multiple ruptures formed at the different fault throws. These ruptures may deviate towards the hanging or footing wall depending on the faulting angle. The distortion zone outcropping location was captured by the W/H ratio at the 1% normalised fault throw (h/H) step. Various micro and macro aspects of shear banding, such as porosity, coordination number and strong contact forces within the localised areas along the shear bands, were studied. Moreover, a link was established between the micro and macro events occurring inside the shear bands. The results showed that the wedge pressure formed between the shear band and back-thrust rupture in a fault with a dip angle smaller than 45° significantly affected the back-thrust formation and micro–macro parameters in the shearing region.

코칭에 대한 코치의 주관적 인식 연구

The purpose of this study is to investigate the subjective perception of coaches on the concept of coaching. By applying the Q methodology, the perception types and characteristics of each type of coaching were examined. Through this study, we tried to determine how coaches actually perceive coaching beyond the definition of academic coaching. Through this, we tried to prepare a way to narrow the gap between the academic concept and the practical perception of coaching. As a P sample, 33 certified coaches from the Korea Coach Association were selected and 31 statements were Q-sorted. As a result of analyzing the main factors using the Quanl program, the perception of the coaching concept was sorted into four types. The first type was ‘Practical culture emphasis type’, the second type was ‘Good influence expanded type’, the third type was ‘Self-reflection awareness type’, and the fourth type was ‘Realistic tool type’. Through this, it is possible to look at the perception of fundamental coaching in micro and macro aspects and realistic and ideal aspects.

Optimizing 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid and mechanically-activated iron ore tailings to prepare low-cost and retarded magnesium oxysulfate cement

Industrial solid waste, known as iron ore tailings (IOT) is often generated in mineral processing. Precariously, the output of tailing byproducts is quite large while its utilization is very low, and this has become a vital issue to China's economic and social development. This study is aimed at developing a sustainable composite using IOT. In this paper, the impact of IOT and 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) on the magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) cement attributes were studied from the micro and macro aspects. Retardation, high-strength, low-cost MOS cement samples were prepared. The compressive strength, setting time and water resistance of MOS cement were explored by replacing light-burned magnesia powder with activated IOT (by 10%, 20%, and 30% respectively). In this paper, the mechanical properties, water resistance, and retardation mechanism of adding HEDP to MOS cement were thoroughly investigated by XRD, TG-DTA, SEM, MIP and other test methods. HEDP forms a stable chelate with [Mg(OH)(H2O)]+ produced during the hydration of MgO, slowing down the hydrolysis of active MgO to Mg(OH)2, thereby delaying the setting time of MOS cement. The addition of HEDP provides feasibility for the application of MOS cement in practical engineering. Experimental results reveal an optimal HEDP dosage of 0.75% and the addition of 10% of mechanically activated IOT for 1.0 h does not reduce the compressive strength of MOS cement, and the purpose of solid waste treatment can be achieved.

Evolution of Knowledge Structure in an Emerging Field Based on a Triple Helix Model: the Case of Smart Factory

As an important emerging field of science and technology, smart factories have received attention from academia, industry, and the government. Currently, although some scholars have examined the research trends in the field of smart factories, we have not found any research on the analysis of the knowledge output of relevant organizations among smart factories. An urgent problem is whether cooperation between organizations with different characteristics will affect the overall development of intelligent factories. This study aimed to perform a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge content and structure of a smart factory and the characteristics of its knowledge production structure. We also evaluated whether the triple helix structure was stable, and whether the research topics of different issues were similar. The triple helix model was used to study three aspects of the knowledge structure of a smart factory: university, government, and industry. Furthermore, the research contents of different organizations were analyzed in detail using network analysis. It was found that research funding at the national level leads to a knowledge spillover effect. After 2015, a triple helix knowledge structure was formed in the field of smart factories, which maintained a certain stability until 2020. The output of triple helix cooperation research has a significant impact. University research focuses more extensively and intensively on technology, government research on macro aspects, and Industry 5.0 has become a hotspot in industry research. The government needs to provide new platforms to integrate and promote the development of smart factories.

The implication of Islamic Boarding School policy in developing the quality of Islamic religious education in East Java, Indonesia

This paper discusses the implication of Islamic boarding school education quality policy in Indonesia. The presence of state in developing quality began with the issuance of Law Number 18 of 2019 concerning Islamic Boarding Schools and Presidential Decree 82 of 2021 concerning funding for implementation of Islamic Boarding Schools which later affected its existence in Indonesia, especially Islamic boarding schools in East Java. The results have implications for 2 aspects, namely the management of macro aspects and micro aspects. Management on macro aspects, among others; first, the regulatory aspect of Islamic Boarding School quality assurance, second, the funding aspect of Islamic Boarding School, and third, the managerial aspect of Islamic Boarding School. While the management of the micro aspects, among others; (1) The philosophical values and vision and mission of Islamic Boarding School; (2) Human resource management; (3) Management of facilities and infrastructure.

Using simulation modelling and systems science to help contain COVID-19: A systematic review.

This study systematically reviews applications of three simulation approaches, that is, system dynamics model (SDM), agent‐based model (ABM) and discrete event simulation (DES), and their hybrids in COVID‐19 research and identifies theoretical and application innovations in public health. Among the 372 eligible papers, 72 focused on COVID‐19 transmission dynamics, 204 evaluated both pharmaceutical and non‐pharmaceutical interventions, 29 focused on the prediction of the pandemic and 67 investigated the impacts of COVID‐19. ABM was used in 275 papers, followed by 54 SDM papers, 32 DES papers and 11 hybrid model papers. Evaluation and design of intervention scenarios are the most widely addressed area accounting for 55% of the four main categories, that is, the transmission of COVID‐19, prediction of the pandemic, evaluation and design of intervention scenarios and societal impact assessment. The complexities in impact evaluation and intervention design demand hybrid simulation models that can simultaneously capture micro and macro aspects of the socio‐economic systems involved.

The Positive Effect of Pedagogical Translation

At present, the most commonly used approach in foreign language teaching is listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, translation, as an effective teaching tool, is often ignored. This phenomenon is mostly attributed to the prejudice of many scholars against traditional grammatical translation methods. As a traditional teaching method, teaching translation plays a positive role in promoting foreign language teaching. This paper analyzes the role of teaching translation in promoting language learning from the micro and macro aspects of foreign language learning and the role of mother tongue transfer. This paper holds that pedagogical translation is scientific and operable in promoting foreign language teaching and learning, no matter from the perspective of vocabulary and grammar learning, or from the cognitive basis of language acquisition.

FLEXIBILITY IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE DESIGN IN MARGINAL AREAS

This research focuses on the analysis of Primary Health Care facilities located in rural areas. The health facility for primary care is the minimum unit of a complex system since it can be extended and implemented with other services and functions in the future. The most helpful method to develop the basic health unit in a small hospital will mainly depend on the nature of the expertise area, the living conditions of the community and its particular needs, and the prevalence of specific diseases and socio-cultural conditions. This study adopted a mixed-methods focused on analyzing the literature review of the principles of flexibility and evaluating the design of ten international primary care facilities. The factors that influence the design of the architectural space have been analyzed under three macro requirements: expansibility, versatility, reversibility. These macro aspects have been investigated in three criteria relating to form, space, and structure. The intersection of each case study with the three requirements of expansibility, versatility, and reversibility highlighted the flexibility requirements met. The expansibility requirement was not achieved, as the buildings analyzed were designed as finished units with no possibility of extension in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the architecture of the primary health care facilities during the planning and design phase to accommodate changing needs. Only an integrated approach can make steady progress on social and health care conditions improving community’s needs in marginal areas.

FLEXIBILITY IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE DESIGN IN MARGINAL AREAS

This research focuses on the analysis of Primary Health Care facilities located in rural areas. The health facility for primary care is the minimum unit of a complex system since it can be extended and implemented with other services and functions in the future. The most helpful method to develop the basic health unit in a small hospital will mainly depend on the nature of the expertise area, the living conditions of the community and its particular needs, and the prevalence of specific diseases and socio-cultural conditions. This study adopted a mixed-methods focused on analyzing the literature review of the principles of flexibility and evaluating the design of ten international primary care facilities. The factors that influence the design of the architectural space have been analyzed under three macro requirements: expansibility, versatility, reversibility. These macro aspects have been investigated in three criteria relating to form, space, and structure. The intersection of each case study with the three requirements of expansibility, versatility, and reversibility highlighted the flexibility requirements met. The expansibility requirement was not achieved, as the buildings analyzed were designed as finished units with no possibility of extension in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the architecture of the primary health care facilities during the planning and design phase to accommodate changing needs. Only an integrated approach can make steady progress on social and health care conditions improving community’s needs in marginal areas.