Major Divisions Research Articles

Environment sustainability practices in bangladeshi cement industries

Cement industries are responsible for huge amount of air pollution, which is harmful for the relevant workers health. According to a new questionnaire-based study, Bangladesh's cement industry has limited opportunities to follow green manufacturing practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the situation of group wise environmental sustainability practices in Bangladesh, with the goal of assisting cement manufacturers in Bangladesh to improve their environmental sustainability practices in their manufacturing processes. In this paper, a comparison of cement manufacturers across Bangladesh's three major divisions was presented. It has been discovered that a large number of employees from these three departments are unaware of environmental concerns and sustainable industrial activities. Just 53% of the respondents are aware of the environmental concerns surrounding cement production and their customers are the primary sources of such knowledge. Furthermore, only 42% of respondents used the ISO 14000 environmental quality control scheme, despite the fact that 53% of respondents used some kind of green manufacturing. Moreover, the causes for non-adoption as well as environmental factors affecting sustainable industrial practices have been identified and established. The lack of financial resources, lack of understanding and information about environmental issues, lack of demand from customers and stakeholders are the reasons why such practices have not been adopted. In order to follow green production methods, it is essential to use environmentally friendly cement materials, recycled-fiber packaging, biodegradable packaging and environmentally friendly waste management systems and technologies.

Degradation of the Albany Thicket Biome. How much of the extent remains 20 years after the initial mapping in 1998?

The Albany Thicket Biome is highly resistant to a wide variety of disturbances but, once disturbed, lacks the regenerative qualities that allow it to return to its original stable state. This study investigated the degradation status and the remaining extent of intact thicket. Classification of each thicket type was determined using Maximum Likelihood Classification and patch analysis using Fragstats. Of the four major divisions of the Albany Thicket Biome, classification of the Mesic, Valley and Dune Thickets were successful. The classification indicated that almost half of these thicket types has been lost, transformed or degraded by agricultural or urban development. For Dune, Mesic and Valley Thicket, thicket fragment sizes ranged between 6 and 876 km2. Dune Thicket contained the smallest fragments (2 km2) of intact thicket, while Valley Thicket contained the largest fragments (251 km2) of intact thicket of the major divisions of the Albany Thicket Biome. The misclassification of Arid Thicket precluded an accurate determination of the level of degradation and a different approach to assess the degradation status will have to be devised for these open thicket areas that contribute 39% of the original extent of the biome.

Tacit Knowing: What it is and Why it Matters

AbstractTacit knowing as a concept and legitimate topic of scholarship came up in philosophical research in the second half of the 20th century in the form of some influential works by Michael Polanyi (although similar concepts had been discussed before). Systematic epistemological studies on the topic are still scarce, however. In this article, I support the thesis that tacit knowing pervades all our common major divisions of knowledge and that it therefore must not be neglected in epistemological research. By this approach I am simultaneously giving a systematic back-up for Polanyi's claim that the tacit component is found in all knowledge.

Application of robots in general surgery

Background: Application of robotic surgery in the field of general surgery has been increasing. This paper is an overview of the current uses and future perspectives of robotic surgery in four major divisions—endocrine, upper gastrointestinal, hepato-biliary-pancreatic (HBP), and colorectal surgery.Current Concepts: In endocrine surgery, cosmetic advantage is the highest priority when selecting a surgical approach for thyroidectomy. Currently, the transaxillary route is the most common approach. The introduction of the single-port system could maximize the advantages of this technique. In upper gastrointestinal surgery, the use of robots has the advantage of better retrieval of lymph nodes, less bleeding, earlier discharge, and less complications than the laparoscopic approach. However, a more prospective comparative trial is required to confirm those findings. In the HBP field, the indications of robotic surgery have expanded, starting with cholecystectomy to more challenging procedures, such as donor hepatectomy and pancreaticoduodenectomy. Meticulous dissection using robots could provide benefits to patients. In colorectal surgery, robotic surgery is an excellent technical tool for minimally invasive surgeries for rectal cancers, especially in male patients with narrow, deep pelvises. However, further studies are required to confirm the impact of robotic surgery on rectal cancers.Discussion and Conclusion: Robots are used to provide optimal surgical outcomes. Investigating new technologies and innovative surgical procedures is the highly important for a surgeon in the era of minimally invasive surgery.

Defining Uncertainty: Comparing Resource/Reserve Classification Systems for Coal and Coal Seam Gas

Transparent, objective, and repeatable resource assessments should be the goal of companies, investors, and regulators. Different types of resources, however, may require different approaches for their quantification. In particular, coal can be treated both as a solid resource (and thus be mined) as well as a reservoir for gas (which is extracted). In coal mining, investment decisions are made based on a high level of data and establishment of seam continuity and character. The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) allows deposits to be characterised based on the level of geological and commercial certainty. Similarly, the guidelines of the Petroleum Resource Management System (PRMS) can be applied to coal seam gas (CSG) deposits to define the uncertainty and chance of commercialisation. Although coal and CSG represent two very different states of resources (i.e., solid vs. gaseous), their categorisation in the JORC Code and PRMS is remarkably similar at a high level. Both classifications have two major divisions: resource vs. reserve. Generally, in either system, resources are considered to have potential for eventual commercial production, but this has not yet been confirmed. Reserves in either system are considered commercial, but uncertainty is still denoted through different subdivisions. Other classification systems that can be applied to CSG also exist, for example the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH) and the Chinese Standard (DZ/T 0216-2020) and both have similar high-level divisions to the JORC Code and PRMS. A hypothetical case study of a single area using the JORC Code to classify the coal and PRMS for the gas showed that the two methodologies will have overlapping, though not necessarily aligned, resource and reserve categories.

Hidden patterns of sustainable development in Asia with underlying global change correlations

As the most populous continent, and its dominant role in the global economy, Asia is arguably the most important region for understanding global change. To evaluate and guide humanity’s growth toward a more sustainable future, indicators and their composite indices have been adopted as key tools resulting in a paralyzing amount for decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers to choose from. Although research has improved understanding of development metrics for evaluating and monitoring global change, making progress toward sustainability remains as open as ever. Building from previous work, 44 Asian nations were studied using four guiding research questions: (i) What are the hidden dimensions within a collection of known sustainable development indices, and what differentiates winning locations from losing ones? (ii) Are the three major divisions of sustainability (economic growth, social equity, environmental integrity) equally supported by these development measuring initiatives? (iii) How do common global change indicators statistically respond to the canonical development dimensions? (iv) Do recent population growth and urbanization trends move humanity closer to planetary sustainability? Those questions were explored using four amassing methodological stages. First, six hidden development dimensions (factor axes) were revealed while maintaining over 80% of 35 known sustainable development indices’ variation. The dimensions expressed: (F1) human well-being synergies; (F2) environmentally efficient happiness; (F3) ecological integrity to economic performance trade-off; (F4) peace, prosperity, and natural resources protection; (F5) economic and political liberty; and (F6) generosity. Second, a mega-index of sustainable development (MISD) was created by combining the six latent dimensions. Third, spatial patterns of the hidden development axes, MISD, and nine common global change metrics were explored. Fourth, using global and local inferential tests, associations between the canonical development dimensions, MISD, and global change indicators were made. The human well-being synergies dimension (F1) explained over one-third of the total variance, and positively clustered in northern Asia and negatively in southern Asia. The MISD ranked Singapore best, followed by Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, and Malaysia; Afghanistan ranked worst, then China, Syria, Russia, Turkmenistan, and India. Overall, improved sustainable development position came through increased population density, decreased country area, lower latitude, and a greater proportion of urban land cover. This cross-country analysis reiterates an underrepresentation of biogeochemical (ecosphere) conditions across development indices; moreover, spatial patterns of favorable development were rarely found simultaneous. Trade-offs and the lack of spatial concordance will make achieving sustainability a very difficult task in an urbanizing world without limits.

Structural anatomy and temporal trends of road accident research: Full-scope analyses of the field

Introduction: Scholarly research on road accidents over the past 50 years has generated substantial literature. We propose a robust search strategy to retrieve and analyze this literature. Method: Analyses was focused on estimating the size of this literature and examining its intellectual anatomy and temporal trends using bibliometric indicators of its articles. Results: The size of the literature is estimated to have exceeded N = 25,000 items as of 2020. At the highest level of aggregation, patterns of term co-occurrence in road accident articles point to the presence of six major divisions: (i) law, legislation & road trauma statistics; (ii) vehicular safety technology; (iii) statistical modelling; (iv) driving simulator experiments of driving behavior; (v) driver style and personality (social psychology); and (vi) vehicle crashworthiness and occupant protection division. Analyses identify the emergence of various research clusters and their progress over time along with their respective influential entities. For example, driver injury severity ” and crash frequency show distinct characteristics of trending topics, with research activities in those areas notably intensified since 2015 Also, two developing clusters labelled autonomous vehicle and automated vehicle show distinct signs of becoming emerging streams of road accident literature. Conclusions: By objectively documenting temporal patterns in the development of the field, these analyses could offer new levels of insight into the intellectual composition of this field, its future directions, and knowledge gaps. Practical Applications: The proposed search strategy can be modified to generate specific subsets of this literature and assist future conventional reviews. The findings of temporal analyses could also be instrumental in informing and enriching literature review sections of original research articles. Analyses of authorships can facilitate collaborations, particularly across various divisions of accident research field.

A CADAVERIC STUDY OF COMMON PERONEAL NERVE IN RELATION TO FIBULAR TUNNEL

INTRODUCTION: The common peroneal nerve is major lateral division of the sciatic nerve supplies lateral and anterior compartment of leg, when injured may leads to debilitating conditions such as foot drop and sensory loss or numbness in its supplied area. Common peroneal nerve's position subjects it to nerve injuries at two places one behind the knee joint where the nerve is superficial and other being the course of nerve through the fibular tunnel where its being tugged between musculo-aponeurotic fibers of peroneus longus muscle. Nerve injuries to common peroneal nerve has been attributed to several factors depending upon its anatomical position such as this may be due to sudden weight loss, prolonged sitting in squatting position, meniscus injuries in athletes or whether it is any surgical procedures involving the upper part of tibia and fibula. MATERIAL & METHODS: In present study we examine 70 lower limbs equally of right and left sides, the course, branching pattern and other reference point distances were measured with the help of metallic scale and dissections were photograph. RESULT: In 60% cases nerve separate from sciatic at the apex of popliteal fossa and in 80% cases it passes through the groove and then in about 70% specimen it passes through fibular tunnel, where it remains on an average 1.33 cm below the fibular head. The average distance of the nerve division was found 2.73 cm and just below that at a distance of 4.29 cm the nerve is in close contact with the bone. CONCLUSION: In present study we have observed average 7 muscular branches with variable origin from the common peroneal nerve in fibular tunnel which are likely to be damaged during surgical incision at this site.

Association between Meteorological Parameters and SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak Trends in Major Divisions of Bangladesh

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the current pandemic situation worldwide. Studies based on different factors affecting the pandemic are useful in order to find effective measures against COVID-19. Therefore, this study aims to explore the association between meteorological parameters and COVID-19 positive cases, along with a number of fatalities. In this study, the number of identified COVID-19 cases along with death figures, daily records of rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were collected from April and May 2020 for eight major divisions in Bangladesh. Significant positive association (r = 0.24 to 0.58) between relative humidity and COVID-19 cases across the cities was found in this study, while for temperature both positive and negative associations (r = -0.23 to 0.72) were observed. Similarly, a positive association is found between humidity ((r = -0.012 to 0.384)) and numbers of COVID-19 death cases. Rainfall and wind speed exhibit positive correlations with COVID-19 positive cases and numbers of death cases. The findings of the study surely help the policymaker for further decision making, conducting new study and initiate the mitigation measures against COVID-19.

Robotic-assisted left lower-lobe pulmonary lobectomy: Eleven steps.

Robotic-assisted left lower-lobe pulmonary lobectomy: Eleven steps.

Effects of Financial Expenditure of Prefectures/Municipalities on Regional Suicide Mortality in Japan.

In Japan, suicide mortality has been improving from 2009; however, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death. Although previous studies identified solid relationships between governmental financial support for social welfare systems and suicide mortality, little attention is paid to how specific regional policies, designed according to regional cultural, economic, and social welfare situations, affect suicide mortality. Therefore, the present study analyses the relationships between the regional governmental expenditure of six major divisions and suicide mortality across the 47 prefectures in Japan from 2009 to 2018 using fixed-effect analysis of hierarchal linear regression with robust standard error. The expenditure in “public health”, “police”, “ambulance/fire services”, “welfare” and “education” is associated with reduction in suicide mortality, at least in some statistical indicators, whereas expenditure of “public works” indicated the influence of increasing suicide mortality or had no effect. Welfare expenditure was the most predominantly effective among the six major divisions of regional governmental expenditure. In the welfare subdivisions, expenditure of “child welfare” and “social welfare” was effective in a reduction in suicide mortality, but expenditure of “elderly welfare” surprisingly contributed to increasing suicide mortality. Child welfare expenditure negatively impacted suicide mortality in wide-ranging generations of both males and females; the positive effects of elderly welfare expenditure reached were limited as working-age populations increased, but unexpectedly did not affect the suicide mortality of elderly populations. The relatively increasing expenditure of elderly welfare with the relatively decreasing child welfare are unavoidable due to the Japanese social issues associated with a declining birth rate and ageing population. Furthermore, the budget of that regional government that can modify its expenditure structure by making its own policies is limited since most regional governmental expenditure is composed of essential expenditure for maintaining and operating regional social welfare systems. Although severe social situations in Japan are still unoptimised, the present results suggest that scientific-evidence-based redistributions of welfare expenditure in regional governments can at least partially improve Japanese society and welfare systems.

Safety Climate in MT Mining: A Case Study.

A safety climate case study was carried out at a surface metal mine where investigators administered the Liberty Mutual Short Scale Safety Climate Survey to 365–368 miners to measure safety climate in consecutive years. Following the baseline safety climate survey in 2019, Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training was conducted with 81 middle to upper management employees at the mine site. Investigators found statistically significant differences in the pre vs. posttraining FSL assessment scores of the middle to upper management employees who attended the training. The follow-up safety climate evaluation was compared to baseline scores and revealed no significant improvement. The overall baseline company safety climate score of 76.38 increased minimally to 76.50 (p-value = 0.616). Investigators also evaluated differences in safety climate between the company’s three major divisions (operations, maintenance, and administration). Both years administration had the highest mean score and operations had the lowest mean score. The authors attributed the statistically significant differences found among the three major divisions to various dissimilarities in their work environments.

Carbon concentration in the world's trees across climatic gradients.

Wood carbon (C) concentration is a key wood trait that varies widely among tree species, but our understanding of the factors governing this trait is limited, despite reason to hypothesize that wood C varies systematically across environmental gradients. We compiled a novel database of 1145 geo-referenced wood C observations from 415 species, to elucidate climate correlates of wood C concentrations, and test if these relationships differ across tissue types and major taxonomic divisions (i.e. angiosperms vs gymnosperms). Climate variables, including mean annual temperature (MAT) and precipitation and temperature seasonality, are significantly correlated with wood C concentrations. Relationships between wood C and these variables differ across tissue types and taxonomic divisions, yet there is a negative relationship between wood C and MAT that exists across all tissues and species groups. Wood C concentrations in trees are influenced by climate, with experimental evidence (albeit scant) indicating that climate-driven changes in lignin concentrations likely govern these relationships. Our study presents among the first lines of evidence indicating that wood C concentrations are correlated with environmental conditions, thereby enhancing our understanding of the potential adaptive significance of wood C variation in trees.

The Medial Septum as a Potential Target for Treating Brain Disorders Associated With Oscillopathies.

The medial septum (MS), as part of the basal forebrain, supports many physiological functions, from sensorimotor integration to cognition. With often reciprocal connections with a broad set of peers at all major divisions of the brain, the MS orchestrates oscillatory neuronal activities throughout the brain. These oscillations are critical in generating sensory and emotional salience, locomotion, maintaining mood, supporting innate anxiety, and governing learning and memory. Accumulating evidence points out that the physiological oscillations under septal influence are frequently disrupted or altered in pathological conditions. Therefore, the MS may be a potential target for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders with abnormal oscillations (oscillopathies) to restore healthy patterns or erase undesired ones. Recent studies have revealed that the patterned stimulation of the MS alleviates symptoms of epilepsy. We discuss here that stimulus timing is a critical determinant of treatment efficacy on multiple time scales. On-demand stimulation may dramatically reduce side effects by not interfering with normal physiological functions. A precise pattern-matched stimulation through adaptive timing governed by the ongoing oscillations is essential to effectively terminate pathological oscillations. The time-targeted strategy for the MS stimulation may provide an effective way of treating multiple disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety/fear, schizophrenia, and depression, as well as pain.

Questioning Cosmopolitanism through the Biographical Trajectories of French Residents of Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Owing to their diverse populations and particular social configurations, the United Arab Emirates offer a unique urban context in which to question the notion of cosmopolitanism and its daily manifestations, since the main cities of the Emirates maximize occasions for intercultural interaction while maintaining major economic divisions and social hierarchies in most parts of daily life. While national and ethnic categories in the Emirates are often presented in the literature as being rigid, this paper argues that a biographical approach allows for a finer analysis of cosmopolitan situations. The French residents of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, relatively privileged migrants, position themselves along a wide spectrum of places and activities, raising different social and urban issues. Based on 26 months of participant observation in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and 12 in-depth interviews with French residents of the UAE, this paper shows that their forms of sociability, social practices, and international mobility work together to shape diverse and sometimes paradoxical forms of openness to national, ethnic, or social “others”.

Effects of meteorological parameters on COVID-19 transmission trends in Bangladesh.

Understanding the influence of meteorological parameters in relation to COVID-19 transmission may be a convenient way to predict the ongoing pandemic towards its adaptive control measures. This study aims to explore the association between COVID-19 cases and meteorological parameters and to predict COVID-19 transmission for an extended period covering different climatic patterns. The number of COVID-19 cases, daily records of rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and wind speed data were collected for April and May 2020 from the eight major divisions in Bangladesh. The basic statistical analyses and auto regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) using SPSS tool were applied to evaluate and explore association between meteorological parameters and COVID-19 cases and its transmission trend. A greater number of significant positive associations (r = 0.24–0.58) is found to exist between the relative humidity and COVID-19 cases across the cities, while with temperature both positive and negative associations (r = − 0.23 to 0.72) were revealed. Furthermore, both the rainfall and wind speed exhibit positive correlations. ARIMA model portrayed predictive trend of COVID-19 transmission, from its inception on 8 March 2020 to September 2020, in Bangladesh. The month of July showed the highest daily COVID-19 cases prior to lowering at steady rate till September illustrating the influnce of meteorological parameters.Graphic abstract Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42398-021-00195-5.

The University and the Global Knowledge Society

The University and the Global Knowledge Society

Identification of physical characteristics associated with swing velocity of batting in youth baseball players.

Identifying the characteristics of physical function and muscle strength related to swing velocity is necessary for improving batting performance. The aim of this study was to identify the factors related to swing velocity in youth baseball players. 191 youth baseball players aged 7-13 years old participated and were divided into the Tee Ball (˂9.5 years) and Major (≥9.5 years) divisions. We measured the swing velocity for batting performance, medicine ball (MB) back throw and modified star excursion balance test (SEBT) for physical function, and hip muscle torque for lower extremity muscle strength. Height and MB back throw (β=0.403 and 0.380) for physical function (R2=0.646), and height and internal rotation (IR) torque of the step leg (β=0.620 and 0.216) in lower extremity muscle strength (R2=0.616) were all extracted as related independents for the multiple regression analysis on swing velocity in all subjects. Additionally, height, MB back throw and modified SEBT in the pivot leg (β=0.420, 0.324 and 0.218) for the major division (R2=0.579), and IR torque of the pivot leg and step leg (β=0.555 and 0.525) for the tee ball division (R2=0.568) were selected. Swing velocity was related to height, MB back throws on physical function, and IR torque of the stepping leg in lower extremity muscle strength in youth baseball players. Therefore, the explosive power and strength for stopping the body opposite to the hitting direction are considered necessary to increase the swing velocity.

Afviklingen af de middelalderlige klostre i Danmark og Nordtyskland

Afviklingen af de middelalderlige klostre i Danmark og Nordtyskland

Marketing of Vegetable Seeds: Practice and Behavioral Inclinations of Vegetable Seed Sellers and Farmers in Selected Areas of Bangladesh

This research was based on a survey conducted in Bangladesh in three major seed-producing divisions, viz., Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Chittagong. Descriptive data was gathered by randomly selecting 100 peasants and 100 rural retailers for in-depth interviews. The general accounting approach was also used to assess profit and loss. The objective of the study was to analyze the marketing tendencies of vegetable seed farmers and sellers. The results showed a lack of market information, poor institutions and arrangements, poor marketing infrastructures, transportation system, and high and unfair profit margin distribution among the value chain actors with little share to the farmers in the vegetable seed market. These findings are indicators of poor marketing efficiency and thereby suboptimal operation of the seed marketing system. The significant determinants of market supply of vegetable seeds were found to be the average current price, age, the total size of land, farmers’ experience, sex, number of oxen, and access to market information. The determinants of demand for vegetable seeds—family size, purchase frequency, the average current price, income level, average expenditure on food and purchasing, profit or loss of vegetable seed farming—were found to be significant in the study. According to the findings of this report, vegetable seed sector in Bangladesh needs more government support, especially in terms of marketing policies in order to improve the current state of vegetable seed farming. Vegetable seed farming was not profitable due to a lack of technology and knowledge, as well as a lack of funding. With the existing status of infrastructure, the presence of middlemen is unavoidable. As a result, farmers have no alternative but to follow the orders of the middlemen, resulting in seed quality problems. Hence, the results are indicative of the measures that should be taken for production, market infrastructure, arrangements, and institutions to improve the functioning of the seed marketing system. It also proposes a vegetable seed distribution channel through which a cooperative community would serve as a collecting hub for a more efficient marketing scheme.