Resource-intensive Technologies Research Articles

Аnalysis of the current state and main trends in the formation of the waste management system

The scale and significance of the waste problem intheUkrainian economy is associated both with thedomination ofresource-The scale and significance of thewaste problem in the economy of Ukraine is related bothto the dominance of resource-intensive technologies andthe lack of an effective waste management policy formany years. Significant volumes of accumulated waste,an increase in the number of unauthorized landfills andoverloaded landfills that do not meet environmentalsafety standards; low regulation of the issue of wastemanagement at the legislative level; the lack of aneffective waste management system and effectivemeasures aimed at preventing the generation, recycling,recovery and disposal of waste are the main factors thatnegatively affect the environmental safety of our country.Environmental assessment methods and the level of detailof accounting and analytical information on wasterequire improvement. The article examines the dynamicsof waste formation in Ukraine, the current situation ofwaste growth is worsened by the military aggression ofthe Russian Federation against Ukraine. The maindirections of the National Waste Management Strategyare considered. The necessity of forming an effectiveinformation system at the stage of implementation of thewaste management process at each enterprise, which hasboth national and regional significance, is substantiated.The need for the formation of reliable data by enterprisesof various forms of ownership for the formation oftransparent and objective information about waste inorder to implement a five-level hierarchy of wastemanagement, which is based on recovery and rationalconsumption of resources, uses economic approaches tominimize the negative impact on the environment, isemphasized. waste-free production and achieving thegoals of sustainable development. The need to regulatethe concepts of "waste" and "irreversible waste" inregulatory acts has been proven. The method ofaccounting for standard and non-standard nonreturnablewaste at the enterprise has been clarified.Thestudy notes that the formation of an effective wastemanagement system is one of the key tools for authoritiesto implement the basic principles of waste legislation atboth the national and regional levels.

AI in Healthcare: The New Frontier of Inequalities

The emergence of artificial intelligence in healthcare is probably leading to another two-speed world. On one hand, widely accessible AI applications such as language models are becoming ubiquitous, while on the other, resource-intensive technologies like robotic surgery and personalized medicine will be reserved for a privileged few. This development signifies a growing disparity in access to AI advancements. The paper also discusses the inevitability of widespread automated medical consultation, and the need for a quality assurance system to oversee the burgeoning use of AI in healthcare.

AI in Healthcare: The New Frontier of Inequality

The emergence of artificial intelligence in healthcare is probably leading to another two-speed world. On one hand, widely accessible AI applications such as language models are becoming ubiquitous, while on the other, resource-intensive technologies like robotic surgery and personalized medicine will be reserved for a privileged few. This development signifies a growing disparity in access to AI advancements. In this context, the role of empathy and emotional aspects in patient care comes to the forefront. With the rise of AI, there's a critical examination of whether synthetic empathy can adequately replace human empathy in patient care, emphasizing the necessity of maintaining human elements in an increasingly automated healthcare environment.

LIGHTWEIGHT MOBILE WEB SERVICE PROVISIONING FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS MEDIATION

Emerging sensor-embedded smartphones motivated the mobile Internet of Things research. With the integrated embedded hardware and software sensor components, and mobile network technologies, smartphones are capable of providing various environmental context information via embedded mobile device-hosted Web services (MWS). MWS enhances the capability of various mobile sensing applications such as mobile crowdsensing, real time mobile health monitoring, mobile social network in proximity and so on. Although recent smartphones are quite capable in terms of mobile data transmission speed and computation power, the frequent usage of high performance multi-core mobile CPU and the high speed 3G/4G mobile Internet data transmission will quickly drain the battery power of the mobile device. Although numerous previous researchers have tried to overcome the resource intensive issues in mobile embedded service provisioning domain, most of the efforts were constrained because of the underlying resource intensive technologies. This paper presents a lightweight mobile Web service provisioning framework for mobile sensing which utilises the protocols that were designed for constrained Internet of Things environment. The prototype experimental results show that the proposed framework can provide higher throughput and less resource consumption than the traditional mobile Web service frameworks.

Mathematical modeling of mechanical properties of vibro-centrifuged fiber-reinforced concrete of variatropic structure

Today, one of the most relevant areas in the construction industry, linked to the requirements and provisions of the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development, and in accordance with the priority areas of science and technology development, is the development and improvement of low-material, low-energy and low - resource-intensive technologies for the manufacture of concrete and reinforced concrete products and structures. In this regard, the technology of vibrocentrifugation, which allows to obtain concrete with an improved variatropic structure, is quite promising. In this work, the influence of the design parameters of the technological equipment and the parameters of the centrifugation modes on the integral strength characteristics of vibrocentrifugated fiber concrete was evaluated. In total, 13 samples of the annular section were manufactured and tested. Calculations of the integral strength characteristics of vibrocentrifugated fiber concrete depending on the height of the technological protrusions of the clamps and the angular rotation speed were performed by the method of orthogonal composite planning of the 2nd order using the MathCAD program. The mathematical method of planning the experiment is aimed at creating mathematical empirical models that determine the influence of the incoming variable factors on the strength characteristics. Thus, according to the results of experimental studies, the optimal height of the technological protrusions and the angular speed of rotation were determined. Thus, further regulation of technological factors in the manufacture of vibrocentrifugated products and structures will allow us to obtain the most effective ring-section structures with enhanced variatropy.

The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability

The natural science in GEO-6 makes clear that a range and variety of unwelcome outcomes for humanity, with potentially very significant impacts for human health, become increasingly likely if societies maintain their current development paths. This paper assesses what is known about the likely economic implications of either current trends or the transformation to a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy in the years to 2050 for which GEO-6 calls. A key conclusion is that no conventional cost–benefit analysis for either scenario is possible. This is because the final cost of meeting various decarbonisation and resource-management pathways depends on decisions made today in changing behaviour and generating innovation. The inadequacies of conventional modelling approaches generally lead to understating the risks from unmitigated climate change and overstating the costs of a low-carbon transition, by missing out the cumulative gains from path-dependent innovation. This leads to a flawed conclusion as to how to respond to the climate emergency, namely that significant reductions in emissions are prohibitively expensive and, therefore, to be avoided until new, cost-effective technologies are developed. We argue that this is inconsistent with the evidence and counterproductive in serving to delay decarbonisation efforts, thereby increasing its costs. Understanding the processes which drive innovation, change social norms and avoid locking in to carbon- and resource-intensive technologies, infrastructure and behaviours, will help decision makers as they ponder how to respond to the increasingly stark warnings of natural scientists about the deteriorating condition of the natural environment.

СОСТОЯНИЕ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ЭКОНОМИКИ СЕЛЬСКИХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ ПАВЛОДАРСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ В КОНТЕКСТЕ УСТОЙЧИВОГО РАЗВИТИЯ

At the present stage in the domestic scientific environment, the problems of ensuring sustainable development of rural areas are insufficiently studied and require further study. The goal of sustainable development of rural areas is a balanced development of the economic, social and environmental spheres, aimed at ensuring a favorable life of the population. The article considers the economic aspects of the functioning of rural territories of Pavlodar region and provides a comprehensive assessment to solve the problems of socio-economic development of these territories in the current and long-term perspective. As a base of analysis and assessment used statistical data of the official website of the Committee on statistics of MNE of RK, and also empirical observation and informational resources of local Executive bodies region. Based on the results, which identified systemic problems of the rural economy that have a negative impact on the level and quality of life of the rural population. These include, first and foremost, the dominant raw material orientation of the rural economy, low labour productivity, due to the significant moral and physical deterioration of the production-technical base, including the excess of the lifespan of the majority of equipment, as well as the rate of fleet renewal machines relevant regulatory requirements, using a separate are subject obsolete resource-intensive technologies. It is shown positive dynamics of key indicators of agriculture, which developed in the first place, due to government regulation of agriculture and the creation of an enabling environment through the extension of the relevant package of measures of state support aimed at the development of this sector of the national economy. Recommendations aimed at activating the processes of rural economy diversification have been developed. Analysis of the state of domestic beekeeping shows that this market niche in the national economy is not sufficiently developed and this industry has a significant unrealized potential. Significant benefits of the development of the beekeeping industry are shown, which will have a positive impact on strengthening the export positions of non-resource orientation, increasing employment of the rural population, crop yields, solving the problems of degraded agricultural land, etc. The economic feasibility and effectiveness of investment projects in the field of beekeeping development, which simultaneously provide a significant social effect, are justified. For the transition of rural territories to a qualitatively new level of development, based on the conclusions made about the priorities of rural development, the authors justify strategic prospects for further development using the internal mechanism of their functioning, reserves of economic growth and taking into account the specifics and features of administrative-territorial units.

ПІДВИЩЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ СІЛЬСЬКОГОСПОДАРСЬКИХ ТОВАРОВИРОБНИКІВ І РОЗВИТОК КООПЕРАЦІЇ

One of the reasons for the insufficient level of competitiveness of domestic agricultural producers is the low level of economic culture. The problem is of a systemic nature, since it is not limited only to the operation of outdated technologies, morally and physically worn out equipment. The same goes for morally outdated management, organizational, marketing approaches, etc. This problem is most acute in the small-scale sector of agricultural producers. There are a large number of small-scale agricultural producers in Ukraine. Their characteristic feature is the use of low-intensity resource-intensive technologies. This makes them less competitive. The management and marketing of small-scale economic units is primitive. Their biggest problem is the excessive costs of material and technical supplies and the loss of part of the income in the sale of finished products. The reason is the unsatisfactory level of economic coordination at these stages of production. The uncontested form of increasing the competitive position of small-scale agricultural producers is the creation of service cooperatives. Their task is to ensure a significant improvement in the organization and management of material and technical supply and the promotion of their products in the market. The proliferation of service cooperatives is restrained by imperfect legislation, a weak material base and a shortage of resources, and a lack of qualified personnel. A positive step towards state stimulation of the development of the rural cooperative movement was the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated June 3, 2020, No. 447. The adopted amendments removed restrictions on the areas of activity of agricultural service cooperatives that can benefit from financial support and the mandatory number of members in it. The list of domestic machinery and equipment has also been expanded by eliminating the condition for their compliance with the list of domestic machinery and equipment for the agro-industrial complex, the cost of which is partially compensated by the state budget.

Biological Waste Air and Waste Gas Treatment: Overview, Challenges, Operational Efficiency, and Current Trends

International contracts to restrict emissions of climate-relevant gases, and thus global warming, also require a critical reconsideration of technologies for treating municipal, commercial, industrial, and agricultural waste gas emissions. A change from energy- and resource-intensive technologies, such as thermal post-combustion and adsorption, as well to low-emission technologies with high energy and resource efficiency, becomes mandatory. Biological processes already meet these requirements, but show restrictions in case of treatment of complex volatile organic compound (VOC) mixtures and space demand. Innovative approaches combining advanced oxidation and biofiltration processes seem to be a solution. In this review, biological processes, both as stand-alone technology and in combination with advanced oxidation processes, were critically evaluated in regard to technical, economical, and climate policy aspects, as well as present limitations and corresponding solutions to overcome these restrictions.

Assessing Allied Health-Care Professional Time in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes: Associations With Clinical Factors, Technology and Social Determinants

ObjectivesThe factors associated with allied health-care professional (HCP) time spent face-to-face with patients in clinic have not been well described in type 1 diabetes (T1D) given the introduction of resource-intensive technologies and gaps in socioeconomic circumstances. The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical and social factors associated with nonphysician HCP time in a pediatric T1D practice. MethodsNonphysician HCP workload data, including time spent in direct clinical care over a 1-year period and nonclinic contacts, were linked to data from 723 pediatric subjects with T1D and evaluated in relation to key demographic, social and diabetes treatment factors. ResultsHCPs spent 145.7 min per patient on a median of 3 clinic visits, with certified diabetes educators (CDEs) being responsible for most clinic interactions compared with psychosocial staff. CDE time varied considerably according to T1D duration, with new-onset patients (≤1 year) taking a median of 392.0 min compared with 114.5 min for their established counterparts (p<0.0001). Among the established group (n=629), CDE time was strongly associated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy initiation, psychosocial service use, glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and degree of marginalization (p<0.0001). Overall, CDE time increased by 8.6 min for each 1.0% increase in A1C (p=0.022) and by 16.3 min for each 1-U increase in marginalization (p=0.01). ConclusionsWe observed HCP time was associated with multiple clinical factors in addition to overall marginalization. Although initial investments in education and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion training were considerable, our results suggest that these lead to a decrease in time spent in clinic over time, and is largely driven by lower A1C.

Difficulties of the federal centers providing the profile medical assistance

The main goal of the Federal Center (FC), not dependent on its profile, is to assist specialized, including high-technology medical care using new, unique and resource-intensive technologies. This statement is legally enforced by Russian Federal Law № 323. However following the other regulatory laws, such as State Program of guaranteed free medical care, acts that provide hospitalization and out-patient assistance as well as legislation in the field of procurement of medications and medical devices, in reality the FC are financially and legally equated to clinics of other levels (for example, polyclinics, regional and municipal hospitals) despite the complex patients' population and the requirements to their treatment results. The basic organization difficulties that face the federal centers are considered on the example of Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology.

Integration of Mobile Voting Services into Mining Engineers Training for Mineral and Resource Sector

Currently, sustainable development is associated with the intellectualization of the mineral resource complex, with careful use of natural resources, with a decrease in the anthropogenic load on the environment. This makes new demands on the training of mining engineers related to the digitization of the mineral and resource sector. Being one of the leading coal mining regions in the world, Kuzbass (Russia) demands from its regional higher educational institutions to follow new educational standards, making ICT, web-sources and e-learning the significant and inherent part of educational process. This paper reveals the author’s experience of integration the mobile voting service (Socrative) into teaching mining engineering students. We conducted the experiment to test this service among mining engineering students. Our methods included interviewing, testing, observations. The received data proved that this mobile service could improve educational process in various ways. The value of mining engineers, provided for new knowledge, is increasing in the process of innovative development of the mineral and resource sector, in which traditional resource-intensive technologies give way to lean production.

Socio-economic factors influencing utilisation of rain water harvesting and saving technologies in Tharaka South, Eastern Kenya

Low levels of soil moisture makes rain water harvesting and saving technologies important interventions for water supply and food production in arid and semi-arids lands of Kenya. Despite much research around this theme, factors affecting utilisation of these technologies by farmers have not been well understood and the low adoption and adaptation levels of these beneficial technologies remains a challenge. This paper extends this dimension with emphasis on Tharaka South sub-county where water scarcity, unreliable rainfall and soil water stress is a major cause of household food insecurity. Farm and social data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design targeting a total of 351 household heads. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The utilization of in situ rainwater harvesting and saving technologies was higher for trashlines (73%) as compared to micro-catchments, Zai pits (26%) and Negarims (13%). Socio-economic characteristics that were positively and significantly associated with Zai pit utilisation included household size (p<0.01), training in Zai pits (p<0.002), while total farm size (p<0.01) and land tenure (p<0.01) showed negative co-efficients. Both formal and informal sources of training were important tools in disseminating rain-water harvesting and saving technologies. The study concluded that farmer age, household size, farm size, farming history, training, and formal education were important factors which influenced utilisation of rain water harvesting and saving technologies in Tharaka sub-county. Specific approaches are needed to scale-up resource-intensive technologies (Fanya juu, Zai pits, and Negarims) compared to less resource-intensive technologies.

Current and Alternative Routes in the Production of Rare Earth Elements

Rare Earth Elements (REE) are essential in the day to day life both in developed and developing countries worldwide. Due to their catalytic, magnetic, electrical, chemical, heat resistance, and optical properties, they are used in a wide range of high-tech, high value-added, and fast-growing sectors. The current state-of-the-art processes for REE extraction follows complicated, energy and resource intensive technologies, including a beneficiation stage for the production of a RE-rich concentrate, leaching/purification/separation into individual high purity RE solutions, precipitation as individual RE compounds, and finally production of RE metals or alloys through metallothermic reduction or fused-salt electrowinning. Currently, China is the main REE market player, dominating production, demand, and exports. Novel, cost-effective, and resource-efficient REE extraction processes are currently under development tailored specifically for European REE primary and secondary deposits and for European health, safety, and environmental standards, under the EURARE project. This paper analyses the currently used processing technologies for REE production, identifies problems and technical challenges associated with them, and examines the prospects of establishing novel technologies for an efficient and economically viable REE production from European REE deposits. The results are presented on a promising new technology for extracting REE from secondary resources using ionic liquids. REE extraction yield of 60–80% with respective Fe extraction less than 3% has been already achieved.

Experiencing and Responding to Everyday Weather in Darwin, Australia: The Important Role of Tolerance

Abstract Climates are changing, yet the everyday implications for societies and cultures are unclear. Until recently, weather and climate (change) have been largely represented quantitatively and discussed at broad spatial and social scales. Qualitative weather research is helping to reconnect weather with its diverse local meanings and to explain how climate change may alter future representational and behavioral understands of weather (herein called “weather-relations”) in the hope of furthering climate change action. Responding to the need for greater research into weather-relations, particularly in industrialized urban areas, this paper examines the role of weather in everyday life in tropical Darwin, Australia. It identifies a willingness among participants to stay “weather-connected” despite challenging weather conditions and access to air conditioning. This willingness is driven by desires to remain acclimatized in order to enhance positive weather sensations, retain outdoor lifestyles, and reduce financial and environmental costs associated with resource-intensive technologies. In delving into weather adjustment strategies that facilitate weather-connectedness along with possible climate change implications, greater potential for weather-relations research is recognized. By drawing attention to weather experiences and understandings alongside resource efficient weather responses, this paper uncovered a substantial capacity among participants to respond sustainably to environmental change. These capacities are the outcome of adjustment practices relating to food, clothing, laundering, physical and outdoor activities, and domestic comfort and a previously unrecognized coping strategy—expressions of tolerance. Findings suggest that by recognizing and fostering existing adjustment capabilities of societies and cultures and the local values that afford their reproduction, communities would be better placed to adapt to future climate change.

Lightweight Mobile Web Service Provisioning for the Internet of Things Mediation

Emerging sensor-embedded smartphones motivated the mobile Internet of Things research. With the integrated embedded hardware and software sensor components, and mobile network technologies, smartphones are capable of providing various environmental context information via embedded mobile device-hosted Web services (MWS). MWS enhances the capability of various mobile sensing applications such as mobile crowdsensing, real time mobile health monitoring, mobile social network in proximity and so on. Although recent smartphones are quite capable in terms of mobile data transmission speed and computation power, the frequent usage of high performance multi-core mobile CPU and the high speed 3G/4G mobile Internet data transmission will quickly drain the battery power of the mobile device. Although numerous previous researchers have tried to overcome the resource intensive issues in mobile embedded service provisioning domain, most of the efforts were constrained because of the underlying resource intensive technologies. This paper presents a lightweight mobile Web service provisioning framework for mobile sensing which utilises the protocols that were designed for constrained Internet of Things environment. The prototype experimental results show that the proposed framework can provide higher throughput and less resource consumption than the traditional mobile Web service frameworks.

Integrated soil fertility management: from concept to practice in Eastern DR Congo

Many paradigms on sustainable agricultural intensification promote a combination of different agricultural technologies. Whether such a paradigm survives in practice depends on how farmers combine these technologies on their fields. We focus on integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and investigate how the concept is put into practice in South-Kivu, Eastern DR Congo. ISFM includes the use of improved germplasm, organic inputs and mineral fertilizer, and emphasizes the complementarities and synergies that arise when technologies are jointly applied. We investigate whether different ISFM components are applied jointly, sequentially or independently, and whether that matters for the long-term use of the technology. We use original survey data from 420 farms, and combine a descriptive statistical analysis and a factor analysis. We find that few farmers in the area have reached ‘full ISFM’, and technology application occurs sequentially rather than simultaneously. Two technology subsets can be distinguished: more resource-intensive and less resource-intensive technologies. These subsets behave as supplements rather than as complements, and adoption within and among each subset is more sequential than simultaneous. Our results imply that there is a disconnect between the theoretical arguments in the agronomic ISFM literature, and the actual patterns of ISFM application on farmers’ fields.

Advanced enzymatic elimination of phenolic contaminants in wastewater: a nano approach at field scale

The removal of recalcitrant chemicals in wastewater treatment systems is an increasingly relevant issue in industrialized countries. The elimination of persistent xenobiotics such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) emitted by municipal and industrial sewage treatment plants remains an unsolved challenge. The existing efficacious physico-chemical methods, such as advanced oxidation processes, are resource-intensive technologies. In this work, we investigated the possibility to remove phenolic EDCs [i.e., bisphenol A (BPA)] by means of a less energy and chemical consuming technology. To that end, cheap and resistant oxidative enzymes, i.e., laccases, were immobilized onto silica nanoparticles. The resulting nanobiocatalyst produced at kilogram scale was demonstrated to possess a broad substrate spectrum regarding the degradation of recalcitrant pollutants. This nanobiocatalyst was applied in a membrane reactor at technical scale for tertiary wastewater treatment. The system efficiently removed BPA and the results of long-term field tests illustrated the potential of fumed silica nanoparticles/laccase composites for advanced biological wastewater treatment.

Gentrifying Climate Change: Ecological Modernisation and the Cultural Politics of Definition

Gentrifying Climate Change: Ecological Modernisation and the Cultural Politics of Definition

Farmers' Participation in Knowledge Circulation and the Promotion of Agroecological Methods in South India

In the context of widespread agrarian distress in rural India, finding ways to secure livelihood sustainability of small farmers have become urgent concerns. Agroecological methods (AEMs) are considered by some to be effective in solving structural problems with farmers' production processes engendered by the use of resource-intensive technologies. AEMs generally require extensive participation by farmers for further development through on-farm experimentation and collective learning. This article studies learning through the lens of knowledge circulation between farmers and “experts” in a local innovation system. In particular, it analyzes farmers' participation in knowledge circulation using network data on problem-solving knowledge flows to and from an innovative south Indian village. The findings suggest that farmers' participation was restricted by formal and informal institutions governing the knowledge interactions between the development organizations that promoted AEM and the farmers. Any new ways of working (technological and institutional innovations) are argued to be filtered through the sediments of extant techno-institutional context, leading to the profusion of hybrid forms of technology and organization. However, despite this profusion, or perhaps because of it, epistemological and sociocultural hierarchies continue to operate in avowedly participatory projects organized to promote AEMs based on farmers' “traditional knowledge.”