Ultimate Destination Research Articles

Evaluation of Municipal Solid Wastes Based Energy Potential in Urban Pakistan

Solid waste management needs re-evaluating in developing countries like Pakistan, which currently employs landfilling as a first option. Over time, increasing population will result in decreasing space for landfill sites, ultimately increasing the cost of landfilling, while increasing accumulated waste will cause pollution. Locating and preparing a sanitary landfill includes the securing of large sectors and also everyday activity with the end goal to limit potential negative impacts. Energy production from municipal solid waste (MSW) is a perceptive idea for large cities, such as Karachi, as waste, which is an undesirable output that adds to land and air pollution, is transformed into a vital source of energy. The current study strives to provide a destination to solid waste by evaluating the energy potential that waste provides for power generation by the process of incineration. A sustainable energy generation plant based on the Rankine cycle is proposed. This study evaluates the various landfill sites in the case study area to determine their sustainability for a waste to energy (WtE) plant. The implementation of the proposed plant will not only provide an ultimate destination to waste but also generate 121.9 MW electricity at 25% plant efficiency. Thus, the generated electricity can be used to run a WtE plant and meet the energy requirements of the residents.

A Chemical Time Bomb: Future Risks of Microplastics

Despite the controversy, the ecological risk of microplastics research has increased sharply from only one in 1966 to 495 in 2018, according to Web of Science with microplastics as keyword. To date, an upward trend of global microplastics mass emission was confirmed by many environmental scientists. The ocean is the ultimate destination of land-based microplastics sources; therefore, most of efforts were concentrated on microplastics in aquatic environment. In this brief article, the global release of microplastics and flux into the ocean in the recent decade were estimated roughly. The plastics fragmentation in the marine environment only accounted for 22% of total microplastics release (assuming defined emission rate per capita and fragmentation rate of plastics). Future research is needed for microplastics generation and retention in the terrestrial system, especially indoor environments. The accumulated microplastics over the environmental self-purification capacity certainly increases stress for the marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem.

SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF URBAN SOLID WASTE IN THE AMAZON

Inadequate disposal of urban solid waste (USW) contaminates the soil, groundwater, bodies of surface water and the atmosphere, due to the emission of polluting gases. It causes urban flooding due to the obstruction of storm-water drainage systems caused by accumulated USW. Carried by rainwater, it also, among other environmental events, affects the macro- and micro-climate, raising the local and global temperature. In this scenario the present study asks how innovation in the management of urban solid waste can contribute to social and environmental innovation. The general objective of this work was to study the management of USW in the Amazon sub-region, given the advent of social and environmental innovation. To obtain its results, it took the following as its specific objectives: (1) interpreting the current management of the USW of the sub region of interest; (2) describing the ultimate destination of the USW; and (3) proposing models of socioenvironmental innovation for the management of USW in the local sub-regions. The case study method was applied, using the necessary procedures. It was observed that the management of USW in the studied sub region is restricted to public power facilities, where it employs few processes or technologies. Regarding the final disposal of the USW, the municipalities have not instituted any separation of recyclables from waste products and hence they send all domestic and industrial waste to landfill sites as if nothing was recyclable. In addition, most municipalities continue to dump contaminants in their old sites, pending decisions to close them and ask responsible bodies to supervise them. This paper is an academic contribution to the improvement of waste management. It proposes innovative USW management practices, based on the principle that the Polluter Pays; initiatives that favour socioenvironmental innovation must be substantiated. This research is of interest to scholars working on sustainability and to managers concerned with issues related to socioenvironmental management.

Mind the mitochondria!

Safeguarding an adequate oxygen transport to organs and tissues is a prime goal in the care for critically ill patients. Over the last two decades it has become clear that in certain pathophysiological circumstances macrocirculatory derailment is followed, or accompanied, by microcirculatory dysfunction. Resuscitation strategies to restore and optimize blood flow to organs are based on the idea that restoring oxygen supply will re-establish aerobic metabolism and lead to “healthy parenchymal cells”. However, mitochondrial damage and subsequent dysfunction, or cellular adaptation to hypoxia, might attenuate or even counterbalance the positive effects of resuscitation on the cellular level. In this short review we will address mitochondrial function and adaptation, causes of mitochondrial dysfunction, the concept of cytopathic hypoxia, (loss of) hemodynamic coherence and ways to assess aspects of mitochondrial function in patients. Mitochondria are the primary consumers of oxygen and the ultimate destination of approximately 98% of oxygen reaching our tissue cells. Most of the oxygen is used for energy production by oxidative phosphorylation, but a small amount is used for generating reactive oxygen species and heat generation. While adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production is the best-known function of mitochondria, they also play key roles in calcium homeostasis and cell-death mechanisms. Oxidative phosphorylation has a very high affinity for oxygen and functions well at very low oxygen levels. However, cellular respiration does adapt to changes in oxygen availability at physiological levels, a mechanism known as “oxygen conformance”. Oxygen conformance, mitochondrial damage by certain hits (e.g., toxins and medication), mitochondrial dysfunction and autonomic metabolic reprogramming are factors that could contribute to what is known as “cytopathic hypoxia”. This concept describes insufficient oxygen metabolism in cells despite sufficient oxygen delivery in sepsis. Altered cellular oxygen utilization and thus reduced oxygen demand could in itself cause decreased microcirculatory blood flow, making microcirculatory dysfunction in sepsis under some circumstances a possible epiphenomenon. Resuscitation and forced restoration of microcirculatory flow could lead to relative hyperoxia, and be counterproductive by increasing reactive oxygen production and intervening with protective adaptation mechanisms. The complex pathophysiology of a critically ill patient, especially in severe sepsis and septic shock, requires a multilevel approach. In understanding the interplay between macrocirculation, microcirculation, and parenchymal cells the mitochondria are key players that should not be overlooked. Progress is being made in technologies to assess aspects of mitochondrial function at the bedside, for example direct measurement of mitochondrial oxygen tension and oxygen consumption.

The Theological Significance of the Secular

In this article, the notion of the secular is defended as a meaningful and relevant concept in order to determine the role of theological reasoning in the public sphere. For this purpose, in the first section, it is shown that John Duns Scotus already developed a provisional account of the secular and, moreover, provided it with a theological justification. The second section starts off with a brief sketch of the secular’s main characteristics as they can be deduced from Scotus’s account. Building on Thomas Pröpper, it is demonstrated how a transcendental analysis of freedom as the basic rationale of the secular brings to the fore a fundamental ethical principle as well as an idea of the secular’s ultimate destination. Theological reasoning in the public sphere or public theology, so it will be argued, aims primarily at making visible the ethical implications and the ultimate destination of the secular.

“One Belt One Road” and the geopolitics of empire

ABSTRACTThe Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a grand design proposed by China in 2013, aims at a fundamental geopolitical remapping. Coping with modern geopolitics that the Western world has championed, BRI attempts to overturn the relationship between land and sea, replacing the Pacific Ocean with Eurasia in the center. This shift creates different spatial conception from the one that accompanied modern nomos. By creating infinitely expandable and connectible space with no boundary between inside and outside, BRI resonates with Empire Discourse. Its ultimate destination is to connect China’s historical civilization with Chinese socialism, and then to bring to completion of the mission of overcoming the capitalist system. However, it is doubtful whether Chinese socialism, having empire as its soul and BRI as its body, can be a solid alternative to the capitalist regime. Empire-BRI discourse loops ceaselessly double in upon itself within the self-centered circuit despite its insistence on going beyond modernity.

Quo vadis, NASA: The Moon, Mars, or both?

Fifty years after Apollo 11, the US spaceflight program is juggling political and technological factors as it moves toward the red planet, its ultimate destination.

Anadromy, potamodromy and residency in brown trout Salmo trutta: the role of genes and the environment.

Brown trout Salmo trutta is endemic to Europe, western Asia and north‐western Africa; it is a prominent member of freshwater and coastal marine fish faunas. The species shows two resident (river‐resident, lake‐resident) and three main facultative migratory life histories (downstream–upstream within a river system, fluvial–adfluvial potamodromous; to and from a lake, lacustrine–adfluvial (inlet) or allacustrine (outlet) potamodromous; to and from the sea, anadromous). River‐residency v. migration is a balance between enhanced feeding and thus growth advantages of migration to a particular habitat v. the costs of potentially greater mortality and energy expenditure. Fluvial–adfluvial migration usually has less feeding improvement, but less mortality risk, than lacustrine–adfluvial or allacustrine and anadromous, but the latter vary among catchments as to which is favoured. Indirect evidence suggests that around 50% of the variability in S. trutta migration v. residency, among individuals within a population, is due to genetic variance. This dichotomous decision can best be explained by the threshold‐trait model of quantitative genetics. Thus, an individual's physiological condition (e.g., energy status) as regulated by environmental factors, genes and non‐genetic parental effects, acts as the cue. The magnitude of this cue relative to a genetically predetermined individual threshold, governs whether it will migrate or sexually mature as a river‐resident. This decision threshold occurs early in life and, if the choice is to migrate, a second threshold probably follows determining the age and timing of migration. Migration destination (mainstem river, lake, or sea) also appears to be genetically programmed. Decisions to migrate and ultimate destination result in a number of subsequent consequential changes such as parr–smolt transformation, sexual maturity and return migration. Strong associations with one or a few genes have been found for most aspects of the migratory syndrome and indirect evidence supports genetic involvement in all parts. Thus, migratory and resident life histories potentially evolve as a result of natural and anthropogenic environmental changes, which alter relative survival and reproduction. Knowledge of genetic determinants of the various components of migration in S. trutta lags substantially behind that of Oncorhynchus mykiss and other salmonines. Identification of genetic markers linked to migration components and especially to the migration–residency decision, is a prerequisite for facilitating detailed empirical studies. In order to predict effectively, through modelling, the effects of environmental changes, quantification of the relative fitness of different migratory traits and of their heritabilities, across a range of environmental conditions, is also urgently required in the face of the increasing pace of such changes.

Cooperative, reliable, and stability-aware routing for underwater wireless sensor networks

In underwater wireless sensor networks, stability and reliability of the network are of paramount importance. Stability of the network ensures persistent operation of the network that, in consequence, avoids data loss when nodes consume all the battery power and subject to death. Particularly, nodes bearing a low pressure of water die early in the usual routing approach due to being preferred choices for data routing. Reliability ensures minimization of the adverse channel effects on data packets so that the desired information is easily extracted from these packets. This article proposes two routing protocols for underwater wireless sensor networks: reliable and stability-aware routing and cooperative reliable and stability-aware routing. In reliable and stability-aware routing, energy assignment to a node is made on the basis of its depth. Sensor nodes having the lowest depth are assigned the highest amount of energy. This energy assignment is called the energy grade of a node and five energy grades are formed in the proposed network from top to bottom. The energy grade along with energy residing in a node battery and its depth decide its selection as a forwarder node. The reliable and stability-aware routing uses only a single link to forward packets. Such a link may not be reliable always. To overcome this issue, the cooperative reliable and stability-aware routing is proposed which introduces cooperative routing to reliable and stability-aware routing. Cooperative routing involves the reception of multiple copies of data symbols by destination. This minimizes the adverse channel effects on data packets and makes the information extraction convenient and less cumbersome at the final destination. Unlike the conventional approach, the proposed schemes do not take into account the coordinates of nodes for defining the routing trajectories, which is challenging in underwater medium. Simulation results reveal a better behavior of the proposed protocols than some competitive schemes in terms of providing stability to the network, packet transfer to the ultimate destination, and latency.

Three Recommendations for Improving the Use of p-Values

ABSTRACT Researchers commonly use p-values to answer the question: How strongly does the evidence favor the alternative hypothesis relative to the null hypothesis? p-Values themselves do not directly answer this question and are often misinterpreted in ways that lead to overstating the evidence against the null hypothesis. Even in the “post p < 0.05 era,” however, it is quite possible that p-values will continue to be widely reported and used to assess the strength of evidence (if for no other reason than the widespread availability and use of statistical software that routinely produces p-values and thereby implicitly advocates for their use). If so, the potential for misinterpretation will persist. In this article, we recommend three practices that would help researchers more accurately interpret p-values. Each of the three recommended practices involves interpreting p-values in light of their corresponding “Bayes factor bound,” which is the largest odds in favor of the alternative hypothesis relative to the null hypothesis that is consistent with the observed data. The Bayes factor bound generally indicates that a given p-value provides weaker evidence against the null hypothesis than typically assumed. We therefore believe that our recommendations can guard against some of the most harmful p-value misinterpretations. In research communities that are deeply attached to reliance on “p < 0.05,” our recommendations will serve as initial steps away from this attachment. We emphasize that our recommendations are intended merely as initial, temporary steps and that many further steps will need to be taken to reach the ultimate destination: a holistic interpretation of statistical evidence that fully conforms to the principles laid out in the ASA statement on statistical significance and p-values.

Can the watershed non-point source phosphorus flux amount be reflected by lake sediment?

An understanding of the quantitative relationship between watershed non-point source (NPS) pollution and lake nutrient enrichment is essential for the environmental management of water bodies. However, a lack of data availability and integration limit our understanding of this relationship. The most critical bottlenecks are the lack of adequate support for watershed-lake integrated data, a lack of data of the nutrient loading from watersheds into a lake as NPS, and the long-term time series data of lake nutrient concentrations. Since lake sediment is the ultimate destination of watershed nutrients, this study aimed to reveal the relationship between watershed phosphorus (P) concentrations that are transported into lakes and lake P concentrations by using inlet sediments as an indicator. Three typical sub-basins within Hongze Lake, China were selected as the study site, and 30-year dataset was calculated using the technology integration of remote sensing, sediment chemical analysis and SWAT model assessment. It can be concluded that, first, the Mineral-P (Min-P) accounted for nearly 65% of the watershed Total P (TP) loss, which varied over different basins and temporal periods. Second, the relationship between watershed P loss into lakes and sediment P concentrations represented obvious variation among different basins, sediment depths and P states. With respect to different basins, the highest correlation appeared in Basin 1, which had a R2 value of 0.65 for Min-P. With respect to different P states, the Inorganic-P (IP) showed a closer relationship between watershed and lake P than Organic-P (OP), and the correlation coefficient (r) was higher than 0.6 in Basin 1 and Basin 3 for IP. In addition, the calcium-phosphorus ratio (Ca-P), which is largely sourced from watershed rock detritus by eroded runoff, played the most critical role among different Min-P states in the relatively ideal relationship of IP. With respect to different sediment depths, a stratification phenomenon existed in Basin 2 and Basin 3, which differed at specific depths. In particular, the ideal relationship only existed within the 7 cm depth from the bottom in basin 2, and this value expands to 10 cm for basin 3. This diversity was influenced by the integration roles from external and endogenous sources. All the findings indicated that lake surface sediment can be used as a proxy to represent NPS P loading under specific conditions. The relationship between watershed P loss and lake sediment P concentration was largely decided by land use/cover change (LUCC), meteorological conditions, and lake resuspension.

AI Case Studies: Potential for Human Health, Space Exploration and Colonisation and a Proposed Superimposition of the Kubler-Ross Change Curve on the Hype Cycle

Abstract The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) is and will profoundly reshape human society, the culture and the composition of civilisations which make up human kind. All technological triggers tend to drive a hype curve which over time is realised by an output which is often unexpected, taking both pessimistic and optimistic perspectives and actions of drivers, contributors and enablers on a journey where the ultimate destination may be unclear. In this paper we hypothesise that this journey is not dissimilar to the personal journey described by the Kubler-Ross change curve and illustrate this by commentary on the potential of AI for drug discovery, development and healthcare and as an enabler for deep space exploration and colonisation. Recent advances in the call for regulation to ensure development of safety measures associated with machine-based learning are presented which, together with regulation of the rapidly emerging digital after-life industry, should provide a platform for realising the full potential benefit of AI for the human species.

Security Aspects of Migrations

AbstractMigrations as an inevitable fact of socioeconomic trends pose a security challenge for migrant countries, transition countries, and the countries where migrants come as to the ultimate destination. They are realized in a large area with a large number of participants and global consequences. This paper, through the basic determinants of migrations, statistical indicators on migrations, security challenges, risks and threats, migration policy and international security, provides answers to the questions about the numerical movement of migrants from the seventies of the last century to today on a global scale. Responses are also given about the reasons for triggering migrations, the most desirable migrant destinations, and the impact of migrations on security in departure, transit and destination countries. Particular attention is given to the last migration crisis that has largely affected the European Union.

Understanding IPL boundaries

Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is a simplified risk assessment tool that has been in use for almost three decades. The technique has improved the focus on independent protection layers (IPLs) that can prevent the progression of an initiating cause to an undesired consequence (a scenario). An IPL must be capable of preventing the scenario from reaching the consequence. To execute the simplified LOPA approach, the IPL must be independent of the initiating cause and other IPLs.A potential pitfall in LOPA and in the management of IPLs identified in LOPA is misunderstanding the boundary of the IPL.For example, a pressure relief valve (PRV) is intended as an IPL to prevent the consequence of catastrophic rupture of the vessel with potential for fatality. In reality, for the PRV to prevent vessel rupture, the inlet piping from the vessel to the relief valve and the outlet piping from the relief valve to the ultimate destination must provide sufficient flow capability. The IPL boundary must include any block valves in the inlet and outlet piping, and any devices such as flame arrestors or back pressure controllers. The probability of failure on demand (PFD) must include everything in the expanded IPL boundary.If the IPL boundaries are not correctly understood, the LOPA is not correct and the organization is deluding itself on the risk reduction.In addition to being independent and effective in preventing the consequence, an IPL must also be auditable. If an IPL boundary does not include all the components to make the IPL effective, the audit (inspection and testing) program will be incomplete. The PFD of the excluded—but needed—components will be higher than the PFD of the same components that are audited. Narrow IPL boundaries give two problems in calculating the correct PFD: (1) Needed components are not included in the PFD calculation, and (2) The actual PFD of excluded components is higher than it would be if the components were inspected.The article provides examples and illustrations for several types of IPLs: safety instrumented functions, dikes, relief device with fire‐resistant insulation and cladding on the vessel, operator response to alarm, and deflagration arrester. The article includes diagrams to illustrate the concepts. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 38: e12019, 2019

Fantastic voyage: the journey of intestinal microbiota-derived microvesicles through the body.

As part of their life cycle, Gram-negative bacteria produce and release microvesicles (outer membrane vesicles, OMVs) consisting of spherical protrusions of the outer membrane that encapsulate periplasmic contents. OMVs produced by commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of animals are dispersed within the gut lumen with their cargo and enzymes being distributed across and throughout the GI tract. Their ultimate destination and fate is unclear although they can interact with and cross the intestinal epithelium using different entry pathways and access underlying immune cells in the lamina propria. OMVs have also been found in the bloodstream from which they can access various tissues and possibly the brain. The nanosize and non-replicative status of OMVs together with their resistance to enzyme degradation and low pH, alongside their ability to interact with the host, make them ideal candidates for delivering biologics to mucosal sites, such as the GI and the respiratory tract. In this mini-review, we discuss the fate of OMVs produced in the GI tract of animals with a focus on vesicles released by Bacteroides species and the use of OMVs as vaccine delivery vehicles and other potential applications.

Integrated operation path of the tourism products supply chain in China: Online intelligentization

In China, smart tourism has been promoted by technological innovation. Technological progress makes new changes in the supply chain of tourism products. It is of great significance to explore the optimal path of the Tourism Products Supply Chain (TPSC) in the Internet era. Tourism node organization, tourism flow, tourism logistics, tourism products information flow and capital flow are the basic integrated elements of the TPSC. Tourism flow is the ultimate destination of the TPSC. The development of information technology in China provides the conditions for the optimization of the TPSC. Based on the integration of information technology, the intelligent integration path of the TPSC is constructed. The intelligent integration of TPSC is realized by tourism e–commerce platform as a tourism products integrator. Thus, the supply of lean tourism service can be effectively matched the tourism demand. The sustainability of the TPSC is ensured through intelligent integration, transmission, and operation path. By optimizing the expected returns, the probability of selecting the intelligent TPSC by tourists and related enterprises is greatly increased.

China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Salient Features, Drivers and Its Institutional Framework

China has become the top emerging market outward investor, with continuing growth potential. This, in turn, has triggered growing interest in the salient features of this phenomenon, its drivers and the institutional framework in which it is embedded. China’s OFDI has indeed clear features: it predominantly comes from three major economic centers (the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, the Bohai Gulf). The Asian neighborhood (mostly Hong Kong) and the tertiary sector are the primary first hosts of the country’s OFDI, with developed countries and natural resources being the major ultimate destinations. State-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly the central ones, are the dominant players, with mergers and acquisitions (M&As) becoming a fast rising mode of entry. To a large extent, these features are related to China’s unique institutional environment, where the government, through both regulation and support, plays a major role in OFDI activities, in response to the pressure of enterprises to liberalize the regulatory framework for OFDI and in order to further the country’s development strategy. China’s OFDI is driven primarily by the desire to support its exports, secure the supply of natural resources, acquire such strategic assets as technology and brands, service markets, and improve production cost efficiency, as well as some special factors. This takes place within an FDI regulatory framework that has moved from restrictive, to liberal, to encouraging. However, China’s OFDI faces various challenges related to the internationalization of the firms themselves, their reception in host countries and the manner in which the Government helps the outward FDI of its firms. China, the host countries to the OFDI of her firms and the international economy stand to gain from the rise of China’s OFDI, provided they take a dispassionate approach to the possible costs and benefits of this investment. This article provides an overview of these issues, with special attention to regulatory questions.

White sands, dark deeds: The ultimate honeymoon destination is not so idyllic for the nation’s journalists, who battle corruption, fines and risk their lives as they get their stories

White sands, dark deeds: The ultimate honeymoon destination is not so idyllic for the nation’s journalists, who battle corruption, fines and risk their lives as they get their stories

Insights from outside BJOG

Insights from outside BJOG

Application of Lean Manufacturing in a Sewing Line for Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

The purpose of this paper is to implement lean in a sewing line, analyzing the layout, process flow and batch size, in order to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). To understand the overall performance and scope of improvement the existing layout and process flow are analyzed exquisitely. After that, the authors proposed a new layout reorganizing the process flow that eliminated backflows and reduced transportation time. The authors found that batch size has significant effect on waiting time and transportation time. Smaller batch size increases transportation time and decreases waiting time, and vice versa. For batch size optimization, summation of waiting time and transportation time for different batch size is calculated and the smallest one is selected as optimum. Through the application of reorganized process flow in proposed layout and optimum batch size, reduction in transportation time by 30.95% and increment in OEE by 3.75% have been achieved. Following the instruction of this paper, any organization can measure OEE and improve it by optimizing batch size, reorganizing process flows, redesigning layout and eliminating back flows. In this research the authors only redesigned layout, reorganized process flows and optimized batch size that lead to an improvement in OEE but it is still far behind as compared to world class OEE. Lean is enormous with its numerous tools and philosophies and it says that there is no ultimate destination on the improvement journey. There are many other tools and philosophies of lean which can be applied for further improvement.