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Nanofibers are a type of nanomaterial with a diameter ranging from ten to a few hundred nanometers with a high surface-to-volume ratio and porosity. They can build a network of high-porosity material with excellent connectivity within the pores, making them a preferred option for numerous applications. This review explores nanofibers from the synthesis techniques to fabricate nanofibers, with an emphasis on the technological applications of nanofibers like water and air filtration, photovoltaics, batteries and fuel cells, gas sensing, photocatalysis, and biomedical applications like wound dressing and drug delivery. The nanofiber production market has an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% and should reach around 26 million US $ in 2026. The limitations and potential opportunities for large-scale applications of nano-fibrous membranes are also discussed. We expect this review could provide enriched information to better understand Electrospun Polymer Nanofiber Technology and recent advances in this field. © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.
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In the paper, there are presented digitalization development results for Arctic port activity management in ice season within Industry 4.0 period under climate change and COVID-19 pandemic. In study, there are used situational analysis, web technologies and building database methods in distributed networks. As the research result, to increase the efficiency and reliability of port activity management in ice season within environmental economics, it is proposed the using of geodata from remote sensing and modelling. As the digital managerial support instrument, it is proposed to use aggregate modular managerial decision support system, which integrate the heterogeneous hardware and the software resources in distributed networks. As the research results, there are demonstrated examples for arctic ports in the area of the Ob and Yenisei rivers. The research results presented in this article has significant scientific novelty and can be useful to different players within Arctic port activity management in ice season, including insurance business. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia and the turbulent international situation in recent years have seriously disrupted the normal operation of the entire supply chain (SC). As an emerging technology, blockchain is characterized by decentralization, reliability, transparency and traceability, which can be effectively applied to solve social, environmental and economic concerns and achieve sustainability of supply chain. However, whether blockchain is suitable for every function of a sustainable supply chain (SSC), or what function is best suited for the application of a set of blockchain criteria, can be viewed as a multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problem. This paper presents a combined MCGDM technique utilizing the social network analysis (SNA) and Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC), for selecting an appropriate function of SSCs to implement blockchain technology with Neutrosophic information. The framework gives quantitative consideration to the weight of relevant blockchain criteria and decision makers under high uncertainty. This study can also facilitate the effective allocation of resources and enhance the competitiveness of SSCs in the coordinated planning of various blockchain deployments. © 2022 IEEE.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it dramatic environmental changes, forcing organisations to adopt digital technologies on a wider scale, under significant time pressure. While the pandemic tested the agility and resilience of organisations, team dynamics and the implications of virtualisation on collaboration and creativity have become increasingly important for research (George et al., 2020) as the daily working routines in which employees have been embedded in for decades have become disrupted. The abrupt move to "working from home” that the pandemic created is arguably the most significant organisational design change in our lifetimes. Organisations are now asking how the virtualisation of work has impacted on the collaboration and communication necessary for driving innovation behaviour, and what strategies are available to develop remote innovation solutions. In this study, we explore organisational culture theory against the backdrop of digitally transforming innovation development as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This multi-layered model offers a useful framework for thinking about processes that foster innovation. By doing so, we investigate how organisations have adapted their approach to remote, collaborative innovation from the perspective of nineteen industry experts. The purpose of this study is to present the determinants of organisational culture to develop digital innovation in a hybrid working environment. Our findings reveal twelve distinct variables across the artifacts, values, and assumptions required to ensure digital innovation. These findings have implications for theory and practice, as it provides organisational leaders with a strategic understanding as to how a remote innovative culture can be developed, and subsequently exploited. © 2022, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All right reserved.
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The rapid expansion of plastic manufacturing industries in last several decades has brought serious concerns over the environmental impacts of plastic wastes. Recent outbreak of Covid-19 drastically increased production, use, and disposal of plastic products. Current management strategies for wasted plastics still rely on landfill and incineration that continue to exacerbate plastic pollution and carbon emissions. Many countries have put forward multifaceted administrative efforts to reduce plastic wastes, but the annual global generation of plastic wastes is still increasing. In techno-society, researchers have been exploring more effective plastic wastes treatment technologies to alleviate environmental impacts of plastic wastes. Such efforts entailed several technical options that can potentially contribute to establishing a circular economy for plastics. Thermochemical process is a prominent example of such techniques. This review presents an overview of the issue of plastic pollution, covering topics including global plastic production, environmental impacts, and toxicity. In addition, the global administrative efforts aimed at reducing plastic pollution are discussed, as well as detection and treatment strategies to establish a circular economy in plastic management. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
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The NTT Group is participating in the international standardization activities in the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Study Group (SG) 5 to protect telecommunication facilities from electromagnetic interference and lightning surges, assess the impact of information and communication technologies on climate change, address the issue of a circular economy that enables sustainable development, and contribute to improving the reliability of telecommunication services and reducing the environmental impact of its business activities. In this article, we introduce the study structure of ITU-T SG5 for the new study period (2022–2024), which has finally started due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the latest discussion trends at the first meeting held in June 2022. © 2022 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.. All rights reserved.
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The rapid growth of technology, environmental concerns, and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led researchers to pay more attention to an emerging concept called the fifth industrial revolution (I5.0). Despite the high importance of the I5.0, the literature shows that no study investigated the supply chain network design problem based on the I5.0 pillars. Hence, this research develops a multi-stage decision-making framework to configure a closed-loop supply chain based on I5.0 dimensions to cover this gap. In the first stage, the score of technologies that utilized in the supply chain is calculated using the analytic hierarchy process method. Afterwards, in the second stage, a mathematical model is proposed to configure the supply chain. Then, Furthermore, an efficient solution method, named the fuzzy lexicographic multi-choice Chebyshev goal programming method, is developed to obtain the optimal solution. In general, the main contributions of the current study can be divided into two major parts as follows: (i) the current study is the first research that incorporates the dimensions of the I5.0 into the supply chain network design problem, and (ii) this work develops a novel and efficient solution method. In this regard, the major problems and challenges that existed include the limitation of available resources in relation to Industry 5, especially in the field of the supply chain, as well as quantifying the elements of Industry 5.0 in the form of a mathematical programming model. © 2023
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With the development of COVID-19, more and more courses begin to be transferred to online teaching. The OMO teaching mode that focuses on offline teaching within a certain period of time and completes online teaching interaction at a later stage has become a trend. Based on the current teaching practice of music education in Colleges and universities, the paper combines teaching with Internet new media technology under the current environmental situation, realizes the new mode of offline and online joint teaching, realizes student-centered unlimited learning, completes the informatization and real-Time teaching, and improves the teaching results. © 2022 ACM.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, several instances of innovation were reported in construction and other sectors, consistent with previously noted spikes in innovation activities during crises and environmental perturbations. Yet the behavioural mechanisms and factors leading to changes in the innovation behaviour of actors under environmental perturbation are not adequately understood. This paper studies such behavioural mechanisms and factors, building on the Excitable Innovation Behaviour Model (EIBM), which explains the voluntary or coercive change in the innovation behaviour of actors in terms of their stable state needs and excited stated needs. The findings build on data collected through an online survey (N = 266) and interviews (N = 14) during the COVID situation. The results show that environmental perturbations can trigger both an increase and decrease in innovation activities. Actors' network dependencies, motivation, and years of experience influence their innovation behaviour. Environmental perturbation triggers accelerated alignment and shared prioritization of the needs of the different stakeholders, resulting in commitment and timely actions towards innovation from each stakeholder. Actors' ability and financial stability at the time of the excitation trigger mediate their innovation behaviour, revealing similarities and differences between EIBM and Fogg's Behavioural Model of persuasion. The grounding of EIBM in behavioural theories makes it potentially generalizable and compatible with other behavioural models and theories on innovation. The underlying state-change mechanisms in EIBM also make it amenable to developing a parametric and computational model of innovation adoption and diffusion. The research insights will inform innovation management strategies, including technology adoption roadmaps in the construction sector. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Research and development in agricultural sector are becoming a crucial issue, especially to answer to growing global market needs and, in general, for rural innovation development. The innovation process involves stakeholders of all levels and rural development requires both personal farmers' characteristics along with favourable socio-political and infrastructural environment. Many countries and governments have executed innovation projects for agricultural firms, involving a number of actors from the public and private sectors. However, the literature lacks of studies that investigate the identification of the main factors that determine the agricultural entrepreneurs' probability to adopt new technologies during a crisis context. Thus, through the adoption of the Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study aims at filling this lack. More specifically, the exploratory empirical analysis focuses on a sample of 130 agricultural entrepreneurs operating in a rural developing Italian region, during the historical context of global pandemic crisis of COVID-19. The results provided several insights showing the factors that influence the adoption of technologies, such as the Attitude to Environmental-Economic Sustainability and the Planned Behavioural Control. An important role is also assumed by the past farmer's technological experience. The paper offers implications for entrepreneurs and public government. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.
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This article looks at the impact on biological and medical companies in the context of covid-19. Through linear analysis, data model plots, and variance comparisons, the study finds that the economy of the traditional medical sector continues to decline and eventually plateaus, however, the pharmaceutical as well as biological research sectors, which are associated with the epidemic, continue to rise. The advantages and disadvantages of combining the internet and healthcare are presented. Although internet healthcare is a more convenient way for people to see a doctor. Some people can even see a doctor for treatment without leaving home, but diagnosis lacks accuracy and large testing machines. And a more rational approach to healthcare must still be researched in the future. © 2023 SPIE.
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Proposals on the inclusion of hydrogen as an energy vector into the large-scale energy socio-technical system has gained considerable momentum along with the effects of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the conflict between various dimensions of decarbonization with hydrogen agenda within the conceptual framework of international environmental law and policies. Firstly, we carry out a general due diligence of the technical, economic, and legal aspects of the hydrogen economy particularly in Europe. Subsequently, via textual analyses of European Union's strategic documents, the incompatibility of the hydrogen risk chain with the hydrogen value chain is revealed. Finally, as one remedy to this incompatibility;the precautionary principle, its relation to science, technology and society studies, and its possible policy applications in the context of hydrogen technologies are discussed. © 2022 Proceedings of WHEC 2022 - 23rd World Hydrogen Energy Conference: Bridging Continents by H2. All rights reserved.
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This article looks at the impact on biological and medical companies in the context of covid-19. Through linear analysis, data model plots, and variance comparisons, the study finds that the economy of the traditional medical sector continues to decline and eventually plateaus, however, the pharmaceutical as well as biological research sectors, which are associated with the epidemic, continue to rise. The advantages and disadvantages of combining the internet and healthcare are presented. Although internet healthcare is a more convenient way for people to see a doctor. Some people can even see a doctor for treatment without leaving home, but diagnosis lacks accuracy and large testing machines. And a more rational approach to healthcare must still be researched in the future. © 2023 SPIE.
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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been feeling great pressure to advance in digital transformation. This pressure has been intensified with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019. Because the digital transformation of HEIs has been attracting a growing number of publications, the present study sought to carry out a bibliometric analysis of such titles. For this purpose, 643 relevant documents were identified from the Scopus database in January 2022. The descriptive results show an accelerated growth of the relevant literature, with conference papers being the main form of publication, followed by articles, conference reviews, and book chapters. The areas with which the majority of documents were associated were computer science, followed by social science, engineering, and business and management. An analysis of the co-occurrence of terms based on the titles and s enabled the identification of three thematic areas of interest: 1) digital transformation in teaching, particularly under the pressure exerted by COVID-19;2) environmental influences on the digital transformation of HEIs;and 3) enabling technologies for digital transformation. A longitudinal analysis also based on titles and s allows us to see how the primary focus shifted from the economic issue (in 2019) to the COVID issue (in 2021). This study concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the findings, demonstrating as a particularly interesting area for future research the study of the digital transformation of HEIs in a future post-COVID scenario. © 2022, The Author(s).
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Microbial contamination and infection are global issues in the food and environmental fields that seriously threaten human health. Bacteria and fungi can easily cause food spoilage, resulting in diarrhea and vomiting;viruses can infect humans through different transmission routes, causing severe or even fatal harm. Hence, rapid analysis and identification of pathogenic microorganisms and simultaneous detection of multiple types of microbes have become hot research topics in biochemical analysis and molecular diagnosis. The lateral flow assay (LFA) is a simple, rapid, economical, and efficient detection technology with high sensitivity, simple operation, and environmental friendliness. It can provide instant test results under non-laboratory circumstances, hence becoming an ideal choice for point-of-care testing, which has been applied to rapidly detect various targets. The current conventional principle of the LFA is still based on the specific recognition of the antigen by the antibody. However, as a commonly used target recognition molecule in conventional biochemical and medical detection, the application of antibodies also has certain limitations for rapid and accurate identification of certain targets due to strict control of the production and purification process, as well as susceptibility to the interference of the operating environment, pH, temperature, and other conditions, such as long production cycle, high cost, poor stability, and cross-reactivity. Aptamers are a class of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or RNA obtained through the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), which can usually form a stable secondary structure. Aptamers can be folded into a three-dimensional structure through conformational change and interact with the target through conformation complementarity, π-π stacking between aromatic rings, base stacking, electrostatic interaction, and hydrogen bonding. So far, nearly 300 kinds of aptamers have been discovered. As alternatives, aptamers are easy and facile to modify and label with high sensitivity and specificity. Accordingly, the innovative rapid detection technique can be developed by combining the LFA with an aptamer. This aptamer-based LFA technology can be widely used in qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative detection in food safety, environment, clinical, and other fields. Nowadays, most microbe detection methods are constructed based on this approach. The common strategies of aptamer-based LFAs include the sandwich method, competitive method, and adsorption–desorption method. Diverse ingenious materials such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots have also been proposed for signal read-out. Different signal capture models, such as colorimetric and fluorescence methods, have been applied for sensitive and accurate detection of a single or multiple target microbe. Furthermore, in view of the unique properties of nucleic acid aptamers, several signal amplification methods can be further involved in the LFA to enhance the sensitivity for target detection. This review introduces the use of aptamers with different structural patterns and labeling types in recent years, as well as a variety of methods to detect microbes, especially for the rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria. Based on the excellent characteristics, the aptamer-based LFA presents more flexibility and selectivity for microbe detection with good applicability, specificity, and sensitivity and can better achieve low-cost, rapid detection. This study is expected to provide a reference for developing nucleic acid aptamer-based LFA technologies, especially for efficient and accurate diagnosis of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), exploiting the novel application scope of LFA technology. © 2022 Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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In the era of COVID, project-based classes that incorporate community engagement (i.e., interacting with both a physical site and members of the community) as part of their learning approach, have taken a significant blow. When connecting with people becomes an unhealthy practice, how can site-based learning remain embedded in engineering teaching and practice while accommodating virtual education instruction? Within civil and environmental engineering (CEE), GIS mapping has allowed students to step outside the classroom and engage with site-based work while focusing on spatial learning technologies. The open-ended processes of spatial data gathering can be used to draw students into community observation, inviting a focus on ecological and social interactions of infrastructure, site, community, and equity. However, in the era of COVID, the full range of site-based learning processes, including community engagement, are impossible to implement. This paper describes two amended processes for site-based learning through GIS data practices during the post-COVID shutdown period. Pre-COVID versions of the exercises asked student teams to explore a single site by observing and mapping infrastructure. This involved documenting community use of space and interacting with the local community to obtain multi-layered data on social equity, economic, and physical aspects of the site. However, two primary changes were made: in one class students were asked to explore their own local environment rather than travel to a shared site of focus. In the other, student teams collected only visual site-data foregoing the community engagement component. These students then connected electronically with community partners to gather social data. The study draws on data from student participation in two different classes: a large introductory class and a smaller advanced class. Data includes a qualitative analysis of exit interviews with a sub-set of both undergraduate and graduate student participants. This paper examines to what extent the site-based practices retain value given the limits imposed by social distancing, and whether these workarounds reveal unexpected strategies which might be applicable to future remote learning, and to community-based learning even when physical reconnection is allowed. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.
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Plasmonic nanobiosensors have an enormous application range. It has the capacity to detect a wide variety of substances including metal, protein and even nucleic acids due to the superiority of SPR and LSPR. Plasmonic biosensors have been widely applied in the field of disease diagnosis, environmental conservation and food safety, eliminating barriers of traditional diagnosis methods and providing sensitive, quick and label-free devices. The applications of plasmonic biosensors in detection of many concerned diseases like cancer and SARS-CoV-2 are making an improvement on our medical condition. In the field of environmental protection, plasmonic-based biosensors also show great potential. They can efficiently detect two main types of contaminants, inorganic heavy metals involving Pb, Cd, As and Hg, and organic pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Plasmonic biosensors could also overcome challenges on food allergen detection. This paper mainly focusses on SPR and LSPR-based nanobiosensors' application in environmental protection, food safety and health-care. © 2022 SPIE. Downloading of the is permitted for personal use only.
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Due to their versatility, sensor networks and Internet of Things (IoT) have become technologies of a great importance in many modern applications in so-diverse ambits such as environmental monitoring and smart cities. Therefore, these are included in the contents of the subject 'Advanced Sensor Network Infrastructure' of the Master on Intelligent Systems on Energy and Transport of the University of Seville. This subject serves as an introduction to sensor networks, their applications, and their operating principles. Its schedule includes laboratory lessons in which the students use various sensor devices for learning about the existing communication and processing methods. The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 has made difficult that all the students have physical access to the laboratory at the same time, which forced to adapt the existing materials and facilities. In this sense, to solve this problem, a Raspberry Pi-based computer network has been deployed to allow the emulation of a sensor network while providing external remote access to the students for them to perform their laboratory tasks. At the same time, this proposal has expanded the subject contents to cover several data processing layers and architectures. © 2022 IEEE.
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Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC’s) Emergencies Science and Technology Section (ESTS) is tasked with providing scientific and technical advice to its federal partners during environmental emergencies including oil spill incidents. In addition, ESTS maintains a wide array of field instrumentation and equipment, which is available to support different areas of a spill response such as detection and monitoring, health and safety, and sampling. During a response, ESTS needs to quickly, and effectively, convey to ECCC Environmental Emergencies Officers what tools and equipment could be available for the response, and how they can help meet ECCCs objectives for the response. This can often be a challenge, especially when ESTS personnel cannot deploy on-site alongside the instrumentation and equipment, as the information must be provided in an easily understandable format, yet thorough enough to ensure proper usage of the particular tool or piece of equipment. To address these challenges, ESTS has begun the development of a suite of job aids or “Tactical Sheets”. Each Tactical Sheet contains necessary, condensed, information on a field method or equipment maintained by ESTS for use at an environmental emergency. The goal of these Tactical Sheets is to highlight what the specific objectives for ECCC are, and how a given piece of equipment or method can help meet that objective at a response. These Tactical Sheets come with a number of features including a standardized format, a visually appealing design layout, a required equipment list, a simplified procedure, and a summary of the typical use for the particular tool or piece of equipment. ESTS has begun trialing these Tactical Sheets at certain incidents throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to increase ESTS’ capability of providing remote support when on-site presence is not an option. These Tactical Sheets are meant to bolster ESTS’ portfolio of support options available to our partners during environmental emergency responses. This paper will present information on the program to update field methods used during an environmental emergency by ECCC. © 2022 44th AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response. All rights reserved.
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Indoor ventilation is trivial in the current scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace and public places. To support humans by preventing various airborne infectious diseases in the indoor environment, this work elaborates on measuring the CO2 concentrations in indoor classroom use through the sensors. It can differentiate between various changes in the environment. Due to advancements in nanotechnology and microcontroller systems, the traditional usage of sensors has moved way beyond its reach in a diverse set of fields. Electrochemical gas sensors like MQ series sensors consist of nano-materials fabricated to define characteristics like sensitivity, selectivity, etc. Using these nano-science and nano-electronics technologies, a low-cost prototype with Arduino UNO, and a few other micro-sensors (DHT11, MQ2, MQ135) to measure environmental parameters like temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and smoke and thus ensure a healthy workspace by continuously monitoring the readings in real-time. Classroom Environments may face various challenges in the pandemic situation where there is a massive density of occupancy as well as poor ventilation rates. The outdoor ventilation of the classroom is far more challenging than the indoor environment. The results reveal that this system can provide effective indoor monitoring and assessment for prohibiting harmful exposures and risk factors. Data analysis shows the correlation between humidity and quality of air based on CO2 concentrations. Poor ventilation can be lessened by reducing Air Conditioning systems and figuring out the pollutants present in the classroom environment benefiting the users with respiratory illness. © 2022 IEEE.