Green technology for sustainable urban life

Human Civilization uses technology for supporting day to day activities of urban life. New technologies are more efficient and environment friendly due to increased awareness and recent development in research areas of energy management. The adoption of technology is limited and has adverse effects on environment and human civilization. Therefore, scope exists for application of new technologieswhich are more environmental friendly for supporting day to day activities of an urban lifestyle. These technologies are characterized as green or clean technology. Green technologies involve: energy efficiency, recycling, safety and health concerns, renewable resources, and many more. This paper reviews various technologies from view point of adaptability and implementation issues for modern living towards sustainable environment

Dynamic update of a virtual cell for programming and safe monitoring of an industrial robot

A hardware/software architecture for robot motion planning and on-line safe monitoring has been developed with the objective to assure high flexibility in production control, safety for workers and machinery, with user-friendly interface. The architecture, developed using Microsoft Robotics Developers Studio and implemented for a six-dof COMAU NS 12 robot, established a bidirectional communication between the robot controller and a virtual replica of the real robotic cell. The working space of the real robot can then be easily limited for safety reasons by inserting virtual objects (or sensors) in such a virtual environment. This paper investigates the possibility to achieve an automatic, dynamic update of the virtual cell by using a low cost depth sensor (i.e., a commercial Microsoft Kinect) to detect the presence of completely unknown objects, moving inside the real cell. The experimental tests show that the developed architecture is able to recognize variously shaped mobile objects inside the monitored area and let the robot stop before colliding with them, if the objects are not too small

Factors affecting patient safety: a qualitative content analysis

Background: Patient safety is one of the main components of good-quality health services. The main objective of this study is to explore the most effective factors relating to patient safety in Iran.Methods: This qualitative study was done using content analysis. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Through purposive sampling, 14 participants were selected by experts who were familiar with the patient safety friendly hospital program. Interviews were recorded and then analyzed by framework analysis using MAXQDA software.Results: Of 2,474 initial codes, 10 main themes and 53 sub-themes were identified, including importance of human resources; organization and management; interactions and teamwork; medication; equipment and physical environment; patient-related factors; patient safety and quality improvement; the importance of documentation; assessment and monitoring; medical errors; barriers and challenges.Conclusion: Factors affecting patient safety can be divided into two groups: facilitators and barriers. Hospitals can improve the implementation of patient safety standards, reduce the adverse events and enhance patient safety by strengthening facilitating factors, such as providing human resources, adequate medical equipment and facilities, increasing employee participation in quality improvement programs, improving staff training, communicating with patients and their families, and addressing the existing challenges and barriers.[Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2019; 33(2):73-80]Key words: Patient safety, safety, patient, patient's safety friendly hospitals, hospita

Pedestrian Friendly Environment in Residential Complexes Case Study Erbil

This paper studies the concept of Pedestrian Friendly Environment in Residential complexes. It's defined it as (an environment that posses number of design and social characteristics, such as safety, vitality, connected and accessible. Also interesting, comfortable, through good design of pedestrian axes, mixed use and sustainable transportation. The research problem is that (there is a knowledge gap about the characteristics of this environment, and its treatment in residential complexes locally .The research hypothesis is that (The Pedestrian Friendly Environment in Residential complexes materialized through, planning dimensions, design and environmental characteristics and treatments). The paper found that the aim of pedestrian friendly environment is to improve the body activities, increase the quality of space and the social interaction, materialized the sustainable transportation. The planning dimensions were the intense mixed use, and the design of pedestrian axes. The main design characteristics were accessibility, vitality, permeability and safety. And finally providing shads as environmental treatment. Key Words: planning dimensions, pedestrian friendly environment characteristics, pedestrian friendly environment treatments, residential complexes

An experimental study of wine consumers’ willingness to pay for environmental characteristics

The reduction of pesticides use is becoming a priority for the public authorities in many countries. We conducted an experiment with wine consumers to see whether end-consumers value the dissemination of information about environmentally-friendly production practices. The experiment was devised to (i) evaluate whether there is a premium for environmentally-friendly wines, (ii) determine whether or not consumers are sensitive to label owners who implement and guarantee the environmental actions, (iii) and assess the impact of public messages about the consequences of pesticide use. Some 139 participants were divided randomly into two groups. One group had no specific information about the current state of pesticide use in farming. The other group was given information about pesticide use in farming before making their valuations. Becker-DeGroot-Marshak mechanisms revealed that (i) the environmental signal is valued differently depending on who conveyed the information, and that (ii)dissemination of information about the environmental repercussions of farming methods does not significantly affect willingness-to-pay.Willingness to pay, Wine, Effect of information, Experimental economics, Environment, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The acceptance of environmental friendly practices among smallholders in oil palm / Nurfidatul Denan

The environmental friendly practices is used to reduce or minimize the environmental pollutions and deforestation. The purpose of study is to assist acceptance level about environmental friendly practices in proper management. Besides, to evaluate the most factors (Knowledge, environment safety, good farm practices and ecosystem) between the acceptance levels environmental friendly practices among smallholders. The survey method is used for data collection and was distributed to 52 respondents that consists of smallholder in Gersik sub-division of Tangkak, Johor. The results were interpreted by hypothesis testing, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation and Regression analysis by using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22. The reliability test was checked using the Cronbach‟s Alpha and the value obtained was 0.808 that the survey can be proceed by distributing the questionnaire to the targeted respondents. After that, Pearson correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. There were very high relationship between all independent which with dependent variables, r = 0.805, 0.862, 0.887and 0.593 respectively. Meanwhile, the significance p value were 0.000 which less than 0.05, so null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected. Thus, it can be concluded that there positive significant relationship between independence variable and dependent variable. For result regression analysis, stated that the most influence variable toward the acceptance level environmental friendly practices is environment safety with the β= 0.593. From the model analysis, there are about 80.4% dependent variable was explained independent variable and 19.6% was explained by another factors. Conclusion, environmental friendly practices is one of suitable method to manage the farm in good management likes good drainage system, no open burning, correcting timing for harvesting and pruning and others activities. This is due to the concept of environment is nature and do not harmful to the human health. Not only that, it may increases the yield and productivity of the oil palm .Thus, the smallholders must apply the concept of environmental friendly practices in their plantation management

A decision support tool to identify countermeasures for pedestrian safety

Enhancing pedestrian safety and providing a pedestrian-friendly environment are key goals for urban planning and public works organizations. The primary tasks to be accomplished in enhancing pedestrian safety include identifying high pedestrian risk locations and implementing appropriate countermeasures to minimize the risks. The selection of such countermeasures to address specific pedestrian safety concerns should be done based on factors that influence the risks. A methodology to identify suitable countermeasures for various scenarios is developed in this research. The factors considered for selection are crash contributing factors, roadway functional class, posted speed limits, type of location (intersection/non-intersection), vulnerable age groups of pedestrians, and average daily traffic. A computerized decision support tool that helps the user to identify appropriate pedestrian safety countermeasures is developed. This tool is automated in Microsoft Excel environment using Visual Basic Applications

Assessing the Suitability of the Design, Safety and Physical Environment of Hospitals for the Elderly: A Case Study in Iran

Iran, like many other countries, is experiencing a growing elderly population. In 2016 census in Iran, out of a population of 79,926,270 people, more than 6 million people (8.2% of the population) were 60 years and over. This can be a major challenge for both healthcare providers and senior patients. This study assesses the suitability of the design, safety, physical environment and systems of Iranian hospitals based on age-friendly design principles. In this descriptive research, 26 hospitals in Tehran were selected and examined. Data were collected using a valid and reliable checklist with 50 items assessing the physical environment, accessibility, service delivery, and management systems of the hospitals. The results showed that 96 % of hospitals have wide corridors, 88% have suitable lighting, 85% have ramps for wheelchair users and railings for staircases, but 58% do not have an alarm in each toilet. It can be said that the majority of the hospitals were in a relatively good condition in terms of safety of the physical environment, but resource management and special programs and healthcare systems for the elderly were in a poor condition. Given the rising elderly population in developing countries such as Iran, it is imperative to create elder-friendly environments and programs. The increasing demand for hospital beds necessitates special care be given to elder-friendly principles in the design and construction of new hospitals as well as the renewal of existing ones. It is also vital to carefully consider the health, safety and special needs of older patients in design and construction of new hospitals as well as the renewal of existing ones and developing health policies at the macro, meso and micro level, especially as they relate to inpatient and outpatient services