Research on Gender Differences in the Perception of Career Barriers: Based on the Perspective of Meta-Analysis

Objective To Meta-analyze the gender differences in the perception of the current career barriers in China. Methods Four included study involving 3305 people, composed by experimental group of 1877 women, and control group of 1428 men. Conduct meta-analysis respectively on career barriers in terms of the overall perception, the internal perception and the external perception of gender differences. Outcome The overall perception and the external perception of male subjects’ career barriers were lower than that of female subjects, while the internal perception was no difference between the two genders. Conclusion Compared with men, women perceived career barriers more from social, organizational, family and other external factors

Environmental, Human Health, and Economic Implications of Landfill Leachate Treatment for PFAS Removal

Landfill leachate is commonly treated offsite with municipal wastewater. This offsite leachate treatment may be limited or no longer applicable due to the increasingly stringent regulations and concerns related to PFAS discharge into the environment, resulting in development of full-scale, onsite leachate treatment facilities. To help landfills prepare for the potential shift from offsite to onsite leachate treatment for PFAS compliance, this study analyzed and compared the environmental, human health, and economic performances of a typical onsite and a typical offsite leachate treatment alternative using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA). Two distinct functional units were investigated: 1 m3 of leachate treated and 1 g of PFAS removed. Using a landfill site located in Zhuzhou, China as a testbed, we tested two hypotheses: 1) environmental, human health, and economic tradeoffs exist between onsite and offsite treatment scenarios; 2) the tradeoffs change when different functional units are used. Our results show that the onsite scenario offers benefits from human health and economic perspectives, while the offsite scenario performs general better environmental outcomes. The extent of this tradeoff varies when different functional units were adopted and varies depending on PFAS concentrations in raw leachate

Metabolomics Approach to Investigate Oxidation Stabilities In Different Bovine Muscles With Postmortem Aging

Postmortem aging has been extensively practiced in the meat industry for decades due to its beneficial impact on improving eating quality attributes. However, prolonged postmortem aging may adversely impact color and/or lipid oxidation stabilities of meat, leading to decreased display shelf-life and increased rancid off-flavor. As physical/biochemical changes occur during postmortem aging, metabolites that impart antioxidant or pro-oxidant activities are generated or consumed, which could be related to the oxidation stabilities of postmortem muscles with aging. However, the underlying mechanism of the aging-induced oxidation susceptibility has not been fully established. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to understand the effect of postmortem aging on oxidation related metabolites in different bovine muscles. The first chapter of this thesis is the literature review, and the second chapter focuses on determining the effect of postmortem aging on color and lipid oxidation stabilities in different bovine muscles. Three muscles, longissimus lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM), and psoas major(PM) were chosen (n=7) for the study due to the distinct features in muscle fiber composition, oxidation stabilities, and metabolic properties of those muscles. At 1-day postmortem, the three muscles were separated from 7 beef carcasses, divided into 3 sections, vacuum-packaged, and assigned to 9, 16, and 23 days of aging. After each aging time, steaks made from each sections were overwrap PVC-packaged and displayed for 7 days. Instrumental and sensory color characteristics were measured. Lipid oxidation by measuring TBARS and conjugated dienes (CD), myoglobin content, and non-heme iron contents were determined. Intensified discoloration and decreased redness of meat were observed with prolonged aging, where LL was the most color-stable followed by SM and PM (P The third chapter of this thesis was a study to identify key metabolites that could be associated with oxidation stabilities of aged bovine muscles using metabolomics approach. Selected raw samples (n=4; at day 0 of display of each aging) from the previous study (Chapter 2) were analyzed using the HPLC-ESI-MS metabolomics. The metabolomics data were analyzed using PCA and split-plot ANOVA. Spearman correlations between metabolites and oxidation related quality attributes were conducted using R software. The metabolomics platform detected 1012 compounds, among which 243 were significantly responsive to either aging or muscle treatments. Most distinct metabolites being identified were carnitines, free amino acids, nucleotides, vitamins /coenzymes, and glucuronides. NAD showed a positive correlation to the redness of meat color (r = 0.672) and negative correlations to discoloration (r = -0.535), TBARS (r = -0.554), and non-heme iron (r = -0.667), indicating its relevance to myoglobin redox form stability and/or lipid oxidation stability. A group of carnitines that decreased with aging was associated with decreased redness (r = -0.67) and intensified discoloration (r = 0.70), which may be explained by their roles in the mitochondria matrix and/or their potential antioxidant properties. Glucuronides increased with extended aging and associated with discoloration (r = 0.56) and non-heme iron accumulation (r = 0.65). Some nucleotides, nucleosides and free amino acids were more liberated with aging and positively correlated to chemical/phenotypic oxidation indicators. The results from the current study suggest that some metabolites could be associated with oxidation stabilities of beef muscles. In particular, our study confirmed the relevance of the NAD/NADH system in myoglobin redox stability. Further, we identified potential compounds, such as carnitines and glucuronides, which could be related to color/lipid oxidation stabilities of aged beef muscles. The identified key metabolites should be further investigated to reveal the chemical basis of oxidation stabilities of beef muscle and could be validated into biomarkers for industry to track the quality development of beef during aging

MODEL PENYEMBUHAN KORBAN PENYALAHGUNAAN NARKOTIK PSIKOTROPIKA DAN ZAT ADIKTIF (NAPZA) : Studi Eksplorasi Metode, Peranan dan Keterampilan pada Korban Penyalahgunaan NAPZA di Pondok Pesantren Suryalaya

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi semakin meningkatnya korban penyalahgunaan Napza dan belum adanya konselor yang terjun ke masyarakat guna mendampingi korban penyalahgunaan NAPZA. Penelitian ini bertujuan menggabungkan metode-metode, peranan-peranan dan keterampilan-keterampilan yang di gunakan di Ponpes Suryalaya dengan metode-metode, peranan-peranan dan keterampilan-keterampilan bimbingan dan konseling. Metode penelitian dilakukan secara kualitatif, dengan tindakan kolaboratif (collaborative action research). Partisipan yang menjadi subyek penelitian ini berjumlah 10 orang anak bina di Pondok Pesantren Suryalaya, berdasarkan random sampling. Hasil temuan penelitian berupa; (1) metode mandi taubat, metode shalat, metode dzikir dan metode puasa, yang digunakan di Ponpes Suryalaya; (2) metode kursi kosong; metode realitas dan metode percaya diri, dalam bimbingan dan konseling. (3) gabungan peranan dan keterampilan yang digunakan di Ponpes Suryalaya dan bimbingan dan konseling. Penelitian ini direkomendasikan untuk: (1) pengembangan teori maupun praktik dalam dunia keilmuan Profesi Bimbingan Konseling dan implikasi pada profesi Pekerjaan Sosial guna bimbingan pada korban penyalahgunaan NAPZA. (2) Ponpes Suryalaya agar mengadopsi nilai-nilai baru yang bersumber dari bimbingan konseling. (3) para peneliti selanjutnya untuk mengkaji lebih dalam lagi; (4) menjadi bahan masukan dan pertimbangan bagi para pengambi keputusan di BBPPKS Bandung tentang adanya “Kebutuhan Diklat Bimbingan terhadap korban penyalahgunaan NAPZA” The background to the research was the increasing number of victims of Narcotics, Psychotropic Drugs and Other Addictive Substances as well as the fact that there had been no counsellors who were directly involved in the community in order to mentor victims of Narcotics, Psychotropic Drugs and Other Addictive Substances abuse. It aimed to combine methods, roles, and skills employed at Ponpes** Suryalaya with those used in the field of Guidance and Counseling. The research employed qualitative method with collaborative action research. A total of 10 mentored students at Ponpes Suryalaya who participated as the research subjects were selected based on purposive random sampling. The findings were in the forms of: (1) Repentance bathing method, prayer method, remembrance of God method, and fasting method employed at Ponpes Suryalaya; (2) Empty-chair method, reality method, and self-esteem method in guidance and counseling; (3) A combination of the skills and roles used at Ponpes Suryalaya and those in Guidance and Counseling. The research findings are recommended for: (1) The development of both theories and practices in the professional field of Guidance and Counseling and the implications on professional social workers in order to mentor victims of Narcotics, Psychotropic Drugs and Other Addictive Substances abuse; (2) Ponpes Suryalaya in order to adopt the new values from guidance and counselling; (3) The future researchers to further study the issue; and (4) The decision makers at Bandung Center of Education and Training of Social Welfare to be made inputs and considerations for “The Needs for Mentoring Education and Training for victims of Narcotics, Psychotropic Drugs and Other Addictive Substances abuse”

Property rating potentials and hurdles: what can be done to boost property rating in Ghana?

Population growth in many of Africa’s towns and cities has outpaced local authority capacity to provide efficient management, infrastructure and financing. There is already debate over the capability and capacity of urban local governments to provide basic services to a growing population, due to budget constraints and inability to raise the required local-level revenue. This paper looks at how the potential of property rating can be harnessed to generate the bulk of revenue needed for local-level development, despite the huge default rates across Ghana. Focusing on Wa Municipality as a case study, the study finds that the major hurdles to property rating are poor property data systems, political interference, non-enforcement of the law, low budget deficit in financing revaluation, insufficient staffing, and insufficient technical capacity of the few staff available at the municipal valuation and rating divisions. Despite these constraints, however, field data still indicates that property rating in Ghana, and especially in Wa Municipality, can generate up to 30% of local government revenue needed. This is conditional on streamlining current challenges and improving resources for the rating and valuation units. There is extensive non-payment of property rates in Wa Municipality due to lack of awareness of the purpose of this tax, of how to pay and of the penalties for defaulting payees

Winners and losers in large-scale land transactions in Ghana ˗ Opportunities for win-win outcomes

Large land acquisition for agro-investment globally is stirring debate about their socio-political, cultural, economic, and ecological implications on smallholders and host communities. Though several works are on going in this area, empirical findings that seek to identify and compare winners and losers of large-scale land transactions in host communities remain limited. In this paper, casebased qualitative approaches were used to identify, and to study the dynamics of winners and losers under large-scale land acquisitions. The study found that inequalities in benefiting from land revenue in Ghana were customarily anchored; and existing land and agricultural policies offered limited remedies for vulnerable groups. Unequal power relations between land custodians and land users dictate who benefits more from land transactions. Chiefs and family heads entrusted with allodial titles were perceived to be gaining the most from emerging land market dynamics, while smallholders who cultivated land under insufficiently secure tenure such as sharecroppers, women and poor community commoners were the most adversely affected. Policy direction should target spreading land revenue to the entire community through social infrastructure and services. Under the current tenure regime, land custodians are not obliged to earmark land revenue for community development or compensate expropriated households except to allocate to them alternative farmland.Keywords: Land markets; Land prices; Chieftaincy; Agro-investments; Ghana

COMBINATION OF CASE-BASED REASONING AND MULTI-ATTRIBUTE UTILITY THEORY IN LEGAL EXPERT SYSTEMS

Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) has become a relevant alternative to the classical rule-based approach in expert systems because it gives valuable information about the current problem by comparing it to previously analysed problems. CBR, however, does not make superfluous the analysis of problems in themselves. This paper presents a novel framework called Case-Based Decision Making (CBDM), which is a special combination of CBR and Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT). The framework is applied to simulate judges' legal decision making by modelling case law and the 'doctrine of precedent'. First, the current decision problem is transformed into a decision matrix with two columns which is compared to matrices generated from previous problems, and we measure the distances between them. Finding a suitable distance measure is crucial. Decision, however, is not only based on nearness, but we also consider preference relations on alternatives and cases. Finally, global similarity between cases is defined from distance and preference. The technique can be used for any decision problem in which the number of alternatives can be reduced to two. The existence of a 'case-base' filled with previously evaluated problems is essential. The model has been implemented in a spreadsheet-based computer program, DEBORAH, that operates as a decision support tool allowing the user to set optional measures and functions for experimentation

Development of Occupational Commitment Scale for Government Employee in China

The author is to develop an occupational commitment scale for Chinese government employee. Objects selected in this study were from different government employment levels in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. With consideration of occupational commitment structure, as well as literature study, open interviews and existing classical scales, the occupational commitment scale for government employee in this research was conducted. The scale was composed by five commitments, namely Affective Commitment, Opportunity & Cost Commitment, Social Identity Commitment, Norm & Loyalty Commitment, and Economy & Promotion Commitment, with data analyzed by SPSS and LISERAL. The results of the five dimensions in the Occupational Commitment Scale for Government Employee in China showed good reliability and validity. The results show: Occupational Commitment Scale for Government Employee in China appeared applicable for research on occupational commitment of Chinese government employee

Evolution of Strigamia centipedes (Chilopoda): a first molecular assessment of phylogeny and divergence times

We present a first phylogenetic and temporal framework, with biogeographical insights, for the centipedes of the genus Strigamia, which are widespread predators in the forest soils of the Northern Hemisphere and comprise the evo-devo model species Strigamia maritima. The phylogeny was estimated by different methods of maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference from sequences of two mitochondrial (16S, COI) and two nuclear (18S, 28S) genes, obtained from 16 species from all major areas of the global range of the genus and encompassing most of the overall morphological and ecological diversity. Divergence times were estimated after calibration upon the fossil record of centipedes. We found that major lineages of extant species of Strigamia separated most probably around 60 million years (Ma) ago. The two most diverse lineages diversified during the last 30 Ma and are today segregated geographically, one in Europe and another in Eastern Asia. This latter region hosts a hitherto underestimated richness and anatomical diversity of species, including three still unknown, yet morphologically well distinct species, which are here described as new: Strigamia inthanoni sp. n. from Thailand, Strigamia korsosi sp. n. from the Ryukyu Islands and Strigamia nana sp. n. from Taiwan. The northern European model species S. maritima is more strictly related to the Eastern Asian lineage, from which it most probably separated around 35 Ma ago before the major diversification of the latter