Eco-waste: household waste material flows in a circular economy

The thesis aims to contextualize household waste on the more complete material flows it belongs to, including reciprocal relations between its landscapes of production and landscapes of landfill. Current one-way processes of waste treatment are repositioned within more circular economies which, it is argued, may also bring ecological benefits to our cities. The study focuses on a local community at Mount Hope district in Providence, RI. As part of a wider landscape framework that includes a study on consumer behaviour, a series of modular strategies are developed based on this community’s main characteristics, with an eventual goal of integrating community participation and awareness in the decision making process. Relying on public engagement as a form of raising collective awareness, the work suggests that well-integrated bottom-up strategies operating between the scales of the household, the street and the neighborhood, may affect people’s consciousness and behavior, change the way people use materials and generate waste, and eventually try to change the structure of how we operate in society in relation to waste and lead us closer towards a waste-free future

Exploring the role and significance of consumer relationship quality and participation within online fashion brand communities

This study contributes towards the online value co-creation debate, by examining key theories within the relationship marketing literature for building online brand communities in a fashion context (Chae and Ko, 2016; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Üçok Hughes et al., 2016). To this end, this research plugs an important gap for the highly lucrative global and digital fashion industry. In the empirical research, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with millennials who interact regularly with luxury fashion brands online. A thematic analysis approach is adopted, to discover common threads and similarities in behaviour. Data reveals that online brand communities facilitate customer engagement through quality interactive relationships amongst luxury fashion consumers. On this basis, the authors provide recommendations for luxury retailers on how to maximise business performance by enhancing online customer interactions. Originality of the paper lies on the revision and validation of a model (Hajli et al., 2017) that depicts the iterative process between virtual brand community participation, qualities of online relationships, loyalty and branding co-creation

Use acupuncture to relieve perimenopausal syndrome: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Law Number 11 / 2008 on Information and Electronic Transaction (UU ITE) is the regulation concerning on criminal law in addition to the Criminal Code (KUHP). UU ITE is commonly regarded additional regulation of the Criminal Code as a special law (lex specialis) in which Penal Code is deemed as lex generalis. It is based on the principle of lex specialis derogate legi generalis. This article uses legal research to review the decision of District Court in Bandung Number 1033/PID.B/2014/PN.BDG where it comprises legislation and cases. It concludes that the judge is not frugal in applying the principle lex specialis derogat legi generalis in the consideration. This is associated with the indictment of public prosecutor which only prejudges with article 303 paragraph (1) to 2. In contrast, the indictment which does not meet the requirement of a careful, clear, and complete description asserts to become void by law. Keywords: Online Gambling, Criminal Principle, Indictmen

Advances in Studies on Toxicity and Transformation of Zearalenone and Its Derivatives

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a mycotoxin produced by the Fusarium species, which has various toxic effects. The chemical structures of ZEN and its derivatives are similar to that of estrogen. When ingested by animals or humans, ZEN and its derivatives can lead to disturbance of estrogen balance, thereby harming the reproductive system. Moreover, they can alter gene structure and consequently affect gene expression, and can even cause damage to the immune system, thus weakening the immune response. ZEN is transformed and metabolized into ZEN derivatives during food processing or after absorption by animals and plants, and its toxicity is altered due to structural and physicochemical changes. Studying the toxicity of ZEN and its derivatives as well as their transformation and metabolism in various organisms is important for ensuring food security and mycotoxin toxicity risk assessment

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Primary and Metastatic Liver Tumors

AbstractOBJECTIVES: The full potential of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), in the treatment of unresectable intrahepatic malignancies, has yet to be realized as our experience is still limited. Thus, we evaluated SBRT outcomes for primary and metastatic liver tumors, with the goal of identifying factors that may aid in optimization of therapy. METHODS: From2005 to 2010, 62 patients with 106 primary and metastatic liver tumors were treated with SBRT to a median biologic effective dose (BED) of 100 Gy (42.6-180). The majority of patients received either three (47%) or five fractions (48%). Median gross tumor volume (GTV) was 8.8 cm3 (0.2-222.4). RESULTS: With a median followup of 18 months (0.46-46.8), freedom from local progression (FFLP) was observed in 97 of 106 treated tumors, with 1- and 2-year FFLP rates of 93% and 82%. Median overall survival (OS) for all patients was 25.2 months, with 1- and 2-year OS of 81%and 52%. Neither BED nor GTV significantly predicted for FFLP. Local failure was associated with a higher risk of death [hazard ratio (HR) = 5.1, P = .0007]. One Child-Pugh Class B patient developed radiationinduced liver disease. There were no other significant toxicities. CONCLUSIONS: SBRT provides excellent local control for both primary and metastatic liver lesions with minimal toxicity. Future studies should focus on appropriate selection of patients and on careful assessment of liver function to maximize both the safety and efficacy of treatment

Scenario analysis and relative importance indicators for combined impact of climate and land-use change on annual ecosystem services in the Karst mountainous region

Land use and climate change are important factors that help in driving changes in ecosystem services (ES); understanding the mechanisms behind the changes is critical to enhance ecosystem functions. However, the high degree of topographic heterogeneity in Karst mountainous leads to uncertainty in the spatial and temporal differences in their combined effects on ESs. To solve this problem, this study measured four ESs, the grain production (GP), carbon sequestration (CS), water conservation (WC), and soil retention (SR), taking the Qiangui Karst mountains as a case study area. The relative importance and combined effect indices were established to analyze the relative importance and interactions of year-by-year land use and climate change on ESs based on two scales of full-pixel and a simultaneous change in land use and climate. The results show a fluctuating trend of an increase in ES from 2010 to 2020, where both of them had positive and negative effects on ES fluctuation within different years. Generally, land-use change inhibited GP and enhanced other ESs, and they are facilitated by climate change. The ESs of the entire study area were mainly affected by the climate change; climate change had a stronger influence than land use on ESs in 80% of the pixels. When only the land use and climate change pixels were considered, SR was mainly influenced by climate change. The remaining ESs were mainly influenced by land-use change, but their contributions showed significant interannual differences. Their combined effect is dominated by trade-offs for GP and synergistic effects for the other ESs, with 50–75% of the areas dominated by synergistic effects. The study shows that analysis of the year-by-year spatial and temporal dynamics of ESs and their influencing factors provided more information, guiding the identification of hotspots with synergistic impact as the future priority of ecological conservation