Itai-Itai Disease: The Role of Mining in the Degradation of Japanese Society and Public Health

This study investigates the transport and pathways of cadmium exposure in humans due to mining pollution, the development of itai-itai disease and the public health impacts, as well as legal action and victim compensation. The aim of this study is to determine how mining contributed to long-lasting consequences for people in the Jinzu River Basin. As a result of inadequate facilities and handling of mining waste, the waste discharged into the Jinzu River, resulted in cadmium transport downstream and contamination of the river water and paddy fields. Residents were exposed primarily via ingestion of drinking water and rice grains. Characteristics of cadmium and rice allowed for high cadmium bioaccumulation in the environment. This includes the immobile nature of cadmium during flooded paddy field conditions, the high mobility in soil during drained field conditions, and the high absorption of cadmium by rice crops. Dietary Cd intake of residents exceeded 300 µg/day in various polluted areas of the Jinzu River Basin, with 600 µg/day being the highest intake in the endemic area. Nutritional deficiencies, including iron, zinc, and calcium, may promote the absorption of cadmium in the body. Evaluation of the residents’ diets did not indicate nutritional deficiencies expect for calcium. With chronic exposure, people began developing itai-itai disease, which is characterized by kidney disorders, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis. Patients experienced bone deformation, severe pain related to bone effects, and shortened lifespan. Women, particularly postmenopausal women, were at a much greater risk than men for developing the disease due to risk factors like kidney sensitivity, pregnancy, genetics, enzyme differences, and lower iron stores. Of the 200 officially recognized patients, 195 patients were women (97.5%). Social impacts of cadmium pollution hurt the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen because cadmium damaged agriculture and fisheries. Patient experienced disability and incurred high medical costs. Lawsuits against Mitsui Mining Co., Ltd resulted in a total of ¥46 billion in compensation: ¥7.8 billion in medical compensation, ¥26.8 billion in compensation for agricultural damage and soil damage, and ¥12.0 billion in pollution prevention investments. However, people suffered from cadmium pollution for decades before proper compensation was awarded.Edmund M. Spieker Memorial ScholarshipSigma Gamma Epsilon Field Camp AwardSchool of Earth Sciences Field Experience Travel FundSusie L. Shipley ScholarshipWilliam J. Buschman ScholarshipOhio State Maximus ScholarshipNo embargoAcademic Major: Earth Science

Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Flexural Behaviour of Prestressed Textile Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Nowadays, concrete is mostly prestressed with steel. But the application of prestressing steel is restricted in a highly corrosive environment area due to corrosion of prestressing steel, leading to a reduction in strength and may cause sudden failure. Carbon textile is considered an alternate material due to its corrosive resistance property, high tensile strength, and perfectly elastic. Prestressing is also the only realistic way to utilize fully ultra-high tensile strength in carbon textile material. In this study, experimental and numerical analyses were carried out for the flexural behaviour of prestressed and non-prestressed carbon textile reinforced concrete slabs. This study also focuses on the influences of textile reinforcement ratios, prestressing grades on the flexural behaviour of carbon textile reinforced concrete (TRC). Fifteen precast TRC slabs were tested, of which six were prestressed to various levels with carbon textile. The obtained results show that prestressing textile reinforcement results in a higher load-bearing capacity, stiffness, and crack resistance for TRC slabs. The first-crack load of the prestressed specimens increased by about 85% compared with those of non-prestressed slabs. Three-dimensional finite element models were developed to provide a reliable estimation of global and local response. The modeling techniques accurately reproduced the experimental behaviour. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091712 Full Text: PD

The Influence Of Human Resource Policy On Job Satisfaction In Predicting Organizational Commitment

Purpose:  This research aims to explore the relationship among  human resource policy, job  satisfaction and  organizational commitment  through  the perception of employees working in small and medium enterprises in Vietnam.   Theoretical framework: The human resource functions and related distinct processes that help attract, develop, and retain a company's human resources. They involve employees and guide them to help carry out activities aimed at achieving organizational goals employees (Jahanian et al., 2012).  Business leaders are always cautious when reviewing existing human resource policies and constantly improving to make employees satisfied with their jobs, thereby helping them improve their productivity and commitment to the organization.    Design/methodology/approach:   The qualitative method is based on an overview of previous studies, the research team builds the first scale, then the questionnaire is sent to the experts and conducts a trial survey with 30 employees to control the survey, edit and complete the concepts of the questionnaire. For the quantitative research, data was collected using convenience sampling method from a total of 400 employees and managers who are working at SMEs in Viet Nam. The method of  and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA),  Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were carried out to measure the influence of latent variables on  organizational commitment.   Findings:  The research results show that employees' perceptions of HR policies include selection and recruitment; training and improvement; evaluation of employees’ tasks; stability and promotion in work, remuneration and reward, and encouragement of participation and innovation.  These HR policies have a direct positive impact on job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. In addition, job satisfaction has a significant positive effect on organizational commitment. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the implementation of HR policies to promote employee job satisfaction, which helps to increase commitment to the organization.    Research, Practical & Social implications:  We recommend future research that expands on other components for a comprehensive assessment of HR policies. In addition, it is necessary to analyze in detail the components of organizational commitment such as affective commitment,  Continuance commitment, Normative commitment.   Originality/value: The results of standardized estimation of the parameters of the research model show that the relationship between the concepts in the formal research model is statistically significant (p<0.05). HR policies have been shown to have the most positive impact on job satisfaction in SMEs.&nbsp

A low-cost system for monitoring pH, dissolved oxygen and algal density in continuous culture of microalgae

In a continuous and closed system of culturing microalgae, constantly monitoring and controlling pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and microalgal density in the cultivation environment are paramount, which ultimately influence on the growth rate and quality of the microalgae products. Apart from the pH and DO parameters, the density of microalgae can be used to contemplate what light condition in the culture chamber is or when nutrients should be supplemented, which both also decide productivity of the cultivation. Moreover, the microalgal density is considered as an indicator indicating when the microalgae can be harvested. Therefore, this work proposes a low-cost monitoring equipment that can be employed to observe pH, DO and microalgal density over time in a culture environment. The measurements obtained by the proposed monitoring device can be utilized for not only real-time observations but also controlling other sub-systems in a continuous culture model including stirring, ventilating, nutrient supplying and harvesting, which leads to more efficiency in the microalgal production. More importantly, it is proposed to utilize the off-the-shelf materials to fabricate the equipment with a total cost of about 513 EUR, which makes it practical as well as widespread. The proposed monitoring apparatus was validated in a real-world closed system of cultivating a microalgae strain of Chlorella vulgaris. The obtained results indicate that the measurement accuracies are 0.3%, 3.8% and 8.6% for pH, DO and microalgae density quantities, respectively. © 2022 The Author(s

Contribution à la modélisation et à la caractérisation du comportement des assemblages brasés. Couplage des méthodes DAR et X-FEM

Les assemblages stratifiés par procédé de brasage sont de plus en plus utilisés dans le secteur de l'outillage rapide appliqué à la fonderie, la plasturgie... Cette méthode d'assemblage permet par exemple des géométries originales et le placement de canaux de refroidissement à des positions optimales qu'il est impossible d'atteindre par perçage. Dans la plupart des cas d'application, les assemblages brasés doivent résister aux sollicitations mécanique et thermique en service. Cette recherche est une contribution à la modélisation et à la caractérisation du comportement des assemblages brasés aussi bien du point de vue mécanique que thermique. Les inconvénients des méthodes classiques de modélisation pour traiter des géométries complexes avec des zones raffinées très localisées (affinement extrême du maillage, temps de calcul excessif) nous ont poussés à rechercher une nouvelle méthode pour traiter les problèmes des assemblages brasés. En gérant la présence du joint dans l'assemblage sous forme d'une perturbation, nous avons proposé le couplage de deux méthodes: la méthode des développements asymptotiques raccordés (DAR) et la méthode des éléments finis étendus (X-FEM). La construction de la partie enrichie de la X-FEM est basée sur les solutions proposées par la méthode des DAR suivant cinq variantes d'enrichissement. Les principes fondamentaux ainsi que les méthodes de mise en œuvre du couplage DAR-X-FEM sont présentés à travers le cas unidimensionnel des assemblages brasés. En appliquant la variante d'enrichissement la plus appropriée, le couplage DAR-X-FEM a été étendu par la suite pour modéliser le cas bidimensionnel des assemblages brasés. L'illustration du couplage DAR-X-FEM 2D a été effectuée pour les deux applications: transferts thermiques et chargement mécanique. Afin de mieux comprendre le comportement des assemblages brasés et de valider les résultats obtenus par le couplage DAR-X-FEM, une étude expérimentale a été présentée. Dans un premier lieu, les essais de brasage à haute température ont été effectués. En deuxième lieu, les éprouvettes d'assemblages brasés obtenues par brasage ont fait l'objet d'essais de caractérisation des propriétés mécaniques et thermiques. Enfin, la comparaison entre les résultats expérimentaux et de la modélisation a permis de vérifier la pertinence du couplage DAR-X-FEM proposé.Laminar assembly by the means of the brazing process is becoming widely used in the field of rapid tooling used for die casting, plastic injection moulding... In most applications, the brazed assembly must withstand the in-service mechanical and thermal solicitations. This research is a contribution to the modelling and the characterisation of the behaviour of brazed assembly in both mechanical and thermal aspects. The deficiencies of the classical modelling methods when modelling of a complex structure with localised variations is concerned led us to search for a new method to treat the problems of brazed assemblies. Considering the presence of the joint in the assembly as a perturbation in a broad structure, we have proposed the coupling of two methods: the matched asymptotic expansions method (DAR) and the extended finite element method (X-FEM). The construction of the enriched part of the X-FEM is derived into five variants of enrichment using the perturbation solutions obtained by the DAR method. The basic principles and methods of implementation of the DAR-X-FEM coupling have been presented through the one-dimensional example of brazed assembly. Applying the most appropriate variant of enrichment, the DAR-X-FEM coupling was subsequently extended to the two-dimensional case of brazed assemblies. The illustration of coupling DAR-X-FEM 2D was performed for two problems: heat transfer and mechanical loading. To better understand the behaviour of brazed assembly and to validate the results obtained by the coupling DAR-X-FEM, an experimental study has been presented. Firstly, high temperature brazing tests have been carried out. Secondly, the brazed specimens were tested to characterize both mechanical and thermal properties. Lastly, the comparison between the experimental and the simulation results confirmed all the interest of the proposed coupling DAR-X-FEM

A new stability results for the backward heat equation

In this paper, we regularize the nonlinear inverse time heat problem in the unbounded region by Fourier method. Some new convergence rates are obtained. Meanwhile, some quite sharp error estimates between the approximate solution and exact solution are provided. Especially, the optimal convergence of the approximate solution at t = 0 is also proved. This work extends to many earlier results in (f2,f3, hao1,Quan,tau1, tau2, Trong3,x1).Comment: 13 page

Removal of Power Line Interference from Electrocardiograph (ECG) using Proposed Adaptive Filter Algorithm

ECG signals in measurements are contaminated by noises including power line interference. In recent years, adaptive filters with different approaches have been investigated to remove power line interference in ECG.In this paper, an adaptive filter is proposed to cancel power line interference in ECG signals. The proposed algorithm is experimented with MIT-BIH ECG signals data base. The algorithm2019;s results are compared with the results of other adaptive filter algorithms using Least Mean Square (LMS), Normalized Least Mean Square (NLMS) by Signal to Noise (SNR). Theses works are performed by LabVIEW software