Influence of strategic interrelationships and decision-making in chilean port networks on their degree of sustainability

Indexación ScopusAn extensive literary review is carried out to determine the strategic and business advantages, and difficulties that non-smart ports must face to develop sustainability. Based on a two-port case study, the strategic text of the corporate missions of port administrators and operators is analyzed and classified in order to understand to what extend economic, social and environmental aspects are fulfilled. A conceptual model is designed for an information system based on indicators that can determine the state or degree of sustainability in the critical operational activities of the ports studied. A system is proposed that is based on a data warehouse core and a multidimensional database, which can be implemented in the Relational On-Line Analytical Processing (ROLAP) mode, allowing taking advantage of the good characteristics of relational databases without losing the On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) approach. A discussion of the strategic feasibility of implementing this conceptual model of case study monitoring and its long-term benefits is delivered. The conclusions state that the development of this green technology requires cultural changes, public policy initiatives and the incorporation of new actors. In addition, more research is needed in this area to identify other relevant sustainable variables. © 2021 by the authors.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/395

Important Treatment Outcomes for Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis: A Multisite Qualitative Study

© 2017, The Author(s). Background: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a variable and complex inflammatory condition. Symptoms can compromise physical function, reduce quality of life, and accrue significant health costs. Commonly used patient-reported outcomes largely reflect the professionals’ perspective, however it is not known whether they capture what is important to patients. Objective: The aim of our study was to identify treatment outcomes important to patients with PsA. Methods: Eight focus groups that were audio recorded, transcribed, anonymised and analysed using inductive thematic analysis were conducted at five hospital sites. The full data set was analysed by the lead researcher, and subsets analysed by three team members (including patient partners). Results: Overall, 41 patients sampled for a range of phenotypes and domains of disease activity participated in the study: 20 males; mean age 58years (range 28–75, standard deviation [SD] 11.4); mean disease duration 9years (range 0.5–39, SD 8.3); and mean Health Assessment Questionnaire score of 1 (range 0.0–2.5, SD 0.7). Over 60 outcomes were identified and grouped into four themes: (i) symptom alleviation (e.g. pain, fatigue, itchy skin, swelling, and reducing variability); (ii) reduction of disease impact (e.g. tiredness and pain, mobility and dexterity, deteriorating physical fitness, negative emotional responses, and strained relationships and social interactions); (iii) improved prognosis (e.g. slowing down disease progression, maintaining independence, and enhancing quality of life); and (iv) minimisation of treatment harm and burden (e.g. nausea, long-term effects, and administration and monitoring of treatments). Conclusions: Outcomes from treatments that are important to patients, which relate to impacts from PsA and its treatment that range beyond those outcomes commonly measured, were identified. These patient perspectives need to be considered when evaluating treatments

A review of combined advanced oxidation technologies for the removal of organic pollutants from water

Water pollution through natural and anthropogenic activities has become a global problem causing short-and long-term impact on human and ecosystems. Substantial quantity of individual or mixtures of organic pollutants enter the surface water via point and nonpoint sources and thus affect the quality of freshwater. These pollutants are known to be toxic and difficult to remove by mere biological treatment. To date, most researches on the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater were based on the exploitation of individual treatment process. This single-treatment technology has inherent challenges and shortcomings with respect to efficiency and economics. Thus, application of two advanced treatment technologies characterized with high efficiency with respect to removal of primary and disinfection by-products in wastewater is desirable. This review article focuses on the application of integrated technologies such as electrohydraulic discharge with heterogeneous photocatalysts or sonophotocatalysis to remove target pollutants. The information gathered from more than 100 published articles, mostly laboratories studies, shows that process integration effectively remove and degrade recalcitrant toxic contaminants in wastewater better than single-technology processing. This review recommends an improvement on this technology (integrated electrohydraulic discharge with heterogeneous photocatalysts) viz-a-vis cost reduction in order to make it accessible and available in the rural and semi-urban settlement. Further recommendation includes development of an economic model to establish the cost implications of the combined technology. Proper monitoring, enforcement of the existing environmental regulations, and upgrading of current wastewater treatment plants with additional treatment steps such as photocatalysis and ozonation will greatly assist in the removal of environmental toxicants