Energy-water-food nexus in the Spanish greenhouse tomato production

The nexus energy–water–food of the tomato greenhouse production in the Almeria region (Spain) has been studied following a Process Systems Analysis Method connecting the ecosystem services to the market demands with a holistic view based on Life Cycle Assessment. The management of the agri-food subsystem, the industrial subsystem and the urban subsystem plays an important role in the nexus of the E–W–F system, where transport and information technologies connect the three subsystems to the global markets. The local case study of the tomato production in Almeria (Spain) has been developed as an example of the food production under cropland restrictions, semiarid land. After study of the economic and social sustainability in time, the evolution of the ecosystem services supply is the main restriction of the system, where after the land use change in the region, water and energy supply play the mean role with a trade-off between the water quality degradation and the economic cost of the energy for water desalination. Water footprint, Carbon footprint and Chemicals footprint are useful indicators to the environmental sustainability assessment of local alternatives in the E–W–F system under study. As it is shown in the conclusions, the holistic view based on the process analysis method and the life cycle assessment methodology and indicators is an useful tool for decision support

Turkey's Long-Term Electricity Consumption Forecast

1336-1341Demand forecasting is essential primarily for planning. Although it is crucial in many sectors and issues, it has particular importance for electricity. Therefore, the issue of electricity consumption forecasting has recently become a prevalent topic. In light of the above, this study aimed to develop an appropriate model to estimate the long-term electricity consumption of Turkey. The study consists of three steps. In the first step, eight models were developed to separately investigate the effects of eight input variables frequently used in electricity consumption forecasting studies in the literature. In the second step of the study, two models consisting of input variables with high impact in the first step were developed, and the trained performances of the developed models were calculated by using the regression analysis. In the final step, the combined effect of eight variables on electricity consumption forecasting was investigated using regression analysis. It can be conclude that the model in the third step showed significant results, and the model performance was good. Finally, Turkey's electricity consumption forecast for the years 2020–2030 was performed using the model in the third step

Mapping and Integrating Value Creation Factors with Life-cycle Stages for Sustainable Manufacturing

Instead of implementing each element individually, engineers must be aware of multiple interactions among all major value creation factors and their life-cycle stages. Interactions are analyzed by a set of factors and hierarchical levels within a production system based on empirical observations and described in analytical models. Such analyses and missing information about the current condition of the system and its parts remain limited to addressing specific aspects of interactions among factors and stages for multiple decision making. To build a case-based scope addressing the interactions among a set of factors and life-cycle stages, a comprehensive approach for mapping and integrating relevant elements of sustainable manufacturing is proposed in this paper. By applying the approach, a case study demonstrates how to integrate different levels of factors into various life-cycle stages in order to monitor their condition and provide necessary information for maintenance activities in a service provider company

Feasibility of exergaming for upper extremity rehabilitation in people with multiple sclerosis: prospective clinical trial.

Background: Exergaming has been suggested as a rehabilitation method since it is more motivational for people with multiple sclerosis (MS, pwMS). However, the major disadvantage of this method is the lack of specific scenarios designed for pwMS. Objectives: This study aims to assess the feasibility of exergaming, which was developed for pwMS. Methods: This unblinded prospective clinical trial was performed in the outpatient MS Clinic of Dokuz Eylül University Hospital. Exergaming scenarios were developed in collaboration with medical personnel consisting of physiotherapists and doctors, and computer engineers. A total of 30 participants who had definite MS diagnoses were included. The exergaming scenarios were implemented using the Microsoft Kinect. A physiotherapist applied custom-made exergames for one session. All the participants were assessed immediately after the session. The User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire was used to assess the user’s satisfaction with the system and exergaming. Results: The mean age was 41.5, the mean Expanded Disability Status Scale was 4.5 (range between 0 and 7), and the mean disease duration was 10.0 years. Twenty patients were relapsing–remitting, and 10 were secondary-progressive. The mean scores of the User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire were 4.33 (SD = 0.84) for helpfulness for rehabilitation, 1.63 (SD = 1.1) for not disturbing, 4.50 (SD = 1.07) for understandability, 4.0 (SD = 0.91) for easiness to control, and 4.33 (SD = 0.84) for enjoyability. Conclusion: These results showed that our custom-made exergaming scenario could be feasible in upper extremity rehabilitation in MS. More research is needed to investigate its effectiveness in the rehabilitation of upper limbs

Feasibility of exergaming for upper extremity rehabilitation in people with multiple sclerosis: prospective clinical trial

Background: Exergaming has been suggested as a rehabilitation method since it is more motivational for people with multiple sclerosis (MS, pwMS). However, the major disadvantage of this method is the lack of specific scenarios designed for pwMS. Objectives: This study aims to assess the feasibility of exergaming, which was developed for pwMS. Methods: This unblinded prospective clinical trial was performed in the outpatient MS Clinic of Dokuz Eylül University Hospital. Exergaming scenarios were developed in collaboration with medical personnel consisting of physiotherapists and doctors, and computer engineers. A total of 30 participants who had definite MS diagnoses were included. The exergaming scenarios were implemented using the Microsoft Kinect. A physiotherapist applied custom-made exergames for one session. All the participants were assessed immediately after the session. The User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire was used to assess the user’s satisfaction with the system and exergaming. Results: The mean age was 41.5, the mean Expanded Disability Status Scale was 4.5 (range between 0 and 7), and the mean disease duration was 10.0 years. Twenty patients were relapsing–remitting, and 10 were secondary-progressive. The mean scores of the User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire were 4.33 (SD = 0.84) for helpfulness for rehabilitation, 1.63 (SD = 1.1) for not disturbing, 4.50 (SD = 1.07) for understandability, 4.0 (SD = 0.91) for easiness to control, and 4.33 (SD = 0.84) for enjoyability. Conclusion: These results showed that our custom-made exergaming scenario could be feasible in upper extremity rehabilitation in MS. More research is needed to investigate its effectiveness in the rehabilitation of upper limbs