Happiness is generally considered an ultimate goal of life; virtually everyone wants to be happy. It follows that economics is -- or should be -- about individual happiness; in particular, how do ...economic growth, unemployment and inflation, and institutional factors such as governance, affect individual well-being. In addition to this intrinsic interest, there are important reasons for economists to consider happiness research. The first is economic policy. Happiness research can also help us understand the formation of subjective well-being. This paper discusses the relationship between happiness and utility, and argues that reported subjective well-being is a satisfactory and empirical approximation of individual utility.
Currently, there is an increasing number of patients that are treated in-home, mainly in countries such as Japan, USA and Europe. As well as this, the number of elderly people has increased ...significantly in the last 15 years and these people are often treated in-home and at times enter into a critical situation that may require help (e.g. when facing an accident, or becoming depressed). Advances in ubiquitous computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) have provided efficient and cheap equipments that include wireless communication and cameras, such as smartphones or embedded devices like Raspberry Pi. Embedded computing enables the deployment of Health Smart Homes (HSH) that can enhance in-home medical treatment. The use of camera and image processing on IoT is still an application that has not been fully explored in the literature, especially in the context of HSH. Although use of images has been widely exploited to address issues such as safety and surveillance in the house, they have been little employed to assist patients and/or elderly people as part of the home-care systems. In our view, these images can help nurses or caregivers to assist patients in need of timely help, and the implementation of this application can be extremely easy and cheap when aided by IoT technologies. This article discusses the use of patient images and emotional detection to assist patients and elderly people within an in-home healthcare context. We also discuss the existing literature and show that most of the studies in this area do not make use of images for the purpose of monitoring patients. In addition, there are few studies that take into account the patient’s emotional state, which is crucial for them to be able to recover from a disease. Finally, we outline our prototype which runs on multiple computing platforms and show results that demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
Phylogeny of Gammaproteobacteria WILLIAMS, Kelly P; GILLESPIE, Joseph J; SOBRAL, Bruno W. S ...
Journal of Bacteriology,
05/2010, Letnik:
192, Številka:
9
Journal Article
There are about 500 million small-scale farms in low-income countries on the planet. Farmers have been slow to adopt a threefold set of sustainable agronomic practices known as “conservation ...agriculture” (CA) that have been shown to double productivity. Our study of a novel CA project in Nicaragua, organized based on principles that counter convention, may point to improved ways of understanding and managing sustainable innovations in low-income countries. In particular, by connecting core ideas from the innovation literature to the literature that explores the role of intermediaries such as NGOs, our case study suggests that the efficacy of NGOs to facilitate the adoption of sustainable innovations by small-scale farmers in these settings may be enhanced if NGOs employ non-centrist approaches in order to address the critical uncertainties associated with such innovations. We discuss how our findings contradict some of long-standing arguments in the literature, and their implications for theory and practice.
A three-dimensional agglomerate model of an anion exchange membrane fuel cell has been developed and used to perform a parametric analysis of the effects of inlet relative humidity, ionomer water ...uptake, platinum loading, carbon content and ionomer volume fraction on the overall fuel cell performance. Improved cell performance has been obtained when the anode relative humidity was higher compared to the cathode resulting in a significant amount of water back diffusion, as well as higher oxygen partial pressure at the cathode enhancing the oxygen mass transport. Increasing the membrane water content positively affects the overall performance of the fuel cell because of the improvement of ionic conductivity. An increase in platinum loading has been found to have a positive impact on the fuel cell performance. Carbon loading influences the thickness of the catalyst layer, directly affecting concentration and Ohmic losses in the catalyst layer. An increase in the ionomer volume fraction enhances the transportation of ions and also the diffusion of membrane water through the membrane. A decrease in the volume fraction of ionomer in the catalyst layer leads to a reduction in the membrane water content and ion diffusion rate, thus deteriorating the overall performance of the fuel cell.
•Lowering of cathode side relative humidity improves performance.•Improving water membrane uptake enhances ions conductivity but weakens membrane.•The ionomer volume fraction balances the ionic and species diffusion.•Trade-off between effective surface area and financial cost limits Pt loading.•Thickening of CL due higher C loading increases Ohmic and concentration losses.
This paper presents a proposal to deal with cultural overtourism causing substantial negative effects. They burden the local population, tourists, and the natural environment by overcrowding, ...vandalism, and pollution. While at present tourism is suppressed by governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will likely become a major issue again in the future. Our proposal allows us to think about the way cultural tourism should be organized in the future and how to mitigate the negative externalities affecting cultural heritage as well as the local population and the natural environment. As an innovation to overcome these problems, the heavily visited historical sites are to be replicated in a suitable nearby location. Advanced digital technology such as augmented and virtual reality, holograms, and digital twins are to be used to make the cultural sites attractive to all sorts of tourists.
Interventions to attenuate the adverse effects of age-related loss of skeletal muscle and function include increased physical activity and nutritional supplementation.
This study tested the ...hypothesis that nutritional supplementation with whey protein (22 g), essential amino acids (10.9 g, including 4 g leucine), and vitamin D 2.5 μg (100 IU) concurrent with regular, controlled physical activity would increase fat-free mass, strength, physical function, and quality of life, and reduce the risk of malnutrition in sarcopenic elderly persons.
A total of 130 sarcopenic elderly people (53 men and 77 women; mean age: 80.3 y) participated in a 12-wk randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled supplementation trial. All participants concurrently took part in a controlled physical activity program. We examined body composition with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, muscle strength with a handgrip dynamometer, and blood biochemical indexes of nutritional and health status, and evaluated global nutritional status, physical function, and quality of life before and after the 12 wk of intervention.
Compared with physical activity and placebo, supplementation plus physical activity increased fat-free mass (1.7-kg gain, P < 0.001), relative skeletal muscle mass (P = 0.009), android distribution of fat (P = 0.021), handgrip strength (P = 0.001), standardized summary scores for physical components (P = 0.030), activities of daily living (P = 0.001), mini nutritional assessment (P = 0.003), and insulin-like growth factor I (P = 0.002), and lowered C-reactive protein (P = 0.038).
Supplementation with whey protein, essential amino acids, and vitamin D, in conjunction with age-appropriate exercise, not only boosts fat-free mass and strength but also enhances other aspects that contribute to well-being in sarcopenic elderly. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02402608.
Over the course of evolution, organism size has diversified markedly. Changes in size are thought to have occurred because of developmental, morphological and/or ecological pressures. To perform ...phylogenetic tests of the potential effects of these pressures, here we generated a dataset of more than ten thousand descriptions of insect eggs, and combined these with genetic and life-history datasets. We show that, across eight orders of magnitude of variation in egg volume, the relationship between size and shape itself evolves, such that previously predicted global patterns of scaling do not adequately explain the diversity in egg shapes. We show that egg size is not correlated with developmental rate and that, for many insects, egg size is not correlated with adult body size. Instead, we find that the evolution of parasitoidism and aquatic oviposition help to explain the diversification in the size and shape of insect eggs. Our study suggests that where eggs are laid, rather than universal allometric constants, underlies the evolution of insect egg size and shape.
PurposeThe study addresses the crucial issue of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and institutional voids in the peri-urban geographies of India. The peri-urban geographies, though within a ...cosmopolitical city, lack basic amenities like drinking water, sanitation and waste management. We study social entrepreneurial strategies to address these issues and thereby illustrate strategies that could be used to address sustainable development goals.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses a multiple case study method to understand how social enterprises can provide scalable solutions addressing SDG related issues in India.FindingsThe research found three strategies that can help provide scalable solutions: First, the extensive use of the latest digital technologies to decrease cost and increase reach; second, extensive partnerships across the board; and finally, a focus on social innovations and business models that are accessible, affordable, available and known to the end-users.Originality/valueThe research contributes to institutional voids literature, SDGs literature and scaling of social enterprise literature. The research confirms that institutional voids are entrepreneurial opportunities. The research empirically shows how social enterprises are addressing SDGs at BoP. Finally, the core findings of the article contribute to the scaling of social enterprise literature.
•Pressures are measured and modelled in four liquids sonicated at 19.6–19.7 kHz.•RMS pressures are measured in the range of 200–1600 kPa for all liquids.•The measurements are compared with ...predictions from the Caflisch model.•In three dimensions, the numerical model is stable for Courant numbers less than 0.1.•Qualitative prediction of bubble cloud structure shows correct trends.
In an attempt to quantify the instantaneous pressure field in cavitating liquids at large forcing signals, pressures were measured in four different liquids contained in vessels with a frequency mode in resonance with the forcing signal. The pressure field in liquid metal was quantified for the first time, with maximum pressures of the order of 10–15 MPa measured in liquid aluminium. These high pressures are presumed to be responsible for deagglomeration and fragmentation of dendritic intermetallics and other inclusions. Numerical modelling showed that acoustic shielding attenuates pressure far from the sonotrode and it is prominent in the transparent liquids studied but less so in aluminium, suggesting that aluminium behaviour is different. Due to acoustic shielding, the numerical model presented cannot adequately capture the pressure field away from the intense cavitation zone, but gives a good qualitative description of the cavitation activity. The results obtained contribute to understanding the process of ultrasonic melt treatment (UST) of metal alloys, while facilitating further the guidelines formulation and reproducible protocols for controlling UST at industrial levels.
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