Challenges Faced in Prefabrication or Modular Construction

The prefabricated materials used in construction has indeed been hailed amongst the most efficient approaches, there is a difficulty in implementing this process in the construction industry. The article included an outline of the obstacles and factors that influence prefabrication or modular construction in India. The issues of prefabrication and modular construction were investigated through case studies. Prefabricated elements have been demonstrated to be an efficient and efficient approach for improving productivity and the process of construction, as well as assuring the quality of construction & reducing time and cost. However, there are a number of issues with this strategy in practise, including initial high building costs, lack of understanding of the prefabricated method of construction, technical and installation hurdles, and the inability to find prefabrication businesses locally. Because of the nature of the city and also the growing population, the use of such prefabricated materials in the construction of buildings is beneficial. Keywords: Prefabricated construction, Challenges, fabricated elements, Installation hurdles

Novel antifungal agents in clinical trials

Invasive fungal diseases due to resistant yeasts and molds are an important and increasing public health threat, likely due to a growing population of immunosuppressed hosts, increases in antifungal resistance, and improvements in laboratory diagnostics. The significant morbidity and mortality associated with these pathogens bespeaks the urgent need for novel safe and effective therapeutics. This review highlights promising investigational antifungal agents in clinical phases of development: fosmanogepix, ibrexafungerp, rezafungin, encochleated amphotericin B, oteseconazole (VT-1161), VT-1598, PC945, and olorofim. We discuss three first-in-class members of three novel antifungal classes, as well as new agents within existing antifungal classes with improved safety and tolerability profiles due to enhanced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties.

Overview of Manually Operated Paddy Transplanter

Agriculture is the most important sector in the Indian economy. It is the most important source of employment for most of the country’s labor force. In 2012, about 49% of the labor force was engaged in agriculture. The highest proportion of these is in the rice sector. Rice is the country’s main stable food. The release of labor to sectors other than agriculture is important to the development of the country. The mechanization of rice fields has played an important role in liberating labor. Feeding a growing population is a huge challenge. The import of rice will cause the country’s economy to drain. The mechanization of the rice sector will lead to higher productivity and release labor to other sectors. The goal of the project is to design a rice transplanting mechanism for small farmers in the country to transplant rice seedlings.

Integrating crop redistribution and improved managements could meet China’s food demand with lower environmental costs

Sustainably feeding the growing population in China attracts attention globally. Despite practices success, producing enough food to simultaneously address resource and pollution problems has been infeasible. To assess how to achieve this goal in 2035, we created a pathway that synergistic combining improved managements and cropland redistribution based on 11.1 million farmer surveys and 4,272 georeferenced field observations. Here, we firstly selected the practices of top 10% performers in crop yield and nitrogen (N) efficiency as crop-specific attainable improved managements at the county level. The optimized crop distribution within improved managements was then performed to minimize inputs (N and phosphorus fertilizer, irrigation water) or environmental impacts (reactive N [Nr] loss and greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions). We identified that combing improved managements and cropland redistribution could produce enough food demands in 2035, with 24% more production compared to 2012. It also reduced the inputs and environmental impacts in a range of 19%-35%, mainly sourced from the central and eastern coastal areas by improved productivity and diminished cropland of fruit and vegetables. These findings highlight the necessity for a synergistic combination of measures to sustainably feed the growing population and establish a more realistic and effective policy.

Mourners’ Dissatisfaction with Funerals May Influence Their Subsequent Medical/Welfare Expenses—A Nationwide Survey in Japan

Japan’s super-aged mortality rate bereaves millions of people annually, threatening the mental health of the bereaved population. Previous research suggests that participation in satisfying funeral rituals can protect or improve the health of a bereaved population—but pandemic restrictions threaten traditional funeral assemblies. To determine how bereaved mourners’ mental health—and consequent dependence upon medical, pharmaceutical, or social services—are affected by funerals and the aspects of funerals most likely to cause satisfaction or dissatisfaction, we conducted an anonymous nationwide survey across Japan. In total, 1078 bereaved Japanese responded; we analyzed their responses by comparing the 106 citing funeral dissatisfaction with the 972 citing no dissatisfaction. The cohort showing greatest satisfaction with funerals tended to be older widows or parents who lost children; they showed greater grief but spent less on medical, pharmaceutical, or social services thereafter than the dissatisfied. Conversely, mourners with the greatest dissatisfaction toward their interactions with funeral directors and Buddhist priests tended to spend more on medical, pharmaceutical, or social services after bereavement. We conclude that training or education to improve priests’ and funeral directors’ interactions may reduce dissatisfaction with funerals, potentially reducing subsequent costs of medical, pharmaceutical, or social services for the rapidly growing population of bereaved Japanese.

The Role of Polyculture in Sustainable Agricultural Development and Prevention of Land Degradation

The aim of the chapter is to show the possible impact of policulture farming on some determinants of sustainable agricultural development, especially from the point of view of economic viability, biodiversity, and land degradation. Increasing the area under polyculture is one of the main solutions to the present environmental problems. The key constraints are economic pressures due to the question of the cost-effectiveness of such a mode of production and the need to provide sufficient food for a growing population, especially in developing countries. The results of the research show that policulture (organic agriculture) should be favored, while monoculture farming must be adequately directed and put in the function of achieving ecological goals of sustainable development as much as possible. In addition, on the example of European countries, it was assessed that there are good conditions for further “greening” of agriculture, bearing in mind the movement of the analyzed indicators.

Geospatial Technologies in Waste Management: A Case Study of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA)

Waste Management can be quite challenging, especially in the developing world. The challenge becomes even more complex with the growing population. City planners and decision makers are turning to technology to improve the efficiency of the waste management process. Geospatial technologies have offered a range of solutions, which have been deployed with success in waste management. This paper highlights the challenges of waste management in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and how the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) deployed the use of GIS in solving most of the challenges of identification, planning, evacuation, and transportation of wastes within the Port Harcourt metropolis. This paper looked at how this solution was deployed to solve key challenges as well as stimulate citizen participation in the waste management process. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for expanding the potentials of its application.

How Responsible Are Consumers?

One of the most important concern the economies are facing is food security amidst the growing population. The population growth has exerted tremendous pressure on food security and has raised concerns over food sustainability. The sustainability of food waste is an environmental, economic, and social issue, which has useful policy implications. The issue has been studied through the analysis of responsible consumption and food waste. The literature has emphasised improving the efficiency in supply chain to reduce food waste, but researches on food waste at the consumer level are still in the natal stage. It is important to understand to develop the framework for responsible consumption and to assess the factors that may contribute to reduction in food waste at the household level. The study aims to examine the scope of responsible consumption to attain environmental sustainability.

Development of Smart Waste Bin for Solid Waste Management

Growing urbanisation in developing countries, population growth, and changes in human activities and consumption patterns have resulted in significant amounts of trash that must be appropriately disposed of, treated, and managed to provide a sustainable environment and a reasonable standard of life for the growing population. The aim of the paper is to design a smart dustbin for proper disposal of waste without any human intervention by providing a smart technology for waste system monitoring, reducing human time, effort, and intervention. This paper presents a smart waste bin integrated with a microcontroller-based Arduino board which is interfaced with ultrasonic sensors, MQ-2 sensor, servo motor, LCD and GSM modem. The Arduino microcontroller is programmed using Arduino C which measures the height of the dust bin using the ultrasonic sensor. Once the waste gets to the pre-set level, the microcontroller activates the GSM modem to send a message to a designated number. The status of the waste in the bin is transferred to the designated line and display on the LCD whenever it exceeds the pre-set value. The replacement of the traditional waste bin with smart waste bin help in efficient management of waste by assuring that filled waste bin are emptied when the pre-set value is exceeded. This also help in reducing time involve in checking the status of the waste bin and number of trips embarked by the waste collection vehicle and total expenditure associated with collection is minimized. It eventually helps to maintain cleanliness in our environment. Therefore, the system makes the waste collection more efficient.

Can a Byte Improve Our Bite? An Analysis of Digital Twins in the Food Industry

The food industry faces many challenges, including the need to feed a growing population, food loss and waste, and inefficient production systems. To cope with those challenges, digital twins that create a digital representation of physical entities by integrating real-time and real-world data seem to be a promising approach. This paper aims to provide an overview of digital twin applications in the food industry and analyze their challenges and potentials. Therefore, a literature review is executed to examine digital twin applications in the food supply chain. The applications found are classified according to a taxonomy and key elements to implement digital twins are identified. Further, the challenges and potentials of digital twin applications in the food industry are discussed. The survey revealed that the application of digital twins mainly targets the production (agriculture) or the food processing stage. Nearly all applications are used for monitoring and many for prediction. However, only a small amount focuses on the integration in systems for autonomous control or providing recommendations to humans. The main challenges of implementing digital twins are combining multidisciplinary knowledge and providing enough data. Nevertheless, digital twins provide huge potentials, e.g., in determining food quality, traceability, or designing personalized foods.