Hasil untuk "Technology"

Joseph J. Richardson, M. Björnmalm, F. Caruso

C. Rose, A. Parker, B. Jefferson et al.

The safe disposal of human excreta is of paramount importance for the health and welfare of populations living in low income countries as well as the prevention of pollution to the surrounding environment. On-site sanitation (OSS) systems are the most numerous means of treating excreta in low income countries, these facilities aim at treating human waste at source and can provide a hygienic and affordable method of waste disposal. However, current OSS systems need improvement and require further research and development. Development of OSS facilities that treat excreta at, or close to, its source require knowledge of the waste stream entering the system. Data regarding the generation rate and the chemical and physical composition of fresh feces and urine was collected from the medical literature as well as the treatability sector. The data were summarized and statistical analysis was used to quantify the major factors that were a significant cause of variability. The impact of this data on biological processes, thermal processes, physical separators, and chemical processes was then assessed. Results showed that the median fecal wet mass production was 128 g/cap/day, with a median dry mass of 29 g/cap/day. Fecal output in healthy individuals was 1.20 defecations per 24 hr period and the main factor affecting fecal mass was the fiber intake of the population. Fecal wet mass values were increased by a factor of 2 in low income countries (high fiber intakes) in comparison to values found in high income countries (low fiber intakes). Feces had a median pH of 6.64 and were composed of 74.6% water. Bacterial biomass is the major component (25–54% of dry solids) of the organic fraction of the feces. Undigested carbohydrate, fiber, protein, and fat comprise the remainder and the amounts depend on diet and diarrhea prevalence in the population. The inorganic component of the feces is primarily undigested dietary elements that also depend on dietary supply. Median urine generation rates were 1.42 L/cap/day with a dry solids content of 59 g/cap/day. Variation in the volume and composition of urine is caused by differences in physical exertion, environmental conditions, as well as water, salt, and high protein intakes. Urine has a pH 6.2 and contains the largest fractions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium released from the body. The urinary excretion of nitrogen was significant (10.98 g/cap/day) with urea the most predominant constituent making up over 50% of total organic solids. The dietary intake of food and fluid is the major cause of variation in both the fecal and urine composition and these variables should always be considered if the generation rate, physical, and chemical composition of feces and urine is to be accurately predicted.

J. Joung, Jeffry D. Sander

K. Divya, J. Østergaard

M. Chuttur

R. Audunson

A. Druin

Patrick Y. K. Chau, P. H. Hu

A. Görg, W. Weiss, M. Dunn

Bernadette Szajna

O. Bandiera, Imran Rasul

Michael G. Morris, V. Venkatesh

This research investigated age differences in individual adoption and sustained usage of technology in the workplace using the theory of planned behavior. User reactions and technology usage behavior were studied over a 5-month period among 118 workers being introduced to a new software system. At 2 points of measurement, compared to older workers, younger workers' technology usage decisions were more strongly influenced by attitude toward using the technology. In contrast, older workers were more strongly influenced by subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, although the effect of subjective norm diminished over time. These findings were robust, even after controlling for key confounding variables identified in prior organizational behavior research (i.e., income, occupation, and education levels). Theoretical and practical implications for understanding the effects of aging on technology adoption and usage in the workplace are discussed.

M. J. Bitner, Stephen W. Brown, M. Meuter

H. Hutchinson, W. Mackay, B. Westerlund et al.

A. Jaffe, R. Newell, Robert N. Stavins

L. Moroni, T. Boland, J. Burdick et al.

Y. Nancharaiah, Y. Nancharaiah, G. K. Reddy

C. Tang, Zhe Yang, Haofei Guo et al.

Recycling water from municipal wastewater offers a reliable and sustainable solution to cities and regions facing shortage of water supply. Places including California and Singapore have developed advanced water reuse programs as an integral part of their water management strategy. Membrane technology, particularly reverse osmosis, has been playing a key role in producing high quality recycled water. This feature paper highlights the current status and future perspectives of advanced membrane processes to meet potable water reuse. Recent advances in membrane materials and process configurations are presented and opportunities and challenges are identified in the context of water reuse.

S. Chege, Daoping Wang, S. Suntu

ABSTRACT Information communication technology (ICT) is driving modern employment creation with networking sites enabling people to interact through innovation. However, ICT uptake and implementation differ due to moderating factors such as entrepreneur innovativeness, which enhances how technology innovation impacts organizational performance. This study examines the association between technology innovation and firm performance in Kenya by considering the impact of entrepreneur innovativeness on this association. A sample of 240 enterprises and structural equation modeling were used in the analysis. The findings indicate that technology innovation influences firm performance positively. The study recommends that entrepreneurs should develop innovative strategies to actualize firm performance. Government policy should aim at improving ICT infrastructure; promoting small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) technological externalities within the industry, and establishing ICT resource centers to support SME performance. The study’s findings enrich existing theories and contribute to business management practices in both developed and developing countries.

A. Gell, E. Hirsch

Th~ complaint is commonly heard that art is a neglec~ed topic in present-day s~ .anthropology, especially in Britain. The marginalization of studies of prumnve art, by contras~ to the ~ense volume of studies of politics, ritual, exchange, and so f ?rth, IS too obvious a phenomenon to miss, especially if one draws a contrast with the situation prevailing before the advent of Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown. But why should this be so? I believe that it is more ~ a matter of clian~g fashions in the matter of selecting topics for study; 3:i if, by some collecnve whim, anthropologists had decided tci devote more tune to cross-cousin marriage and less to mats, pots, and carvings. On the ~on~, the ?~glect of art in modem social anthropology is necessary and ~ten~onal, am~g from. the fact that social anthropology is essentially, consntunonally, ann-art. This must seem a shocking assertion: how can anthropology,. by universal consent a Good Thing, be opposed to art, also universally co~dered an equally Good Thing, even a Better Thing? But I am afraid that this IS really so? because these two Good Things are Good according to fundamentally different and conflicting criteria. When I say that social anthropology is anti-art, I do not mean of course that .anthrop~lo~cal wisdom favours knocking down the National Gallery and turning the site into a car park. What I mean is only that the attitude of the an-lo~g public towards the contents of the National Gallery, the Museum of Mankind, and so on (aesthetic awe bordering on the religious) is an unredeemably ethnocentric attitude, however laudable in all other respects. Our value-system dictates that, unless we are philistines, we should attnlmte value to a culturally recognized category of art objects. Tirls attitude of aestheticism is culture-bound even though the objects in question derive from many different cultures, as when we pass effortlessly from the conte~pl~ti?n of a Tahitian sculpture to one by Brancusi, and back again. But this willingness to place ourselves under the spell of all manner of works of I