Search results for "Science & Technology"
showing 10 items of 723 documents
Does stakeholder engagement encourage environmental reporting? The mediating role of firm performance
2020
Stakeholder engagement policies have become a relevant strategy in firms because they may signal to stakeholders the commitment of the firm to the stakeholder’s needs and demands. In this research, we aim to examine whether firms with stakeholder engagement policies tend to disclose more environmental information. Additionally, we analyse the moderating role played by firm performance on the association between stakeholder engagement and environmental disclosure. As far as we know, previous research has not addressed these two questions. Our evidence shows that firms with stakeholder engagement policies are more likely to report environmental information, while firm performance negatively m…
Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017
2019
Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained ra…
The effect of chitosan on the bioaccessibility and intestinal permeability of acyclovir
2019
Chitosan is object of pharmaceutical research as a candidate permeability enhancer. However, chitosan was recently shown to reduce the oral bioavailability of acyclovir in humans. The effect of chitosan on two processes determining the oral bioavailability of acyclovir, bioaccessibility and intestinal absorption, was now investigated. Acyclovir's bioaccessibility was studied using the dynamic TNO gastro-Intestinal Model (TIM-1). Four epithelial models were used for permeability experiments: a Caco-2 cell model in absence and presence of mucus and both rat and porcine excised intestinal segments. Study concentrations of acyclovir (0.8 g/l) and chitosan (1.6 g/l and 4 g/l) were in line with t…
Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
2020
Abstract: Background Health system planning requires careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology, but data for morbidity and mortality of this disease are scarce or non-existent in many countries. We estimated the global, regional, and national burden of CKD, as well as the burden of cardiovascular disease and gout attributable to impaired kidney function, for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. We use the term CKD to refer to the morbidity and mortality that can be directly attributed to all stages of CKD, and we use the term impaired kidney function to refer to the additional risk of CKD from cardiovascular disease and gout. Methods Th…
Effectiveness of Technology-Based Distance Physical Rehabilitation Interventions for Improving Physical Functioning in Stroke: A Systematic Review an…
2019
OBJECTIVE: To study the effectiveness of technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions on physical functioning in stroke. DATA SOURCES: A systematic literature search was conducted in 6 databases from January 2000 to May 2018. STUDY SELECTION: Inclusion criteria applied the patient, intervention, comparison, outcome, study design framework as follows: (P) stroke; (I) technology-based distance physical rehabilitation interventions; (C) any comparison without the use of technology; (O) physical functioning; (S) randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The search identified in total 693 studies, and the screening of 162 full-text studies revealed 13 eligible studies. DATA EXTRACT…
Volume III. DUNE far detector technical coordination
2020
The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay-these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the st…
Volume IV The DUNE far detector single-phase technology
2020
This document was prepared by the DUNE collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. The DUNE collaboration also acknowledges the international, national, and regional funding agencies supporting the institutions who have contributed to completing this Technical Design Report.
Day-to-Day Variability and Year-to-Year Reproducibility of Accelerometer-Measured Free-Living Sit-to-Stand Transitions Volume and Intensity among Com…
2021
(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the day-to-day variability and year-to-year reproducibility of an accelerometer-based algorithm for sit-to-stand (STS) transitions in a free-living environment among community-dwelling older adults. (2) Methods: Free-living thigh-worn accelerometry was recorded for three to seven days in 86 (women n = 55) community-dwelling older adults, on two occasions separated by one year, to evaluate the long-term consistency of free-living behavior. (3) Results: Year-to-year intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for the number of STS transitions were 0.79 (95% confidence interval, 0.70-0.86, p < 0.001), for mean angular velocity-0.81 (95% c…
Demand Response Service Certification and Customer Baseline Evaluation Using Blockchain Technology
2020
The use of Distributed Ledger Technologies such as Blockchain for certifying Demand Response services allows for the creation of a distributed system in which customers can communicate with the system operator to provide their flexibility, in a secure, transparent and traceable way. Blockchain technology also supports incentive mechanisms for users taking part in the service through the generation of utility tokens to recognize the user's contribution. This paper presents the experimental test of a novel methodology for Demand Response programs implementation by using the Blockchain technology. The latter is employed for defining a distributed Demand Response service and a new system for it…
Multiscale modeling of polycrystalline materials: A boundary element approach to material degradation and fracture
2015
Abstract In this work, a two-scale approach to degradation and failure in polycrystalline materials is proposed. The formulation involves the engineering component level (macro-scale) and the material grain level (micro-scale). The macro-continuum is modeled using a three-dimensional boundary element formulation in which the presence of damage is formulated through an initial stress approach to account for the local softening in the neighborhood of points experiencing degradation at the micro-scale. The microscopic degradation is explicitly modeled by associating Representative Volume Elements (RVEs) to relevant points of the macro continuum, for representing the polycrystalline microstruct…