Academic literature on the topic 'Life-environment disruption'

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are common in our environment and act on hormone systems and signaling pathways to alter physiological homeostasis. Gestational exposure can disrupt developmental programs, permanently altering tissues with impacts lasting into adulthood. The brain is a critical target for developmental endocrine disruption, resulting in altered neuroendocrine control of hormonal signaling, altered neurotransmitter control of nervous system function, and fundamental changes in behaviors such as learning, memory, and social interactions. Human cohort studies reveal correlations between maternal/fetal exposure to endocrine disruptors and incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we summarize the major literature findings of endocrine disruption of neurodevelopment and concomitant changes in behavior by four major endocrine disruptor classes:bisphenol A, polychlorinated biphenyls, organophosphates, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. We specifically review studies of gestational and/or lactational exposure to understand the effects of early life exposure to these compounds and summarize animal studies that help explain human correlative data.

This study aims to explore the types and causes of students’ disruptive behaviors happen in English class. The method of this study was qualitative research. The research type was case study. The data were obtained from observation and interview. The source data were 118 students in level 3. The techniques analyzing data used three steps including data reduction, data display, and vilification. The results showed that the types of disruptive behaviors happen in the class were class disruption, aggression and goofing off. The causes of students’ disruptive behaviors were from the environment around them (friend and social life), bad learning (lazy to study and English is too difficult), and psychology needs (power, freedom, fun). Based on the correlation results, it can be inferred that the types of the disruption that happen in the English class is low behaviors. The environment has more influence for students to make the disruptive behavior in the class. Classroom management is critical in keeping students in a safe and conducive environment for effective learning. Therefore, teachers and principals should add meaning to stimulate and keep going suitable behaviors of students in classroom organizations.

In this paper I discuss my process of academic rehabilitation after suffering severe disruption after the (sudden) onset of severe vision impairment (legal blindness). The paper is somewhat anecdotal, I give examples of specially designed assistive technologies that helped rehabilitation in various phases of academic teaching, research, student advising, and paper presentation at academic conferences. A particular view on the nature of the concept of disability is offered and dissatisfaction is voiced with the current social theory view of disability as the result of social oppression. The theme emphasized in this paper is one of searching for independence and self-help to facilitate reintegration into academe and society. Exception is taken to the red herrings of political correctness and power politics as relevant schema for examining disability concepts.

Purpose The skill set required to be a professional in any profession is inherent in the qualifications required for entrance to that profession. The ability to demonstrate leadership in the middle to upper echelons of that profession is demonstrably different. The School of Information Studies at the Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga Australia sought to explore what a postgraduate qualification in the leadership of the profession might look like and what the demand for such a qualification might be. The purpose of this paper is to detail that research effort and the outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The study undertook a number of different approaches including engaging in networks of professional colleagues globally and a series of focus groups in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The outcomes were analyzed in terms of the expectations of what a new degree might contain as well as the enrollment prospects for such a degree. Findings There was a strong ground-swell of support for a new degree of Masters of Information Leadership. The combination of subjects from the LIS environment together with subjects from a MBA environment was strongly endorsed. These areas of interest were documented in the paper along with recommendations. Research limitations/implications There is a fertile ground for research here in two ways. First, there is much scope for the examination of the course requirements and how they sit in a future work environment. This is especially the case where there is a convergence of the interests of the galleries, libraries, archives and museums sectors. Second, there is much to be done as the authors look at leadership skills sets for future information environments which are highly speculative. Practical implications This study has produced a set of requirements for a new Masters of Information Leadership. It is a very useful set of requirements to base future studies. There was also a very strong requirement for real life aspects to such a course rather than theoretical exercises as has been the current academic practice. Originality/value This study is quite original as it sought to engage practitioners in different areas and sectors in Australia aiming to ensure that the resulting academic program was closely aligned with practitioner need.

The heritable component of breast cancer accounts for only a small proportion of total incidences. Environmental and lifestyle factors are therefore considered to among the major influencing components increasing breast cancer risk. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are ubiquitous in the environment. The estrogenic property of EDCs has thus shown many associations between ongoing exposures and the development of endocrine-related diseases, including breast cancer. The environment consists of a heterogenous population of EDCs and despite many identified modes of action, including that of altering the epigenome, drawing definitive correlations regarding breast cancer has been a point of much discussion. In this review, we describe in detail well-characterized EDCs and their actions in the environment, their ability to disrupt mammary gland formation in animal and human experimental models and their associations with exposure and breast cancer risk. We also highlight the susceptibility of early-life exposure to each EDC to mediate epigenetic alterations, and where possible describe how these epigenome changes influence breast cancer risk.

Abstract Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment have been linked to human health and disease. This is particularly evident in compounds that mimic the effects of estrogens. Exposure to EDCs early in life can increase risk levels of compromised physical and mental health. Epigenetic mechanisms have been implicated in this process. Transgenerational consequences of EDC exposure is also discussed in both a proximate (mechanism) and ultimate (evolution) context as well as recent work suggesting how such transmission might become incorporated into the genome and subject to selection. We suggest a perspective for exploring and ultimately coming to understand diseases that may have environmental or endocrine origins.

Abstract: This research to describe how Christian Religious Education in the Era of Disruption make use of the “Blended Learning” innovation opportunities in schools and churches. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach that refers to efforts to describe, explain, and describe a phenomenon that occurs in the social environment. The phenomenon that we want to describe here is related to the disruption in every area of life that cannot be avoided and rejected, including in the world of religious education. Disruption by many experts is a change because off technological innovations that not only affect a person's mindset but have also had an impact on the theory and practice of human life. Disruption as a necessity that brings progress and welfare of human life. Christian Religious Education is efforts made by believers, servants of God (teachers, evangelists, pastors) and the church in the guidance of the Holy Spirit to introduce Jesus Christ and lead each individual to believe, love, and serve Jesus as Lord and his Savior. The findings of this research are that the era of disruption cannot be avoided and rejected, there have been many positive and negative effects of disruption, services off PAK learning in school and church must be disrupted if it is to survive and continue to exist as an effort to preach the gospel of Christ.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions and changes to the educational process worldwide, and higher education institutions rapidly shifted from onsite to online education. This study aimed to explore the association between a perceived lack of academic social interactions in the online learning environment and learning and self-regulation difficulties experienced during online studying. More specifically, the mediating role of students’ senses of life disruption caused by the pandemic and their general adjustment to online studying in the previously described association was explored. A total number of 464 university students from Croatia took part in an online questionnaire. The results revealed that students who perceive a greater lack of academic social interactions also report more learning and self-regulation difficulties during online studying. Further, the perceived lack of academic social interactions affects students’ perceptions of life disruption caused by the pandemic and adjustment to online studying. Both of these mediators, in turn, affect the level of experienced learning and self-regulation difficulties. The obtained results can be helpful for introducing certain measures that could support students’ learning and reduce the possibility of adverse effects of the pandemic.

Evidence from both human and animal studies has shown that the prenatal and early postnatal environments influence susceptibility to chronic disease in later life and suggests that epigenetic processes are an important mechanism by which the environment alters long-term disease risk. Epigenetic processes, including DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNAs, play a central role in regulating gene expression. The epigenome is highly sensitive to environmental factors in early life, such as nutrition, stress, endocrine disruption and pollution, and changes in the epigenome can induce long-term changes in gene expression and phenotype. In this review we focus on how the early life nutritional environment can alter the epigenome leading to an altered susceptibility to disease in later life.

Insect infestation of plant material is a serious problem to the greenhouse industry. Nonpesticidal destruction of insects on plant material before they are placed in the greenhouse would supply producers and growers with pest-free plant materials and decrease pesticide usage and exposure of workers and the environment to chemical insecticides. The efficacy of vacuum treating chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) and poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) plants for the reduction of insect pests (aphids and greenhouse whiteflies) was investigated. The effects of surfactants on insect elimination was determined. Properly controlled vacuum treatment in conjunction with surfactants was found to disrupt the physical integrity of the insects in all stages of their life cycle.

The thesis originates in an unresolved phenomenon associated with moving into a nursing home and concerns the reports of emotional distress, depression and increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with the move; shedding-life is used to capture the broad character of this phenomenon. Shedding-life has been the subject of scientific inquiry for seventy years and yet the phenomenon is still not understood and, possibly because of this, there appears to be no generally accepted approaches to ameliorate this harm. This thesis inquiries into the genesis of shedding life and presents a theory to account for it. The failure of existing research to account for shedding-life indicated an alternative approach was required. As shedding-life arises in the context of a significant change in a person’s living-environment it was surmised that the phenomenon involves the relationship between the person and the changing environment in which they live. Based on this, the approach taken was to use the philosophical research of Martin Heidegger concerning the structural relationship between the person and their living environment, an approach not previously explored. Heidegger’s research, undertaken within the empiricist tradition, identifies and describes the structural processes by which the person is both constituted by its formative socio-cultural environment and bound to it as the locus and source of its ongoing existence. This means that who the individual human person becomes is both contingent and dependent upon the living environment into which it is born and raised, where the concept of living environment is understood in terms of possibilities for a meaningful life. On this account if a person’s access to their living environment is materially disrupted they are at risk of experiencing a decline in the meaningfulness of their existence. As this is a naturalistic account, founded on the biological processes of the body, the loss of an appropriate living environment is reflected in psychological distress which in turn is frequently manifested in bodily morbidities; this is the basis of shedding life, a structural rather than a psychological phenomenon. This contingent account of the person is in stark contrast to the materialist approach that posits the person as essentially the biological body, independent of its environment. The materialist view informs the design and running of nursing homes resulting in a significant disruption to a person’s life-environment contributing to rather than ameliorating shedding-life, as such nursing homes are iatrogenic, i.e. cause harm. Left unaddressed nursing home environments will continue to cause harm and fail to assist older people live a meaningful life in their remaining years. While the thesis commenced from a concern about nursing homes, the phenomenon of shedding-life is a much broader phenomenon. The Theory of Life- Environment Disruption, derived from the structure of being a person, provides an account of shedding-life by identifying the essential relationship between the person and their life-environment. The theory predicts that whenever there is a material disruption to a person’s life-environment they are at risk of shedding life and as such the theory has broad applicability for human affairs more generally
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, The Joanna Briggs Institute, 2018

The purpose of this study was to develop a Life Sciences programme, integrating Environmental Education, on environmental endocrine disruptors, for the Further Education and Training Phase of the Outcomes Based Educational System. This programme aims at giving learners the necessary knowledge and skills to limit their exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs). The programme was evaluated by means of a quantitative study. Group-administered questionnaires were used to gather information before and after the programme had commenced. Lickert scales were used to establish the learners' knowledge, attitudes and values in connection with EDCs and the environment before and after the learners had followed the programme on EDCs. The results of the study indicated that the programme proved to be successful in increasing the knowledge of the target group in connection with EDCs. This study will contribute to the process of integrating Environmental Education in the Life Sciences curriculum.
Educational Studies
M.Ed.(Environmental Education)

The aim of this study was to identify types of behaviour manifested by learners during mathematics instruction, and the impact that this behaviour might have on the mathematics performance of learners. The study was conducted in Far East cluster of Johannesburg East District, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. At the time of the study the Far East cluster of Johannesburg East District consisted of a population of seven public high schools, of which two schools were randomly sampled to participate in the study. Participants consisted of (n=10) Grade 10 mathematics learners, 2 mathematics teachers and 2 heads of mathematics departments (HODs). Data from learners were collected using a set of their assessment scores accumulated over a period of six months, that is, from January 2014 to June 2014 (Section 1.3.3). Also, semi-structured interviews were carried out with learners to determine types of classroom behaviour they perceived to influence their mathematical performance. The aim of documenting learners‟ assessment scores (document analysis) was to determine their average performance in Grade 10 mathematics over a stipulated period. Teachers and HODs completed questionnaires to identify types of classroom behaviour that learners manifested during mathematics instruction. The study followed a qualitative approach with phenomenology research design (Section 3.2). The study identified several types of classroom behaviour that characterized mathematics instruction in both schools, such as making noise and not doing classwork and homework activities. In addition, the study established that forms of behavioural patterns that are manifested by learners during a mathematics instruction influenced their performance in the subject. Huitt‟s (1997) model was used to conceptualize and interpret the results.
Mathematics Education
M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

In the last few years, many researchers have highlighted the economic and cultural impact that crafts have on the development of territories, enhancing local identities and traditions. Various researches also point to the close relationship between trade (sometimes called ‘neighbourhood’ trade), crafts and historic centres, in terms of quality of life, and socio-economic and identity development of territories, showing their new centrality to processes of urban development and regeneration and the formation of social capital. It is evident how enterprise contributes to local development through social interactions based on negotiated and open collaborations between microenterprises, community and network. It was well argued how small business (commerce, crafts and neighbourhood stores) has always played an important role as a social garrison in sparsely populated areas, allowing cities and particularly urban centres to become more lively or livable, being able to give or take away quality from the city and the territory, attributing peculiarity, security and specificity to places or trivialising them in a homogenised landscape. Among the services of social utility recognised to the artisan workshop are: the guarantee of services useful to the livability of the place, the garrisoning of territories and the development of social relations, the promotion of local identity and its know-how, and the creation of employment opportunities through modest initial availability of capital. At the same time, the worsening recessionary dynamics that have occurred in the global economy over the past two decades and the disruptive digital transition have exposed such enterprises to increasing difficulties, disruptively accentuating the decline in competitiveness and propensity to innovate of a large proportion of craft SMEs, of which the socioeconomic literature does not see significant adaptations to the changed environment, such as reconfiguring the business model, adopting a totally new strategic plan adapting to the digital transition, generational transition, and adopting innovative organisational or system behaviours. This volume presents the Venice Original E-Commerce case – a project carried out by the Venice Metropolitan CNA thanks to the support of J.P. Morgan, the support of the Venice Rovigo Chamber of Commerce and the sponsorship of the City of Venice and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice – as a reference project intervention to focus on a possible model of intervention to support culturally-valued artisan micro-enterprises, intervening on the process of strategic renewal and the conditions to foster generational turnover, understood as an opportunity to fill the gap on the digitisation of the artisan sector.

The Value of Science in Space Exploration provides a rigorous assessment of the value of scientific knowledge and understanding in the context of contemporary space exploration. It argues that traditional spaceflight rationales are deficient, and that the strongest defense of spaceflight comes from its potential to produce intrinsically and instrumentally valuable knowledge and understanding. It engages with contemporary epistemology to articulate an account of the intrinsic value of scientific knowledge and understanding. It also parleys with recent work in science policy and social philosophy of science to characterize the instrumental value of scientific research, identifying space research as an effective generator of new knowledge and understanding. These values found an ethical obligation to engage in scientific examination of the space environment. This obligation has important implications for major space policy discussions, including debates surrounding planetary protection policies, space resource exploitation, and human space settlement. Whereas planetary protection policies are currently employed to prevent biological contamination only of sites of interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, it contends that all sites of interest to space science ought to be protected. Meanwhile, space resource exploitation and human space settlement would result in extensive disruption or destruction of pristine space environments. The overall ethical value of these environments in the production of new knowledge and understanding is greater than their value as commercial or real commodities, and thus, exploitation and settlement of space should be avoided until the scientific community adequately understands these environments.

The process of globalization and its impact on societies and peoples everywhere are topics of great importance today. Recent experiences have been characterized by growing frustration with globalization, reflecting unsatisfactory processes and outcomes in many areas. In the economic area, high financial volatility and a broad sustained deficit have resulted in a frequency of national and international financial crises, and in a global financial crisis unprecedented since the Great Depression. In the social area, disappointment is the result of the uneven way the benefits of globalization have spread in both developed and developing economies. In the environmental area, no effective action has been taken so far to face the unprecedented challenges affected by climate change and the massive destruction of biodiversity. Our world is suffered by environmental problems that consume natural resources and strain livelihoods, many of which are arisen from by poor industrial practices. Environmental problems negatively impact economic and social life, directly and indirectly, environment-related diseases lead to loss of time and efficiency. All these deterioration encompasses a large set of areas, from the economy to social development, to inclusive growth, to macroeconomic and financial stability, to environmental sustainability. In this perspective, the European Congress of Economic Issues (ECOEI) held in Kocaeli in November 2017, which was the second in a series that started in March 2017. The aim of this congress was to assess the disruptive results of globalization in economic and social area and to explore the policy strategies that could help it become a reality. Therefore, this congress was reflected in having special sessions devoted to economic and social issues, including a wide array topics in global trade, economic growth, energy, environment and human development.

Bones are multifunctional passive organs of movement that supports soft tissue and directly attached muscles. They also protect internal organs and are a reserve of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Each bone is covered with periosteum, and the adjacent bone surfaces are covered by articular cartilage. Histologically, the bone is an organ composed of many different tissues. The main component is bone tissue (cortical and spongy) composed of a set of bone cells and intercellular substance (mineral and organic), it also contains fat, hematopoietic (bone marrow) and cartilaginous tissue. Bones are a tissue that even in adult life retains the ability to change shape and structure depending on changes in their mechanical and hormonal environment, as well as self-renewal and repair capabilities. This process is called bone turnover. The basic processes of bone turnover are: • bone modeling (incessantly changes in bone shape during individual growth) following resorption and tissue formation at various locations (e.g. bone marrow formation) to increase mass and skeletal morphology. This process occurs in the bones of growing individuals and stops after reaching puberty • bone remodeling (processes involve in maintaining bone tissue by resorbing and replacing old bone tissue with new tissue in the same place, e.g. repairing micro fractures). It is a process involving the removal and internal remodeling of existing bone and is responsible for maintaining tissue mass and architecture of mature bones. Bone turnover is regulated by two types of transformation: • osteoclastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone resorption • osteoblastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone formation (bone matrix synthesis and mineralization) Bone maturity can be defined as the completion of basic structural development and mineralization leading to maximum mass and optimal mechanical strength. The highest rate of increase in pig bone mass is observed in the first twelve weeks after birth. This period of growth is considered crucial for optimizing the growth of the skeleton of pigs, because the degree of bone mineralization in later life stages (adulthood) depends largely on the amount of bone minerals accumulated in the early stages of their growth. The development of the technique allows to determine the condition of the skeletal system (or individual bones) in living animals by methods used in human medicine, or after their slaughter. For in vivo determination of bone properties, Abstract 10 double energy X-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography scanning techniques are used. Both methods allow the quantification of mineral content and bone mineral density. The most important property from a practical point of view is the bone’s bending strength, which is directly determined by the maximum bending force. The most important factors affecting bone strength are: • age (growth period), • gender and the associated hormonal balance, • genotype and modification of genes responsible for bone growth • chemical composition of the body (protein and fat content, and the proportion between these components), • physical activity and related bone load, • nutritional factors: – protein intake influencing synthesis of organic matrix of bone, – content of minerals in the feed (CA, P, Zn, Ca/P, Mg, Mn, Na, Cl, K, Cu ratio) influencing synthesis of the inorganic matrix of bone, – mineral/protein ratio in the diet (Ca/protein, P/protein, Zn/protein) – feed energy concentration, – energy source (content of saturated fatty acids - SFA, content of polyun saturated fatty acids - PUFA, in particular ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA), – feed additives, in particular: enzymes (e.g. phytase releasing of minerals bounded in phytin complexes), probiotics and prebiotics (e.g. inulin improving the function of the digestive tract by increasing absorption of nutrients), – vitamin content that regulate metabolism and biochemical changes occurring in bone tissue (e.g. vitamin D3, B6, C and K). This study was based on the results of research experiments from available literature, and studies on growing pigs carried out at the Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences. The tests were performed in total on 300 pigs of Duroc, Pietrain, Puławska breeds, line 990 and hybrids (Great White × Duroc, Great White × Landrace), PIC pigs, slaughtered at different body weight during the growth period from 15 to 130 kg. Bones for biomechanical tests were collected after slaughter from each pig. Their length, mass and volume were determined. Based on these measurements, the specific weight (density, g/cm3) was calculated. Then each bone was cut in the middle of the shaft and the outer and inner diameters were measured both horizontally and vertically. Based on these measurements, the following indicators were calculated: • cortical thickness, • cortical surface, • cortical index. Abstract 11 Bone strength was tested by a three-point bending test. The obtained data enabled the determination of: • bending force (the magnitude of the maximum force at which disintegration and disruption of bone structure occurs), • strength (the amount of maximum force needed to break/crack of bone), • stiffness (quotient of the force acting on the bone and the amount of displacement occurring under the influence of this force). Investigation of changes in physical and biomechanical features of bones during growth was performed on pigs of the synthetic 990 line growing from 15 to 130 kg body weight. The animals were slaughtered successively at a body weight of 15, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130 kg. After slaughter, the following bones were separated from the right half-carcass: humerus, 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone, femur, tibia and fibula as well as 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone. The features of bones were determined using methods described in the methodology. Describing bone growth with the Gompertz equation, it was found that the earliest slowdown of bone growth curve was observed for metacarpal and metatarsal bones. This means that these bones matured the most quickly. The established data also indicate that the rib is the slowest maturing bone. The femur, humerus, tibia and fibula were between the values of these features for the metatarsal, metacarpal and rib bones. The rate of increase in bone mass and length differed significantly between the examined bones, but in all cases it was lower (coefficient b <1) than the growth rate of the whole body of the animal. The fastest growth rate was estimated for the rib mass (coefficient b = 0.93). Among the long bones, the humerus (coefficient b = 0.81) was characterized by the fastest rate of weight gain, however femur the smallest (coefficient b = 0.71). The lowest rate of bone mass increase was observed in the foot bones, with the metacarpal bones having a slightly higher value of coefficient b than the metatarsal bones (0.67 vs 0.62). The third bone had a lower growth rate than the fourth bone, regardless of whether they were metatarsal or metacarpal. The value of the bending force increased as the animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. The rate of change in the value of this indicator increased at a similar rate as the body weight changes of the animals in the case of the fibula and the fourth metacarpal bone (b value = 0.98), and more slowly in the case of the metatarsal bone, the third metacarpal bone, and the tibia bone (values of the b ratio 0.81–0.85), and the slowest femur, humerus and rib (value of b = 0.60–0.66). Bone stiffness increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. Abstract 12 The rate of change in the value of this indicator changed at a faster rate than the increase in weight of pigs in the case of metacarpal and metatarsal bones (coefficient b = 1.01–1.22), slightly slower in the case of fibula (coefficient b = 0.92), definitely slower in the case of the tibia (b = 0.73), ribs (b = 0.66), femur (b = 0.59) and humerus (b = 0.50). Bone strength increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, bone strength was as follows femur > tibia > humerus > 4 metacarpal> 3 metacarpal> 3 metatarsal > 4 metatarsal > rib> fibula. The rate of increase in strength of all examined bones was greater than the rate of weight gain of pigs (value of the coefficient b = 2.04–3.26). As the animals grew, the bone density increased. However, the growth rate of this indicator for the majority of bones was slower than the rate of weight gain (the value of the coefficient b ranged from 0.37 – humerus to 0.84 – fibula). The exception was the rib, whose density increased at a similar pace increasing the body weight of animals (value of the coefficient b = 0.97). The study on the influence of the breed and the feeding intensity on bone characteristics (physical and biomechanical) was performed on pigs of the breeds Duroc, Pietrain, and synthetic 990 during a growth period of 15 to 70 kg body weight. Animals were fed ad libitum or dosed system. After slaughter at a body weight of 70 kg, three bones were taken from the right half-carcass: femur, three metatarsal, and three metacarpal and subjected to the determinations described in the methodology. The weight of bones of animals fed aa libitum was significantly lower than in pigs fed restrictively All bones of Duroc breed were significantly heavier and longer than Pietrain and 990 pig bones. The average values of bending force for the examined bones took the following order: III metatarsal bone (63.5 kg) <III metacarpal bone (77.9 kg) <femur (271.5 kg). The feeding system and breed of pigs had no significant effect on the value of this indicator. The average values of the bones strength took the following order: III metatarsal bone (92.6 kg) <III metacarpal (107.2 kg) <femur (353.1 kg). Feeding intensity and breed of animals had no significant effect on the value of this feature of the bones tested. The average bone density took the following order: femur (1.23 g/cm3) <III metatarsal bone (1.26 g/cm3) <III metacarpal bone (1.34 g / cm3). The density of bones of animals fed aa libitum was higher (P<0.01) than in animals fed with a dosing system. The density of examined bones within the breeds took the following order: Pietrain race> line 990> Duroc race. The differences between the “extreme” breeds were: 7.2% (III metatarsal bone), 8.3% (III metacarpal bone), 8.4% (femur). Abstract 13 The average bone stiffness took the following order: III metatarsal bone (35.1 kg/mm) <III metacarpus (41.5 kg/mm) <femur (60.5 kg/mm). This indicator did not differ between the groups of pigs fed at different intensity, except for the metacarpal bone, which was more stiffer in pigs fed aa libitum (P<0.05). The femur of animals fed ad libitum showed a tendency (P<0.09) to be more stiffer and a force of 4.5 kg required for its displacement by 1 mm. Breed differences in stiffness were found for the femur (P <0.05) and III metacarpal bone (P <0.05). For femur, the highest value of this indicator was found in Pietrain pigs (64.5 kg/mm), lower in pigs of 990 line (61.6 kg/mm) and the lowest in Duroc pigs (55.3 kg/mm). In turn, the 3rd metacarpal bone of Duroc and Pietrain pigs had similar stiffness (39.0 and 40.0 kg/mm respectively) and was smaller than that of line 990 pigs (45.4 kg/mm). The thickness of the cortical bone layer took the following order: III metatarsal bone (2.25 mm) <III metacarpal bone (2.41 mm) <femur (5.12 mm). The feeding system did not affect this indicator. Breed differences (P <0.05) for this trait were found only for the femur bone: Duroc (5.42 mm)> line 990 (5.13 mm)> Pietrain (4.81 mm). The cross sectional area of the examined bones was arranged in the following order: III metatarsal bone (84 mm2) <III metacarpal bone (90 mm2) <femur (286 mm2). The feeding system had no effect on the value of this bone trait, with the exception of the femur, which in animals fed the dosing system was 4.7% higher (P<0.05) than in pigs fed ad libitum. Breed differences (P<0.01) in the coross sectional area were found only in femur and III metatarsal bone. The value of this indicator was the highest in Duroc pigs, lower in 990 animals and the lowest in Pietrain pigs. The cortical index of individual bones was in the following order: III metatarsal bone (31.86) <III metacarpal bone (33.86) <femur (44.75). However, its value did not significantly depend on the intensity of feeding or the breed of pigs.

AbstractDespite spectacular economic growth, most East Asian countries (especially those with the Confucian cultures) score relatively low in happiness surveys. This chapter discusses the reasons for this East-Asian happiness gap, including environmental disruption, excessive competitiveness, repressive education, excessive conformity, negative attitudes towards enjoyment, and the emphasis on outward appearance. Implications on the desired direction of future growth especially regarding the relative importance of public spending on the environment and research and the non-material aspects of life are also briefly touched on.

AbstractThe rapid disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in multiple sectors and areas of daily life provide a unique opportunity to study the university’s capacity to respond to changes in the external environment, to be a learning organization, in service of addressing significant social challenges. In this book we study universities’ responses to one such challenge: the disruption to educational opportunities caused by the interruption of schooling brought about by the pandemic.In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, universities innovated on several fronts. Unsurprisingly, some of those innovations focused on internal actions implemented to mitigate the impact of the pandemic by transitioning to online teaching delivery or extension of semester break, etc. (Crawford J et al. J Appl Learning Teaching 3.1:1–20, 2020; Leon-Garcia F, Cherbowski-Lask A, Leadership responses to COVID 19: a global survey of college and university leadership. International Association of Universities – Santander Universities. IAUP. https://www.iaup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IAUP-Santander_Survey_to_COVID-19_Report2020.pdf, 2020). Beyond the solutions to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on their communities of students, faculty, or staff, universities also innovated to mitigate such impact on the larger community. While the contributions of universities to alleviate the pandemic’s impact have been most visible in public health (Daniels, R. J. 2020. Universities’ Vital Role in the Pandemic Response. Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine. https://magazine.jhsph.edu/2020/universities-vital-role-pandemic-response), they have extended to other areas of relief and support as well. Almost half of universities participating in a global survey conducted by the International Association of Universities indicated that due to the pandemic, their community engagement had increased (Marinoni G et al. The impact of Covid-19 on higher education around the world. IAU global survey report. International Association of Universities, Paris. https://www.iau-aiu.net/IMG/pdf/iau_covid19_and_he_survey_report_final_may_2020.pdf, 2020).This book is a study of one such response of universities to the pandemic which has not yet received sufficient attention: their support of schools at the pre-collegiate level through a variety of innovative approaches to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on opportunity to learn.In this chapter, we argue that studying such innovations provides insight into the responsiveness of universities to complex societal needs and into their capacity to operate as learning organizations open to their external environment. We introduce the study, explain its value in understanding the role and nature of higher education’s outreach, social impact, and capacity to deal with complex challenges, and summarize the chapters of the book and the results of a survey which was administered to over one-hundred universities to study the nature of their collaborations with schools during the first 9 months of the pandemic, between March and December of 2020.

The aim of the paper is to draw a health profile of a past human population—the Graeco-Roman inhabitants of a harbor city at the site of Marina el-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt—and to study levels of adaptation of this population to the environment in which it lived. The author presents her methodology: the conceptual framework, skeletal inventory and scoring procedures, the uses her data to discuss in detail the paleodemography (demographic population structure and patterns of mortality) and physiological stress (disruption of growth and maturation), which can be defined as a physical disruption resulting from unhealthy environmental conditions with deleterious effect on both the individual and population level. Life expectancy was found to be at 39.1 years for males and 33.4 years for women. Based on skeletal growth of the most vulnerable subgroups of the population, infants and children, The people who were buried in the tombs of Marina el-Alamein lived a stressful life in an impoverished environment and their diet was inadequate. Overall dental health was very poor, significantly more so among women, and the high rates of arthritis and degenerative diseases of the spine and the major joints were suggestive of heavy workloads in life.

This chapter explores the opportunities of mobile games to critique and constitute the networks of which they are a part, attending particularly to location-based games. It discusses how these kinds of mobile games reconfigure people's relationships with other people and objects in their environment. In order to understand this reconfiguration, a model is put forward that clarifies the various ways in which people and objects are presented to the mobile game player. Using this model, examples are discussed of games that make interactions available that are disruptive of a social or political order, arguing that this disruption may be drafted into socio-political critique. Other examples demonstrate how mobile games bring everyday life within a capitalist logic, monetizing leisure and the mundane. This suggests that mobile gaming as a technology, practice, or product is neither fundamentally emancipatory nor fundamentally regressive but rather can be employed in various ways.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are a global problem for environmental and human health. They are defined as “an exogenous chemical, or mixture of chemicals, that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action”. It is estimated that there are about 1000 chemicals with endocrine-acting properties. EDCs comprise pesticides, fungicides, industrial chemicals, plasticizers, nonylphenols, metals, pharmaceutical agents and phytoestrogens. Persistent Organochlorine Pollutants (POPs) are substances that persist a long time in the environment and pose a threat for human health. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of POPs that were widely used and banned in 1980s. PCBs may have neurotoxic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic, hepatatoxic, nephrotoxic and cytotoxic effects. Some PCBs resemble to estradiol 17-β and hence can mimic estrogenic effects. In contrast, coplanar PCBs mimic dioxin that they bind to aryl hydrocarbon receptor and causes anti-estrogenic effects. Heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium and uranium) have been reported to have endocrine disruptive effects. However, their carcinogenic, neurotoxic and other adverse effects on human health are more important. Parabens are methyl, ethyl, propyl and ester forms of PHBA that are commonly used in food, pharmaceutical and personal care products. They have weak endocrine disruptive effects. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are food additives as antioxidants. There are very few studies on the endocrine disruptor effects of BHA and BHT. Their use has been limited in USA, EU and Canada. Human exposure to EDCs mainly occurs by ingestion and to some extent by inhalation and dermal uptake. Most EDCs are lipophilic and bioaccumulate in the adipose tissue, thus they have a very long half-life in the body. It is difficult to assess the full impact of human exposure to EDCs because adverse effects develop latently and manifest at later ages, and in some people do not present. Timing of exposure is of importance. Developing fetus and neonates are the most vulnerable to endocrine disruption. EDCs may interfere with synthesis, action and metabolism of sex steroid hormones that in turn cause developmental and fertility problems, infertility and hormone-sensitive cancers in women and men. Some EDCs exert obesogenic effects that result in disturbance in energy homeostasis. Interference with hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid and adrenal axes has also been reported. Potential EDCs, their effects and mechanisms of action, epidemiological studies to analyze their effects on human health, bio-detection and chemical identification methods, studying EDCs in humans and recommendations for endocrinologists, individuals and policy makers are reviewed.

Humans made use of pesticides to kill pests infesting crops. This was done to increase agricultural yields and improve public health. Pesticides however turn out to be damaging for the environment, causing many harmful impacts. Certain pesticides after being applied to the environment show long-term residual effects while others show acute fatal effects particularly to aquatic life. For example, organochlorine pesticides are persistent in the environment; as a result of this, these pesticides find their way to contaminate ground water, surface water, food products, air, soil, and may also affect human beings through direct contact. Pesticide exposure to humans has been found to be an important cause of some diseases such as cancer, respiratory diseases, skin diseases, endocrine disruption, and reproduction disorders. It is this aspect of pesticides in the environment that has raised concern among environmental scientists to study their behavior in the environment and then come out with a sound alternative so as to rescue the human population from their adverse effects. Fifty years (half a century) after Rachel Carson's warning to the world about the devastating effect pesticides have on birds and beneficial insects, pesticides continue to be in use. Continued usage of pesticides can be described as a massive chemical assault on our environment which threatens the survival of many birds, fish, insects, and small aquatic organisms that form the basis of the food web. More generally, pesticides reduce species diversity in the animal kingdom and contribute to population decline in animals and plants by destroying habitats, reducing food supplies, and impairing reproduction. Organisms in ecosystems exist in complex interdependent associations such that losses of one keystone species as a result of pesticides (or other causes) can have far reaching and unpredictable effects. A keystone species is a species that is disproportionately connected to more species in the food-web. The many connections that a keystone species holds mean that it maintains the organization and structure of entire communities. The loss of a keystone species results in a range of dramatic effects that alters trophic structure, other food-web connections, and can cause the extinction of other species in the community. A pesticide may eliminate a species essential to the functioning of the entire community, or it may promote the dominance of undesired species or it may simply decrease the number and variety of species present in the community. This may disrupt the dynamics of the food webs in the community by breaking the existing dietary linkages between species.

Level-based weight assessment (LBWA) model is a recently introduced algorithm for determining criteria weights for multi-criteria group decision making. In this paper, the authors aim to extend the basic framework of LBWA in the picture fuzzy (PF) environment using actual score (AS) measures of the picture fuzzy numbers (PFN). They apply this extended framework in addressing a real-life problem pertaining to social entrepreneurship or social entrepreneurs (SE) in the context of COVID-19. They endeavor to identify the critical challenging factors of SE in the new normal. They list the challenges as revealed through literature review and take the opinion of a group of SEs using PF linguistic scale. They then apply the proposed framework, actual score-based picture fuzzy LBWA. They notice that ability to withstand disruption risk and show resilience and fund availability and creation of a supporting business ecosystems are the major challenges that SEs face in the new normal. They carry out validity checking and sensitivity analysis, which show reasonable consistency and stability in the result.

Computer equipment, software, and online service have succeeded in introducing improvements and enhancements to the classrooms and teaching methods in recent years. Yet, using artificial intelligence (AI), the real disruption of education has to come. Artificial intelligence has proven its position as a game-changing force in various fields, in the past causing unprecedented transformations. Using AI, expert systems can be programmed to communicate with the environment through technologies such as visual perception, speech recognition, and intellectual behavior, which we can find to be inherently human. This chapter aims to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in the education sector including its market size, the effect of AI in education, case studies of current AI presence in education (smart content, smart tutoring systems, virtual facilitators, and learning environments, etc.) to improve learning and life outcomes for all. Finally, chapter concludes with the issues and problems.

Home automation (HA) systems can be considered as an implementation of the internet of everything (IoE) where many devices are linked by intelligent connections in order to improve the quality of life at home. This chapter is dedicated to analyzing current trends and challenges in HA. Energy management, safer homes, and improved control over the house are some of the benefits of HA. However, privacy, security, social disruption, installation/maintenance issues, economic costs, market fragmentation, and low interoperability represent real problems of these IoE solutions. In this regard, the latest proposals in HA try to answer some of these needs with low-cost DIY solutions, wireless solutions, and IP-based HA systems. This chapter proposes a way to deal with the interoperability problem by means of the open-source platform openHAB. It is based on the concept of a home automation bus, an idea that enables the separation of the physical and the functional view of any device, allowing to create a technology-agnostic environment, which is perfect for addressing the interoperability problem.

Collision accident remains a big threat to coastal water transportation operation. Occurrence of a collision event exposes vessel owners and operators as well as the public to risk. The nature of the threat can be worrisome; it may lead to loss of life, damage to the environment, disruption of operation, and injuries. This makes hybrid analysis of accident frequency and consequence for risk quantification of accident scenarios through stochastic tools very imperative for reliable design and exercise of technocrat stewardship of safety and safeguard of the environmental. The study involves a predictive model for collision risk and mitigation option for aversion of collision incident. Accident frequency and consequence are obtained using probability tools. Validity of the result is checked with reliability tools. Findings of the study were checked with subsystem and uncertainty risk-contributing factors in order to arrive at a sustainable decision support for collision aversion for inland water transportation. This chapter discusses the result and validation of implementation of the Safety and Environmental Risk and Reliability Model (SERM) for aversion of collision accident for vessel navigating for inland waterways.

<p>The need to maximise long-term value for money supports the consideration of life-cycle costs rather than just initial construction costs when investing in key infrastructure such as bridges. This is especially true in the case of a bridge’s expansion joints, which are much less robust than the structure as a whole yet subjected to continuous movements and dynamic loading. The life-cycle costs of a bridge’s expansion joints may be considered to include not only initial supply and installation costs, but also maintenance and repair costs throughout their service life, and replacement costs, and the user costs associated with maintenance and replacement work – especially those relating to traffic disruption. Increasingly, the effects of avoidable work on the environment should also be considered. This paper will address this topic, discussing issues that should be considered in choosing the optimal solution for any individual structure.</p>

<p>The need to maximise long-term value for money supports the consideration of life-cycle costs rather than just initial construction costs when investing in key infrastructure such as bridges. This is especially true in the case of a bridge’s expansion joints, which are much less robust than the structure as a whole yet subjected to continuous movements and dynamic loading. The life-cycle costs of a bridge’s expansion joints may be considered to include not only initial supply and installation costs, but also maintenance and repair costs throughout their service life, and replacement costs, and the user costs associated with maintenance and replacement work – especially those relating to traffic disruption. Increasingly, the effects of avoidable work on the environment should also be considered. This paper will address this topic, discussing issues that should be considered in choosing the optimal solution for any individual structure.</p>

Hurricanes, floods, tornados and earthquakes create natural disasters that can destroy homes, businesses and the natural environment. Such disasters can happen with little or no warning, leaving hundreds or even thousands of people without medical services, potable water, sanitation, communications and electrical services for up to several weeks. The 2004 hurricane season ravaged the State of Florida, U.S.A., with four major hurricanes within a 6-week timeframe. Over nine million people evacuated their homes and damage to property was extensive. One proactive strategy to minimize this type of destruction and disruption to lives is the implementation of disaster-resistant buildings that are functional and operational. This approach uses the best energy-efficient buildings, fortified to the latest codes, and incorporates renewable energy systems. Businesses, government facilities and homes benefit from using photovoltaics to power critical items. This concept is a mitigation tool to reduce damage and cost of the destructive forces of hurricanes and other disasters. This past season’s experience showed that buildings designed and built to the latest standards with photovoltaic and solar thermal systems survived with little damage and continued to perform after the storm passed. Even following a disaster, energy conservation and use of renewables promotes energy assurance while allowing occupants to maintain some resemblance of a normal life.

Abstract Flexible Pipes were widely used in Brazil offshore developments and the challenge on overcoming increasing water depths, high pressures and fluids with high contaminants was always present. In 2017 a new failure mode, called SCC CO2 was disclosed bringing such disruption in the use of this equipment since, at that time, the conditions observed in Brazilian Pre salt were like the "perfect storm" for the failure mode to happen. It had high concentrations of CO2, therefore high permeation in the anulus, high stresses and the possibility to have anulus flooded as result of an outer sheath breach or even due to permeated water. These were the triple conditions needed to have the failure, considering that all metallic material used in the pipe were subjected to this phenomenon. Since the discovery was made, several test campaigns to better understand and replicate the phenomena started. They covered pipe retrieved from field dissection, several small-scale materials testing, and fracture mechanics to create reliable crack propagation calculations. There were 3 mains focus areas; to understand how to deal with the installed fleet, to define the conditions in which a crack would appear and define, using fracture mechanics, how long a crack would take to break the wire. In other words, it was intended to define what is the remaining service life. As a result of this investigation some initial beliefs like that all materials were subjected to the phenomena and that a solution was far away were somehow reduced and reshaped. There was also the initiative to embark on technology for detection of the anulus condition, mainly to define if it is flooded or not. Some ROV inspection means were added to the endfitting and some sensors were added to the interconnected pipe sections that allow conditioning monitoring or inspection from the floating unit, not using a ROV. This paper will cover the improvements done since the disclosure of the phenomena in 2017, reviewing what is known about it so far, what is still to be discovered and how the results achieved to date can contribute for a more reliable and longer service life for the flexible pipes to be applied in a rich CO2 environment.

"The marsh represents a rare natural environment of its kind for a number of reasons. First, the marshes were the cradle of the Sumerian civilization and an environment that embraces a unique biodiversity. Its geography and vast area, which is equivalent to the size of a country like Lebanon, made it a resting place and provided food and reproduction for migratory birds. It is worthy of being included in the World Heritage List as one of the treasures of the world that must be preserved, but unfortunately, the Iraqi marshes have not been subjected throughout history to extensive and systematic drying operations, which reached 95% of their total area, as they were exposed to during the era of the previous dictatorial regime in the nineties of last century, which led to the emergence of a number of environmental problems that collectively led to the disruption of natural ecological balance through the loss of the ability to achieve the environmental balance and causing biological diversity damage . This is as a result of the lack of incoming water resources and the high percentage of salinity and pollution, which caused the death of huge numbers of wildlife and aquatic life, as well as the extinction of large numbers of them, causing a mass migration of the population of those areas to other areas that provide them with a minimum standard of decent living after they lost their main sources of livelihood represented by fishing and raising animals. The paper aims to present a study on the impact of the widespread and systematic drying stages that began after the Iran-Iraq war in the eighties of last century and culminated in the nineties, bringing the percentage of the remaining water from the marshes to 5% in 2002, and the extent of its impact on the destruction of the environment and biodiversity, which includes humans and animals, as well as migratory birds from Siberia to the Indian subcontinent, which lost their habitats and places for laying eggs and breeding. It will also present a number of solutions that will help reduce the environmental degradation that the marshes have been exposed to."

Abstract Steel is the most common construction material in the Oil & Gas industry, and it begins to rust the day it is cast. This observation raises several challenges for the asset integrity and life extension of all offshore units. Therefore, for the ageing FPSOs (&gt;10 years), frequent and costly structural maintenance operations in hazardous environment may be required to repair their hull. While a standard ship can go to dry-dock for “crop and renew” maintenance operations through standard hot works techniques, a permanently moored asset has to be maintained in situ. The challenge is to perform these offshore structural maintenance operations with no production disruption while maximizing safety even for the most stressed areas such as a mid-ship deck plating. COLDSHIELD, a co-development between COLD PAD, TOTAL and IFP Energies nouvelles, has been set up to meet this very challenge. This innovative alternative to “crop and renew” is covered by approval certificate from Class. COLDSHIELD stops the corrosion and restores hull structural strength. Two industrial applications have been performed so far. Among the steps to be taken to demonstrate that such repair can be considered as permanent, it was mandatory to characterize the fatigue behavior of this reinforcement solution. While the fatigue behavior of steel has been an important research topic since the early eighties of the last century, its understanding for bonded composite materials is still at its infancy. Indeed, for the time being there is — to our knowledge — no S-N curve for structural bonded reinforcements. Full scale coupon specimen fatigue tests of the structural bonded reinforcements were conducted by COLD PAD, third-partied by Bureau Veritas and in collaboration with two laboratories (private and public) in order to study the adhesive fatigue. A statistical analysis was performed according to international standards. The resulting S-N curve is fit for industrial fatigue design. It demonstrates a comfortable fatigue strength (S-N curve presenting a slope of 9). This paper presents the results of a fatigue life assessment campaign of COLDSHIELD including the experimental setup, the fatigue test results, and the numerical analyses. It details the reason why the design is compatible with a stress-based approach. It also explains the conclusions that can be derived in terms of fatigue life for a deck repair campaign.

<p>Nahr Al-Fidar Bridge is in Fidar village, which is located near Byblos City, Lebanon. The bridge reconstruction was carried out swiftly during 2006-2007, due to its importance as a vital commercial artery. Indeed, no traffic disruption is allowed on the bridge, since it leads to great economic losses. At the time being, even though the bridge has only accomplished about 10 years of its service life, it is being overloaded.</p><p>The paper aims to assess the performance of Nahr Al-Fidar bridge. To that purpose, first, the case bridge is introduced, and a visual inspection took place to identify current the state of the bridge. Second, the performance indicators are evaluated for this bridge, by means of the visual assessment, and the key performance indicators are assessed. The aim is to check if the bridge meets the pre-specified performance goals. Finally, a quality control plan is implemented for Nahr Al-Fidar bridge.</p>

Many novice teachers have difficulties in selecting and applying effective classroom management strategies to prevent or diminish disruptive behaviors. Negative experiences with classroom management largely determine teacher wellbeing and early attrition. Therefore, more in-training opportunities are needed to prepare prospective teachers to manage complex classroom practices effectively. A Virtual Reality-environment seems promising in developing classroom management skills and promoting teacher resilience; however, its potential is influenced by students’ perceptions towards this technology. This study describes four pre-service teachers’ and six school-based teacher educators’ experiences with and perceptions towards the use of a Virtual Reality learning environment to train classroom management skills and promote teacher resilience. Responses of semi-structured interviews reflect five themes: software- and equipment-related issues; feedback cues; realism and authenticity; instructor proficiency; and added value for teacher training. Results show that, for most themes, pre-service teachers and school-based teacher educators raised similar remarks and/or suggestions for improvement; however, they differed in their perceptions towards the added value of Virtual Reality to teacher training curricula. Our study highlights teachers’ needs for highly authentic and realistic simulations aligned with real-life classrooms and presents recommendations to augment the immersive experience needed for teachers to develop effective CMS and become more resilient.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in many aspects of life across the globe including education provision. This pandemic led to major and rapid restructuring of curricula and assessments as student suddenly moved to unfamiliar learning environment. Active involvement of students in the education process and curricula reform is encouraged. This paper aimed to explore pharmacy student leaders’ perspectives related to their learning during COVID-19 pandemic in terms of strengths, weakness, opportunities, challenges and recommendations to move forward. A meeting with pharmacy student leaders was convened. Each student leader individually reflected on their experiences using a structured SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges) framework which was then used to guide discussion. Each student then rated anonymously the importance and the probability of the themes to come up with overall score. Online learning came with both negative and positive aspects from the students’ point of view. Despite the efforts that were made by the college and students to adapt to the new educational system, there were drawbacks that affected the quality of the education. Pharmacy programs need to implement strategies within their programs about disaster preparedness and build student resilience and wellbeing.

<p>In the last years, extreme rainfalls have caused many collapses of bridges. In Italy several of those were short span’s ones that failed during or after extreme events of this nature. This work presents a method for inspection survey and its results regarding a campaign on 71 bridges, located in Tuscany (Massa Carrara, Italy). This area was affected by a big flood that took place in 2014 and also two earlier ones in 2012 with only 15 days apart one from the other, leading to a huge disrupting situation for the population’s daily life and consequent economical loss. Concerning this issue, the local stakeholders showed an increasing interest for sustainable methods for monitoring the built environment, thus the results of this research have been made available for integration on the Civil Protection Emergency Plan (CLE) and can be used in a decision-making prioritization list of actions. The framework uses a Gis- based approach combined with a quick survey technique. This method balances costs of surveying with the accuracy needed in inspections, bypassing the classical procedure which requires several onsite surveys. This procedure uses only three transversal river sections for each bridge. The method also comprises a tailored survey inspection form and a user-friendly worksheet was designed to build the database, applicable for further studies. Results showed the absence of maintenance on existing structures and riverbeds, often resulting in a partially or fully bridge section obstruction, and material’s decay. The framework created in this work allowed to assess the conditions of several bridges in the studied region, to further analyse the resilience of the infrastructure system and proceed with adequate interventions.</p>