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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of ecological sustainability is attracting attention of global business community as neoclassical approach continues to fail in delivery. There is now an emerging need to explore new approaches towards balancing ecological and economic returns. The paper extends the philosophy of Permaculture into business domain and explores its compatibility to be integrated with strategic management perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – The study primarily conducts a review of Permaculture and Strategic Management domains and uncovers the compatibility between the two domains while arguing that the integration of Permaculture philosophy in business strategy would achieve sustainability. Findings – Permaculture philosophy is compatible with Strategic Management process for developing business strategies. It can incorporate ecological and social aspects for developing integrated strategy process for sustainability in organizations. Research limitations/implications – Focusing on financial and non-financial value addition contributed by organizations towards community would lead to long-term sustainability of the organization and the community which supports it. Originality/value – The study extends the emerging philosophy of Permaculture into the established domain of Strategic Management. Arguing that simultaneous equilibrium of capacities, resources and demands of stakeholders must be maintained for sustained economic success in business world.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important legume which is consumed globally for protein intake, particularly in Asian states. It is a well-known source of dietary fiber, protein, minerals, and vitamins. The cowpea grains are stored after harvest and used till the next harvest. However, the grains are infested by storage pests, primarily Callosobruchus maculatus. Hence, effective management strategies are needed to protect the stored grains form the pests. This study assessed the efficacy of some edible oils in suppressing C. maculatus infestation in stored cowpea grains. Four different botanical oils (i.e., mustard, neem, poppy, and pumpkin) at four different concentrations (i.e., 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ml per 100 g grain) were included in the study. A control treatment without any botanical oil was also included for comparison. The relevant concentrations of botanical oils were poured into plastic containers containing 100 g cowpea grains and ten C. maculatus adults were released. The jars were sealed and placed at room temperature. Data relating to mortality, oviposition, F1 adult emergence, and seed weight loss were recorded. The tested botanical oils and their concentrations significantly affected mortality after one day. Mortality after 2nd and 3rd days remained unaffected by botanical oils and their different concentrations. The highest mortality was recorded in neem oil-treated grains followed by poppy, pumpkin, and mustard oils. Increased oviposition rate was observed in the grains treated with mustard and pumpkin oils, while those treated with neem and poppy oil recorded decreased oviposition. The control treatment had increased oviposition rate compared to tested botanical oils. All botanical oils significantly inhibited egg laying percentage. The highest germination was recorded for the grains treated with mustard oil followed by pumpkin, poppy, and neem oils, respectively. The lowest germination was recorded for control treatment. Significant differences were noted for C. maculatus repellency among botanical oils. No emergence of adults (F1 progeny) was recorded in all tested botanical oils; thus, F1 progeny was inhibited by 100%. Weight loss, damage percentage, and holes in the grains were not recorded since F1 progeny did not emerge. It is concluded that tested botanical oils are promising and could be utilized to control C. maculatus in cowpea grains during storage.

The association between reproductive and mental health among women with post-disaster experiences is under-researched. This presentation reports the results and implications of a cross-sectional study on mental health in Pakistan women of reproductive age following an earthquake event. A random sample of 387 Pakistani women of reproductive age (15-49 years) with earthquake experience completed the Centers for Disease Control reproductive health assessment toolkit. They also took the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The association of either depression or anxiety with socio-demographic variables, earthquake experiences, reproductive health and access to health facilities was estimated using multivariate logistic regression. Women with worse reproductive health events such as having a stillbirth, having had an abortion, having had abnormal vaginal discharge or having had genitalul-cers, were at significant risk of depression and anxiety. Effects were exacerbated with loss of resources for subsistence and separation from family following the earthquake event. The relationship between women's post-earthquake mental health and reproductive health, socioeconomic status, and health care access is complex and explained largely by the socio-cultural role of women. The mental health of women affected by the earthquake is associated with low socioeconomic status, separation from family, poor reproductive health outcomes and limited access to appropriate health facilities. Socio-cultural influences and access to health care may predispose them to risk adverse health outcomes from post-earthquake trauma. Posttraumatic stress and growth in tsunami relief volunteers Braj Bhushan IIT Kanpur, India; Che Liping The primary aim of the current study was to explore how the direction of counterfactual thoughts influences posttraumatic stress (PTS) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). 20 female relief volunteers who had participated in the post-tsunami relief operations in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu were assessed for proactive coping, dissociative experiences, PTS and PTG. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple discriminant analysis were performed to identify the key underlying dimensions affecting PTS and PTG. The main effects of amnesia, deper-sonalization and percentage of dissociation were highly significant. Intrusion was determined by dis-sociative experiences (amnesia and depersonaliza-tion) and family type whereas capacity for absorption determined avoidance symptoms. The main effects of proactive coping were significant for relating to others, new possibility, spiritual change, appreciation of life and total PTG score. The amnestic symptom of dissociation had a significant influence on intrusion and total trauma score as well as all the dimensions of PTG. The capacity for absorption significantly affected avoidance and total trauma score besides relating to others, personal strength, and spiritual change dimensions of PTG. The main effect of depersonalization was significant...

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This work presents a compact, quad-band planar antenna intended for assimilation into flexible and conformal devices. The CPW-fed semicircular shaped prototype with rake-shaped slots is designed, realized and characterized experimentally. The frequency bands covered by the proposed radiator are centered at 2.5, 3.7, 5.5 and 8 GHz with measured impedance bandwidths of 16%, 13.5%, 11.8% and 14.63%, respectively. The proposed antenna is thus enabled to support WLAN, ISM, Bluetooth, WiMAX, LTE and X-band applications. The antenna exhibits a significant gain. The radiation characteristics of the proposed radiator are measured in concave and convex bent shapes at various radii to analyze its flexibility. Performance of the antenna remains almost unaffected in the bent situation. Measurements demonstrate good coherence with simulations. The compactness and good performance of the design both in bent and unbent conditions proves it to be the better contender for future multiband conformal wireless applications.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent global situation on waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) management and recommend policy directions for designing environmental strategies. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research approach is adopted to review studies on WEEE management in developed and developing countries. The focus is to critically consider the available options for its safe management. Findings – Approximately 40-50 million tons of WEEE is generated worldwide annually and most of it is dumped in the developing countries. WEEE is not a challenge to be faced by a single country as it has trans-boundary effects and ultimately the contamination reaches back to the developed countries with a lapse of time. Research limitations/implications – Data availability on WEEE generation and disposal is in initial stages. Practical implications – Developing countries in Asia and Africa do not have resources to handle WEEE. The unregulated and unsafe WEEE management practices in these countries let hazardous materials to disseminate into the marine life and global ecosystem. Originality/value – The paper recommends policy directions to deal with the emerging issue that may have globally far reaching consequences.

Purpose – Waste of electric and electronic equipments (WEEE) disposal methods adopted by most of the countries are based on adhocism and therefore cannot provide sustainable solution. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for sustainable WEEE management based on Human Activity Modeling. The macro model is developed to provide a problem-solving approach for policy makers and to aid them in determining strategic directions in policy making. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research paradigm is used to review WEEE management in developed and developing countries and Activity Theory (AT) approach is extended into environmental management domain to design a sustainable system. Findings – The approach recommends that the real world complexity must first be analyzed by “problem modeling” of the contemporary activity in the environment and then based on this mapping “solution modeling” must be carried out to obtain sustainable solutions. Research limitations/implications – The solution recommended is based on theoretical foundations but still a need for experimental evidence is felt to further strengthen the argument. Second further studies are needed to cascade the strategic-level model presented in the study to connect it with the community-level interaction. Practical implications – Strategic policy recommendations are given to modify the role of three major actors identified in the society and resultantly attain socio-economic balance among the actors for obtaining sustainable solution. Originality/value – The study advocates a new paradigm for solving environmental management issues by using AT approach, focussing on redesigning human interaction in socio-cultural perspectives.