Search results for: hope in contemporary anthroprocene literature

Authors: B. Bahloul

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This study investigates the structural, electronic, and optical properties of LiH and NaH compounds, as well as their ternary mixed crystals LiₓNa1-ₓH, adopting a face-centered cubic structure with space group Fm-3m (number 225). The structural and electronic characteristics are examined using density functional theory (DFT), while empirical methods, specifically the modified Moss relation, are employed for analyzing optical properties. The exchange-correlation potential is determined through the generalized gradient approximation (PBEsol-GGA) within the density functional theory (DFT) framework, utilizing the projected augmented wave pseudopotentials (PAW) approach. The Quantum Espresso code is employed for conducting these calculations. The calculated lattice parameters at equilibrium volume and the bulk modulus for x=0 and x=1 exhibit good agreement with existing literature data. Additionally, the LiₓNa1-ₓH alloys are identified as having a direct band gap.

Keywords: DFT, structural, electronic, optical properties

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Authors: Amit Gupta, Deepak Juneja, Sorabh Gupta

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This paper presents a model based on distance based approach (DBA) method employed for evaluation, selection, and ranking of replenishment policies for a single location inventory, which hitherto not developed in the literature. This work recognizes the significance of the selection problem, identifies the selection criteria, the relative importance of selection criteria for this research problem. The developed model is capable of comparing any number of alternate inventory policies for various selection criteria where cardinal values are assigned as a rating to alternate inventory polices for selection criteria and weights of selection criteria. The illustrated example demonstrates the model and presents the result in terms of ranking of replenishment policies.

Keywords: DBA, ranking, replenishment policies, selection criteria

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Authors: Thomas S. Abia II

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Intel Chandler Site has internally developed its first-of-kind (FOK) facility-scale wastewater treatment system to achieve multi-metal ion exchange. The process was carried out using a serial process train of carbon filtration, pH / ORP adjustment, and cationic exchange purification to treat dilute metal wastewater (DMW) discharged from a substrate packaging factory. Spanning a trial period of 10 months, a total of 3,271 samples were collected and statistically analyzed (average baseline + standard deviation) to evaluate the performance of a 95-gpm, multi-reactor continuous copper ion exchange treatment system that was consequently retrofitted for manganese ion exchange to meet environmental regulations. The system is also equipped with an inline acid and hot caustic regeneration system to rejuvenate exhausted IX resins and occasionally remove surface crud. Data generated from lab-scale studies was transferred to system operating modifications following multiple trial-and-error experiments. Despite the DMW treatment system failing to meet internal performance specifications for manganese output, it was observed to remove the cation notwithstanding the prevalence of copper in the waste stream. Accordingly, the average manganese output declined from 6.5 + 5.6 mg¹L⁻¹ at pre-pilot to 1.1 + 1.2 mg¹L⁻¹ post-pilot (83% baseline reduction). This milestone was achieved regardless of the average influent manganese to DMW increasing from 1.0 + 13.7 mg¹L⁻¹ at pre-pilot to 2.1 + 0.2 mg¹L⁻¹ post-pilot (110% baseline uptick). Likewise, the pre-trial and post-trial average influent copper values to DMW were 22.4 + 10.2 mg¹L⁻¹ and 32.1 + 39.1 mg¹L⁻¹, respectively (43% baseline increase). As a result, the pre-trial and post-trial average copper output values were 0.1 + 0.5 mg¹L⁻¹ and 0.4 + 1.2 mg¹L⁻¹, respectively (300% baseline uptick). Conclusively, the operating pH range upstream of treatment (between 3.5 and 5) was shown to be the largest single point of influence for optimizing manganese uptake during multi-metal ion exchange. However, the high variability of the influent copper-to-manganese ratio was observed to adversely impact the system functionality. The journal herein intends to discuss the operating parameters such as pH and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) that were shown to influence the functional versatility of the ion exchange system significantly. The literature also proposes to discuss limitations of the treatment system such as influent copper-to-manganese ratio variations, operational configuration, waste by-product management, and system recovery requirements to provide a balanced assessment of the multi-metal ion exchange process. The take-away from this literature is intended to analyze the overall feasibility of ion exchange for metals manufacturing facilities that lack the capability to expand hardware due to real estate restrictions, aggressive schedules, or budgetary constraints.

Keywords: copper, industrial wastewater treatment, multi-metal ion exchange, manganese

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Authors: Sally Naji, Julie Gwilliam

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Climate change remains a challenging matter for the human and the built environment in the 21st century, where the need to consider adaptation to climate change in the development process is paramount. However, there remains a lack of information regarding how we should prepare responses to this issue, such as through developing organized and sophisticated tools enabling the adaptation process. This study aims to build a systematic framework approach to investigate the potentials that Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment tools (NSA) might offer in enabling both the analysis of the emerging adaptive capacity to climate change. The analysis of the framework presented in this paper aims to discuss this issue in three main phases. The first part attempts to link sustainability and climate change, in the context of adaptive capacity. It is argued that in deciding to promote sustainability in the context of climate change, both the resilience and vulnerability processes become central. However, there is still a gap in the current literature regarding how the sustainable development process can respond to climate change. As well as how the resilience of practical strategies might be evaluated. It is suggested that the integration of the sustainability assessment processes with both the resilience thinking process, and vulnerability might provide important components for addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. A critical review of existing literature is presented illustrating the current lack of work in this field, integrating these three concepts in the context of addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. The second part aims to identify the most appropriate scale at which to address the built environment for the climate change adaptation. It is suggested that the neighborhood scale can be considered as more suitable than either the building or urban scales. It then presents the example of NSAs, and discusses the need to explore their potential role in promoting the adaptive capacity to climate change. The third part of the framework presents a comparison among three example NSAs, BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, and CASBEE-UD. These three tools have been selected as the most developed and comprehensive assessment tools that are currently available for the neighborhood scale. This study concludes that NSAs are likely to present the basis for an organized framework to address the practical process for analyzing and yet promoting Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change. It is further argued that vulnerability (exposure & sensitivity) and resilience (Interdependence & Recovery) form essential aspects to be addressed in the future assessment of NSA’s capability to adapt to both short and long term climate change impacts. Finally, it is acknowledged that further work is now required to understand impact assessment in terms of the range of physical sectors (Water, Energy, Transportation, Building, Land Use and Ecosystems), Actor and stakeholder engagement as well as a detailed evaluation of the NSA indicators, together with a barriers diagnosis process.

Keywords: adaptive capacity, climate change, NSA tools, resilience, sustainability

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Authors: Eric Bang

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Interactions between receptors and ligands are crucial for many essential biological processes, including neurotransmission and metabolism. Ligand-receptor analyses that examine cell behavior and interactions often utilize cell type-specific RNA expressions from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. Using CellPhoneDB, a public repository consisting of ligands, receptors, and ligand-receptor interactions, the cell-cell interactions were explored in a specific scRNA-seq dataset from kidney tissue and portrayed the results with dot plots and heat maps. Depending on the type of cell, each ligand-receptor pair was aligned with the interacting cell type and calculated the positori probabilities of these associations, with corresponding P values reflecting average expression values between the triads and their significance. Using single-cell data (sample kidney cell references), genes in the dataset were cross-referenced with ones in the existing CellPhoneDB dataset. For example, a gene such as Pleiotrophin (PTN) present in the single-cell data also needed to be present in the CellPhoneDB dataset. Using the single-cell transcriptomics data via slide-seq and reference data, the CellPhoneDB program defines cell types and plots them in different formats, with the two main ones being dot plots and heat map plots. The dot plot displays derived measures of the cell to cell interaction scores and p values. For the dot plot, each row shows a ligand-receptor pair, and each column shows the two interacting cell types. CellPhoneDB defines interactions and interaction levels from the gene expression level, so since the p-value is on a -log10 scale, the larger dots represent more significant interactions. By performing an interaction analysis, a significant interaction was discovered for myeloid and T-cell ligand-receptor pairs, including those between Secreted Phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) and Fibronectin 1 (FN1), which is consistent with previous findings. It was proposed that an effective protocol would involve a filtration step where cell types would be filtered out, depending on which ligand-receptor pair is activated in that part of the tissue, as well as the incorporation of the CellPhoneDB data in a streamlined workflow pipeline. The filtration step would be in the form of a Python script that expedites the manual process necessary for dataset filtration. Being in Python allows it to be integrated with the CellPhoneDB dataset for future workflow analysis. The manual process involves filtering cell types based on what ligand/receptor pair is activated in kidney cells. One limitation of this would be the fact that some pairings are activated in multiple cells at a time, so the manual manipulation of the data is reflected prior to analysis. Using the filtration script, accurate sorting is incorporated into the CellPhoneDB database rather than waiting until the output is produced and then subsequently applying spatial data. It was envisioned that this would reveal wherein the cell various ligands and receptors are interacting with different cell types, allowing for easier identification of which cells are being impacted and why, for the purpose of disease treatment. The hope is this new computational method utilizing spatially explicit ligand-receptor association data can be used to uncover previously unknown specific interactions within kidney tissue.

Keywords: bioinformatics, Ligands, kidney tissue, receptors, spatial transcriptome

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Authors: Nilanthi Ratnayake, Wen-Ling Liu

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Prior research indicates an increasing gap between the skills and capabilities of graduates in the contemporary workplace across the globe. The challenge of addressing this issue primarily lies on the hands of higher education institutes/universities. In particular, surveys of UK employers and retailers found that soft skills including communication, numeracy, teamwork, confidence, analytical ability, digital/IT skills, business sense, language, and social skills are highly valued by graduate employers, and in achieving this, there are various assessed and non-assessed learning exercises have already been embedded into the university curriculum. To this end, this research study aims to explore the reflections of postgraduate student participation in a live commercial project (i.e. designing an advertising campaign for open days, summer school etc.) implemented with the intention of offering a transformative experience by deploying this project. Qualitative research methodology has been followed in this study, collecting data from three types of target audiences; students, academics and employers via a series of personal interviews and focus group discussions. Recorded data were transcribed, entered into NVIVO, and analysed using meaning condensation and content analysis. Students reported that they had a very positive impact towards improving self-efficacy, especially in relation to soft skills and confidence in seeking employment opportunities. In addition, this project has reduced cultural barriers for international students in general communications. Academic staff and potential employers who attended on the presentation day expressed their gratitude for offering a lifelong experience for students, and indeed believed that these type of projects contribute significantly to enhance skills and capabilities of students to cater the demands of employers. In essence, key findings demonstrate that an integration of knowledge-based skills into a live commercial project facilitate individuals to make the transition from education to employment in terms of skills, abilities and work behaviours more effectively in comparison to some other activities/assuagements that are currently in place in higher education institutions/universities.

Keywords: soft skills, commercially live project, higher education, student participation

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Authors: Marndarath Suksanga

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The purposes and policies applied to sabbatical leave, along with the cost of using sabbatical leave. The potential benefits of the use of sabbatical leave to enhance organizational commitment are then examined. The focuses on the role of the sabbatical leave in the development, satisfaction, and productivity of faculty in institutions. An examination of the origin, definition, purposes, and outcomes of sabbatical leaves reviewed in the literature clarifies the role and benefits of the sabbatical leave. The result of this review can be used to determine the need for further study of how sabbatical leave might be used in higher education in universities level to the benefit of the faculty, students and organizations. The result of this review can be used to determine the need for further study of how sabbatical leave might be used in professional-technical and community colleges to the benefit of the faculty, students and organizations.

Keywords: return on investment, ROI, sabbatical leave, higher education

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Authors: N. Ould Cherchali, A. Tlemçani, M. S. Boucherit, A. Morsli

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Nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms, particularly those founded on swarm intelligence, have attracted much attention over the past decade. Firefly algorithm has appeared in approximately seven years ago, its literature has enlarged considerably with different applications. It is inspired by the behavior of fireflies. The aim of this paper is the application of firefly algorithm for solving a nonlinear algebraic system. This resolution is needed to study the Selective Harmonic Eliminated Pulse Width Modulation strategy (SHEPWM) to eliminate the low order harmonics; results have been applied on multilevel inverters. The final results from simulations indicate the elimination of the low order harmonics as desired. Finally, experimental results are presented to confirm the simulation results and validate the efficaciousness of the proposed approach.

Keywords: firefly algorithm, metaheuristic algorithm, multilevel inverter, SHEPWM

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Authors: Derya Yilmaz, Ali Murat Tanyer, Irem Dikmen Toker

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There are many studies addressing the discrepancy between the planned and actual performance of buildings, which is defined as the energy performance gap. The difference between expected and actual project results usually depends on risky events and how these risks are managed throughout the project. This study presents a systematic review of the literature about the energy performance gap in buildings. First of all, a brief history and definitions of the energy performance gap are given. The initial search string is applied on Scopus and Web of Science databases. Research activities in years, main research interests, the co-occurrence of keywords based on average publication year are given. Scientometric analyses are conducted using Vosviewer. After the review, the papers are grouped to thematic relevance. This research will create a basis for analyzing the research focus, methods, limitations, and research gaps of key papers in the field.

Keywords: energy performance gap, discrepancy, energy efficient buildings, green buildings

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Authors: Su-Ping Liu, Yue Tian, Yifan Shen

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This study investigates the effect of corporate governance on earnings management when firms have reported a long stream of earnings increases (hereafter referred to as earnings beaters). We expect that good quality of corporate governance decreases the probability of income-increasing earnings management. We employ transparent tools to capture firms’ opportunistic management behavior, specifically, the repurchase of stock. In addition, we use corporate governance proxies to measure the degree of corporate governance, including board size, board independence, CEO duality, and the frequency of meeting. The results hold after the controlling of variables that suggested in prior literature. We expect that the simple technique, that is, firms’ degree of corporate governance, to be used as an inexpensive first step in detecting earnings management.

Keywords: corporate governance, earnings management, earnings patterns, stock repurchase

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Authors: Matthew J. B. Wilson

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Disaster Risk Reduction relies heavily on the effective cooperation of both humanitarian and development actors, particularly in the wake of a disaster, implementing lasting recovery measures that better protect communities from disasters to come. This can be seen to fit within a broader discussion around integrating humanitarian and development work stretching back to the 1980s. Over time, a number of key concepts have been put forward, including Linking Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development (LRRD), Early Recovery (ER), ‘Build Back Better’ (BBB), and the most recent ‘Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus’ or ‘Triple Nexus’ (HDPN) to define these goals and relationship. While this discussion has evolved greatly over time, from a continuum to a more integrative synergistic relationship, there remains a lack of consensus around how to describe it, and as such, the reality of effectively closing this gap has yet to be seen. The objective of this research was twofold. First, to map these four identified concepts (LRRD, ER, BBB & HDPN) used in the literature since 1995 to understand the overall trends in how this relationship is discussed. Second, map articles reference a combination of these concepts to understand their interrelationship. A scoping review was conducted for each concept identified. Results were gathered from Google Scholar by firstly inputting specific boolean search phrases for each concept as they related specifically to disasters each year since 1995 to identify the total number of articles discussing each concept over time. A second search was then done by pairing concepts together within a boolean search phrase and inputting the results into a matrix to understand how many articles contained references to more than one of the concepts. This latter search was limited to articles published after 2017 to account for the more recent emergence of HDPN. It was found that ER and particularly BBB are referred to much more widely than LRRD and HDPN. ER increased particularly in the mid-2000’s coinciding with the formation of the ER cluster, and BBB, whilst emerging gradually in the mid-2000s due to its usage in the wake of the Boxing Day Tsunami, increased significantly from about 2015 after its prominent inclusion in Sendai Framework. HDPN has only just started to increase in the last 4-5 years. In regards to the relationship between concepts, it was found the vast majority of all concepts identified were referred to in isolation from each other. The strongest relationship was between LRRD and HDPN (8% of articles referring to both), whilst ER-BBB and ER-HDPN both were about 3%, LRRD-ER 2%, and BBB-HDPN 1% and BBB-LRRD 1%. This research identified a fundamental issue around the lack of consensus and even awareness of different approaches referred to within academic literature relating to integrating humanitarian and development work. More research into synthesizing and learning from a range of approaches could work towards better closing this gap.

Keywords: build back better, disaster risk reduction, early recovery, linking relief rehabilitation and development, humanitarian development integration, humanitarian-development (peace) nexus, recovery, triple nexus

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Authors: Khelifa Tarek, Benmebarek Sadok

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The 2D passive earth pressures acting on rigid retaining walls problem has been widely treated in the literature using different approaches (limit equilibrium, limit analysis, slip line and numerical computation), however, the 3D passive earth pressures problem has received less attention. This paper is concerned with the numerical study of 3D passive earth pressures induced by the translation of a rigid rough retaining wall for associated and non-associated soils. Using the explicit finite difference code FLAC3D, the increase of the passive earth pressures due to the decrease of the wall breadth is investigated. The results given by the present numerical analysis are compared with other investigation. The influence of the angle of dilation on the coefficients is also studied.

Keywords: numerical modeling, FLAC3D, retaining wall, passive earth pressures, angle of dilation

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Authors: Hugo de Tarragon, Martine Hlady-Rispal, Gauthier Casteran

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Rooted in ethnographic research on city logistics, our paper examines how Logistics Service Providers (LSP) can move from a "subservient" posture to one of instigating the sustainable transformation of city logistics, using literature on sustainable city logistics. To do so, we start by providing a representation of the subservient posture adopted by LSPs during their interactions with stakeholders. We then mobilize ecosystem theories to analyze the follower posture LSP can adopt to ensure their financial, human, and environmental sustainability in a city logistics ecosystem. This study contributes to local authorities’ greater consideration/involvement of LSP in the definition of their city logistics strategy. It can also provide LSP with an insight into the transformations to be carried out to improve their sustainability. Finally, it encourages research projects aimed at exploring more precisely the value relationships between LSP and their stakeholders.

Keywords: city logistics, logistics service providers, sustainability, ecosystems, value creation

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Authors: Lucia Pappalardo, Sara Abdul Majid Azzam

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Camel milk is widely consumed by people living in arid areas of the world, where it is also known for its potential therapeutic and medical properties. Indeed it has been used as a treatment for several diseases such as tuberculosis, dropsy, asthma, jaundice and leishmaniasis in India, Sudan and some parts of Russia. A wealth of references is available in literature for the composition of milk from different diary animals such as cows, goats and sheep. Camel milk instead has not been extensively studied, despite its nutritional value. In this study commercial cow and camel milk samples, bought from the local market, were analyzed by 1D 1H-NMR and multivariate statistics in order to identify the different composition of the low-molecular-weight compounds in the milk mixtures. The samples were analyzed in their native conditions without any pre-treatment. Our preliminary study shows that the two different types of milk samples differ in the content of metabolites such as orotate, fats and more.

Keywords: camel, cow, milk, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

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Authors: Wesam Hamed

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This paper contributes to the existing literature by investigating the impact of political risks on the capital adequacy ratio in the banking sector of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which is the first attempt for this nexus to the best of our knowledge. The dynamic panel data model (System‐GMM) showed that political risks significantly decrease the capital adequacy ratio in the banking sector. For this purpose, we used political risks, bank-specific, profitability, and macroeconomic variables that are utilized from the data stream database for the period 2005-2017. The results also actively support the “too big to fail” hypothesis. Finally, the robustness results confirm the conclusions derived from the baseline System‐GMM model.

Keywords: capital adequacy ratio, system GMM, GCC, political risks

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Authors: Mustapha Aminu Bagiwa, Ainuddin Wahid Abdul Wahab, Mohd Yamani Idna Idris, Suleman Khan

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Video source device identification has become a problem of concern in numerous domains especially in multimedia security and digital investigation. This is because videos are now used as evidence in legal proceedings. Source device identification aim at identifying the source of digital devices using the content they produced. However, due to affordable processing tools and the influx in digital content generating devices, source device identification is still a major problem within the digital forensic community. In this paper, we discuss source device identification for digital videos by identifying techniques that were proposed in the literature for model or specific device identification. This is aimed at identifying salient open challenges for future research.

Keywords: video forgery, source camcorder, device identification, forgery detection

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Authors: I. Sagaama, A. Kechiche, W. Trojet, F. Kamoun

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Replacing combustion engine vehicles by electric vehicles (EVs) is a major step in recent years due to their potential benefits. Battery autonomy and charging processes are still a big issue for that kind of vehicles. Therefore, reducing the energy consumption of electric vehicles becomes a necessity. Many researches target introducing recent information and communication technologies in EVs in order to propose reducing energy consumption services. Evaluation of realistic scenarios is a big challenge nowadays. In this paper, we will elaborate a state of the art of different proposed energy consumption models in the literature, then we will present a comparative study of these models, finally, we will extend previous works in order to propose an accurate and realistic energy model for calculating instantaneous power consumption of electric vehicles.

Keywords: electric vehicle, vehicular networks, energy models, traffic simulation

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Authors: Sulaiman Kassim Ibrahim

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Human Resource is one of the most important elements in any country. They are very important in actualizing the potential of every sector in the country, i.e Agric, Education, Finance, Judiciary and all formal and informal sectors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the loss of human resource in Nigeria through street begging. The study used intensive literature review. Finding from the review indicate that a significant number of human resource are into street begging in the country undeveloped and untapped. The paper recommend that policy should be initiated to discourage street begging, develop this resource through education and empowerment, stop rural-urban migration by providing infrastructure in the rural areas and abolish informal (Almajiri or beggars school) and transform it into formal school.

Keywords: human resource, street begging, Nigeria, Almajiri

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Authors: Samar Sheikhelsouk, Dina Abdel Qader, Nada Rizk

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The plan of the organization may impede its progress and creativity, especially in the framework of its work in independent environments and fast-shifting markets, unless the leaders and minds of the organization use a set of practices, tools, and techniques encapsulated in so-called “agile methods” or “lightweight” methods. Thus, this research paper examines the agile management approach as a flexible and dynamic approach and its relationship to the administrative ambidexterity at the Alexandria library. The sample of the study is the employees of the Alexandria library. The study is expected to provide both theoretical and practical implications. The current study will bridge the gap between agile management and administrative approaches in the literature. The study will lead managers to comprehend how the role of agile management in establishing administrative ambidexterity in the organization.

Keywords: agile management, administrative innovation, Alexandria library, Egypt

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Authors: Mateusz Rak

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Objective: The paper aims to present various sources of competitive advantage which may occur when an enterprise strategically applies its concept of corporate philanthropy. Methodology: The review of the literature and available reports on the research regarding corporate philanthropy. Results: Strategic philanthropy is a positive phenomenon. Unfortunately, enterprises in Poland do not see all positive sides of such activities yet. Three kinds of corporate philanthropy may be described. They are to fulfil a social duty, improve the company reputation and gain a competitive edge. Practical implications: Showing enterprises the advantages of taking philanthropic actions, in particular, a large role of strategic philanthropy in gaining a competitive edge in the market as well as how to avoid negative consequences of corporate philanthropy. The paper presents corporate philanthropy on a few layers: as a CSR element, actions generating values in products, actions improving a corporate image in the market, altruist actions of employees.

Keywords: corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, corporate foundations, CSR

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Authors: Mahesh K. Chudasama, Harit K. Raval

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3-roller conical bending process is widely used in the industries for manufacturing of conical sections and shells. It involves static as well dynamic bending stages. Analytical models for prediction of bending force during static as well as dynamic bending stage are available in the literature. In this paper, bending forces required for static bending stage and dynamic bending stages have been compared using the analytical models. It is concluded that force required for dynamic bending is very less as compared to the bending force required during the static bending stage.

Keywords: analytical modeling, cone frustum, dynamic bending, static bending

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Authors: Bahlouli Ahmed, Bentalab Nourdin, Nigrou Mourad

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This study was aimed at investigating the effect of orientation fiber reinforced on dynamic properties of laminate composite FRP. An experimental investigation is implemented using an impulse technique. The various specimens are excited in free vibration by the use of bi-channel Analyzer. The experimental results are compared by model of finite element analysis using ANSYS. The results studies (natural frequencies measurements, vibration mode, dynamic modulus and damping ratio) show that the effects of significant parameters such as lay-up and stacking sequence, boundary conditions and excitation place of accelerometer. These results are critically examined and discussed. The accuracy of these results is demonstrated by comparing results with those available in the literature.

Keywords: natural frequency, damping ratio, laminate composite, dynamic modulus

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Authors: A. Abdullah Saleh, A. H. Mohammed, M. N. Abdullah

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Universities are increasingly consuming energy to support various activities. A large population of staff and students in Malaysian universities has led to excessive energy consumption which directly gives an impact to the environment. The key question then ascended "How well is an energy management (EM) been practiced in universities without taking the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) into consideration to ensure the management of university achieves the goals in reducing energy consumption". Review of past literature is carried out to establish CSFs for EM best practices. Thus, this paper highlighted the CSFs which have to be focused on by management of university to successfully measure the EM implementation and its performance. At the end of this paper, a theoretical framework is developed for EM success factors towards a sustainable university.

Keywords: critical success factors, energy management, sustainability, Malaysian universities

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Authors: Zh. Bolatova, Zh. Bulkhairova, M. Kulshigashova

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In this article, the authors consider the main aspects of climate change's impact on the economic efficiency of leguminous crop production and perspectives in Kazakhstan. It is worth noting that climate change has an impact on the instability of leguminous crops and leads to a decrease in production efficiency. Ultimately, all of the above determines the relevance and significance of this topic. The level of productivity of grain and legumes in the country and by regions of Kazakhstan was also analyzed. The authors conducted a survey and a deeper analysis of agricultural producers in the Kazakhstan region. In the end, the authors considered the prospects for the development of leguminous crops in Kazakhstan. For the article have been used different literature and reports from IPCC, WMO, WTO, FAO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNDP, IMF, WB, OECD, KAZHYDROMET, Committee of the Statistics of Kazakhstan, etc.

Keywords: climate change, economic efficiency, leguminous crops, production, yield

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Authors: Akiko Ohta, Masahiro Minami, Yusra Qadir, Jennifer York

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The Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a home instruction program for mothers of children 3 to 5 years old. Using role-play as a method of teaching, the participating mothers work with their home visitors and learn how to deliver the HIPPY curriculum to their children. Applying HIPPY, Reviving Hope and Home for High-risk Refugee Mothers Program (RHH) was created to provide more personalized peer support and to respond to ongoing settlement challenges for isolated and vulnerable Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) mothers. GARs often have greater needs and vulnerabilities than other refugee groups. While the support is available, they often face various challenges and barriers in starting their new lives in Canada, such as inadequate housing, low first-language literacy levels, low competency in English or French, and social isolation. The pilot project was operated by Mothers Matter Centre (MMC) from January 2019 to March 2021 in partnership with the Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC). The formative evaluation was conducted by a research team at Simon Fraser University. In order to provide more suitable support for GAR mothers, RHH intended to offer more flexibility in HIPPY delivery, supported by a home visitor, to meet the need of refugee mothers facing various conditions and challenges; to have a pool of financial resources to be used for the RHH families when necessitated during the program period; to have another designated staff member, called a community navigator, assigned to facilitate the support system for the RHH families in their settlement; to have a portable device available for each RHH mother to navigate settlement support resources; and to provide other variations of the HIPPY curriculum as an option for the RHH mothers, including a curriculum targeting pre-HIPPY age children. Reflections on each program component was collected from RHH mothers and staff members of MMC and ISSofBC, including frontline workers and management staff, through individual interviews and focus group discussions. Each of the RHH program components was analyzed and evaluated by applying Moore’s four domains framework to identify key information and generate new knowledge (data). To capture RHH mothers’ program experience more in depth based on their own reflections, the photovoice method was used. Some photos taken by the mothers will be shared to illustrate their RHH experience as part of their life stories. Over the period of the program, this evaluation observed how RHH mothers became more confident in various domains, such as communicating with others, taking public transportations alone, and teaching their own child(ren). One of the major factors behind the success was their home visitors’ flexibility and creativity to create a more meaningful and tailored approach for each mother, depending on her background and personal situation. The role of the community navigator was tested out and improved during the program period. The community navigators took the key role to assess the needs of the RHH families and connect them with community resources. Both the home visitors and community navigators were immigrant mothers themselves and owing to their dedicated care for the RHH mothers; they were able to gain trust and work closely and efficiently with RHH mothers.

Keywords: refugee mothers, settlement support, program evaluation, Canada

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Authors: Hagar Wahba

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In an attempt to bridge a literature gap, the study explores the different gendered consequences of economic globalization on Egyptian women in informal employment. Under the intersectionality theory, the study highlights issues related to equal economic opportunities among women in different segments of informal employment during Covid-19. Accordingly, this study explores the different vulnerabilities of women in lower segments of the informal sector in Egypt, which intersected with inequalities brought by the pandemic. Therefore, through collecting primary data, the study was able to gain a more intersectional understanding of women’s experiences in informal employment during Covid-19. In women in technology-based work in Egypt were proven to be in a more advantaged position than other women whose jobs depended on face-to-face interactions during the pandemic.

Keywords: economic globalisation, informal employment, women, egypt, intersectional feminism, decent work, Covid-19

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Authors: Wenfu Zheng, Guanghe Zheng

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The discussion on the social sustainability in existing literature is limited to two-dimension epistemology space with only two elements: the human and nature. Using the revelation of the Bible God, the paper adds a moral component to the two-dimension space. With the new variable being introduced, the authors formulate a to three-dimension epistemology space and discuss its implications. Based on the space, the authors explore the hierarchical structure of order principles for a sustainable society. The social order principle system hierarchically consists of three principles: moral, relational, and rational. The justification of every principle is analyzed briefly. The paper concluded that all these order principles are necessary assurance of building a sustainable society.

Keywords: common grace, saving grace, sustainable society, the image of God

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Authors: Athanasios A. Gavrilidis, Mihai R. Nita, Larissa N. Stoia, Diana A. Onose

Abstract:

Contemporary global environmental challenges must be primarily addressed at local levels. Cities are under continuous pressure as they must ensure high quality of life levels for their citizens and at the same time to adapt and address specific environmental issues. Innovative solutions using natural features or mimicking natural systems are endorsed by the scientific community as efficient approaches for both mitigating climate change effects and the decrease of environmental quality and for maintaining high standards of living for urban dwellers. The aim of this study was to assess whether Romanian cities’ authorities are considering nature-based innovation as solutions for their planning, management, and environmental issues. Data were gathered by applying 140 questionnaires to urban authorities throughout the country. The questionnaire was designed for assessinglocal policy makers’ perspective over the efficiency of nature-based innovations as a tool to address specific challenges. It also focused on extracting data about financing sources and challenges they must overcome for adopting nature-based approaches. The gather results from the municipalities participating in our study were statistically processed, and they revealed that Romanian city managers acknowledge the benefits of nature-based innovations, but investments in this sector are not on top of their priorities. More than 90% of the selected cities have agreed that in the last 10 years, their major concern was to expand the grey infrastructure (roads and public amenities) using traditional approaches. When asked how they would react if faced with different socio-economic and environmental challenges, local urban managers indicated investments nature-based solutions as a priority only in case of biodiversity loss and extreme weather, while for other 14 proposed scenarios, they would embrace the business-as-usual approach. Our study indicates that while new concepts of sustainable urban planning emerge within the scientific community, local authorities need more time to understand and implement them. Without the proper knowledge, personnel, policies, or dedicated budgets, local administrators will not embrace nature-based innovations as solutions for their challenges.

Keywords: nature based innovations, perception analysis, policy making, urban planning

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Authors: Mahmoud Samkan

Abstract:

Dispersed Generation (DG) is a promising solution to many power system problems such as voltage regulation and power loss. This paper proposes a heuristic two-step method to optimize the location and size of DG for reducing active power losses and, therefore, improve the voltage profile in radial distribution networks. In addition to a DG placed at the system load gravity center, this method consists in assigning a DG to each lateral of the network. After having determined the central DG placement, the location and size of each lateral DG are predetermined in the first step. The results are then refined in the second step. This method is tested for 33-bus system for 100% DG penetration. The results obtained are compared with those of other methods found in the literature.

Keywords: optimal location, optimal size, dispersed generation (DG), radial distribution networks, reducing losses

Procedia PDF Downloads 429

Authors: Dorsa Pourmojib, Marc J. Boutin

Abstract:

Urban space is used everyday by a diverse range of urban dwellers, each with different expectations. In this space, opportunities and resources are not distributed equitably among urban dwellers, despite the importance of inclusivity. In addition, some marginalized groups may not be considered. These include people with low incomes, immigrants from diverse cultures, various age groups, and those with special needs. To this end, this research aims to enhance social equity in urban space by bridging the gap between social equity and spatial equity in the urban context. This gap in the knowledge base related to urban design may be present for several reasons; lack of studies on relationship between social equity and spatial equity in urban open space, lack of practical design strategies for promoting social equity in urban open space, lack of proper site analysis in terms of context and users of the site both for designing new urban open spaces and developing the existing ones, and lack of researchers that are designers and finally it could be related to priorities of the city’s policies in addressing such issues, since it is time, money and energy consuming. The main objective of this project is addressing the aforementioned gap in the knowledge by exploring the relationship between social equity and spatial equity in urban open space. Answering the main question of this research is a promising step to this end; 'What are the considerations towards providing social equity through the design of urban elements that offer spatial equity?' To answer the main question of this research there are several secondary questions which should be addressed. Such as; how can the characteristics of social equity be translated to spatial equity? What are the diverse user’s needs and which of their needs are not considered in that site? What are the specific elements in the site which should be designed in order to promote social equity? What is the current situation of social and spatial equity in the proposed site? To answer the research questions and achieve the proposed objectives, a three-step methodology has been implemented. Firstly, a comprehensive research framework based on the available literature has been presented. Afterwards, three different urban spaces have been analyzed in terms of specific key research questions as the precedent studies; Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Iran), Superkilen Park (Denmark) and Campo Dei Fiori (Italy). In this regard, a proper gap analysis of the current situation and the proposed situation of these sites has been conducted. Finally, by combining the extracted design considerations from the precedent studies and the literature review, practical design strategies have been introduced as a result of this research. The presented guidelines enable the designers to create socially equitable urban spaces. To conclude, this research proposes a spatial approach to social inclusion and equity in urban space by presenting a practical framework and criteria for translating social equity to spatial equity in urban areas.

Keywords: inclusive urban design, social equity, social inclusion, spatial equity

Procedia PDF Downloads 126