Search results for: resource configuration

Authors: Giuliana Scuderi, Patrick Teuffel

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The proven vulnerability of the existing social housing building heritage to natural or induced earthquakes requires the development of new design concepts and conceptual method to preserve materials and object, at the same time providing new performances. An integrate intervention between civil engineering, building physics and architecture can convert the social housing districts from a critical part of the city to a strategic resource of revitalization. Referring to bio-mimicry principles the present research proposes a taxonomy with the exoskeleton of the insect, an external, light and resistant armour whose role is to protect the internal organs from external potentially dangerous inputs. In the same way, a “building exoskeleton”, acting from the outside of the building as an enclosing cage, can restore, protect and support the existing building, assuming a complex set of roles, from the structural to the thermal, from the aesthetical to the functional. This study evaluates the structural efficiency of shape memory alloys devices (SMADs) connecting the “building exoskeleton” with the existing structure to rehabilitate, in order to prevent the out-of-plane collapse of walls and for the passive dissipation of the seismic energy, with a calibrated operability in relation to the intensity of the horizontal loads. The two case studies of a masonry structure and of a masonry structure with concrete frame are considered, and for each case, a theoretical social housing building is exposed to earthquake forces, to evaluate its structural response with or without SMADs. The two typologies are modelled with the finite element program SAP2000, and they are respectively defined through a “frame model” and a “diagonal strut model”. In the same software two types of SMADs, called the 00-10 SMAD and the 05-10 SMAD are defined, and non-linear static and dynamic analyses, namely push over analysis and time history analysis, are performed to evaluate the seismic response of the building. The effectiveness of the devices in limiting the control joint displacements resulted higher in one direction, leading to the consideration of a possible calibrated use of the devices in the different walls of the building. The results show also a higher efficiency of the 00-10 SMADs in controlling the interstory drift, but at the same time the necessity to improve the hysteretic behaviour, to maximise the passive dissipation of the seismic energy.

Keywords: adaptive structure, biomimetic design, building exoskeleton, social housing, structural envelope, structural retrofitting

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Authors: Sulemana Ibrahim

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Food security remains a paramount global challenge, with vulnerable regions grappling with issues of hunger and malnutrition. This study embarks on a comprehensive exploration of data-driven strategies aimed at ameliorating food security in such regions. Our research employs a multifaceted approach, integrating data analytics to predict crop yields, optimizing supply chains, and enhancing food distribution networks. The study unfolds as a multi-dimensional analysis, commencing with the development of robust machine learning models harnessing remote sensing data, historical crop yield records, and meteorological data to foresee crop yields. These predictive models, underpinned by convolutional and recurrent neural networks, furnish critical insights into anticipated harvests, empowering proactive measures to confront food insecurity. Subsequently, the research scrutinizes supply chain optimization to address food security challenges, capitalizing on linear programming and network optimization techniques. These strategies intend to mitigate loss and wastage while streamlining the distribution of agricultural produce from field to fork. In conjunction, the study investigates food distribution networks with a particular focus on network efficiency, accessibility, and equitable food resource allocation. Network analysis tools, complemented by data-driven simulation methodologies, unveil opportunities for augmenting the efficacy of these critical lifelines. This study also considers the ethical implications and privacy concerns associated with the extensive use of data in the realm of food security. The proposed methodology outlines guidelines for responsible data acquisition, storage, and usage. The ultimate aspiration of this research is to forge a nexus between data science and food security policy, bestowing actionable insights to mitigate the ordeal of food insecurity. The holistic approach converging data-driven crop yield forecasts, optimized supply chains, and improved distribution networks aspire to revitalize food security in the most vulnerable regions, elevating the quality of life for millions worldwide.

Keywords: data-driven strategies, crop yield prediction, supply chain optimization, food distribution networks

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Authors: M. El-haj, Z. Olama, H. Holail

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Single cell oils (SCOs) accumulated by oleaginous fungi have emerged as a potential alternative feedstock for biodiesel production. Five fungal strains were isolated from the Lebanese environment namely Fusarium oxysporum, Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus tamari, and Aspergillus niger that have been selected among 39 oleaginous strains for their potential ability to accumulate lipids (lipid content was more than 40% on dry weight basis). Wide variations were recorded in the environmental factors that lead to maximum lipid production by fungi under test and were cultivated under submerged fermentation on medium containing glucose as a carbon source. The maximum lipid production was attained within 6-8 days, at pH range 6-7, 24 to 48 hours age of seed culture, 4 to 6.107 spores/ml inoculum level and 100 ml culture volume. Eleven culture conditions were examined for their significance on lipid production using Plackett-Burman factorial design. Reducing sugars and nitrogen source were the most significant factors affecting lipid production process. Maximum lipid yield was noticed with 15.62, 14.48, 12.75, 13.68 and 20.41g/l for Fusarium oxysporum, Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus tamari, and Aspergillus niger respectively. A verification experiment was carried out to examine model validation and revealed more than 94% validity. The profile of extracted lipids from each fungal isolate was studied using thin layer chromatography (TLC) indicating the presence of monoacylglycerols, diaacylglycerols, free fatty acids, triacylglycerols and sterol esters. The fatty acids profiles were also determined by gas-chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Data revealed the presence of significant amount of oleic acid (29-36%), palmitic acid (18-24%), linoleic acid (26.8-35%), and low amount of other fatty acids in the extracted fungal oils which indicate that the fatty acid profiles were quite similar to that of conventional vegetable oil. The cost of lipid production could be further reduced with acid-pretreated lignocellulotic corncob waste, whey and date molasses to be utilized as the raw material for the oleaginous fungi. The results showed that the microbial lipid from the studied fungi was a potential alternative resource for biodiesel production.

Keywords: agro-industrial waste products, biodiesel, fatty acid, single cell oil, Lebanese environment, oleaginous fungi

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Authors: Leah Burton, Sara Cumming, Julianne DiSanto

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Homelessness is a widespread and complex problem in Canada and around the globe. Many Canadians will face homelessness at least once in their lifetime, with several experiencing subsequent bouts or cyclical patterns of housing precarity. While a Housing First approach to homelessness is a long-standing and widely accepted best practice, it is also recognized that the acquisition of life skills is an effective way to reduce cycles of homelessness. Indeed, when individuals are provided with a range of life skills—such as (but not limited to) financial literacy, household management, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and resource management—they are given the tools required to maintain long-term Housing for a lifetime; thus reducing a repetitive need for services. However, there is limited research regarding the best ways to teach life skills, a problem that has been further complicated in a post-pandemic world, where services are being delivered online or in a hybrid model of care. More than this, it is difficult to provide life skills on a large scale without losing a client-centered approach to services. This lack of client-centeredness is also seen in the lack of attention to culturally sensitive life skills, which consider the diverse needs of individuals and imbed equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within the skills being taught. This study aims to fill these identified gaps in the literature by employing a community-engaged (CER) approach. Academic, government, funders, front-line staff, and clients at 15 not-for-profits from across the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada, collaborated to co-create a virtual, client-centric, EDI-informed life skill learning management system. A triangulation methodology was utilized for this research. An environmental scan was conducted for current best practices, and over 100 front-line staff (including workers, managers, and executive directors who work with homeless populations) participated in two separate Creative Problem Solving Sessions. Over 200 individuals with experience in homelessness completed quantitative and open-ended surveys. All sections of this research aimed to discover the areas of skills that individuals need to maintain Housing and to ascertain what a more client-driven EDI approach to life skills training should include. This presentation will showcase the findings on which life skills are deemed essential for homeless and precariously housed individuals.

Keywords: homelessness, housing first, life skills, community engaged research, client- centered

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Authors: Johanna Sagner, María José Sandoval

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At the early stages of adolescence, young people, regardless of a disability or not, start to establish closer friendship ties. Unlike previous developmental phases, these ties are rather reciprocal, more committed, and require more time. Friendship ties during adolescence allow the development of social and personal skills, specifically the skills to start constructing identity. In an inclusive context that incorporates young people with a disability, friendship among peers also takes place. Nonetheless, the relation is shaped, among others, by the alterity construction about the other with disability. Research about peers’ relation between young people with and without disability in an inclusive context has shown that the relation tends to become a helper-helpee relation, where those with a disability are seen as people in need. Prejudices about the others’ condition or distancing from the other because of his/hers disability are common. In this sense, the helper-helpee relation, as a non-reciprocal and protective relation, will not promote friendship between classmates, but a rather asymmetric alterity. Our research is an explorative case study that wants to know how the relation between peers is shaped within a different inclusive program, were also the integrated group has special educational needs. Therefore, we analyze from a qualitative and quantitative approach the data of an inverted inclusive program. This is a unique case of a special public school for visual disability in Germany that includes young people from a mainstream school who had learning difficulties. For the research, we analyze data from interviews, focal interviews and open-ended questions with an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. The questionnaires include a five point Likert scale, for which we calculate the acceptance rate. The findings show that the alterity relation between pupils is less asymmetrical and represents a rather horizontal alterity. The helper-helpee relation is marked by exchange, since both groups have special educational needs and therefore, those with visual disability and those with learning difficulties help each other indistinctly. Friendship is more present among classmates. The horizontal alterity peers’ relation is influenced by a sort of tie, where none of the groups need more or less help than other groups. Both groups identify that they themselves and the other have special needs. The axiological axe of alterity is not of superiority or inferiority, recognizing each other’s differences and otherness. Another influential factor relates with the amount of time they spend together, since the program does not have a resource room or a teacher who teaches parallel lessons. Two probable causes for that rather equal peer relation might be the constellation of fewer pupils per classroom and the differentiated lessons taught by teachers with a special educational formation.

Keywords: alterity, disability, inverted inclusion, peers’ relation

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Authors: Nizamuddin Zainuddin, Adam Mohd Saifudin, Ahmad Yusni Bahaudin, Mohd Hanizan Zalazilah, Roslan Jamaluddin

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Students’ enhanced experience through simulation is a crucial factor that brings reality to the classroom. The enhanced experience is all about developing, enriching and applications of a generic process flow in the field of logistics and transportations. As educational technology has improved, the effective use of simulations has greatly increased to the point where simulations should be considered a valuable, mainstream pedagogical tool. Additionally, in this era of ongoing (some say never-ending) assessment, simulations offer a rich resource for objective measurement and comparisons. Simulation is not just another in the long line of passing fads (or short-term opportunities) in educational technology. It is rather a real key to helping our students understand the world. It is a way for students to acquire experience about how things and systems in the world behave and react, without actually touching them. In short, it is about interactive pretending. Simulation is all about representing the real world which includes grasping the complex issues and solving intricate problems. Therefore, it is crucial before stimulate the real process of inbound and outbound logistics and transportation a generic process flow shall be developed. The paper will be focusing on the validization of the process flow by looking at the inputs gains from the sample. The sampling of the study focuses on multi-national and local manufacturing companies, third party companies (3PL) and government agency, which are selected in Peninsular Malaysia. A simulation flow chart was proposed in the study that will be the generic flow in logistics and transportation. A qualitative approach was mainly conducted to gather data in the study. It was found out from the study that the systems used in the process of outbound and inbound are System Application Products (SAP) and Material Requirement Planning (MRP). Furthermore there were some companies using Enterprises Resources Planning (ERP) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) as part of the Suppliers Own Inventories (SOI) networking as a result of globalized business between one countries to another. Computerized documentations and transactions were all mandatory requirement by the Royal Custom and Excise Department. The generic process flow will be the basis of developing a simulation program that shall be used in the classroom with the objective of further enhanced the students’ learning experience. Thus it will contributes to the body of knowledge on the enrichment of the student’s employability and also shall be one of the way to train new workers in the logistics and transportation filed.

Keywords: enhancement, simulation, process flow, logistics, transportation

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Authors: Fateme Aysin Anka, Farzad Kiani

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Forced migration is a situation in which people are forced to leave their homes against their will due to political conflicts, wars and conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, economic crises, or other emergencies. This type of migration takes place under conditions where people cannot lead a sustainable life due to reasons such as security, shelter and meeting their basic needs. This type of migration may occur in connection with different factors that affect people's living conditions. In addition to these general and widespread reasons, water security and resources will be one that is starting now and will be encountered more and more in the future. Forced migration may occur due to insufficient or depleted water resources in the areas where people live. In this case, people's living conditions become unsustainable, and they may have to go elsewhere, as they cannot obtain their basic needs, such as drinking water, water used for agriculture and industry. To cope with these situations, it is important to minimize the causes, as international organizations and societies must provide assistance (for example, humanitarian aid, shelter, medical support and education) and protection to address (or mitigate) this problem. From the international perspective, plans such as the Green New Deal (GND) and the European Green Deal (EGD) draw attention to the need for people to live equally in a cleaner and greener world. Especially recently, with the advancement of technology, science and methods have become more efficient. In this regard, in this article, a multidisciplinary case model is presented by reinforcing the water problem with an engineering approach within the framework of the social dimension. It is worth emphasizing that this problem is largely linked to climate change and the lack of a sustainable water management perspective. As a matter of fact, the United Nations Development Agency (UNDA) draws attention to this problem in its universally accepted sustainable development goals. Therefore, an artificial intelligence-based approach has been applied to solve this problem by focusing on the water management problem. The most general but also important aspect in the management of water resources is its correct consumption. In this context, the artificial intelligence-based system undertakes tasks such as water demand forecasting and distribution management, emergency and crisis management, water pollution detection and prevention, and maintenance and repair control and forecasting.

Keywords: water resource management, forced migration, multidisciplinary studies, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Saem Lee, Thanh Nguyen, Hio-Jung Shin, Thomas Koellner

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Land-use management has an influence on the provision of ecosystem service in dynamic, agricultural landscapes. Agricultural land use is important for maintaining the productivity and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. However, in Korea, intensive farming activities in this highland agricultural zone, the upper stream of Soyang has led to contaminated soil caused by over-use pesticides and fertilizers. This has led to decrease in water and soil quality, which has consequences for ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Conventional farming has still high percentage in this area and there is no special measure to prevent low water quality caused by farming activities. Therefore, the adoption of environmentally friendly farming has been considered one of the alternatives that lead to improved water quality and increase in biomass production. Concurrently, farm households with environmentally friendly farming have occupied still low rates. Therefore, our research involved a farm household survey spanning conventional farming, the farm in transition and organic farming in Soyang watershed. Another purpose of our research was to compare economic advantage of the farmers adopting environmentally friendly farming and non-adaptors and to investigate the different factors by logistic regression analysis with socio-economic and benefit-cost ratio variables. The results found that farmers with environmentally friendly farming tended to be younger than conventional farming and farmer in transition. They are similar in terms of gender which was predominately male. Farmers with environmentally friendly farming were more educated and had less farming experience than conventional farming and farmer in transition. Based on the benefit-cost analysis, total costs that farm in transition farmers spent for one year are about two times as much as the sum of costs in environmentally friendly farming. The benefit of organic farmers was assessed with 2,800 KRW per household per year. In logistic regression, the factors having statistical significance are subsidy and district, residence period and benefit-cost ratio. And district and residence period have the negative impact on the practice of environmentally friendly farming techniques. The results of our research make a valuable contribution to provide important information to describe Korean policy-making for agricultural and water management and to consider potential approaches to policy that would substantiate ways beneficial for sustainable resource management.

Keywords: organic farming, logistic regression, profitability, agricultural land-use

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Authors: Dhruvit S. Berawala, Jann R. Ursin, Obrad Slijepcevic

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Shale gas is one of the most rapidly growing forms of natural gas. Unconventional natural gas deposits are difficult to characterize overall, but in general are often lower in resource concentration and dispersed over large areas. Moreover, gas is densely packed into the matrix through adsorption which accounts for large volume of gas reserves. Gas production from tight shale deposits are made possible by extensive and deep well fracturing which contacts large fractions of the formation. The conventional reservoir modelling and production forecasting methods, which rely on fluid-flow processes dominated by viscous forces, have proved to be very pessimistic and inaccurate. This paper presents a new approach to forecast shale gas production by detailed modeling of gas desorption, diffusion and non-linear flow mechanisms in combination with statistical representation of these processes. The representation of the model involves a cube as a porous media where free gas is present and a sphere (SiC: Sphere in Cube model) inside it where gas is adsorbed on to the kerogen or organic matter. Further, the sphere is considered consisting of many layers of adsorbed gas in an onion-like structure. With pressure decline, the gas desorbs first from the outer most layer of sphere causing decrease in its molecular concentration. The new available surface area and change in concentration triggers the diffusion of gas from kerogen. The process continues until all the gas present internally diffuses out of the kerogen, gets adsorbs onto available surface area and then desorbs into the nanopores and micro-fractures in the cube. Each SiC idealizes a gas pathway and is characterized by sphere diameter and length of the cube. The diameter allows to model gas storage, diffusion and desorption; the cube length takes into account the pathway for flow in nanopores and micro-fractures. Many of these representative but general cells of the reservoir are put together and linked to a well or hydraulic fracture. The paper quantitatively describes these processes as well as clarifies the geological conditions under which a successful shale gas production could be expected. A numerical model has been derived which is then compiled on FORTRAN to develop a simulator for the production of shale gas by considering the spheres as a source term in each of the grid blocks. By applying SiC to field data, we demonstrate that the model provides an effective way to quickly access gas production rates from shale formations. We also examine the effect of model input properties on gas production.

Keywords: adsorption, diffusion, non-linear flow, shale gas production

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Authors: Rahil Bahrami, Kaveh Ashenayi

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This paper presents a systematic classification and comparative analysis of non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converters. The increasing demand for efficient energy conversion in diverse applications has spurred the development of various converter topologies. In this study, we categorize bi-directional converters into three distinct classes: Inverting, Non-Inverting, and Interleaved. Each category is characterized by its unique operational characteristics and benefits. Furthermore, a practical comparison is conducted by evaluating the results of simulation of each bi-directional converter. BDCs can be classified into isolated and non-isolated topologies. Non-isolated converters share a common ground between input and output, making them suitable for applications with minimal voltage change. They are easy to integrate, lightweight, and cost-effective but have limitations like limited voltage gain, switching losses, and no protection against high voltages. Isolated converters use transformers to separate input and output, offering safety benefits, high voltage gain, and noise reduction. They are larger and more costly but are essential for automotive designs where safety is crucial. The paper focuses on non-isolated systems.The paper discusses the classification of non-isolated bidirectional converters based on several criteria. Common factors used for classification include topology, voltage conversion, control strategy, power capacity, voltage range, and application. These factors serve as a foundation for categorizing converters, although the specific scheme might vary depending on contextual, application, or system-specific requirements. The paper presents a three-category classification for non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converters: inverting, non-inverting, and interleaved. In the inverting category, converters produce an output voltage with reversed polarity compared to the input voltage, achieved through specific circuit configurations and control strategies. This is valuable in applications such as motor control and grid-tied solar systems. The non-inverting category consists of converters maintaining the same voltage polarity, useful in scenarios like battery equalization. Lastly, the interleaved category employs parallel converter stages to enhance power delivery and reduce current ripple. This classification framework enhances comprehension and analysis of non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converters. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the trade-offs and merits associated with different converter types. As a result, this work aids researchers, practitioners, and engineers in selecting appropriate bi-directional converter solutions for specific energy conversion requirements. The proposed classification framework and experimental assessment collectively enhance the comprehension of non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converters, fostering advancements in efficient power management and utilization.The simulation process involves the utilization of PSIM to model and simulate non-isolated bi-directional converter from both inverted and non-inverted category. The aim is to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of these converters, considering key performance indicators such as rise time, efficiency, ripple factor, and maximum error. This systematic evaluation provides valuable insights into the dynamic response, energy efficiency, output stability, and overall precision of the converters. The results of this comparison facilitate informed decision-making and potential optimizations, ensuring that the chosen converter configuration aligns effectively with the designated operational criteria and performance goals.

Keywords: bi-directional, DC-DC converter, non-isolated, energy conversion

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Authors: Sana Rezig, Yosr Ben Mlik, Mounir Jaouadi, Foued Khoffi, Slah Msahli, Bernard Durand

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Increasing interest in environmental concerns, natural fibers are once again being considered as reinforcements for polymer composites. The main objective of this study is to explore another natural resource, Typha fiber; which is renewable without production cost and available abundantly in nature. The aim of this study was to study the flexural properties of composite resin with and without reinforcing Typha leaf and stem fibers. The specimens were made by the hand-lay-up process using polyester matrix. In our work, we focused on the effect of various treatment conditions (sea water, alkali treatment and a combination of the two treatments), as a surface modifier, on the flexural properties of the Typha fibers reinforced polyester composites. Moreover, weight ratio of Typha leaf or stem fibers was investigated. Besides, both fibers from leaf and stem of Typha plant were used to evaluate the reinforcing effect. Another parameter, which is reinforcement structure, was investigated. In fact, a first composite was made with air-laid nonwoven structure of fibers. A second composite was with a mixture of fibers and resin for each kind of treatment. Results show that alkali treatment and combined process provided better mechanical properties of composites in comparison with fiber treated by sea water. The fiber weight ratio influenced the flexural properties of composites. Indeed, a maximum value of flexural strength of 69.8 and 62,32 MPa with flexural modulus of 6.16 and 6.34 GPawas observed respectively for composite reinforced with leaf and stem fibers for 12.6 % fiber weight ratio. For the different treatments carried out, the treatment using caustic soda, whether alone or after retting seawater, show the best results because it improves adhesion between the polyester matrix and the fibers of reinforcement. SEM photographs were made to ascertain the effects of the surface treatment of the fibers. By varying the structure of the fibers of Typha, the reinforcement used in bulk shows more effective results as that used in the non-woven structure. In addition, flexural strength rises with about (65.32 %) in the case of composite reinforced with a mixture of 12.6% leaf fibers and (27.45 %) in the case of a composite reinforced with a nonwoven structure of 12.6 % of leaf fibers. Thus, to better evaluate the effect of the fiber origin, the reinforcing structure, the processing performed and the reinforcement factor on the performance of composite materials, a statistical study was performed using Minitab. Thus, ANOVA was used, and the patterns of the main effects of these parameters and interaction between them were established. Statistical analysis, the fiber treatment and reinforcement structure seem to be the most significant parameters.

Keywords: flexural properties, fiber treatment, structure and weight ratio, SEM photographs, Typha leaf and stem fibers

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Authors: Volker Landersheim, Daria Manushyna, Thinh Pham, Dai-Duong Tran, Thomas Geury, Omar Hegazy, Steven Wilkins

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Air pollution is one of the emerging problems in our society. Targets of reduction of CO₂ emissions address low-carbon and resource-efficient transport. (Plug-in) hybrid electric propulsion concepts offer the possibility to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and emissions for public transport vehicles (e.g., bus application). In this context, typically, diesel engines are used to form the hybrid propulsion system of the vehicle. Though the technological development of diesel engines experience major advantages, some challenges such as the high amount of particle emissions remain relevant. Gaseous fuels (i.e., compressed natural gases (CNGs) or liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) represent an attractive alternative to diesel because of their composition. In the framework of the research project 'Optimised Real-world Cost-Competitive Modular Hybrid Architecture' (ORCA), which was funded by the EU, two different hybrid-electric propulsion concepts have been investigated: one using a diesel engine as internal combustion engine and one using CNG as fuel. The aim of the current study is to analyze specific benefits for the aforementioned hybrid propulsion systems for predefined driving scenarios with regard to emissions and total cost of ownership in bus application. Engine models based on experimental data for diesel and CNG were developed. For the purpose of designing optimal energy management strategies for each propulsion system, maps-driven or quasi-static models for specific engine types are used in the simulation framework. An analogous modelling approach has been chosen to represent emissions. This paper compares the two concepts regarding their CO₂ and NOx emissions. This comparison is performed for relevant bus missions (urban, suburban, with and without zero-emission zone) and with different energy management strategies. In addition to the emissions, also the downsizing potential of the combustion engine has been analysed to minimize the powertrain TCO (pTCO) for plug-in hybrid electric buses. The results of the performed analyses show that the hybrid vehicle concept using the CNG engine shows advantages both with respect to emissions as well as to pTCO. The pTCO is 10% lower, CO₂ emissions are 13% lower, and the NOx emissions are more than 50% lower than with the diesel combustion engine. These results are consistent across all usage profiles under investigation.

Keywords: bus transport, emissions, hybrid propulsion, pTCO, CNG

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Authors: Heather Fulford, Melanie Liddell

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The recruitment and retention of high quality employees can prove to be challenging for social enterprises, particularly in some of the core business support functions such as marketing, communications, IT and finance. This holds true for social enterprises in urban contexts, where roles with more attractive remuneration in these business functions can often be found quite readily in the private sector. For social enterprises situated in rural locations, the challenges of staff recruitment and retention are even more acute. Such challenges can lead to a skills deficit in rural social enterprises, which can, at best, hinder their growth potential, and worse, jeopardise their chances of survival. This in turn, can have a negative impact on the sustainability and resilience of the surrounding rural community in which the social enterprise is located. The purpose of this paper is to report on aspects of a collaborative initiative established to stimulate innovation and business growth in remote rural businesses in Scotland. Launched in 2010, this initiative was designed to attract young students and graduates from the region to stay in the region upon completion of their studies, and to attract others from outside the region to re-locate there post-university. To facilitate this, SMEs in the region were offered wage subsidies to encourage them to recruit a student or graduate on a work placement for up to one year to participate in an innovation or business growth-oriented project. A number of the employers offering work placements were social enterprises. Through analysis of the placement project and role specifications devised by the participating social enterprises, an overview is provided of their business development needs and the skills they require to stimulate innovation and growth. Scrutiny of the reflective accounts compiled by the students and graduates at the close of their work placements highlights the benefits they derived from being able to put their academic knowledge and skills into action within a social enterprise. Examination of interviews conducted with a sample of placement employers reveals the contribution the students and graduates made during the business development projects with the social enterprises. The challenges of hosting such placements are also discussed. The paper concludes with indications of the lessons learned and an outline of the wider implications for other remote rural locations in which social enterprises play an important role in the local economy and life of the community.

Keywords: resilience, rural development, regeneration, regional development, recruitment, resource management, retention, remuneration

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Authors: Jerzy Bański

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Central and Eastern European agriculture is characterized by large spatial variations in the structure of agricultural land and the structure of crops on arable land. In general, field crops predominate among the land used for agriculture. In the southern part of the study area, permanent crops have a relatively large share, which is due to favorable climatic conditions. Clear differences between the north and south of the region concern the structure of crop cultivation. In the north, the cultivation of cereals, mainly wheat, definitely prevails. In the south of the region, on the other hand, the structure of crops is more diverse, as more industrial crops are grown in addition to cereals. The primary cognitive objective of the study is to diagnose and identify the directions of changes in the structure of agricultural land use in the CEE region. Particular attention was paid to the spatial differentiation of this structure and its importance in its formation of various conditions. The analysis included the basic elements of the structure of agricultural land use and the structure of crops on arable land. The decrease in the area of arable land is characteristic of the entire region and is the result of the territorial growth of cities, the development of communications infrastructure (rail and road), and the increase in the rationality of crop production involving, among other things, the exclusion from the cultivation of land with the lowest agro-ecological values and their afforestation. It can be summarized that the directions of changes in the basic categories of agricultural land are related to agro-ecological conditions, which indicates an increase in the rationality of crop production. In countries with lower-quality of agricultural production space, the share of grassland generally increased, while in countries with favorable conditions -mainly soil- the share of arable land increased. As for the structure of field crops, the direction of its changes seems to be mainly due to economic and social reasons. Ownership changes shaping an unfavorable agrarian structure (fragmentation and fragmentation of arable fields) and the process of aging of the rural population resulted in the abandonment of resource- and labor-intensive crops. As a result, the importance of growing fruits and vegetables, and potatoes has declined. The structure of vegetable crops has been greatly influenced by the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union. This is primarily the increase in the importance of oil crops (rapeseed and sunflower) related to biofuel production. In the case of cereal crops, the main direction of change was the increase in the share of wheat at the expense of other cereal species.

Keywords: agriculture, land use, Central and Eastern Europe, crops, arable land

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Authors: A. M. Tarola, R. Preti, A. M. Girelli, P. Campana

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Safeguarding, studying and enhancing biodiversity play an important and indispensable role in re-launching agriculture. The ancient local varieties are therefore a precious resource for genetic and health improvement. In order to protect biodiversity through the recovery and valorization of autochthonous varieties, in this study we analyzed 12 samples of four ancient apple cultivars representative of Friuli Venezia Giulia, selected by local farmers who work on a project for the recovery of ancient apple cultivars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the polyphenolic profile and the antioxidant capacity that characterize the organoleptic and functional qualities of this fruit species, besides having beneficial properties for health. In particular, for each variety, the following compounds were analyzed, both in the skins and in the pulp: gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin, phlorizin, phloretin and quercetin to highlight any differences in the edible parts of the apple. The analysis of individual phenolic compounds was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a diode array UV detector (DAD), the antioxidant capacity was estimated using an in vitro essay based on a Free Radical Scavenging Method and the total phenolic compounds was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method. From the results, it is evident that the catechins are the most present polyphenols, reaching a value of 140-200 μg/g in the pulp and of 400-500 μg/g in the skin, with the prevalence of epicatechin. Catechins and phlorizin, a dihydrohalcone typical of apples, are always contained in larger quantities in the peel. Total phenolic compounds content was positively correlated with antioxidant activity in apple pulp (r² = 0,850) and peel (r² = 0,820). Comparing the results, differences between the varieties analyzed and between the edible parts (pulp and peel) of the apple were highlighted. In particular, apple peel is richer in polyphenolic compounds than pulp and flavonols are exclusively present in the peel. In conclusion, polyphenols, being antioxidant substances, have confirmed the benefits of fruit in the diet, especially as a prevention and treatment for degenerative diseases. They demonstrated to be also a good marker for the characterization of different apple cultivars. The importance of protecting biodiversity in agriculture was also highlighted through the exploitation of native products and ancient varieties of apples now forgotten.

Keywords: apple, biodiversity, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, HPLC-DAD, characterization

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Authors: Fatemeh Moosavi, Tumelo Franck Nkoshwane

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Peter Drucker the renowned management guru once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Mr. Drucker is also the man who placed human capital as the most vital resource of any institution. As such any institution bent on creating a better future, requires a competent human capital, one that is able to execute with efficiency and effectiveness the objective a society aspires to. Technology today is accelerating the rate at which many societies transition to knowledge based societies. In this accelerated paradigm, it is imperative that those in leadership establish a platform capable of sustaining the planned future; intellectual capital. The capitalist economy going into the future will not just be sustained by dollars and cents, but by individuals who possess the creativity to enterprise, innovate and create wealth from ideas. This calls for cities of the future, to have this premise at the heart of their future plan, if the objective of designing sustainable and liveable future cities will be realised. The knowledge economy, now transitioning to the creative economy, requires cities of the future to be ‘gardens’ of inspiration, to be places where knowledge, creativity, and innovation can thrive as these instruments are becoming critical assets for creating wealth in the new economic system. Developing nations must accept that learning is a lifelong process that requires keeping abreast with change and should invest in teaching people how to keep learning. The need to continuously update one’s knowledge, turn these cities into vibrant societies, where new ideas create knowledge and in turn enriches the quality of life of the residents. Cities of the future must have as one of their objectives, the ability to motivate their citizens to learn, share knowledge, evaluate the knowledge and use it to create wealth for a just society. The five functional factors suggested by Kevin Lynch;-vitality, meaning/sense, adaptability, access, control, and monitoring should form the basis on which policy makers and urban designers base their plans for future cities. The authors of this paper believe that developing nations “creative economy clusters”, cities where creative industries drive the need for constant new knowledge creating sustainable learning creative cities. Obviously the form, shape and size of these districts should be cognisant of the environmental, cultural and economic characteristics of each locale. Gaborone city in the republic of Botswana is presented as the case study for this paper.

Keywords: learning city, sustainable creative city, creative industry, good city form

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Authors: U. Isyaku, C. Upton, J. Dickinson

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Critical institutional approach for understanding pathways to shared prosperity among forest communities enabled questioning the underlying rational choice assumptions that have dominated traditional institutional thinking in natural resources management. Common pool resources framing assumes that communities as social groups share collective interests and values towards achieving greater development. Hence, policies related to natural resources management in the global South prioritise economic prosperity by focusing on how to maximise material benefits and improve the livelihood options of resource dependent communities. Recent trends in commodification and marketization of ecosystem goods and services into tradable natural capital and incentivising conservation are structured in this paradigm. Several researchers however, have problematized this emerging market-based model because it undermines cultural basis for protecting natural ecosystems. By exploring how forest people’s motivations for conservation differ within the context of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) project in Nigeria, we aim to provide an alternative approach to conceptualising prosperity beyond the traditional economic thinking. Through in depth empirical work over seven months with five communities in Nigeria’s Cross River State, Q methodology was used to uncover communities’ perspectives and meanings of forest values that underpin contemporary and historic conservation practices, expected benefits, and willingness to participate in the REDD+ process. Our study finds six discourses about forest and conservation values that transcend wealth creation, poverty reduction and livelihoods. We argue that communities’ decisions about forest conservation consist of a complex mixture of economic, emotional, moral, and ecological justice concerns that constitute new meanings and dimensions of prosperity. Prosperity is thus reconfigured as having socio-cultural and psychological pathways that could be derived through place identity and attachment, connectedness to nature, family ties, and ability to participate in everyday social life. We therefore suggest that natural resources policy making and development interventions should consider institutional arrangements that also include the psycho-cultural dimensions of prosperity among diverse community groups.

Keywords: critical institutionalism, Q methodology, REDD+, shared prosperity

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Authors: Mohamed Ahmed M. Azab

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The shortage of fresh water is a major problem in several areas of the world such as arid regions and coastal zones in several countries of Arabian Gulf. Fortunately, arid regions are exposed to high levels of solar irradiation most the year, which makes the utilization of solar energy a promising solution to such problem with zero harmful emission (Green System). The main objective of this work is to conduct a feasibility study of utilizing small autonomous water desalination units powered by photovoltaic modules as a green renewable energy resource to be employed in different isolated zones as a source of drinking water for some scattered societies where the installation of huge desalination stations are discarded owing to the unavailability of electric grid. Yanbu City is chosen as a case study where the Renewable Energy Center exists and equipped with all sensors to assess the availability of solar energy all over the year. The study included two types of available water: the first type is brackish well water and the second type is seawater of coastal regions. In the case of well water, two versions of desalination units are involved in the study: the first version is based on day operation only. While the second version takes into consideration night operation also, which requires energy storage system as batteries to provide the necessary electric power at night. According to the feasibility study results, it is found that utilization of small autonomous desalinations unit is applicable and economically accepted in the case of brackish well water. While in the case of seawater the capital costs are extremely high and the cost of desalinated water will not be economically feasible unless governmental subsidies are provided. In addition, the study indicated that, for the same water production, the utilization of energy storage version (day-night) adds additional capital cost for batteries, and extra running cost for their replacement, which makes the unit price not only incompetent with day-only unit but also with conventional units powered by diesel generator (fossil fuel) owing to the low prices of fuel in the kingdom. However, the cost analysis shows that the price of the produced water per cubic meter of day-night unit is similar to that produced from the day-only unit provided that the day-night unit operates theoretically for a longer period of 50%.

Keywords: solar energy, water desalination, reverse osmosis, arid regions

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Authors: A. B. Moldes, X. Vecino, L. Rodriguez-López, J. M. Dominguez, J. M. Cruz

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The concept of the circular economy is focus on the importance of providing goods and services sustainably. Thus, in a future it will be necessary to respond to the environmental contamination and to the use of renewables substrates by moving to a more restorative economic system that drives towards the utilization and revalorization of residues to obtain valuable products. During its evolution our industrial economy has hardly moved through one major characteristic, established in the early days of industrialization, based on a linear model of resource consumption. However, this industrial consumption system will not be maintained during long time. On the other hand, there are many industries, like the corn milling industry, that although does not consume high amount of non renewable substrates, they produce valuable streams that treated accurately, they could provide additional, economical and environmental, benefits by the extraction of interesting commercial renewable products, that can replace some of the substances obtained by chemical synthesis, using non renewable substrates. From this point of view, the use of streams from corn milling industry to obtain surface-active compounds will decrease the utilization of non-renewables sources for obtaining this kind of compounds, contributing to a circular and global economy. However, the success of the circular economy depends on the interest of the industrial sectors in the revalorization of their streams by developing relevant and new business models. Thus, it is necessary to invest in the research of new alternatives that reduce the consumption of non-renewable substrates. In this study is proposed the utilization of a corn milling industry stream to obtain an extract with surfactant capacity. Once the biosurfactant is extracted, the corn milling stream can be commercialized as nutritional media in biotechnological process or as animal feed supplement. Usually this stream is combined with other ingredients obtaining a product namely corn gluten feed or may be sold separately as a liquid protein source for beef and dairy feeding, or as a nutritional pellet binder. Following the productive scheme proposed in this work, the corn milling industry will obtain a biosurfactant extract that could be incorporated in its productive process replacing those chemical detergents, used in some point of its productive chain, or it could be commercialized as a new product of the corn manufacture. The biosurfactants obtained from corn milling industry could replace the chemical surfactants in many formulations, and uses, and it supposes an example of the potential that many industrial streams could offer for obtaining valuable products when they are manage properly.

Keywords: biosurfactantes, circular economy, corn, sustainability

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Authors: Julia R. Beulig, Stefan Ohla, Detlev Belder

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In contrast to off-line analytical methods, lab-on-a-chip technology delivers direct information about the observed reaction. Therefore, microfluidic devices make an important scientific contribution, e.g. in the field of synthetic chemistry. Herein, the rapid generation of analytical data can be applied for the optimization of chemical reactions. These microfluidic devices enable a fast change of reaction conditions as well as a resource saving method of operation. In the presented work, we focus on the investigation of multiphase regimes, more specifically on a biphasic microfluidic droplet systems. Here, every single droplet is a reaction container with customized conditions. The biggest challenge is the rapid qualitative and quantitative readout of information as most detection techniques for droplet systems are non-specific, time-consuming or too slow. An exception is the electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The combination of a reaction screening platform with a rapid and specific detection method is an important step in droplet-based microfluidics. In this work, we present a novel approach for synthesis optimization on the nanoliter scale with direct ESI-MS detection. The development of a droplet-based microfluidic device, which enables the modification of different parameters while simultaneously monitoring the effect on the reaction within a single run, is shown. By common soft- and photolithographic techniques a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chip with different functionalities is developed. As an interface for the MS detection, we use a steel capillary for ESI and improve the spray stability with a Teflon siphon tubing, which is inserted underneath the steel capillary. By optimizing the flow rates, it is possible to screen parameters of various reactions, this is exemplarity shown by a Domino Knoevenagel Hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. Different starting materials, catalyst concentrations and solvent compositions are investigated. Due to the high repetition rate of the droplet production, each set of reaction condition is examined hundreds of times. As a result, of the investigation, we receive possible reagents, the ideal water-methanol ratio of the solvent and the most effective catalyst concentration. The developed system can help to determine important information about the optimal parameters of a reaction within a short time. With this novel tool, we make an important step on the field of combining droplet-based microfluidics with organic reaction screening.

Keywords: droplet, mass spectrometry, microfluidics, organic reaction, screening

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Authors: Antonio Davola

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Moving from the evaluations operated by Richard Posner in his judgment on the case Carhart v. Halaska, the paper seeks to analyse the so-called ‘litigation troll’ phenomenon and the development of a damage claims market, i.e. a market in which the right to propose claims is voluntary exchangeable for money and can be asserted by private buyers. The aim of our study is to assess whether the implementation of a ‘damage claims market’ might represent a resource for victims or if, on the contrary, it might operate solely as a speculation tool for private investors. The analysis will move from the US experience, and will then focus on the EU framework. Firstly, the paper will analyse the relation between the litigation troll phenomenon and the patent troll activity: even though these activities are considered similar by Posner, a comparative study shows how these practices significantly differ in their impact on the market and on consumer protection, even moving from similar economic perspectives. The second part of the paper will focus on the main specific concerns related to the litigation trolling activity. The main issues that will be addressed are the risk that the circulation of damage claims might spur non-meritorious litigation and the implications of the misalignment between the victim of a tort and the actual plaintiff in court arising from the sale of a claim. In its third part, the paper will then focus on the opportunities and benefits that the introduction and regulation of a claims market might imply both for potential claims sellers and buyers, in order to ultimately assess whether such a solution might actually increase individual’s legal empowerment. Through the damage claims market compensation would be granted more quickly and easily to consumers who had suffered harm: tort victims would, in fact, be compensated instantly upon the sale of their claims without any burden of proof. On the other hand, claim-buyers would profit from the gap between the amount that a consumer would accept for an immediate refund and the compensation awarded in court. In the fourth part of the paper, the analysis will focus on the legal legitimacy of the litigation trolling activity in the US and the EU framework. Even though there is no express provision that forbids the sale of the right to pursue a claim in court - or that deems such a right to be non-transferable – procedural laws of single States (especially in the EU panorama) must be taken into account in evaluating this aspect. The fifth and final part of the paper will summarize the various data collected to suggest an evaluation on if, and through which normative solutions, the litigation trolling might comport benefits for competition and which would be its overall effect over consumer’s protection.

Keywords: competition, claims, consumer's protection, litigation

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: P. Ramesh, Aby Joseph, Arya G. Lal, U. S. Aji

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Integration of distributed green renewable energy sources in addition with battery energy storage is an inevitable requirement in a smart grid environment. To achieve this, an Intelligent Green Energy Management System (i-GEMS) needs to be incorporated to ensure coordinated operation between supply and load demand based on the hierarchy of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), battery energy storage and distribution grid. A bi-directional energy harvester is an integral component facilitating Intelligent Green Energy Management System (i-GEMS) and it is required to meet the technical challenges mentioned as follows: (1) capability for bi-directional mode of operation (buck/boost) (2) reduction of circuit parasitic to suppress voltage spikes (3) converter startup problem (4) high frequency magnetics (5) higher power density (6) mode transition issues during battery charging and discharging. This paper is focused to address the above mentioned issues and targeted to design, develop and implement a bi-directional energy harvester with galvanic isolation. In this work, the hardware architecture for bi-directional energy harvester rated 3.5 kW is developed with Isolated Full Bridge Boost Converter (IFBBC) as well as Dual Active Bridge (DAB) Converter configuration using modular power electronics hardware which is identical for both solar PV array and battery energy storage. In IFBBC converter, the current fed full bridge circuit is enabled and voltage fed full bridge circuit is disabled through Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) pulses for boost mode of operation and vice-versa for buck mode of operation. In DAB converter, all the switches are in active state so as to adjust the phase shift angle between primary full bridge and secondary full bridge which in turn decides the power flow directions depending on modes (boost/buck) of operation. Here, the control algorithm is developed to ensure the regulation of the common DC link voltage and maximum power extraction from the renewable energy sources depending on the selected mode (buck/boost) of operation. The circuit analysis and simulation study are conducted using PSIM 9.0 in three scenarios which are - 1.IFBBC with passive clamp, 2. IFBBC with active clamp, 3. DAB converter. In this work, a common hardware prototype for bi-directional energy harvester with 3.5 kW rating is built for IFBBC and DAB converter configurations. The power circuit is equipped with right choice of MOSFETs, gate drivers with galvanic isolation, high frequency transformer, filter capacitors, and filter boost inductor. The experiment was conducted for IFBBC converter with passive clamp under boost mode and the prototype confirmed the simulation results showing the measured efficiency as 88% at 2.5 kW output power. The digital controller hardware platform is developed using floating point microcontroller TMS320F2806x from Texas Instruments. The firmware governing the operation of the bi-directional energy harvester is written in C language and developed using code composer studio. The comprehensive analyses of the power circuit design, control strategy for battery charging/discharging under buck/boost modes and comparative performance evaluation using simulation and experimental results will be presented.

Keywords: bi-directional energy harvester, dual active bridge, isolated full bridge boost converter, intelligent green energy management system, maximum power point tracking, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Mona Rashidirad, Hamid Salimian

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Dynamic capabilities, as the most considerable capabilities of firms in the current fast-moving economy may not be sufficient for performance improvement, but their contribution to performance is undeniable. While much of the extant literature investigates the impact of dynamic capabilities on organisational performance, little attention has been devoted to understand whether and how dynamic capabilities create value. Dynamic capabilities as the mirror of competitive strategies should enable firms to search and seize new ideas, integrate and coordinate the firm’s resources and capabilities in order to create value. A careful investigation to the existing knowledge base remains us puzzled regarding the relationship among competitive strategies, dynamic capabilities and value creation. This study thus attempts to fill in this gap by empirically investigating the impact of dynamic capabilities on value creation and the mediating impact of competitive strategy on this relationship. We aim to contribute to dynamic capability view (DCV), in both theoretical and empirical senses, by exploring the impact of dynamic capabilities on firms’ value creation and whether competitive strategy can play any role in strengthening/weakening this relationship. Using a sample of 491 firms in the UK telecommunications market, the results demonstrate that dynamic sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating capabilities play a significant role in firm’s value creation, and competitive strategy mediates the impact of dynamic capabilities on value creation. Adopting DCV, this study investigates whether the value generating from dynamic capabilities depends on firms’ competitive strategy. This study argues a firm’s competitive strategy can mediate its ability to derive value from its dynamic capabilities and it explains the extent a firm’s competitive strategy may influence its value generation. The results of the dynamic capabilities-value relationships support our expectations and justify the non-financial value added of the four dynamic capability processes in a highly turbulent market, such as UK telecommunications. Our analytical findings of the relationship among dynamic capabilities, competitive strategy and value creation provide further evidence of the undeniable role of competitive strategy in deriving value from dynamic capabilities. The results reinforce the argument for the need to consider the mediating impact of organisational contextual factors, such as firm’s competitive strategy to examine how they interact with dynamic capabilities to deliver value. The findings of this study provide significant contributions to theory. Unlike some previous studies which conceptualise dynamic capabilities as a unidimensional construct, this study demonstrates the benefits of understanding the details of the link among the four types of dynamic capabilities, competitive strategy and value creation. In terms of contributions to managerial practices, this research draws attention to the importance of competitive strategy in conjunction with development and deployment of dynamic capabilities to create value. Managers are now equipped with solid empirical evidence which explains why DCV has become essential to firms in today’s business world.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities, resource based theory, value creation, competitive strategy

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Authors: Hsiao-Ting Huang, Chang Hsueh-Sheng

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Taiwan is an island country which is affected by the monsoon deeply. Under the climate change, the frequency of extreme rainstorm by typhoon becomes more and more often Since 2000. When the extreme rainstorm comes, it will cause serious damage in Taiwan, especially in urban area. It is suffered by the flooding and the government take it as the urgent issue. On the past, the land use of urban planning does not take flood-detention into consideration. With the development of the city, the impermeable surface increase and most of the people live in urban area. It means there is the highly vulnerability in the urban area, but it cannot deal with the surface runoff and the flooding. However, building the detention pond in hydraulic engineering way to solve the problem is not feasible in urban area. The land expropriation is the most expensive construction of the detention pond in the urban area, and the government cannot afford it. Therefore, the management strategy of flooding in urban area should use the existing resource, public facilities land. It can archive the performance of flood-detention through providing the public facilities land with the detention function. As multi-use public facilities land, it also can show the combination of the land use and water agency. To this purpose, this research generalizes the factors of multi-use for public facilities land as flood-detention space with literature review. The factors can be divided into two categories: environmental factors and conditions of public facilities. Environmental factors including three factors: the terrain elevation, the inundation potential and the distance from the drainage system. In the other hand, there are six factors for conditions of public facilities, including area, building rate, the maximum of available ratio etc. Each of them will be according to it characteristic to given the weight for the land use suitability analysis. This research selects the rules of combination from the logical combination. After this process, it can be classified into three suitability levels. Then, three suitability levels will input to the physiographic inundation model for simulating the evaluation of flood-detention respectively. This study tries to respond the urgent issue in urban area and establishes a model of multi-use for public facilities land as flood-detention through the systematic research process of this study. The result of this study can tell which combination of the suitability level is more efficacious. Besides, The model is not only standing on the side of urban planners but also add in the point of view from water agency. Those findings may serve as basis for land use indicators and decision-making references for concerned government agencies.

Keywords: flooding management strategy, land use suitability analysis, multi-use for public facilities land, physiographic inundation model

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Authors: Anne Hovgaard Jorgensen

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This study investigates how Muslim fathers in Denmark are struggling to overcome notions of mistrust from teachers and educators. Starting from school-home-cooperation (parent conferences, school-home communication, etc.), the study finds that many Muslim fathers do not feel acknowledged as a resource in the upbringing of their children. To explain these experiences further, the study suggest the notion of ‘mistrusted masculinity’ to grasp the controlling image these fathers meet in various schools and child-care-institutions in the Danish Welfare state. The paper is based on 9 months of fieldwork in a Danish school, a social housing area and in various ‘father groups’ in Denmark. Additional, 50 interviews were conducted with fathers, children, mothers, schoolteachers, and educators. By using Connell's concepts 'hegemonic' and 'marginalized' masculinity as steppingstones, the paper argues that these concepts might entail a too static and dualistic picture of gender. By applying the concepts of 'emergent masculinity' and 'emergent fatherhood' the paper brings along a long needed discussion of how Muslim men in Denmark are struggling to overcome and change the controlling images of them as patriarchal and/or ignorant fathers regarding the upbringing of their children. As such, the paper shows how Muslim fathers are taking action to change this controlling image, e.g. through various ‘father groups’. The paper is inspired by the phenomenological notions of ‘experience´ and in the light of this notion, the paper tells the fathers’ stories about their upbringing of their children and aspirations for fatherhood. These stories share light on how these fathers take care of their children in everyday life. The study also shows that the controlling image of these fathers have affected how some Muslim fathers are actually being fathers. The study shows that fear of family-interventions from teachers or social workers e.g. have left some Muslim fathers in a limbo, being afraid of scolding their children, and being confused of ‘what good parenting in Denmark is’. This seems to have led to a more lassie fair upbringing than these fathers actually wanted. This study is important since anthropologists generally have underexposed the notion of fatherhood, and how fathers engage in the upbringing of their children. Over more, the vast majority of qualitative studies of fatherhood have been on white middleclass fathers, living in nuclear families. In addition, this study is crucial at this very moment due to the major refugee crisis in Denmark and in the Western world in general. A crisis, which has resulted in a vast number of scare campaigns against Islam from different nationalistic political parties, which enforces the negative controlling image of Muslim fathers.

Keywords: fatherhood, Muslim fathers, mistrust, education

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Authors: Yinghua Huang, Tsu-Hong Yen

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The latest advance in leadership research has revealed that leadership is co-created through the combined action of leading and following. The role of followers is as important as leaders in the leadership process. However, the previous leadership studies often conceptualize leadership as a leader-centric process, while the role of followers is largely neglected in the literature. Until recently, followership studies receives more attention because the character and behavior of followers are as vital as the leader during the leadership process. Yet, there is a dearth of followership research in the context of tourism and hospitality industries. Therefore, this study seeks to fill in the gap of knowledge and investigate the followership styles in the U.S. hospitality workforce. In particular, the objectives of this study are to identify popular followership practices among hospitality employees and evaluate hospitality employees' followership styles using Kelley’s followership typology framework. This study also compared the generational differences in followership styles among hospitality employees. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the workforce in the lodging and foodservice sectors consists of around 12% baby boomers, 29% Gen Xs, 23% Gen Ys, and 36% Gen Zs in 2019. The diversity of workforce demographics in the U.S. hospitality industry calls for more attention to understand the generational differences in followership styles and organizational performance. This study conducted an in-depth interview and a questionnaire survey to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. A snowball sampling method was used to recruit participants working in the hospitality industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. A total of 120 hospitality employees participated in this study, including 22 baby boomers, 32 Gen Xs, 30 Gen Ys, and 36 Gen Zs. 45% of the participants were males, and 55% were female. The findings of this study identified good followership practices across the multi-generational participants. For example, a Gen Y participant said that 'followership involves learning and molding oneself after another person usually an expert in an area of interest. I think of followership as personal and professional development. I learn and get better by hands-on training and experience'. A Gen X participant said that 'I can excel by not being fearful of taking on unfamiliar tasks and accepting challenges.' Furthermore, this study identified five typologies of Kelley’s followership model among the participants: 45% exemplary followers, 13% pragmatist followers, 2% alienated followers, 18% passive followers, and 23% conformist followers. The generational differences in followership styles were also identified. The findings of this study contribute to the hospitality human resource literature by identifying the multi-generational perspectives of followership styles among hospitality employees. The findings provide valuable insights for hospitality leaders to understand their followers better. Hospitality leaders were suggested to adjust their leadership style and communication strategies based on employees' different followership styles.

Keywords: followership, hospitality workforce, generational diversity, Kelley’s followership topology

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Authors: Makhan Maharjan, Mani Ulaganathan, Vanchiappan Aravindan, Srinivasan Madhavi, Jing-Yuan Wang, Tuti Mariana Lim

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The ever-increasing energy demand has made research to develop high performance energy storage systems that are able to fulfill energy needs. Supercapacitors have potential applications as portable energy storage devices. In recent years, there have been huge research interests to enhance the performances of supercapacitors via exploiting novel promising carbon precursors, tailoring textural properties of carbons, exploiting various electrolytes and device types. In this work, we employed orange peel (waste material) as the starting material and synthesized activated carbon by pyrolysis of KOH impregnated orange peel char at 800 °C in argon atmosphere. The resultant orange peel-derived activated carbon (OP-AC) exhibited BET surface area of 1,901 m² g-1, which is the highest surface area so far reported for the orange peel. The pore size distribution (PSD) curve exhibits the pores centered at 11.26 Å pore width, suggesting dominant microporosity. The high surface area OP-AC accommodates more ions in the electrodes and its well-developed porous structure facilitates fast diffusion of ions which subsequently enhance electrochemical performance. The OP-AC was studied as positive electrode in combination with different negative electrode materials, such as pre-lithiated graphite (LiC6) and Li4Ti5O12 for making hybrid capacitors. The lithium ion capacitor (LIC) fabricated using OP-AC with pre-lithiated graphite delivered high energy density of ~106 Wh kg–1. The energy density for OP-AC||Li4Ti5O12 capacitor was ~35 Wh kg⁻¹. For comparison purpose, configuration of OP-AC||OP-AC capacitors were studied in both aqueous (1M H2SO4) and organic (1M LiPF6 in EC-DMC) electrolytes, which delivered the energy density of 8.0 Wh kg⁻¹ and 16.3 Wh kg⁻¹, respectively. The cycling retentions obtained at current density of 1 A g⁻¹ were ~85.8, ~87.0 ~82.2 and ~58.8% after 2500 cycles for OP-AC||OP-AC (aqueous), OP-AC||OP-AC (organic), OP-AC||Li4Ti5O12 and OP-AC||LiC6 configurations, respectively. In addition, characterization studies were performed by elemental and proximate composition, thermogravimetry analysis, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, Fourier transform-infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2 sorption isotherms. The morphological features from FE-SEM exhibited well-developed porous structures. Two typical broad peaks observed in the XRD framework of the synthesized carbon implies amorphous graphitic structure. The ratio of 0.86 for ID/IG in Raman spectra infers high degree of graphitization in the sample. The band spectra of C 1s in XPS display the well resolved peaks related to carbon atoms in various chemical environments. The presence of functional groups is also corroborated from the FTIR spectroscopy. Characterization studies revealed the synthesized carbon to be promising electrode material towards the application for energy storage devices. Overall, the intriguing properties of OP-AC make it a new alternative promising electrode material for the development of high energy lithium ion capacitors from abundant, low-cost, renewable biomass waste. The authors gratefully acknowledge Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)/ Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore for funding support.

Keywords: energy storage, lithium-ion capacitors, orange peels, porous activated carbon

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Authors: Raj Chavan

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At present, the United States is home to more than 14,000 Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs), of which approximately 35% have implemented nutrient limits of some kind. These WRRFs contribute 10 to 15% of the total nutrient burden to surface rivers in the United States and account for approximately 1% of total power demand and 2% of total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). There are several factors that have influenced the development of densification technologies in the direction of more compact and energy-efficient nutrient removal processes. Prior to surface water discharge, existing facilities that necessitate capacity expansion or biomass densification for greater treatability within the same footprint are being subjected to stricter nutrient removal requirements. Densification of activated sludge as a method for nutrient removal and process intensification at WRRFs has garnered considerable attention in recent times. The biological processes take place within the aerobic sediment granules, which form the basis of the technology. The possibility of generating granular sludge through continuous (or conventional) activated sludge processes (CAS) or densification of biomass through the transfer of activated sludge flocs to a denser biomass aggregate as an exceptionally efficient intensification technique has generated considerable interest. This presentation aims to furnish attendees with a foundational comprehension of densification through the illustration of practical concerns and insights. The subsequent subjects will be deliberated upon. What are some potential techniques for producing and preserving densified granules? What processes are responsible for the densification of biological flocs? How do physical selectors contribute to the process of biological flocs becoming denser? What viable strategies exist for the management of densified biological flocs, and which design parameters of physical selection influence the retention of densified biological flocs? determining operational solutions for floc and granule customization in order to meet capacity and performance objectives? The answers to these pivotal questions will be derived from existing full-scale treatment facilities, bench-scale and pilot-scale investigations, and existing literature data. By the conclusion of the presentation, the audience will possess a fundamental comprehension of the densification concept and its significance in attaining effective effluent treatment. Additionally, case studies pertaining to the design and operation of densification procedures will be incorporated into the presentation.

Keywords: densification, intensification, nutrient removal, granular sludge

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Authors: Sedigheh Kalantari

Abstract:

Like many countries in the arid and semi-arid belt, Iran experiences a natural limitation in the availability of water resources. However, rapid socioeconomic development has created a serious water crisis in a nation that was once one of the world’s pioneers in sustainable water management, due to the Persians’ contribution to hydraulic engineering inventions – the Qanat – throughout history. The exogenous issues like the changing climate, frequent droughts, and international sanctions are only crisis catalyzers, not the main cause of the water crisis; and a resilient water management system is expected to be capable of coping with these periodic external pressures. The current dramatic water security issues in Iran are rooted in managerial, political, and institutional challenges rather than engineering and technical issues, and the country is suffering from challenges in water governance. The country, instead of rigorous water conservation efforts, is still focused on supply-driven approach, technology and centralized methods, and structural solutions that aim to increase water supply; while the effectiveness of water governance and management has often left unused. To solve these issues, it is necessary to assess the present situation and its evolution over time. In this respect, establishing water governance assessment mechanisms will be a significant aspect of this paper. The research framework, however, is a conceptual framework to assess governance performance of Iran to critically diagnose problematic issues and areas, as well as proffer empirically based solutions and determine the best possible steps towards transformational processes. This concept aims to measure the adequacy of current solutions and strategies designed to ameliorate these problems and then develop and prescribe adequate futuristic solutions. Thus, the analytical framework developed in this paper seeks to provide insights on key factors influencing water governance in Iranian cities, institutional frameworks to manage water across scales and authorities, multi-level management gaps and policy responses, through an evidence-based approach and good practices to drive reform toward sustainability and water resource conservation. The findings of this paper show that the current structure of the water governance system in Iran, coupled with the lack of a comprehensive understanding of the root causes of the problem, leaves minimal hope for developing sustainable solutions to Iran’s increasing water crisis. In order to follow sustainable development approaches, Iran needs to replace symptom management with problem prevention.

Keywords: governance, Iran, sustainable development, water management, water resources

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Authors: Sophia Liang Zhou

Abstract:

For investors, businesses, consumers, and governments, an accurate assessment of future housing prices is crucial to critical decisions in resource allocation, policy formation, and investment strategies. Previous studies are contradictory about macroeconomic determinants of housing price and largely focused on one or two areas using point prediction. This study aims to develop data-driven models to accurately predict future housing market trends in different markets. This work studied five different metropolitan areas representing different market trends and compared three-time lagging situations: no lag, 6-month lag, and 12-month lag. Linear regression (LR), random forest (RF), and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to model the real estate price using datasets with S&P/Case-Shiller home price index and 12 demographic and macroeconomic features, such as gross domestic product (GDP), resident population, personal income, etc. in five metropolitan areas: Boston, Dallas, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The data from March 2005 to December 2018 were collected from the Federal Reserve Bank, FBI, and Freddie Mac. In the original data, some factors are monthly, some quarterly, and some yearly. Thus, two methods to compensate missing values, backfill or interpolation, were compared. The models were evaluated by accuracy, mean absolute error, and root mean square error. The LR and ANN models outperformed the RF model due to RF’s inherent limitations. Both ANN and LR methods generated predictive models with high accuracy ( > 95%). It was found that personal income, GDP, population, and measures of debt consistently appeared as the most important factors. It also showed that technique to compensate missing values in the dataset and implementation of time lag can have a significant influence on the model performance and require further investigation. The best performing models varied for each area, but the backfilled 12-month lag LR models and the interpolated no lag ANN models showed the best stable performance overall, with accuracies > 95% for each city. This study reveals the influence of input variables in different markets. It also provides evidence to support future studies to identify the optimal time lag and data imputing methods for establishing accurate predictive models.

Keywords: linear regression, random forest, artificial neural network, real estate price prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 103