Search results for: sustainability ratings

Authors: Krzysztof Kontek, Kevin Kenner

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This paper, written by an economist and pianist, aims to compare and analyze different methods of reducing manipulation in classical music competitions by focusing on outlier scores and outlier jurors. We first examine existing methods in competition practice and statistical literature for discarding or correcting jurors' scores that deviate significantly from the mean or median of all scores. We then introduce a method that involves eliminating all scores of outlier jurors, i.e., those jurors whose ratings significantly differ from those of other jurors. The properties of these standard and proposed methods are discussed in hypothetical voting scenarios, where one or more jurors assign scores that deviate considerably from the scores awarded by other jurors. Finally, we present examples of applying various methods to real-world data from piano competitions, demonstrating the potential effectiveness and implications of each approach in reducing manipulation within these events.

Keywords: voting systems, manipulation, outlier scores, outlier jurors

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Authors: Gary J. Pickering, Sarah Lucas, Catherine E. Klodnicki, Nicole J. Gaudette

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Two taste pheno types that are of interest in the study of habitual diet-related risk factors and disease are 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness and thermal tasting. Individuals differ considerable in how intensely they experience the bitterness of PROP, which is partially explained by three major single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the TAS2R38 gene. Importantly, this variable responsiveness is a useful proxy for general taste responsiveness, and links to diet-related disease risk, including body mass index, in some studies. Thermal tasting - a newly discovered taste phenotype independent of PROP responsiveness - refers to the capacity of many individuals to perceive phantom tastes in response to lingual thermal stimulation, and is linked with TRPM5 channels. Thermal tasters (TTs) also experience oral sensations more intensely than thermal non-tasters (TnTs), and this was shown to associate with differences in self-reported food preferences in a previous survey from our lab. Here we report on two related studies, where we sought to determine whether PROP responsiveness and thermal tasting would associate with perceptual differences in the oral sensations elicited by sampled energy-dense foods, and whether in turn this would influence liking. We hypothesized that hyper-tasters (thermal tasters and individuals who experience PROP intensely) would (a) rate sweet and high-fat foods more intensely than hypo-tasters, and (b) would differ from hypo-tasters in liking scores. (Liking has been proposed recently as a more accurate measure of actual food consumption). In Study 1, a range of energy-dense foods and beverages, including table cream and chocolate, was assessed by 25 TTs and 19 TnTs. Ratings of oral sensation intensity and overall liking were obtained using gVAS and gDOL scales, respectively. TTs and TnTs did not differ significantly in intensity ratings for most stimuli (ANOVA). In a 2nd study, 44 female participants sampled 22 foods and beverages, assessing them for intensity of oral sensations (gVAS) and overall liking (9-point hedonic scale). TTs (n=23) rated their overall liking of creaminess and milk products lower than did TnTs (n=21), and liked milk chocolate less. PROP responsiveness was negatively correlated with liking of food and beverages belonging to the sweet or sensory food grouping. No other differences in intensity or liking scores between hyper- and hypo-tasters were found. Taken overall, our results are somewhat unexpected, lending only modest support to the hypothesis that these taste phenotypes associate with energy-dense food liking and consumption through differences in the oral sensations they elicit. Reasons for this lack of concordance with expectations and some prior literature are discussed, and suggestions for future research are advanced.

Keywords: taste phenotypes, sensory evaluation, PROP, thermal tasting, diet-related health risk

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Authors: Enya Autumn Trenholm-Jensen, Hjalte Hviid Mikkelsen

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This study was done in the pursuit of nuancing the discussion surrounding what it means to be human in a time of unparalleled technological development. Subjectivity was deemed to be an accessible example of humanity to study, and art was a fitting medium through which to probe subjectivity. Upon careful theoretical consideration, abstract art was found to fit the parameters of the study with the added bonus of being, as of yet, uninterpretable from an AI perspective. It was hypothesised that dissimilar appraisals of the art stimuli would be found through sentiment and terminology. Opinion data was collected through survey responses and analysed using Valence Aware Dictionary for sEntiment Reasoning (VADER) sentiment analysis. The results reflected the enigmatic nature of subjectivity through erratic ratings of the art stimuli. However, significant themes were found in the terminology used in the responses. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the uniqueness, or lack thereof, of human subjectivity, and directions for future research are provided.

Keywords: abstract art, artificial intelligence, cognition, sentiment, subjectivity

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Authors: Xilu Liu, Ameen Farooq

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Beijing has several compact residential housing settings in many of its urban districts. The study in this paper reveals that urban compactness, as predictor of density, may carry an altogether different meaning in the developing world when compared to the U.S for achieving objectives of urban sustainability. Recent urban design studies in the U.S are debating for compact and mixed-use higher density housing to achieve sustainable and energy efficient living environments. While the concept of urban compactness is widely accepted as an approach in modern architectural and urban design fields, this belief may not directly carry well into all areas within cities of developing countries. Beijing’s technology-driven economy, with its historic and rich cultural heritage and a highly speculated real-estate market, extends its urban boundaries into multiple compact urban settings of varying scales and densities. The accelerated pace of migration from the countryside for better opportunities has led to unsustainable and uncontrolled buildups in order to meet the growing population demand within and outside of the urban center. This unwarranted compactness in certain urban zones has produced an unhealthy physical density with serious environmental and ecological challenging basic living conditions. In addition, crowding, traffic congestion, pollution and limited housing surrounding this compactness is a threat to public health. Several residential blocks in close proximity to each other were found quite compacted, or ill-planned, with residential sites due to lack of proper planning in Beijing. Most of them at first sight appear to be compact and dense but further analytical studies revealed that what appear to be dense actually are not as dense as to make a good case that could serve as the corner stone of sustainability and energy efficiency. This study considered several factors including floor area ratio (FAR), ground coverage (GSI), open space ratio (OSR) as indicators in analyzing urban compactness as a predictor of density. The findings suggest that these measures, influencing the density of residential sites under study, were much smaller in density than expected given their compact adjacencies. Further analysis revealed that several residential housing appear to support the notion of density in its compact layout but are actually compacted due to unregulated planning marred by lack of proper urban design standards, policies and guidelines specific to their urban context and condition.

Keywords: Beijing, density, sustainability, urban compactness

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Authors: Brando Vagenende, Marie-Anne Guerry

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For stochastic matrices of any order, the geometric description of the convex set of eigenvalues is completely known. The purpose of this study is to investigate the subset of the monotone matrices. This type of matrix appears in contexts such as intergenerational occupational mobility, equal-input modeling, and credit ratings-based systems. Monotone matrices are stochastic matrices in which each row stochastically dominates the previous row. The monotonicity property of a stochastic matrix can be expressed by a nonnegative lower-order matrix with the same eigenvalues as the original monotone matrix (except for the eigenvalue 1). Specifically, the aim of this research is to focus on the properties of eigenvalues of monotone matrices. For those matrices up to order 3, there already exists a complete description of the convex set of eigenvalues. For monotone matrices of order at least 4, this study gives, through simulations, more insight into the geometric description of their eigenvalues. Furthermore, this research treats in a geometric and algebraic way the properties of eigenvalues of monotone matrices of order at least 4.

Keywords: eigenvalues of matrices, finite Markov chains, monotone matrices, nonnegative matrices, stochastic matrices

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Authors: S. Ebisintei, M. A. Olutoye, A. S. Kovo, U. G. Akpan

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The effect of soil degradation due to ion leachate migration using dumpsite located at Idu industrial area of Abuja was investigated. It was done to assess the health and environmental pollution consequences caused by heavy metals’ concentration in the soil on inhabitants around the settlement. Soil samples collected from four cardinal points and at the center during the dry and wet season were pretreated, digested and heavy metal concentrations present were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Cr, were determined and also for control sample obtained 300 m away from the dumpsite. Water samples were collected from three wells to test for physiochemical properties of pH, COD, BOD, DO, hardness, conductivity, and alkalinity. The result showed a significant difference in concentration of toxic heavy metals in the dumpsite as compared to the control sample. A mathematical model was developed to predict the heavy metal concentrations beyond the sampling point. The results indicate that metal concentrations in both dry and wet season were above the WHO, and SON set standards. The trend, if unrestrained, portends danger to human life, reduces agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Keywords: soil degradation, ion leachate, productivity, environment, sustainability

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Authors: Shawn P. Daly

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Communities heavily engaged in the tourism industry discover their values intersect, meld, and conflict with those of visitors. Maintaining cultural integrity in the face of powerful external pressures causes stress among society members. This effect represents a less studied aspect of sustainable tourism. The present paper brings a perspective unique to the tourism literature: biculturalism. The grounded theories, coherent hypotheses, and validated constructs and indicators of biculturalism represent a sound base from which to consider sociocultural issues in sustainable tourism. Five models describe the psychological state of individuals operating at cultural crossroads: assimilation (joining the new culture), acculturation (grasping the new culture but remaining of the original culture), alternation (varying behavior to cultural context), multicultural (maintaining distinct cultures), and fusion (blending cultures). These five processes divide into two units of analysis (individual and society), permitting research questions at levels important for considering sociocultural sustainability. Acculturation modelling has morphed into dual processes of acculturation (new culture adaptation) and enculturation (original culture adaptation). This dichotomy divides sustainability research questions into human impacts from assimilation (acquiring new culture, throwing away original), separation (rejecting new culture, keeping original), integration (acquiring new culture, keeping original), and marginalization (rejecting new culture, throwing away original). Biculturalism is often cast in terms of its emotional, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions. Required cultural adjustments and varying levels of cultural competence lead to physical, psychological, and emotional outcomes, including depression, lowered life satisfaction and self-esteem, headaches, and back pain—or enhanced career success, social skills, and life styles. Numerous studies provide empirical scales and research hypotheses for sustainability research into tourism’s causality and effect on local well-being. One key issue in applying biculturalism to sustainability scholarship concerns identification and specification of the alternative new culture contacting local culture. Evidence exists for tourism industry, universal tourist, and location/event-specific tourist culture. The biculturalism paradigm holds promise for researchers examining evolving cultural identity and integrity in response to mass tourism. In particular, confirmed constructs and scales simplify operationalization of tourism sustainability studies in terms of human impact and adjustment.

Keywords: biculturalism, cultural integrity, psychological and sociocultural adjustment, tourist culture

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Authors: Laura Florez

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The construction industry is labour intensive, and the behaviour and management of workers have a direct impact on the performance of construction projects. One of the issues it currently faces is how to recruit and maintain its workers. Construction is known as an industry where workers face the problem of short employment durations, frequent layoffs, and periods of unemployment between jobs. These challenges not only creates pressures on the workers but also project managers have to constantly train new workers, face skills shortage, and uncertainty on the quality of the workers it will attract. To consider worker’s needs and project managers expectations, one practice that can be implemented is to schedule construction projects to maintain a stable workforce. This paper proposes a mixed integer programming (MIP) model to schedule projects with the objective of maximising social sustainability of construction projects, that is, maximise labour stability. Aside from the social objective, the model accounts for equipment and financial resources required by the projects during the construction phase. To illustrate how the solution strategy works, a construction programme comprised of ten projects is considered. The projects are scheduled to maximise labour stability while simultaneously minimising time and minimising cost. The tradeoff between the values in terms of time, cost, and labour stability allows project managers to consider their preferences and identify which solution best suits their needs. Additionally, the model determines the optimal starting times for each of the projects, working patterns for the workers, and labour costs. This model shows that construction projects can be scheduled to not only benefit the project manager, but also benefit current workers and help attract new workers to the industry. Due to its practicality, it can be a valuable tool to support decision making and assist construction stakeholders when developing schedules that include social sustainability factors.

Keywords: labour stability, mixed-integer programming (MIP), scheduling, workforce management

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Authors: Mercy E. Makpor

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Traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) idea has gone beyond just ensuring safety environments, caring about global warming and ensuring good living standards and conditions for the society at large. The paradigm shift is towards a focus on strategic objectives and the long-term value creation for both businesses and the society at large for a realistic future. As an important approach to solving social and environment issues, CSR has been accepted globally. Yet the approach is expected to go beyond where it is currently. So much is expected from businesses and governments at every level globally and locally. This then leads to the original idea of the concept, that is, how it originated and how it has been perceived over the years. Little wonder there has been a lot of definitions surrounding the concept without a major globally acceptable definition of it. The definition of CSR given by the European Commission will be considered for the purpose of this paper. Sustainable Development (SD), on the other hand, has been viewed in recent years as an ethical concept explained in the UN-Report termed “Our Common Future,” which can also be referred to as the Brundtland report. The report summarises the need for SD to take place in the present without comprising the future. However, the recent 21st-century framework on sustainability known as the “Triple Bottom Line (TBL)” framework, has added its voice to the concepts of CSR and sustainable development. The TBL model is of the opinion that businesses should not only report on their financial performance but also on their social and environmental performances, highlighting that CSR has gone beyond just the “material-impact” approach towards a “Future-Oriented” approach (sustainability). In this paper, the concept of CSR is revisited by exploring the various theories therein. The discourse on the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable development frameworks will also be indicated, thereby inducing these into how CSR can benefit both businesses and their stakeholders as well as the entirety of the society, not just for the present but for the future. It does this by exploring the importance of both concepts (CSR and SD) and concludes by making recommendations for a more empirical research in the near future.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, sustainability, triple bottom line model

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Authors: Ali Mohammed Ali Lmbash

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The global refugee crisis points to the vital need for sustainable and resistant solutions to different kinds of problems for displaced persons all over the world. Among the myriads of sustainable concerns, however, there are diverse considerations including energy consumption, waste management, water access, and resiliency of structures. Our research aims to develop distinct ideas for sustainable architecture given the exigent problems in disaster-threatened areas starting with the Hatay Refugee camp in Turkey where the majority of the camp dwellers are Syrian refugees. Commencing community-based participatory research which focuses on the socio-environmental issues of displaced populations, this study will apply two approaches with a specific focus on the Hatay region. The initial experiment uses Richter's predictive model and simulations to forecast earthquake outcomes in refugee campers. The result could be useful in implementing architectural design tactics that enhance structural reliability and ensure the security and safety of shelters through earthquakes. In the second experiment a model is generated which helps us in predicting the quality of the existing water sources and since we understand how greatly water is vital for the well-being of humans, we do it. This research aims to enable camp administrators to employ forward-looking practices while managing water resources and thus minimizing health risks as well as building resilience of the refugees in the Hatay area. On the other side, this research assesses other sustainability problems of Hatay Refugee Camp as well. As energy consumption becomes the major issue, housing developers are required to consider energy-efficient designs as well as feasible integration of renewable energy technologies to minimize the environmental impact and improve the long-term sustainability of housing projects. Waste management is given special attention in this case by imposing recycling initiatives and waste reduction measures to reduce the pace of environmental degradation in the camp's land area. As well, study gives an insight into the social and economic reality of the camp, investigating the contribution of initiatives such as urban agriculture or vocational training to the enhancement of livelihood and community empowerment. In a similar fashion, this study combines the latest research with practical experience in order to contribute to the continuing discussion on sustainable architecture during disaster relief, providing recommendations and info that can be adapted on every scale worldwide. Through collaborative efforts and a dedicated sustainability approach, we can jointly get to the root of the cause and work towards a far more robust and equitable society.

Keywords: smart architecture, Hatay Camp, sustainability, machine learning.

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Authors: Faisal Bin Alam

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Most of the manufacturing entities cause negative footprint to nature that demand due attention. Textile industries have one of the longest supply chains and bear the liability of significant environmental impact to our planet. Issues of environmental safety, scarcity of energy and resources, and demand for eco-friendly products have driven research to search for safe and suitable alternatives in apparel processing. Consumer awareness, increased pressure from fashion brands and actions from local legislative authorities have somewhat been able to improve the practices. Objective of this paper is to reveal the best selection of raw materials and methods of production, taking environmental sustainability into account. Methodology used in this study is exploratory in nature based on personal experience, field visits in the factories of Bangladesh and secondary sources. Findings are limited to exploring better alternatives to conventional operations of a Readymade Garment manufacturing, from fibre selection to final product delivery, therefore showing some ways of achieving greener environment in the supply chain of a clothing industry.

Keywords: textile and apparel, environmental sustainability, supply chain, production, clothing

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Authors: Ameen Alawneh

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The cost of material management across the supply chain represents a major contributor to the overall cost of goods in many companies both manufacturing and service sectors. This fact combined with the fierce competition make supply chains more efficient and cost effective. It also requires the companies to improve the quality of the products and services, increase the effectiveness of supply chain operations, focus on customer needs, reduce wastes and costs across the supply chain. As a heavy industry, steel manufacturing companies in particular are nowadays required to be more environmentally conscious due to their contribution to air, soil, and water pollution that results from emissions and wastes across their supply chains. Steel companies are increasingly looking for methods to reduce or cost cut in the operations and provide extra value to their customers to stay competitive under the current low margins. In this research we develop a green framework model for the sustainability of a steel company supply chain using Mixed integer Linear programming.

Keywords: Supply chain, Mixed Integer linear programming, heavy industry, water pollution

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Authors: David Julian Bernal Melgarejo

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Inland Waterway Transportation (IWT) is playing an important role in national transport systems, water transportation is considered to be safe, energy efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport, considering all the benefits of IWT the Colombian government is planning to restore the Magdalena’s River navigability, embrace waterway transportation in Colombia could strength competitiveness while reduce most of the transport externalities. However, the current situation of the Magdalena deplorable, the most important river of Colombia has been abandoned for decades and the solution is beyond of a single administrative entity. This paper analyzes the outcomes of the Navigation And Inland Waterway Action and Development in Europe (NAIADES) program as a prospective to develop a sustainable program in Colombia. In order to guarantee the long-term future, and the adaptability of the program a research based on individual interviews with stakeholders and policy experts were carried out, findings support the idea of lack of integration within governmental institution, develop marketing strategies and human resources.

Keywords: inland waterway transportation, logistics, sustainability, multimodal transport systems, water transportation

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Authors: M. B. Abdullahi, S. M. Gumel

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This study was carried out to analyze and describe biodiversity changes in representative communities around Maladumba Lake and Forest Reserve (MLFR), Bauchi, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were collected through formal and informal interviews of key informants and survey of local communities and government records. There has been a change in biodiversity; some of the cropping systems have become nonexistent whereas others have developed. The main aspect of the changes has been the decline of species diversity due to degradation and over utilization. The changes have also been positive through the introduction and intensification of cropping system. Options have been open for people to manipulate the cropping systems in order to efficiently use the limited resources. Farmers have opted not only to intensify agricultural practices but also to deliberately restore some of the lost species. Reduction in the number of animals per household, adoption of new techniques of land management, changes in the type of crops cultivated and intensive use of the available resources are some of the indicators describing farmers’ efforts to cope with the changes. Sustainability of the farming system and biodiversity has been enhanced through peoples’ efforts that include planting trees and use of fertilizers.

Keywords: cropping systems, historical trends, household, land management, sustainability

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Authors: Meet Patel, Darshan Patel, Nilay Shah

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Excess growth of wind-based renewable energy sources is required to identify the optimal location and damping capacity of doubly fed induction-generator-based (DFIG) wind farms while it penetrates into the transmission network. In this analysis, various ratings of DFIG wind farms are penetrated into the Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB ) at a different distance of the transmission line. On the basis of detailed examinations, a prime position is evaluated to maximize the stability of overall systems. A damping controller is designed at an optimum location to mitigate the small oscillations. The proposed model was validated using eigenvalue analysis, calculation of the participation factor, and time-domain simulation.

Keywords: DFIG, small signal stability, eigenvalues, time domain simulation

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Authors: Vaidehi Raipat

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A city is an expression of coexistence between its users and built environment. The way in which its spaces are animated signify the quality of this coexistence. Urban sustainability is the ability of a city to respond efficiently towards its people, culture, environment, visual image, history, visions and identity. The quality of built environment determines the quality of our lifestyles, but poor ability of the built environment to adapt and sustain itself through the changes leads to degradation of cities. Ranchi was created in November 2000, as the capital of the newly formed state Jharkhand, located on eastern side of India. Before this Ranchi was known as summer capital of Bihar and was a little larger than a town in terms of development. But since then it has been vigorously expanding in size, infrastructure as well as population. This sudden expansion has created a stress on existing built environment. The large forest covers, agricultural land, diverse culture and pleasant climatic conditions have degraded and decreased to a large extent. Narrow roads and old buildings are unable to bear the load of the changing requirements, fast improving technology and growing population. The built environment has hence been rendered unsustainable and unadaptable through fastidious changes of present era. Some of the common hazards that can be easily spotted in the built environment are half-finished built forms, pedestrians and vehicles moving on the same part of the road. Unpaved areas on street edges. Over-sized, bright and randomly placed hoardings. Negligible trees or green spaces. The old buildings have been poorly maintained and the new ones are being constructed over them. Roads are too narrow to cater to the increasing traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular. The streets have a large variety of activities taking place on them, but haphazardly. Trees are being cut down for road widening and new constructions. There is no space for greenery in the commercial as well as old residential areas. The old infrastructure is deteriorating because of poor maintenance and the economic limitations. Pseudo understanding of functionality as well as aesthetics drive the new infrastructure. It is hence necessary to evaluate the extent of sustainability of existing built environment of the city and create or regenerate the existing built environment into a more sustainable and adaptable one. For this purpose, research titled “Sustainability of the Built Environment of Ranchi District” has been carried out. In this research the condition of the built environment of Ranchi are explored so as to figure out the problems and shortcomings existing in the city and provide for design strategies that can make the existing built-environment sustainable. The built environment of Ranchi that include its outdoor spaces like streets, parks, other open areas, its built forms as well as its users, has been analyzed in terms of various urban design parameters. Based on which strategies have been suggested to make the city environmentally, socially, culturally and economically sustainable.

Keywords: adaptable, built-environment, sustainability, urban

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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Construction industry, as one of the main contributor in depletion of natural resources, influences climate change. This paper discusses incremental and evolutionary development of the proposed models for optimization of a life-cycle analysis to explicit strategy for evaluation systems. The main categories are virtually irresistible for introducing uncertainties, uptake composite structure model (CSM) as environmental management systems (EMSs) in a practice science of evaluation small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The model simplified complex systems to reflect nature systems’ input, output and outcomes mode influence “framework measures” and give a maximum likelihood estimation of how elements are simulated over the composite structure. The traditional knowledge of modeling is based on physical dynamic and static patterns regarding parameters influence environment. It unified methods to demonstrate how construction systems ecology interrelated from management prospective in procedure reflects the effect of the effects of engineering systems to ecology as ultimately unified technologies in extensive range beyond constructions impact so as, - energy systems. Sustainability broadens socioeconomic parameters to practice science that meets recovery performance, engineering reflects the generic control of protective systems. When the environmental model employed properly, management decision process in governments or corporations could address policy for accomplishment strategic plans precisely. The management and engineering limitation focuses on autocatalytic control as a close cellular system to naturally balance anthropogenic insertions or aggregation structure systems to pound equilibrium as steady stable conditions. Thereby, construction systems ecology incorporates engineering and management scheme, as a midpoint stage between biotic and abiotic components to predict constructions impact. The later outcomes’ theory of environmental obligation suggests either a procedures of method or technique that is achieved in sustainability impact of construction system ecology (SICSE), as a relative mitigation measure of deviation control, ultimately.

Keywords: sustainability, environmental impact assessment, environemtal management, construction ecology

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Authors: Taner Ersoz, Filiz Ersoz, Seyma Ozbilge

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In this study, the clients who applied to a bank branch for loan were analyzed through data mining. The study was composed of the information such as amounts of loans received by personal and SME clients working with the bank branch, installment numbers, number of delays in loan installments, payments available in other banks and number of banks to which they are in debt between 2010 and 2013. The client risk profile was examined through Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis, one of the decision tree classification methods. At the end of the study, 5 different types of customers have been determined on the decision tree. The classification of these types of customers has been created with the rating of those posing a risk for the bank branch and the customers have been classified according to the risk ratings.

Keywords: client classification, loan suitability, risk rating, CART analysis

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Authors: Maulita Sari Hani, Abraham B. Sianipar, Jamaluddin Jompa, Natsir Nessa, Alan T. White

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Manta ray is an icon for tourism in Raja Ampat. The tourist volume has been increased for the past ten years which up to approximately 23,000 tourists in 2017. Since 2013, Conservation International Indonesia deployed satellite and acoustic tags on manta ray in Dampier strait to track the species and identify the aggregation areas. These findings encourage the government and the local community to boost conservation through the management of marine protected areas for tourism purposes. Community in Dampier strait including the village of Arborek, Kurkapa, Kapisawar, and Sawingray involved in variety of small scale tourism business including homestay, dive shop, tour operator, and crafts. Working groups of related local businesses were established to support the local community and to ensure the sustainability of the economic viability and environmental sustainability. In order to analyze the economic benefits of manta ray tourism, this study was conducted to identify the number of local business in Dampier Strait and the economic impacts in terms of local finance security, social, humanity, individual, and physical assets. The results of this study identify 30 homestays, 2 dive shops, 10 tour operators, 30 women involved in crafts, and about 50 villagers worked for dive resorts. In addition to community assets, we confirmed the welfare of community has been improved in terms of food security, households, education for children, savings, and health insurance.

Keywords: marine wildlife tourism, elasmobranch, conservation, ecotourism, co-management, economic viability, environmental sustainability

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Authors: Rashad Al Araj, Adil K. Tamimi

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Concrete, despite being one of the most produced materials in the world, still has weaknesses and drawbacks. Significant concern of the cementitious materials in structural applications is their quasi-brittle behavior, which causes the material to crack and lose its durability. One of the very recently proposed mitigations for this problem is the implementation of nanotechnology in the concrete mix by adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to it. CNTs can enhance the critical mechanical properties of concrete as a structural material. Thus, this paper demonstrates a state-of-the-art review of reinforcing concrete with CNTs, emphasizing on the structural performance. It also goes over the properties of CNTs alone, the present methods and costs associated with producing them, the possible special applications of concretes reinforced with CNTs, the key challenges and drawbacks that this new technology still encounters, and the most reliable practices and methodologies to produce CNT-reinforced concrete in the lab. This work has shown that the addition of CNTs to the concrete mix in percentages as low as 0.25% weight of cement could increase the flexural strength and toughness of concrete by more than 45% and 25%, respectively, and enhance other durability-related properties, given that an effective dispersion of CNTs in the cementitious mix is achieved. Since nano reinforcement for cementitious materials is a new technology, many challenges have to be tackled before it becomes practiced at the mass level.

Keywords: sustainability, carbon nano tube, microsilica, concrete

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Authors: Oluwasaanmi Lawrence Adesuyi, Igbekoyi Kayode Emmanuel

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This study examined vote - commercialization during elections among the voters in Nigeria, a series of elections in Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria. Democracy in Nigeria that came to replace the unwanted ruling and dictating mission of the military government has been facing a societal terror “crime of votes commercialization” that stands in jeopardy against its sustainability in Nigeria. Social exchange and action-bound theories were employed as the theoretical framework. Forty-Eight in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and case studies were conducted with purposively selected respondents in the three senatorial districts that captured the sixteen local governments of the state. The results show that really commercialization of votes has become the order of the day in all series of electioneering among Ekiti people. Also, it was recorded that true democracy is no longer allowed to triumph as a result of vote buying that allows the highest bidder to be the winner. The result also shows that this attitude is not limited to only one political party or one candidate but involved all the political parties that participated in Election. It has become a frequent idea among the electorates during every festive period of election in Ekiti State. The tyrannical attitude has been given a nickname to suit the conditional situation of votes commercialization - (Diboki o se obe), which means vote and have a pot of soup, this implies that you will get money to take care of yourself and the family when you vote and collect money on the vote you cast, notwithstanding the money is being collected from all candidates that participated in the election, but the highest bidder has the day. The main challenge this has on democracy is that the contestants challenge the result of the election results based on the act of vote commercialization. Also, those that bought people’s votes with a huge amount of money relent on their democratic promises. The study showed that the crime of vote commercialization that threatens democracy must be addressed for sustainability.

Keywords: crime, democracy, jeopardy, military, sustainability, votes-commercialization

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Authors: Bryan Jenkins

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Introduction: The expansion of irrigation in the Canterbury region has led to the sustainability limits being reached for water availability and the cumulative effects of land use intensification. The institutional framework under New Zealand’s Resource Management Act was found to be an inadequate basis for managing water at sustainability limits. An alternative paradigm for water management was developed based on collaborative governance and nested adaptive systems. This led to the formulation and implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. Methods: The nested adaptive system approach was adopted. Sustainability issues were identified at multiple spatial and time scales and defined potential failure pathways for the water resource system. These included biophysical and socio-economic issues such as water availability, cumulative effects on water quality due to land use intensification, projected changes in climate, public health, institutional arrangements, economic outcomes and externalities, and, social effects of changing technology. This led to the derivation of sustainability strategies to address these failure pathways. The collaborative governance approach involved stakeholder participation and community engagement to decide on a regional strategy; regional and zone committees of community and rūnanga (Māori groups) members to develop implementation programmes for the strategy; and, farmer collectives for operational management. Findings: The strategy identified improvements in the efficiency of use of water already allocated was more effective in improving water availability than a reliance on increased storage alone. New forms of storage with less adverse impacts were introduced, such as managed aquifer recharge and off-river storage. Reductions of nutrients from land use intensification by improving management practices has been a priority. Solutions packages for addressing the degradation of vulnerable lakes and rivers have been prepared. Biodiversity enhancement projects have been initiated. Greater involvement of Māori has led to the incorporation of kaitiakitanga (resource stewardship) into implementation programmes. Emerging issues are the need for improved integration of surface water and groundwater interactions, increased use of modelling of water and financial outcomes to guide decision making, and, equity in allocation among existing users as well as between existing and future users. Conclusions: However, sustainability analysis indicates that the proposed levels of management interventions are not sufficient to achieve community targets for water management. There is a need for more proactive recovery and rehabilitation measures. Managing to environmental limits is not sufficient, rather managing adaptive cycles is needed. Better measurement and management of water use efficiency is required. Proposed implementation packages are not sufficient to deliver desired water quality outcomes. Greater attention to targets important to environmental and recreational interests is needed to maintain trust in the collaborative process. Implementation programmes don’t adequately address climate change adaptations and greenhouse gas mitigation. Affordability is a constraint on adaptive capacity of farmers and communities. More funding mechanisms are required to implement proactive measures. The legislative and institutional framework needs to be changed to incorporate water framework legislation, regional sustainability strategies and water infrastructure coordination.

Keywords: collaborative governance, irrigation management, nested adaptive systems, sustainable water management

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Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Alsalama

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Recommendation systems are widely used in e-commerce applications. The engine of a current recommendation system recommends items to a particular user based on user preferences and previous high ratings. Various recommendation schemes such as collaborative filtering and content-based approaches are used to build a recommendation system. Most of the current recommendation systems were developed to fit a certain domain such as books, articles, and movies. We propose a hybrid framework recommendation system to be applied on two-dimensional spaces (User x Item) with a large number of Users and a small number of Items. Moreover, our proposed framework makes use of both favorite and non-favorite items of a particular user. The proposed framework is built upon the integration of association rules mining and the content-based approach. The results of experiments show that our proposed framework can provide accurate recommendations to users.

Keywords: data mining, association rules, recommendation systems, hybrid systems

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Authors: Paradigm Shift

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In an overwhelmingly import oriented content bazaar of Arabian TV industry, Musalsalat stand unique in their indigenousness and mass popularity, being rivalled only by movies and football. The Arabic term ‘Musalsalat’ stands for drama series with episodes of 30-45 minutes duration; the format being close to Latin American Telenovela concept-clear cut stories with definitive endings that permit narrative closures. Traditionally Musalsalat were either situational comedies or religiously inspired. Present-day productions have started addressing historical, creative and socially progressive issues targeting the young and well-travelled audiences. Though these soaps get prime ratings throughout the year, it is during Ramadan, that they become a raving success in securing viewership. That Musalsalat have become paramount Ramadan programming is evident by their dominance on the grid and attracting heavy ad-spend. The number of Musalsalats produced specifically for Ramadan reached over 100 last year with Ramadan TV advertising amounting to USD1, 947bn constituting 21% of the total regional TV Adspend of USD 9,189bn.

Keywords: Musalsalat, drama, pan Arab, television

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Authors: Lizinis Cassendra Frederick Dony, Jirom Jeremy Frederick Dony, Cyril Supain Christopher

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The purpose of this paper is to improve the devotion to leadership through HR practices implementation at the PETRONAS stations. This emphasize the importance of personal grooming and Customer Care hospitality training for their front line working individuals and teams’ at PETRONAS stations in Sabah. Based on Thomas Edison, International Leadership Journal, theory, research, education and development practice and application to all organizational phenomena may affect or be affected by leadership. FINDINGS – PETRONAS in short called Petroliam Nasional Berhad is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources. Fortune ranks PETRONAS as the 68th largest company in the world in 2012. It also ranks PETRONAS as the 12th most profitable company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. As of the end of March 2005, the PETRONAS Group comprised 103 wholly owned subsidiaries, 19 partly owned outfits and 57 associated companies. The group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining, marketing and distribution of petroleum products, trading, gas processing and liquefaction, gas transmission pipeline network operations, marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering and property investment. PETRONAS has growing their marketing channel in a competitive market. They have combined their resources to pursue common goals. PETRONAS provides opportunity to carry out Industrial Training Job Placement to the University students in Malaysia for 6-8 months. The effects of the Industrial Training have exposed them to the real working environment experience acting representing on behalf of General Manager for almost one year. Thus, the management education and reward incentives schemes have aspire the working teams transformed to gain their good leadership. Furthermore, knowledge and experiences are very important in the human capital development transformation. SPSS extends the accurate analysis PETRONAS achievement through 280 questionnaires and 81 questionnaires through excel calculation distributed to interview face to face with the customers, PETRONAS dealers and front desk staffs stations in the 17 stations in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Hence, this research study will improve its service quality innovation and business sustainability performance optimization. ORIGINALITY / VALUE – The impact of Transformational Leadership practices have influenced the working team’s behaviour as a Brand Ambassadors of PETRONAS. Finally, the findings correlation indicated that PETRONAS stations needs more HR resources practices to deploy more customer care retention resources in mitigating the business challenges in oil and gas industry. Therefore, as the business established at stiff competition globally (Cooper, 2006; Marques and Simon, 2006), it is crucial for the team management should be capable to minimize noises risk, financial risk and mitigating any other risks as a whole at the optimum level. CONCLUSION- As to conclude this research found that both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership4 were positively correlated with ratings of platoon potency and ratings of leadership for the platoon leader and sergeant were moderately inter correlated. Due to this identification, we recommended that PETRONAS management should offers quality team management in PETRONAS stations in a broader variety of leadership training specialization in the operation efficiency at the front desk Customer Care hospitality. By having the reliability and validity of job experiences, it leverages diversity teamwork and cross collaboration. Other than leveraging factor, PETRONAS also will strengthen the interpersonal front liners effectiveness and enhance quality of interaction through effective communication. Finally, through numerous CSR correlation studies regression PETRONAS performance on Corporate Social Performance and several control variables.1 CSR model activities can be mis-specified if it is not controllable under R & D which evident in various feedbacks collected from the local communities and younger generation is inclined to higher financial expectation from PETRONAS. But, however, it created a huge impact on the nation building as part of its social adaptability overreaching their business stakeholders’ satisfaction in Sabah.

Keywords: human resources practices implementation (hrpi), source of competitive advantage in people’s development (socaipd), corporate social responsibility (csr), service quality at front desk stations (sqafd), impacts of petronas leadership (iopl)

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Authors: Parisa Toloue Hayat Azar

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Businesses have been playing an important role in the economic growth and social welfare of cities; however, they generally have negative reputations regarding their impact on environmental issues regarding sustainability. However, some believe that by incorporating strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, businesses will be able to solve problems in society, including environmental ones. Besides economic, social and environmental aspects, governance is another essential pillar for creating sustainable communities and cities. Governance plays a key role in the success of sustainable projects or creating long lasting legacies; an example of this can be creating circular supply chain with collaboration between different businesses, which in the end results in positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for everyone. Governance is a very important parameter in creating the legacy of low carbon and environmentally friendly city due to the fact that, besides building energy efficient buildings and infrastructure, citizens who are also part of the success of this system should know about how to behave and collaborate with others to make the system work. By deploying the philosophy of cultural historical activity theory, this paper explains how influential businesses have been and can be still used as a mediating tool for governance purposes, and succeed in creating shared value and lasting legacy within society.

Keywords: business, governance, CSR, sustainability

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Authors: Balpreet Singh Madan

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The Middle Eastern countries have preserved their heritage, tradition, and culture in their buildings by incorporating vernacular features of Arab-Islamic Architecture. The harsh sun and arid climate in the Gulf region make their buildings and infrastructure extremely hot and challenging to live in. One such iconic feature of Arab architecture is the Mashrabiya, which has been refined and updated for both functional and aesthetic purposes. This feature helps reduce the impact of solar radiation in buildings and lowers the energy requirements for creating livable conditions. The incorporation of Mashrabiya in modern buildings in the region symbolizes the amalgamation of tradition with innovation and modern technology. These buildings depict Mashrabiya with refinements for its better functional performance and aesthetic appeal to make superior built forms. This paper emphasizes the study of Mashrabiya as a vernacular feature with its adaptability for Energy Conservation and Sustainability, as seen in some of the recent iconic buildings of the Middle East, through a literature review and case studies of renowned buildings.

Keywords: energy efficiency, climate responsive, sustainability, innovation, heritage, vernacular

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Authors: A. G. Back

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In the context of global climate change, extreme weather events are increasingly intense and frequent, challenging the adaptability of urban space. In this sense, urban planning is a relevant instrument for addressing, in a systemic manner, various sectoral policies capable of linking the urban agenda to the reduction of social and environmental risks. The Master Plan of the Municipality of Sao Paulo, 2014, presents innovations capable of promoting the transition to sustainability in the urban space. Among such innovations, the following stand out: i) promotion of density in the axes of mass transport involving mixture of commercial, residential, services, and leisure uses (principles related to the compact city); ii) vulnerabilities reduction based on housing policies, including regular sources of funds for social housing and land reservation in urbanized areas; iii) reserve of green areas in the city to create parks and environmental regulations for new buildings focused on reducing the effects of heat island and improving urban drainage. However, long-term implementation involves distributive conflicts and may change in different political, economic, and social contexts over time. Thus, the central objective of this paper is to identify which factors limit or support the implementation of these policies. That is, to map the challenges and interests of converging and/or divergent urban actors in the sustainable urban development agenda and what resources they mobilize to support or limit these actions in the city of Sao Paulo. Recent proposals to amend the urban zoning law undermine the implementation of the Master Plan guidelines. In this context, three interest groups with different views of the city come into dispute: the real estate market, upper middle class neighborhood associations ('not in my backyard' movements), and social housing rights movements. This paper surveys the different interests and visions of these groups taking into account their convergences, or not, with the principles of sustainable urban development. This approach seeks to fill a gap in the international literature on the causes that underpin or hinder the continued implementation of policies aimed at the transition to urban sustainability in the medium and long term.

Keywords: adaptation, ecosystem-based adaptation, interest groups, urban planning, urban transition to sustainability

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Authors: Muhammad Waiz, Rana Maruf Tahir, Fatima Javaid

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Technology in the recent times is available for everyone in the world that no one is left behind. After getting technology into our daily routine, there is a need to study the different factors regarding online shopping. This study examines the impact of online reviews, mobile shopping and computer literacy on online purchasing intention. The sample size was 200 from which 167 complete questionnaires were collected from students and employees of twin cities. SPSS programming software was used to analyze the impact of different factors on purchasing intention. The results of this study showed that those websites which have good ratings and have online shopping application will attract more customers towards them whereas the results showed that the computer literacy has no impact on online purchasing intention. Findings may help for those who want to increase their sales or to start a new online business. Future research, limitations, and implications are discussed.

Keywords: computer literacy, mobile shopping, online purchase intention, online reviews, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Rui Calejo Rodrigues

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Building Refurbishing and Maintenance is a major area of knowledge ultimately dispensed to user/occupant criteria. The optimization of the service life of a building needs a special background to be assessed as it is one of those concepts that needs proficiency to be implemented. ISO 15686-2 Buildings and constructed assets - Service life planning: Part 2, Service life prediction procedures, states a factorial method based on deterministic data for building components life span. Major consequences result on a deterministic approach because users/occupants are not sensible to understand the end of components life span and so simply act on deterministic periods and so costly and resources consuming solutions do not meet global targets of planet sustainability. The estimation of 2 thousand million conventional buildings in the world, if submitted to a probabilistic method for service life planning rather than a deterministic one provide an immense amount of resources savings. Since 1989 the research team nowadays stating for CEES–Center for Building in Service Studies developed a methodology based on Montecarlo method for probabilistic approach regarding life span of building components, cost and service life care time spans. The research question of this deals with the importance of probabilistic approach of buildings life planning compared with deterministic methods. It is presented the mathematic model developed for buildings probabilistic lifespan approach and experimental data is obtained to be compared with deterministic data. Assuming that buildings lifecycle depends a lot on component replacement this methodology allows to conclude on the global impact of fixed replacements methodologies such as those on result of deterministic models usage. Major conclusions based on conventional buildings estimate are presented and evaluated under a sustainable perspective.

Keywords: building components life cycle, building maintenance, building sustainability, Montecarlo Simulation

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