Search results for: sustainable building concept

Authors: Sadia Idrees, Gianpaolo Vignali, Simeon Gill

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The study aims to establish the virtual size and fit technology features to enhance fashion online retailing platforms, utilising digital human measurements to provide customised style and function to consumers. A few firms in the UK have launched advanced interactive fashion shopping domains for personalised shopping globally, aided by the latest internet technology. Virtual size and fit interfaces have a great potential to provide a personalised better-fitted garment to promote mass customisation globally. Made-to-measure clothing, consuming unstitched fabric is a common practice offered by fashion brands in Pakistan. This product is regarded as economical and sustainable to be utilised by consumers in Pakistan. Although the manual sizing system is practiced to sell garments online, virtual size and fit visualisation and recommendation technologies are uncommon in Pakistani fashion interfaces. A comparative assessment of Pakistani fashion brand websites and UK technology-driven fashion interfaces was conducted to highlight the vast potential of the virtual size and fit technology. The results indicated that web 2.0 technology adopted by Pakistani apparel brands has limited features, whereas companies practicing web 3.0 technology provide interactive online real-store shopping experience leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and globalisation of brands.

Keywords: e-commerce, mass customization, virtual size and fit, web 3.0 technology

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Authors: Rahul Patel

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Ahmedabad, a city located in western India, is experiencing rapid growth due to urbanization and industrialization. It is projected to become a metropolitan city in the near future, resulting in various construction activities. Soil testing is necessary before construction can commence, requiring construction companies and contractors to periodically conduct soil testing. The focus of this study is on the process of creating a spatial database that is digitally formatted and integrated with geotechnical data and a Geographic Information System (GIS). Building a comprehensive geotechnical (Geo)-database involves three steps: collecting borehole data from reputable sources, verifying the accuracy and redundancy of the data, and standardizing and organizing the geotechnical information for integration into the database. Once the database is complete, it is integrated with GIS, allowing users to visualize, analyze, and interpret geotechnical information spatially. Using a Topographic to Raster interpolation process in GIS, estimated values are assigned to all locations based on sampled geotechnical data values. The study area was contoured for SPT N-Values, Soil Classification, Φ-Values, and Bearing Capacity (T/m2). Various interpolation techniques were cross-validated to ensure information accuracy. This GIS map enables the calculation of SPT N-Values, Φ-Values, and bearing capacities for different footing widths and various depths. This study highlights the potential of GIS in providing an efficient solution to complex phenomena that would otherwise be tedious to achieve through other means. Not only does GIS offer greater accuracy, but it also generates valuable information that can be used as input for correlation analysis. Furthermore, this system serves as a decision support tool for geotechnical engineers.

Keywords: ArcGIS, borehole data, geographic information system, geo-database, interpolation, SPT N-value, soil classification, Φ-Value, bearing capacity

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Authors: Ajmal Hussain

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In Indian music parlance, Rasa denotes a distinct aesthetic experience that builds up in the mind of the listeners while listening to a piece of Indian classical music. The distinction of the experience is rooted in the concept that it gives rise to an enhanced awareness about the Self or God and creates a mental state detached from mundane issues of everyday life. The theory of Rasa was initially proposed in the context of theatre but became a part of Indian musicological discourse roughly two thousand years ago, however, to this day, it remains shrouded in mystery due to its religious associations and connotations. This paper attempts to demystify the theory of Rasa in the light of available scientific knowledge fund particularly in Brain and Mind sciences. The paper initially describes the religious context of the theory of Rasa and then discusses its classical formulations by Bharata and Abhinavagupta including the steps and stages laid down by the latter to explain the creation of musical experience. The classical formulations are then interpreted with reference to the scientific knowledge fund about the human mind and mechanics of perception. The study uses the model of human mind as proposed by Portuguese-American neuroscientist Antonio Damasio in his theory ‘A Nesting Principle’. On the basis of the findings by Damasio, the paper interprets the experience of Rasa from a scientific perspective and clarifies the sequence of steps and stages involved in the making of musical experience. The study concludes that although the classical formulations of Rasa identify key aspects of musical experience, the association of Rasa with religion is misleading. The association with religion does not depend upon musical stimulus but the intellectual orientation of the listener. It further establishes that the function of Rasa is more profound as, from an evolutionary perspective, it can be seen as a catalyst for higher consciousness.

Keywords: aesthetic, consciousness, music, Rasa

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Authors: Agnieszka Dubiel, Artur Grabowski, Tomasz Przerywacz, Mateusz Roganowicz, Patrycja Zioty

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Food waste is one of the most significant challenges humanity is facing nowadays. Every year, reports from global organizations show the scale of the phenomenon, although society's awareness is still insufficient. One-third of the food produced in the world is wasted at various points in the food supply chain. Wastes are present from the delivery through the food preparation and distribution to the end of the sale and consumption. The first step in understanding and resisting the phenomenon is a thorough analysis of the everyday behaviors of humanity. This concept is understood as finding the correlation between the type of food and the reason for throwing it out and wasting it. Those actions were identified as a critical step in the start of work to develop technology to prevent food waste. In this paper, the problem mentioned above was analyzed by focusing on the inhabitants of Central Europe, especially Poland, aged 20-30. This paper provides an insight into collecting data through dedicated software and an organized database. The proposed database contains information on the amount, type, and reasons for wasting food in households. A literature review supported the work to answer research questions, compare the situation in Poland with the problem analyzed in other countries, and find research gaps. The proposed article examines the cause of food waste and its quantity in detail. This review complements previous reviews by emphasizing social and economic innovation in Poland's food waste management. The paper recommends a course of action for future research on food waste management and prevention related to the handling and disposal of food, emphasizing households, i.e., the last link in the supply chain.

Keywords: food waste, food waste reduction, consumer food waste, human-food interaction

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Authors: David C. Nwogbo

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Examining the impact of federalism on good governance is crucial for enhancing governance in Nigeria. This study focuses on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as a case study. Employing a descriptive survey design, data was collected to explore the relationship between federalism and good governance in Abuja, Nigeria. A stratified random sampling method was used to select 289 respondents from the population of Abuja. The sample size was determined using a formula based on precision and population size. A survey questionnaire was employed to gather information on respondents' demographics, perceptions, and experiences concerning federalism and good governance in the FCT. Descriptive statistics, such as percentages and means, were utilized to analyze the study's findings. The findings provided insights into the perceptions and experiences of residents of the FCT with regard to the relationship between federalism and good governance. The results of this study will be useful for policy and decision-making related to the implementation of these concepts in Nigeria and, more specifically, in the FCT, Abuja. The study found that the majority of respondents believe that the federal system of government has not been effective in promoting accountability, transparency, and reducing corruption in Nigeria. There is a need for reforms to improve the effectiveness of the federal system in promoting good governance. These reforms include strengthening institutions, reallocation of resources, reform of the electoral system, decentralization of power, strengthening the role of the judiciary, capacity building, promoting transparency, and engagement of civil society. The findings also highlight the need for significant reforms to address these challenges and promote good governance in the country. The results of this study can be used to inform policy decisions and guide future research on the subject.

Keywords: accountability, federalism, good, governance

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Authors: Naad-E-Ali Sulehria

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Pakistan and china have stepped in a new phase of strengthening fraternity as the dream of economic corridor once discerned by both countries is going to take a pragmatic shape. Pak-China economic corridor an under construction program is termed to be an emerging dynamic of 21st century that anticipates a nexus between Asian continent and Indian Ocean by extending its functions to adjoining East, South, Central and Western Asian regions. The $45.6 billion worth heavily invested megaprojects by China are meant to revive energy sector and building economic infrastructure in Pakistan. Evidently, these projects are a part of ‘southern extension’ of Silk Road economic belt which is going to draw out prominent incentives for both countries particularly bolstering China to acquire influential dominance over the regional trade and beyond. In pursuit to adhere, by these progressive plans both countries have began working on their respective assignments. This article discusses the economical development programs under China’s peripheral diplomacy regarding its region-specific-approach to accumulate trade of Persian Gulf and access the landlocked Central Asian states through Pakistan in a sublimate context to break US encirclement of Asia. Pakistan’s utmost preference to utilize its strategic channel as a trade hub to become an emerging economy and surpass its arch-rival India for strategic concerns is contemplated accordingly. The needs and feasibility of the economic gateway and the dividends it can provide in the contemporary scenario are examined carefully and analysis is drawn upon the future prospects of the Pakistan-China Economic corridor once completed.

Keywords: pak-china economic corridor (PCEC), central asian republic states (CARs), new silk road economic belt, gawadar

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Authors: Guru Prasad Satsangi, Shiv Shankar Gautam

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Allelopathy is a potential area of research for sustainable agriculture. It is environmentally safe, can conserve the available resources, and also may mitigate the problems raised by synthetic chemicals. The allelo-chemicals are secondary metabolites produced by plants, which are the byproducts of the primary metabolic process. These allelo-chemicals may be stimulatory, inhibitory, or may have no effect on the growth of the other plants. It has been observed in the present study that foliar extracts of Leucaena leucocephala showed an inhibitory effect on the germination of the test crop maize. The results revealed that at different concentrations of Leucaena leucocephala foliar extract, caused a significant inhibition in germination and growth behavior of Zea mays L. seedlings. Minimum germination and growth occurred in 100 % concentration, and an increase in extract concentrations result in a decrease in the germination. Bioassay also depicted that this inhibitory effect was proportional to the concentration of the extract as the higher concentration having a lesser stimulatory effect or vice versa. The phytochemical analysis of the secondary metabolites from foliar extracts of Leucaena leucocephala L. showed the presence of tannins, saponins, phenols, alkaloids, and flavanoids. Among various extracts, the presence of methanol extract was found in a significant amount of phytochemicals, followed by the aqueous and ethanol extracts. Leaves showed a significantly higher amount of the allelochemicals.

Keywords: allelopathic effect, germination /growth behavior , foliar extracts, Leucaena leucceophala , Zea mays L.

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Authors: Jean-Paul Kapuya Bulaba Nyembwe, John Omomoluwa Ogundiran, Manuel Carlos Gameiro da Silva

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Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) remains a global concern because it impacts people's comfort, health, performance, and general well-being. People spend a significant amount of time in buildings or while commuting, hence ensuring the minimal risk in indoor spaces by ensuring suitable IEQ. IEQ studies are limited regarding developing sub-Saharan countries, whereas there is also a huge risk and concern for the current population and geometric growth as many cities in the region will become mega-cities by 2040 (World Bank report). The absence of suitable IEQ regulations and energy poverty are reasons to assess the IEQ gaps for increased awareness of sustainable interventions to minimize the associated risk. This study evaluates the gaps and potential hazards that exist in the IEQ of sub-Saharan countries using empirical studies of hospital occupants and BRT bus passengers and drivers. The Surveys were conducted in 3 cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lagos metropolis of Nigeria. The results suggest that gaps exist in IEQ for these regions. The gaps indicate existential risk to people’s health, comfort, and well-being. The inferential conclusions are that there is a need for further scientific studies, improvement in IEQ conditions, and ensuring suitable regulations for developing sub-Saharan countries.

Keywords: health hazards, hospitals indoor environmental quality, indoor spaces, occupants, sub-Saharan countries, vehicles

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Authors: Miraç Savaş Turhan, Ali Danişman

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Recently scholars of new institutional theory have used institutional logics perspective to explain the contradictory practices in modern western societies. Accordingly, distinct institutional logics are embedded in central institutions such as the market, state, democracy, family, and religion. They guide individual and organizational actors and constraint their behaviors in a particular organizational field. Through this perspective, actors are assumed to have a situated, embedded, boundedly intentional, and adaptive role against the structure in social, cultural and political context. On the other hand, over a decade, there is an emerging attempt focusing on the role of actors on creating, maintaining, and changing the institutions. Such attempts brought out the concept of institutional entrepreneurs to explain the role of individual actors in relation to institutions. Institutional entrepreneurs are individuals, groups of individuals, organizations or groups of organizations that are able to initiate some actions to build, maintain or change institutions. While recent studies on institutional logics perspective have attempted to explain roles of entrepreneurial actors who have resources and skills, little is known about the effects of multiple institutional logics on the ability of institutional entrepreneurs. In this study, we aim to find out that how multiple institutional logics affect the ability of institutional entrepreneurs during the process of institutional change. We examine this issue in the Turkish Education Field. While institutional logics were identified based on the previous studies in the education field, the actions taken by Turkish National Education Ministry from 2003 to 2013 was examined through content analysis The early results indicate that there are remarkable shift and contradictions in the ability of institutional entrepreneur in taking actions to change the field in relationship to balance of power shift among the carriers of institutional logics.

Keywords: institutional theory, institutional logics, institutional entrepreneurs, Turkish national education

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Authors: Aliyu Damri

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This study analyzed the emergence of WhatsApp and how employees at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Kaduna defined the concept base on their vast broadcasting experiences for over five decades and application of the phenomenon to the radio station. It also analyzed the nature, patterns, dimensions, features, challenges as well as the effects of WhatsApp as a social networking site with specific interest on the radio outlet. Also, the study identified how the radio organization responded to the challenges in an attempt to adapt to the new pattern of broadcasting characterized by many technological transformations. The study further explained in details such skills journalists need to function optimally using WhatsApp as well as the impacts of the WhatsApp on radio broadcasting. It used a combination of published materials, focus group discussion, in depth interviews and participant observation on the activities of the radio stations to address the research questions. The data generated provided insight to better understand the challenges posed to FRCN Kaduna as a result of WhatsApp application and how FRCN Kaduna responded to the challenges. It also provided information on the skills journalists need to function optimally in using WhatsApp application in the radio station. The interview and focus group discussion’s transcripts and the published materials were analyzed along thematic pattern related to the research questions in the study. The dominant response relied heavily on change in the radio station’s organizational and technical integration of newsrooms, the use of a multiskilled workforce, application of a flexible and user-friendly technology in all aspects of production, expansion of the station’s services in to new media such as internet and mobile phones as well as sharing of ideas across different units in the radio outfit.

Keywords: broadcasting, challenge, northern Nigeria, radio, WhatsApp application

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Authors: S. R. Shamili, C. Natarajan, J. Karthikeyan

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Rapid growth of world population and widespread urbanization has remarkably increased the development of the construction industry which caused a huge demand for sand and gravels. Environmental problems occur when the rate of extraction of sand, gravels, and other materials exceeds the rate of generation of natural resources; therefore, an alternative source is essential to replace the materials used in concrete. Now-a-days, electronic products have become an integral part of daily life which provides more comfort, security, and ease of exchange of information. These electronic waste (E-Waste) materials have serious human health concerns and require extreme care in its disposal to avoid any adverse impacts. Disposal or dumping of these E-Wastes also causes major issues because it is highly complex to handle and often contains highly toxic chemicals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, brominates flame retardants (BFRs), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and phosphorus compounds. Hence, E-Waste can be incorporated in concrete to make a sustainable environment. This paper deals with the composition, preparation, properties, classification of E-Waste. All these processes avoid dumping to landfills whilst conserving natural aggregate resources, and providing a better environmental option. This paper also provides a detailed literature review on the behaviour of concrete with incorporation of E-Wastes. Many research shows the strong possibility of using E-Waste as a substitute of aggregates eventually it reduces the use of natural aggregates in concrete.

Keywords: dumping, electronic waste, landfill, toxic chemicals

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Authors: Ahmed Usman

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This paper attempts to examine the relevance of an Electoral Commission in the democratic process of governance in Nigeria. However, democratic system and governance present a clear indication of responsive and responsible governments. The idea of a government being responsive and responsible is based on the premise of conventional principles of democracy such as freedom of political, economic and social rights of and individual. More so, upholding of the Rule of Law based on the ground of constitutionalism is a clear manifestation of the democratic governance. The burdens of ascertaining theses democratic ethos rely solely on the constituted election management body known as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the case of Nigeria. This body is however, saddled with the responsibility of organizing and conducting periodic regular credible election known as free and fair election. The body also, is expected to be neutral, and independent to ensure fair treatment to all. It is on the basis of this fair treatment that credible leaders emerged. To this end, the paper examines the powers, functions and features of Independent National Electoral Commission. More so, the concepts of election and democracy have been operationalized. It is obvious that electoral process in Nigeria is marred with series of problems of which the paper identified and solutions were proffered towards credible, free and fair elections for sustainable democratic governance. In order to succinctly discuss and analyze the issues at stake, Structural Functional Analysis theory is adopted as a theoretical frame work for the paper.

Keywords: election, electoral commission, democracy, governance

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Authors: Adane Kassa Shikur

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Today’s supply chains (SC) have become vulnerable to unexpected and ever-intensifying disruptions from myriad sources. Consequently, the concept of supply chain resilience (SCRes) has become crucial to complement the conventional risk management paradigm, which has failed to cope with unexpected SC disruptions, resulting in severe consequences affecting SC performances and making business continuity questionable. Advancements in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential to enhance SCRes by improving critical antecedents in the different phases have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. The research from academia and the practical interest of the industry have yielded significant publications at the nexus of AI and SCRes during the last two decades. However, the applications and examinations have been primarily conducted independently, and the extant literature is dispersed into research streams despite the complex nature of SCRes. To close this research gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review of 106 peer-reviewed articles by curating, synthesizing, and consolidating up-to-date literature and presents the state-of-the-art development from 2010 to 2022. Bayesian networks are the most topical ones among the 13 AI techniques evaluated. Concerning the critical antecedents, visibility is the first ranking to be realized by the techniques. The study revealed that AI techniques support only the first 3 phases of SCRes (readiness, response, and recovery), and readiness is the most popular one, while no evidence has been found for the growth phase. The study proposed an AI-SCRes framework to inform research and practice to approach SCRes holistically. It also provided implications for practice, policy, and theory as well as gaps for impactful future research.

Keywords: ANNs, risk, Bauesian networks, vulnerability, resilience

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Authors: P. Chang, C. Lopez, C. Burbano

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Flood protection zones are riparian buffers that are formed to manage and mitigate the impact of flooding, and in turn, protect local populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Guía Técnica de Criterios para el Acotamiento de las Rondas Hídricas in Colombia against international regulations in Canada and Spain, in order to determine its limitations and contribute to its improvement. The need to establish a specific corridor that allows for the dynamic development of a river is clear; however, limitations present in the Colombian Technical Guide are identified. The study shows that international regulations provide similar concepts as used in Colombia, but additionally integrate aspects such as regionalization that allows for a better characterization of the channel way, and incorporate the frequency of flooding and its probability of occurrence in the concept of risk when determining the protection zone. The case study analyzed in Dosquebradas - Risaralda aimed at comparing the application of the different standards through hydraulic modeling. It highlights that the current Colombian standard does not offer sufficient details in its implementation phase, which leads to a false sense of security related to inaccuracy and lack of data. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how the Colombian norm is ill-adapted to the conditions of Dosquebradas typical of the Andes region, both in the social and hydraulic aspects, and does not reduce the risk, nor does it improve the protection of the population. Our study considers it pertinent to include risk estimation as an integral part of the methodology when establishing protect flood zone, considering the particularity of water systems, as they are characterized by an heterogeneous natural dynamic behavior.

Keywords: environmental corridor, flood zone determination, hydraulic domain, legislation flood protection zone

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Authors: Donatella Cimini, Sergio D’ambrosio, Saba Sadiq, Chiara Schiraldi

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Chondroitin sulfate (CS), as well as modified CS, and unsulfated chondroitin, are largely applied in research today. CS is a linear glycosaminoglycan normally present in cartilage-rich tissues and bones in the form of proteoglycans decorated with sulfate groups in different positions. CS is used as an effective non-pharmacological alternative for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and other potential applications in the biomedical field are being investigated. Some bacteria, such as E. coli K4, produce a polysaccharide that is a precursor of CS (unsulfated chondroitin). This work focused on the construction of integrative E. coli K4 recombinant strains overexpressing genes (kfoA, kfoF, pgm and galU in different combinations) involved in the biosynthesis of the nucleotide sugars necessary for polysaccharide synthesis. Strain growth and polymer production were evaluated using renewable waste materials as substrates in shake flasks and small-scale batch fermentation processes. Results demonstrated the potential to replace pure sugars with cheaper medium components to establish environmentally sustainable and cost-effective production routes for potential industrial development. In fact, although excellent fermentation results have been described so far by employing strains that naturally produce chondroitin-like polysaccharides on semi-defined media, there is still the need to reduce manufacturing costs by providing a cost-effective biotechnological alternative to currently used animal-based extraction procedures.

Keywords: E. coli K4, chondroitin, microbial cell factories, glycosaminoglycans, renewable resources

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Authors: Nicolas Haber

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The study addresses the design process of integrated product-service offerings as a measure of answering environmental sustainability concerns by replacing stand-alone physical artefacts with comprehensive solutions relying on functional results rather than conventional product sales. However, views regarding this transformation are dissimilar and differentiated: The study discusses the importance and requirements of product-service systems before analysing the theoretical studies accomplished in the extent of their design and development processes. Based on this, a framework, built on a design science approach, is proposed, where the distinct approaches from the literature are merged towards a unified structure serving as a generic methodology to designing product-service systems. Each stage of this model is then developed to present a holistic design proposal called the Functional Engineered Product-Service System (FEPSS) model. Product-service systems are portrayed as customisable solutions tailored to specific settings and defined circumstances. Moreover, the approaches adopted to guide the design process are diversified. A thorough analysis of the design strategies and development processes however, allowed the extraction of a design backbone, valid to varied situations and contexts whether they are product-oriented, use-oriented or result-oriented. The goal is to guide manufacturers towards an eased adoption of these integrated offerings, given their inherited environmental benefits, by proposing a robust all-purpose design process.

Keywords: functional product, integrated product-service offerings, product-service systems, sustainable design

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Authors: Huiqiang Yang, Domingo Santana

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This paper proposes a novel configuration which introduces a natural draft dry cooling tower system in a molten salt power tower. A three-dimensional numerical modeling was developed based on the novel configuration. A plan of building 20 new concentrating solar power plants has been announced by Chinese government in September 2016, and among these 20 new plants, most of them are located in regions with long winter and harsh winter climate. The innovative configuration proposed includes an external receiver concrete tower at the center, a natural draft dry cooling tower which is surrounding the external receiver concrete tower and whose shell is fixed on the external receiver concrete tower, and a power block (including a steam generation system, a steam turbine system and hot/cold molten salt tanks, and water treatment systems) is covered by the roof of the natural draft dry cooling tower. Heat exchanger bundles are vertically installed at the furthest edge of the power block. In such a way, all power block equipment operates under suitable environmental conditions through whole year operation. The monthly performance of the novel configuration is simulated as compared to a standard one. The results show that the novel configuration is much more efficient in each separate month in a typical meteorological year. Moreover, all systems inside the power block have less thermal losses at low ambient temperatures, especially in harsh winter climate. It is also worthwhile mentioning that a photovoltaic power plant can be installed on the roof of the cooling tower to reduce the parasites of the molten salt power tower.

Keywords: molten salt power tower, natural draft dry cooling, commercial scale, power block, harsh winter climate

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Authors: M. Devaki, K. B. Jayanthi

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The identification of water bodies from satellite images has recently received a great deal of attention. Different methods have been developed to distinguish water bodies from various satellite images that vary in terms of time and space. Urban water identification issues body manifests in numerous applications with a great deal of certainty. There has been a sharp rise in the usage of satellite images to map natural resources, including urban water bodies and forests, during the past several years. This is because water and forest resources depend on each other so heavily that ongoing monitoring of both is essential to their sustainable management. The relevant elements from satellite pictures have been chosen using a variety of techniques, including machine learning. Then, a convolution neural network (CNN) architecture is created that can identify a superpixel as either one of two classes, one that includes water or doesn't from input data in a complex metropolitan scene. The deep learning technique, CNN, has advanced tremendously in a variety of visual-related tasks. CNN can improve classification performance by reducing the spectral-spatial regularities of the input data and extracting deep features hierarchically from raw pictures. Calculate the water body using the satellite image's resolution. Experimental results demonstrate that the suggested method outperformed conventional approaches in terms of water extraction accuracy from remote-sensing images, with an average overall accuracy of 97%.

Keywords: water body, Deep learning, satellite images, convolution neural network

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Authors: Imran Mehboob Shaikh, Kamaruzaman Noordin

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Musharakah Mutanaqisah or Diminishing Partnership is a derivative of Musharakah contract, which is used by Islamic banks for housing finance facility. Most of the banks offer housing finance based on the concept of Musharakah Mutanaqisah, apart from few which still offer housing finance using BBA, Tawarruq (commodity Murabahah) and Istisna. This research attempts to compare the practice of DP housing finance offered in Malaysia. This paper will further look into challenges in Musharakah Mutanaqisah practice and its sustainability as a mortgage product. In practice there are certain issues related to Musharakah Mutanaqisah also known as Musharakah al Muntaiah bi tamlik, widely accepted and mostly used for housing finance by the Islamic banks. In Malaysia, it is in transforming stage from Bay bithamman Ajil, which is mostly used for housing finance in ASEAN region i.e., Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. In order to conduct this study, a discussion was carried out with few researchers who had worked on the topic previously and some Islamic bank officers attached to a full-fledged Islamic bank in Malaysia. Apart from that previous literature on Musharakah Mutanaqisah was also reviewed and various books, as well as online data, was considered for this study, and websites of different Islamic banks with information for Diminishing partnership, home financing were retrieved. This paper will highlight issues surrounding Diminishing Partnership contract and its conformity to Maqasid al Shariah (objectives of Shariah). Diminishing Partnership is widely accepted in different parts of the world and is mostly used for housing finance. The future prospect of DP is believed to be affirmative. As the product is a better substitute for BBA and most of the Islamic banks around the world have utilized their housing portfolio using the contract but at the same time, there are certain issues that need to be overcome. Even though Islamic banks are striving to sustain and compete the conventional banks but securing the customers from Gharar and other issues should be the primary objective of Islamic financial institutions.

Keywords: BBA, home financing, musharakah mutanaqisah, tawarruq

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Authors: K. P. Fasalu Rahman

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The financial services industry of Islam include large number of institutions, such as investment banks and commercial banks, investment companies and mutual insurance companies. All types of these financial institutions should have to deal with many issues and risks in their field of work. Islamic banks should expect to face two types of risks: risks that are similar to those faced by conventional financial intermediaries and risks that are unique to the Islamic Banks due to their compliance with the Shariah. The use of financial services and products that comply with the Shariah principles cause special issues for supervision and risk management. Risks are uncertain future events that could influence the achievement of the bank’s objectives, including strategic, operational, financial and compliance objectives. In Islamic banks, effective risk management deserves special attention. As an operational problem, risk management is the classification and identification of methods, processes, and risks in banks to supervise, monitor and measure them. In comparison to conventional banks, Islamic banks face big difficulties in identifying and managing risks due to bigger complexities emerging from the profit loss sharing (PLS) concept and nature of particular risks of Islamic financing. As the developing of managing risks tool becomes very essential, especially in Islamic banking as most of the products are depending on PLS principle, identifying and measuring each type of risk is highly important and critical in any Islamic finance based systems. This paper highlights the special and general risks surrounding Islamic banking. And it investigates in detail the need for risk management in Islamic banks. In addition to analyzing the effectiveness of risk management strategies adopted by Islamic financial institutions at present, this research is also suggesting strategies for improving risk management process of Islamic banks in future.

Keywords: Islamic banking, management, risk, risk management

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Authors: Jan Dahlhaus, Alejandro Cardenas Miranda, Frederik Scholer, Maximilian Leonhardt, Matthias Moullion, Frank Beutenmuller, Julia Eckhardt, Josef Wasner, Frank Nittel, Sebastian Stoll, Devin Atukalp, Daniel Folgmann, Tobias Mayer, Obrad Dordevic, Paul Riley, Jean-Marc Le Peuvedic

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Electrical and hybrid aerospace technologies pose very challenging demands on the battery pack – especially with respect to weight and power. In the Clean Sky 2 research project LiBAT (funded by the EU), the consortium is currently building an ambitious prototype with state-of-the art cells that shows the potential of an intelligent pack design with a high level of integration, especially with respect to thermal management and power electronics. For the latter, innovative multi-level-inverter technology is used to realize the required power converting functions with reduced equipment. In this talk the key approaches and methods of the LiBat project will be presented and central results shown. Special focus will be set on the simulative methods used to support the early design and development stages from an overall system perspective. The applied methods can efficiently handle multiple domains and deal with different time and length scales, thus allowing the analysis and optimization of overall- or sub-system behavior. It will be shown how these simulations provide valuable information and insights for the efficient evaluation of concepts. As a result, the construction and iteration of hardware prototypes has been reduced and development cycles shortened.

Keywords: electric aircraft, battery, Li-ion, multi-level-inverter, Novec

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Authors: Elham Rajabian

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The ascent of cybersecurity incidents is a rising threat to most organisations in general, while the impact of the incidents is unique to each of the organizations. It is a need for behavioural sciences to concentrate on employees’ behaviour in order to prepare key security mitigation opinions versus cybersecurity incidents. There are noticeable differences among users of a computer system in terms of complying with security behaviours. We can discuss the people's differences under several subjects such as delaying tactics on something that must be done, the tendency to act without thinking, future thinking about unexpected implications of present-day issues, and risk-taking behaviours in security policies compliance. In this article, we introduce high-profile cyber-attacks and their impacts on weakening cyber resiliency in organizations. We also give attention to human errors that influence network security. Human errors are discussed as a part of psychological matters to enhance compliance with the security policies. The organizational challenges are studied in order to shape a sustainable cyber risks management approach in the related work section. Insiders’ behaviours are viewed as a cyber security gap to draw proper cyber resiliency in section 3. We carry out the best cybersecurity practices by discussing four CIS challenges in section 4. In this regard, we provide a guideline and metrics to measure cyber resilience in organizations in section 5. In the end, we give some recommendations in order to build a cybersecurity culture based on individual behaviours.

Keywords: cyber resilience, human factors, cybersecurity behavior, attitude, usability, security culture

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Authors: Angga Pratama Herman, Muhammad Shahbaz, Suzana Yusup

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Bottom ash is a solid waste from thermal power plant and it is usually disposed of into landfills and ash ponds. These disposal methods are not sustainable since new lands need to be acquired as the landfills and ash ponds are fill to its capacity. Bottom ash also classified as hazardous material that makes the disposal methods may have contributed to the environmental effect to the area. Hence, more research needs to be done to explore the potential of recycling the bottom ash as more useful product. The objective of this research is to explore the potential of utilizing bottom ash as catalyst in biomass steam gasification. In this research, bottom ash was used as catalyst in gasification of Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) using Thermo Gravimetric Analyzer coupled with mass spectrometry (TGA/MS). The effects of temperature (650 – 750 °C), particle size (0.5 – 1.0 mm) and bottom ash percentage (2 % - 10 %) were studied with and without steam. The experimental arrays were designed using expert method of Central Composite Design (CCD). Results show maximum yield of hydrogen gas was 34.3 mole % for gasification without steam and 61.4 Mole % with steam. Similar trend was observed for syngas production. The maximum syngas yield was 59.5 mole % for without steam and it reached up to 81.5 mole% with the use of steam. The optimal condition for both product gases was temperature 700 °C, particle size 0.75 mm and cool bottom ash % 0.06. In conclusion, the use of bottom ash as catalyst is possible for biomass steam gasification and the product gases composition are comparable with previous researches, however the results need to be validated for bench or pilot scale study.

Keywords: bottom ash, biomass steam gasification, catalyst, lab scale

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Authors: Suvankar Chakraborty

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Introduction: Corporate Social Responsibility means the obligations of business to act in a manner which will serve the best interests of the Society. The Companies Act , 2013 for the first time has emphasized on the fact that every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director. In the previous Companies Act, 1956 there was no such compulsion for constituting a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Objective: This study examines the changes in the perception of corporate sectors so far as social responsibility is concerned. Methodology: The study is based on secondary data obtained from various websites of different corporate sectors and the Gazette of India related to Companies Act, 1956 and the new Companies Act, 2013. For capturing the perception of the corporate world regarding the provisions of CSR in the new Companies Act, 2013, primary data has been collected through structured questionnaire. Findings: Corporate Social Responsibility can put a company on a strong base of sustainable development and in facing the business risk of foreclosure or winding up. Shouldering social responsibility on a long-term basis can help a company not only in increasing its reputation in the business world but also helps in minimizing Government intervention. . But, there can hardly be any universal rule that the area of social responsibility being wholly and solely dependent on the ethical aspect of the corporate sectors. But having said that it may be asserted that business ethics may be a key driver of CSR activities rather than rule based CSR activities in the years to come.

Keywords: business ethics, corporate social responsibility, companies act, 2013, CSR committee

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Authors: R. R. Dewi Rahmawaty Aktyani Putri, Earmporn Thongkrajai, Dedy Purwito

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There were many instruments have been developed to assess social support which has the different dimension in breast cancer patients. The Issue of measurement is a challenge to determining the component of dimensional concept, defining the unit of measurement, and establishing the validity and reliability of the measurement. However, the instruments where need to know how much support which obtained and perceived among women with breast cancer who undergone chemotherapy which it can help nurses to prevent of non-adherence in chemotherapy. This study aimed to measure the reliability of BC-SSAS instrument among 30 Indonesian women with breast cancer aged 18 years and above who undergone chemotherapy for six cycles in the oncological unit of Outpatient Department (OPD), Margono Soekardjo Hospital, Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected during October to December 2015 by using modified the Breast Cancer Social Support Assessment (BC-SSAS). The Cronbach’s alpha analysis was carried out to measure internal consistency for reliability test of BC-SSAS instrument. This study used five experts for content validity index. The results showed that for content validity, I-CVI was 0.98 and S-CVI was 0.98; Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.971 and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the subscales were high, with 0.903 for emotional support, 0.865 for informational support, 0.901 for tangible support, 0.897 for appraisal support and 0.884 for positive interaction support. The results confirmed that the BC-SSAS instrument has high reliability. BC-SSAS instruments were reliable and can be used in health care services to measure the social support received and perceived among women with breast cancer who undergone chemotherapy so that preventive interventions can be developed and the quality of health services can be improved.

Keywords: BC-SSAS, women with breast cancer, chemotherapy, Indonesia

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Authors: Karen Bell

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It is vital to integrate a working-class perspective into the just transition to an inclusive and sustainable society because of the particular expertise and interests that working-class people bring to the debates and actions. In class societies, those who are not well represented in the current structures of power can find it easier to see when the system is not working. They are also more likely to be impacted by the environmental crises because wealthier people can change their dwelling places, jobs and other aspects of their lives in the face of risks. Therefore, challenging the ‘post-material values thesis’, this paper argues that, if enabled to do so, working-class people are more likely to identify what needs to be addressed and changed in transition and can be more motivated to make the changes necessary than other social groups. However, they are often excluded from environmental decision-making and environmental social movements. The paper is based on a mixed methodology; drawing on secondary data, interview material, participant observation and documentary analysis. It is based on years of research and activism on environmental issues in working-class communities. The analysis and conclusion discusses the seven kinds of change required to address this problem: 1) organizational change - participatory practice (2) legislative change - make class an equalities and human rights issue (3) policy change - reduce inequality (4) social movement change - radicalize the environmental movement and support the environmental working-class (5) political change - create an eco-social state based on sharing (6) cultural change - integrate social and environmental justice, and (7) revolutionary change - dismantle capitalism.

Keywords: environmentalism, just transition, sustainability, working class

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Authors: Anmar Dulaimi, Hassan Al Nageim, Felicite Ruddock, Linda Seton

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Cold bituminous asphalt mixture (CBEM) provide a sustainable, cost effective and energy efficiency alternative to traditional hot mixtures. However, these mixtures have a comparatively low initial strength and as it is considered as evolutionary materials, mainly in the early life where the initial cohesion is low and builds up slowly. On the other hand, asphalt concrete is, by far, the most common mixtures in use as binder course and base in road pavement in the UK having a continuous grade offer a good aggregate interlock results in this material having very good load-spreading properties as well as a high resistance to permanent deformation. This study aims at developing a novel fast curing cold asphalt concrete binder course mixtures by using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as a replacement to conventional mineral filler (0%-100%) while new by-product material (LJMU-A2) was used as a supplementary cementitious material. With this purpose, cold asphalt concrete binder course mixtures with cationic emulsions were studied by means of stiffness modulus whereas water sensitivity was approved by assessing the stiffness modulus ratio before and after sample conditioning. The results indicate that a substantial enhancement in the stiffness modulus and a considerable improvement of water sensitivity resistance by adding of LJMU-A2 to the cold asphalt mixtures as a supplementary cementitious material. Moreover, the addition of LJMU-A2 to those mixtures leads to stiffness modulus after 2- day curing comparable to those obtained with Portland cement after 7-day curing.

Keywords: cold mix asphalt, binder course, cement, stiffness modulus, water sensitivity

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Authors: Sun-Mi Park, Ji-Hyun Jung, Min-Jung Kang

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Software (SW) education is scheduled to be included in the National curriculum in South Korea by 2018. However, Korean national kindergarten curriculum has been excepted from the revision of the entire Korean national school curriculum including software education. Even though the SW education has not been considered a part of current national kindergarten curriculum, there is a growing interest of adopting software education into the ECE practice. Teachers might be a key element in introducing and implementing new educational change such as SW education. In preparation for the adoption of SW education in ECE, it might be necessary to figure out ECE teachers’ perception and attitudes toward early childhood software education. For this study, 219 ECE teachers’ concern level in SW education was surveyed by using the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ). As a result, the teachers' concern level in SW education is the highest at stage 0-Unconcerned and is high level in stage 1-informational, stage 2-personal, and stage 3-management concern. Thus, a non-user pattern was mostly indicated. However, compared to a typical non-user pattern, the personal and informative concern level is slightly high. The 'tailing up' phenomenon toward stage 6-refocusing was shown. Therefore, the pattern aspect close to critical non-user ever appeared to some extent. In addition, a significant difference in concern level was shown at all stages depending on the awareness of necessity. Teachers with SW training experience showed higher intensity only at stage 0. There was statistically significant difference in stage 0 and 6 depending on the future implementation decision. These results will be utilized as a resource in building ECE teachers’ support system according to his or her concern level of SW education.

Keywords: concerns-based adoption model (CBAM), early childhood education teachers, software education, Stages of Concern (SoC)

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Authors: A. Goma Amira, U. E. Mahrous

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Measuring the effect of perinatal lead exposure on learning ability of offspring is considered as a sensitive and selective index for providing an early marker for central nervous system damage produced by this toxic metal. A total of 35 Sprague-Dawley adult rats were used to investigate the effect of lead acetate toxicity on behavioral patterns of adult female rats and learning ability of offspring. Rats were allotted into 4 groups, group one received 1g/l lead acetate (n=10), group two received 1.5g/l lead acetate (n=10), group three received 2g/l lead acetate in drinking water (n=10), and control group did not receive lead acetate (n=5) from 8th day of pregnancy till weaning of pups. The obtained results revealed a dose-dependent increase in the feeding time, drinking frequency, licking frequency, scratching frequency, licking litters, nest building, and retrieving frequencies, while standing time increased significantly in rats treated with 1.5g/l lead acetate than other treated groups and control. On the contrary, lying time decreased gradually in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, movement activities were higher in rats treated with 1g/l lead acetate than other treated groups and control. Furthermore, time spent in closed arms was significantly lower in rats given 2g/l lead acetate than other treated groups, while they spent significantly much time spent in open arms than other treated groups which could be attributed to occurrence of adaptation. Furthermore, number of entries in open arms was-dose dependent. However, the ratio between open/closed arms revealed a significant decrease in rats treated with 2g/l lead acetate than the control group.

Keywords: lead toxicity, rats, learning ability, behavior

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Authors: Yung-Hui Tang, Yan-Chiou Ku, Li-Chi Huang

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Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the effect of the Humanoid Diagram Teaching (HDT) strategy on novice nurses’ care ability and retention rate. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study using two groups concurrently with repeat measurements sample consisted of 24 novice nurses (12 in each experimental and control group) in a medical center in southern Taiwan. Both groups all received regular training program (nursing standard techniques and practices, concept map, mini-CEX, CbD, and clinical education and training), and experimental group added the HDT program. The HDT strategy includes the contents of patients’ body humanoid drawing and discussion for 30 minutes each time, three times a week, and continually for four weeks. The effectiveness of ＨDT was evaluated by mini-CEX, CbD and clinical assessment and retention rate at the 3rd month and 6th month. Results: The novice nurses' care ability were examined, only CbD score in the control group was improved in the 3rd month and with statistical difference, p = .003. The mini-CEX and CbD in the experimental group were significantly improved in both the first and third month with statistical differences p = .00. Although mini-CEX and CbD in the experimental group were higher than the control group, but there was no significant difference p > .05. Retention rate of the experimental group in the third month and sixth month was significantly higher than the control group, and there was a statistically significant difference p < .05. Conclusions: The study reveals that HDT strategy can help novice nurses learning, enhancing their knowledge and technical capability, analytical skills in case-based caring, and retention. The HDT strategy can be served as an effective strategy for novice training for better nurse retention rate.

Keywords: humanoid diagram teaching strategy, novice nurses retention, teaching strategy of nurse retention, visual learning mode

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