Search results for: economical sustainability

Authors: Anatoliy A. Alabugin, Nikolay K. Topuzov, Sergei V. Aliukov

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It is well known, that while we do a quantitative evaluation of the quality control of some economic processes (in particular, resource saving) with help innovation factors, there are three groups of problems: high uncertainty of indicators of the quality management, their considerable ambiguity, and high costs to provide a large-scale research. These problems are defined by the use of contradictory objectives of enhancing of the quality control in accordance with innovation factors and preservation of economic stability of the enterprise. The most acutely, such factors are felt in the countries lagging behind developed economies of the world according to criteria of innovativeness and effectiveness of management of the resource saving. In our opinion, the following two methods for reconciling of the above-mentioned objectives and reducing of conflictness of the problems are to solve this task most effectively: 1) the use of paradigms and concepts of evolutionary improvement of quality of resource-saving management in the cycle "from the project of an innovative product (technology) - to its commercialization and update parameters of customer value"; 2) the application of the so-called integrative-cyclical approach which consistent with complexity and type of the concept, to studies allowing to get quantitative assessment of the stages of achieving of the consistency of these objectives (from baseline of imbalance, their compromise to achievement of positive synergies). For implementation, the following mathematical tools are included in the integrative-cyclical approach: index-factor analysis (to identify the most relevant factors); regression analysis of relationship between the quality control and the factors; the use of results of the analysis in the model of fuzzy sets (to adjust the feature space); method of non-parametric statistics (for a decision on the completion or repetition of the cycle in the approach in depending on the focus and the closeness of the connection of indicator ranks of disbalance of purposes). The repetition is performed after partial substitution of technical and technological factors ("hard") by management factors ("soft") in accordance with our proposed methodology. Testing of the proposed approach has shown that in comparison with the world practice there are opportunities to improve the quality of resource-saving management using innovation factors. We believe that the implementation of this promising research, to provide consistent management decisions for reducing the severity of the above-mentioned contradictions and increasing the validity of the choice of resource-development strategies in terms of parameters of quality management and sustainability of enterprise, is perspective. Our existing experience in the field of quality resource-saving management and the achieved level of scientific competence of the authors allow us to hope that the use of the integrative-cyclical approach to the study and evaluation of the resulting and factor indicators will help raise the level of resource-saving characteristics up to the value existing in the developed economies of post-industrial type.

Keywords: integrative-cyclical approach, quality control, evaluation, innovation factors. economic sustainability, innovation cycle of management, disbalance of goals of development

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Authors: Salah Hosseini, Hadi Ramezani, Bagher Shahbazi, Hossein Rabiei, Jafar Hooshmand, Hiwa Khaldi

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Diversity of energy portfolio and fluctuation of urban energy demand establish the need for more operational flexibility of combined Cooling, Heat, and Power Plants. Currently, the most common way to achieve these specifications is the use of heat storage devices or wet operation of gas turbines. The current work addresses using variable extraction steam turbine in conjugation with a gas turbine inlet cooling system as an alternative way for enhancement of a CCHP cycle operating range. A thermodynamic model is developed and typical apartments building in PARDIS Technology Park (located at Tehran Province) is chosen as a case study. Due to the variable Heat demand and using excess chiller capacity for turbine inlet cooling purpose, the mentioned steam turbine and TIAC system provided an opportunity for flexible operation of the cycle and boosted the independence of the power and heat generation in the CCHP plant. It was found that the ratio of power to the heat of CCHP cycle varies from 12.6 to 2.4 depending on the City heating and cooling demands and ambient condition, which means a good independence between power and heat generation. Furthermore, selection of the TIAC design temperature is done based on the amount of ratio of power gain to TIAC coil surface area, it was found that for current cycle arrangement the TIAC design temperature of 15 C is most economical. All analysis is done based on the real data, gathered from the local weather station of the PARDIS site.

Keywords: CCHP plant, GTG, HRSG, STG, TIAC, operational flexibility, power to heat ratio

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Authors: Mulubrhan Berihu, Supratic Gupta, Zena Gebriel

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Due to the design versatility, availability, and cost efficiency, concrete is continuing to be the most used construction material on earth. However, the production of Portland cement, the primary component of concrete mix is causing to have a serious effect on environmental and economic impacts. This shows there is a need to study using of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The most commonly used supplementary cementitious materials are wastes and the use of these industrial waste products has technical, economical and environmental benefits besides the reduction of CO2 emission from cement production. The study aims to document the effect on strength property of concrete due to use of low cement by maximizing supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash or marble powder. Based on the different mix proportion of pozzolana and marble powder a range of mix design was formulated. The first part of the project is to study the strength of low cement concrete using fly ash replacement experimentally. The test results showed that using up to 85 kg/m3 of cement is possible for plain concrete works like hollow block concrete to achieve 9.8 Mpa and the experimental results indicates that strength is a function of w/b. In the second part a new set of mix design has been carried out with fly ash and marble powder to study the strength of both binary and ternary mixes. In this experimental study, three groups of mix design (c+FA, c+FA+m and c+m), four sets of mixes for each group were taken up. Experimental results show that c+FA has maintained the best strength and impermeability whereas c+m obtained less compressive strength, poorer permeability and split tensile strength. c+FA shows a big difference in gaining of compressive strength from 7 days to 28 days compression strength compared to others and this obviously shows the slow rate of hydration of fly ash concrete. As the w/b ratio increases the strength decreases significantly. At the same time higher permeability has been seen in the specimens which were tested for three hours than one hour.

Keywords: efficiency factor, cement content, compressive strength, mix proportion, w/c ratio, water permeability, SCMs

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Authors: Hamzeh Soltanali, Abbas Rohani, A. H. S. Garmabaki, Mohammad Hossein Abbaspour-Fard, Adithya Thaduri

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Toward continuous innovation and high complexity of technological systems, the automotive manufacturing industry is also under pressure to implement adequate management strategies regarding availability and productivity. In this context, evaluation of system’s performance by considering reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) methodologies can constitute for resilient operation, identifying the bottlenecks of manufacturing process and optimization of maintenance actions. In this paper, RAM parameters are evaluated for improving the operational performance of the fluid filling process. To evaluate the RAM factors through the behavior of states defined for such process, a systematic decision framework was developed. The results of RAM analysis revealed that that the improving reliability and maintainability of main bottlenecks for each filling workstation need to be considered as a priority. The results could be useful to improve operational performance and sustainability of production process.

Keywords: automotive, performance, reliability, RAM, fluid filling process

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Authors: Suraj Amrutkar, R. Gowri, Asma Khan, Nazam Khan, Vikas Mahajan, Manpreet Kour And Bharti Deshmukh

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Herbal additives are rich in vitamin C, A and other biological active compounds and may act as surrogate source to subdue heat stress in chicken. Among various herbal additives such as rough lemon (Citrus Jambhiri Lush) juice, amla (Emblica officinalis) juice and aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller) gel are easily available during summer (stress period) and also cost less as comparison to synthetic feed additives in market. In order to analyze the performance by supplementation of rough lemon juice, amla juice and aloe vera gel in broiler under heat stress conditions. Study was carried out with a random distribution of day old straight run chicks (240 No.) in to four treatment group (n=60) was done. All the groups were given basal diet (Maize-Soya based; T0) was same for all the groups with supplementation of rough lemon juice (T1), amla juice (T2) and aloe vera (T3) @ 2% in drinking water. Experiment trial lasted for 42 days during heat stress period (June-July) with minimum THI (78.2) and Maximum THI (88.02). Feed and water were offered ad-libitum throughout the trial. Results revealed significantly higher (P<0.05) body weight in T3 and T2, followed by T1 and least in T0 at 42 days of age. The overall mean of Feed conversion ratio of various treatment T0, T1, T2 andT3 were 2.16, 1.98, 1.89 and 1.82, respectively. The mortality percentage in various treatment, T0, T1, T2 and T3, were 6.67, 3.33, 0.0 and 1.67, respectively. pH value, PCV (%), Sodium (mmol/L) and Potassium (mmol/L) was higher in T3 than rest of the groups. HL ratio is significantly lower (P<0.05) in T3, T2 followed by T1 than T0 at 42 days of age. It may be inferred that amongst these phyto-additives, aloe vera leads in alleviating heat stress in broiler in an economical way, followed by amla and rough lemon.

Keywords: rough lemon, amla, aloe vera, heat stress, broiler

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Authors: Constantine Uwaremwe, Wenjie Bao, Bachir Goudia Daoura, Sandhya Mishra, Xianxian Zhang, Lingjie Shen, Shangwen Xia, Xiaodong Yang

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Background: Plukenetia volubilis Linneo is an oleaginous plant belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Due to its seeds containing a high content of edible oil and rich in vitamins, P. volubilis is cultivated as an economical plant worldwide. However, the cultivation and growth of P. volubilis is challenged by phytopathogen invasion leading to production loss. Methods: In the current study, we tested the pathogenicity of fungal pathogens isolated from root rot infected P. volubilis plant tissues by inoculating them into healthy P. volubilis seedlings. Metagenomic sequencing was used to assess the shift in the fungal community of P. volubilis rhizosphere soil after root rot infection. Results: Four Fusarium isolates and two Rhizopus isolates were found to be root rot causative agents of P. volubilis as they induced typical root rot symptoms in healthy seedlings. The metagenomic sequencing data showed that root rot infection altered the rhizosphere fungal community. In root rot infected soil, the richness and diversity indices increased or decreased depending on pathogens. The four most abundant phyla across all samples were Ascomycota, Glomeromycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota. In infected soil, the relative abundance of each phylum increased or decreased depending on the pathogen and functional taxonomic classification. Conclusions: Based on our results, we concluded that Fusarium and Rhizopus species cause root rot infection of P. volubilis. In root rot infected P. volubilis, the shift in the rhizosphere fungal community was pathogen-dependent. These findings may serve as a key point for a future study on the biocontrol of root rot of P. volubilis.

Keywords: fusarium spp., plukenetia volubilis l., rhizopus spp., rhizosphere fungal community, root rot

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Authors: Mohammad Saraj Sharifzai, Keisuke Kitagawa, Mohammad Kamil Halimee, Javid Habib, Daishi Sakaguchi

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The purpose of this research is to upgrade a pleasing, sustainable and safe shelter in the Afghan urban community. It also aims to maintain traditional housing, which is fitted to its environment, while attempting to upgrade it with new, traditional standards. The three main objectives of this study are to upgrade the traditional courtyard house to become safe and sustainable today and tomorrow; to fit the contemporary house environmentally and culturally, and to suppress or reduce the broad gap between traditional and contemporary housing. The paper tries to exhibit and analyze the sustainably best practices available in both traditional and contemporary courtyard housing in Afghanistan. For instance, the use of thick walls and Tawa-Khana (floor heating system) shows the best sustainable practice in that context.

Keywords: Afghan Traditional Courtyard Housing (ATCH), Afghan Contemporary Courtyard Housing (ACCH), suitability planning, affordable and thermal comfort

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Authors: Bonginkosi A. Thango, Jacobus A. Jordaan, Agha F. Nnachi

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In this day and age, there is a proliferate concern from all governments across the globe to barricade the environment from greenhouse gases, which absorb infrared radiation. As a result, solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity has been an expeditiously growing renewable energy source and will eventually undertake a prominent role in the global energy generation. The selection and purchasing of energy-efficient transformers that meet the operational requirements of the solar photovoltaic energy generation plants then become a part of the Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) investment plan of action. Taking these into account, this paper proposes a procedure that put into effect the intricate financial analysis necessitated to precisely evaluate the transformer service lifetime no-load and load loss factors. This procedure correctly set forth the transformer service lifetime loss factors as a result of a solar PV plant’s sporadic generation profile and related levelized costs of electricity into the computation of the transformer’s total ownership cost. The results are then critically compared with the conventional transformer total ownership cost unaccompanied by the emission costs, and demonstrate the significance of the sporadic energy generation nature of the solar PV plant on the total ownership cost. The findings indicate that the latter play a crucial role for developers and Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) in making the purchase decision during a tender bid where competing offers from different transformer manufactures are evaluated. Additionally, the susceptibility analysis of different factors engrossed in the transformer service lifetime cost is carried out; factors including the levelized cost of electricity, solar PV plant’s generation modes, and the loading profile are examined.

Keywords: solar photovoltaic plant, transformer, total ownership cost, loss factors

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Authors: Panaya Sudta, Wanchalerm Patanacharoenwong, Prachya Bumrungkun

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As With the evolution of smart grids, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of electrical systems in smart cities has become crucial. This paper proposes a distinct approach that combines advanced machine learning techniques to accurately predict electrical failures and address voltage reliability issues. This approach aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of reliability evaluations in smart cities. The aim of this research is to develop a comprehensive predictive model that accurately predicts electrical failures and voltage reliability in smart cities. This model integrates RFM analysis, K-means clustering, and LSTM networks to achieve this objective. The research utilizes RFM analysis, traditionally used in customer value assessment, to categorize and analyze electrical components based on their failure recency, frequency, and monetary impact. K-means clustering is employed to segment electrical components into distinct groups with similar characteristics and failure patterns. LSTM networks are used to capture the temporal dependencies and patterns in customer data. This integration of RFM, K-means, and LSTM results in a robust predictive tool for electrical failures and voltage reliability. The proposed model has been tested and validated on diverse electrical utility datasets. The results show a significant improvement in prediction accuracy and reliability compared to traditional methods, achieving an accuracy of 92.78% and an F1-score of 0.83. This research contributes to the proactive maintenance and optimization of electrical infrastructures in smart cities. It also enhances overall energy management and sustainability. The integration of advanced machine learning techniques in the predictive model demonstrates the potential for transforming the landscape of electrical system management within smart cities. The research utilizes diverse electrical utility datasets to develop and validate the predictive model. RFM analysis, K-means clustering, and LSTM networks are applied to these datasets to analyze and predict electrical failures and voltage reliability. The research addresses the question of how accurately electrical failures and voltage reliability can be predicted in smart cities. It also investigates the effectiveness of integrating RFM analysis, K-means clustering, and LSTM networks in achieving this goal. The proposed approach presents a distinct, efficient, and effective solution for predicting and mitigating electrical failures and voltage issues in smart cities. It significantly improves prediction accuracy and reliability compared to traditional methods. This advancement contributes to the proactive maintenance and optimization of electrical infrastructures, overall energy management, and sustainability in smart cities.

Keywords: electrical state prediction, smart grids, data-driven method, long short-term memory, RFM, k-means, machine learning

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Authors: Sara Rozenwajn Acheroy

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This study aims to analyze gender stereotypes’ influence of physical education’s teachers in secondary education and coaches in sports clubs of five sports: swimming, beach-volley, tennis, gymnastics and football. Because sport is a major socializing agent of high symbolic, ideological and economical relevance with an impact in the social values and the construct of identity, in addition, to be an international and global phenomenon, States tend to institutionalize it through education, federations, and clubs, as well as build sports facilities. Research in the field is now needed more than ever, given that sport is still considered as a masculine practice, and that such perspective is spread at school since the age of six in physical education lessons. For all those reasons, and more, it is necessary to study which stereotypes are transmitted in its everyday practice and how it affects young people’s self-perception on their physical and body capacities. This study’s objectives are centered on 4 points: 1) stereotypes and self-perception of students and young people, 2) teachers and coaches’ stereotypes and influence, 3) social status of parents (indicative) and 4) environmental analysis of schools and sport clubs. To that end, triangular methodology has been favored. Quantitative and qualitative data, through semi-structured interviews with coaches and teachers; group interviews with young people; 450 surveys in high schools from Madrid, Barcelona and Canary Islands; and participant observation in clubs. Remarks made at this stage of the study are diverse and not conclusive. For example, physical education teachers have more gender stereotypes than coaches in sport clubs, matching with our hypothesis so far. It also seems that young people at the age of 16-17 still do not have internalized gender stereotypes as deep as their teachers. This among other observations of the current fieldwork will be exposed, hoping to give a better understanding of the need for gender policies and educational programs with gender perspective in all sectors that includes sport’s activities.

Keywords: gender, sport, sexism, gender stereotypes, sport education

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Authors: Meryem Zarri, Mohame Tahiri, Fouad Amraoui

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In the context of water resources shortage that Morocco is experiencing in recent years, the mobilization of non-conventional resources becomes a necessity. The reuse of treated water and the bioconversion of biological sewage sludge into value-added products is considered an environmentally friendly and economical approach to the management of this significant resource which represent at least 80 % of consumed fresh wate In this work, we compare the quality of treated water and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants in the peri-urban Casablanca by analyzing different physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. The choice was made for three wastewater plants installed in different regions and monitored either by LYDEC and Commune of Had Soualem and use different technologies. Recycling of treated water in agriculture and watering of green spaces is dependent on the compliance of the parameters with international standards (WHO, FAO, …etc.) The preliminary tests of the samples taken during the second half of the year 2021 showed that the advanced technologies put in place at the level of the Mediouna and the airport zone stations (membrane reactor and activated sludge, respectively) give water to the output of the stations more respectful of the standards required in terms of physicochemical parameters (pH, Conductivity, Tubidity, COD, BOD5, TNK, and TPK) and bacteriological (fecal germs, Escherichia Coli, streptococci, Helminthes eggs). The parameters relating to the Had Soualem natural lagoon station are generally at the tolerance’s threshold. The results of analyzes relating to the residual sludge collected at the end of the cycle are, on the whole satisfactory despite a fluctuating variability of the bacteriological parameters.

Keywords: urban wastewater treatment plants, purified wastewater, sewage sludge, physicochemical parameters, bacteriological parameters, peri-urban area of ​​casablanca, morocco

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Authors: Tiantian Ma

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The district of Doumen, Zhuhai has a sophisticated seabass value chain. However, unlike typical Global Value Chain (GVC) industries, the seabass value chain in Doumen is highly domestic both in terms of production and consumption. Still, since the highly-industrialized and capital-intensive industry involves many off-farm segments in both upstream and downstream, this paper will be utilizing the method of value chain analysis. To be specific, the paper will concentrate on two research goals: 1) the value chain mapping of the seabass industry, such as identifying actors in the hatchery, fish feed, fishponds, processing, logistics, and distribution, 2) the SWOT analysis of the seabass industry in Doumen, including incompetence of the waste disposal, the strategy of marketing, and the supportive role of the government, etc. In general, the seabass industry in Doumen is a sophisticated but not yet comprehensive value chain. It has achieved a lot in industrializing aqua-food products and fostering development, but there are still improvements that could be carried out, such as upholding environmental sustainability and promoting the brand better.

Keywords: agricultural value chain, fish farming, regional development, SWOT analysis, value chain mapping

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Authors: Sepinoud Hamedi

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The ponder points to observationally look at the impact of carbon-neutrality approaches on the key assets required for Industry 4.0 driven savvy fabricating and how these assets can give a economical competitive advantage. The hypothetical system is coordinates with the regulation hypothesis and the resource-based see (RBV). The observational strategy is utilized for collecting information through studies and assist covariance-based auxiliary condition modeling is utilized to test the theories. Discoveries demonstrate that carbon–neutral-based government arrangements have a more grounded impact on unmistakable assets and human aptitudes than intangible assets related to Industry 4.0 driven shrewd fabricating. Moment, carbon–neutral arrangement arrangement with the firm’s maintainability destinations plays a directing impact on the relationship between carbon–neutral-based government arrangements and assets (substantial, intangible assets and human abilities) for Industry 4.0 driven shrewd fabricating. Finally, the three assets (substantial, intangible assets and human abilities) for Industry 4.0 driven savvy fabricating play a basic part in creating firms’ carbon–neutral capability and assist improving operational execution. Administrative suggestions incorporate venture in progressed advanced innovations, creating a solid mentality among workers and supply chain partners, and planning preparing programs for upgrading shrewd fabricating execution to create carbon-neutrality capability. This think about proposes a crossover hypothesis within the setting of carbon nonpartisanship by coordination institutional theory and RBV. Typically the primary think about that looks at the impact of carbon neutrality-based government arrangements on crucial Industry 4.0-driven savvy fabricating assets and the circuitous impact on carbon nonpartisanship capability and operational execution.

Keywords: carbon, industry 4.0, neutrality, RBV, nonpartisanship

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Authors: Lina Psarra, Manogj Sundaresan, Purjeet Sutar

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In response to the global imperative for sustainable solutions, this article proposes the development of a comprehensive circularity index applicable to a wide range of products across various industries. The absence of a consensus on using a universal metric to assess circularity performance presents a significant challenge in prioritizing and effectively managing sustainable initiatives. This circularity index serves as a quantitative measure to evaluate the adherence of products, processes, and systems to the principles of a circular economy. Unlike traditional distinct metrics such as recycling rates or material efficiency, this index considers the entire lifecycle of a product in one single metric, also incorporating additional factors such as reusability, scarcity of materials, reparability, and recyclability. Through a systematic approach and by reviewing existing metrics and past methodologies, this work aims to address this gap by formulating a circularity index that can be applied to diverse product portfolio and assist in comparing the circularity of products on a scale of 0%-100%. Project objectives include developing a formula, designing and implementing a pilot tool based on the developed Product Circularity Index (PCI), evaluating the effectiveness of the formula and tool using real product data, and assessing the feasibility of integration into various sustainability initiatives. The research methodology involves an iterative process of comprehensive research, analysis, and refinement where key steps include defining circularity parameters, collecting relevant product data, applying the developed formula, and testing the tool in a pilot phase to gather insights and make necessary adjustments. Major findings of the study indicate that the PCI provides a robust framework for evaluating product circularity across various dimensions. The Excel-based pilot tool demonstrated high accuracy and reliability in measuring circularity, and the database proved instrumental in supporting comprehensive assessments. The PCI facilitated the identification of key areas for improvement, enabling more informed decision-making towards circularity and benchmarking across different products, essentially assisting towards better resource management. In conclusion, the development of the Product Circularity Index represents a significant advancement in global sustainability efforts. By providing a standardized metric, the PCI empowers companies and stakeholders to systematically assess product circularity, track progress, identify improvement areas, and make informed decisions about resource management. This project contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable development by offering a practical approach to enhance circularity within industrial systems, thus paving the way towards a more resilient and sustainable future.

Keywords: circular economy, circular metrics, circularity assessment, circularity tool, sustainable product design, product circularity index

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Authors: Lubem Matthew Kwaghkor

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Terrorism, which remains one of the largest threats faced by various nations and communities around the world, including Nigeria, is the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population to attain particular goals that might be political, religious, or economical. Several terrorist groups are currently active in Nigeria, leading to attacks on both civil and military targets. Among these groups, Boko Haram is the deadliest terrorist group operating majorly in Borno State. The southern part of Borno State in North-Eastern Nigeria has been plagued by terrorism, insurgency, and conflict for several years. Understanding the dynamics of terrorism is crucial for developing effective strategies to mitigate its impact on communities and to facilitate peace-building efforts. This research aims to develop a mathematical model that captures the dynamics of terrorism within the southern part of Borno State, Nigeria, capturing both government and local community intervention strategies as control measures in combating terrorism. A compartmental model of five nonlinear differential equations is formulated. The model analyses show that a feasible solution set of the model exists and is bounded. Stability analyses show that both the terrorism free equilibrium and the terrorism endermic equilibrium are asymptotically stable, making the model to have biological meaning. Optimal control theory will be employed to identify the most effective strategy to prevent or minimize acts of terrorism. The research outcomes are expected to contribute towards enhancing security and stability in Southern Borno State while providing valuable insights for policymakers, security agencies, and researchers. This is an ongoing research.

Keywords: modelling, terrorism, optimal control, susceptible, non-susceptible, community intervention

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Authors: Catherine Coron

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This paper first tries to scrutinize the diverse meanings and policies of inclusive education in the United Kingdom and France in the recent period thanks to a comparative analysis of the recent literature as well as the various definitions, legislation and good practices of inclusive education. The central question is to find the links between inclusion and economic wellbeing in the economic, social and cultural context of the two countries. The first part questions the economic, social and cultural meaning of the definitions thanks to a comparison between the various perspectives to envisage the notions of inclusion and wellbeing in the two countries in order to better understand the way they are interpreted according to each cultural background. The second part analyses the various policies implemented recently in order to determine the main characteristics, the differences, and the similarities, as well as the economic challenges in terms of wellbeing. The final goal of this paper is to identify the main economic, social and cultural values as regards sustainability in each country.

Keywords: education, inclusion, students with special needs, wellbeing

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Authors: Rama Ajineh

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Neighborhoods are defined as local zones within settlements and cities recognized by individuals who live there, with their identities and given boundaries. Neighborhoods mainly structure individual’s lives, the small box which various social groups interact with each other, develop and become one strong entity. Also, it is a platform for more activities, providing many of the social services to enhance the connections between the people, giving a sense of community. However, some of these neighborhoods were unplanned and caused many social, economical and architectural problems to its residents in the first place, and to the city. A great example of such case is in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Al-Ruwais neighborhood, where the authority is planning to regenerate the area and make it a landmark for the city. Urban Regeneration of Unplanned Settlements is a process to make people live and work, now and in the future, and meet the various needs of the current and coming inhabitants, with a high-quality life for all. Through research, it was discovered that Urban regeneration plans on Al-Ruwais were planned regardless to the collective agreement of the inhabitants, giving themselves the absolute right to demolish and reconstruct the desired locations with a low compensation. Consequently, a deep research will be done on integrating the residents with the process, by showcasing examples of successful Urban Regenerations of Unplanned settlements in different cities. The research aims to understand the sustainable, and well-planned regeneration strategies used to enhance people’s living without harming them, and give sustainable urban solutions. Moreover, the research explores the definition of Sustainable Communities. The used methods in this paper are secondary research on site analysis and the relationship between the human and the neighborhood. The conclusion reveals the most successful fashion of Urban regeneration of Unplanned settlements and applies it to Al-Ruwais neighborhood considering the human factor as a primary element.

Keywords: architecture, human integration, original residents, site analysis, sustainable communities, urban sustainable solutions, urban regeneration

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Authors: Amare Setegn Enyew, Bikila Teklu Wodajo

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The primary aim of flexible pavement design is to ensure the development of economical and safe road infrastructure. However, failures can still occur due to improper or erroneous structural design. In Ethiopia, the design of flexible pavements relies on doing calculations manually and selecting pavement structure from catalogue. The catalogue offers, in eight different charts, alternative structures for combinations of traffic and subgrade classes, as outlined in the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) Pavement Design Manual 2001. Furthermore, design modification is allowed in accordance with the structural number principles outlined in the AASHTO 1993 Guide for Design of Pavement Structures. Nevertheless, the manual calculation and design process involves the use of nomographs, charts, tables, and formulas, which increases the likelihood of human errors and inaccuracies, and this may lead to unsafe or uneconomical road construction. To address the challenge, a software called AASHERA has been developed for AASHTO 1993 and ERA design methods, using MATLAB language. The software accurately determines the required thicknesses of flexible pavement surface, base, and subbase layers for the two methods. It also digitizes design inputs and references like nomographs, charts, default values, and tables. Moreover, the software allows easier comparison of the two design methods in terms of results and cost of construction. AASHERA's accuracy has been confirmed through comparisons with designs from handbooks and manuals. The software can aid in reducing human errors, inaccuracies, and time consumption as compared to the conventional manual design methods employed in Ethiopia. AASHERA, with its validated accuracy, proves to be an indispensable tool for flexible pavement structure designers.

Keywords: flexible pavement design, AASHTO 1993, ERA, MATLAB, AASHERA

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Authors: Wei Jin

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Efficient and selective metal recovery from emerging solid waste, such as spent lithium batteries, electronic waste and SCR catalysts, is of great importance from both environmental and resource considerations. In order to overcome the bottlenecks of long flow-sheet and severe secondary pollution in conventional processes, the rational design of 2-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and capacitive deionization (CDI) nanomaterials were developed for the precise electrochemical metal recovery. It has been demonstrated that the modified carbon nanomaterials can be employed as 2e ORR to produce H2O2 in aqueous solution, in which the metal can be leached out from the solid waste as ions. Moreover, the multi-component metallic solution can be electrochemically extracted with good efficiency and selectivity with the nanoporous aerogel. Each system presents stable performance for long-term operation and can be used in industrial solid waste treatment. This study provides a materials-oriented, cleaner metal recovery approach for strategic metal resources sustainability.

Keywords: electrochemistry, metal recovery, waste steams, nanomaterials

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Authors: Sangil Han, In Su Kim

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Transition-metal-catalyzed C–H bond activation and its subsequent functionalization has been one of the most attractive topics in organic synthesis because of its remarkable potential for atom economy and environmental sustainability. In this addition, a variety of C(sp2)–H functionalization has been developed under metal catalysis in the past decade. Recently, much attention has been moved towards the C(sp3)–H functionalization events, which continue to be a challenging issue. In this area, directing group assisted sp3 C–H functionalization has been explored by use of amides, carboxylic acids, oximes, N-heterocycles, and etc. In particular, 8-methylquinolines have been found as good substrates for sp3 C–H functionalization due to its ability to form cyclometalated complexes. Succinimides have been recognized as privileged structural cores found in a number of bioactive natural products, pharmaceuticals, and functional materials. Furthermore, the reduced derivatives such as pyrrolidines and γ-lactams have been also found in a large number of pharmaceutical relevant molecules, thus making them one of the most important and promising compounds. We herein describe the first C(sp3)–H activation of 8-methylquinolines and subsequent functionalization with maleimides to afford various succinimide derivatives.

Keywords: C(sp3)–H activation, 8-methylquinolines, maleimides, succinimides

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Authors: Hussain Abdullah Al-Salamin, Elias Ogutu Azariah Tembe

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Supply chain (SC) is an operational research (OR) approach and technique which acts as catalyst within central nervous system of business today. Without SC, any type of business is at doldrums, hence entropy. SC is the lifeblood of business today because it is the pivotal hub which provides imperative competitive advantage. The paper present a conceptual framework dubbed as Homomorphic Conceptual Framework for Effective Supply Chain Strategy (HCEFSC).The term homomorphic is derived from abstract algebraic mathematical term homomorphism (same shape) which also embeds the following mathematical application sets: monomorphism, isomorphism, automorphisms, and endomorphism. The HCFESC is intertwined and integrated with wide and broad sets of elements.

Keywords: homomorphism, isomorphism, monomorphisms, automorphisms, epimorphisms, endomorphism, supply chain, operational research (OR)

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Authors: Laszlo Dorner

Abstract:

Background: In the last few decades there has been a significant discussion within the researchers of prosocial behavior about to what extent personality characteristics matter in determining the quality and frequency of helping behaviors. Of these community activities the most important is formal volunteering which mainly realises in civil services and organizations. Recently many researches have been showed up regarding the personality factors and motivations behind volunteering). Most of these researches found strong correlation between Agreeableness and Extraversion as global traits and the time spent on volunteering and its frequency as well. Aims of research: In this research we investigate the relation between formal volunteer activities and global traits in a Hungarian volunteer sample. We hypothetise that the results appeared in the previous researches show the same pattern in Hungary as well: volunteering would be related to Agreeableness and Extraversion. We also assume that the time spent on volunteering is related to these traits, since these traits would serve as an indicator of long-term volunteering. Methods: We applied the Hungarian adaptation of Big Five Questionnaire created by Caprara, Barbaranelli és Borgogni. This self-reported questionnaire contains 132 items, and explore 5 main traits examining the person’s most important emotional and motivational features regarding its personality. This research took into account the most important socio-economical factors (age, gender, religiosity, income) which can determine volunteer activities per se. The data is evaluated by SPSS 19.0 Statistical Software. Sample: 92 volunteer (formal, mainly the volunteers of Hungarian Red Cross and Hospice Organizations)and 92 non volunteer person, with matched subsamples by the factors of age, gender and qualification. Results: The volunteer subsample shows higher values of Energy and significantly higher values of Agreeableness and Openness, however, regarding Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability the differences are not significant between the volunteer and non-volunteer subsamples.

Keywords: Big Five, comparative analysis, global traits, volunteering

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Authors: Nadia Theuma

Abstract:

Climate change is a reality that has started to leave an impact on the physical environment as well as on the built environment, in particular built heritage. This paper explores the argument that climate change is also a trigger which can lead to identifying a number of creative solutions that can transform built heritage into sustainable buildings. Using the Maltese Islands, and in particular the city of Valletta which is also a World Heritage Site, this paper illustrates some of the innovative solutions that are being developed to make heritage buildings more sustainable and in doing so, mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. The paper looks in detail at the most notable initiatives being developed, their implementation and application, which at times is not easy considering the restrictions within protected built heritage areas and the positive impacts that they will have on visitor experience and overall sustainability of the Maltese tourism product. The paper will conclude by outlining how these solutions can be adapted to buildings with similar climatic conditions.

Keywords: built heritage, creative solutions, climate change, Maltese Islands

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Authors: Runlin Liu, Shilong Li

Abstract:

China is a mountainous country, with two-thirds of its territory covered by plateaus, hills, and mountains, and nearly half of the cities and towns are distributed in mountainous areas. Compared with the environmental constraints in the development path of cities and towns in the plains, there are heterogeneities in aspects such as spatial characteristics, growth mode, and ecological protection and so on for mountain village and townlets, and the development path of mountain village and townlets has a bidirectional relationship between mountain space and economic growth. Based on classical growth theory, this article explores the two-dimensional coupling relation between space and economy in mountain village and townlets under background of rural rejuvenation. GIS technology is adopted in the study to analyze spatial trends and patterns, economical spatial differentiation characteristics of village and townlets. This powerful tool can also help differentiate and analyze limiting factors and assessment systems in the economic growth of village and townlets under spatial dimension of mountainous space. To make the research more specific, this article selects mountain village and townlets in Southwest China as the object of study; this provides good cases for analyzing parallel coupling mechanism of the duality structure system between economic growth and spatial expansion and discussing the path selection of spatial economic growth of mountain village and towns with multiple constraints. The research results can provide quantitative references for the spatial and economic development paths of mountain villages and towns, which is helpful in realizing efficient and high-quality development mode with equal emphasis on spatial and economic benefits for these type of towns.

Keywords: coupling mechanism, geographic information technology, mountainous town, synergetic development, spatial economy

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Authors: Nadia Allouache, Mohamed Belmedani

Abstract:

Energy source is a sustainable, totally inexhaustible and environmentally friendly alternative to the fossil fuels available. It is a renewable and economical energy that can be harnessed sustainably over the long term and thus stabilizes energy costs. Solar cooling technologies have been developed to decrease the augmentation electricity consumption for air conditioning and to displace the peak load during hot summer days. A numerical analysis of thermal and solar performances of an annular finned adsorber, which is the most important component of the adsorption solar refrigerating system, is considered in this work. Different adsorbent/adsorbate pairs, such as activated carbon AC35/methanol, activated carbon AC35/ethanol, and activated carbon BPL/Ammoniac, are undertaken in this study. The modeling of the adsorption cooling machine requires the resolution of the equation describing the energy and mass transfer in the tubular finned adsorber. The Wilson and Dubinin- Astakhov models of the solid-adsorbate equilibrium are used to calculate the adsorbed quantity. The porous medium and the fins are contained in the annular space, and the adsorber is heated by solar energy. Effects of key parameters on the adsorbed quantity and on the thermal and solar performances are analysed and discussed. The AC35/methanol pair is the best pair compared to BPL/Ammoniac and AC35/ethanol pairs in terms of system performance. The system performances are sensitive to the fin geometry. For the considered data measured for clear type days of July 2023 in Algeria and Morocco, the performances of the cooling system are very significant in Algeria.

Keywords: activated carbon AC35-methanol pair, activated carbon AC35-ethanol pair, activated carbon BPL-ammoniac pair, annular finned adsorber, performance coefficients, numerical analysis, solar cooling system

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Authors: Milind Anurag

Abstract:

This study investigates cutting-edge truss design improvements, which are specifically adapted to satisfy the structural demands and difficulties associated with high-performance facades and roofs in modern architectural environments. With a growing emphasis on sustainability, energy efficiency, and eye-catching architectural aesthetics, the structural components that support these characteristics play an important part in attaining the right balance of form and function. The paper seeks to contribute to the evolution of truss design methods by combining data from these investigations, giving significant insights for architects, engineers, and researchers interested in the creation of high-performance building envelopes. The findings of this study are meant to inform future design standards and practices, promoting the development of structures that seamlessly integrate architectural innovation with structural robustness and environmental responsibility.

Keywords: truss design, high-performance, facades, finite element analysis, structural efficiency

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Authors: Mingxi Xiao

Abstract:

Children’s experiences in the early years build and shape the brain. The early years learning environment plays a significantly important role in children’s development. A well-constructed environment will facilitate children’s physical and mental well-being. This case study used an early learning centre in Australia called SDN Hurstville as an example, describing the learning environment in the centre, as well as analyzing the functions of the affordances. In addition, this report talks about the sustainability of learning in the centre, and how the environment supports cultural diversity and indigenous learning. The early years for children are significant. Different elements in the early childhood centre should work together to help children develop better. This case study found that the natural environment and the artificial environment are both critical to children; only when they work together can children have better development in physical and mental well-being and have a sense of belonging when playing and learning in the centre.

Keywords: early childhood center, early childhood education, learning environment, Australia

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Authors: J. Tamosaitiene

Abstract:

The article focuses on the identification and classification of key risk management criteria that represent the most important sustainability aspects of the construction industry. The construction sector is one of the most important sectors in Lithuania. Nowadays, the assessment of the risk level of a construction project is especially important for the quality of construction projects, the growth of enterprises and the sector. To establish the most important criteria for successful growth of the sector, a questionnaire for experts was developed. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the expert judgement method and other multicriteria decision making (MCDM) methods were used to develop the hybrid model. The results were used to develop an integrated knowledge system for the measurement of a risk level particular to construction projects. The article presents a practical case that details the developed system, sustainable aspects, and risk assessment.

Keywords: risk, system, model, construction

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Authors: Oluwagbenga O. Isaac Orimoogunje, Omolola Helen Oshosanya

Abstract:

The study examined land management in a typical watershed in southwestern Nigeria with a view to ascertaining its impact on land suitability analysis for rice cultivation and production. The study applied the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), weighted overlay analysis (WOA), multi-criteria decision-making techniques, and suitability map calculations within a Geographic Information System environment. Five main criteria were used, and these include climate, topography, soil fertility, macronutrients, and micronutrients. A consistency ratio (CR) of 0.067 was obtained for rice cultivation. The results showed that 95% of the land area is suitable for rice cultivation, with pH units ranging between 4.6 and 6.0, organic matter of 1.4–2.5 g kg-1 and base saturation of more than 80%. The study concluded that the Ofiki watershed is a potential site for large-scale rice cultivation in a sustainable capacity.

Keywords: land management, land characteristics, land suitability, rice production, watershed

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Authors: Racha El Kadiri, Mohamed Sultan, Henrique Momm, Zachary Blair, Rachel Schultz, Tamer Al-Bayoumi

Abstract:

The Mediterranean Basin is a very diverse region of nationalities and climate zones, with a strong dependence on agricultural activities. Predicting long term (with a lead of 1 to 12 months) rainfall, and future droughts could contribute in a sustainable management of water resources and economical activities. In this study, an integrated approach was adopted to construct predictive tools with lead times of 0 to 12 months to forecast rainfall amounts over nine subzones of the Mediterranean Basin region. The following steps were conducted: (1) acquire, assess and intercorrelate temporal remote sensing-based rainfall products (e.g. The CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation [CMAP]) throughout the investigation period (1979 to 2016), (2) acquire and assess monthly values for all of the climatic indices influencing the regional and global climatic patterns (e.g., Northern Atlantic Oscillation [NOI], Southern Oscillation Index [SOI], and Tropical North Atlantic Index [TNA]); (3) delineate homogenous climatic regions and select nine pilot study zones, (4) apply data mining methods (e.g. neural networks, principal component analyses) to extract relationships between the observed rainfall and the controlling factors (i.e. climatic indices with multiple lead-time periods) and (5) use the constructed predictive tools to forecast monthly rainfall and dry and wet periods. Preliminary results indicate that rainfall and dry/wet periods were successfully predicted with lead zones of 0 to 12 months using the adopted methodology, and that the approach is more accurately applicable in the southern Mediterranean region.

Keywords: rainfall, neural networks, climatic indices, Mediterranean

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