Search results for: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Authors: Ilona Bontenbal

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In this research, the potential for societal change is researched through the idea of migrants as change agents. The viewpoint is on the potential that migrants have for affecting societal change in their country of origin through transmitting transnational peer-to-peer information. The focus is on the information that Russian migrants living in Finland transmit about their experiences and attitudes regarding the Nordic welfare state, its democratic foundation and the social rights embedded in it, to their family and friends in their country of origin. The welfare provision and level of democracy are very different in the two neighbouring countries of Finland and Russia. Finland is a Nordic welfare state with strong democratic institutions and a comprehensive actualizing of civil and social rights. In Russia, the state of democracy has on the other hand been declining, and the social and civil rights of its citizens are constantly undermined. Due to improvements in communications and travel technology, migrants can easily and relatively cheaply stay in contact with their family and friends in their country of origin. This is why it is possible for migrants to act as change agents. By telling about their experiences and attitudes about living in a democratic welfare state, migrants can affect what people in the country or origin know and think about welfare, democracy, and social rights. This phenomenon is approached through the concept of social remittances. Social remittances broadly stand for the ideas, know-how, world views, attitudes, norms of behavior, and social capital that flows through transnational networks from receiving- to sending- country communities and the other way around. The viewpoint is that historically and culturally formed democratic welfare models cannot be copied entirely nor that each country should achieve identical development paths, but rather that migrants themselves choose which aspects they see as important to remit to their acquaintances in their country of origin. This way the potential for social change and the agency of the migrants is accentuated. The empirical research material of this study is based on 30 qualitative interviews with Russian migrants living in Finland. Russians are the largest migrant group in Finland and Finland is a popular migration destination especially for individuals living in North-West Russia including the St. Petersburg region. The interviews are carried out in 2018-2019. The preliminary results indicate that Russian migrants discuss social rights and welfare a lot with their family members and acquaintances living in Russia. In general, the migrants feel that they have had an effect on the way that their friends and family think about Finland, the West, social rights and welfare provision. Democracy, on the other hand, is seen as a more difficult and less discussed topic. The transformative potential that the transmitted information and attitudes could have outside of the immediate circle of acquaintances on larger societal change is seen as ambiguous although not negligible.

Keywords: migrants as change agents, Russian migrants, social remittances, welfare and democracy

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Authors: Christos Bouras, Eirini Stergiou, Charitini Karakostaki, Vasileios Tzanos, Vasileios Kokkinos

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Wind power represents a major pathway to curtailing greenhouse gas emissions and thus reducing the rate of climate change. A wind turbine runs practically emission-free for 20 years, representing one of the most environmentally sustainable sources of energy. Nevertheless, environmental and biodiversity concerns can often slow down or halt the deployment of wind farms due to local public opposition. This opposition is often fueled by poor relationships between wind energy stakeholders and civil society, which in many cases led to conflictual protests and property damage. In this context, addressing these concerns is essential in order to facilitate the proliferation of wind farms in Europe and the phase-out of fossil fuels from the energy mix. The aim of this study is to identify a number of good practices and cases to avoid increasing biodiversity protection at all stages of wind farms’ lifecycle in three participating countries, namely Greece, Latvia, and Poland. The results indicate that although available technological solutions are already being exploited worldwide, in these countries, there is still room for improvement. To address this gap, a set of policy recommendations is proposed to accomplish the wind energy targets in the near future while simultaneously mitigating the pertinent biodiversity risks.

Keywords: biodiversity protection, environmental impact, social acceptance, wind energy

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Authors: Sukhbir Singh

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This paper describes the modeling of novel solar air collector (NSAC) system by using artificial neural network (ANN) model. The objective of the study is to demonstrate the application of the ANN model to predict the performance of the NSAC with acetamide as a phase change material (PCM) storage. Input data set consist of time, solar intensity and ambient temperature wherever as outlet air temperature of NSAC was considered as output. Experiments were conducted between 9.00 and 24.00 h in June and July 2014 underneath the prevailing atmospheric condition of Kurukshetra (city of the India). After that, experimental results were utilized to train the back propagation neural network (BPNN) to predict the outlet air temperature of NSAC. The results of proposed algorithm show that the BPNN is effective tool for the prediction of responses. The BPNN predicted results are 99% in agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: Evacuated tube solar air collector, Artificial neural network, Phase change material, solar air collector

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Authors: M. F. Chow, M. F. Abu Bakar

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Green roof system is considered a relatively new concept in Malaysia even though it has been implemented widely in the developed countries. Generally, green roofs provide many benefits such as enhancing aesthetical quality of the built environment, reduce urban heat island effect, reduce energy consumption, improve stormwater attenuation, and reduce noise pollution. A better understanding on the implementation of green roof system in Malaysia is crucial, as Malaysia’s climate is different if compared with the climate in temperate countries where most of the green roof studies have been conducted. This study has concentrated on the technical aspect of green roof system which focuses on i) types of plants and method of planting; ii) engineering design for green roof system; iii) its hydrological performance on reducing stormwater runoff; and iv) benefits of green roofs with respect to energy. Literature review has been conducted to identify the development and obstacles associated with green roofs systems in Malaysia. The study had identified the challenges and potentials of green roofs development in Malaysia. This study also provided the recommendations on standard design and strategies on the implementation of green roofs in Malaysia in the near future.

Keywords: engineering design, green roof, sustainable development, tropical countries

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Authors: Prasanti Widyasih Sarli, Prayatni Soewondo

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Greater access to sanitation in developing countries is urgent. However even though sanitation is crucial, overall budget for sanitation is limited. With this budget limitation, it is important to (1) allocate resources strategically to maximize impact and (2) take into account communal agency to potentially be a source for sanitation improvements. The Jodipan and Kesatrian Project in Malang, Indonesia is an interesting alternative for solving the sanitation problem in which resources were allocated strategically and communal agency was also observed. Although the projects initial goal was only to improve visually the situation in the slums, it became a new tourist destination, and the economic benefit that came with it had an effect also on the change of behavior of the residents and the government towards sanitation. It also grew from only including the Kesatrian Village to expanding to the Jodipan Village in the course of less than a year. To investigate the success of this project, in this paper a descriptive model will be used and data will be drawn from intensive interviews with the initiators of the project, residents affected by the project and government officials. In this research it is argued that three points mark the success of the project: (1) the strategic initial impact due to choice of location, (2) the influx of tourists that triggered behavioral change among residents and, (3) the direct economic impact which ensured its sustainability and growth by gaining government officials support and attention for more public spending in the area for slum development and sanitation improvement.

Keywords: behaviour change, sanitation, slum, strategic thinking

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Authors: Fatemeh Rouhi, Hadi Nassiri

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Earning forecast is a key element in economic decisions but there are some situations, such as conflicts of interest in financial reporting, complexity and lack of direct access to information has led to the phenomenon of information asymmetry among individuals within the organization and external investors and creditors that appear. The adverse selection and moral hazard in the investor's decision and allows direct assessment of the difficulties associated with data by users makes. In this regard, the role of trustees in corporate governance disclosure is crystallized that includes controls and procedures to ensure the lack of movement in the interests of the company's management and move in the direction of maximizing shareholder and company value. Therefore, the earning forecast of companies in the capital market and the need to identify factors influencing this study was an attempt to make relationship between moral hazard and corporate governance with earning forecast quality companies operating in the capital market and its impact on Earnings Forecasts quality by the company to be established. Getting inspiring from the theoretical basis of research, two main hypotheses and sub-hypotheses are presented in this study, which have been examined on the basis of available models, and with the use of Panel-Data method, and at the end, the conclusion has been made at the assurance level of 95% according to the meaningfulness of the model and each independent variable. In examining the models, firstly, Chow Test was used to specify either Panel Data method should be used or Pooled method. Following that Housman Test was applied to make use of Random Effects or Fixed Effects. Findings of the study show because most of the variables are positively associated with moral hazard with earnings forecasts quality, with increasing moral hazard, earning forecast quality companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange is increasing. Among the variables related to corporate governance, board independence variables have a significant relationship with earnings forecast accuracy and earnings forecast bias but the relationship between board size and earnings forecast quality is not statistically significant.

Keywords: corporate governance, earning forecast quality, moral hazard, financial sciences

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Authors: Akinyemi Eyitayo Oufunmilayo

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In every society, it is expected that adult education will help in meeting the needs of people in terms of economic and social lives and reveal their talents, culture, and political abilities. Participation in adult education programmes could be the ones offered by the Federal, state, and local governments or non-governmental organisations. This study, therefore, investigated how people’s participation in adult education programmes could change their social lives. A quantitative method was employed for the study. The study population consisted of 210 people randomly selected from the three Senatorial Districts in Ondo State. Data obtained was analysed using frequency counts and percentages and chi-square analysis. Findings revealed that members of the society responded to the benefits of adult education programmes made available, and there were positive changes to their social lives. It could be concluded that people’s participation in adult education programmes improved every aspect of their lives for better living. It is recommended that members of the society respond and make good use of any adult education programme made available in their community, while stakeholders and other opportune members of the society come to the aid of less privileged people in their society.

Keywords: adult education programmes, social change, participation, society

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Authors: S. M. Sadrameli, Y. Azizi

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Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have shown to be one of the most reliable energy storage systems for electric cars in the recent years. Ambient temperature has a significant impact on the performance, lifetime, safety and cost of such batteries. Increasing the temperature degrade the lithium batteries more quickly while working at low-temperature environment results reducing the power and energy capability of the system. A thermal management system has been designed and setup in laboratory scale for controlling the temperature at optimum conditions using PEG-1000 with the melting point in the range of 33-40 oC as a phase change material. Aluminum plates have been installed in the PCM to increase the thermal conductivity and increasing the heat transfer rate. Experimental tests have been run at different discharge rates and ambient temperatures to investigate the effects of temperature on the efficiency of the batteries. The comparison has been made between the system of 6 batteries with and without PCM and the results show that PCM with aluminum plates decrease the surface temperature of the batteries that would result better performance and longer lifetime of the batteries.

Keywords: lithium-ion batteries, phase change materials, thermal management, temperature control

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Authors: Daniel Osorio, Andreas Klenk, Stefan Weihe, Andreas Kopp, Frank Rödiger

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Future power plants currently face high design requirements due to worsening climate change and environmental restrictions, which demand high operational flexibility, superior thermal performance, minimal emissions, and higher cyclic capability. The aim of the paper is, therefore, to investigate the creep and thermo-mechanical material behavior of improved materials experimentally and welded joints at component scale under near-to-service operating conditions, which are promising for application in highly efficient and flexible future power plants. These materials promise an increase in flexibility and a reduction in manufacturing costs by providing enhanced creep strength and, therefore, the possibility for wall thickness reduction. At the temperature range between 550°C and 625°C, the investigation focuses on the in-phase thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior of dissimilar welded joints of conventional materials (ferritic and martensitic material T24 and T92) to nickel-based alloys (A617B and HR6W) by means of membrane test panels. The temperature and external load are varied in phase during the test, while the internal pressure remains constant. At the temperature range between 650°C and 750°C, it focuses on the creep behavior under multiaxial stress loading of similar and dissimilar welded joints of high temperature resistant nickel-based alloys (A740H, A617B, and HR6W) by means of a thick-walled-component test. In this case, the temperature, the external axial load, and the internal pressure remain constant during testing. Numerical simulations are used for the estimation of the axial component load in order to induce a meaningful damage evolution without causing a total component failure. Metallographic investigations after testing will provide support for understanding the damage mechanism and the influence of the thermo-mechanical load and multiaxiality on the microstructure change and on the creep and TMF- strength.

Keywords: creep, creep-fatigue, component behaviour, weld joints, high temperature material behaviour, nickel-alloys, high temperature resistant steels

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Authors: Moses Pinto, Ana Paula Monte

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The present research analyses the interactions between various categories of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that mediate the relationship between CSR and financial performance in Multinational Enterprises (MNE) in light of the present socio-political factors prevalent in the countries under observation. In the research it has been hypothesized that the absence of consensus in the empirical literature on the CSR–financial performance relationship may be explained by the existence of synergies (Complementarities) between the different CSR components. Upon investigation about whether such relationships exist, a final unbalanced panel sample of 1000 observations taken from 100 Multinational Enterprises per year functioning in the Schengen countries and one south east Asian country namely: India, over the span of 10 years i.e. from the year 2008 to 2018 has been analyzed. The empirical analysis used in the research methodology employs dynamic Panel Data in time series specifically, the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) which had been used to detect the varying degrees of relationships between the CSR and financial performance parameters in the background of the socio-political factors prevailing in the countries at the time and also taking into account the bilateral treaty obligations between the countries under observation. The econometric model has employed the financial ratio namely the Return on Assets (ROA) as an indicator of financial performance in order to gauge the internal performance and valuation of a firm as opposed to the Tobin’s Q that provides for the external evaluation of a firm’s financial performance which may not always be accurate. The various CSR dimensions have demonstrated significant correlations to the ‘ROA’ which include some negatively associated correlations and one positively associated correlation that is highly significant throughout the analysis of the observations, namely the correlation between the ‘ROA’ and the CSR dimension: ‘Environment’. The results provide a deeper insight in the synergistic CSR activities that managers could adapt into their Firm’s CSR strategy in order to enhance the ‘ROA’ and also to understand which interactions between the CSR dimensions can be adapted together due to their positively correlated association with each other and the ROA. The future lines of research would be inclined to investigate the effects of socio-political factors on the ROA of the MNEs through better designed econometric models.

Keywords: CSR, financial performance, complementarity, sociopolitical factors

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Authors: Hameed Alshammari

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The decarbonisation of the energy sector beyond the 21ˢᵗ century is akin to establishing morally responsible mechanisms that can propagate sustainable livelihoods (Denina et al., 2021). It implies that Kuwait undertakes a re-evaluation of energy generation gaps so as to tap the potential to reduce overreliance on fossil fuel (Si et al., 2020) and align with global views on sustainable energy generation and consumption.(Herrero, Pineda, Villar, & Zambrano, 2020). Without the economic pressure to switch to alternative sources of energy, Kuwait requires a multi-dimensional analysis the energy policies andsources of energy other than fossil fuels (Alsaad, 2021).Currently, Kuwait has an energy system that is highly skewed towards fossil fuels (Alsaad, 2021); hence, the reliance on burning fossil fuels forms part of the core elements of the general inefficient energy systems that have negative consequences to global environmental and economic systems (Kang et al., 2020). This paper undertakes a detailed literature review on factors needed for the development of a framework for the multi-dimensional energy resource analysis in Kuwait. The framework aims aligning the current energy policies in Kuwait with the global decarbonisation drive, to promote sustainable energy strategies.

Keywords: decarbonisation, energy, fossil fuels, multi-dimensional analysis, sustainability

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Authors: L. Richter, J. Lübkemann, P. Nyhuis

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In order to remain competitive in what is a turbulent environment; businesses must be able to react rapidly to change. The past response to volatile market conditions was to introduce an element of flexibility to production. Nowadays, what is often required is a redesign of factory structures in order to cope with the state of constant flux. The Institute of Production Systems and Logistics is currently developing a descriptive and causal model for the redesign of plant structures as part of an ongoing research project. This article presents the first research findings attained in devising this model.

Keywords: change driven factory redesign, factory planning, plant structure, flexibility

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Authors: Beenish Mujahid, Sana Malik

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Bioclimatic design Strategies plays a dynamic role in construction of Sustainable Buildings. This approach leads to reduction in the mechanical cooling of building which provides comfort to the occupants in sustainable manner. Such bioclimatic measures provide a complete framework of building design through responding to climatic features of particular site. The featured Passive cooling techniques for hot climatic region provides comfortable indoor temperature with ecological and financial benefits. The study is based on highlighting this approach to produce energy efficient buildings for Semi-Arid climate like Lahore, Pakistan. Being part of developing country, energy savings in Lahore city would help the Power Sector and resolves the World Issues of Global Warming and Ozone Layer Depletion. This article reviews the bioclimatic design strategies and their critical analysis to drive guidelines for Sustainable buildings in Lahore. The study shows that the demand for mechanical cooling systems including air conditioning, fans, and air coolers can be reduced through regional climatic design.

Keywords: bioclimatic design, buildings, comfort, energy efficient, Lahore

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Authors: Doaa Abbas Zaher

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For the past two decades demand for knowledge has been increasing. Management of society’s knowledge has far reaching effects to economic growth through increased capacity to complete viable activities. Organizations use information technology to effect organizational change. This is a challenge for the less developed nations whose capacity to integrate knowledge in core functions is limited. This creates organizational problems as there is global competition amongst organizations. Cross-cultural perceptions influence difference knowledge Management. This study provides a cross-cultural analysis on the influence in knowledge culture in Japan and Saudi Arabia to effect change in organizations. Since different countries adopt different knowledge management strategies, this dictates the state of organizational development through enriched organizational culture. The research uses a mixed approach design to collect data from primary and secondary sources. Primary source will use the questionnaires while secondary sources uses case analysis from books, articles, reports, and journals. The study will take a period of three years to come up with a complete paper.

Keywords: knowledge management, organizational culture, information, society knowledge

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Authors: Rabia Faridi, Rizwana Maqbool, Umara Sahar Rana, Zaheer Ahmad

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Climate change impacts agriculture, notably in Germany, where spring faba beans predominate. However, improved winter hardiness aligns with milder winters, enabling autumn-sown varieties. Genetic resistance to Ascochyta blight is vital for crop integration. Traditional breeding faces challenges due to complex inheritance. This study assessed 224 homozygous faba bean lines for Ascochyta resistance traits. To achieve h²>70%, 12 replicates were required (realized h²=87%). Genetic variation and strong trait correlations were observed. Five lines outperformed 29H, while three were highly susceptible. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 188 inbred lines and 2058 markers, including 17 guide SNP markers, identified 12 markers associated with resistance traits, potentially indicating new resistance genes. One guide marker (Vf-Mt1g014230-001) on chromosome III validated a known QTL. The guided marker approach complemented GWAS, facilitating marker-assisted selection for Ascochyta resistance. The Göttingen Winter Bean Population offers promise for resistance breeding.

Keywords: genome wide association studies, marker assisted breeding, faba bean, ascochyta blight

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Authors: Jennifer K. Bowerman, Rhonda L. Reich

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the concepts ACDC (Amore, Consciousness, Discipline, and Commitment) which the authors first discovered as a philosophy and framework for recruitment and organizational development in a successful start-up tech company in Brazil. This paper represents an exploration of these concepts as a potential pedagogical foundation for undergraduate business education in the classroom. It explores whether their application has potential to build emotional and practical resilience in the face of constant organizational and societal change. Derived from Holonomy this paper explains the concepts and develops a narrative around how change influences the operation of organizations. Using examples from leading edge organizational theorists, it explains why a different educational approach grounded in ACDC concepts may not only have relevance for the working world, but also for undergraduates about to enter that world. The authors propose that in the global context of constant change, it makes sense to develop an approach to education, particularly business education, beyond cognitive knowledge, models and tools, in such a way that emotional and practical resilience and creative thinking may be developed. Using the classroom as an opportunity to explore these concepts, and aligning personal passion with the necessary discipline and commitment, may provide students with a greater sense of their own worth and potential as they venture into their ever-changing futures.

Keywords: ACDC, holonomic thinking, organizational learning, organizational change, business pedagogy

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Authors: Adel A. Ghoneim

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Desalination using solar energy is an interesting option specifically at regions with abundant solar radiation since such areas normally have scarcity of clean water resources. Desalination is the procedure of eliminating dissolved minerals from seawater or brackish water to generate fresh water. In this work, a simulation program is developed to determine the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination plant powered by high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) panels in Kuwait climate conditions. The objective of such a photovoltaic thermal system is to accomplish a double output, i.e., co-generation of both electricity and fresh water that is applicable for rural regions with high solar irradiation. The suggested plan enables to design an RO plant that does not depend on costly batteries or additional land and significantly reduce the government costs to subsidize the water generation cost. Typical weather conditions for Kuwait is employed as input to the simulation program. The simulation program is utilized to optimize the system efficiency as well as the distillate water production. The areas and slopes of HCPV modules are varied to attain maximum yearly power production. Maximum yearly distillate production and HCPV energy generation are found to correspond to HCPV facing south with tilt of 27° (Kuwait latitude-3°). The power needed to produce 1 l of clean drinking water ranged from 2 to 8 kW h/m³, based on the salinity of the feed water and the system operating conditions. Moreover, adapting HCPV systems achieve an avoided greenhouse gases emission by about 1128 ton CO₂ annually. Present outcomes certainly illustrate environmental advantages of water desalination system powered by high concentrated photovoltaic systems in Kuwait climate conditions.

Keywords: desalination, high concentrated photovoltaic systems, reverse osmosis, solar radiation

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Authors: A. Jarrou, A. Iranzo, C. Nana

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The rapid development of the onshore/offshore wind industry and the continuous, strong, and long-term support from governments have made it possible to create factories specializing in the manufacture of the different parts of wind turbines, but in the literature, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyzes consider the wind turbine as a whole and do not allow the allocation of impacts to the different components of the wind turbine. Here we propose to treat each part of the wind turbine as a system in its own right. This is more in line with the current production system. Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of two technological scenarios of wind turbine blades composition for an optimized wind turbine design using the impact 2002+ method and using 15 environmental impact indicators. This article aims to assess the environmental impacts associated with 1 kg of wind turbine blades. In order to carry out a realistic and precise study, the different stages of the life cycle of a wind turbine installation are included in the study (manufacture, installation, use, maintenance, dismantling, and waste treatment). The Impact 2002+ method used makes it possible to assess 15 impact indicators (human toxicity, terrestrial and aquatic ecotoxicity, climate change, land use, etc.). Finally, a sensitivity study is carried out to analyze the different types of uncertainties in the data collected.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, wind turbine, turbine blade, environmental impact

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Authors: Maider Gómez Palmero, Ana Carrasco Pérez, Paula de la Sen de la Cruz, Francisco Javier Royo Herrer, Sonia Ascaso Malo

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The production of bio-based products for different purposes is one of the strategies that has grown the most at European and even global levels, seeking to contribute to mitigating the impacts associated with climate change and to achieve the ambitious objectives set in this regard. However, the substitution of fossil-based products for bio-based products requires a challenging and deep transformation and adaptation of the secondary and primary sectors and, more specifically, in the latter, the agro-industries. The first step to developing a bio-based value chain focuses on the availability of a resource with the right characteristics for the substitution sought. This, in turn, requires a significant reshaping of the forestry/agricultural sector but also of the agro-industry, which has a relevant potential to be deployed as a supplier and develop a robust logistical supply chain and to market a biobased raw material at a competitive price. However, this transformation may involve a profound restructuring of its traditional business model to incorporate biorefinery concepts. In this sense, agro-industries that generate by-products in their processes that are currently not valorized, such as potato processing rejects or the starch found in washing water, constitute a potential raw material that can be used for different bio-applications. This article aims to explore this potential to evaluate the most suitable bio applications to target and identify opportunities and challenges.

Keywords: starch valorisation, biorefinery, bio-based raw materials, bio-applications

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Authors: Freddy Munzhelele

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Setting: the empirical research has shown that the life cycle theory has an impact on the firms’ financing decisions, particularly the dividend pay-outs. Accordingly, the life cycle theory posits that as a firm matures, it gets to a level and capacity where it distributes more cash as dividends. On the other hand, the young firms prioritise investment opportunities sets and their financing; thus, they pay little or no dividends. The research on firms’ financing decisions also demonstrated, among others, the adoption of trade-off and pecking order theories on the dynamics of firms capital structure. The trade-off theory talks to firms holding a favourable position regarding debt structures particularly as to the cost and benefits thereof; and pecking order is concerned with firms preferring a hierarchical order as to choosing financing sources. The case of life cycle hypothesis explaining the financial managers’ decisions as regards the firms’ capital structure dynamics appears to be an interesting link, yet this link has been neglected in corporate finance research. If this link is to be explored as an empirical research, the financial decision-making alternatives will be enhanced immensely, since no conclusive evidence has been found yet as to the dynamics of capital structure. Aim: the aim of this study is to examine the impact of life cycle theory on the capital structure dynamics trade-off and pecking order theories of firms listed in retail, industrial and mining sectors of the JSE. These sectors are among the key contributors to the GDP in the South African economy. Design and methodology: following the postpositivist research paradigm, the study is quantitative in nature and utilises secondary data obtainable from the financial statements of sampled firm for the period 2010 – 2022. The firms’ financial statements will be extracted from the IRESS database. Since the data will be in panel form, a combination of the static and dynamic panel data estimators will used to analyse data. The overall data analyses will be done using STATA program. Value add: this study directly investigates the link between the life cycle theory and the dynamics of capital structure decisions, particularly the trade-off and pecking order theories.

Keywords: life cycle theory, trade-off theory, pecking order theory, capital structure, JSE listed firms

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Authors: Yurike, Yonariza, Rudi Febriamansyah, Syafruddin Karimi

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Forest is a natural resource that has an important function as a supporting element of human life. Forest degradation enormous impact on global warming is a reality we have experienced together, that disruption of ecosystems, extreme weather conditions, disruption of water management system watersheds and the threat of natural disasters as floods, landslides and droughts, even disruption food security. Dharmasraya is a district in the province of West Sumatra, which has an area of 92.150 ha of forest, which is largely a former production forest concessions (Forest Management Rights) which is supposed to be a secondary forest. This study answers about the impact of land use in the former concession area Dharmasraya on the environment. The methodology used is the household survey, key informants, and satellite data / GIS. From the results of the study, the former concession area in Dharmasraya experienced a reduction of forest cover over time significantly. Forest concessions should be secondary forests in Dharmasraya, now turned conversion to oil palm plantations. Population pressures and growing economic pressures, resulting in more intensive harvesting. As a result of these forest disturbances caused changes in forest functions. These changes put more emphasis towards economic function by ignoring social functions or ecological function. Society prefers to maximize their benefits today and pay less attention to the protection of natural resources. This causes global warming is increasing and this is not only felt by people around Dharmasraya but also the world. Land clearing by the community through a process in slash and burn. This fire was observed by NOAA satellites and recorded by the Forest Service of West Sumatra. This demonstrates the ability of trees felled trees to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) to be lost, even with forest fires accounted for carbon dioxide emitted into the air, and this has an impact on global warming. In addition to the change of control of land into oil palm plantations water service has been poor, people began to trouble the water and oil palm plantations are located in the watershed caused the river dried up. Through the findings of this study is expected to contribute ideas to the policy makers to pay more attention to the former concession forest management as the prevention or reduction of global warming.

Keywords: climate change, community, concession forests, environment

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Authors: Yanwen Li, Shuguo Xie

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In electromagnetic imaging, because of the diffraction limited system, the pixel values could change slowly near the edge of the image targets and they also change with the location in the same target. Using traditional digital image segmentation methods to segment electromagnetic gradient images could result in lots of errors because of this change in pixel values. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel image segmentation and extraction algorithm based on Mean-Shift and dictionary learning. Firstly, the preliminary segmentation results from adaptive bandwidth Mean-Shift algorithm are expanded, merged and extracted. Then the overlap rate of the extracted image block is detected before determining a segmentation region with a single complete target. Last, the gradient edge of the extracted targets is recovered and reconstructed by using a dictionary-learning algorithm, while the final segmentation results are obtained which are very close to the gradient target in the original image. Both the experimental results and the simulated results show that the segmentation results are very accurate. The Dice coefficients are improved by 70% to 80% compared with the Mean-Shift only method.

Keywords: gradient image, segmentation and extract, mean-shift algorithm, dictionary iearning

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Authors: Teklay Tesfay, Gebreyesus Brhane Tesfahunegn, Abadi Berhane, Selemawit Girmay

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Adjusting the proper sowing date of a crop at a particular location with a changing climate is an essential management option to maximize crop yield. However, determining the optimum sowing date for rainfed maize production through field experimentation requires repeated trials for many years in different weather conditions and crop management. To avoid such long-term experimentation to determine the optimum sowing date, crop models such as AquaCrop are useful. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of AquaCrop model in simulating maize productivity under varying sowing dates. A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive cropping seasons by deploying four maize seed sowing dates in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Input data required to run this model are stored as climate, crop, soil, and management files in the AquaCrop database and adjusted through the user interface. Observed data from separate field experiments was used to calibrate and validate the model. AquaCrop model was validated for its performance in simulating the green canopy and aboveground biomass of maize for the varying sowing dates based on the calibrated parameters. Results of the present study showed that there was a good agreement (an overall R2 =, Ef= d= RMSE =) between measured and simulated values of the canopy cover and biomass yields. Considering the overall values of the statistical test indicators, the performance of the model to predict maize growth and biomass yield was successful, and so this is a valuable tool help for decision-making. Hence, this calibrated and validated model is suggested to use for determining optimum maize crop sowing date for similar climate and soil conditions to the study area, instead of conducting long-term experimentation.

Keywords: AquaCrop model, calibration, validation, simulation

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Authors: Ahmed M. Al-Hasem

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A study of the tidal current behavior and bathymetric changes was undertaken in order to establish an information base for future coastal management. The average velocity for tidal current was 0.46 m/s and the maximum velocity was 1.08 m/s during ebb tide. During spring tides, maximum velocities range from 0.90 m/s to 1.08 m/s, whereas maximum velocities vary from 0.40 m/s to 0.60 m/s during neap tides. Despite greater current velocities during flood tide, the bathymetric features enhance the dominance of the ebb tide. This can be related to the abundance of fine sediments from the ebb current approaching the study area, and the relatively coarser sediment from the approaching flood current. Significant bathymetric changes for the period from 1985 to 1998 were found with dominance of erosion process. Approximately 96.5% of depth changes occurred within the depth change classes of -5 m to 5 m. The high erosion processes within the study area will subsequently result in high accretion processes, particularly in the north, the location of the proposed Boubyan Port and its navigation channel.

Keywords: bathymetric change, Boubyan island, GIS, Khor Abdullah, tidal current behavior

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Authors: A. G. Back

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

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

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Authors: Tripta Dixit, Smita Sahu, William Selvamurthy, Sadhana Srivastava

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India is battling with the issues of accessibility, affordability and availability of quality health to the masses. Indian medical heritage which dated back to 3000 BC unveils the rich knowledge pool which has undergone a perceptible change over years, such as eradication of many communicable diseases, increasing individual awareness of quality health and import driven medical device market etc. Despite a slew of initiatives the holistic slogan of ‘health for all’ remains elusive and a concern for the nation. The 21st-century projects a myriad of challenges like cultural diversity, large population, demographic dividend and geographical segmentation leading to varied needs of people as per their regional conditions of climate, disease prevalence, nutrition and sanitation. But these challenges are also opportunities for the development of indigenous, low cost and accessible technologies to tackle them. This requires reinforcing the potential of indigenous technologies in coordination with prevailing health issues in various regions of country. This paper emphasis on the strategy for exploring the indigenous technologies with entrusted up-scaling to meet the diverse needs of the people. This review proposes to adopt technology transfer as a strategy to establish a vibrant ecosystem for identifying and up-scaling the indigenous medical technologies with diligent hand-holding for public health.

Keywords: health, indigenous, medical technology, technology transfer

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Authors: Talha Ahmed, Ishtiaq Hassan

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Urban areas or metropolitan is portrayed by the very high density of population due to the result of these economic activities. Some critical elements, such as urban expansion and climate change, are driving changes in cities with exposure to the incidence and impacts of pluvial floods. Urban communities are recurrently developed by huge spaces by which water cannot enter impermeable surfaces, such as man-made permanent surfaces and structures, which do not cause the phenomena of infiltration and percolation. Urban sprawl can result in increased run-off volumes, flood stage and flood extents during heavy rainy seasons. The flood risks require a thorough examination of all aspects affecting to severe an event in order to accurately estimate their impacts and other risk factors associated with them. For risk evaluation and its impact due to urbanization, an integrated hydrological modeling approach is used on the study area in Islamabad (Pakistan), focusing on a natural water body that has been adopted in this research. The vulnerability of the physical elements at risk in the research region is analyzed using GIS and SOBEK. The supervised classification of land use containing the images from 1980 to 2020 is used. The modeling of DEM with selected return period is used for modeling a hydrodynamic model for flood event inundation. The selected return periods are 50,75 and 100 years which are used in flood modeling. The findings of this study provided useful information on high-risk places and at-risk properties.

Keywords: urbanization, flood, flood risk, GIS

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Authors: Tabbye Chavous, Felecia Webb, Bridget Richardson, Gloryvee Fonseca-Bolorin, Seanna Leath, Robert Sellers

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There has been recent renewed attention to Black students’ experiences at predominantly White U.S. universities (PWIs), e.g., the #BBUM (“Being Black at the University of Michigan”), “I too am Harvard” social media campaigns, and subsequent student protest activities nationwide. These campaigns illuminate how many minority students encounter challenges to their racial/ethnic identities as they enter PWI contexts. Students routinely report experiences such as being ignored or treated as a token in classes, receiving messages of low academic expectations by faculty and peers, being questioned about their academic qualifications or belonging, being excluded from academic and social activities, and being racially profiled and harassed in the broader campus community due to race. Researchers have linked such racial marginalization and stigma experiences to student motivation and achievement. One potential mechanism is through the impact of college experiences on students’ identities, given the relevance of the college context for students’ personal identity development, including personal beliefs systems around social identities salient in this context. However, little research examines the impact of the college context on Black students’ racial identities. This study examined change in Black college students’ (N=329) racial identity beliefs over the freshman year at three predominantly White U.S. universities. Using cluster analyses, we identified profile groups reflecting different patterns of stability and change in students’ racial centrality (importance of race to overall self-concept), private regard (personal group affect/group pride), and public regard (perceptions of societal views of Blacks) from beginning of year (Time 1) to end of year (Time 2). Multinomial logit regression analyses indicated that the racial identity change clusters were predicted by pre-college background (racial composition of high school and neighborhood), as well as college-based experiences (racial discrimination, interracial friendships, and perceived campus racial climate). In particular, experiencing campus racial discrimination related to high, stable centrality, and decreases in private regard and public regard. Perceiving racial climates norms of institutional support for intergroup interactions on campus related to maintaining low and decreasing in private and public regard. Multivariate Analyses of Variance results showed change cluster effects on achievement motivation outcomes at the end of students’ academic year. Having high, stable centrality and high private regard related to more positive outcomes overall (academic competence, positive academic affect, academic curiosity and persistence). Students decreasing in private regard and public regard were particularly vulnerable to negative motivation outcomes. Findings support scholarship indicating both stability in racial identity beliefs and the importance of critical context transitions in racial identity development and adjustment outcomes among emerging adults. Findings also are consistent with research suggesting promotive effects of a strong, positive racial identity on student motivation, as well as research linking awareness of racial stigma to decreased academic engagement.

Keywords: diversity, motivation, learning, ethnic minority achievement, higher education

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Authors: Mohamed Elhakeem, A. N. Thanos Papanicolaou, Christopher Wilson, Yi-Jia Chang

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In this study, a physically-based, modelling framework was developed to predict saturated hydraulic conductivity (KSAT) dynamics in the Clear Creek Watershed (CCW), Iowa. The modelling framework integrated selected pedotransfer functions and watershed models with geospatial tools. A number of pedotransfer functions and agricultural watershed models were examined to select the appropriate models that represent the study site conditions. Models selection was based on statistical measures of the models’ errors compared to the KSAT field measurements conducted in the CCW under different soil, climate and land use conditions. The study has shown that the predictions of the combined pedotransfer function of Rosetta and the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) provided the best agreement to the measured KSAT values in the CCW compared to the other tested models. Therefore, Rosetta and WEPP were integrated with the Geographic Information System (GIS) tools for visualization of the data in forms of geospatial maps and prediction of KSAT variability in CCW due to the seasonal changes in climate and land use activities.

Keywords: saturated hydraulic conductivity, pedotransfer functions, watershed models, geospatial tools

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Authors: Zhenzhen Zhang

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As major human activity places, buildings consume a large amount of energy, and residential buildings are very important part of it. An extensive research work had been conducted to research how to achieve low energy goals, vernacular dwellings and contemporary technologies are two prime parameters among them. On one hand, some researchers concentrated on vernacular dwellings which were climate-response design and could offer a better living condition without mechanic application. On the other hand, a series concepts appeared based on modern technologies, surplus energy house, bioclimatic architecture, etc. especially thermodynamic architecture which integrates the micro-climate, human activity, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency into design. How to blend the two parameters is the key research topic now, which would act as the key to how to integrate the ancient design wise and contemporary new technologies. By several cases study, this paper will represent the evolution of thermodynamic architecture and then try to develop one methodology about how to produce a typical thermodynamic prototype for one area by blending the ancient building wise and contemporary concepts to achieve both low energy consumption and surplus energy.

Keywords: vernacular dwelling, thermodynamic architecture, bioclimatic architecture, thermodynamic prototype, surplus energy

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