Search results for: Environmental ethics and philosophy

Authors: Mokgadi Moletsane-Kekae, Robert Kananga Mukuna

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The study focused on the analysis of the Adjusted Rorschach Comprehensive System’s responses. The objective of this study is to analyse the participants’ response rate of the Adjusted Rorschach Comprehensive System with regards to critical psychology approach. The use of critical psychology theory in this study was crucial because it responds to the current inadequate western theory or practice in the field of psychology. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a case study design. The study was grounded on interpretivist paradigm. The sample size comprised six learners (three boys and three girls, aged of 14 years) from historically disadvantaged school in the Western Cape, South Africa. The Adjusted Rorschach Comprehensive System (ARCS) administration procedure, biographical information, semi-structured interviews, and observation were used to collect data. Data was analysed using thematic framework. The study found out that, factors that increased the response rates during the administration of ARCS were, language, seating arrangement, drawing, viewing, and describing. The study recommended that, psychological test designers take into consideration the philosophy or worldviews of the local people for whom the test is designed to minimize low response rates.

Keywords: Adjusted Rorschach comprehensive system, critical psychology, learners, responses.

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Authors: Wenwen Liu, Robert Burton, Simon McKeown

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Climate change is seriously threatening human security and development, leading to global warming and economic, political, and social chaos. Many artists have created visual responses that challenge perceptions on climate change, actively guiding people to think about the climate issues and potential crises after urban industrialization and explore positive solutions. This project is an interdisciplinary and intertextual study where art practice is informed by culture, philosophy, psychology, ecology, and science. By correlating theory and artistic practice, it studies how art practice creates a visual way of understanding climate issues and uses art as a way of exploring speculative futures. In the context of practical-based research, arts-based practice as research and creative practice as interdisciplinary research are applied alternately to seek the original solution and new knowledge. Through creative art practice, this project has established visual ways of looking at climate change and has developed it into a model to generate more possibilities, an alternative social imagination. It not only encourages people to think and find a sustainable speculative future conducive to all species but also proves that people have the ability to realize positive futures.

Keywords: Climate change, creative practice as interdisciplinary research, arts-based practice as research, creative art practice, speculative future.

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Authors: Mohamed A. Azab

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Over the early years of the 21st century, cities throughout the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf region have expanded more rapidly than ever before. Given the presence of a large volume of high-rise buildings allover the region, the local authority aims to set a new standard for sustainable development; with an integrated approach to maintain a balance between economy, quality, environmental protection and safety of life. In the very near future, as mandatory requirements, sustainability will be the criteria that should be included in all building projects. It is well known in the building sustainability topics that structural design engineers do not have a key role in this matter. In addition, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has looked almost exclusively on the environmental components and materials specifications. The objective of this paper is to focus and establish groundwork for sustainability techniques and applications related to the RC high-rise buildings design, from the structural point of view. A set of recommendations related to local conditions, structural modeling and analysis is given, and some helpful suggestions for structural design team work are addressed. This paper attempts to help structural engineers in identifying the building sustainability design, in order to meet local needs and achieve alternative solutions at an early stage of project design.

Keywords: Building, Design, High-rise, Middle East, Structural, Sustainability.

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Authors: Puvanasvaran, A. P., Suresh V., N. Norazlin

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The Lean Environmental Management Integration System (LEMIS) framework development is integration between lean core element and ISO 14001. The curiosity on the relationship between continuous improvement and sustainability of lean implementation has influenced this study toward LEMIS. Characteristic of ISO 14001 standard clauses and core elements of lean principles are explored from past studies and literature reviews. Survey was carried out on ISO 14001 certified companies to examine continual improvement by implementing the ISO 14001 standard. The study found that there is a significant and positive relationship between Lean Principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection with the ISO 14001 requirements. LEMIS is significant to support the continuous improvement and sustainability. The integration system can be implemented to any manufacturing company. It gives awareness on the importance on why organizations need to sustain its environmental management system. In the meantime, the lean principle can be adapted in order to streamline daily activities of the company. Throughout the study, it had proven that there is no sacrifice or trade-off between lean principles with ISO 14001 requirements. The framework developed in the study can be further simplified in the future, especially the method of crossing each sub requirements of ISO 14001 standard with the core elements of Lean principles in this study.

Keywords: LEMIS, ISO 14001, integration, framework.

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Authors: Marcus C. Garcia, Giselle C. Guimarães, Luciana H. Yamane, Renato R. Siman

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The environmental indicators and the classification of beach waste are essential tools to diagnose the current situation and to indicate ways to improve the quality of this environment. The purpose of this paper was to perform a quali-quantitative analysis of the beach waste on the Curva da Jurema Beach (Espírito Santo - Brazil). Three transects were used with equidistant positioning over the total length of the beach for the solid waste collection. Solid wastes were later classified according to their use and primary raw material from the low and high summer season. During the low season, average values of 7.10 items.m^-1, 18.22 g.m^-1 and 0.91 g.m^-2 were found for the whole beach, and transect 3 contributed the most waste, with the total sum of items equal to 999 (49%), a total mass of 5.62 kg and a total volume of 21.31 L. During the high summer season, average values of 8.22 items.m^-1, 54.40 g.m^-1 and 2.72 g.m^-2 were found, with transect 2 contributing the most to the total sum with 1,212 items (53%), a total mass of 10.76 kg and a total volume of 51.99 L. Of the total collected, plastic materials represented 51.4% of the total number of items, 35.9% of the total mass and 68% of the total volume. The implementation of reactive and proactive measures is necessary so that the management of the solid wastes on Curva da Jurema Beach is in accordance with principles of sustainability.

Keywords: Beach solid waste, environmental indicators, quali-quantitative analysis, waste management.

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Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

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The construction industry plays an important role in environmental and carbon emissions as it consumes a huge amount of natural resources and energy. Sustainable engineering involves the process of planning, design, procurement, construction and delivery in which the whole building and construction process resulting from building and construction can be effectively and sustainability managed to achieve the use of natural resources. Implementation of sustainable technology development and innovation, adoption of the advanced construction process and facilitate the facilities management to implement the energy and waste control more accurately and effectively. Study and research in the relationship of BIM and environment assessment tools lack a clear discussion. In this paper, we will focus on the synergy of BIM technology and sustainable engineering in the AEC industry and outline the key factors which enhance the use of advanced innovation, technology and method and define the role of stakeholders to achieve zero-carbon emission toward the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. A case study of the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and environmental assessment tools in Hong Kong will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable engineering, BIM, LEED

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Authors: R. Charoen, S. Tipkanon, W. Savedboworn, N. Phonsatta, A. Panya

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Rice bran protein hydrolysates (RBPH) were prepared from defatted rice bran of two different Thai rice cultivars (Plai-Ngahm-Prachinburi; PNP and Khao Dok Mali 105; KDM105) using an enzymatic method. This research aimed to optimize enzyme-assisted protein extraction. In addition, the functional properties of RBPH and their stabilities to environmental stresses including pH (3 to 8), ionic strength (0 mM to 500 mM) and the thermal treatment (30 °C to 90 °C) were investigated. Results showed that enzymatic process for protein extraction of defatted rice bran was as follows: enzyme concentration 0.075 g/ 5 g of protein, extraction temperature 50 °C and extraction time 4 h. The obtained protein hydrolysate powders had a degree of hydrolysis (%) of 21.05% in PNP and 19.92% in KDM105. The solubility of protein hydrolysates at pH 4-6 was ranged from 27.28-38.57% and 27.60-43.00% in PNP and KDM105, respectively. In general, antioxidant activities indicated by total phenolic content, FRAP, ferrous ion-chelating (FIC), and 2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) of KDM105 had higher than PNP. In terms of functional properties, the emulsifying activity index (EAI) was was 8.78 m²/g protein in KDM105, whereas PNP was 5.05 m²/g protein. The foaming capacity at 5 minutes (%) was 47.33 and 52.98 in PNP and KDM105, respectively. Glutamine, Alanine, Valine, and Leucine are the major amino acid in protein hydrolysates where the total amino acid of KDM105 gave higher than PNP. Furthermore, we investigated environmental stresses on the stability of 5% oil in water emulsion (5% oil, 10 mM citrate buffer) stabilized by RBPH (3.5%). The droplet diameter of emulsion stabilized by KDM105 was smaller (d < 250 nm) than produced by PNP. For environmental stresses, RBPH stabilized emulsions were stable at pH around 3 and 5-6, at high salt (< 400 mM, pH 7) and at temperatures range between 30-50°C.

Keywords: Functional properties, oil in water emulsion, protein hydrolysates, rice bran protein.

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Authors: Watchara Surawong, Cheema Soralumn

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This research work is concerned with the life cycle assessment (LCA) of an expressway, as well as its infrastructure, in Thailand. The life cycle of an expressway encompasses the raw material acquisition phase, the construction phase, the use or service phase, the rehabilitation phase, and finally the demolition and disposal phase. The LCA in this research was carried out using CML baseline 2000 and in accordance with the ISO 14040 standard. A functional unit refers to transportation of one person over one kilometer of a 3-lane expressway with a 50-year lifetime. This research has revealed that the construction phase produced the largest proportion of the environmental impact (81.46%), followed by the service, rehabilitation, demolition and disposal phases and transportation at 11.97%, 3.72% 0.33% and 2.52%, respectively. For the expressway under study, the total carbon footprint over its lifetime is equivalent to 245,639 tons CO2-eq per 1 kilometer functional unit, with the phases of construction, service, rehabilitation, demolition and disposal and transportation contributing 153,690; 73,773; 3693, 755 and 13,728 tons CO2-eq, respectively. The findings could be adopted as a benchmark against which the environmental impacts of future similar projects can be measured.

Keywords: Environmental impact assessment, Life cycle assessment, LCA, Expressway passenger transport service, Carbon footprint, Eco-friendly expressway.

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Authors: Adebomi M. Oyewumi, Sunday Amaize

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The study was designed to examine the barriers to marital expectations among unmarried persons with hearing impairment in Oyo State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select one hundred participants made up forty-four (44) males and fifty-six (56) females, all with varying degrees of hearing impairment. Eight research questions were raised and answered. The instrument used was Marital Expectations Scale with reliability coefficient of 0.86. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics tools of frequency count and simple percentage as well as inferential statistics tools of T-TEST and ANOVA. The findings revealed that there was a significant relationship existing among the main identified barriers (environmental barrier, communication barrier, hearing loss, unemployment and poor sexuality education) to the marital expectations of unmarried persons with hearing impairment. The joint contribution of the independent variables (identified barriers) to the dependent variable (marital expectations) was significant, F = 5.842, P < 0.05, accounting for about 89% of the variance. The relative contribution of the identified barriers to marital expectations of unmarried persons with hearing impairment is as follows: environmental barrier (β = 0.808, t = 5.176, P < 0.05), communication barrier (β = 0.533, t = 3.305, P < 0.05), hearing loss (β = 0.550, t = 2.233, P < 0.05), unemployment (β = 0.431, t = 2.102, P < 0.05), poor sexuality education (β = 0.361, t = 1.985, P < 0.05). Environmental barrier proved to be the most potent contributor to the poor marital expectations among unmarried persons with hearing impairment. Therefore, it is recommended that society dismantles the nagging environmental barrier through positive identification with individuals suffering from hearing impairment. In this connection, members of society should change their negative attitudes and do away with all the wrong notions about the marital ability of individuals with hearing impairment.

Keywords: Hearing impairment, marriage, marital expectations, barrier.

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Authors: Dhongkyu Yoon

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Environmental statistics reveals that the pollution of acid rain in South Korea is a serious issue. Yet the awareness of people is low. Even after a gradual decrease of pollutant emission in Korea, the acidity has not been reduced. There no boundaries in the atmosphere are set and the influence of the neighboring countries such as China is apparent. Governmental efforts among China, Japan and Korea have been made on this issue. However, not much progress has been observed. Along with the governmental activities, therefore, an active monitoring of the pollution among the countries and the promotion of environmental awareness at the civil level including especially the middle and high schools are highly recommended. It will be this young generation who will face damaged country as inheritance not the current generation.

Keywords: acid rain, international collaboration, pollution, South Korea

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Authors: Halil Ibrahim Demir, Tarık Cakar, Ibrahim Cil, Muharrem Dugenci, Caner Erden

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Conventionally, process planning, scheduling, and due-date assignment functions are performed separately and sequentially. The interdependence of these functions requires integration. Although integrated process planning and scheduling, and scheduling with due date assignment problems are popular research topics, only a few works address the integration of these three functions. This work focuses on the integration of process planning, WMS scheduling, and WPPW due date assignment. Another novelty of this work is the use of a weighted due date assignment. In the literature, due dates are generally assigned without considering the importance of customers. However, in this study, more important customers get closer due dates. Typically, only tardiness is punished, but the JIT philosophy punishes both earliness and tardiness. In this study, all weighted earliness, tardiness, and due date related costs are penalized. As no customer desires distant due dates, such distant due dates should be penalized. In this study, various levels of integration of these three functions are tested and genetic search and random search are compared both with each other and with ordinary solutions. Higher integration levels are superior, while search is always useful. Genetic searches outperformed random searches.

Keywords: Process planning, weighted scheduling, weighted due-date assignment, genetic algorithm, random search.

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Authors: Wan Hasrulnizzam Wan Mahmood, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman, Baba Md Deros

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Green supply chain management is an increasingly recognized practice among companies that are seeking to improve environmental performance. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational awareness and put green activities into practice in order to enhance manufacturing performances. This paper investigates the correlation of green supply chain practices and manufacturing performances in Malaysian certified MS ISO 14000 manufacturing firms. The findings shows that green supply chain practices which that can be denominated product recycling, environmental compliance and optimization have significant influence to some of the manufacturing performances.

Keywords: Green supply chain practice, Manufacturing system performance, Malaysia

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Authors: Sharareh Mirsaeidi Farahani , Gholamreza Chitsaz

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Management Systems are powerful tools for businesses to manage quality , environmental and occupational health and safety requirements . where once these systems were considered as stand alone control mechanisms , industry is now opting to increase the efficiency of these documented systems through a more integrated approach . System integration offers a significant step forward, where there are similarities between system components , reducing duplication and adminstration costs and increasing efficiency . At first , this paper reviews integrated management system structure and its benefits. The second part of this paper focuses on the one example implementation of such a system at Imam Khomeini Hospital and in final part of the paper will be discuss outcomes of that proccess .

Keywords: environmental management , Integratedmanagement systems, occupational healt and safetymanagement , quality management.

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Authors: R. Guliyev

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The enhanced need for food items is receiving more importance due to a gradual increase in the world population and, in this scenario, fertilizers play a very important role in agriculture. In this study, the production of the normal superphosphate was investigated with a continuous chamber method by adding potassium chloride to a mixture of Hibin apatite and Kingisepp phosphorite. In the experiments, the following parameters were selected: The concentration of sulfuric acid (54–66% (w/w)), the stoichiometric norm of sulfuric acid (100, 107, 110, 114% (w/w)), the ratio of apatite/phosphorite in the mixture of phosphate (95/5, 90/10, 85/15, 80/20, 75/25, 70/30, 65/35,60/40, 55/45, 50/50 (w/w)), potassium chloride/the mixture of phosphate (1/50, 2/50, 3/50,4/50, 5/50 (w/w)), and the reaction time (2–8 min). It was observed that by adding potassium chloride to a low-grade phosphorite and using it to substitute a fraction of high-grade apatite in the normal superphosphate production not only resulted in a high-quality product but also eliminated the waiting period for the maturation of superphosphate in the storage. The objective of this study was to produce a normal superphosphate fertilizer by using a continuous chamber method in order to accelerate the production process and to reduce the environmental pollution caused by fluoride gases by eliminating the maturation time in the storage.

Keywords: Continuous chamber method, environmental pollution, fluoride gases.

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Authors: Daniela Zalazar-Garcia, Erick Torres, Germán Mazza

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Slow pyrolysis of a pellet of pistachio waste was studied using a lab-scale stainless-steel reactor. Experiments were conducted at different heating rates (5, 10, and 15 K/min). A 3-E (environmental, exergetic, and energetic) analysis for the processing of 20 kg/h of biowaste was carried out. Experimental results showed that biochar and gas yields decreased with an increase in the heating rate (43% to 36% and 28% to 24%, respectively), while the bio-oil yield increased (29% to 40%). Finally, from the 3-E analysis and the experimental results, it can be suggested that an increase in the heating rate resulted in a higher pyrolysis exergetic efficiency (70%), due to an increase of the bio-oil yield with high-energy content.

Keywords: 3E assessment, biowaste pellet, life cycle assessment, slow pyrolysis.

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Authors: N. Kudaibergenova, S. Edilbay, S. Rysbekova, Zh. Amirkulova, G. Zhumatayev

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Confucius was a fifth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose influence upon East Asian intellectual and social history is immeasurable. Better known is in China as “Master Kong”. As a culturally symbolic figure, he has been alternately idealized, deified, dismissed, vilified, and rehabilitated over the millennia by both Asian and non-Asian thinkers and regimes. Given his extraordinary impact on Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought, it is ironic that so little can be known about Confucius. The tradition that bears his name – “Confucianizm” (Chinese: Rujia) – ultimately traces itself to the sayings and biographical fragments recorded in the text known as the Analects (Chinese: Lunyu). In the Analects, two types of persons are opposed to one another – not in terms of basic potential, but in terms of developed potential. These are the junzi (literally, “lord’s son” or “gentleman”) and the xiaoren (“small person”). The junzi is the person who always manifests the quality of ren in his person and the displays the quality of lee in his actions. In this article examines the category of the ideal man and the spiritual and moral values of the philosophy of Confucius. According to Confucius high-morality Jun-zi is characterized by two things: a sense of humanity and duty. This article provides an analysis of the ethical category for the ideal man. 

Keywords: Confucius, Humanity, Men Zi, Lun Yui, Ideal man, Zhun Yun.

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Authors: Armin Samarghandi, Amirreza Jafari, Mohamad Ghiasi

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Since individuals spend the majority of their time indoors, this immediately affects their productivity and health. An essential factor in occupational health and public health is the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in buildings on occupant welfare and productivity. Since then, empirical data have been equivocal, indicating either that the studies are inaccurate or that the research has just scratched the surface of green buildings in offices, accommodation, and hospital settings and not taken the aforementioned holistically. This study compared three green-certified buildings — a residential green building, a green hospital, and a green school — with conventional structures in Tehran, Iran by means of a questionnaire spread among those utilizing these buildings, and assessing their productivity and health rate as opposed to the time they resided, worked in conventional buildings. The results demonstrated higher scores pertaining to productivity, physical and mental wellness as a consequence of better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), natural lighting, design, and sustainability of these building against non-green buildings. In addition, ancillary matters — environmental, financial, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual dimensions of participants — were indirectly evaluated, and the same results are produced.

Keywords: Green building, Iran, productivity, physical and mental health, Tehran.

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Authors: O. Tovide, N. Jahed, N. Mohammed, C. E. Sunday, H. R. Makelane, R. F. Ajayi, K. M. Molapo, A. Tsegaye, M. Masikini, S. Mailu, A. Baleg, T. Waryo, P. G. Baker, E. I. Iwuoha

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A graphenated–polyaniline (GR-PANI) nanocomposite sensor was constructed and used for the determination of anthracene. The direct electro-oxidation behavior of anthracene on the GR-PANI modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was used as the sensing principle. The results indicate thatthe response profile of the oxidation of anthracene on GR-PANI-modified GCE provides for the construction of sensor systems based onamperometric and potentiometric signal transductions. A dynamic linear range of 0.12- 100 µM anthracene and a detection limit of 0.044 µM anthracene were established for the sensor system.

Keywords: Electrochemical sensors, environmental pollutants, graphenated-polymers, polyaromatic hydrocarbon.

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Authors: Jadwiga Klukow, Anna Ksykiewicz-Dorota

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An analysis of the distribution of nurses’ working time constitutes vital information for the management in planning employment. The objective of the study was to analyze the distribution of nurses’ working time in an emergency department. The study was conducted in an emergency department of a teaching hospital in Lublin, in Southeast Poland. The catalogue of activities performed by nurses was compiled by means of continuous observation. Identified activities were classified into four groups: Direct care, indirect care, coordination of work in the department and personal activities. Distribution of nurses’ working time was determined by work sampling observation (Tippett) at random intervals. The research project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee by the Medical University of Lublin (Protocol 0254/113/2010). On average, nurses spent 31% of their working time on direct care, 47% on indirect care, 12% on coordinating work in the department and 10% on personal activities. The most frequently performed direct care tasks were diagnostic activities – 29.23% and treatment-related activities – 27.69%. The study has provided information on the complexity of performed activities and utilization of nurses’ working time. Enhancing the effectiveness of nursing actions requires working out a strategy for improved management of the time nurses spent at work. Increasing the involvement of auxiliary staff and optimizing communication processes within the team may lead to reduction of the time devoted to indirect care for the benefit of direct care.

Keywords: Emergency nurses, nursing care, workload, work sampling.

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Authors: Orkide Donma, M. Metin Donma, Burcin Nalbantoglu, Birol Topcu, Feti Tulubas, Murat Aydin, Tuba Gokkus, Ahmet Gurel

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Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has increased the interest in early and late indicators of gaining weight. Cell blood counts may be indicators of pro-inflammatory states. The aim was to evaluate associations of hematological parameters, including hematocrit (HTC), hemoglobin, blood cell counts and their indices with the degree of obesity in pediatric population. A total of 249; -139 morbidly obese (MO), 82 healthy normal weight (NW) and 28 overweight (OW) children were included into the scope of the study. WHO BMI-for age percentiles were used to form age- and sexmatched groups. Informed consent forms and the Ethics Committee approval were obtained. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Hematological parameters were determined. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. The degree for statistical significance was p≤0.05. Significant differences (p=0.000) between waist-to-hip ratios and head-to- neck ratios (hnrs) of MO and NW children were detected. A significant difference between hnrs of OW and MO children (p=0.000) was observed. Red cell distribution width (RDW) was higher in OW children than NW group (p=0.030). Such finding couldn’t be detected between MO and NW groups. Increased RDW was prominent in OW children. The decrease in mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values in MO children was sharper than the values in OW children (p=0.006 vs p=0.042) compared to those in NW group. Statistically higher HTC levels were observed between MO-NW (p=0.014), but none between OW-NW. Though the cause-effect relationship between obesity and erythrocyte indices still needs further investigation, alterations in RDW, HTC, MCHC during obesity may be of significance in the early life.

Keywords: Anthropometry, children, erythrocytes, obesity.

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Authors: Phichak Phutrakhul

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The purposes of this research were to study concepts and strategies of human resource development in the automotive manufacturers and to articulate the proposals against the government about the human resource development for automotive industry. In the present study, qualitative study was an in-depth interview in which the qualitative data were collected from the executive or the executive of human resource division from five automotive companies - Toyota Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Nissan Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Suzuki Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Qualitative data analysis was performed by using inter-coder agreement technique. The research findings were as follows: The external factors included the current conditions of the automotive industry, government’s policy related to the automotive industry, technology, labor market and human resource development systems of the country. The internal factors included management, productive management, organizational strategies, leadership, organizational culture and philosophy of human resource development. These factors were affected to the different concept of human resources development -the traditional human resource development and the strategies of human resource development. The organization focuses on human resources as intellectual capital and uses the strategies of human resource development in all development processes. The strategies of human resource development will enhance the ability of human resources in the organization and the country.

Keywords: Human Resource Development Strategy, Automotive industry, Eco-Cars, ASEAN.

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Authors: Omolola A. Tajelawi, Hari L. Garbharran

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Revenue leakages are one of the major challenges manufacturers face in production processes, as most of the input materials that should emanate as products from the lines are lost as waste. Rather than generating income from material input which is meant to end-up as products, losses are further incurred as costs in order to manage waste generated. In addition, due to the lack of a clear view of the flow of resources on the lines from input to output stage, acquiring information on the true cost of waste generated have become a challenge. This has therefore given birth to the conceptualization and implementation of waste minimization strategies by several manufacturing industries. This paper reviews the principles and applications of three environmental management accounting tools namely Activity-based Costing (ABC), Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in the manufacturing industry and their effectiveness in curbing revenue leakages. The paper unveils the strengths and limitations of each of the tools; beaming a searchlight on the tool that could allow for optimal resource utilization, transparency in production process as well as improved cost efficiency. Findings from this review reveal that MFCA may offer superior advantages with regards to the provision of more detailed information (both in physical and monetary terms) on the flow of material inputs throughout the production process compared to the other environmental accounting tools. This paper therefore makes a case for the adoption of MFCA as a viable technique for the identification and reduction of waste in production processes, and also for effective decision making by production managers, financial advisors and other relevant stakeholders.

Keywords: MFCA, environmental management accounting, resource efficiency, waste reduction, revenue losses.

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Authors: Powei Happiness Kerry

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Introducing wireless technologies in Nigeria have improved the quality of lives of Nigerians, however, not everyone sees it in that light. The paper on the environmental impact of wireless technologies in Nigeria summarizes the scholarly views on the impact of wireless technologies on the environment, beaming its searchlight on 5G and internet of things in Nigeria while also exploring the theory of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The study used a qualitative research method to gather important data from relevant sources and contextually draws inference from the derived data. The study concludes that the Federal Government of Nigeria, before agreeing to any latest development in the world of wireless technologies, should weigh the implications and deliberate extensively with all stalk holders putting into consideration the confirmation it will receive from the National Assembly.  

Keywords: IoT, 5G, ICT, electromagnetic radiation, wave, field, radiofrequency.

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Authors: M. Philokyprou, A. Michael

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Contemporary theories of sustainability, concerning the natural and built environment, have recently introduced an environmental attitude towards the architectural design that, in turn, affects the practice of conservation and reuse of the existing building stock. This paper presents an environmentally friendly approach towards the conservation of vernacular architecture and it is based on the results of a research program which involved the investigation of sustainable design elements of traditional buildings in Cyprus. The research in question showed that Cypriot vernacular architecture gave more emphasis on cooling rather than heating strategies. Another notable finding of the investigation was the great importance given to courtyards as they enhance considerably, and in various ways, the microclimatic conditions of the immediate environment with favorable results throughout the year. Moreover, it was shown that the reduction in temperature fluctuation observed in the closed and semi-open spaces, compared to the respective temperature fluctuation of the external environment -due to the thermal inertia of the building envelope- helps towards the achievement of more comfortable living conditions within traditional dwellings. This paper concludes with a proposal of a sustainable approach towards the conservation of the existing environment and the introduction of new environmental criteria for the conservation of traditional buildings, beyond the aesthetic, morphological and structural ones that are generally applied.

Keywords: Bioclimatic, conservation, environmental, traditional dwellings, vernacular architecture.

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Authors: Kalyan Kumar Moulick

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In this paper, the author studied the possibilities of using Rice Husk Ash (RHA) available in India; to produce concrete. Experiments conducted with RHA obtained from West Bengal, India; to replace cement partially to produce concrete of grade M10, M15, M20, M25 and M30. The concrete produced in the laboratory by replacing cement by 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% RHA. Compressive strength tests carried out to determine the strength of concrete. Cost analysis and comparison done to show the cost effectiveness of RHA Concrete. Traditional uses of Rice Husk in India pointed out and the advantages of using RHA in making concrete highlighted. Suggestion provided regarding prospective application of RHA concrete in India; which in turn will definitely reduce the cost of concrete and environmental friendly due to utilization of waste and replacement of Cement.

Keywords: Cement replacement, Concrete, Environmental friendly, Rice Husk Ash.

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Indices derived from anthropometric measurements [waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)] or body fat mass compositions [trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLFR)] are used for the evaluation of obesity. The best for clinical practices is still being investigated. The aim of this study is to derive an index, which best suits the purpose for the discrimination of children with normal body mass index (N-BMI) from obese (OB) children. 83 children participated in the study. Groups 1 and 2 comprised 42 children with N-BMI and 41 OB children, whose age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentile values vary between 15-85 and 95-99, respectively. The institutional ethics committee approved the study protocol. Informed consent forms were filled by the parents of the participants. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height (Ht), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), neck circumference (NC) values) were taken. BMI, WHR, (WC+HC)/2, WC/Ht, (WC/HC)/Ht, WC*NC were calculated. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was performed to obtain body’s fat compartments in terms of total fat, trunk fat, leg fat, arm fat masses. TLFR, trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), (trunk fat+leg fat)/2 ((TF+LF)/2), fat mass index (FMI) and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment-II (D2I) index values were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed. Significantly higher values of (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, D2I and FMI were observed in OB group than N-BMI group. Significant correlations were found between BMI and WC, (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, TLFR, TAFR, D2I, FMI in both groups. Similar correlations were obtained for WC. (WC+HC)/2 was correlated with TLFR, TAFR, (TF+LF)/2, D2I and FMI in N-BMI group. In OB group, the correlations were the same except those with TLFR and TAFR. These correlations were not present with WHR. Correlations were observed between TLFR as well as TAFR and BMI, WC, (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, D2I, FMI in N-BMI group. In OB group, correlations between TLFR or TAFR and BMI, WC as well as (WC+HC)/2 were missing. None was noted with WHR. In conclusion, the only correlation valid in both groups was that exists between (TF+LF)/2 and (WC+HC)/2, which was suggested as a link between fat-based and anthropometric indices. (WC+HC)/2, but not WHR, was much more suitable as an anthropometric obesity index.

Keywords: Children, hip circumference, obesity, waist circumference.

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Authors: Kuriko Iwai, Michihiro Kita

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This study aims to clarify constructions which enable to improve socio-cultural values of environments and also to obtain new knowledge on selecting development plans. CVM is adopted as a method of evaluation. As a case of the research, university campus (CP; the following) is selected on account of its various environments, institutions and many users. Investigations were conducted from 4 points of view, total value and utility value of whole CP environments, values of each environment existing in CP or development plan assumed in CP. Furthermore, respondents- attributes were also investigated. In consequence, the following is obtained. 1) Almost all of total value of CP is composed of utility value of direct use. 2) Each of environment and development plans whose value is the highest is clarified. 3) Moreover, development plan to improve environmental value the most is specified.

Keywords: CVM, Development Plans, University Campus, Improvement of Environments Value.

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Authors: Hsiao-Tien Pao, Yi-Ying Li, Hsin-Chia Fu

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This paper addressed the impacts of energy consumption, economic growth, financial development, and population size on environmental degradation using grey relational analysis (GRA) for China, where foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is the proxy variable for financial development. The more recent historical data during the period 2004–2011 are used, because the use of very old data for data analysis may not be suitable for rapidly developing countries. The results of the GRA indicate that the linkage effects of energy consumption–emissions and GDP–emissions are ranked first and second, respectively. These reveal that energy consumption and economic growth are strongly correlated with emissions. Higher economic growth requires more energy consumption and increasing environmental pollution. Likewise, more efficient energy use needs a higher level of economic development. Therefore, policies to improve energy efficiency and create a low-carbon economy can reduce emissions without hurting economic growth. The finding of FDI–emissions linkage is ranked third. This indicates that China do not apply weak environmental regulations to attract inward FDI. Furthermore, China’s government in attracting inward FDI should strengthen environmental policy. The finding of population–emissions linkage effect is ranked fourth, implying that population size does not directly affect CO₂ emissions, even though China has the world’s largest population, and Chinese people are very economical use of energy-related products. Overall, the energy conservation, improving efficiency, managing demand, and financial development, which aim at curtailing waste of energy, reducing both energy consumption and emissions, and without loss of the country’s competitiveness, can be adopted for developing economies. The GRA is one of the best way to use a lower data to build a dynamic analysis model.

Keywords: Grey relational analysis, foreign direct investment, CO2 emissions, China.

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Authors: Wartika, Kridanto Surendro, Husni Sastramiharja, Iping Supriana S.

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The condition of the market is currently very dynamic, demanding organizations which is use system information to support the achievement of objectives should be necessarily improve the ability of information systems in accordance with the changes. Improved information systems capabilities need to align with the resource capabilities in internal environment of the organization, and vice versa. Alignment model between information systems and environment organizational in this capability perspective is expected can assist management in making the strategy for enhance the capability of information systems in accordance with resources internally within the organization, efficiency in the process of development, and optimization of contributions information systems in achieving organizational goals.

Keywords: Capability, alignment, information system, environmental organizations.

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Authors: Ayaka Kamiyama, Akihiro Iijima

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On March 11, 2011, the East coast of Japan was hit by one of the strongest earthquakes in history, followed by a devastating tsunami. Although most lifelines, infrastructure, and public facilities have been restored gradually, recovery efforts in terms of disposal of disaster waste and revival of primary industry are lagging. This study presents a summary of the damage inflicted by the earthquake and the current status of reconstruction in the disaster area. Moreover, we discuss the current trends and future perspectives on recently implemented eco-friendly reconstruction projects and focus on the pro-environmental behavior of disaster victims which is emerging as a result of the energy shortage after the earthquake. Finally, we offer ideas for initiatives for the next stage of the reconstruction policies.

Keywords: Agriculture, Disaster wastes, Pro-environmental behavior, Reconstruction policies.

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