Search results for: environmental review

Authors: K. Kalaiselvan, Naresh Subramania Warrier, S. Elavarasi

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Several situations arise in industrial practice which calls for joining of dissimilar metals. With increasing demand in the application requirements, dissimilar metal joining becomes inevitable in modern engineering industries. The metals employed are the structure for effective and utilization of the special properties of each metal. The purpose of this paper is to present the research and development status of titanium (Ti) and aluminium (Al) dissimilar alloys weldment by the researchers worldwide. The detailed analysis of problems faced during welding of dissimilar metal joint for Ti/Al metal combinations are discussed. Microstructural variations in heat affected zone (HAZ), fusion zone (FZ), Intermetallic compound (IMC) layer and surface fracture of weldments are analysed. Additionally, mechanical property variations and microstructural feature have been studied by the researchers. The paper provides a detailed literature review of Ti/Al dissimilar metal joint microchemistry and property variation across the weldment.

Keywords: Laser beam welding, titanium, aluminium, metallurgical properties.

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Authors: D. Garg, S. Luthra, A. Haleem

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Reverse logistics (RL) is supposed to be a systematic procedure that helps in improving the environmental hazards and maintain business sustainability for industries. Industries in Indian are now opting for adoption of RL techniques in business. But, RL practices are not popular in Indian industries because of many barriers for its successful implementation. Therefore, need arises to identify and evaluate the barriers to implement RL practices by taking an Indian industries perspective. Literature review approach and case study approach have been adapted to identify relevant barriers to implement RL practices. Further, Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory methodology has been brought into use for evaluating causal relationships among the barriers to implement RL practices. Seven barriers out of ten barriers have been categorized into the cause group and remaining into effect group. This research will help Indian industries to manage these barriers towards effective implementing RL practices.

Keywords: Barriers, decision making trial and evaluation laboratory, fuzzy set theory, Indian industries, reverse logistics.

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Authors: Vilém Pařil, Dominika Tóthová

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This paper discusses the value theory in cultural heritage and the value theory in environmental economics. Two economic views of the value theory are compared, within the field of cultural heritage maintenance and within the field of the environment. The main aims are to find common features in these two differently structured theories under the layer of differently defined terms as well as really differing features of these two approaches; to clear the confusion which stems from different terminology as in fact these terms capture the same aspects of reality; and to show possible inspiration these two perspectives can offer one another. Another aim is to present these two value systems in one value framework. First, important moments of the value theory from the economic perspective are presented, leading to the marginal revolution of (not only) the Austrian School. Then the theory of value within cultural heritage and environmental economics are explored. Finally, individual approaches are compared and their potential mutual inspiration searched for.

Keywords: Cultural heritage, environmental economics, existence value, value theory.

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Authors: Ejikeme Kanu

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This research explores the environmental justice of host communities in south-eastern Nigeria whose source of livelihood has been destroyed due to oil exploitation. Environmental justice scholarship in the area often adopts Western liberal ideology from a more macro level synthesis (Niger Delta). This study, therefore, explored the sufficiency or otherwise of the adoption of Western liberal ideology in the framing of Environmental Justice (EJ) in the area which neglects the impact of colonialism and cultural domination. Archival research supplemented by secondary analysis of literature guided this study. Drawing from data analysis, the paper first argues that micro-level studies are required to either validate or invalidate the studies done at the macro-level (Niger Delta) which has often been used to generalise around environmental injustice done within the host communities even though the communities (South-eastern) differ significantly from (South-south) in terms of language, culture, the socio-political and economic formation which indicate that the drivers of EJ may differ among them. Secondly, the paper argues that EJ framing from the Western worldview adopted in the study area is insufficient to understand environmental injustice suffered in the study area and there is the need for EJ framing that will consider the impact of colonialism and nonrecognition of the cultural identities of the host communities which breed EJ. The study, therefore, concludes by drawing from decolonial theory to consider how the framing of EJ would move beyond the western liberal EJ to Indigenous EJ.

Keywords: Culture, decolonial, environmental justice, indigenous environmental justice, nonrecognition.

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Authors: Aline Alves Bandeira, Luís Pedro Lima, Maria Cecília de Paula Silva, Paulo Henrique de Viveiros Tavares

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Nowadays, the study of public policies regarding management efficiency is essential. Public policies are about what governments do or do not do, being an area that has grown worldwide, contributing through the knowledge of technologies and methodologies that monitor and evaluate the performance of public administrators. The information published on official government websites needs to provide for transparency and responsiveness of managers. Thus, transparency is a primordial factor for the execution of accountability, providing, in this way, services to the citizen with the expansion of transparent, efficient, democratic information and that value administrative eco-efficiency. The ecologically balanced management of a Smart City must optimize environmental education, building a fairer society, which brings about equality in the use of quality environmental resources. Smart Cities add value in the construction of public management, enabling interaction between people, enhancing environmental education and the practical applicability of administrative eco-efficiency, fostering economic development and improving the quality of life.

Keywords: Accountability, environmental education, new public administration, smart cities.

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Authors: Travis Morris

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to measure the intersection of environmental security entities in terrorist propaganda. To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine this intersection within terrorist propaganda. Rosoka, natural language processing software and frame analysis are used to advance our understanding of how environmental frames function as emotive triggers. Violent jihadi demagogues use frames to suggest violent and non-violent solutions to their grievances. Emotive triggers are framed in a way to leverage individual and collective attitudes in psychological warfare. A comparative research design is used because of the differences and similarities that exist between two variants of violent jihadi propaganda that target western audiences. Analysis is based on salience and network text analysis, which generates violent jihadi semantic networks. Findings indicate that environmental frames are used as emotive triggers across both data sets, but also as tactical and information data points. A significant finding is that certain core environmental emotive triggers like “water,” “soil,” and “trees” are significantly salient at the aggregate level across both data sets. All environmental entities can be classified into two categories, symbolic and literal. Importantly, this research illustrates how demagogues use environmental emotive triggers in cyber space from a subcultural perspective to mobilize target audiences to their ideology and praxis. Understanding the anatomy of propaganda construction is necessary in order to generate effective counter narratives in information operations. This research advances an additional method to inform practitioners and policy makers of how environmental security and propaganda intersect.

Keywords: Emotive triggers, environmental security, natural language processing, propaganda analysis.

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Authors: S. Souli, Z. Lachiri

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In this paper we propose a robust environmental sound classification approach, based on spectrograms features driven from log-Gabor filters. This approach includes two methods. In the first methods, the spectrograms are passed through an appropriate log-Gabor filter banks and the outputs are averaged and underwent an optimal feature selection procedure based on a mutual information criteria. The second method uses the same steps but applied only to three patches extracted from each spectrogram.

To investigate the accuracy of the proposed methods, we conduct experiments using a large database containing 10 environmental sound classes. The classification results based on Multiclass Support Vector Machines show that the second method is the most efficient with an average classification accuracy of 89.62 %.

Keywords: Environmental sounds, Log-Gabor filters, Spectrogram, SVM Multiclass, Visual features.

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Authors: Panprapa Yongtrakul, Punyaphat Sirithanabadeekul, Pakjira Siriphan

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Background: The thread lift technique has become popular because it is less invasive, requires a shorter operation, less downtime, and results in fewer postoperative complications. The advantage of the technique is that the thread can be inserted under the skin without the need for long incisions. Currently, there are a lot of thread lift techniques with respect to the specific types of thread used on specific areas, such as the mid-face, lower face, or neck area. Objective: To review the thread lift technique for specific areas according to type of thread, patient selection, and how to match the most appropriate to the patient. Materials and Methods: A literature review technique was conducted by searching PubMed and MEDLINE, then compiled and summarized. Result: We have divided our protocols into two sections: Protocols for short suture, and protocols for long suture techniques. We also created 3D pictures for each technique to enhance understanding and application in a clinical setting. Conclusion: There are advantages and disadvantages to short suture and long suture techniques. The best outcome for each patient depends on appropriate patient selection and determining the most suitable technique for the defect and area of patient concern.

Keywords: Thread lift, thread lift method, thread lift technique, thread lift procedure, threading.

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Authors: Nor Aziati Abdul Hamid, Juhana Salim

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The main objective of this paper is to contribute the existing knowledge transfer and IT Outsourcing literature specifically in the context of Malaysia by reviewing the current practices of e-government IT outsourcing in Malaysia including the issues and challenges faced by the public agencies in transferring the knowledge during the engagement. This paper discusses various factors and different theoretical model of knowledge transfer starting from the traditional model to the recent model suggested by the scholars. The present paper attempts to align organizational knowledge from the knowledge-based view (KBV) and organizational learning (OL) lens. This review could help shape the direction of both future theoretical and empirical studies on inter-firm knowledge transfer specifically on how KBV and OL perspectives could play significant role in explaining the complex relationships between the client and vendor in inter-firm knowledge transfer and the role of organizational management information system and Transactive Memory System (TMS) to facilitate the organizational knowledge transferring process. Conclusion is drawn and further research is suggested.

Keywords: E-government, IT Outsourcing, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Transfer

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Authors: Roza Dastres, Mohsen Soori

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Networks are vulnerable devices due to their basic feature of facilitating remote access and data communication. The information in the networks needs to be kept secured and safe in order to provide an effective communication and sharing device in the web of data. Due to challenges and threats of the data in networks, the network security is one of the most important considerations in information technology infrastructures. As a result, the security measures are considered in the network in order to decrease the probability of accessing the secured data by the hackers. The purpose of network security is to protect the network and its components from unauthorized access and abuse in order to provide a safe and secured communication device for the users. In the present research work a review in recent development of network threats and security measures is presented and future research works are also suggested. Different attacks to the networks and security measured against them are discussed in order to increase security in the web of data. So, new ideas in the network security systems can be presented by analyzing the published papers in order to move forward the research field.

Keywords: Network threats, network security, security measures, firewalls.

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Authors: Supriyo Goswami, Debabrata Mazumder

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Chrome tannery wastewater causes serious environmental hazard due to its high pollution potential. As a result, rigorous treatment is necessary for abatement of pollution from this type of wastewater. There are many research studies on chrome tannery wastewater treatment in the field of physical, chemical, and biological methods. In general, biological treatment process is found ineffective for direct application because of adverse effects by toxic chromium, sulphide, chloride etc. However, biological methods were employed mainly for a few sub processes generating significant amount of organic matter and without chromium, chlorides etc. In this context the present paper reviews the characteristics feature and pollution potential of wastewater generated from chrome tannery units and treatment of the same. The different biological processes used earlier and their chronological development for treatment of the chrome tannery wastewater are thoroughly reviewed in this paper. In this regard, the scope of hybrid bioreactor - an advanced technology option has also been explored, as this kind of treatment is well suited for the wastewater having inhibitory substances. 

Keywords: Composite tannery wastewater, biological treatment, Hybrid bioreactor, Organic removal

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Authors: Beatriz dos Anjos Furtado, Marina Barreiros Lamim, Camila Avozani Zago, Julianne Alvim Milward-de-Azevedo, Luís Cláudio Meirelles de Medeiros

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The intense process of economic acceleration, expansion of industrial activities and capitalism, combined with population growth, while promoting the development, bring environmental consequences and dynamics of locations. It can be seen that society is seeking to break with old paradigms of capitalist society, seeking to reconcile growth with sustainable development, with a change of mentality of the stakeholders of the production process (shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, governments, and neighbors, groups citizens and the public in general). In this context, this research aims to map the stakeholders interested in environmental management in industries located in the city of Três Rios/RJ. The city of Três Rios is located in South-Central region of the state of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. Methodological resources used refer to descriptive and field research, whose nature is qualitative and quantitative. It is also of multicases studies in the study area, and the data collection occurred by means of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews with employees related to the environmental area of the industries located in Três Rios and registered at the Federation of Industries the State of Rio de Janeiro - FIRJAN in the version of 2013 and active in federal revenue. Through this research it observed, among other things, the stakeholders involved in the environmental management process of “Três Rios” industry respondents, and those responding to the demands of environmental management.

Keywords: Environmental management, environmental practices, industry, stakeholders.

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Authors: Edward C. W. Chan, Benny C. F. Cheung

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In the knowledge economy, the financial indicator is not the unique instrument to gauge the performance of a company. The role of intellectual capital contributing to the company performance is increasing. To measure the company performance due to intellectual capital, the value-added intellectual capital (VAIC) model is adopted to measure the intellectual capital utilization efficiency of the subject companies. The purpose of this study is to review the readiness of measuring intellectual capital for the Hong Kong listed companies in the property development and property investment industry by using VAIC model. This study covers the financial reports from the representative Hong Kong listed property development companies and property investment companies in the period 2014-2019. The findings from this study indicated the industry is ready for IC measurement employing VAIC framework but not yet ready for using the extended VAIC model.

Keywords: Intellectual capital, intellectual capital measurement, property development, property investment, Skandia Navigator, VAIC.

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Authors: O. Kurtulus, C. Yavuz

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The end of the line controls of the finished products in the automotive industry is important. The control that has been conducted with the manual methods for the sliding doors tracks is not sufficient and faulty products cannot be identified. As a result, the customer has the faulty products. In the scope of this study, the design criteria of the PLC integrated modular end of line control unit has been examined, designed and manufactured to make the control of the 10 different track profile to 2 different vehicles with an objective to minimize the salvage costs by obtaining more sensitive, certain and accurate measurement results. In the study that started with literature and patent review, the design inputs have been specified, the technical concept has been developed, computer supported mechanic design, control system and automation design, design review and design improvement have been made. Laser analog sensors at high sensitivity, probes and modular blocks have been used in the unit. The measurement has been conducted in the system and it is observed that measurement results are more sensitive than the previous methods that we use.

Keywords: Control unit design, end of line, modular design, sliding door system.

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Authors: Sachin Kumar, Michael Pecht

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A study was conducted to formally characterize notebook computer performance under various environmental and usage conditions. Software was developed to collect data from the operating system of the computer. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance parameters- variations, trends, and correlations, as well as the extreme value they can attain in various usage and environmental conditions. An automated software script was written to simulate user activity. The variability of each performance parameter was addressed by establishing the empirical relationship between performance parameters. These equations were presented as baseline estimates for performance parameters, which can be used to detect system deviations from normal operation and for prognostic assessment. The effect of environmental factors, including different power sources, ambient temperatures, humidity, and usage, on performance parameters of notebooks was studied.

Keywords: Health monitoring, Electronic prognostics, Reliability, Usage monitoring, Notebook computer.

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Authors: S. Jahani, V. Choopankareh

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Many people lost their life caused by environmental pollution every year. The negative effects of environmental crises appear to be much higher in Asian countries. The most important environmental issue in the developing countries and especially in Tehran, to our best knowledge, is air pollution that has affected many aspects of life in society. Environmental topics related to technology’s development have been salient issues among the main concerns of designers. Green facades are the most considerable solutions which designers and architectures are focused on, all over the world. But there are lots of behavioral and psychological problems about this point. In this line, this excavation has tried to reveal the cultural and psychological influences of green façade in developing countries like Tehran. Green façades in developing countries are so useless, although they are so expensive. As a matter of fact, users consider green facade as a decorative item. This research is an attempt to recognize the reasons which show green façades as worthless element. Also, some solutions are presented to promote green façades in the developing countries as an intrinsic solution. There are so many environmental threats, especially about air pollution, for a city as Tehran, which might be solved by green facades.

Keywords: Air pollution, developing countries, effects, green facades.

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Authors: H. Ostad-Ahmad-Ghorabi, T. Rahmani, D. Gerhard

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Product Data Management (PDM) systems for Computer Aided Design (CAD) file management are widely established in design processes. This management system is indispensable for design collaboration or when design task distribution is present. It is thus surprising that engineering design curricula has not paid much attention in the education of PDM systems. This is also the case for eduction of ecodesign and environmental evaluation of products. With the rise of sustainability as a strategic aspect in companies, environmental concerns are becoming a key issue in design. This paper discusses the establishment of a PDM platform to be used among technical and vocational schools in Austria. The PDM system facilitates design collaboration among these schools. Further, it will be discussed how the PDM system has been prepared in order to facilitate environmental evaluation of parts, components and subassemblies of a product. By integrating a Business Intelligence solution, environmental Life Cycle Assessment and communication of results is enabled.

Keywords: CAD, Engineering Design, Design Education, ProductLife Cycle, Sustainability

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Authors: Milton Pavezzi Netto, Gustavo D'Almeida Scarpinella, Ricardo Siloto da Silva

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The springs located in urban areas are the outpouring of surface water, which can serve as water supply, effluent receptors and important local macro-drainage elements. With unplanned occupation, non-compliance with environmental legislation and the importance of these water bodies, it is vital to analyze the springs within urban areas, considering the Brazilian forest code. This paper submits an analysis and discussion methodology proposal of environmental compliance functions of urban springs, by means of G.I.S. - Geographic Information System analysis - and in situ analysis. The case study included two springs which exhibit a history of occupation along its length, with different degrees of impact. The proposed method is effective and easy to apply, representing a powerful tool for analyzing the environmental conditions of springs in urban areas.

Keywords: Springs, urban area, Brazilian forest code.

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Authors: A. Sayadi, A. Khodadadi D., S. Partani

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Today Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is known as one of the most important tools for decision makers in the construction of civil and industrial projects towards sustainable development. In the past, projects were evaluated based on cost and benefit analysis regardless of the physical and biological environmental effects and its socio-economical impacts. According to the Department of Environment (DOE) of Iran's regulations, the construction of hydroelectric dams is an activity that requires an EIA report. In this paper the environmental impact assessment of the Gotvand hydro-electrical dam has been evaluated in the three environment elements, biological, Physical-chemical and cultural units. This dam is one of the largest dams in Iran with a volume of 4500 MCM and is going to be the last dam on the Karoon River in the south of Iran. In this paper the ICOLD (International Commission on Large Dams) technique was employed for the environmental impact assessment of the dam. The research includes all socio economical and environmental effects of the dam during the construction and operation of the hydro electric dam and Environmental management, monitoring and mitigation of negative impacts were analyzed. In this project the results led to using some techniques to protect the destructive impacts on biological aspects beside the effective long time period impacts on the biological aspects. The impacts on physical aspects are temporary and negative commonly that could be restored and rehabilitated in natural process in the long time in operation period.

Keywords: "Gotvand Hydro Electric Dam", "EIA", "ICOLD and Leopold matrices"

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Authors: S. Rezaei, Z. Mirzaei, M. Khalighi, J. Bahrami

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Bridges, as an essential part of road infrastructures, are affected by various deterioration mechanisms over time due to the changes in their performance. As changes in performance can have many negative impacts on society, it is essential to be able to evaluate and measure the performance of bridges throughout their life. This evaluation includes the development or the choice of the appropriate performance indicators, which, in turn, are measured based on the selection of appropriate models for the existing deterioration mechanism. The purpose of this article is a statistical study of indicators and deterioration mechanisms of bridges in order to discover further research capacities in bridges performance assessment. For this purpose, some of the most common indicators of bridge performance, including reliability, risk, vulnerability, robustness, and resilience, were selected. The researches performed on each index based on the desired deterioration mechanisms and hazards were comprehensively reviewed. In addition, the formulation of the indicators and their relationship with each other were studied. The research conducted on the mentioned indicators were classified from the point of view of deterministic or probabilistic method, the level of study (element level, object level, etc.), and the type of hazard and the deterioration mechanism of interest. For each of the indicators, a number of challenges and recommendations were presented according to the review of previous studies.

Keywords: Bridge, deterioration mechanism, lifecycle, performance indicator.

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Authors: B. A. A. Paixão, J. V. B. Gomide

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This work aims to analyze the locative structure used by the locative games of the company Niantic. To fulfill this objective, a literature review on the representation and simulation of cities was developed; interviews with Ingress players and playing Ingress. Relating these data, it was possible to deepen the relationship between the virtual and the real to create the simulation of cities and their cultural objects in locative games. Cities representation associates geo-location provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS), with augmented reality and digital image, and provides a new paradigm in the city interaction with its parts and real and virtual world elements, homeomorphic to real world. Bibliographic review of papers related to the representation and simulation study and their application in locative games was carried out and is presented in the present paper. The cities representation and simulation concepts in locative games, and how this setting enables the flow and immersion in urban space, are analyzed. Some examples of games are discussed for this new setting development, which is a mix of real and virtual world. Finally, it was proposed a Locative Structure for electronic games using the concepts of heterotrophic representations and isotropic representations conjoined with immediacy and hypermediacy.

Keywords: Cities representation, city simulation, games simulation, locative games.

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Authors: Morteza Raei Dehaghi, Seyed Mohammad Mirhashemi

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The current study explored the effect of economic development, financial development and institutional quality on environmental destruction in upper-middle income countries during the time period of 1999-2011. The dependent variable is logarithm of carbon dioxide emissions that can be considered as an index for destruction or quality of the environment given to its effects on the environment. Financial development and institutional development variables as well as some control variables were considered. In order to study cross-sectional correlation among the countries under study, Pesaran and Friz test was used. Since the results of both tests show cross-sectional correlation in the countries under study, seemingly unrelated regression method was utilized for model estimation. The results disclosed that Kuznets’ environmental curve hypothesis is confirmed in upper-middle income countries and also, financial development and institutional quality have a significant effect on environmental quality. The results of this study can be considered by policy makers in countries with different income groups to have access to a growth accompanied by improved environmental quality.

Keywords: Economic Development, Environmental Destruction, Financial Development, Institutional Development, Seemingly Unrelated Regression.

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Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E. K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Ayodele Maxwell Olokundun

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Several studies have proposed a one-size fit all approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such that CSR as it applies to developed countries is adapted to developing countries, ignoring the differing institutional environments (such as the regulative, economic, social and political environments), which affects the profitability and practices of businesses operating in them. CSR as it applies to filling institutional gaps in developing countries, was categorized into four themes: environmental protection, product and service innovation, social innovation and local cluster development. Based on the four themes, the study employed a qualitative research approach through the use of interviews and review of available publications to study the influence of institutional environments on CSR practices engaged in by three renewable energy firms operating in Nigeria. Over the course of three 60-minutes sessions with the top management and selected workers of the firms, four propositions were made: regulatory environment influences environmental protection practice of Nigerian renewable firms, economic environment influences product and service innovation practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms, the social environment impacts on social innovation in Nigerian renewable energy firms, and political environment affects local cluster development practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms. It was also observed that beyond institutional environments, the international exposure of an organization’s managers reflected in their approach to CSR. This finding on the influence of international exposure on CSR practices creates an area for further study. Insights from this paper are set to help policy makers in developing countries, CSR managers, and future researchers.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, institutional environment, renewable energy firms, developing countries, international exposure.

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Authors: Mohammad Hasan Raouf, Azim Nowbakht, Mohammad Bagher Haddadi, Mohammad Reza Tabatabaei

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Power quality has become a very important issue recently due to the impact on electricity suppliers, equipment manufacturers and customers. Power quality is described as the variation of voltage, current and frequency in a power system. Voltage magnitude is one of the major factors that determine the quality of power. Indeed, custom power technology, the low-voltage counterpart of the more widely known flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) technology, aimed at high-voltage power transmission applications, has emerged as a credible solution to solve many problems relating to power quality problems. There are various power quality problems such as voltage sags, swells, flickers, interruptions and harmonics etc. Active Power Filter (APF) is one of the custom power devices and can mitigate harmonics, reactive power and unbalanced load currents originating from load side. In this study, an extensive review of APF studies, the advantages and disadvantages of each introduced methods are presented. The study also helps the researchers to choose the optimum control techniques and power circuit configuration for APF applications.

Keywords: Power Quality, Custom Power, Active Filter, Control Approach.

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Authors: Astrid de Leeuw, Pierre Valois

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Environmental education is the key to enhancing or changing students’ ways of thinking and acting in order to create an environmentally robust future for all. The present study investigates the beliefs of 812 primary school students, which merit consideration when developing educational interventions. Results of multiple regression analyses reveal that educational interventions should focus on promoting students’ feelings of control over pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). For example, schools could provide recycling bins on the premises. Furthermore, it is critical to develop positive attitudes in students by stressing the various benefits of PEB for keeping our planet clean and protecting wildlife. Unfortunately, our results indicate that students believe that PEB is boring and annoying. Suggestions are offered for making PEB more interesting and relevant. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of interventions based on the present results.

Keywords: Pro-environmental behaviors, primary school students, theory of planned behavior, beliefs, educational interventions.

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Authors: Vijay Kumar Bajpai, Sudhir Kumar Singh

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In this study, the performance analyses of the twenty five Coal-Fired Power Plants (CFPPs) used for electricity generation are carried out through various Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. Three efficiency indices are defined and pursued. During the calculation of the operational performance, energy and non-energy variables are used as input, and net electricity produced is used as desired output (Model-1). CO2 emitted to the environment is used as the undesired output (Model-2) in the computation of the pure environmental performance while in Model-3 CO2 emissions is considered as detrimental input in the calculation of operational and environmental performance. Empirical results show that most of the plants are operating in increasing returns to scale region and Mettur plant is efficient one with regards to energy use and environment. The result also indicates that the undesirable output effect is insignificant in the research sample. The present study will provide clues to plant operators towards raising the operational and environmental performance of CFPPs.

Keywords: Coal fired power plants, environmental performance, data envelopment analysis, operational performance.

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Authors: M. Velasco, D. While, P. Raju, J. Krasniewicz, A. Amini, L. Hernandez-Munoz

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Web service adaptation involves the creation of adapters that solve Web services incompatibilities known as mismatches. Since the importance of Web services adaptation is increasing because of the frequent implementation and use of online Web services, this paper presents a literature review of web services to investigate the main methods of adaptation, their theoretical underpinnings and the metrics used to measure adapters performance. Eighteen publications were reviewed independently by two researchers. We found that adaptation techniques are needed to solve different types of problems that may arise due to incompatibilities in Web service interfaces, including protocols, messages, data and semantics that affect the interoperability of the services. Although adapters are non-invasive methods that can improve Web services interoperability and there are current approaches for service adaptation; there is, however, not yet one solution that fits all types of mismatches. Our results also show that only a few research projects incorporate theoretical frameworks and that metrics to measure adapters’ performance are very limited. We conclude that further research on software adaptation should improve current adaptation methods in different layers of the service interoperability and that an adaptation theoretical framework that incorporates a theoretical underpinning and measures of qualitative and quantitative performance needs to be created.

Keywords: Web services adapters, software adaptation, web services mismatches, web services interoperability.

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Authors: Nareelux Suwannobol, Plernpit Promrak, Kiattisak Batsungnoen

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The aim of this study was to investigate the environmental conservation behavior of the Applied Health Science students of Suranaree University of Technology, a green and clean university. The sample group was 184 Applied Health Science students (medical, nursing, and public health). A questionnaire was used to collect information. The result of the study found that the students had more negative than positive behaviors towards energy, water, and forest conservation. This result can be used as basic information for designing long-term behavior modification activities or research projects on environmental conservation. Thus Applied Health Science students will be encouraged to be conscious and also be a good example of environmental conservation behavior.

Keywords: Energy conservation behavior, Water conservationbehavior, Forest conservation behavior, Green and clean University.

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohamed

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This paper will explore the influence of energy sector in Arab Republic of Egypt which has shared its responsibilities of many environmental challenges as the second largest economy in the Middle East (after Iran). Air and water pollution, desertification, inadequate disposal of solid waste and damage to coral reefs are serious problems that influence environmental management in Egypt. The intensive reliance of high population density and strong industrial growth are wearing Egypt's resources, and the rapidly-growing population has forced Egypt to breakdown agricultural land to residential and relevant use of commercial ingestion. The depletion effects of natural resources impose the government to apply innovation techniques in emission control and focus on sustainability. The cogeneration will be presented to control thermal losses and increase efficiency of energy power system.

Keywords: Cogeneration, energy indicators, power plant, electricity, environmental loads, environmental impact assessment.

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Authors: Isao Tomita

Abstract:

The detection of environmental gases, 12CO2, 13CO2, and CH4, using near-infrared semiconductor lasers with a short laser path length is studied by means of wavelength-modulation spectroscopy. The developed system is compact and has high sensitivity enough to detect the absorption peaks of isotopic 13CO2 of a 3-% CO2 gas at 2 μm with a path length of 2.4 m, where its peak size is two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the ordinary 12CO2 peaks. In addition, the detection of 12CO2 peaks of a 385-ppm (0.0385-%) CO2 gas in the air is made at 2 μm with a path length of 1.4 m. Furthermore, in pursuing the detection of an ancient environmental CH4 gas confined to a bubble in ice at the polar regions, measurements of the absorption spectrum for a trace gas of CH4 in a small area are attempted. For a 100-% CH4 gas trapped in a ∼ 1 mm3 glass container, the absorption peaks of CH4 are obtained at 1.65 μm with a path length of 3 mm, and also the gas pressure is extrapolated from the measured data.

Keywords: Environmental Gases, Near-Infrared Laser Detection, Wavelength-Modulation Spectroscopy.

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