WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustaining high levels

  1. Sustainability of High-Level Isolation Capabilities among US Ebola Treatment Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herstein, Jocelyn J; Biddinger, Paul D; Gibbs, Shawn G; Le, Aurora B; Jelden, Katelyn C; Hewlett, Angela L; Lowe, John J

    2017-06-01

    To identify barriers to maintaining and applying capabilities of US high-level isolation units (HLIUs) used during the Ebola virus disease outbreak, during 2016 we surveyed HLIUs. HLIUs identified sustainability challenges and reported the highly infectious diseases they would treat. HLIUs expended substantial resources in development but must strategize models of sustainability to maintain readiness.

  2. Standards for high level waste disposal: A sustainability perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dougherty, W.W.; Powers, V.; Johnson, F.X.; Cornland, D.

    1999-01-01

    Spent reactor fuel from commercial power stations contains high levels of plutonium, other fissionable actinides, and fission products, all of which pose serious challenges for permanent disposal because of the very long half-lives of some isotopes. The 'nuclear nations' have agreed on the use of permanent geologic repositories for the ultimate disposal of high-level nuclear waste. However, it is premature to claim that a geologic repository offers permanent isolation from the biosphere, given high levels of uncertainty, nascent risk assessment frameworks for the time periods considered, and serious intergenerational equity issues. Many have argued for a broader consideration of disposal options that include extended monitored retrievable storage and accelerator-driven transmutation of wastes. In this paper we discuss and compare these three options relative to standards that emerge from the application of sustainable development principles, namely long-lasting technical viability, intergenerational equity, rational resource allocation, and rights of future intervention. We conclude that in order to maximise the autonomy of future generations, it is imperative to leave future options more open than does permanent disposal

  3. Sustainable integration of high levels of intermittent generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, R.; Cabral, P.

    2005-01-01

    The sustainable development of electric power systems rely on three main drivers: the security of supply, the competitiveness and the protection of the environment. For this purpose the promotion of endogenous energy sources, mainly the renewable ones, should be underlined. Still, most of renewable energy sources raise very sensitive issues concerning the security of supply, due to its randomness and unpredictability. The wind power, currently in its fast growing development, plays a relevant role on this matter. From the demand-side perspective, there is also a lot to do regarding the promotion of more efficient use of energy as well as mechanisms that contribute to security of supply. This paper aims to present guidelines for the selection of the most adequate solutions regarding: sustainable evolution of renewable generation technologies, based on the most meritorious resources under economic and security of supply assessments; complementary energy storage systems that allow the integration of intermittent generation ensuring adequate security of supply levels; and sustainable evolution of demand, based on DSM measures selected from different available alternatives. (author)

  4. Maximal sustained levels of energy expenditure in humans during exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Jamie A; Nguyen, David D; Ruby, Brent C; Schoeller, Dale A

    2011-12-01

    Migrating birds have been able to sustain an energy expenditure (EE) that is five times their basal metabolic rate. Although humans can readily reach these levels, it is not yet clear what levels can be sustained for several days. The study's purposes were 1) to determine the upper limits of human EE and whether or not those levels can be sustained without inducing catabolism of body tissues and 2) to determine whether initial body weight is related to the levels that can be sustained. We compiled data on documented EE as measured by doubly labeled water during high levels of physical activity (minimum of five consecutive days). We calculated the physical activity level (PAL) of each individual studied (PAL = total EE / basal metabolic rate) from the published data. Correlations were run to examine the relationship between initial body weight and body weight lost with both total EE and PAL. The uppermost limit of EE was a peak PAL of 6.94 that was sustained for 10 consecutive days of a 95-d race. Only two studies reported PALs above 5.0; however, significant decreases in body mass were found in each study (0.45-1.39 kg·wk(-1) of weight loss). To test whether initial weight affects the ability to sustain high PALs, we found a significant positive correlation between TEE and initial body weight (r = 0.46, P body weight (r = 0.27, not statistically significant). Some elite humans are able to sustain PALs above 5.0 for a minimum of 10 d. Although significant decreases in body weight occur at this level, catabolism of body tissue may be preventable in situations with proper energy intake. Further, initial body weight does not seem to affect the sustainability of PALs.

  5. Sustainable Development and High Level Waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, Mikael [Swedish Radiation Protection Inst., Stockholm (Sweden)

    2001-07-01

    Sustainable development, defined by the BrundtIand Commission as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs', relates to a number of issues such as population, health, food, species and ecosystems, energy, industrial development, urbanization, societal issues and economy, and how these global challenges could be met within a long term strategy. It is not obvious how the principle may be applied to final disposal of radioactive waste, but the global scope of the principle suggests that no sector in society should be exempted from scrutinizing its practices in the light of the challenge presented by sustainable development. Waste management, as pointed out by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP, cannot be seen as a free standing practice in need of its own justification. The produced waste cannot be seen separately from the other components of nuclear production. However, the existence of very long-lived radioactive nuclei in the spent fuel warrants a careful examination of this subpractice. Health based post-closure criteria or standards for long-lived waste, usually make use of the concept of partitioning dose limit. ICRP recommends that individuals in the public do not receive a yearly dose in excess of 1 mSv as a result of releases in connection with activities involving the use of ionising radiation, and that any single facility does not generate a dose burden to individuals in excess of a fraction of this value. For an operating facility, this fraction is normally at least a factor of three. By definition, operational changes are not possible for a closed repository. It follows from this that the partitioning has another function. One interpretation is that it can allow for the simultaneous use and burdens of future generation's activities. Both the Swedish and the proposed US criteria and from EPA and NRC, as well as standards from

  6. Sustainable Development and High Level Waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, Mikael

    2001-01-01

    Sustainable development, defined by the BrundtIand Commission as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs', relates to a number of issues such as population, health, food, species and ecosystems, energy, industrial development, urbanization, societal issues and economy, and how these global challenges could be met within a long term strategy. It is not obvious how the principle may be applied to final disposal of radioactive waste, but the global scope of the principle suggests that no sector in society should be exempted from scrutinizing its practices in the light of the challenge presented by sustainable development. Waste management, as pointed out by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP, cannot be seen as a free standing practice in need of its own justification. The produced waste cannot be seen separately from the other components of nuclear production. However, the existence of very long-lived radioactive nuclei in the spent fuel warrants a careful examination of this subpractice. Health based post-closure criteria or standards for long-lived waste, usually make use of the concept of partitioning dose limit. ICRP recommends that individuals in the public do not receive a yearly dose in excess of 1 mSv as a result of releases in connection with activities involving the use of ionising radiation, and that any single facility does not generate a dose burden to individuals in excess of a fraction of this value. For an operating facility, this fraction is normally at least a factor of three. By definition, operational changes are not possible for a closed repository. It follows from this that the partitioning has another function. One interpretation is that it can allow for the simultaneous use and burdens of future generation's activities. Both the Swedish and the proposed US criteria and from EPA and NRC, as well as standards from Canada, UK and

  7. Identifying and engineering promoters for high level and sustainable therapeutic recombinant protein production in cultured mammalian cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Steven C L; Yang, Yuansheng

    2014-08-01

    Promoters are essential on plasmid vectors to initiate transcription of the transgenes when generating therapeutic recombinant proteins expressing mammalian cell lines. High and sustained levels of gene expression are desired during therapeutic protein production while gene expression is useful for cell engineering. As many finely controlled promoters exhibit cell and product specificity, new promoters need to be identified, optimized and carefully evaluated before use. Suitable promoters can be identified using techniques ranging from simple molecular biology methods to modern high-throughput omics screenings. Promoter engineering is often required after identification to either obtain high and sustained expression or to provide a wider range of gene expression. This review discusses some of the available methods to identify and engineer promoters for therapeutic recombinant protein expression in mammalian cells.

  8. Electricity intensity backstop level to meet sustainable backstop supply technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verbruggen, Aviel

    2006-01-01

    The concept of a backstop level of electricity intensity is introduced and illustrated for the highest income economies of the world. The backstop level corresponds with the intensity that would be triggered by applying end-use electricity prices equal to the cost price of a fully sustainable electricity supply. Section 1 of the paper discusses the issue of electricity (also energy) intensity of economies. It is argued that identifying a 'demand for electricity intensity' bridges the gap between the high willingness to pay for electricity services on the one hand and the disinterested attitude of consumers regarding the invisible and impalpable product electricity on the other hand. Assessment of the demand curve for electricity intensity in a cross section of high income OECD countries comes to a long-run price elasticity of almost -1. Section 2 revives Nordhaus' concept of backstop supply technologies for weighing three power sources (fossil, nuclear, and renewable sources) in meeting today's criteria of sustainable backstop technology. Only renewable sources meet the main sustainability criteria, but the economic cost of a fully sustainable electricity supply will be elevated. The closing question of Section 3, that is, whether the countries can afford the high cost of backstop electricity supplies, is answered by indicating what reductions in intensity are required to keep the electricity bills stable. The targeted intensity level is called the backstop level, and provides a fixed point for electricity efficiency policies. The analysis supports the call for comprehensive and enduring tax reform policies

  9. Practical appraisal of sustainable development-Methodologies for sustainability measurement at settlement level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moles, Richard; Foley, Walter; Morrissey, John; O'Regan, Bernadette

    2008-01-01

    This paper investigates the relationships between settlement size, functionality, geographic location and sustainable development. Analysis was carried out on a sample of 79 Irish settlements, located in three regional clusters. Two methods were selected to model the level of sustainability achieved in settlements, namely, Metabolism Accounting and Modelling of Material and Energy Flows (MA) and Sustainable Development Index Modelling. MA is a systematic assessment of the flows and stocks of material within a system defined in space and time. The metabolism of most settlements is essentially linear, with resources flowing through the urban system. The objective of this research on material and energy flows was to provide information that might aid in the development of a more circular pattern of urban metabolism, vital to sustainable development. In addition to MA, a set of forty indicators were identified and developed. These target important aspects of sustainable development: transport, environmental quality, equity and quality of life issues. Sustainability indices were derived through aggregation of indicators to measure dimensions of sustainable development. Similar relationships between settlement attributes and sustainability were found following both methods, and these were subsequently integrated to provide a single measure. Analysis identified those attributes of settlements preventing, impeding or promoting progress towards sustainability

  10. African high-level regional meeting on energy and sustainable development. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wamukonya, N [UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment (Denmark)

    2001-07-01

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly with the Government of Kenya and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organised the 'African High-Level Regional Meeting on Energy and Sustainable Development' in Januar 2001 at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose was to support the preparations for CSD 9 and enable African countries to discuss key issues related to energy for sustainable development in their regional context. This report presents the technical statements and papers prepared for the technical workshop. As the reader will quickly notice, the papers reflect the views of the range of experts who participated. Speakers and participants came from ministries or agencies dealing with energy issues, rural development and finance institutions, utilities, private enterprises, NGOs, and research institutions. The papers follow the thermes identified for the CSD 9 session but provide an Africa-specific perspective. In the region, increased access to energy is clearly still a major development issue and has strong links to another key theme - rural energy. A number of papers address these issues from the woodfuel or biomass side, as the majority of the rural population in African countries relies on this energy source and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. At the same time, improved access to commercial energy forms, particularly through rural electrification programmes, received much attention and several papers present new approaches and experience gained in this area. On the commercial energy supply side the major challenge facing most African countries is the need to reform institutional structures, especially in the power sector. These reforms are generally part of larger economic reform packages promoted by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other financial institutions. In the energy sector the reform process offers an opportunity to introduce more efficiency and competition but it must

  11. African high-level regional meeting on energy and sustainable development. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wamukonya, N. (ed.) [UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment (Denmark)

    2001-07-01

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly with the Government of Kenya and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organised the 'African High-Level Regional Meeting on Energy and Sustainable Development' in Januar 2001 at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose was to support the preparations for CSD 9 and enable African countries to discuss key issues related to energy for sustainable development in their regional context. This report presents the technical statements and papers prepared for the technical workshop. As the reader will quickly notice, the papers reflect the views of the range of experts who participated. Speakers and participants came from ministries or agencies dealing with energy issues, rural development and finance institutions, utilities, private enterprises, NGOs, and research institutions. The papers follow the thermes identified for the CSD 9 session but provide an Africa-specific perspective. In the region, increased access to energy is clearly still a major development issue and has strong links to another key theme - rural energy. A number of papers address these issues from the woodfuel or biomass side, as the majority of the rural population in African countries relies on this energy source and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. At the same time, improved access to commercial energy forms, particularly through rural electrification programmes, received much attention and several papers present new approaches and experience gained in this area. On the commercial energy supply side the major challenge facing most African countries is the need to reform institutional structures, especially in the power sector. These reforms are generally part of larger economic reform packages promoted by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other financial institutions. In the energy sector the reform process offers an opportunity to introduce more efficiency and competition

  12. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem, E-mail: dizdaroglu@bilkent.edu.tr

    2015-09-15

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [Turkish] Highlights: • As the impacts of environmental problems have multi-scale characteristics, sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all scales. • The detailed data is necessary to assess local environmental change in urban ecosystems to provide insights into the national and global scales. • This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. • This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature.

  13. Beyond Magnet® Designation: Perspectives From Nurse Managers on Factors of Sustainability and High-Performance Programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayden, Margaret A; Wolf, Gail A; Zedreck-Gonzalez, Judith F

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this study was to identify patterns of high-performing behaviors and nurse manager perceptions of the factors of Magnet® sustainability at a multidesignated Magnet organization. The Magnet program recognizes exemplary professional nursing practice and is challenging to achieve and sustain. Only 10% (n = 42) of Magnet hospitals sustained designation for 12 years or longer. This study explored the perspectives of Magnet nurse managers regarding high-performing teams and the sustainability of Magnet designation. A qualitative study of nurse managers was conducted at 1 multidesignated Magnet organization (n = 13). Interview responses were analyzed using pattern recognition of Magnet model domains and characteristics of high-performing teams and then related to factors of Magnet sustainability. Transformational leadership is both an essential factor for sustainability and a potential barrier to sustainability of Magnet designation. Transformational nursing leaders lead high-performing teams and should be in place at all levels as an essential factor in sustaining Magnet redesignation.

  14. Teaching Sustainability from a Scientific Standpoint at the Introductory Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell-Stone, E.; Myers, J. D.

    2008-12-01

    In recent decades, humankind has recognized that current levels of resource utilization are seriously impacting our planet's life support systems and threatening the ability of future generations to provide for themselves. The concept of sustainability has been promoted by a variety of national and international organizations as a method to devise ways to adjust humanity's habits and consumption to levels that can be maintained over the long term, i.e. sustained. Courses on sustainability are being offered at many universities and colleges, but most are taught outside of science departments; they are often designed around policy concerns or focus primarily on environmental impacts while neglecting the science of sustainability. Because the three foundations necessary to implement sustainability are sustainability governance, sustainability accounting, and sustainability science, it is imperative that science departments play an active role in preparing citizens and professionals for dealing with sustainability issues. The geosciences are one of the scientific disciplines that offer a logical foundation from which to teach sustainability science. Geoscientists can also offer a unique and relevant geologic perspective on sustainability issues. The authors have developed an introductory, interdisciplinary course entitled 'Global Sustainability: Managing Earth's Resources' that integrates scientific disciplines in the examination of real world sustainability issues. In-depth understanding of physical, Earth and biological science principles are necessary for students to identify the limits and constraints imposed on important issues facing modern society, e.g. water, energy, population growth, etc. This course exposes students to all the scientific principles that apply directly to sustainability. The subject allows the instructors to present open-ended, multifaceted and complex problems relevant to today's industrialized and globalized world, and it encourages

  15. Sustained High Levels of Both Total and High Molecular Weight Adiponectin in Plasma during the Convalescent Phase of Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome Are Associated with Disease Severity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kang Tang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS is characterised by an uncontrolled immune response that causes vascular leakage. Adiponectin (APN is an adipocytokine involved in prorevascularisation and immunomodulation. To investigate the possible effects of APN in the pathogenesis of HFRS, total and high molecular weight (HMW APN levels in the plasma of patients with HFRS were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. Compared with those in healthy controls, the plasma total and HMW APN levels in patients were elevated to different degrees from the fever onset and remained high at the convalescent phase. Consistent with these results, western blot analysis additionally showed that low molecular weight (LMW, middle molecular weight (MMW, and HMW APN levels were all elevated and contributed to the elevation of the total APN level. Importantly, sustained high levels of total and HMW APN at the convalescent phase were significantly higher in patients with critical disease than those in patients with mild or moderate disease. Moreover, total and HMW APN levels negatively correlated with white blood cell count and positively correlated with platelet count and serum albumin level. These results may provide insights into understanding the roles of total and HMW APN in the pathogenesis of HFRS.

  16. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [tr

  17. Organization-level predictors of sustained social movement participation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tesdahl, Eric A; Speer, Paul W

    2015-03-01

    Long-term sustained participation represents one of the most important resources available to community organizations and social movement organizations (SMOs). The participatory literature on community and SMOs has identified a host of individual-level factors that influence participation beyond initial engagement, and has more recently identified contextual factors that influence participation. This study builds upon current understandings of participation in SMOs by examining how sustained participation in movement activities is affected by two qualities of SMO settings: repertoire of organizational activity, and equality of staff contact with organization members to cultivate and facilitate individual participation. To this end, we employ multi-level regression techniques to examine longitudinal data on participation within 50 local chapters of a national congregation-based community organizing federation. We find that the conduct of organizational activities previously shown to increase levels of participation among individual persons does not necessarily lead to increases in aggregate or organization-level participation. Further, we find that conditions of unequal staff contact among organization members represent a notable drag on organization-level participation over time. Our findings suggest that organizers and organizational leaders may well see greater levels of participation in their organizations by simply re-distributing resources and opportunities more equitably within their organizations.

  18. Multi level governance framework for sustainable urban mobility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik

    2013-01-01

    Cities constitute the backbone of European historic development and provide the basis of its economic future. The near neglect of cities in existing European policies for sustainable growth and development such as the Europe 2020 strategy is untenable. The 2011 White Paper has sought to face...... seem essential to move cities beyond business as usual. Research-wise we need to understand in more detail the political and contextual background for successes - and failures - of European cities. This could help build an effective multi level governance framework for sustainable urban mobility...

  19. The CMS High-Level Trigger

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Covarelli, R.

    2009-01-01

    At the startup of the LHC, the CMS data acquisition is expected to be able to sustain an event readout rate of up to 100 kHz from the Level-1 trigger. These events will be read into a large processor farm which will run the 'High-Level Trigger'(HLT) selection algorithms and will output a rate of about 150 Hz for permanent data storage. In this report HLT performances are shown for selections based on muons, electrons, photons, jets, missing transverse energy, τ leptons and b quarks: expected efficiencies, background rates and CPU time consumption are reported as well as relaxation criteria foreseen for a LHC startup instantaneous luminosity.

  20. The CMS High-Level Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Covarelli, Roberto

    2009-01-01

    At the startup of the LHC, the CMS data acquisition is expected to be able to sustain an event readout rate of up to 100 kHz from the Level-1 trigger. These events will be read into a large processor farm which will run the "High-Level Trigger" (HLT) selection algorithms and will output a rate of about 150 Hz for permanent data storage. In this report HLT performances are shown for selections based on muons, electrons, photons, jets, missing transverse energy, tau leptons and b quarks: expected efficiencies, background rates and CPU time consumption are reported as well as relaxation criteria foreseen for a LHC startup instantaneous luminosity.

  1. The CMS High-Level Trigger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Covarelli, R.

    2009-12-01

    At the startup of the LHC, the CMS data acquisition is expected to be able to sustain an event readout rate of up to 100 kHz from the Level-1 trigger. These events will be read into a large processor farm which will run the "High-Level Trigger" (HLT) selection algorithms and will output a rate of about 150 Hz for permanent data storage. In this report HLT performances are shown for selections based on muons, electrons, photons, jets, missing transverse energy, τ leptons and b quarks: expected efficiencies, background rates and CPU time consumption are reported as well as relaxation criteria foreseen for a LHC startup instantaneous luminosity.

  2. Classification of EU Countries in Terms of the Level of Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stec Małgorzata

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article has classified the EU countries in terms of the level of sustainable development. The study was based on main sustainability indicators developed by Eurostat. In empirical research, one of the methods used was Cluster Analysis - Ward's method. Grouping methods make it possible to distinguish countries with a similar level of sustainability which is particularly useful for monitoring the progress of individual EU countries in implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy. For specific groups of countries, appropriate control instruments and strategies can be proposed. The research period is 2016. As a result of the research, 6 clusters of countries were obtained. For specific groups of countries, their characteristics were defined.

  3. A mixed-methods study of system-level sustainability of evidence-based practices in 12 large-scale implementation initiatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scudder, Ashley T; Taber-Thomas, Sarah M; Schaffner, Kristen; Pemberton, Joy R; Hunter, Leah; Herschell, Amy D

    2017-12-07

    In recent decades, evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been broadly promoted in community behavioural health systems in the United States of America, yet reported EBP penetration rates remain low. Determining how to systematically sustain EBPs in complex, multi-level service systems has important implications for public health. This study examined factors impacting the sustainability of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) in large-scale initiatives in order to identify potential predictors of sustainment. A mixed-methods approach to data collection was used. Qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys examining sustainability processes and outcomes were completed by participants from 12 large-scale initiatives. Sustainment strategies fell into nine categories, including infrastructure, training, marketing, integration and building partnerships. Strategies involving integration of PCIT into existing practices and quality monitoring predicted sustainment, while financing also emerged as a key factor. The reported factors and strategies impacting sustainability varied across initiatives; however, integration into existing practices, monitoring quality and financing appear central to high levels of sustainability of PCIT in community-based systems. More detailed examination of the progression of specific activities related to these strategies may aide in identifying priorities to include in strategic planning of future large-scale initiatives. ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02543359 ; Protocol number PRO12060529.

  4. Product-service system method to measure sustainability level of traditional smoked fish processing industries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Purwaningsih Ratna

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Small Medium Enterprise’s (SME of traditional fish processing at Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia still focus their business on gain more profits. Sustainability aspect has not received enough attention yet. This study aims to review the sustainability level of SME smoked fish Semarang using product service system (PSS method. PSS consists of three dimensions (1 Environment, (2 Socio-cultural and (3 Economic. Each dimension consists of 6 criteria's. PSS not only assess the level of sustainability but also formulated the recommendation to increase the industries sustainability level. Sustainability assessment and recommendations formulation is guided by a check-list form. Then, the portfolio diagram used to select these recommendations according to its feasibility to be implemented and its importance for the industries. The result of sustainability assessment for traditional fish processing is 0.44, categorized as medium level. The recommendations for the environmental dimension are (1 use of liquid smoke on fish processing and (2 use of wastewater treatment with anaerobic ponds Recommendation for the socio-cultural dimension is use personal protective tool to reduce worker risk on safety and health. Recommendation for the economic dimension is used social media for product marketing and increasing the economic value of fish lung wastes. Recommendations are then illustrated in a diagram in the form of radar sustainability.

  5. Energy efficiency and sustainability of complex biogas systems: A 3-level emergetic evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Shaoqing; Chen, Bin

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The metabolism of complex biogas system increased from 2000 to 2008. • System renewability has been increased due to biogas utilization. • Electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient supplies. • All processes were challenged by high transformity and low sustainability. - Abstract: Biogas engineering and the biogas-linked agricultural industries as a whole has been used as both a developmental strategy for rural new emergy and an important part of renewable agriculture revolution in China. In this paper, we proposed a 3-level emergetic evaluation framework to investigate the energy efficiency and sustainability of a complex biogas system (CBS) in South China, comprising agro-industries such as planting, aquaculture, breeding and biogas. The framework is capable of tracking dynamical behaviors of the whole complex system (Level I), transformation processes (Level II) and resource components (Level III) simultaneously. Two new indicators, emergy contribution rate (ECR) and emergy supply efficiency (ESE) were developed to address the contribution and efficiency of resource components within each agro-industrial process. Our findings suggested the metabolism of the CBS were increased from 2000 to 2008, in which planting production was the biggest process in terms of total emergy input, while breeding was the most productive one with its highest total emergy yield. The CBS was under an industry transaction process stimulated by biogas construction, while the traditional agricultural activities still play an important role. For economic input, a trend towards a more renewable regime was found behind the total increase over time. With different preferences for renewable or non-renewable resources, planting and aquaculture production were proved natural donation-reliant, while breeding and biogas were economic input-dependent. Among all the economic inputs, electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient components

  6. Classification of the European Union member states according to the relative level of sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anna, Bluszcz

    Nowadays methods of measurement and assessment of the level of sustained development at the international, national and regional level are a current research problem, which requires multi-dimensional analysis. The relative assessment of the sustainability level of the European Union member states and the comparative analysis of the position of Poland relative to other countries was the aim of the conducted studies in the article. EU member states were treated as objects in the multi-dimensional space. Dimensions of space were specified by ten diagnostic variables describing the sustainability level of UE countries in three dimensions, i.e., social, economic and environmental. Because the compiled statistical data were expressed in different units of measure, taxonomic methods were used for building an aggregated measure to assess the level of sustainable development of EU member states, which through normalisation of variables enabled the comparative analysis between countries. Methodology of studies consisted of eight stages, which included, among others: defining data matrices, calculating the variability coefficient for all variables, which variability coefficient was under 10 %, division of variables into stimulants and destimulants, selection of the method of variable normalisation, developing matrices of normalised data, selection of the formula and calculating the aggregated indicator of the relative level of sustainable development of the EU countries, calculating partial development indicators for three studies dimensions: social, economic and environmental and the classification of the EU countries according to the relative level of sustainable development. Statistical date were collected based on the Polish Central Statistical Office publication.

  7. A Comprehensive Quantitative Evaluation of New Sustainable Urbanization Level in 20 Chinese Urban Agglomerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cong Xu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available On 16 March 2014, the State Council of China launched its first urbanization planning initiative dubbed “National New Urbanization Planning (2014–2020” (NNUP. NNUP put forward 20 urban agglomerations and a sustainable development approach aiming to transform traditional Chinese urbanization to sustainable new urbanization. This study quantitatively evaluates the level of sustainability of the present new urbanization process in 20 Chinese urban agglomerations and provides some positive suggestions for the achievement of sustainable new urbanization. A three-level index system which is based on six fundamental elements in a city and a Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator evaluation method are adopted. The results show that China is undergoing a new urbanization process with a low level of sustainability and there are many problems remaining from traditional urbanization processes. There exists a polarized phenomenon in the urbanization of 20 urban agglomerations. Based on their own development patterns, the 20 urban agglomerations can be divided into seven categories. Every category has its own development characteristics. The analyses also show that waste of water resources, abuse of land resources, and air pollution are three big problems that are closely linked to traditional Chinese urbanization processes. To achieve sustainable new urbanization in China, four relevant suggestions and comments have been provided.

  8. INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY ON ORGANISATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Kokic Arsic

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Subject of the article is an integration of quality management and sustainable development, with the basis of considerations of sustainable development and the structure of the key quality factors pointed to the possibility of achieving synergy of action on the most important variables, as well as the established model of integration of these two complex concepts. Areas of our study were 83 organizations in the region of Central Serbia. The study was based on questionnaires which contained 50 questions about the level of quality and sustainable development in the companies surveyed. Results of research highlights the most influenced variables in condition of constraints related to transition economy characteristics.

  9. Sustainability in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions: The Interrelationships among Sustainability Initiatives and Geographic and Institutional Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beveridge, Dan; McKenzie, Marcia; Vaughter, Philip; Wright, Tarah

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to report on a census of high-level sustainability initiatives at all accredited post-secondary institutions in Canada by documenting the institutions that have undertaken sustainability assessments, have signed one or more sustainability declarations, have sustainability offices or officers or have sustainability…

  10. Public services on a district level. The environment closer to the people. More sustainability or not?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Boer, J.; Van Drunen, M.A.; Lammers, P.E.M.; Olsthoorn, A.A.

    2000-01-01

    One way to stimulate households in the Netherlands socially, culturally and economically is to provide them with technological services and tools that are economically and ecologically sound and contribute to sustainability. Every technological service or tool has social, cultural and economical stimuli. However, those incentives are not used systematically in the present Dutch environmental policy. Therefore, an important question in this study is whether those incentives can be used such that they can contribute to sustainability more than the performance level of the technology. In this study special attention is paid to the level on which the services and tools for households in a specific district are organized and provided and how it can contribute to sustainability. In chapter 2 the incentives for sustainable behavior of households are described. In chapter 3 three scenarios are introduced in which the district level is explained by comparing them with two other levels: the micro-level (per households) and the macro-level (per province, national, international). In chapter 4 the expectations with respect to the services and tools and sustainability for the three scenarios are evaluated. Examples of experiments and case studies are spread over the report. 61 refs

  11. The analysis of the sustainable mobility level in selected European cities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciaston-Ciulkin, A.

    2016-07-01

    Transport needs have to be met through efficient and integrated usage of existing transport infrastructure and urban space together with actions taken in order to reduce traffic congestion by reducing the number and length of travels by car and reducing the demand for the travelling. The expected effect of these actions is the less noise, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The article presents the proposal of the indicator for measuring the degree of sustainable mobility based on the example of European Union cities. The presented method for determining the level of sustainable mobility has been inspired by different researches and it is based on a study of different sub-indicators used for measuring the degree of sustainability of the modal split. (Author)

  12. Sustained transmission of high-level azithromycin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in England: an observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fifer, Helen; Cole, Michelle; Hughes, Gwenda; Padfield, Simon; Smolarchuk, Christa; Woodford, Neil; Wensley, Adrian; Mustafa, Nazim; Schaefer, Ulf; Myers, Richard; Templeton, Kate; Shepherd, Jill; Underwood, Anthony

    2018-05-01

    Between Nov 3, 2014, and Feb 24, 2017, 70 cases of high-level azithromycin-resistant (HL-AziR; minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] ≥256 mg/L) Neisseria gonorrhoeae were reported from across England. Whole-genome sequencing was done to investigate this outbreak to determine whether the ongoing outbreak represented clonal spread of an HL-AziR N gonorrhoeae strain identified in Leeds. We also wanted to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of azithromycin resistance in N gonorrhoeae in the UK. In this observational study, whole-genome sequencing was done on the HL-AziR N gonorrhoeae isolates from England. As comparators, 110 isolates from the UK and Ireland with a range of azithromycin MICs were also sequenced, including eight isolates from Scotland with azithromycin MICs ranging from 0·12 mg/L to 1·00 mg/L that were N gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence type 9768 (ST9768), which was the sequence type initially responsible for the outbreak. The presence of mutations or genes associated with azithromycin resistance was also investigated. 37 of the 60 HL-AziR isolates from England belonged to ST9768, and were genetically similar (mean 4·3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms). A 2059A→G mutation was detected in three or all four alleles of the 23S rRNA gene. Five susceptible ST9768 isolates had one mutated 23S rRNA allele and one low-level resistant ST9768 isolate had two mutated alleles. Sustained transmission of a successful HL-AziR clone was seen across England. Mutation 2059A→G was found in isolates with lower azithromycin MICs. Azithromycin exposure might have provided the selection pressure for one or two mutated copies of the 23S rRNA gene to recombine with wild-type copies, leading to three or four mutated copies and the HL-AziR phenotype. HL-AziR could emerge in isolates with low azithromycin MICs and eliminate the effectiveness of azithromycin as part of dual therapy for the treatment of gonorrhoea. Public Health England. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All

  13. Sustainability labels on food products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G; Hieke, Sophie; Wills, Josephine

    2014-01-01

    of sustainability was limited, but understanding of four selected labels (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Carbon Footprint, and Animal Welfare) was better, as some of them seem to be self-explanatory. The results indicated a low level of use, no matter whether use was measured as self-reported use of different......This study investigates the relationship between consumer motivation, understanding and use of sustainability labels on food products (both environmental and ethical labels), which are increasingly appearing on food products. Data was collected by means of an online survey implemented in the UK......, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Poland, with a total sample size of 4408 respondents. Respondents expressed medium high to high levels of concern with sustainability issues at the general level, but lower levels of concern in the context of concrete food product choices. Understanding of the concept...

  14. Towards a new paradigm: Activity level balanced sustainability reporting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samudhram, Ananda; Siew, Eu-Gene; Sinnakkannu, Jothee; Yeow, Paul H P

    2016-11-01

    Technoeconomic paradigms based economic growth theories suggest that waves of technological innovations drove the economic growth of advanced economies. Widespread economic degradation and pollution is an unintended consequence of such growth. Tackling environmental and social issues at firm levels would help us to overcome such issues at macro-levels. Consequently, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting approach promotes firm level economic, environmental and social performances. Incorporating Zink's (2014) 3-pillar presentation model, this paper indicates that economic, social and environmental performances tend to be reported at firm level. All three pillars are not covered evenly at the activity levels. Thus, a loophole is identified whereby excellent environmental performance at activity levels could potentially leave poor social performance undisclosed. A refinement of the TBL paradigm, whereby all three pillars are covered at the activity level, is suggested, to enhance sustainability reporting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. A model of sustainable development of scientific research health institutions, providing high-tech medical care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Yu. Bedoreva

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The issue of sustainability is relevant for all types of businesses and organizations. Long-term development has always been and remains one of the most difficult tasks faced by organizations. The implementation the provisions of international standards ISO series 9000 has proven to be effective. The ISO standards are concentrated on the global experience for sustainable success of organizations. The standards incorporated all the rational that has been accumulated in this field of knowledge and practice. These standards not only eliminate technical barriers in collaboration and have established standardized approaches, but also serve as a valuable source of international experience and ready management solutions. They became a practical guide for the creation of management systems for sustainable development in organizations of different spheres of activity.Problem and purpose. The article presents the author’s approach to the problem of sustainable development health of the organization. The purpose of this article is to examine the approaches to management for sustainable success of organizations and to describe a model of sustainable development applied in research healthcare institutions providing high-tech medical care.Methodology. The study used general scientific methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge, general logical methods and techniques and methods of system analysis, comparison, analogy, generalization, the materials research for the development of medical organizations.The main results of our work are to first develop the technique of complex estimation of activity of the scientific-research institutions of health and deploy key elements of the management system that allows the level of maturity of the management system of the institution to be set in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and to identify areas for improvements and innovation, and to set priorities for determining the sequence of action when

  16. A Comprehensive Quantitative Evaluation of New Sustainable Urbanization Level in 20 Chinese Urban Agglomerations

    OpenAIRE

    Cong Xu; Shixin Wang; Yi Zhou; Litao Wang; Wenliang Liu

    2016-01-01

    On 16 March 2014, the State Council of China launched its first urbanization planning initiative dubbed “National New Urbanization Planning (2014–2020)” (NNUP). NNUP put forward 20 urban agglomerations and a sustainable development approach aiming to transform traditional Chinese urbanization to sustainable new urbanization. This study quantitatively evaluates the level of sustainability of the present new urbanization process in 20 Chinese urban agglomerations and provides some positive sugg...

  17. Determination of consumer awareness about sustainable fashion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saricam, C.; Erdumlu, N.; Silan, A.; Dogan, B. L.; Sonmezcan, G.

    2017-10-01

    The concept of sustainability has begun to gain importance in fashion industry. The companies, which are acting in sustainable fashion, want to gain recognition, inform the consumer about their products and services and generate a demand from the consumers. But the awareness of the consumers about sustainability is still an unknown. In this study, the level of awareness of consumers about sustainable fashion was tried to be determined with a survey established in Turkey in which the socio-demographic characteristics and the awareness level of the participants were questioned. The result of the survey showed that the level of awareness among the participants is not so high and the perception of sustainability is mostly limited to some aspects of sustainable fashion such as “Usage of organic materials” and “Recycling”. Besides, the analysis of the relation between socio-demographic characteristics and awareness level of sustainable fashion showed that the awareness level increased with the education level and income to some extent. But specifically, the males and the participants aged between 24-29 have higher levels of awareness compared with the other participants.

  18. Groundwater-level trends and implications for sustainable water use in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mack, Thomas J.; Chornack, Michael P.; Taher, Mohammad R.

    2013-01-01

    The Kabul Basin, which includes the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 4 million, has several Afghan, United States, and international military installations that depend on groundwater resources for a potable water supply. This study examined groundwater levels in the Kabul Basin from 2004 to 2012. Groundwater levels have increased slightly in rural areas of the Kabul Basin as a result of normal precipitation after the drought of the early 2000s. However, groundwater levels have decreased in the city of Kabul due to increasing water use in an area with limited recharge. The rate of groundwater-level decrease in the city is greater for the 2008–2012 period (1.5 meters per year (m/yr) on average) than for the 2004–2008 period (0–0.7 m/yr on average). The analysis, which is corroborated by groundwater-flow modeling and a non-governmental organization decision-support model, identified groundwater-level decreases and associated implications for groundwater sustainability in the city of Kabul. Military installations in the city of Kabul (the Central Kabul subbasin) are likely to face water management challenges resulting from long-term groundwater sustainability concerns, such as the potential drying of shallow water-supply wells. Installations in the northern part of the Kabul Basin may have fewer issues with long-term water sustainability. Groundwater-level monitoring and groundwater-flow simulation can be valuable tools for assessing groundwater management options to improve the sustainability of water resources in the Kabul Basin.

  19. Product-service system method to measure sustainability level of traditional smoked fish processing industries

    OpenAIRE

    Purwaningsih Ratna; Cahyantari Anggaina Elfandora; Ariyani Zulfaida; Susanty Aries; Arvianto Ary; Santoso Haryo

    2018-01-01

    Small Medium Enterprise’s (SME) of traditional fish processing at Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia still focus their business on gain more profits. Sustainability aspect has not received enough attention yet. This study aims to review the sustainability level of SME smoked fish Semarang using product service system (PSS) method. PSS consists of three dimensions (1) Environment, (2) Socio-cultural and (3) Economic. Each dimension consists of 6 criteria's. PSS not only assess the level of sust...

  20. Sustainability and Efficiency Improvements of Gas-Cooled High Temperature Reactors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marmier, A.

    2012-01-01

    The work presented in this thesis covers three fundamental aspects of High Temperature Reactor (HTR) performance, namely fuel testing under irradiation for maximized safety and sustainability, fuel architecture for improved economy and sustainability, and a novel Balance of Plant concept to enable

  1. Macro-level integrated renewable energy production schemes for sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subhadra, Bobban G.

    2011-01-01

    The production of renewable clean energy is a prime necessity for the sustainable future existence of our planet. However, because of the resource-intensive nature, and other challenges associated with these new generation renewable energy sources, novel industrial frameworks need to be co-developed. Integrated renewable energy production schemes with foundations on resource sharing, carbon neutrality, energy-efficient design, source reduction, green processing plan, anthropogenic use of waste resources for the production green energy along with the production of raw material for allied food and chemical industries is imperative for the sustainable development of this sector especially in an emission-constrained future industrial scenario. To attain these objectives, the scope of hybrid renewable production systems and integrated renewable energy industrial ecology is briefly described. Further, the principles of Integrated Renewable Energy Park (IREP) approach, an example for macro-level energy production, and its benefits and global applications are also explored. - Research highlights: → Discusses the need for macro-level renewable energy production schemes. → Scope of hybrid and integrated industrial ecology for renewable energy production. → Integrated Renewable Energy Parks (IREPs): A macro-level energy production scheme. → Discusses the principle foundations and global applications of IREPs. → Describes the significance of IREPs in the carbon-neutral future business arena.

  2. Management of Sustainable Energy Efficient Development at the Local Level: Stakeholder-Oriented Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Horban Vasylyna B.

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available There presented a theoretical rationale for the expediency of using the stakeholder-oriented approach to improve the process of management of sustainable energy efficient development at the local level. The evolution of theories by scientific schools that studied the concepts of «stakeholders» and «interested parties» is analyzed and generalized. A classification of types of stakeholders in the context of eighteen typological features is suggested, which allows to more effectively align their interests and contributes to establishing constructive forms of cooperation in order to achieve efficient final results. An algorithm of interaction with interested parties in achieving the goals of sustainable energy efficient development at the local level is elaborated. Typical motivational interests of stakeholders at the local level in the field of sustainable energy efficient development (on the example of Ukraine are identified. Instruments of prioritization of stakeholders depending on the life cycle stages of energy efficiency projects are proposed. The results obtained in the course of the research can be used to develop local energy efficient programs, business plans and feasibility studies for energy efficient projects.

  3. The Bidirectional Causality between Country-Level Governance, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development: A Cross-Country Data Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Boţa-Avram

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In the context of contemporary society, characterized by the information users’ growing and differentiated needs, the way country-level governance and social responsibility contribute to the ensuring of sustainable economic development is a concern for all the actors of the economic sphere. The aim of this paper is to test the causal linkages between the quality of country-level governance, economic growth and a well-known indicator of economic sustainable development, for a large panel of world-wide countries for a period of 10 years (2006–2015. While there are some prior studies that have argued the bidirectional causality between good public governance and economic development, this study intends to provide a new focus on the relationship between country-level governance and economic growth, on one hand, and between country-level governance and adjusted net savings, as a selected indicator of economic sustainable development, on the other hand. Four hypotheses on the causal relationship between good governance, economic growth and sustainable development were tested by using Granger non-causality tests. Our findings resulting from Granger non-causality tests provide reasonable evidence of Granger causality from country-level governance to economic growth, but from economic growth to country-level governance, the causality is not confirmed. In what regards the relationship between country-level governance and adjusted net savings, the bidirectional Granger causality is not confirmed. The main implication of our study is that improving economic growth and sustainable development is a very challenging issue, and the impact of macro-level factors such as country-level governance should not be neglected.

  4. Operationalising Ecologically Sustainable Development at the Micro Level Pareto Optimality and the Preservation of Biologically Crucial Levels.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bithas, K.; Nijkamp, P.

    2006-01-01

    The concept of Ecologically Sustainable Economic Development (ESED) has led to relentlessly heated debate. Yet, it still remains without a clear operational framework. At the micro level where a multitude of projects and programmes are designed, the absence of operational principles has serious

  5. Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Evaluate the Level of Community Forestry Sustainability in Babak Watershed, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryke Nandini

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Community forestry in Babak watershed is one of the efforts to reduce critical land area. The aim of this research was to evaluate the level of community forestry sustainability in both of community forest (HKm and private forest in Babak watershed. Multidimensional scaling (MDS was used to analyse the level of community forest sustainability based on the five dimensions of ecology, economy, social, institutional, and technology as well as 29 attributes. Leverage analysis was used to know the sensitive attributes of sustainability, while Monte Carlo analysis and goodness of fit was used to find the accuracy of MDS analysis. The result shows that HKm was in moderate sustainability level (sustainability index 54.08% and private forest was in less sustainability level (sustainability index 48.53%. Furthermore, the ecology and technology in HKm were classified as less sustainable, while the institution and technology in private forest were considered less sustainable. There were 11 sensitive attributes of HKm and 19 sensitive attributes of private forest. The priorities of attribute improvement in HKm include land recovering (the dimension of ecology and cooperative development (the dimension of technology. In private forest, the priorities of attribute improvement include leadership capacity building (the institutional dimension and also the use of silviculture intensive and soil conservation (the dimension of technology.

  6. Corporate Sustainability Strategies: A Case Study in Brazil Focused on High Consumers of Electricity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabricio Casarejos

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The decline of socio-ecological resilience has emerged as an unprecedented truth with high risks to local and global economies, thereby increasing the vulnerability of businesses and markets while potentially threatening the wellbeing of civil society as a whole. From a business perspective, corporate strategies towards sustainability are crucial to strengthen the social and economic foundations that foster sustainable development. In order to assist enterprises pursuing leading market positions, this work proposes a set of strategic actions towards sustainability and an evaluation scheme to assess the effectiveness of their implementation process. This proposed global strategy encompasses five key sustainability indices—commitment, investment, difficulty, proactivity and vulnerability—focusing the investigation on a sample of enterprises representing the highest consumers of electricity in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Addressing the energy consumption, this study also discusses the concerning level of GHG emissions that are associated with the generation of electricity. Although 85% of the enterprises participating in this survey recognized the relevance of the actions proposed, the current degree of proactivity and vulnerability associated with these enterprises indicate that very few of them have effectively implemented and invested in corporate sustainability programs, certainly a symptom of their institutional vulnerability.

  7. Community Vitality: The Role of Community-Level Resilience Adaptation and Innovation in Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lenore Newman

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Community level action towards sustainable development has emerged as a key scale of intervention in the effort to address our many serious environmental issues. This is hindered by the large-scale destruction of both urban neighbourhoods and rural villages in the second half of the twentieth century. Communities, whether they are small or large, hubs of experimentation or loci of traditional techniques and methods, can be said to have a level of community vitality that acts as a site of resilience, adaptation and innovation in the face of environmental challenges. This paper outlines how community vitality acts as a cornerstone of sustainable development and suggests some courses for future research. A meta-case analysis of thirty-five Canadian communities reveals the characteristics of community vitality emerging from sustainable development experiments and its relationship to resilience, applied specifically to community development.

  8. Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at University Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albareda-Tiana, Silvia; Vidal-Raméntol, Salvador; Fernández-Morilla, Mónica

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this case study is to explore the principles and practices of sustainable development (SD) in the university curriculum. Design/methodology/approach: To explore the principles linked with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the learning and teaching practices in sustainability at the International University of…

  9. Storage of High Level Nuclear Waste in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dietmar P. F. Möller

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Nuclear energy is very often used to generate electricity. But first the energy must be released from atoms what can be done in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electrical energy. The electrical energy generated in nuclear power plants does not produce polluting combustion gases but a renewable energy, an important fact that could play a key role helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and tackling global warming especially as the electricity energy demand rises in the years ahead. This could be assumed as an ideal win-win situation, but the reverse site of the medal is that the production of high-level nuclear waste outweighs this advantage. Hence the paper attempt to highlight the possible state-of-art concepts for the safe and sustaining storage of high-level nuclear waste in Germany.

  10. Sustainment of high confinement in JT-60U reversed shear plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujita, T.; Kamada, Y.; Ide, S.; Takeji, S.; Sakamoto, Y.; Isayama, A.; Suzuki, T.; Oikawa, T.; Fukuda, T.

    2001-01-01

    confinement is achieved owing to strong internal transport barriers (ITBs), are reported. In a high current plasma with an L-mode edge, deuterium-tritium-equivalent fusion power gain, Q DT eq =0.5 was sustained for 0.8 s (∼ energy confinement time) by adjusting plasma beta precisely using feedback control of stored energy. In a high triangularity plasma with an ELMy H-mode edge, the shrinkage of reversed shear region was suppressed and quasi steady sustainment of high confinement was achieved by raising the poloidal beta and enhancing the bootstrap current peaked at the ITB layer. High bootstrap current fraction (∼80%) was obtained in a high q regime (q 95 ∼9), which leaded to full non-inductive current drive condition. The normalized beta (β N ) of ∼ 2 and H-factor of H 89 ∼3.5 (HH 98y2 ∼2.2) were sustained for 2.7 s (∼ 6 times energy confinement time). (author)

  11. The High Rise Low Cost Housing : Sustainable Neighbourhood Elements (Green Elements) in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahi, Noraziah; Mohamad, Ismail; Mohamad Zin, Rosli; Munikanan, Vikneswaran; Junaini, Syahrizan

    2018-03-01

    The sustainable development is a vital measure to alleviate the greenhouse gas effect, global warming and any other environment issues. The sustainable neighbourhood concept is not new in Malaysia, However, the concept still needs attention and awareness from the stakeholders. This paper discusses on the sustainable neighbourhood elements specifically green elements application on the high rise low cost housing in Malaysia. Malaysia should have focused sustainable neighbourhood planning and design especially on the high rise low cost housing therefore the future generation can be benefited from this type development.

  12. Sustainability in Business

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tollin, Karin; Vej, Jesper

    2012-01-01

    How do companies integrate sustainability into their strategy and practices, and what factors explain their approach? In this paper a typology of sustainability strategies is presented as well as a conceptual framework relating sustainability at the company level to the functional level of market...... managers' mindsets, a framework addressing sustainability from four organisational learning schools was designed and followed......How do companies integrate sustainability into their strategy and practices, and what factors explain their approach? In this paper a typology of sustainability strategies is presented as well as a conceptual framework relating sustainability at the company level to the functional level...... of marketing. The central contribution of the typology is a strategic and managerial view on sustainability. Furthermore, the typology shows that sustainability in business is enacted from different areas of competences and fields in the literature (e.g. supply chain management, corporate branding, value...

  13. Eco-efficiency guiding micro-level actions towards sustainability. Ten basic steps for analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huppes, Gjalt; Ishikawa, Masanobu

    2009-01-01

    This paper looks at the compatibility between technological improvements at the micro-level and sustainability at the macro-level. The two main approaches to prevent environmental degradation are technological improvement and economic degrowth. How do we establish the sustainability of technological options? LCA-type analysis of the technology system, combined with economic cost analysis, offers a first integrated eco-efficiency score. However, such a technology analysis focuses on micro-level technology relations only, is usually too optimistic and ignores other constraints implied in a choice. Fitting more comprehensive knowledge into the sustainability evaluation of options requires a unifying systematic framework, which is worked out in the present paper as a ten-step procedure. The integrative framework for empirical analysis is ultimately a comparative-static systems analysis at macro-level, not in a deterministic dynamic mode, which is impossible, but as a knowledge-fed scenario analysis. The analysis shows the change in society's overall eco-efficiency, combining total value creation with total environmental impacts. Possible domains of application include not only technology choices like those in eco-innovation, including changed consumption styles and volumes, but also changes in policies regarding technologies and markets, whether direct policy shifts or indirect changes through institutional adaptations. Ultimately, such a framework also allows culturally framed questions about the type of society we would like to live in, to be analysed in terms of their economic and environmental consequences. (author)

  14. Countries three wise men: Sustainability, Innovation, and Competitiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Miguel Fonseca

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The studies on links between sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness have been mainly focused at organizational and business level. The purpose of this research is to investigate if there is a correlation between these three variables at country level. Using international well recognized rankings of countries sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness, correlation analysis was performed allowing for the conclusion that there are indeed high correlations (and possible relationships between the three variables at country level. Design/methodology/approach: Sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness literature were reviewed identifying a lack of studies examining these three variables at country level. Three major well recognized indexes were used to support the quantitative research: The World Economic Forum (2013 Sustainability-adjusted global competitiveness index, the Global Innovation Index (2014 issued by Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO and the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (2014. After confirming the distributions normality, Pearson correlation analysis was made with results showing high linear correlations between the three indexes. Findings: The results of the correlation analysis using Pearson correlation coefficient (all correlation coefficients are greater than 0.73 give a strong support to the conclusion that there is indeed a high correlation (and a possible relationship between social sustainability, innovation and competitiveness at country level. Research limitations/implications: Further research is advisable to better understand the factors that contribute to the presented results and to establish a global paradigm linking these three main constructs (social sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness. Some authors consider that these measurements are not fully supported (e.g. due to different countries standards, however, it is assumed these differing underlying methodological approaches

  15. Assessing the sustainable construction of large construction companies in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nasrun, Mohd Nawi Mohd

    2016-08-01

    Considering the increasing concerns for the consideration of sustainability issues in construction project delivery within the construction industry, this paper assesses the extent of sustainable construction among Malaysian large contractors, in order to ascertain the level of the industry's impacts on both the environment and the society. Sustainable construction explains the construction industry's responsibility to efficiently utilise the finite resources while also reducing construction impacts on both humans and the environment throughout the phases of construction. This study used proportionate stratified random sampling to conduct a field study with a sample of 172 contractors out of the 708 administered questionnaires. Data were collected from large contractors in the eleven states of peninsular Malaysia. Using the five-level rating scale (which include: 1= Very Low; 2= Low; 3= Moderate; 4= High; 5= Very High) to describe the level of sustainable construction of Malaysian contractors based on previous studies, statistical analysis reveals that environmental, social and economic sustainability of Malaysian large contractors are high.

  16. From Sustainability-as-usual to Sustainability Excellence in Local Bioenergy Business

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heli Kasurinen

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Bioenergy business operators can significantly contribute to the sustainability of bioenergy systems. While research has addressed the maturity of corporate responsibility for sustainability, the maturity levels of bioenergy business have not been determined. The objectives of this research were to characterise the maturity levels of bioenergy corporate responsibility for sustainability and outline an approach by which companies can operate at the most mature sustainability excellence level. Literature, three workshops attended by bioenergy experts and a case study on biobutanol production in Brazil were used to develop the maturity model and approach. The results characterise the profitability, acceptability, and sustainability orientation maturity levels through sustainability questions and methods, and list the components of a systemic, holistic approach. Although the shift of business mindset from sustainability-as-usual to sustainability excellence is challenging, a systemic approach is necessary to broadly identify sustainability questions and a multitude of methods by which they can be answered.

  17. Quality Disclosure in Sustainability Reporting: Evidence From Universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto ROMOLINI

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Attention towards sustainability reporting is very high with reference to higher education. The paper aims to assess the maturity level of sus-tainability reporting and to measure its quality by evaluating the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI indicators currently disclosed. The research was carried out using the inductive method. We de-limited the study to universities and we evaluated the quality of sustainability reporting by analyzing the indicators disclosed in 2012 reports accord-ing to GRI guidelines. The research gives an overview of sustainability reporting in universities by evaluating the quality level of their disclosure. The results confrm previous research by high-lighting the necessity to improve sustainability reporting. Moreover, the results show there are differences between universities that are con-nected to the peculiarities of each country. They also enable us to draw up an initial classifcation of universities. The paper provides one of the frst in-depth studies of sustainability reporting quality for universities included in the GRI database.

  18. Can renewable energy sources sustain affluent society?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trainer, F.E.

    1995-01-01

    Figures commonly quoted on costs of generating energy from renewable sources can give the impression that it will be possible to switch to renewables as the foundation for the continuation of industrial societies with high material living standards. Although renewable energy must be the sole source in a sustainable society, major difficulties become evident when conversions, storage and supply for high latitudes are considered. It is concluded that renewable energy sources will not be able to sustain present rich world levels of energy use and that a sustainable world order must be based on acceptance of much lower per capita levels of energy use, much lower living standards and a zero growth economy. (Author)

  19. Key characteristics for tool choice in indicator-based sustainability assessment at farm level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fleur Marchand

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Although the literature on sustainability assessment tools to support decision making in agriculture is rapidly growing, little attention has been paid to the actual tool choice. We focused on the choice of more complex integrated indicator-based tools at the farm level. The objective was to determine key characteristics as criteria for tool choice. This was done with an in-depth comparison of 2 cases: the Monitoring Tool for Integrated Farm Sustainability and the Public Goods Tool. They differ in characteristics that may influence tool choice: data, time, and budgetary requirements. With an enhanced framework, we derived 11 key characteristics to describe differences between the case tools. Based on the key characteristics, we defined 2 types of indicator-based tools: full sustainability assessment (FSA and rapid sustainability assessment (RSA. RSA tools are more oriented toward communicating and learning. They are therefore more suitable for use by a larger group of farmers, can help to raise awareness, trigger farmers to become interested in sustainable farming, and highlight areas of good or bad performance. If and when farmers increase their commitment to on-farm sustainability, they can gain additional insight by using an FSA tool. Based on complementary and modular use of the tools, practical recommendations for the different end users, i.e., researchers, farmers, advisers, and so forth, have been suggested.

  20. KPI-Driven Methodology for Urban Renovation at District Level. Sustainable Strategic Urban Planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Criado

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable urban renovation is characterized by multiple factors (e.g., technical, socio-economic, environmental and ethical perspectives, different spatial scales and a number of administrative structures that should address the evaluation of alternative scenarios or solutions. This defines a complex decision problem that includes different stakeholders where several aspects need to be considered simultaneously. In spite of the knowledge and experiences during the recent years, there is a need of methods that lead the decision-making processes. In response, a methodology based on a KPI-driven approach for urban renovation at district level is proposed in the European Smart City project CITyFiED. The methodology is a procedure with the energy efficiency as main pillar and the local authorities as client. It is composed of seven phases that ensures an effective dialogue among all the stakeholders, aiming to understand the objectives and needs of the city to deliver a set of customized Strategies for Sustainable Urban Renovation. In order to provide guidance and quantitative criteria, three levels of indicators are integrated into the approach: City Level Indicators (L1 at city & district level, Project Level KPIs (L2, and Impact Assessment Indicators at city level (L3.

  1. Tracking at High Level Trigger in CMS

    CERN Document Server

    Tosi, Mia

    2016-01-01

    The trigger systems of the LHC detectors play a crucial role in determining the physics capabili- ties of the experiments. A reduction of several orders of magnitude of the event rate is needed to reach values compatible with detector readout, offline storage and analysis capability. The CMS experiment has been designed with a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 Trigger (L1T), implemented on custom-designed electronics, and the High Level Trigger (HLT), a stream- lined version of the CMS offline reconstruction software running on a computer farm. A software trigger system requires a trade-off between the complexity of the algorithms, the sustainable out- put rate, and the selection efficiency. With the computing power available during the 2012 data taking the maximum reconstruction time at HLT was about 200 ms per event, at the nominal L1T rate of 100 kHz. Track reconstruction algorithms are widely used in the HLT, for the reconstruction of the physics objects as well as in the identification of b-jets and ...

  2. Evaluating the level and nature of sustainable development for a geothermal power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, Jason

    2010-01-01

    The paper provides for an evaluation of the potential level and nature of sustainable development of the Sabalan geothermal power plant in NW Iran, to be operational in 2011. The paper achieves this by applying a mathematical model of sustainable development developed by the author (re: Phillips), in respect to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by Yousefi et al. using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) methodology (re: Pastakia; Pastakia and Jensen). Using a model application methodology developed for the RIAM, the results indicated that the nature of sustainable development for Sabalan was considered to be very weak (S = 0.063). This was due to the imbalance between negative environmental impacts and positive socio-economic impacts deriving from the project. Further, when placed into context with a similar set of results obtained from the EIA of the Tuzla geothermal power plant by Baba also using the RIAM methodology, then the similarities between the results obtained raises some legimate questions as to the sustainable development credentials of geothermal power production. (author)

  3. Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Carina H. Keskitalo

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Much of the effort to address environmental issues at the local level has focused on defining principles and aims rather than addressing the operational difficulties of implementation. Drawing upon insights from sustainability scholarship, this study reviews two cases: the development of a Swedish standard for implementing sustainable development at municipality, county council, and regional levels, and attempts by a small rural municipality to establish a process towards implementing the Aalborg Commitments. The research illustrates the specific organizational and managerial complexity of these case study experiences. It concludes that an organizational focus on integration and mainstreaming deserves particular attention to achieve broader sustainability, or related environmental or adaptation goals. The results, in particular, highlight the role that integrated management systems can play for sustainability work at the local level.

  4. Interventions to encourage sustainable consumption

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dam, van Y.K.; Trijp, van J.C.M.

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable consumption is hampered by a discrepancy between consumers’ attitudes and their actual behaviour in the market place. Psychological construal level theory provides an explanation for the attitude to behaviour gap as a motivational conflict between high and low level of mental construal.

  5. Advanced high throughput MOX fuel fabrication technology and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krellmann, Juergen

    2005-01-01

    The MELOX plant in the south of France together with the La Hague reprocessing plant, are part of the two industrial facilities in charge of closing the nuclear fuel cycle in France. Started up in 1995, MELOX has since accumulated a solid know-how in recycling plutonium recovered from spent uranium fuel into MOX: a fuel blend comprised of both uranium and plutonium oxides. Converting recovered Pu into a proliferation-resistant material that can readily be used to power a civil nuclear reactor, MOX fabrication offers a sustainable solution to safely take advantage of the plutonium's high energy content. Being the first large-capacity industrial facility dedicated to MOX fuel fabrication, MELOX distinguishes itself from the first generation MOX plants with high capacity (around 200 tHM versus around 40 tHM) and several unique operational features designed to improve productivity, reliability and flexibility while maintaining high safety standards. Providing an exemplary reference for high throughput MOX fabrication with 1,000 tHM produced since start-up, the unique process and technologies implemented at MELOX are currently inspiring other MOX plant construction projects (in Japan with the J-MOX plant, in the US and in Russia as part of the weapon-grade plutonium inventory reduction). Spurred by the growing international demand, MELOX has embarked upon an ambitious production development and diversification plan. Starting from an annual level of 100 tons of heavy metal (tHM), MELOX demonstrated production capacity is continuously increasing: MELOX is now aiming for a minimum of 140 tHM by the end of 2005, with the ultimate ambition of reaching the full capacity of the plant (around 200 tHM) in the near future. With regards to its activity, MELOX also remains deeply committed to sustainable development in a consolidated involvement within AREVA group. The French minister of Industry, on August 26th 2005, acknowledged the benefits of MOX fuel production at MELOX: 'In

  6. Two centuries of heating our homes. An empirical - historical contribution to the problem of sustainability on a micro level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Vooght, D.; Scholliers, P.; Spirinckx, C.; Geerken, T.

    2006-01-01

    Discussions about sustainability are often restricted to statements about energy. However, when the notion was first used, it had a broader meaning. It argued that every generation should strive for economic progress, yet this should affect all generations in a positive way. This interpretation was evolved by the Brundtland commission in 1987. Since the publication of its report 'Our common future', it is widely accepted that sustainable development involves a social, economic and environmental dimension. Since there is no unambiguous definition of 'sustainable development' on hand, a set of sustainability indicators was developed. However, these indicators are not very instructive about the micro level: can we label a particular commodity 'sustainable' or does this have only relatively limited value? To what extent is mankind capable of producing, distributing and consuming in a 'pure', efficient and cheap way? To create a long-term view on 'sustainable development', important lessons could be learned from the past. 'Sustainability' has little meaning without an understanding of long-term ecosystem trajectories and a knowledge of baseline conditions, if they ever existed. The interdisciplinary research project '(Un)sustainability developments of product systems, 1800 - 2000' investigates the (un)sustainability development of four basic needs (potable water, bread, transportation of people over land, and heated living space) in Belgium over the last two centuries, to gain insight into sustainable development on a micro level. This paper focuses on the case study of the heated living space. It explores the boundaries of the research subject, before examining sources and methodology. The project employs Life Cycle Assessment techniques on historical data, which is a first in historical research in Belgium. After studying the social, economic and environmental indicators, the results are combined. This leads to several (cautious) conclusions about sustainability on a

  7. Legitimising Corporate Sustainability Reporting Throughout the World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faisal

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores corporate sustainability disclosure practices in a global context. A unique sample of 2009 sustainability reports from some of the world’s largest companies in 24 diverse countries are examined using a comprehensive disclosure index. These reports are analysed to better understand how company characteristics and institutional factors explain sustainability communication using a legitimacy theory framework. The world renowned Global ReportingInitiative 2006 guidelines are used as the benchmark disclosure index checklist. The empirical results indicate that the average level of sustainability disclosure is a surprisingly high 61.9 percent.Statistical analysis indicates that high profile industries and additional assurance procedures influence the disclosure of more sustainability information. Interestingly, companies operating inemerging country systems disclose more sustainability information than Anglo-Saxon or Communitarian jurisdictions. Consistent with legitimacy theory, these results suggest that these globally well known firms use sustainability disclosure as a legitimising tool.

  8. High Performance Education Fails in Sustainability?--A Reflection on Finnish Primary Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Lili-Ann; Sjöblom, Pia; Hofman-Bergholm, Maria; Palmberg, Irmeli

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability is internationally often emphasized as an essential aim of higher education, but more as a principle than on the practical level. This is also obvious in the academic education of primary teachers in Finland. Therefore, it is a great challenge for Finnish teachers to include sustainability in their teaching and everyday life in…

  9. Antecedent and Concurrent Psychosocial Skills That Support High Levels of Achievement within Talent Domains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula; Subotnik, Rena F.; Worrell, Frank C.

    2015-01-01

    Motivation and emotional regulation are important for the sustained focused study and practice required for high levels of achievement and creative productivity in adulthood. Using the talent development model proposed by the authors as a framework, the authors discuss several important psychosocial skills based on the psychological research…

  10. Out-of-Core Computations of High-Resolution Level Sets by Means of Code Transformation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Brian Bunch; Nielsen, Michael Bang; Museth, Ken

    2012-01-01

    We propose a storage efficient, fast and parallelizable out-of-core framework for streaming computations of high resolution level sets. The fundamental techniques are skewing and tiling transformations of streamed level set computations which allow for the combination of interface propagation, re...... computations are now CPU bound and consequently the overall performance is unaffected by disk latency and bandwidth limitations. We demonstrate this with several benchmark tests that show sustained out-of-core throughputs close to that of in-core level set simulations....

  11. Self-sustained high-temperature reactions : Initiation, propagation and synthesis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martinez Pacheco, M.

    2007-01-01

    Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS), also called combustion synthesis is an exothermic and self-sustained reaction between the constituents, which has assumed significance for the production of ceramics and ceramic-metallic materials (cermets), because it is a very rapid processing

  12. Radiofrequency initiation and radiofrequency sustainment of laser initiated seeded high pressure plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paller, Eric S.; Scharer, John E.; Akhtar, Kamran; Kelly, Kurt; Ding, Guowen

    2001-01-01

    We examine radiofrequency initiation of high pressure(1-70 Torr) inductive plasma discharges in argon, nitrogen, air and organic seed gas mixtures. Millimeter wave interferometry, optical emission and antenna wave impedance measurements for double half-turn helix and helical inductive antennas are used to interpret the rf/plasma coupling, measure the densities in the range of 10 12 cm -3 and analyze the ionization and excited states of the gas mixtures. We have also carried out 193 nm excimer laser initiation of an organic gas seed plasma which is sustained at higher pressures(150 Torr) by radiofrequency coupling at 2.8 kW power levels

  13. A reconsideration on deep sea bed disposal of high level radiological wastes. A post-Fukushima reflection on sustainable nuclear energy in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    2013-01-01

    The ultimate disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is a common issue among all nuclear developing countries. However, this becomes especially a hard issue for sustainable nuclear energy in Japan after Fukushima Daiichi accident. In this paper, the difficulty of realizing underground HLW disposal in Japanese islands is first discussed from socio-political aspects. Then, revival of old idea of deep seabed disposal of HLW in Pacific Ocean is proposed as an alternative way of HLW disposal. Although this old idea had been abandoned in the past for the reason that it would violate London Convention which prohibits dumping radioactive wastes in public sea, the author will stress the merit of seabed disposal of HLW deep in Pacific Ocean not only from the view point of more safe and ultimate way of disposing HLWs (both vitrified and spent fuel) than by underground disposal, but also the emergence of new marine project by synergetic collaboration of rare-earth resource exploration from the deep sea floor in Pacific Ocean. (author)

  14. Evaluation of possibility to increasing sustainability of high-rise buildings through use university intellectual property

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potekhin, Igor; Mischenko, Valeryi; Mottaeva, Angela; Zheltenkov, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    In this article explained approach of valuation of intellectual property of Voronezh State Technical University, as her usefulness to increasing the sustainability and ecological safety of high-rise building. High-rise building is main type of buildings in modern cities. They include large volume of material mass, high volume of energy using and high volume of emissions. Using innovation solutions to improving ecology safety of high-rise buildings has large potential to city in whole. Explained in the article methods of calculation of effects helps to value sustainable solutions of present and future generations. Thus usefulness of patents express through usefulness regarding to high-rise building, including for sustainable development.

  15. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY TOURISTIC REGION OF ISTRIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasmina GRZINIC

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available As the scale of tourism grows, the resource use threatens to become unsustainable. Withought environmental responsibility the levels of cheaper mass tourism will increase, forcing more “nature-based” tourism to move on to new destinations. This scenario is opposite to the “Croatian Tourism Development by 2010” strategy. With a favourable geographic position, almost at the heart of Europe, Istria has always represented a bridge connecting the Middle European continental area with the Mediterranean. This area is the most visited Croatian tourist region with 27% of all visitors and 35% of time spent in all of Croatia. The Croatian National Bank’s preliminary figures for 2007 show that international tourism generated 18.4% of Croatian GDP. For these reasons the Istrian tourism industry can not ignore environmental issues in its management and requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders (according to the Agenda 21 for tourism industry. Properly planned tourism development, combined with environmental protection, produces the concept of sustainable tourism. Environmentally sustainable form of tourism represents a step forward from "sea and sun" mass tourism developed at the coastal part of Istria. There are a myriad of definitions for Sustainable Tourism, including eco-tourism, green travel, environmentally and culturally responsible tourism, fair trade and ethical travel. Mentioned selective tourism forms are adopted as the concept of the present and future Istrian destination development.

  16. Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment: Evaluating Residential Development Sustainability in a Developing Country Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tan Yigitcanlar

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization, improved quality of life, and diversified lifestyle options have collectively led to an escalation in housing demand in our cities, where residential areas, as the largest portion of urban land use type, play a critical role in the formation of sustainable cities. To date there has been limited research to ascertain residential development layouts that provide a more sustainable urban outcome. This paper aims to evaluate and compare sustainability levels of residential types by focusing on their layouts. The paper scrutinizes three different development types in a developing country context—i.e., subdivision, piecemeal, and master-planned developments. This study develops a “Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment” tool and applies it to compare their sustainability levels in Ipoh, Malaysia. The analysis finds that the master-planned development, amongst the investigated case studies, possesses the potential to produce higher levels of sustainability outcomes. The results reveal insights and evidence for policymakers, planners, development agencies and researchers; advocate further studies on neighborhood-level sustainability analysis, and; emphasize the need for collective efforts and an effective process in achieving neighborhood sustainability and sustainable city formation.

  17. Sustaining anti-littering behavior within coastal and marine environments: Through the macro-micro level lenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beeharry, Yashna Devi; Bekaroo, Girish; Bokhoree, Chandradeo; Phillips, Michael Robert; Jory, Neelakshi

    2017-06-30

    Being regarded as a problem of global dimensions, marine litter has been a growing concern that affects human beings, wildlife and the economic health of coastal communities to varying degrees. Due to its involvement with human behavior, marine littering has been regarded as a cultural matter encompassing macro and micro level aspects. At the micro or individual level, behavior and behavioral motivation of an individual are driven by perception of that person while at the macro or societal level, aspects including policies and legislations influence behavior. This paper investigates marine littering through the macro-micro level lenses in order to analyze and recommend how anti-littering behavior can be improved and sustained. Using Coleman's model of micro-macro relations, research questions are formulated and investigated through a social survey. Results showed important differences in perceptions among participating groups and to address key issues, potential actions are proposed along with a framework to sustain anti-littering behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. PUBLIC DEBT ANALYSIS BASED ON SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena DASCALU

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This article is an analysis of public debt, in terms of sustainability and vulnerability indicators, under a functioning market economy. The problems encountered regarding the high level of public debt or the potential risks of budgetary pressure converge to the idea that sustainability of public finances should be a major challenge for public policy. Thus, the policy adequate to address public finance sustainability must have as its starting point the overall strategy of the European Union, as well as the economic development of Member States, focusing on the most important performance components, namely, reducing public debt levels, increasing productivity and employment and, last but not the least, reforming social security systems. In order to achieve sustainable levels of public debt, the European Union Member States are required to establish and accomplish medium term strategic budgetary goals to ensure a downward trend in public debt.

  19. Singlet oxygen generation in a high pressure non-self-sustained electric discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hicks, Adam; Norberg, Seth; Shawcross, Paul; Lempert, Walter R; Rich, J William; Adamovich, Igor V

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents results of singlet oxygen generation experiments in a high-pressure, non-self-sustained crossed discharge. The discharge consists of a high-voltage, short pulse duration, high repetition rate pulsed discharge, which produces ionization in the flow, and a low-voltage dc discharge which sustains current in a decaying plasma between the pulses. The sustainer voltage can be independently varied to maximize the energy input into electron impact excitation of singlet delta oxygen (SDO). The results demonstrate operation of a stable and diffuse crossed discharge in O 2 -He mixtures at static pressures of at least up to P 0 = 380 Torr and sustainer discharge powers of at least up to 1200 W, achieved at P 0 = 120 Torr. The reduced electric field in the positive column of the sustainer discharge varies from E/N = 0.3 x 10 -16 to 0.65 X 10 -16 V cm 2 , which is significantly lower than E/N in self-sustained discharges and close to the theoretically predicted optimum value for O 2 (a 1 Δ) excitation. Measurements of visible emission spectra O 2 (b 1 Σ → X 3 Σ) in the discharge afterglow show the O 2 (b 1 Σ) concentration to increase with the sustainer discharge power and to decrease as the O 2 fraction in the flow is increased. Rotational temperatures inferred from these spectra in 10% O 2 -90% He flows at P 0 = 120 Torr and mass flow rates of m-dot = 2.2 are 365-465 K. SDO yield at these conditions, 1.7% to 4.4%, was inferred from the integrated intensity of the (0, 0) band of the O 2 (a 1 Δ → X 3 Σ) infrared emission spectra calibrated using a blackbody source. The yield remains nearly constant in the discharge afterglow, up to at least 15 cm distance from the discharge. Kinetic modelling calculations using a quasi-one-dimensional nonequilibrium pulser-sustainer discharge model coupled with the Boltzmann equation for plasma electrons predict gas temperature rise in the discharge in satisfactory agreement with the experimental measurements

  20. A Multi-Objective Trade-Off Model in Sustainable Construction Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangdong Wu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Based on the consideration of the relative importance of sustainability-related objectives and the inherent nature of sustainable construction projects, this study proposes that the contractor can balance the levels of efforts and resources used to improve the overall project sustainability. A multi-objective trade-off model using game theory was established and verified through simulation and numerical example under a moral hazard situation. Results indicate that effort levels of the contractor on sustainability-related objectives are positively related to the outcome coefficient while negatively to the coefficients of effort cost of the relevant objectives. High levels of the relative importance of sustainability-related objectives contribute to high levels of effort of the contractor. With the variation in effort levels and the coefficient of benefit allocation, the project net benefit increases before declining. The function of project benefit has a marked peak value, with an inverted “U” shape. An equilibrium always exists as for the given relative importance and coefficients of the effort costs of sustainability-related objectives. Under this condition, the owner may offer the contractor a less intense incentive and motivate the contractor reasonably arranging input resources. The coefficient of benefit allocation is affected by the contractor characteristic factors and the project characteristic factors. The owner should balance these two types of factors and select the most appropriate incentive mechanism to improve the project benefit. Meanwhile, the contractor can balance the relative importance of the objectives and arrange the appropriate levels of effort and resources to achieve a sustainability-related objective. Very few studies have emphasized the effects of the relative importance of sustainability-related objectives on the benefits of sustainable construction projects. This study therefore builds a multi-objective trade

  1. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) — A new assessment tool for evaluating the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Phillips, Jason, E-mail: jp1@tiscali.co.uk

    2016-01-15

    Evaluating sustainability from EIA-based assessments has been problematic at best. This is due to the use of reductionist and qualitative approaches which is dependent upon the perspective of the assessor(s). Therefore, a more rigorous and holistic approach is required to evaluate sustainability in a more consistent way. In this paper, a matrix-based methodology in order to assess the indicated level and nature of sustainability for any project, policy, indicators, legislation, regulation, or other framework is described. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) is designed to evaluate the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability occurring in respect the fundamental and complex geocybernetic paradigms. The GAM method is described in detail in respect to the theory behind it and the methodology. The GAM is then demonstrated using an appropriate case study — Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (2008) concerning carbon budgets and targets. The results indicate that the Part 1 of Act may not achieve the desired goals in contributing towards sustainable development through the stated mechanisms for carbon budgets and targets. The paper then discusses the broader context of the GAM with respect to the core themes evident in the development and application of the GAM of: sustainability science; sustainability assessment; application value of the GAM; and future research and development. - Highlights: • A new assessment tool called the Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) described. • GAM evaluates the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability. • GAM demonstrated by application to Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (CCA). • Part 1 of CCA has significant flaws in achieving a sustainable pathway. • GAM offers a potentially useful tool for quantitatively evaluating sustainability.

  2. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) — A new assessment tool for evaluating the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, Jason

    2016-01-01

    Evaluating sustainability from EIA-based assessments has been problematic at best. This is due to the use of reductionist and qualitative approaches which is dependent upon the perspective of the assessor(s). Therefore, a more rigorous and holistic approach is required to evaluate sustainability in a more consistent way. In this paper, a matrix-based methodology in order to assess the indicated level and nature of sustainability for any project, policy, indicators, legislation, regulation, or other framework is described. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) is designed to evaluate the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability occurring in respect the fundamental and complex geocybernetic paradigms. The GAM method is described in detail in respect to the theory behind it and the methodology. The GAM is then demonstrated using an appropriate case study — Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (2008) concerning carbon budgets and targets. The results indicate that the Part 1 of Act may not achieve the desired goals in contributing towards sustainable development through the stated mechanisms for carbon budgets and targets. The paper then discusses the broader context of the GAM with respect to the core themes evident in the development and application of the GAM of: sustainability science; sustainability assessment; application value of the GAM; and future research and development. - Highlights: • A new assessment tool called the Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) described. • GAM evaluates the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability. • GAM demonstrated by application to Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (CCA). • Part 1 of CCA has significant flaws in achieving a sustainable pathway. • GAM offers a potentially useful tool for quantitatively evaluating sustainability.

  3. Scaphoid Stress Fracture in High-Level Gymnast: A Case Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. C. Nakamoto

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We present the case of an 18-year-old high-level gymnast who sustained a stress fracture of the scaphoid associated with a distal radial epiphysiolysis. Clinical evaluation demonstrated decreased range of motion of the affected wrist and insidious pain on the snuffbox and tenderness on the distal radial physis. He was submitted to surgical treatment with scaphoid percutaneous fixation and radial styloid process in situ fixation. Clinical features improved, and he got back to competition 6 months after surgery without symptoms and with complete range of motion.

  4. Challenges to achievement of metal sustainability in our high-tech society.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izatt, Reed M; Izatt, Steven R; Bruening, Ronald L; Izatt, Neil E; Moyer, Bruce A

    2014-04-21

    Achievement of sustainability in metal life cycles from mining of virgin ore to consumer and industrial devices to end-of-life products requires greatly increased recycling rates and improved processing of metals using conventional and green chemistry technologies. Electronic and other high-tech products containing precious, toxic, and specialty metals usually have short lifetimes and low recycling rates. Products containing these metals generally are incinerated, discarded as waste in landfills, or dismantled in informal recycling using crude and environmentally irresponsible procedures. Low recycling rates of metals coupled with increasing demand for high-tech products containing them necessitate increased mining with attendant environmental, health, energy, water, and carbon-footprint consequences. In this tutorial review, challenges to achieving metal sustainability, including projected use of urban mining, in present high-tech society are presented; health, environmental, and economic incentives for various government, industry, and public stakeholders to improve metal sustainability are discussed; a case for technical improvements, including use of molecular recognition, in selective metal separation technology, especially for metal recovery from dilute feed stocks is given; and global consequences of continuing on the present path are examined.

  5. Approaches to defining deltaic sustainability in the 21st century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, John W.; Agboola, Julius; Chen, Zhongyuan; D'Elia, Christopher; Forbes, Donald L.; Giosan, Liviu; Kemp, Paul; Kuenzer, Claudia; Lane, Robert R.; Ramachandran, Ramesh; Syvitski, James; Yañez-Arancibia, Alejandro

    2016-12-01

    Deltas are among the most productive and economically important of global ecosystems but unfortunately they are also among the most threatened by human activities. Here we discuss deltas and human impact, several approaches to defining deltaic sustainability and present a ranking of sustainability. Delta sustainability must be considered within the context of global biophysical and socioeconomic constraints that include thermodynamic limitations, scale and embeddedness, and constraints at the level of the biosphere/geosphere. The development, functioning, and sustainability of deltas are the result of external and internal inputs of energy and materials, such as sediments and nutrients, that include delta lobe development, channel switching, crevasse formation, river floods, storms and associated waves and storm surges, and tides and other ocean currents. Modern deltas developed over the past several thousand years with relatively stable global mean sea level, predictable material inputs from drainage basins and the sea, and as extremely open systems. Human activity has changed these conditions to make deltas less sustainable, in that they are unable to persist through time structurally or functionally. Deltaic sustainability can be considered from geomorphic, ecological, and economic perspectives, with functional processes at these three levels being highly interactive. Changes in this functioning can lead to either enhanced or diminished sustainability, but most changes have been detrimental. There is a growing understanding that the trajectories of global environmental change and cost of energy will make achieving delta sustainability more challenging and limit options for management. Several delta types are identified in terms of sustainability including those in arid regions, those with high and low energy-intensive management systems, deltas below sea level, tropical deltas, and Arctic deltas. Representative deltas are ranked on a sustainability range

  6. Exploring biophysical potential and sustainability of wheat cultivation in Uruguay at the national level

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mantel, S.; Engelen, van V.W.P.; Molfino, J.H.; Resink, J.W.

    2000-01-01

    A methodology is presented that explores soil survey information at the national level (1:1 M), generating sustainability indicators for wheat cultivation in Uruguay. Potential yields were calculated for simplified crop production situations under several constraints, such as limitation of water

  7. Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Næss, Petter; Vogel, Nina

    2012-01-01

    This article discusses some challenges and possible adaptations of transition theory as a framework for analyzing the prospects for environmentally more sustainable development of urban land use and transport infrastructure. Rather than depending first and foremost on niche innovations......, a transition toward sustainable urban development is a matter of changing the composition of existing multisegmented land use and transportation regimes. Those well-experienced forms of built environment and transport infrastructure that are in line with sustainability objectives should be strengthened while...... those that are not should be actively constrained and reduced. Urban development in a Danish provincial city is used as a case to illustrate some of the points made in the theoretical part of the article. Due to the wide gap between present conditions and those required to realize a sustainable urban...

  8. The Water Footprint as an indicator of environmental sustainability in water use at the river basin level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicer-Martínez, Francisco; Martínez-Paz, José Miguel

    2016-11-15

    One of the main challenges in water management is to determine how the current water use can condition its availability to future generations and hence its sustainability. This study proposes the use of the Water Footprint (WF) indicator to assess the environmental sustainability in water resources management at the river basin level. The current study presents the methodology developed and applies it to a case study. The WF is a relatively new indicator that measures the total volume of freshwater that is used as a production factor. Its application is ever growing in the evaluation of water use in production processes. The calculation of the WF involves water resources (blue), precipitation stored in the soil (green) and pollution (grey). It provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental sustainability of water use in a river basin. The methodology is based upon the simulation of the anthropised water cycle, which is conducted by combining a hydrological model and a decision support system. The methodology allows the assessment of the environmental sustainability of water management at different levels, and/or ex-ante analysis of how the decisions made in water planning process affect sustainability. The sustainability study was carried out in the Segura River Basin (SRB) in South-eastern Spain. The SRB is among the most complex basins in Europe, given its special peculiarities: competition for the use, overexploitation of aquifers, pollution, alternative sources, among others. The results indicate that blue water use is not sustainable due to the generalised overexploitation of aquifers. They also reveal that surface water pollution, which is not sustainable, is mainly caused by phosphate concentrations. The assessment of future scenarios reveals that these problems will worsen if no additional measures are implemented, and therefore the water management in the SRB is environmentally unsustainable in both the short- and medium-term. Copyright © 2016

  9. Economic sustainability, water security and multi-level governance of local water schemes in Nepal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma Hakala

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the role of multi-level governance and power structures in local water security through a case study of the Nawalparasi district in Nepal. It focuses on economic sustainability as a measure to address water security, placing this thematic in the context of a complicated power structure consisting of local, district and national administration as well as external development cooperation actors. The study aims to find out whether efforts to improve the economic sustainability of water schemes have contributed to water security at the local level. In addition, it will consider the interactions between water security, power structures and local equality and justice. The research builds upon survey data from the Nepalese districts of Nawalparasi and Palpa, and a case study based on interviews and observation in Nawalparasi. The survey was performed in water schemes built within a Finnish development cooperation programme spanning from 1990 to 2004, allowing a consideration of the long-term sustainability of water management projects. This adds a crucial external influence into the intra-state power structures shaping water management in Nepal. The article thus provides an alternative perspective to cross-regional water security through a discussion combining transnational involvement with national and local points of view.

  10. MHz-level self-sustained pulsation in polymer microspheres on a chip

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou-Chen Luo

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available We observe MHz-level periodic self-sustained pulsation (SSP in the transmission spectrum of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS spherical microcavity on a silicon chip, under a fixed-frequency continuous laser excitation. The SSP results from the strong competition between the thermo-optic and thermal expansion effects of PDMS within the cavity mode volume. The experimental results show good agreement with the theoretical prediction by considering the modification of the thermal expansion coefficient and the temperature distribution within the mode volume.

  11. Urban stormwater - greywater management system for sustainable urban water management at sub-watershed level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh Arora, Amarpreet

    2017-11-01

    Urban water management involves urban water supply (import, treatment and distribution of water), urban wastewater management (collection, treatment and disposal of urban sewage) and urban storm water management. Declining groundwater tables, polluted and declining sources of water, water scarcity in urban areas, unsatisfactory urban water supply and sanitation situation, pollution of receiving water bodies (including the ground water), and urban floods have become the concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This paper proposes a model for urban stormwater and sewage management which addresses these concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This model proposes segregation of the sewage into black water and greywater, and urban sub-watershed level stormwater-greywater management systems. During dry weather this system will be handling only the greywater and making the latter available as reclaimed water for reuse in place of the fresh water supply. During wet weather, the system will be taking care of (collection and treatment) both the storm water and the greywater, and the excess of the treated water will be disposed off through groundwater recharging. Application of this model in the Patiala city, Punjab, INDIA for selected urban sub-watersheds has been tried. Information and background data required for the conceptualization and design of the sub-watershed level urban stormwater-greywater management system was collected and the system has been designed for one of the sub-watersheds in the Patiala city. In this paper, the model for sustainable urban water management and the design of the Sub-watershed level Urban Stormwater-Greywater Management System are described.

  12. Sustainable apple breedings needs sustainable marketing and management

    OpenAIRE

    Weber, M.

    2008-01-01

    Apple breeding programmes are currently in the middle of transition in terms of ownership and management. Until now most of them were funded by the public. Breeding took place by traditional methods since decades in a very sustainable way to develop better apple varieties. Today, increasing loss of national boundaries and globalisation, less interest by national bodies and institutions and rising cost levels for high tech breeding methods entire programmes are nowadays urged to...

  13. Can Education for Sustainable Development Change Entrepreneurship Education to Deliver a Sustainable Future?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strachan, Glenn

    2018-01-01

    An objective of the European Union's Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan is to address high levels of youth unemployment in Europe by promoting entrepreneurship. Implementing entrepreneurship education in schools, colleges and universities is one of three strategic interventions proposed by the Action Plan. Sustainable entrepreneurship is a…

  14. Innovation Level of Sustainable Practices Adopted in Industrial Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Sehnem

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to identify the level of innovation of sustainable practices by industrial companies. This is a descriptive study that made use of a questionnaire answered by 50 industrial companies. The results show that environmental practices at full level by 68% of businesses are monitoring the risks and opportunities for the organization's activities due to climate change; 56% of companies surveyed are waste separation; followed by the realization of related health and safety training at work in 52% of cases surveyed; and 48% monitoring and recording of injuries, the injury rate, the rate of occupational diseases, lost days, absenteeism and number of work-related fatalities for all workers. Among the practices adopted not stand out incineration (burning mass (80% of companies surveyed; hiring indigenous and tribal employees (68%; composting (64% and use of surface water in the process. Therefore, the study contributed to the disclosure cleaner called production innovations and also pipe end technologies. Some social practices that signal a commitment of the organizations with human resources and the humanization and also economical focused on continuous improvement.

  15. Sustained high βN plasmas on EAST tokamak

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Xiang; the EAST team

    2018-05-01

    Sustained high normalized beta (βN ∼ 1.9) plasmas with an ITER-like tungsten divertor have been achieved on EAST tokamak recently. The high power NBI heating system of 4.8 MW and the 4.6 GHz lower hybrid wave of 1 MW were developed and applied to produce edge and internal transport barriers in high βN discharges. The central flat q profile with q (ρ) ∼ 1 at ρ safety factor q95 = 4.7 is identified by the multi-channel far-infrared laser polarimeter and the EFIT code. The fraction of non-inductive current is about 40%. The relation between fishbone activity and ITB formation is observed and discussed.

  16. Toward a sustainable biorefinery using high-gravity technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xiros, Charilaos; Janssen, Matty; Bystrom, Roberth

    2017-01-01

    The realization of process solutions for a sustainable bioeconomy depends on the efficient processing of biomass. High-gravity technology is one important alternative to realizing such solutions. The aims of this work were to expand the knowledge-base on lignocellulosic bioconversion processes...... at high solids content, to advance the current technologies for production of second-generation liquid biofuels, to evaluate the environmental impact of the proposed process by using life cycle assessment (LCA), and to develop and present a technically, economically, and environmentally sound process....... Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....

  17. Maintenance Free and Sustainable High-Level Control in Cement and Mining Industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Ole Fink

    2009-01-01

    High-level control systems have been utilized in the process industry for decades, and also in cement production their use is well established. In comparison to manual control their ability to increase production and quality of end product, while reducing energy consumption and emission, is well...... but nevertheless still require maintenance. For the 10% of the algorithm that is control related, the maintenance issue is to some extent addressed by research topics such as adaptive control, which aim at retuning the parameters of the algorithm to match the changing process. In this project however, it has been...... chosen to focus on the remaining 90% of the algorithm which still require manual modifications to cope with a changed process. Although this issue has gained limited attention from academia so far it is well recognized by the industry. In the process of maintaining an algorithm it has turned out...

  18. D-T plasma of self-sustained burning under high performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong Xueyu

    2003-01-01

    By adopting a Bohm-type thermal diffusion coefficient related to the energy confinement enhancement factor H within the conventional magnetic shear regime, and a mixed Bohm-gyro-Bohm thermal diffusion coefficient related to the shear within the negative central magnetic shear regime, considering the effect of the α particle anomalous diffusion and the dynamic feedback heating, and starting from energy transport of electrons and ions, we have studied the high performance self-sustaining burning deuterium-tritium plasma under a given plasma density profile for the two different kinds of magnetic shear regimes. Some conclusions are obtained: under the conventional shear, only when H≥3, the D-T burning can produce a large power output, and when H is larger than a certain value (H≅4), D-T plasma self-sustained burning can be maintained without the dynamic feedback heating; under the negative central shear, the plasmas have a higher plasma performance and a larger power output than that under conventional shear, and D-T plasma self-sustained burning can be maintained without the dynamic feedback heating power, the suitable alpha particle diffusion is advantage ous to D-T plasma burning under the conventional shear, and D-T self-sustained burning cannot be maintained under a large α particle anomalous diffusion for the negative central shear. The dynamic feedback heating power is important for sustaining D-T plasma burning under the conventional shear

  19. Strategies for high-level radioactive waste management: the U.S. experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cotton, T.A.

    1984-01-01

    Technology exists or is under development for the safe, retrievable storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors and high-level waste from reprocessing that fuel, for many decades, and no insuperable scientific obstacles to permanent disposal of spent fuel or high-level waste in geologic repositories have been identified. However, there are significant institutional obstacles to developing such repositories: strong local opposition to siting and the requirement for a sustained commitment of money and skilled manpower over a period of decades. These create strong incentives to defer the political and economic costs of developing disposal facilities by using less expensive interim storage; yet continued deferral may affect the acceptability of nuclear power. Thus the principal strategic policy issue in high-level waste management is how rapidly to develop disposal facilities. Some countries plan decades of storage before choosing a repository site or a disposal technology, while the United States has enacted a law requiring operation of a geologic repository by 1998. This paper discusses waste management strategic issues and major provisions of the U.S. law, emphasizing those measures dealing with the institutional obstacles to developing geologic repositories. (author)

  20. A unit-level perspective on the long-term sustainability of a nursing best practice guidelines program: An embedded multiple case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleiszer, Andrea R; Semenic, Sonia E; Ritchie, Judith A; Richer, Marie-Claire; Denis, Jean-Louis

    2016-01-01

    Best practice guidelines are a tool for narrowing research-to-practice gaps and improving care outcomes. There is some empirical understanding of guideline implementation in nursing settings, yet there has been almost no consideration of the longer-term sustainability of guideline-based practice improvements. Many healthcare innovations are not sustained, underscoring the need for knowledge about how to promote their survival. To understand how a nursing best practice guidelines program was sustained on acute healthcare center nursing units. We undertook a qualitative descriptive case study of an organization-wide nursing best practice guidelines program with four embedded nursing unit subcases. The setting was a large, tertiary/quaternary urban health center in Canada. The nursing department initiated a program to enhance patient safety through the implementation of three guidelines: falls prevention, pressure ulcer prevention, and pain management. We selected four inpatient unit subcases that had differing levels of program sustainability at an average of almost seven years post initial program implementation. Data sources included 39 key informant interviews with nursing leaders/administrators and frontline nurses; site visits; and program-related documents. Data collection and content analysis were guided by a framework for the sustainability of healthcare innovations. Program sustainability was characterized by three elements: benefits, routinization, and development. Seven key factors most accounted for the differences in the level of program sustainability between subcases. These factors were: perceptions of advantages, collaboration, accountability, staffing, linked levels of leadership, attributes of formal unit leadership, and leaders' use of sustainability activities. Some prominent relationships between characteristics and factors explained long-term program sustainability. Of primary importance was the extent to which unit leaders used sustainability

  1. Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Schader

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available When trying to optimize the sustainability performance of farms and farming systems, a consideration of trade-offs and synergies between different themes and dimensions is required. The aim of this paper is to perform a systematic analysis of trade-offs and synergies across all dimensions and themes. To achieve this aim we used the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART-Farm Tool which operationalizes the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA Guidelines by defining science-based indicator sets and assessment procedures. It identifies the degree of goal achievement with respect to the 58 themes defined in the SAFA Guidelines using an impact matrix that defines 327 indicators and 1769 relations between sustainability themes and indicators. We illustrate how the SMART-Farm Tool can be successfully applied to assess the sustainability performance of farms of different types and in different geographic regions. Our analysis revealed important synergies between themes within a sustainability dimension and across dimensions. We found major trade-offs within the environmental dimension and between the environmental and economic dimension. The trade-offs within the environmental dimension were even larger than the trade-offs with other dimensions. The study also underlines the importance of the governance dimension with regard to achieving a good level of performance in the other dimensions.

  2. Relative Sustainability of Natural Gas Assisted High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock Production from Biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tan, Eric C [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yi Min [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cai, Hao [Argonne National Laboratory

    2017-11-01

    Biomass-derived hydrocarbon fuel technologies are being developed and pursued for better economy, environment, and society benefits underpinning the sustainability of transportation energy. Increasing availability and affordability of natural gas (NG) in the US can play an important role in assisting renewable fuel technology development, primarily in terms of economic feasibility. When a biorefinery is co-processing NG with biomass, the current low cost of NG coupled with the higher NG carbon conversion efficiency potentially allow for cost competitiveness of the fuel while achieving a minimum GHG emission reduction of 50 percent or higher compared to petroleum fuel. This study evaluates the relative sustainability of the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of biomass (and with NG co-feed) through methanol/dimethyl ether intermediates. The sustainability metrics considered in this study include minimum fuel selling price (MFSP), carbon conversion efficiency, life cycle GHG emissions, life cycle water consumption, fossil energy return on investment (EROI), GHG emission avoidance cost, and job creation. Co-processing NG can evidently improve the MFSP. Evaluation of the relative sustainability can shed light on the biomass-NG synergistic impacts and sustainability trade-offs associated with the IDL as high-octane gasoline blendstock production.

  3. Limits to sustainable muscle performance: interaction between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conley, K E; Kemper, W F; Crowther, G J

    2001-09-01

    This paper proposes a mechanism responsible for setting the sustainable level of muscle performance. Our contentions are that the sustainable work rate is determined (i) at the muscle level, (ii) by the ability to maintain ATP supply and (iii) by the products of glycolysis that may inhibit the signal for oxidative phosphorylation. We argue below that no single factor 'limits' sustainable performance, but rather that the flux through and the interaction between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation set the level of sustainable ATP supply. This argument is based on magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements of the sources and sinks for energy in vivo in human muscle and rattlesnake tailshaker muscle during sustained contractions. These measurements show that glycolysis provides between 20% (human muscle) and 40% (tailshaker muscle) of the ATP supply during sustained contractions in these muscles. We cite evidence showing that this high glycolytic flux does not reflect an O(2) limitation or mitochondria operating at their capacity. Instead, this flux reflects a pathway independent of oxidative phosphorylation for ATP supply during aerobic exercise. The consequence of this high glycolytic flux is accumulation of H(+), which we argue inhibits the rise in the signal activating oxidative phosphorylation, thereby restricting oxidative ATP supply to below the oxidative capacity. Thus, both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation play important roles in setting the highest steady-state ATP synthesis flux and thereby determine the sustainable level of work by exercising muscle.

  4. High-level verification

    CERN Document Server

    Lerner, Sorin; Kundu, Sudipta

    2011-01-01

    Given the growing size and heterogeneity of Systems on Chip (SOC), the design process from initial specification to chip fabrication has become increasingly complex. This growing complexity provides incentive for designers to use high-level languages such as C, SystemC, and SystemVerilog for system-level design. While a major goal of these high-level languages is to enable verification at a higher level of abstraction, allowing early exploration of system-level designs, the focus so far for validation purposes has been on traditional testing techniques such as random testing and scenario-based

  5. TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS OF INDICATORS USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabina VITALIA

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The present article exposes the summary of a research project whose purpose is measuring sustainable development in Romania at the level of rural areas. Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development in English means better quality of life now and for future generations. According to the vision of sustainable development, progress integrates immediate and long-term objectives, local actions and global economic and environmental issues, all of which are inseparable. Such a vision of society can not be imposed only by political, society as a whole must adopt certain principles (political, economic, social, thinking. Sustainable development can be defined simply as a better quality of life for everyone, both now and for future generations. Sustainable development means: balanced and equitable economic development; high levels of employment, social cohesion and inclusion; a high level of environmental protection and responsible use of natural resources; generating a coherent political system open, transparent and accountable; effective international cooperation to promote global sustainable development (Gothenburg Strategy, 2001.

  6. Sustainability Marketing Commitment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tollin, Karin; Bech Christensen, Lars

    2017-01-01

    sustainability in marketing, processes associated with sustainability marketing commitment, drivers of sustainability marketing at the functional level of marketing, and its organizational context. Using survey data from 269 managers in marketing, covering a broad range of industries in Sweden and Denmark, we...... took a structural modelling approach to examine construct relationships, mediation, and moderation effects. Overall, the findings show that marketing capabilities associated with the innovation of new products, services, and business models constitute a strong driver to leverage sustainability......Corporate sustainability is an important strategy and value orientation for marketing, but scarce research addresses the organizational drivers and barriers to including it in companies’ marketing strategies and processes. The purpose of this study is to determine levels of commitment to corporate...

  7. Fiscal sustainability and fiscal policy targets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Torben M.

    Analyses of fiscal sustainability have become integral parts of fiscal policy planning due to high debt levels and projected demographic changes. A popular metric by which to evaluate sustainability gaps is the so-called S2 metric given as the permanent change in the primary budget balance...... indicator can be given a normative interpretation, and this issue is extensively discussed. The paper ends by discussing the formulation of fiscal policy targets to ensure fiscal sustainability....... (relative to GDP) needed to meet the intertemporal budget constraint. While a very useful metric it also suffers from some problems, and the paper discusses some of the problems with this metric as a way to assess fiscal sustainability problems. A particular important issue is the extent to which the S2...

  8. Product Innovation in Sustainability-Oriented New Ventures : A Process Perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keskin, D.

    2015-01-01

    Despite the recognition that new ventures are potential candidates of creating innovations necessary for sustainability, little is know on how they actually engage in this journey. Sustainability-oriented new ventures are confronted with high levels of uncertainty that stem from the liabilities of

  9. Sustainable flood risk management – What is sustainable?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Brudler, Sarah; Lerer, Sara Maria

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable flood risk management has to be achieved since flood protection is a fundamental societal service that we must deliver. Based on the discourse within the fields of risk management and sustainable urban water management, we discuss the necessity of assessing the sustainability of flood...... risk management, and propose an evaluation framework for doing so. We argue that it is necessary to include quantitative sustainability measures in flood risk management in order to exclude unsustainable solutions. Furthermore, we use the concept of absolute sustainability to discuss the prospects...... of maintaining current service levels without compromising future generation’s entitlement of services. Discussions on the sustainability of different overall flood risk schemes must take place. Fundamental changes in the approaches will require fundamental changes in the mind-sets of practitioners as well...

  10. Macrocrack propagation in concrete specimens under sustained loading: Study of the physical mechanisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rossi, Pierre, E-mail: pierre.rossi@lcpc.fr; Boulay, Claude; Tailhan, Jean-Louis; Martin, Eric; Desnoyers, Dominic

    2014-09-15

    This study presents a series of 4-point bending tests performed to describe the delayed behavior of unreinforced pre-cracked beams under low, moderate and high sustained loading levels. The deflection creep rate, the failure time and the load level were assessed. A linear relation, in a semi-log scale, was found for the deflection creep rate at high load levels. In addition, a linear relation, in a log–log scale, between the secondary deflection creep rate and failure time was observed. Besides, it was shown that the secondary creep deflection rate increases with the sustained loading level and the macrocrack propagation rate when macrocrack propagation occurs during the sustained loading. Physical mechanisms are proposed to explain these results and may be summarized as follows: the delayed behavior of an unreinforced cracked concrete specimen under sustained loading is mainly due to the cracking evolution, thus the creation of microcracks and/or the propagation of a macrocrack.

  11. Macrocrack propagation in concrete specimens under sustained loading: Study of the physical mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rossi, Pierre; Boulay, Claude; Tailhan, Jean-Louis; Martin, Eric; Desnoyers, Dominic

    2014-01-01

    This study presents a series of 4-point bending tests performed to describe the delayed behavior of unreinforced pre-cracked beams under low, moderate and high sustained loading levels. The deflection creep rate, the failure time and the load level were assessed. A linear relation, in a semi-log scale, was found for the deflection creep rate at high load levels. In addition, a linear relation, in a log–log scale, between the secondary deflection creep rate and failure time was observed. Besides, it was shown that the secondary creep deflection rate increases with the sustained loading level and the macrocrack propagation rate when macrocrack propagation occurs during the sustained loading. Physical mechanisms are proposed to explain these results and may be summarized as follows: the delayed behavior of an unreinforced cracked concrete specimen under sustained loading is mainly due to the cracking evolution, thus the creation of microcracks and/or the propagation of a macrocrack

  12. Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathis Wackernagel

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”, and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

  13. Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wackernagel, Mathis; Hanscom, Laurel; Lin, David

    2017-01-01

    The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”), and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

  14. Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wackernagel, Mathis, E-mail: mathis.wackernagel@footprintnetwork.org; Hanscom, Laurel; Lin, David [Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA (United States)

    2017-07-11

    The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”), and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

  15. Will Restored Tidal Marshes Be Sustainable?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle Orr

    2003-10-01

    Full Text Available We assess whether or not restored marshes in the San Francisco Estuary are expected to be sustainable in light of future landscape scale geomorphic processes given typical restored marsh conditions. Our assessment is based on a review of the literature, appraisal of monitoring data for restored marshes, and application of vertical accretion modeling of organic and inorganic sedimentation. Vertical accretion modeling suggests that salt marshes in San Pablo Bay will be sustainable for moderate relative sea level rise (3 to 5 mm yr-1 and average sediment supply (c. 100 mg L-1. Accelerated relative sea level rise (above 6 mm yr-1 and/or reduced sediment supply (50 mg L-1 will cause lowering of the marsh surface relative to the tide range and may cause shifts from high to low marsh vegetation by the year 2100. Widespread conversion of marsh to mudflat-"ecological drowning"-is not expected within this time frame. Marshes restored at lower elevations necessary to aid the natural development of channel systems (c. 0.5 m below mean higher high water are predicted to accrete to high marsh elevations by the year 2100 for moderate relative sea level rise and sediment supply conditions. Existing rates of sediment accretion in restored fresh water tidal marshes of the Delta of greater than 9 mm yr-1 and slightly lower drowning elevations suggest that these marshes will be resilient against relatively high rates of sea level rise. Because of higher rates of organic production, fresh water marshes are expected to be less sensitive to reduced sediment availability than salt marshes. The ultimate long-term threat to the sustainability of tidal marshes is the interruption of coastal rollover-the process by which landward marsh expansion in response to sea level rise compensates for shoreline erosion. Bay front development now prevents most landward marsh expansion, while shoreline erosion is expected to accelerate as sea level rises.

  16. Probiotic microbes sustain youthful serum testosterone levels and testicular size in aging mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theofilos Poutahidis

    Full Text Available The decline of circulating testosterone levels in aging men is associated with adverse health effects. During studies of probiotic bacteria and obesity, we discovered that male mice routinely consuming purified lactic acid bacteria originally isolated from human milk had larger testicles and increased serum testosterone levels compared to their age-matched controls. Further investigation using microscopy-assisted histomorphometry of testicular tissue showed that mice consuming Lactobacillus reuteri in their drinking water had significantly increased seminiferous tubule cross-sectional profiles and increased spermatogenesis and Leydig cell numbers per testis when compared with matched diet counterparts This showed that criteria of gonadal aging were reduced after routinely consuming a purified microbe such as L. reuteri. We tested whether these features typical of sustained reproductive fitness may be due to anti-inflammatory properties of L. reuteri, and found that testicular mass and other indicators typical of old age were similarly restored to youthful levels using systemic administration of antibodies blocking pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-17A. This indicated that uncontrolled host inflammatory responses contributed to the testicular atrophy phenotype in aged mice. Reduced circulating testosterone levels have been implicated in many adverse effects; dietary L. reuteri or other probiotic supplementation may provide a viable natural approach to prevention of male hypogonadism, absent the controversy and side-effects of traditional therapies, and yield practical options for management of disorders typically associated with normal aging. These novel findings suggest a potential high impact for microbe therapy in public health by imparting hormonal and gonad features of reproductive fitness typical of much younger healthy individuals.

  17. A Systems-Level Approach to Building Sustainable Assessment Cultures: Moderation, Quality Task Design and Dependability of Judgement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colbert, Peta; Wyatt-Smith, Claire; Klenowski, Val

    2012-01-01

    This article considers the conditions that are necessary at system and local levels for teacher assessment to be valid, reliable and rigorous. With sustainable assessment cultures as a goal, the article examines how education systems can support local-level efforts for quality learning and dependable teacher assessment. This is achieved through…

  18. Effectiveness and sustainability of the ViSC Social Competence Program to prevent cyberbullying and cyber-victimization: Class and individual level moderators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gradinger, Petra; Yanagida, Takuya; Strohmeier, Dagmar; Spiel, Christiane

    2016-01-01

    We investigated whether the general anti-bullying program ViSC sustainably prevents cyberbullying and cyber-victimization. A longitudinal randomized control group design was used to examine (i) program effectiveness immediately after a 1 year implementation phase and (ii) sustainable program effects 6 months later taking several moderators on the class level (class climate and ethnic diversity) and on the individual level (gender, age, internet usage, traditional bullying/victimization) into account. Effectiveness (e.g., the change between waves 2 and 1) was examined in 2,042 students (47.6% girls), aged 11.7 years (SD = 0.88) enrolled in 18 schools and 103 classes. Sustainability (e.g., the change between waves 3 and 2) was examined in a sub-sample of 6 schools and 35 classes comprising 659 students. The self-assessment multiple-item scales showed longitudinal and multiple group invariance. Factor scores were extracted to compute difference scores for effectiveness (Posttest minus Pretest) and sustainability (Follow-up test minus Posttest) for cyberbullying and cyber-victimization. Multilevel Modeling was applied to examine (i) the effectiveness and (ii) the sustainability of the ViSC intervention controlling for several individual and class level variables. Controlling for covariates, it was demonstrated that the ViSC program is effective in preventing cyberbullying and cyber-victimization and that the effects are sustainable after 6 months. The consequences for cyberbullying prevention are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. No difference in the level of physical activity between children who have or have never sustained a fracture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randsborg, P-H; Røtterud, J H

    2017-12-01

    This study investigates whether children with an acute fracture have a different level of physical activity compared to children who have never sustained a fracture, as measured by the Physical Activity Questionnaire for older children (PAQ-C). The PAQ-C scores of 683 children (295 girls) aged 6-12 years (mean age 9.4 years) who presented to our institution with an acute fracture were compared to the PAQ-C scores of 151 random children (81 girls) aged 6-12 years (mean 9.1 years) in the same area who had never sustained a fracture. Multivariate regression analysis was employed, controlling for age and gender. The mean PAQ-C score of the children who presented to the institution with an acute fracture was 2.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.80-2.91). For the children who had never sustained a fracture, the mean PAQ-C score was 2.78 (95% CI, 2.69-2.87). If there is a true difference in the level of physical activity between children who have or have never sustained a fracture, the PAQ-C questionnaire is not sensitive enough to identify it. © 2016 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Chronic free-choice drinking in crossed high alcohol preferring mice leads to sustained blood ethanol levels and metabolic tolerance without evidence of liver damage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matson, Liana; Liangpunsakul, Suthat; Crabb, David; Buckingham, Amy; Ross, Ruth Ann; Halcomb, Meredith; Grahame, Nicholas

    2013-02-01

    Crossed high alcohol preferring (cHAP) mice were selectively bred from a cross of the HAP1 × HAP2 replicate lines, and we demonstrate blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) during free-choice drinking that are reminiscent of those observed in alcohol-dependent humans. Therefore, this line may provide an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the consequences of excessive voluntary ethanol (EtOH) consumption, including metabolic tolerance and liver pathology. Cytochrome p450 2E1 (CYP2E1) induction plays a prominent role in driving both metabolic tolerance and EtOH-induced liver injury. In this report, we sought to characterize cHAP drinking by assessing whether pharmacologically relevant BEC levels are sustained throughout the active portion of the light-dark cycle. Given that cHAP intakes and BECs are similar to those observed in mice given an EtOH liquid diet, we assessed whether free-choice exposure results in metabolic tolerance, hepatic enzyme induction, and hepatic steatosis. In experiment 1, blood samples were taken across the dark portion of a 12:12 light-dark cycle to examine the pattern of EtOH accumulation in these mice. In experiments 1 and 2, mice were injected with EtOH following 3 to 4 weeks of access to water or 10% EtOH and water, and blood samples were taken to assess metabolic tolerance. In experiment 3, 24 mice had 4 weeks of access to 10% EtOH and water or water alone, followed by necropsy and hepatological assessment. In experiment 1, cHAP mice mean BEC values exceeded 80 mg/dl at all sampling points and approached 200 mg/dl during the middle of the dark cycle. In experiments 1 and 2, EtOH-exposed mice metabolized EtOH faster than EtOH-naïve mice, demonstrating metabolic tolerance (p alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. These results demonstrate that excessive intake by cHAP mice results in sustained BECs throughout the active period, leading to the development of metabolic tolerance and evidence of CYP2E1 induction

  1. Indicator report. Danmark's national strategy for sustainable development: a shared future - balanced development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-08-01

    The Danish vision of sustainable development is based on eight objectives and principles: 1) The welfare society must be developed and economic growth must be decoupled from environmental impacts. 2) There must be a safe and healthy environment for everyone, and we must maintain a high level of protection. 3) We must secure a high degree of bio-diversity and protect ecosystems. 4) Resources must be used more efficiently. 5) We must take action at an international level 6) Environmental considerations must be taken into account in all sectors. 7) The market must support sustainable development. 8) Sustainable development is a shared responsibility and we must measure progress. (au)

  2. High-Level System Change: Protecting Business and Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Dixon

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Over the past 15 years, sustainability has become mainstream in the corporate and financial sectors. But environmental and social conditions are declining rapidly in many regions. Nearly all corporate and financial sector sustainability strategies are focused on company-level activities, such as unilaterally mitigating negative environmental and social impacts. But flawed economic and political systems make it impossible for businesses to mitigate about 80 percent of negative impacts. These impacts often return to harm companies, for example, in the form of market rejection, lawsuits and reputation damage. System change is the most important sustainability issue. Protecting business and society requires substantially shifting the focus of corporate sustainability strategies from company change to system change. A growing number of collaborative system change efforts are being implemented. Most focus on specific issues, sectors or system flaws. They frequently are ineffective because they do not use a whole system approach. All major aspects of human society are connected. Root causes, key leverage points and most effective solutions often lie outside of issue-specific areas. Climate change, economic reform and other complex issues can only be effectively addressed through a whole system approach. This paper summarizes important economic and political system flaws and describes a collaborative, whole system approach for engaging the corporate and financial sectors in system change.

  3. Reduction in high blood tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels after manipulative therapy in 2 cervicogenic headache patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormos, Gábor; Mehrishi, J N; Bakács, Tibor

    2009-09-01

    This case report discusses the treatment of 2 patients with cervicogenic headache (CHA) attending the Outpatient Clinic of the Hungarian National Institute for Rheumatology and Physiotherapy (Budapest, Hungary) and reviews the pathophysiology, therapeutic strategy, and problems associated with the treatment of CHA. Patient 1 was a 27-year-old female who sustained a whiplash injury. A sharp, shooting headache developed, readily induced, and aggravated by just bending the neck backward or by turning her head. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a disk protrusion at C4-C5 pressing the anterior cerebrospinal space. Patient 2 was a 62-year-old female who sustained a whiplash injury; her cervical movements became restricted, which precipitated headaches. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a paramedian disk hernia between the C4 and C5 vertebrae that intruded into the right ventral cerebrospinal space. After 4 weeks of manipulative therapy for patient 1, both active and passive range of motion returned to normal, and the high tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) level (63 pg/mL) was substantially reduced (28 pg/mL). Patient 2 was started on manipulative therapy twice a week for 4 weeks; after 2 months, the patient became symptom-free, and high TNF-alpha level (72 pg/mL) was reduced greatly (35 pg/mL). Two patients with whiplash injury and disk herniation developed CHA associated with very high TNF-alpha levels. After manipulative therapy, these patients became symptom-free, and their TNF-alpha levels decreased substantially.

  4. Groundwater recharge and sustainability in the High Plains aquifer in Kansas, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sophocleous, M.

    2005-01-01

    Sustainable use of groundwater must ensure not only that the future resource is not threatened by overuse, but also that natural environments that depend on the resource, such as stream baseflows, riparian vegetation, aquatic ecosystems, and wetlands are protected. To properly manage groundwater resources, accurate information about the inputs (recharge) and outputs (pumpage and natural discharge) within each groundwater basin is needed so that the long-term behavior of the aquifer and its sustainable yield can be estimated or reassessed. As a first step towards this effort, this work highlights some key groundwater recharge studies in the Kansas High Plains at different scales, such as regional soil-water budget and groundwater modeling studies, county-scale groundwater recharge studies, as well as field-experimental local studies, including some original new findings, with an emphasis on assumptions and limitations as well as on environmental factors affecting recharge processes. The general impact of irrigation and cultivation on recharge is to appreciably increase the amount of recharge, and in many cases to exceed precipitation as the predominant source of recharge. The imbalance between the water input (recharge) to the High Plains aquifer and the output (pumpage and stream baseflows primarily) is shown to be severe, and responses to stabilize the system by reducing water use, increasing irrigation efficiency, adopting water-saving land-use practices, and other measures are outlined. Finally, the basic steps necessary to move towards sustainable use of groundwater in the High Plains are delineated, such as improving the knowledge base, reporting and providing access to information, furthering public education, as well as promoting better understanding of the public's attitudinal motivations; adopting the ecosystem and adaptive management approaches to managing groundwater; further improving water efficiency; exploiting the full potential of dryland and

  5. Mapping Research Activities and Technologies for Sustainability and Environmental Studies--A Case Study at University Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hara, Keishiro; Uwasu, Michinori; Kurimoto, Shuji; Yamanaka, Shinsuke; Umeda, Yasushi; Shimoda, Yoshiyuki

    2013-01-01

    Systemic understanding of potential research activities and available technology seeds at university level is an essential condition to promote interdisciplinary and vision-driven collaboration in an attempt to cope with complex sustainability and environmental problems. Nonetheless, any such practices have been hardly conducted at universities…

  6. Sustainable Business Models - A Need For New And Sustainable Business Models

    OpenAIRE

    Heir, Nina

    2016-01-01

    Business plays a key role for the sustainable development of the society. However, business models of today do not have a sustainable perspective, indicating that they do not balance the three dimensions of sustainability; the social, environmental and economical dimension. A change at the business model level is therefore required for sustainable business models to become the new business models of tomorrow. The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of how companies can con...

  7. Market solutions for sustainable cities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ursem, Thomas; Nijkamp, Peter

    1995-01-01

    Sustainable development has become a globally accepted policy objective. It is however, increasingly recognized that the implementation of sustainability strategies has to take place at a decentralized level. This has also provoked the idea of urban sustainability. The notion of sustainable city is

  8. PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR FROM ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raluca Andreea POPA

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Performance became a very important topic especially when it comes into discussion the idea of sustainability. If we think to the value added and the level of employees, an important sector for our society and economy is the Manufacturing because it provides a high value added to GDP (gross domestic product and also provides a high amount of work places at European level and also in Romania. The main goal of this paper is to analyse the performance of the largest enterprises from Romania that are part from the Manufacturing sector. This very large enterprises could be trend setters in their subindustries for the small and medium ones. The paper is composed from three parts. In the first part it is analysed the literature developed by specialist in the domain of sustainability and financial performance. The second part is an overview of the evolution of Manufacturing sector in the past years and the last one comes to underline the performances of this sector by analysing the evolution of specific indicators regarding the sustainability and performance of enterprise. In conclusion’s side there are made some suggestions about the importance of this sector for Romania’s economy and also for a sustainable development.

  9. Sustainable Process Synthesis-Intensification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babi, Deenesh Kavi; Holtbruegge, Johannes; Lutze, Philip

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable process design can be achieved by performing process synthesis and process intensification together. This approach first defines a design target through a sustainability analysis and then finds design alternatives that match the target through process intensification. A systematic......, multi-stage framework for process synthesis- intensification that identifies more sustainable process designs has been developed. At stages 1-2, the working scale is at the level of unit operations, where a base case design is identified and analyzed with respect to sustainability metrics. At stages 3......, a phenomena-based process synthesis method is applied, where the phenomena involved in each tasks are identified, manipulated and recombined to generate new and/or existing unit operations configured into flowsheets that are more sustainable from those found in the previous levels. An overview of the key...

  10. EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIA: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS, REALITIES AND PROSPECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. N. Azizova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim. The present work reveals the foundations, realities and perspectives of education for sustainable development in Russia. In recent years, the Russian Federation passed a series of measures to introduce ideas of education for sustainable development in educational practice, including at a high political level. To date developed the "National strategy for education for sustainable development" and the "Plan of action on education for sustainable development" prepared by the working group under the leadership of the Member-correspondent of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.S. Kasimov. But unfortunately they have not yet been adopted at the State level. Location. Russian Federation Methods. Analytical review of current scientific, technical, normative and methodological literature that raises the issue of education for sustainable development. Results. The formation of a system of education for sustainable development involves a transition from traditional teaching to an environmentally oriented model, based on a broad interdisciplinary knowledge and on an integrated approach to the development of society, economy and environment. Main conclusions. Environmental education must be multi-level and continuous. It begins in the family and preschool, continues in middle school, followed by stages of University and postgraduate education. In connection with this, we believe, necessary to analyze in detail the situation in the field of education for sustainable development separately for pre-school, school, University and postgraduate levels of education.

  11. High resolution digital soil mapping as a future instrument for developing sustainable landuse strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gries, Philipp; Funke, Lisa-Marie; Baumann, Frank; Schmidt, Karsten; Behrens, Thorsten; Scholten, Thomas

    2016-04-01

    Climate change, increase in population and intensification of land use pose a great challenge for sustainable handling of soils. Intelligent landuse systems are able to minimize and/or avoid soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. A successful application of such systems requires area-wide soil information with high resolution. Containing three consecutive steps, the project INE-2-H („innovative sustainable landuse") at the University of Tuebingen is about creating high-resolution soil information using Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) techniques to develop sustainable landuse strategies. Input data includes soil data from fieldwork (texture and carbon content), the official digital soil and geological map (1:50.000) as well as a wide selection of local, complex and combined terrain parameters. First, soil maps have been created using the DSM approach and Random Forest (RF). Due to high resolution (10x10 m pixels), those maps show a more detailed spatial variability of soil information compared to the official maps used. Root mean square errors (RMSE) of the modelled maps vary from 2.11 % to 6.87 % and the coefficients of determination (R²) go from 0.42 to 0.68. Second, soil erosion potentials have been estimated according to the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). Long-term average annual soil loss ranges from 0.56 to 24.23 [t/ha/a]. Third, combining high-resolution erosion potentials with expert-knowledge of local farmers will result in a landuse system adapted to local conditions. This system will include sustainable strategies reducing soil erosion and conserving soil fertility.

  12. Looking for Sustainable Urban Mobility through Bayesian Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni Fusco

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available There is no formalised theory of sustainable urban mobility systems. Observed patterns of urban mobility are often considered unsustainable. But we don’t know what a city with sustainable mobility should look like. It is nevertheless increasingly apparent that the urban mobility system plays an important role in the achievement of the city’s wider sustainability objectives.In this paper we explore the characteristics of sustainable urban mobility systems through the technique of Bayesian networks. At the frontier between multivariate statistics and artificial intelligence, Bayesian networks provide powerful models of causal knowledge in an uncertain context. Using data on urban structure, transportation offer, mobility demand, resource consumption and environmental externalities from seventy-five world cities, we developed a systemic model of the city-transportation-environment interaction in the form of a Bayesian network. The network could then be used to infer the features of the city with sustainable mobility.The Bayesian model indicates that the city with sustainable mobility is most probably a dense city with highly efficient transit and multimodal mobility. It produces high levels of accessibility without relying on a fast road network. The achievement of sustainability objectives for urban mobility is probably compatible with all socioeconomic contexts.By measuring the distance of world cities from the inferred sustainability profile, we finally derive a geography of sustainability for mobility systems. The cities closest to the sustainability profile are in Central Europe as well as in affluent countries of the Far East. Car-dependent American cities are the farthest from the desired sustainability profile.

  13. Benchmarking and Sustainable Transport Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Wyatt, Andrew; Gordon, Lucy

    2004-01-01

    Order to learn from the best. In 2000 the European Commission initiated research to explore benchmarking as a tool to promote policies for ‘sustainable transport’. This paper reports findings and recommendations on how to address this challenge. The findings suggest that benchmarking is a valuable...... tool that may indeed help to move forward the transport policy agenda. However, there are major conditions and limitations. First of all it is not always so straightforward to delimit, measure and compare transport services in order to establish a clear benchmark. Secondly ‘sustainable transport......’ evokes a broad range of concerns that are hard to address fully at the level of specific practices. Thirdly policies are not directly comparable across space and context. For these reasons attempting to benchmark ‘sustainable transport policies’ against one another would be a highly complex task, which...

  14. Genetic manipulation of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt in rice: overexpression of truncated glutamate decarboxylase (GAD2) and knockdown of γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) lead to sustained and high levels of GABA accumulation in rice kernels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimajiri, Yasuka; Oonishi, Takayuki; Ozaki, Kae; Kainou, Kumiko; Akama, Kazuhito

    2013-06-01

    Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid commonly present in all organisms. Because cellular levels of GABA in plants are mainly regulated by synthesis (glutamate decarboxylase, GAD) and catabolism (GABA-transaminase, GABA-T), we attempted seed-specific manipulation of the GABA shunt to achieve stable GABA accumulation in rice. A truncated GAD2 sequence, one of five GAD genes, controlled by the glutelin (GluB-1) or rice embryo globulin promoters (REG) and GABA-T-based trigger sequences in RNA interference (RNAi) cassettes controlled by one of these promoters as well, was introduced into rice (cv. Koshihikari) to establish stable transgenic lines under herbicide selection using pyriminobac. T₁ and T₂ generations of rice lines displayed high GABA concentrations (2-100 mg/100 g grain). In analyses of two selected lines from the T₃ generation, there was a strong correlation between GABA level and the expression of truncated GAD2, whereas the inhibitory effect of GABA-T expression was relatively weak. In these two lines both with two T-DNA copies, their starch, amylose, and protein levels were slightly lower than non-transformed cv. Koshihikari. Free amino acid analysis of mature kernels of these lines demonstrated elevated levels of GABA (75-350 mg/100 g polished rice) and also high levels of several amino acids, such as Ala, Ser, and Val. Because these lines of seeds could sustain their GABA content after harvest (up to 6 months), the strategy in this study could lead to the accumulation GABA and for these to be sustained in the edible parts. © 2013 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Towards a sustainable city : roles, behaviour and attitudes of citizens, local organisations and the authorities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Falkena, HJ; Moll, HC; Noorman, KJ; Brebbia, C.A.; Martin-Duque, J.F.; Wadhwa, L.C.

    2002-01-01

    On the UNCED conference in Rio the Janeiro (1992) sustainable development has been put high on the international agenda. Sustainable development policy has also consequences for policy making at the city level. Several cities have adopted the objective to become sustainable. The consumption of

  16. Sustainable development strategy formation for business corporations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. A. Zaporozhtseva

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article explains the concept of the company sustainable development strategy based on its economic security level, which includes the economic security concept loss threat control; and the concept of company sustainable development based on the fact, that the company in a developed market should not only "defend", but also ensure its development. After it implementation of decomposition is applied to the system of strategic economic security through a balanced scorecard, which allows translating the mission and vision into a set of operational goals and targets. The main components of strategic economic security provision are: business processes, finance, contractors and staff; based on the state which economic security level is determined as: high, normal, low or critical. After that, the strategic prospects are set, i.e. transition from the lowest to the highest economic security level takes place, passing the economic security fields. In order to do this, certain company development strategy is selected, the mechanism for its implementation is being worked out. At the same time, company sustainable development strategy is identified in the case of a growth strategy use, which implies a transition from endogenous development strategy to introductive or introspective development strategy with further access to multi-integral development strategy. If there is inverse relationship, one can not speak of any sustainable development strategy. Besides, development, implementation and use of monitoring for the design process of the company's development strategy taking into account its economic security level acquires great importance.

  17. Model of sustainable development of energy system, case of Hamedan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahabmanesh, Aref; Saboohi, Yadollah

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable economic growth and improvement of the social welfare depend upon the sufficient supply of energy resources, while the utilization of energy resources is one of the main factors of environmental degradation. This research is involved with development of a sustainable energy system model and a new method for sustainability assessment. This model represents the flow of energy from primary resources through processing, conversion, and end-use technologies in an optimization framework where the useful energy demand in various social and economic sectors is met. The impact of energy supply and consumption chain on the environment at each level of energy system is also embedded in the model structure. A multi-criteria analysis of changes is then applied and sustainable development indices of the whole system are concluded. Finally, effects of the energy subsidy policy and high economic growth rate on sustainability of the energy system in three scenarios are analyzed. Results demonstrate that energy subsidy decelerates the improvement rate of the total sustainability index. Also, when a high economic growth is accompanied with the energy subsidy this index reduces considerably. Results show that how penetration of renewable energy potentials changes the sustainability situation of energy systems. - Highlights: • Developing a new model for sustainable energy systems. • Presenting a new method for sustainability assessment of energy systems. • Optimizing the energy flow and capacity expansion of Hamedan energy system. • Utilizing an MCDA approach to obtain sustainability indices of the whole system. • Analysis of energy subsidy and high economic growth on energy sustainability.

  18. Sustainability and Organizational Change by Sustainable Crediting Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragoş Ilie

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that one of the therapies to achieve sustainability and organizational change in the context of current challenges in the national economies is sustainable crediting. The research method is based on a survey of 30 commercial companies from various fields of activity that have or have not implemented, at the leadership level, the concept of sustainable crediting. The data collecting and processing approach has resulted in the determination of the main economic-financial indicators for a period of 5 years, indicators used by banks in relation with the credited organizations. The main results show that companies that have implemented the sustainable crediting concept are more able to achieve sustainability in their developed activity, as well as organizational change with positive effects on their business and on the company as a whole. The concept of sustainable crediting implies the capitalization of the commercial companies, the increase of the loan portfolio quality, the achievement of the financial balance and environmental protection

  19. Sustainability Instruction in High Doses: Results From Incorporation of Multiple InTeGrate Modules Into an Environmental Science Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rademacher, L. K.

    2017-12-01

    The Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) community has developed extensive courses and modules designed for broad adoption into geoscience classrooms in diverse environments. I participated in a three-semester research project designed to test the efficacy of incorporating "high doses" (minimum 3 modules or 18 class periods) of InTeGrate materials into a course, in my case, an introductory environmental science class. InTeGrate materials were developed by groups of instructors from a range of institutions across the US. These materials include an emphasis on systems thinking, interdisciplinary approaches, and sustainability, and those themes are woven throughout the modules. The three semesters included a control in which no InTeGrate materials were used, a pilot in which InTeGrate materials were tested, and a treatment semesters in which tested materials were modified as needed and fully implemented into the course. Data were collected each semester on student attitudes using the InTeGrate Attitudinal Instrument (pre and post), a subset of Geoscience Literacy Exam questions (pre and post), and a series of assessments and essay exam questions (post only). Although results suggest that learning gains were mixed, changes in attitudes pre- and post-instruction were substantial. Changes in attitudes regarding the importance of sustainable employers, the frequency of self-reported individual sustainable actions, and motivation level for creating a sustainable society were observed in the control and treatment semesters, with the treatment semester showing the greatest gains. Importantly, one of the biggest differences between the control and treatment semesters is the reported impact that the course had on influencing students' sustainable behaviors. The treatment semester course impacted students' sustainable behaviors far more than the control semester.

  20. Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scanlon, Bridget R.; Faunt, Claudia C.; Longuevergne, Laurent; Reedy, Robert C.; Alley, William M.; McGuire, Virginia L.; McMahon, Peter B.

    2012-01-01

    Aquifer overexploitation could significantly impact crop production in the United States because 60% of irrigation relies on groundwater. Groundwater depletion in the irrigated High Plains and California Central Valley accounts for ∼50% of groundwater depletion in the United States since 1900. A newly developed High Plains recharge map shows that high recharge in the northern High Plains results in sustainable pumpage, whereas lower recharge in the central and southern High Plains has resulted in focused depletion of 330 km3 of fossil groundwater, mostly recharged during the past 13,000 y. Depletion is highly localized with about a third of depletion occurring in 4% of the High Plains land area. Extrapolation of the current depletion rate suggests that 35% of the southern High Plains will be unable to support irrigation within the next 30 y. Reducing irrigation withdrawals could extend the lifespan of the aquifer but would not result in sustainable management of this fossil groundwater. The Central Valley is a more dynamic, engineered system, with north/south diversions of surface water since the 1950s contributing to ∼7× higher recharge. However, these diversions are regulated because of impacts on endangered species. A newly developed Central Valley Hydrologic Model shows that groundwater depletion since the 1960s, totaling 80 km3, occurs mostly in the south (Tulare Basin) and primarily during droughts. Increasing water storage through artificial recharge of excess surface water in aquifers by up to 3 km3 shows promise for coping with droughts and improving sustainability of groundwater resources in the Central Valley. PMID:22645352

  1. A critical analysis of hazard resilience measures within sustainability assessment frameworks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthews, Elizabeth C.; Sattler, Meredith; Friedland, Carol J.

    2014-01-01

    Today, numerous sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) exist to guide designers in achieving sustainable performance in the design of structures and communities. SAFs are beneficial in educating users and are useful tools for incorporating sustainability strategies into planning, design, and construction; however, there is currently a substantial gap in the ability of existing SAFs to incorporate hazard resistance and hazard mitigation in the broader context of sustainable design. This paper analyzes the incorporation of hazard resistant design and hazard mitigation strategies within SAFs via a multi-level analysis of eleven SAFs. The SAFs analyzed range in scale of application (i.e. building, site, community). Three levels of analysis are presented: (1) macro-level analysis comparing the number of measures strictly addressing resilience versus sustainability, (2) meso-level analysis of the coverage of types of hazards within SAFs (e.g. flood, fire), and (3) micro-level analysis of SAF measures connected to flood-related hazard resilience. The results demonstrate that hazard resistance and hazard mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs and that weaknesses in resilience coverage exist that have the potential to lead to the design of structures and communities that are still highly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme events. - Highlights: • Sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) were analyzed for resilience coverage • Hazard resistance and mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs • Approximately 75% of SAFs analyzed address three or fewer hazards • Lack of economic measures within SAFs could impact resilience and sustainability • Resilience measures for flood hazards are not consistently included in SAFs

  2. A critical analysis of hazard resilience measures within sustainability assessment frameworks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matthews, Elizabeth C., E-mail: echiso1@lsu.edu [Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Sattler, Meredith, E-mail: msattler@lsu.edu [School of Architecture, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Friedland, Carol J., E-mail: friedland@lsu.edu [Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States)

    2014-11-15

    Today, numerous sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) exist to guide designers in achieving sustainable performance in the design of structures and communities. SAFs are beneficial in educating users and are useful tools for incorporating sustainability strategies into planning, design, and construction; however, there is currently a substantial gap in the ability of existing SAFs to incorporate hazard resistance and hazard mitigation in the broader context of sustainable design. This paper analyzes the incorporation of hazard resistant design and hazard mitigation strategies within SAFs via a multi-level analysis of eleven SAFs. The SAFs analyzed range in scale of application (i.e. building, site, community). Three levels of analysis are presented: (1) macro-level analysis comparing the number of measures strictly addressing resilience versus sustainability, (2) meso-level analysis of the coverage of types of hazards within SAFs (e.g. flood, fire), and (3) micro-level analysis of SAF measures connected to flood-related hazard resilience. The results demonstrate that hazard resistance and hazard mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs and that weaknesses in resilience coverage exist that have the potential to lead to the design of structures and communities that are still highly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme events. - Highlights: • Sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) were analyzed for resilience coverage • Hazard resistance and mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs • Approximately 75% of SAFs analyzed address three or fewer hazards • Lack of economic measures within SAFs could impact resilience and sustainability • Resilience measures for flood hazards are not consistently included in SAFs.

  3. The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels: plant scientist input needed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haye, Sébastien; Hardtke, Christian S

    2009-08-01

    The Energy Center at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss federal institute of technology) is coordinating a multi-stakeholder effort, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (http://energycenter.epfl.ch/biofuels), to develop global standards for sustainable biofuels production and processing. Given that many of the aspects related to biofuel production request a high scientific level of understanding, it is crucial that scientists take part in the discussion.

  4. Remote coral reefs can sustain high growth potential and may match future sea-level trends.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Chris T; Murphy, Gary N; Graham, Nicholas A J; Wilson, Shaun K; Januchowski-Hartley, Fraser A; East, Holly K

    2015-12-16

    Climate-induced disturbances are contributing to rapid, global-scale changes in coral reef ecology. As a consequence, reef carbonate budgets are declining, threatening reef growth potential and thus capacity to track rising sea-levels. Whether disturbed reefs can recover their growth potential and how rapidly, are thus critical research questions. Here we address these questions by measuring the carbonate budgets of 28 reefs across the Chagos Archipelago (Indian Ocean) which, while geographically remote and largely isolated from compounding human impacts, experienced severe (>90%) coral mortality during the 1998 warming event. Coral communities on most reefs recovered rapidly and we show that carbonate budgets in 2015 average +3.7 G (G = kg CaCO3 m(-2) yr(-1)). Most significantly the production rates on Acropora-dominated reefs, the corals most severely impacted in 1998, averaged +8.4 G by 2015, comparable with estimates under pre-human (Holocene) disturbance conditions. These positive budgets are reflected in high reef growth rates (4.2 mm yr(-1)) on Acropora-dominated reefs, demonstrating that carbonate budgets on these remote reefs have recovered rapidly from major climate-driven disturbances. Critically, these reefs retain the capacity to grow at rates exceeding measured regional mid-late Holocene and 20th century sea-level rise, and close to IPCC sea-level rise projections through to 2100.

  5. The Two Faces of Sustainability : Fuzzy Evaluation of Sustainable Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, T.

    2003-01-01

    An evaluative framework of sustainable development operates at both the production system level and the society level: objective information gathered at the production system level is given subjective meaning at the society level. The evaluative framework constitutes a complete cycle to monitor

  6. High-level language computer architecture

    CERN Document Server

    Chu, Yaohan

    1975-01-01

    High-Level Language Computer Architecture offers a tutorial on high-level language computer architecture, including von Neumann architecture and syntax-oriented architecture as well as direct and indirect execution architecture. Design concepts of Japanese-language data processing systems are discussed, along with the architecture of stack machines and the SYMBOL computer system. The conceptual design of a direct high-level language processor is also described.Comprised of seven chapters, this book first presents a classification of high-level language computer architecture according to the pr

  7. Other-than-high-level waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bray, G.R.

    1976-01-01

    The main emphasis of the work in the area of partitioning transuranic elements from waste has been in the area of high-level liquid waste. But there are ''other-than-high-level wastes'' generated by the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle that are both large in volume and contaminated with significant quantities of transuranic elements. The combined volume of these other wastes is approximately 50 times that of the solidified high-level waste. These other wastes also contain up to 75% of the transuranic elements associated with waste generated by the back end of the fuel cycle. Therefore, any detailed evaluation of partitioning as a viable waste management option must address both high-level wastes and ''other-than-high-level wastes.''

  8. Sustainable, efficient livestock production with high biodiversity and good welfare for animals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broom, D M; Galindo, F A; Murgueitio, E

    2013-11-22

    What is the future for livestock agriculture in the world? Consumers have concerns about sustainability but many widely used livestock production methods do not satisfy consumers' requirements for a sustainable system. However, production can be sustainable, occurring in environments that: supply the needs of the animals resulting in good welfare, allow coexistence with a wide diversity of organisms native to the area, minimize carbon footprint and provide a fair lifestyle for the people working there. Conservation need not just involve tiny islands of natural vegetation in a barren world of agriculture, as there can be great increases in biodiversity in farmed areas. Herbivores, especially ruminants that consume materials inedible by humans, are important for human food in the future. However, their diet should not be just ground-level plants. Silvopastoral systems, pastures with shrubs and trees as well as herbage, are described which are normally more productive than pasture alone. When compared with widely used livestock production systems, silvopastoral systems can provide efficient feed conversion, higher biodiversity, enhanced connectivity between habitat patches and better animal welfare, so they can replace existing systems in many parts of the world and should be further developed.

  9. On certain development aspects of an ipsas-based system-target approach to evaluation of net asset sustainability level projects in high-rise construction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazaryan Ruben

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Problems of accounting and reporting of net assets and the procedure of their formation taking into account the specifics of the economic and legal status of property of a non-commercial autonomous institution are some of the most controversial in the accounting for entities of the public sector. The study focuses on justification of accounting rules for net assets of public sector entities. The methods used in the study are as follows: comparison, synthesis, analysis, logical approach, and system approach. The article examines legal aspects and specifics of recognition of assets of public sector entities in accordance with IPSAS standards (International Public Sector Accounting Standards are a set of accounting standards issued by IPSASB (Council for International Financial Reporting Standards for Public Sector Organizations used by state-owned enterprises worldwide in preparation of financial statements as of the 31st of August, 2015. The most crucial factor in the modeling of key performance indicators of the system-target approach to estimation of the sustainability level of net assets on the basis of IPSAS is a multicriterial evaluation of the basic management strategy for quality system elements used in operational and strategic planning projects operations in high-rise construction. We offer an alternative evaluation of assets due to be returned to the right holder (the state controller in the event of liquidation of a public sector entity.

  10. On certain development aspects of an ipsas-based system-target approach to evaluation of net asset sustainability level projects in high-rise construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazaryan, Ruben

    2018-03-01

    Problems of accounting and reporting of net assets and the procedure of their formation taking into account the specifics of the economic and legal status of property of a non-commercial autonomous institution are some of the most controversial in the accounting for entities of the public sector. The study focuses on justification of accounting rules for net assets of public sector entities. The methods used in the study are as follows: comparison, synthesis, analysis, logical approach, and system approach. The article examines legal aspects and specifics of recognition of assets of public sector entities in accordance with IPSAS standards (International Public Sector Accounting Standards are a set of accounting standards issued by IPSASB (Council for International Financial Reporting Standards for Public Sector Organizations) used by state-owned enterprises worldwide in preparation of financial statements as of the 31st of August, 2015. The most crucial factor in the modeling of key performance indicators of the system-target approach to estimation of the sustainability level of net assets on the basis of IPSAS is a multicriterial evaluation of the basic management strategy for quality system elements used in operational and strategic planning projects operations in high-rise construction. We offer an alternative evaluation of assets due to be returned to the right holder (the state controller) in the event of liquidation of a public sector entity.

  11. 36 CFR 223.219 - Sustainable harvest of special forest products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sustainable harvest of....219 Sustainable harvest of special forest products. (a) Sustainable harvest levels. Prior to offering... product's sustainable harvest level. A special forest product's sustainable harvest level is the total...

  12. JHR. A high performance MTR under construction for a sustainable nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iracane, Daniel; Cordier, Pierre-Yves

    2009-01-01

    The Access to an up-to-date Material Testing Reactor (MTR) is essential to support a sustainable nuclear energy, meeting industry and public needs, and keeping a high level of scientific expertise. This includes services to existing and coming reactor technologies for major stakes such as safety and competitiveness, lifetime management, operation optimization, development of innovative structural material and fuel required for future systems (innovative Gen III, Gen IV, fusion...), etc. The JHR copes with this context. Design phase has been completed by the end of 2005 and JHR is now under construction. Start of operation is scheduled in 2014. As a new MTR taking benefit of a large available worldwide experience, JHR offers new major experimental capability that will be presented. JHR will be operated within an international users' consortium that will guarantee effective and cost-effective operation. This innovative way to operate a MTR, as a user-facility for the benefit of industry and public bodies, will be presented. (author)

  13. BDNF and cortisol levels in children with or without post-traumatic stress disorder after sustaining sexual abuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simsek, Seref; Uysal, Cem; Kaplan, Ibrahim; Yuksel, Tugba; Aktas, Huseyin

    2015-06-01

    There are studies reporting that cortisol and brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) play a role in the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, up-to-date no study evaluated the relationship between PTSD and the levels of cortisol and BDNF in children and adolescents who have sustained trauma. The aim of this study was to investigate whether BDNF, cortisol and adrenocorticotropine (ACTH) levels differ between individuals who developed PTSD or not following a sexual trauma. The study included 55 children aged between 6 and 17 years who sustained sexual assault (M/F: 13/42). The patients were divided into two groups, with or without PTSD based on the results of a structured psychiatric interview (K-SADS-PL and CAPS-CA). Of the participants, 49% (n=27) were diagnosed with PTSD. Cortisol, ACTH, and BDNF levels were evaluated using the ELISA method. There were no significant differences between patients with or without PTSD in terms of cortisol, ACTH, BDNF levels. There were no correlations between CAPS-CA scores and cortisol, ACTH, and BDNF levels in patients with or without PTSD. In patients with PTSD, decreased cortisol levels were found with increasing time after trauma, and no significant correlation was found with the cortisol levels in patients without PTSD. Although no significant association was found between biochemical parameters and the presence or severity of PTSD; decreasing cortisol levels with increasing time after trauma in patients with PTSD suggest that cortisol might have played a role in the pathophysiology of this disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A Hydro-Economic Model for Water Level Fluctuations: Combining Limnology with Economics for Sustainable Development of Hydropower

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirsch, Philipp Emanuel; Schillinger, Sebastian; Weigt, Hannes; Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia

    2014-01-01

    Water level fluctuations in lakes lead to shoreline displacement. The seasonality of flooding or beaching of the littoral area affects nutrient cycling, redox gradients in sediments, and life cycles of aquatic organisms. Despite the ecological importance of water level fluctuations, we still lack a method that assesses water levels in the context of hydropower operations. Water levels in reservoirs are influenced by the operator of a hydropower plant, who discharges water through the turbines or stores water in the reservoir, in a fashion that maximizes profit. This rationale governs the seasonal operation scheme and hence determines the water levels within the boundaries of the reservoir's water balance. For progress towards a sustainable development of hydropower, the benefits of this form of electricity generation have to be weighed against the possible detrimental effects of the anthropogenic water level fluctuations. We developed a hydro-economic model that combines an economic optimization function with hydrological estimators of the water balance of a reservoir. Applying this model allowed us to accurately predict water level fluctuations in a reservoir. The hydro-economic model also allowed for scenario calculation of how water levels change with climate change scenarios and with a change in operating scheme of the reservoir (increase in turbine capacity). Further model development will enable the consideration of a variety of additional parameters, such as water withdrawal for irrigation, drinking water supply, or altered energy policies. This advances our ability to sustainably manage water resources that must meet both economic and environmental demands. PMID:25526619

  15. A hydro-economic model for water level fluctuations: combining limnology with economics for sustainable development of hydropower.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirsch, Philipp Emanuel; Schillinger, Sebastian; Weigt, Hannes; Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia

    2014-01-01

    Water level fluctuations in lakes lead to shoreline displacement. The seasonality of flooding or beaching of the littoral area affects nutrient cycling, redox gradients in sediments, and life cycles of aquatic organisms. Despite the ecological importance of water level fluctuations, we still lack a method that assesses water levels in the context of hydropower operations. Water levels in reservoirs are influenced by the operator of a hydropower plant, who discharges water through the turbines or stores water in the reservoir, in a fashion that maximizes profit. This rationale governs the seasonal operation scheme and hence determines the water levels within the boundaries of the reservoir's water balance. For progress towards a sustainable development of hydropower, the benefits of this form of electricity generation have to be weighed against the possible detrimental effects of the anthropogenic water level fluctuations. We developed a hydro-economic model that combines an economic optimization function with hydrological estimators of the water balance of a reservoir. Applying this model allowed us to accurately predict water level fluctuations in a reservoir. The hydro-economic model also allowed for scenario calculation of how water levels change with climate change scenarios and with a change in operating scheme of the reservoir (increase in turbine capacity). Further model development will enable the consideration of a variety of additional parameters, such as water withdrawal for irrigation, drinking water supply, or altered energy policies. This advances our ability to sustainably manage water resources that must meet both economic and environmental demands.

  16. A hydro-economic model for water level fluctuations: combining limnology with economics for sustainable development of hydropower.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philipp Emanuel Hirsch

    Full Text Available Water level fluctuations in lakes lead to shoreline displacement. The seasonality of flooding or beaching of the littoral area affects nutrient cycling, redox gradients in sediments, and life cycles of aquatic organisms. Despite the ecological importance of water level fluctuations, we still lack a method that assesses water levels in the context of hydropower operations. Water levels in reservoirs are influenced by the operator of a hydropower plant, who discharges water through the turbines or stores water in the reservoir, in a fashion that maximizes profit. This rationale governs the seasonal operation scheme and hence determines the water levels within the boundaries of the reservoir's water balance. For progress towards a sustainable development of hydropower, the benefits of this form of electricity generation have to be weighed against the possible detrimental effects of the anthropogenic water level fluctuations. We developed a hydro-economic model that combines an economic optimization function with hydrological estimators of the water balance of a reservoir. Applying this model allowed us to accurately predict water level fluctuations in a reservoir. The hydro-economic model also allowed for scenario calculation of how water levels change with climate change scenarios and with a change in operating scheme of the reservoir (increase in turbine capacity. Further model development will enable the consideration of a variety of additional parameters, such as water withdrawal for irrigation, drinking water supply, or altered energy policies. This advances our ability to sustainably manage water resources that must meet both economic and environmental demands.

  17. Awareness and knowledge of the sustainable development goals in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences ... Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a globally accepted developmental ... with being an academic staff/ high level of education as well as belonging to the middle age group.

  18. Sustainability, Transformational Leadership, and Social Entrepreneurship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Etayankara Muralidharan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the extent to which culturally endorsed transformational leadership theories (CLTs and the sustainability of society, both considered societal level institutional indicators, impact the emergence of social entrepreneurship. Using 107,738 individual-level responses from 27 countries for the year 2009 obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM survey, and supplementing with country-level data obtained from Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE and Sustainability Society Foundation (SSF, our findings from multilevel analysis show that transformational CLTs and sustainability conditions of society positively influence the likelihood of individuals becoming social entrepreneurs. Further, the effectiveness of transformational CLTs matters more for social entrepreneurship when the sustainability of society is low, which suggests the interaction between cultural leadership styles and societal sustainability. This article contributes to comparative entrepreneurship research by introducing strong cultural antecedents of social entrepreneurship in transformational CLTs and societal sustainability. We discuss various implications and limitations of our study, and we suggest directions for future research.

  19. Annual Sustainability Report FY 2014. Incorporates NREL Site Sustainability Plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rukavina, Frank [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-07-01

    NREL's Sustainability Program is responsible for upholding all executive orders, federal regulations, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) orders, and goals related to sustainable and resilient facility operations. But NREL continues to expand sustainable practices above and beyond the laboratory's regulations and requirements to ensure that the laboratory fulfills its mission into the future, leaves the smallest possible legacy footprint, and models sustainable operations and behaviors on national, regional, and local levels. The report, per the GRI reporting format, elaborates on multi-year goals relative to executive orders, achievements, and challenges; and success stories provide specific examples. A section called 'Sustaining NREL's Future Through Integration' provides insight into how NREL is successfully expanding the adoption of renewable energy technologies through integration.

  20. Research on Sustainable Development Level Evaluation of Resource-based Cities Based on Shapely Entropy and Chouqet Integral

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Hui; Qu, Weilu; Qiu, Weiting

    2018-03-01

    In order to evaluate sustainable development level of resource-based cities, an evaluation method with Shapely entropy and Choquet integral is proposed. First of all, a systematic index system is constructed, the importance of each attribute is calculated based on the maximum Shapely entropy principle, and then the Choquet integral is introduced to calculate the comprehensive evaluation value of each city from the bottom up, finally apply this method to 10 typical resource-based cities in China. The empirical results show that the evaluation method is scientific and reasonable, which provides theoretical support for the sustainable development path and reform direction of resource-based cities.

  1. Safety reloaded: lean operations and high involvement work practices for sustainable workplaces

    OpenAIRE

    Camuffo, Arnaldo; De Stefano, Federica; Paolino, Chiara

    2017-01-01

    Starting from the recent quest to investigate the human side of organizational sustainability, this study applies a variety of regression analyses to investigate the effects of Lean Operations, High Involvement Work Practices, and management behaviors on occupational safety. It tests and finds support for the hypotheses that Lean Production systems, High Involvement Work Practices, and two specific management behaviors—workers’ capability development (coaching and teaching of workers) and emp...

  2. When Does Corporate Sustainability Performance Pay off? The Impact of Country-Level Sustainability Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xiao, Chengyong; Wang, Qian; van der Vaart, Taco; van Donk, Dirk Pieter

    There has been considerable debate on and research efforts into the question as to if, and if so when, improving corporate sustainability performance is not only beneficial for social and environmental wellbeing but also for the financial wellbeing of a firm. So far, the literature has reported

  3. The role of social message using norm abstraction level and ecological value orientation to achieve sustainable consumption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekasari, A.

    2018-01-01

    Pro-environmental behavior is one of human activities to achieve sustainability. In order to encourage people to do so, it needs contribution from marketing discipline using social message. The research aims to investigate the effect of social message framed by norm abstraction level and ecological value orientation on attitude and intention to act pro-environmental behavior in the context of littering. This study implemented a 3 (message framing: biospheric/altruistic/egoistic) × 2 (norm abstraction level : abstract/concrete) between subject experimental design to collect the data. An independent sample t test was used to analyze the data. The results indicate that a social message using concrete norm combined with the three ecological value orientation gains more positive response than the use of abstract norm with the same ecological value orientations. Findings of the research are expected to help government or other institutions to create an appropriate social message in anti littering campaign and motivates people to change their behavior in practicing sustainable consumption.

  4. The Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development for Well-Being in Organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Fabio, Annamaria

    2017-01-01

    This article discusses the contribution of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development to well-being in organizations from a primary prevention perspective. It deals with sustainability not only in terms of the ecological, economic, and social environment but also in terms of improving the quality of life of every human being. The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development is seen as a primary prevention perspective that can foster well-being in organizations at all the different levels going from the worker, to the group, to the organization, and also to inter-organizational processes. The possibilities for further research and interventions are also discussed.

  5. Sustainable development and the oil and gas industry. A tense relationship?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harkink, E.

    2003-12-01

    The behaviour of a multinational company stems from strategic considerations. With the globalisation of our economy and society as a whole, information became easier retrievable. Companies had to expand their organisational scope. Consequently, the pressure on companies to act responsibly mounted over the years. Companies have gradually come to realise that they have to fulfil a societal duty and started a slow move towards sustainability. This pressure is particularly high on the international oil and gas companies that provide the whole world with energy. Corporate sustainable development can only be realised when every organisational activity takes notice of the demands of the concept. To comply with these demands a company needs to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Sustainable development requires a company to take its economic, environmental and social responsibilities seriously. This paper assesses the attitude of 26 international oil and gas companies with respect to sustainable development. For this purpose, an attitude test model was developed that qualifies the companies' level of sustainability along 5 predefined levels. Increased sustainability is related to better care for the companies' impact. The companies' annual reports of the year 2000 were used as main source of information. On average the industry reached an overall sustainability score of 2.84. This score represents an attitude that goes beyond compliance, but has not yet reached the level of pro-activeness. The companies' attitude towards the environment is worse, with an average score of 2.56. Most companies do not take it much further than is needed to secure their licence to operate. In comparison, West-European companies have the best attitude towards sustainable development, followed by Canada, America, Australia and Russia. The influence of home country characteristics is statistically

  6. Roadmap for Integrating Sustainable Design into Site-Level Operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peterson, Keith L.; Dorsey, Judy A.

    2000-04-19

    Sustainable Design recognizes that products and processes are interdependent with the environmental, economic, and social systems surrounding them and implements measures to prevent an unsustainable compromise to these systems.

  7. A Strategy For Teaching Sustainability Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Stig Irving

    2010-01-01

    of their decisions. Our strategy for the teaching address three target groups and follows two routes.  One route provides in-depth education for students aiming to specialise in quantitative sustainability assessment. A variety of courses ranging from production level through company level to society level...... will be offered.  The second route aims to present concepts of sustainability and potential impacts of the specific technology field as well as methods and tools for specific domains, i.e. nano technology. It is targeted two groups of students at the different technological domains at DTU; those specifically...... for that technology domain and introduces quantitative tools to assess sustainability. The proposed strategy embeds sustainability throughout the engineering curriculum....

  8. Using Sustainability Engineering to Gain Universal Sustainability Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandras Vytautas Rutkauskas

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The present article is an attempt to perceive the universal sustainability observable in an individual country or region, where the religious, political, social-demographic, economic, environmental, creative, technological and investment subsystems are revealed not only through the vitality of spiritual and material existence media, but rather through the signs of the development of these subsystems as self-assembled units through the erosion of their interaction. The problem of optimal allocation of investment resources among the separate sustainability’s subsystems was addressed by means of expert methods and techniques of portfolio methodology which will enable the achievement of the enshrined universal sustainability standards. A country-specific index composition of sustainability subsystems’ indices was chosen as the universal sustainability index for the specific country. The index in its dynamics is perceived as a random process. While projecting its state and evaluating its power, i.e., the impact of the subsystem efficiency in a particular moment, this power is measured by the level of the index and the reliability or guarantee of an appropriate level. To solve the problem of investment resources allocation, the idea of Markowitz Random Field was invoked in order to reach the maximum power of sustainability index while applying the technical solution—the so-called “GoldSim” system. Engineering is a methodology that aspires to reveal the core attributes of complex systems and instruments in order to manage the possibility to influence these properties for the systems. Experimental expert evaluation and case study is performed on Lithuanian data.

  9. Sustainability Balanced Scorecard Disclosures and Corporate Commitment to Sustainability: An Australian Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evangeline O. Elijido-Ten

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to analyse corporate sustainability commitment level (SCL and its determinants by examining the extent of Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC public disclosures provided by Australia‟s largest publicly listed companies. First, content analysis is used to scrutinise publicly available disclosures. Then, logistic regression is conducted to analyse the determinants of SCL. The analysis shows that the company‟s level of commitment to sustainability can be determined from voluntary disclosures using a set of criteria developed from the relevant SBSC and environmental management literature. It is also found that SCL is significantly associated to size, leverage, industry and government reporting legislation but not to profitability.

  10. The management of high-level radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lennemann, Wm.L.

    1979-01-01

    The definition of high-level radioactive wastes is given. The following aspects of high-level radioactive wastes' management are discussed: fuel reprocessing and high-level waste; storage of high-level liquid waste; solidification of high-level waste; interim storage of solidified high-level waste; disposal of high-level waste; disposal of irradiated fuel elements as a waste

  11. Meta-principles for developing smart, sustainable, and healthy cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramaswami, Anu; Russell, Armistead G; Culligan, Patricia J; Sharma, Karnamadakala Rahul; Kumar, Emani

    2016-05-20

    Policy directives in several nations are focusing on the development of smart cities, linking innovations in the data sciences with the goal of advancing human well-being and sustainability on a highly urbanized planet. To achieve this goal, smart initiatives must move beyond city-level data to a higher-order understanding of cities as transboundary, multisectoral, multiscalar, social-ecological-infrastructural systems with diverse actors, priorities, and solutions. We identify five key dimensions of cities and present eight principles to focus attention on the systems-level decisions that society faces to transition toward a smart, sustainable, and healthy urban future. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  12. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Passel, Steven, E-mail: Steven.vanpassel@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Department Bioscience Engineering, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Meul, Marijke [University College Ghent, Department of Biosciences and Landscape Architecture, Campus Schoonmeersen, Building C, Schoonmeersstraat 52, 9000, Gent (Belgium)

    2012-01-15

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  13. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Passel, Steven; Meul, Marijke

    2012-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: ► We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. ► SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. ► Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. ► We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  14. Identification of Appropriate Biodiversity Indicators for Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management at National Level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tolunay, A.; Akyol, A.

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable forest management (SFM) practices have started in 1999 in Turkey. A set of criteria and indicators, composed by the General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) on the basis of the criteria and indicators defined in the Pan-European and Near Eastern Processes, was enquired via a survey to serve this purpose. GDF tested the sustainability under the following titles: Situation of forest resources, biodiversity, health and vitality, production capacity and functions, protective functions and environmental and socio-economic functions. There were problems in identification and definition of SFM criteria and indicators. Biological diversity indicators has been selected, described and developed in this study. At this phase, the survey was completed upon receiving the views of the scientists interested in different dimensions of this topic as well as the views of other interest groups affiliated with forestry. As a result, there were 13 indicators that may be used as the basis of a regional or forest management unit level for the purpose of protecting, developing and maintaining biodiversity. Furthermore, these indicators are instruments, which may easily be used by relevant decision-makers in the management of forest resources in a more effective and productive manner. (author)

  15. Assessing Urban Sustainability Using a Multi-Scale, Theme-Based Indicator Framework: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Li

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Urban sustainability is a great concern worldwide. However, how to evaluate urban sustainability is still a big challenge because sustainable development is multifaceted and scale dependent, which demands various assessment methods and indicators that often do not reach a consensus. In this study, we assessed urban sustainability of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD, China during 2000–2014 at two spatial scales (corresponding to the administrative levels of province and prefecture. A theme-based indicator framework, cluster analysis and Mann–Kendall test were used for urban sustainability assessment. Our results showed that the overall (OS, social (SS, and economic sustainability (EcS scores for two provinces and sixteen prefectural cities increased from 2000 to 2014 in general, but the environmental sustainability (EnS scores decreased over time. According to the performance of SS, EnS and EcS at the prefectural level, three distinct city clusters were identified: Cluster 1 with high SS and EcS but low EnS; Cluster 2 with low SS and EcS but high EnS; and Cluster 3 with moderate SS, EnS and EcS. The three sustainability dimensions—society, environment and economy—all changed over time and differed among cities at the two administrative levels. Our results implied that, according to the “strong sustainability” perspective, the cities of the YRD became less sustainable or unsustainable because the social and economic progresses were at the expense of the environment. The level of urban sustainability was lower at the provincial level than the prefectural level, implying that the problems of unsustainability are even greater at the provincial level than the prefectural level in the YRD region.

  16. The Level of Cotribeta’s Corporate Sustainability Between 2006 and 2010: A Comparative StudyHttp://Dx.Doi.Org/10.5585/Riae.V9i2.1667

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Ricardo Rossetto

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to compare the level of corporate sustainability at Cooperativa Tritícola Gaúcha Cotribeta between 2006 and 2010 by means of using the Strategic Planning Model for Business Sustainability (PEPSE, developed by Coral (2002. This period was chosen because the studied company has undergone several marketing changes, thus we sought to understand whether these changes have impacted on the sustainability index. Based on a qualitative research, and drawing from a case study, information was collected through semi-structured interviews with twenty-five employees in 2006 as a master's thesis core. In 2010 the interview process was retaken with five employees, due to the organization’s reshuffling since 2006. The company posted a decline in its environmental and social reference scale. In 2006 Cotribeta’s level of corporate sustainability had been classified as potentially ordinary sustainable, and in 2010 as potentially critical sustainable.

  17. Sustainability and uncertainty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Karsten Klint

    2007-01-01

    The widely used concept of sustainability is seldom precisely defined, and its clarification involves making up one's mind about a range of difficult questions. One line of research (bottom-up) takes sustaining a system over time as its starting point and then infers prescriptions from...... this requirement. Another line (top-down) takes an economical interpretation of the Brundtland Commission's suggestion that the present generation's needsatisfaction should not compromise the need-satisfaction of future generations as its starting point. It then measures sustainability at the level of society...... a clarified ethical goal, disagreements can arise. At present we do not know what substitutions will be possible in the future. This uncertainty clearly affects the prescriptions that follow from the measure of sustainability. Consequently, decisions about how to make future agriculture sustainable...

  18. From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Sustainability: Features of Financing Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasylchuk Irуna P.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical basis of the concepts of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development are studied. It is revealed that scientists mainly distinguish two main stages in the evolution of the concept of corporate social responsibility. There argued the expediency of singling out the third stage of the development of the concept (version CSR 2.0, which is characterized by the integration of the theoretical and practical foundations of the concepts of CSR and sustainable development as well as by their implementation into activities of corporations. The presence of the necessary prerequisites for singling out the new stage in the evolution of these concepts (version CSR 3.0, which is based on the provisions of the collaborative theory and provides for the cooperation of social enterprises and sustainable corporations in achieving the goals of sustainable development, is revealed, its expediency is justified. The determinant of the stage is the use of opportunities for sustainable development, the dominant is the social orientation, and its content is characterized by the slogan “doing common good to do common well”. Using generalization, there identified the features of the established models of sustainable development of corporations by key aspects (goals, principles, methods. On this basis, the features of approaches to financing sustainable development at the macro and micro levels are determined, and the principles for financing the activities of corporations in the new conditions are defined. It is concluded that achieving sustainability requires an effective system of financing corporate measures aimed at sustainable development, for the creation of which in Ukraine it is necessary to use the experience of “best practices” at the national, local and corporate levels.

  19. CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATIONS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ienciu Ionel-Alin

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is a model for resource use meant to satisfy human needs, without polluting the environment, so that these needs can be satisfied not only in the present, but in the future as well. It is a concept of nowadays with no generally accepted definition, placing environment first and foremost, aiming at implementing the environmental policies in all structures and at all economic levels. Within the present study we have aimed at creating a conceptual delimitation on sustainable development, sustainability and socialresponsibility, concepts of present interest, that tend to become a mystery for the academic community and practitioners by their variety and complexity of approaches. During our scientific endeavor we believe that social responsibility is the foundation of sustainable development. Sustainable development is a concept used especially at macro-economic level, while social responsibility is used at entity level and incorporates the economic, environmental and social dimension, which has a voluntary character and tries to respond to the information needs of the society and other stakeholders. Sustainability at the entity\\'s level is the goal or final objective of sustainable development – satisfaction of present needs without compromising the possibility for future generations to satisfy their own needs, while social responsibility is an intermediate phase of sustainability wherein entities try to balance the economic, social and environmental dimension. Thus, we can state we include ourselves within social corporatism, slightly close to social institutionalism, which is characteristic to developed countries, giving a particular importance to social contract and relations between entity and society. We believe that in Romania, a POSDRU funded project should be regarded as a legal person with social values, which must be based on sustainable development and to promote, besides legal liability of automatically deriving

  20. Pulsatile Hyperglycaemia Induces Vascular Oxidative Stress and GLUT 1 Expression More Potently than Sustained Hyperglycaemia in Rats on High Fat Diet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rakipovski, Gunaj; Lykkesfeldt, Jens; Raun, Kirsten

    2016-01-01

    expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), gp-91(PHOX) and super oxide dismutase (SOD), while only the PLG group showed increased accumulation of oxidative stress and oxidised low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in aorta. Conclusion Pulsatile hyperglycaemia induced relatively higher levels of oxidative stress......Introduction Pulsatile hyperglycaemia resulting in oxidative stress may play an important role in the development of macrovascular complications. We investigated the effects of sustained vs. pulsatile hyperglycaemia in insulin resistant rats on markers of oxidative stress, enzyme expression...... and glucose metabolism in liver and aorta. We hypothesized that liver's ability to regulate the glucose homeostasis under varying states of hyperglycaemia may indirectly affect oxidative stress status in aorta despite the amount of glucose challenged with. Methods Animals were infused with sustained high (SHG...

  1. Sustainability in Teaching: An Evaluation of University Teachers and Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa María Brito

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Since the 1970s, interest in caring for the environment has gained traction and the environmental education movement has gained momentum. The Talloires Declaration was the first document to incorporate sustainable development into higher education. After that, higher education institutions assumed the social responsibility of training human resources with a sustainable vision. This study aimed to contribute to the design of indicators that could be used to evaluate the efficacy of the sustainability taught at the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero (Autonomous University of Guerrero in Mexico. We administered a survey to 63 teachers and 511 students from four academic units in high schools, and undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The answers were analyzed using the F-test and the variable descriptions. For the environmental, social and economic indicators, the satisfaction levels of teachers and students were more positive in graduate and undergraduate programs than in the high school. To determine the efficacy of the teaching function in terms of sustainable education, as well as to fulfill the commitments acquired to achieve sustainability, institutional processes need to be strengthened.

  2. MHR fuel cycle options for future sustainability of nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baxter, Alan; Venneri, Francesco; Rodriguez, Carmelo; Fikani, Michael

    2005-01-01

    The future sustainability of the nuclear option is not significantly tied to the level of resources. For example, current high quality uranium reserves (∼3.34x10 6 tons) are enough for more than 55 years at present consumption rates (IAEA estimate). Doubling of the present uranium ore price (∼$26/kg) could create about a tenfold increase in resources, providing more than 550 years of supply at present rates (World Nuclear Association estimate). There are also thorium reserves which are estimated to be about three times those of uranium, and would allow for a significant increase in annual consumption levels. The key to a sustainable nuclear future is really tied to the political and technical problems of long term waste disposal, and the perceived risks of nuclear weapons proliferation. Thus fuel cycle options for a sustainable nuclear future must address and solve these issues. High temperature, Gas-Cooled, Graphite Moderated, reactors (MHRs) have nuclear and operational characteristics to provide multiple fuel cycle options to solve these issues. Three fuel cycles for the MHD are described in this paper, and their capabilities for meeting a sustainable nuclear future in terms of nuclear waste minimization and destruction, and reduction of proliferation risk, are discussed. (author)

  3. The workers role in knowledge management and sustainability policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolis, Ivan; Brunoro, Claudio; Sznelwar, Laerte Idal

    2012-01-01

    Based on the concepts of sustainability and knowledge management, this article seeks to identify points of contact between the two themes through an exploratory study of existing literature. The first objective is to find, in international literature, the largest number of papers jointly related to the theme of knowledge management and sustainability. In these documents, the authors looked at the kind of relationship existing between the two themes and what the benefits introduced in organizations are. Based on an ergonomic point of view, the second objective of this article is to analyze the role of the worker (whether at the strategic or operational level) and his importance in this context. The results demonstrate that there is very little literature that addresses the two themes together. The few papers found, however, can be said to show the many advantages of introducing sustainability policies supported by adequate knowledge management. Very little has been studied with regards to the role of workers, which could be interpreted as meaning that little importance is given to the proactive role they may play. On the other hand, there is a high potential for future research in these areas, based on the high level of consideration of workers in knowledge management and sustainability literature, as well as in literature in the areas of ergonomics and sociology.

  4. Maslow Portfolio Selection for Individuals with Low Financial Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zongxin Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we extend Maslow’s need hierarchy theory and the two-level optimization approach by developing the framework of the Maslow portfolio selection model (MPSM by solving the two optimization problems to meet the need of individuals with low financial sustainability who prefer to satisfy their lower-level (safety need first, and, thereafter, look for higher-level (self-actualization need to maximize the optimal return. We illustrate our proposed model with real American stock data from the S&P index and conduct the out-of-sample analysis to compare the performance of our proposed Variance-CVaR (conditional value-at-risk MPSM with both traditional mean-variance and mean-CVaR models. Our empirical analysis shows that our proposed Variance-CVaR MPSM is not only sustainable, but also obtains the best out-of-sample performance in the sense that the optimal portfolios obtained by using our proposed Variance-CVaR MPSM obtain the highest cumulative returns in the out-of-sample period among the models used in our paper. We note that our proposed model is not only suitable to individuals with low financial sustainability, but also suitable to institutions or investors with high financial sustainability.

  5. Sustainable Block Design Process for High-Rise and High-Density Districts with Snow and Wind Simulations for Winter Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norihiro Watanabe

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Urban designs that consider regional climatic conditions are one of the most important approaches for developing sustainable cities. In cities that suffer from heavy snow and cold winds in winter, an urban design approach different than that used for warm cities should be used. This study presents a scientific design process (the sustainable design approach that incorporates environmental and energy assessments that use snow and wind simulations to establish guidelines for the design of urban blocks in high-rise and high-density districts so that the impact of snow and wind can be minimized in these cities. A city block in downtown Sapporo, Japan, was used as a case study, and we evaluated four conceptual models. The four models were evaluated for how they impacted the snow and wind conditions in the block as well as the snow removal energy. Based on the results, we were able to identify the design guidelines in downtown Sapporo: an urban block design with higher building height ratio without the mid-rise part can reduce the snowdrifts and lower the snow removal energy. The proposed sustainable urban design approach would be effective in improving the quality of public spaces and reducing snow removal energy in winter cities.

  6. Action Research for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egmose, Jonas

    on urban sustainability the need to move towards sustainability at societal level is conceptualised as a democratic challenge questioning the way we live on planet earth. By understanding sustainability as an immanent and emergent ability of ecological and social life, continuously to renew itself without...... with a greater say in the future of urban sustainability research, the work shows how action research can make important methodological contributions to processes of social learning between citizens and scientists by enabling free spaces in peoples everyday life and within academia, where aspects...

  7. Action Research for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egmose, Jonas

    by analysing processes of social learning. The book addresses the need to move towards sustainability at societal level as a democratic challenge questioning the way we live on planet earth. By conceptualising sustain-ability as an immanent and emergent ability of ecological and social life, continuously...... to provide local citizens with a greater say in the future of urban sustainability research, this book shows how action research can make important methodological contributions to processes of social learning between citizens and scientists by enabling free spaces in peoples everyday life and within academia...

  8. Smallholder telecoupling and potential sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karl S. Zimmerer

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Smallholders are crucial for global sustainability given their importance to food and nutritional security, agriculture, and biodiversity conservation. Worldwide smallholders are subject to expanded telecoupling whereby their social-ecological systems are linked to large-scale socioeconomic and environmental drivers. The present research uses the synthesis of empirical evidence to demonstrate smallholder telecoupling through the linkages stemming from the global-level integration of markets (commodity, labor, finance, urbanization, governance, and technology. These telecoupling forces are often disadvantageous to smallholders while certain conditions can contribute to the potential sustainability of their social-ecological systems. Case studies were chosen to describe sustainability opportunities and limits involving smallholder production and consumption of high-agrobiodiversity Andean maize amid telecoupled migration (Bolivia, the role of international eco-certification in smallholder coffee-growing and agroforests (Colombia, smallholder organic dairy production in large-scale markets and technology transfer (upper Midwest, U.S.A., and smallholders' global niche commodity production of argan oil (Morocco. These case studies are used to identify the key challenges and opportunities faced by smallholders in telecoupling and to develop a conceptual framework. This framework specifies the integrated roles of global systems together with influential public and private institutions operating at multiple scales including the national level. The framework also integrates the local dynamics of smallholders' multiple land use units and their socioeconomic and environmental variation. Spatial spillover effects in smallholder landscapes are an additional element. This framework further establishes the un-Romantic, nonteleological, and antifetishistic view of smallholders. It provides specific insights on the multilevel dynamics of smallholder telecoupling

  9. At Home with Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hale, Lara

    2018-01-01

    of default rules in subconscious decision-making, this research finds that, ultimately, awareness drives the demand necessary for the creation of sustainable consumption. Whereas direct appeal to individuals has a disappointing level of influence on sustainability choices, it is understood that green...

  10. RPython high-level synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cieszewski, Radoslaw; Linczuk, Maciej

    2016-09-01

    The development of FPGA technology and the increasing complexity of applications in recent decades have forced compilers to move to higher abstraction levels. Compilers interprets an algorithmic description of a desired behavior written in High-Level Languages (HLLs) and translate it to Hardware Description Languages (HDLs). This paper presents a RPython based High-Level synthesis (HLS) compiler. The compiler get the configuration parameters and map RPython program to VHDL. Then, VHDL code can be used to program FPGA chips. In comparison of other technologies usage, FPGAs have the potential to achieve far greater performance than software as a result of omitting the fetch-decode-execute operations of General Purpose Processors (GPUs), and introduce more parallel computation. This can be exploited by utilizing many resources at the same time. Creating parallel algorithms computed with FPGAs in pure HDL is difficult and time consuming. Implementation time can be greatly reduced with High-Level Synthesis compiler. This article describes design methodologies and tools, implementation and first results of created VHDL backend for RPython compiler.

  11. Sustainable urban development and industrial pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrović Julka

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development of cities is highly connected with the pollution generated from industrial facilities and power plants. Both affect quality of air, weather, health and quality of life. The main goal of this paper is to determine the impact of selected weather parameters on the pollution from mentioned plants. From the research results, it can be concluded that sustainable urban development and welfare of citizens are dependent on causal relationship between pollution and weather. The greatest level of impact was recorded for nitric dioxide. In the case of carbon monoxide, the level of impact is the middle. The lowest level was recorded for particulate matter. The biggest impact on the carbon monoxide emission and particulate matter is that of air pressure, whereas temperature has the biggest impact on nitrogen dioxide emission. The research shows that air humidity and wind speed do not have a significant impact on the emission of pollutants from the plants. Research shows need for further studies in the field of impact of pollution from industry on urban weather and human health.

  12. Maximal voluntary contraction force, SR function and glycogen resynthesis during the first 72 h after a high-level competitive soccer game

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krustrup, Peter; Ørtenblad, Niels; Nielsen, Joachim

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine maximal voluntary knee-extensor contraction force (MVC force), sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function and muscle glycogen levels in the days after a high-level soccer game when players ingested an optimised diet. Seven high-level male soccer players had a vastus...... lateralis muscle biopsy and a blood sample collected in a control situation and at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h after a competitive soccer game. MVC force, SR function, muscle glycogen, muscle soreness and plasma myoglobin were measured. MVC force sustained over 1 s was 11 and 10% lower (P ...

  13. The Sustainable Leadership Simulator (SLS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Thomas; Edgeman, Rick; Grewatsch, Sylvia

    This conceptualization of the UN PRME-endorsed (Haertle, 2013) Sustainable Leadership Simulator (SLS) will at a minimum level of operationalization be an impactful online training simulator leveraging more sustainable behavior by individuals and organizations. Fully operationalized the SLS has...... & Ferraro, 2010). The UNGC Advanced Level has a more explicit management orientation than the GRI and integrates Best Practices in a framework for assessment of Sustainability Performance, in a manner analogous to quality management frameworks such as the EFQM Business Excellence Model that supports...... and the lack of process transparency among the most critical shortcomings. Future application of the Sustainable Leadership Simulator (SLS) offers potential for addressing these shortcomings by continuously validating the organizational impact of Best Practices and, conversely, generate data that allows...

  14. Comparison of pre- and post-levothyroxine high-sensitivity c-reactive protein and fetuin-a levels in subclinical hypothyroidism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oktay Bilgir

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The objective of this trial was to determine the levels of inflammatory markers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A pre- and post-levothyroxine treatment in cases of subclinical hypothyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 32 patients with a diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism and a control group of 30 healthy individuals were tested for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A, followed by the administration of 50 µg of levothyroxine in the patient group for 3 months. During the post-treatment stage, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A levels in the patient group were re-assessed and compared with pre-treatment values. RESULTS: Pre-treatment levels of both high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A were observed to be higher in the patient group than in the control group. The decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels during the post-treatment stage was not statistically significant. However, the decrease observed in post-treatment fetuin-A levels was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The decrease in fetuin-A levels in subclinical hypothyroidism cases indicates that levothyroxine treatment exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects. Although the decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels was statistically non-significant, it is predicted to reach significance with sustained treatment.

  15. AN OVERVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian CRISTU

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development requires better quality of life for present and future generations. Additional data is required to measure lasting progress, that tracks economic growth. The objectives that take these aspects into consideration should be accompanied by economic, social, environmental and demographic indicators. Thus, sustainable development indicators satisfy these requirements. The articles makes an analysis of the main indicators of sustainable development. Even though it is important to observe them at a macro, European level, it is necessary to take into consideration the specific situation existing at a local and regional level, as well. Equally important is the integration of objectives aimed at sustainable development into the national policies. Economic improvement can be achieved through jobs and sustainable consumption.

  16. Catalysis and sustainable (green) chemistry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Centi, Gabriele; Perathoner, Siglinda [Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale ed Ingegneria dei Materiali, University of Messina, Salita Sperone 31, 98166 Messina (Italy)

    2003-01-15

    Catalysis is a key technology to achieve the objectives of sustainable (green) chemistry. After introducing the concepts of sustainable (green) chemistry and a brief assessment of new sustainable chemical technologies, the relationship between catalysis and sustainable (green) chemistry is discussed and illustrated via an analysis of some selected and relevant examples. Emphasis is also given to the concept of catalytic technologies for scaling-down chemical processes, in order to develop sustainable production processes which reduce the impact on the environment to an acceptable level that allows self-depuration processes of the living environment.

  17. Facility for sustained positive affect as an individual difference characteristic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicola S. Schutte

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available A series of studies investigated a proposed new individual difference characteristic or trait, facility for sustained positive affect, consisting of tendencies that allow individuals to maintain a high level of positive mood. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in the creation of a measure, the self-congruent and new activities (SANA scale which identified two core aspects of sustainable positive affect, engaging in self-congruent activities and engaging in new activities. A higher level of facility for sustainable affect, as operationalized by the SANA scale, was associated with maintenance of positive mood for a month, fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, less negative affect, and more life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, work satisfaction, mindfulness, personal expansion and growth, and emotional intelligence. The results provided initial evidence that facility to maintain positive affect may be an emotion-related individual difference characteristic.

  18. Sustainable Housing Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauring, Gert Michael

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable Housing Design. Integrating technical and housing quality aspects of sustainable architecture in civil engineering education. Summary An integrated design approach to sustainable architecture is outlined that combines concerns for zero energy building, good indoor climate and adequate...... phases. The outcome shows that integrated design further solutions where sustainable urban forms of settlement can be highly energy efficient while also attractive from a user perspective. Key words: Sustainable architecture, integrated design, zero-energy-housing, dense urban living. 1. Introduction...... When designing sustainable housing, energy optimization and satisfactory indoor climates are central issues that need to be incorporated from early design phases if to reach a coherent design. It might also be argued that the energy consumption of contemporary buildings only plays a rela-tively minor...

  19. The Impact of a Values-Based Supply Chain (VBSC on Farm-Level Viability, Sustainability and Resilience: Case Study Evidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa Hooks

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The ‘Agriculture of the Middle’ (AotM development paradigm emphasises that in order to survive, family farms must transition from a supply chain approach to a values-based supply chain (VBSC approach, involving amendments to both product type and actor dynamics within the chain. This paper presents a qualitative case study of a beef co-operative integrated to a VBSC. We use an analytical framework of viability, sustainability and resilience to analyse impacts at farm-level. Our analysis highlights a number of positive effects on farm-level viability, sustainability and resilience. These benefits stemmed largely from improvements to market orientation, price stability, and members’ capacities in responding to problems. However, the autonomy of the co-operative was challenged by VBSC chain members, which impacted negatively on the stability of the co-operative.

  20. Sustainable energy policy for Asia: Mitigating systemic hurdles in a highly dense city

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ng, Artie W.; Nathwani, Jatin

    2010-01-01

    Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) has been increasingly a sensitive issue that is across border and impacting global public interests. While the use of renewable energy technology is perceived as a means to enable delivery of emission-free solutions, its penetration into the energy market has not been timely and significant enough as projected in prior studies. This article aims to illustrate some of the critical hurdles as the policy makers start formulating environmentally friendly energy consumption means for the public in Asian economies. In particular, through analyzing the characteristics in the case of Hong Kong, the authors unveil the challenges for this highly dense city to reach a landscape of alternative energy resources for its transition into a sustainable economy. Education and engagement with the public about a sustainable future, alignment of stakeholders' economic interests and absorption capacity of emerging technologies are argued as the three main challenges and initiatives in mitigating the underlying systemic hurdles that remain to be overcome. Observing the current responses to the externalities by the policy makers in Hong Kong, this study articulates the critical challenges to mitigate these specific systemic hurdles embedded in the existing infrastructure of a highly dense city. Possible mitigating measures to enable deployment of integrative sustainable energy solutions in dealing with climate change are discussed. (author)

  1. Sustainable city policy. Economic, environmental, technological

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Camagni, R.; Capello, R. [Politecnico di Milano, Milan (Italy). Economics Dept.; Nijkamp, P. [Dept. of Spatial Economics. Fac. of Economics and Econometrics. Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    1995-12-31

    While the reasons for advocating intensified environmental concerns at the urban level are more and more accepted and clear, the question how to overcome such concerns is still fraught with many difficulties. The aim of the present paper is to formulate some policy guidelines, based on economic principles, for a `sustainable city`; it is an ambitious aim, since a unique and operationally defined `recipe` is difficult to envisage. An urban policy for a sustainable city needs to take different (and contrasting) aspects and many conflicting interests into consideration, while many political, social and economic frictions need to be overcome. A description of various aspects and concepts concerning sustainability issues at the urban level is given in Section 2. Section 3 then provides some considerations on possible technological, economic and environmental urban policies, by creating a typo logy of policy tools associated with different causes of urban decline. Section 4 provides some new, and partly provocative, suggestions for specific urban sustainability policies; in particular it deals with the problem of urban sustainability indicators, measures, and critical threshold levels at which urban sustainability policies should be implemented. Some reflective remarks will conclude the paper. 3 figs., 4 tabs., 25 refs.

  2. Sustainable city policy. Economic, environmental, technological

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Camagni, R.; Capello, R.

    1995-01-01

    While the reasons for advocating intensified environmental concerns at the urban level are more and more accepted and clear, the question how to overcome such concerns is still fraught with many difficulties. The aim of the present paper is to formulate some policy guidelines, based on economic principles, for a 'sustainable city'; it is an ambitious aim, since a unique and operationally defined 'recipe' is difficult to envisage. An urban policy for a sustainable city needs to take different (and contrasting) aspects and many conflicting interests into consideration, while many political, social and economic frictions need to be overcome. A description of various aspects and concepts concerning sustainability issues at the urban level is given in Section 2. Section 3 then provides some considerations on possible technological, economic and environmental urban policies, by creating a typo logy of policy tools associated with different causes of urban decline. Section 4 provides some new, and partly provocative, suggestions for specific urban sustainability policies; in particular it deals with the problem of urban sustainability indicators, measures, and critical threshold levels at which urban sustainability policies should be implemented. Some reflective remarks will conclude the paper. 3 figs., 4 tabs., 25 refs

  3. A method to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries: An application to a Norwegian trawler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veldhuizen, L.J.L., E-mail: linda.veldhuizen@wur.nl [Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen (Netherlands); Berentsen, P.B.M. [Business Economics group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen (Netherlands); Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, I.J.M. de [Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen (Netherlands)

    2015-07-15

    Social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries is, both in terms of method development and measurement, not well developed. The objective of this study, therefore, was to develop a method consisting of indicators and rubrics (i.e. categories that articulate levels of performance) to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries. This method was applied to a Norwegian trawler that targets cod and haddock in the northeast Atlantic. Based on previous research, 13 social sustainability issues were selected. To measure the state of these issues, 17 process and outcome indicators were determined. To interpret indicator values, rubrics were developed for each indicator, using standards set by international conventions or data retrieved from national statistics, industry agreements or scientific publications that explore rubric scales. The indicators and rubrics were subsequently used in a social sustainability assessment of a Norwegian trawler. This assessment indicated that overall, social sustainability of this trawler is relatively high, with high rubric scores, for example, for worker safety, provisions aboard for the crew and companies' salary levels. The assessment also indicated that the trawler could improve on healthy working environment, product freshness and fish welfare during capture. This application demonstrated that our method provides insight into social sustainability at the level of the vessel and can be used to identify potential room for improvement. This method is also promising for social sustainability assessment of other capture fisheries. - Highlights: • A method was developed for social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries. • This method entailed determining outcome and process indicators for important issues. • To interpret indicator values, a rubric was developed for each indicator. • Use of this method gives insight into social sustainability and improvement options. • This method is promising for social

  4. A method to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries: An application to a Norwegian trawler

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veldhuizen, L.J.L.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, I.J.M. de

    2015-01-01

    Social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries is, both in terms of method development and measurement, not well developed. The objective of this study, therefore, was to develop a method consisting of indicators and rubrics (i.e. categories that articulate levels of performance) to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries. This method was applied to a Norwegian trawler that targets cod and haddock in the northeast Atlantic. Based on previous research, 13 social sustainability issues were selected. To measure the state of these issues, 17 process and outcome indicators were determined. To interpret indicator values, rubrics were developed for each indicator, using standards set by international conventions or data retrieved from national statistics, industry agreements or scientific publications that explore rubric scales. The indicators and rubrics were subsequently used in a social sustainability assessment of a Norwegian trawler. This assessment indicated that overall, social sustainability of this trawler is relatively high, with high rubric scores, for example, for worker safety, provisions aboard for the crew and companies' salary levels. The assessment also indicated that the trawler could improve on healthy working environment, product freshness and fish welfare during capture. This application demonstrated that our method provides insight into social sustainability at the level of the vessel and can be used to identify potential room for improvement. This method is also promising for social sustainability assessment of other capture fisheries. - Highlights: • A method was developed for social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries. • This method entailed determining outcome and process indicators for important issues. • To interpret indicator values, a rubric was developed for each indicator. • Use of this method gives insight into social sustainability and improvement options. • This method is promising for social

  5. Sustainable development and nuclear power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-11-01

    Although there is an awareness on both the technical and political levels of the advantages of nuclear power, it is not a globally favoured option in a sustainable energy future. A sizeable sector of public opinion remains hesitant or opposed to its increased use, some even to a continuation at present levels. With various groups calling for a role for nuclear power, there is a need openly and objectively to discuss the concerns that limit its acceptance: the perceived health effects, the consequences of severe accidents, the disposal of high level waste and nuclear proliferation. This brochure discusses these concerns, and also the distinct advantages of nuclear power. Extensive comparisons with other energy sources are made. Figs, tabs.

  6. Sustainable development and nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-11-01

    Although there is an awareness on both the technical and political levels of the advantages of nuclear power, it is not a globally favoured option in a sustainable energy future. A sizeable sector of public opinion remains hesitant or opposed to its increased use, some even to a continuation at present levels. With various groups calling for a role for nuclear power, there is a need openly and objectively to discuss the concerns that limit its acceptance: the perceived health effects, the consequences of severe accidents, the disposal of high level waste and nuclear proliferation. This brochure discusses these concerns, and also the distinct advantages of nuclear power. Extensive comparisons with other energy sources are made

  7. Rapid and sustained cost management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, D.

    2009-01-01

    Accenture helps clients develop comprehensive, process-driven strategies for rapid and sustained cost management that leverage deep insights and analytics. This approach enables companies to gain operating cost advantages by rationalizing, simplifying and automating current operating capabilities. It drives structural cost advantages by optimizing business mix, capital structure, organizational structure and geographic presence. This paper discussed how successful companies achieve high performance during times of economic turmoil. It also discussed the value of the winner's strategy in terms of rapid and sustained cost management (RSCM). It discussed how Accenture operates and its leveraged capabilities, improved efficiency, margins and cash flow while maintaining customer service levels. Building structural advantage and the Accenture difference were also discussed. It was concluded that RSCM is one vital way that Accenture can help companies achieve success. 4 figs

  8. Making Sustainable Consumption and Production the Core of Sustainable Development Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewis Akenji

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper argues that sustainable consumption and production (SCP should play a prominent role in the formulation and implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs and discusses how this could be practically done. Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production have been declared the primary cause of environmental deterioration. This was clearly recognized already at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (or the Rio Summit in 1992; and this recognition has been reconfirmed in all high-level sustainability meetings since then. SCP aims to change these patterns; it is a policy agenda for addressing the root causes of our ecological predicament, while, at the same time, providing for human wellbeing and prosperity. Drawing from international agreements, practical policy experience and research from a range of disciplines, the paper provides a clarifying framework for scientifically robust, policy-relevant and practical goal-setting for SCP within the SDGs. Special attention is given to how SCP in the SDGs can create synergies with other international policy initiatives. The paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of two possible options for reflecting SCP in the SDGs framework: (i SCP as a stand-alone goal; and (ii SCP as a cross-cutting objective, embedded within relevant goals. While these two options are not necessarily mutually exclusive, given the competing number of issues for prioritization and the fact that a 10-Year Framework of Programs on SCP has also recently been established, it is hardly foreseeable that both options can be realized. The paper further proposes a set of basic principles for SCP at the global level and makes recommendations towards the formulation of indicators supporting SCP objectives in the SDGs.

  9. Applicability of the Sustainable Structural Design (SSD) method at urban/regional/national level

    OpenAIRE

    CARUSO MARIA CHIARA; LAMPERTI TORNAGHI MARCO; NEGRO PAOLO

    2017-01-01

    The alarming data on world climatic change, resources impoverishment and increasing human diseases caused by environmental pollution has encouraged the modern society to feel committed in reducing the environmental issues and to adopt a sustainable approach to every human activity. Sustainability is an ambitious challenge for Europe development and European policy is addressed in investing massive resources for achieving sustainable goals. Construction is one of the most impactful industr...

  10. Sustainable built environments

    CERN Document Server

    Haase, Dagmar

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable design is a collective process whereby the built environment achieves unprecedented levels of ecological balance through new and retrofit construction, with the goal of long-term viability and humanization of architecture. Focusing on the environmental context, sustainable design merges the natural, minimum resource conditioning solutions of the past (daylight, solar heat, and natural ventilation) with the innovative technologies of the present.  The desired result is an integrated “intelligent” system that supports individual control with expert negotiation for resource consciousness. International experts in the field address the fundamental questions of sustainable design and landscape management: How should the sustainability of landscapes and buildings be evaluated? Which targets have to be set and which thresholds should not be exceeded? What forms of planning and governance structures exist and to what extent do they further the goals of sustainability?  Gathering 30 peer-reviewed ent...

  11. High potassium level

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... level is very high, or if you have danger signs, such as changes in an ECG . Emergency ... Seifter JL. Potassium disorders. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine . 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: ...

  12. Factors Influencing Museum Sustainability and Indicators for Museum Sustainability Measurement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izabela Luiza Pop

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to identify the factors upon which museum sustainability depends and the way in which this can be measured. Methodologically, we applied a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with experts from the Romanian museum sector, complemented by an in-depth study of the literature in this field. Results indicated that any objective measuring of sustainability must take into account the size of a museum’s collections and its organizational structure. It was also found that museum type can affect sustainability via its competitive advantage. However, the sustainability of a museum is not strictly determined by these factors, but also by the management and marketing strategies applied. Based on analysis of literature- and respondent-based factors influencing sustainability, this article proposes a set of 33 indicators that can be used by museums to measure their sustainability, as well as a model that enables evaluation of the sustainability levels of various museums comparatively, regardless of their type, size or importance (e.g., national, regional and local. The results obtained are useful both from a theoretical point of view, given that there are few writings on this topic, and from a practical point of view, as they provide a basis for a clear, objective model of museum sustainability measurement.

  13. High-level Petri Nets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    various journals and collections. As a result, much of this knowledge is not readily available to people who may be interested in using high-level nets. Within the Petri net community this problem has been discussed many times, and as an outcome this book has been compiled. The book contains reprints...... of some of the most important papers on the application and theory of high-level Petri nets. In this way it makes the relevant literature more available. It is our hope that the book will be a useful source of information and that, e.g., it can be used in the organization of Petri net courses. To make......High-level Petri nets are now widely used in both theoretical analysis and practical modelling of concurrent systems. The main reason for the success of this class of net models is that they make it possible to obtain much more succinct and manageable descriptions than can be obtained by means...

  14. ICT innovations for sustainability

    CERN Document Server

    Aebischer, Bernard

    2015-01-01

    ICT Innovations for Sustainability is an investigation of how information and communication technology can contribute to sustainable development. It presents clear definitions of sustainability, suggesting conceptual frameworks for the positive and negative effects of ICT on sustainable development. It reviews methods of assessing the direct and indirect impact of ICT systems on energy and materials demand, and examines the results of such assessments. In addition, it investigates ICT-based approaches to supporting sustainable patterns of production and consumption, analyzing them at various levels of abstraction – from end-user devices, Internet infrastructure, user behavior, and social practices to macro-economic indicators.   Combining approaches from Computer Science, Information Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Economics, and Environmental Sciences, the book presents a new, holistic perspective on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S). It is an indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of ICT...

  15. QUALITY MILESTONES OF THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomescu Ada Mirela

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available At this stage there are numerous studies about how tourism activity is related and affects the environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine theoretically, and to analyse activities that occur in hotels, linking this activity to the principles and activities that reduce the tourism negative environmental impact. When we have the objective to discuss sustainable development we must balance between a trilogies that enclose the following three concepts: economic, social/ equity and ecology/environment. In fact in our opinion we agree that “sustainable development is a fractal” concept. Sustainable development is examined here, specifically - taking account of the activity of accommodation in hotels, and also the frame that such activity must integrates. The principles of sustainable development are the most important factors beside clients` expectations, such that to maintain a standard that not only is high, so the coefficients satisfy tourists, but to suit the requirements sustainability, which in this instance means rationalization repeated on different levels and plans (this concerns to energy consumption, water, to waste disposal, etc.. The relationship between tourism and the environment is particular complex, since these two factors are interrelated, and each of them is, at their turn characterised by complexity and variability. The fundamental premise for a friendly, high quality tourism is harmony on the one hand, with the operators (for sustainable development and secondly with tourists (for a correct use of the facilities. As a syntagma, this can mean: the promotion and adoption of "green behaviour". It is believed today that more and more hoteliers should adopt this behaviour, an ecological framework in which hotel has the benefits of normal economic activity, showing competitiveness, but customer satisfaction in the highest grade (quality remains the central plan in spite of rigors required by the so-called: "green behaviour

  16. The State of Sustainability Reporting in Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano, Rodrigo

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review and assess the state of sustainability reporting in universities. Design/methodology/approach: Analysis of the performance level of 12 universities sustainability reports using the Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities tool. Findings: The results show that sustainability reporting in…

  17. The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Garner

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Developing skills and attitudes among students in terms of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD requires that educators address issues of sustainability in both formal and non-formal education. However, up to now, ESD seems to have been insufficiently implemented in secondary science education in many countries in general, and in high school chemistry learning in particular. A lack of suitable experiments, coupled with missing teaching and learning materials and insufficient teacher professional development have been identified as the reasons for this gap. This paper describes a project of innovation and research in the field of ESD for secondary school chemistry education. Within the project, both half- and full-day learning environments have been developed for non-formal, laboratory-based learning of secondary level students at the university. The research-based development focuses on teaching-learning modules which link formal and non-formal learning. The pedagogy employed is both learner-centered and inquiry-based. All the modules focus on sustainability issues in chemistry-related contexts. Data was collected by questionnaires from teachers and students both prior to and after the visit of the non-formal learning environment. Likert-items were analyzed statistically and the evaluation of the open-ended questions was done by Qualitative Content Analysis. An overview of the project, a case from the non-formal laboratory setting, and findings from accompanying research and evaluation are discussed in this paper. Potential impacts on teacher professional development and curriculum innovation are also outlined.

  18. An Experimental Study of High Strength-High Volume Fly Ash Concrete for Sustainable Construction Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kate, Gunavant K.; Thakare, Sunil B., Dr.

    2017-08-01

    Concrete is the most widely used building material in the construction of infrastructures such as buildings, bridges, highways, dams, and many other facilities. This paper reports the development, the basic idea, the main properties of high strength-high volume fly ash with application in concrete associated with the development and implementation of Sustainable Properties of High Volume Fly Ash Concrete (HVFAC) Mixtures and Early Age Shrinkage and mechanical properties of concrete for 7,28,56 and 90days. Another alternative to make environment-friendly concrete is the development of high strength-high-volume fly ash concrete which is an synthesized from materials of geological origin or by-product materials such as fly ash which is rich in silicon and aluminum. In this paper 6 concrete mixtures were produced to evaluate the effect of key parameters on the mechanical properties of concrete and its behavior. The study key parameters are; binder material content, cement replacement ratios, and the steel fibers used to High Volume Fly Ash mixtures for increasing performance of concrete.

  19. Economic theories of sustainable consumption

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada; Bergh, van den Jeroen C.J.M.

    1999-01-01

    The term `sustainable consumption' denotes the search for consumption patterns that reduce human pressure on the environment and nature. This searchinvolves three levels of research. First, the relationship between consumption, lifestyles and environmental sustainability has to be clarified.

  20. Sustainable Mobility, Future Fuels, and the Periodic Table

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallington, Timothy J.; Anderson, James E.; Siegel, Donald J.; Tamor, Michael A.; Mueller, Sherry A.; Winkler, Sandra L.; Nielsen, Ole J.

    2013-01-01

    Providing sustainable mobility is a major challenge that will require new vehicle and fuel technologies. Alternative and future fuels are the subject of considerable research and public interest. A simple approach is presented that can be used in science education lectures at the high school or undergraduate level to provide students with an…

  1. Sustainable Land Governance in Support of the Global Agenda

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Enemark, Stig

    strategies in support of sustainable development. This paper provides an overall understanding of the land management paradigm in this regard. Land governance and administration support the global agenda through addressing the key challenges of our time such as climate change, poverty reduction, human rights......, rapid urban growth, and the post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Land Governance and administration therefore need high-level political support and recognition. This relates especially to developing countries where there is an urgent need to build simple and “fit-for-purpose” land administration...

  2. AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHARACTERISTICS AND MEASUREMENT IN Agave tequilana Weber IN THE SIERRA DE AMULA REGION, JALISCO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arturo Moreno Hernández

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available This article qualitative evaluation of the sustainable management in blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber agroecosystems, in Sierra Amula region of the Jalisco state, Mexico. Sixteen sites were evaluated in an altitudinal gradient ranging from 777 to 1345 masl. Six principles considered by Altieri (1999 as the basic elements of a sustainable management of the agroecosystem, were used to construct an Index of Agroecosystem Sustainable Management (IMSA. Four levels of this index were identified: values lower than 50 % were considered unsustainable management, 51 to 66.6 % scarcely sustainable management, 66.7 to 83.2 % mediumly sustainable management and 83.3 to 100 % highly sustainable management. Of the 16 sites evaluated, two were classified as unsustainable management, six was scarcely sustainable management, five as medially sustainable management and three as highly sustainable management.

  3. Organizational citizenship behavior towards sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Chowdhury, Dhiman Deb

    2013-01-01

    This article extends literature of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in the context of corporate sustainability. The author presents the concept of Organizational Citizenship Behavior towards Sustainability (OCBS) as a variant, contending it's appropriateness for today's much needed behavioral competence to implement sustainability measure at organizational level. The formulation of OCBS espouses Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) with a twist. The viewpoint defended that a for...

  4. Sustained Satellite Missions for Climate Data Records

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halpern, David

    2012-01-01

    Satellite CDRs possess the accuracy, longevity, and stability for sustained moni toring of critical variables to enhance understanding of the global integrated Earth system and predict future conditions. center dot Satellite CDRs are a critical element of a global climate observing system. center dot Satellite CDRs are a difficult challenge and require high - level managerial commitment, extensive intellectual capital, and adequate funding.

  5. Sustainable Development as a Meta-Context for Engineering Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karel Mulder

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, there is unprecedented awareness of the need for a transformation in development, to meet the needs of the present while also preserving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, within engineering, educators still tend to regard such development as an ‘aspect’ of engineering rather than an overarching meta-context, with ad hoc and highly variable references to topics. Furthermore, within a milieu of interpretations there can appear to be conflicting needs for achieving sustainable development, which can be confusing for students and educators alike. Different articulations of sustainable development can create dilemmas around conflicting needs for designers and researchers, at the level of specific designs and (sub- disciplinary analysis. Hence sustainability issues need to be addressed at a meta-level using a whole of system approach, so that decisions regarding these dilemmas can be made. With this appreciation, and in light of curriculum renewal challenges that also exist in engineering education, this paper considers how educators might take the next step to move from sustainable development being an interesting ‘aspect’ of the curriculum, to sustainable development as a meta-context for curriculum renewal. It is concluded that capacity building for such strategic considerations is critical in engineering education.

  6. The Sustainability Cone - A holistic framework to integrate sustainability thinking into manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki; Alting, Leo

    2016-01-01

    Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability-oriented......Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability...... - as the missing link which closes these gaps by providing necessary holistic and consistent overview while being aligned with established stage-gate project execution models, thus ensuring practical applicability as shown for a highly automated production cell. The paper shows how to apply life cycle target...

  7. How to assess sustainability in automated manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dijkman, Teunis Johannes; Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe how sustainability in automation can be assessed. The assessment method is illustrated using a case study of a robot. Three aspects of sustainability assessment in automation are identified. Firstly, we consider automation as part of a larger system...... that fulfills the market demand for a given functionality. Secondly, three aspects of sustainability have to be assessed: environment, economy, and society. Thirdly, automation is part of a system with many levels, with different actors on each level, resulting in meeting the market demand. In this system......, (sustainability) specifications move top-down, which helps avoiding sub-optimization and problem shifting. From these three aspects, sustainable automation is defined as automation that contributes to products that fulfill a market demand in a more sustainable way. The case study presents the carbon footprints...

  8. Optimization and Simulation of Collaborative Networks for Sustainable Production and Transportation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liotta, Giacomo; Kaihara, Toshiya; Stecca, Giuseppe

    2016-01-01

    Complex and delocalized manufacturing industries require high levels of integration between production and transportation in order to effectively implement lean and agile operations. There are, however, limitations in research and applications simultaneously embodying further sustainability dimen...

  9. Calculation of keff for plutonium in high-level waste packages

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zielinski, P.R.; Culbreth, W.G.

    1994-01-01

    The proposed national high-level nuclear waste repository will be designed to store approximately 70,000 tons of commercial spent fuel, but other forms of waste will also be considered for ultimate storage at this site. Plutonium in the form of PuO 2 may be added to borosilicate glass for ultimate disposal in the repository. The maximum amount of this fissile that may be added to a glass ''log'' will be limited by its ability to sustain a chain reaction. In this study, the removal of neutron absorbers from a glass log and the subsequent possibility of water infiltration were studied to find corresponding neutron multiplication factors. Weight fractions of 1%, 2%, and 3% PuO 2 were analyzed in the study. The results show the maximum amount of plutonium fissile that may be safely added to a glass log under conditions that lead to leaching of the principal neutron absorbers from the glass

  10. Sustainability and Risk Disclosure: An Exploratory Study on Sustainability Reports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisa Truant

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent policy changes in sustainability reporting, such as the ones related to the new European Directive on non-financial disclosure (2014/95/EU, the standards issued by the American Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB, the G4 guidelines issued by the Global Sustainability Standard Board (GSSB, and the framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC stress the importance of extending the disclosure of ethical, social, and environmental risks within financial and social-environmental reporting. Institutional pressure has notably increased among organizations, in setting up risk management tools to understand sustainability risks within managerial and reporting practices. Given such institutional pressure, the corporate reaction in providing additional sustainability risk disclosure calls for attention and scrutiny. Therefore, this study aims at addressing such issues from an exploratory perspective. We based our analysis on a sample of large Italian organizations that issued sustainability disclosure in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, G4 guidelines, and we tested the relationship between their level of risk disclosure and other relevant variables. Consistently with the literature, we found that “experienced” sustainable reporters provide a significant volume of disclosure, and that disclosure quality on risk is positively influenced by their international presence and reporting experience. However, when accounting for specific risk-related areas of disclosure, only a few of them seem to adopt a managerial perspective linking strategy, risk metrics, and disclosure.

  11. Protective effect of SP600125 against liver cell injury in rats under repeated and sustained high +Gz exposure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-bing LI

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective To explore the effect of JNK inhibitor SP600125 on expression of JNK/c-jun in liver cells of rats under repeated and sustained high +Gz exposure and its mechanism of the effect. Methods Eighteen inbred adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group, +10Gz group and SP600125 group (n=6. The rats in +10Gz group and SP600125 group were fixed to the rotating arm of a centrifuge with head towards the axis. The increase rate of acceleration was 1G/s with a peak-time of 3 minutes, and the +Gz exposure was repeated 5 times with an interval of 30 minutes. SP600125 was given to rats of SP600125 group 30 minutes before the first centrifugation by intraperitoneal injection. All of the animals were sacrificed 30 minutes after centrifugation. Blood samples were collected from inferior vena cava to determine the plasma level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST and alanine aminotransferase (ALT. The expression of c-jun mRNA was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRTPCR. The expressions of p-JNK, JNK, p-c-jun and c-jun protein were determined by Western blotting. The morphological change in the liver tissue was observed after HE staining. Results The plasma level of ALT and AST, expression level of c-jun mRNA and p-JNK, p-c-jun, c-jun protein in the liver tissue of SP600125 group were significantly higher than those of control group (P0.05. HE staining revealed disorganized hepatic cords, irregular liver cells, vacuolar changes, and marked edema of hepatocytes, and collapsed hepatic sinusoids in +10Gz group, but these changes were alleviated obviously in SP600125 group. Conclusion SP600125 could alleviate the liver cell injury in rats under repeated and sustained high +Gz exposure. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.2577-7402.2014.11.02

  12. Cardiovascular Diseases on the Global Agenda: The United Nations High Level Meeting, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Way Forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralston, Johanna; Reddy, K Srinath; Fuster, Valentin; Narula, Jagat

    2016-12-01

    In 2011, the United Nations (UN) organized the first ever meeting for heads of state to discuss the problem of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), including cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes mellitus. Recognizing that these had emerged as leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world, including in many low- and middle-income countries, advocates from government and civil society had called for increased attention and a UN response. Earlier, NCD including CVD were absent from the global health agenda in part because of their omission from the Millennium Development Goals. The UN meeting and the global advocacy response offered a game-changing opportunity to redress this omission. The World Heart Federation (WHF) played an instrumental role in the UN meeting and follow up, including inclusion of CVD in the Sustainable Development Goals. The next phase of the global CVD movement is expected through national action, including CVD roadmaps and partnering with the World Health Organization. The WHF is heavily committed to these goals and the other nongovernmental organizations invested in the mission must help take this historical mandate forward. Instrumental to this will be the engagement of people affected by or at risk of developing CVD, to draw more attention and resources to NCD and to ensure that successes to date in global policy translate into action at the national level. Copyright © 2016 World Heart Federation (Geneva). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Building from the bottom, inspired from the top: Accounting for sustainability and the Environment Agency

    OpenAIRE

    Thomson, I.; Georgakopoulos, G.; Hopwood, A.; Unerman, J.; Fries, J.

    2010-01-01

    If you were looking for a good example of accounting for sustainability in the UK, a sensible place to start would be the Environment Agency. As well as being responsible for the licensing, regulation and enforcement of environmental protection legislation in England and Wales, it is tasked with transforming businesses and public-sector organizations into more sustainable operations. There are high levels of expertise in sustainable development and environmental protection across the organiza...

  14. High-rise housing in the city of Samara: the first steps on the path to sustainable development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vavilova, Tatiana Ya.; Makeeva, Elena Yu.

    2018-03-01

    This paper outlines theoretical background of high-rise housing and discusses its design experience. It particularly focuses on environmental, social and economic aspects which are among crucial sustainable development issues. The authors dwell upon the implementation of innovative solutions that meet principles and goals of sustainable development and take construction objects built in Samara (which is one of the largest metropolises in Russia) as an example. The research also investigates the quality of project designs and reveals techniques corresponding to the "green standards". It considers the issues of practicing high-rise building construction in specific urban conditions and identifies unresolved architectural problems.

  15. Seaports as turntables for sustainability. Policy memo Sustainable Seaports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lammers, J.

    2008-11-01

    Dutch seaports are expected to operate at top level worldwide with regard to their quality of service. Sustainable development of the seaports is an essential prerequisite to achieve this. Therefore the Dutch government will cooperate with decentralized authorities, port managers, enterprises linked to the Dutch ports, knowledge institutes and societal groups to increase the sustainability of the Dutch seaports. The following five themes are focuses upon in this effort: air quality; energy, CO2 and residual flows; spatial use; environmental conservation and development; water quality and management. [mk] [nl

  16. The post-2015 delivery of universal and sustainable access to infrastructure services. Working Paper

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doczi, Julian, Dorr, Tobias; Mason, Nathaniel; Scott, Andrew

    2013-06-15

    In this new working paper, the authors focus specifically on what would be necessary to achieve High Level Panel-style goals and targets for water, energy and transport, if these were to be eventually adopted by world leaders. In all three cases, much of the advocacy - and the proposed High Level Panel goals - have emphasized the need to strive for universal and sustainable access to at least basic levels of services from these sectors. Many of the proposals for post-2015 goals and targets appear ambitious, but what would it take to achieve them? This paper assesses what is needed to achieve goals for universal and sustainable access to infrastructure, specifically water, energy and transport. Using illustrative goals and targets, the paper reviews the development challenges in each sector, and what will be necessary to overcome the barriers to universal and sustainable access to water, energy and transport infrastructure services, in the areas of governance, finance, capacity development and environmental protection. The paper ends with general conclusions about infrastructure in the post-2015 development agenda.

  17. Costs of reducing water use of concentrating solar power to sustainable levels: Scenarios for North Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damerau, Kerstin; Williges, Keith; Patt, Anthony G.; Gauche, Paul

    2011-01-01

    Concentrating solar power (CSP) has the potential to become a leading sustainable energy technology for the European electricity system. In order to reach a substantial share in the energy mix, European investment in CSP appears most profitable in North Africa, where solar potential is significantly higher than in southern Europe. As well as sufficient solar irradiance, however, the majority of today's CSP plants also require a considerable amount of water, primarily for cooling purposes. In this paper we examine water usage associated with CSP in North Africa, and the cost penalties associated with technologies that could reduce those needs. We inspect four representative sites to compare the ecological and economical drawbacks from conventional and alternative cooling systems, depending on the local environment, and including an outlook with climate change to the mid-century. Scaling our results up to a regional level indicates that the use of wet cooling technologies would likely be unsustainable. Dry cooling systems, as well as sourcing of alternative water supplies, would allow for sustainable operation. Their cost penalty would be minor compared to the variance in CSP costs due to different average solar irradiance values. - Highlights: → Scaling up CSP with wet cooling from ground water will be unsustainable in North Africa. → Desalination and alternative cooling systems can assure a sustainable water supply. → On large-scale, the cost penalties of alternative cooling technologies appear minor.

  18. Key factors of low carbon development strategy for sustainable transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thaveewatanaseth, K.; Limjirakan, S.

    2018-02-01

    Cities become more vulnerable to climate change impacts causing by urbanization, economic growth, increasing of energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. People who live in the cities have already been affected from the impacts in terms of socioeconomic and environmental aspects. Sustainable transport plays the key role in CO2 mitigation and contributes positive impacts on sustainable development for the cities. Several studies in megacities both in developed and developing countries support that mass transit system is an important transportation mode in CO2 mitigation and sustainable transport development. This paper aims to study key factors of low carbon development strategy for sustainable transport. The Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) located in Bangkok was the study area. Data collection was using semi-structured in-depth interview protocol with thirty respondents consisting of six groups i.e. governmental agencies, the MRT operators, consulting companies, international organizations, non-profit organizations, and experts. The research findings highlighted the major factors and supplemental elements composing of institution and technical capacity, institutional framework, policy setting and process, and plan of implementation that would support more effective strategic process for low carbon development strategy (LCDS) for sustainable transport. The study would highly recommend on readiness of institution and technical capacities, stakeholder mapping, high-level decision- makers participation, and a clear direction of the governmental policies that are strongly needed in achieving the sustainable transport.

  19. Lean maturity, lean sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Frances; Matthiesen, Rikke; Nielsen, Jacob

    2007-01-01

    . A framework for describing levels of lean capability is presented, based on a brief review of the literature and experiences from 12 Danish companies currently implementing lean. Although still in its emerging phase, the framework contributes to both theory and practice by describing developmental stages......Although lean is rapidly growing in popularity, its implementation is far from problem free and companies may experience difficulties sustaining long term success. In this paper, it is suggested that sustainable lean requires attention to both performance improvement and capability development...... that support lean capability development and consequently, lean sustainability....

  20. Is Romanian Rural Tourism Sustainable? Revealing Particularities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Ruxandra Andrei

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Research on sustainable tourism involves developing an appropriate framework to highlight the interdependences of economic, social and environmental systems. The interdependence is based on the entropy of the system while respecting the principle of holism and diversity of rural tourism sustainability. In this context, sustainability in general and rural tourism in particular can be considered a complex system of development, which in some ways can be studied by statistical and econometric methods that allow the analysis of the interdependences between the variables of rural tourism at county level and at the level of rural communities. Conducting such studies involves identifying the rural communities where rural tourism has reached significant levels. Based on this consideration, this paper aims to identify the development regions and counties of Romania where the trends of development of rural tourism are significantly above the average recorded at country level, as a first step towards particular studies of sustainability in rural communities.

  1. Progress in long sustainment and high density experiments with potential confinement on GAMMA 10

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yatsu, K.; Cho, T.; Hirata, M.

    2001-01-01

    The improvement of potential confinement reported in the last IAEA meeting was attained by axisymmetrization of heating pattern of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH). It was experimentally shown that the axisymmetrization of ECRH really produced axisymmetric potential profile. GAMMA 10 experiments have advanced in longer sustainment and high density operation of potential confinement. Experiments for long sustainment of potential confinement were carried out in order to study problems of steady state operation of a tandem mirror reactor. A confining potential was sustained for 150 ms by sequentially injecting two (ECRH) powers in the plug region. It was difficult before to increase the central cell density higher than about 2.5x10 12 cm -3 with and/or without potential confinement due to some density limiting mechanism. In order to overcome this problem, a new higher frequency ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) system (RF3: 36-76 MHz) has been installed. A higher density plasma has been produced with RF3. In addition to RF3, neutral beam injection (NBI) in the anchor cell became effective by reducing neutral gas from beam injectors. Potential confinement experiments have advanced to higher central cell densities up to 4x10 12 cm -3 with RF3 and NBI. A 20% density increase due to the potential confinement was obtained in the high density experiments. (author)

  2. Sustainability is possible despite greed - Exploring the nexus between profitability and sustainability in common pool resource systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osten, Friedrich Burkhard von der; Kirley, Michael; Miller, Tim

    2017-05-23

    The sustainable use of common pool resources has become a significant global challenge. It is now widely accepted that specific mechanisms such as community-based management strategies, institutional responses such as resource privatization, information availability and emergent social norms can be used to constrain individual 'harvesting' to socially optimal levels. However, there is a paucity of research focused specifically on aligning profitability and sustainability goals. In this paper, an integrated mathematical model of a common pool resource game is developed to explore the nexus between the underlying costs and benefits of harvesting decisions and the sustainable level of a shared, dynamic resource. We derive optimal harvesting efforts analytically and then use numerical simulations to show that individuals in a group can learn to make harvesting decisions that lead to the globally optimal levels. Individual agents make their decision based on signals received and a trade-off between economic and ecological sustainability. When the balance is weighted towards profitability, acceptable economic and social outcomes emerge. However, if individual agents are solely driven by profit, the shared resource is depleted in the long run - sustainability is possible despite some greed, but too much will lead to over-exploitation.

  3. Proposed strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to critical urban issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truong, Nguyen Hoang Long; Huan Giang, Ngoc; Binh Duong, Trong

    2018-03-01

    This paper aims at finding practical strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to varied municipal issues. Two steps are made. Step-1 identifies the critical issues of Ho Chi Minh City which are associated with high-rise apartment building projects. Step-2 finds potential and applicable strategies which are solutions for the critical issues in Step-1 with reference of seven selected assessment methods. The study finds the set of 58 strategies applicable to designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City.

  4. A statistical study on consumer's perception of sustainable products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pater, Liana; Izvercian, Monica; Ivaşcu, Larisa

    2017-07-01

    Sustainability and sustainable concepts are quite often but not always used correctly. The statistical research on consumer's perception of sustainable products has tried to identify the level of knowledge regarding the concept of sustainability and sustainable products, the selected criteria concerning the buying decision, the intention of purchasing a sustainable product, main sustainable products preferred by consumers.

  5. The challenge of sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orr, D.W.

    1993-01-01

    This paper discusses sustainability in a world that has changed rapidly. The author suggests that ecological assumptions embedded in communism and capitalism are badly flawed, but the flaws were not apparent when there were fewer than a billion people on earth living at low technology levels. Sustaining the earth's vital signs is a challenge to our perception of time, and the numbers - population, environmental damage, oil consumption, waste disposal - are too large to comprehend easily. There is a global debate about what sustainability means. In fact the challenge of sustainability is 6 different challenges: overcoming the tendency to deny inconvenient realities; establishing accurate indicators of human and ecological health; questions about the kinds of technology necessary to make the transition to sustainability; education; the need for an emotional bond between man and nature; rebuilding the existing democratic institutions. 16 refs

  6. Sustainable Agricultural Development and Environment: Conflicts ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    sustainable development in the context of Rwanda as the level of socio- political and ... envisaged by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) includes the .... sustainable agriculture and agri-business development in Rwanda is.

  7. Building a Unit-Level Mentored Program to Sustain a Culture of Inquiry for Evidence-Based Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breckenridge-Sproat, Sara T; Throop, Meryia D; Raju, Dheeraj; Murphy, Deborah A; Loan, Lori A; Patrician, Patricia A

    2015-01-01

    This study tested the effectiveness of a dynamic educational and mentoring program, facilitated by unit-level mentors, to introduce, promote, and sustain an evidence-based practice (EBP) culture among nurses in a military healthcare setting. The need to identify gaps in practice, apply principles of EBP, and advance scientific applications in the pursuit of quality nursing care is as important to military healthcare as it is in the civilian sector. The Advancing Research through Close Collaboration Model guided the intervention and study. Three instruments were used: the Organizational Readiness for System-wide Integration of Evidence-Based Practice, EBP Beliefs, and EBP Implementation scales. The study took place in 3 military hospitals simultaneously undergoing facility and staff integration. Data were collected from staff nurses in the inpatient nursing units before and after a facilitated education and mentoring intervention. Three hundred sixty nurses (38%) completed baseline, and 325 (31%) completed follow-up surveys. Scores improved on all 3 measures following implementation of the program; however, the differences were statistically significant only for the Organizational Readiness for System-wide Integration of Evidence-Based Practice scale (70.96 vs 77.63, t = -3.95, P culture may diffuse among individuals in an organization, even while experiencing significant change. It also demonstrates that a unit-level mentored EBP program is sustainable despite changes in organizational structure and workforce composition.

  8. Clinical Characteristics and Correlation Analysis of Subjects with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection and Sustained Low Levels of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jun; Dai, Yuzhu; Yan, Li; Zhou, Huajun; Xu, Xujian

    2018-01-01

    Background The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of individuals with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection with persistent low levels of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and to undertake a correlation analysis of the clinical characteristics. Material/Methods The study included 1,204 subjects with chronic HBV infection. Serum HBsAg, HBV envelope antigen (HBeAg), and HBV core antigen (HBcAg) levels were measured using the chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) and the neutralization test. HBV DNA was measured using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-FQ-PCR). Results There were 1,023 subjects in the high-level HBsAg group (HBsAg level ≥10 IU/mL) and 181 subjects in the low-level HBsAg group (HBsAg level HBV-M2), and the asymptomatic carrier (ASC) status was 98.34%. The low-level HBsAg group had a lower HBV DNA-positive rate compared with the high-level HBsAg group (40.33% vs. 75.07%), with a normal distribution across all age groups (P>0.05). The low-level HBsAg group included an older age group. A low-level of HBsAg was positively correlated with a low level of replication of HBV DNA (r=0.452). Conclusions The findings of this study showed that individuals with chronic HBV infection and sustained low-levels of HBsAg were an older population and had a lower level of replicating HBV DNA when compared with individuals with high levels of HBsAg, and the majority (93.7%) were also HBsAg and HBeAg and HBcAg-positive. PMID:29593208

  9. PEG 3350 Administration Is Not Associated with Sustained Elevation of Glycol Levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Kent C; Rogers, Lynette K; Hill, Ivor; Barnard, John; Di Lorenzo, Carlo

    2018-04-01

    To determine whether trace amounts of ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (DEG), or triethylene glycol (TEG) in PEG 3350 are associated with increased blood levels of EG, DEG, or TEG in children receiving daily PEG 3350 therapy. Blood samples were drawn from 9 children who were being treated for constipation with PEG 3350 (6-12 years old) before and every 30 minutes for 3 hours after receiving 17 g of PEG 3350. PEG 3350, tap water, and blood samples from 18 age- and sex-matched controls also were analyzed. Baseline blood levels of EG and TEG did not differ between control and treated groups. DEG levels (median [IQR]) were lower in the PEG 3350 group (40.13 ng/mL [36.69, 63.94] vs 92.83 ng/mL [51.06, 128.93], P = .008). After PEG 3350 dose, levels of EG (390.51 ng/mL [326.06, 624.55]) and TEG (2.21 ng/mL [0, 4.5]) peaked at 90 minutes at 1032.81 ng/mL (826.84, 1486.13) (P = .009) and 35.17 ng/mL (15.81, 45.13) (P = .0005), respectively. DEG levels did not significantly change. Standard 17-g doses of PEG 3350 in 8 oz (237 mL) of water resulted in concentrations (mean ± SD) of EG, DEG, and TEG of 1.32 ± 0.23 µg/mL, 0.18 ± 0.03 µg/mL, and 0.12 ± 0.01 µg/mL, respectively. EG, DEG, and TEG levels in public water supply were 0.07 µg/mL, 0.21 µg/mL, and 0.02 µg/mL, respectively. Daily PEG 3350 therapy in children was not associated with sustained elevation of EG, DEG, or TEG blood levels over levels in matched controls. Although EG and TEG levels increased after a standard dose of PEG 3350, their peak values remained well below toxic levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Nanomanufacturing and sustainability: opportunities and challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Busnaina, Ahmed A.; Mead, Joey; Isaacs, Jacqueline; Somu, Sivasubramanian

    2013-01-01

    New nanomanufacturing technologies, although still in research labs, present a great opportunity to drastically reduce the cost of making nanostructures on a large scale and at high-rates. Such new bottom-up directed assembly-based approaches involve adding materials selectively thereby both reducing waste and the number of required processes. Directed assembly-based processes are conducted at room pressure and temperatures which significantly reduces the cost of nanomanufacturing equipment and tools, ensuring long-term sustainability by reducing energy, consumables, and waste costs. This paradigm shift in nanomanufacturing will unleash not only a wave of creativity in sustainable nanomanufacturing but lessons learnt along the way can be used in various other sectors. Along with the exquisite technological promise that nanotechnology holds, nano-enabled products are heralded as a means for energy and resource reduction, resulting in potential manufacturing cost reductions and further, for potential improvements to environmental remediation. Sustainable nanomanufacturing will, by dramatically lowering current nanomanufacturing barriers, spur innovation, and the creation of entirely new industries by leveling the playing and ultimately leading to the democratization of nanomanufacturing

  11. Nanomanufacturing and sustainability: opportunities and challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Busnaina, Ahmed A., E-mail: BUSNAINA@COE.NEU.EDU [Northeastern University, NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (United States); Mead, Joey [University of Massachusetts Lowell (United States); Isaacs, Jacqueline; Somu, Sivasubramanian [Northeastern University, NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (United States)

    2013-10-15

    New nanomanufacturing technologies, although still in research labs, present a great opportunity to drastically reduce the cost of making nanostructures on a large scale and at high-rates. Such new bottom-up directed assembly-based approaches involve adding materials selectively thereby both reducing waste and the number of required processes. Directed assembly-based processes are conducted at room pressure and temperatures which significantly reduces the cost of nanomanufacturing equipment and tools, ensuring long-term sustainability by reducing energy, consumables, and waste costs. This paradigm shift in nanomanufacturing will unleash not only a wave of creativity in sustainable nanomanufacturing but lessons learnt along the way can be used in various other sectors. Along with the exquisite technological promise that nanotechnology holds, nano-enabled products are heralded as a means for energy and resource reduction, resulting in potential manufacturing cost reductions and further, for potential improvements to environmental remediation. Sustainable nanomanufacturing will, by dramatically lowering current nanomanufacturing barriers, spur innovation, and the creation of entirely new industries by leveling the playing and ultimately leading to the democratization of nanomanufacturing.

  12. Sustainable Geophysical Observatory Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemann, R. J.; Lerner-Lam, A.; Aster, R.; Beck, S.; Ekstrom, G.; Nyblade, A.; Sandvol, E.

    2007-05-01

    Geophysical networks are defined not only by their technical specifications, but also by the characteristics and needs of the communities that use them. Growing populations supported by more elaborate urban infrastructure with its fine-grained socio-economic interdependencies and relying on global and regional connections for sustainability make new demands for natural hazard risk management. Taking advantage of advances in the underlying science to provide society with accurate risk assessments often requires higher fidelity measurements, entirely new types of observations, and an evolutionary sense of data products and information management. Engineering a high-tech system to address stakeholder needs is difficult, and designing for unpredictable developments requires an emphasis on adaptation. Thus, it is essential to promote formation of organizations or communities that can support evolution of a technological system, imagine new uses, and develop the societal relationships that sustain operations and provide capital for improvement. The owners must have a deep understanding of why the system works in particular ways and how to manage data products for the benefits of stakeholders. To be effective, community promotion must be sustained over a longer period of time than required to build a network and should be aimed at integrating the community into worldwide partnerships. Practices that can promote community formation if they are sustained include repeated training and scientific exchange workshops, extended visits by experts and staff at all levels to and from countries where networks are installed, mechanisms that make timely upgrades realistically possible, and routine exchange and wide dissemination of data in all directions. The combination of international research and educational collaborations, supported by open data exchange, with regionalized and specific assessments of local stakeholder needs and concerns, provides a sustainable model for

  13. Mini-review: high rate algal ponds, flexible systems for sustainable wastewater treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, P; Taylor, M; Fallowfield, H J

    2017-06-01

    Over the last 20 years, there has been a growing requirement by governments around the world for organisations to adopt more sustainable practices. Wastewater treatment is no exception, with many currently used systems requiring large capital investment, land area and power consumption. High rate algal ponds offer a sustainable, efficient and lower cost option to the systems currently in use. They are shallow, mixed lagoon based systems, which aim to maximise wastewater treatment by creating optimal conditions for algal growth and oxygen production-the key processes which remove nitrogen and organic waste in HRAP systems. This design means they can treat wastewater to an acceptable quality within a fifth of time of other lagoon systems while using 50% less surface area. This smaller land requirement decreases both the construction costs and evaporative water losses, making larger volumes of treated water available for beneficial reuse. They are ideal for rural, peri-urban and remote communities as they require minimum power and little on-site management. This review will address the history of and current trends in high rate algal pond development and application; a comparison of their performance with other systems when treating various wastewaters; and discuss their potential for production of added-value products. Finally, the review will consider areas requiring further research.

  14. Environmental sustainability assessment of buildings in hot climates: the case of the UAE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    AboulNaga, Mohsen M.; Elsheshtawy, Yasser H.

    2001-01-01

    Sustainability has acquired great importance due to the negative impact of various developments on the environment. The rapid growth during the last decade has been accompanied by active construction which, in some instances, neglected the impact on the environment and human activities. The impact of developments on the traditional heritage has not been taken into consideration although the latter represents a rich resource for sustainable building practices. The study aims at examining these developments in the UAE using an assessment tool that measures the performance of buildings in terms of their sustainability. This study attempts to: (a) develop a comprehensive definition of sustainability to suit UAE needs; (b) classify sustainable building practices at international and regional levels; (c) assess building performance in the UAE; and (d) establish guidelines for future sustainable architecture. T-Sol software was used to predict the CO 2 emission level in selected buildings in the UAE. Results illustrate that average energy use/area in domestic buildings is high (213 kWh/m 2 ) and public buildings showed less sustainable measures in terms of energy features, energy performance and environmental features. Issues considered in the assessment of buildings such as energy use per square metre and CO 2 emission are alarming. Traditional buildings in the UAE were more sustainable than contemporary buildings, however. (Author)

  15. Application of GIS in siting disposal repository for high level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Xia; Wang Ju; Huang Shutao

    2010-01-01

    High level radioactive waste geo-disposal is directly related to environment protection and Sustainable Utilization of nuclear energy. To ensure both success and long-term safe disposal of the high level-radioactive waste, finding suitable sites is an important step in the research. Meanwhile, siting and evaluation the geo-disposal repository for high level-radioactive waste need a wide range of relevant information, including geology and geophysical surveys data, geochemistry data and other geoscience data in the field. At the same time, some of the data has its spatial property. Geographic information system (GIS) have a role to play in all geographic and spatial aspects of the development and management of the siting disposal repository. GIS has greatly enhanced our ability to store, analyze and communicate accounts of the information. This study was conducted to compare the more suitable sites for the repository using GIS -based on the data which belongs to the preselected area in BeiShan, Gansu Province, China. First, the data of the pre-selected site is captured by GIS and stored in the geoscience database. Then, according to the relevant guide line in the field, the analysis models based on GIS are build. There are some thematic layers of the sites character grouped into two basic type, namely social factors(town, traffic and nuclear plant) and natural factors (water, land and animals and plants).In the paper, a series of GIS models was developed to compare the pre-selected areas in order to make optimal decision. This study shows that with appropriate and enough information GIS used in modeling is a powerful tool for site selection for disposal repository. (authors)

  16. Sustainability of cross-functional teams for marketing strategy development and implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kono, Ken; Antonucci, Don

    2006-01-01

    This article presents a case study on a cross-functional team used for marketing strategy development and execution at a health insurance company. The study found a set of success factors that contributed to the initial success of the team, but the factors were not enough to maintain the team's high level of productivity over time. The study later identified a set of 8 factors that helped sustain the team's high-productivity level. The 2 sets (ie, success and its subsequent sustainability factors) are analyzed against a normative model of team effectiveness. All the factors are explained by the normative model except for 1 sustainability factor, "challenge motivator." In fact, the study found the "challenge motivator" to be the most critical factor to keep up the team's productivity over time. Apart from a performance crisis, the authors developed 3 "challenge motivators"--first, more granular market information that could unearth hidden performance issues; second, constant value creation to shareholders as the firm being publicly traded; and third, the firm's strategic mandate to meet and exceed customer expectations that puts ultimate performance pressure on the marketing strategy team.

  17. Assessment of the Sustainable Development Capacity with the Entropy Weight Coefficient Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qingsong Wang

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is widely accepted in the world. How to reflect the sustainable development capacity of a region is an important issue for enacting policies and plans. An index system for capacity assessment is established by employing the Entropy Weight Coefficient method. The results indicate that the sustainable development capacity of Shandong Province is improving in terms of its economy subsystem, resource subsystem, and society subsystem whilst degrading in its environment subsystem. Shandong Province has shown the general trend towards sustainable development. However, the sustainable development capacity can be constrained by the resources such as energy, land, water, as well as environmental protection. These issues are induced by the economy development model, the security of energy supply, the level of new energy development, the end-of-pipe control of pollution, and the level of science and technology commercialization. Efforts are required to accelerate the development of the tertiary industry, the commercialization of high technology, the development of new energy and renewable energy, and the structure optimization of energy mix. Long-term measures need to be established for the ecosystem and environment protection.

  18. Happiness and Sustainability Together at Last! Sustainable Happiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, Catherine

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable happiness is "happiness that contributes to individual, community and/or global well-being without exploiting other people, the environment or future generations" (O'Brien, 2010a, n.p.). It underscores the interrelationship between human flourishing and ecological resilience. At the national and international levels,…

  19. High-rise housing in the city of Samara: the first steps on the path to sustainable development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vavilova Tatiana Ya.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper outlines theoretical background of high-rise housing and discusses its design experience. It particularly focuses on environmental, social and economic aspects which are among crucial sustainable development issues. The authors dwell upon the implementation of innovative solutions that meet principles and goals of sustainable development and take construction objects built in Samara (which is one of the largest metropolises in Russia as an example. The research also investigates the quality of project designs and reveals techniques corresponding to the "green standards". It considers the issues of practicing high-rise building construction in specific urban conditions and identifies unresolved architectural problems.

  20. 1. Dimensions of sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Repetto, R.

    1992-01-01

    This chapter discusses the following topics: the concept of sustainable development; envisioning sustainable development (economic dimensions, human dimensions, environmental dimensions, technological dimensions); policy implications (economic policies, people-oriented policies, environmental policies, creating sustainable systems); and global issues (effect of war on development and the environment and the debt burden). This chapter also introduces the case studies by discussing the levels of economic development and comparing key trends (economic growth, human development, population growth, and energy use)

  1. The EU's agenda 2000 reformand the sustainability of organic farming in Tuscany: ecological-econmic modelling at field and farm level

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pacini, G.C.; Giesen, G.W.J.; Wossink, G.A.A.; Omodei-Zorini, L.; Huirne, R.B.M.

    2004-01-01

    Sustainability has become a central issue in the agricultural sector, both for researchers, producers and policy-makers. The two main objectives of this paper are: (1) to present an holistically designed ecological-economic model to evaluate farm and field-level environmental-economic tradeoffs with

  2. Assessing the global sustainability of different electricity generation systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cartelle Barros, Juan José; Lara Coira, Manuel; Cruz López, María Pilar de la; Caño Gochi, Alfredo del

    2015-01-01

    A model is presented for assessing the global sustainability of power plants. It uses requirement trees, value functions and the analytic hierarchy process. The model consists of 27 parameters and makes it possible to obtain a sustainability index for each conventional or renewable energy plant, throughout its life-cycle. Here the aim is to make society aware of the sustainability level for each type of power system. As a result, decision making can be done with greater objectivity in both the public and private sectors. The model can be useful for engineers, researchers and, in general, decision makers in the energy policy field. With the exception of biomass fuels, the results obtained reinforce the idea that renewable energies make a greater contribution to sustainable development than their conventional counterparts. Renewable energies have a sustainability index that varies between 0.39 and 0.80; 0 and 1 being the lowest and highest contribution to sustainability, respectively. On the other hand, conventional power plants obtained results that fall between 0.29 and 0.57. High temperature solar-thermal plants, wind farms, photovoltaic solar plants and mini-hydroelectric power plants occupy the first four places, in this order. - Highlights: • A model for assessing the integral sustainability of power plants is proposed. • Different energy alternatives are ordered according to sustainability criteria. • Except for biomass, renewable energies contribute more to sustainable development. • The model aids the decision making process in the energy policy field

  3. Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Evan A.

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable spacecraft life support concepts may allow the development of more reliable technologies for long duration space missions. Currently, life support technologies at different levels of development are not well evaluated against each other, and evaluation methods do not account for long term reliability and sustainability of the hardware. This paper presents point-of-departure sustainability evaluation criteria for life support systems, that may allow more robust technology development, testing and comparison. An example sustainable water recovery system concept is presented.

  4. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Edward Kassem; Oldřich Trenz; Jiří Hřebíček; Oldřich Faldík

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME). Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ r...

  5. EAP high-level product architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guðlaugsson, Tómas Vignir; Mortensen, Niels Henrik; Sarban, Rahimullah

    2013-01-01

    EAP technology has the potential to be used in a wide range of applications. This poses the challenge to the EAP component manufacturers to develop components for a wide variety of products. Danfoss Polypower A/S is developing an EAP technology platform, which can form the basis for a variety...... of EAP technology products while keeping complexity under control. High level product architecture has been developed for the mechanical part of EAP transducers, as the foundation for platform development. A generic description of an EAP transducer forms the core of the high level product architecture...... the function of the EAP transducers to be changed, by basing the EAP transducers on a different combination of organ alternatives. A model providing an overview of the high level product architecture has been developed to support daily development and cooperation across development teams. The platform approach...

  6. High Level Radioactive Waste Management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    The proceedings of the second annual international conference on High Level Radioactive Waste Management, held on April 28--May 3, 1991, Las Vegas, Nevada, provides information on the current technical issue related to international high level radioactive waste management activities and how they relate to society as a whole. Besides discussing such technical topics as the best form of the waste, the integrity of storage containers, design and construction of a repository, the broader social aspects of these issues are explored in papers on such subjects as conformance to regulations, transportation safety, and public education. By providing this wider perspective of high level radioactive waste management, it becomes apparent that the various disciplines involved in this field are interrelated and that they should work to integrate their waste management activities. Individual records are processed separately for the data bases

  7. Sustainable Procurement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Telles, Pedro; Ølykke, Grith Skovgaard

    2017-01-01

    and within it how sustainable requirements have increased the level of compliance required, particularly regulatory compliance. Compliance was already present in previous EU public procurement frameworks, but its extent on Directive 2014/24/EU leads the authors to consider the current legal framework...

  8. Sustainability evaluation of high value-added products

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bos, H.L.; Meesters, K.P.H.

    2008-01-01

    In this report the authors present a brief overview of the methods that are presently in use for evaluating sustainability. They discuss more deeply the pros and cons of the various methods, with a strong focus on the LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) method. Given is an overview of the available literature

  9. Disposal of high level and intermediate level radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flowers, R.H.

    1991-01-01

    The waste products from the nuclear industry are relatively small in volume. Apart from a few minor gaseous and liquid waste streams, containing readily dispersible elements of low radiotoxicity, all these products are processed into stable solid packages for disposal in underground repositories. Because the volumes are small, and because radioactive wastes are latecomers on the industrial scene, a whole new industry with a world-wide technological infrastructure has grown up alongside the nuclear power industry to carry out the waste processing and disposal to very high standards. Some of the technical approaches used, and the Regulatory controls which have been developed, will undoubtedly find application in the future to the management of non-radioactive toxic wastes. The repository site outlined would contain even high-level radioactive wastes and spent fuels being contained without significant radiation dose rates to the public. Water pathway dose rates are likely to be lowest for vitrified high-level wastes with spent PWR fuel and intermediate level wastes being somewhat higher. (author)

  10. Sustainable Supply Chain Based on News Articles and Sustainability Reports: Text Mining with Leximancer and DICTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dongwook Kim

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to explore sustainable supply chain management (SSCM trends, and firms’ strategic positioning and execution with regard to sustainability in the textile and apparel industry based on news articles and sustainability reports. Further analysis of the rhetoric in Chief executive officer (CEO letters within sustainability reports is used to determine firms’ resoluteness, positive entailments, sharing of values, perception of reality, and sustainability strategy and execution feasibility. Computer-based content analysis is used for this research: Leximancer is applied for text analysis, while dictionary-based text mining program DICTION and SPSS are used for rhetorical analysis. Overall, contents similar to the literature on environmental, social, and economic aspects of the triple bottom line (TBL are observed, however, topics such as regulation, green incentives, and international standards are not readily observed. Furthmore, ethical issues, sustainable production, quality, and customer roles are emphasized in texts analyzed. The CEO letter analysis indicates that listed firms show relatively low realism and high commonality, while North American firms exhibit relatively high commonality, and Europe firms show relatively high realism. The results will serve as a baseline for providing academia guidelines in SSCM research, and provide an opportunity for businesses to complement their sustainability strategies and executions.

  11. Towards an economic sustainable, high yielding and climate-smart agriculture with high landscape values; Paa vaeg mot ett ekonomiskt haallbart, hoegproducerande och klimatsmart jordbruk med hoega landskapsvaerden

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumm, Karl-Ivar

    2013-07-15

    In 1995-97, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency carried out a futures study with the aim of identifying ways to achieve environmentally friendly, sustainable Swedish agriculture by 2021. The results indicated that major environmental improvements were possible, while also improving profitability and increasing production of food and bioenergy. At a time half way between 1995 and 2021, the trends predicted in that study were compared against actual developments in agriculture. The analysis showed that most objectives regarding environmental quality were on the way to being achieved relatively well. However, profitability continued to be weak, while food production had decreased and bioenergy production was far below the predicted level. The latter means that agriculture was far from achieving the target of compensating for its emissions of greenhouse gases through bioenergy production substituting for fossil energy. This analysis showed that weak profitability and insufficient production capacity at current prices are the greatest sustainability problems in Swedish agriculture. If profitability cannot be improved, agriculture will decline and its positive effects on the landscape will decrease. If production does not increase, there will have to be continued or increased food imports, which are often less favourable from an environmental perspective than food produced in Sweden. If bioenergy production in agriculture does not drastically increase, it will be difficult to realise the vision of a Sweden without net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. The present report updates the futures study. In the evaluation, great emphasis is placed on identifying paths to economically sustainable, high producing and climate-smart agriculture with high landscape values. It is assumed that the current agricultural support system is replaced with environmental payment based on landscape and climate benefits. The views expressed in this report are those of its author and

  12. Agro-energy supply chain planning: a procedure to evaluate economic, energy and environmental sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizio Ginaldi

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The increasing demand for energy and expected shortage in the medium term, solicit innovative energy strategies to fulfill the increasing gap between demand-supply. For this purpose it is important to evaluate the potential supply of the energy crops and finding the areas of EU where it is most convenient. This paper proposes an agro-energy supply chain approach to planning the biofuel supply chain at a regional level. The proposed methodology is the result of an interdisciplinary team work and is aimed to evaluate the potential supply of land for the energy production and the efficiency of the processing plants considering simultaneously economic, energy and environmental targets. The crop simulation, on the basis of this approach, takes into account environmental and agricultural variables (soil, climate, crop, agronomic technique that affect yields, energy and economic costs of the agricultural phase. The use of the Dijkstra’s algorithm allows minimizing the biomass transport path from farm to collecting points and the processing plant, to reduce both the transport cost and the energy consumption. Finally, a global sustainability index (ACSI, Agro-energy Chain Sustainability Index is computed combining economic, energy and environmental aspects to evaluate the sustainability of the Agroenergy supply chain (AESC on the territory. The empirical part consists in a pilot study applied to the whole plain of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG a region situated in the North-Eastern part of Italy covering about 161,300 ha. The simulation has been applied to the maize cultivation using three different technologies (different levels of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization: low, medium and high input. The higher input technologies allow to achieve higher crop yields, but affect negatively both the economic and energy balances. Low input levels provides, on the average, the most favourable energy and economic balances. ACSI indicates that low inputs levels

  13. Use of high-rise structures for sustainable tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vavilova Tatiana Ya.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with such issues as formation and development of the infrastructure of objects for serving tourists in urban environment and specially protected natural areas with particular focus on open tower structures - a type of object which is so popular in Russia. The authors systematize international experience of integrating watchtowers in natural and anthropogenic environment as well as specific features of their modern architectural solutions. A number of examples are given. Summing up the results of the analysis we have come to conclusion that in the field of tourism the most promising tendency in functional use of vertical structures is the demonstration of cultural and natural attractions. It is also noted that in national and natural parks objects of the tower type can be built for other purposes, e.g. for conducting research, monitoring weather conditions and emergency situations. It is shown that the development of infrastructure of high-rise buildings for educational tourism contributes to sustainable development of territories and settlements.

  14. Use of high-rise structures for sustainable tourism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vavilova, Tatiana Ya.; Vyshkin, Efim G.

    2018-03-01

    The paper deals with such issues as formation and development of the infrastructure of objects for serving tourists in urban environment and specially protected natural areas with particular focus on open tower structures - a type of object which is so popular in Russia. The authors systematize international experience of integrating watchtowers in natural and anthropogenic environment as well as specific features of their modern architectural solutions. A number of examples are given. Summing up the results of the analysis we have come to conclusion that in the field of tourism the most promising tendency in functional use of vertical structures is the demonstration of cultural and natural attractions. It is also noted that in national and natural parks objects of the tower type can be built for other purposes, e.g. for conducting research, monitoring weather conditions and emergency situations. It is shown that the development of infrastructure of high-rise buildings for educational tourism contributes to sustainable development of territories and settlements.

  15. Seeking Sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Clive L. Spash

    2014-01-01

    What does sustainability research do to help the environment? One might well wonder when observing the annual conference season with various academics and professors in sustainability science, ecological economics or environmental ethics driving to the airport to fly off to international meetings to discuss how bad things are getting, what should been done about it, and how time is running out for action. In fact, singling out a few academic groups is highly unfair because the link between pr...

  16. Analysis on Transportation Infrastructure Availability to Achieve Environmental and Social Sustainability in Karawang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rarasati, A. D.; Octoria, N. B.

    2018-03-01

    Sustainable infrastructure is the key to development success. At the same time, transportation infrastructure development will involve social and environmental conditions of the local surroundings. Assessment of the availability of such transport infrastructure is one of the solutions adapted from social and environmental impacts. By conducting a correlation test, the presence of transportation infrastructure and the social conditions of the environment can be identified. The results obtained show that the accessibility, the level of security, and the level of equality are correlated to social and environmental sustainability in Karawang. In terms of environment, the availability of transportation infrastructure is not directly related to the impact of environmental sustainability. The impact of the perceived environment also has no effect on the journey. Correlation results indicate that the length of travel time and congestion level do not make the perceived impact greater. The impact of the perceived environment is merely due to the high utilization of private vehicles in Karawang which subsequently leads to higher energy consumption.

  17. Sustainable Enterprise Excellence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Edgeman, Rick

    2013-01-01

    Structured Abstract Purpose: Sustainable Enterprise Excellence (SEE) is defined and developed through integration and expansion of business excellence modeling and sustainability thought. The intent is to enable simple yet reliable enterprise assessment of triple bottom line (TBL) performance...... and produce actionable enterprise foresight that can enable next best practices and sources of sustainable competitive advantage through innovation. Methodology: Key elements of SEE are identified from various business excellence and sustainability reporting sources, including the Global Reporting Initiative...... assessment approach similar in structure to those behind established excellence awards are developed that enable enterprise assessment of progress toward SEE. The resulting assessment is delivered in a highly consumable, combined narrative and graphic format referred to as a SEE NEWS Report. Practical...

  18. Utilising the Potential of Design Briefs in Sustainable Packaging Development

    OpenAIRE

    ten Klooster, Roland; de Koeijer, Bjorn

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable considerations in the development of product-packaging combinations require activities on both the strategic and operational level. As part of a company’s vision, the strategic level of development targets the desired implementation of sustainability considerations. The activities of the multidisciplinary teams of marketers, designers and engineers, which specifies the achieved sustainability in finished packaging concepts, largely determines the operational level of product-packa...

  19. Promoting obesity prevention together with environmental sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skouteris, Helen; Cox, Rachael; Huang, Terry; Rutherford, Leonie; Edwards, Susan; Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy

    2014-09-01

    There is mounting evidence that current food production, transport, land use and urban design negatively impact both climate change and obesity outcomes. Recommendations to prevent climate change provide an opportunity to improve environmental outcomes and alter our food and physical activity environments in favour of a 'healthier' energy balance. Hence, setting goals to achieve a more sustainable society offers a unique opportunity to reduce levels of obesity. In the case of children, this approach is supported with evidence that even from a young age they show emerging understandings of complex environmental issues and are capable of both internalizing positive environmental values and influencing their own environmental outcomes. Given young children's high levels of environmental awareness, it is easy to see how environmental sustainability messages may help educate and motivate children to make 'healthier' choices. The purpose of this paper is to highlight a new approach to tackling childhood obesity by tapping into existing social movements, such as environmental sustainability, in order to increase children's motivation for healthy eating and physical activity behaviours and thus foster more wholesome communities. We contend that a social marketing framework may be a particularly useful tool to foster behaviour change beneficial to both personal and environmental health by increasing perceived benefits and reducing perceived costs of behaviour change. Consequently, we propose a new framework which highlights suggested pathways for helping children initiate and sustain 'healthier' behaviours in order to inform future research and potentially childhood obesity intervention strategies. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Use of ozone for sustainable brackishwater industrial aquaculture and management of environment

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Dwivedi, S.N.

    The use of ozones for sustainable brakish water industrial aquaculture and the management of the environment is discussed. In sample survey conducted in the farms, it was seen that oxygen level was not adequate for high production. Replacement...

  1. Corporate sustainability practices in accredited Brazilian hospitals: a degree-of-maturity assessment of the environmental dimension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glauce Nascimento

    Full Text Available Abstract The main objective of this paper is to assess the degree of maturity of Brazilian accredited hospitals in relation to sustainable practices, specifically the environmental dimension. Therefore, a questionnaire was constructed, shaped by the literature review and the evaluation method of the Corporate Sustainability Index of BM and FBovespa (n.d.. Furthermore, the relationship between three corporate sustainability tools (the certification of the International Organization for Standardization [ISO] 14001, published sustainability reports, and the existence of an area dedicated to corporate sustainability and the maturity of hospitals in relation to sustainability practices were assessed. The results show that, of the 38 hospitals that participated in the survey (43% of subjects studied, 58% obtained a maturity rating of very high or high rating, according to the established criteria. In addition, some research variables showed statistically significant differences among the hospitals that have ISO 14001 certification, those that publish sustainability reports, and those that have an area dedicated to sustainability. Consequently, hospitals should take action to include much more sustainability actions in their strategies, such as how to establish a participatory dialog with stakeholders, in order to improve and raise the level of maturity of hospitals.

  2. Heat transfer in high-level waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickey, B.R.; Hogg, G.W.

    1979-01-01

    Heat transfer in the storage of high-level liquid wastes, calcining of radioactive wastes, and storage of solidified wastes are discussed. Processing and storage experience at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant are summarized for defense high-level wastes; heat transfer in power reactor high-level waste processing and storage is also discussed

  3. Sustaining self-management in diabetes mellitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell-Brown, Fay

    2014-01-01

    Successful management of diabetes depends on the individual's ability to manage and control symptoms. Self-management of diabetes is believed to play a significant role in achieving positive outcomes for patients. Adherence to self-management behaviors supports high-quality care, which reduces and delays disease complications, resulting in improved quality of life. Because self-management is so important to diabetes management and involves a lifelong commitment for all patients, health care providers should actively promote ways to maintain and sustain behavior change that support adherence to self-management. A social ecological model of behavior change (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, 1988) helps practitioners provide evidence-based care and optimizes patients' clinical outcomes. This model supports self-management behaviors through multiple interacting interventions that can help sustain behavior change. Diabetes is a complex chronic disease; successful management must use multiple-level interventions.

  4. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH EXTERNAL TRADE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Vasile

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A country’s economic growth is directly influenced by the external trade activity, which is considered by the majority of economists as one of the main engines of a country. How international trade can contributes to a sustainable development of a country depends broadly on the economic policies as well as on global and regional strategies to support the actions for this objective. The high level political meeting of United Nations Organization’s Member States in September 2015 has as aim the adoption of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes global economic, social and environmental goals. Any strategy or global policy influences, of course, in a direct way the international trade activities, by how these measures affect or determine relations between states to achieve the sustainable development objectives. Being involved in all sectors of economic and social life to achieve these noble goals, foreign trade is of course on the list of key areas as well as on the list of the domains being influenced by the global strategy adopted in the framework of the largest summit of its kind in the history of the United Nations. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of external trade activity of Romania, taking into account the characteristics of companies involved in exports and imports of goods in Romania as well as to identify the key areas to be further developed for a sustainable development of national economy based on export activity. Romania's sustainable development can be achieved in the medium and long term by complementary and converging actions such as increased expenditure on research and development field, attracting as a priority the Greenfield investments, increasing productivity of national capital (human, natural, technological or ensure the efficiency at microeconomic and macroeconomic level. Increasing the share of products and activities using a small amount of energy and material resources but which

  5. Stakeholder cooperation in implementation of the sustainable development concept: Montenegrin tourist destinations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ljiljana Pjerotic

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The importance of involving diverse stakeholders in tourism planning is receiving growing recognition. Tourism destination planning is a complex process, due to the existence of a wide variety of stakeholders with a wide range of opinions, multiple problem visions and different interests. Despite the complexity of the planning process one feature acknowledged for successful destination management planning is high level of stakeholder cooperation. The paper examines the level of stakeholder cooperation on the specific example of the sustainable development concept implementation in Montenegrin tourism. It starts with two hypotheses: first, the development level of instruments for managing tourist destination depends on stakeholder cooperation level in a particular destination, and second, implementation of the sustainable development concept is positively correlated with the development of instruments for managing tourist destination. The results have indicated poor implementation of tourism development plans and low level of stakeholder cooperation.

  6. How Can High-Biodiversity Coffee Make It to the Mainstream Market? The Performativity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Outcomes for Coffee Diversification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solér, Cecilia; Sandström, Cecilia; Skoog, Hanna

    2017-02-01

    This article investigates the outcomes of mainstream coffee voluntary sustainability standards for high-biodiversity coffee diversification. By viewing voluntary sustainability standards certifications as performative marketing tools, we address the question of how such certification schemes affect coffee value creation based on unique biodiversity conservation properties in coffee farming. To date, the voluntary sustainability standards literature has primarily approached biodiversity conservation in coffee farming in the context of financial remuneration to coffee farmers. The performative analysis of voluntary sustainability standards certification undertaken in this paper, in which such certifications are analyzed in terms of their effect on mutually reinforcing representational, normalizing and exchange practices, provides an understanding of coffee diversification potential as dependent on standard criteria and voluntary sustainability standards certification as branding tools. We draw on a case of high-biodiversity, shade-grown coffee-farming practice in Kodagu, South-West India, which represents one of the world's biodiversity "hotspots".

  7. How Can High-Biodiversity Coffee Make It to the Mainstream Market? The Performativity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Outcomes for Coffee Diversification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solér, Cecilia; Sandström, Cecilia; Skoog, Hanna

    2017-02-01

    This article investigates the outcomes of mainstream coffee voluntary sustainability standards for high-biodiversity coffee diversification. By viewing voluntary sustainability standards certifications as performative marketing tools, we address the question of how such certification schemes affect coffee value creation based on unique biodiversity conservation properties in coffee farming. To date, the voluntary sustainability standards literature has primarily approached biodiversity conservation in coffee farming in the context of financial remuneration to coffee farmers. The performative analysis of voluntary sustainability standards certification undertaken in this paper, in which such certifications are analyzed in terms of their effect on mutually reinforcing representational, normalizing and exchange practices, provides an understanding of coffee diversification potential as dependent on standard criteria and voluntary sustainability standards certification as branding tools. We draw on a case of high-biodiversity, shade-grown coffee-farming practice in Kodagu, South-West India, which represents one of the world's biodiversity "hotspots".

  8. SUSTAINABILITY AS A PART OF BALANCED SCORECARD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LUCIE SARA ZAVODNA

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is a trend, which is more seriously discussed on the international and national level. But also companies in the local level are pushed to have strategies and visions, which enable better future for society, our planet and local economy. Sustainability is one of the conditions – it allows companies to implicate social, economic and environmental pillars to the company´s strategy and management. The question, which remains today is, how to measure social, economic and environmental impact on society? And more – how to enable future generations to have the same conditions as we have today? The paper provides format for a possible bridge between current strategic Balanced Scorecard system and future trend of sustainability. One of the special tools, which can be used for measuring sustainability, is Balanced Scorecard (by Kaplan and Norton in 1990s with the complement of sustainable metrics. The paper introduces three possible methods, which can be used by implementing sustainability into the Balanced Scorecard. One of these methods is described in detail. There is a focus on the sustainable indicators included as the fifth area in Balanced Scorecard model.

  9. Sustainability as a part of balanced scorecard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucie Sara Zavodna

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is a trend, which is more seriously discussed on the international and national level. But also companies in the local level are pushed to have strategies and visions, which enable better future for society, our planet and local economy. Sustainability is one of the conditions – it allows companies to implicate social, economic and environmental pillars to the company´s strategy and management. The question, which remains today is, how to measure social, economic and environmental impact on society? And more – how to enable future generations to have the same conditions as we have today? The paper provides format for a possible bridge between current strategic Balanced Scorecard system and future trend of sustainability. One of the special tools, which can be used for measuring sustainability, is Balanced Scorecard (by Kaplan and Norton in 1990s with the complement of sustainable metrics. The paper introduces three possible methods, which can be used by implementing sustainability into the Balanced Scorecard. One of these methods is described in detail. There is a focus on the sustainable indicators included as the fifth area in Balanced Scorecard model.

  10. Med Diet 4.0: the Mediterranean diet with four sustainable benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dernini, S; Berry, E M; Serra-Majem, L; La Vecchia, C; Capone, R; Medina, F X; Aranceta-Bartrina, J; Belahsen, R; Burlingame, B; Calabrese, G; Corella, D; Donini, L M; Lairon, D; Meybeck, A; Pekcan, A G; Piscopo, S; Yngve, A; Trichopoulou, A

    2017-05-01

    To characterize the multiple dimensions and benefits of the Mediterranean diet as a sustainable diet, in order to revitalize this intangible food heritage at the country level; and to develop a multidimensional framework - the Med Diet 4.0 - in which four sustainability benefits of the Mediterranean diet are presented in parallel: major health and nutrition benefits, low environmental impacts and richness in biodiversity, high sociocultural food values, and positive local economic returns. A narrative review was applied at the country level to highlight the multiple sustainable benefits of the Mediterranean diet into a single multidimensional framework: the Med Diet 4.0. Setting/subjects We included studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals that contained data on the characterization of sustainable diets and of the Mediterranean diet. The methodological framework approach was finalized through a series of meetings, workshops and conferences where the framework was presented, discussed and ultimately refined. The Med Diet 4.0 provides a conceptual multidimensional framework to characterize the Mediterranean diet as a sustainable diet model, by applying principles of sustainability to the Mediterranean diet. By providing a broader understanding of the many sustainable benefits of the Mediterranean diet, the Med Diet 4.0 can contribute to the revitalization of the Mediterranean diet by improving its current perception not only as a healthy diet but also a sustainable lifestyle model, with country-specific and culturally appropriate variations. It also takes into account the identity and diversity of food cultures and systems, expressed within the notion of the Mediterranean diet, across the Mediterranean region and in other parts of the world. Further multidisciplinary studies are needed for the assessment of the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet to include these new dimensions.

  11. The importance of TVET and its contribution to sustainable development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paryono

    2017-09-01

    Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been gaining its popularity and considered as the driving force for sustainable development. TVET is also considered highly in strategic and operational priorities of the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and of multilateral organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNESCO, ASEAN, and SEAMEO. As reflected in Shanghai Consensus, TVET systems need sustained transformation and revitalization if TVET is to realize its enormous potential to impact development. This paper will elaborate relevant policies considered as major drivers for promoting TVET at global, regional, and national levels. The paper also shares TVET initiatives in response the policies, especially in meeting the labour market demands in the 21st century. Lastly, the paper highlights TVET contribution to sustainable development, particularly on the sustainable environmental development, including green jobs. The integration of sustainable development into TVET curriculum, learning contents, and also school policies and practices are important indicators to consider. The paper was based secondary data and documents from the meetings and also reports.

  12. On the Travel Emissions of Sustainability Science Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy Waring

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents data on carbon emissions generated by travel undertaken for a major sustainability science research effort. Previous research has estimated CO2 emissions generated by individual scientists, by entire academic institutions, or by international climate conferences. Here, we sought to investigate the size, distribution and factors affecting the carbon emissions of travel for sustainability research in particular. Reported airline and automobile travel of participants in Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative were used to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions attributable to research-related travel over a three-year period. Carbon emissions varied substantially by researcher and by purpose of travel. Travel for the purpose of dissemination created the largest carbon footprint. This result suggests that alternative networking and dissemination models are needed to replace the high carbon costs of annual society meetings. This research adds to literature that questions whether the cultural demands of contemporary academic careers are compatible with climate stabilization. We argue that precise record keeping and routine analysis of travel data are necessary to track and reduce the climate impacts of sustainability research. We summarize the barriers to behavioral change at individual and organizational levels and conclude with suggestions for reducing climate impacts of travel undertaken for sustainability research.

  13. Labour Market Flexibility. Report by a High-Level Group of Experts to the Secretary-General.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France).

    Sustainable growth has economic policies addressed to current imbalances as its necessary, though not its sufficient, condition. Labor markets are important for the growth process; as the level of economic activity increases, they function better, and as they function better, the level of economic activity increases further. Labor market…

  14. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROBLEM OF A NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Condrea DRAGANESCU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper aimed to approach the topic of a new strategy for the sustainable and competitive development of Romanian agriculture and especially for animal husbandry. In this purpose, a large variety of studies was investigated and the opinions of well-known personalities were used to present in a critical manner the history of sustainable development concept, principles, causes, reasons, moments, events, institutions involved at international, European and national level, achievements. The study is focused on Romania, starting from the actual situation of animal husbandry and learning from the country own and others experience. During the last centuries, the scientific studies noticed that the growth trends of the world population and resources utilization which could determine complications for survival of human society. The first Report of The Club of Rome (1972 concluded mathematically that " if the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resources depletion continue to remain unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime in the next hundred years",..that is in the 21 century. As a reply, the international and national bodies adopted recommendations for a sustainable development. This study analyzed the problems of sustainable development of animal production in Romania, taking into consideration that the conversion rate of energy provided by plants to animal products is about 20%, and this decrease of the number of population is supported by agricultural food production. Two production systems are proposed: (1. Intensive production systems, with high forage conversion, in favorable agricultural country area; (2. extensive (free-ranging, transhumance, pendulation, sustainable, biological production in not or less favorable agricultural area (mountain area, etc.

  15. Sustainability and Long Term-Tenure: Lion Trophy Hunting in Tanzania.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry Brink

    Full Text Available It is argued that trophy hunting of large, charismatic mammal species can have considerable conservation benefits but only if undertaken sustainably. Social-ecological theory suggests such sustainability only results from developing governance systems that balance financial and biological requirements. Here we use lion (Panthera leo trophy hunting data from Tanzania to investigate how resource ownership patterns influence hunting revenue and offtake levels. Tanzania contains up to half of the global population of free-ranging lions and is also the main location for lion trophy hunting in Africa. However, there are concerns that current hunting levels are unsustainable. The lion hunting industry in Tanzania is run by the private sector, although the government leases each hunting block to companies, enforces hunting regulation, and allocates them a species-specific annual quota per block. The length of these leases varies and theories surrounding property rights and tenure suggest hunting levels would be less sustainable in blocks experiencing a high turnover of short-term leases. We explored this issue using lion data collected from 1996 to 2008 in the Selous Game Reserve (SGR, the most important trophy hunting destination in Tanzania. We found that blocks in SGR with the highest lion hunting offtake were also those that experienced the steepest declines in trophy offtake. In addition, we found this high hunting offtake and the resultant offtake decline tended to be in blocks under short-term tenure. In contrast, lion hunting levels in blocks under long-term tenure matched more closely the recommended sustainable offtake of 0.92 lions per 1000 km2. However, annual financial returns were higher from blocks under short-term tenure, providing $133 per km2 of government revenue as compared to $62 per km2 from long-term tenure blocks. Our results provide evidence for the importance of property rights in conservation, and support calls for an overhaul

  16. Sustainability and Long Term-Tenure: Lion Trophy Hunting in Tanzania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brink, Henry; Smith, Robert J; Skinner, Kirsten; Leader-Williams, Nigel

    2016-01-01

    It is argued that trophy hunting of large, charismatic mammal species can have considerable conservation benefits but only if undertaken sustainably. Social-ecological theory suggests such sustainability only results from developing governance systems that balance financial and biological requirements. Here we use lion (Panthera leo) trophy hunting data from Tanzania to investigate how resource ownership patterns influence hunting revenue and offtake levels. Tanzania contains up to half of the global population of free-ranging lions and is also the main location for lion trophy hunting in Africa. However, there are concerns that current hunting levels are unsustainable. The lion hunting industry in Tanzania is run by the private sector, although the government leases each hunting block to companies, enforces hunting regulation, and allocates them a species-specific annual quota per block. The length of these leases varies and theories surrounding property rights and tenure suggest hunting levels would be less sustainable in blocks experiencing a high turnover of short-term leases. We explored this issue using lion data collected from 1996 to 2008 in the Selous Game Reserve (SGR), the most important trophy hunting destination in Tanzania. We found that blocks in SGR with the highest lion hunting offtake were also those that experienced the steepest declines in trophy offtake. In addition, we found this high hunting offtake and the resultant offtake decline tended to be in blocks under short-term tenure. In contrast, lion hunting levels in blocks under long-term tenure matched more closely the recommended sustainable offtake of 0.92 lions per 1000 km2. However, annual financial returns were higher from blocks under short-term tenure, providing $133 per km2 of government revenue as compared to $62 per km2 from long-term tenure blocks. Our results provide evidence for the importance of property rights in conservation, and support calls for an overhaul of the system in

  17. Sustainable building design in practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brunsgaard, Camilla; Bejder, Anne Kirkegaard

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability certification schemes experience growing popularity. Denmark got its own sustainability certification scheme based on the German DGNB certification scheme. Previous work based on four case studies – DGNB certified healthcare centres, suggests further research on how to improve...... and support the iterative design process in the initial design phases. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate the design process on a more common level experienced by Danish DGNB consultants when designing sustainable buildings using the Danish DGNB certification scheme and thereby possibly...

  18. Community-based management: under what conditions do Sami pastoralists manage pastures sustainably?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera H Hausner

    Full Text Available Community-based management (CBM has been implemented in socio-ecological systems (SES worldwide. CBM has also been the prevailing policy in Sámi pastoral SES in Norway, but the outcomes tend to vary extensively among resource groups ("siidas". We asked why do some siidas self-organize to manage common pool resources sustainably and others do not? To answer this question we used a mixed methods approach. First, in the statistical analyses we analyzed the relationship between sustainability indicators and structural variables. We found that small winter pastures that are shared by few siidas were managed more sustainably than larger pastures. Seasonal siida stability, i.e., a low turnover of pastoralists working together throughout the year, and equality among herders, also contributed to more sustainable outcomes. Second, interviews were conducted in the five largest pastures to explain the relationships between the structural variables and sustainability. The pastoralists expressed a high level of agreement with respect to sustainable policies, but reported a low level of trust and cooperation among the siidas. The pastoralists requested siida tenures or clear rules and sanctioning mechanisms by an impartial authority rather than flexible organization or more autonomy for the siidas. The lack of nestedness in self-organization for managing pastures on larger scales, combined with the past economic policies, could explain why CBM is less sustainable on the largest winter pastures. We conclude that the scale mis-match between self-organization and the formal governance is a key condition for sustainability.

  19. Sustainable urban transport indicators: tool for evaluating transport sustainability in the mega cities of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imran, M.

    2005-01-01

    Urban Transport is an important sector to accomplish the goal of sustainable development in Pakistan. This is important because of the high growth of the transport sector's energy consumption, road crashes and greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes significant in the Pakistani cities where motor vehicle fleet is growing at two to three times the rate of population. Transport Policies has resulted high growth of urban road traffic, increasing air and noise pollution throughout the country. This situation raised the question how to achieve sustainable urban transport in the mega cities of Pakistan? Development of sustainable urban transport indicators will provide an opportunity to analyze current transport policies to assess Pakistan progress towards or away from sustainability. Medium Term Development Framework (2005-10) has selected to analyze against establish sustainable urban transport indicators for Pakistan. On the basis of analysis, it has found that MWF has tried to address transport problem in a piecemeal manner, rather than adopting a holistic approach. Implementing MTDF policies on transport is not fully matched with a long term commitment to achieving sustainable development in Pakistan. (author)

  20. A self-sustaining high-strength wastewater treatment system using solar-bio-hybrid power generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bustamante, Mauricio; Liao, Wei

    2017-06-01

    This study focuses on system analysis of a self-sustaining high-strength wastewater treatment concept combining solar technologies, anaerobic digestion, and aerobic treatment to reclaim water. A solar bio-hybrid power generation unit was adopted to power the wastewater treatment. Concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaics (PV) were combined with biogas energy from anaerobic digestion. Biogas is also used to store the extra energy generated by the hybrid power unit and ensure stable and continuous wastewater treatment. It was determined from the energy balance analysis that the PV-bio hybrid power unit is the preferred energy unit to realize the self-sustaining high-strength wastewater treatment. With short-term solar energy storage, the PV-bio-hybrid power unit in Phoenix, AZ requires solar collection area (4032m 2 ) and biogas storage (35m 3 ), while the same unit in Lansing, MI needs bigger solar collection area and biogas storage (5821m 2 and 105m 3 , respectively) due to the cold climate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. International Conference on Fast Reactors and Related Fuel Cycles: Safe Technologies and Sustainable Scenarios (FR13), Paris – March 4-7, 2013: Closing Session. Summary of Sustainability of Advanced Fuel Cycles Panel Session II

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cameron, R.

    2013-01-01

    Sustainability was discussed in terms of the social, environment and economic perspectives, which arise from the original Brundtland definition of sustainability. The panel presented their perspectives of the need to move towards a sustainable future, involving better use of uranium, reductions in high-level radioactive waste, safe, secure and economic operation of nuclear reactors and the fuel cycle. In all cases, it was considered that sustainability in the long-term must involve fast reactors and a closed nuclear fuel cycle, although both Korea and the IAEA pointed out that these are clearly national decisions and there will not be a single solution for all countries

  2. Formation and Control of Self-Sealing High Permeability Groundwater Mounds in Impermeable Sediment: Implications for SUDS and Sustainable Pressure Mound Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David D. J. Antia

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available A groundwater mound (or pressure mound is defined as a volume of fluid dominated by viscous flow contained within a sediment volume where the dominant fluid flow is by Knudsen Diffusion. High permeability self-sealing groundwater mounds can be created as part of a sustainable urban drainage scheme (SUDS using infiltration devices. This study considers how they form, and models their expansion and growth as a function of infiltration device recharge. The mounds grow through lateral macropore propagation within a Dupuit envelope. Excess pressure relief is through propagating vertical surge shafts. These surge shafts can, when they intersect the ground surface result, in high volume overland flow. The study considers that the creation of self-sealing groundwater mounds in matrix supported (clayey sediments (intrinsic permeability = 10–8 to 10–30 m3 m–2 s–1 Pa–1 is a low cost, sustainable method which can be used to dispose of large volumes of storm runoff (<20→2,000 m3/24 hr storm/infiltration device and raise groundwater levels. However, the inappropriate location of pressure mounds can result in repeated seepage and ephemeral spring formation associated with substantial volumes of uncontrolled overland flow. The flow rate and flood volume associated with each overland flow event may be substantially larger than the associated recharge to the pressure mound. In some instances, the volume discharged as overland flow in a few hours may exceed the total storm water recharge to the groundwater mound over the previous three weeks. Macropore modeling is used within the context of a pressure mound poro-elastic fluid expulsion model in order to analyze this phenomena and determine (i how this phenomena can be used to extract large volumes of stored filtered storm water (at high flow rates from within a self-sealing high permeability pressure mound and (ii how self-sealing pressure mounds (created using storm water infiltration can be used to

  3. Recovering method for high level radioactive material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fukui, Toshiki

    1998-01-01

    Offgas filters such as of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities and waste control facilities are burnt, and the burnt ash is melted by heating, and then the molten ashes are brought into contact with a molten metal having a low boiling point to transfer the high level radioactive materials in the molten ash to the molten metal. Then, only the molten metal is evaporated and solidified by drying, and residual high level radioactive materials are recovered. According to this method, the high level radioactive materials in the molten ashes are transferred to the molten metal and separated by the difference of the distribution rate of the molten ash and the molten metal. Subsequently, the molten metal to which the high level radioactive materials are transferred is heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point so that only the molten metal is evaporated and dried to be removed, and residual high level radioactive materials are recovered easily. On the other hand, the molten ash from which the high level radioactive material is removed can be discarded as ordinary industrial wastes as they are. (T.M.)

  4. At Home with Sustainability: From Green Default Rules to Sustainable Consumption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lara Anne Hale

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Although it is often assumed that default rules affect change without awareness, this paper suggests that contrast with the default and transition into conscious adoption of the default design may be the starting point to establish long-term changes in consumer behavior. Despite the rooting of default rules in subconscious decision-making, this research finds that, ultimately, awareness drives the demand necessary for the creation of sustainable consumption. Whereas direct appeal to individuals has a disappointing level of influence on sustainability choices, it is understood that green consumers do come from somewhere. Green default rules offer interesting prospects for sidestepping the drawbacks of direct marketing to individuals. Under green default rules, behavior is guided by a default, such as utilities automatically sending customers renewables-sourced instead of fossil-fuel-based energy. To act otherwise requires additional effort and is less likely. Motivated by a need to understand how defaults might bridge standards and sustainable consumption, I investigate how organizational processes potentially lead from standardized green default rules to individual awareness that can spread and facilitate sustainable consumption. This paper examines the Active House sustainable building demonstrations in Europe in order to understand how (1 communications and market creation and (2 responsible, user-centered experimentation are organized to move from defaults to sustainable consumption.

  5. High-level-waste immobilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crandall, J.L.

    1982-01-01

    Analysis of risks, environmental effects, process feasibility, and costs for disposal of immobilized high-level wastes in geologic repositories indicates that the disposal system safety has a low sensitivity to the choice of the waste disposal form

  6. Institutionalizing and sustaining social change in health systems: the case of Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hage, Jerald; Valadez, Joseph J

    2017-11-01

    The key to high impact health services is institutionalizing and sustaining programme evaluation. Uganda represents a success story in the use of a specific programme evaluation method: Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS). Institutionalization is defined by two C's: competent programme evaluators and control mechanisms that effectively use evaluation data to improve health services. Sustainability means continued training and funding for the evaluation approach. Social science literature that researches institutionalization has emphasized 'stability', whereas in global health, the issue is determining how to improve the impact of services by 'changing' programmes. In Uganda, we measured the extent of the institutionalization and sustainability of evaluating programmes that produce change in nine districts sampled to represent three largely rural regions and varying levels of effective health programmes. We used the proportion of mothers with children aged 0-11 months who delivered in a health facility as the principal indicator to measure programme effectiveness. Interviews and focus groups were conducted among directors, evaluation supervisors, data collectors in the district health offices, and informant interviews conducted individually at the central government level. Seven of the nine districts demonstrated a high level of institutionalization of evaluation. The two others had only conducted one round of programme evaluation. When we control for the availability of health facilities, we find that the degree of institutionalization is moderately related to the prevalence of the delivery of a baby in a health facility. Evaluation was institutionalized at the central government level. Sustainability existed at both levels. Several measures indicate that lessons from the nine district case studies may be relevant to the 74 districts that had at least two rounds of programme evaluation. We note that there is an association between the evaluation data being used

  7. Integrated weed management for sustainable rice production: concepts, perspectives and options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amartalingam Rajan

    2002-01-01

    Weed management has always been in some way integrated with cultural and biological methods, probably occurring more fortuitously than purposefully. Experience has shown that repeated use of any weed control technique especially in monocultures production systems results in rapid emergence of weeds more adapted to the new practice. In intensive high input farming systems, heavy selection pressure for herbicide tolerant weeds and the environmental impacts of these inputs are important tissues that require a good understanding of agroecosystem for successful integration of available options. Rice culture, in particular flooded rice culture has always employed integration through an evolution of management practices over the generations. However, a vast majority office farmers in Asia have yet to achieve the high returns realised by farmers elsewhere, where a near optimum combination of high inputs are being effectively integrated for maximum productivity. In addition to technological and management limitations, farmers in developing countries are faced with social, economic and policy constraints. On the other hand, farmers who had achieved considerable increases in productivity through labour replacing technologies, in particular direct seeding with the aid of herbicides, are now faced with issues related to environmental concerns due to high levels of these inputs. The issues facing weed scientists and farmers alike in managing weeds effectively and in a manner to ensure sustainability have become more challenging than ever before. In the last two decades, no issue has been discussed so. intensively as Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Agriculture or Alternative Agriculture within the broader global concept of Sustainable Development. To address these challenges a clear perspective of sustainable farming is essential. This paper addresses these concepts, perspectives and options for choices in weed management for sustainable rice production. (Author)

  8. Vacation homes, spatial planning and sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xue, Jin

    2014-01-01

    patterns of vacation homes are highly relevant to environmental sustainability. Unlike the spatial planning for urban areas where the urban environmental problamatique has been highly recognized and theories of sustainable urban development and planning relatively fully developed, vacation home has been...... a missing component in sustainable spatial development and planning both in theories and practice. Moreover, spatial planning for urban areas and vacation homes cannot be separated as they mutually influence each other. Against this background, the paper is concerned with how and to what extent concerns...... on sustainability of vacation homes is integrated into the spatial planning in the Danish context. The lack of ontological and theoretical debates on the environmental sustainability of vacation homes will be reflected upon before investigating the Danish case. A deep realist approach is adopted to explore...

  9. Sustainability of Governing Structures in Bulgarian Farming Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hrabrin Bachev

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The issue of assessment of absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in agrarian and farming industries is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups, and the public worldwide. Despite this issue, practically there are no assessments on the sustainability level of the major types of Bulgarian farming enterprises in the conditions of European Union Common Agricultural Policy implementation. This study applies a holistic framework and assesses the absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in Bulgarian farming industry—unregistered holdings, sole traders, cooperatives, and companies of various types. In this paper, the method of the study is outlined, the inclusion of a novel “governance aspect” of sustainability is justified, and the overall characteristics of the surveyed farming enterprises are presented. Then, the integral, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the farming structures of different juridical types is assessed. Next, the structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, the conclusion from this study and the directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments are presented.

  10. Scenario analysis for sustainable development of Chongming Island: water resources sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Xiong; Wu, Yanqing; Wu, Jun; Lu, Jian; Wilson, P Chris

    2012-11-15

    With the socioeconomic and urban development of Chongming Island (the largest alluvial island in the world), water demand is rapidly growing. To make adjustments to the water utilization structure of each industry, allocate limited water resources, and increase local water use efficiency, this study performed a scenario analysis for the water sustainability of Chongming Island. Four different scenarios were performed to assess the water resource availability by 2020. The growth rate for water demand will be much higher than that of water supply under a serious situation prediction. The water supply growth volume will be 2.22 × 10(8)m(3) from 2010 to 2020 under Scenario I and Scenario II while the corresponding water demand growth volume will be 2.74 × 10(8)m(3) and 2.64 × 10(8)m(3), respectively. There will be a rapid growth in water use benefit under both high and low development modes. The water use benefit will be about 50 CNY/m(3) under Scenarios I and II in 2020. The production structure will need to be adjusted for sustainable utilization of water resources. Sewage drainage but not the forest and grass coverage rate will be a major obstacle to future development and environmental quality. According to a multi-level fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, Scenario II is finally deemed to be the most desirable plan, suggesting that the policy of rapid socioeconomic development and better environmental protection may achieve the most sustainable development of Chongming Island in the future. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Swedish Consumers’ Perception of Food Quality and Sustainability in Relation to Organic Food Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Techane Bosona

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Consumers’ demand for locally produced and organic foods has increased in Sweden. This paper presents the results obtained from the analysis of data acquired from 100 consumers in Sweden who participated in an online survey during March to June 2016. The objective was to identify consumers’ demand in relation to organic food and sustainable food production, and to understand how the consumers evaluate food quality and make buying decisions. Qualitative descriptions, descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Chi-square test (with alpha value of p < 0.05 as level of significance, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for analysis. About 72% of participants have the perception that organic food production method is more sustainable than conventional methods. Female consumers have more positive attitudes than men towards organic food. However, age difference, household size and income level do not significantly influence the consumers’ perception of sustainable food production concepts. Regionality, sustainable methods of production and organic production are the most important parameters to characterize the food as high quality and make buying decisions. On the other hand, product uniformity, appearance, and price were found to be relatively less important parameters. Food buying decisions and food quality were found to be highly related with Pearson’s correlation coefficient of r = 0.99.

  12. Conflict between Water Policy and Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barros, A. F.

    2001-05-01

    Recent developments in the area of water policy have focussed around the concepts of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The goal of this activity has been to improve the efficiency of the potential worldwide investment of \\$80 billion per year into the water sector, and to lobby for more expenditure to meet the rapidly expanding demands placed upon water resources worldwide. Unfortunately, there is no definitive and widely accepted definition of IWRM and this fuels the long-standing feeling amongst the scientific community that water policy studies and institutions shortchange sustainability considerations, including those dealing scientific understanding of hydrology and aquatic ecosystems. This is made more difficult because the concepts used in describing sustainability are themselves diffuse and can be contradictory. The nature of understanding of the essential elements of sustainable development and those of the policy community are basically different. Policy has to be general, descriptive, and immediate-sustainability is just the opposite; it must be specific, analytical, and take a long perspective. No one on either side of the divide would claim that the other activities are not important, but bridging the divide is extremely difficult and rare. Typically, policy studies try to incorporate the bureaucratic concepts of water management and institutional reforms without considering the analytical work associated with long-term sustainability of water resources. Furthermore, water resource problems are characterized by high levels of complexity and require a strong interdisciplinary mix of approaches. Unfortunately, what is known and what is likely in the near future are subject to wide interpretation by different observers. This paper examines the conflict between the demands of water policy, which is essentially short-term and narrowly focused with the demands of sustainability, which are long-term and broadly based.

  13. Sustainable food consumption. Product choice or curtailment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verain, Muriel C D; Dagevos, Hans; Antonides, Gerrit

    2015-08-01

    Food consumption is an important factor in shaping the sustainability of our food supply. The present paper empirically explores different types of sustainable food behaviors. A distinction between sustainable product choices and curtailment behavior has been investigated empirically and predictors of the two types of behavior have been identified. Respondents were classified into four segments based on their sustainable food behaviors: unsustainers, curtailers, product-oriented consumers, and sustainers. Significant differences between the segments were found with regard to food choice motives, personal and social norms, food involvement, subjective knowledge on sustainable food, ability to judge how sustainably a product has been produced and socio-demographics. It is concluded that distinguishing between behavioral strategies toward sustainable food consumption is important as consumer segments can be identified that differ both in their level of sustainable food consumption and in the type of behavior they employ. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A High-Voltage Level Tolerant Transistor Circuit

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Annema, Anne J.; Geelen, Godefridus Johannes Gertrudis Maria

    2001-01-01

    A high-voltage level tolerant transistor circuit, comprising a plurality of cascoded transistors, including a first transistor (T1) operatively connected to a high-voltage level node (3) and a second transistor (T2) operatively connected to a low-voltage level node (2). The first transistor (T1)

  15. Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chein-Chi; DiGiovanni, Kimberly; Mei, Ying; Wei, Li

    2016-10-01

    This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : • Sustainable water and wastewater utilities • Sustainable water resources management • Stormwater and green infrastructure • Sustainability in wastewater treatment • Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications • Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry, • Sustainability and asset management.

  16. Sustainable Supply Chain Engagement in a Retail Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anika Berning

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is a key requirement for business success and is often regarded a competitive advantage if strategically managed. Sustainability-mature organisations look to their value chains where the retailer-supplier collaboration becomes critical in embedding sustainability. With this in mind, it is important to monitor retailer-supplier collaboration to determine whether it is effective. To facilitate this monitoring, the UN Global Compact Supply Chain Sustainability: A Guide for Continuous Improvement was consulted. The research question aimed to determine the progress of a prominent South African retailer regarding their sustainable supply chain management (SSCM and collaboration with suppliers. Therefore, this study attempts to apply the Supplier Engagement Continuum, extracted from the UN Global Compact Supply Chain Sustainability: A Guide for Continuous Improvement, in order to determine how the retailer is progressing in sustainable supply chain management. The qualitative and exploratory nature of the study necessitated a case study research design, while the technique of purposive sampling was used to select the sample of three suppliers. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews facilitated by an interview guide, and data analysis was conducted with Atlas.ti software. It was found that the retailer’s sustainable supply chain management can only be located on level one of the continuum. Supply chain sustainability in organisations lack the theoretical foundation of what sustainability really is. Therefore, the model was amended and an additional level was added to incorporate the education of sustainability.

  17. Towards Sustaining Levels of Reflective Learning: How Do Transformational Leadership, Task Interdependence, and Self-Efficacy Shape Teacher Learning in Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnoud Oude Groote Beverborg

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Whereas cross-sectional research has shown that transformational leadership, task interdependence, and self-efficacy are positively related to teachers’ engagement in reflective learning activities, the causal direction of these relations needs further inquiry. At the same time, individual teacher learning might play a mutual role in strengthening school-level capacity for sustained improvement. Building on previous research, this longitudinal study therefore examines how transformational leadership, task interdependence, self-efficacy, and teachers’ engagement in self-reflection mutually affect each other over time. Questionnaire data gathered on three measurement occasions from 655 Dutch Vocational Education and Training teachers was analyzed using a multivariate Latent Difference Score model. Results indicate that self-reflection and task interdependence reciprocally influence each other’s change. A considerate and stimulating transformational leader was found to contribute to this process. Change in self-efficacy was influenced by self-reflection, indicating that learning leads to competency beliefs. Together, the findings point to the important role transformational leadership practices play in facilitating teamwork, and sustaining teachers’ levels of learning in schools.

  18. Sustainability and Agenda 21: teaching sustainability ideology and landscape design practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Jones

    2000-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews the 'Issues in Landscape Sustainability' subject/project that has been devised by Adelaide University's School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. It has been successfully run in the townships of Strathalbyn (University of Adelaide 1997, Loxton (University of Adelaide 1998, Port Broughton (University of Adelaide 1999a, and Lobethal (University of Adelaide 2000. The subject/project was recently recognised by the Royal Australian Planning Institute (SA Group with a Student Project Award in their 1999 State Awards of Excellence: 'Issues in Landscape Sustainability' is a project that introduces tertiary students to concepts of urban design, community planning, and landscape design with economic implications, woven around the concept of sustainability as contained in the State Government's Agenda 21 Strategy (Anon 1999 p 19. Agenda 21 is about devising policy and practical ideas to address sustainability objectives in communities. This project has focused upon rural communities as a vehicle to involve community and municipal representatives actively, to expose students to both theory and practice, and to serve as an introduction to landscape design principles at a medium level.

  19. Managing Sustainability in Management Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Sustainability has until relatively recently been seen as irrelevant to business practice and, hence, has been largely missing from management education. But, environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. This conceptual...... paper addresses the question: How can sustainability be addresses within management education? It engages in a critical discussion of traditional models for teaching sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to develop an advanced framework that addresses the limitations...... concerning trade-offs and complexity. Thus, the paper proposes an approach to sustainability in management education which help to initiate such critical reflection and discussion by drawing attention to the complex network of relations in which a given business or industry is embedded....

  20. The Sustainable Leadership Simulator (SLS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Thomas; Edgeman, Rick; Grewatsch, Sylvia

    Some businesses and some industries are demonstrating leadership on sustainability issues through cross-organizational collaboration and innovation, but the diffusion and scaling up of the sustainability solutions often termed Best Practices has been identified as a key challenge for future...... sustainable development by the UN (Leisinger and Bakker, 2013). Over a little more than a decade global initiatives like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the UN Global Compact (UNGC) has demonstrated leadership by addressing these issues through voluntary commitment from thousands of corporations...... by the systematic application of more innovative governance mechanisms. This article currently conceptualizes the UN PRME-endorsed (Haertle, 2013) Sustainability Leadership Simulator (SLS), which at a minimum level of operationalization will be an open source based and hence impactful online training simulator...

  1. New Technologies and Sustainable Development of Industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muggli, Christoph; Baumgartner, Walter; Werner, Frank

    1996-08-01

    The present technology assessment study examines the effects of three technology scenarios on future energy consumption and the energy-related emissions by industrial manufacturing in Switzerland. The three paths of development (Trend, High-Tech, Alternative) can be represented as follows: After a reduction until 2015, the Trend development entails a slight increase in consumption of energy. Until then consumption is some 10 percent lower in both the High-Tech and the Alternative Scenarios. Consumption of electricity increases in all scenarios, the proportion is highest in 20 year's time under the High-Tech scenario. SO 2 and CO 2 emissions decrease in all scenarios until 2000 and then level out at a low level. The emissions are lowest in the High-Tech scenario. In contrast the NO x and the VOC emissions diminish until 2000 and then rise again continuously. At this juncture important bases are still not yet available for a definitive evaluation with respect to the sustainable development. Sustainability objectives are currently being compiled for Switzerland in the wake of the Berlin Climate Conference and the Rio Conference. In the political lobbies the Green factions are making demands, such as those currently under discussion internationally (e.g. CO 2 reductions on a scale of some 80 percent by 2050), whereas conservative and industrial circle representatives support the objective of sustainable development but reject a quantification of objectives. The official objectives of the Swiss Energy 2000 programme can be achieved with all scenarios. With the High-Tech and Alternative scenarios, concepts of a reduction in CO 2 by 20 percent by 2015 (as currently under discussion in Switzerland), are realistic. However, further energy-relevant efficiency potentials in industrial production can be activated by energy-policy motivated measures. More extensive objectives, such as e.g. a CO 2 reduction of 50 percent, are hardly attainable, even in the long-term, without

  2. ABSOLUTE AND COMPARATIVE SUSTAINABILITY OF FARMING ENTERPRISES IN BULGARIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Bachev

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Evaluating absolute and comparative sustainability of farming enterprises is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups and public at large. Nevertheless, in Bulgaria and most East European countries there are no comprehensive assessments on sustainability level of Bulgarian farms of different juridical type. This article applies a holistic framework and assesses absolute and comparative sustainability major farming structures in Bulgaria - unregistered farms of Natural Persons, Sole Traders, Cooperatives, and Companies. First, method of the study is outlined, and overall characteristics of surveyed farming enterprises presented. After that an assessment is made of integral, governance, economic, social, environmental sustainability of farming structures of different juridical type. Next, structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, conclusion from the study and directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments suggested.

  3. Sustainability Issues in the Geography Curriculum for an ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Lucerne Declaration on Geographical Education for Sustainable Development proposes that the 'paradigm of sustainable development' be integrated into the teaching of geography at all levels and in all regions of the world. This study is aimed at assessing the extent to and ways in which sustainability issues have ...

  4. Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment tool - Sustainable Effective Design criteria in the Portuguese context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castro, Maria de Fátima; Mateus, Ricardo; Bragança, Luís

    2017-01-01

    Tools and methods to improve current practices and quality in the healthcare building sector are necessary to support decision-making at different building life cycle phases. Furthermore, Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment (HBSA) Methods are based on criteria organised into different levels, such as categories and indicators. These criteria highlight aspects of significant importance when designing and operating a sustainable healthcare building. To bring more objectivity to the sustainability assessments, the standardisation bodies (CEN and ISO) proposed core indicators that should be used in the evaluation of the environmental, societal and economic performances of buildings. Nevertheless, relying on state of the art analysis, it is possible to conclude that there are aspects of major importance for the operation of healthcare buildings that are not considered in the HBSA methods. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the context of sustainability assessment methods in the field of healthcare buildings and to present a proposal for the incorporation of Sustainable-Effective Design (SED) criteria in a new HBSA method. The used research method is innovative since in the development of the list of sustainability criteria it considers the opinion of main healthcare buildings' stakeholders, the existing healthcare assessment methods and the ISO and CEN standardisation works in the field of the methods to assess the sustainability of construction works. As a result, the proposed method is composed of fifty-two sustainability indicators that cover the different dimensions of the sustainability concept to support decision making during the design of a new or retrofitted healthcare building in urban areas. - Highlights: •A new system to assess the sustainability of healthcare buildings is presented. •We propose a method to develop the list of sustainability indicators for hospitals. •We propose a new concept – Sustainable-Effective Design (SED

  5. Teaching Methods in Biology Education and Sustainability Education Including Outdoor Education for Promoting Sustainability--A Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeronen, Eila; Palmberg, Irmeli; Yli-Panula, Eija

    2017-01-01

    There are very few studies concerning the importance of teaching methods in biology education and environmental education including outdoor education for promoting sustainability at the levels of primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education. The material was selected using special keywords from biology and sustainable education…

  6. Approaches to Sustainable housing in Denmark and the international inspiration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudstrup, Mary-Ann; Hansen, Hanne Tine Ring; Brunsgaard, Camilla

    years. This brings forward an increasing challenge to plan, design and build more sustainable buildings in order to be able to contribute to or reduce the use of energy for heating and cooling in new housing projects and thereby bring down the emission of CO2 when using less fossil fuel. This is crucial...... since carbon dioxide is one of the so called greenhouse gasses playing a major role in the overheating of the globe. Thus there is focus on reducing the CO2-level on a national and global level. This paper will look upon changes in interest and the different types of approaches to sustainable design...... of buildings and show examples of houses that can minimise the use of energy for heating and cooling in shape of detached houses, sky scrapers and some student's projects with high raised houses....

  7. The relationship between sustained attention and aerobic fitness in a group of young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciria, Luis F; Perakakis, Pandelis; Luque-Casado, Antonio; Morato, Cristina; Sanabria, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    A growing set of studies has shown a positive relationship between aerobic fitness and a broad array of cognitive functions. However, few studies have focused on sustained attention, which has been considered a fundamental cognitive process that underlies most everyday activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of aerobic fitness as a key factor in sustained attention capacities in young adults. Forty-four young adults (18-23 years) were divided into two groups as a function of the level of aerobic fitness (high-fit and low-fit). Participants completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and an oddball task where they had to detect infrequent targets presented among frequent non-targets. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed faster responses for the high-fit group than for the low-fit group in the PVT, replicating previous accounts. In the oddball task, the high-fit group maintained their accuracy (ACC) rate of target detection over time, while the low-fit group suffered a significant decline of response ACC throughout the task. Importantly, the results show that the greater sustained attention capacity of high-fit young adults is not specific to a reaction time (RT) sustained attention task like the PVT, but it is also evident in an ACC oddball task. In sum, the present findings point to the important role of aerobic fitness on sustained attention capacities in young adults.

  8. A Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model for Sustainability Risk Evaluation of PPP Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Libiao Bai

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Evaluating the sustainability risk level of public–private partnership (PPP projects can reduce project risk incidents and achieve the sustainable development of the organization. However, the existing studies about PPP projects risk management mainly focus on exploring the impact of financial and revenue risks but ignore the sustainability risks, causing the concept of “sustainability” to be missing while evaluating the risk level of PPP projects. To evaluate the sustainability risk level and achieve the most important objective of providing a reference for the public and private sectors when making decisions on PPP project management, this paper constructs a factor system of sustainability risk of PPP projects based on an extensive literature review and develops a mathematical model based on the methods of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model (FCEM and failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA for evaluating the sustainability risk level of PPP projects. In addition, this paper conducts computational experiment based on a questionnaire survey to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of this proposed model. The results suggest that this model is reasonable for evaluating the sustainability risk level of PPP projects. To our knowledge, this paper is the first study to evaluate the sustainability risk of PPP projects, which would not only enrich the theories of project risk management, but also serve as a reference for the public and private sectors for the sustainable planning and development. Keywords: sustainability risk eva

  9. The need for an established allocation method when assessing absolute sustainability on a product level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryberg, Morten; Owsianiak, Mikolaj; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2015-01-01

    Assessment of absolute sustainability within life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is operational on the country scale. However, it is difficult to apply the existing approaches to products, which are typically the scope of LCAs. How should we assess whether a chair is (absolutely) sustainable? I...... allocation keys specific to each product group, e.g. mass for furniture, or economic revenue for IT. The proposed method facilitates assessment of absolute sustainability of products within the LCA framework....

  10. Injuries Sustained by the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Andrew R; Maciel, Robert C; Petrigliano, Frank A; Rodriguez, John P; Brooks, Adam G

    2016-08-16

    Mixed martial arts (MMA) is rapidly growing in popularity in the United States and abroad. This combat sport joins athletes from a wide variety of martial art disciplines, each with characteristic and distinguishing injury profiles, together in competition. Because of increasing participation by professionals and amateurs alike, injuries sustained by MMA athletes have been on the rise. A review of relevant publications using the search term mixed martial arts and each of its component combat sports (eg, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu) from 1980 through 2015 was completed using PubMed and Google Scholar. Clinical review. Level 5. The majority of studies on MMA injuries evaluate those sustained during competition, which range in incidence from 22.9 to 28.6 per 100 fight-participations. Striking-predominant disciplines such as boxing, karate, and Muay Thai have high rates of head and facial injuries, whereas submission-predominant disciplines such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, and wrestling have high rates of joint injuries. Numerous studies have evaluated injuries in athletes who participate in MMA and its component disciplines during competition but much remains to be discovered about injuries sustained during training and in specific patient populations such as adolescents and women. © 2016 The Author(s).

  11. Comprehensive Sustainability Evaluation of High-Speed Railway (HSR Construction Projects Based on Unascertained Measure and Analytic Hierarchy Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongzhi Chang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to evaluate the sustainability of high-speed railway (HSR construction projects in a comprehensive manner. To this end, the author established an index system, involving 4 primary indices, 9 secondary indices, and 32 tertiary indices. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP and the unascertained measure were introduced to calculate the weights of these indices. Then, the index system was applied to evaluate the sustainability of the China’s Harbin-Dalian Passenger Dedicated Line (PDL. The results show that the Harbin-Dalian PDL project achieved good results in terms of process, economic benefit, impact, and sustainability, and will bring long-term benefits in the fields of tourism, economy, and transport capacity, as well as many other fields. In spite of its good overall sustainability, the project needs to further increase its economic benefits and reduce its negative environmental impact. For this purpose, it is necessary to adopt the management mode of “separation between network and transportation” and apply noise prevention measures like noise barriers, tunnels, and overhead viaducts. This research lays a solid basis for the sustainability evaluation of HSR construction projects, and simplifies the modelling process for designers of HSR.

  12. Managing sustainability in management education

    OpenAIRE

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. Consequently, environmental issues and sustainability have found their way into management education in terms of business ethics, corporate social or sustainability responsibilities (CSR), etc.. Dominant conceptions of CSR identify a series of different types of corporate responsibilities, fx. economic, legal, social, environmental, etc. (e.g. Crane & Matten, 2010). A...

  13. Can Competitive Athletes Return to High-Level Play After Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation of the Knee?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarthy, Mark A; Meyer, Maximilian A; Weber, Alexander E; Levy, David M; Tilton, Annemarie K; Yanke, Adam B; Cole, Brian J

    2017-09-01

    To investigate functional outcomes among competitive athletes undergoing osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation of the knee, including rates of return to play (RTP), and factors preventing RTP. A retrospective review identified all competitive athletes (high school, intercollegiate, professional) undergoing isolated femoral condyle OCA from 2004 to 2013. Patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires (Lysholm, International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC], Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score [KOOS], Western Ontario and McMasters Universities Arthritis Index [WOMAC], 12-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-12], Tegner, and Marx) and custom RTP surveys were administered. All subsequent reoperations were documented. Thirteen athletes (4 intercollegiate, 9 high-school) were identified with an average follow-up of 5.9 ± 2.5 years. Seven athletes (54%) returned to competitive sport at an average of 7.9 ± 3.5 months, 5 of whom returned to preinjury functional levels. Of the 8 athletes who either did not return to competitive sport or failed to sustain their high level of play, the most common reasons cited were graduation from high school or college (4 patients, 50%) or fear of reinjury (3 patients, 38%). All 4 patients citing graduation as the primary factor preventing return to preinjury level of competitive sport resumed recreational sport without limitations, yielding an adjusted RTP rate of 10 patients (77%) who either returned to competitive play or believed they could return if they had not graduated. At final follow-up, athletes reported significant improvements in all PRO scores except for KOOS-Sport, WOMAC-Stiffness, and SF-12 Mental subscales. There were 3 reoperations at an average of 3.8 ± 3.3 years after the index OCA. There were no instances of graft failure. OCAs provide an adjusted RTP rate of 77% for high-level adolescent athletes. Social factors may be more likely than persistent pain to prevent return to sport. Level IV

  14. Sustained Pulmonary Delivery of a Water-Soluble Antibiotic Without Encapsulating Carriers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Winston; Nowak, Pawel; Cu, Yen; Schopf, Lisa; Bourassa, James; Enlow, Elizabeth; Moskowitz, Samuel M; Chen, Hongming

    2016-03-01

    Traditional polymeric nanoparticle formulations for prolonged local action during inhalation therapy are highly susceptible to muco-ciliary clearance. In addition, polymeric carriers are typically administered in high doses due to finite drug loading. For toxicological reasons, these carriers and their degradation byproducts are undesirable for inhalation therapy, particularly for chronic use, due to potential lung accumulation. We synthesized a novel, insoluble prodrug (MRPD) of a time-dependent β-lactam, meropenem, and formulated MRPD into mucus-penetrating crystals (MRPD-MPCs). After characterizing their mucus mobility (in vitro) and stability, we evaluated the lung pharmacokinetics of intratracheally-instilled MRPD-MPCs and a meropenem solution in guinea pigs. Meropenem levels rapidly declined in the lungs of guinea pigs receiving meropenem solution compared to those given MRPD-MPCs. At 9 h after dosing, drug levels in the lungs of animals that received meropenem solution dropped to 12 ng/mL, whereas those that received MRPD-MPCs maintained an average drug level of ≥1,065 ng/mL over a 12-h period. This work demonstrated that the combination of prodrug chemistry and mucus-penetrating platform created nanoparticles that produced sustained levels of meropenem in guinea pig lungs. This strategy represents a novel approach for sustained local drug delivery to the lung without using encapsulating matrices.

  15. Sustainability constraints on UK bioenergy development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thornley, Patricia; Upham, Paul; Tomei, Julia

    2009-01-01

    Use of bioenergy as a renewable resource is increasing in many parts of the world and can generate significant environmental, economic and social benefits if managed with due regard to sustainability constraints. This work reviews the environmental, social and economic constraints on key feedstocks for UK heat, power and transport fuel. Key sustainability constraints include greenhouse gas savings achieved for different fuels, land availability, air quality impacts and facility siting. Applying those constraints, we estimate that existing technologies would facilitate a sustainability constrained level of medium-term bioenergy/biofuel supply to the UK of 4.9% of total energy demand, broken down into 4.3% of heat demands, 4.3% of electricity, and 5.8% of transport fuel. This suggests that attempts to increase the supply above these levels could have counterproductive sustainability impacts in the absence of compensating technology developments or identification of additional resources. The barriers that currently prevent this level of supply being achieved have been analysed and classified. This suggests that the biggest policy impacts would be in stimulating the market for heat demand in rural areas, supporting feedstock prices in a manner that incentivised efficient use/maximum greenhouse gas savings and targeting investment capital that improves yield and reduces land-take.

  16. Evaluating tidal marsh sustainability in the face of sea-level rise: a hybrid modeling approach applied to San Francisco Bay.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana Stralberg

    Full Text Available Tidal marshes will be threatened by increasing rates of sea-level rise (SLR over the next century. Managers seek guidance on whether existing and restored marshes will be resilient under a range of potential future conditions, and on prioritizing marsh restoration and conservation activities.Building upon established models, we developed a hybrid approach that involves a mechanistic treatment of marsh accretion dynamics and incorporates spatial variation at a scale relevant for conservation and restoration decision-making. We applied this model to San Francisco Bay, using best-available elevation data and estimates of sediment supply and organic matter accumulation developed for 15 Bay subregions. Accretion models were run over 100 years for 70 combinations of starting elevation, mineral sediment, organic matter, and SLR assumptions. Results were applied spatially to evaluate eight Bay-wide climate change scenarios.Model results indicated that under a high rate of SLR (1.65 m/century, short-term restoration of diked subtidal baylands to mid marsh elevations (-0.2 m MHHW could be achieved over the next century with sediment concentrations greater than 200 mg/L. However, suspended sediment concentrations greater than 300 mg/L would be required for 100-year mid marsh sustainability (i.e., no elevation loss. Organic matter accumulation had minimal impacts on this threshold. Bay-wide projections of marsh habitat area varied substantially, depending primarily on SLR and sediment assumptions. Across all scenarios, however, the model projected a shift in the mix of intertidal habitats, with a loss of high marsh and gains in low marsh and mudflats.Results suggest a bleak prognosis for long-term natural tidal marsh sustainability under a high-SLR scenario. To minimize marsh loss, we recommend conserving adjacent uplands for marsh migration, redistributing dredged sediment to raise elevations, and concentrating restoration efforts in sediment-rich areas

  17. Assessment of Sustainability of Sports Events (Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Golob

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Events industry plays an important role in nowadays economy and can have a substantial impact for a successful business; in addition, sustainability-oriented tourism is becoming an important component of development and planning of a tourist destination. Thus, organizing sustainability-oriented events is crucial and should focus on the zero waste event management and consider as many elements of sustainable development as possible. The same stands for organizing sports events. The aim of this paper was to find out to which level the organizers of existing sports events in Slovenia are taking into account different domains of sustainable development. Answering to a common questionnaire the organizers gave us a feedback considering four main areas: environmental, social, cultural, and economic criteria. The plan was to determine the level of sustainability of three sports events and compare them to each other according to the outstanding areas as well as to draw the attention to the importance of organizing sustainability-oriented sports events and minimizing negative effects of those. Since the field of research is complex, dynamic, and has an interdisciplinary character the results were attained using the DEX software which supports a qualitative approach and allows the modelling of complex decision-making processes with a large number of parameters and alternatives. Such methodology enables the input of a preliminary set of sustainability criteria and can be used as a support when deciding on the evaluation of sustainability of events in general.

  18. High-level waste processing and disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crandall, J.L.; Krause, H.; Sombret, C.; Uematsu, K.

    1984-01-01

    The national high-level waste disposal plans for France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the United States are covered. Three conclusions are reached. The first conclusion is that an excellent technology already exists for high-level waste disposal. With appropriate packaging, spent fuel seems to be an acceptable waste form. Borosilicate glass reprocessing waste forms are well understood, in production in France, and scheduled for production in the next few years in a number of other countries. For final disposal, a number of candidate geological repository sites have been identified and several demonstration sites opened. The second conclusion is that adequate financing and a legal basis for waste disposal are in place in most countries. Costs of high-level waste disposal will probably add about 5 to 10% to the costs of nuclear electric power. The third conclusion is less optimistic. Political problems remain formidable in highly conservative regulations, in qualifying a final disposal site, and in securing acceptable transport routes

  19. Forest tenure and sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.P. Siry; K. McGinley; F.W. Cubbage; P. Bettinger

    2015-01-01

    We reviewed the principles and key literature related to forest tenure and sustainable forest management, and then examined the status of sustainable forestry and land ownership at the aggregate national level for major forested countries. The institutional design principles suggested by Ostrom are well accepted for applications to public, communal, and private lands....

  20. High USP6NL levels in breast cancer sustain chronic AKT phosphorylation and GLUT1 stability fueling aerobic glycolysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avanzato, Daniele; Pupo, Emanuela; Ducano, Nadia; Isella, Claudio; Bertalot, Giovanni; Luise, Chiara; Pece, Salvatore; Bruna, Alejandra; Rueda, Oscar M; Caldas, Carlos; Di Fiore, Pier Paolo; Sapino, Anna; Lanzetti, Letizia

    2018-04-24

    USP6NL, also named RN-tre, is a GTPase activating protein (GAP) involved in control of endocytosis and signal transduction. Here we report that USP6NL is overexpressed in breast cancer (BC), mainly of the basal-like/integrative cluster 10 subtype. Increased USP6NL levels were accompanied by gene amplification and were associated with worse prognosis in the METABRIC dataset, retaining prognostic value in multivariable analysis. High levels of USP6NL in BC cells delayed endocytosis and degradation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), causing chronic AKT activation. In turn, AKT stabilized the glucose transporter GLUT1 at the plasma membrane, increasing aerobic glycolysis. In agreement, elevated USP6NL sensitized BC cells to glucose deprivation, indicating that their glycolytic capacity relies on this protein. Depletion of USP6NL accelerated EGFR/AKT downregulation and GLUT1 degradation, impairing cell proliferation exclusively in BC cells that harbored increased levels of USP6NL. Overall, these findings argue that USP6NL overexpression generates a metabolic rewiring that is essential to foster the glycolytic demand of BC cells and promote their proliferation. Copyright ©2018, American Association for Cancer Research.

  1. Sustainability and Efficiency Improvements of Gas-Cooled High Temperature Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marmier, Alain

    2012-01-01

    This thesis covers 3 fundamental aspects of High Temperature Reactor (HTR) performance: fuel testing under irradiation for maximized safety and sustainability, fuel architecture for improved economy and sustainability, and a novel Balance of Plant concept to enable future high-tech process heat applications with minimized R and D. The HTR concept features important inherent and passive safety characteristics: high thermal inertia and good thermal conductivity of the core; a negative Doppler coefficient; high quality of fuel elements and low power density. These features keep the core temperature within safe boundaries and minimise fission product release, even in case of severe accidents. The Very High Temperature reactor (VHTR) is based on the same safety concept as the initial HTR, but it aims at offering better economy with a higher reactor outlet temperature (and thus efficiency) and a high fuel discharge burn-up (and thus better sustainability). The inherent safety features of HTR have been demonstrated in small pebble-bed reactors in practice, but have to be replicated for reactors with industrially relevant size and power. An increase of the power density (in order to increase the helium coolant outlet temperature) leads to higher fuel temperatures and therefore higher fuel failure probability. The core of a pebble-bed reactor consists of 6 cm diameter spheres (pebbles) that form a randomly packed porous bed, which is cooled by high pressure helium. These pebbles contain thousands of 1 mm diameter fuel particles baked into a graphite matrix. These fuel particles, in turn, consist of a fuel kernel with successive coatings of pyrocarbon and silicon carbide layers. The coating layers are designed to contain the fission products that build up during operation of the reactor. The feasibility and performance of the fuel requires experimental verification in view of fuel qualification and licensing. For HTR fuel, the required test string comprises amongst others

  2. High levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced immunoglobulin G2 are associated with lower high-density lipoprotein levels in chronic periodontitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ardila, Carlos M; Guzmán, Isabel C

    2016-11-01

    To investigate the association between the presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced immunoglobulin G antibodies and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level. A total of 108 individuals were examined. The presence of P. gingivalis was detected using primers designed to target the 16S rRNA gene sequence. Peripheral blood was collected from each subject to determine the levels of P. gingivalis-induced IgG1 and IgG2 serum antibodies. The HDL levels were determined using fully enzymatic methods. A higher proportion of periodontitis patients had high levels of P. gingivalis-induced IgG1 and IgG2, and the proportion of subjects with a HDL level of chronic periodontitis patients. In the unadjusted regression model, the presence of high levels of P. gingivalis-induced IgG2 was associated with a HDL level of periodontitis patients with high levels of P. gingivalis-induced IgG2 showed 3.2 more chances of having pathological HDL levels (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.2-9.8). High levels of P. gingivalis-induced IgG2 were associated with low HDL concentrations in patients with periodontitis, which suggests that the response of the host to periodontal infection may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  3. The macroecology of sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, Joseph R.; Allen, Craig D.; Brown, James H.; Burnside, William R.; Davidson, Ana D.; Fristoe, Trevor S.; Hamilton, Marcus J.; Mercado-Silva, Norman; Nekola, Jeffrey C.; Okie, Jordan G.; Zuo, Wenyun

    2012-01-01

    The discipline of sustainability science has emerged in response to concerns of natural and social scientists, policymakers, and lay people about whether the Earth can continue to support human population growth and economic prosperity. Yet, sustainability science has developed largely independently from and with little reference to key ecological principles that govern life on Earth. A macroecological perspective highlights three principles that should be integral to sustainability science: 1) physical conservation laws govern the flows of energy and materials between human systems and the environment, 2) smaller systems are connected by these flows to larger systems in which they are embedded, and 3) global constraints ultimately limit flows at smaller scales. Over the past few decades, decreasing per capita rates of consumption of petroleum, phosphate, agricultural land, fresh water, fish, and wood indicate that the growing human population has surpassed the capacity of the Earth to supply enough of these essential resources to sustain even the current population and level of socioeconomic development.

  4. The bumpy road from renewable to sustainable

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sinke, W.C. [ECN Solar Energy, Petten (Netherlands)

    2011-08-15

    Solar energy is inherently renewable, but not automatically (fully) sustainable. Few people will disagree with this general statement, but that is about where consensus ends. Photovoltaic solar energy (PV) has rapidly left behind the megawatt-era and entered the gigawatt-era a few years ago. The PV sector is currently preparing for the 'real thing', i.e. the terawattscale manufacturing and installation that is needed for substantial impact on a global level. For that reason sustainability is now high on the list of development priorities, next to cost reduction and performance enhancement. Clearly terawatt-scale use is impossible, or at least undesirable, if certain sustainability criteria are not met. It would also severely affect the credibility of PV as a solution for sustainability related problems of society. The challenge is to translate this general concept into concrete actions that are useful for research, manufacturing, installation and other parts of the PV value chain. An important and famous definition of the concept of 'sustainability', or rather of 'sustainable development' has been given in the Brundtland Report: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although this definition catches an essential aspect of 'sustainability', it does not give concrete leads for the difficult choices that have to be made in everyday life in general, and in solar energy technology development and deployment in particular. Many other, more specific definitions and descriptions have also been developed, especially related to the narrower term 'environmental sustainability'. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, these do not give final answers to the questions either. This leads to strong and sometimes emotional debates, but also to confusion and misunderstanding among specialists as well as non-specialists. Dealing with (or managing

  5. The bumpy road from renewable to sustainable

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinke, W.C.

    2011-01-01

    Solar energy is inherently renewable, but not automatically (fully) sustainable. Few people will disagree with this general statement, but that is about where consensus ends. Photovoltaic solar energy (PV) has rapidly left behind the megawatt-era and entered the gigawatt-era a few years ago. The PV sector is currently preparing for the 'real thing', i.e. the terawattscale manufacturing and installation that is needed for substantial impact on a global level. For that reason sustainability is now high on the list of development priorities, next to cost reduction and performance enhancement. Clearly terawatt-scale use is impossible, or at least undesirable, if certain sustainability criteria are not met. It would also severely affect the credibility of PV as a solution for sustainability related problems of society. The challenge is to translate this general concept into concrete actions that are useful for research, manufacturing, installation and other parts of the PV value chain. An important and famous definition of the concept of 'sustainability', or rather of 'sustainable development' has been given in the Brundtland Report: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although this definition catches an essential aspect of 'sustainability', it does not give concrete leads for the difficult choices that have to be made in everyday life in general, and in solar energy technology development and deployment in particular. Many other, more specific definitions and descriptions have also been developed, especially related to the narrower term 'environmental sustainability'. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, these do not give final answers to the questions either. This leads to strong and sometimes emotional debates, but also to confusion and misunderstanding among specialists as well as non-specialists. Dealing with (or managing) these aspects of PV and using them to define the

  6. Navigating the sustainability landscape: a systematic review of sustainability approaches in healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lennox, L; Maher, L; Reed, J

    2018-02-09

    Improvement initiatives offer a valuable mechanism for delivering and testing innovations in healthcare settings. Many of these initiatives deliver meaningful and necessary changes to patient care and outcomes. However, many improvement initiatives fail to sustain to a point where their full benefits can be realised. This has led many researchers and healthcare practitioners to develop frameworks, models and tools to support and monitor sustainability. This work aimed to identify what approaches are available to assess and influence sustainability in healthcare and to describe the different perspectives, applications and constructs within these approaches to guide their future use. A systematic review was carried out following PRISMA guidelines to identify publications that reported approaches to support or influence sustainability in healthcare. Eligibility criteria were defined through an iterative process in which two reviewers independently assessed 20% of articles to test the objectivity of the selection criteria. Data were extracted from the identified articles, and a template analysis was undertaken to identify and assess the sustainability constructs within each reported approach. The search strategy identified 1748 publications with 227 articles retrieved in full text for full documentary analysis. In total, 62 publications identifying a sustainability approach were included in this review (32 frameworks, 16 models, 8 tools, 4 strategies, 1 checklist and 1 process). Constructs across approaches were compared and 40 individual constructs for sustainability were found. Comparison across approaches demonstrated consistent constructs were seen regardless of proposed interventions, setting or level of application with 6 constructs included in 75% of the approaches. Although similarities were found, no approaches contained the same combination of the constructs nor did any single approach capture all identified constructs. From these results, a consolidated

  7. Sustainable spatial development in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja Terlević

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is not only a great challenge for society as a whole, but also for higher education institutions, which have been rapidly including sustainable development in their educational process in the last two decades. Directly or indirectly, education for sustainable spatial development includes all aspects of sustainable development: environmental, economic, social and cultural. Space is a junction of various interests, which requires coordinating the entire process of spatial planning, taking into account the goal of sustainable spatial development. The existing values of space are insufficient for the rapid implementation of a sustainable spatial development paradigm. Suitable education is needed by both individuals and spatial planning professionals and at all levels of education. It is therefore necessary to transform some of the academic programs in the higher education curriculum by integrating teaching content and methods that include long-term knowledge and holistic thinking, taking into account the importance of interdisciplinary integration. This article reviews literature in sustainable development in higher education from 2002 to 2013. Topics discussed include students’ and teachers’ conceptions of sustainable development, the presence of sustainable development and sustainable spatial development in higher education and the reasons for the slow introduction of this material into the curriculum. Based on a literature analysis, the last section identifies important drivers that can contribute to a more rapid integration of a sustainable spatial development paradigm into higher education.

  8. The Problem of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries--Direct and Indirect Causes and Recommendations for Reducing It to a Sustainable Level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middlebrook, Cathy H.; Goode, Pamela M.

    1992-01-01

    Presents direct and indirect causes of erosion in developing countries. Identifies soil conservation developments ranging from major international policy reforms to small-scale, local farming programs. Suggests that strategies at all levels, and the political will to implement them, are needed if erosion is to be reduced to a sustainable rate. (23…

  9. Analysis and control design of sustainable policies for greenhouse gas emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chu, Bing; Duncan, Stephen; Papachristodoulou, Antonis; Hepburn, Cameron

    2013-01-01

    Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is now an urgent priority. Systems control theory, and in particular feedback control, can be helpful in designing policies that achieve sustainable levels of emissions of CO 2 (and other greenhouse gases) while minimizing the impact on the economy, and at the same time explicitly addressing the high levels of uncertainty associated with predictions of future emissions. In this paper, we describe preliminary results for an approach where model predictive control (MPC) is applied to a model of the UK economy (UK 4see model) as a test bed to design sustainable policies for greenhouse gas emissions. Using feedback control, the policies are updated on the basis of the actual emissions, rather than on the predicted level of emissions. The basic structure and principle of the UK 4see model is described and its implementation in Simulink is presented. A linearized state space model is obtained and model predictive control is applied to design policies for CO 2 emissions. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The preliminary results obtained in this paper illustrate the strength of the proposed design approach and form the basis for future research on using systems control theory to design optimal sustainable policies

  10. STATE OF THE ART OF DRILLING LARGE DIAMETER BOREHOLES FOR DEPOSITION OF HIGH LEVEL WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trpimir Kujundžić

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Deep geological disposal is internationally recognized as the safest and most sustainable option for the long-term management of high-level radioactive waste. Mainly, clay rock, salt rock and crystalline rock are being considered as possible host rocks. Different geological environment in different countries led to the various repository concepts. Main feature of the most matured repository concept is that canisters with spent nuclear fuel are emplaced in vertical or horizontal large diameter deposition holes. Drilling technology of the deposition holes depends on repository concept and geological and geomechanical characteristics of the rock. The deposition holes are mechanically excavated since drill & blast is not a possible method due to requirements on final geometry like surface roughness etc. Different methods of drilling large diameter boreholes for deposition of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel are described. Comparison of methods is made considering performance and particularities in technology.

  11. High-Level Application Framework for LCLS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chu, P; Chevtsov, S.; Fairley, D.; Larrieu, C.; Rock, J.; Rogind, D.; White, G.; Zalazny, M.; /SLAC

    2008-04-22

    A framework for high level accelerator application software is being developed for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The framework is based on plug-in technology developed by an open source project, Eclipse. Many existing functionalities provided by Eclipse are available to high-level applications written within this framework. The framework also contains static data storage configuration and dynamic data connectivity. Because the framework is Eclipse-based, it is highly compatible with any other Eclipse plug-ins. The entire infrastructure of the software framework will be presented. Planned applications and plug-ins based on the framework are also presented.

  12. Sustainable process synthesis–intensification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babi, Deenesh Kavi; Holtbruegge, Johannes; Lutze, Philip

    2015-01-01

    Chemical industry is facing global challenges such as the need to find sustainable production processes.Process intensification as part of process synthesis has the potential to find truly innovative and moresustainable solutions. In this paper, a computer-aided, multi-level, multi-scale framework...... for synthesis,design and intensification of processes, for identifying more sustainable alternatives is presented. Withinthe framework, a three stage work-flow has been implemented where, in the first “synthesis” stage anoptimal processing route is synthesized through a network superstructure optimization...

  13. The quest for sustainability in existing buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Michaelsen, Lisbet; Jensen, Per Anker

    2014-01-01

    to sustainability at societal level. Due to lack of professional skills, decisions about operation and renovation of buildings are made every day in Denmark and beyond, without adequate knowledge about e.g. energy management and the potential ways of integrating sustainability (social, environmental and economic...

  14. Utilising the Potential of Design Briefs in Sustainable Packaging Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    ten Klooster, Roland; de Koeijer, Bjorn

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable considerations in the development of product-packaging combinations require activities on both the strategic and operational level. As part of a company’s vision, the strategic level of development targets the desired implementation of sustainability considerations. The activities of the

  15. Productivity, quality and sustainability of winter wheat underlong-term conventional and organic management in Switzerland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mayer, Jochen; Gunst, Lucie; Mäder, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Long-term sustainability and high resource use efficiency are major goals for high quality baking wheatproduction throughout the world. Present strategies are low input systems such as organic agriculture orimproved conventional systems (integrated). The fertilisation level and strategy, crop...... was fertilised exclusively minerally at level 2 (CONMIN)and a control remained unfertilised (NOFERT). We compared crop yields, baking quality parameters, thenitrogen use efficiency and the effect of maize and potatoes as preceding crops obtained between 2003and 2010 along with long-term soil sustainability......-bers of ears per m2and the thousand kernel weight. The apparent nitrogen use efficiency decreased withincreasing N fertilisation. Doubling the organic fertilisation in the organic systems only slightly improvedwheat grain yields but was not able to improve grain baking quality, due to low mineral N additions...

  16. Sustainable diets within sustainable food systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meybeck, Alexandre; Gitz, Vincent

    2017-02-01

    Sustainable diets and sustainable food systems are increasingly explored by diverse scientific disciplines. They are also recognised by the international community and called upon to orient action towards the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and the fulfilment of sustainable development goals. The aim of the present paper is to briefly consider some of the links between these two notions in order to facilitate the operationalisation of the concept of sustainable diet. The concept of sustainable diet was defined in 2010 combining two totally different perspectives: a nutrition perspective, focused on individuals, and a global sustainability perspective, in all its dimensions: environmental, economic and social. The nutrition perspective can be easily related to health outcomes. The global sustainability perspective is more difficult to analyse directly. We propose that it be measured as the contribution of a diet to the sustainability of food systems. Such an approach, covering the three dimensions of sustainability, enables identification of interactions and interrelations between food systems and diets. It provides opportunities to find levers of change towards sustainability. Diets are both the results and the drivers of food systems. The drivers of change for those variously involved, consumers and private individuals, are different, and can be triggered by different dimensions (heath, environment, social and cultural). Combining different dimensions and reasons for change can help facilitate the transition to sustainable diets, recognising the food system's specificities. The adoption of sustainable diets can be facilitated and enabled by food systems, and by appropriate policies and incentives.

  17. Temporal Bell-type inequalities for two-level Rydberg atoms coupled to a high-Q resonator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huelga, S.F.; Marshall, T.W.; Santos, E.

    1996-01-01

    Following the strategy of showing specific quantum effects by means of the violation of a classical inequality, a pair of Bell-type inequalities is derived on the basis of certain additional assumptions, whose plausibility is discussed in detail. Such inequalities are violated by the quantum mechanical predictions for the interaction of a two-level Rydberg atom with a single mode sustained by a high-Q resonator. The experimental conditions required in order to show the existence of forbidden values, according to a hidden variables formalism, in a real experiment are analyzed for various initial field statistics. In particular, the revival dynamics expected for the interaction with a coherent field leads to classically forbidden values, which would indicate a purely quantum effect. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

  18. Sustainable tourism as a method of forming a tolerant society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dryga Svetlana

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article concentrates on potential capabilities for the development of sustainable tourism, as well as its role in the formation of tolerant social relations. The authors revealed the profound impact of sustainable and hike tourism on emergence of the phenomenon ‘new tourist’. They also offered the description of levels of tolerance and their influence on the sustainable tendencies in modern tourism. There is a growing trend for tourism in modern international community to act as a high-powered regulator of socio-cultural relations and, simultaneously, as the crucial factor of counteraction to that xenophobia. A head-on clash of local and foreign cultures, which is an integral part of the very notion of tourism, is not supposed to assume itself in highly extreme forms, with the air of predominance of any of them, moreover, to be based on national, racial, religious, linguistic or educational differences. To put the idea across more efficiently, the authors resorted to exploiting such useful tools as the analysis and synthesis methodology, as well as that of comparison and prognostics. What is produced in the outcome of this study is revealing and emphasizing the levels of tolerance, characterizing the uneasy interrelationships between the so-called ‘new’ tourists and local community. The research findings could find practical applications for designing of new tourist products and elaborating of new networks of footpaths for walking tours.

  19. Role of Flexibility in Sustainable Port Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Taneja, P.; Vellinga, T.; Ros, R.

    2012-01-01

    Sustainability has become a high profile objective in all aspects of our lives, including the development of our infrastructures. Flexibility can enhance sustainability endeavors, yet its contribution is not clear to most. In this paper we investigate the role of flexibility in sustainable port

  20. THE IMPACT OF THE BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE OF A COMPANY ALONG WITH GRI AND CSR ADOPTION ON INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING PRACTICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiron-Tudor Adriana

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper intends to investigate the correlation between the business and organizational size of companies as well as GRI and CSR practices adoption, and the level of sustainability disclosure. The correlation is highlighted through SPSS statistic analysis and determination of an econometric model between a dependent variable - sustainability information disclosure - and five independent ones- sales, number of employees, GRI and CSR policies and ultimately reporting period/year -. We use the Deloitte Sustainability Scorecard for measuring the sustainability reporting practices. Our sample comprises companies that adopted integrated reporting for the period 2009-2010. Sample selection was made on the basis that sustainability reports are incorporated within the integrated reports. We assume to obtain a high correlation between the business and organizational size of companies, GRI and/or CSR polities and the level of sustainability information disclosed in our integrated reports.

  1. General Algorithm (High level)

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. General Algorithm (High level). Iteratively. Use Tightness Property to remove points of P1,..,Pi. Use random sampling to get a Random Sample (of enough points) from the next largest cluster, Pi+1. Use the Random Sampling Procedure to approximate ci+1 using the ...

  2. [Memorandum on sustainable reinforcement of prevention and health promotion: challenges at the federal, state and local level].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, U; Nöcker, G; Pawils, S; Robra, B-P; Trojan, A; Franz, M; Grossmann, B; Schmidt, T-A; Lehmann, H; Bauer, U; Göpel, E; Janz, A; Kuhn, J; Naegele, G; Müller-Kohlenberg, H; Plaumann, M; Stender, K-P; Stolzenberg, R; Süß, W; Trenker, M; Wanek, V; Wildner, M

    2015-05-01

    Research-based evidence and practice-based experience are core requirements for the effective implementation of preventive interventions. The knowledge gained in the Prevention Research Funding Initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2004-2013) was therefore amalgamated, reflected and consolidated in the Cooperation for Sustainable Prevention Research (KNP) meta-project. In annual strategy meetings, researchers and practitioners from the field and other experts developed 3 memoranda providing recommendations for the further development of research and practice in the field of prevention and health promotion. Memorandum III is primarily aimed at decision-makers in politics and administration at the federal, state and local level, in civil society and in the workplace. Its recommendations show that structuring efforts are urgently needed to achieve sustainable policy, particularly in the fields of health, education, employment and social affairs. Memorandum III brings together the knowledge extracted and problems identified in research projects. More so than its 2 predecessors, Memorandum III abstracts knowledge from the individual projects and attempts to derive guidance for action and decision-making, as shown by the 7 recommendations that appear to useful for consensus-building in practice and research. Value judgments are inevitable. Prevention and health promotion are an investment in the future: of social health, social capital and social peace. Improvement of the framework conditions is needed to achieve the harmonized awareness and the sustained effectiveness of these structure-building efforts in different policy areas, spheres of life, fields of action, and groups of actors. This includes the implementation of an overall national strategy as well as the expansion of sources of funding, extension of the legal framework, overarching coordination, and the establishment of a National Center of Excellence to develop and safeguard

  3. Partitioning of high level liquid waste: experiences in plant level adoption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manohar, Smitha; Kaushik, C.P.

    2016-01-01

    High Level Radioactive Wastes are presently vitrified in borosilicate matrices in all our back end facilities in our country. This is in accordance with internationally endorsed methodology for the safe management of high level radioactive wastes. Recent advancements in the field of partitioning technology in our group, has presented us with an opportunity to have a fresh perspective on management of high level liquid radioactive wastes streams, that emanate from reprocessing operations. This paper will highlight our experiences with respect to both partitioning studies and vitrification practices, with a focus on waste volume reduction for final disposal. Incorporation of this technique has led to the implementation of the concept of recovering wealth from waste, a marked decrease on the load of disposal in deep geological repositories and serve as a step towards the vision of transmutation of long lived radionuclides

  4. Energy sustainability: consumption, efficiency, and ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    One of the critical challenges in achieving sustainability is finding a way to meet the energy consumption needs of a growing population in the face of increasing economic prosperity and finite resources. According to ecological footprint computations, the global resource consumption began exceeding planetary supply in 1977 and by 2030, global energy demand, population, and gross domestic product are projected to greatly increase over 1977 levels. With the aim of finding sustainable energy solutions, we present a simple yet rigorous procedure for assessing and counterbalancing the relationship between energy demand, environmental impact, population, GDP, and energy efficiency. Our analyses indicated that infeasible increases in energy efficiency (over 100 %) would be required by 2030 to return to 1977 environmental impact levels and annual reductions (2 and 3 %) in energy demand resulted in physical, yet impractical requirements; hence, a combination of policy and technology approaches is needed to tackle this critical challenge. This work emphasizes the difficulty in moving toward energy sustainability and helps to frame possible solutions useful for policy and management. Based on projected energy consumption, environmental impact, human population, gross domestic product (GDP), and energy efficiency, for this study, we explore the increase in energy-use efficiency and the decrease in energy use intensity required to achieve sustainable environmental impact le

  5. User-led innovations and participation processes: lessons from sustainable energy technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ornetzeder, Michael [ZSI - Centre for Social Innovation, Linke Wienzeile 246, A-1150 Vienna (Austria); Rohracher, Harald [IFF/IFZ - Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture, Schloegelgasse 2, A-8010 Graz (Austria)

    2006-01-01

    In this paper we will pose the question whether a higher level of user participation could be used as a strategy to improve the development and dissemination of sustainable energy technologies. We will especially focus on user-led innovation processes with a high involvement of individual end-users. In our argument we will draw on several case studies in the field of renewable energy technologies-in particular solar collectors and biomass heating systems-and sustainable building technologies. Users in these case studies were involved in the design or planning processes, sometimes in a very selective way and with limited influence, sometimes very active and for quite a long period of time. Especially in the case of renewable energy technologies self-building groups were highly successful and resulted in improved and widely disseminated technologies. Based on the empirical results of our case studies we will critically discuss the potential of user involvement (especially in self-building groups) for the development and promotion of sustainable energy technologies and outline technological and social pre-conditions for the success of such approaches. (author)

  6. User-led innovations and participation processes: lessons from sustainable energy technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ornetzeder, Michael; Rohracher, Harald

    2006-01-01

    In this paper we will pose the question whether a higher level of user participation could be used as a strategy to improve the development and dissemination of sustainable energy technologies. We will especially focus on user-led innovation processes with a high involvement of individual end-users. In our argument we will draw on several case studies in the field of renewable energy technologies-in particular solar collectors and biomass heating systems-and sustainable building technologies. Users in these case studies were involved in the design or planning processes, sometimes in a very selective way and with limited influence, sometimes very active and for quite a long period of time. Especially in the case of renewable energy technologies self-building groups were highly successful and resulted in improved and widely disseminated technologies. Based on the empirical results of our case studies we will critically discuss the potential of user involvement (especially in self-building groups) for the development and promotion of sustainable energy technologies and outline technological and social pre-conditions for the success of such approaches

  7. Achieving More Sustainable Designs through a Process Synthesis-Intensification Framework

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babi, Deenesh Kavi; Woodley, John; Gani, Rafiqul

    2014-01-01

    More sustainable process designs refer to design alternatives that correspond to lowervalues of a set of targeted performance criteria. In this paper, a multi-level frameworkfor process synthesis-intensification that leads to more sustainable process designs ispresented. At the highest level of a...

  8. The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Eccles, Robert G; Ioannou, Ioannis; Serafeim, Georgios

    2014-01-01

    We investigate the effect of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance. Using a matched sample of 180 US companies, we find that corporations that voluntarily adopted sustainability policies by 1993 - termed as High Sustainability companies - exhibit by 2009 distinct organizational processes compared to a matched sample of companies that adopted almost none of these policies - termed as Low Sustainability companies. The boards of directors of High Sustainability com...

  9. Leverage points for sustainability transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abson, David J; Fischer, Joern; Leventon, Julia; Newig, Jens; Schomerus, Thomas; Vilsmaier, Ulli; von Wehrden, Henrik; Abernethy, Paivi; Ives, Christopher D; Jager, Nicolas W; Lang, Daniel J

    2017-02-01

    Despite substantial focus on sustainability issues in both science and politics, humanity remains on largely unsustainable development trajectories. Partly, this is due to the failure of sustainability science to engage with the root causes of unsustainability. Drawing on ideas by Donella Meadows, we argue that many sustainability interventions target highly tangible, but essentially weak, leverage points (i.e. using interventions that are easy, but have limited potential for transformational change). Thus, there is an urgent need to focus on less obvious but potentially far more powerful areas of intervention. We propose a research agenda inspired by systems thinking that focuses on transformational 'sustainability interventions', centred on three realms of leverage: reconnecting people to nature, restructuring institutions and rethinking how knowledge is created and used in pursuit of sustainability. The notion of leverage points has the potential to act as a boundary object for genuinely transformational sustainability science.

  10. Approaches to Sustainable Development in Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostrzewa, Karina; ); Piasecki, Ryszard

    2009-01-01

    The sustainable development principle was introduced into the legal system of Poland when the Constitution of the Polish Republic was adopted in 1997. Paradoxically, in Poland - one of the few countries in the world which have introduced the concept of sustainable development at the level of the Constitution, it is difficult to find a reference to it in the political debate. The national sustainable development strategy Poland 2025 has met no response among society and today it seems to be hardly remembered by anybody. An average citizen does not know the concept of sustainable development, or has a vague notion of it, often identifying it exclusively with environmental protection. Solving social problems (the labour market, education, health protection, equality of the sexes, etc.) is not associated with sustainable development whatsoever, and neither is engagement into achieving these development targets on the global scale

  11. Annual Sustainability Report FY2015

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2016-08-01

    NREL's Sustainability Program is responsible for upholding all executive orders, federal regulations, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) orders, and goals related to sustainable and resilient facility operations. But NREL continues to expand sustainable practices above and beyond the laboratory's regulations and requirements to ensure that the laboratory fulfills its mission into the future, leaves the smallest possible legacy footprint, and models sustainable operations and behaviors on national, regional, and local levels. The report, per the GRI reporting format, elaborates on multi-year goals relative to executive orders, achievements, and challenges; and success stories provide specific examples. A section called 'NREL's Resiliency is Taking Many Forms' provides insight into how NREL is drawing on its deep knowledge of renewable energy and energy efficiency to help mitigate or avoid climate change impacts.

  12. Sustainable energy-economic-environmental scenarios

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2002-03-31

    IIASA's Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies (ECS) Project has proposed a quantitative 'working definition' of sustainable development E3 (energy-economic-environmental) scenarios. ECS has proposed four criteria for sustainability: economic growth is sustained throughout the time horizon; socioeconomic inequity among world regions is reduced over the 21st century; reserves-to-production (R/P) ratio for exhaustible primary energy resources do not decline; and long-term environmental stress is mitigated. Using these criteria, 40 long-term E3 scenarios generated by ECS models were reviewed and analyzed. Amongst the conclusions drawn were: slow population growth or stabilization of global population appears to be prerequisite for sustainable development; economic growth alone does not guarantee a sustainable future; carbon intensities of total primary energy must decrease faster than the historical trend; strategies for fossil fuel consumption must aim at non-decreasing R/P ratios; and carbon emissions must be near or below today's levels at the end of this century. The analysis of sustainable development scenarios is an important step towards formulating long-term strategies aimed at climate stabilization. 6 figs., 1 tab.

  13. Sustainable machining

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book provides an overview on current sustainable machining. Its chapters cover the concept in economic, social and environmental dimensions. It provides the reader with proper ways to handle several pollutants produced during the machining process. The book is useful on both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and it is of interest to all those working with manufacturing and machining technology.

  14. The relationship between sustained attention and aerobic fitness in a group of young adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis F. Ciria

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background A growing set of studies has shown a positive relationship between aerobic fitness and a broad array of cognitive functions. However, few studies have focused on sustained attention, which has been considered a fundamental cognitive process that underlies most everyday activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of aerobic fitness as a key factor in sustained attention capacities in young adults. Methods Forty-four young adults (18–23 years were divided into two groups as a function of the level of aerobic fitness (high-fit and low-fit. Participants completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT and an oddball task where they had to detect infrequent targets presented among frequent non-targets. Results The analysis of variance (ANOVA showed faster responses for the high-fit group than for the low-fit group in the PVT, replicating previous accounts. In the oddball task, the high-fit group maintained their accuracy (ACC rate of target detection over time, while the low-fit group suffered a significant decline of response ACC throughout the task. Discussion Importantly, the results show that the greater sustained attention capacity of high-fit young adults is not specific to a reaction time (RT sustained attention task like the PVT, but it is also evident in an ACC oddball task. In sum, the present findings point to the important role of aerobic fitness on sustained attention capacities in young adults.

  15. Sustainability of Local and Global Food Chains: Introduction to the Special Issue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianluca Brunori

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is one of the keys to competition by food supply chains over sustainability. The way it is conceived and embodied into decision-makers’ choices affects the competitiveness of local and global chains. Science-based assessment methodologies have made substantial progress, but uncertainties—as well as interests at stake—are high. There are no science-based methods that are able to give an unchallenged verdict over the sustainability performance of a firm, let alone a supply chain. Assessment methods are more suited for medium-large firm dimensions, as planning, monitoring, and reporting are costly. Moreover, the availability of data affects the choice of parameters to be measured, and many claims of local food are not easily measurable. To give local chains a chance to operate on a level playing field, there is the need to re-think sustainability assessment processes and tailor them to the characteristics of the analysed supply chains. We indicate seven key points on which we think scholars should focus their attention when dealing with food supply chain sustainability assessment.

  16. Predictors of Placement in Lower Level versus Higher Level High School Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archbald, Doug; Farley-Ripple, Elizabeth N.

    2012-01-01

    Educators and researchers have long been interested in determinants of access to honors level and college prep courses in high school. Factors influencing access to upper level mathematics courses are particularly important because of the hierarchical and sequential nature of this subject and because students who finish high school with only lower…

  17. Sustainable High-Potential Career Development: A Resource-Based View.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iles, Paul

    1997-01-01

    In the current economic climate, fast-track career models pose problems for individuals and organizations. An alternative model uses a resource-based view of the company and principles of sustainable development borrowed from environmentalism. (SK)

  18. High-Level Development of Multiserver Online Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Glinka

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Multiplayer online games with support for high user numbers must provide mechanisms to support an increasing amount of players by using additional resources. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the practically proven multiserver distribution mechanisms, zoning, instancing, and replication, and the tasks for the game developer implied by them. We propose a novel, high-level development approach which integrates the three distribution mechanisms seamlessly in today's online games. As a possible base for this high-level approach, we describe the real-time framework (RTF middleware system which liberates the developer from low-level tasks and allows him to stay at high level of design abstraction. We explain how RTF supports the implementation of single-server online games and how RTF allows to incorporate the three multiserver distribution mechanisms during the development process. Finally, we describe briefly how RTF provides manageability and maintenance functionality for online games in a grid context with dynamic resource allocation scenarios.

  19. Long-term high-level waste technology program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-04-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting a comprehensive program to isolate all US nuclear wastes from the human environment. The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy - Waste (NEW) has full responsibility for managing the high-level wastes resulting from defense activities and additional responsiblity for providing the technology to manage existing commercial high-level wastes and any that may be generated in one of several alternative fuel cycles. Responsibilities of the Three Divisions of DOE-NEW are shown. This strategy document presents the research and development plan of the Division of Waste Products for long-term immobilization of the high-level radioactive wastes resulting from chemical processing of nuclear reactor fuels and targets. These high-level wastes contain more than 99% of the residual radionuclides produced in the fuels and targets during reactor operations. They include essentially all the fission products and most of the actinides that were not recovered for use

  20. Psychosocial and demographic variables associated with consumer intention to purchase sustainably produced foods as defined by the Midwest Food Alliance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Ramona; Smith, Chery

    2002-01-01

    To examine psychosocial and demographic variables associated with consumer intention to purchase sustainably produced foods using an expanded Theory of Planned Behavior. Consumers were approached at the store entrance and asked to complete a self-administered survey. Three metropolitan Minnesota grocery stores. Participants (n = 550) were adults who shopped at the store: the majority were white, female, and highly educated and earned >or= 50,000 dollars/year. Participation rates averaged 62%. The major domain investigated was consumer support for sustainably produced foods. Demographics, beliefs, attitudes, subjective norm, and self-identity and perceived behavioral control were evaluated as predictors of intention to purchase them. Descriptive statistics, independent t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression analyses (P Consumers were supportive of sustainably produced foods but not highly confident in their ability to purchase them. Independent predictors of intention to purchase them included attitudes, beliefs, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, past buying behavior, and marital status. Beliefs, attitudes, and confidence level may influence intention to purchase sustainably produced foods. Nutrition educators could increase consumers' awareness of sustainably produced foods by understanding their beliefs, attitudes, and confidence levels.

  1. High-Level Radioactive Waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayden, Howard C.

    1995-01-01

    Presents a method to calculate the amount of high-level radioactive waste by taking into consideration the following factors: the fission process that yields the waste, identification of the waste, the energy required to run a 1-GWe plant for one year, and the uranium mass required to produce that energy. Briefly discusses waste disposal and…

  2. High-level radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grissom, M.C.

    1982-10-01

    This bibliography contains 812 citations on high-level radioactive wastes included in the Department of Energy's Energy Data Base from January 1981 through July 1982. These citations are to research reports, journal articles, books, patents, theses, and conference papers from worldwide sources. Five indexes are provided: Corporate Author, Personal Author, Subject, Contract Number, and Report Number

  3. Sustainability performance evaluation: Literature review and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Büyüközkan, Gülçin; Karabulut, Yağmur

    2018-07-01

    Current global economic activities are increasingly being perceived as unsustainable. Despite the high number of publications, sustainability science remains highly dispersed over diverse approaches and topics. This article aims to provide a structured overview of sustainability performance evaluation related publications and to document the current state of literature, categorize publications, analyze and link trends, as well as highlight gaps and provide research recommendations. 128 articles between 2007 and 2018 are identified. The results suggest that sustainability performance evaluation models shall be more balanced, suitable criteria and their interrelations shall be well defined and subjectivity of qualitative criteria inherent to sustainability indicators shall be considered. To address this subjectivity, group decision-making techniques and other analytical methods that can deal with uncertainty, conflicting indicators, and linguistic evaluations can be used in future works. By presenting research gaps, this review stimulates researchers to establish practically applicable sustainability performance evaluation frameworks to help assess and compare the degree of sustainability, leading to more sustainable business practices. The review is unique in defining corporate sustainability performance evaluation for the first time, exploring the gap between sustainability accounting and sustainability assessment, and coming up with a structured overview of innovative research recommendations about integrating analytical assessment methods into conceptual sustainability frameworks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Amalgamating sustainable design strategies into architectural curricula

    OpenAIRE

    Elnokaly, Amira; Elseragy, Ahmed

    2009-01-01

    In the era of climate change, rising sea levels, the hole in the ozone layer and current food crisis, sustainability is no longer a matter of choice; it is a must. While the term sustainability manages to embed itself in all aspects of contemporary life, sustainability in the built environment requires special attention. Designs created by architects and planners play a fundamental part in shaping the way we live, behave and interact with our surroundings. Smith (2001) argued that...

  5. Process for solidifying high-level nuclear waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Wayne A.

    1978-01-01

    The addition of a small amount of reducing agent to a mixture of a high-level radioactive waste calcine and glass frit before the mixture is melted will produce a more homogeneous glass which is leach-resistant and suitable for long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste products.

  6. Characteristics of solidified high-level waste products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-01-01

    The object of the report is to contribute to the establishment of a data bank for future preparation of codes of practice and standards for the management of high-level wastes. The work currently in progress on measuring the properties of solidified high-level wastes is being studied

  7. High-Level Connectionist Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-04-01

    Lussac ... and Simon Newcomb ... had attempted to prove it would be impossible to build a flying machine that would carry a man. (Wright [25, p. 12]1...of the law of aerodynamic lift (even though the understanding was quite imperfect at first) over an airfoil which enabled Man to build flying macnines...A bird isn’t sustained in the air by the hand of God-natural laws govern its flight. Similarly, natural laws govern what [goes on inside the head

  8. The relationship between settlement population size and sustainable development measured by two sustainability metrics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Regan, Bernadette; Morrissey, John; Foley, Walter; Moles, Richard

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports on a study of the relative sustainability of 79 Irish villages, towns and a small city (collectively called 'settlements') classified by population size. Quantitative data on more than 300 economic, social and environmental attributes of each settlement were assembled into a database. Two aggregated metrics were selected to model the relative sustainability of settlements: Ecological Footprint (EF) and Sustainable Development Index (SDI). Subsequently these were aggregated to create a single Combined Sustainable Development Index. Creation of this database meant that metric calculations did not rely on proxies, and were therefore considered to be robust. Methods employed provided values for indicators at various stages of the aggregation process. This allowed both the first reported empirical analysis of the relationship between settlement sustainability and population size, and the elucidation of information provided at different stages of aggregation. At the highest level of aggregation, settlement sustainability increased with population size, but important differences amongst individual settlements were masked by aggregation. EF and SDI metrics ranked settlements in differing orders of relative sustainability. Aggregation of indicators to provide Ecological Footprint values was found to be especially problematic, and this metric was inadequately sensitive to distinguish amongst the relative sustainability achieved by all settlements. Many authors have argued that, for policy makers to be able to inform planning decisions using sustainability indicators, it is necessary that they adopt a toolkit of aggregated indicators. Here it is argued that to interpret correctly each aggregated metric value, policy makers also require a hierarchy of disaggregated component indicator values, each explained fully. Possible implications for urban planning are briefly reviewed

  9. Proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance: The mediating effect of sustainability control systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijethilake, Chaminda

    2017-07-01

    This study examines to what extent corporations use sustainability control systems (SCS) to translate proactive sustainability strategy into corporate sustainability performance. The study investigates the mediating effect of SCS on the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. Survey data were collected from top managers in 175 multinational and local corporations operating in Sri Lanka and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). SCS were observed to only partially mediate the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. The mediating effect of SCS is further examined under three sustainability strategies; environmental and social strategies reveal a partial mediation, while the economic strategy exhibits no mediation. The study also finds that (i) a proactive sustainability strategy is positively associated with SCS and corporate sustainability performance and (ii) SCS are positively associated with corporate sustainability performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Pharmacokinetics of Sustained-Release Analgesics in Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kendall, Lon V; Hansen, Ryan J; Dorsey, Kathryn; Kang, Sooah; Lunghofer, Paul J; Gustafson, Daniel L

    2014-01-01

    Buprenorphine and carprofen, 2 of the most commonly used analgesics in mice, must be administered every 8 to 12 h to provide sustained analgesia. Sustained-release (SR) formulations of analgesics maintain plasma levels that should be sufficient to provide sustained analgesia yet require less frequent dosing and thus less handling of and stress to the animals. The pharmacokinetics of SR formulations of buprenorphine (Bup-SR), butorphanol (Butp-SR), fentanyl (Fent-SR), carprofen (Carp-SR), and meloxicam (Melox-SR) were evaluated in mice over 72 h and compared with those of traditional, nonSR formulations. Bup-SR provided plasma drug levels greater than the therapeutic level for the first 24 to 48 h after administration, but plasma levels of Bup-HCl fell below the therapeutic level by 4 h. Fent-SR maintained plasma levels greater than reported therapeutic levels for 12 h. Therapeutic levels of the remaining drugs are unknown, but Carp-SR provided plasma drug levels similar to those of Carp for the first 24 h after administration, whereas Melox-SR had greater plasma levels than did Melox for the first 8 h. Butp-SR provided detectable plasma drug levels for the first 24 h, with a dramatic decrease over the first 4 h. These results indicate that Bup-SR provides a stable plasma drug level adequate for analgesia for 24 to 48 h after administration, whereas Carp-SR, Melox-SR, Fent-SR, and Butp-SR would require additional doses to provide analgesic plasma levels beyond 24 h in mice. PMID:25255070

  11. Assessing sustainable remediation frameworks using sustainability principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ridsdale, D Reanne; Noble, Bram F

    2016-12-15

    The remediation industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. International organizations of practitioners and remediation experts have developed several frameworks for integrating sustainability into remediation projects; however, there has been limited attention to how sustainability is approached and operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks and practices - or whether sustainability plays any meaningful role at all in sustainable remediation. This paper examines how sustainability is represented in remediation frameworks and the guidance provided for practical application. Seven broad sustainability principles and review criteria are proposed and applied to a sample of six international remediation frameworks. Not all review criteria were equally satisfied and none of the frameworks fully met all criteria; however, the best performing frameworks were those identified as sustainability remediation frameworks. Intra-generational equity was addressed by all frameworks. Integrating social, economic and biophysical components beyond triple-bottom-line indicators was explicitly addressed only by the sustainable remediation frameworks. No frameworks provided principle- or rule-based guidance for dealing with trade-offs in sustainability decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Sustaining oak forests in eastern North America: regeneration and recruitment, the pillars of sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel C. Dey

    2014-01-01

    Oak cover types comprise half of the forestlands in the eastern United States. There is a great desire to sustain these highly valued forests. Unfortunately, reports of the successional replacement of oak are all too common, as they are throughout the world. Sustaining the oak resource requires the ability to both regenerate and recruit oak into the overstory as...

  13. High-level waste immobilization program: an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonner, W.R.

    1979-09-01

    The High-Level Waste Immobilization Program is providing technology to allow safe, affordable immobilization and disposal of nuclear waste. Waste forms and processes are being developed on a schedule consistent with national needs for immobilization of high-level wastes stored at Savannah River, Hanford, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, and West Valley, New York. This technology is directly applicable to high-level wastes from potential reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The program is removing one more obstacle previously seen as a potential restriction on the use and further development of nuclear power, and is thus meeting a critical technological need within the national objective of energy independence

  14. National high-level waste systems analysis report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kristofferson, K.; Oholleran, T.P.; Powell, R.H.

    1995-09-01

    This report documents the assessment of budgetary impacts, constraints, and repository availability on the storage and treatment of high-level waste and on both existing and pending negotiated milestones. The impacts of the availabilities of various treatment systems on schedule and throughput at four Department of Energy sites are compared to repository readiness in order to determine the prudent application of resources. The information modeled for each of these sites is integrated with a single national model. The report suggests a high-level-waste model that offers a national perspective on all high-level waste treatment and storage systems managed by the Department of Energy.

  15. National high-level waste systems analysis report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kristofferson, K.; Oholleran, T.P.; Powell, R.H.

    1995-09-01

    This report documents the assessment of budgetary impacts, constraints, and repository availability on the storage and treatment of high-level waste and on both existing and pending negotiated milestones. The impacts of the availabilities of various treatment systems on schedule and throughput at four Department of Energy sites are compared to repository readiness in order to determine the prudent application of resources. The information modeled for each of these sites is integrated with a single national model. The report suggests a high-level-waste model that offers a national perspective on all high-level waste treatment and storage systems managed by the Department of Energy

  16. THE EFFECT OF SINGLE AND HYBRID FIBRES ON FIBRE REINFORCED SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE PRODUCED WITH HIGH LEVEL OF FLY ASH USAGE

    OpenAIRE

    BOZKURT, Nusret; YAZICIOĞLU, Salih; GÖNEN, Tahir

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to present results of investigation carried out on fresh and mechanical properties of Fibre Reinforced Self Compacting Concrete (FRSCC) produced with fly ash which is an industrial waste material. Concrete industry is an important one between the industry branches for sustainability. In this study, high level of fly ash was used to reduce Portland Cement (PC) consumption as well as CO2 emission through the use of that waste material. For this purpose, a control Self C...

  17. Analytic description of tokamak equilibrium sustained by high fraction bootstrap current

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Bingren

    2002-01-01

    Recently, to save the current drive power and to obtain more favorable confinement merit for tokamak reactor, large faction bootstrap current sustained equilibrium has attracted great interests both theoretically and experimentally. An powerful expanding technique and the tokamak ordering are used to expand the Grad-Shafranov equation to obtain a series of ordinary differential equations which allow for different sets of input parameters. The fully bootstrap current sustained tokamak equilibria are then solved analytically

  18. Stress-restress evokes sustained iNOS activity and altered GABA levels and NMDA receptors in rat hippocampus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harvey, Brian H; Oosthuizen, Frasia; Brand, Linda

    2004-01-01

    . The NOS isoform involved, and the role of stress-mediated corticosterone release in NOS activation, was verified with the administration of selective iNOS and nNOS inhibitors, aminoguanidine (50 mg/kg/day i.p.) and 7-nitroindazole (12.5 mg/kg/day i.p.), and the steroid synthesis inhibitor, ketoconazole...... (24 mg/kg/day i.p.), administered for 21 days prior to and during the stress procedure. RESULTS: Stress evoked a sustained increase in NOS activity, but reduced NMDA receptor density and total GABA levels. Aminoguanidine or ketoconazole, but not 7-nitroindazole or saline, blocked stress-induced NOS...

  19. Sustainability of biomass for cofiring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2014-02-01

    There are many items to include when considering the sustainability of biomass for cofiring, and some of them are hard to quantify. The focus of this report is on the greenhouse gas emission aspects of sustainability. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions achieved by substituting biomass for coal depends on a number of factors such as the nature of the fossil fuel reference system, the source of the biomass, and how it is produced. Relevant issues in biomass production include the energy balance, the greenhouse gas balance, land use change, non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission from soils, changes to soil organic carbon, and the timing of emissions and removal of CO2 which relates to the scale of biomass production. Certification of sustainable biomass is slow to emerge at the national and international level, so various organisations are developing and using their own standards for sustainable production. The EU does not yet have sustainability standards for solid biomass, but the UK and Belgium have developed their own.

  20. Overview: Defense high-level waste technology program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shupe, M.W.; Turner, D.A.

    1987-01-01

    Defense high-level waste generated by atomic energy defense activities is stored on an interim basis at three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) operating locations; the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina, the Hanford Site in Washington, and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in Idaho. Responsibility for the permanent disposal of this waste resides with DOE's Office of Defense Waste and Transportation Management. The objective of the Defense High-Level Wast Technology Program is to develop the technology for ending interim storage and achieving permanent disposal of all U.S. defense high-level waste. New and readily retrievable high-level waste are immobilized for disposal in a geologic repository. Other high-level waste will be stabilized in-place if, after completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, it is determined, on a site-specific basis, that this option is safe, cost effective and environmentally sound. The immediate program focus is on implementing the waste disposal strategy selected in compliance with the NEPA process at Savannah River, while continuing progress toward development of final waste disposal strategies at Hanford and Idaho. This paper presents an overview of the technology development program which supports these waste management activities and an assessment of the impact that recent and anticipated legal and institutional developments are expected to have on the program

  1. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  2. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers. PMID:26807848

  3. Radical Sustainable Innovation of office buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koch, Christian; Berker, Thomas; Koch-Ørvad, Nina

    2017-01-01

    by high degrees of newness in the entire life cycle. RSI should offer significant enhancements of known benefits, entirely new benefits, or substantial cost reductions, leading to the transformation of existing markets, the creation of sustainable growth, and global sustainability. Thus, if buildings were....../could be radically new. How to evaluate radicality is a major challenge. It is tentatively proposed, to use standards for sustainable office buildings. Standards are developed to accelerate the sustainable development but has to some extent come to constrain possibilities of radical innovation. As the criteria...... of newness is incorporated in standards, going beyond them, could be viewed as radical. Empirically a selection of international cases of office buildings with very high scores of BREEAM, LEED and DGNB are examined. Six selected cases were analysed more in detail, one of them, Geelens...

  4. Disposal of high-level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glasby, G.P.

    1977-01-01

    Although controversy surrounding the possible introduction of nuclear power into New Zealand has raised many points including radiation hazards, reactor safety, capital costs, sources of uranium and earthquake risks on the one hand versus energy conservation and alternative sources of energy on the other, one problem remains paramount and is of global significance - the storage and dumping of the high-level radioactive wastes of the reactor core. The generation of abundant supplies of energy now in return for the storage of these long-lived highly radioactive wastes has been dubbed the so-called Faustian bargain. This article discusses the growth of the nuclear industry and its implications to high-level waste disposal particularly in the deep-sea bed. (auth.)

  5. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Kassem

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME. Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ research in sustainability assessment of SMB/SMEs in the agriculture sector of the Czech Republic. An appropriate set of key performance indicators (KPIs in four dimensions (economy, environment, social and governance was developed to suit the SMB/SMEs sustainability assessment in the agriculture sector. A set of KPIs is proposed to help SMB/SMEs to avoid the barriers of sustainability assessment. These indicators are based mainly on Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture, Global Reporting Initiatives Frameworks and on current research state‑of‑the‑art. They have been created following the analysis of a number of agricultural enterprises over the world, particularly within European countries.

  6. Mechanical response of knee muscles in high level bodyboarders during performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dario Rodríguez-Matoso

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: bodyboarding is a kind of surfing that has been growing very rapidly over the last decade and has now developed into one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. OBJECTIVES: evaluate the effects of fatigue on rectus femoris RF, vastus lateralis VL and vastus medialis VM and biceps femoris BF and semitendinosus ST during a high-level bodyboard competition using tensiomyography TMG. METHODS: subjects were 11 highly experienced years of practice: 15, SD=4.65 male bodyboarders age: 28.17, SD=2.89, body weight: 74.83, SD=6.13kg; height: 179.25, SD=3.93cm; BMI: 23.29, SD=1.81 participating in the final of the 2010 Spanish championship. RESULTS: the fatigue is especially evident due to a decrease in the values of relaxation time Tr and sustain time Ts caused by the specific characteristics of waves, how the waves evolve and the type of manoeuvre executed in competition due to the wave characteristics. The maximum radial displacement Dm value increased slightly in all muscles analysed and normalised response speed Vrn was stable, with a tendency to improve as athletes adapted to the type of physical effort and the environmental conditions of the competition. CONCLUSIONS: the study shows that the fatigue in the extensor and flexor muscles of the knee occurs in response to the demands of competition.

  7. System Innovation for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    System Innovation for Sustainability 2 focuses on change towards sustainable personal mobility based on implemented cases analysed from a system perspective. It examines what changes can be made to help us reduce our need for mobility, or start to make use of more sustainable mobility systems...... in order to provide sustainable solutions to our current ‘lock-in’ problems. Three major problem areas are considered (the ‘three Cs’): carbon emissions (and the growing contribution of mobility to the climate change crisis), congestion, and casualties. And each strategy proposed addresses one or more...... of these problem areas. Among the cases discussed are: Norway’s carbon compensation scheme for air travel; Madrid’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes; London’s congestion charge scheme; market-based instruments such as eco-labelling for cars; and taxation. The book identifies opportunities for actors...

  8. BUSINESS VALUATION IN TERMS OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leontina Pavaloaia

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The indexes regarding the sustainable development have an important role in the decision-making process and that is why several bodies and institutions are concerned about their development. This fact happens not only at macro-level, but also at micro-level, the entities being encouraged to take into account the sustainable development principles and to relate its individual performances to the environment in which they operate (local, regional, global. The usage of the indexes regarding the sustainable development offers information regarding the evolution in time helps at identifying the possibilities of improving the activity and the weaknesses; they can be used in order to establish and achieve the objectives, the values being easily communicated both within and outside the company. A main disadvantage is the aggregation level, which hinders comparisons. This paper analyzes the information regarding the sustainable development published by the companies ranked at the Stock Exchange of Bucharest in the 1st category and the subsidiaries of 30 national companies.

  9. 40 CFR 227.30 - High-level radioactive waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false High-level radioactive waste. 227.30...-level radioactive waste. High-level radioactive waste means the aqueous waste resulting from the operation of the first cycle solvent extraction system, or equivalent, and the concentrated waste from...

  10. Sustainability Smarts: Best Practices for College Unions and Student Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stringer, Elizabeth

    2008-01-01

    Colleges and universities around the world are enacting sustainable initiatives. Some are signing the American College and University President's Climate Committment, while others are being recognized by STARS (Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, & Rating System). Despite what level of dedication to sustainability an institution might have, it…

  11. Identifying Sustainable technologies that help address the problem of malnutrition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kriesemer, S.K.; Schiller, K.; Virchow, D.; Jordan, I.

    2016-01-01

    With the United Nations discussing the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals for the post-2015 era, sustainability is back on the world development agenda. Indicators to monitor development for sustainability at the global or national level have been developed in the past. However, little

  12. Environmental Management Systems and Sustainability in SMEs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shah Satya

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Environmental sustainability in manufacturing sector has been allocated a major consideration in the international literature. Due to growing concerns over the high effect of SMEs on world manufacturing industries and their contribution to pollution; this research attempts to focus on the key parameters that interact in the application of environmental management system, taking into account the main features of SMEs and also the integral role of industrial entrepreneurs in inspiring their firms’ approaches. The paper explores the potential opportunities which enable these enterprises to move towards organizations with high level of responsibility regarding environmental protection in order to provide a healthier life for future generations. Case investigation is carried out on an adhesive manufacturing company, which covers a notable market share within the sector. The research identifies that the company requires developing both internal and external entities within an explicit plan to revolutionize the recruitment patterns. Given the lack of adequate studies in adhesive technology, more researches are recommended in the future to consider the sustainable innovations on a broader sample of adhesive manufacturing companies to perform the life-cycle analysis due to the harmful organic compounds and toxic vapours of the adhesive products.

  13. Sustainable Academia: Translating the Vision of a Full Sustainable University into a Measurable Reality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonios Maragakis

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available There is a growing public expectation that universities should start focusing on delivering sustainability. The topic of sustainability in higher education has gathered a significant amount of interest from students, academics, governments and international organizations. With a plethora of declarations, initiatives, marketing and assessments, there is a need to assess what the stakeholders want in order to make decisions regarding an institutions sustainability. Ultimately, students are the ones using these sustainability marketing materials to assist in their decision at which institution they will pursue their studies. The sheer volume of interpretations of the word sustainability with regards to higher education institution leaves ample room for potentially misguided initiatives or marketing. A universal system for assessing a higher educational institution’s sustainability has not been translated into a measurable reality. It is proposed that a universal system would help create a common understanding of sustainability within higher education institutions and would help in stakeholder understanding, institutional accountability and impactful application of sustainable initiatives. This research looked to answer if a holistic framework could be created that would aid stakeholders in reviewing a university’s level of sustainability. And, if so, if this vision of a fully sustainable university could be translated into a measurable reality. The research was approached in a structured way. Each chapter represents a published and peer-reviewed step towards addressing if a holistic framework could be created that would aid students in reviewing sustainability tools, assessments and marketing. The qualitative and quantitative conclusions from each chapter influenced the subsequent chapters, eventually leading to the creation and testing of two digital tools. The interpretations of these published chapters are found in the conclusion of this

  14. Sustainability Reporting at Schools: Challenges and Benefits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carbach, Eva; Fischer, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Despite advances made there is still an implementation gap with regard to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in formal educational systems at the school level. The present paper focuses on sustainability reporting as a recently emerging practice in the school sector. It presents the approach and findings of an exploratory interview study…

  15. Sustainable supply chains in the world of industry 4.0

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pietro, Erika Di; Herbert-Hansen, Zaza Nadja Lee

    Purpose: Industry 4.0 introduces a series of changes for the supply chain, in particular in terms of technology, structure, connectivity and communication. This presents companies with new opportunities but also new challenges. These emerging trends are affecting the supply chain at a social......, economical and environmental level. The sustainable aspect in Industry 4.0 is highly correlated with digitization at a process, product and organizational level (Reichel, 2017). This paper presents a framework for the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in new and current bussiness processes while...

  16. Active postoperative acromegaly: sustained remission after discontinuation of somatostatin analogues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Alvarez-Escola

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In patients with active acromegaly after pituitary surgery, somatostatin analogues are effective in controlling the disease and can even be curative in some cases. After treatment discontinuation, the likelihood of disease recurrence is high. However, a small subset of patients remains symptom-free after discontinuation, with normalized growth hormone (GH and insulin-like growth factor (IGF1 levels. The characteristics of patients most likely to achieve sustained remission after treatment discontinuation are not well understood, although limited evidence suggests that sustained remission is more likely in patients with lower GH and IGF1 levels before treatment withdrawal, in those who respond well to low-dose treatment, in those without evidence of adenoma on an MRI scan and/or in patients who receive long-term treatment. In this report, we describe the case of a 56-year-old female patient treated with lanreotide Autogel for 11 years. Treatment was successfully discontinued, and the patient is currently disease-free on all relevant parameters (clinical, biochemical and tumour status. The successful outcome in this case adds to the small body of literature suggesting that some well-selected patients who receive long-term treatment with somatostatin analogues may achieve sustained remission.

  17. Identifying Non-Sustainable Courses of Action: A Prerequisite for Decision-Making in Education for Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gresch, Helge; Bögeholz, Susanne

    2013-04-01

    Students are faced with a multitude of decisions as consumers and in societal debates. Because of the scarcity of resources, the destruction of ecosystems and social injustice in a globalized world, it is vital that students are able to identify non-sustainable courses of action when involved in decision-making. The application of decision-making strategies is one approach to enhancing the quality of decisions. Options that do not meet ecological, social or economic standards should be excluded using non-compensatory strategies whereas other tasks may require a complete trade-off of all the evidence, following a compensatory approach. To enhance decision-making competence, a computer-based intervention study was conducted that focused on the use of decision-making strategies. While the results of the summative evaluation are reported by Gresch et al. (International Journal of Science Education, 2011), in-depth analyses of process-related data collected during the information processing are presented in this paper to reveal insights into the mechanisms of the intervention. The quality of high school students' ( n = 120) metadecision skills when selecting a decision-making strategy was investigated using qualitative content analyses combined with inferential statistics. The results reveal that the students offered elaborate reflections on the sustainability of options. However, the characteristics that were declared non-sustainable differed among the students because societal norms and personal values were intertwined. One implication for education for sustainable development is that students are capable of reflecting on decision-making tasks and on corresponding favorable decision-making strategies at a metadecision level. From these results, we offer suggestions for improving learning environments and constructing test instruments for decision-making competence.

  18. Sustainable vehicle fuels - Do they exist?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boerjesson, Paal; Ericsson, Karin; Di Lucia, Lorenzo; Nilsson, Lars J.; Aahman, Max

    2009-03-15

    Our aim with this report is to discuss vehicle fuels from a wide perspective of sustainability. Biofuels and electricity are analyzed and compared to fossil vehicle fuels. Our goal is to try to point out the circumstances under which vehicle fuels can be reasonably perceived as sustainable, and which systems we should develop and which we should avoid. The all-embracing conclusion of this study is that one can not establish how sustainable fuels will develop in the future without simultaneously taking into consideration both scale and pace of growth. Today's biofuels produced in Sweden are sustainable, given the present production volume, and promote further development of new fuel systems. However, in the case of increased production volumes, exact requirements should be established for the energy- and climate efficiency of the entire fuel chain (from cultivation to tank). High priority should be given to the development of fuel-efficient cars. In this field hybrid electric technology and electric cars will grow in importance. Any long-term strategy for biofuels should include investments in technology for both thermal gasification and biological conversion methods of lignocellulose, since these are complementing as much as competing technologies, both increasing the flexibility as well as decreasing the risk of conflicts. Biogas from waste products has great environmental advantages and the sector can be expanded with only small risks of conflicts. Certification (if correctly formulated) is an important and necessary tool on the way towards more sustainable vehicle fuels and increased production volumes, but certification systems should not be overrated since they can not cover all sustainability aspects. Socio-economic aspects such as working conditions, local rural development etc. must be dealt with through general measures such as national laws, distribution policies, programs and plans, all of which should be supported by international agreements and

  19. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONCEPT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    TEODORESCU ANA MARIA

    2015-06-01

    environmental pillar, the genesis of the concept should be considered. „Ecodevelopment” term stated in the World Conference on Environment in Stockholm in 1972 underlies sustainable development. Social approach implies eradicate poverty, providing better living conditions in terms of education, income, and the environment. When a nation's standard of living is high, also cares for the environment is high. This is one relation between social and environment pillars. Regarded from an economic perspective, sustainable development implies a maximum profit in terms of satisfaction other pillars of sustainability: pillar environment by preserving natural capital and social pillar by increasing welfare, employment insurance, respecting the principle of equity. On perspective economy-environment relationship, sustainable development is not quantity but quality. Regardless of the approach, sustainable development requires simultaneously ensuring of economic development, environmental protection and social welfare, resulting interrelationship between the three pillars: social, economic, environmental. Sustainable development through its components - economic and environmental - has only one beneficiary - the human factor who receives income, good quality environmental factors, and enjoys equity generations.

  20. Ecological accounting based on extended exergy: a sustainability perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Jing; Chen, Bin; Sciubba, Enrico

    2014-08-19

    The excessive energy consumption, environmental pollution, and ecological destruction problems have gradually become huge obstacles for the development of societal-economic-natural complex ecosystems. Regarding the national ecological-economic system, how to make explicit the resource accounting, diagnose the resource conversion, and measure the disturbance of environmental emissions to the systems are the fundamental basis of sustainable development and coordinated management. This paper presents an extended exergy (EE) accounting including the material exergy and exergy equivalent of externalities consideration in a systematic process from production to consumption, and China in 2010 is chosen as a case study to foster an in-depth understanding of the conflict between high-speed development and the available resources. The whole society is decomposed into seven sectors (i.e., Agriculture, Extraction, Conversion, Industry, Transportation, Tertiary, and Domestic sectors) according to their distinct characteristics. An adaptive EE accounting database, which incorporates traditional energy, renewable energy, mineral element, and other natural resources as well as resource-based secondary products, is constructed on the basis of the internal flows in the system. In addition, the environmental emission accounting has been adjusted to calculate the externalities-equivalent exergy. The results show that the EE value for the year 2010 in China was 1.80 × 10(14) MJ, which is greatly increased. Furthermore, an EE-based sustainability indices system has been established to provide an epitomized exploration for evaluating the performance of flows and storages with the system from a sustainability perspective. The value of the EE-based sustainability indicator was calculated to be 0.23, much lower than the critical value of 1, implying that China is still developing in the stages of high energy consumption and a low sustainability level.

  1. Awareness of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Issues among Junior Secondary School (JSS Students in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chimezie Njoku

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the extent to which junior secondary school students in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State Nigeria are aware of issues related to climate change and sustainable development. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Four research questions were raised. Two instruments were used for data collection, a questionnaire and the junior secondary school teaching syllabus. The questionnaire titled “ Climate change and Sustainable Development Awareness Questionnaire” (CCSDA was used to obtain data from 1600 junior secondary school three (JSS3 students from the fourteen junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government of Rivers State, Nigeria. The questionnaire had three sections; A, B and C. Section A obtained the demographic features and bio-data of students, section B obtained information on the awareness level of climate change while section C obtained information on sustainable development awareness level. Simple percentages and mean were used to answer the research questions. The results from the data analysis revealed among other things that the JSS curriculum coverage of climate change is small; there is no sustainable development issues in the teaching syllabus of JSS; the level of awareness of sustainable Development issues is low; even though the climate change issues awareness level is high but the knowledge is low; students are eager and willing to know more about climate change and sustainable development issues. Based on these results, the researcher recommended among other things that more themes on Climate change and sustainable development should be introduced in social studies and integrated science in all the JSS level. Having very few topics on climate change and none at all on sustainable development at the junior secondary level is dangerous at this level of their development and more especially now that the world is striving to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.

  2. The Sustainability Analysis Framework: An Effective Knowledge Communication Tool in a Whole of Government Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kendal Hodgman

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the structural formation of the Sustainability Analysis Framework (SAF, which has proved to be an effective knowledge communication tool in the largest state administration in Australia, the Government of New South Wales. The SAF, devised by the author, has been implemented across thirty-eight state agencies and demonstrates that a whole of government Sustainability perspective is achievable. The level of the NSW Government's commitment to this process is evidenced by the fact that it was coordinated at the highest levels of the administration and engaged high-level input from a comprehensive portfolio of its agencies. The SAF's successful deployment across this significant bureaucracy shows that the generally applicable mechanism is effective in data collation, information sharing, knowledge organisation and the communication of Sustainability practice and wisdom. At the heart of the paper is the author's contention that one of the key problems which jeopardises our common future on Earth is the lack of effective tools to communicate Sustainability thinking and practice. In the course of the project, upon which this paper is based, the author identified the need for a visually and conceptually accessible mechanism to accelerate the uptake of Sustainability practice in a whole of organization context. In designing the SAF, which has successfully bridged this knowledge communication gap, the author employed two of humanity's fundamental learning tools – the diagram and the story.

  3. A Developed NK-92MI Cell Line with Siglec-7neg Phenotype Exhibits High and Sustainable Cytotoxicity against Leukemia Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin-Han Huang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Altered sialic acid processing that leads to upregulation of cell surface sialylation is recognized as a key change in malignant tissue glycosylation. This cancer-associated hypersialylation directly impacts the signaling interactions between tumor cells and their surrounding microenvironment, especially the interactions mediated by immune cell surface sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (Siglecs to relay inhibitory signals for cytotoxicity. First, we obtained a Siglec-7neg NK-92MI cell line, NK-92MI-S7N, by separating a group of Siglec-7neg cell population from an eight-month-long-term NK-92MI in vitro culture by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS. The effect of Siglec-7 loss on NK-92MI-S7N cells was characterized by the cell morphology, proliferation, and cytotoxic activity via FACS, MTS assay, cytotoxic assay, and natural killer (NK degranulation assay. We found the expression levels of Siglec-7 in NK-92MI were negatively correlated with NK cytotoxicity against leukemia cells. This NK-92MI-S7N cell not only shared very similar phenotypes with its parental cells but also possessed a high and sustainable killing activity. Furthermore, this Siglec-7neg NK line was unexpectedly capable of eliminating a NK-92MI-resistant leukemia cell, THP-1, through enhancing the effector-target interaction. In this study, a NK cell line with high and sustainable cytotoxicity was established and this cell may provide a potential application in NK-based treatment for leukemia patients.

  4. Corporate Sustainability Reporting in the BIST Sustainability Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burcu Demirel

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, there is a growing focus on corporate operations especially since the publication of the first environmental reports in 1989. Companies have started to publish information about its environmental, social and sustainability policies. The study examines the sustainability reporting elements of Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (BIST in Turkey and to evaluate which elements is most vital in this context. This study will begin with the sustainability reporting that will be examined under the roof of corporation sustainability and end with the examination of sustainability reports of 15 firms, which are included in the BIST Sustainability Index in Turkey, and a content analysis. The reports of companies under study were taken from special web site and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative database of companies. Being the first study in examining the sustainability report of companies in BIST Sustainability Index, it is expected to contribute in literature about sustainability reporting recently started to gain importance in Turkey. Overall our findings suggest that the sustainability index established in Turkey is still in development stage, but the enterprises in the endeavor are working day by day to develop the sustainability qualities.

  5. Heterogeneity and scale of sustainable development in cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brelsford, Christa; Lobo, José; Hand, Joe; Bettencourt, Luís M A

    2017-08-22

    Rapid worldwide urbanization is at once the main cause and, potentially, the main solution to global sustainable development challenges. The growth of cities is typically associated with increases in socioeconomic productivity, but it also creates strong inequalities. Despite a growing body of evidence characterizing these heterogeneities in developed urban areas, not much is known systematically about their most extreme forms in developing cities and their consequences for sustainability. Here, we characterize the general patterns of income and access to services in a large number of developing cities, with an emphasis on an extensive, high-resolution analysis of the urban areas of Brazil and South Africa. We use detailed census data to construct sustainable development indices in hundreds of thousands of neighborhoods and show that their statistics are scale-dependent and point to the critical role of large cities in creating higher average incomes and greater access to services within their national context. We then quantify the general statistical trajectory toward universal basic service provision at different scales to show that it is characterized by varying levels of inequality, with initial increases in access being typically accompanied by growing disparities over characteristic spatial scales. These results demonstrate how extensions of these methods to other goals and data can be used over time and space to produce a simple but general quantitative assessment of progress toward internationally agreed sustainable development goals.

  6. Heterogeneity and scale of sustainable development in cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brelsford, Christa; Lobo, José; Hand, Joe

    2017-01-01

    Rapid worldwide urbanization is at once the main cause and, potentially, the main solution to global sustainable development challenges. The growth of cities is typically associated with increases in socioeconomic productivity, but it also creates strong inequalities. Despite a growing body of evidence characterizing these heterogeneities in developed urban areas, not much is known systematically about their most extreme forms in developing cities and their consequences for sustainability. Here, we characterize the general patterns of income and access to services in a large number of developing cities, with an emphasis on an extensive, high-resolution analysis of the urban areas of Brazil and South Africa. We use detailed census data to construct sustainable development indices in hundreds of thousands of neighborhoods and show that their statistics are scale-dependent and point to the critical role of large cities in creating higher average incomes and greater access to services within their national context. We then quantify the general statistical trajectory toward universal basic service provision at different scales to show that it is characterized by varying levels of inequality, with initial increases in access being typically accompanied by growing disparities over characteristic spatial scales. These results demonstrate how extensions of these methods to other goals and data can be used over time and space to produce a simple but general quantitative assessment of progress toward internationally agreed sustainable development goals. PMID:28461489

  7. Approaching Environmental Sustainability: Perceptions of Self-Efficacy and Changeability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutte, Nicola S; Bhullar, Navjot

    2017-04-03

    This paper describes a model focused on the role of self-efficacy and belief in changeability of behavior in motivating environmentally sustainable behavior. The model was tested in two studies. The first study found that participants who had greater self-efficacy for sustainability behavior and a greater belief in their changeability of sustainability behavior had a higher level of approach motivation toward sustainability behavior and reported more such actual behavior. The second study investigated the effect of brief interventions intended to increase perception of self-efficacy for sustainability-related purchasing and changeability of sustainability-related purchasing. The intervention that focused on enhancing self-efficacy for making sustainability-related purchases had the strongest impact on intention to purchase. These findings have implications for interventions intended to change behavior related to environmental sustainability.

  8. Integration of Sustainability in Engineering Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guerra, Aida

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Education for sustainable development (ESD) is one of the challenges engineering education currently faces. Engineering education needs to revise and change its curriculum to integrate ESD principles and knowledge. Problem based learning (PBL) has been one of the main learning pedagogies...... used to integrate sustainability in engineering education. However, there is a lack of understanding of the relation between ESD and PBL principles and the ways in which they can be integrated and practised in the engineering curricula. This paper aims to investigate the relation between PBL and ESD...... knowledge and the tacit presence of sustainability. Originality/value: The existence of a PBL curriculum at institutional level, such as at Aalborg University, enables investigation of how the PBL and ESD principles are practised, highlighting the limitations and potentials of integrating sustainability...

  9. Iconic Destination: a Snapshot of Sustainable Tourism in Pisa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Sarti

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries. According to the World Tourism Organization, Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world, with more than 47.7 million tourists a year (2013. At the same time, the increasing number of studies focused on sustainable tourism demonstrates a growing interest about the topic. In addition, practitioners’ attitude is changing and the most important actors of the market are acting in a more sustainable way and developing reports on their eco-friendly performances. Nowadays, the entire supply chain maybe environmentally sustainable. From the reservation to the post-holiday phase, it is possible to select the more eco-friendly suppliers. The main companies operating in the different stages of the process are demonstrating a concrete interest on sustainable development. This new challenge is generated through the information flow between local authorities, private firms and final customers. We propose to make a reflection based on the latter actors’ attitude. Our research aims to investigate the level of sensitivity of tourists about environmental sustainability from two different perspectives: self-evaluation and real purchasing behavior. We conducted a face-to-face survey among tourists in Pisa, in Piazza dei Miracoli, during May 2015. By using a structured questionnaire, we gathered primary data from a sample of 406 respondents. We selected respondents randomly. Pisa is the perfect location to obtain information from several typologies of tourists, with different levels of awareness of sustainable issues. Itis one of the most important tourist destination in Italy and it is an iconic destination recognized worldwide thanks to the attractiveness of the leading tower. The results of our study is a snapshot of the current level of awareness among tourists. The analysis of the questionnaires revealed tourist profiles, their eco-friendly behaviors, their concerns about sustainability

  10. Code Forking, Governance, and Sustainability in Open Source Software

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juho Lindman

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The right to fork open source code is at the core of open source licensing. All open source licenses grant the right to fork their code, that is to start a new development effort using an existing code as its base. Thus, code forking represents the single greatest tool available for guaranteeing sustainability in open source software. In addition to bolstering program sustainability, code forking directly affects the governance of open source initiatives. Forking, and even the mere possibility of forking code, affects the governance and sustainability of open source initiatives on three distinct levels: software, community, and ecosystem. On the software level, the right to fork makes planned obsolescence, versioning, vendor lock-in, end-of-support issues, and similar initiatives all but impossible to implement. On the community level, forking impacts both sustainability and governance through the power it grants the community to safeguard against unfavourable actions by corporations or project leaders. On the business-ecosystem level forking can serve as a catalyst for innovation while simultaneously promoting better quality software through natural selection. Thus, forking helps keep open source initiatives relevant and presents opportunities for the development and commercialization of current and abandoned programs.

  11. Institutionalizing Strong Sustainability: A Rawlsian Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konrad Ott

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The article aims to provide some ethical orientation on how sustainability might be actualized by institutions. Since institutionalization is about rules and organization, it presupposes ideas and concepts by which institutions can be substantiated. After outlining terminology, the article deals with underlying ethical and conceptual problems which are highly relevant for any suggestions concerning institutionalization. These problems are: (a the ethical scope of the sustainability perspective (natural capital, poverty, sentient animals, (b the theory of justice on which ideas about sustainability are built (capability approach, Rawlsianism, and (c the favored concept of sustainability (weak, intermediate, and strong sustainability. These problems are analyzed in turn. As a result, a Rawlsian concept of rule-based strong sustainability is proposed. The specific problems of institutionalization are addressed by applying Rawls’s concept of branches. The article concludes with arguments in favor of three transnational duties which hold for states that have adopted Rawlsian strong sustainability.

  12. Sustainable urban development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole; Christensen, Toke Haunstrup; Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten

    Sustainability in urban planning has a long history and it has been a widespread solution to build high and compact in order to minimise the need for transportation, land use and heating. Recent research, however, points towards the need for a supplementary approach which includes the consumer...... behaviour of the household. This approach necessarily has to work from below and include the citizens, as it is their daily practices that have to be challenged. This article reviews the literature of to what extent compact cities are the most sustainable and it use lifestyle interpretations of urbane forms...... to challenge the compact cities approach. As an alternative or supplementary approach the article introduce practice theory as a way to understand consumption and it gives examples on how this approach can be used to inspire local authorities to alternative and supplementary strategies of achieving sustainable...

  13. Sustainable Growth and Ethics: A Study of Business Ethics in Vietnam between Business Students and Working Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lam D. Nguyen

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable growth is not only the ultimate goal of business corporations but also the primary target of local governments as well as regional and global economies. One of the cornerstones of sustainable growth is ethics. An ethical organizational culture provides support to achieve sustain- able growth. Ethical leaders and employees have great potential for positive influence on decisions and behaviors that lead to sustainability. Ethical behavior, therefore, is expected of everyone in the modern workplace. As a result, companies devote many resources and training programs to make sure their employees live according to the high ethical standards. This study provides an analysis of Vietnamese business students’ level of ethical maturity based on gender, education, work ex- perience, and ethics training. The results of data from 260 business students compared with 704 working adults in Vietnam demonstrate that students have a significantly higher level of ethical maturity. Furthermore, gender and work experience are significant factors in ethical maturity. While more educated respondents and those who had completed an ethics course did have a higher level of ethical maturity, the results were not statistically significant. Analysis of the results along with suggestions and implications are provided.

  14. Nuclear energy for sustainable Hydrogen production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gyoshev, G.

    2004-01-01

    There is general agreement that hydrogen as an universal energy carrier could play increasingly important role in energy future as part of a set of solutions to a variety of energy and environmental problems. Given its abundant nature, hydrogen has been an important raw material in the organic chemical industry. At recent years strong competition has emerged between nations as diverse as the U.S., Japan, Germany, China and Iceland in the race to commercialize hydrogen energy vehicles in the beginning of 21st Century. Any form of energy - fossil, renewable or nuclear - can be used to generate hydrogen. The hydrogen production by nuclear electricity is considered as a sustainable method. By our presentation we are trying to evaluate possibilities for sustainable hydrogen production by nuclear energy at near, medium and long term on EC strategic documents basis. The main EC documents enter water electrolysis by nuclear electricity as only sustainable technology for hydrogen production in early stage of hydrogen economy. In long term as sustainable method is considered the splitting of water by thermochemical technology using heat from high temperature reactors too. We consider that at medium stage of hydrogen economy it is possible to optimize the sustainable hydrogen production by high temperature and high pressure water electrolysis by using a nuclear-solar energy system. (author)

  15. Towards human and social sustainability indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hilderink HBM; LOK

    2004-01-01

    Ever since the Brundtland Commission presented its report on sustainable development in 1987, various institutions have either adopted or tried to refine the approach used in the report. Currently, there is a broad collection of concepts that are often highly related to sustainable development.

  16. TTI Phase 2 Institutional Support: Sustainable Development Policy ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    TTI Phase 2 Institutional Support: Sustainable Development Policy Institute. This funding will strengthen the Sustainable Development Policy Institute's (SDPI) role as a credible public policy institution in Pakistan by enhancing its ability to provide high-quality, influential, and policy-relevant research. About the Sustainable ...

  17. Critical factors for sustainable food procurement in zoological collections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Jonathan H

    2015-01-01

    Food procurement can play an important role in sustainable food supply chain management by zoos, linking organizational operations to the biodiversity conservation and sustainability mission of zoological collections. This study therefore examines the critical factors that shape sustainable food procurement in zoo and aquariums. Using a web-based survey data was collected from 41 members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). This included information on the sustainable food procurement practices of these institutions for both their human and animal food supply chains, as well as profile information and data on the factors contributing to and inhibiting sustainable procurement practices. Zoological collections operated by charities, and those with a certified sustainability standard, were found to have significantly higher levels of sustainable food procurement. Zoos and aquariums whose human food operations were not contracted to an external party were also found to have significantly higher levels of sustainable food procurement in their human food supply chain. The most important drivers of sustainable food procurement were cost savings, adequate financial support and improved product quality. The highest ranking barriers were higher costs, other issues taking priority and a lack of alternative suppliers. The results suggest that a number of critical factors shape sustainable food procurement in zoological collections in the British Isles. Financial factors, such as cost savings, were important considerations. The significance of mission-related factors, such as charity status, indicated that core values held by zoos and aquariums can also influence their food procurement practices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Sustainability indicators - a tool for regional co-operation

    OpenAIRE

    Koitka, Heike

    2002-01-01

    Sustainability indicators are more than just numbers. Besides their main function of illustrating the complex vision of sustainability they could support some factors for success of regional co-operation through their development. Today the discussion on indicators and co-operation is mainly separated from each other. Sustainability indicators are developed on all spatial levels from neighbourhoods up to the United Nations. In some cases the indicators are developed but remain unused. Regiona...

  19. Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Plutonium Sustainment Monthly Program Report - March 2012

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McLaughlin, Anastasia Dawn; Storey, Bradford G.; Bowidowicz, Martin; Robertson, William G.; Hobson, Beverly F.

    2012-01-01

    In March of 2012 the Plutonium Sustainment program at LANL completed or addressed the following high-level activities: (1) Delivered Revision 2 of the Plutonium Sustainment Manufacturing Study, which incorporated changes needed due to the release of the FY2013 President's Budget and the delay in the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility (CMRRNF). (2) W87 pit type development activities completed a detailed process capability review for the flowsheet in preparation for the Engineering Development Unit Build. (3) Completed revising the Laser Beam Welding schedule to address scope and resource changes. (4) Completed machining and inspecting the first set of high-fidelity cold parts on Precitech 2 for Gemini. (5) The Power Supply Assembly Area started floor cutting with a concrete saw and continued legacy equipment decommissioning. There are currently no major issues associated with achieving MRT L2 Milestones 4195-4198 or the relevant PBIs associated with Plutonium Sustainment. There are no budget issues associated with FY12 final budget guidance. Table 1 identifies all Baseline Change Requests (BCRs) that were initiated, in process, or completed during the month. The earned value metrics overall for LANL are within acceptable thresholds, so no high-level recovery plan is required. Each of the 5 major LANL WBS elements is discussed in detail.

  20. Sustainable Development Policy for the Environomy: Population, Land-use, and Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravago, M.; Roumasset, J.

    2009-12-01

    downstream pollution. At a national level, the combination of economic stagnation and high population growth results in high migration of labor to hillside agriculture, diminished per capita income, increased poverty, and deterioration of the natural resource base, all of which are negative drags on standards of living. These forces are exacerbated population pressure contributing to the vicious circle of unsustainable development. Thus, the process effectively traps the country in the vicious circle of poverty, population pressure and resource degradation - the essence of unsustainable development. We outline the principles of policy and institutional design that can potentially transform the socio-economic-environmental system into sustainable development. Designing policies and institutions conducive for specialization and innovation spurs growth by raising productivity. Rising standards of living reduce population pressure by substituting demands for child welfare, especially health and education, for demands for greater numbers of children. For sustainable development not to be at odds with policy science, positive sustainability must be combined with efficient development and poverty reduction. We emphasize the facilitative role of government and what it can do to transform the vicious circle into a virtuous circle.

  1. Energy efficiency, human behavior, and economic growth: Challenges to cutting energy demand to sustainable levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santarius, Tilman

    2015-03-01

    Increasing energy efficiency in households, transportation, industries, and services is an important strategy to reduce energy service demand to levels that allow the steep reduction of greenhouse gases, and a full fledged switch of energy systems to a renewable basis. Yet, technological efficiency improvements may generate so-called rebound effects, which may `eat up' parts of the technical savings potential. This article provides a comprehensive review of existing research on these effects, raises critiques, and points out open questions. It introduces micro-economic rebound effect and suggests extending consumer-side analysis to incorporate potential `psychological rebound effects.' It then discusses meso-economic rebound effects, i.e. producer-side and market-level rebounds, which so far have achieved little attention in the literature. Finally, the article critically reviews evidence for macro-economic rebound effects as energy efficiency-induced economic growth impacts. For all three categories, the article summarizes assessments of their potential quantitative scope, while pointing out remaining methodological weaknesses and open questions. As a rough "rule of thumb", in the long term and on gross average, only half the technical savings potential of across-the-board efficiency improvements may actually be achieved in the real world. Policies that aim at cutting energy service demand to sustainable levels are well advised to take due note of detrimental behavioral and economic growth impacts, and should foster policies and measures that can contain them.

  2. Analyzing Forces to the Financial Contribution of Local Governments to Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In many countries, the economic crisis brought high volumes of deficit and debt in public entities, which jeopardized the ability of governments to continue providing public services and caused considerable imbalances of economic growth in different regions. In this context, from the recognition of the linkage between economic development and efficiency in public management, previous research indicates that local governments are called to play a key role in promoting sustainable development through environment, economic and social policies based on financial sustainability of the public services. This paper aims to identify influencing factors on the financial sustainability of local governments, as an indicator of their capacity to maintain the delivery of public services over time. Based on a sample of 139 Spanish municipalities with large population for the period 2006–2014, our findings reveal the influence of variables such as the unemployment rate by sector, the dependent population, the immigrant population and the level of education of the population, on the financial sustainability in local governments, providing new useful knowledge to managers, policymakers, researchers and others stakeholders interested in the sustainability of public services.

  3. How to use composite indicator and linear programming model for determine sustainable tourism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziaabadi, Maryam; Malakootian, Mohammad; Zare Mehrjerdi, Mohammad Reza; Jalaee, Seied Abdolmajid; Mehrabi Boshrabadi, Hosein

    2017-01-01

    The tourism industry which is one of the most dynamic economic activities in today's world plays a significant role in the sustainable development. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to tourism, sustainable tourism must be taken into huge account; otherwise, the environment and its health will be damaged irreparably. To determine the level of sustainability in this study, indicators of sustainable tourism were first presented in three environmental health, economic and social aspects. Then, the levels of sustainable tourism and environmental sustainability were practically measured in different cities of Kerman Province using a composite indicator, a linear programming model, Delphi method and the questionnaire technique. Finally, the study cities (tourist attractions) were ranked. Result of this study showed that unfortunately the tourism opportunities were not used appropriately in these cities and tourist destinations, and that environmental aspect (health and environmental sustainability) had very bad situations compared to social and economic aspects. In other words, environmental health had the lowest levels of sustainability. The environment is a place for all human activities like tourism, social and economic issues; therefore, its stability and health is of great importance. Thus, it is necessary to pay more attention to sustainability of activities, management and environmental health in planning sustainable development in regional and national policy.

  4. SECURITY IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: COMPARING UNITED NATIONS 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet BARBAK

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to compare United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with Millennium Declaration in terms of their security conceptualizations to explore changes in security thinking and policy components (goals, targets, principles, priorities etc. over time. In doing so, it is envisaged that United Nations’ expectations from member states regarding their national security policies and organizations could be revealed. Security thinking has changed since late 1980’s with the introduction of sustainable development approach by the United Nations. This shift in security thinking encompasses human security and security-development nexus. Holding all member states responsible, Millennium Declaration and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development constitute the primary and the most recent outcome documents of United Nations’ sustainable development policy. Both documents have security components. This enables extracting security elements and comparing them with an analytical manner. Consequently, findings are compared and discussed in terms of public policy and organization at national level.

  5. University involvement in sustainability initiatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lehmann, Martin; Christensen, Per; Thrane, Mikkel

    2007-01-01

    With an outset in the case of Aalborg University, the linkages (actual, potential and missing) between academic work in research & education and sustainability initiatives are explored. The focus is both on the university's core activities as a provider of research and education and on the univer......With an outset in the case of Aalborg University, the linkages (actual, potential and missing) between academic work in research & education and sustainability initiatives are explored. The focus is both on the university's core activities as a provider of research and education...... and on the university's activities as an organisation, i.e. its own operation and its accounting for this. Sustainability is defined as a continuous process requiring balance between (the emergence of) problems and our ability and capability to solve them. Some core questions that this paper seeks to answer are: "How...... is Sustainable Development understood at executive level at the university? How (if at all) is sustainable development integrated in the core activities of the university? How is the university attached to ‘real life outside the ivory tower', e.g. through the establishing of Public-Private-Academic Partnerships...

  6. Ergonomic sustainability based on the ergonomic maturity level measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, Mario Cesar; Guizze, Carmen Lucia Campos; Bonfatti, Renato José; Silva e Santos, Marcello

    2012-01-01

    This paper aims at the application of an ergonomic maturity model (EMM), in order to assess the ergonomic sustainability outreach of ergonomic actions. This proposition was motivated by the widespread sensation that the development of the discipline, its educational devices and related practices depends on the attitude of ergonomics practitioners rather than environmental macroergonomic conditions. Maturity modeling in this paper is undertaken as a tool for ergonomic practitioners. Thus, its foundations were uprooted from diverse fields: Clinic Psychology, Quality Management and Project Management. The paper brings about a detailled explanation of this ergonomic maturity tool. The empirical part is fulfilled by the examination - using the EMM - of four emblematic cases excerpted from our research lab ergonomic portfolio.

  7. Nuclear energy in a sustainable development perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2000-01-01

    The concept of sustainable development, which emerged from the report of the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland report), is of increasing interest to policy makers and the public. In the energy sector, sustainable development policies need to rely on a comparative assessment of alternative options, taking into account their economic, health, environmental and social aspects, at local, regional and global levels. This publication by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency investigates nuclear energy from a sustainable development perspective, and highlights the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in this respect. It provides data and analyses that may help in making trades-off and choices in the energy and electricity sectors at the national level, taking into account country-specific circumstances and priorities. It will be of special interest to policy makers in the nuclear and energy fields

  8. Nutrition and sustainability: an emerging food policy discourse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Tim; Barling, David

    2013-02-01

    It is well known that food has a considerable environmental impact. Less attention has been given to mapping and analysing the emergence of policy responses. This paper contributes to that process. It summarises emerging policy development on nutrition and sustainability, and explores difficulties in their integration. The paper describes some policy thinking at national, European and international levels of governance. It points to the existence of particular policy hotspots such as meat and dairy, sustainable diets and waste. Understanding the environmental impact of food systems challenges nutrition science to draw upon traditions of thinking which have recently been fragmented. These perspectives (life sciences, social and environmental) are all required if policy engagement and clarification is to occur. Sustainability issues offer opportunities for nutrition science and scientists to play a more central role in the policy analysis of future food systems. The task of revising current nutrition policy advice to become sustainable diet advice needs to begin at national and international levels.

  9. Shared responsibility at the regional level: the building of sustainable industrial estates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brand, Ellis; de Bruijn, Theo

    1999-01-01

    The long felt contrast between economic growth and environmental protection is dissipating in environmental and industrial policy in Europe. Sustainable development has become the leading motive in environmental policy in this regard. In trying to give meaning to this abstract concept, current

  10. Governance innovation networks for sustainable tuna

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Miller, A.M.M.

    2014-01-01

    Governance Innovation Networks for Sustainable Tuna

    Alice M.M. Miller

    Tuna fisheries are among the most highly capitalised and valuable fisheries in the world and their exploitation will continue for the foreseeable future. This means the sustainability of tuna

  11. Navigating Sustainability Embeddedness in Management Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Le Roux

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is an essential theme for business. In order to compete, strategies need to be improvised and efficient and effective decisions need to be made for improved sustainability performance. Despite management’s apparent knowledge of this, it appears that challenges persist with sustainability’s embeddedness in decision-making and its implementation in practice. In this study we propose a metaphor applying an integrative view of sustainability as support for management. We offer six antecedents of sustainability embeddedness in decision-making that contribute to building and confirming theory, and also provide a better understanding of current practice around sustainability embeddedness so that strategies can be developed for improved sustainability performance. Employees on all management levels in a stock exchange listed company provided rich empirical data for the study. Through the analysis of data in a case study, antecedents were inductively identified, conceptualized, and presented as using descriptive labels, namely: A True North Destination—a vision of sustainability embeddedness; Mountains—three obstacles; Fog—confusion and complexity; Myopia—shortsightedness; Navigation Necessities—requirements for the journey; and finally, the Chosen Team—selected stakeholders. Sustainability embeddedness was found to be dependent on leadership, the strategy message and structures, performance measures, and policies that support a unified culture for sustainability embeddedness.

  12. Sustainability considerations for electricity generation from biomass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, Annette; Strezov, Vladimir; Evans, Tim J.

    2010-01-01

    The sustainability of electricity generation from biomass has been assessed in this work according to the key indicators of price, efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, availability, limitations, land use, water use and social impacts. Biomass produced electricity generally provides favourable price, efficiency, emissions, availability and limitations but often has unfavorably high land and water usage as well as social impacts. The type and growing location of the biomass source are paramount to its sustainability. Hardy crops grown on unused or marginal land and waste products are more sustainable than dedicated energy crops grown on food producing land using high rates of fertilisers. (author)

  13. Interdependences between sustainable development and sustainable economy

    OpenAIRE

    Emilia Mioara CÂMPEANU; Carmen Valentina RĂDULESCU

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable development and sustainable economy are mostly used concepts. Understanding clearly their meaning allows their use in an appropriate context and, therefore, their boundaries in terms of theoretical and practical approaches on which occasion it can be given their interdependencies. The paper aim is to analyze the interdependences between sustainable development and sustainable economy.

  14. Economic Sustainability in International Business: Peculiarities, Methods and Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otenko Iryna Pavlivna

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This article is intended as a contribution to the ongoing analysis of economic sustainability in international business. This study is presented with a view toward further understanding and agreement of the key concepts of sustainability. Approaches to sustainability are considered, important benchmarks and essential characteristics of sustainable development in international business are included. The article demonstrates how the concept of economic sustainability can be applied to the business level. The main ideas of the most widespread concepts on resource management are presented. Incorporation of ESG and financial factors in the concept of sustainable investing is considered. Emissions that are responsible for climate change, namely top emitters, key issues and figures are presented.

  15. Deliverable No. D4.7: Database on farm-level production and sutainability indices assessing sustainable diets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zimmermann, A.; Götz, Christian; Leip, A.; Zanten, van H.H.E.; Hornborg, Sara; Ziegler, Friederike

    2017-01-01

    This paper demonstrates that SUSFANS metrics for assessing the environmental sustainability of the European food system can be effectively produced and applied to assess policy measures and potential innovations that aim at achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in the European Union. The

  16. Sustainable Eco Coastal Development Through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakhmanissazly, Arsi; Mursito Ardy, Yong; Abdullah

    2017-02-01

    Besides technical problems the company’s operational constraints that may effect high deficiency for the company is the company - community conflicts. Company - community conflict can also arise depends on the geographic conditions and characteristics of the community itself. Some studies has show that coastal community have higher level of social risk when compared to non-coastal community. Also, the coastal community ussually only rely on what sea provides as their main livelihood. Because of the level of education still contemtible the community couldn’t optimized the potential of their own area. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) har emerged as an important approach for addressing the social and environmental impact of company activities. Through CSR program, PT Pertamina EP Asset 3 Tambun Field (PEP) try to form value integration by utilizing resources from the community and the company by making sustainable eco - coastal living in Desa Tambaksari, Karawang, one of PEP working area. Using sustainable livelihood approach begin with compiling data by doing social mapping PEP has initiate the area to becoming Fish Processing Industry Centre. By implementing PDCA in every steps of the program, PEP has multiplied some other programs such as Organic Fish Feed Processing, Seaweed Farming and Waste Bank for Green Coastal Village. These program is PEP’s effort to create a sustainability environment by enhancing the community’s potentials as well as resolving social problems around Tambaksari. The most important result besides getting our license to operate from the community, is the community itself can grow into an eco coastal sustainable system.

  17. Practical Implementation of Sustainable Urban Management Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2006-01-01

    The paper discusses how to promote the use of decision support tools for urban sustainable development. The interest in decision support tools based on indicators is increasing among practitioners and researchers. The research has so far focused on indicator types and systems of indicators...... and goals for urban sustainability whereas less focus has been on the context of implementation and even less on what we can learn from practical experiences about the usefulness of urban sustainable indicator tools. This paper explores the practical implementation of urban sustainable management tools....... It is generally agreed that in order to make indicators and other sustainability management tools work it is necessary that they are integrated in the relevant urban organisational levels, in a way that creates commitment to the subsequent goals. This includes involvement of organisations, individuals and other...

  18. The sustainability of the Italian public finances: an overview

    OpenAIRE

    Salustri, Andrea

    2013-01-01

    The Italian international reputation in mainly related to the high level of its public debt. During the Great Recession, this fact, associated to the stagnation of productivity, raised serious doubts on its economic and financial sustainability. The doubts are legitimated also by the fact that Italy is a net borrower of capitals from abroad, as its Net International Investment Position (NIIP) is negative. The statistical analysis of the Italian public finances suggests how the deep causes of ...

  19. China. Top Sector Energy. Sustainable Building. Opportunities for Dutch companies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-08-15

    For China, sustainable design is necessary for controlling energy usage in crowded and constantly expanding urban areas. It is well known that China is the world's biggest construction market. Nearly half of the new buildings annually constructed worldwide are located in China by 2015. However, only about 4% of these are built according to energy efficiency standards. China's construction market will by 2020 account for 40% of the country's total energy consumption. While it contributes 15% of the world's GDP, China consumes 30% of the earth's steel and half its concrete. On top of which, buildings in China consume a third of the country's increasingly endangered water supplies. Recent research showed that almost half of the national energy consumption has been used for construction related purposes. Of existing buildings, a huge amount needs sustainable redesign and retrofitting technologies.Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. As a result, a national 3-star China National Green Building rating system has been launched in 2006. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Main problems are, amongst others, low level of regulations and standards, problematic implementations at local level, lack of awareness and transparency in related public and private sector, lack of expertise of integrated sustainable building design and construction among engineers, designers and constructors. It is also to be expected that more aggressive energy saving and environmental protection targets will be set by the 12th Five Year Plan. Promote green buildings will be one of the top priorities in China's swift urbanization process with focus on saving land, energy, water and materials. Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Under this framework, the

  20. China. Top Sector Energy. Sustainable Building. Opportunities for Dutch companies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-08-15

    For China, sustainable design is necessary for controlling energy usage in crowded and constantly expanding urban areas. It is well known that China is the world's biggest construction market. Nearly half of the new buildings annually constructed worldwide are located in China by 2015. However, only about 4% of these are built according to energy efficiency standards. China's construction market will by 2020 account for 40% of the country's total energy consumption. While it contributes 15% of the world's GDP, China consumes 30% of the earth's steel and half its concrete. On top of which, buildings in China consume a third of the country's increasingly endangered water supplies. Recent research showed that almost half of the national energy consumption has been used for construction related purposes. Of existing buildings, a huge amount needs sustainable redesign and retrofitting technologies.Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. As a result, a national 3-star China National Green Building rating system has been launched in 2006. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Main problems are, amongst others, low level of regulations and standards, problematic implementations at local level, lack of awareness and transparency in related public and private sector, lack of expertise of integrated sustainable building design and construction among engineers, designers and constructors. It is also to be expected that more aggressive energy saving and environmental protection targets will be set by the 12th Five Year Plan. Promote green buildings will be one of the top priorities in China's swift urbanization process with focus on saving land, energy, water and materials. Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Under this framework, the following areas will offer business

  1. Deletion of PTH rescues skeletal abnormalities and high osteopontin levels in Klotho-/- mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quan Yuan

    Full Text Available Maintenance of normal mineral ion homeostasis is crucial for many biological activities, including proper mineralization of the skeleton. Parathyroid hormone (PTH, Klotho, and FGF23 have been shown to act as key regulators of serum calcium and phosphate homeostasis through a complex feedback mechanism. The phenotypes of Fgf23(-/- and Klotho(-/- (Kl(-/- mice are very similar and include hypercalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, hypervitaminosis D, suppressed PTH levels, and severe osteomalacia/osteoidosis. We recently reported that complete ablation of PTH from Fgf23(-/- mice ameliorated the phenotype in Fgf23(-/-/PTH(-/- mice by suppressing serum vitamin D and calcium levels. The severe osteomalacia in Fgf23(-/- mice, however, persisted, suggesting that a different mechanism is responsible for this mineralization defect. In the current study, we demonstrate that deletion of PTH from Kl(-/- (Kl(-/-/PTH(-/- or DKO mice corrects the abnormal skeletal phenotype. Bone turnover markers are restored to wild-type levels; and, more importantly, the skeletal mineralization defect is completely rescued in Kl(-/-/PTH(-/- mice. Interestingly, the correction of the osteomalacia is accompanied by a reduction in the high levels of osteopontin (Opn in bone and serum. Such a reduction in Opn levels could not be observed in Fgf23(-/-/PTH(-/- mice, and these mice showed sustained osteomalacia. This significant in vivo finding is corroborated by in vitro studies using calvarial osteoblast cultures that show normalized Opn expression and rescued mineralization in Kl(-/-/PTH(-/- mice. Moreover, continuous PTH infusion of Kl(-/- mice significantly increased Opn levels and osteoid volume, and decreased trabecular bone volume. In summary, our results demonstrate for the first time that PTH directly impacts the mineralization disorders and skeletal deformities of Kl(-/-, but not of Fgf23(-/- mice, possibly by regulating Opn expression. These are significant new perceptions into

  2. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metin Türkay

    Full Text Available Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  3. Sustainability Learning”: An Introduction to the Concept and Its Motivational Aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ralf Hansmann

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical paper clarifies the concept of sustainability learning and specifically analyzes motivational aspects. Mastering the challenges of sustainability requires individual learning as well as learning processes on different levels of human systems ranging from groups and organizations to human societies, and mankind as a whole. Learning processes of individuals play a fundamental role, since individuals constitute and shape the larger social aggregates. Learning processes on the level of social aggregates are important since social systems embed and influence individuals. Therefore, sustainability learning needs to be understood as a multi-level concept, comprising individual learning as well as learning processes of human systems. Transdisciplinarity and mutual learning between science and society are considered fundamental approaches of sustainability learning, and hence increase the capacity of mankind to manage human-environment systems in sustainable ways. Based on systemic considerations, the two-fold role, in which motivations act as determinants and targeted outcomes of sustainability learning processes, is explained together with the outstanding role that cooperation, hence cooperative motivation, plays for sustainable development. Finally, the multifaceted, controversial discourses on what sustainability ultimately means (for the scientific community, for a given cultural or political entity, organization, or individual person are considered.

  4. Sustainable polymers from renewable resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yunqing; Romain, Charles; Williams, Charlotte K

    2016-12-14

    Renewable resources are used increasingly in the production of polymers. In particular, monomers such as carbon dioxide, terpenes, vegetable oils and carbohydrates can be used as feedstocks for the manufacture of a variety of sustainable materials and products, including elastomers, plastics, hydrogels, flexible electronics, resins, engineering polymers and composites. Efficient catalysis is required to produce monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials. There are opportunities to use such sustainable polymers in both high-value areas and in basic applications such as packaging. Life-cycle assessment can be used to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable polymers.

  5. Donor-funded project's sustainability assessment: a qualitative case study of a results-based financing pilot in Koulikoro region, Mali.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seppey, Mathieu; Ridde, Valéry; Touré, Laurence; Coulibaly, Abdourahmane

    2017-12-08

    Results-based financing (RBF) is emerging as a new alternative to finance health systems in many African countries. In Mali, a pilot project was conducted to improve demand and supply of health services through financing performance in targeted services. No study has explored the sustainability process of such a project in Africa. This study's objectives were to understand the project's sustainability process and to assess its level of sustainability. Sustainability was examined through its different determinants, phases, levels and contexts. These were explored using qualitative interviews to discern, via critical events, stakeholders' ideas regarding the project's sustainability. Data collection sites were chosen with the participation of different stakeholders, based on a variety of criteria (rural/urban settings, level of participation, RBF participants still present, etc.). Forty-nine stakeholders were then interviewed in six community health centres and two referral health centres (from 11/12/15 to 08/03/16), including health practitioners, administrators, and those involved in implementing and conceptualizing the program (government and NGOs). A theme analysis was done with the software © QDA Miner according to the study's conceptual framework. The results of this project show a weak level of sustainability due to many factors. While some gains could be sustained (ex.: investments in long-term resources, high compatibility of values and codes, adapted design to the implementations contexts, etc.) other intended benefits could not (ex.: end of investments, lack of shared cultural artefacts around RBF, loss of different tasks and procedures, need of more ownership of the project by the local stakeholders). A lack of sustainability planning was observed, and few critical events were associated to phases of sustainability. While this RBF project aimed at increasing health agents' motivation through different mechanisms (supervision, investments, incentives, etc

  6. CSR LEVEL OF NGO’S FINANCIAL TARGET GROUPS AND ITS IMPACT ON NGO’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – RESEARCH STUDY FROM NGO IBEC CENTER, SERBIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Dimitrijević

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Aims of Non Government Organizations (NGO’s in developedcountries are sometimes similar or the same with NGO’s in undevelopedcountries, but financial resources, possibilities for strategic development, publicacceptance of new-democratic approaches, public knowledge and awarenessregarding NGO’s purpose is quite different. Financial target groups (FTG’s ofNGO’s are organizations whose role and purpose regarding Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR is to grant funds for realization of different goals which theysupport over NGO’s with high expertise in requiredfield. The aim of this paper isto present the CSR level of NGO’s FTG’s by measuring their response ondifferent actions initiated by NGO and how that frequency of responses, positiveand negative, influence on NGO’s sustainable development (SD in highlyturbulent economical and political environment.

  7. Swedish Consumers’ Perception of Food Quality and Sustainability in Relation to Organic Food Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebresenbet, Girma

    2018-01-01

    Consumers’ demand for locally produced and organic foods has increased in Sweden. This paper presents the results obtained from the analysis of data acquired from 100 consumers in Sweden who participated in an online survey during March to June 2016. The objective was to identify consumers’ demand in relation to organic food and sustainable food production, and to understand how the consumers evaluate food quality and make buying decisions. Qualitative descriptions, descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Chi-square test (with alpha value of p production method is more sustainable than conventional methods. Female consumers have more positive attitudes than men towards organic food. However, age difference, household size and income level do not significantly influence the consumers’ perception of sustainable food production concepts. Regionality, sustainable methods of production and organic production are the most important parameters to characterize the food as high quality and make buying decisions. On the other hand, product uniformity, appearance, and price were found to be relatively less important parameters. Food buying decisions and food quality were found to be highly related with Pearson’s correlation coefficient of r = 0.99. PMID:29614785

  8. Impacts of Power Structure on Sustainable Supply Chain Management

    OpenAIRE

    Zhi Li; Yangyang Xu; Fumin Deng; Xuedong Liang

    2017-01-01

    The present paper examines the manufacturer’s operational decisions, e.g., wholesale price and product sustainability level, the retailer’s operational decision, e.g., retail margin, and supply chain efficiency under three supply chain power structures: manufacturer Stackelberg, Nash and retailer Stackelberg. As a benchmark, we first obtain the equlibrium price and product sustainability level in a vertically integrated supply chain. Our analysis provides some interesting findings in a decent...

  9. Success and fail factors in sustainable real estate renovation projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Volker, L.

    2011-01-01

    Sustainability remains an important issue for the construction industry. Yet, sustainable real estate developments are still considered as highly ambitious projects. To find out how and why sustainable renovation projects actually became sustainable we systematically evaluated 21 leading Dutch real

  10. Sustainability of State-Level Substance Abuse Prevention Infrastructure After the Completion of the SPF SIG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Jessica M; Stein-Seroussi, Al; Flewelling, Robert L; Orwin, Robert G; Zhang, Lei

    2015-06-01

    Recent national substance abuse prevention efforts that have been disseminated at the state level have provided fertile ground for addressing the dearth of systematic research on state-level substance abuse prevention infrastructure. The Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant Program (SPF SIG), a national public health initiative sponsored by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and its Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, is one such effort, providing an opportunity to examine state-level substance abuse prevention infrastructure across the country. The aims of the SPF SIG initiative include reducing substance abuse and its related problems, as well as enhancing state and local prevention infrastructure and capacity. In this article, we describe the status of state-level substance abuse prevention infrastructure and capacity 1 year after the first 26 funded states ended their projects, based on follow-up interviews with state prevention decision-makers. We found that, in five of the six prevention domains we measured, prevention infrastructure capacity increased during the 12-month period after the grants ended. The evidence for further SPF capacity development even after the conclusion of the grants suggests that states recognized the benefits of using the SPF and took deliberate steps to sustain and enhance the integration of this framework into their state prevention systems. In addition, the findings suggest that state agencies and organizations can benefit from time-limited resources aimed at increasing their capacity and that such efforts can have a lasting impact on measures of state prevention system capacity.

  11. Activity-based Sustainability Assessment of Highly Automated Manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki; Alting, Leo

    Sustainability of technology is a multifaceted endeavor and a main requirement from industry is to make it a profitable business case with clearly defined targets. To achieve that, a new assessment framework and applicable method [1] is presented which has been developed closely with industry. It.......g. “transportation”) down to smallest production units by using activity-based target setting in a consistent way to lowers risks in the planning phase of products and production....

  12. Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Urban Plans based on Ecosystem Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menteşe, E. Y.; Tezer, A.

    2017-12-01

    Aiming at efficient and mindful use of natural resources while enabling social cohesion and economic development; sustainable development is one of the most emerging phenomenon in last decade. In this regard, role of urban development is critical by means of achieving sustainability since more than half of the world's population lives in cities. However, there is no solid and widely accepted approach for sustainability assessment in land use planning because there is not enough evidence on the relation between land use plans and environmental sustainability. With the basic aim of setting up relation between environmental sustainability and urban plans, this study utilizes ecosystem services phenomenon to define sustainability performance of a land use plan. Since ecosystem services can easily be related with land cover and land use they can be used as an efficient tool to act as indicators of sustainability. Meanwhile, while urban plans can provide ecosystem services and their level of service provision can be quantified, this is not solely enough for understanding its sustainability. Because it is also known that a land use plan mostly has negative impact on sustainability. Hence, this study embraces land use plans as a source of ecosystem services and environmental impacts. The difference between these entities are assumed to be the sustainability performance of a plan. The analysis relies on four parameters: ecosystem service capacity (environmental impact capacity), areal quantity of a land cover / use function, fragmantation level of the land use / cover and weight of ecosystem services / environmental impacts. Lastly, this approach is adopted for Istanbul's environmental master plan of 2009 and actual land cover of the same period. By calculating both data's environmental performance, the change of sustainability level sourced from environmental plan is analyzed.

  13. Sustainability of outdoor school ground smoking bans at secondary schools: a mixed-method study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rozema, A D; Mathijssen, J J P; Jansen, M W J; van Oers, J A M

    2018-02-01

    Although increasing numbers of countries are implementing outdoor school ground smoking bans at secondary schools, less attention is paid to the post-implementation period even though sustainability of a policy is essential for long-term effectiveness. Therefore, this study assesses the level of sustainability and examines perceived barriers/facilitators related to the sustainability of an outdoor school ground smoking ban at secondary schools. A mixed-method design was used with a sequential explanatory approach. In phase I, 438 online surveys were conducted and in phase II, 15 semi-structured interviews were obtained from directors of relevant schools. ANOVA (phase I) and a thematic approach (phase II) were used to analyze data. Level of sustainability of an outdoor school ground smoking ban was high at the 48% Dutch schools with an outdoor smoking ban. Furthermore, school size was significantly associated with sustainability. The perceived barriers/facilitators fell into three categories: (i) smoking ban implementation factors (side-effects, enforcement, communication, guidelines and collaboration), (ii) school factors (physical environment, school culture, education type and school policy) and (iii) community environment factors (legislation and social environment). Internationally, the spread of outdoor school ground smoking bans could be further promoted. Once implemented, the ban has become 'normal' practice and investments tend to endure. Moreover, involvement of all staff is important for sustainability as they function as role models, have an interrelationship with students, and share responsibility for enforcement. These findings are promising for the sustainability of future tobacco control initiatives to further protect against the morbidity/mortality associated with smoking. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

  14. Nuclear waste management and sustainable development: the complexity of a decision in a controversial universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Dars, A.

    2002-01-01

    This PhD dissertation intends to demonstrate in what extent the concept of sustainable development applied to nuclear waste management requires a novel scientific approach. High-level and long-lived radioactive waste management needs to make decisions in taking into account multiple dimensions, characterised by uncertainty, irreversibility, and long term, and which are much debated. These scientific controversies often induce social conflicts due to the divergence in stakeholders point of views, values or interests. Therefore, nuclear waste management in a sustainable development constitutes a complex decision-making problem. This thesis focuses on high-level and long-lived radioactive waste management in the French context because this country is confronted with the most severe conflicts. Researches are operating in the 30 December 1991 law framework, and in 2006 a Parliament decision could be made concerning the choice of a long-term nuclear waste management solution. This survey studies in what extent economics can open to other scientific disciplines in using evaluation tools and decision-making procedures which better integrate several conflicting criteria. This work deals with the criticism of the epistemological and methodological foundations of economic evaluation, notably in questioning the realism of its hypothesis, and a qualitative survey directly made close to stakeholders goes deeper into the analysis of their complex relationships. The first part of this thesis puts in evidence the complexity of a sustainable nuclear waste management. Chapter 1 shows that sustainable nuclear waste management is a health and ecological problem irreducible to a technical solution, and Chapter 2 explains why sustainable nuclear waste management constitutes a social choice problem irreducible to an economic evaluation. The second part of this thesis shows that a concerted decision-making process seems to be a good procedure to overcome this complexity. Chapter 3 analyses

  15. Consumer attitudes towards sustainability aspects of food production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios; Grunert, Klaus G; de Barcellos, Marcia Dutra

    2012-01-01

    This study aims to analyse citizens' sustainability attitudes towards food production in the EU, Brazil, and China (n = 2885), using pork as an exemplary production system. The objective is to map citizens' attitudes towards sustainable characteristics of pig production systems, and investigate...... whether these attitudes coincide with people's general attitudes towards sustainability, on one hand, and their consumption of specific pork products, on the other. A conjoint experiment was designed to evaluate citizens' preferences towards pig production systems with varying sustainability levels....... Conjoint analysis results were then used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify international citizen clusters across the three continents. Respondents' sociodemographic profile, attitudes towards sustainability issues, and consumption frequency of various pork products are used to profile...

  16. Consumer attitudes towards sustainability aspects of food production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios; Grunert, Klaus G; de Barcellos, Marcia D.

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to analyse citizens' sustainability attitudes towards food production in the EU, Brazil, and China (n = 2885), using pork as an exemplary production system. The objective is to map citizens' attitudes towards sustainable characteristics of pig production systems, and investigate...... whether these attitudes coincide with people's general attitudes towards sustainability, on one hand, and their consumption of specific pork products, on the other. A conjoint experiment was designed to evaluate citizens' preferences towards pig production systems with varying sustainability levels....... Conjoint analysis results were then used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify international citizen clusters across the three continents. Respondents' sociodemographic profile, attitudes towards sustainability issues, and consumption frequency of various pork products are used to profile...

  17. Entomological Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Viticulture in a Global Market.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daane, Kent M; Vincent, Charles; Isaacs, Rufus; Ioriatti, Claudio

    2018-01-07

    Viticulture has experienced dramatic global growth in acreage and value. As the international exchange of goods has increased, so too has the market demand for sustainably produced products. Both elements redefine the entomological challenges posed to viticulture and have stimulated significant advances in arthropod pest control programs. Vineyard managers on all continents are increasingly combating invasive species, resulting in the adoption of novel insecticides, semiochemicals, and molecular tools to support sustainable viticulture. At the local level, vineyard management practices consider factors such as the surrounding natural ecosystem, risk to fish populations, and air quality. Coordinated multinational responses to pest invasion have been highly effective and have, for example, resulted in eradication of the moth Lobesia botrana from California vineyards, a pest found in 2009 and eradicated by 2016. At the global level, the shared pests and solutions for their suppression will play an increasing role in delivering internationally sensitive pest management programs that respond to invasive pests, climate change, novel vector and pathogen relationships, and pesticide restrictions.

  18. Sustainability rating as internal challenge for the financial sector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zoeteman, Bastiaan; Kopp, H.E.

    2016-01-01

    Sustainability rating is rapidly maturing to a level where even the complex concept of sustainable development—including the ecological, sociocultural, and economic pillars and their components, as well as governance aspects such as attitudes—can be objectively described and quantitatively analyzed.

  19. Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemieniuch, C E; Sinclair, M A; Henshaw, M J deC

    2015-11-01

    This paper briefly explores the expected impact of the 'Global Drivers' (such as population demographics, food security; energy security; community security and safety), and the role of sustainability engineering in mitigating the potential effects of these Global Drivers. The message of the paper is that sustainability requires a significant input from Ergonomics/Human Factors, but the profession needs some expansion in its thinking in order to make this contribution. Creating a future sustainable world in which people experience an acceptable way of life will not happen without a large input from manufacturing industry into all the Global Drivers, both in delivering products that meet sustainability criteria (such as durability, reliability, minimised material requirement and low energy consumption), and in developing sustainable processes to deliver products for sustainability (such as minimum waste, minimum emissions and low energy consumption). Appropriate changes are already being implemented in manufacturing industry, including new business models, new jobs and new skills. Considerable high-level planning around the world is in progress and is bringing about these changes; for example, there is the US 'Advanced Manufacturing National Program' (AMNP)', the German 'Industrie 4.0' plan, the French plan 'la nouvelle France industrielle' and the UK Foresight publications on the 'Future of Manufacturing'. All of these activities recognise the central part that humans will continue to play in the new manufacturing paradigms; however, they do not discuss many of the issues that systems ergonomics professionals acknowledge. This paper discusses a number of these issues, highlighting the need for some new thinking and knowledge capture by systems ergonomics professionals. Among these are ethical issues, job content and skills issues. Towards the end, there is a summary of knowledge extensions considered necessary in order that systems ergonomists can be fully

  20. The Role of Corporate Foresight in Promoting Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rohrbeck, René; Kallehave, Pernille

    2012-01-01

    In this article we want to give our answer to the question about if and how corporate foresight can increase the likelihood that we move toward sustainability – both on a company and a societal level. We propose a framework that links barriers to sustainability with corporate foresight methods th...

  1. Handling and storage of conditioned high-level wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-01-01

    This report deals with certain aspects of the management of one of the most important wastes, i.e. the handling and storage of conditioned (immobilized and packaged) high-level waste from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and, although much of the material presented here is based on information concerning high-level waste from reprocessing LWR fuel, the principles, as well as many of the details involved, are applicable to all fuel types. The report provides illustrative background material on the arising and characteristics of high-level wastes and, qualitatively, their requirements for conditioning. The report introduces the principles important in conditioned high-level waste storage and describes the types of equipment and facilities, used or studied, for handling and storage of such waste. Finally, it discusses the safety and economic aspects that are considered in the design and operation of handling and storage facilities

  2. Handling and storage of conditioned high-level wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heafield, W.

    1984-01-01

    This paper deals with certain aspects of the management of one of the most important radioactive wastes arising from the nuclear fuel cycle, i.e. the handling and storage of conditioned high-level wastes. The paper is based on an IAEA report of the same title published during 1983 in the Technical Reports Series. The paper provides illustrative background material on the characteristics of high-level wastes and, qualitatively, their requirements for conditioning. The principles important in the storage of high-level wastes are reviewed in conjunction with the radiological and socio-political considerations involved. Four fundamentally different storage concepts are described with reference to published information and the safety aspects of particular storage concepts are discussed. Finally, overall conclusions are presented which confirm the availability of technology for constructing and operating conditioned high-level waste storage facilities for periods of at least several decades. (author)

  3. Sustainability of agricultural water use worldwide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuninetti, M.; Tamea, S.; Dalin, C.

    2017-12-01

    Water is a renewable but limited resource. Most human use of freshwater resources is for agriculture, and global water demand for agriculture is increasing because of the growth in food demand, driven by increasing population and changing diets. Hence, measuring the pressure exerted by agriculture on freshwater sources is a key issue. The sustainability of water use depends on the water source renewability rate: the water use is not sustainable (depleting the water storage) where/when it exceeds the renewable freshwater availability. In this study, we explore the sustainability of rain and irrigation water use for the production of nine major crops, globally at a 5'x5' spatial resolution. We split the crop water use into soil moisture (from rainfall) and irrigation, with, for the first time, separating ground- and surface-water sources, which is a key distinction because the renewability of these two water sources can be very different. In order to physically quantify the extent to which crop water use is sustainable, we measure the severity of the source depletion as the number of years required for the hydrological cycle to replenish the water resource used by the annual crop production, namely the Water Debt. This newly developed indicator allows one to compare the depletion level of the three water sources at a certain location for a specific crop. Hence, we mapped, for each crop, the number of years required to replenish the water withdrawn from soil-, surface- and ground-water resources. Each map identifies the hotspots for each water source, highlighting regions and crops that threaten most the water resource. We found that the water debt with soil moisture is heterogeneous in space but always lower than one year indicating a non-surprising sustainability of rain-fed agriculture. Rice and sugarcane make the largest contribution to global soil moisture depletion. Water debt in surface water is particularly high in areas of intense wheat and cotton production

  4. Pulsed dc self-sustained magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiatrowski, A.; Posadowski, W. M.; Radzimski, Z. J.

    2008-01-01

    The magnetron sputtering has become one of the commonly used techniques for industrial deposition of thin films and coatings due to its simplicity and reliability. At standard magnetron sputtering conditions (argon pressure of ∼0.5 Pa) inert gas particles (necessary to sustain discharge) are often entrapped in the deposited films. Inert gas contamination can be eliminated during the self-sustained magnetron sputtering (SSS) process, where the presence of the inert gas is not a necessary requirement. Moreover the SSS process that is possible due to the high degree of ionization of the sputtered material also gives a unique condition during the transport of sputtered particles to the substrate. So far it has been shown that the self-sustained mode of magnetron operation can be obtained using dc powering (dc-SSS) only. The main disadvantage of the dc-SSS process is its instability related to random arc formation. In such case the discharge has to be temporarily extinguished to prevent damaging both the magnetron source and power supply. The authors postulate that pulsed powering could protect the SSS process against arcs, similarly to reactive pulsed magnetron deposition processes of insulating thin films. To put this concept into practice, (i) the high enough plasma density has to be achieved and (ii) the type of pulsed powering has to be chosen taking plasma dynamics into account. In this article results of pulsed dc self-sustained magnetron sputtering (pulsed dc-SSS) are presented. The planar magnetron equipped with a 50 mm diameter and 6 mm thick copper target was used during the experiments. The maximum target power was about 11 kW, which corresponded to the target power density of ∼560 W/cm 2 . The magnetron operation was investigated as a function of pulse frequency (20-100 kHz) and pulse duty factor (50%-90%). The discharge (argon) extinction pressure level was determined for these conditions. The plasma emission spectra (400-410 nm range) and deposition

  5. Army Sustainability Modelling Analysis and Reporting Tool Phase 1: User Manual and Results Interpretation Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-11-01

    rates during deployments; examples of unit type include, infantry, armour , air defence, medical etc. Location, Readiness level and Type can be set...individual training is that a scenario with a high personnel turnover rate (that is, a high recruitment rate coupled with a high separation rate) will...require a larger training throughput to achieve sustainability than a scenario with a low turnover rate. This is because recruits enter the force with

  6. Possible ecosystem impacts of applying maximum sustainable yield policy in food chain models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Bapan; Kar, T K

    2013-07-21

    This paper describes the possible impacts of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum sustainable total yield (MSTY) policy in ecosystems. In general it is observed that exploitation at MSY (of single species) or MSTY (of multispecies) level may cause the extinction of several species. In particular, for traditional prey-predator system, fishing under combined harvesting effort at MSTY (if it exists) level may be a sustainable policy, but if MSTY does not exist then it is due to the extinction of the predator species only. In generalist prey-predator system, harvesting of any one of the species at MSY level is always a sustainable policy, but harvesting of both the species at MSTY level may or may not be a sustainable policy. In addition, we have also investigated the MSY and MSTY policy in a traditional tri-trophic and four trophic food chain models. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Looking for sustainable solutions in salmon aquaculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Bailey

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development poses highly complex issues for those who attempt to implement it. Using the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development as a vantage point, this article discusses the issues posed by the production of one kind of food, farmed Atlantic salmon, as a means of illustrating the complexity, interconnectedness and high-data requirements involved in assessing whether a given industry is sustainable. These issues are explored using the three commonly accepted aspects of sustainability – its environmental, social and economic aspects – and the dilemmas posed by the need to make the trade-offs necessary among these. It concludes by arguing that decisions of this complexity require complex and multiple decision-making structures and suggests four that are essential for the task.http://dx.doi.org/10.5324/eip.v8i1.1801

  8. Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neil, Graham; Orr, James K.; Watson, Steve

    2007-01-01

    A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details.

  9. Business progress towards sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stigson, Bjorn

    1998-01-01

    The executive director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development described the organisation, its membership and its objectives. The organisation believes nuclear energy is needed in support of the goal of eradicating poverty, but it must also make all-round financial sense. If the risks are perceived to be high then investors expect a high financial return. The argument is supported by discussions on: (i) industry and sustainable development; (ii) the driving process;(iii) the way ahead; (iv) the environment and shareholder value; (v) conclusions for business in general and (vi) conclusions for the nuclear industry.(UK)

  10. Sustained ophthalmic delivery of highly soluble drug using pH-triggered inner layer-embedded contact lens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Qiang; Cheng, Hongbo; Huo, Yingnan; Mao, Shirui

    2018-06-10

    In the present work the feasibility of using inner layer-embedded contact lenses (CLs) to achieve sustained release of highly water soluble drug, betaxolol hydrochloride (BH) on the ocular surface was investigated. Blend film of cellulose acetate and Eudragit S100 was selected as the inner layer, while silicone hydrogel was used as outer layer to construct inner layer-embedded contact lenses. Influence of polymer ratio in the blend film on in vitro drug release behavior in phosphate buffered solution or simulated tear fluid was studied and drug-polymer interaction, erosion and swelling of the blend film were characterized to better understand drug-release mechanism. Storage stability of the inner layer-embedded contact lenses in phosphate buffer solution was also conducted, with ignorable drug loss and negligible change in drug release pattern within 30 days. In vivo pharmacokinetic study in rabbits showed sustained drug release for over 240 h in tear fluid, indicating prolonged drug precorneal residence time. In conclusion, cellulose acetate/Eudragit S100 inner layer-embedded contact lenses are quite promising as controlled-release carrier of highly water soluble drug for ophthalmic delivery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. INL High Performance Building Strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jennifer D. Morton

    2010-02-01

    (LEED®) Green Building Rating System (LEED 2009). The document employs a two-level approach for high performance building at INL. The first level identifies the requirements of the Guiding Principles for Sustainable New Construction and Major Renovations, and the second level recommends which credits should be met when LEED Gold certification is required.

  12. The ATLAS High-Level Calorimeter Trigger in Run-2

    CERN Document Server

    Wiglesworth, Craig; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The ATLAS Experiment uses a two-level triggering system to identify and record collision events containing a wide variety of physics signatures. It reduces the event rate from the bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz to an average recording rate of 1 kHz, whilst maintaining high efficiency for interesting collision events. It is composed of an initial hardware-based level-1 trigger followed by a software-based high-level trigger. A central component of the high-level trigger is the calorimeter trigger. This is responsible for processing data from the electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters in order to identify electrons, photons, taus, jets and missing transverse energy. In this talk I will present the performance of the high-level calorimeter trigger in Run-2, noting the improvements that have been made in response to the challenges of operating at high luminosity.

  13. A Longitudinal Study of School Districts' Sustained Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sampson, Pauline M.

    2011-01-01

    In this longitudinal study of one region in the state of Texas, there was an examination of district leadership and the sustaining of high student achievement for their districts. The results of this study suggest that sustained improvement of student achievement is very difficult. The districts that had sustained improvement had stable district…

  14. Sustaining the pivotal organizational outcome: magnet recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsons, Mickey L; Cornett, Patricia A

    2011-03-01

    To identify the facilitators and barriers for health-care organizations to sustain Magnet Recognition, the exemplar of a professional practice environment and quality care. Recognition as a Magnet Hospital is the gold standard for acknowledging excellence in nursing. However, limited evidence exists to inform nursing management practices for sustainability. This qualitative study was conducted using a national convenience sample of 15 Chief Nursing Officers of Magnet Recognized hospitals in the USA. Key macrosystem facilitators included executive management and leadership themes about quality, people, education, and the nurse executive's commitment and intent. Barriers were executive management turnover and financial challenges. Infrastructure supports and resources for empowerment and quality and unit leadership practices were found to be essential for quality outcomes. The key theme at the microsystem level was moving nursing practice to managing outcomes from tasks; barriers were challenges with unit management turnover and development. Multiple factors at system levels were found to contribute to sustainability. Further research is needed on the concept of sustainability. The findings contribute to executives' armamentarium to inform management practice for the design of evidenced based organizational systems and programs for nursing excellence. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  15. Grassland Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deborah U. Potter; Paulette L. Ford

    2004-01-01

    In this chapter we discuss grassland sustainability in the Southwest, grassland management for sustainability, national and local criteria and indicators of sustainable grassland ecosystems, and monitoring for sustainability at various scales. Ecological sustainability is defined as: [T]he maintenance or restoration of the composition, structure, and processes of...

  16. The Ongoing Dynamics of Integrating Sustainability into Business Practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morsing, Mette; Oswald, Dennis; Stormer, Susanne

    2019-01-01

    , how can organizations demonstrate that their sustainability declarations are not just “good looks”. Specifically, the study unfolds Novo Nordisk’s long-term commitment to sustainable practices and the company’s validation of these practices by focusing on how issues of sustainability have been......This study raises the question of how managers can adopt appropriate management control systems to communicate to employees and other stakeholders what behavior is desired, and how they can work to ensure that their corporate sustainability claims are implemented at the operational level. That is...

  17. Business Sustainability: How Does Tourism Compare?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Char-lee Moyle

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to empirically compare the adoption of business sustainability amongst 291 randomly-selected tourism and non-tourism businesses in New South Wales, Australia. Tourism businesses were found to be more committed to environmentally-sustainable practices than other types of businesses with there being a clear correlation with their ability to learn and adapt. This contradicts criticisms in the literature that tourism businesses are slow adopters of sustainability. This study highlights the need for further research into why tourism businesses in New South Wales, Australia, are reporting higher levels of performance in terms of adopting environmental values than other businesses in contradiction to the general perception of tourism businesses in the literature.

  18. Benchmarking Sustainability Practices Use throughout Industrial Construction Project Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungmin Yun

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite the efforts for sustainability studies in building and infrastructure construction, the sustainability issues in industrial construction remain understudied. Further, few studies evaluate sustainability and benchmark sustainability issues in industrial construction from a management perspective. This study presents a phase-based benchmarking framework for evaluating sustainability practices use focusing on industrial facilities project. Based on the framework, this study quantifies and assesses sustainability practices use, and further sorts the results by project phase and major project characteristics, including project type, project nature, and project delivery method. The results show that sustainability practices were implemented higher in the construction and startup phases relative to other phases, with a very broad range. An assessment by project type and project nature showed significant differences in sustainability practices use, but no significant difference in practices use by project delivery method. This study contributes to providing a benchmarking method for sustainability practices in industrial facilities projects at the project phase level. This study also discusses and provides an application of phase-based benchmarking for sustainability in industrial construction.

  19. Sustainability study of domestic communal wastewater treatment plant in Surabaya City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahar, E.; Sudarno; Zaman, B.

    2017-06-01

    Sanitation is one of the critical infrastructure sectors in order to improve community health status. The Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Indonesia to define that word sanitation include: domestic waste water management, solid waste management, rain water management (drainage management) as well as the provision of clean water. Surabaya city as the capital of East Java province and Indonesia’s second largest city with a population of 2,853,661 inhabitants in 2014 (the second largest after Jakarta), but the people who have been served by the sanitation infrastructure systems were expected at 176,105 families or about 26.95 % of the population of the city is already using sanitation facilities. In the White Book Sanitation of Surabaya City in 2010, Surabaya City sanitation development mission is to realize the wastewater management of settlements in a sustainable and affordable by the community. This study aims to assess the sustainability of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) domestic communal in the city of Surabaya. The method in this research is quantitative method through observation, structured interviews and laboratory testing of the variables analyzed. Analyses were performed using a technique Multidisciplinary rapid appraisal (Rap-fish) to determine the level of sustainability of the management of communal WWTP based on a number of attributes that easy scored. Attributes of each dimension includes the technical, environmental quality, institutional, economic, and social. The results of this study are sustainability index of environmental quality dimension at 84.32 with highly sustainable status, technical dimension at 62.61 with fairly sustainable status, social dimension at 57.98 with fairly sustainable status, economic dimension at 43.24 with less sustainable status, and institutional dimension at 39.67 with less sustainable status.

  20. Sustainability in facilities management: an overview of current research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Sarasoja, Anna-Liisa; Ramskov Galamba, Kirsten

    2016-01-01

    of environmental, social and economical impacts? How to improve the sustainability performance of buildings? What are the potentials for and barriers to integrating sustainability into FM on strategic, tactical and operational levels? Originality/value: The paper presents the most comprehensive literature study...