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Fintech, human development and energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa
Get PDFStudies have highlighted the important role of financial technology (fintech) in enhancing socio-economic conditions of nations. However, despite the efforts of governments to improve the latter, the rating of African countries still remains manifestly inadequate. Given that access to electricity is imperative for fintech, and fundamental to improving socioeconomic conditions, we provide novel evidence by investigating the degree to which the prevailing energy poverty in Africa mediates the relationship between the duo. Our baseline results confirm that fintech has a significant positive impact on socioeconomic conditions, proxied by human development, and the impact becomes increasingly significant in the face of constant energy supply. However, when we split our sample based on regions and income classification proposed by the World Bank, our results show that the impact of fintech on human development, in the absence of access to electricity, is notably limited to some African regions. Considering the current state of human development in Africa, our study advocates for more investment in energy infrastructure for the rapid realization of the gains of fintech
Critical factors that influence lean premise design implementation: a case of Hong Kong high-rise buildings
Get PDFWhen a building design fails to meet the end-user's needs after construction, it is considered faulty. Faulty designs often lead to renovation, demolition, and material waste. This study aims to identify critical factors that influence the implementation of the Lean Premise Design (LPD) scheme in high-rise residential (HRR) buildings to facilitate sustainability practices, ensure energy conservation, promote innovative green technologies and water efficiency, and reduce abortive works in Hong Kong's HRR buildings. A comprehensive literature review of concepts similar to LPD scheme and sustainability practices in designing and developing high-rise buildings was undertaken. In addition, interviews were conducted to validate factors influencing LPD adoption. The study focused on sustainable building design relating to users’ behavior patterns and expectations, social needs, green maintenance technologies, and government initiatives. According to the mean score ranking, 20 factors are critical to adopting LPD schemes, accounting for 47.6% of all identified factors. Government-sponsored LPD education, explicit LPD objectives in design, and construction waste reduction are among the key drivers of LPD. Nonetheless, developers’ emphasis on return on investment, varied buyer expectations, and diverse end-user requirements stand as the most significant barriers to LPD. The Mann–Whitney U test also revealed that expert groups disagree on some factors. The study's findings are consistent with recent research on the critical success factors of identified sustainability concepts in the construction industry
The mechanism of propagation of NH3/air and NH3/H2/air laminar premixed flame fronts
Get PDFThe mechanism of flame front propagation in NH3/air and NH3/H2/air steady, laminar premixed flames is examined. Since the process is characterised by a state of chemical non-equilibrium, the analysis focuses on the explosive mode that is introduced by chemical kinetics. The chemistry expressed in this mode is the one that tends to lead the system away from equilibrium and sustains the chemical non-equilibrium state. The algorithmic tools of Computational Singular Perturbation method are employed, so the analysis is not hindered by the size of the detailed chemical kinetics mechanism employed. Under engine-relevant conditions and a stoichiometric mixture, it is shown that in the NH3/air case the flame front propagation is driven by reaction far from the front and by reaction closer to the front; the latter assisted by reaction . These reactions are mainly responsible for the heat released, by effectively feeding the most exothermic reactions, which are OH-consuming. The ensuing chemical activity in the neighbourhood of maximum heat release rate generates upstream diffusion of heat, NH2, NO, H and H2, which initiate the chemical activity ahead of the flame front. This mechanism of front propagation is promoted by H2 addition in the mixture, by reinforcing the action of these three reactions and by activating another OH-producing reaction . A preliminary investigation of lean mixtures indicated that this flame front propagation mechanism is also present in the case of a pure ammonia fuel. However, when H2 is present in the initial mixture, significant changes are observed that relate to the prevailing lower temperatures and the decreased upstream diffusion of heat. These findings provide novel insights with direct implications for controlling and optimising NH3 and NH3/H2 flames planned for engine applications. The approach proposed here can also be extended for analysing flame propagation mechanisms across a more diverse spectrum of fuel mixtures and flame configurations, offering invaluable support to technologies pivotal in the ongoing energy transition efforts
Knowledge Transfer Prediction Mechanics
No full textThis paper introduces a novel geometric approach to modeling the dynamics of knowledge transfer. By integrating geometric probability models with knowledge entity interactions represented in multigeometric spaces, we predict knowledge transfer effectiveness and efficiency. We leverage concepts from Riemannian geometry, particularly closed geodesics, to model optimal pathways of knowledge flow within organizational networks. Our methodology employs a dual-space representation, combining Euclidean and hyperbolic embeddings to capture both hierarchical and non-hierarchical relationships among knowledge entities. We detail the application of these models in various scenarios, including educational and organizational settings, and validate them through empirical data. The integration of geometric concepts with knowledge transfer theories offers a powerful toolset for organizations to optimize their knowledge transfer processes, identify potential bottlenecks, and implement targeted interventions. Our approach demonstrates significant potential to enhance predictive accuracy in understanding and improving knowledge dissemination dynamics
Beyond the Developmental Narrative of Postcolonial Nation-Time: The Materialities of Water and Geological Faultlines in Shubhangi Swarup’s Latitudes of Longing
Get PDFThis chapter explores how Shubhangi Swarup’s novel Latitudes of Longing (2018) breaks out of the developmental narrative of nation-time into an exploration of the impressions of deep time in which events impact human consciousness on a planetary scale. Focusing on a geological framework that structures the novel this chapter will tease out the underlying connections across the bioregion of South and Southeast Asia, otherwise fraught with political and military violence, and link them to stories that characters tell each other. It will further show how the act of storytelling embedded in the narrative acts as a means of discovering empathy with what is seemingly an invisible presence of the “more-than-human” that influences their lives. In keeping with this Special issue’s theme this chapter aims to shift the view of ecological solidarity as one that goes beyond the idea of an event horizon imagined as catastrophe and destruction and moves towards reading this novel as a way of conceiving solidarity as a deep geological and historical connection
Stewarding the implementation of wearable activity trackers in the cardiovascular care ecosystem
No full textThis invited commentary refers to ‘Beyond validation: getting wearable activity trackers into cardiovascular care—a discussion paper’, by N. Straiton et al., https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvae01
A CNN pruning approach using constrained binary particle swarm optimization with a reduced search space for image classification
Get PDFDeep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have exhibited exceptional performance in a range of computer vision tasks. However, these deep CNNs typically demand significant computational resources, which not only hinders their practical deployment but also contributes to a considerable carbon footprint. To tackle this issue, several filter pruning methods based on evolutionary algorithms have been proposed to provide significant memory and energy savings during CNN inference. However, due to the curse of high dimensionality in the structure of deep CNNs, the search space expands dramatically, presenting significant challenges for these methods. This paper proposes a novel algorithm called BPSO-FPruner for CNN filter pruning. BPSO-FPruner utilizes a constrained binary particle swarm optimization algorithm for filter pruning, incorporating a new initialization strategy based on filter weighting information and a reduced search space strategy. Extensive validation using VGG, ResNet, DenseNet, and MobileNetv2 architectures on the CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and Tiny ImageNet datasets demonstrates the effectiveness of BPSO-FPruner in reducing model computational costs and carbon footprint emissions while maintaining or improving performance
Self-harm, suicide, and ICD-11 complex posttraumatic stress disorder in treatment-seeking adolescents with major depression
Get PDFPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked with self-harm and suicide, but few studies have examined these severe outcomes in relation to complex trauma. This study examined the associations between self-harm and suicide-related phenomena with ICD-11 complex PTSD (CPTSD) among treatment-seeking youths. A convenience sample of 109 adolescents with major depression (69.7% female; mean age = 15.24) were recruited from an outpatient psychiatric clinic. Participants completed measures for ICD-11 CPTSD, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), self-harm behaviors, and past-year history of four suicide-related phenomena. Relationships between each self-harm and suicide-related variable with CPTSD were assessed at the symptom and diagnostic levels. Participants reported an average of three ACEs; 33.9% met diagnostic requirements for ICD-11 CPTSD. Past-year suicidal thought and attempt, but not self-harm, significantly associated with CPTSD status. At the symptom level, self-harm associated with CPTSD total symptom and all symptom clusters scores, with strongest associations found with symptoms of negative self-concept. CPTSD total symptom scores also associated strongly with past-year history of suicidal thought, plan, and attempt; the three core PTSD symptom clusters scores consistently and strongly linked with these suicide-related phenomena. For symptoms of complex trauma, relationship disturbances associated with having a suicide attempt, and negative self-concept associated with both having a plan and an attempt. Assessing and targeting ICD-11 CPTSD symptoms have potential to reduce self-harm and suicidality in young people experiencing mental distress, particularly for those with a trauma history and regardless of whether they meet criteria for a diagnosable trauma response
Ecological risk management: Effects of carbon risk on firm innovation investment
No full textWe investigate the impact of carbon risk on firms' innovation investments. Using a two-way fixed-effects panel regression with a panel dataset of Chinese listed firms for 2018–2021, we find that carbon risk inhibits firms' innovation investments. We also confirm the U-shaped relationship between carbon risk and innovation investment over the long term. We further reveal the conditioning roles of financial constraints, new investments, and carbon information disclosure at the firm level. Additionally, we find that firms' environmental awareness alleviates the impact of carbon risk on innovation investment. The results of this study have implications for firm managers, encouraging them to integrate carbon risk considerations when making the decision to promote firm innovation
Review of recent advances in lithium extraction from subsurface brines
Get PDFLithium has been a critical metal for energy transition, mainly because of its application as an energy storage matrix, which has seen its demand increasing exponentially in the last decades. To supply the current demand chain and overcome the geographical and technological limitations of lithium extraction from Salt Lake brines, the present article investigates the possibility of lithium extraction from non-conventional resources, such as Oilfields and Geothermal brines. Thus, our investigation seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) Are there identified lithium-rich subsurface brine resources? (2) Could the conventional lithium extraction precipitation method be successfully applied to those resources? (3) What are the state-of-the-art of alternative technologies that can economically be applied for efficient lithium recovery from those subsurface brine resources? First, our investigation identifies and distributes geographically lithium-rich subsurface brine resources worldwide, with the American continent being abundant on Oilfield brine. Europe, on the other hand, was much more abundant in Geothermal water. The UK possesses lithium-rich oilfields at relatively low concentrations and highly enriched geothermal brine, with an abundance of other lithium-rich brine sites possible across Africa and Asia. Secondly, it was established through a critical evaluation that conventional precipitation methods are insufficient for lithium extraction when applied to subsurface brines. Thus, it leads us to survey the state-of-the-art of novel extraction technologies with data from 1960 to the present, with the highest information density covering the last 22 years. Out of the reviewed extraction technologies, ion-sieve adsorbent and nanofiltration were found to be the best ally for lithium extraction from subsurface brine in the present and near future with low energy consumption, excellent lithium recovery, high extraction rate, outstanding selectivity, and forming adaptability
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