1,720,959 research outputs found
Towards a circular economy for the plastic packaging sector: Insights from the Italian case
Full text linkAchieving a circular economy (CE) has become a strategic priority for the plastic packaging industry to imple-ment long-term business sustainability while meeting legislative requirements. In this view, the evolution of cir-cularity practices in relation to technological, regulatory, and socio-economic factors and the implications for different value chain actors are open streams of research. This study aims to assess trends and meaningful changes in the adoption of circularity practices from the perspective of different value chain actors, under the ef-fects of leading CE barriers and enablers. A longitudinal analysis of the influence of these factors in relation to CE practices adopted by the Italian plastic packaging sector was conducted for the years 2011, 2015, and 2019. The involvement in plastic recovery became a predominant CE strategy over time, thanks to technological availability and a more mature regulatory framework. Our results suggest a gradual shift from scattered CE implementations to a more systemic approach to CE integrating upstream and downstream solutions. However, this transition oc-curred at different speeds and levels across the supply chain, as companies perceived factors differently and, con-sequently, implemented different types of CE practices. Therefore, increased collaboration and alignment across the supply chain are still required to overcome existing challenges. Based on our analysis, a focus group with stakeholders and experts of the plastic industry drew possible future avenues for the plastic packaging sector. Suggested priority actions include advancement of new and emerging recycling technologies, prioritization of economically viable and closed-loop alternatives to recover plastic waste, and alignment between national and international CE directives. These results extend our understanding of the CE transition and shed new light on the ways in which the industry can address existing barriers in different tiers for a system-wide impact. (c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Exploring reverse supply chain configurations of high voltage Li-ion batteries for heavy e-vehicles under different structural and operational conditions
Full text linkElectrification of transportation is widely recognized as an enabler of sustainable development thanks to its potential to mitigate current global warming crisis. So far, industry has been focusing on technology deployment and scaling up, paying limited attention to the end-of-life of new vehicles and their components. However, if this emerging technology is to be truly sustainable in the long range, proactive planning and development of product and material recovery solutions is crucial from many perspectives. Reverse supply chain design is subject to deep uncertainties and simulation has been already used in literature as a suitable tool for examining alternative configurations and the key drivers of optimal design. This study aims to investigate the implications of different structural (centralized vs decentralized) and operational (in-house and outsourcing) configurations of the reverse supply chain configuration of high voltage li-ion batteries for heavy e-vehicles. All the stages in the reverse supply chain, i.e. acquisition of returned batteries, inspection, reconditioning (remanufacturing or recycling), warehousing and transportation, repurposing for second-life applications are considered. A Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is finally proposed to support strategic and tactical decisions of an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) according to efficiency and circularity objectives. Results provide valuable ground for decision-making regarding the development of reverse supply chain systems of high voltage batteries and demonstrate that such systems can offer economic benefits for vehicle manufacturers
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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