1,721,297 research outputs found
Modelling the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus for integrated and sustainable resource management in Sardinia region
No full textWater, energy, food, and ecosystem security serve as the main pillars of sustainable development, deeply linked in a way that shapes economic growth, human well-being and environmental balance. Sector-specific frameworks often neglect the intersectoral links resulting in fragmented solutions that lead to inefficiencies, unforeseen consequences and unsustainable outcomes that weaken the resilience of interdependent sectors. The compound uncertainty due to shift in climate extreme, socio-economic imbalance, and increasing resource demand intensified the issue related to the Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem sectors. The integrated approach “nexus” provides the understanding of complex intersectoral systems, enhance the synergies and minimize trade-offs to optimise the efficiency of resources.
The main aim of this thesis is to enhance sustainable resource management, particularly focusing on the WEFE Nexus under historical conditions and projected changes in climate. The thesis is divided into two parts to obtain these objectives, beginning with chapter 2 where a comprehensive assessment of the Water-Food (WF) Nexus in the Sardinia region is carried on. This objective was achieved by utilizing the Simulation of Evapotranspiration of Applied Water model integrated with GIS libraries (SIMETAW_GIS), i.e., the crop-water-soil balance model used to accurately estimate the crop water demand and quantify the yield losses due to water stress under historical and future projections. The modelling of crop water demand and the effect of water scarcity on crops delivers critical perceptions for the policymakers that can support the management of water resources and form the foundation for adaptation management strategies in the Sardinia region.
Chapter 3 expands the WF Nexus to a more holistic Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus analysis utilizing both qualitative and quantitative tools to understand and assess the complexity of the intertwined nature of WEFE systems with a special focus on seven hydrographic subbasins of Sardinia region. The qualitative tools Hoff WEF Nexus analytical framework and Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) were utilized to capture and explore the key linkages between water, energy, food, and ecosystem sectors. The novel quantitative tool R-WEFE Nexus platform was validated and coupled with climate change and socio-economic scenarios to investigate the nexus behaviour under various scenario conditions and policy frameworks. The policies were assessed against predefined thresholds to test the effective resource management and ensure the sustainability of sectoral strategies with sustainability goals. The study identifies favorable and unfavorable trajectories offering strategic recommendations for better nexus performance. These include adaptive strategies for enhancing water resource management, tourism management, sustainable land management, decarbonizing the economy by increasing the proportion of renewable energy, agriculture resilience, and ensuring ecosystem integrity. The multiple policies were tested in R-WEFE Nexus platform effectively addressing the compound uncertainty stemming from socio-economic shift and hydroclimate variability intensified by changes in climate conditions.
The thesis provided valuable findings and recommendations, particularly focusing on the holistic WEFE sectors of Sardinia Island. The application of the SIMETAW_GIS model and R-WEFE Nexus platform effectively assessed the W-F Nexus and WEFE Nexus sectors respectively. Projected changes in socio-economic and climate change highlight the increasing uncertainty in the WEFE sectors.Water, energy, food, and ecosystem security serve as the main pillars of sustainable development, deeply linked in a way that shapes economic growth, human well-being and environmental balance. Sector-specific frameworks often neglect the intersectoral links resulting in fragmented solutions that lead to inefficiencies, unforeseen consequences and unsustainable outcomes that weaken the resilience of interdependent sectors. The compound uncertainty due to shift in climate extreme, socio-economic imbalance, and increasing resource demand intensified the issue related to the Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem sectors. The integrated approach “nexus” provides the understanding of complex intersectoral systems, enhance the synergies and minimize trade-offs to optimise the efficiency of resources.
The main aim of this thesis is to enhance sustainable resource management, particularly focusing on the WEFE Nexus under historical conditions and projected changes in climate. The thesis is divided into two parts to obtain these objectives, beginning with chapter 2 where a comprehensive assessment of the Water-Food (WF) Nexus in the Sardinia region is carried on. This objective was achieved by utilizing the Simulation of Evapotranspiration of Applied Water model integrated with GIS libraries (SIMETAW_GIS), i.e., the crop-water-soil balance model used to accurately estimate the crop water demand and quantify the yield losses due to water stress under historical and future projections. The modelling of crop water demand and the effect of water scarcity on crops delivers critical perceptions for the policymakers that can support the management of water resources and form the foundation for adaptation management strategies in the Sardinia region.
Chapter 3 expands the WF Nexus to a more holistic Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus analysis utilizing both qualitative and quantitative tools to understand and assess the complexity of the intertwined nature of WEFE systems with a special focus on seven hydrographic subbasins of Sardinia region. The qualitative tools Hoff WEF Nexus analytical framework and Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) were utilized to capture and explore the key linkages between water, energy, food, and ecosystem sectors. The novel quantitative tool R-WEFE Nexus platform was validated and coupled with climate change and socio-economic scenarios to investigate the nexus behaviour under various scenario conditions and policy frameworks. The policies were assessed against predefined thresholds to test the effective resource management and ensure the sustainability of sectoral strategies with sustainability goals. The study identifies favorable and unfavorable trajectories offering strategic recommendations for better nexus performance. These include adaptive strategies for enhancing water resource management, tourism management, sustainable land management, decarbonizing the economy by increasing the proportion of renewable energy, agriculture resilience, and ensuring ecosystem integrity. The multiple policies were tested in R-WEFE Nexus platform effectively addressing the compound uncertainty stemming from socio-economic shift and hydroclimate variability intensified by changes in climate conditions.
The thesis provided valuable findings and recommendations, particularly focusing on the holistic WEFE sectors of Sardinia Island. The application of the SIMETAW_GIS model and R-WEFE Nexus platform effectively assessed the W-F Nexus and WEFE Nexus sectors respectively. Projected changes in socio-economic and climate change highlight the increasing uncertainty in the WEFE sectors
Determination of heavy metal (Cadmium, manganese and aluminium) concentration in Likas river / Muhammad Faizan Masnan
Full text linkWater quality status in rivers can be determined by various factors such as physical factors, chemical factors and heavy metals pollution. In this study, three types of heavy metals namely Cadmium (Cd), Manganese (Mn) and Aluminium (Al) were determined in seven selected sampling station along the Likas River. The selections of stations were based on their land used such as industrial development including houses, factories and also villages. The water sampling was done in 3 consecutive months of April, May and June 2013. Water samples collected using polietilena bottle, then preserved using 70% Nitric Acid and analysis using AAS machine model PG990. Sampling station 7 located to lower stream recorded the highest reading of Cadmium (0.931 ppm), Manganese (0.506 ppm) and Aluminium (11.803 ppm) between other stations. Concentrations of these three heavy metals were different in each sampling stations and also vary in different months. Heavy metals of Cadmium, Manganese and Aluminium were determined according to land used that present at each sampling stations for 3 consecutive months. Few types of other heavy metals can be determine in future research and proper equipment can also be used to get better data
Acceptance & use of I-learn for academic purposes among students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Melaka / Muhammad Faizan Mahadi
Full text linkThe usage of i-Learn is common for Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) students as a platform of e-learning. However, there are still students who are unaware of the usage of i-Learn for academic purposes and its other useful features. This study thus aims to investigate the relationship between four acceptance factors towards the acceptance & use of I-Learn for academic purposes among students in UiTM Cawangan Melaka. In this study, the researcher used four acceptance factors, which are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition, as proposed in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The study put to use questionnaire as the research instrument and were distributed to 370 students from three different campuses in UiTM Cawangan Melaka which is Kampus Bandaraya, Kampus Alor Gajah, and Kampus Jasin. The findings is then analysed and showed that all of the variables proposed are related to the dependent variable. This study also resolved that facilitating condition is the most significant factor that contribute to the acceptance and use of i-Learn for academic purposes among students in UiTM Cawangan Melaka
Overcoming Barriers to Supply Chain Decarbonization: Case Studies of First Movers
Full text linkExcess greenhouse gas emissions from human and industrial activities are believed to be the key cause of catastrophic climate change. According to the United Nations, carbon neutrality by 2050 is the world's most urgent mission. Many countries recently made commitments to this mission; however, at a supply chain level, little is known about barriers to carbon neutrality, circumventing strategies, and their performance implications. This pioneering study addresses the knowledge gap by case studies of six first movers. We find four common barriers: “major upfront investment costs,” “lack of awareness,” “lack of expertise,” and “resistant mindset.” Small and medium-sized enterprises face additional barriers relating to “lack of support from supply chain partners” and “uncertainty in return on investment.” We find that most first movers achieved positive economic performance associated with their carbon neutrality initiatives. Based on the findings and the literature, we develop a framework and discuss practical implications for governments and businesses to jointly overcome barriers to supply chain decarbonization
Carbon neutrality drivers and implications for firm performance and supply chain management
No full textMany nations have committed to achieving carbon neutrality to combat climate change, but little is known about its drivers at the micro level and implications for firm performance and supply chain management. To address the knowledge gap, this research conducts case studies of seven early movers in the initiative by exploring the key drivers, influential stakeholders and effects of institutional pressures. We find four major drivers: ‘customer enforcement’, ‘sustainable business value’, ‘environmental legitimacy’ and ‘competitive pressures’. Customers and competitors were the most influential external stakeholders. Shareholders and top management with intrinsic environmental values, being internal stakeholders, played pivotal roles in a proactive move to carbon neutrality when there was limited regulatory pressure. The early movers believed in the long-term economic benefits of transitioning to carbon neutrality. We also identify the implications of carbon neutrality initiatives for supply chain management. Based on the research findings, we develop a decision support framework to guide firms in transitioning towards carbon neutrality in a multi-tier supply chain context
Extending the field of view with multiconjugate adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)
No full textAdsorption of Brilliant Green dye from aqueous solution onto red clay
No full textThis study was aimed at the adsorption of Brilliant Green (SG) dye on naturally existing red clay (RC) through batch adsorption experiment. Adsorbent characterization showed Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area 100.28 m(2)/g, pore volume 0.88 cm(3)/g, and pore diameter 148.2 angstrom. Batch studies were carried out to investigate the effect of experimental factors such as pH (2-10), particle size (58-150 mu m), adsorbent dose (0.3-1.5 g/L), contact time (5-1500 min), initial dye concentration (20-100 mg/L), and temperature (25-65 degrees C) on the adsorption of BG dye. Langmuir (R-2 = 0.993), Freundlich (R-2 = 0.997), Hansley (R-2 = 0.997) and Redlich-Peterson (R-2 = 0.999) isotherms were fitted to describe the equilibrium of BG adsorption process. Isothermal models showed that BG adsorption was a favorable process on RC. Adsorption kinetics were well fitted by Pseudo-second order kinetic model (R-2 = 0.999). Thermodynamic study revealed that BG adsorption on RC was spontaneous, favorable and physiosorptive. The maximum adsorption capacity of RC was found to be 125 mg/g. These results showed that BG dye can be effectively removed from aqueous solution employing RC as a cheap adsorbent. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
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
Electrical Testing for Detection and Classification of Open Damper Bar and Shorted Field Winding Failures in Wound Field Synchronous Motors
Full text link[EN] Broken damper bars and shorted field winding
turns degrade the starting and running performance of
industrial wound field synchronous motors (WFSMs), and can
lead to a forced outage of the motor and driven process. Testing
of WFSM rotor windings mainly relies on off-line tests, which
cannot be performed frequently and are known to lack
reliability. Shorted turns in the field winding can be detected on line from the airgap flux measurement, but require a sensor to
be installed on the stator bore. In this paper, new test methods
for detecting and classifying damper and field winding faults
based on electrical signals are proposed. The proposed methods
can provide remote testing at motor standstill and during the
motor starting transient without disassembling the motor. Test
results on a 30 kW, salient pole WFSM show that both test
methods can provide reliable detection and classification of
damper and field winding faults.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) under Grant NRF-2019R1A2C1084104.Muhammad Faizan Shaikh; Park, J.; Park, Y.; Antonino-Daviu, J.; Lee, SB. (2022). Electrical Testing for Detection and Classification of Open Damper Bar and Shorted Field Winding Failures in Wound Field Synchronous Motors. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. 58(4):4532-4541. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2022.3167017S4532454158
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