1,720,988 research outputs found
Developing an input-output model for benchmarking company resource usage
Full text linkThe intensive exploitation of natural resources and the increased awareness regarding the impact of their consumption on the environment suggests the need to be more efficient and to encourage a sustainable use of these resources. This is also a major goal for all industrial companies that are currently facing high costs related to energy, water, and material resources for production while aiming to remain competitive in the market.
This dissertation introduces the development of a model, which through data input proceeding from resource’s consumption in manufacturing companies generates an output of resource efficiency indicators in six different categories (materials, energy, water, wastewater, solid-waste; air-emissions) which are in turn used for benchmarking company resource usage and then provide a solid basis for decision-making regarding the implementation of resource efficiency measures, that shall lead companies to improve their overall efficiency and profitability. In order to further assess the companies’ performance in terms of resource efficiency, it is applied a ranking system using fuzzy logic due to its ability to model complex realities and use subjective information based on human knowledge and experience
Decision Support System for Production Planning from a Sustainability Perspective
Full text linkManufacturing enterprises supply our global demand for products, creating economic value.
Moreover, they are also responsible for several environmental and social impacts, e.g., green-house gases, waste, and poor working conditions. These impacts cause climate change, air and sea pollution, and social inequality, which are a few examples of current challenges for global sustainability strategies. However, researchers have widely addressed these impacts and warned politicians and society about the risk of the collapse of ecosystems.
Despite these warnings, manufacturing enterprises still have difficulties improving the sustainability of their production processes. Therefore, new technologies are required to support enterprises and help determine their production processes’ sustainability status by considering multiple aspects (economic, environmental, and social). Moreover, advice should be given on how the identified issues can be avoided, reduced, or compensated for future production activities.
This research presents a fuzzy decision support system and an experimental study for sustainability-based production planning. For this approach, systematic literature reviews were made, analysing concept methods for sustainability-based production management and planning. The results show, among other things, that current methods for sustainability-production planning are focused on single aspects of sustainability (e.g., energy or waste planning). Therefore, a fuzzy decision support system was developed that simultaneously evaluates social, environmental, and economic aspects. The decision support system's model identifies the most significant opportunities to improve the production program's sustainability and gives recommendations on how to change it.
The decision support system was tested and validated in an experimental study in the production planning laboratory at Emden University of Applied Sciences. The study results discuss problems, needs, and challenges affecting sustainability-based production planning.
Moreover, opportunities for future research were identified based on the limitations of the experimental study.As empresas transformadoras satisfazem a procura global de produtos, criando valor económico. No entanto, também são responsáveis por vários impactos ambientais e sociais, por exemplo, gases de efeito estufa, resíduos e más condições de trabalho. Estes impactos originam alterações climáticas, poluição do ar e do mar e desigualdade social, que constituem alguns exemplos dos desafios que se colocam atualmente às estratégias globais de sustentabilidade. De notar que os investigadores têm abordado amplamente estes impactos e alertado os políticos e a sociedade sobre o risco do colapso dos ecossistemas.
Apesar destes alertas, as empresas transformadoras ainda têm dificuldades em melhorar a sustentabilidade dos seus processos produtivos. Como tal, são necessárias novas tecnologias para apoiar as empresas, ajudando a caracterizar o estado de sustentabilidade dos seus processos de produção, considerando múltiplos fatores (económicos, ambientais e sociais). Além disso, devem ser dados conselhos sobre o modo como os problemas identificados podem ser evitados, reduzidos ou compensados em atividades de produção futuras.
A investigação realizada contribuiu para o desenvolvimento de um sistema de apoio à decisão difuso, aplicado a um estudo de caso de planeamento da produção baseado na sustentabilidade. Para o efeito, foram conduzidas revisões sistemáticas da literatura, analisando os conceitos associados aos métodos para gestão e planeamento da produção baseado na sustentabilidade. Os resultados revelam, entre outras conclusões, que os métodos atuais para o planeamento da produção sustentável estão focados em fatores isolados de sustentabilidade (e.g., planeamento energético ou de resíduos). Perante este contexto, foi desenvolvido um sistema de apoio à decisão difuso, que avalia simultaneamente fatores sociais, ambientais e económicos. O modelo do sistema de apoio à decisão identifica as oportunidades mais significativas para melhorar a sustentabilidade do programa de produção e fornece recomendações
sobre o modo como este pode ser alterado. O sistema de apoio à decisão foi testado e validado num estudo de caso simulado no laboratório de planeamento da produção na Universidade de Ciências Aplicadas de Emden. Os resultados do estudo de caso permitiram analisar os problemas, necessidades e desafios que afetam o planeamento da produção baseado na sustentabilidade. Complementarmente, foram identificadas oportunidades de investigação futuras, considerando as limitações do estudo de caso realizado
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
Technologie- und Erkenntnistransfer aus der Wissenschaft in die Industrie : eine explorative Untersuchung in der deutschen Material- und Werkstoffforschung
Full text linkWie können Erkenntnisse aus der Grundlagenforschung für die industrielle Praxis frühzeitig genutzt werden? Welche Wege für den Erkenntnistransfer gibt es? Und
vor allem: Wie kann dieser Prozess beschleunigt werden? Das sind die zentralen
Fragen, auf die der vorliegende Band am Beispiel der Materialwissenschaften
eine Antwort sucht.
In den zurückliegenden drei Jahrzehnten haben sich die Materialwissenschaften
als eigenständige Disziplin etabliert, die Technologien für alle industriellen
Branchen bereitstellt. Die Werkstoffe spielen in vielen Technologiesektoren sogar
eine Schlüsselrolle im Innovationsprozess. Allerdings zeigt sich immer deutlicher,
dass der Technologietransfer an Dynamik verliert. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat die
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft eine Studie unterstützt, deren Ergebnisse hiermit
vorliegen
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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