77 research outputs found
Assessment of environmental benefits from large-scale nature-based solutions
No full textNature-based solutions are measures that stem from nature’s inspiration with nature’s continual support to benefit the environment, society, and economy cost-efficiently and build resilience. They have been implemented worldwide and have been gaining popularity over the grey engineering solutions as they provide additional benefits to human well being and biodiversity. Several researches have quantified benefits and co-benefits. However, environmental benefits have not been specifically addressed. The focus on environmental benefits would encourage the decision-makers to implement and/ or up-scale nature-based solutions as it would increase the awareness and value tied to the nature-based solutions. Thus, this study is developed to highlight the environmental benefits of nature-based solutions. Within the scope of the study, four environmental benefits were considered: water quality, habitat structure, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Firstly, the tools and methodologies that evaluate the environmental benefits of implementing nature-based solutions were reviewed through a systematic literature review. The research articles were primarily focused on water quality. The need to develop an evaluation methodology to assess change in habitat with low data requirements was identified. It was realised that an evaluation methodology needs to be developed to assess the impact of habitat change. A methodology is proposed to translate CORINE land cover classes to EUNIS habitat classes. The methodology uses an ArcGIS toolbox to convert a land cover map to a habitat map. The toolbox, additionally, merges the maps from before and after the NBS implementation and identifies the change in habitat due to land cover change. The toolbox was applied to two case studies: Denmark and the Netherlands. The habitat change map showed that the methodology was able to demonstrate the habitat changes in a generalised case when no local data was available. The agricultural area had changed to water bodies and wetlands in the Netherlands due to depoldering. This potentially had a negative effect on the Black-tailed Godwit. In Demark, the construction of the artificial lake was found to be potentially beneficial for Red-necked Grebe. It can be implied that not all nature-based solutions have the same benefit. The impact of NBS can be different from species to species. In the future, additional data can be used to apply the special case habitat to explore the sensitivity of the methodology. Additionally, higher resolution data might be better to identify minor changes in habitat, relate to habitat connectivity and habitat suitability
Review of environmental benefits and development of methodology for EUNIS habitat changes from nature-based solutions: Application to Denmark and the Netherlands
No full textNature-Based solutions (NBS) are the measures supported by natural processes that can adapt to changing climates and generate diverse social, economic, and environmental benefits. Recognising the potential for additional NBS benefits, and quantifying these benefits is essential as it encourages decision-makers to implement and scale-up NBS initiatives. This paper presents findings from a systematic literature review. The review focused on tools and methodologies used for assessing the environmental benefits of implementing NBS. This review provides a detailed compilation of environmental indicators supported by assessment tools. It also includes a catalogue of tools for evaluating environmental benefits, thereby identifying research gaps. Moreover, this research proposes a methodology that uses an ArcGIS (Architecture of Geographic Information Systems) toolbox to identify habitat changes resulting from the implementation of NBS. The methodology translates CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) land cover classes to EUNIS (European Nature Information System) habitat classes. The developed toolbox was applied to two case studies: Denmark (12 NBS) and the Netherlands (3 NBS). The assessment aimed to compare the habitat changes between 2000 and 2018 as two extreme time points for NBS implementation for both case studies. Results indicate that NBS implementation can change habitats leading to an increase in the Red-necked Grebe population in Denmark and a decline in the Black-tailed Godwit population in the Netherlands (two threatened species). The population change highlights the potential positive and potential negative impacts of NBS in their respective cases. These findings suggest Denmark could benefit from lake construction and restoration projects. At the same time, the Netherlands could invest in wetlands and meadows construction and restoration projects to protect the respective species. They could establish designated breeding zones to ensure their population does not decline rapidly.BT/Environmental BiotechnologyHydraulic Structures and Flood Ris
An Online Resource Repository for Training Faculty in Laulima: An Organization and Collaboration of Resources
No full textUniversity of Hawaii System adopted an open source course management system (CMS) and converted it to Laulima. The project idea started when campuses within the University of Hawaii System started having individualized resources and services on university CMS tools. A collaboration and organization of the resources and services from these campuses using a centralized online resource repository within the course management system, Laulima was the idea the project proposed.Online Course Management Systems (CMS) have become one of the most popular technologies in teaching and learning today. The University of Hawaii has recently adopted an open source CMS and created a customized version for the University called Laulima. Many campuses in the University of Hawaii System (UH) are duplicating efforts by individually developing resources and employing staff to support faculty use of Laulima. A needs analysis conducted by the author regarding faculty use of Laulima revealed difficulty in accessibility of resources, resource availability, redundancy of resource materials developed by multiple campuses, and the need for self-paced support that can be used after introductory workshops or instead of the lengthy workshops. The purpose of this project was to design, develop and evaluate the usability of an online repository of Laulima tutorials developed at multiple UH campuses and made available to faculty throughout the UH system. Faculty throughout the UH system will have access to the repository through the course management system Laulima and specified staff editors from participating UH campuses will be able to edit and upload the files and tutorials to the online repository. Faculty users, staff editors and Educational Technology graduate students learning how to design an online course using course management systems from the participating campuses evaluated the usability of the centralized online resource repository for a period of ten days. Evaluation data was collected via online surveys and the results indicated the interests of participants and the success of the idea of a centralized online repository. Findings are expected to be of significance to those interested in or developing centralized online collaborative systems
The organizing principles of Brahmin-Chetri kinship
No full textThis article is a field analysis of data from anthropological research the author has been carrying out in the town of Pokhara, in west central Nepal. He has examined what he has found to be in close relation of these systems with Brahmin-Chhetri economic choice in a situation of change and development. The author concentrates on presenting and analysing Brahman-Chhetri kinship and its main organising principles, which are firmly held, willingly articulated, and firmly put into practice in Pokhara and surrounding hill areas. They suggest the nature of cultural continuity which can be..
Impact of shade on outdoor thermal comfort—a seasonal field study in Tempe, Arizona
No full textabstract: Shade plays an important role in designing pedestrian-friendly outdoor spaces in hot desert cities. This study investigates the impact of photovoltaic canopy shade and tree shade on thermal comfort through meteorological observations and field surveys at a pedestrian mall on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. During the course of 1 year, on selected clear calm days representative of each season, we conducted hourly meteorological transects from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and surveyed 1284 people about their thermal perception, comfort, and preferences. Shade lowered thermal sensation votes by approximately 1 point on a semantic differential 9-point scale, increasing thermal comfort in all seasons except winter. Shade type (tree or solar canopy) did not significantly impact perceived comfort, suggesting that artificial and natural shades are equally efficient in hot dry climates. Globe temperature explained 51 % of the variance in thermal sensation votes and was the only statistically significant meteorological predictor. Important non-meteorological factors included adaptation, thermal comfort vote, thermal preference, gender, season, and time of day. A regression of subjective thermal sensation on physiological equivalent temperature yielded a neutral temperature of 28.6 °C. The acceptable comfort range was 19.1 °C–38.1 °C with a preferred temperature of 20.8 °C. Respondents exposed to above neutral temperature felt more comfortable if they had been in air-conditioning 5 min prior to the survey, indicating a lagged response to outdoor conditions. Our study highlights the importance of active solar access management in hot urban areas to reduce thermal stress.Corresponding Author:
Ariane Middel
Arizona State University
[email protected]
Impact of shade on outdoor thermal comfort-a seasonal field study in Tempe, Arizona
No full textabstract: Shade plays an important role in designing pedestrian-friendly outdoor spaces in hot desert cities. This study investigates the impact of photovoltaic canopy shade and tree shade on thermal comfort through meteorological observations and field surveys at a pedestrian mall on Arizona State University's Tempe campus. During the course of 1 year, on selected clear calm days representative of each season, we conducted hourly meteorological transects from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and surveyed 1284 people about their thermal perception, comfort, and preferences. Shade lowered thermal sensation votes by approximately 1 point on a semantic differential 9-point scale, increasing thermal comfort in all seasons except winter. Shade type (tree or solar canopy) did not significantly impact perceived comfort, suggesting that artificial and natural shades are equally efficient in hot dry climates. Globe temperature explained 51 % of the variance in thermal sensation votes and was the only statistically significant meteorological predictor. Important non-meteorological factors included adaptation, thermal comfort vote, thermal preference, gender, season, and time of day. A regression of subjective thermal sensation on physiological equivalent temperature yielded a neutral temperature of 28.6 °C. The acceptable comfort range was 19.1 °C-38.1 °C with a preferred temperature of 20.8 °C. Respondents exposed to above neutral temperature felt more comfortable if they had been in air-conditioning 5 min prior to the survey, indicating a lagged response to outdoor conditions. Our study highlights the importance of active solar access management in hot urban areas to reduce thermal stress
Nepal – India - China trilateral relations: Issues & challenges
No full textThe trilateral relations between Nepal–India and China structurally have profound impact on international world politics today. This research emphasizes that how these countries come from different political structure and forms trilateral relations to achieve their political, military and economic desires. The author argues that why Nepal has been in so much of chaos? Is it because of the influence of the two booming world economies in Asia? Or is it because of the internal geopolitics happening in Nepal? Why dose India and China engulfs itself in the national affairs of Nepal? Is it because India's prominent position among the SAARC countries? Or is it because of the China's predominant position in the world affairs? Under the absolute monarchy, Nepali citizens were much healthier and secured. However why now under the current Maoist regime Nepal is facing unemployment, corruption, lacking in decision-making and forming public policy? As it is apparent, Nepal plays a vital role because of its geostrategic position in-between India and China. Hence the economic and the political stability of Nepal would be a key to enhance in evolving better trilateral relations among these powers
Implementation of Blockchain Technology into Human resource recruitment
No full textHuman resource management is a prominent part of an organization, which is responsible for hiring talents, developing different sorts of policies, and assisting in the employee life cycle. In this fast-paced world, the functions of the HR department are still very tedious. A relatively long time is required by the organization to hire the right talent and organizational efficiency is suffering. Thus, to overcome this problem and speed up the process of hiring, the integration of blockchain would be helpful.
The major goal of this thesis paper is to investigate the possible benefits of implementing blockchain technology into human resource management especially in recruiting and suggests a prototype of blockchain application. Thorough research has been done to design the model of the system under the supervision of industry experts. Qualitative research has been done to collect the data where surveys and six structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis has been performed through thematic analysis. The main outcome of the study is to find the prevalent problems faced by hiring managers and examine how blockchain can solve those problems.
In conclusion, this research paper has investigated that the problems faced by hiring managers were fake resumes, lack of talented applications/ talent supply, lack of company’s branding, in-efficient work from third hiring party company and maximum time consumption in verifying candidate details. Further, it has been found that by implementing blockchain technology, companies can get access to a large number of talent pools, easily verify details, do not have to depend on a third hiring party. These findings have allowed the author to suggest a prototype of the blockchain system and suggest future study recommendations as well
A Bayesian learning approach to advance the reliability of LeAgile project portfolio management
No full textThis dissertation contributes to a growing body of research on Project and Portfolio Management for the Information System’s LeAgile projects, which require continuous planning, delivery, and improvement. It introduces a Bayesian learning approach to continuously assess the performance of the LeAgile project and portfolio. The principle of Pasteur’s quadrant is used to realize a highly practical solution, which extends the existing wisdom on LeAgile continuous planning. Binomial and Exponential distributions are applied to respectively model the number of tasks completed and time to completion in LeAgile projects; the Bayesian learning technique is implemented to continuously update the models and the performance measures such as project baseline and reliability. The accuracy of the Bayesian approach is compared with the traditional approaches using real case SharePoint data. Specifically, the continuously predicted new baseline, reliability, and project performance at both project-level and portfolio level are compared among 569 similar tasks of five projects. The results suggest that the evolving Bayesian baselines can generate a more realistic measure of performance than traditional static baselines. Similarly, Bayesian reliability estimation generated a more realistic metric to continuously plan and measure the performance of evolving LeAgile projects and portfolios. This research suggests accurate performance estimation can be achieved by continuous learning from immediately prior and continuous evolution of baselines. Furthermore, the continual learning approach considers the cumulative effect of all past experiences of each task to achieve continuous project reliability and performance prediction. This study provides a practical performance prediction tool for decision making, enabling LeAgile projects and portfolios to be better managed in the continuously changing environments of today.Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2022. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left
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