1,721,271 research outputs found
Facility layout problem: Bibliometric and benchmarking analysis
Full text linkFacility layout problem is related to the location of departments in a facility area, with the aim of determining the most effective configuration. Researches based on different approaches have been published in the last six decades and, to prove the effectiveness of the results obtained, several instances have been developed. This paper presents a general overview on the extant literature on facility layout problems in order to identify the main research trends and propose future research questions. Firstly, in order to give the reader an overview of the literature, a bibliometric analysis is presented. Then, a clusterization of the papers referred to the main instances reported in literature was carried out in order to create a database that can be a useful tool in the benchmarking procedure for researchers that would approach this kind of problems
CIME: Context-aware geolocation of emergency-related posts
Full text linkInformation extracted from social media has proven to be very useful in the domain of emergency management. An important task in emergency management is rapid crisis mapping, which aims to produce timely and reliable maps of affected areas. During an emergency, the volume of emergency-related posts is typically large, but only a small fraction is relevant and help rapid mapping effectively. Furthermore, posts are not useful for mapping purposes unless they are correctly geolocated and, on average, less than 2% of posts are natively georeferenced. This paper presents an algorithm, called CIME, that aims to identify and geolocate emergency-related posts that are relevant for mapping purposes. While native geocoordinates are most often missing, many posts contain geographical references in their metadata, such as texts or links that can be used by CIME to filter and geolocate information. In addition, social media creates a social network and each post can be enhanced with indirect information from the post’s network of relationships with other posts (for example, a retweet can be associated with other geographical references which are useful to geolocate the original tweet). To exploit all this information, CIME uses the concept of context, defined as the information characterizing a post both directly (the post’s metadata) and indirectly (the post’s network of relationships). The algorithm was evaluated on a recent major emergency event demonstrating better performance with respect to the state of the art in terms of total number of geolocated posts, geolocation accuracy and relevance for rapid mapping
Coffee biowaste valorization within circular economy: an evaluation method of spent coffee grounds potentials for mortar production
Full text linkPurpose: Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are biowastes extensively generated within the coffee supply chain. Nowadays, their disposal represents an increasing environmental concern due to its toxicity and organic nature. With the estimated increase of coffee production and consumption in the upcoming years, there is an imperative need to find a proper reverse option, along with a novel industrial application, which allows for the valorization of this coffee by-product within a circular economy perspective. This study aims at investigating a potential reuse of spent coffee grounds to produce novel construction materials to be used for sustainable buildings. Methods: After having illustrated the forward flows within the coffee life cycle and the potential reverse flow options, an evaluation method based on multi-criteria analyses was elaborated to test not only the technical but also the environmental and economic performances of novel materials originating from the incorporation of SCG as an aggregate in natural hydraulic lime and geopolymer-based mortars. Moreover, we focus on the reuse of another waste streams— biomass fly ash—deriving from the paper-pulp industry, rarely investigated in both traditional construction applications and in geopolymer manufacture. The two (geopolymer- and lime-based) mortar typologies are here studied and compared as potential green material for applications in construction, with satisfying engineering performance and high insulation attitude, giving a new life to a common organic waste. Consequently, we compare eight formulations by means of multi-criteria approaches that are nowadays claimed as a useful and effective decision aiding support instrument to assess the development of new sustainable construction materials. They permit to consider simultaneously some controversial and often uncertain aspects like technological (as the usual scientific studies do), environmental, and economic (more difficult to easily approach and evaluate). For this purpose, in this paper, we have analyzed the performance of the novel bio-composite mortars using VIKOR and TOPSIS methods to rank a set of alternatives according to various evaluation criteria that often conflict one with each other. Results: Results show that adding spent coffee grounds can efficiently improve the technical and sustainable performances of the novel mortars for different applications in the building sector. The presence of SCG increases water absorption and improves the insulation performance along with an environmental impact reduction. The considered technological properties are highly promising—such as the improvement in thermal insulation. In particular, even the addition of only 5% SCG leads to a significant reduction of the thermal conductivity and consequently to a greater insulating performance. Conclusions: To date, most of the available literature on recycling SCG in construction materials do not consider mortar-based applications and, moreover, nor multi-criteria approaches. Therefore, our study proposes itself as an innovative track solution to food waste management lowering the employment of non-renewable natural resources and the costs associated to construction material production. At the same time, a novel and innovative way of such waste disposal is suggested, pursuing the sustainability and substantially reducing the environmental impact of construction and building materials. This study is a fundamental step in assessing the applicability of our designed and produced materials and its potentials to be produced at an industrial scale
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
Multi criteria evaluation of a sustainable alkali-activated concrete
No full textThe construction industry is one of the most polluting sectors worldwide. In order to reduce the environmental footprint, novel green materials and processes are being considered by valorising and reusing wastes. This work investigates the production of a novel and sustainable geopolymeric concrete reusing biomass fly ash from kraft paper-pulp industry. In particular, this paper aims to evaluate the best combination of the aggregate granulometry used in the material production. For this purpose, the multicriteria method TOPSIS has been implemented in order to obtain a rank of the concrete specimens. In this approach only mechanical aspects have been considered and future developments will include criteria related on the buildings environmental conditions. The environmental conditions during in site exposure could in fact vary the performance achieved by the materials in laboratory test and GIS software could be a useful tool to combine information about quality material components and environmental condition
ELECTRE TRI-based approach for sorting projects portfolio: Focus on the European strategy
Full text linkThe European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation aims to facilitate the collaboration between public and private sectors in delivering innovation. To achieve this goal, Union Research and Innovation Programme provides various financial instruments, among which the Horizon 2020 is one of the most significant. Since its implementation, the Horizon 2020 has stimulated the interest of several research organizations making the partnerships among companies their core business for improving local economy. In this context, technological districts are the main proponents of research and innovation spreading in the local territory. In Sicily, the AgroBioPesca district exploited these opportunities, undertaking the strategic “Call for ideas” proposal with the aim of building its own roadmap for research and innovation. To such an aim, AgroBioPesca collected several innovative project ideas coherent with some Technological Trajectories (TT) provided by Horizon 2020 and in line with the national and local operational programmes. These project ideas have been evaluated by a technical and scientific committee, taking into account specific criteria related to the Horizon 2020 technical guidelines. This paper aims to select the AgroBioPesca best projects portfolio by applying the multiple criteria sorting method (MCSM) ELECTRE TRI. A sensitivity analysis has lastly been conducted in order to verify the robustness of the solutions obtained
A proposal for sorting a projects portfolio through the ELECTRE TRI method focused on the European strategy
No full textIn recent years, the partnerships between private companies and public organizations are becoming key elements for improving local development, territorial competitiveness, and delivering innovation. These collaborations are widely promoted by the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation thanks to the provision of several instruments, such as Horizon 2020. In this context, competitiveness's improvement of the territory employing research and innovation actions is supported by the technological districts. In Sicily, the AgroBioPesca district has attempted a strategic action named "Call for ideas" in order to design its own roadmap for research and innovation in the agri-food sector. For this purpose, many proponents of public and/or private sectors presented several innovative project ideas referred to specific Technological Trajectories. This paper aims at providing an instrument able to select the most suitable project ideas in order to constitute the AgroBioPesca projects portfolio. To such an aim, the authors propose the application of the multiple criteria sorting method ELECTRE TRI considering criteria deduced by the Horizon 2020 guidelines and documents. The application of this methodology allows subdividing the project ideas received into project ideas to be rejected, reviewable, and eligible for funding. Moreover, to consider the uncertainty of the decision-makers' judgment, the authors propose a new version of the method in which the crisp judgment is converted into an interval. A sensitivity analysis has lastly been conducted to study the weaknesses of non-financiable projects
Assessment of the Sustainability of University Academic Programs for the Accreditation: A Complex Challenge
Full text linkThe accreditation of university academic programs is a critical process in ensuring the quality and standards of higher education. A significant component of this process is the assignment of reference lecturers who make these academic programs sustainable. The problem of determining the appropriate faculty members to accredit university academic programs is a multifaceted challenge. The selection of reference lecturers for accreditation is influenced by various factors, including their academic positions, the subject area of their sectors according to the bachelor's or master's degree in which they are delivered, and the number of students enrolled compared to the degree classes. Moreover, the evolving nature of higher education, given its increased emphasis on interdisciplinary topics, further complicates this assessment due also to the presence of professors or researchers coming from other departments. The development of an optimization algorithm capable of simultaneously considering all the constraints of the problem is therefore needed to address these challenges and achieve to a balanced approach for a sustainable didactic offer. The optimization algorithm works by maximizing the number of lecturers available as reference lecturers for other departments and minimizing those needed from other departments and from external teaching contracts. The problem of reference lecturers does not refer to the department alone but to the entire atheneum
Development of a Vessel Scheduling Optimization Model to improve Maritime Transport sustainability
Full text linkThe social and economic development of the islands is generally dependent on the interconnection level with the mainland obtained through maritime transport services. When connecting many islands, the route planning is essential and typically a variety of constraints must be considered. Various optimization methods have been established to improve cost-efficiency but today environmental concerns, like the reduction of CO2 emissions, have become mandatory. This paper proposes a vessel scheduling optimization model able to simultaneously consider compulsory and optional tasks and vehicle-dependent profits. The algorithm was applied to seven islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea located in front of Sicily, named “Aeolian Islands”. Considering the regional requirements in terms of minimum number of routes and maximum fare prices for each season, this research compared the optimal vessels option obtained maximizing the profit with the one obtained minimizing the emissions. In particular, we have conducted three different analyses, in the first one we have considered only the mandatory routes while the second one was carried out identifying a series of potentially attractive additional activities based on historical demand data provided by the company that currently manages the service. Finally, the third analysis addresses a scenario where older fuel-powered vessels were replaced with hybrid electric ones
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