The following paper, "Shipping to a landlocked country: maritime port choice decision from a consignee's perspective" (International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics 16(1/2) 2023), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
New research in the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies has looked at how comparative international law (CIL) can be used to better understand international migration law (IML). CIL is a research area that compares and analyses the laws and legal systems of different countries and regions. It can be used to show the similarities and reveal the differences in legal systems with a view to identifying best practices and emerging trends and how these might affect legal systems at the national level.
In the new work, Gillian Kane of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, Ireland, has shown how CIL could enhance the analysis of international migration law by offering insights into the interaction between different migration regimes within states. The work also reveals the limitations of CIL, but suggests that CIL should become the focus of increased attention with implications for policymakers and stakeholders.
Migration is, of course, nothing new, but ever-increasing global mobility driven by a wide range of factors means there are new contexts for understanding migration and its governance. There is now a pressing need to understand the legal world with respect to migrant workers, refugees, and trafficked persons among others. “Given that migration, by its very nature, often transcends state borders, international law’s central role in migration governance is unsurprising,” Kane writes. She points out that the research perhaps raises more questions than it answers, such as “where to from here?” but might also point to how to answer such questions.
It could be time for scholars in this research area to reflect on how CIL, either alone or used in parallel with other approaches, could boost their research. “As IML scholars begin to explicitly adopt CIL frameworks, where appropriate, and engage in reflection about the insight and understanding which CIL can provide, the answer to the question of ‘where to from here?’ will emerge in practice,” Kane explains.
Kane, G. (2023) ‘Comparative international law: enhancing migration law enquiry?’, Int. J. Migration and Border Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.149–165.
The following paper, "The Bee Brick: building habitat for solitary bees" (International Journal of Sustainable Design 4(3/4) 2022), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications 13(5/6) 2022
The following paper, "Corporate social responsibility as sustainability management: international shipping firms and financial performance" (International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics 16(1/2) 2023), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
There are significant privacy concerns surrounding the use of smart phones with camera-based assistive technology. The primary concern being that visually impaired users relying on such technology for facial recognition and object identification purposes may be exposing themselves and others to compromise through liberal software permissions on their device or should their device, connections, or the software be breached in some way by third parties.
Writing in the International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Hyung Nam Kim of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, discusses user perspectives and the state of digital privacy issues in this realm. He has carried out a small-scale survey of users with visual impairments who use this technology and associated software.
The survey revealed that very few users had much knowledge of the privacy policies and potential risks of using assistive technology and were generally unaware of the potential issues that might arise with privacy and security breaches of personal information. Kim has developed the research to help form a conceptual framework that could be used to help researchers and professionals in this field to provide better support and education for those with visual impairment relying on this technology in their everyday lives, whether at work, in public, or even in the home.
Given that a significant proportion of people with visual impairments in the USA are just as likely as fully sighted people to use and engage with social media sites such as Facebook, there is a pressing need to improve and enhance their privacy awareness given the additional layer of risk they must face in using extra software to interact and engage online and so remain independent.
Kim, H.N. (2023) ‘Digital privacy of smartphone camera-based assistive technology for users with visual disabilities’, Int. J. Human Factors and Ergonomics, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.66–84.
The following paper, "Schema.org for research data managers: a primer" (International Journal of Big Data Management 2(2)2022), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
Research in the International Journal of Arts and Technology has looked at how generative adversarial networks (GANs) might be used to transform an artistic image with a given style into a similar image with a different style. For example, a Western abstract transformed into a Chinese figurative image. Tests with this type of artificial intelligence, AI, and the results of questionnaires about the generated art reveal how people in the East and West might perceive artistic style differently when presented with such images. The work might also help us understand art appreciation, concept of beauty and whether or not AI can somehow “understand” art in a parallel manner.
Mai Cong Hung of Osaka University and Ryohei Nakatsu, Naoko Tosa, and Takashi Kusumi of Kyoto University, Japan, explain how a new paradigm in AI – big data + deep learning – has emerged. This approach to AI is developing rapidly with many positive results and benefits to those in the field and beyond. There is always the underlying notion that given that the neural networks used in AI are based on our brains there might be some parallels with how these networks function with our own thought processes. Indeed, AI has surpassed human ability in some areas, for instance in playing Shogi (Japanese chess) and Go. These are games of logic and planning but the question arises as to whether AI can compare in terms of creativity and art.
The team found that by converting one artistic image into the style of another artist there were able to anonymise the image so that the viewers’ perception of the image was not coloured by preconceived notions about the artist. They found that volunteers perceived an original abstract artwork by Kandinsky transformed to look like a new abstract painting by one of the authors to be similar in characteristics. They suggest that this might suggest that Western abstract art and Eastern figurative art have very close parallels. It may be that they are essentially interchangeable semantically. They do concede that at this point it is not possible to automatically determine the origins of the original artwork as being from the Western tradition or the Eastern.
Hung, M.C., Nakatsu, R., Tosa, N. and Kusumi, T. (2022) ‘Learning of art style using AI and its evaluation based on psychological experiments’, Int. J. Arts and Technology, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp.171–191.
International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 16(4) 2023
We know that bees are important to natural ecosystems and also to human agriculture and horticulture. They are great pollinators of so plant flowering plant species and are also a source of food and materials we have used for thousands of years, namely honey, honeycomb, and beeswax.
Here’s the sting in the tale though. Bees are in decline. The problem is partly due to habitat and climate change but also because of our growing reliance on pesticides for food production. Conservation and rewilding efforts are often stymied by building construction. So, what if we could incorporate bee-friendly habitats into those very buildings?
Writing in the International Journal of Sustainable Design, a UK research team discusses the design of a bee brick, which can be incorporated into the stonework of a new building, or perhaps even replace some bricks in older buildings. The bee brick is aimed at providing habitat for solitary bees, which are far more common pollinators than the more familiar honeybee.
Kate Christman and Laura Hodsdon of Falmouth University’s Penryn Campus and Rosalind Shaw of the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, explain that there are some 250 species of bee in the UK. 9 out of every 10 of these species is a solitary bee species, one that does not congregate and swarm with its own kind to build and maintain a hive. And, of the solitary bees around one in twenty makes its nest in a cavity. Creating suitable habitats for these master pollinators should be a priority in construction, especially given that the incorporation of suitable cavities in a number of bricks used in a building could be done relatively easily.
The team’s bee brick is a “fit and forget” component of construction. There is no ongoing maintenance and the solitary bees will find the bricks, use them to test and represent no threat to the occupants of the building. The team’s design has to be durable and strong enough, of course, to substitute for a standard building brick. It would benefit from being low-cost and made from recycled materials.
As such, china clay waste found in abundance in Cornwall is the material of choice the team suggests. Add some granite aggregate and cement as a binder, and the team had the right recipe for their bee brick. Each bee brick has 18 cavities moulded part-way into the otherwise solid structure. There is the potential to have different colours to fit more aesthetically with a given construction project or even to highlight the presence of the bee bricks in a site.
The team explains that “The Bee Brick provides a nesting site for solitary bees, adapting and rethinking how existing building components are used. Made using locally sourced recycled materials, it offers the dual function of being a construction material that also promotes biodiversity.”
Christman, K., Shaw, R. and Hodsdon, L. (2022) ‘The Bee Brick: building habitat for solitary bees’, Int. J. Sustainable Design, Vol. 4, Nos. 3/4, pp.285–304.
International Journal of Web Based Communities 19(1) 2023
As we sit once more on the cusp of major change in our world with the advent of machine learning, algorithm-driven decision-making, and so-called artificial intelligence, it is time once again to ask a question that piqued commentators during the industrial revolution of the 19th Century: Does social change drive technological innovation or is the path taken by society determined by new technology.
Writing in the European Journal of International Management, Fred Phillips of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, USA, suggests that there is no need to answer such a question. Indeed, given that it can be argued perfectly well that both perspectives are true and that both perspectives are false, it is time for us to recognise that society and technology form a continuous feedback loop with each other. A nudge from one, leads to a change in the other, but that change then drives additional in the other and so on. We can thus say goodbye to determinism and welcome the circle of innovation.
The nuances of each deterministic viewpoint – society driving technological change and technology leading to societal change – were noticed by Schumpeter in 1943 who argued for a feedback cycle to explain change. However, most research since has been divisive talking of a social determinism or technological determinism as if the two paradigms could somehow exist in isolation. Phillips argues that we must now recognise the feedback loops as underpinning change and innovation. Such recognition could provide a clearer vision for innovators and technologists, policymakers and economists, businesses and society.
Phillips points out that our current technology and the nature of society today allow us to see more clearly the feedback cycles that underpin both and to override the linguistic biases that lead us into deterministic deadends when we could instead be rolling forward.
Phillips, F. (2023) ‘Goodbye to determinism: the circle of innovation’, European J. International Management, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp.295–306.
International Journal of Data Science 4(2) 2022
There are many different forms of autoimmune disease, but by definition they all have one thing in common – they arise when the body’s immunological defences go awry and attack our cells or trigger biochemical changes that lead to inflammation and other responses that can be detrimental to our health. There are at least 150 different autoimmune diseases, some of them have the status of rare disease while others, such as Type I diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease are quite common.
Research in the International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications has looked at several autoimmune diseases using bioinformatics to help improve our understanding of these important diseases.
Durbadal Chatterjee, Jyoti Parkash, and Arti Sharma of the Central University of Punjab in Bathinda, India, have focused on eight autoimmune diseases: Addison’s disease, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, myasthenia gravis, pernicious anaemia, psoriatic arthritis, systematic lupus erythematosus, and vasculitis. They explain that science is yet to determine the genetic and biochemical pathways that give rise to these diseases.
The researchers point out that some autoimmune diseases don’t tend to become apparent clinically at a single moment but symptoms gradually emerge in the patient ultimately leading to a diagnosis. Unfortunately, the problems are difficult to disentangle from the observations of autoimmune disease as some run in families, some are triggered by infection, and others arise because of environmental factors. It is possible that a combination of factors underpins the emergence of some diseases and that the specifics might be different from patient to patient. It is worth noting that genetics will inevitably have some role to play even if it is not the entire explanation.
The team has probed the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database of genetic information surrounding these conditions and identified 668 genes associated with this group of diseases. The team found that most of these genes are involved in processes related to the activity of the immune system, intracellular signalling, and metabolism. However, while these genes are expressed and active in healthy people, they are silenced or have altered activity levels in people with these various autoimmune diseases.
The researchers found that one gene in particular, PTPN22, was present in seven of the eight diseases we studied. PTPN22, or protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 is a member of the so-called PEST family of protein tyrosine phosphatases. It acts to lower T cell receptor (TCR) signalling, which keeps activity and biochemistry steady, it maintains homeostasis, in T cells until they are needed by the immune system to fight disease.
The findings open up the possibility of finding pharmaceuticals that might be used to control errant behaviour of the proteins associated with the given gene and so perhaps modulate the problematic autoimmune response in patients. The work might also provide useful clues as to how more targeted immunotherapy and stem cell treatments might be developed, that would again allow medicine to control the harmful immune response in these diseases.
“With the development of proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics, far more sensitive and specific methodologies will be developed in the future. Improved understanding of protein-protein interactions and specific targets anticipate further improvements in challenges of autoimmune diseases,” the team concludes.
Chatterjee, D., Parkash, J. and Sharma, A. (2022) ‘A bioinformatics approach to solving the puzzle of autoimmune diseases’, Int. J. Bioinformatics Research and Applications, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp.415–459.
The following paper, "Impact of business transfer on economic performance: the case of Italian family farms" (International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 48(2) 2023), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation 17(1/2) 2023
International Journal of Business and Globalisation 33(1/2) 2023
A significant amount of electrical energy could be generated from municipal solid waste in the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi metropolitan areas of Indonesia, collectively known as Jabodetabek.
Research published in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management used historical data on municipal waste available from the Regional Environmental Agency and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, to build a model of the electrical potential for the period 2020-2030 based on energy generation estimates from an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) model.
Moh. Hadianto Ismangoen, Leopold Oscar Nelwan, I. Wayan Budiastra, and Kudang Boro Seminar of the IPB University in Bogor, and Muhammad Achirul Nanda of the Universitas Padjadjaran in Jatinangor estimate that during 2020 more than 800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity might have been generated from waste and that by 2030, the figure could be well over 1000 GWh given appropriate infrastructure development. The team says such figures should be sufficient incentive for policymakers to develop an integrated waste management system in the Jabodetabek metropolitan area to utilise the vast quantities of solid waste – more than 8 million tonnes annually – and to produce biogas from the “organic” part for electricity generation.
Such a solution will help a developing region cope with its solid waste but does raise the issue of pollution and carbon emissions, which are inescapable as the biogas must be burned to heat water to generate steam to turn the turbines. Of course, there can be enormous net benefits when compared to burning fossil fuels in the absence of solar, wind, tidal, hydroelectric, or other alternatives.
Ismangoen, M.H., Nanda, M.A., Nelwan, L.O., Budiastra, I.W. and Seminar, K.B. (2022) ‘Estimation of energy generation from municipal solid waste in the Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area, Indonesia’, Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp.453–471.
The role of technology in healthcare is high on the agenda especially in the face of rising costs, but also more positively in terms of how providers can improve the outcomes for patients with improvements in technology. Indeed, technology is critical to patient outcomes and the overall performance of healthcare systems. A literature review published in the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management would suggest that current research in the field has not fully explored just how far we might take the deployment of technology in improving the performance of healthcare provision.
Amia Enam, Heidi Carin Dreyer, Jonas A. Ingvaldsen, and Luitzen De Boer of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim conducted a systematic literature review to come to this conclusion. They identified three key limitations in the published research. First, there is an apparent lack of understanding of the connection between technology and healthcare performance. Secondly, existing theories are not being used effectively in many studies. Thirdly, there is a lack of understanding of the context in which technology is deployed.
The team has developed a framework that could be used to help address these limitations in the research literature. The researchers suggest that future work might focus on conceptualizing technology in terms of its functionalities, clearly identify and explain the choice of performance attributes, and identify and explain the mechanisms by which technology, and specifically information technology serves healthcare operations.
Ultimately, by highlighting the importance of a clearer understanding of how technology is used to improve healthcare performance, the team hopes that the next tranche of research papers to enter the literature might more effectively fill the gaps in current knowledge. The team adds that their framework could help researchers produce the research to support healthcare providers and policymakers in making informed decisions about technology deployment, ultimately to the benefit of patient and perhaps even the bottom line.
Enam, A., Dreyer, H.C., Ingvaldsen, J.A. and De Boer, L. (2022) ‘Improving healthcare operations with IT deployment: a critical assessment of literature and a framework for future research’, Int. J. Healthcare Technology and Management, Vol. 29, No. 3/4, pp.185 - 217.
The following paper, "The impact of selected elements of the business environment on employment and production of companies in the EU - a comparison of companies controlled by domestic and foreign persons" (International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 17(1) 2023), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
The reliability and security of power distribution systems is a critical infrastructure issue that can affect the lives of many people when compromised. Research in the International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion looks at how the gSpan method for screening data sets can be used to ensure power security.
Keyan Liu of the China Electric Power Research Institute and Hui Zhou of the School of Electrical Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University both in Haidian District, Beijing, China, have proposed a new method for detecting abnormal data in digital power distribution devices. Their approach utilises the gSpan algorithm and a cloud computing platform. By combining fuzzy association rules to collect abnormal data and wavelet threshold denoising to clean and prepare the data. The researchers explain that they then use the gSpan algorithm to screen the processed data and to extract strong correlations for secondary screening to give them the final results.
The gSpan algorithm is a graph-based algorithm commonly used in pattern mining and structured data analysis. It can detect irregular, unexpected, and incomplete patterns in a data set. Fuzzy association rules allow uncertain and imprecise information to be processed, while wavelet threshold denoising improves data accuracy by boosting the signal-to-noise ratio.
Proof of principle tests have shown the approach to have a minimum screening time of 6.2 seconds and an error rate of less than 0.2%, it also demonstrates a low rate of missing data. Overall, the team suggests that their approach offers a faster and more accurate means of detecting abnormal data in power distribution devices. The approach improves on the length of time that is often needed with traditional methods to screen for abnormal data, it reduces the number of errors, and cuts the rate of missed data. The next step will be to improve the data-processing capacity of the approach while ensuring data-screening efficiency is maintained.
Liu, K. and Zhou, H. (2022) ‘An abnormal data screening method of digital power distribution device based on gSpan’, Int. J. Power and Energy Conversion, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.170–181.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 48(2) 2023
Research published in the International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development has shed new light on what makes young people in Ghana more likely to start their own businesses.
Victoria Mann, Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah, Stephen Mahamah Braimah, and Kwame Adom of the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ghana Business School in Legon-Accra surveyed 600 unemployed young adults to help them understand entrepreneurial motivations. They found through an analysis of the survey results using structural equation modelling that having a positive attitude and feeling in control of one’s actions were the biggest factors influencing whether a respondent had the desire to become an entrepreneur. The team also found that when the same young people had the support of those around them and a strong desire to start a business they were more likely to actually go through with it.
Interestingly, and in some ways paradoxically, the researchers also showed that despite these various factors encouraging entrepreneurialism in young people, most of the young adults surveyed said they were unsure of themselves, self-doubt was common. They often reported that they needed more help and guidance in order to feel truly confident in their business aspirations and ventures.
The researchers suggest that their findings could help policymakers in Ghana devise new approaches to better support and encourage young entrepreneurs and so help this developing nation thrive. They add that by understanding the perceived and real problems that are holding back young people and preventing them from from starting their own businesses, they could devise ways to give them the boost they need to succeed.
It is worth adding that their analysis explained only 38% of the variance in the actual entrepreneurship behaviour of those surveyed. The team suggests that future studies need to investigate the mediation or moderation roles of other environmental factors to explain that variance more completely. Policies that reduce barriers to entrepreneurialism due to costs and taxes might also be looked at and the issues addressed at the governmental level to encourage new businesses where enthusiasm among young entrepreneurs is stifled by limiting financial pressures.
Mann, V., Tweneboah-Koduah, E.Y., Braimah, S.M. and Adom, K. (2023) ‘Understanding entrepreneurship behaviour among the youth: a behavioural change theory perspective’, Int. J. Management and Enterprise Development, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.1–24.
The following paper, "Improving healthcare operations with IT deployment: a critical assessment of literature and a framework for future research" (International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management 19(3/4) 2022), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
Research in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising has investigated how online social networks can influence our choice of holiday destination. The team found that about two-thirds of people interviewed use sites such as Instagram and Facebook to help them decide on the places they would like to visit. LinkedIn had a lot less influence on such decisions, the team found. The study has implications for those working in tourism marketing and management.
Bruno Miguel Vieira, Ana Pinto Borges, and Elvira Pacheco Vieira of the ISAG – European Business School and Research Centre in Business Sciences and Tourism (CICET – FCVC), in Porto, Portugal suggest that it is beyond doubt that social networks are important hubs of information and opinion that influence our choices with regard to so many aspects of our lives including the products and services on which we choose to spend our money.
The researchers have used various approaches to examine this notion. They extend the technology acceptance model (TAM), a widely used framework for understanding how and why people adopt new technologies, and looked at perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, attitude towards use, and perceived enjoyment. They also consider the effects of electronic word-of-mouth recommendations and previous influence factors and how all of those feed the decision-making process for putative tourists and their behavioural intention with regard to using social networking to help them decide on their next destination.
The answers from their survey of tourists were analysed using quantitative research methods, including confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. These tools allowed the team to test their hypotheses rigorously. The use of logistic regression helped home in on an explanation of the influence of social networking on finding information about a destination and on making the final choice to visit that place.
“Our results show that businesses need to consider this mean as one of the most cost-effective way to reach potential consumers,” the team writes. “The conclusions of our study provide important inputs for decision-makers to define strategies to make the best advantages of these powerful new tools.”
Vieira, B.M., Pinto Borges, A. and Pacheco Vieira, E. (2023) ‘The role of social networks for decision-making about tourism destinations’, Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp.1–27.
International Journal of Business and Globalisation 32(4) 2022
International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion 13(2) 2022
According to the World Health Organisation, tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste from the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put incredible strain on healthcare waste-management systems particularly where infrastructure was already limited in the developing nations. Plastic waste, needles, test kits, masks, and liquid waste represent a significant disposal problem but also a direct risk to individuals required to handle and process such waste in terms of potential needle stick injuries, burns from corrosive chemicals, and exposure to pathogens, including the causative agent of SARS-CoV-2.
Researchers from the University of Benin, Nigeria writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management point out that at the height of the pandemic and to this day was not being appropriately handled and contaminated materials were often seen to be overflowing from bins outside hospitals and simply accumulating untreated piles representing a health risk to staff, patients, and the general public should they come into contact with these materials.
The team of Efosa Bolaji Odigie, Osaze Blessing Airiagbonbu, Joyce Osarogie Odigie, and Adiru Afolabi Adegboye suggest that the mishandling of healthcare waste could represent a serious risk of pathogens recirculating and reinfecting. A lack of awareness, negligence, ignorance, and inept infrastructure are all to blame for the problem, the team suggests. They suggest that disinfection followed by incineration is critical to reducing the ongoing risk from healthcare materials.
In their summary, the team offers a six-point approach to dealing with medical waste to reduce the potential risks.
First, they suggest that waste generated from management of COVID-19 should be collected, handled, and disposed of aseptically before management by trained waste collectors. The materials must not be recycled. Secondly, such waste should be stored for as short a period as possible before disposal. Their third point suggests that hospital administrators must ensure waste does not enter the environment. Fourthly, that same administration must work with professional waste mangers to ensure policies are in place to monitor the management and disposal of COVID-19 generated waste.
The team’s final two points address regulatory and governmental issues and they suggest that there needs to be raised awareness of the dangers and risks associated with improper healthcare waste management in this pandemic era particularly with the relevant authorities and that governments in developing and under-developed countries should urgently put into law the necessary regulations to ensure that waste disposal standards are in place and upheld.
This work should help guide us with respect to COVID-19 healthcare waste disposal but will also stand us in good stead in terms of addressing similar issues when we face subsequent pandemics.
Odigie, E.B., Airiagbonbu, O.B., Odigie, J.O. and Adegboye, A.A. (2022) ‘Environmental pollution from COVID-19 generated wastes result in widespread recycling of SARS-CoV-2 infection’, Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp.1–13.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 48(1) 2023
International Journal of Trade and Global Markets 16(1/2/3) 2022
They say an army marches on its stomach, but an army of soldier fly larvae mashes food waste into compost. New work in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management could help in the fight to mitigate the growing problem of food waste from restaurants, fast food establishments, and other eateries.
It is difficult to obtain precise figures on the generation of food waste worldwide, but it is estimated that the global food service industry generates billions of tons of food waste each year. Much of this waste is fed into landfills, where it simply contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems.
Ideally, reducing food waste across the industry would be an important step in addressing global food insecurity and reducing the environmental impact of food production. However, there will always be some food waste regardless of our best efforts to minimise waste. Some might be suitable for conversion into raw materials for biofuel production, but much of the waste could benefit from efficient processing into compost for farming and gardening.
A. Jamilah, K.A. Irfana, A.J. Nurul Ain, N.M. Nur Aimi, A.B. Noor Ezlin, and A. Mohd Reza of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Selangor have investigated the potential of larvae of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, to break down food waste from cafeterias into useful compost for agriculture. The team carried out studies on uncooked food waste, cooked general food waste, and cooked vegetable-only food waste. They found that the larvae could convert all of the available food waste offered to them within twelve days at which point they enter the pre-pupation state and stop feeding. The raw vegetable-only waste led to the greatest growth of the larvae compared with the other two classifications of food waste. However, the team found that larval growth in these scenarios was slower and less than that seen with this species raised on chicken guano. Nevertheless, there is potential for the efficient processing of vegetable waste into compost materials by this species.
Jamilah, A., Irfana, K.A., Nurul Ain, A.J., Nur Aimi, N.M., Noor Ezlin, A.B. and Mohd Reza, A. (2022) ‘Composting of food wastes by using black soldier fly larvae’, Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp.55–68.
The following paper, "Differentiating between direct and indirect procurement: roles, skills, and Industry 4.0" (International Journal of Procurement Management 16(1) 2023), is freely available for download as an open access article.
It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.
There are many sources of heavy metal pollutants, including vehicle exhausts, various industries, mines, thermal plants, and other combustion processes, and even volcanic activity. The presence of heavy metals in the environment represent a health risk to people and other living things. A review of approaches to biomonitoring of heavy metals, and specifically the use of plants, so-called phytomonitoring has now been published in the journal Interdisciplinary Environmental Review.
Heavy metals are defined as metallic chemical elements that have a high atomic mass and a density at least five times greater than that of water. They are generally toxic to living organisms and can have harmful effects on human health if they accumulate in the body.
The review concludes that phytomonitoring represents an economical method of monitoring and so potentially controlling hazardous airborne heavy metal emissions. It is thought that more than 90 percent of the world’s population lives in a place where atmospheric pollutant levels exceed the safe limits set by the World Health Organisation.
New insights into the distribution of heavy metal pollutants are critical to the identification of sources and finding ways to reduce emissions and ameliorate their impact on the environment. Plants can not only be used in the monitoring process but because they can trap atmospheric pollutants, and perhaps pollutants that have entered the soil in which they grow, there is also the potential to use them to remove the pollutants from the environment. Contaminated plants would need to be processed to extract the heavy metals they have trapped prior to composting or other means of disposal.
“Information obtained by biomonitoring provides an invaluable resource for the government and industries to focus on regulatory and management efforts, reduce exposure and identify opportunities for making the environment clean and healthy,” the team writes.
Sweta Tiwari, Ankesh Tiwari, Mohineeta Pandey, Astha Tirkey, Roshan Lal Sahu, and Sudhir Kumar Pandey of Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (A Central University) in Chhattisgarh, and Triratnesh Gajbhiye of Government Shankar Sao Patel College Waraseoni, Balaghat, India, have looked at how heavy metal content of particulate deposits on plant surfaces is determined and used assess local air quality where the plants are growing.
Tiwari, S., Gajbhiye, T., Tiwari, A., Pandey, M., Tirkey, A., Sahu, R.L. and Pandey, S.K. (2022) ‘Phytomonitoring of hazardous metals in air’, Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, Vol. 22, Nos. 3/4, pp.232–256.
International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning 3(1) 2022
Research in the International Journal of Tourism Policy on sustainable ecotourism has new insights from the case of Kakum National Park and Bobiri Forest and Butterfly Sanctuary with implications for the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that run such sites.
Ecotourism and sustainable visitor attractions are moving higher up the environmental agenda as external and internal pressures on regions increases. Understanding the needs of different groups, or stakeholders, with a vested interest in tourism, and ensuring sustainability of their activities, is key to moving forward in this area without compromising targets on emissions, recycling, and other efforts.
The work, carried out by Fatima Eshun of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in PMB Somanya, Eastern Region, Ghana, focuses on the position of NGOs as research in this area has so far been lacking. Given that many such sites are generally run by government organisations in the developing world, this is perhaps not surprising.
Sustainable ecotourism is important to the developing world. Fundamentally, it will provide economic benefits to the local communities supporting the visitor attraction in question, create employment opportunities, and generate income for local residents, such income could come direct from activities such as guiding, transport, and accommodation, but also indirectly from the owners and employers of a particular visitor attraction.
Looking to a sustainable future also means the conservation of natural and cultural resources become a priority and promoting an understanding and appreciation of those natural and cultural resources will feed into their wider appreciation among tourists and visitors and perhaps even the local communities themselves. This can underpin wider development goals in a region and contribute to poverty reduction and social inclusion.
Eshun’s study has its own specific implications for sustainable ecotourism. She recommends that the public sector enact policies, strategies, and frameworks to drive institutions to empower residents to ensure ecotourism sustainability. By contributing to ecotourism knowledge her study has practical policy implications for the empowerment of residents towards sustainable ecotourism.
There will be many individuals and other organizations that could benefit from Eshun’s findings. For example, other researchers and academics in Eshun’s field as well as tourism, sustainability, and environmental studies.
It could be that ecotourism eschews the mass tourism of previous generations of holidaymakers so that the focus is on small-scale, low-impact tourism, wherein the negative impacts of overcrowding and any resulting environmental degradation are minimised. Indeed, its aim should be not simply to reduce the detrimental effects of tourism, but if it is to be truly sustainable it should improve conservation.
Eshun, F. (2022) ‘Roles of institutions in empowering residents towards sustainable ecotourism in Ghana: insights from Kakum National Park and Bobiri Forest and Butterfly Sanctuary‘, Int. J. Tourism Policy, Vol.12 No.4, pp.357 – 371.
Journal for Global Business Advancement 15(2) 2022
Research in the International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, discusses the potential of bagging and boosting of machine learning classifiers for the accurate detection of email spam. Bagging and boosting are two popular methods used to improve the performance of machine learning classifiers. They are used to improve the output from machine learning algorithms, such as decision trees, logistic regression tools, and support vector machines.
Bagging, or bootstrap aggregating, is a technique used to reduce variance of results given by a machine learning model. The approach works by training several models independently on different random subsets of the training data. The predictions from those models are then averaged, this effectively smooths out the different mistakes made by each individual model so that the overall degree of error in the final output is lower than it would be for any single model.
Boosting, on the other hand, involves training a series of models one after the other so that each model can attempt to correct the mistakes made by the previous model in the sequence. Ultimately, the predictions of these models are then combined so that once again the overall error of the holistic model is lower than any one model within the approach. The boosting happens when the algorithms give more weight to examples in the training set that were misclassified by previous models.
Uma Bhardwaj and Priti Sharma of the Department of Computer Science and Applications at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, Haryana, India, have used both bagging and boosting to demonstrate how email spam might be more effectively detected to improve the lot of users. Their approach detects email spam by first “bagging” the machine learning-based multinomial Naïve Bayes (MNB) and J48 decision tree classifiers and then “boosting” the weak classifiers using the Adaboost algorithm to make them strong.
The team did experiments to compare their approach to results obtained by using individual classifiers, the bagging approach alone, and the boosting approach by itself. They were able to demonstrate an evaluation accuracy of 98.79% with a precision of 100% and a recall of 92.78%. The researchers explain that this indicates that the boosting concept has classified all the legitimate emails as true values and spam emails also have a lesser error rate of 7.22%.
In terms of future development, bagging and boosting might also be used to detect fake news, reveal suspicious activity on social media, and spot unsubstantiated rumours.
Bhardwaj, U. and Sharma, P. (2023) ‘Email spam detection using bagging and boosting of machine learning classifiers’, I Int. J. Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, Vol. 24, Nos. 1/2, pp.229–253.
International Journal of Vehicle Design 89(1/2) 2022
The concept of socio-cultural integration refers to the processes through which individuals from different cultural backgrounds come to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance within a new society having migrated from their homeland to somewhere new. Such integration might involve learning the language and customs of that new society, participating in social and community activities, and developing relationships with the members of that society.
There is perhaps a suggestion that individuals who become more integrated tend to have better mental health, higher levels of social support, and a greater sense of belonging and purpose in their new community. Research in the International Journal of Happiness and Development has investigated whether or not this is true in the European context with regard to new migrants and the natives.
Eleftherios Giovanis of the Nazilli Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Adnan Menderes University in Cumhuriyet and Sacit Hadi Akdede of Izmir Bakircay University in İzmir, Turkey, first looked at the degree of integration between first-generation and second-generation immigrants and the natives and then how this affected well-being. The study was based on an analysis of panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe across the period 2004–2017 for 29 countries. The team used seemingly unrelated regressions (SURE) to explore whether there is in fact a relationship between socio-cultural integration and well-being.
The researchers found that first-generation immigrants represented in the data were less likely to participate in the socio-cultural activities that might lead to greater integration. However, they add that those who did engage in such activities, commonly participated more frequently than the natives. In addition, the team found that even though immigrants tended to report lower levels of subjective well-being, this is in fact greatly enhanced through socio-cultural integration.
This beggars the question as to whether proactive immigrants see the value of socio-cultural integration and so are motivated to participate in such activities that can help them feel more connected with their new community. Of course, this might come at a price for some individuals in terms of losing their own social and cultural identity but there are ways in which the pros and cons of integration might be more equitably balanced.
It is worth adding that while socio-cultural integration does seem to have a positive impact on well-being, it is not likely to be the sole factor that can affect the well-being of immigrants. Economic status and opportunities as well as access to healthcare and education will also affect well-being. There is also the question of discrimination to be taken into account with regard to socio-cultural integration and how this affects an individual’s overall well-being. Indeed, there is evidence from other sources that discrimination might push those who might benefit away from activities that lead to greater integration.
Giovanis, E. and Akdede, S.H. (2022) ‘Well-being of old natives and immigrants in Europe: does the socio-cultural integration matter?’, Int. J. Happiness and Development, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp.291–330.
