Search results for "Environment"
showing 10 items of 28487 documents
Heritage, urbanity and transition: methods and tools for a possible future.
2021
It has taken millennia to provide our world with works of art that are sometimes comparable in magnificence and character to natural creation. Some civilizations of the past, without having any of our means, have created a historical heritage of infinite beauty. The literature on heritage and memory reports that heritage exists because society attests that an artifact, event, or place is so valuable that it is handed down to the next generation. Heritage is our anchor and beauty will save us. Architects, historians and geographers have argued that the concepts of heritage and memory are socially constructed, they shape cities and influence their identity. In the current metamorphosis, how t…
Pathways for the amplification of agroecology in African sustainable urban agriculture
2020
A growing awareness that highly intensified agricultural systems have made a substantial worldwide contribution to the worsening of the resilience capacity of natural ecosystems has, over the last twenty years, brought general attention to agroecological management models. This aspect is even more evident in industrial agriculture, which is based on the use of multiple chemical products derived from non-natural synthesis. In more developed countries, a new idea of ecology linked to agricultural production has been increasingly developed and, for this reason, there has been a greater diffusion of differentiated agricultural models taking into consideration the environmental impact of product…
Water and Energy Saving in Urban Water Systems: The ALADIN Project
2016
The ALADIN project was aimed at contributing to environmental and energy sustainability of the urban water system by means of a decision support tool able to allow an evaluation of the energy impact related to each different macro-sectors of urban water cycle highlighting the main energy flows and to assess the system energy balance and identify the possible energy-efficient solutions. Moreover the tool suggests the most efficient actions in reducing water losses. In the present paper the main features of the developed tool are presented. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
Tendon length estimates are influenced by tracking location
2022
Abstract Purpose Measurement of medial gastrocnemius (MG) tendon length using ultrasonography (US) requires the muscle–tendon junction (MTJ) to be located. Previously, the MG MTJ has been tracked from different proximo-distal locations near the MTJ, which could influence estimates of tendon length change due to the different characteristics of the aponeurosis and tendon. We used US to evaluate the effect of tracking point location on MG MTJ displacement during maximal and submaximal (10, 20 and 30% of the non-injured maximal) isometric plantar flexion contractions. Methods Displacement behaviour of MTJ was tracked from (1) the exact MTJ; and (2) from an insertion point of a muscle fascicle …
Kahden digitaalisen oppimisympäristön käytettävyystutkimus
2016
Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa tavoitteena oli tarkastella opiskelijoiden kokemuksia digitaalisen oppimisympäristön käytettävyydestä mahdollisten kehitettävien osa-alueiden löytämiseksi. Tavoitteeseen pyrittiin vastaamaan seuraavien tutkimuskysymyksten myötä: Millaiseksi kahden eri oppilaitoksen opiskelijat kokevat käyttämänsä digitaalisen oppimisympäristön käytettävyyden SUS-mittarilla ja avoimilla kysymyksillä arvioituna? Mitä seikkoja opiskelijat nostavat esiin käyttämänsä digitaalisen oppimisympäristön käytettävyyden kehittämiseksi? Työn alkuosassa esitellään verkko-oppimisen ja -pedagogiikan teoriaa. Päätuloksina tässä tutkimuksessa tulivat esiin Moodle -oppimisympäristön osalta hyvä kä…
Alarmist by bad design: Strongly popularized unsubstantiated claims undermine credibility of conservation science
2019
“Unless we change our ways of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades.” or “Our work reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world's insect species over the next few decades.” These are verbatim conclusions of the recent paper by Sánchez-Bayoa and Wyckhuys (2019) in Biological Conservation. Because of fundamental methodological flaws, their conclusions are unsubstantiated. Like noted by The Guardian, the conclusions of the paper were set out in unusually forceful terms for a peer-reviewed scientific paper. The current case…
Applicability of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) bark extract as a precursor of rigid carbon foam and activated carbon
2023
Hybrid aspens have long attracted scientific interest, but the research on their use as feedstocks for chemical applications are still very limited. The bark biomass of the poplar species contains many valuable extractives that can be utilized as value-added products. This paper examines the applicability of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) bark extract as a precursor of rigid carbon foam and activated carbon. To explore this, the study considers 1) the basic chemical composition of the bark in terms of added value potential, 2) the basic chemical composition of the bark extract and the effect of its pretreatment on the extract composition, 3) the production of rigi…
A New Academic Quality at Work Tool (AQ@workT) to Assess the Quality of Life at Work in the Italian Academic Context
2022
Refereed/Peer-reviewed The present study provides evidence for a valid and reliable tool, the Academic Quality at Work Tool (AQ@workT), to investigate the quality of life at work in academics within the Italian university sector. The AQ@workT was developed by the QoL@Work research team, namely a group of expert academics in the field of work and organizational psychology affiliated with the Italian Association of Psychologists. The tool is grounded in the job demands-resources model and its psychometric properties were assessed in three studies comprising a wide sample of lecturers, researchers, and professors: a pilot study (N = 120), a calibration study (N = 1084), and a validation study …
SST Comparison of AVHRR and MODIS Time Series in the Western Mediterranean Sea
2020
La temperatura de la superficie del mar (SST) es un parámetro clave para comprender los procesos atmosféricos y oceánicos. Desde finales de la década de 1980, las imágenes de satélite infrarrojas se han utilizado para complementar los registros in situ para estudiar la variabilidad temporal y espacial de la SST. El radiómetro avanzado de muy alta resolución (AVHRR) del satélite de la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA) fue el primer sensor utilizado con éxito para calcular la SST después del desarrollo y validación del algoritmo de corrección atmosférica conocido como 'ventana dividida'. Más recientemente, el espectrorradiómetro de imágenes de resolución MODERADA (MODIS) a…
Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Processes: A Case Study of Lake Engure
2014
Abstract This focus of the study was on system dynamic models that could be useful for modelling environmental processes in Lake Engure. The paper considers the system dynamic model development principles, the most important elements and structure. The aim of the study was to describe possible methods of ecosystem process modelling that allow to represent the actual state of ecosystems and provide opportunities to predict further processes. The methods of ecosystem modelling considered in the paper reveal interactive factors of anthropogenic and environmental processes that influence changes in ecosystems. System dynamic models indicate not only interactions between various factors in the e…