Abstract: Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an
economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill
waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such
as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent
compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the
environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on
aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate
sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“,
23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package
developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and
analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of
fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four
different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and
1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50,
respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30
minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish
per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18
mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found
to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to
be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate
solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of
pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid
contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of
locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently
decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the
physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered
environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor
activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and
exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the
activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but
slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment
results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a
sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with
the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to
determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water.
Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed
to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to
investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in
different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the
development and creation of biological early-warning systems
(BEWS).
Abstract: With the advancement of knowledge about the utility
and impact of sustainability, its feasibility has been explored into
different walks of life. Scientists, however; have established their
knowledge in four areas viz environmental, economic, social and
cultural, popularly termed as four pillars of sustainability. Aspects of
environmental and economic sustainability have been rigorously
researched and practiced and huge volume of strong evidence of
effectiveness has been founded for these two sub-areas. For the social
and cultural aspects of sustainability, dependable evidence of
effectiveness is still to be instituted as the researchers and
practitioners are developing and experimenting methods across the
globe. Therefore, the present research aimed to identify globally used
practices of social and cultural sustainability and through evidence
synthesis assess their outcomes to determine the effectiveness of
those practices. A PICO format steered the methodology which
included all populations, popular sustainability practices including
walkability/cycle tracks, social/recreational spaces, privacy, health &
human services and barrier free built environment, comparators
included ‘Before’ and ‘After’, ‘With’ and ‘Without’, ‘More’ and
‘Less’ and outcomes included Social well-being, cultural coexistence,
quality of life, ethics and morality, social capital, sense of
place, education, health, recreation and leisure, and holistic
development. Search of literature included major electronic
databases, search websites, organizational resources, directory of
open access journals and subscribed journals. Grey literature,
however, was not included. Inclusion criteria filtered studies on the
basis of research designs such as total randomization, quasirandomization,
cluster randomization, observational or single studies
and certain types of analysis. Studies with combined outcomes were
considered but studies focusing only on environmental and/or
economic outcomes were rejected. Data extraction, critical appraisal
and evidence synthesis was carried out using customized tabulation,
reference manager and CASP tool. Partial meta-analysis was carried
out and calculation of pooled effects and forest plotting were done.
As many as 13 studies finally included for final synthesis explained
the impact of targeted practices on health, behavioural and social
dimensions. Objectivity in the measurement of health outcomes
facilitated quantitative synthesis of studies which highlighted the
impact of sustainability methods on physical activity, Body Mass
Index, perinatal outcomes and child health. Studies synthesized
qualitatively (and also quantitatively) showed outcomes such as
routines, family relations, citizenship, trust in relationships, social
inclusion, neighbourhood social capital, wellbeing, habitability and
family’s social processes. The synthesized evidence indicates slight
effectiveness and efficacy of social and cultural sustainability on the
targeted outcomes. Further synthesis revealed that such results of this
study are due weak research designs and disintegrated implementations. If architects and other practitioners deliver their
interventions in collaboration with research bodies and policy
makers, a stronger evidence-base in this area could be generated.
Abstract: This article discusses the passage of RDB to XML
documents (schema and data) based on metadata and semantic
enrichment, which makes the RDB under flattened shape and is
enriched by the object concept. The integration and exploitation of
the object concept in the XML uses a syntax allowing for the
verification of the conformity of the document XML during the
creation. The information extracted from the RDB is therefore
analyzed and filtered in order to adjust according to the structure of
the XML files and the associated object model. Those implemented
in the XML document through a SQL query are built dynamically. A
prototype was implemented to realize automatic migration, and so
proves the effectiveness of this particular approach.
Abstract: Customer’ needs, quality, and value creation while
reducing costs through supply chain management provides challenges
and opportunities for companies and researchers. In the light of these
challenges, modern ideas must contribute to counter these challenges
and exploit opportunities. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact
of the quality cost on revenue sharing as a most important incentive
to configure business networks. This paper develops the quality cost approach to align with the
modern era. It develops a model to measure quality costs which
might enable firms to manage revenue sharing in a supply chain. The
developed model includes five categories; besides the well-known
four categories (namely prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal
failure costs, and external failure costs), a new category has been
developed in this research as a new vision of the relationship between
quality costs and innovations in industry. This new category is
Recycle Cost. This paper also examines whether such quality costs in
supply chains influence the revenue sharing between partners. Using the author's quality cost model, the relationship between
quality costs and revenue sharing among partners is examined using a
case study in an Egyptian manufacturing company which is a part of
a supply chain. This paper argues that the revenue-sharing proportion
allocated to supplier increases as the recycle cost of supplier
increases, and the revenue-sharing proportion allocated to
manufacturer increases as the prevention and appraisal costs increase,
as well as the failure costs, the recycle costs of manufacturer, and the
recycle costs of suppliers decrease. However, the results present
surprising findings. The purposes of this study are developing quality cost approach
and understanding the relationships between quality costs and
revenue sharing in supply chains. Therefore, the present study
contributes to theory and practice by explaining how the cost of
recycling can be combined in quality cost model to better
understanding the revenue sharing among partners in supply chains.
Abstract: This report examines the current state of human gait
simulator development based on the human hip joint model. This unit
will create a database of human gait types, useful for setting up and
calibrating Mechano devices, as well as the creation of new systems
of rehabilitation, exoskeletons and walking robots. The system has
many opportunities to configure the dimensions and stiffness, while
maintaining relative simplicity.
Abstract: The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the goal
of regional economic integration by 2015. In the region, tourism is an
activity that is important, especially as a source of foreign currency, a
source of employment creation and a source of income bringing to the
region. Given the complexity of the issues entailing the concept of
sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability
with the ASEAN, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all
the ten economies, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The
methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of
tourism activities in these countries. They include identification of the
dimensions; for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure
and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation
on Asian countries. This specification shows that a similar level of
tourism activity might introduce different implementation in the
tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socioecological
environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of
developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect
and prepare for coping with the main problems of each country in
their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation
of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with
other parts of the world.
Abstract: Global economy today is full of sophistication. All
over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing
unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal
government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation
agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive
player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New
technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this
transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the
way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new
skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling
with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students
of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to
be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school
and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective
utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help
extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social
media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the
ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and
exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the
classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment
and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with
existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them
and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of
social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in
this study.
Abstract: Nature constantly changes as a result of human
necessities. This change mostly feels in natural water sources which
are reconstructed with an effect of dams and motorways. In other
respects, visual quality of the landscape gets a new and different
character during and after the construction of dams and motorways.
Changing and specialization new landscapes will be very important
to protection-usage balance to explore sustainable usage facilities.
The main cause of the selection of Artvin city is that it has very
important geographical location and one of the most attraction points
in the World with its biodiversity, conservation areas and natural
landscape characteristics. Many hydroelectric station and 7 dams are
situated, 3 of them have already been built on the Çoruh River in the
province of Artvin. As a result of dams, motorways route were reshaped
and the ways which have already changed because of
elevation is directly affected several of natural destruction. In
contrast, many different reservoirs in Coruh Basin provide new vista
point that has high visual quality. In this study, we would like to
evaluate with sustainable landscape design in 76 km river corridor,
which is mainly based on Deriner, Borçka and Muratlı Dams and
determination of their basin-lakes recreational potential and
opportunities. Lastly, we are going to give some suggestion about the
potential of the corridor.
Abstract: Botanical gardens are very significant organizations
which protect the environment against the increasing environmental
problems, provide environmental education for people, offer
recreation possibilities, etc. This article describes botanical gardens
and their functions. The most important function of botanical garden
is to provide environmental education for people and improve
environmental awareness. Considering this function, some botanical
gardens were examined and opinions were suggested about the
subject.
Abstract: Mixed-use development is one of the most important
trends in new island house transformation along southeast coastal area
in China. Unique island geographical environment and profound
fishing village culture coexist for a long time in this. With artistic
creation for the purpose of the "live-work" houses are in a large
number of emergence, however, still lack of systematic strategy.
Based on space effect from marine resources to regional human
settlements, this article teases out the evolution regularity of island
settlement context and architectural form, then, puts forward the
formation mechanism and construction model of art island houses.
Thereby, to further explore space design method and site creation
strategy of mixed-use development.
Abstract: The goal of this paper is proposing a supply chain
value dashboard in home appliance manufacturing firms to create
more value for all stakeholders via balanced scorecard approach.
Balanced scorecard is an effective approach that managers have used
to evaluate supply chain performance in many fields but there is a
lack of enough attention to all supply chain stakeholders, improving
value creation and, defining correlation between value indicators and
performance measuring quantitatively. In this research the key
stakeholders in home appliance supply chain, value indicators with
respect to create more value for stakeholders and the most important
metrics to evaluate supply chain value performance based on
balanced scorecard approach have been selected via literature review.
The most important indicators based on expert’s judgment acquired
by in survey focused on creating more value for. Structural equation
modelling has been used to disclose relations between value
indicators and balanced scorecard metrics. The important result of
this research is identifying effective value dashboard to create more
value for all stakeholders in supply chain via balanced scorecard
approach and based on an empirical study covering ten home
appliance manufacturing firms in Iran. Home appliance
manufacturing firms can increase their stakeholder's satisfaction by
using this value dashboard.
Abstract: The paper shows that on transferring sense from the
SL to the TL, the translator’s reading against the grain determines the
creation of a faulty pattern of rendering the original meaning in the
receiving culture which reflects the use of misleading transformative
codes. In this case, the translator is a writer per se who decides what
goes in and out of the book, how the style is to be ciphered and what
elements of ideology are to be highlighted. The paper also proves that
figurative language must not be flattened for the sake of clarity or
naturalness. The missing figurative elements make the translated text
less interesting, less challenging and less vivid which reflects poorly
on the writer. There is a close connection between style and the
writer’s person. If the writer’s style is very much altered in a
translation, the translation is useless as the original writer and his /
her imaginative world can no longer be discovered. The purpose of the paper is to prove that adaptation is a dangerous
tool which leads to variants that sometimes reflect the original less
than the reader would wish to. It contradicts the very essence of the
process of translation which is that of making an original work
available in a foreign language. If the adaptive transformative codes
are so flexible that they encourage the translator to repeatedly leave
out parts of the original work, then a subversive pattern emerges
which changes the entire book. In conclusion, as a result of using adaptation, manipulative or
subversive effects are created in the translated work. This is generally
achieved by adding new words or connotations, creating new figures
of speech or using explicitations. The additional meanings of the
original work are neglected and the translator creates new meanings,
implications, emphases and contexts. Again s/he turns into a new
author who enjoys the freedom of expressing his / her own ideas
without the constraints of the original text. Reading against the grain
is unadvisable during the process of translation and consequently,
following personal common sense becomes essential in the field of
translation as well as everywhere else, so that translation should not
become a source of fantasy.
Abstract: Software testing has become a mandatory process in
assuring the software product quality. Hence, test management is
needed in order to manage the test activities conducted in the
software test life cycle. This paper discusses on the challenges faced
in the software test life cycle, and how the test processes and test
activities, mainly on test cases creation, test execution, and test
reporting is being managed and automated using several test
automation tools, i.e. Jira, Robot Framework, and Jenkins.
Abstract: Financial inclusion has become a crucially important
factor in debates on economic inequality posing challenges to the
financial systems of countries around the world. Nowadays
governments and banks are concerned about creating products that
allow access to wide sectors of the population. The creation of
banking products by the financial sector for people with low incomes
tends to lead to improvements in the quality of life of vulnerable parts
of the population. In countries with notable social and economic
inequalities, financial inclusion is a key aspect for equitable
economic growth. This study is based on the case of Colombia, which is a country
with a strong record of economic growth over the past decade.
Nevertheless, corruption, unemployment, and poverty contribute to
uncertainty regarding the country’s future growth prospects. This study wants to explain the situation of financial exclusion and
financial inclusion with respect to the Colombian case. Financial
inclusion is going to be studied from the perspective of social
innovation.
Abstract: Complex environments triggered by globalization
have necessitated new paradigms of leadership – Complexity
Leadership that encompass multiple roles that leaders need to take
upon. Success of Higher Education institutions depends on how well
leaders can provide adaptive, administrative and enabling leadership.
Complexity Leadership seems all the more relevant for institutions
that are knowledge-driven and thrive on Knowledge creation,
Knowledge storage and retrieval, Knowledge Sharing and
Knowledge applications. Discussed in this paper are the elements of
Globalization and the opportunities and challenges that are brought
forth by globalization. The Complexity leadership paradigm in a
knowledge-based economy and the need for such a paradigm shift for
higher education institutions is presented. Further, the paper also
discusses the support the leader requires in a knowledge-driven
economy through knowledge management initiatives.
Abstract: This paper illustrates the background of various
concepts, approaches, terminologies used to describe the basic
framework of an Islamic Hotel Room design. This paper reviews the
theoretical views in establishing a suitable and optimum environment
for Muslim as well as non-Muslim guests in hotel rooms while
according to shariah. It involves a few research methodologies that
requires the researcher to study on a few characteristics needed to
create more efficient rooms in terms of social interaction, economic
growth and other tolerable elements. This paper intends on revealing
the elements that are vital and may contribute for hotels in achieving
a more conclusive research on space planning for hotel rooms
focusing on the shariah and Muslim guests. Malaysia is an Islamic
country and has billion of tourists coming over for business and
recreational purposes. Therefore, having a righteous environment that
best suit this target user is important in terms of generating the
economy as well as providing a better understanding to the
community on the benefits of applying these qualities in a
conventional resort design.
Abstract: For the shrimp companies to remain relevant to its local
and international consumers, they must offer new shrimp product and
services. It must work actively not just to create value for the consumer,
but to involve the consumer in co-creating value for shrimp product
innovation in the market. In this theoretical work, we conceptualize the
business concept of value co-creation in the context of shrimp products,
and propose a framework of value co-creation for shrimp product
innovation in shrimp industries. With guidance on value co-creation in
in shrimp industry, and shrimp value chain actors mapped to the
co-creation cycle, companies can use the framework to offer new
shrimp product to consumer communities. Although customer
co-creation is known approach in the world, it is not commonly used
by the companies in Bangladesh. This paper makes an original
contribution by conceptualizing co-creation and set the examples of
best co-creation practices in food sector. The results of the study
provide management with guidelines for successful co-creation
projects with an innovation- and market-oriented approach. The
framework also provides a basis for further research in this area.
Abstract: This study aims to increase understanding of the
transition of business models in servitization. The significance of
service in all business has increased dramatically during the past
decades. Service-dominant logic (SDL) describes this change in the
economy and questions the goods-dominant logic on which business
has primarily been based in the past. A business model canvas is one
of the most cited and used tools in defining end developing business
models. The starting point of this paper lies in the notion that the
traditional business model canvas is inherently goods-oriented and
best suits for product-based business. However, the basic differences
between goods and services necessitate changes in business model
representations when proceeding in servitization. Therefore, new
knowledge is needed on how the conception of business model and
the business model canvas as its representation should be altered in
servitized firms in order to better serve business developers and interfirm
co-creation. That is to say, compared to products, services are
intangible and they are co-produced between the supplier and the
customer. Value is always co-created in interaction between a
supplier and a customer, and customer experience primarily depends
on how well the interaction succeeds between the actors. The role of
service experience is even stronger in service business compared to
product business, as services are co-produced with the customer. This paper provides business model developers with a service
business model canvas, which takes into account the intangible,
interactive, and relational nature of service. The study employs a
design science approach that contributes to theory development via
design artifacts. This study utilizes qualitative data gathered in
workshops with ten companies from various industries. In particular,
key differences between Goods-dominant logic (GDL) and SDLbased
business models are identified when an industrial firm
proceeds in servitization. As the result of the study, an updated version of the business
model canvas is provided based on service-dominant logic. The
service business model canvas ensures a stronger customer focus and
includes aspects salient for services, such as interaction between
companies, service co-production, and customer experience. It can be
used for the analysis and development of a current service business
model of a company or for designing a new business model. It
facilitates customer-focused new service design and service
development. It aids in the identification of development needs, and
facilitates the creation of a common view of the business model.
Therefore, the service business model canvas can be regarded as a
boundary object, which facilitates the creation of a common
understanding of the business model between several actors involved.
The study contributes to the business model and service business
development disciplines by providing a managerial tool for
practitioners in service development. It also provides research insight
into how servitization challenges companies’ business models.
Abstract: Financial innovations can be regarded as the cause
and the effect of the evolution of the financial system. Most of
financial innovations are created by various financial institutions for
their own purposes and needs. However, due to their diversity,
financial innovations can be also applied by various business entities
(other than financial institutions).
This paper focuses on the potential application of financial
innovations by non-financial companies. It is assumed that financial
innovations may be effectively applied in all fields of corporate
financial decisions integrating financial management with the risk
management process. Appropriate application of financial
innovations may enhance the development of the company and
increase its value by improving its financial situation and reducing
the level of risk. On the other hand, misused financial innovations
may become the source of extra risk for the company threatening its
further operation.
The main objective of the paper is to identify the major types of
financial innovations offered to non-financial companies by the
banking system in Poland. It also aims at identifying the main factors
determining the creation of financial innovations in the banking
system in Poland and indicating future directions of their
development.
This paper consists of conceptual and empirical part. Conceptual
part based on theoretical study is focused on the determinants of the
process of financial innovations and their application by the nonfinancial
companies. Theoretical study is followed by the empirical
research based on the analysis of the actual offer of the 20 biggest
banks operating in Poland with regard to financial innovations
offered to SMEs and large corporations. These innovations are
classified according to the main functions of the integrated financial
management, such as financing, investment, working capital
management and risk management.
Empirical study has proved that the biggest banks operating in the
Polish market offer to their business customers many types and
classes of financial innovations. This offer appears vast and adequate
to the needs and purposes of the Polish non-financial companies. It
was observed that financial innovations pertained to financing
decisions dominate in the banks’ offer. However, due to high
diversification of the offered financial innovations, business
customers may effectively apply them in all fields and areas of
integrated financial management. It should be underlined, that the
banks’ offer is highly dispersed, which may limit the implementation
of financial innovations in the corporate finance. It would be also
recommended for the banks operating in the Polish market to
intensify the education campaign aiming at increasing knowledge
about financial innovations among business customers.
Abstract: This study analyzes the critical gaps in the
architecture of European stability and the expected role of the
banking union as the new important step towards completing the
Economic and Monetary Union that should enable the creation of
safe and sound financial sector for the euro area market. The single
rulebook together with the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the
Single Resolution Mechanism - as two main pillars of the banking
union, should provide a consistent application of common rules and
administrative standards for supervision, recovery and resolution of
banks – with the final aim of replacing the former bail-out practice
with the bail-in system through which possible future bank failures
would be resolved by their own funds, i.e. with minimal costs for
taxpayers and real economy. In this way, the vicious circle between
banks and sovereigns would be broken. It would also reduce the
financial fragmentation recorded in the years of crisis as the result of
divergent behaviors in risk premium, lending activities and interest
rates between the core and the periphery. In addition, it should
strengthen the effectiveness of monetary transmission channels, in
particular the credit channels and overflows of liquidity on the money
market which, due to the fragmentation of the common financial
market, has been significantly disabled in period of crisis. However,
contrary to all the positive expectations related to the future
functioning of the banking union, major findings of this study
indicate that characteristics of the economic system in which the
banking union will operate should not be ignored. The euro area is an
integration of strong and weak entities with large differences in
economic development, wealth, assets of banking systems, growth
rates and accountability of fiscal policy. The analysis indicates that
low and unbalanced economic growth remains a challenge for the
maintenance of financial stability and this problem cannot be
resolved just by a single supervision. In many countries bank assets
exceed their GDP by several times and large banks are still a matter
of concern, because of their systemic importance for individual
countries and the euro zone as a whole. The creation of the Single
Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Mechanism is a
response to the European crisis, which has particularly affected
peripheral countries and caused the associated loop between the
banking crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, but has also influenced
banks’ balance sheets in the core countries, as the result of crossborder
capital flows. The creation of the SSM and the SRM should
prevent the similar episodes to happen again and should also provide
a new opportunity for strengthening of economic and financial
systems of the peripheral countries. On the other hand, there is a
potential threat that future focus of the ECB, resolution mechanism
and other relevant institutions will be extremely oriented towards
large and significant banks (whereby one half of them operate in the
core and most important euro area countries), and therefore it remains
questionable to what extent will the common resolution funds will be used for rescue of less important institutions. Recent geopolitical
developments will be the optimal indicator to show whether the
previously established mechanisms are sufficient enough to maintain
the adequate financial stability in the euro area market.