ALBERT

Description: The paper addresses the sustainability of the European Union’s food consumption through a water footprint assessment of selected vulnerable agricultural imports from a two-pronged perspective: (1) the degree of the EU’s dependence on global green water resources embedded in the apparent consumption of selected water-intensive agricultural products and (2) the degree of commitment of countries of origin to sustainability policies. The study argues that the vulnerability of the EU’s agricultural imports to water risks can be estimated based on the amount of green water consumed in producing crops in the countries of origin. The results show that the EU’s consumption of agricultural goods is highly dependent on virtual water imports for all six selected vulnerable agricultural products, from the lowest footprint for bananas (5 mil. km3) to the largest for coffee (69 mil. km3). The analysis also points to a greater concern for quality issues in the countries of origin (56.53%) relative to management (26.52%) and availability issues (16.85%), but the latter are to arise in importance for sustainable production in the years to come. Our conclusions contribute to building up a responsible commitment towards (1) development of environmental policies and the design of practical measures by providing quantitative information that makes problems more clearly defined and tangible, and (2) assessing the outcome of policies and practical measures by understanding their effects on the sustainability of food consumption.

Description: Residents of nursing homes have been significantly affected by COVID-19 in Spain. The factors that have contributed to the vulnerability of this population are very diverse. In this study, physical agents, chemical pollutants, population density and different capacities of residences were analysed to understand their influence on the number of elderly people who have died in geriatric centres in different autonomous communities (AACCs) of Spain. A statistical analysis was carried out on the variables observed. The results show that many residences with a larger number of deaths were private, with some exceptions. Physical agents and pollutants were found to be determining factors, especially for the communities of Extremadura and Castilla–La Mancha, although the large number of factors involved makes this study complicated. The compromise between air quality and energy efficiency is of great importance, especially when human health is at stake.

Description: To respond to global climate change and achieve a “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” as soon as possible has become a common goal around the world. Economic growth relies heavily on financial development; indeed, low-carbon economic development is inseparable from financial support. This paper studies the impact of financial development on carbon emission intensity and its mechanism from both theoretical and empirical aspects. Based on the 2005–2018 data on Chinese cities and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) research results, this paper finds that: (1) Financial development has significantly reduced China’s carbon emission intensity overall. After considering spatial effects, financial development increases local carbon emission intensity, although it may lead to a more significant decrease in the surrounding area. (2) The analysis of heterogeneity shows that only the financial development in the eastern region has a substantial detrimental impact on total carbon emission intensity and the carbon emission intensity of neighboring cities. The financial development in the central and western regions has no significant effect on carbon emission intensity. (3) The mechanism test shows that financial development mainly reduces carbon emission intensity through technological innovation and structural optimization, with the effect of technological innovation being 9.5%, and the effect of structural optimization being 12.15%. The expansion of the consumption effects of financial development has no significant impact on carbon emission intensity. Accordingly, this article believes that it is necessary to further support financial development, build large-scale financial centers, continue to optimize the structure of financial products, and encourage the development of green finance.

Description: This study investigated seasonal variation, spatial distribution, sources, composition and potential ecological risks of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Red Sea coastal water. Surface seawater samples were collected at fourteen different locations. The sum of 16 PAHs concentrations in Red Sea showed clear variation between seasons, ranged from 1.08–6.10, 0.79–50.86, 1.37–54.47 and 0.21–7.18 μg/L in summer, autumn, winter, and spring respectively. PAHs levels in Red Sea coastal waters were relatively high at certain sites during autumn and winter seasons. They could be classified as highly polluted by PAHs contaminants (〉10 μg/L). According to the diagnostic ratios measured, the majority of PAHs in this study originated from pyrogenic sources, while minor amounts originated from petrogenic sources. Four rings PAHs accounted for more than 64% of the total PAHs studied. PAHs pose a high ecological risk along the period of study, according to the ecological risk assessment by Risk quotients (RQNCs and RQMPCs).

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chain operations globally. Nevertheless, resilient firms have the capacity to combat an unprecedented situation with the right strategic approach. The current research has developed an integrated research model that combines factors such as supply chain intelligence, supply chain communication, leadership commitment, risk management orientation, supply chain capability and network complexity to investigate supply chain resilience. The research model of this study was empirically tested with 309 responses collected from supply chain managers. Results revealed that supply chain resilience is measured with supply chain intelligence, supply chain communication, leadership commitment, risk management orientation, supply chain capability and network complexity and demonstrated a substantial variance of 0.548% towards supply chain resilience. Practically, this study suggests that supply chain managers should focus on factors such as big data analytics, risk management orientation,1 supply chain communication and leadership commitment to enhance supply chain resilience and sustainable supply chain performance.

Description: This work studied the efforts of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus to explore how effectively the TCCH applies diplomatic relation-building efforts towards cultural heritage management and how this can be used to construct a bridge to a process of sustainable development of social relations and heritage use in Cyprus. The Committee’s efforts demonstrate community heritage diplomacy and civil heritage diplomacy, employed by the two largest communities of the island as they attempt to build relations with each other and other minor communities across the border via various heritage practices, and public heritage diplomacy, which is employed by the authorities of each side via the Committee to influence the public of the other side. The Committee employs these forms of heritage diplomacy via a language of cooperation and by bridging gaps in and crossing borders for collaboration, so as to transfer knowledge, values, and experience, and to build trust with institutions and communities. The significance of the study lies in illustrating that the technical and collaborative successes of the Committee via application of the determined types of diplomacy may be successfully applied for a sustainable approach to build relations and confidence under ideologically and politically strained circumstances in Cyprus.

Description: A bacterial strain, identified as Lysinibacillus sp. LC 556247 POME, was isolated from palm oil mill effluent (POME). The present article highlights the potential utilization of POME as a sole fermentation medium by Lysinibacillus sp. LC 556247 to produce biomass fuel via aerobic fermentation. The fermentation was performed in a shake flask with a working volume of 300 mL, agitated at 180 rpm, incubated at 35 ± 2 °C for various fermentation hours, ranging from 1, 2, 3, 4, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h, and was followed by a drying process. Elucidation of the POME characteristics, calorific energy values (CEV), moisture content (MC), oil and grease content, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), total suspended solids (TSS), pH, total nitrogen, and the colony-forming unit (CFU) were performed. The results demonstrate that the highest CEV, of 21.25 ± 0.19 MJ/kg, was obtained at 48 h fermentation. High amounts of extractable oil and nitrogen content were retrieved at the highest CEV reading of the fermented and dried POME samples, which were 17.95 ± 0.02% and 12.80 ± 0.08%, respectively. The maximum removal efficiencies for the COD (50.83%), the BOD (71.73%), and the TSS (42.99%) were achieved at 120 h of fermentation, with an operating pH ranging from 4.49–4.54. The XRF analysis reveals that the fermented and dried products consisted of elements that had a high amount of carbon and potassium, and a significantly low amount of silica, which is sufficient for the effective burning of biomass fuel in the boiler.

Description: The objective of this study is to assess the efficiency of the operations strategy matrix in the healthcare system of U.S. states amid COVID-19. Output-Oriented Data Envelopment Analysis was used to assess the efficiency of the operations strategy matrix. Strategic Decision Areas (Capacity, Supply Network, Process Technology, and Development and Organization) were considered inputs while competitive priorities (Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Flexibility) were considered outputs. According to results; Alaska, Alabama, Arkansans, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are relatively efficient. Additionally, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming are fully efficient while South Dakota is the state that needs the most improvement in terms of strategic decision areas and competing priorities. On the other hand, inefficient states have larger population and GDP than efficient states. Based on these results, implications for sustainable development goals (SDGs) are drawn.

Description: Typically, the main control on alternating current (AC) power systems is performed by the scheduling of rotary machines of synchronous generators and static machines of on-load tap changer (OLTC) transformers and volt-ampere reactive (VAR) sources. Large machines of synchronous generators can be managed by utilizing terminal voltage control when synchronized in parallel to the power system. These machines are typically terminal voltage regulated. In addition, substation on-load tap changer (OLTC) transformers improve system voltage management by controlling variable turn ratios that are adjusted in different levels known as taps along either the primary or secondary winding. Moreover, volt-ampere reactive (VAR) sources of static VAR compensators (SVCs), which are automated impedance devices connected to the AC power network, are designed for voltage regulation and system stabilization. In this paper, scheduling of these machines is coordinated for optimal power system operation (OPSO) using a recent algorithm of social network search optimizer (SNSO). The OPSO is performed by achieving many optimization targets of cost of fuel, power losses, and polluting emissions. The SNS is a recent optimizer that is inspired from users in social networks throughout the different moods of users such as imitation, conversation, disputation, and innovation mood. The SNSO is developed for handling the OPSO problem and applied on an IEEE standardized 57-bus power system and real Egyptian power system of the West Delta area. The developed SNSO is used in various assessments and quantitative analyses with various contemporary techniques. The simulated findings prove the developed SNSO’s solution accuracy and resilience when compared to other relevant techniques in the literature.

Description: An increase in energy consumption indicates increased economic activity; whether it leads to prosperity depends on the sustainability and stability of the energy source. This study has selected the top ten highly carbon emitting countries to assess renewable energy consumption dynamics for 1991 to 2018. The development of renewable energy ventures is not an overnight transformation. Further, it also entails an infrastructure development gestation which may increase CO2 emissions for the short term. To assess this non-linear pattern with CO2 and its heterogeneities, renewable energy consumption and its three types (Wind, Solar and Hydropower) are used. The empirical results estimated with a pooled mean group (PMG) method indicate that renewable energy consumption and hydropower follows inverted U-shaped behavior, with wind and solar energy consumption behavior also U-shaped. Forest area and patents are responsible for carbon remissions, while economic growth is responsible for increasing carbon emissions in sampled countries.