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In this study, the stationary flow of a polymeric fluid governed by the upper convected Maxwell law is computed in a 2‐D convergent geometry. A finite element method is used to obtain non‐linear discretized equations, solved by an iterative Picard (fixed point) algorithm. At each step, two sub‐systems are successively solved. The first one represents a Newtonian fluid flow (Stokes equations) perturbed by known pseudo‐body forces expressing fluid elasticity. It is solved by minimization of a functional of the velocity field, while the pressure is eliminated by penalization. The second sub‐system reduces to the tensorial differential evolution equation of the extra‐stress tensor for a given velocity field. It is solved by the so‐called ‘non‐consistent Petrov‐Galerkin streamline upwind’ method. As with other decoupled techniques applied to this problem, our simulation fails for relatively low values of the Weissenberg viscoelastic number. The value of the numerical limit point depends on the mesh refinement. When convergence is reached, the numerical solutions for velocity, pressure and stress fields are similar to those obtained by other authors with very costly mixed methods.

The world is shaped by an education system that reinforces unsustainable thinking and practice. Efforts to transform our societies must thus prioritise the education of educators – building their understanding of sustainability and their ability to transform curriculum and wider learning opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to focus on university educators and critically review the professional development and policy landscape challenges that influence their effective engagement with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The paper is informed by a pan-European collaboration involving 33 countries that identified emerging scholarship and practice in this area and assessed the lessons learned from ESD professional development initiatives. It sets the context for a special issue titled “Professional Development in Higher Education for Sustainable Development” that draws together a collection of articles focusing on professional development of university educators across the world.

This paper provides a critical review of existing practice, international policy frameworks and literature relating to ESD, professional development and higher education. It examines innovative initiatives worldwide that seek to improve the capability of educators in higher education to integrate ESD into academic practice at individual, disciplinary and institutional levels. A rigorous process of selection was applied and overseen by an international expert group. This ensured that the initiatives sought educational change in ESD, and not simply the embedding of content about sustainability into learning opportunities. It also assured that the initiatives had a clear and intentional professional learning process to underpin the engagement of participants with ESD.

ESD has grown in visibility and status worldwide, with a clear increase in activity in higher education. The sector is viewed as a significant force for change in societies, through the education provision it offers to future professionals and leaders in all sectors. However, universities currently lack capacity to integrate ESD effectively into mainstream teaching practices and the training they provide for academic staff or to integrate ESD into their institutional teaching and learning priorities. Many ESD activities remain focused on teaching issues arising in sustainable development research and delivering specialist modules or courses in sustainability. Very few countries and institutions have significant staff development programmes to enhance the ESD competences of university educators and build their academic leadership capabilities for ESD. The contributions to this special issue show the need for greater understanding of the multi-level task of integrating ESD into professional development activities, not just for individual impact in the classroom but to advance institutional change and decisively influence the teaching and learning discourse of higher education.

There are few research studies and documented activities on ESD professional development in higher education available in the literature. This paper attempts to explore what ESD professional development involves and describes its complexity within the higher education sector. The special issue provides a collection of innovative research and practical initiatives that can help those involved in education and learning to develop ESD as a priority for future university innovative pathways.

The overall goal of this chapter is to critique the purported business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, which persists as a major contentious force in convincing companies to become more sustainable. Extant literature on sustainability, CSR and Socially Responsible Investments (SRIs) generally tends to focus on company perspectives decision-making and approaches. This chapter considers an alternative and under-developed perspective and examines CSR from a consumer/public perspective situated in a German context.

This chapter builds a comprehensive literature review and employs a research philosophical point of view underpinned by a social constructionist stance. It examines indicators and attitudes towards sustainability and sustainable consumption together with socially responsible investments and considers whether the buying patterns of German consumers may serve as a rationalisation for a potential business case for CSR and sustainability.

While the awareness of consumers of CSR in Germany towards sustainability tends to be generally relatively prima facie high, it is nevertheless noticeable that German consumers are predominately reluctant to pay a price premium for product possessing a superior sustainability performance. From the alternative lens of SRIs, rather than being a replete and widespread phenomenon, they are still largely a niche market. For these reasons, the potential for the existence of a business case for sustainability, CSR and SRIs tends in reality to be low, in spite of some populist or survey reports and perceptions.

The chapter links a consumer perspective with the business case for CSR. Moreover, it focuses on the German context which tends to be underrepresented in international research.

Far infrared radiation (FIR) has been shown to have physiological effects when used as a treatment modality for certain medical conditions. Athletic apparel are currently commercially available that are constructed with fabrics that purportedly emit FIR. If apparel with this technology are capable of inducing positive physiological effects, then there may be important implications when worn by an athlete during exercise. The purpose of this study is to examine whether FIR apparel has an effect on oxygen consumption during exercise at submaximal intensities. Twelve male cyclists have completed submaximal incremental cycling tests. Each subject is tested on 4 separate days, twice while wearing a full body Control garment, and twice while wearing a similar garment made out of FIR fabric. Throughout each cycling test, the volume of oxygen uptake is monitored by using a breathing mask and metabolic analysis cart. At lower cycling intensities, the subjects consume statistically significantly less oxygen when wearing the FIR apparel compared to the Control garment, despite performing the same amount of mechanical work. Additional research is required to determine the implication of this effect for a training or competing athlete; however, the results indicate that this apparel technology does elicit a physiological effect.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate of interphasial effects, including temperature dependency, within fiber reinforced polymers on the overall composite behavior. Providing theoretical and numerical approaches in terms of a consistent thermomechanical finite element method framework are further goals of this research.

Starting points for achieving the aims of this research are the partial differential equations describing the evolution of the displacements and temperature within a continuum mechanical setting. Based on the continuous formulation of a thermomechanical equilibrium, constitutive equations are derived, accounting for the modeling of fiber reinforced thermosets and thermoplastics, respectively. The numerical solutions of different initial boundary value problems are obtained by a consistent implementation of the proposed formulations into a finite element framework.

The successful theoretical formulation and numerical modeling of the thermoinelastic matrix materials as well as the thermomechanical treatment of the composite interphase (IP) are demonstrated for an epoxy/glass system. The influence of the IP on the overall composite behavior is successfully investigated and concluded as a further aspect.

A thermomechanical material model, suitable for finite thermoinelasticity of thermosets and thermoplastics is introduced and implemented into a novel kinematic framework in context of the inelastic deformation evolution. The gradually changing material properties between the matrix and the fiber of a composite are continuously formulated and numerically processed, in order to achieve an efficient and realistic approach to model fiber reinforced composites.

The dry development of a photoresist is modelled using the analytical solution of the Boltzmann equation. It is proposed that at very low pressure and in the presence of a magnetic field, the etch rate of the resist can be calculated by integrating the ion flux. The simulation results illustrates improvement in both microuniformity and macrouniformity when the resist is etched under these process conditions.

Food security is at risk from climate change. In fact, climate change and its drivers already affect food production through increased temperatures, changed precipitation patterns, extreme event frequency, and escalated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and ozone. These effects are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This will cause changes to agricultural production worldwide with regional consequences for global food security. In the face of this, adaptations must be pursued that help agriculture maintain and enhance productivity under climate change while meeting growing demands for food. This chapter reviews the current literature on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and possible adaptation strategies to combat its effects. Specifically, this chapter focuses on research conducted on crop systems, livestock, fisheries, and food access.

This study concluded that food production systems around the world will be altered unevenly by climate change, with some gaining and many losing. Possible adaptation strategies will be suggested and successful implementation will need to include both public and private actions.

Given the inevitability of climate change impacting agricultural systems, adapting to the impacts is necessary to maintain future food security. More research is encouraged to determine how to best incorporate multiple systems, actors, and interests in adaptation, as well as how to best respond to the imminent threat to the food system.

The greater availability of life‐sustaining technology, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the medical, legal and moral pressures to use them, often enable the prolongation of lives of older people. The dying process can be extended regardless of quality of life. Further, there is much public debate on the increasing emphasis on individual rights and personal autonomy in the dying process. This qualitative study examined older people's perspectives on end‐of‐life decision‐making and advance care planning. A sample of 12 older people living in the community was recruited and studied in‐depth. A semi‐structured interview explored patients' conceptualisations of decision‐making in the later stages of life and the significant others they would like involved in the process. The data were analysed using ‘content analysis’. The resulting broad categories, themes and sub‐themes formed the foundation of an emerging model of older people talking about end‐of‐life care. Finally, results were discussed with regard to practice and policy development.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the history and development of public relations education in the USA and Canada.

The research methodology used for this paper is the historical/critical analysis approach.

This paper finds more differences than similarities between public relations educational development in the two countries. The first PR course at a US university was taught at the University of Illinois in 1920 and the first US degree program was offered by Boston University in 1947. The first Canadian university PR course was taught at McGill University n 1948 and the first university degree was offered by Mount Saint Vincent University in 1977. Although PR courses and degrees are offered at a small number of élite US universities, the greatest recent PR curriculum development has been at smaller, second‐ or third‐tier institutions. While a few Canadian universities offer courses and degree programs in the field, most of Canada's recent PR program growth has been at colleges rather than at universities.

Rightly or wrongly, academic institutions often look to North America for direction when it comes to establishing and developing public relations education programs. A number of factual inaccuracies about public relations education history have frequently surfaced in books and journal articles. This paper corrects a number of those inaccuracies and in doing so improves public relations scholarship.

A thorough review of the literature suggests that this paper represents the only journal‐length piece about the history and development of public relations education in Canada and the USA.