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1 – 10 of 53Adewale Allen Sokan-Adeaga, Godson R.E.E. Ana, Abel Olajide Olorunnisola, Micheal Ayodeji Sokan-Adeaga, Hridoy Roy, Md Sumon Reza and Md. Shahinoor Islam
This study aims to assess the effect of water variation on bioethanol production from cassava peels (CP) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as the ethanologenic agent.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the effect of water variation on bioethanol production from cassava peels (CP) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as the ethanologenic agent.
Design/methodology/approach
The milled CP was divided into three treatment groups in a small-scale flask experiment where each 20 g CP was subjected to two-stage hydrolysis. Different amount of water was added to the fermentation process of CP. The fermented samples were collected every 24 h for various analyses.
Findings
The results of the fermentation revealed that the highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency was obtained at 17.38 ± 0.30% and 0.139 ± 0.003 gL−1 h−1. The study affirmed that ethanol production was increased for the addition of water up to 35% for the CP hydrolysate process.
Practical implications
The finding of this study demonstrates that S. cerevisiae is the key player in industrial ethanol production among a variety of yeasts that produce ethanol through sugar fermentation. In order to design truly sustainable processes, it should be expanded to include a thorough analysis and the gradual scaling-up of this process to an industrial level.
Originality/value
This paper is an original research work dealing with bioethanol production from CP using S. cerevisiae microbe.
Highlights
Hydrolysis of cassava peels using 13.1 M H2SO4 at 100 oC for 110 min gave high Glucose productivity
Highest ethanol production was obtained at 72 h of fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Optimal bioethanol concentration and yield were obtained at a hydration level of 35% agitation
Highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency were 17.3%, 0.139 g.L−1.h−1
Hydrolysis of cassava peels using 13.1 M H2SO4 at 100 oC for 110 min gave high Glucose productivity
Highest ethanol production was obtained at 72 h of fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Optimal bioethanol concentration and yield were obtained at a hydration level of 35% agitation
Highest ethanol productivity and fermentation efficiency were 17.3%, 0.139 g.L−1.h−1
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Camilo Arciniegas Pradilla, Jose Bento da Silva and Juliane Reinecke
Wicked problems are causally complex, lack definite solutions, and re-emerge in different guises. This paper discusses how new ways of organizing emerge to tackle changing…
Abstract
Wicked problems are causally complex, lack definite solutions, and re-emerge in different guises. This paper discusses how new ways of organizing emerge to tackle changing manifestations of wicked problems. Focusing on the wicked problem of poverty, we conducted a longitudinal study of Fe y Alegria (FyA), one of the world’s largest non-governmental organization, which provides education for the poor across 21 countries in Latin America and Africa. Drawing on archival and ethnographic data, we trace the historical narratives of how FyA defined poverty as a problem and developed new ways of organizing, from its foundation by a Jesuit priest in 1955 to its current networked structure. Our findings reveal the ongoing cycle of interpretive problem definition and organizing solutions for wicked problems. First, since there is no “true” formulation of a wicked problem, actors construct narrative explanations based on their understanding of the problem. Second, organizational solutions to a wicked problem are thus reflections of these narrative constructions. Third, emerging and changing narratives about what the problem is inspire new organizational responses. Our findings provide insights into the dynamic relationship between organizing for wicked problems, narratives, and the changing manifestations of wicked problems and grand challenges more broadly.
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Andrew D. Madden, Sheila Webber, Nigel Ford and Mary Crowder
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between preferred choice of school subject and student information behaviour (IB).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between preferred choice of school subject and student information behaviour (IB).
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were employed. In all, 152 students, teachers and librarians participated in interviews or focus groups. In total, 1,375 students, key stage 3 (11-14 years) to postgraduate, responded to a questionnaire. The research population was drawn from eight schools, two further education colleges and three universities. Insights from the literature review and the qualitative research phase led to a hypothesis which was investigated using the questionnaire: that students studying hard subjects are less likely to engage in deep IB than students studying soft subjects.
Findings
Results support the hypothesis that preferences for subjects at school affect choice of university degree. The hypothesis that a preference for hard or soft subjects affects IB is supported by results of an analysis in which like or dislike of maths/ICT is correlated with responses to the survey. Interviewees’ comments led to the proposal that academic subjects can be classified according to whether a subject helps students to acquire a “tool of the Mind” or to apply such a tool. A model suggesting how IB may differ depending on whether intellectual tools are being acquired or applied is proposed.
Practical implications
The “inner logic” of certain subjects and their pedagogies appears closely linked to IB. This should be considered when developing teaching programmes.
Originality/value
The findings offer a new perspective on subject classification and its association with IB, and a new model of the association between IB and tool acquisition or application is proposed, incorporating the perspectives of both teacher and student.
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This paper introduces a new approach to extracting the employability value of school/further education (FE) curriculums, using textual analysis to surface the transferable skills…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces a new approach to extracting the employability value of school/further education (FE) curriculums, using textual analysis to surface the transferable skills from UK curriculum documentation. The higher education extracted employability concept already established by the author is applied to help learners articulate the skills value of their knowledge-focused qualifications, closing the gap between the academic learning and the workplace. Proposals for additions to existing curriculum documentation would enable delivery of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD's) aspiration to embed skill development in school education.
Design/methodology/approach
Manual textual analysis of United Kingdom A Level, General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and Scottish academic qualifications surfaced a database of transferable skills, which are categorised, and their interrelationships were analysed.
Findings
Relatively few skills are explicitly articulated in curriculum documentation, revealing issues for learners recognising and articulating transferable skills. Extracted employability surfaces significant value from curriculum by identifying over 200 transferable skills, framed in the language employers recognise, thus closing the perceived “skills gap”. Comparisons reveal significantly greater diversity of skills innate to subjects perceived as “less academic”.
Practical implications
Learners will find it easier to recognise a comprehensive language of transferable skills, aligned with what employers need, and fundamental to career decision-making through understanding the relationships between academic qualifications and work.
Social implications
Learners who understand the wider value of their qualifications beyond knowledge focus, particularly in relation to transferable skills, are better able to be join, navigate and be agile in a challenging employment market.
Originality/value
Higher education (HE) concepts of employability are not well-established or understood in schools. This new approach articulates it through transferable skills within existing academic curriculum.
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Weicheng Guo, Chongjun Wu, Xiankai Meng, Chao Luo and Zhijian Lin
Molecular dynamics is an emerging simulation technique in the field of machining in recent years. Many researchers have tried to simulate different processing methods of various…
Abstract
Purpose
Molecular dynamics is an emerging simulation technique in the field of machining in recent years. Many researchers have tried to simulate different processing methods of various materials with the theory of molecular dynamics (MD), and some preliminary conclusions have been obtained. However, the application of MD simulation is more limited compared with traditional finite element model (FEM) simulation technique due to the complex modeling approach and long computation time. Therefore, more studies on the MD simulations are required to provide a reliable theoretical basis for the nanoscale interpretation of grinding process. This study investigates the crystal structures, dislocations, force, temperature and subsurface damage (SSD) in the grinding of iron-nickel alloy using MD analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study the simulation model is established on the basis of the workpiece and single cubic boron nitride (CBN) grit with embedded atom method and Morse potentials describing the forces and energies between different atoms. The effects of grinding parameters on the material microstructure are studied based on the simulation results.
Findings
When CBN grit goes through one of the grains, the arrangement of atoms within the grain will be disordered, but other grains will not be easily deformed due to the protection of the grain boundaries. Higher grinding speed and larger cutting depth can cause greater impact of grit on the atoms, and more body-centered cubic (BCC) structures will be destroyed. The dislocations will appear in grain boundaries due to the rearrangement of atoms in grinding. The increase of grinding speed results in the more transformation from BCC to amorphous structures.
Originality/value
This study is aimed to study the grinding of Fe-Ni alloy (maraging steel) with single grit through MD simulation method, and to reveal the microstructure evolution within the affected range of SSD layer in the workpiece. The simulation model of polycrystalline structure of Fe-Ni maraging steel and grinding process of single CBN grit is constructed based on the Voronoi algorithm. The atomic accumulation, transformation of crystal structures, evolution of dislocations as well as the generation of SSD are discussed according to the simulation results.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate governance characteristics impact the voluntary disclosure of carbon emissions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate governance characteristics impact the voluntary disclosure of carbon emissions.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical research was carried out in two stages. Initially, the carbon disclosures data were sourced from the annual and stand-alone sustainability reports of Turkish non-financial companies listed on Borsa Istanbul during 2011-2015. Later, the corporate governance characteristics that influence carbon disclosures were examined using panel data regression models.
Findings
The empirical findings of this study suggested that entities with a higher number of independent directors on their boards were more likely to respond to the Carbon Disclosure Project. In addition, board nationality diversity and the existence of a sustainability committee had a significant positive impact on the propensity to disclose carbon emissions and the extent of those disclosures.
Originality/value
This research provides empirical evidence of the determinants of carbon emission disclosures, which could be useful for organizations and regulatory bodies. Such an understanding is crucial to specify necessary policies that will provide emission reduction practices and policies for entities. This paper fills some of the gap in the literature by concentrating on the association between corporate governance characteristics and disclosures of a more specific environmental issue, being carbon emissions.
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Norberto Santos, Claudete Oliveira Moreira and Luís Silveira
Tourism in Coimbra today is influenced by the fact that the Univer(s)city was distinguished as a World Heritage Site in 2013. The number of visits has grown very significantly in…
Abstract
Purpose
Tourism in Coimbra today is influenced by the fact that the Univer(s)city was distinguished as a World Heritage Site in 2013. The number of visits has grown very significantly in recent years, but the diversification of the tourist offer is still weak and unable to take advantage of existing resources. This paper aims to present genealogy tourism as an alternative urban cultural tourism in Coimbra.
Design/methodology/approach
Methodology involved mapping the Jewish culture elements in the city of Coimbra, and a route was outlined and proposed.
Findings
Genealogy tourism resources are identified in the historic centre of the city. These alternative spaces need urban rehabilitation and (re)functionalisation, which allowed the authors to rethink tourism in Coimbra. They are the motivation to visit for all urban cultural tourists, especially Israelis/Jews, and provide contact with places where the experiences of ancestors combine with the history and memory of places, with recent discoveries and the elements of Jewish culture in the city.
Originality/value
It is concluded that the quantity, diversity, authenticity and singularity of the heritage resources that bear witness to the Jewish presence in Coimbra are sufficient assets to create a route, to enrich the tourist experience in the city and to include the destination in the Sephardic routes.
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Christopher John Bamber and Enis Elezi
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for universities to develop an entrepreneurial culture and assess higher education practitioners’ opinions of the culture of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for universities to develop an entrepreneurial culture and assess higher education practitioners’ opinions of the culture of the university they are working in.
Design/methodology/approach
The research provides empirical data collected through a survey instrument originally used for a PhD research study; however, this paper focuses on the question set related to culture, which was based on the organisational culture model presented by Quinn in 1988.
Findings
The findings indicate that a number of respondents reported from a heterogeneous population of higher education institutes predominantly responded they were working within a hierarchy cultural type with many reporting a market cultural type. While respondents from a homogeneous group from a single university reported in the main they were working in a market-driven cultural type with the next main category being a clan culture.
Research limitations/implications
The study population reported in the main that there is predominantly a market culture in UK universities. However, this research has focussed entirely on respondents working within the UK HE sector, thus, has ignored potential differences that could be present within the global HE emerging markets.
Originality/value
The paper strengthens understanding of the critical importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in universities. Students, scholars, HE policy makers and HE practitioners can gather a range of insights pointed at university culture and rest assured in the main they are market focussed.
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Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mora, Sebastian Aparicio, Diego Martinez-Moya and David Urbano
Motivated by a lack of evidence regarding the effect of migration on entrepreneurship in a highly informal country, such as Colombia, this paper has a twofold purpose. First, it…
Abstract
Purpose
Motivated by a lack of evidence regarding the effect of migration on entrepreneurship in a highly informal country, such as Colombia, this paper has a twofold purpose. First, it explores how Venezuelan immigration affects entrepreneurial activity in Colombian regions. Second, it intends to shed light on this relationship, by distinguishing between formal and informal sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
With a sample of 1,776,063 individuals, from the Labor Survey Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares (GEIH) from the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE), the authors employ an instrumental variable approach to account for the selection of immigrants into locations with more or less desirable conditions.
Findings
The results suggest Venezuelan immigration positively influences self-employment and own-account workers, but negatively affects employers. However, once these immigrants proliferate in the informal sector, the effects increase.
Originality/value
This paper brings new insights into the intersection between immigration, unofficial economies, and entrepreneurship. First, while the prior literature focuses on migration from developing to developed countries, migratory flows between developing economies and its effects on local entrepreneurial activity remain unexplored. Second, although informality is mostly common in developing countries, little (albeit growing) evidence of its role in the relationship between migration and entrepreneurship research exists. Finally, the authors bring together these two phenomena to enhance our understanding of different types of entrepreneurial activities when immigration and informality take place. Policy implications are derived from these insights.
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