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The purpose of this paper is to investigate if country development indicators, i.e. gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population, influence the generation of e-waste on a global level. The moderation effect due to differences between countries in terms of absence or presence of e-waste policy and level of development is also checked.

This is an archival study that builds upon data from United Nations (UN), World Bank and Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. The authors did a path analysis comprising mediation and multigroup analyses to decipher the proposed rese arch model containing data from 172 countries.

The results indicate that GDPPC, literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population do not directly influence the generation of e-waste. However, higher internet penetration in developing countries leads to higher e-waste, while higher literacy rates in developed countries suppress e-waste generation. When it comes to e-waste policy, a higher urban population without a regulatory legal framework boosts higher e-waste. The authors observed that higher internet penetration leads to higher e-waste in the presence of e-waste policy as well.

This is the first study to include economic well-being indicators in elaborating e-waste generation, on a global scale. No previous study has observed differences between countries nested in e-waste policy and level of development.

As for vibrating screen, the separation of granular materials is a very complicated process, particularly the screening with a swing trace. To study the characteristics of stratification and penetration in the swing vibrating screen, a three-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate the screening process.

The discrete element method (DEM) was used to perform the numerical simulation, and the kinetic model of the swing screening was established. The regions of stratification and penetration were defined, and the mathematical functions relating fine particle ratio of stratification and penetration to time were presented using the least squares method.

The results show that the low value of frequency (5 and 10 Hz) has a limited effect on the stratification, while the obvious effect can be found at high frequency. A low frequencies or small swing angles may enhance the particle penetration. By studying the vibration parameters affecting the stratification and penetration rate, it is found that the frequency has more influence than the swing angle.

The higher screening efficiency and processing capacity can be further obtained for the swing vibrating screen by comparing with the linear vibrating screen. These results reveal the fundamental characteristics of particle motion in the swing screening, which will provide reliable guidance for studying the design optimization of vibrating screen.

This study examines whether Internet penetration has a complementary effect on the relationship between financial access and new business formation in 57 developing economies from 2006 to 2018.

Using the generalised least squares estimator, the authors employ a framework that allows us to distinguish between the marginal impact of financial access on new business formation in developing economies with high and low levels of Internet penetration rates. Furthermore, the authors distinguish between financial institutions and financial markets.

The authors find that increased accessibility for financial institutions promotes entrepreneurial activity, while financial market access has a negative relationship with new business formation. Furthermore, the authors find that the marginal impact of financial institution access increases in magnitude as Internet penetration increases. The effect does not hold for financial markets.

The major limitation lies in the measurement of new business formation, as it focuses on the formal entrepreneurial sector and overlooks the informal economy and entrepreneurs operating as sole proprietors.

Policymakers should continue to promote the development of the information communication and technology sector and digitalisation policy while increasing financial accessibility in the financial system.

This study provides new empirical evidence on the greasing role of technology to leverage the impact of financial access on new business formation. Furthermore, the study distinguishes this effect by differentiating between financial institutions and markets.

Companies spend millions on training their sales representatives. Thousands of textbooks have been published; thousands of training videos have been recorded. Hundreds of good pieces of advice and tips for sales representatives have been presented along with hundreds of sales methods and techniques. Probably the largest number of indicators and measures are applied in sales and distribution. On the one hand, this is a result of the fact that sales provide revenue and profit to a company; on the other hand, the concept of management by objectives turns out to be most effective in regional sales teams with reference to sales representatives and methods of performance evaluation. As a result, a whole array of indices has been created which enable the evaluation of sales representatives’ work and make it possible to manage goods distribution in a better way.

The indices presented in this chapter are rooted in the consumer market and are applied most often to this type of market (particularly in relation to fast-moving consumer goods at the level of retail trade). Nevertheless, many of them can be used on other markets (services, means of production) and at other trade levels (wholesale).

Although the values of many indices presented herein are usually calculated by market research agencies and delivered to companies in the form of synthetic results, we have placed the emphasis on the ability to determine them independently, both in descriptive and exemplifying terms. We consider it important to understand the genesis of indices and build the ability to interpret them on that basis. What is significant is that the indices can be interpreted differently; the same index may provide a different assessment of a product’s, brand or company’s position in the market depending on the parameters taken into account. Therefore, we strive to show a certain way of thinking rather than give ready-made recipes and cite ‘proven’ principles. Sales and distribution are dynamic phenomena, and limiting them within the framework of ‘one proper’ interpretation would be an intellectual abuse.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology for evaluating the hygrothermal performance of framed wall assemblies based on design limits. This methodology allows designers to evaluate wall assemblies based on their absolute performance rather than relative performance which is typically done for most hygrothermal analysis.

The approach in developing this methodology was to evaluate wall assemblies against three typical design loads (e.g. air leakage, construction moisture, rain penetration) and determine limits in minimum insulation ratio, maximum indoor humidity and maximum rain penetration rates. This analysis was performed at both the field area of the wall and at framing junctions such as window sills.

The findings in this paper shows example design limits for various wall assemblies in heating-dominated climates in North America. Design limits for wall assemblies with moisture membranes of different vapour permeance are provided for both the field area of the wall and at window sills. Discussions about the importance of 2D hygrothermal simulation and performance of vapour permeable sub-sill membranes are also provided.

This framework of hygrothermal analysis will enable designers to make better decisions when designing framed wall assemblies suitable to the local climate and interior specifications for their projects. It will also enable the development of a design tool that will allow designers to visually see the implications of certain design decisions and filter out designs that do not meet their design conditions.

Social media creates a public sphere, which functions as the third wheel of governance. This study aims to examine the relationship between Facebook penetration and the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators.

First, a Pearson correlation was estimated between Facebook penetration and governance indicators. Second, ordinary least squares analysis was used to examine a variety of additional economic and population factors, including Facebook penetration. In both instances, the colinearity of the variables is examined.

The findings indicate that there is no conclusive correlation between Facebook penetration and governance; however, the opposite is true for developing, emerging and least developed countries, though the relationship is not uniform across regions. In addition, per capita gross domestic product and population dynamics, specifically the proportion of the population aged 15–64, have a significant impact on governance measures. The colinearity of the variables suggests that governance is a broad concept, and that the direct correlation between Facebook penetration and governance may be misleading.

Future research should incorporate panel data from other social media platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit, to better understand temporal factors and the relationship between social media penetration and governance.

This paper opens up new avenue for investigation on the impact of social media on governance.

This paper can contribute to the complexity of social media as means for voice and accountability. In addition, the paper mentions how social media can be used more neutrally to ensure exposure to diverse perspectives.

The growing importance of the internet and the popularity of social networking websites are generating a great deal of scholarly attention. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is almost no literature that links Facebook penetration and governance. This paper intends to fill this void.

This paper aims to investigate whether Sub-Saharan African countries are catching up with the rest of the world in terms of online usage. Online service usage is an important component of the discourse of the “digital divide”, an emblematic term for the inequality of information and communication technology access.

This paper is a quantitative analysis of internet and Facebook penetration coupled with economic strength (GDP/capita), literacy and degree of rural population.

The findings reveal a heterogeneous pattern with a few African countries being digital oases and close to European levels, whereas the majority of the countries are still digital deserts. A strong correlation is found between economic strength and internet penetration. A generalist picture that Sub-Saharan is on the trajectory of closing the digital divide is an imprecise reflection of the reality.

It is argued that instead of measuring supply-side data, which has been the trend till now, the use of demand-side elements such as online service usage tells more about digital inequalities between countries.

The research encourages internet firms to open up their eyes for Sub-Saharan Africa as an investment opportunity with an untapped gap of online usage.

The three-billion internet users on the planet are unevenly spread and under-represented in Africa. By drawing a heterogeneous online usage landscape, digital policy can be accurately steered toward countries with the largest needs.

There is a paucity of research going into the depth of online usage in Africa. The paper is a contribution to fill that gap.

This paper maps the organizational learning processes in a policy intervention program. A state department of social services designed an intervention for local agencies and implemented it with a university. A closer observation of patterns detected organizational learning in local agencies by the increase in the penetration rate-a ratio of federal to state funding. An organizational learning model is constructed to understand the organizational learning process in this particular instance. The model includes learning modes and the roles that the policy knowledge instigators had played in the process. Each mode and role is defined and the model is refined based on in-depth interviews with participants in the learning process.

Organic coatings are one of the most widely applied methods for corrosion protection of metallic materials such as the tubing used in sour gas field. However, such coatings usually encounter the risk of failure due to the harsh and complex environment. Therefore, the study of failure of the organic coating is highly significant.

In this paper, the effects of Cl-concentration, HCl content, hydrogen sulfide/carbon dioxide (H₂S/CO₂), temperature and flow rate on the failure of epoxy-phenolic coating on the internal surface of BG90S steel tubing were investigated using adhesion force measurement, metallographic microscope, electrochemistry impedance spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

The results show that the Cl-concentration, HCl content and H₂S/CO₂ do not affect the failure process too much as the ion concentration increased. However, the flow rate at the high temperature is the most important factor affecting the corrosion resistance of the inner coating tubing. With the increase of the flow rate, the pore resistance of the coating shows a decreasing trend, and the rate of decrease in pore resistance is first rapid and then slow. It demonstrates that the penetration speed of the electrolyte solution into the coating varied from fast to slowly. A weakening influence of the flow rate on the penetration failure of the inner coating can be found as the increase of the flow rate. Once the HS-ions penetrate through the coating and reach at the coating/steel interface where H₂ could be formed through the adsorption reaction, the coating failure occurs.

The failure of the coating depends on the penetration rate of water and ions, with the presence of exposed or punctured holes is accelerated and HS- was adsorpted by substrate Fe, and form H2 molecules between the coatings and substrate, that results failure of coatings.

The impact of climate change towards water surface resources is crucial, particularly in developing and non-developing countries. Groundwater as a main water resource is thus an essential. However, contamination due to hydrocarbon spills affects the groundwater as a water resource, especially as a main source of drinking water. This chapter investigates the light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) penetrations in double-porosity soil with different moisture contents and with or without vibration impact. It also explains the LNAPL penetration phenomena by employing image analysis. The physical laboratory experiments were implemented using an acrylic cylinder, a mirror, toluene and a Nikon D90 DSLR digital camera. Prepared soil was poured in an acrylic cylinder and compressed with compressor until it became 10 cm in height. LNAPL was then poured instantaneously onto the acrylic cylinder that was filled with soil sample. The LNAPL penetration patterns were recorded and monitored using a Nikon D90 DSLR digital camera. The processing technique was conducted at predetermined time intervals using Surfer software and Matlab routine to plot the LNAPL pattern. The results showed that a higher penetration rate of LNAPL occurred with higher moisture content and without vibration impact. The penetration time for LNAPL to reach the bottom of the soil sample was found to be longer for the soil that had low moisture content and with vibration impact.