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Purpose – In this research, we have prepared activated carbon (AC) from the waste of banana peels (Musa acuminate L.) using potassium hydroxide (KOH) for carbon monoxide (CO) adsorption from motorcycle gas emission.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The activation was conducted using a chemical activator (KOH) at various concentrations of 1, 2, and 3 N for 1, 2, and 3 h, respectively. Characteristics of banana peels AC (BPAC) produced were analyzed using the Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Findings – Results showed that KOH concentration and activation time strongly affected the CO adsorption and opening of the AC surface pore. There was an increase in the CO sorption when the KOH concentration was increased up to 3 N concentration. The highest CO adsorption from the emission occurred at 70.95% under KOH concentration of 3 N during the 3-h preparation.

Research Limitations/Implications – BPAC has been used as an adsorbent for only CO from motorcycle gas emission but not as an adsorbent for HC, NO, NO_x, or H₂S.

Practical Implications – BPAC can be used as the potential adsorbent for the removal of CO from motorcycle gas emission, and it is an environmental friendly, low cost, and easy to make adsorbent.

Originality/Value – In this study, the AC is made from biomass and is used in wastewater treatment, but limited studies are found on the removal of CO from motorcycle gas emission.

There is a connection between cotton production and the Aral Sea disaster in Uzbekistan. Large-scale cotton production utilizes the practices of conventional agriculture and has severe environmental consequences in arid regions. Some of these problems, such as salinization, currently exist in Uzbekistan as a result of cotton production and these conventional farming practices. This chapter is a review of cotton production, the environmental consequences of conventional agriculture, and its relationship to the Aral Sea Disaster. Storm water management with biofiltration, sustainable farming practices, efficient irrigation, ecological horticultural practices, and a water conservation program are remedies that can help to reduce the environmental degradation caused by cotton production and restore some of the water resources in Uzbekistan.

This chapter is designed for use by commercialization teams evaluating the commercial relevance of a new invention. To be relevant commercially, an invention must create value in one or more markets, which involves solving a problem or satisfying customer needs currently unmet. Unmet needs create market opportunities, and the goal is to identify and evaluate the profitability of these opportunities. The chapter provides an overview of concepts and techniques commonly used in the process. Important distinctions between market and industry concepts are introduced along with common rubrics for categorizing inventions in terms of their technological and market implications. These concepts are then used to discuss the roles of prior experience, lead users, and brainstorming in identifying market opportunities for various types of inventions. Techniques covered include market analysis, Porter’s five forces of industry profitability, analysis of political, economic, social, and technical environments (PEST), and the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). The use of these techniques is illustrated for two startup commercialization teams.

Rough sex appears to be experiencing a cultural ‘moment’. Depictions of rough sexual behaviours are common in contemporary movies, lifestyle magazines, and mainstream heterosexual pornography. Concerningly, rough sex has also been an aspect of numerous high-profile murder trials around the world where the accused has claimed that the woman’s death was the result of consensual rough sex, prompting this edited collection (see Introduction chapter).

Despite widespread acceptance of the term ‘rough sex’, it lacks definitional and conceptual clarity, which has implications for research, criminal justice, sexual violence prevention, and for understandings about consent between sexual partners. This chapter argues that mainstream heterosexual pornography is a critical site for understanding the development of collective meanings about rough sex. Through an analysis of the definitions of rough sex provided on three popular pornography websites in the MindGeek network – Pornhub, Youporn, and Redtube – this chapter signals how framings of rough sex in pornography provide a reference point for understanding what rough sex is and how it is performed. It argues that the framing of rough sex on pornography websites serves to reinforce wider normative ideas about heterosexual sex, presenting rough sex as something that is done by men, to women, in legitimate pursuit of sexual pleasure. Further, this chapter argues that these framings reinforce wider social messages that position rough sex as popular, common, and desirable. This chapter provides a starting point for developing more comprehensive understandings of what constitutes rough sex, as well as suggesting several avenues for future research agendas.

Green building (GB) is an important aspect of sustainable development that advocates for practices that enhance the health and well-being of the occupants and communities with minimal impact on the environment. The adoption of the GB concept is low in most developing countries. This study aimed at assessing the extent of the adoption of GB concepts in Kakamega municipality as a case study. The study sampled 64 respondents which consisted of 15 professionals in the building industry and 49 commercial and residential buildings within the municipality. The results indicated that at least 80% of the professionals were aware of GB concepts of water efficiency, energy efficiency, sustainable materials, sustainable site practices, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Water efficiency practices that were widely adopted in commercial and residential buildings were rainwater harvesting and the use of efficient plumbing fixtures. The energy-saving measures adopted were switching off appliances when not in use, use of energy-saving bulbs, and solar energy. The majority of the respondents felt that the indoor air quality was fair. Resource reuse was not widely adopted which could be attributed to a lack of policy or legislation. Low impact development (LID) design of vegetated storm conveyance and rain gardens (bioretention and porous/permeable pavements) was adopted in 42.9% of the buildings. Research into the use of sustainable materials is recommended for wider application as a GB concept. The study recommends the promotion of GB through incentives to enable wider adoption among the owners and developers. Furthermore, GB legislation and certification programs need to be adopted in Kenya. This study was largely based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria and thus further studies are required on other assessment tools and methods.

In this chapter the potential to use water-based Trombe walls to provide heated water for building applications during the summer months is investigated. Design Builder software is used to model a simple single-story building with a south-facing Trombe wall. The effects of using different thermal storage mediums within the Trombe wall on building heating loads during the winter and building cooling loads during the summer are modeled. The amount of thermal energy stored and temperature of water within the thermal storage medium during hot weather conditions were also simulated. On a sunny day on Toronto, Canada, the average temperature of the water in a Trombe wall integrated into a single-story building can reach ∼57°C, which is high enough to provide for the main hot water usages in buildings. Furthermore, the amount of water heated is three times greater than that required in an average household in Canada. The results from this work suggest that water-based Trombe walls have great potential to enhance the flexibility and utility of Trombe walls by providing heated water for building applications during summer months, without compromising performance during winter months.

The sustainable performance of hotels which constitute a major part of the tourism industry, gains increasing importance day by day. Sustainability has become mandatory not only for the tourism industry but also for all industries producing goods and services. Reducing the negative impact of development on the environment and environmental innovation which aims to benefit from natural resources and energy effectively and consciously helps hotels to be sustainable. The tourism industry has a complex structure and exists as being intertwined with other branches of science. Tourism, which is a multidisciplinary industry, is nourished by other branches of science as well as supplies other fields of science by providing working space. Some new solutions that are put forward by materials science and engineering take place in the tourism industry as new innovations. Owing to this interaction, the workload of the personnel working in hotels is reduced and the enterprises save material and energy. At the same time, the customers who benefit from the services of the hotels consume the services in more comfortable and safer environments.

Ceramic materials are generally used in toilet and bathroom parts of hotels. However, ceramics are observed to be used in lobbies, cafes, restaurants, pools, facades, and similar areas in addition to toilets and baths in hotels. The aim of this study is to identify new ceramic solutions that affect and contribute to the sustainability of the hotels which is a major sector under the roof of the tourism industry and to contribute the literature. In order to actualize this aim, the document analysis method which is one of qualitative research methods was used and the literature search was carried out to identify new ceramic solutions. The result of study includes moisture control tiles with the ability to keep the humidity at normal standards in terms of human health and that can be used in hotels, facade systems that clean themselves and the polluted air, thermal coating systems for heat insulation, antibacterial materials that provide hygiene, and dirt repelling products. Also, it is seen that there are new ceramic solutions such as costless night lighting and security strips as well as materials with a phosphorescence property for aesthetical purposes and also, tiles with heat control which offer different possibilities aesthetically. It is observed that the different benefits obtained from each of identified new ceramic solutions ease off the workload of personnel working in the hotels, enable material and energy saving in hotels and at the same time, provide an accommodation in a more comfortable and safer environment for customers. In addition to this, the use of high-technology ceramics and nanomaterials in the field of tourism creates places where technology and aesthetics combine.

Unfortunately, I am not the first to attempt to map out the narrative terrain of Others. In 1985, R. S. Perinbanayagam presented various social theorists’ conceptions of the Other in his book Signifying Acts: Structure and Meaning in Everyday Life. Basically, they comprise three Others: the Generalized Other, the Meiotic Other (my language), and the Significant Other. I will address three additional Others – the Unconscious Other, the Marginalized Other, and the Nonhuman Other – that I find in a broader and more recent literature. Although I group them into six main Others, the borders of these types are somewhat arbitrary, porous, and nondiscrete, as interaction and intersection exist among them. Two characteristics that distinguish one Other from another are whether the Other exists within or outside the Self and whether the Other is an individual or aggregate entity. The Unconscious Other and the Generalized Other both are constructed from symbolic material outside the individual but ultimately take up residence within the Self. The Meiotic Self is the self-divided; there may be multiple divisions but each Meiotic Self is usually presented as singly constituted. The Significant Other, an individual, and the Marginalized Other, often a status group or member of it, reside outside the Self but play supporting roles in relation to any particular Self, which may also be an individual or status group, such as men, Whites, and Americans. The Nonhuman Other may be individual, an aggregate of individuals, or the product of human behavior, all of which reside outside the Self.