Automated Cargo Delivery in Low Altitudes: Business Cases and Operating Models

The World Bank, United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and others are in line with the governments of countries that are strongly interested in the sustainable development of countries, regions, and enterprises. One of the aspects that affects the indicators and prospects of sustainable development is the efficiency of energy source use. Nationwide reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions of motor vehicles could have a direct effect on ambient temperature and reducing the effects of global warming, which can affect future environmental, societal, and economic development. Significant reductions in fuel consumption can be achieved by increasing the efficiency of use, and the performance, of current cargo vehicles. This aspect is directly related to cargo delivery systems and supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. The article solves the problem of increasing the effectiveness of cargo delivery and proposes a model that would minimize transportation costs that are directly related to fuel consumption, shortening transportation time. The model addresses the problem of a lack of models evaluating the efficiency of cargo to Lithuania that is using several different modes of transportation. For the solution to this problem, the article examines the complexity of the rational use of land and water vehicles depending on the type of cargo transported, the technical capabilities of the vehicles (loading, speed, environmental pollution, fuel consumption, etc.), and the type (cars, railways, ships). The novelty of the findings is based on the availability to select the most appropriate vehicles, on a case-by-case basis, from the available options, depending on their environmental performance and energy efficiency. This model, later in this article, is used for calculations of Lithuanian companies for selecting the most rational vehicle by identifying the most appropriate route, as well as assessing the dynamics of the economic and physical indicators. The model allows for creating dependencies between the main indicators characterizing the transport process—the cost, the time of transport, and the safety, taking into account the dynamics of economic and physical indicators, that lead to a very important issue—reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services.

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SWAN platform: A web-based tool to support the development of industrial solid waste reuse business models

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x21989413 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0734242X2198941

Author(s):

Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis ◽

George Arampatzis ◽

Tryfonas Pieri ◽

Konstantina Solomou ◽

Panagiotis Dedousis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solid Waste ◽

Industrial Waste ◽

Business Models ◽

Web Based ◽

Matching Algorithm ◽

Waste Reuse ◽

Industrial Solid Waste ◽

Business Cases ◽

Industrial Unit

The SWAN platform is an integrated suite of online resources and tools for assessing industrial symbiotic opportunities based on solid industrial waste reuse. It has been developed as a digital solid waste reuse platform and is already applied in four countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Cyprus). The SWAN platform integrates a database with the spatial and technical characteristics of industrial solid waste producers and potential consumers, populated with data from these countries. It also incorporates an inventory of commercially implemented best practices on solid industrial waste reuse. The role of the SWAN platform is to facilitate the development of novel business cases. Towards this end, decision support services, based on a suitable matching algorithm, are provided to the registered users, helping them to identify and assess potential novel business models, based on solid waste reuse, either for an individual industrial unit (source/potential receiver of solid waste) or a specific region.

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Malaria parasites both repress host CXCL10 and use it as a cue for growth acceleration

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24997-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yifat Ofir-Birin ◽

Hila Ben Ami Pilo ◽

Abel Cruz Camacho ◽

Ariel Rudik ◽

Anna Rivkin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plasmodium Falciparum ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Cerebral Malaria ◽

Survival Strategy ◽

Parasitic Disease ◽

Malaria Parasites ◽

Sensing System ◽

Rich Domain ◽

Cargo Delivery ◽

Low Levels

AbstractPathogens are thought to use host molecular cues to control when to initiate life-cycle transitions, but these signals are mostly unknown, particularly for the parasitic disease malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. The chemokine CXCL10 is present at high levels in fatal cases of cerebral malaria patients, but is reduced in patients who survive and do not have complications. Here we show a Pf ‘decision-sensing-system’ controlled by CXCL10 concentration. High CXCL10 expression prompts P. falciparum to initiate a survival strategy via growth acceleration. Remarkably, P. falciparum inhibits CXCL10 synthesis in monocytes by disrupting the association of host ribosomes with CXCL10 transcripts. The underlying inhibition cascade involves RNA cargo delivery into monocytes that triggers RIG-I, which leads to HUR1 binding to an AU-rich domain of the CXCL10 3’UTR. These data indicate that when the parasite can no longer keep CXCL10 at low levels, it can exploit the chemokine as a cue to shift tactics and escape.

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Follow-up services for delirium after COVID-19—where now?

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afab014 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shibley Rahman ◽

Kit Byatt

Keyword(s):

Service Utilisation ◽

Sustainable Business ◽

Community Based ◽

Care And Support ◽

Early Supported Discharge ◽

Business Cases ◽

Older Inpatients ◽

The Impact

Abstract Delirium is a common presentation in older inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and a risk factor for cognitive decline at discharge. The glaring gaps in the service provision in delirium care, regardless of aetiology, after a hospital admission pre-existed the pandemic, but the pandemic arguably offers an opportunity now to address them. Whilst a delirium episode in itself is not a long-term condition, the context of it may well be, and therefore patients might benefit from personalised care and support planning. There is no reason to believe that the delirium following COVID-19 is fundamentally different from any other delirium. We propose that the needs of older patients who have experienced delirium including from COVID-19 could be addressed through a new model of post-acute delirium care that combines early supported discharge, including discharge-to-assess, with community-based follow-up to assess for persistent delirium and early new long-term cognitive impairment. Such a drive could be structurally integrated with existing memory clinic services. To succeed, such an ambition has to be flexible, adaptable and person-centred. To understand the impact on resource and service utilisation, techniques of quality improvement should be implemented, and appropriate metrics reflecting both process and outcome will be essential to underpin robust and sustainable business cases to support implementation of delirium care as a long-term solution.

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Organic dots (O-dots) for theranostic applications: preparation and surface engineering

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/d0ra08041a ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 2253-2291

Author(s):

Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli ◽

Elmira Kohan ◽

Sepand Tehrani Fateh ◽

Neda Alimirzaei ◽

Hamidreza Arzaghi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantum Dots ◽

Photodynamic Therapy ◽

Photothermal Therapy ◽

Biomedical Applications ◽

Surface Engineering ◽

Graphene Quantum Dots ◽

Carbon Quantum Dots ◽

Cargo Delivery ◽

Bio Imaging ◽

Theranostic Applications

Organic dots is a term used to represent materials including graphene quantum dots and carbon quantum dots because they rely on the presence of other atoms (O, H, and N) for their photoluminescence or fluorescence properties. Cargo delivery, bio-imaging, photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy are major biomedical applications of organic dots.

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Natural Assurance Schemes Canvas: A Framework to Develop Business Models for Nature-Based Solutions Aimed at Disaster Risk Reduction

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031291 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1291

Author(s):

Beatriz Mayor ◽

Pedro Zorrilla-Miras ◽

Philippe Le Coent ◽

Thomas Biffin ◽

Kieran Dartée ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Case Studies ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Business Models ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Critical Information ◽

Business Cases ◽

Floods And Droughts

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted because they can solve different pursued aims together with providing an additional array of multiple ecosystem services or co-benefits. Nevertheless, their implementation is still being curbed by several barriers, for example, a lack of examples, a lack of finance, and a lack of business cases. Therefore, there is an urgent need to facilitate the construction of business models and business cases that identify the elements required to capture value. These are necessary to catalyze investments for the implementation of NBS. This article presents a tool called a Natural Assurance Schemes (NAS) canvas and explains how it can be applied to identify business models for NBS strategies providing climate adaptation services, showing an eye-shot summary of critical information to attract funding. The framework is applied in three case studies covering different contexts, scales, and climate-related risks (floods and droughts). Finally, a reflective analysis is done, comparing the tool with other similar approaches while highlighting the differential characteristics that define the usefulness, replicability, and flexibility of the tool for the target users, namely policymakers, developers, scientists, or entrepreneurs aiming to promote and implement NAS and NBS projects.

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A priori assessment of a smart-navigated unmanned aerial vehicle disaster cargo fleet

SIMULATION ◽

10.1177/0037549720921447 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 96 (8) ◽

pp. 641-653

Author(s):

Jonathan Larson ◽

Paul Isihara ◽

Gabriel Flores ◽

Edwin Townsend ◽

Danilo R. Diedrichs ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disaster Response ◽

Best Practice ◽

A Priori ◽

Geographic Distance ◽

Field Tests ◽

General Purpose ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Modeling And Analysis ◽

Cargo Delivery

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has asserted that risks in deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within disaster response must be reduced by careful development of best-practice standards before implementing such systems. With recent humanitarian field tests of cargo UAVs as indication that implementation may soon become reality, a priori assessment of a smart-navigated (autonomous) UAV disaster cargo fleet via simulation modeling and analysis is vital to the best-practice development process. Logistical problems with ground transport of relief supplies in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (2017) pose a compelling use scenario for UAV disaster cargo delivery. In this context, we introduce a General Purpose Assessment Model (GPAM) that can estimate the potential effectiveness of a cargo UAV fleet for any given response region. We evaluate this model using the following standards: (i) realistic specifications; (ii) stable output for various realistic specifications; and (iii) support of humanitarian goals. To this end, we discuss data from humanitarian cargo delivery field tests and feedback from practitioners, perform sensitivity analyses, and demonstrate the advantage of using humanitarian rather than geographic distance in making fleet delivery assignments. We conclude with several major challenges faced by those who wish to implement smart-navigated UAV cargo fleets in disaster response, and the need for further GPAM development. This paper proposes the GPAM as a useful simulation tool to encourage and guide steps toward humanitarian use of UAVs for cargo delivery. The model’s flexibility can allow organizations to quickly and effectively determine how best to respond to disasters.

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PSS Business Case Map: Supporting Idea Generation in PSS Design

Volume 3: 38th Design Automation Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/detc2012-70692 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fumiya Akasaka ◽

Kazuki Fujita ◽

Yoshiki Shimomura

Keyword(s):

Idea Generation ◽

Business Case ◽

Literature Survey ◽

The Self ◽

High Dimensional ◽

Self Organizing Map ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Service Type ◽

Business Cases ◽

Low Dimensional

This paper proposes the PSS Business Case Map as a tool to support designers’ idea generation in PSS design. The map visualizes the similarities among PSS business cases in a two-dimensional diagram. To make the map, PSS business cases are first collected by conducting, for example, a literature survey. The collected business cases are then classified from multiple aspects that characterize each case such as its product type, service type, target customer, and so on. Based on the results of this classification, the similarities among the cases are calculated and visualized by using the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) technique. A SOM is a type of artificial neural network that is trained using unsupervised learning to produce a low-dimensional (typically two-dimensional) view from high-dimensional data. The visualization result is offered to designers in a form of a two-dimensional map, which is called the PSS Business Case Map. By using the map, designers can figure out the position of their current business and can acquire ideas for the servitization of their business.

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The new retail model: global reach demands omni-channels

Journal of Business Strategy ◽

10.1108/jbs-02-2021-0026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Guillaume Do Vale ◽

Isabelle Collin-Lachaud ◽

Xavier Lecocq

Keyword(s):

Business Model ◽

Business Strategy ◽

Academic Research ◽

Transformation Process ◽

Content Type ◽

New Business ◽

Business Cases ◽

Established Firms ◽

New Consumer ◽

Global Reach

Purpose To cope with online competitors and new consumer behaviors, retailers need to hybrid digital and physical offerings to implement an omni-channel business model. This constitutes a digital transformation of the traditional business model. However, business cases on how traditional retailers are shifting from multi-channel to omni-channel retailing are lacking. This paper aims to explore the different issues and organizational paths during the transformation of a business model. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a qualitative multiple case study of five retailers with a global reach currently implementing an omni-channel business model. Findings This research sheds light on three main issues encountered by retailers and the different underlying decisions when moving toward an omni-channel business model. The first relates to revenue attribution across channels, which involves rethinking traditional key performance indicators to give incentives to stores when promoting digital offers. The second issue concerns the supply chain decisions associated with cross-channel operations. The third issue relates to the delicate balance between global reach (digital channel) and local reach (specific store) for communication on social media and marketing decisions on pricing. This study provides empirical evidence about the variety of choices that retailers make to cope with the issues during the implementation of an omni-channel business model. Originality/value This work explores the issues faced by established firms when moving toward a new business model that is the hybridization of two existing business model managed separately. It provides comprehensive and clear illustration of how to manage such a business model transformation process that can be used by both business strategy practice and academic research.

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