scholarly journals Review of environmental performance of permeable pavement systems: state of the knowledge

2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. P. Drake ◽  
Andrea Bradford ◽  
Jiri Marsalek

Permeable pavement (PP) systems provide opportunities to mitigate the impacts of urbanization on receiving water systems by providing at source treatment and management of stormwater. However, they do not receive mainstream use throughout much of Canada and the USA because of a lack of local guidance documents, demonstration projects and performance data. Studies have repeatedly shown that PPs attenuate stormwater flows by reducing volume and frequency of stormwater flows, reducing and delaying peak flow rates, and increasing flow durations. PP systems have been shown to improve stormwater quality by reducing stormwater temperature, pollutant concentrations and pollutant loadings of suspended solids, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and some nutrients. This review is intended as a comprehensive summary of the current state of knowledge of the environmental performance of PP systems. Published research is synthesized to examine the hydrologic performance, impacts to water quality, longevity and functionality and maintenance needs of PP systems. Where appropriate, the limitations of current knowledge are discussed and emerging and future research needs are presented. The intent of this review is to provide stakeholders in stormwater management with the critical information that is needed to foster acceptance of PPs as a viable alternative to traditional systems.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Christine Babyar

Purpose Physician stress and burnout is a serious and common concern in healthcare, with over half of physicians in the USA meeting at least one criterion for burnout. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A review on current state of physician stress and burnout research, from 2008 to 2016, was undertaken. A subsequent perspective paper was shaped around these reviews. Findings Findings reveal research strength in prevalence and incidence with opportunities for stronger intervention studies. While descriptive studies on causes and consequences of physician burnout are available, studies on interventions and prevention of physician burnout are lacking. Future research on physician stress and burnout should incorporate intervention studies and take care to avoid limitations found in current research. Accountability and prevention of physician burnout is the responsibility of the healthcare industry as a whole, and organizational strategies must be emphasized in future research. Originality/value The value of this research comes in the original comprehensive review, international inclusion and succinct summary of physician burnout research and strategies.


2012 ◽  
pp. 302-315
Author(s):  
H. K. Chan ◽  
T.-Y. Chiou ◽  
F. Lettice

Nowadays, more organisations are focusing on how to improve their environmental performance, partly driven by recent regulations in this area. This means that green supply chain management plays an important role over traditional supply chain management. Companies could gain competitive advantage through the proper management of their supply chain activities, for example, purchasing management. In fact, organisations can now generate more business opportunities than their competitors by addressing environmental management successfully. More specifically, it has been identified that implementation of green innovation can become a company’s order winner. However, not many studies have investigated the relationships between the greening of suppliers, green innovation, environmental performance and competitive advantage. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptual model, developed from a review of relevant literature and performance indicators, and to identify how future research can address these issues.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-848
Author(s):  
Alina Köchling ◽  
Marius Claus Wehner

AbstractAlgorithmic decision-making is becoming increasingly common as a new source of advice in HR recruitment and HR development. While firms implement algorithmic decision-making to save costs as well as increase efficiency and objectivity, algorithmic decision-making might also lead to the unfair treatment of certain groups of people, implicit discrimination, and perceived unfairness. Current knowledge about the threats of unfairness and (implicit) discrimination by algorithmic decision-making is mostly unexplored in the human resource management context. Our goal is to clarify the current state of research related to HR recruitment and HR development, identify research gaps, and provide crucial future research directions. Based on a systematic review of 36 journal articles from 2014 to 2020, we present some applications of algorithmic decision-making and evaluate the possible pitfalls in these two essential HR functions. In doing this, we inform researchers and practitioners, offer important theoretical and practical implications, and suggest fruitful avenues for future research.


Author(s):  
Mahboobeh Ghesmaty Sangachin ◽  
Lora A. Cavuoto

Obesity is an emerging health problem among the workforce. This review examined the published literature in the last decade presented in prominent human factors and occupational safety and health journals to map out the current state of the research and direct future work. Overall, 44 studies were identified, out of which 27% focused on general effects of obesity on work performance, disability or occupational injury and 73% studied hypotheses regarding the effect of obesity on functional capacity, balance and performance of specific tasks. While over 90% of general studies suggest some significant adverse effect, only ~47% of specific studies report such results. While obesity co- occurs with chronic conditions such as diabetes or cardio-respiratory issues, laboratory based studies which exclude subjects with comorbidities may fail to fully manifest obesity effects. With only four studies identified that investigated an interaction of obesity with other personal or job-related health risks, future research in this regard is warranted.


Cancers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Erben ◽  
Megha Bhardwaj ◽  
Petra Schrotz-King ◽  
Hermann Brenner

Background: Several approaches have been suggested to be useful in the early detection of colorectal neoplasms. Since metabolites are closely related to the phenotype and are available from different human bio-fluids, metabolomics are candidates for non-invasive early detection of colorectal neoplasms. Objectives: We aimed to summarize current knowledge on performance characteristics of metabolomics biomarkers that are potentially applicable in a screening setting for the early detection of colorectal neoplasms. Design: We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed and Web of Science and searched for biomarkers for the early detection of colorectal neoplasms in easy-to-collect human bio-fluids. Information on study design and performance characteristics for diagnostic accuracy was extracted. Results: Finally, we included 41 studies in our analysis investigating biomarkers in different bio-fluids (blood, urine, and feces). Although single metabolites mostly had limited ability to distinguish people with and without colorectal neoplasms, promising results were reported for metabolite panels, especially amino acid panels in blood samples, as well as nucleosides in urine samples in several studies. However, validation of the results is limited. Conclusions: Panels of metabolites consisting of amino acids in blood and nucleosides in urinary samples might be useful biomarkers for early detection of advanced colorectal neoplasms. However, to make metabolomic biomarkers clinically applicable, future research in larger studies and external validation of the results is required.


Author(s):  
H. K. Chan ◽  
T.-Y. Chiou ◽  
F. Lettice

Nowadays, more organisations are focusing on how to improve their environmental performance, partly driven by recent regulations in this area. This means that green supply chain management plays an important role over traditional supply chain management. Companies could gain competitive advantage through the proper management of their supply chain activities, for example, purchasing management. In fact, organisations can now generate more business opportunities than their competitors by addressing environmental management successfully. More specifically, it has been identified that implementation of green innovation can become a company’s order winner. However, not many studies have investigated the relationships between the greening of suppliers, green innovation, environmental performance and competitive advantage. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptual model, developed from a review of relevant literature and performance indicators, and to identify how future research can address these issues.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1366
Author(s):  
Reza Nemati ◽  
Jean-Pierre Fortin ◽  
Joseph Craig ◽  
Shaye Donald

The production and use of cannabis for medical purposes has been legalized in Canada and several states in the USA. Due to the historically illegal nature of cannabis, there is very little information available in academic publications about appropriate growing media for growing cannabis. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the most commonly used growing media for the production of medical cannabis and to discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Based on current knowledge, there is a general agreement on the properties of a suitable growing medium within the cannabis industry. However, there is little consensus among growers on the best growing medium to grow cannabis. Different categories of growing media are widely used in North America. In this review, we classified them into several main categories principally based on the type of material used in their composition and the growth stages of the plant. The main categories include: coir-based, peat-based, rockwool, phenolic foam, and living soil. It is not easy to suggest the best growing medium for cannabis production. Each category of growing medium has its strengths and weaknesses. Overall, it seems that coir-based products are the intermediate substrates showing more advantages and less weakness; however, choosing any of these categories depends a lot on the growing technique and production system. Future research should focus on determining the optimal level of growing media properties to produce high yielding medical cannabis with the desired quality.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3473
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Rothschild ◽  
Andrew E. Kilding ◽  
Daniel J. Plews

The primary variables influencing the adaptive response to a bout of endurance training are exercise duration and exercise intensity. However, altering the availability of nutrients before and during exercise can also impact the training response by modulating the exercise stimulus and/or the physiological and molecular responses to the exercise-induced perturbations. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current knowledge of the influence of pre-exercise nutrition ingestion on the metabolic, physiological, and performance responses to endurance training and suggest directions for future research. Acutely, carbohydrate ingestion reduces fat oxidation, but there is little evidence showing enhanced fat burning capacity following long-term fasted-state training. Performance is improved following pre-exercise carbohydrate ingestion for longer but not shorter duration exercise, while training-induced performance improvements following nutrition strategies that modulate carbohydrate availability vary based on the type of nutrition protocol used. Contrasting findings related to the influence of acute carbohydrate ingestion on mitochondrial signaling may be related to the amount of carbohydrate consumed and the intensity of exercise. This review can help to guide athletes, coaches, and nutritionists in personalizing pre-exercise nutrition strategies, and for designing research studies to further elucidate the role of nutrition in endurance training adaptations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Pestar Bizjak ◽  
Hristo Hristov ◽  
Tatjana Košmerl ◽  
Ales Kuhar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify which dimensions of perceived value of wine dominate in the perception of wine consumers from two distinctive wine producing regions and to examine how their respective regional identity, consumer regiocentrism (CR) and perceived value of wine are inter-related in determining consumers’ preference of wine. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 221 wine consumers from two Slovenian wine regions with contrasting wine-related and social specificities responded to an online questionnaire. Besides the wine-related consumer behaviour variables, the questionnaire contained CR, regional identity and consumer perceived value measurements, based on adapted CETSCALE, regional identity and PERVAL scales. The scales were validated, and structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the relationships between the constructs. Findings Perceived value of wine was found to consist of three dimensions: emotional-social, quality-price and terroir, which differ from those previously observed among wine consumers from the USA. Regional identity was found to be a direct antecedent of CR, and CR directly affects all three dimensions of perceived value of wine; these findings were evident in the original model and in both studied wine regions. Research limitations/implications Future research should extend the model to include other possible antecedents of CR and study its effects on different consequences, especially purchasing intent. Future studies would benefit by adding more indicators into scales to measure CR and regional identity to improve the model fit. Originality/value This study contributes to a better understanding of perceived value of wine and extends the current knowledge of how social and psychological phenomena interact when evaluating wine. The results herein should enable marketers to develop more sophisticated positioning strategies and support their decision making for an appropriate market approach.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nsubili Isaga

PurposeFocussing on the relationship between personality traits and small and medium enterprise (SME) performance in Tanzania’s furniture sector, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of cognitive characteristics as a mediating variable.Design/methodology/approachA total of 300 SMEs in furniture sectors from four different regions in Tanzania were involved in this study. Structural equation modelling approach was used to test simultaneously the direct and the indirect effects of the characteristics of the entrepreneurs on the SMEs performance.FindingsThe findings show that personality traits have a significant influence on SMEs performance through cognitive characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsThe study’s data were collected from businesses in only one industry (furniture) in Tanzania. Future research may extend the approach to other business sectors.Practical implicationsSince entrepreneurial characteristics are considered an important driver of a country’s economic development and performance, it is hoped that governments and sector associations implement suitable policies and incentives to develop an entrepreneurial culture among citizens.Originality/valueCurrent knowledge about entrepreneurial characteristics and their relationship with SME performance in developing countries, especially Tanzania, is very limited. The present study suggests that cognitive characteristics are necessary mediators of the link between personality traits and SME performance.


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