scholarly journals Landslide Awareness System (LAwS) to Increase the Resilience and Safety of Transport Infrastructure: The Case Study of Pan-American Highway (Cuenca–Ecuador)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1564
Author(s):  
Pietro Miele ◽  
Mariano Di Di Napoli ◽  
Luigi Guerriero ◽  
Massimo Ramondini ◽  
Chester Sellers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Network Systems ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Infrastructure Monitoring ◽  
Ground Deformations ◽  
Pan American

In most countries, landslides have caused severe socioeconomic impacts on people, cities, industrial establishments, and lifelines, such as highways, railways, and communication network systems. Socioeconomic losses due to slope failures are very high and they have been growing as the built environment expands into unstable hillside areas under the pressures of growing populations. Human activities as the construction of buildings, transportation routes, dams, and artificial canals have often been a major factor for the increasing damage due to slope failures. When recovery actions are not durable from an economic point of view, increasing the population’s awareness is the key strategy to reduce the effects of natural and anthropogenic events. Starting from the case study of the Pan-American Highway (the Ecuadorian part), this article shows a multi-approach strategy for infrastructure monitoring. The combined use of (i) DInSAR technique for detection of slow ground deformations, (ii) field survey activities, and (iii) the QPROTO tool for analysis of slopes potentially prone to collapse allowed us to obtain a first cognitive map to better characterize 22 km of the highway between the cities of Cuenca and Azogues. This study is the primary step in the development of a landslide awareness perspective to manage risk related to landslides along infrastructure corridors, increasing user safety and providing stakeholders with a management system to plan the most urgent interventions and to ensure the correct functionality of the infrastructure.

Bleak Weather for Sun-Shine AG: A Case Study of Impairment of Assets

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Detzen ◽  
Tobias Stork genannt Wersborg ◽  
Henning Zülch
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Professional Judgment ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Instructional Resource

ABSTRACT This case originates from a real-life business situation and illustrates the application of impairment tests in accordance with IFRS and U.S. GAAP. In the first part of the case study, students examine conceptual questions of impairment tests under IFRS and U.S. GAAP with respect to applicable accounting standards, definitions, value concepts, and frequency of application. In addition, the case encourages students to discuss the impairment regime from an economic point of view. The second part of the instructional resource continues to provide instructors with the flexibility of applying U.S. GAAP and/or IFRS when students are asked to test a long-lived asset for impairment and, if necessary, allocate any potential impairment. This latter part demonstrates that impairment tests require professional judgment that students are to exercise in the case.

scholarly journals The “Zero Miles Product” Concept Applied to Biofuel Production: A Case Study

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 565
Author(s):  
Nikolaj Kaae Kirk ◽  
Clara Navarrete ◽  
Jakob Ellegaard Juhl ◽  
José Luis Martínez ◽  
Alessandra Procentese
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Content ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Transport Costs ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Product Concept ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Production Platform ◽  
High Sugar Content

To make biofuel production feasible from an economic point of view, several studies have investigated the main associated bottlenecks of the whole production process through approaches such as the “cradle to grave” approach or the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, being the main constrains the feedstock collection and transport. Whilst several feedstocks are interesting because of their high sugar content, very few of them are available all year around and moreover do not require high transportation’ costs. This work aims to investigate if the “zero miles” concept could bring advantages to biofuel production by decreasing all the associated transport costs on a locally established production platform. In particular, a specific case study applied to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) campus is used as example to investigate the advantages and feasibility of using the spent coffee grounds generated at the main cafeteria for the production of bioethanol on site, which can be subsequently used to (partially) cover the campus’ energy demands.

scholarly journals Application of electrocoagulation for water conditioning

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Hana Posavčić ◽  
Ivan Halkijević ◽  
Živko Vuković
Keyword(s):  
Water Source ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Pollutant Removal ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Mechanical Equipment ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Water Conditioning ◽  
Electrocoagulation Process

Water conditioning is a method of removing altering minerals, chemicals and contaminants from a water source and it is carried out on facilities equipped with the corresponding electro-mechanical equipment. Although efficient, conventional processes typically use several complex devices connected to a single functional unit, which are often expensive to maintain and occupy large areas. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the electrocoagulation (EC) method as an alternative to conventional water conditioning processes. The examples of previous studies of the EC process application is presented in this paper. The focus of the paper is to investigate the influence of the certain operational parameters such as pH, temperature, electrode material, etc., on the efficiency of pollutant removal such as Escherichia coli and elevated concentrations of iron, arsenic, manganese, ammonia and others. Further, an economic analysis is made, which, from an economic point of view, shows when it is feasible to use the EC in the conditioning process. Furthermore, a case study of electrocoagulation process for Total Nitrogen (TN) removal is presented. According to results, 69.7 % of TN was removed with aluminum electrodes after 240 minutes. For this case, total operating costs were 7.60 €/m3.

scholarly journals Integrated economic model of waste management: Case study for South Moravia region

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 917-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Hřebíček ◽  
Jiří Kalina ◽  
Jana Soukopová
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Material Recycling ◽  
Management Case Study ◽  
South Moravia

The paper introduces and discusses the developed integrated economic model of municipal waste management of the Czech Republic, which was developed by authors as a balanced network model for a set of sources (mostly municipalities) of municipal solid waste connected with a set of chosen waste treatment facilities processing their waste. Model is implemented as a combination of several economic submodels including environmental and economic point of view. It enables to formulate the optimisation problem in a concise way and the resulting model is easily scalable. Model involves submodels of waste prevention, collection and transport optimization, submodels of waste energy utilization (incineration and biogas plants) and material recycling (composting) and submodel of landfilling. Its size (number of sources and facilities) depends only upon available data. Its application is used in the case study of the South Moravia region with verification of using time series waste data. The results enable to improve decision making in waste management sector.

scholarly journals Ecological and Economic Sustainability in Olive Groves with Different Irrigation Management and Levels of Erosion: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Alberto Rodríguez Sousa ◽  
Jesús M. Barandica ◽  
Alejandro Rescia
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

In the last 50 years, both the agricultural labour force and irrigated land area have increased almost eightfold in Spain. The main objective of irrigation, in the short term, is to increase agricultural production. However, in the long term, the environmental externalities of irrigation and its direct relationship with soil erosion processes are more uncertain and still poorly studied. In this study, in an olive-growing region of Andalusia, Spain, the variation of several soil parameters related to irrigation and erosion levels was analysed. The results showed that irrigation, while increasing the productive level of the olive groves, entails a progressive alteration of the soil, modifying physical aspects (greater compaction and humidity of the soil together with lower gravel content, porosity and soil weight) and chemical aspects (reduction of the organic matter of the soil and the content of nitrates) that can aggravate the consequences of the erosive processes. In the long term, the productive benefit attributed to irrigation could be unsustainable from an ecological and, consequently, economic point of view. In addition, the lack of sustainability of olive irrigation agroecosystems could be exacerbated by the future restrictive impacts of climate change on water resources in Mediterranean environments. This situation demands spatial planning and alternative management based on soil conservation and rational and efficient forms of irrigation to ensure the sustainability of olive groves and their economic viability.

Development and Fishing in the Mediterranean

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-130
Author(s):  
Rafael Böcker Zavaro
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Institutional Agents ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
The Public ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
The Social

This article sets out the results of research which aims to determine the characteristics of fishing development in the province of Tarragona, from the social, territorial and economic point of view, as well as the perspective of the public policies implemented for this sector. It considers the role played by the various social, economic and institutional agents, and the importance of sustainable and responsible management of fishing. The research method we have chosen is the case study. The comparative analysis of the seven fishing ports in the south of Catalonia is even more significant in that each one has different sales volumes. The techniques used for gathering information were: the semi-structured interview, non-participant observation and the use of secondary statistical and documentary sources.

scholarly journals Potential Application of Biochar Depends Mainly on Its Profits for Farmers: Case Study in Slovakia

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-176
Author(s):  
Vladimír Šimanský ◽  
Elena Aydın ◽  
Dušan Igaz ◽  
Ján Horák
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Silt Loam ◽  
High Input ◽  
Economic Point

Abstract Current biochar application in the global agronomic practice focuses firstly on economic profits. In this paper, we would like to draw attention to our results and experience from the economic assessment of the agronomic effect of applied biochar through the generated crop yields. The results come from a field experiment (locality Dolná Malanta, Slovakia, silt loam Haplic Luvisol – the most intensively used soil in the Slovak Republic for agricultural purposes), where a biochar experiment was established in 2014. Based on our data, it is evident that both the application of biochar and its application in combination with N-fertilisation in field conditions at current realization prices of commodities in individual years and high input costs are still unprofitable. However, we emphasize that from an economic point of view of the stand ard agronomic practice.

scholarly journals Subsurface Located Geothermal Well – Case Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Langbauer ◽  
Christoph Schwarzenegger ◽  
Rudolf Konrad Fruhwirth
Keyword(s):  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Underground Structure ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Cost Driver ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Geothermal Well ◽  
Drilling Rig

Abstract The recovery of geothermal energy has become very attractive in the last decades. Advantages like the small footprint, the waste-free and CO2 neutral energy production and the continuous geothermal resource, will highly promote geothermal energy usage soon. This paper presents a case study of a subsurface located geothermal well. The overall approach is to use existing subsurface facilities and construct the geothermal energy recovery system within them.Currently, the generated power, produced by geothermal energy systems, is more expensive than energy produced from competitive sources, because of the costs associated with the construction of the wellbore. To extend the use of geothermal energy, its recovery costs have to be reduced. The primary wellbore cost driver is the depth. The drilling costs rise exponentially with depth. When situating a geothermal power plant in an underground structure, the temperature at the start point of such a geothermal well is already at an elevated temperature level, and the total amount of meters to be drilled is substantially reduced, thus saving drilling costs. A primary focus of this paper is, on the one hand, the amount of energy to be recovered and, on the other hand, the technical realization of such a project. The results have shown that the efficiency of subsurface located geothermal wells is higher than for surface located ones. Technical equipment and technology for drilling subsurface are already available today. A case study for investigating the influence of parameters like depth and number of wells is performed. Depending on geology, simulations have indicated that it is from the technical point of view more efficient to drill a deeper well in comparison to drill several shallow subsurface wells. Nevertheless, from the economic point of view, currently, surface drilled wells are more economical.So far, a drilling rig has never been positioned below ground, and the legal framework is just partially defined so far. This paper presents a case study of a subsurface located geothermal well positioned in existing underground infrastructure. This case study shows the vast potential but indicates the risks and limitations as well.

scholarly journals E-Commerce Customers Behavior Research Using Cohort Analysis: A Case Study of COVID-19

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Solomiia Fedushko ◽  
Taras Ustyianovych
Keyword(s):  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Cohort Analysis ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Infrastructure Monitoring ◽  
Technical Performance ◽  
Exploratory Data ◽  
Real World Problems

Cohort analysis is a new practical method for e-commerce customers’ research, trends in their behavior, and experience during the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of the research is to validate the efficiency of this method on the e-commerce records data set and find out the critical factors associated with customer awareness and loyalty levels. The cohort analysis features engineering, descriptive statistics, and exploratory data analysis are the main methods used to reach the study purpose. The research results showed that cohort analysis could answer various business questions and successfully solve real-world problems in e-commerce customer research. It could be extended to analyze user satisfaction with a platform’s technical performance and used for infrastructure monitoring. Obtained insights on e-commerce customers’ awareness and loyalty levels show the likeliness of a user to make a purchase or interact with the platform. Key e-business aspects from a customer point of view are analyzed and augment the user-experience understanding to strengthen customers’ relationships in e-commerce.

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