scholarly journals Overview

Substantia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Barry W. Ninham ◽  
Richard M. Pashley

It is an indisputable observation, beyond climate change: that the urgent development of simple new technologies, to ensure the supply of quality fresh water for cities and towns, industry and agriculture, presents an existential challenge for humanity. Several novel technologies that fill that need show that the job is not impossible. They are summarized in this volume. They are environmentally friendly and inexpensive. They include techniques for seawater desalination, wastewater sterilization –including viruses-, selective removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater, efficient concentration of wastewater slimes to recycle water, and the prevention of water cavitation for much cheaper transport. Other new techniques like high temperature reactions achieved in low temperature water, and low energy desalination are in the wings. Borrowing from biology , new and edible class of surfactants  is environmentally friendly, and can replace standard surfactants in present useage. The new technologies are cheap and scalable.

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-22
Author(s):  
Ray Harper

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to summarise a number of presentations at Day 1 of the Internet Librarian International conference, London, UK (16 October 2018). This was the 20th conference in the series, and the three key themes included were the next-gen library and librarian; understanding users, usage and user experience; and inclusion and inspiration: libraries making a difference. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of the conference. This summarises the main issues raised by each presentation and draws out the key learning points for practical situations. Findings The conference covered a variety of practical ways in which libraries can use technology to support users and make decisions about services. These include developing interactive physical spaces which include augmented reality; introducing “chat-bots” to support users; using new techniques to analyse data; and piloting new ways to engage users (such as coding clubs). A key theme was how we use and harness data in a way that is ethical, effective and relevant to library services. Originality/value This conference focussed on practical examples of how library and information services across sectors and countries are innovating in a period of huge change. The conference gave delegates numerous useful ideas and examples of best practice and demonstrated the strength of the profession in adapting to new technologies and developments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1188
Author(s):  
Lara Talavera ◽  
Javier Benavente ◽  
Laura Del Río

Unusual shore-normal and barred-like rhythmic features were found in Camposoto Beach (Bay of Cádiz, SW Spain) during a monitoring program using unmanned aerial systems (UAS). They appeared in the backshore and persisted for 6 months (October 2017–March 2018). Their characteristics and possible formation mechanism were investigated analyzing: (1) UAS-derived high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs), (2) hydrodynamic conditions, and (3) sediment samples. The results revealed that the features did not migrate spatially, that their wavelength was well predicted by the edge wave theory, and that they shared characteristics with both small-scale low-energy finger bars (e.g., geometry/appearance and amplitude) and swash cusps (e.g., wavelength, seaward circulation pattern, and finer and better sorted material in the runnels with respect to the crests). Our findings pinpoint to highly organized swash able to reach the backshore during spring tides under low-energy and accretionary conditions as well as backwash enhanced by conditions of water-saturated sediment. This study demonstrates that rhythmic features can appear under different modalities and beach locations than the ones observed up to date, and that their unusual nature may be attributed to the low spatiotemporal resolution of the traditional coastal surveying methods in comparison with novel technologies such as UAS.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Orlando Troisi ◽  
Anna Visvizi ◽  
Mara Grimaldi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of innovation in smart service systems to conceptualize how actor’s relationships through technology-enabled interactions can give birth to novel technologies, processes, strategies and value. The objectives of the study are: to detect the different enablers that activate innovation in smart service systems; and to explore how these can lead dynamically to the emergence of different innovation patterns. Design/methodology/approach The empirical research adopts an approach based on constructivist grounded theory, performed through observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate the development of innovation in the Italian CTNA (Italian acronym of National Cluster for Aerospace Technology). Findings The identification and re-elaboration of the novelties that emerged from the analysis of the Cluster allow the elaboration of a diagram that classifies five different shades of innovation, introduced through some related theoretical propositions: technological; process; business model and data-driven; social and eco-sustainable; and practice-based. Originality/value The paper embraces a synthesis view that detects the enabling structural and systems dimensions for innovation (the “what”) and the way in which these can be combined to create new technologies, resources, values and social rules (the “how” dimension). The classification of five different kinds of innovation can contribute to enrich extant research on value co-creation and innovation and can shed light on how given technologies and relational strategies can produce varied innovation outcomes according to the diverse stakeholders engaged.


Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 4462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Baronti ◽  
Paolo Barsocchi ◽  
Stefano Chessa ◽  
Fabio Mavilia ◽  
Filippo Palumbo

Indoor localization has become a mature research area, but further scientific developments are limited due to the lack of open datasets and corresponding frameworks suitable to compare and evaluate specialized localization solutions. Although several competitions provide datasets and environments for comparing different solutions, they hardly consider novel technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which is gaining more and more importance in indoor localization due to its wide availability in personal and environmental devices and to its low costs and flexibility. This paper contributes to cover this gap by: (i) presenting a new indoor BLE dataset; (ii) reviewing several, meaningful use cases in different application scenarios; and (iii) discussing alternative uses of the dataset in the evaluation of different positioning and navigation applications, namely localization, tracking, occupancy and social interaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 3101-3110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaibo Gao ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Pengfei Xing ◽  
Jian kong ◽  
...  

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Oberhagemann ◽  
A. M. Aminul Haque ◽  
Angela Thompson

Protecting against riverbank erosion along the world’s largest rivers is challenging. The Bangladesh Delta, bisected by the Brahmaputra River (also called the Jamuna River), is rife with complexity. Here, an emerging middle-income country with the world’s highest population density coexists with the world’s most unpredictable and largest braided, sand-bed river. Bangladesh has struggled over decades to protect against the onslaught of a continuously widening river corridor. Many of the principles implemented successfully in other parts of the world failed in Bangladesh. To this end, Bangladesh embarked on intensive knowledge-based developments and piloted new technologies. After two decades, successful, sustainable, low-cost riverbank protection technology was developed, suitable for the challenging river conditions. It was necessary to accept that no construction is permanent in this morphologically dynamic environment. What was initially born out of fund shortages became a cost-effective, systematic and adaptive approach to riverbank protection using improved knowledge, new materials, and new techniques, in the form of geobag revetments. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced when attempting to stabilize the riverbanks of the mighty rivers of Bangladesh. An overview of the construction of the major bridge crossings as well as riverbank protection schemes is detailed. Finally, a summary of lessons learned concludes the impressive progress made.


2009 ◽  
pp. 1405-1419
Author(s):  
George Boston ◽  
Randle J. Gedeon

This chapter provides a general overview of the development and implementation of existing techniques for the reference linking of scholarly research materials, additionally, some of the new techniques designed for advanced linking are described. Also presented are several new technologies currently under development, with an eye toward enhancing resource discovery and the interlinking of resources. The progress of computer technology, the adoption of those technologies by the information consumer, and the implementation of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools to existing resources have combined in opening up new avenues of linking previously isolated resources together. Information professionals must come to appreciate and apply these new techniques and in doing so will provide library patrons with a more user friendly and thorough research experience.


Author(s):  
Kiran Meghwal ◽  
Reema Agrawal ◽  
Srishti Kumawat ◽  
Nirmala Kumari Jangid ◽  
Chetna Ameta

Life of living or non-living being depends on water; in short, water is life. But these days, with the growing industrialization, it is spoiling a lot. Wastewater contains contaminants like acids, bases, toxic organic and inorganic dissolved solids, and colors. Out of them, the most undesirable are colors caused mainly by dyes. Color and other compounds present in water are always not desirable for domestic or industrial needs. The wastes of dyes are predominant amongst all the complex industrial wastewater. This water is dark in color and highly toxic, blocking the sunlight and affecting the ecosystem. Among all the dyes, azo dyes contribute to commercial dyes used widely in textile, plastic, leather, and paper industries as additives. The removal and degradation of azo dyes in aquatic environment is important because they are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. For every industry, clean technology has become an important concern. In this chapter, the authors discuss about existing processes as well as promising new technologies for textile wastewater decolorisation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 749-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda F. Hogle

That cacophony you hear is coming from the growing number of commentators addressing ethical, social, and policy issues raised by nanotechnology. Like many novel technologies that disturb the status quo, nanotechnologies raise questions about the adequacy of oversight systems; the extent to which the technologies push legal, moral, and political boundaries; and ultimately, the implications for human health and well-being. Because nanoscale techniques and products challenge our ways of thinking about biology, physics, and chemistry, nanotechnology forces us to reconsider accepted wisdom on toxicity, mutagenicity, contamination, biocompatibility, and other interactions among humans, the environment, and technologies. The sheer scale and reach of nanotechnologies demands institutions, collaborations, and conventions that can cross-link knowledge across organizations, disciplines, and locales. If ever there was an occasion to rethink the limits of disciplinary-specific knowledge, norms about regulatory processes, and societal implications of new technologies, nanotechnologies provide the opportunity.


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