From Being to Existence – The Beginning 0f Hegel’s Logic

Der Artikel legt dar, was "Anfang" im kreisförmigen System Hegels bedeutet, und untersucht kritisch die ersten Schritte seiner Logik: Sein, Nichts, Werden, Dasein. Die These lautet: das Sein als Sein wird hier in seinem ontologischen Sinne nicht gedacht und ein dialektischer Übergang zwischen Sein und Dasein ist nicht möglich. The article exposes what "beginning" means in the circular system of Hegel, and critically studies the first steps of his logic: being, nothing, becoming, existence. The thesis is that being as being is not there thought in its ontological sense, and that a dialectical transition between being and existence is not possible.

Loosely Bernoulli odometer-based systems whose corresponding circular systems are not loosely Bernoulli

Foreman and Weiss [Measure preserving diffeomorphisms of the torus are unclassifiable. Preprint, 2020, arXiv:1705.04414] obtained an anti-classification result for smooth ergodic diffeomorphisms, up to measure isomorphism, by using a functor $\mathcal {F}$ (see [Foreman and Weiss, From odometers to circular systems: a global structure theorem. J. Mod. Dyn.15 (2019), 345–423]) mapping odometer-based systems, $\mathcal {OB}$ , to circular systems, $\mathcal {CB}$ . This functor transfers the classification problem from $\mathcal {OB}$ to $\mathcal {CB}$ , and it preserves weakly mixing extensions, compact extensions, factor maps, the rank-one property, and certain types of isomorphisms. Thus it is natural to ask whether $\mathcal {F}$ preserves other dynamical properties. We show that $\mathcal {F}$ does not preserve the loosely Bernoulli property by providing positive and zero-entropy examples of loosely Bernoulli odometer-based systems whose corresponding circular systems are not loosely Bernoulli. We also construct a loosely Bernoulli circular system whose corresponding odometer-based system has zero entropy and is not loosely Bernoulli.

Maker—Plastic In, Plastic Out: Circular Economy and Local Production

Recognising the lack of local and economically accessible facilities, technologies, and public engagement in local recycling, the chapter tackles the challenge of introducing Circular Economy to cope with plastic waste in Copenhagen. The need for circular systemic innovation and holistic production models for recycling plastics led to consider how local micro entrepreneurs, SMEs, commercial resellers and citizens can collaborate for a common, sustainable goal. The chapter presents ‘Plastic In, Plastic Out’ (PIPO), a Circular system for local sourcing, recycling and production of sustainable plastic building materials and products.

Investigating Circular Business Model Innovation through Keywords Analysis

Ongoing economic, social and environmental developments have forced the production system to undertake a profound transformation, shifting from a linear to a circular model. The transformation towards a circular economy poses significant challenges for established companies, in many cases requiring a strong modification of their current business models, start-ups and new ventures. Firms need to completely rethink their value proposition, modifying how the product or service is produced, delivered to the customers and disposed of. As a result, interest in business model innovation with a view to a circular system has increased significantly over the last five years, leading to a flourishing literature production. Although several literature reviews have been published on the topic of the circular business model, few of them include the innovation dimension. Moreover, the time horizon covered by the previous reviews extends to 2019 and in one case to 2020. Since 2020 saw a 135% increase in scientific production compared to the previous year, it is necessary to update the prior works, taking into account the new contributions. Our paper aims to bridge this gap by proposing a literature review based on keywords analysis. In this way, it is possible to analyze the issues addressed in the circular business model innovation (CMBI) by categorizing them as core, emerging/phantom, trendy or intermittent. This analysis is particularly suitable for identifying future research directions as signaled by the emerging themes.

Modeling and Exact Reliability for a Consecutive Linear (k1,k2,…,kn−r+1)-Out-of-r-from-n: F System and Consecutive Circular (k1,k2,…,kn)-Out-of-r-from-n: F System

The consecutive linear [Formula: see text]-out-of-[Formula: see text]-from-[Formula: see text]:F system consists of [Formula: see text] linear ordered components and the consecutive circular [Formula: see text]-out-of-[Formula: see text]-from-[Formula: see text]:F system consists of [Formula: see text] circular ordered components. In this paper, we suggest, for the first time, modeling and exact reliability for these models. The linear system fails if and only if there exists a [Formula: see text]-order statistic of [Formula: see text]-consecutive [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] of components in the failed state, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]; and the circular system fails if and only if there exists a [Formula: see text]-order statistic of [Formula: see text]-consecutive [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] of components in the failed state, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we designed an innovative algorithm to obtain the exact reliability for an extensive class of consecutive linear and circular systems. In continuation, there are the MATLAB Programs of exact reliability for consecutive linear and circular systems. In the following, we applied comparative and numerical results and calculated the exact reliability of this strategic systems. Finally, we calculated the exact reliability for two real-world practical examples.

Sustainability Route for Industry 4.0: The Future of Global Circular Economic Transition

The traditional linear models have proved to be ineffective in perspective of the limited resources of the earth and there is an intensifying stress on the resource side due to the ever-rising global population. Moreover, this results in the unsustainable and inefficient consumption of natural resources, increasing costs of commodities and volatility in the markets, which are unaffordable for the manufacturing base of our economy. The current business models based on the traditional economic policies are not only blindly followed globally but they also neglect the organizational specifics. The circular economy or closed-loop economy is an approach in which the waste or residuals from an industry can be used as raw material for another industry there by reducing the demand on earth’s natural resources. The expected ultimate goal of this circular system is the reduction of gap between the organizational characteristics like profitability, organizational structure and decision making policies, market position and the adoption of circular economic practices.

Inhibitors of non-for-profit organisations’ activities and survival in a crisis context

Purpose Tunisia has been living a decade of democratic transition since 2011. In this new context, the civil society has been fervently expressing claims for democracy and social justice through creating thousands of non-for-profit organisations (NPOs) (23,456 NPOs in 2020 against 9,000 established in 30 years up to 2010). However, this shift seems to be misleading, as only 3,000 NPOs are actually active, indicating that NPOs are struggling to sustain their activities and ensure their survival. The purpose of this study is to uncover the factors hindering NPOs’ activities and survival. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were carried out using a purposive sample of 32 NPOs members in two main economic and touristic cities – Tunis and Sousse – selected using the snowball method. A considerable amount of qualitative data was produced (400 pages of text). This seems representative of Tunisian citizens’ inclination to protest in the new prevailing political and social context. The data collection benefited from the freedom of speech gained after the 2011 civilian uprising as interviewees were enthusiastic in voicing their opinions. Findings Two main categories of inhibitors were identified. First, endogenous inhibitors including inhibitors under the control of the NPO (i.e. use of illegal and foreign sources of funding, limited financial resources, unavailability of NPOs’ members, short term planning, conflicts between managers, autocratic leadership, organisational support, activities diversification and organisational justice, leadership and communication skills, “NPO culture”, members’ opportunistic behaviour and generation gap), inhibitors related to NPOs inter-relationships: stiff competition, unfair and dishonest competition, lack of collaboration, trust and communication between NPOs. Second, exogenous inhibitors i.e. perceived unethical practices and image transfer, economic crisis, foreign funding sources and the media. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations mainly due to the sample size and characteristics of the selected interviewees. In addition, data was collected in only two regions (Tunis and Sousse). Therefore, the results may lack generalisability. Practical implications The findings highlight the critical impact of the inhibitors under the control of NPOs compared to those out of their control. NPOs in a crisis context could overcome these inhibitors by ensuring congruence between the NPOs’ mission, objectives and activities and designing suitable marketing strategies. Originality/value This study contributes to elucidating this complex circular system of exchange and its inhibitors in a challenging and understudied context. It offers support to Bagozzi’s (1974, 1975, 1994, 2011) calls for uncovering the factors constraining or facilitating exchanges that have an impact going beyond the relationship between three or more partners and the conditions that govern these exchanges. Moreover, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical attempt to support Bagozzi’s (1994) conceptualisation. It also brings an update to NPOs’ data and marketing strategy in a region near the crossroads of Middle Eastern, North African and Western influences.

The compatibility of animal-sourced food and circularity in healthy European diets

Several dietary guidelines are developed that propose limiting the intake of animal protein to stay within planetary boundaries and improve human health. Simultaneously, circular food systems are receiving significant attention in the European Union as an option to improve the current food system. In a circular system, animals are solely fed with low-opportunity-cost-biomass (LCB), resulting in substantially fewer animals and reduced supply of animal-sourced nutrients to humans. We assessed whether this circularity principle within the EU-28 is compatible with the recommended animal-source food consumption in healthy and environmentally friendly dietary guidelines such as the EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines. Our results show that the overall quantity of animal-sourced protein in EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines can be met, but that the precise levels of inclusion of different animal-sourced foods in such a diet cannot be achieved. The EAT-LANCET guidelines recommend larger quantities of chicken meat over beef and pork while a circular food system produces mainly milk, dairy-beef, and pork. All three circularity diets outperform the EAT-LANCET diet in nutritional value while reducing GHG emissions (up-to 31%) and arable land use (up-to 42%). Careful consideration of the permissible substitutability between animal-sourced foods is urgently needed to define the role of animal products in circular human diets. In this way the consumption of animal products - based on the circularity principle of only feeding animals with LCB - benefits both human health and the environment.

Consumer Perception and Purchase Intention Towards Refurbished Smart Phones

Circular economy is a global economic model that focuses to transform linear consumption in a circular system by minimizing waste and preserving the cost of materials. Refurbishment can be useful to recover value from old products and to minimize waste. Based on the insights from literature, a deductive research approach has been used to examine consumer understanding about refurbished smart phone and their purchase intention. A survey based on barriers, perceived risk, and benefits associated with refurbished phones was conducted. Multiple analyses of variance were employed to identify the effect of demographic parameters on refurbishing dimensions. Multiple regression was used to identify prominent predictors in determining purchase intention towards refurbished products. The study demonstrates a fine level of awareness among people about refurbished phone, and they link it to environmental benefits. A major concern among consumers was performance issue and financial risk involved in purchasing refurbished smart phones. Financial benefits are key aspects behind promoting refurbished.