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The extensive use of plastics has led to a significant environmental threat due to the generation of waste plastic, which has shown significant challenges during recycling. The catalytic hydrocracking route, however, is viewed as a key strategy to manage this fossil-fuel-derived waste into plastic-derived fuels with lower carbon emissions. Despite numerous efforts to identify an effective bi-functional catalyst, especially metal-loaded zeolites, the high-performing zeolite for hydrocracking plastics has yet to be synthesized. This is due to the microporous nature of zeolite, which results in the diffusional limitations of bulkier polymer molecules entering the structure and reducing the overall cracking of plastic and catalyst cycle time. These constraints can be overcome by developing hierarchical zeolites that feature shorter diffusion paths and larger pore sizes, facilitating the movement of bulky polymer molecules. However, if the hierarchical modification process of zeolites is not controlled, it can lead to the synthesis of hierarchical zeolites with compromised functionality or structural integrity, resulting in reduced conversion for the hydrocracking of plastics. Therefore, we provide an overview of various methods for synthesizing hierarchical zeolites, emphasizing significant advancements over the past two decades in developing innovative strategies to introduce additional pore systems. However, the objective of this review is to study the various synthesis approaches based on their effectiveness while developing a clear link between the optimized preparation methods and the structure-activity relationship of the resulting hierarchical zeolites used for the hydrocracking of plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The extensive use of plastics has led to a significant environmental threat due to the generation of waste plastic, which has shown significant challenges during recycling. The catalytic hydrocracking route, however, is viewed as a key strategy to manage this fossil-fuel-derived waste into plastic-derived fuels with lower carbon emissions. Despite numerous efforts to identify an effective bi-functional catalyst, especially metal-loaded zeolites, the high-performing zeolite for hydrocracking plastics has yet to be synthesized. This is due to the microporous nature of zeolite, which results in the diffusional limitations of bulkier polymer molecules entering the structure and reducing the overall cracking of plastic and catalyst cycle time. These constraints can be overcome by developing hierarchical zeolites that feature shorter diffusion paths and larger pore sizes, facilitating the movement of bulky polymer molecules. However, if the hierarchical modification process of zeolites is not controlled, it can lead to the synthesis of hierarchical zeolites with compromised functionality or structural integrity, resulting in reduced conversion for the hydrocracking of plastics. Therefore, we provide an overview of various methods for synthesizing hierarchical zeolites, emphasizing significant advancements over the past two decades in developing innovative strategies to introduce additional pore systems. However, the objective of this review is to study the various synthesis approaches based on their effectiveness while developing a clear link between the optimized preparation methods and the structure-activity relationship of the resulting hierarchical zeolites used for the hydrocracking of plastics.

Curriculum development is an on-going process which involves different stakeholders such as teachers, parents, curriculum specialists, academic institutions and the general public. The involvement of all these stakeholders is essential for the success of any curriculum. This study sought to determine how teachers are involved in the curriculum development processes in Namibia. It did this by examining related literature from selected developing and developed countries on teacher involvement in the curriculum development processes. It further deployed a qualitative research approach which had a sample size of 11 secondary school teachers and six NIED officials who were interviewed. The empirical data alongside the reviewed literature, and the theoretical framework were thematically analysed. The findings revealed that secondary school teachers in Namibia did not meaningfully participate during the key stages of the curriculum development processes. These findings further affirmed the assumptions that teacher’s voices are mostly discounted during curriculum development processes despite the centrality of their roles and functions. The study further established that Namibia, like many African countries, use the top-down approaches when developing their curricula unlike developed countries such as Australia, Finland and Singapore.

Social innovations are grassroots processes aiming to achieve impacts beyond an individual level and towards a broader societal good. The environmental dimension of impacts refers to any direct change to the environment resulting from social innovation activities, products, or services, which are not addressed by pre‐existing systems. In this paper, we determine the role of social innovation in addressing environmental impacts by analyzing a database of social innovation examples in European and circum‐Mediterranean rural areas, compiled within the H2020 Project SIMRA. We conceptualize the overall aim of environmentally‐focused social innovation initiatives as furthering the sustainable development of their territories. To address the environmental impacts of initiatives in a structured way, we use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) classification, to describe social innovation environmental impacts in relation to specific targets. We analyzed 238 initiatives from the SIMRA catalog and associated initiative websites to identify and classify their direct environmental impacts. Our results indicate that 68% of the cases have at least one direct environmental impact that aligns with a SDG target. The most common impacts are related to sustainable natural resource management (SDGs target 12.2), sustainable food production systems (2.4), and equal access to land (2.3). This SDG‐based classification proved to be a useful analytical tool for categorizing internationally policy‐relevant environmental impacts of social innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the European Landscape Convention by the member states of the Council of Europe emphasized the importance of raising awareness of, promoting and educating local communities in, and fostering the activism of all European citizens in the process of transforming the European landscape. The work carried out by the Landscape Observatory for Montferrat and Astigiano was to raise awareness in local communities regarding landscape protection processes that those communities could steer, as required by the Code of the Cultural and Landscape Heritage of the Italian State (2004). Consequently, for the first time, a participatory model was established in the province of Asti and the Piedmont region in Italy to support the community-driven requests for a special protection decree for some targeted areas. In this paper, the process and novel multisource methodology used for the two pilot cases are reported, where the landscape values to be protected were identified through local community involvement. Supported by the Landscape Observatory and experts, the broad participation allowed their recognition of Public Interest. These recognitions are relevant because they rely on a shared perspective of populations for the self-management of their landscapes. They represent an operational model for other local communities in the Council of Europe countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme catalysis has attracted increasing attention for application in the synthesis of polymer hydrogel due to the eco-friendly process and the devisable catalytic reaction. Moreover, bottom-up approaches combining enzyme catalysts and molecular self-assembly have been explored for synthesizing hydrogel with complex architectures. An enzyme widely distributed in nature, transglutaminase (TGase) has been confirmed to catalyze the formation of isopeptide bonds between proteins, which can effectively improve the gelation of proteins. In this mini-review, TGase-catalyzed synthesis of polymer hydrogels, including fibrin hydrogels, polyethylene glycol hydrogels, soy protein hydrogels, collagen hydrogels, gelatin hydrogels and hyaluronan hydrogels, has been reviewed in detail. The catalytic process and gel formation mechanism by TGase have also been considered. Furthermore, future perspectives and challenges in the preparation of polymer hydrogels by TGase are also highlighted.

Reviewing literature on rule of law, this article puts forward a ‘bottom-up’ approach of the rule of law that encourages an analysis of three aspects (i) the ability of the legal framework to confer the capacity of self-determination upon individuals (ii) the extent to which the legal framework is reciprocal/ interactional, in that it creates expectations between governing and governed and (iii) the contribution made by ordinary individuals in the form of participation with or contribution to communities of practice and law in everyday life. The paper then applies this framework to the law and rules in application in territory under the control of armed groups, considering individuals’ relationship with rules in these spaces and examining their different ways in which they may affect civilians’ lives.

Background: Promoting work engagement is of interest to organizations across sectors due to the associated positive outcomes. This interest warrants research on the evidence of work engagement interventions. Intervention research increasingly advocates a bottom-up approach, highlighting the role of employees themselves. These workplace interventions often encourage employees to identify, develop, and make use of workplace resources. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the effectiveness and potential underlying mechanisms of these bottom-up, resource-developing interventions. Method: Systematic searches were conducted in the online databases Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Business Source Ultimate, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Publication year range was 2000–2020. Eligibility criteria were defined using PICOS. To be eligible for the systematic review, the intervention study identified had to aim at promoting working individuals' work engagement by developing workplace resources from bottom-up. Work engagement had to be measured using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The systematic review included one-, two-, or multiple-armed – randomized or non-randomized – intervention studies with various study designs. Further, a meta-analysis was conducted on a sub-set of the studies included in the systematic review. To be eligible for the meta-analysis, the studies had to be two- or multiple-armed and provide the information necessary to compute effect sizes. Results: Thirty-one studies were included in the systematic review. The majority reported that overall work engagement increased as an effect of the intervention. The evidence regarding the sub-components of work engagement was scattered. Potential underlying mechanisms explored were intervention foci, approach, and format. Dimensions of satisfaction and performance were identified as secondary outcomes. Participant experiences were generally described as positive in most of the studies applying mixed methods. The meta-analysis showed a small but promising intervention effect on work engagement (24 studies, SMD: −0.22, 95% CI: −0.34 to −0.11, with I 2=53%, indicating moderate inconsistency in the evidence). Conclusion: The synthesized evidence suggests that bottom-up, resource-developing interventions are effective in the promotion of work engagement. The meta-analysis suggests that focusing on strengths use or mobilizing ego resources and adopting a universal approach increase intervention effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Promoting work engagement is of interest to organizations across sectors due to the associated positive outcomes. This interest warrants research on the evidence of work engagement interventions. Intervention research increasingly advocates a bottom-up approach, highlighting the role of employees themselves. These workplace interventions often encourage employees to identify, develop, and make use of workplace resources. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the effectiveness and potential underlying mechanisms of these bottom-up, resource-developing interventions.Method: Systematic searches were conducted in the online databases Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Business Source Ultimate, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Publication year range was 2000–2020. Eligibility criteria were defined using PICOS. To be eligible for the systematic review, the intervention study identified had to aim at promoting working individuals’ work engagement by developing workplace resources from bottom-up. Work engagement had to be measured using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The systematic review included one-, two-, or multiple-armed – randomized or non-randomized – intervention studies with various study designs. Further, a meta-analysis was conducted on a sub-set of the studies included in the systematic review. To be eligible for the meta-analysis, the studies had to be two- or multiple-armed and provide the information necessary to compute effect sizes.Results: Thirty-one studies were included in the systematic review. The majority reported that overall work engagement increased as an effect of the intervention. The evidence regarding the sub-components of work engagement was scattered. Potential underlying mechanisms explored were intervention foci, approach, and format. Dimensions of satisfaction and performance were identified as secondary outcomes. Participant experiences were generally described as positive in most of the studies applying mixed methods. The meta-analysis showed a small but promising intervention effect on work engagement (24 studies, SMD: −0.22, 95% CI: −0.34 to −0.11, with I2=53%, indicating moderate inconsistency in the evidence).Conclusion: The synthesized evidence suggests that bottom-up, resource-developing interventions are effective in the promotion of work engagement. The meta-analysis suggests that focusing on strengths use or mobilizing ego resources and adopting a universal approach increase intervention effectiveness.

Reviewing literature on rule of law, this article puts forward a 'bottom-up' approach of the rule of law that encourages an analysis of three aspects (i) the ability of the legal framework to confer the capacity of self-determination upon individuals (ii) the extent to which the legal framework is reciprocal/ interactional, in that it creates expectations between governing and governed and (iii) the contribution made by ordinary individuals in the form of participation with or contribution to communities of practice and law in everyday life. The paper then applies this framework to the law and rules in application in territory under the control of armed groups, considering individuals' relationship with rules in these spaces and examining their different ways in which they may affect civilians' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UN peace operations need a new peacebuilding agenda that acknowledges both the transboundary nature of conflict drivers and the multipolar nature of the global order. This means casting aside the current stabilization approach, but also abandoning the pursuit of liberal peacebuilding of the unipolar era. Such a conflict transformation agenda would require UN peace operations to prioritize the rule of law and bottom-up approaches, thus creating the potential to be embraced by a much broader range of member states. In this article, we bring liberal peacebuilding critiques into a discussion with debates on the nature of the global order. Liberal peacebuilding critiques are rooted in the bottom-up problematization of international interventions and show what kind of peacebuilding is desirable. Conversely, the debates on the multipolar nature of the global order expose the top-down constraints as to what kind of peacebuilding is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territorial capital (TC) is often defined as a set of tangible and intangible values, of an economic, social and environmental nature, capable of determining the development potential of a territory. In this paper, two fundamental categories of TC factors are identified. The first (generative factors) includes human capital and social capital which together significantly influence individual and collective action. The material and immaterial effects induced by this category of TC take the form of structures, infrastructures, productive and governmental structures, artistic expressions, and the cultural heritage and constitute the second category of TC factors (here defined as sedimented factors). Measuring and assessing these two categories, here applied to the case of provinces in Italy, could allow the formulation of key policy suggestions for economic growth and territorial development. The preliminary results provide useful information about the methodological framework adopted and pose new questions for future research developments.

This article quantifies the net aggregate impact in 2030 of commitments by individual non-state and subnational actors (e.g. regions, cities and businesses, collectively referred to as 'NSAs') to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The analysis was conducted for NSAs operating within ten major emitting economies that together accounted for roughly two-thirds of global GHG emissions in 2016. Our assessment includes 79 regions (e.g. subnational states and provinces), approximately 6,000 cities, and nearly 1,600 companies with a net emissions coverage of 8.1 GtCO2e/year, or a quarter of the ten economies' total GHG emissions in 2016. The analysis reflects a proposed methodology to aggregate commitments from different subnational (i.e. regional and city government) and non-state (i.e. business) actors, accounting for overlaps. If individual commitments by NSAs in the ten high-emitting economies studied are fully implemented and do not change the pace of action elsewhere, projected GHG emissions in 2030 for the ten economies would be 1.2–2.0 GtCO2e/year or 3.8%–5.5% lower compared to scenario projections for current national policies (31.6–36.8 GtCO2e/year). On a country level, we find that the full implementation of these individual commitments alone could result in the European Union and Japan overachieving their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), while India could further overachieve its unconditional NDC target. In the United States, where the national government has rolled back climate policies, NSAs could become a potential driving force for climate action. Key policy insights Full implementation of reported and quantifiable individual commitments by regions, cities and businesses (NSAs) in ten major economies could reduce emissions by 3.8%–5.5% in 2030 below current national policies scenario projections. National governments' mitigation targets could be more ambitious if they would take NSA commitments into account. With full implementation of such action, the European Union and Japan would overachieve their NDC targets. For the United States such action could help meeting its original 2025 NDC target in spite of rollbacks in national climate policies. The full universe of NSA climate action expands far beyond the subset of commitments analysed in this study; NSAs could become a strong driving force for enhanced action towards the Paris climate goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bottom-up approaches are often presented as a remedy to environmental governance problems caused by poorly aligned social institutions and fragmented ecosystems. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence demonstrating how such social–ecological fit might emerge and help achieve desirable outcomes. This paper combines quantitative social–ecological network analysis with interviews to investigate whether bottom-up approaches in lake governance improve the fit. We study groups of residents seeking to improve management of a network of lakes in Bengaluru, India. Results show that 23 'lake groups' collaborate in a way that aligns with how lakes are hydrologically connected, thus strengthening the social–ecological fit. Three groups founded around 2010 have mobilized support from municipal officers and introduced an ecosystem-based approach to lake management that recognizes their ecological functions and dependence on, the broader hydrological network. These groups have also changed how other lake groups operate: groups founded after 2010 are more collaborative and more prone to contribute to social–ecological fit compared to the older lake groups. This paper demonstrates the utility of a theoretically informed method for examining the impact of bottom-up approaches, which, we argue, is important for a more informed perspective on their relevance and potential contribution to urban environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Cambodia has a long tradition of vernacular architecture where initial building practices took climate conditions into account, currently there is only limited knowledge and awareness about the subject of sustainable buildings among stakeholders of the real estate sector. The Cambodian city of Phnom Penh is witnessing a construction boom and the lack of attention given to sustainability issues threatens dire consequences in the not so distant future. This research note discusses various approaches and measures to promote sustainable buildings in Cambodia. It will be concluded that successful policies towards increasing sustainability need to be less technocratic, less top-down, more inclusive thereby taking into account the behavioural dimension and aspirations of the urban citizens. To achieve a viable implementation with a sustained impact a trans-disciplinary and holistic approach incorporating innovative methods and expertise from various fields should be pursued. Thereby, the vision of “buildings for people” may serve as impetus to enhance the quality of life of Cambodia’s urban citizens.

Commercial bibliometric databases, and the quantitative indicators presented by them, are widely used for research assessment purposes, which is not fair for the humanities. The humanities are different from all other areas by nature in many aspects. This study aimed to show the extent of the difference in terms of five size-independent bibliometric indicators, based on citations and collaborations. We used categorical InCites data (1980–2020) to compare six main Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) subject areas, and the 45,987 sources of humanities, to make a comparison for subareas of the humanities. Results showed that the humanities are statistically different from all other areas, including social sciences, with high effect sizes in terms of the five indicators taken into consideration. Besides that, all the subareas of the humanities differ from each other. This main finding indicates that the humanities do not need new indicators for quantitative evaluation, but different approaches for assessment, such as bottom-up approaches.

The complete characterization of the snake venom protein components is a requirement for a systems-wide understanding of their biological context. In this work, we provide a deep proteomic characterization of Crotalus durissus terrificus venom using different bottom-up approaches. We identified more than five times more protein families than the sum of all identifications previously reported. For the first time in this sub-species, we report the identification of three new toxin families: CRISP, phospholipase-B, and SVVEGF. This work also describes proteins involved in regulation of toxin synthesis and processing that are present in venom.

Framed within the broader discourse on decolonising African education, this article aims to contribute to the project of integrating indigenous and Western knowledges in southern African education. Following a participatory action research (PAR) cycle, a team of five South African science teachers and one German researcher explored whether and how indigenous knowledges (IK) could be integrated into the teachers' regular classes. The article focuses on the first two phases of the PAR cycle and discusses how challenges impeding knowledge integration were solved and how science lessons that integrated aspects of Western and indigenous knowledges were planned. While the South African science curriculum explicitly invites knowledge integration, it hardly contains any IK and there are no generally available teaching materials. Moreover, some of the participating teachers did not have IK. Yet, integration was possible, for example, through using the learners' communities as resources, a strategy that worked well in both primary and secondary grades. The article suggests that the very practice-oriented research process was also a process of intellectual empowerment and decolonisation. Calling on the agency of teachers, parents, community elders, traditional healers, and academics, the article argues for a bottom-up approach to knowledge integration and to decolonising education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid urbanization and economic development, the world has been experiencing an unprecedented increase in energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions is a common interest shared by major developed and developing countries, actions to enable these global reductions are generally implemented at the city scale. This is because baseline information from individual cities plays an important role in identifying economical options for improving building energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions. Numerous approaches have been proposed for modeling urban building energy use in the past decades. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date review of the broad categories of energy models for urban buildings and describes the basic workflow of physics-based, bottom-up models and their applications in simulating urban-scale building energy use. Because there are significant differences across models with varied potential for application, strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed models are also presented. This is followed by a discussion of challenging issues associated with model preparation and calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The region of Parkstad in the south of the Netherlands belongs to the cross-border geography of Germany to the east and Belgium to the south. A once-flourishing mining area, the region today faces economic and structural difficulties, an aging population, and youth migration, all symptoms synonymous with urban shrinkage. However, Parkstad appears to have partially accepted that shrinkage has to be strategically addressed, but planning for decline is a time-consuming process. This article positions bottom-up strategies as alternatives to formal planning when coping with urban shrinkage. By first conducting a literature review of bottom-up measures taken to counter urban shrinkage in Western Europe, we show the validity and prevalence of these methods. Second, the role of existing bottom-up strategies within the region of Parkstad is analysed. Third, we expand upon the role of IBA Parkstad as a possible public/private coalition-building exercise for the engagement of inhabitants and the legitimization of various bottom-up activities. Based on these findings some preliminary conclusions are drawn on how shrinking is accommodated through bottom-up strategies, and the concept's linkages to the theory and planning of urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review 'diagnoses' climate change as an international governance challenge and explores the political feasibility of alternative 'cures.' Human activities' growing effect on Earth's climate system is extremely challenging, characterized by, inter alia, very long time lags between mitigation measures (∼costs) and environmental effects (∼benefits) and by stark asymmetries between 'guilt' in causing the problem and vulnerability to climate change. Two main cures have been suggested. Some analysts argue that because climate change is a global process, adequate solutions must likewise be global. Others shift attention from the challenge's format to the sources of human motivation, arguing that a decentralized (bottom-up) approach will more directly engage a wider spectrum of motivations and actors. These cures are neither mutually exclusive nor easily combined. IR research contributes more to the former cure than to the latter but can play a constructive role in linking them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) object pose parameters for multiple instance objects with high accuracy and less time complexity is a challenging issue in robotics and computer vision. Many bottom-up approaches have been proposed for rapid multiple pose estimation but these are much less accurate than top-down approaches. Moreover, most post-processing is affected from more detected objects because non-maximum suppression is used. This study uses a bottom-up approach that is faster and more precise to estimate poses for multiple instance objects in a single RGB image. This method can overcome the occlusion/overlapping of instances in the same/different object category. Informative features and techniques including a semantic segmentation map, multi-keypoint vector fields, a 3D coordinate map, and diagonal graph clustering post-processing are proposed to segment the entire mask into instance masks at once and then to estimate the corresponding poses. The experimental results and ablation studies show that the proposed system features competitive accuracy at a speed of 24.7 frames per second for more than 7 objects using the Occlusion LINEMOD dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and skin cancer urges the need for extra photoprotection, which is presently provided by widespread commercially available sunscreen lotions. Apart from having a large absorption cross section in the UVA and UVB regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, the chemical absorbers in these photoprotective products should also be able to dissipate the excess energy in a safe way, i.e. without releasing photoproducts or inducing any further, harmful, photochemistry. While sunscreens are tested for both their photoprotective capability and dermatological compatibility, phenomena occurring at the molecular level upon absorption of UV radiation are largely overlooked. To date, there is only a limited amount of information regarding the photochemistry and photophysics of these sunscreen molecules. However, a thorough understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms by which popular sunscreen molecular constituents dissipate excess energy has the potential to aid in the design of more efficient, safer sunscreens. In this review, we explore the potential of using gasphase frequency- and time-resolved spectroscopies in an effort to better understand the photoinduced excited-state dynamics, or photodynamics, of sunscreen molecules. Complementary computational studies are also briefly discussed. Finally, the future outlook of expanding these gas-phase studies into the solution phase is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co-production of resilience in European urban neighbourhoods is explored based on the experiences from a case study. Within the current ‘resilience imperative’, co-production processes involving multiple stakeholders can be a key factor for increasing cities’ resilience. Co-produced resilience processes are more successful when embedded in collaborative forms of governance such as those associated with urban commons and when fulfilling needed roles with a community. Through the application of the R-Urban approach in a neighbourhood of Colombes (near Paris), the co-production of a commons-based resilience strategy is described. This involved a group of designers as initiators and a number of citizen as stakeholders of a network of civic hubs. The specific strategies involving a participatory setting, collective governance aspects and circular economies are analysed in the light of co-production theories and practices. Internal and external challenges are identified within the implementation process. The nature of conflicts and negotiations in this co-production approach are discussed, and the role of the architects/designers as agents within the process is investigated. Reflections from this example are provided on the limits and promises of this approach and the lessons learned from R-Urban for collaborative civic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant lessons can be drawn from grassroots’ experiences of self-organizing to challenge the uneven distribution of resources and opportunities in cities. This paper examines the strategies of low-income dwellers living in squatted buildings in São Paulo, Brazil, and asks how resilience narratives can help one understand the agency of these micro-strategies across multiple scales. The city centre of São Paulo is a key site for housing movements to challenge spatial injustice in Brazil. In a context where housing for low-income groups is in short supply and characterized by highly skewed social and spatial distribution, squatted buildings have emerged since the 1990s as laboratories for alternative ways of producing the city. The paper draws from an action-research project investigating such occupations in São Paulo. Firstly, it explores the practices of individual and groups inhabiting a building known as Ocupação Marconi, focusing on its social production as a device for co-producing local resilience from the micro-scale. Secondly, it reflects on which forms of knowledge production might allow for putting such practices into focus, interrogating participatory action research as a means to facilitate resilience at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching Self-Evaluation. An Exploratory Research with Padua University Teachers In universities, self-evaluation processes may concern the faculties, teaching staff and students. As regards teaching staff, self-education may refer to procedures to be used at a personal level and strictly linked to teaching experience or connected to the self-evaluation of faculties themselves. In the latter case, these self-evaluation practices become an integral part of the growth process of accountability and of the qualitative improvement of university education. The self-evaluation approach for teaching staff dealt with here is connected to the development of processes of reflection in the teacher in order to improve educational practices. The study presented in this article satisfies the interest of the Governing Council of Padua University, which promoted a new project on teacher self-evaluation that started in 2006 and ended in 2009. A specific working commission including representatives from all faculties, under the direction of R. Semeraro (entrusted by the Rector for the project), aimed at focusing the attention of the teaching staff from all faculties on the use of a selfevaluation tool, which was developed after a comparative analysis of similar tools in use in major universities in the world. At the end of 2007, all the teaching staff were sent the aforesaid self-evaluation tool, developed by the working commission, and 60% of the teaching staff answered by filling in the relative questionnaire. The results showed that some teacher self-evaluation criteria were common to all faculties while other criteria were specific to individual faculties.

Recent progress in fabricating flexible electronics has been significantly developed because of the increased interest in flexible electronics, which can be applied to enormous fields, not only conventional in electronic devices, but also in bio/eco-electronic devices. Flexible electronics can be applied to a wide range of fields, such as flexible displays, flexible power storages, flexible solar cells, wearable electronics, and healthcare monitoring devices. Recently, flexible electronics have been attached to the skin and have even been implanted into the human body for monitoring biosignals and for treatment purposes. To improve the electrical and mechanical properties of flexible electronics, nanoscale fabrications using novel nanomaterials are required. Advancements in nanoscale fabrication methods allow the construction of active materials that can be combined with ultrathin soft substrates to form flexible electronics with high performances and reliability. In this review, a wide range of flexible electronic applications via nanoscale fabrication methods, classified as either top-down or bottom-up approaches, including conventional photolithography, soft lithography, nanoimprint lithography, growth, assembly, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are introduced, with specific fabrication processes and results. Here, our aim is to introduce recent progress on the various fabrication methods for flexible electronics, based on novel nanomaterials, using application examples of fundamental device components for electronics and applications in healthcare systems.

This article illustrates the main difficulties encountered in the preparation of GHG emission projections and climate change mitigation policies and measures (P&M) for Kazakhstan. Difficulties in representing the system with an economic model have been overcome by representing the energy system with a technical-economic growth model (MARKAL-TIMES) based on the stock of existing plants, transformation processes, and end-use devices. GHG emission scenarios depend mainly on the pace of transition in Kazakhstan from a planned economy to a market economy. Three scenarios are portrayed: an incomplete transition, a fast and successful one, and even more advanced participation in global climate change mitigation, including participation in some emission trading schemes. If the transition to a market economy is completed by 2020, P&M already adopted may reduce emissions of CO2from combustion by about 85 MtCO2by 2030 – 17% of the emissions in the baseline (WOM) scenario. One-third of these reductions are likely to be obtained from the demand sectors, and two-thirds from the supply sectors. If every tonne of CO2not emitted is valued up to US$10 in 2020 and $20 in 2030, additional P&M may further reduce emissions by 110 MtCO2by 2030. This article analyses Kazakhstan's climate change and energy efficiency policies by making use of a modelling platform that provides a consistent framework for testing dynamic hypotheses. The effects of different P&M have been evaluated as the differences between two scenarios according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reporting guidelines. It concludes that domestic climate mitigation objectives are synergistic with energy efficiency goals, and the set of policies adopted to achieve both objectives should be planned, implemented, and enforced jointly. It also quantifies the GHG emissions reduction if the transition to a market economy proceeds quickly and successfully (∼ −100 MtCO2e in 2030), and if a mitigation-specific policy is implemented (∼ −200 MtCO2e in 2030) compared to a baseline projection, and it highlights the need to prepare more robust and detailed energy balances and inventory of emissions in order to develop and monitor the progress of the policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is responsible for approximately 25% of anthropogenic global GHG emissions. This significant share highlights the fundamental importance of the agricultural sector in the global GHG emissions reduction challenge. This article develops and tests a methodology for the integration of agricultural and energy systems modelling. The goal of the research is to extend an energy systems modelling approach to agriculture in order to provide richer insights into the dynamics and interactions between the two (e.g. in competition for land-use). We build Agri-TIMES, an agricultural systems module using the TIMES energy systems modelling framework, to model the effect of livestock emissions and explore emissions reduction options. The research focuses on Ireland, which is an interesting test case for two reasons: first, agriculture currently accounts for about 30% of Ireland's GHG emissions, significantly higher than other industrialized countries yet comparable with global levels (here including emissions associated with other land-use change and forestation); second, Ireland is both a complete and reasonably sized agricultural system to act as a test case for this new approach. This article describes the methodology used, the data requirements, and technical assumptions made to facilitate the modelling. It also presents results to illustrate the approach and provide associated initial insights. Policy relevance Most of the policy focus with regard to climate mitigation targets has been on reducing energy-related CO2emissions, which is understandable as they represent by far the largest source of emissions. Non-energy-related GHG emissions – largely from agriculture, industrial processes, and waste – have received significantly less attention in policy discourse. Going forward, however, if significant cuts are made in energy-related CO2emissions, the role of non-energy-related GHG emissions will grow in importance. It is therefore crucial that climate mitigation analyses and strategies are not limited to the energy system. This article shows the value of using integrated energy and agriculture techno-economic modelling techniques to draw evidence for new comprehensive climate policy strategies able to discern between the full range of technical solutions available. It enables the production of economy-wide least-cost climate mitigation pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life satisfaction, as an indicator of subjective well-being, has received increasing attention in the recent decades. It has become a potential indicator of development, to be used complementary to objective measures. However, no clear consensus exists on the relationship between life satisfaction and satisfaction with the various domains of life as well as on the measurement of life satisfaction. This paper addresses the relationship between overall life satisfaction and domain satisfaction (DS). The objective is to identify potential biases induced by priming effects when measuring DS. Four types of theoretical models, derived from existing literature, are tested in different scenarios. Data from three waves of the European Quality of Life Surveys are analyzed using a structural equation modeling framework to provide empirical evidence. An original experimental design is employed to demonstrate that priming effects cannot be ignored. A comparison of models including priming effects and those ignoring such biases shows that the former is a better fit and has higher propensity to explain the variations in life satisfaction and DS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of instruments applied in the area of energy and climate policy is rising, the issue of policy interaction needs to be explored further. This article analyses the interdependencies between the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the German feed-in tariffs (FITs) for renewable electricity in a quantitative manner using a bottom-up energy system model. Flexible modelling approaches are presented for both instruments, with which all impacts on the energy system can be evaluated endogenously. It is shown that national climate policy measures can have an effect on the supranational emissions trading system by increasing emission reduction in the German electricity sector by up to 79 MtCO2in 2030. As a result, emission certificate prices decline by between 1.9 €/tCO2and 6.1 €/tCO2and the burden sharing between participating countries changes, but no additional emission reduction is achieved at the European level. This also implies, however, that the cost efficiency of such a cap-and-trade system is distorted, with additional costs of the FIT system of up to €320 billion compared with lower costs for ETS emission certificates of between €44 billion and €57 billion (cumulated over the period 2013–2020). Policy relevance In order to fulfil ambitious emission reduction targets a large variety of climate policy instruments are being implemented in Europe. While some, like the EU ETS, directly address CO2emissions, others aim to promote specific low-carbon technologies. The quantitative analysis of the interactions between the EU ETS and the German FIT scheme for renewable sources in electricity generation presented in this article helps to understand the importance of such interaction effects. Even though justifications can be found for the implementation of both types of instrument, the impact of the widespread use of support mechanisms for renewable electricity in Europe needs to be taken into account when fixing the reduction targets for the EU ETS in order to ensure a credible long-term investment signal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Between 1976 and 1990, the Hong Kong government conducted an ambitious, and ultimately largely successful, campaign to change public attitudes towards corruption. Using a combination of publicity, survey research and extensive face-to-face civic engagement, the anti-corruption agency was able to devise a bottom-up approach for corruption prevention which provided policymakers with evidence to allocate resources in effective and targeted ways. This article draws on recently-released survey data and interviews with policymakers and officials to analyse the strengths and limitations of a bottom-up, evidence-based approach and to examine its implications for countries which are seeking more effective methods of corruption prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial cells are constructed to imitate natural cells and allow researchers to explore biological process and the origin of life. The construction methods for artificial cells, through both top-down or bottom-up approaches, have achieved great progress over the past decades. Here we present a comprehensive overview on the development of artificial cells and their properties and applications. Artificial cells are derived from lipids, polymers, lipid/polymer hybrids, natural cell membranes, colloidosome, metal-organic frameworks and coacervates. They can be endowed with various functions through the incorporation of proteins and genes on the cell surface or encapsulated inside of the cells. These modulations determine the properties of artificial cells, including producing energy, cell growth, morphology change, division, transmembrane transport, environmental response, motility and chemotaxis. Multiple applications of these artificial cells are discussed here with a focus on therapeutic applications. Artificial cells are used as carriers for materials and information exchange and have been shown to function as targeted delivery systems of personalized drugs. Additionally, artificial cells can function to substitute for cells with impaired function. Enzyme therapy and immunotherapy using artificial cells have been an intense focus of research. Finally, prospects of future development of cell-mimic properties and broader applications are highlighted.

Institution-oriented, top-down and community-oriented, bottom-up stakeholder approaches are evaluated for their ability to enable or constrain the implementation of adaptation in developing nations. A systematic review approach is used evaluate the project performance of 18 adaptation projects by three of the Global Environment Facility's (GEF) adaptation programmes (the Strategic Priority for Adaptation (SPA), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA)) according to effectiveness, efficiency, equity, legitimacy, flexibility, sustainability, and replicability. The ten SPA projects reviewed performed highest overall, especially with regards to efficiency, legitimacy, and replicability. The five SCCF projects performed the highest in equity, flexibility, and sustainability, and the three NAPA-related projects were the highest-performing projects with regards to effectiveness. A comparison of top-down and bottom-up approaches revealed that community stakeholder engagement in project design and implementation led to higher effectiveness, efficiency, equity, flexibility, legitimacy, sustainability, and replicability. Although low institutional capacity constrained both project success and effective community participation, projects that hired international staff to assist in implementation experienced higher overall performance. These case studies also illustrate how participatory methods can fail to genuinely empower or involve communities in adaptation interventions in both top-down and bottom-up approaches. It is thus crucial to carefully consider stakeholder engagement strategies in adaptation interventions.Policy relevanceWhile adaptation is now firmly on the policy and research agenda, actual interventions to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience remain in their infancy, and there is limited information on the factors that influence the successful implementation of adaptation in developing areas. Engaging stakeholders in assessing vulnerability and implementing adaptation interventions is widely regarded to be an important factor for adaptation implementation and success. However, no study has evaluated the effects of stakeholder engagement in the actual implementation of adaptation initiatives. Effective stakeholder engagement is challenging, especially in a developing nation setting, due to high levels of poverty, inadequate knowledge on adaptation options, weak institutions, and competing interests to address more immediate problems related to poverty and underdevelopment. In this context, this article documents and characterizes stakeholder engagement in adaptation interventions supported through the GEF, examining how top-down or bottom-up stakeholder approaches enable or constrain project performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]