Assessing the significance of climate and community factors on urban water demand

Ensuring adequate water supply to urban areas is a challenging task due to factors such as rapid urban growth, increasing water demand and climate change. In developing a sustainable water supply system, it is important to identify the dominant water demand factors for any given water supply scheme. This paper applies principal components analysis to identify the factors that dominate residential water demand using the Blue Mountains Water Supply System in Australia as a case study. The results show that the influence of community intervention factors (e.g. use of water efficient appliances and rainwater tanks) on water demand are among the most significant. The result also confirmed that the community intervention programmes and water pricing policy together can play a noticeable role in reducing the overall water demand. On the other hand, the influence of rainfall on water demand is found to be very limited, while temperature shows some degree of correlation with water demand. The results of this study would help water authorities to plan for effective water demand management strategies and to develop a water demand forecasting model with appropriate climatic factors to achieve sustainable water resources management. The methodology developed in this paper can be adapted to other water supply systems to identify the influential factors in water demand modelling and to devise an effective demand management strategy.

Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Demand Networks (summary section only)

Research on corporate responsibility has traditionally focused on the responsibilities of companies within their corporate boundaries only. Yet this view is challenged today as more and more companies face the situation in which the environmental and social performance of their suppliers, distributors, industry or other associated partners impacts on their sales performance and brand equity. Simultaneously, policy-makers have taken up the discussion on corporate responsibility from the perspective of globalisation, in particular of global supply chains. The category of selecting and evaluating suppliers has also entered the field of environmental reporting. Companies thus need to tackle their responsibility in collaboration with different partners. The aim of the thesis is to further the understanding of collaboration and corporate environmental responsibility beyond corporate boundaries. Drawing on the fields of supply chain management and industrial ecology, the thesis sets out to investigate inter-firm collaboration on three different levels, between the company and its stakeholders, in the supply chain, and in the demand network of a company. The thesis is comprised of four papers: Paper A discusses the use of different research approaches in logistics and supply chain management. Paper B introduces the study on collaboration and corporate environmental responsibility from a focal company perspective, looking at the collaboration of companies with their stakeholders, and the salience of these stakeholders. Paper C widens this perspective to an analysis on the supply chain level. The focus here is not only beyond corporate boundaries, but also beyond direct supplier and customer interfaces in the supply chain. Paper D then extends the analysis to the demand network level, taking into account the input-output, competitive and regulatory environments, in which a company operates. The results of the study broaden the view of corporate responsibility. By applying this broader view, different types of inter-firm collaboration can be highlighted. Results also show how environmental demand is extended in the supply chain regardless of the industry background of the company.

COMMON-Sense net:Improved water management for resource-poor farmers via sensor networks

We describe the on-going design and implementation of a sensor network for agricultural management targeted at resource-poor farmers in India. Our focus on semi-arid regions led us to concentrate on water-related issues. Throughout 2004, we carried out a survey on the information needs of the population living in a cluster of villages in our study area. The results highlighted the potential that environment-related information has for the improvement of farming strategies in the face of highly variable conditions, in particular for risk management strategies (choice of crop varieties, sowing and harvest periods, prevention of pests and diseases, efficient use of irrigation water etc.). This leads us to advocate an original use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). We believe our demand-driven approach for the design of appropriate ICT tools that are targeted at the resource-poor to be relatively new. In order to go beyond a pure technocratic approach, we adopted an iterative, participatory methodology.

Potential and economics of forestry options for carbon sequestration in India

There is a need to understand the carbon (C) sequestration potential of the forestry option and its financial implications for each country.In India the C emissions from deforestation are estimated to be nearly offset by C sequestration in forests under succession and tree plantations. India has nearly succeeded in stabilizing the area under forests and has adequate forest conservation strategies. Biomass demands for softwood, hardwood and firewood are estimated to double or treble by the year 2020. A set of forestry options were developed to meet the projected biomass needs, and keeping in mind the features of land categories available, three scenarios were developed: potential; demand-driven; and programme-driven scenarios. Adoption of the demand-driven scenario, targeted at meeting the projected biomass needs, is estimated to sequester 78 Mt of C annually after accounting for all emissions resulting from clearfelling and end use of biomass. The demand-driven scenario is estimated to offset 50% of national C emission at 1990 level. The cost per t of C sequestered for forestry options is lower than the energy options considered. The annual investment required for implementing the demand-driven scenario is estimated to be US$ 2.1 billion for six years and is shown to be feasible. Among forestry options, the ranking based on investment cost per t of C sequestered from least cost to highest cost is; natural regeneration-agro-forestry-enhanced natural regeneration (< US$ 2.5/t C)-timber-community-softwood forestry (US$ 3.3 to 7.3 per t of C).

Memory Architecture Exploration Framework for Cache Based Embedded SoC

Today's feature-rich multimedia products require embedded system solution with complex System-on-Chip (SoC) to meet market expectations of high performance at a low cost and lower energy consumption. The memory architecture of the embedded system strongly influences critical system design objectives like area, power and performance. Hence the embedded system designer performs a complete memory architecture exploration to custom design a memory architecture for a given set of applications. Further, the designer would be interested in multiple optimal design points to address various market segments. However, tight time-to-market constraints enforces short design cycle time. In this paper we address the multi-level multi-objective memory architecture exploration problem through a combination of exhaustive-search based memory exploration at the outer level and a two step based integrated data layout for SPRAM-Cache based architectures at the inner level. We present a two step integrated approach for data layout for SPRAM-Cache based hybrid architectures with the first step as data-partitioning that partitions data between SPRAM and Cache, and the second step is the cache conscious data layout. We formulate the cache-conscious data layout as a graph partitioning problem and show that our approach gives up to 34% improvement over an existing approach and also optimizes the off-chip memory address space. We experimented our approach with 3 embedded multimedia applications and our approach explores several hundred memory configurations for each application, yielding several optimal design points in a few hours of computation on a standard desktop.

MAX: A Multi Objective Memory Architecture eXploration Framework for Embedded Systems-on-Chip

Today's feature-rich multimedia products require embedded system solution with complex System-on-Chip (SoC) to meet market expectations of high performance at a low cost and lower energy consumption. The memory architecture of the embedded system strongly influences these parameters. Hence the embedded system designer performs a complete memory architecture exploration. This problem is a multi-objective optimization problem and can be tackled as a two-level optimization problem. The outer level explores various memory architecture while the inner level explores placement of data sections (data layout problem) to minimize memory stalls. Further, the designer would be interested in multiple optimal design points to address various market segments. However, tight time-to-market constraints enforces short design cycle time. In this paper we address the multi-level multi-objective memory architecture exploration problem through a combination of Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (Memory Architecture exploration) and an efficient heuristic data placement algorithm. At the outer level the memory architecture exploration is done by picking memory modules directly from a ASIC memory Library. This helps in performing the memory architecture exploration in a integrated framework, where the memory allocation, memory exploration and data layout works in a tightly coupled way to yield optimal design points with respect to area, power and performance. We experimented our approach for 3 embedded applications and our approach explores several thousand memory architecture for each application, yielding a few hundred optimal design points in a few hours of computation time on a standard desktop.

Null Dereference Verification via Over-approximated Weakest Pre-conditions Analysis

Null dereferences are a bane of programming in languages such as Java. In this paper we propose a sound, demand-driven, inter-procedurally context-sensitive dataflow analysis technique to verify a given dereference as safe or potentially unsafe. Our analysis uses an abstract lattice of formulas to find a pre-condition at the entry of the program such that a null-dereference can occur only if the initial state of the program satisfies this pre-condition. We use a simplified domain of formulas, abstracting out integer arithmetic, as well as unbounded access paths due to recursive data structures. For the sake of precision we model aliasing relationships explicitly in our abstract lattice, enable strong updates, and use a limited notion of path sensitivity. For the sake of scalability we prune formulas continually as they get propagated, reducing to true conjuncts that are less likely to be useful in validating or invalidating the formula. We have implemented our approach, and present an evaluation of it on a set of ten real Java programs. Our results show that the set of design features we have incorporated enable the analysis to (a) explore long, inter-procedural paths to verify each dereference, with (b) reasonable accuracy, and (c) very quick response time per dereference, making it suitable for use in desktop development environments.

La orientación al mercado y el rendimiento empresarial: el caso de la banca comercial española

[ES] En este trabajo se pretende estudiar las consecuencias de la orientación al mercado sobre el rendimiento empresarial. En concreto se propone un modelo donde los efectos de la OM sobre la rentabilidad se manifiestan a través de otras variables mediadoras de resultados. La investigación empírica se realiza en el sector de la banca comercial española y se utiliza los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para la contrastación de las hipótesis propuestas.

A Lei 11.638/2007 e a Harmonização de Práticas Contábeis em Empresas Multinacionais: Um Estudo de Caso sobre a Vale

O mundo transforma-se constantemente, assim como tudo o que nele está inserido. A evolução da economia possibilitou uma maior integração do mercado financeiro, tornando o ambiente de negócios único e global. É cada vez mais comum o ingresso de recursos estrangeiros nos mercados de capitais nacionais, bem como fusões e aquisições entre companhias de países distintos e com características próprias. Essas empresas, por sua vez, esforçam-se em adotar normas que atendam aos stakeholders, sem perder a obrigatoriedade de apresentar suas demonstrações contábeis em conformidade com as características do país em que estão sediadas. Com a unificação dos países da Europa em um único bloco econômico, vislumbrou-se a possibilidade de desenvolver normas que pudessem ser compreendidas e interpretadas pelos diversos usuários destas demonstrações contábeis, em qualquer lugar do globo. Assim criadas, as normas de IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards buscaram a redução de diferenças nas metodologias contábeis e na forma com que são divulgadas em cada país, permitindo a comparabilidade e evidenciação das informações ao mercado. O IFRS, atualmente, já é adotado por mais de 100 países no mundo. No Brasil, em 28 de dezembro de 2007, promulgou-se a Lei 11.638 eliminando barreiras regulatórias que impediam a inserção total das empresas brasileiras no processo de convergência contábil internacional e aproximando sua legislação referente às normas contábeis às do mundo globalizado. O objeto do presente estudo é apresentar as principais mudanças decorrentes dessa adoção e seus impactos na contabilidade das empresas brasileiras, tomando como exemplo a empresa Vale, multinacional brasileira com alto volume diário de negociações de suas ações em Bolsa de Valores, grande parte de investidores estrangeiros. Os assuntos controversos, definições e entendimentos que ainda serão deliberados até 2010, evidenciam que não houve tempo hábil para a discussão e preparação das empresas, do fisco, de profissionais do mundo empresarial e acadêmico, dos contadores e auditores, bem como dos órgãos reguladores. Apesar das aparentes dificuldades, o Brasil deu um grande salto na qualidade das informações prestadas e aproxima-se dos grandes investidores globais, capacitando-se para receber recursos que possibilitem o seu crescimento econômico e o seu papel no cenário mundial.

Evaluation of the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security in developing countries

Fish contain important nutrients such as essential fatty acids, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. Production of freshwater fish depends on the strategic application of various management techniques. The demand for fish products has increased beyond the natural supply, resulting in a high pressure on fisheries. Development of aquaculture is necessary for a rapid growth in fish production. A number of constraints hamper the development of aquaculture. Introduction of polyculture technologies in some countries is a way of maximizing production from different levels of the food chain. The roles of women in making fish products available to consumers is frequently over-looked by policy makers. Gender equity in policy-making and management of fisheries and in capacity building is an important issue. Fish production from inland waters and coastal areas can be increased by adopting cage and pen culture systems. Input subsidies and loans to resource poor farmers can boost fish production.

Gestão de saúde, meio ambiente, segurança e responsabilidade social em micro e pequenas empresas de alimentos no município do Rio de Janeiro

O setor industrial de alimentos é um setor muito importante para a economia brasileira, segundo dados da Associação Brasileira das Indústrias da Alimentação (ABIA). Os diferentes produtos gerados pelas indústrias alimentícias são atribuídos a várias setores, como por exemplo, o setor de Food Service, o qual utiliza os insumos provenientes das indústrias de alimentos e fornecem alimentos prontos para os consumidores que buscam refeições fora dos seus lares. Devido à grande expansão desse setor, a exigência da sociedade por um sistema de Gestão em Saúde, Meio Ambiente, Segurança e Responsabilidade Social (SMS/RS) é grande, pois há preocupações ambientais, como o desperdício e a geração de resíduos, preocupações com as condições de trabalho dos funcionários, associados aos riscos e perigos no ambiente de trabalho e preocupações com as exigências legais, como o cumprimento de leis e normas na produção de alimentos, a fim de reduzir os riscos à saúde por doenças transmitidas por alimentos, com a segurança do mesmo. O objetivo geral desse estudo é avaliar as questões relacionadas à saúde, segurança, meio ambiente, sustentabilidade e responsabilidade socioambiental, de forma a verificar o nível de comprometimento dos serviços de alimentação micro e de pequeno porte no município do Rio de janeiro, com destaque para o atendimento ao serviço da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), à legislação ambiental e de saúde e segurança no trabalho. Para atingir tal objetivo, a metodologia foi dividida em: pesquisa bibliográfica, elaboração de lista de verificação, questionário direcionado para os responsáveis e funcionários dos estabelecimentos, de questionário SMS/RS e visitas técnicas. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que, numa avaliação global, os trinta serviços de alimentação atenderam a todos os itens avaliados com relação à legislação sanitária e 88% no que tange aos aspectos de saúde, meio ambiente, segurança e responsabilidade social. Apesar de a legislação em saúde e segurança, meio ambiente e responsabilidade social ser uma prática comum nas micro e pequenas empresas fornecedoras de alimentos, em nenhuma delas foi implantado um sistema de Gestão baseado nessas questões, devido a falta de conhecimento por parte dos proprietários dos estabelecimentos

Ecological limits of high-density milkfish farming

In the Philippines at present, milkfish farming in ponds includes a wide range of intensities, systems and practices. To make aquaculture possible, ecosystems are used as sources of energy and resources and as sinks for wastes. The growth of aquaculture is limited by the life-support functions of the ecosystem, and sustainability depends on matching the farming techniques with the processes and functions of the ecosystems, for example, by recycling some degraded resources. The fish farm has many interactions with the external environment. Serious environmental problems may be avoided if high-intensity farms are properly planned in the first place, at the farm level and at the level of the coastal zone where it can be integrated with other uses by other sectors. It is believed that the key to immediate success in the mass production of milkfish for local consumption and for export of value-added forms may be in semi-intensive farming at target yields of 3 tons per ha per year, double the current national average. Intensive milkfish farming will be limited by environmental, resource and market constraints. Integrated intensive farming systems are the appropriate long-term response to the triple needs of the next century: more food, more income, and more jobs for more people, all from less land, less resources, and less non-renewable energy.

基于契约的客户需求驱动型供应链分销协调研究

供应链协调在国际供应链管理领域备受关注，是涉及多学科高度交叉、知识广泛集成的前沿热点研究领域。它综合了经济学、管理学、营销学、现代网络及信息科学等技术，通过供应链各利益实体之间竞争、协作，实现供应链整体效益的提升。其作为我国实现产业结构优化升级的重要途径，已经成为企业继自然资源、人力资本后的第三个利润增长源泉。 本论文在深入研究供应链管理、供应链协调及契约理论的基础上，分析指出了供应链契约协调研究发展的趋势。依据该趋势本文主要研究的内容是对当前供应链契约协调理论研究的补充和扩展。本文立足于解决我国供应链管理及协调中诸多实际问题，针对现代市场环境中客户需求个性化、多样性及不确定性的特点，研究了供应链契约的统一框架，方法及技术路线，重点研究了客户需求驱动的供应链分销契约协调问题，建立了不同条件下的契约优化模型，给出基于博弈均衡解的一系列证明，并分析了契约参数对供应链整体及各成员绩效的影响，最后基于SOA架构设计并实现了契约自动协商平台。论文的主要研究内容包括以下4个方面： 1. 建立了多对一供应链、确定性客户需求、完全信息下的契约优化模型。基于多个竞争的制造商和一个独立的、共同的零售商组成的多对一供应链分销过程，在客户需求与零售价线性相关、双方掌握完全信息的情况下，针对零售商的保留利润内生给定的特点，建立了收入共享契约框架下的Stackelberg博弈模型和数量折扣契约、两部费用契约下的契约参数优化模型；分析了契约的不同提供方、契约类型的选择和契约参数的优化对供应链整体绩效及利润在各方分配的影响；证明了当制造商所提供的产品具有高度可替代性时，实际增加了零售商的内生保留利润，即增强了零售商相对于制造商的议价能力，在这种情况下，制造商将更倾向于提供批发价契约而不是较为复杂的契约形式。最后通过数值仿真实验，分析验证了上述理论研究的结果。 2．构建了两阶段供应链、短视客户需求、不对称信息、产能约束条件下的混合契约优化模型。针对由单制造商和单零售商组成的双寡头垄断供应链、基于短视客户需求的报童模型、各方需求预测信息不对称的情况，建立了由预购契约和回购契约组成的改进型回购契约优化模型。通过该契约模型同时实现了协同预测、产能优化和供应链分销协调的目的。通过数值仿真实验，验证了改进型回购契约下的供应链协调。通过风险-利润边际和信息不对称度阐述了两段供应链无效性的原因。 3．建立了三阶段供应链、策略型需求、完全信息下的契约优化模型。在由制造商、零售商和理性客户组成的三阶段供应链结构中，根据理性客户及其对产品需求具有策略性的特点，基于零售商和客户间的理性预期均衡构建了研究策略型客户行为的模型框架。分析了集中式供应链绩效与批发价契约及价格补偿契约下分散式供应链绩效的关系，得出在这些契约协调下的策略型客户需求驱动型供应链分销渠道中，分散式供应链绩效严格优于集中式供应链绩效的创新性结论。 4．构建了基于SOA的契约自动协商平台。综合上述契约优化理论研究结论和已有的研究成果，抽象、封装了包含契约类型和契约参数的契约优化服务模型库。基于面向服务的体系架构（SOA）思想，运用数据挖掘软件Weka细化客户需求类型及供应链环境，采用Web Service技术封装各种契约服务，利用企业服务总线（ESB）提供各服务组件绑定、交互和管理通道，以及通过BPEL建模工具对各种服务进行符合逻辑的编排、重组和发布。通过所构建的契约协商平台，实现了供应链分销过程中契约协商的网络化、自动化、智能化和柔性化。

Biomethane production from grass silage: laboratory assessment to maximise yields

On-farm biogas production is typically associated with forage maize as the biomass source. Digesters are designed and operated with the focus of optimising the conditions for this feedstock. Thus, such systems may not be ideally suited to the digestion of grass. Ireland has ca. 3.85 million ha of grassland. Annual excess grass, surplus to livestock requirements, could potentially fuel an anaerobic digestion industry. Biomethane associated with biomass from 1.1 % of grassland in Ireland, could potentially generate over 10 % renewable energy supply in transport. This study aims to identify and optimise technologies for the production of biomethane from grass silage. Mono-digestion of grass silage and co-digestion with slurry, as would occur on Irish farms, is investigated in laboratory trials. Grass silage was shown to have 7 times greater methane potential than dairy slurry on a fresh weight basis (107 m3 t-1 v 16 m3 t-1). However, comprehensive trace element profiles indicated that cobalt, iron and nickel are deficient in mono-digestion of grass silage at a high organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.0 kg VS m-3 d-1. The addition of a slurry co-substrate was beneficial due to its wealth of essential trace elements. To stimulate hydrolysis of high lignocellulose grass silage, particle size reduction (physical) and rumen fluid addition (biological) were investigated. In a continuous trial, digestion of grass silage of <1 cm particle size achieved a specific methane yield of 371 L CH4 kg-1 VS when coupled with rumen fluid addition. The concept of demand driven biogas was also examined in a two-phase digestion system (leaching with UASB). When demand for electricity is low it is recommended to disconnect the UASB from the system and recirculate rumen fluid to increase volatile fatty acid (VFA) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) production whilst minimising volatile solids (VS) destruction. At times of high demand for electricity, connection of the UASB increases the destruction of volatiles and associated biogas production. The above experiments are intended to assess a range of biogas production options from grass silage with a specific focus on maximising methane yields and provide a guideline for feasible design and operation of on-farm digesters in Ireland.

Improving supply chain performance: Real-time demand information and flexible deliveries

In some supply chains, materials are ordered periodically according to local information. This paper investigates how to improve the performance of such a supply chain. Specifically, we consider a serial inventory system in which each stage implements a local reorder interval policy; i.e., each stage orders up to a local basestock level according to a fixed-interval schedule. A fixed cost is incurred for placing an order. Two improvement strategies are considered: (1) expanding the information flow by acquiring real-time demand information and (2) accelerating the material flow via flexible deliveries. The first strategy leads to a reorder interval policy with full information; the second strategy leads to a reorder point policy with local information. Both policies have been studied in the literature. Thus, to assess the benefit of these strategies, we analyze the local reorder interval policy. We develop a bottom-up recursion to evaluate the system cost and provide a method to obtain the optimal policy. A numerical study shows the following: Increasing the flexibility of deliveries lowers costs more than does expanding information flow; the fixed order costs and the system lead times are key drivers that determine the effectiveness of these improvement strategies. In addition, we find that using optimal batch sizes in the reorder point policy and demand rate to infer reorder intervals may lead to significant cost inefficiency. © 2010 INFORMS.