Fuelwood is one of the most widely used natural resources. Its major uses include household heating and energy production (heat energy plants). Its production is expected to increase in order to cover the increased demand, therefore management of fuelwood productive forests should be done in a sustainable way. Two linear programming (LP) models are presented in this work, for the optimal design of production and harvesting scheduling of fuelwood, produced from even-aged (coppice) Oak forests. Respectively, two alternative sustainable management strategies are examined. The first strategy aims at sustainable fuelwood production in the context of area control. The second one achieves maximization of the volume per unit of time and leads to a steady state forest. Actual data from the forest management plan of Achladochori-Aggistro-Sidirokastro forest are used to demonstrate models application. Both models can serve as a "rule of thumb" in the forest management practice.
The present chapter proposes a Multi-Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) model for the optimal planning of the fuelwood supply chain management problem. The choice of the model was based on the fact that the nature of the problem is dual: economic and environmental. The sensitivity of the model to different demand scenarios is checked by the use of numerical simulations.
Start-up development, success, and sustainability are affected by contextual factors that constitute a regional entrepreneurship ecosystem. Based on previous literature, we propose the conceptual framework Start-Up Ecosystem (StUpEco) that highlights the contextual drivers of a start-up business affected by the entrepreneurial ecosystem entities involved within the quadruple helix model. Furthermore, the proposed framework is tested according to the perceptions of Greek start-uppers through an empirical survey. According to our findings, the start-uppers' motivation is explained mainly through opportunity rather than necessity. The study identifies government issues, such as tax incentives and acceleration of starting procedures, availability of funding opportunities, connectivity of stakeholders, entrepreneurship education, previous start-up experience, incubator support, as well as mentoring, as the most significant issues affecting the successful development of start-ups.
One of the key elements of future energy generation is the switch to non-depletable resources, widely known as renewable energy sources (RES). There are many types of RES, however, but the focus of this article is on biomass products, which mainly consists of forest production (wood) and energy crops. One of the main problems of using biomass products for renewable energy production is the fact that several constraints should be imposed for both the management of forests and land. There are different aspects of optimal management of biomass products that guarantees the sustainability of the ecological systems. In this article, an analysis of the management for forest and agricultural products from energy crops is presented, demonstrating latest trends in biomass products as primal resource for renewable energy. Finally, a conceptual model for a biomass supply chain is proposed and discussed.
Background There are concerns about maintaining appropriate clinical staffing levels in Emergency Departments. Pharmacists may be one possible solution. Objective To determine if Emergency Department attendees could be clinically managed by pharmacists with or without advanced clinical practice training. Setting Prospective 49 site cross-sectional observational study of patients attending Emergency Departments in England. Method Pharmacist data collectors identified patient attendance at their Emergency Department, recorded anonymized details of 400 cases and categorized each into one of four possible options: cases which could be managed by a community pharmacist; could be managed by a hospital pharmacist independent prescriber; could be managed by a hospital pharmacist independent prescriber with additional clinical training; or medical team only (unsuitable for pharmacists to manage). Impact indices sensitive to both workload and proportion of pharmacist manageable cases were calculated for each clinical group. Main outcome measure Proportion of cases which could be managed by a pharmacist. Results 18,613 cases were observed from 49 sites. 726 (3.9%) of cases were judged suitable for clinical management by community pharmacists, 719 (3.9%) by pharmacist prescribers, 5202 (27.9%) by pharmacist prescribers with further training, and 11,966 (64.3%) for medical team only. Impact Indices of the most frequent clinical groupings were general medicine (13.18) and orthopaedics (9.69). Conclusion The proportion of Emergency Department cases that could potentially be managed by a pharmacist was 36%. Greatest potential for pharmacist management was in general medicine and orthopaedics (usually minor trauma). Findings support the case for extending the clinical role of pharmacists.
In our day-to-day living, a simple underlying principle is to consume resources in one form or another. This consumption generates waste, which needs to be dealt with in a responsible, efficient and effective manner. Waste is mostly collected and disposed by municipalities. This presents a challenge for these municipalities in dealing with ever increasing amounts of waste to be managed. This is particularly critical in cities, where the demand for these services is increasing. Management of municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be one of the top priorities for human communities in the 21st century. The model of integrated solid waste management, reduction of waste right at the source points before it enters the chain of waste stream, reuse of generated wastes for recovery by recycling, and disposal through environmentally sound combustion facilities and landfills that meet policy standards are being used by communities as they evolve. Solid waste management is known to be an important contributor to various environmental problems, for example climate change (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions from landfills), disturbing multiple ecosystems (e.g. heavy metal emissions into air, soil and surface water), and improper use of resources leading to depletion (e.g. inexistent or inefficient recycling processing methods for a few particular key minerals or metals) among others. The formidable rise in solid waste generation require suitable management systems, which methodically handle these environmental issues and eventually contribute to move towards a more environmentally sustainable society. This paper presents a method based on Data Envelopment Analysis to analyse the efficiency of Waste to Energy systems, looking not only at maximising the positive outputs (e.g. Energy), but also minimising the negative ones (e.g. emissions). The results provide a benchmark for municipalities to aim in the operation of their Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM).
Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of mutual funds during the COVID-19 pandemic with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The main research question is whether mutual fund performance differs with respect to the level of the mutual fund’s ESG score. Design/methodology/approach The data set contains global fund data, and mutual fund performance is analyzed using two types of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models: the DEA portfolio index (DPEI) and the range direction measure (RDM) DEA. Propensity score matching and logistic regression are also applied. Findings The results reveal that: nonequity mutual funds present significantly higher performance compared to the performance of equity mutual funds; mutual funds with high ESG scores are associated with significantly higher performance compared to those with low to medium ESG scores; funds with high ESG scores experience higher performance irrespective of their type; and efficiency scores derived from the RDM DEA are significantly higher than those derived from the DPEI model. Research limitations/implications Investors, fund managers and market participants can benefit from the findings of this study and improve their investment decision-making process, including more sustainable funds in their portfolios. Regulators and policymakers should further promote or even require the inclusion of more sustainable investments in the financial products offered by institutional investors. The main limitation of the study is related to data availability regarding the ESG score of mutual funds. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that provides robust evidence in support of a positive association between ESG scores and mutual fund performance during the pandemic-induced crisis applying a DEA methodology.
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