Different Types Of Resources Research Articles

The Effects of Technological Changes on Material Circularity

Towards realising circular economy, there has been an emphasis on decoupling economic growth from natural resources consumption. However, increasing product consumption has led to product technology changes that require different types of resources. Despite the use of different product life cycle studies to assist in improving the material usage and decision-making throughout the product life cycle, it is unclear how product development can improve material circularity. This work highlights the implication of product technological changes on material circularity using a complex product, such as a vehicle, through the Australian car door case study and the US new vehicle technologies. The Material Circularity Indicator is used to assess the material circularity for both case studies. This work shows that the transition to newer product design and vehicle technology has led to the reduction of material circularity and the increasing amount of virgin materials required and unrecoverable waste. In contrast, vehicle lightweighting improves the material circularity scores through reduced virgin materials due to the decreased vehicle mass.

LEVEL OF REPAIR ANALYSIS INCLUDING FAILURE ANALYSIS AND OPTIMAL LOCATION OF MAINTENANCE FACILITIES AND RESOURCES

ABSTRACT Level of repair analysis (LORA) aims to determine the optimal repair policy for complex systems’ components. A repair policy is an a priori decision about which faulty components to discard or repair, and where these actions should take place. Traditionally, LORA models have assumed the maintenance network as pre-defined and identified the resources required to perform the maintenance at each facility as an output. In this paper, the maintenance network itself is an output rather than an input. Other advantages are the ability to deploy different types of resources at the operational level and to allow precise identification of the faulty component. We propose a mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation for the optimization problem, associated with a flow model. Experiments using a set of hypotheticals, but adequate for the purposes of the study, instances provide strong evidence that the formulation’s capabilities can lead to significant cost savings.

Qualitative Accounting Research in the Time of COVID-19 - Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

Purpose – COVID-19 restrictions have severely impacted access to the traditional data and data sources used by qualitative researchers. This paper discusses the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding challenges and opportunities of conducting qualitative research in accounting. Design/methodology/approach – This study highlights the opportunities opened up by the way the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting qualitative accounting research, discussing the most common qualitative accounting research methods, practices and techniques used during the different phases of research.Findings – The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping some of the traditional research methods, practices and techniques in qualitative accounting research. Particularly, academic researchers who are reluctant to use the new technologies need to adapt their research approach, deal with the new challenges, and exploit the opportunities to conduct research in a COVID-19 environment. Some changes in research methods, practices and techniques will affect accounting research in the long term.Originality/value – This paper is one of the first to focus on the changes, challenges and opportunities for conducting qualitative accounting research in a COVID-19 setting. As such, this paper could be a valuable resource for different types of qualitative accounting researchers, specifically the discussion of ways to deal with the changes and challenges, as well as the opportunities, as summarised in the table.

Development and scenario experiments with the new model of rapid bioresources crisis under expert control

This paper continues a series of studies dedicated to the analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of complex environmental processes through the use of computational methods. The construction of a computational structure that uses the forms of the hybrid time and the logic of redefined behavior of solutions of the special system of equations to describe important nonlinear phenomena in the man-agement of unstable biosystems is considered in the article. The difference between the described ap-proaches to building a model is that computational experiments based on differential equations and re-defined according to the rules simulate scenarios in the dynamics of controlled biological resources of different types. The form of time allows to operate on a discrete component of the trajectory to describe changes that are visible to experts from the monitoring statistics or from reports from the fishery. The computational structure logically corresponds to the life cycle of large marine fish. Continuous characteristics are used to manage changes in the life cycle model. The new models are intended to de-scribe in scenarios the phenomena of rapid degradation of valuable biological resources with a very small error in the regulation of the rate of removal from the stock. These models have shown that the tradi-tional methods of bioresources management by experts have fundamental shortcomings and problems. Experts overestimate the amount of stocks for commercial removal from the population. Regulation by setting quotas on fish catch does not prevent the fishery from collapsing. The approach is applicable for mathematical predicting of the rapidly inflowing phases of an ecological invasion in aquatic systems.

RESOURCE ALLOCATION WITH EFFECTIVE MULTI-ATTRIBUTE COMBINATIONAL DOUBLE AUCTION IN CLOUDUSING O-DBS

Cloud provides the different types of resources based on user requirements. Cloud users send the requirements and needed resources to the cloud service provider (CSP) and CSP allocates different le...

Blockchain‐Based Trust Auction for Dynamic Virtual Machine Provisioning and Allocation in Clouds

Cloud computing uses virtualization technology to provide users with different types of resources in the form of services. The third party plays a crucial role in coordinating cloud market between cloud providers and users. As for providing services or trading, the extra broker fees are required for the middleman because the third party facilitates transactions. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the third party is trusted, which can lead to information leakage, data tampering, and unfair trading. Blockchain technology is an emerging technology that can store and communicate data between entities that unnecessarily trust each other. To resolve the problems, this paper presents the blockchain‐based trust and fair system and develops the smart contract of auction and transaction. The prototype system is implemented based on the Hyperledger Fabric. The experimental results prove the feasibility of the scheme.

Factors and conditions for the development of innovative potential

The economy is formed under the influence of numerous objective factors for a given country that ensure the success of innovations. Long-term determinants of the evolution of innovative economic development are such factors as the size of the country, the wealth of different types of resources, the specifics of the historical development of state institutions and forms of business activity. The article pays special attention to the characteristics of the basic factors of influence and features of their manifestation in the economy of Kazakhstan. The type of economic system, the openness of the state's economic system, and the place of the country's industrial complex in the international division of labor are considered as external limitations of innovative development. It is concluded that in the context of globalization, the trends of modern changes in exogenous factors of innovative development are generally unfavorable for increasing innovation activity in most industries of Kazakhstan. Competition, institutions, and innovation are considered as internal factors. The foundation of an innovative economy is knowledge as a productive resource. The classification of knowledge by types of knowledge is presented: basic level of knowledge, “advanced” knowledge and innovative knowledge, and the special role of network structures in global communication is shown. Purposeful management of the system of dynamic factors of innovative development of the economy and development of mechanisms for converting new knowledge into product and / or technological innovations are designed to improve the efficiency of this process. At the same time, it is noted that the adaptability of institutions to innovative processes is more important than the concentration of resources on priority areas of industries.

Virtual Network Function Service Provisioning in MEC Via Trading Off the Usages Between Computing and Communication Resources

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has emerged as a promising technology that offers resource-intensive yet delay-sensitive applications from the edge of mobile networks. With the emergence of complicated and resource-hungry mobile applications, offloading user tasks to cloudlets of nearby mobile edge-cloud networks is becoming an important approach to leverage the processing capability of mobile devices, reduce mobile device energy consumptions, and improve experiences of mobile users. In this article we first study the provisioning of virtualized network function (VNF) services for user requests in an MEC network, where each user request has a demanded data packet rate with a specified network function service requirement, and different user requests need different services that are represented by virtualized network functions instantiated in cloudlets. We aim to maximize the number of user request admissions while minimizing their admission cost, where the request admission cost consists of the computing cost on instantiations of requested VNF instances and the data packet traffic processing of requests in their VNF instances, and the communication cost of routing data packet traffic of requests between users and the cloudlets hosting their requested VNF instances. We study the joint VNF instance deployment and user requests assignment in MEC, by explicitly exploring a non-trivial usage tradeoff between different types of resources. To this end, we first formulate the cost minimization problem that admits all requests by assuming that there is sufficient computing resource in MEC to accommodate the requested VNF instances of all requests, for which we formulate an Integer Linear Programming solution and two efficient heuristic algorithms. We then deal with the problem under the computing resource constraint. We term this problem as the throughput maximization problem by admitting as many as requests, subject to computing resource capacity on each cloudlet, for which we formulate an ILP solution when the problem size is small; otherwise, we devise efficient algorithms for it. We finally evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms through experimental simulations. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are promising. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to explicitly explore the usage tradeoff between computing and communication resources in the admissions of user requests in MEC through introducing a novel load factor concept to minimize the request admission cost and maximize the network throughput.

Coherence cost for violating conservation laws

Nature imposes many restrictions on the operations that we perform. Many of these restrictions can be interpreted in terms of {\it resource} required to realize the operations. Classifying required resource for different types of operations and determining the amount of resource are the crucial subjects in physics. Among many types of operations, a unitary operation is one of the most fundamental operation that has been studied for long time in terms of the resource implicitly and explicitly. Yet, it is a long standing open problem to identify the resource and to clarify the necessary and sufficient amount of resource for implementing a general unitary operation under conservation laws. In this paper, we provide a solution to this open problem. We derive an asymptotically exact equality that clarifies the necessary and sufficient amount of quantum coherence as a resource to implement arbitrary unitary operation within a desired error. In this equality, the required coherence cost is asymptotically expressed with the implementation error and the degree of violation of conservation law in the desired unitary operation. We also discuss the underlying physics in several physical situations from the viewpoint of coherence cost based on the equality. This work does not only provide a solution to a long-standing problem on the unitary control, but also clarifies the key question of the resource theory of the quantum channels in the region of resource theory of asymmetry, for the case of unitary channels.

Optimizing resource flow of industrial processes, with a case study of zero liquid discharge at a copper smelting plant

The transition towards circular flows within industrial processes often involves assessment of only one type of flow. For example, zero liquid discharge sometimes focuses on water flows, without taking into consideration solid residues. It could however be possible to simultaneously optimize different types of resources, and consequently generate a higher economic yield, a reduced risk, and a reduced environmental impact. The purpose of this study was to find the best use for the solid residues from a zero liquid discharge wastewater treatment at a copper smelting plant. The result was a methodology for resource optimization, based on the principles of reduce, replace, reuse and recycle. The methodology involves relatively simple steps and could be used as a set of instructions for anyone working with resources in almost any industrial process. This methodology is expected to lower one barrier towards a more circular economy - by focusing on preventable losses of valuable resources in all forms (energy, water, and material) and by being simple to use, thereby improving the attitude and knowledge in industrial organizations. With the help of this methodology, it was concluded that the solid waste from the case study could be reduced by 58%–85%. A preliminary economic analysis showed that the operational cost for the optimized waste handling scheme is lower than in the base scenario. If all the proposed changes are fully realizable, the reduced waste will be a result of reduced use of resources in the process, reused resources within the process, and recovered resources which could be recycled and sold as by-products.

Scheduling pre-emptible tasks with flexible resourcing options and auxiliary resource requirements

Scheduling problems are ubiquitous and arise in numerous real-life applications. In this article situations involving resourcing flexibility, auxiliary resource requirements and pre-emption are targeted as they are particularly challenging and complex. Every activity requires an assortment of resources of different types. There are many resourcing options for each activity and exclusive resources must be shared judiciously. Multiple resources must be acquired at the same time and this requires meticulous synchronization to ensure efficiency and performance of the system. To create optimal schedules, a generic mixed integer programming (MIP) model is proposed. Our model can describe any number of additional resource types, resourcing options and permits pre-emptions. We believe this model can easily handle additional restrictions and technical conditions that may arise in practice. To demonstrate this assertion two contemporary maritime applications are considered, and necessary extensions are described. Numerical testing is performed and comments and insights concerning the solvability of instances of varying size and complexity are made. Our numerical testing shows that problems of the size encountered in industry can be solved to optimality when additional restrictions like tidal and departure windows are imposed, and some pre-emption is performed. Permitting too much pre-emption however does not result in large improvements and drastically increases the intractability of the proposed model, thus highlighting the need for advanced meta-heuristics.

The Double-Edged Sword Effects of Career Calling on Occupational Embeddedness: Mediating Roles of Work–Family Conflict and Career Adaptability

Based on the conservation of resource theory, we proposed a two-path model to examine the double-edged sword effects of career calling on occupational embeddedness via work-family conflict (WFC) and career adaptability. The proposed theoretical model and hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling technology with a sample of nurses from five hospitals in China (total N=368). Career calling has a double-edged sword effect on occupational embeddedness via WFC and career adaptability. Career calling has positive effects on WFCand career adaptability. WFC and career adaptability, in turn, negatively and positively influence occupational embeddedness, respectively. In addition to the well-established positive effects, career calling may also have adverse effects on occupational outcomes. Given the worldwide shortage of nursing staff, how career calling affects nurses' occupational embeddedness needs to be more understood. This study highlights the importance of career calling and occupational embeddedness. Nurse managers need to improve the level of nurses' career adaptability and reduce their level of WFC and hence increase their occupational embeddedness.

Explanation Generation for Multi-Modal Multi-Agent Path Finding with Optimal Resource Utilization using Answer Set Programming

AbstractThe multi-agent path finding (MAPF) problem is a combinatorial search problem that aims at finding paths for multiple agents (e.g., robots) in an environment (e.g., an autonomous warehouse) such that no two agents collide with each other, and subject to some constraints on the lengths of paths. We consider a general version of MAPF, called mMAPF, that involves multi-modal transportation modes (e.g., due to velocity constraints) and consumption of different types of resources (e.g., batteries). The real-world applications of mMAPF require flexibility (e.g., solving variations of mMAPF) as well as explainability. Our earlier studies on mMAPF have focused on the former challenge of flexibility. In this study, we focus on the latter challenge of explainability, and introduce a method for generating explanations for queries regarding the feasibility and optimality of solutions, the nonexistence of solutions, and the observations about solutions. Our method is based on answer set programming.

Effect of Alliance Network Asymmetry on Firm Performance and Risk

Persistent high failure rates of new product alliances call for identification of factors that might improve alliance outcomes. In this research, the authors identify two attributes of alliance network asymmetry that affect alliance performance and performance uncertainty: differences in the number of prealliance direct ties, which can create asymmetry in the volume of resources of the two firms, and differences in the interconnectivity among prealliance indirect ties, which leads the firms to possess different types of resources. The authors theorize that absolute levels of such asymmetries have curvilinear effects on alliance performance and performance uncertainty, which materialize as a focal firm’s abnormal returns and risk, respectively. They demonstrate that direct tie asymmetry has an inverted U-shaped effect on the focal firm’s abnormal returns and a U-shaped effect on its risk. Indirect tie asymmetry also has a U-shaped effect on the focal firm’s risk. However, the focal firm’s innovation quality and preexisting ties with its partner flatten these curvilinear effects. The findings have implications for partner selection in new product alliances.

The impacts of climate change risks on financial performance of mining industry: Evidence from listed companies in China

The mining industry is susceptible to climate change risks since it has the characteristics of high exposure, high sensitivity and high substitution. Firstly, this paper reviews the impact mechanism of climate change risks on corporate financial performance from direct and indirect channels. Secondly, this paper employs the unique data, climate risk indicator with 5 types of climate risks, to analyze the effect of climate change risks on the China's mineral listed companies. The empirical analysis shows that there is a correlation between climate change and financial performance of mining companies. The mining companies with different types of resource have different sensitivities to climate change risks. The climate change risks have both positive and negative effects on the financial performance of mining companies. In respond to the climate change risks, mining companies should actively implement low-carbon strategies and proactively disclose emission information to improve the brand value and create new competitive advantages for long-term development.

Adaptive Energy Management in 5G Network Slicing: Requirements, Architecture, and Strategies

Energy consumption is a critical issue for the communications network operators, impacting deeply the cost of the services, as well as the ecological footprint. Network slicing architecture for 5G mobile communications enables multiple independent virtual networks to be created on top of a common shared physical infrastructure. Each network slice needs different types of resources, including energy, to fulfill the demands requested by each application, operator, or vertical market. The existing literature on network slicing is mainly targeted at the partition of network resources; however, the corresponding management of energy consumption is an unconsidered critical concern. This paper analyzes the requirements for an energy-aware 5G network slicing provisioning according to the 3GPP specifications, proposes an architecture, and studies the strategies to provide efficient energy consumption in terms of renewable and non-renewable sources. NFV and SDN technologies are the essential enablers and leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity provided by 5G networks. This paper also presents the technical 5G technology documentation related to the proposal, the requirements for adaptive energy management, and the Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation of the energy management model. To validate the improvements, an exact optimal algorithmic solution is presented and some heuristic strategies.

Smallness and Newness as Export Barriers: A Configurational Approach to SMEs in Emerging Countries

This study investigates firm-specific export barriers for SMEs in an emerging country, Russia. Instead of isolating the liabilities of newness and smallness as individual conditions that could prevent companies from exporting, we examine conjunctural causation, that is, the complementary factors that cause newness or smallness to become export barriers, and the presence of equifinality, that is, the existence of multiple export barrier configurations that could include smallness or newness in different ways. We took an inductive, theory-building approach based on set theory, applying a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to a unique cross-section dataset of privately-owned Russian SMEs in the manufacturing industry in 2013. Our findings first suggest that SMEs that do not export are not necessarily small or young. Also, the liabilities of smallness and newness do not need to occur together. To prevent SMEs from exporting, the liability of smallness or newness has to be associated with a lack of other internal resources and the absence of links to external resource providers in the local environment. External parties in the home country, such as local strategic alliances, business group affiliations, or state support, provide different types of resources and are therefore not perfect substitutes. This study provides a more nuanced and complex view of the liabilities of newness and smallness as export barriers for SMEs in the context of an emerging country.

Професійно-відповідальні та історико-правові настанови підготовки публічних службовців на успішність державотворення в Україні

The article highlights the topical issue of training specialists for public administration in the institutions of modern Ukrainian society for democratic transformation. The main components of the mechanisms of professionalism of future managers in order to implement them in society were underlined; the importance of forming in the future public managers the features of innovative leadership was emphasized, because innovations and diversity have become a priority for the development of public service and therefore on the agenda. Particular attention in the article is paid to the readiness of future professionals for the public management of open competitions to diagnose their individual psychological and professional qualities to be in demand, in accordance with the requirements of the time.Problem statement in general and its connection with important scientific or practical tasks. Today we are witnesses and direct participants in the formation and development of a fundamentally new era in the history of human civilization and the requirements of state-building processes in relation to democratic transformations in Ukraine. The processes of change in the practical and transformative activities of people are happening at such a speed, on such a scale and in such complex, contradictory, and sometimes threatening conditions that without proper professional and worldview awareness of the main trends of socio-political development it is impossible to ensure proper professional contribution. public administration in the case in which he is engaged.The purpose of the article is to comprehend the guidelines that will promote the professionalism, responsibility of future professionals in the system of public administration in modern institutions of power, such as the effectiveness of state-building processes in Ukraine.Conclusions. An effective state is a service state that provides quality services to its citizens, and specialists of political-administrative and economic structures are professional managers-managers who experience urgent social problems, form a program of political-administrative, socio-economic and cultural programs, effective mechanisms to address key societal issues. They are designed to put professionally responsible, professionally effective plans in the government agenda, starting from territorial communities and higher government institutions, concentrating different types of resources, working out mechanisms for implementing action plans, understanding the consequences of implementing programs for reform effectiveness. Today, effectively trained public administration professionals need to change the system of internal motivation of citizens, which is focused on success. Success can become a reality when we prepare on the basis of professional-spiritual and historical-patriotic, morally responsible guidelines of public servants of high professional efficiency, because we need managerial quality and efficiency to build a strong state - Ukraine.

A new method for assessing tight oil, with application to the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusaer depression, Junggar Basin, China

This study proposes a new method for estimating tight oil resources in a closed petroleum system using an alternative mass balance model. The proposed approach primarily derives resource estimates based on a large volume of Rock-Eval pyrolysis data. In addition to leveraging the cost-effective, straightforward, and rapid process, the proposed method has the flexibility to assess the potential of different types of resources, including organic-rich tight (shale) oil and organic-lean tight oil. The method is validated by assessing the oil resource potential of the middle Permian Lucaogou Formation (P2l) in the Jimusaer depression, Junggar Basin, China. Results indicate that the P2l contains 1.62 × 109 t (11.91 × 109 bbl) of organic-rich and 2.88 × 109 t (21.17 × 109 bbl) of organic-lean tight oil. Of the organic-rich tight oil, 21% comprises free oil resources, amounting to 0.343 × 109 t (2.521 × 109 bbl). The proposed approach deals sufficiently with the different resources in a petroleum system well and provides a useful tool for estimating the resource potential of an unconventional play.

Activity-specific mobility of adults in a rural region of western Kenya

Improving rural household access to resources such as markets, schools and healthcare can help alleviate poverty in low-income settings. Current models of geographic accessibility to various resources rarely take individual variation into account due to a lack of appropriate data, yet understanding mobility at an individual level is key to knowing how people access their local resources. Our study used both an activity-specific survey and GPS trackers to evaluate how adults in a rural area of western Kenya accessed local resources. We calculated the travel time and time spent at six different types of resource and compared the GPS and survey data to see how well they matched. We found links between several demographic characteristics and the time spent at different resources, and that the GPS data reflected the survey data well for time spent at some types of resource, but poorly for others. We conclude that demography and activity are important drivers of mobility, and a better understanding of individual variation in mobility could be obtained through the use of GPS trackers on a wider scale.