From Industrial District to Interface City: Re-imagining the Corrugated Metal Sheds of Taiwan

Manufacturing industries are on the decline in Taiwan, leaving many of the island’s corrugated metal warehouses and factories at the risk of being replaced by more profitable high-rise towers. The result is a gentrification of neighbourhoods, the consolidation of capital, and the exacerbation of inequality between working classes. Additionally, in the context of Taiwan’s economically sustained status quo, the spaces of production play a critical role in manifesting the autonomy and identity of the island. The corrugated metal shed, as an architectural typology, has not only facilitated Taiwan’s economic transformation but, through its widespread construction, it has since become an integral part of the island’s urban and rural landscapes. It is in this context that this thesis seeks to re-imagine our current modes of land speculation and asks: how should the redevelopment of corrugated metal sheds in Taiwan respond not only to changing economic conditions but also vernacular-sociocultural practices and sustainable socio-political objectives? Building on an existing conversation between the global and the local within architectural discourse today, the research references key political and urban theory texts, and use mapping, drawing, modelling, and photographs to investigate the role of architecture as both the agent of a globalized economy and the locus of local identities. In the design work, the thesis focuses on an incremental process of urban redevelopment to propose a new type of industrial district – an Interface City. The proposal re-imagines the site of Wenzhai Zun, located on the outskirts of Taipei, into an intersection point between global economic city-regions, between domestic and productive life, between industrial and post-industrial work, and between vernacular built environments and universal building types. The aim of the Interface City is to create not only a viable economy but also a more equitable society. Ultimately, the objective of this thesis is to use the context of Taiwan as a testing ground for new design processes and solutions in the face of deindustrializing cities around the world today

Green Jobs in a Sustainable Food System

The U.S. food sector is among the most productive in the world and is a significant driver of our economy. Yet, it's failing us in major ways -- putting public health, livelihoods and our environment at great risk. Obesity and diabetes rates are rising, communities are plagued by food deserts, and agriculture runoff is the biggest source of pollution in our rivers and lakes.The good news is that communities across the country are addressing this crisis in innovative ways. Through different community-based efforts, local activists and food advocates are finding ways to improve community health and environmental outcomes while creating a more economically equitable food system.It is within this context that this report identifies opportunities to transform jobs in the green economy and enhance environmental and economic equity outcomes in the future. The initial analysis promises opportunities for workers to build long-term skills, and emphasizes the importance of linking local efforts to broader regional and national policy platforms. This multi-level engagement and collaboration will help set in motion the systemic changes needed to create a more sustainable and equitable food system

Business models to assure availability of advanced superconductors for the accelerator sector and promote stewardship of superconducting magnet technology for the US economy

Stakeholders representing concerns of national and global leadership, industries that use superconducting magnets in products, manufacturers of superconducting wires and tapes that supply to industries, and innovation generators from small businesses and universities came together to address stewardship of superconducting magnet technology and assurance of supply of advanced superconductors to the accelerator sector. This report outlines potential public-private partnerships that develop and enhance domestic capabilities to meet the needs of science facilities in the accelerator systems sector and in the broader commercial ecosystem.Comment: 28 pages not including appendices, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2208.1237

Spring 2020

Dear readers, We are proud to present the spring issue of The Investigator, giving you an inside look into the varied research and scholarly activities taking place at Kennesaw State. In a new interview, President Pamela Whitten discusses KSU\u27s growing research reputation and lessons learned from her own experiences as a researcher and mentor. Similarly, our cover story follows three First-Year Scholars as they explore the possibilities of research in Martin Hudson\u27s lab through a new Office of Undergraduate Research initiative. This publication would not have been possible without the contributions of the editorial team, including undergraduates Kaelyn Ireland, Geena Lawrence, Landon Mion and Mezi Mulugeta, as well as the creative services team. They brought the stories of KSU\u27s amazing researchers and scholars to life! Happy reading! Joëlle Walls, Editorhttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/investigator/1001/thumbnail.jp

Rockefeller Foundation 2010 Annual Report

Contains president's letter; 2010 program highlights, including support for Africa's green revolution, sustainable and equitable transportation policy, and healthy communities; grants list; financial report; and lists of trustees and staff

High-throughput sperm cryopreservation of aquatic species

The goal of this dissertation was to integrate multiple disciplines for application of high-throughput sperm cryopreservation to aquatic species. The blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus was selected for research due to its role in production of hybrid catfish with eggs from channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. A high-throughput cryopreservation pathway was developed by systematically evaluating each process factor and using automated processing systems. Large quantities of cryopreserved sperm produced from this protocol were evaluated in commercial-scale hatcheries in cooperation with aquaculture producers. To develop production for commercial requirements, quality characteristics of materials and products were identified and recorded during processing and analyzed using industrial engineering methods to regulate quality. More than 1 million channel catfish eggs from 300 females were fertilized with thawed sperm, which was larger than any previous large-scale fertilization trial performed in fish. This demonstrated that the fertilization capability of cryopreserved sperm was equivalent to fresh sperm in production of hybrid fry. Quality regulation was presented within a quality assurance plan designed specifically for this process using quality standards (specifications) and quality variation data (quality control). This quality assurance plan is potentially the first of its kind for cryopreserved sperm of any species. After being scaled up by automation and standardized by the quality assurance plan, the cryopreservation process produced reliable products for hatcheries. Proper use of these products (i.e., as a dose of 3704 eggs/straw) can provide a basis for industry standards for artificial spawning. A quantitative evaluation was developed based on the defined dose and the production efficiency. To increase the efficiency for large-scale production, simulation model computing was used to create a virtual process. The simulation model was validated based on the existing process, and provides a valuable tool for future improvements. This dissertation took the initiative to apply high-throughput cryopreservation in aquaculture and expand the process from planning to operation at the production line, to terminal use of products by customers. This enables cryopreserved sperm to become a practical form of genetic resources applicable for aquatic genetic improvement and conservation

The Dual Imperative of Digital Transformers – The Relationship between a Firm\u27s Digital Orientation and Innovation Ambidexterity

The disruptive power of digitalization has called into question how we think and theorize about innovation management in a digital context. To thrive in a digital world, companies need to increasingly follow the dual imperative of constantly reinventing themselves while simultaneously refining current viability, that is, achieve innovation ambidexterity. Complementing research that has theorized digitalization as context or outcome of such ambidexterity, we study how a firm’s digital orientation (DO), a strategic posture aimed at realizing vital gains from digital technologies, can function as a driver for resolving the tensions of this dual imperative. In addition, we analyze the roles of absorptive capacity (ACAP) and market turbulence as contingency factors for this relationship. In deriving our hypotheses, we rely on the resource-based view (RBV) and extend our theorizing by building on the dynamic capabilities view. Our research model is empirically tested through multi- industry survey data obtained from 1,474 German firms

Smart fertilizer recommendation through NPK analysis using Artificial Neural Networks

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) at Strathmore UniversityAgricultural practices, tools and technologies have taken a new paradigm. Precision agriculture is essential to ensure that site-specific crop management is implemented, which includes soil nutrient remedies per crop requirement. Though fertilization is key in boosting productivity, there is need for analysis of the potentials and limitations of soil as a basis of recommending the correct type, quantities and application time of fertilizers to counter uncertainty in fertilizer use. The complexity of finding the optimal fertilization range greatly contributes to major inefficiencies like productivity losses, resource wastage and increased environmental pollution caused by farmers’ use of intuition, trial and error, guesswork and estimation. With these, farmers cannot accurately predict what impact their decisions will have on the resulting crop yields and the environment. Some solutions implemented for soil fertility management such as use of mobile laboratories or imported equipment have had their share of challenges such cost of implementation, ease of use and adaptation to the local environment. Other available solutions including taking soil to laboratories for testing is tedious, time consuming and inconsistent. This study proposed development of an ANN model that predicts NPK nutrient levels and recommends the best fertilizer remedy and application time based on the weather forecast. This involved use of IoT, machine learning techniques and a weather API through RAD methodology and experimental research design. Historical data of temperature, PH and NPK from KALRO Library was used to train and validate the model. The developed model achieved an RMSE 0.5 with 75% of data used for training and 25% used for testing. This is in effort to encourage precise fertilizer production for particular areas of need

Frontiers of the New Economic Geography

This paper presents an overview of recent development in the new economic geography (NEG), and discusses possible directions of its future development. Since there already exist several surveys on this topic, we focus on the selected features of the NEG which are important yet have attracted insufficient attention, and also on the recent refinements and extensions of the framework