Network brokerage:An integrative review and future research agenda

Network brokerage research has grown rapidly in recent decades, spanning the boundaries of multiple social science disciplines as well as diverse research areas within management. Accordingly, we take stock of the literature on network brokerage and provide guidance on ways to move this burgeoning research area forward. We provide a comprehensive review of this literature, including crucial dimensions of the concept itself in terms of brokerage structure and behavior, a set of key categories of factors surrounding the brokerage concept (antecedents, outcomes, and moderators), and an overview of brokerage dynamics over time. We use these dimensions and categories to depict network brokerage’s theoretical and empirical underpinnings as well as evaluate prior research efforts. In so doing, we offer a means to summarize and synthesize this large, interdisciplinary literature, identify important research gaps, and offer promising directions for future research

Wadi Flash Floods

This open access book brings together research studies, developments, and application-related flash flood topics on wadi systems in arid regions. The major merit of this comprehensive book is its focus on research and technical papers as well as case study applications in different regions worldwide that cover many topics and answer several scientific questions. The book chapters comprehensively and significantly highlight different scientific research disciplines related to wadi flash floods, including climatology, hydrological models, new monitoring techniques, remote sensing techniques, field investigations, international collaboration projects, risk assessment and mitigation, sedimentation and sediment transport, and groundwater quality and quantity assessment and management. In this book, the contributing authors (engineers, researchers, and professionals) introduce their recent scientific findings to develop suitable, applicable, and innovative tools for forecasting, mitigation, and water management as well as society development under seven main research themes as follows: Part 1. Wadi Flash Flood Challenges and Strategies Part 2. Hydrometeorology and Climate Changes Part 3. Rainfall–Runoff Modeling and Approaches Part 4. Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Part 5. Reservoir Sedimentation and Sediment Yield Part 6. Groundwater Management Part 7. Application and Case Studies The book includes selected high-quality papers from five series of the International Symposium on Flash Floods in Wadi Systems (ISFF) that were held in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020 in Japan, Egypt, Oman, Morocco, and Japan, respectively. These collections of chapters could provide valuable guidance and scientific content not only for academics, researchers, and students but also for decision-makers in the MENA region and worldwide

GLOBAL ISLAM IN THE AGE OF CIVIL SOCIETY: TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY, RELIGION, AND POWER

This dissertation examines the instrumental benefits of civil society discourse for Muslim civil society organizations and their pursuit of conservative agendas. Since early 1990, informal religious communities in the Muslim world have been reestablishing themselves as formal NGOs at unprecedented rates. Additionally, they are joining forces and forming transnational coalitions. The constituents' goals of religious support and solidarity remain unchanged in terms of their commitment to conservative and religious norms. By contrast, existing transnational civil society literature is dominated with assumptions of liberal and secular agendas. Yet, despite the seemingly inherent contradiction, the members of these faith-based organizations and coalitions persistently position themselves within the sphere of civil society. This dissertation problematizes this conflict and asks: Why are the previously informal Islamist networks adopting the discourse of civil society, transforming into formal NGOs, and establishing transnational coalitions? In this study, I examine one of the largest Muslim NGO coalitions to date - the Union of the NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW). With its 193 member NGOs from 46 countries, the UNIW aims to consolidate faith-based Muslim NGOs and to coordinate member actions for the welfare of Muslim communities around the world. Based on fieldwork conducted in Turkey, Germany, the U.S., Malaysia and Cambodia, I employ qualitative and ethnographic methods and draw on diverse sources of data including in-depth interviews, participant observation and document analysis. My findings suggest that framing this transnational religious solidarity project as a transnational civil society network provides Islamist groups additional channels of power. Specifically, previously informal communities find opportunities to increase their social capital through membership in a transnational coalition, engage in mutually profitable relationships with states, and claim legitimacy as global political actors. The empirical findings of the dissertation challenge several assumptions of the constructivist and sociological institutionalist literature. These perspectives' contributions to the study of transnational advocacy networks, international NGOs, and transnational NGO coalitions have prioritized ideational and normative concerns over instrumental and interest-based motivations in transnational non-state actor politics. In this dissertation I argue that ideational motivations of transnational non-state actors regularly intersect with instrumental concerns. By demonstrating the instrumental motivations of norm-oriented networks, this dissertation moves beyond the instrumental/ideational divide that permeates the literature on transnational non-state actors

Representation Learning for Natural Language Processing

This open access book provides an overview of the recent advances in representation learning theory, algorithms and applications for natural language processing (NLP). It is divided into three parts. Part I presents the representation learning techniques for multiple language entries, including words, phrases, sentences and documents. Part II then introduces the representation techniques for those objects that are closely related to NLP, including entity-based world knowledge, sememe-based linguistic knowledge, networks, and cross-modal entries. Lastly, Part III provides open resource tools for representation learning techniques, and discusses the remaining challenges and future research directions. The theories and algorithms of representation learning presented can also benefit other related domains such as machine learning, social network analysis, semantic Web, information retrieval, data mining and computational biology. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, researchers, lecturers, and industrial engineers, as well as anyone interested in representation learning and natural language processing

Développement de l'approche conséquentielle pour l'analyse de la durabilité du cycle de vie: cas d’un bâtiment hybride multiétages

Il est indéniable que l'industrie du bâtiment doit évoluer vers des bâtiments plus durables à l'avenir. Les décideurs dans le secteur du bâtiment doivent prendre en compte les aspects sociaux et économiques dans leur prise de décision, en plus de l'aspect environnemental. Ces évaluations doivent également inclure la perspective du cycle de vie. L’approche conséquentielle est nécessaire pour évaluer les conséquences à long terme par rapport à l’approche attributionnelle qui se concentre sur l’évaluation d’un profil donné. Ce projet de recherche montre comment l'approche conséquentielle est intégrée dans l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV), l’analyse du coût du cycle de vie (ACCV) et l'analyse sociale du cycle de vie (AsCV) dans le cadre de l'analyse de la durabilité du cycle de vie (ADCV). Ce mémoire de thèse contient huit chapitres pour atteindre les objectifs de recherche susmentionnés. Le chapitre 1 décrit le contexte de l'étude et l'organisation de la thèse. Le chapitre 2 présente les défis et les opportunités actuels de l'évaluation de la durabilité du cycle de vie qui a été publié et auquel il est fait référence comme premier article de cette thèse. Le premier article présentait les lacunes identifiées dans l'harmonisation des trois méthodes discutées (ACV, ACCV et AsCV). Dans l'intégration de l'ACV et du ACCV, la question de la temporalité est toujours absente dans l'ACV, en plus de la perspective conséquentielle dans l'ACV et l’ACCV. Dans l'intégration de ACCV et AsCV, deux lacunes de recherche sont également trouvées : la différence de perspective lors de l'utilisation à la fois de la méthode, en plus du manque de la perspective conséquentielle. Dans l'intégration de l’AsCV et de l'ACV, les problèmes qui se posent sont : la présence d'impact négatif et positif dans l’ AsCV, par rapport à l'ACV (dont les impacts sont presque toujours négatifs), sans oublier l'absence de l’approche conséquentielle dans l’AsCV. Lors de l'application de l’ADCV dans un contexte politique, nous avons suggéré que le cadre a besoin d'une perspective conséquentielle pour faciliter la capture non seulement des impacts directs, mais aussi des conséquences indirectes. Le chapitre 4 présente l'énoncé du problème et les questions de recherche, le but et les objectifs de la recherche, ainsi que la définition du projet. Le chapitre 5 décrit l'ACV et le CCV d'un bâtiment hybride à plusieurs étages avec une étude de cas au Québec, Canada. Il a également été publié et fait référence au deuxième article de cette thèse. Le deuxième article a démontré la pertinence de l'utilisation complémentaire d'approches attributionnelle et conséquentielle avec l'étude de cas d'un bâtiment hybride à plusieurs étages, et ce du point de vue environnemental et économique. Les résultats de l'ensemble du cycle de vie indiquent des différences potentielles entre les deux approches de modélisation sous-jacentes. Par exemple, la production de matériaux est l'étape la plus impactante sur le plan environnemental (avec une contribution de 86 à 98 %) et économique (72 %) dans l'approche attributionnelle. Cependant, dans l'approche conséquentielle, la production de matériaux est moins responsable sur le plan environnemental (46 à 94 %) et pourtant plus responsable sur le plan économique (59 %). Cela démontre que l'ACV et l’ACCV conséquentielle peuvent révéler des informations complémentaires (non disponible d’un point de vue attributionnelle). Même si l'étude est soumise à des limitations et des incertitudes notables, telle que la disponibilité et la qualité des données, la réalisation d'une ACV-ACCV attributionnelle et conséquentielle d'un produit pourrait donner plus d’informations pertinentes pour une prise de décision plus robuste. Le chapitre 6 présente l'ACVS du même bâtiment en utilisant l'analyse multiniveau et constitue le troisième article publié dans cette thèse. Dans le troisième article, l'analyse sociale du cycle de vie (ASCV) a été réalisée en évaluant l'impact social potentiel et les bénéfices du cycle de vie du bâtiment. L'utilisation d'une analyse à plusieurs niveaux (résolutions), qui est appliquée à l'ACV sociale conséquentielle et attributionnelle, pourrait aider à combler les lacunes dans les données. Bien que davantage de données ne soient pas toujours meilleures, cela peut aider à comprendre les points chauds possibles de l'impact/bénéfice social et le champ d'influence de l'impact/bénéfice social pour les parties prenantes. Combler les lacunes dans les données est important de deux manières : 1) combler les lacunes des données sur les indicateurs et 2) combler les lacunes des données sur le cycle de vie du système de produits (du berceau à la tombe). En utilisant une analyse à plusieurs niveaux dans une ACV sociale conséquentielle, il a été observé que l'importation d'acier et/ou d'aluminium de Chine est potentiellement associée à certains impacts sociaux négatifs (restrictions à l'association des travailleurs, risque pour la santé et la sécurité et travail des enfants), mais aussi des contributions bénéfiques (emploi). En fin de compte, révéler ces types d'indicateurs peut aider les décideurs politiques à prévoir et à planifier les conséquences négatives avant qu'elles ne surviennent, et vice versa à promouvoir des avantages positifs. Plus important encore, comme pour l'ACV, la nécessité d'inclure une perspective du cycle de vie complet existe, car l'impact tout au long de la phase du cycle de vie du produit est souvent négligé en raison de données manquantes. Enfin, le chapitre 7 présente la discussion de la recherche tandis que le chapitre 8 montre les conclusions, les contributions, les limites et fournit des recommandations pour les recherches futures. En conclusion, l'utilisation de trois outils ADCV (ACV, CCV et AsCV) dans l'approche conséquente signifie que le LCSA conséquent a également été réalisé. L'optique prospective de l'approche conséquentielle permet d'améliorer les performances de durabilité de manière causale. Les impacts du processus, de l'activité ou de la technologie évalués sont ceux du processus, de l'activité ou de la technologie qui vont répondre à la demande accrue. Ainsi, l'évaluation a pour logique de répondre aux conséquences futures. Cela inclut éventuellement l'implication des fournisseurs de matériaux mondiaux de l'étranger, comme observé dans cette étude, où les conséquences sociales peuvent avoir différents résultats possibles. La situation sociale et les conditions de travail dans d'autres pays (en particulier dans les pays en développement) peuvent présenter de mauvaises pratiques. L'approche conséquentielle aide les décideurs politiques à anticiper l'impact des différents résultats possibles et à identifier les faiblesses. Par exemple, les décideurs peuvent découvrir qu'il faut réduire l'acier et les importations de l'étranger et se concentrer davantage sur l'utilisation de produits locaux. Un plan de transformation peut être élaboré à l'avance pour faire face à d'éventuels problèmes techniques et opérationnels liés au passage de l'étranger au local et offrir une valeur future plus mesurable.Abstract: It is undeniable that building industry needs to move to more sustainable buildings in the future. Building policy-makers need to include social and economic aspect into consideration, beside environmental one. These assessments also need to include a life cycle perspective. Consequential life cycle approach is suitable for assessing long-term consequences ,as compared to attributional approach that only focus on the impact accounting itself. This research project aims to demonstrate how the consequential approach when applied to life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) (under the life cycle sustainability assessment umbrella) can shed light on important insights that can’t be identified when using the attributional one. This thesis dissertation contains eight chapters to achieve the aforementioned research objectives. Chapter 1 describes the context of the study and dissertation organization. Chapter 2 presents the current challenges and opportunities of life cycle sustainability assessment that has been published and referred as first paper in this thesis. The first paper presented the identified gaps shown in the harmonization of the three presented methods (LCA, LCC, and SLCA). In the integration of LCA and LCC, temporality issue is still missing in LCA (issue, here it is called research gap [RG 1]), in addition to the missing consequential perspective in LCA and LCC (RG 2). In the integration of LCC and S-LCA, two research gaps are also found: the difference in stakeholder perspective when using both method (RG 3), in addition to the missing consequential perspective (RG 4). In the integration of S-LCA and LCA, the identified issues are (not extensive list): the presence of negative and positive impact in S-LCA, as compared to LCA (RG 5), the scales of assessment applied in each method differs (RG 6), in addition to the absence of a consequential approach in S-LCA. When applying LCSA in a policy context, it is suggested that the framework needs a consequential perspective to facilitate capturing not only direct impacts but also indirect consequences. Chapter 3 presents the updated and recent literature review with the same topic as in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 shows the problem statement and research questions, research goal and objectives, and project definition. Chapter 5 describes the LCA and LCC of hybrid multistory building with case study in Quebec, Canada. It is also has been published and referred as second paper in this thesis. The second paper showed the added value of using attributional and consequential approaches with the case study of hybrid multistory building, from environmental and economic perspectives. For example, material production is the most impactful stage environmentally (with 86–98% contribution) and economically (72%) in the attributional approach. However, in the consequential approach, material production is less environmentally responsible (46–94%), while from an economic perspective the contribution reached 59%. By implementing consequential LCA-LCC, additional insights are gained from the consequential impacts of constructing hybrid wood multistory buildings. Even though the study is a subject to notable limitations and uncertainties, such as data availability and quality, conducting attributional and consequential LCA-LCC of a building can give a broader/more comprehensive spectrum of possible results for a robust decision-making. Chapter 6 provides S-LCA of the same building using multilevel analysis and referred as third published paper in this thesis. In the third paper, the social life cycle assessment was carried out by evaluating the potential social impact and benefit from the product's life cycle. Using a multilevel analysis, applied to consequential and attributional social LCA, helped in filling data gaps, particularly for the consequential perspective. While more data is not always better, it can help to understand the possible hotspots of social impact/benefit. Filling data gaps is important in two ways: 1) filling data gaps on indicators and 2) filling data gaps on the product system's life cycle (cradle to grave). As a matter of fact, when using multilevel analysis in consequential social LCA, it was noticed that importing steel and/or aluminum from China is potentially associated with negative social impacts (restrictions on worker association, risk on health and safety, and child labor) but also some beneficial contributions (employment). Ultimately, revealing these types of trade-offs may help policymakers predict and plan for negative consequences before they occur, and vice versa promote positive benefit. More importantly, as with LCA, the need to include a full life cycle perspective exists because the impact throughout the product's life cycle phase is frequently overlooked due to missing data. Finally, Chapter 7 presents the research discussion while Chapter 8 shows conclusions, contributions, limitations, and provides recommendations for future research. In conclusion, having three tools of LCSA (LCA, LCC and S-LCA) performed in consequential approach mean that consequential LCSA also have been carried out. The forward-looking lens of consequential approach helps to improve sustainability performance in causal-effect manner. The impacts of the process or activity or technology assessed are the ones from process or activity or technology that are going to supply the increased demand. Thus, the assessment has logic on answering the future consequences. This possibly includes the involvement of global material suppliers from abroad such observed in this study where the social consequences can have different possible outcomes. The social working situation and labor condition in other countries (especially in developing countries) may have poor practices. Having consequential approach helps the policy makers anticipate the impact of different possible outcomes and identify weaknesses. For example, policy makers may discover that it needs to reduce the steel and import from abroad and more focus on using local products. A transformation plan can be made in advance to cope with possible technical and operational problems from shifting from abroad to local and deliver more measurable future value

CITIES: Energetic Efficiency, Sustainability; Infrastructures, Energy and the Environment; Mobility and IoT; Governance and Citizenship

This book collects important contributions on smart cities. This book was created in collaboration with the ICSC-CITIES2020, held in San José (Costa Rica) in 2020. This book collects articles on: energetic efficiency and sustainability; infrastructures, energy and the environment; mobility and IoT; governance and citizenship

Freshwater Governance for the 21st Century

water policy; water governance; water management; environmental law; environmental sciences; international relation

Virus discovery using current and novel methods

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology allows researchers to sequence genetic material from a wide range of sources, including patient and environmental samples, and ancient remains. The recovery of viruses from such datasets can provide insights into the diversity and evolution of both novel and already known viruses. This thesis focuses on two aspects of virus discovery in NGS datasets. In the first part of this thesis, I present ancient viral sequences from hepatitis B virus, human parvovirus B19, and variola virus. The sequences were recovered from NGS datasets from individuals living in Eurasia between ∼150 to ∼31,630 years ago, using standard sequence matching tools. The data show the past existence of viruses similar to variants circulating today. The sequences reveal a complexity of virus evolution that is not evident when considering modern sequences alone, including revised substitution rates and most recent common ancestor dates, as well as geographic movement and extinction of strains. The identification of viral sequences in NGS datasets relies heavily on sequence-based matching of unknown sequences to a database of known sequences. Comparisons are usually done at the nucleotide or amino acid level. However, those methods only work well on sequences closely related to those already present in the database. With the aim of identifying more diverged viral sequences, in the second part of this thesis, I present an algorithm to compare sequences based on predicted structural features, such as secondary structures and conserved amino acids. The algorithm is modelled after the music-matching algorithm ‘Shazam’. While initial results of the algorithm are somewhat encouraging, problems remain, in particular with the identification of adequate structural features. Identifying highly diverged viral sequences is thus still a challenging problem, hopefully to be solved in the future