910 research outputs found
Technology Support for Small Industries in Developing Countries: A Review of Concepts and Project Practices
technology support, small-scale industry, technological capability, learning, competitiveness, assistance projects, industrialisation
Solar Home Systems in rural sub Saharan Africa – A case of Frugal Innovation? And (why) does it matter?:Presentation in the EADI general conference panel session on Frugal Innovation
Solar Home Systems in rural sub Saharan Africa – A case of Frugal Innovation? And (why) does it matter?:Presentation in the EADI general conference panel session on Frugal Innovation
Plastic Household Waste Valorization In Developing Countries:Critical design elements for a sustainable and circular business ecosystem
Metal-insulator transition in YHx: scaling of the sub-THz conductivity
The established scaling laws of the conductivity with temperature and doping
are strong indications for the quantum nature of the metal-insulator transition
in YH. Here we report the first results on the frequency scaling of the
conductivity. Samples were brought from the insulating to the metallic phase by
carrier doping via illumination. In the metallic phase, the sub-terahertz
conductivity coincides with the dc data. These results do not agree with the
simplest picture of a quantum-phase transition.Comment: 4 pages, accepted to PR
Evaluating irreversible social harms
In this paper we investigate how irreversible social harms should be evaluated from an ethical perspective. First, we define a general notion of irreversibility, drawing on discussions in ecology and economics. This notion is relational in the sense that 'irreversibility' is always 'irreversibility for a certain party'. We also note that a change may be more or less difficult to reverse, with full reversibility and irreversibility as two extremes. Second, we examine what can make an irreversible change a harm, and why these kinds of harms have particular ethical significance. Here we draw on discussions from ethics, particularly regarding the Capability Approach. We also show how our notion of irreversibility connects to, and can add to, discussions in the fields of development studies and disaster management, particularly on the concept of resilience. Third, we suggest how potentially irreversible harms can be recognised and dealt with in policy-making. Finally, we show how our framework can be applied by evaluating the land acquisition process of two biofuel producers in Tanzania
Business Oriented Technological System Analysis (BOTSA) at Eindhoven University of Technology:an innovative learning method to foster entrepreneurship
BOTSA is an innovative teaching method for students with technical background in the field of sustainable energy technologies and an interest in entrepreneurship. Two core features of this method, namely the connection between a technological analysis and a business case as well as the involvement of clients and business coaches, are explored in this paper. Case studies and results of evaluations among students who used this method to analyze their technological innovation are used to demonstrate the value of these two features and consequently the method as a whole
Ageing effects around the glass and melting transitions in poly(dimethylsiloxane) visualized by resistance measurements
The process of ageing in rubbers requires monitoring over long periods (days
to years). To do so in non-conducting rubbers, small amounts of carbon-black
particles were dispersed in a fractal network through the rubber matrix, to
make the rubber conducting without modifying its properties. Continuous
monitoring of the resistance reveals the structural changes around the glass
and melting transitions and especially details about the hysteresis and ageing
processes. We illustrate the method for the semicrystalline polymer
poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Phase-slip flux qubits
In thin superconducting wires, phase-slip by thermal activation near the
critical temperature is a well-known effect. It has recently become clear that
phase-slip by quantum tunnelling through the energy barrier can also have a
significant rate at low temperatures. In this paper it is suggested that
quantum phase-slip can be used to realize a superconducting quantum bit without
Josephson junctions. A loop containing a nanofabricated very thin wire is
biased with an externally applied magnetic flux of half a flux quantum,
resulting in two states with opposite circulating current and equal energy.
Quantum phase-slip should provide coherent coupling between these two
macroscopic states. Numbers are given for a wire of amorphous niobium-silicon
that can be fabricated with advanced electron beam lithography.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physics, special issue solid state
quantum informatio
Innovation for the base of the pyramid: critical perspectives from development studies on heterogeneity and participation
This article criticises current BoP approaches for under-appreciating two issues that
play vital roles in projects targeting the poor at the BoP: heterogeneity among the
poor, and the intricacies of participatory partnerships between TNCs, the non-profit
sector (NGOs) and local poor communities in the global south. Our main contention is
that the extant BoP literature has a naïve view of what working with the poor really
involves, which grossly underestimates adverse power relationships and disregards
the hierarchies between the poor and outsiders who administer development
interventions. To unpack the hidden complexities associated with heterogeneity and
partnership dynamics, we draw on extensive knowledge from the field of
development studies, which has accumulated key insights about working in and with
poorer communities over several decades
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