A Conceptual Framework to Assess Development of Smallholder Crop-cattle Farming Systems in Bhutan:Sustainable Development or Gross National Happiness?

The objective of this paper is to compare the concepts of Sustainable Development (SD) and Gross National Happiness (GNH) to assess development at various level, especially at the smallholder crop-cattle farming systems level in Bhutan. The concept of SD was conceived about two decades ago, while GNH is a development paradigm that drew international attention in 1998.In this paper the similarities and differences of the SD and GNH concepts and their application to the case in Bhutan are reviewed. The generally cited four pillars of GNH are proposed as “building blocks” of GNH. They are sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, ecological preservation, preservation and promotion of culture and good governance. A conceptual framework to assess context dependent issues of GNH is developed. It is concluded that GNH assessment may be more appropriate at higher systems levels (e.g. district, national level) since it is at these level that the “building blocks”of GNH constitutes a useful framework through which regional and national development can be actualized. At present, for farm level assessment SD could be more appropriate since the indicators for the “building blocks”of GNH such as culture and good governance are still very few, qualitative and rather vague.Article信州大学農学部紀要. 46(1-2): 123-137 (2010)departmental bulletin pape

The Study of Green Building Application Awareness

The Green Building, or known as Environmentally Friendly Building is not only closely examined in terms of its design, but also the capacity of the building and its surrounding in reducing the impact to the environment, saving energy, water, safeguarding the internal air quality, and further mitigating the number of health problems to the inhabitants. The study involves 80 respondents, whereby 20 respondents are developers/contractors; 20 respondents are consultants; 20 respondents from the Local Authority and 20 respondents are academicians in the northern part of the Peninsula. Through the technique of principal axis factoring, 10 items had successfully been placed in the screening analysis. Two components that had been formed are namely i) main issue and ii) government’s effort. It is anticipated that the key players (the developers, consultants, contractors, and academicians) understood and realised the importance of the environment and what is going around them in the world today

Production, Processes and Modification of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Agro-Waste: A Review

Nanocrystalline cellulose is a renewable nanomaterial that has gained huge attention for its use in various applications from advanced biomedical material to food packaging material due to its exceptional physical and biological properties, such as high crystallinity degree, large specific surface area, high aspect ratio, high thermal resistance, good mechanical properties, abundance of surface hydroxyl groups, low toxicity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. However, they still have drawbacks: (1) sources of raw materials and its utilization in the production of nanocomposites and (2) high chemical and energy consumption regarding the isolation of macro-sized fibers to nano-sized fibers. The incorporation of hydrophilic nanocrystalline cellulose within hydrophobic polymer limits the dispersion of nano-sized fibers, thus resulting in low mechanical properties of nanocomposites. Hence, surface modification on nano-sized fiber could be a solution to this problem. This review focuses on the advanced developments in pretreatment, nanocrystalline production and modifications, and its application in food packaging, biomedical materials, pharmaceutical, substitution biomaterials, drug excipient, drug delivery automotive, and nanopaper applications

Assessment of thermal comfort in the mosque in Sarawak, Malaysia

In hot-humid climate, the mosque should be provided with an acceptable level of thermal comfort in order to seek serenity and focus for worship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the thermal comfort conditions in the Masjid Al-Muttaqin located in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. The data were analysed using Corrected Effective Temperature (CET) index. The analysis shows that although the air velocity in the mosque is acceptable, due to the influence of high air temperature, thermal comfort is not achieved. A retrofit design by adding new materials and installing insulations on the existing roof are proposed and the results show significant improvement of thermal comfort inside the mosque