The innovation trajectory of eco-cement in the Netherlands: a co-evolution analysis

In this article, we scrutinize the innovation trajectory of eco-cement in the netherlands by examining the innovation nexus of eco-cement manufacturers, scientists/researchers, waste producers and policymakers as part of a broader analysis of markets, policy and society, with special attention to standards and regulations. The influence of policy and innovation interactions are substantiated by policy documents, media news, patterns of eco-cement use, and in-depth interviews conducted with relevant eco-cement actors. Our analysis brings forward empirical evidence of how policymakers are involved in the innovation trajectory of eco-cement in multiple ways through building regulations, sector policies, waste policies, and science and innovation policies. Political economy aspects of regulation and innovation in cement industry (e.g. The cooperative approach of waste authorities with regard to re-use of waste, absence of policies to put a price on co2 emissions from cement production) are being described, together with the specificities of the cement market. Bans on the disposal of fly ash and sewage sludge resulted in the use of those materials either as a supplementary cementitious material or a fuel. Demand for green cement from is presently growing but meets with several obstacles. Carbon policies are shown to constitute a weak influence. Innovation in eco-cement co-evolved with policy, through mutual dependencies, as a theoretical finding for innovation studies

Embodied GHG emissions of building materials in Shanghai

The tremendous use of building materials poses heavy threats to resources and the environment. In order to better understand the GHG emissions embodied in the abundant building material consumption of Shanghai's buildings and search for approaches to reduce GHG emissions, this study explores the building consumption and the embodied GHG emission in Shanghai's buildings through life cycle assessment. Novel and localized life cycle inventories are applied. Based on our findings, the average annual growth rate of new constructed area in Shanghai was around 10% since 2000 to 2016. Concrete, brick, sand, gravel and cement (non-concrete use) appear as the main materials used. High GHG emission burden materials per kg are revealed to be steel, lime, wood, glass and cement (non-concrete use). Accounting the annual material consumption in 2016, steel, cement (non-concrete use), concrete and brick are found have the highest contribution to embodied GHG emission in Shanghai. The decoupling analysis reveals Shanghai experienced a general trend from non-decoupling to relative decoupling between building material use and GDP in recent 17 years. Findings in this study indicate for the high GHG emission burden materials such as steel and lime, reducing the energy use and using less CO2-intensive energy sources during manufacturing are likely to be the most effective approaches. In terms of the highly consumed building materials such as concrete and brick, the focus should be on reducing consumption or looking for substitute materials with lower GHG burden per unit

X Economies: Towards Comprehensive Policy Intelligence Among Economy Visions and Practices in Europe and Latin America

We observe a proliferation of various economic visions and practices (e.g., Blue Economy, Circular Economy, Digital Economy, Social Economy). In this chapter, we conceptualize such newly proposed economy visions and practices as specific cases of a general meta-level concept, X economies, and introduce an indicator-based emphasis on the interactions among them to attain comprehensive sustainability outcomes. “X economies", as technologies of economy, are being proposed as systemic and societal fixes to various ills of the current political-economic system at the socio-technical regime level, yet the role and the importance of the interactions among them to substitute it as an alternative in-the-making are overlooked in the literature. To this end, we constructed X Economies Index (XEI), which quantifies how countries in Europe and Latin America perform in each X economy’s environmental, social, governmental, economic, and scientific dimensions, including their interactions. XEI covers in total 58 indicators for 48 countries in Europe and Latin America. The results emphasize the need for comprehensive policy intelligence for human-centered governance of the interactions among X economies to create further positive impact and accelerate multiple system transitions, societal transformations, and change

Destekli Travma Tahtası: Fizyomekanik Bir Çalışma

Introduction: The use of backboard is a widely-accepted practice for the stabilization of major trauma cases. Discomfort and pressure pain due to the use of backboard are common complications. In this study, we aimed to reduce the discomfort and pressure pain due to the use of backboard. Materials and methods: The study was carried out with 20 healthy volunteers. In the first stage, the volunteers were placed in the supine position for 5 minutes on the standard backboard(STB) and on the supported backboard(SUB). The pressures in the occipital, scapular, and sacral regions were measured while lying on an STB and an SUB. In the second stage, the volunteers were placed in the supine position on an STB or an SUB as two episodes of 60 minutes. Visual Analog Scale(VAS) was used for evaluation of the pain at 10,15,30,45 and 60th minutes. Results: When the VAS scores while lying on an STB and an SUB were compared in the volunteers, general pain and pain in the occipital, scapular, and sacral regions were found to be statistically significantly decreased at all minutes while lying on an SUB. When the pressures while lying on an STB and an SUB were compared in the volunteers, there was no statistically significant difference between the areas exposed to the pressure above the capillary filling pressure in the occipital and scapular regions. However, as a positive result, the area exposed to the pressure below the capillary filling pressure in the sacral region while lying on an SUB was found to be high at a statistically significant level. Conclusion:Although it is needed to be slightly improved in terms of the pressure due to lengthened transport time and lengthened waiting time on a backboard, the SUB, which we used to reduce pressure pain, was demonstrated to provide significant benefits.Giriş: Travma tahtası kullanımı major travma olgularının stabilizasyonu ic?in genis? o?lc?u?de kabul edilmis? bir uygulamadır. Travma tahtası kullanımına bag?lı olus?an rahatsızlık hissi ve bası ag?rısı sık kars?ılas?ılan komplikasyonlardandır. Bu c?alıs?mamızdaki amacımız travma tahtası kullanımına bag?lı olus?an rahatsızlık hissi ve bası ag?rısının azaltılmasıdır. Gereç ve Yöntem: çalışma 20 adet gönüllü ile yapılmıştır. Birinci as?amada go?nu?llu?ler, standart travma tahtası (STT) ve bu c?alıs?mada olus?turulan destekli travma tahtasına(DTT) 5 dakika su?re ile supin pozisyonda yatırılmıs?tır. STT ve DTT u?zerinde yatarken oksipital, skapular ve sakral bo?lgelerdeki olus?an basınc?lar o?lc?u?lmu?s?tu?r. I?kinci as?amada ise 60’ar dakikalık iki bo?lu?m halinde go?nu?llu?ler STT ve DTT u?zerinde supin pozisyonda yatırılmıs?tır. Bu iki bo?lu?mu?n ilk 10 dakikası olay anındaki gibi ambulans ic?erisinde gec?mis? olup, sonraki 50 dakika boyunca da kis?iler supin pozisyonda STT ve DTT u?zerinde acil serviste yatmaya devam etmis?tir. Ag?rının deg?erlendirilmesi ic?in 10, 15, 30, 45 ve 60. dakikalarda Visual Analog Skala (VAS) kullanılmıs?tır. Bulgular: Go?nu?llu?lerin DTT ve STT u?zerinde VAS kars?ılas?tırmasında tu?m sorgulama dakikalarında genel ag?rının ve oksipital bo?lge, skapular bo?lge ve sakral bo?lgelerdeki ag?rının DTT u?zerindeyken istatistiksel olarak anlamlı du?zeyde azaldıg?ı saptanmıs?tır. DTT ve STT u?zerindeyken olus?an basınc?lar kars?ılas?tırıldıg?ında; oksipital bo?lge ve skapular bo?lgelerde kapiller dolum basıncının u?zerinde basıya ug?rayan alanlar arasında istatistiksel fark bulunmamakla beraber, olumlu bir sonuc? olarak DTT u?zerindeyken sakral bo?lgede kapiller dolum basıncının altında basıya ug?rayan alan oranının anlamlı du?zeyde yu?ksek oldug?u saptanmıs?tır. Sonuc?: Travma tahtası u?zerinde transfer sırasında ve travma tahtası u?zerinde bekleme su?resinin uzaması nedeniyle olus?acak basınc? ac?ısında biraz daha gelis?tirilmeye ihtiyac? duyulmakla beraber bası ag?rılarının azaltılmasında kullanmıs? oldug?umuz DTT’nın o?nemli fayda sag?ladıg?ı ortaya konmus?tur