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Socio-technical transitions towards environmental sustainability through green ICT
We adopt the broad conceptualisation of Green Information Communication Technology (ICT) used by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), incorporating perspectives on Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) which has currency with both business practitioners and policy makers. The objective of our research is to develop a theory of the institutional mechanisms that underpin socio-technical transitions to environmental sustainability through the direct, indirect and systematic effects of Green ICT in and across organisational fields. We construct our theory by drawing on published research in several disciplines focusing on the organisational field of the ICT industry. We present a mechanism-based theoretical model that explains how institutional change in organisational fields can evoke appropriate socio-technical transitions and organisational responses to Green ICT. Systems researchers agree that Green ICT can help lower GHG emissions directly, through energy efficiencies and indirectly by enabling environmentally sustainable business processes. If this research is to be of theoretical or practical relevance it must recognize that government organizations and business enterprises may not adopt policies and strategies on Green ICT because it is rational or moral to do so rather, a web of social, and institutional mechanisms interact to produce the outcomes observed in practice
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Consumption of cocoa flavanols results in an acute improvement in visual and cognitive functions
Tackifier for addition polyimides
A modification to the addition polyimide, LaRC-160, was prepared to improve tack and drape and increase prepeg out-time. The essentially solventless, high viscosity laminating resin is synthesized from low cost liquid monomers. The modified version takes advantage of a reactive, liquid plasticizer which is used in place of solvent and helps solve a major problem of maintaining good prepeg tack and drape, or the ability of the prepeg to adhere to adjacent plies and conform to a desired shape during the lay up process. This alternate solventless approach allows both longer life of the polymer prepeg and the processing of low void laminates. This approach appears to be applicable to all addition polyimide systems
The structural response of unsymmetrically laminated composite cylinders
The responses of an unsymmetrically laminated fiber-reinforced composite cylinder to an axial compressive load, a torsional load, and the temperature change associated with cooling from the processing temperature to the service temperature are investigated. These problems are considered axisymmetric and the response is studied in the context of linear elastic material behavior and geometrically linear kinematics. Four different laminates are studied: a general unsymmetric laminate; two unsymmetric but more conventional laminates; and a conventional quasi-isotropic symmetric laminate. The responses based on closed-form solutions for different boundary conditions are computed and studied in detail. Particular emphasis is directed at understanding the influence of elastic couplings in the laminates. The influence of coupling decreased from a large effect in the general unsymmetric laminate, to practically no effect in the quasi-isotropic laminate. For example, the torsional loading of the general unsymmetric laminate resulted in a radial displacement. The temperature change also caused a significant radial displacement to occur near the ends of the cylinder. On the other hand, the more conventional unsymmetric laminate and the quasi-isotropic cylinder did not deform radially when subjected to a torsional load. From the results obtained, it is clear the degree of elastic coupling can be controlled and indeed designed into a cylinder, the degree and character of the coupling being dictated by the application
Ferroelectric Materials for Solar Energy Conversion: Photoferroics Revisited
The application of ferroelectric materials (i.e. solids that exhibit
spontaneous electric polarisation) in solar cells has a long and controversial
history. This includes the first observations of the anomalous photovoltaic
effect (APE) and the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPE). The recent successful
application of inorganic and hybrid perovskite structured materials (e.g.
BiFeO3, CsSnI3, CH3NH3PbI3) in solar cells emphasises that polar semiconductors
can be used in conventional photovoltaic architectures. We review developments
in this field, with a particular emphasis on the materials known to display the
APE/BPE (e.g. ZnS, CdTe, SbSI), and the theoretical explanation. Critical
analysis is complemented with first-principles calculation of the underlying
electronic structure. In addition to discussing the implications of a
ferroelectric absorber layer, and the solid state theory of polarisation (Berry
phase analysis), design principles and opportunities for high-efficiency
ferroelectric photovoltaics are presented
Automated sequence analysis of atmospheric oxidation pathways: SEQUENCE version 1.0
An algorithm for the sequential analysis of the atmospheric oxidation of chemical species using output from a photochemical model is presented. Starting at a "root species", the algorithm traverses all possible reaction sequences which consume this species, and lead, via intermediate products, to final products. The algorithm keeps track of the effects of all of these reactions on their respective reactants and products. Upon completion, the algorithm has built a detailed picture of the effects of the oxidation of the root species on its chemical surroundings. The output of the algorithm can be used to determine product yields, radical recycling fractions, and ozone production potentials of arbitrary chemical species
Environmental responsibilty and green IT: An institutional perspective
A recent Gartner Research report found that environmental concerns are increasingly exercising the minds of business and IT executives. This is reflected in the growing interest in the adoption of environmentally responsible approaches to the deployment, operation and use of IT. However, for the majority of firms, issues of cost reduction and energy efficiency appear to predominate. This paper argues that whether it is an interest in Green IT or in cost reduction, the concerns of business and IT managers are modulated by regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive influences in the institutional environment. The study therefore applies institutional theory to develop a series of theoretical propositions which specify the effect that such influences have in shaping environmental responsibility in organisations. Important as such a theoretical contribution may be, there are, however, the pressing practical imperatives of formulating Green IT strategies, achieving energy efficiencies, and reducing carbon footprints—thus, the study also contributes to a practical understanding of the complex institutional influences at play in shaping such imperatives
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