Effects of thermal insulation on thermal comfort in low-income tropical housing

This paper evaluates the effects of thermal insulation on thermal comfort in low-income tropical housing in Uganda. Dynamic thermal simulations are conducted to assess the effects of wall, roof and floor insulation strategies. 96 combination scenarios are simulated for various geometries, insulation and construction methods. Adaptive approach is used to evaluate the conditions within the case study buildings. The results indicate that external wall insulation improves thermal comfort in all conditions whereas internal wall and floor insulation may deteriorate the conditions. Roof insulation is the most effective strategy to reduce the risk of overheating. Due to the effectiveness of roof insulation and marginal improvements of external wall insulation, especially for brick walls, wall insulation may be disregarded when used in conjunction with roof insulation

Evaluating quality of contraceptive counseling: An analysis of the method information index

The Method Information Index (MII) is calculated from contraceptive users\u27 responses to questions regarding counseling content-whether they were informed about methods other than the one they received, told about method-specific side effects, and advised what to do if they experienced side effects. The MII is increasingly reported in national surveys and used to track program performance, but little is known about its properties. Using additional questions, we assessed the consistency between responses and the method received in a prospective, multicountry study. We employed two definitions of consistency: (1) presence of any concordant response, and (2) absence of discordant responses. Consistency was high when asking whether users were informed about other methods and what to do about side effects. Responses were least consistent when asking whether side effects were mentioned. Adjusting for inconsistency, scores were up to 50 percent and 30 percent lower in Pakistan and Uganda, respectively, compared to unadjusted MII scores. Additional questions facilitated better understanding of counseling quality

Sustainable Consumption Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Conceptual Framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for investigating the adoption patterns, inhibitors, and facilitators ( PIF ) of sustainable consumption in sub-Sahara African ( SSA ) settings. Literature evidence shows paucity of empirical studies on sustainable consumption from SSA , which partly explains lack of suitable conceptual framework to guide research in this area. Also, the existing frameworks, which were developed outside SSA may not be suitable for constructing sustainable consumption behavior in SSA because of its peculiarities. The key signifi cance of this article is the potential of providing future researchers in this area with a framework to guide and manage their studies. As a conceptual article, insight was drawn from a plethora of scholarly articles in the domain of sustainable consumption and related areas. The framework is built on four key constructs—adoption patterns, inhibitors, facilitators ( PIF ), and intention. As a guide for studies from the SSA , the article includes an empirical section, which provides preliminary empirical validation for the proposed PIF conceptual framework based on a pilot test. The result from the pilot study, using structural equation modeling ( SEM ), led to positing the PIF Sustainable Consumption model, thus giving support for the PIF Conceptual Framework, which this article puts forward. In addition, the proposed PIF conceptual framework is capable of providing insight for crafting sustainability-related policies. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Barriers of solar energy uptake and the potential for mitigation solutions in Barbados

Understanding the barriers that inhibit the deployment of renewable energy technologies to achieve long-term reductions in carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels is paramount to Barbados. Although there are targets towards renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal) uptake, the share of these technologies in the energy mix does not exist in Barbados due to the total dependence on fossil fuels. In this paper, a review of potential challenges and the main problems for deployment of alternative energy sources is presented. Through interviews, questionnaires with a focus group of key personnel’s, the paper documents the lack of renewable energy sources (with emphasis on solar energy) as one of the main alternatives to meet the carbon emission targets set by the country. The barriers and challenges facing the implementation of solar energy deployment have been clarified. From the results, it is evident that significant policy barriers still exist at the country level, which has reduced the effectiveness of a concerted national effort to deploy renewables. The current policy landscape which benefits from fossil fuel imports, the lack of technical know-how and the lack of research and development in the renewable energy space are amongst the key barriers identified. The paper also outlines the key policy’s frameworks, regulatory environment and the lack of incentives, which encompasses the renewable energy sector, and presents a critical analysis of the barriers faced by the industry. A mitigation framework is proposed to bridge the gap of solar energy (renewable energy) deployment

Following the footsteps: Urbanisation of Wa Municipality and its synergism in risk accumulation, uncertainties and complexities in urban Ghana.

Global demographic characteristics have witnessed a significant shift with more than half of the world's population crossing the rural-urban threshold in 2008. In Ghana, the 2010 census report revealed 50.9% urban population. While the many benefits of organised and efficient cities are well understood, it must be recognised that rapid, often unplanned urbanisation brings risk of profound social instability, risk to critical infrastructure, potential water crises and the potential for devastating spread of disease. These risks can only be further exacerbated as this unprecedented transition from rural to urban areas continues. This also means stakes are high for public and private interventions to ensure that urbanisation reinforces rather than retards prosperity. In spite of these past experiences, urban governance policies in emerging smaller cities are frequently ambivalent and piecemeal, exhibiting similar negative tendencies, a development that has received less academic attention. This study adopted multiple research techniques and the data were generated through a structured questionnaire survey, personal interviews and discussions. Based on our conviction that the development trajectory of any city hinges on the quality of its physical foundation, we seek to fill the knowledge gap using the Wa Municipality, the least urbanised but one of the fastest urbanising cities in Ghana today, as a case study. The results reveal emerging tendencies that indicate that Wa appears to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors - experiencing an inefficient potable water supply system and chronic sanitation situation, making diarrhoea one of many challenges for residents. It is ultimately suggested that a collaborative partnership with all key stakeholders is a better option to reap the potential for urbanisation to strengthen economic growth and development

Disruption, not displacement: Environmental variability and temporary migration in Bangladesh

Mass migration is one of the most concerning potential outcomes of global climate change. Recent research into environmentally induced migration suggests that relationship is much more complicated than originally posited by the ‘environmental refugee’ hypothesis. Climate change is likely to increase migration in some cases and reduce it in others, and these movements will more often be temporary and short term than permanent and long term. However, few large-sample studies have examined the evolution of temporary migration under changing environmental conditions. To address this gap, we measure the extent to which temperature, precipitation, and flooding can predict temporary migration in Matlab, Bangladesh. Our analysis incorporates high-frequency demographic surveillance data, a discrete time event history approach, and a range of sociodemographic and contextual controls. This approach reveals that migration declines immediately after flooding but quickly returns to normal. In contrast, optimal precipitation and high temperatures have sustained positive effects on temporary migration that persist over one to two year periods. Building on previous studies of long-term migration, these results challenge the common assumption that flooding, precipitation extremes and high temperatures will consistently increase temporary migration. Instead, our results are consistent with a livelihoods interpretation of environmental migration in which households draw on a range of strategies to cope with environmental variability

The worldwide trend to high participation higher education: dynamics of social stratification in inclusive systems

Worldwide participation in higher education now includes one-third of the age cohort and is growing at an unprecedented rate. The tendency to rapid growth, leading towards high participation systems (HPS), has spread to most middle-income and some low-income countries. Though expansion of higher education requires threshold development of the state and the middle class, it is primarily powered not by economic growth but by the ambitions of families to advance or maintain social position. However, expansion is mostly not accompanied by more equal social access to elite institutions. The quality of mass higher education is often problematic. Societies vary in the extent of upward social mobility from low-socio-economic-status backgrounds. The paper explores the intersection between stratified social backgrounds and the stratifying structures in HPS. These differentiating structures include public/private distinctions in schooling and higher education, different fields of study, binary systems and tiered hierarchies of institutions, the vertical ‘stretching’ of stratification in competitive HPS, and the unequalising effects of tuition. Larger social inequalities set limits on what education can achieve. Countries with high mobility sustain a consensus about social equality, and value rigorous and autonomous systems of learning, assessment and selection in education

Industrial transformation and sustainable development in developing countries

We examined the relationship between industrial transformation and the positive and negative impacts of industry on sustainable development in developing countries. We started by assigning developing countries to five groups based on the extent to which they have transformed and reoriented their manufacturing sectors. We then compared the changes in economic, social and environmental variables that occurred in these groups between the years 1990 and 2004. We found that those groups that experienced the greatest industrial transformation were the ones with the greater positive impacts in terms of per capita industrial output and employment and greater reductions in impacts in terms of energy intensity. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.sustainable development , manufacturing , developing countries , carbon dioxide emissions , industrial transformation ,

Predictors for e-government adoption: integrating TAM, TPB, trust and perceived risk

Purpose The present research aims to identify determinants for citizen’ behavioural adoption of e-government, explore relationships among these variables and investigate whether the proposed model can provide a more comprehensive manner to understand the adoption of e-government. Design/methodology/approach First, a survey is administered to collect data, then the Cronbach’s alpha is assessed for internal consistency of measurement scales; second, confirmatory factor analysis is conducted to evaluate the measurement model; finally, a structural equation model is used to test the proposed hypotheses and explore the determinants of e-government adoption. Findings Results indicate that the proposed model is a stable model with powerful explanatory of variation. In addition, some new relationships in the e-government context are found, whose disposition to trust has positive effect on social norms, whereas perceived risk negatively influences perceived behaviour control. Moreover, other key dominants have been investigated. Originality/value The findings have enabled us to better understand factors affecting intention and also provided a solid theoretical research model for future study