A review of technological solutions to prevent or reduce marine plastic litter in developing countries

Growing global plastic production combined with poor waste collection has led to increasing amounts of plastic debris being found in oceans, rivers and on shores. The goal of this study is to provide an overview on currently available technological solutions to tackle marine plastic litter and to assess their potential use in developing countries. To compile an inventory of technological solutions, a dedicated online platform was developed. A total of 51 out of initially 75 submitted solutions along the plastics value chain were assessed by independent experts. Collection systems represent more than half of the shortlisted solutions. A quarter include processing and treatment technologies, either as a stand-alone solution (30%) or, more commonly, in combination with a first litter capturing step. Ten percent offer digital solutions. The rest focuses on integrated waste management solutions. For each stage in the source-to-sea spectrum—land, rivers, sea—two illustrative examples are described in detail. This study concludes that the most cost-effective type of solution tackles land-based sources of marine litter and combines technology with people-oriented practices, runs on own energy sources, connects throughout the plastics value chain with a convincing valorization plan for captured debris, and involves all relevant stakeholders

The Raw Materials Summit 2019: connecting innovation in the Raw Materials Sector

n/

Proof of concept of high-rate decentralized pre-composting of kitchen waste : optimizing design and operation of a novel drum reactor

A

Strategic research and innovation agenda on circular economy

CICERONE aims to bring national, regional and local governments together to jointly tackle the circular economy transition needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions and meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement and EU Green Deal. This document represents one of the key outcomes of the project: a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Europe, to support owners and funders of circular economy programmes in aligning priorities and approaching the circular economy transition in a systemic way

Holistic integration of gaze cues in visual face and body perception: Evidence from composite design

A considerable amount of research on identity recognition and emotion identification with the composite design points to the holistic processing of these aspects in faces and bodies. In this paradigm, the interference from a nonattended face half on the perception of the attended half is taken as evidence for holistic processing (i.e., a composite effect). Far less research, however, has been dedicated to the concept of gaze. Nonetheless, gaze perception is a substantial component of face and body perception, and holds critical information for everyday communicative interactions. Furthermore, the ability of human observers to detect direct versus averted eye gaze is effortless, perhaps similar to identity perception and emotion recognition. However, the hypothesis of holistic perception of eye gaze has never been tested directly. Research on gaze perception with the composite design could facilitate further systematic comparison with other aspects of face and body perception that have been investigated using the composite design (i.e., identity and emotion). In the present research, a composite design was administered to assess holistic processing of gaze cues in faces (Experiment 1) and bodies (Experiment 2). Results confirmed that eye and head orientation (Experiment 1A) and head and body orientation (Experiment 2A) are integrated in a holistic manner. However, the composite effect was not completely disrupted by inversion (Experiments 1B and 2B), a finding that will be discussed together with implications for future research.status: publishe

Developmental prosopagnosia and elastic versus static face recognition in an incidental learning task

Previous research on the beneficial effect of motion has postulated that learning a face in motion provides additional cues to recognition. Surprisingly, however, few studies have examined the beneficial effect of motion in an incidental learning task and developmental prosopagnosia (DP) even though such studies could provide more valuable information about everyday face recognition compared to the perception of static faces. In the current study, 18 young adults (Experiment 1) and five DPs and 10 age-matched controls (Experiment 2) participated in an incidental learning task during which both static and elastically moving unfamiliar faces were sequentially presented and were to be recognized in a delayed visual search task during which the faces could either keep their original presentation or switch (from static to elastically moving or vice versa). In Experiment 1, performance in the elastic-elastic condition reached a significant improvement relative to the elastic-static and static-elastic condition, however, no significant difference could be detected relative to the static-static condition. Except for higher scores in the elastic-elastic compared to the static-elastic condition in the age-matched group, no other significant differences were detected between conditions for both the DPs and the age-matched controls. The current study could not provide compelling evidence for a general beneficial effect of motion. Age-matched controls performed generally worse than DPs, which may potentially be explained by their higher rates of false alarms. Factors that could have influenced the results are discussed.status: publishe

Transition thinking and business model innovation-towards a transformative business model and new role for the reuse centers of Limburg, Belgium

The current dynamics of change, including climate change, resource depletion, energy transition, internet of things, etc. will have substantial impacts on the functioning of contemporary business models. Most firms and companies, however, still largely focus on efficiency strategies leading to sub-optimal solutions (reducing bad impact), rather than radically changing their business model to develop new transaction models more appropriate for today’s world (doing better things). However, persistent sustainability issues arising from our changing societal systems, require more radical and structural changes both within and between organizations to change the way we do business. There is limited empirically established research literature on how businesses can be more proactive in this regard and how they can move beyond “management of unsustainability”. In this paper, we present a transformative business model innovation approach inspired by transition theory combining elements of systems thinking, value-inspired envisioning, reflexive design and co-creation that was pioneered for a consortia of reuse centers in the province of Limburg, Belgium. We demonstrate that this approach contributed to the development of new business model concepts, was conducive for mobilizing support and resources to ensure follow up activity and holds potential to promote a more proactive role for businesses as agents of transformative change

On the putative efficacy of the antidepressants in chronic, benign pain syndromes

Previous reviews of the use of antidepressant medication in the treatment of chronic, benign pain syndromes have reported significant analgesic effects in over 80% of subjects in less time and at lower doses than that required for the antidepressant effect. The authors' prior meta-analytic review did not support this effect, after controlling for trial quality. This article reports on an update of that review. The results are similar to those of the prior review, showing that 70% of trials again failed to meet minimal design and protocol criteria. Of the remainder, none met all four types of validity criteria used as an additional screening for trial quality. Improvement was noted in protocol (but not design) development and in the frequency of trials meeting at least two validity criteria