Urban Farming and Its Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits for Ensuring Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Jordan

This Policy Paper explores the potential of urban farming in Jordan to address the pressing issues of food security, climate-induced risks, and socioeconomic vulnerability in urban centers. With around 92% of Jordan’s citizens living in cities, and a significant refugee population residing in urban areas, the cities are highly vulnerable to disruptions in critical food supplies exacerbated by climate change and external shocks like the COVID-19 outbreak and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vulnerable groups, including the urban poor, older people, youth, people with disabilities, and refugees in informal settlements, face precarious food and nutrition security. Urban farming, the practice of growing food in cities, is identified as a crucial solution to feed these vulnerable groups. The paper highlights the efficiency of urban farming, with innovative techniques providing up to 15 times higher productivity than conventional agriculture. Apart from addressing food security and health concerns, urban farming can play a vital role in enhancing cities’ resilience and employment opportunities. Moreover, it can act as a center for community engagement and youth education, while also providing ecological benefits. Karolina Zubel aims to showcase the environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic benefits of developing urban farming in Jordan from a sustainability and inclusivity perspective. By involving local communities and ensuring social dialogue, the development process can contribute to environmental and socioeconomic sustainability, preventing further vulnerability and exclusion. Additionally, it examines stakeholders’ perceptions, beneficiaries, and inclusivity in decision-making processes. The author explores governance challenges related to urban farm development, and discusses the prospects of such developments within the context of the European Green Deal diplomacy. The paper’s outcomes present a comprehensive understanding of the potential of urban farming in Jordan, emphasising its role in building resilience, enhancing food security, and promoting social inclusivity. The policy-oriented recommendations are designed to guide future actions and accelerate the development of urban farming across Jordan, fostering a sustainable and inclusive approach to address the complex challenges faced by urban populations

The Lockerbie Controversy: Tension Between The International Court of Justice and the Security Council

Pan American Flight 103 exploded midair over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21,1988. Investigations suggested that two Libyan nationals were to blame. When the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on the Libyan government in 1993 for its failure to cooperate with U.S. and U.K extradition requests, Libya turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for help. Libya asked the ICJ to declare that Libya was not obliged to extradite its nationals to the United States or the United Kingdom and further asked the Court to enjoin the U.S. and the U.K from the use of force or threats against Libya. In 1998, the ICJ found it had jurisdiction to hear the case, which put two bodies of the United Nations on a collision course. The author explores how the U.N. system handles its internal tensions, and compares the international system with U.S. federalism and civil rights. How far can judicial review reach in the global system

Silicon anisotropic etching in KOH and TMAH with modified surface tension

AbstractEtching rates and morphologies of Si wafers with different crystallographic orientations etched in pure TMAH and TMAH with isopropyl alcohol have been analysed. IPA addition caused significant improvement in the morphology of some etched surfaces. Similar effects had been already observed in KOH+IPA solutions. The factors affecting the etching results, including hydroxide and surfactant concentrations, surface tension and bonds arrangement on (hkl) planes have been analysed

PENGARUH KEPEMIMPINAN TRANSFORMASIONAL DAN LINGKUNGAN KERJA TERHADAP KUALITAS KERJA GURU SEKOLAH MENENGAH ATAS SWASTA ZONA I JAKARTA UTARA

The purpose of this research is to know the effect of transformational leadership and work environment toward teacher’s job quality private senior high school north of Jakarta. The research was conducted using survey method with quantitative approach and path analysis technique. The population of this research is 117 teachers. Research samples selected as much as 91 teachers using simple random sampling technique. The data obtained through questionnaires and analyzed using path analysis techniques. Based on the results of data analysis in this research it is concluded: (1) the transformational leadership have positive direct effect to job quality; (2) the work environment have positive direct effect to job quality; (3) the transformational leadership have positive direct effect to work environment. The job quality can be improved through improvement of of transformational leadership and work environment

Literary Reportage and the Poetics of Cold War Internationalism

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. 2017. Major: Comparative Literature. Advisor: Timothy Brennan. 1 computer file (PDF); 313 pages.Based on a neglected archive of Polish cultural encounters with the Third World, this comparative study examines the ways formal techniques of narrative non-fiction developed in conjunction with political upheaval in the socialist and decolonizing worlds in the second-half of the twentieth century. By putting the work of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński in conversation with that of an international milieu of anti-colonial writers and filmmakers of the period, I develop a new genealogy of the reportage genre to show how it was mobilized to create a political culture of “friendship” between the Second and Third Worlds, in accordance with the Soviet Union’s foreign policy. But it is not simply that this body of work reflects Soviet Cold War strategy that interests me. The heavy-handed influence of the Soviet Union restricted the satellite states’ right to national self-determination in a manner that seemed to be in contradiction with the Socialist Bloc’s official support for anti-imperialism in the Third World. This contradiction found form, I argue, in works of anti-colonial reportage that, through the use of intertextuality, intermediality, allegory, and allusion express a content in excess of what they report. They express, I contend, the desire, held by many Third World and satellite state subjects alike, to develop democratic alternatives to the political systems of both the West and the Soviet Union

3D Printing for Optical Fibre Applications

The objective of this thesis is to combine the technology of silica and polymer fibre Bragg (FBG) gratings with fused deposition modelling (FDM), which is an additive layer manufacturing (3D printing) technique. The research into optimising transparency of the printouts allowed the printing of solid-core and hollow-core preforms of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polycarbonate. The first microstructured polymer optical fibre was then fabricated from the 3D-printed solid-core polycarbonate preform. This was the first fibre drawn from a 3D-printed preform to show single-mode operation (at a wavelength of 870 and 1550 nm). Moreover, the fibre displayed the lowest attenuation of all the fibres drawn from 3D-printed preforms reported so far, with a lowest attenuation figure of ~0.27 dB/cm in a few spectral regions (780-785 nm, 820-825 nm, 953-956 nm, 1070-1090 nm). Also, FBGs were inscribed in the fibre using three different laser systems: a 248-nm nanosecond krypton-fluoride laser, a 517-nm femtosecond laser, and a 325-nm continuous-wave helium-cadmium laser. The temperature sensitivity of the latter FBG was measured to be -21.3±1.9 pm/°C. Finally, the linear coefficient of thermal expansion and the thermo-optic coefficient of the fibre were measured to yield the values as low as 7.34±0.53×10-7 °C-1 and -39.4±3.7×10-6 °C-1, respectively. FDM was also used to embed polymer and silica FBGs into 3D printed protective housings. The printing process was paused midway to introduce the fibre. Such sensing patches were found to provide good mechanical protection while the measured strain sensitivity amounted to 92% of this for the unembedded grating. Furthermore, embedded silica FBGs yielded a temperature sensitivity 103±14 pm/°C. This figure is over 12 times higher compared to unembedded silica gratings and two times higher compared to polymer FBGs of the highest temperature sensitivity. Finally, embedded silica FBGs were capable of gauging humidity, its sensitivity value being measured as 13.8±1.1 pm/%RH

3D printed sensing patches with embedded polymer optical fibre Bragg gratings

The first demonstration of a polymer optical fibre Bragg grating (POFBG) embedded in a 3-D printed structure is reported. Its cyclic strain performance and temperature characteristics are examined and discussed. The sensing patch has a repeatable strain sensitivity of 0.38 pm/μepsilon. Its temperature behaviour is unstable, with temperature sensitivity values varying between 30-40 pm/°C

3D-printed PMMA preform for hollow-core POF drawing

In this paper we report the first, to our knowledge, 3D-printed hollow-core poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) preform for polymer optical fibre drawing. It was printed of commercial PMMA by means of fused deposition modelling technique. The preform was drawn to cane, proving good enough quality of drawing process and the PMMA molecular weight to be appropriate for drawing. This ascertains that the manufacturing process provides preforms suitable for hollow-core fibre drawing. The paper focuses on maximisation of transparency of PMMA 3D printouts by optimising printing process parameters: nozzle temperature, printing speed and infill

Potential of 1-octanol and di-n-butyl ether (DNBE) to improve the performance and reduce the emissions of a direct injected compression ignition diesel engine

[EN] This experimental work evaluates the potential of 1-octanol, di-n-butyl ether and three intermediate blends as substitutes of the diesel fuel to be used in compression ignition engines. For this purpose, performance and engine-out emissions measurements have been done in a single-cylinder engine of 0.39 L displacement and 15:1 compression ratio at four engine operating conditions representative of the new European driving cycle (NEDC) driving cycle. The tests have been done keeping constant the NOx emissions and combustion center for all the fuels at each operating point. To achieve this, the exhaust gas recirculation rate and the start of injection timing were modified simultaneously for each fuel tested, while the rest of the engine settings were kept constant. All the biomass-derived fuels have the same oxygen content but substantially different cetane number and volatility. The results show that, for the same NOx levels, all the fuels allow a substantial reduction of the soot emissions versus diesel due to both the higher oxygen content in the fuel molecule and/or the extended mixing time achieved because of the lower fuel reactivity. In terms of efficiency, all the alternative fuels improve the fuel-to-work conversion efficiency. This benefit comes from decreasing the heat transfer in a greater way than the exhaust losses increase. Moreover, in general terms, all the fuels promote a reduction of the combustion losses to halve of those found with diesel.The authors gratefully acknowledge FEDER and Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for partially supporting this research through TRANCO project (TRA2017-87694-R). This work was performed as part of the Cluster of Excellence Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass, which is funded by the Excellence Initiative by the German federal and state governments to promote science and research at German universities. Thus, the authors would like to thank the Institute for Combustion Engines, RWTH Aachen University, for all the support to perform the research activities.García Martínez, A.; Monsalve-Serrano, J.; Villalta-Lara, D.; Zubel, M.; Pischinger, S. (2018). Potential of 1-octanol and di-n-butyl ether (DNBE) to improve the performance and reduce the emissions of a direct injected compression ignition diesel engine. Energy Conversion and Management. 177:563-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.009S56357117