The impact of the ICT4D project on sustainable rural development using a capability approach: Evidence from Bangladesh

Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) projects have shown a great promises in recent years. However, simply materializing of ICT4D projects is not enough for minimizing the prevalent digital divide in rural areas in developing countries. For the success of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) intervention, it is important to consider the capabilities of users, who are responsible for converting ICT resources into outcome. While most of the ICT-related studies are focused on the adoption of actual technologies and influences of different internal and external factors on intervention outcomes, very few studies are focused on evaluating intervention outcomes and redesigning intervention strategies. In this study, I opted for using a conceptual framework following the Capability Approach that simultaneously identifies the influence factors for intervention outcome as well as evaluates the outcome based on Noble Laureate Amartya Sen’s five freedoms concept. A qualitative technique has been chosen to conduct the study. As part of the impact evaluation of an ICT4D intervention, a project known as Union Digital Centres (UDCs) in Bangladesh was selected. A total of ten themes are identified indicating that the outcome of the intervention is contributing to socio-economic and human development. However, the study has revealed that lack of capabilities of users (e.g. prior knowledge and financial inability) bar the UDC programs to fulfill their goals at highest level. This study would practically help the UDC policy makers to adjust the UDC intervention design by addressing the shortcomings of the users to yield higher UDC program outcome. Additionally, this study theoretically contributes in ICT adoption literature by showing that there is a mutual influence between users’ capabilities and ICT-related project outcomes. Finally, using specific case study (ICT4D project in Bangladesh), this study contextualizes Amartya Sen’s five freedoms concept in the ICT-specific context.     

Pragmatism or idealism? An urban perspective onto the politics of interurban cooperation for sustainability in the EU

European cities have been committed to achieve urban sustainability, participating in interurban networks dealing with socio-ecological issues. By examining the incentives derived by the involvement in these networks and the municipal political milieu where the decision about network participation is taken, this article seeks to understand the motivations for European cities to take part in sustainability networks. To do so, a small-N qualitative analysis was undertaken. The results show that cities’ participation in socio-ecological urban networks (SEUNs) is motivated by the economic, political and formative incentives that membership provides, and is influenced by institutionalised values, political agency and previous cooperative experience.     

混凝土排水管道工程闭气检验简介

简要介绍排水管道闭气检验的特点、闭气检验标准的试验原理、闭气检验的操作步骤及应用现状。     

赖特有机建筑与"天人合一"思想

世界著名建筑大师赖特的有机建筑始终坚持"与自然和谐共生"的设计理念,创造了无数经典之作,在世界范围内引起了很大反响,至今仍为人们所迷恋.赖特的有机建筑分成草原式住宅和美国风住宅两个阶段,这两种风格的住宅创作均体现出中国哲学的"天人合一"思想.因此,挖掘中国传统哲学的内在精神,以此来诠释赖特的有机建筑,可以更加深入地体会建筑的内在涵义,并从中吸取一些对当代建筑创作有益的精髓.     

九间堂

本案以“天人合一”为设计理念，将传统生活审美意境与现代生活方式有机结合，呈现出“现代中式园林大宅”的风采。     

Mapping of background air pollution at a fine spatial scale across the European Union

Background

There is a need to understand much more about the geographic variation of air pollutants. This requires the ability to extrapolate from monitoring stations to unsampled locations. The aim was to assess methods to develop accurate and high resolution maps of background air pollution across the EU.

Methods

We compared the validity of ordinary kriging, universal kriging and regression mapping in developing EU-wide maps of air pollution on a 1 × 1 km resolution. Predictions were made for the year 2001 for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), fine particles < 10 µm (PM₁₀), ozone (O₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) using routine monitoring data in Airbase. Predictor variables from EU-wide databases were land use, road traffic, population density, meteorology, altitude, topography and distance to sea. Models were developed for the global, rural and urban scale separately. The best method to model concentrations was selected on the basis of predefined performance measures (R², Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)).

Results

For NO₂, PM₁₀ and O₃ universal kriging performed better than regression mapping and ordinary kriging. Validation of the final universal kriging estimates with results from all validation sites gave R²-values and RMSE-values of 0.61 and 6.73 µg/m³ for NO₂; 0.45 and 5.19 µg/m³ for PM₁₀; and 0.70 and 7.69 µg/m³ for O₃. For SO₂ and CO none of the three methods was able to provide a satisfactory prediction.

Conclusion

Reasonable prediction models were developed for NO₂, PM₁₀ and O₃ on an EU-wide scale. Our study illustrates that it is possible to develop detailed maps of background air pollution using EU-wide databases.     

苏联“民族形式、社会主义内容”建筑理论来源与演变之初探

借助事件与时间节点相对应的史学研究方法;依据相关事件的开放档案,清晰梳理“民族形式、社会主义内容”建筑理论生成的历史脉络,揭示这一标志性话语,从口号转变为文艺创作及建筑设计理论的过程中,其背后容易被忽略的社会、政治及历史信息。     

Changes to building research funding in Sweden

Changes to the Swedish research landscape since 2001 are described including the re-organization of research councils, research programmes, the management and allocation of public funding research in Sweden, and the effects on built environment research. The reasons for these changes include the desire for increased integration with European Union research programmes, an increasing emphasis on inter- and multidisciplinary research, and the desire for research to contribute to economic well-being. Despite Sweden's high level of government investment in research, shifting priorities and an increasing number of applicants have resulted in reduced allocations for built environment research. This presents the challenging tasks to define and maintain core research capabilities within the built environment sector as well as to ensure adequate industry engagement with both the creation of the research agenda and the use of research outputs.     

制备工艺对0.95(K_(0.5)Na_(0.5))NbO_3-0.05CaZrO_3基无铅陶瓷压电性能的影响

采用传统陶瓷工艺制备了0.95(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.05CaZrO3无铅压电陶瓷。研究了烧结温度和极化工艺对陶瓷压电性能的影响。结果表明:随着烧结温度的提高,0.95(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.05CaZrO3陶瓷的体积密度增大,在1170℃时达到最大值,同时d33和kp,在此温度也分别达到他们的最大值210pC/N和0.40。极化工艺对0.95(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.05CaZrO3陶瓷的压电性能有明显的影响,0.95(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.05CaZrO3陶瓷的最佳极化温度是70℃,最佳极化电场是4kV/mm。     

Optimal design of catalytic distillation columns: A case study on synthesis of TAEE

The design of catalytic distillation (CD) columns is a challenging task because of the superposition of chemical reaction and distillation in one apparatus. In this work, a method to design a cost-optimal CD column for chemical systems with large number of components and chemical reactions is presented. The method is based on the following steps: (1) estimation of the number of theoretical stages and catalyst volume by the decomposition of the CD column into a sequence of chemical reactors and non-reactive distillation columns, (2) estimation of the column diameter and operating conditions using an equilibrium stage model, and (3) design of the column applying an optimisation algorithm and using a rigorous non-equilibrium stage model to represent the CD process. The method is applied to determine the optimal column configuration and operating conditions for the synthesis of tert-amyl ethyl ether from ethanol and isoamylenes. Eight components and four chemical reactions were selected to represent the chemical system in the simulations.