• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2013.01a
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• pp.390-390
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• 2013

Use of recycled aggregates in portland cement concrete construction can offer benefits associated with both economy and sustainability. Testing performed to date indicates that RBMA can be used as a 100% replacement for conventional coarse aggregate in concrete that exhibits acceptable mechanical properties for use in structural and pavement elements, including satisfactory performance in some durability tests. RBMAC is currently not used in any type of construction in the United States. However, use of RBMAC could become a viable construction strategy as sustainable building practices become the norm. Rating systems such as LEED offer points for reuse of building materials (particularly on-site) and use of recycled materials. If renovations at an existing facility call for the demolition of existing brick masonry constructions, the rubble could be included as RBMA in new concrete pavement, sidewalks, or curb and gutter. Other potential uses for RBMAC could include those in the precast concrete industry, particularly in architectural precast concrete applications. In addition to providing acceptable strength and economy, the color of RBMA could be an attractive component of architectural precast concrete panels or other façade components. This paper explores the feasibility of use of RBMAC in several types of sustainable construction initiatives, based upon the findings of previous work with RBMAC produced from construction and demolition waste from a case study site. Guidance for obtaining and using RBMA is presented, along with a summary of material properties of RBMAC that will be useful to construction professionals.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-62
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• 2024

In this paper, a sustainable closed-loop supply chain (SCLSC) network model is proposed for domestic mobile phone industry. Economic, environmental and social factors are respectively considered for reinforcing the sustainability of the SCLSC network model. These three factors aim at minimizing total cost, minimizing total amount of CO₂ emission, and maximizing total social influence resulting from the establishment and operation of facilities at each stage of the SCLSC network model. Since they are used as each objective function in modeling, the SCLSC network model can be a multi-objective optimization problem. A mathematical formulation is used for representing the SCLSC network model and a hybrid meta-heuristic approach is proposed for efficiently solving it. In numerical experiment, the performance of the proposed hybrid meta-heuristic approach is compared with those of conventional meta-heuristic approaches using some scales of the SCLSC network model. Experimental results shows that the proposed hybrid meta-heuristic approach outperforms conventional meta-heuristic approaches.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.284-298
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• 2024

Restructured meat (RM) products are gaining importance as an essential component of the meat industry due to consumers' interest in health benefits. RM products imply the binding or holding of meat, meat by-products, and vegetable proteins together to form a meat product with meat's sensory and textural properties. RM products provide consumers with diversified preferences like the intake of low salt, low fat, antioxidants, and high dietary fiber in meat products. From the point of environmental sustainability, RM may aid in combining underutilized products and low-valued meat by adequately utilizing them instead of dumping them as waste material. RM processing technique might also help develop diversified and new hybrid meat products. It is crucial to have more knowledge on the quality issues, selection of binding agents, their optimum proportion, and finally, the ideal processing techniques. It is observed in this study that the most crucial feature of RM could be its healthy products with reduced fat content, which aligns with the preferences of health-conscious consumers who seek low-fat, low-salt, high-fiber options with minimal synthetic additives. This review briefly overviews RM and the factors affecting the quality and shelf life. Moreover, it discusses the recent studies on binding agents in processing RM products. Nonetheless, the recent advancements in processing and market scenarios have been summarized to better understand future research needs. The purpose of this review was to bring light to the ways of sustainable and economical food production.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.27-36
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• 2024

Purpose: As the number of vegetarians continues to rise in tandem with the development of consumer culture, a novel economic trend named 'Vegenomics' has surfaced. In addition, as interest in social and environmental sustainability such as health, environment, and animal welfare grows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the alternative protein food market is expanding, focusing on plant-based alternative meat. Research design, data, and methodology: Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of the consumption value of alternative protein products on self-efficacy and purchase intention. This study collected a total of 187 questionnaires by conducting an online survey from May 1 to July 10, 2023, to verify the research model and hypothesis. The collected data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and discriminant validity analysis using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs for structural equation modeling. Results: The results of analyzing consumers' self-efficacy and purchase intention regarding the functional value, health-oriented value, ethical value, and ecological value of alternative protein products are as follows. First, among the consumption values of alternative protein products, ecological value was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on self-efficacy. Second, consumers' self-efficacy for alternative protein products was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on purchase intention. Conclusion: This study is anticipated to provide valuable insights for the formulation of effective marketing strategies for alternative protein products and the development of products that align with consumer needs.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.259-273
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• 2024

In this study, 31 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2011 to 2021 were taken as the research objects, and the super-SBM model was used to measure the regional eco-efficiency with capital, labor, land and resource input as input variables, GDP and green coverage as the desirable outputs, and wastewater, waste gas and solid waste emissions as the undesired outputs. Tobit regression was used to analyze the effects of external environmental factors on eco-efficiency. The results showed that the average level of eco-efficiency in China was low, and the eco-efficiency in the eastern region was higher than that in other regions, and there were great differences in the western, northeast and central regions.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.288-299
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• 2024

Indonesia's Keplauan Liau region is facing limitations in the development of connected transportation infrastructure due to its archipelago nature, budget constraints, and lack of land. Transportation demand is increasing due to its strategic location in the Malacca Strait Business Triangle and many tourist visits from Singapore and Malaysia. However, due to the nature of connecting many islands, the establishment of transportation infrastructure has not been achieved. This paper aims to predict the innovations that can be brought about by the introduction of advanced air mobility (AAM) with an electric vertical take-off and landing (e-VTOL) system through analysis and application consideration of the actual situation in Indonesia's Kepulauan Liau region. In addition, it intends to contribute to national-level review and policy establishment on the establishment of innovative transportation infrastructure using AAM, reflection in infrastructure construction plans, and active global cooperation.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4_spc
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• pp.755-774
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• 2024

The main objective of this study was to present data on the current situation and future trends of pig meat production in the European Union-27 (EU). Pig production has played an important social and economic role for centuries in many states of the EU. In 2022, pig meat production in the EU reached 23 M tons, which represented 21% of total production worldwide. The two key reasons that justify such amount of pork produced, are the acceptance and high consumption of the meat by the local population and the high quality of the meat produced which facilitated pork export. However, current data show a reduction in pork production for the last three years, as a consequence of a series of events that include i) problems with the chain of ingredients supply, ii) uncontrolled increase in African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks, iii) fast recovery of pig production in China, iv) increasing concerns by the rural population on the high cost to meet future requirements of the EU legislation on farm management, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, v) increased cost of all inputs involved in pig production and vi) limited interest of the new farmer generation to work on the pig sector. Consequently, pork production is expected to decrease in the EU for the next years, although sales will be maintained at a relative high level because pork is the meat preferred by local consumers in most EU countries. In order to maintain the favourable position of the pork industry in the near future, strategies to implement include: i) maintain the quality of the meat destinated to export markets, ii) improve the control of outbreaks of ASF and other swine diseases, iii) implementation of technological innovations to improve working conditions making more attractive to work in the pork sector of the food chain to the new generation of farmers and workers.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4_spc
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• pp.775-785
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• 2024

Pork production is a significant agricultural enterprise in the United States and Canada. The United States is the third-largest global producer of pork and Canada ranks seventh in pork production. The North American Free Trade Agreement and its successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, have facilitated trade and integration between the two countries. The majority of production systems are modern and intensive, characterized by large vertically integrated farms using advanced technologies. Both nations benefit from their status as major producers of feed grains, with the United States leading in corn and soybeans, while Canada excels in canola and barley production. The regulatory frameworks for food safety, animal welfare, and environmental stewardship differ slightly, with the FDA and USDA overseeing these aspects in the United States, and Health Canada and the Canada Food Inspection Agency in Canada. The United States and Canada also have well-established distribution networks for pork products, relying on both domestic and international markets. Export markets play a crucial role, with the United States being a major importer of Canadian pigs, and both countries exploring opportunities in Asia. Despite a rise in global demand, domestic pork consumption trends differ, with per capita consumption remaining stable in the USA and declining in Canada. Changing consumer preferences, including a demand for ethically raised and locally sourced pork, may influence production practices. Future trends in pig production include a focus on consumer concerns, sustainability, disease prevention, reduction of antimicrobial use, and advancements in technology. The industry is adapting to challenges such as disease outbreaks and changing regulations, with a strong emphasis on animal welfare. Labor and workforce considerations, along with advancements in technology and automation, are expected to shape the efficiency of pork production in the future.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2024

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has received remarkable attentions in civil infrastructure due to its unique mechanical characteristics and durability. UHPC gains increasingly dominant in essential structural elements, while its unique properties pose challenges for traditional inspection methods, as damage may not always manifest visibly on the surface. As such, the need for robust inspection techniques for detecting cracks in UHPC members has become imperative as traditional methods often fall short in providing comprehensive and timely evaluations. In the era of artificial intelligence, computer vision has gained considerable interest as a powerful tool to enhance infrastructure condition assessment with image and video data collected from sensors, cameras, and unmanned aerial vehicles. This paper presents a computer vision-based approach employing deep learning to detect cracks in UHPC beams, with the aim of addressing the inherent limitations of traditional inspection methods. This work leverages computer vision to discern intricate patterns and anomalies. Particularly, a convolutional neural network architecture employing transfer learning is adopted to identify the presence of cracks in the beams. The proposed approach is evaluated with image data collected from full-scale experiments conducted on UHPC beams subjected to flexural and shear loadings. The results of this study indicate the applicability of computer vision and deep learning as intelligent methods to detect major and minor cracks and recognize various damage mechanisms in UHPC members with better efficiency compared to conventional monitoring methods. Findings from this work pave the way for the development of autonomous infrastructure health monitoring and condition assessment, ensuring early detection in response to evolving structural challenges. By leveraging computer vision, this paper contributes to usher in a new era of effectiveness in autonomous crack detection, enhancing the resilience and sustainability of UHPC civil infrastructure.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 2024

Background: Telework adoption in Taiwan has surged because of government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the disclosure practices of Taiwanese-listed companies, assessing their adherence to government telework guidelines and their correlation with corporate governance, focusing on occupational health measures. Methods: We conducted a guideline-adherent cohort analysis of the 2020 and 2021 sustainability reports of 295 Taiwanese-listed companies. We assessed their disclosure of corporate measures for teleworking in alignment with two government guidelines, specifically occupational health measures. Using the McNemar test and general estimating equation analysis, we compared the 2020 and 2021 responses and examined their associations with corporate governance rankings. Results: Telework adoption increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, with 68% of companies reporting new work modes. The mentioning of government guidelines also increased to 67% by 2021. Companies with higher governance rankings were more likely to adopt online occupational health measures, including occupational health services (RR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.41-2.94; p < 0.001) and mental health promotion activities (RR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.06-3.82; p = 0.032), than those with low rankings. Although on-site and online occupational health services increased, home workspace assessments did not. Conclusion: Our findings highlight significant upward trends in the disclosure of telework measures following the issuance of government guidelines. Corporate governance is significantly associated with the implementation of occupational health measures. Amid the evolution of teleworking, both government guidelines and corporate governance have become essential for shaping work arrangements and ensuring workforce well-being.