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With the aim to fully exploit the by-products obtained after the industrial extraction of starch from sweet potatoes, a cascading approach was developed to extract high-value molecules, such as proteins and pectins, and to valorize the solid fraction, rich in starch and fibrous components. This fraction was used to prepare new biocomposites designed for food packaging applications. The sweet potato residue was added to poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) in various amounts up to 40 wt % by melt mixing, without any previous treatment. The composites are semicrystalline materials, characterized by thermal stability up to 260 °C. For the composites containing up to 10 wt % of residue, the tensile strength remains over 30 MPa and the strain stays over 3.2%. A homogeneous dispersion of the sweet potato waste into the bio-polymeric matrix was achieved but, despite the presence of hydrogen bond interactions between the components, a poor interfacial adhesion was detected. Considering the significant percentage of sweet potato waste used, the biocomposites obtained show a low economic and environmental impact, resulting in an interesting bio-alternative to the materials commonly used in the packaging industry. Thus, according to the principles of a circular economy, the preparation of the biocomposites closes the loop of the complete valorization of sweet potato products and by-products.

This article presents a model of development, civil war and climate change. There are multiple interactions. Economic growth reduces the probability of civil war and the vulnerability to climate change. Climate change increases the probability of civil war. The impacts of climate change, civil war and civil war in the neighbouring countries reduce economic growth. The model has two potential poverty traps – one is climate-change-induced and one is civil-war-induced – and the two poverty traps may reinforce one another. The model is calibrated to sub-Saharan Africa and a double Monte Carlo analysis is conducted in order to account for both parameter uncertainty and stochasticity. Although the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) is used as the baseline, thus assuming rapid economic growth in Africa and convergence of African living standards to the rest of the world, the impacts of civil war and climate change (ignored in SRES) are sufficiently strong to keep a number of countries in Africa in deep poverty with a high probability.

Dans cet article, nous étudions l'utilisation du flux de lots dans les problèmes de planification de flowhop sans permutation. L'objectif est de minimiser le makepan soumis aux contraintes de flowhop standard, mais où il est maintenant autorisé de réorganiser les tâches entre les machines. En outre, les tâches peuvent être divisées en sous-lots gérables, une stratégie connue sous le nom de flux de lots. Les expériences informatiques montrent que le flux de lots réduit le makepan jusqu'à 43% pour un large éventail de cas par rapport au cas où aucun fractionnement de tâches n'est appliqué. Les avantages augmentent à mesure que le nombre d'étapes du processus de production augmente mais atteignent une limite. Au-delà d'un certain point, la division des tâches en sous-lots supplémentaires n'améliore pas la solution. En este documento investigamos el uso de la transmisión de lotes en problemas de programación de Flowshop sin permutación. El objetivo es minimizar el makepan sujeto a las restricciones estándar de Flowshop, pero donde ahora se permite reordenar trabajos entre máquinas. Además, los trabajos se pueden dividir en sublotes manejables, una estrategia conocida como transmisión de lotes. Los experimentos computacionales muestran que la transmisión de lotes reduce el makepan hasta un 43% para una amplia gama de instancias en comparación con el caso en el que no se aplica la división de trabajos. Los beneficios crecen a medida que aumenta el número de etapas en el proceso de producción, pero alcanzan un límite. Más allá de cierto punto, la división de trabajos en sublotes adicionales no mejora la solución. In this paper we investigate the use of lot streaming in non-permutation flowshop scheduling problems.The objective is to minimize the makespan subject to the standard flowshop constraints, but where it is now permitted to reorder jobs between machines.In addition, the jobs can be divided into manageable sublots, a strategy known as lot streaming.Computational experiments show that lot streaming reduces the makespan up to 43% for a wide range of instances when compared to the case in which no job splitting is applied.The benefits grow as the number of stages in the production process increases but reach a limit.Beyond a certain point, the division of jobs into additional sublots does not improve the solution. في هذه الورقة، نتحقق من استخدام تدفق اللوت في مشاكل جدولة ورشة التدفق غير القابلة للتحويل. الهدف هو تقليل فترة التشغيل وفقًا لقيود ورشة التدفق القياسية، ولكن حيث يُسمح الآن بإعادة ترتيب الوظائف بين الآلات. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يمكن تقسيم الوظائف إلى أقسام فرعية يمكن التحكم فيها، وهي استراتيجية تعرف باسم تدفق اللوت. تظهر التجارب الحاسوبية أن تدفق اللوت يقلل من فترة التشغيل إلى 43 ٪ لمجموعة واسعة من الحالات عند مقارنتها بالحالة التي لا يتم فيها تطبيق تقسيم الوظائف. تنمو الفوائد مع زيادة عدد المراحل في عملية الإنتاج ولكنها تصل إلى حد. بعد نقطة معينة، لا يؤدي تقسيم الوظائف إلى أقسام فرعية إضافية إلى تحسين الحل.

In recent years, sustainability concerns have gained increasing attention among countries and stakeholders worldwide. Towards the transition to sustainable rural development, the rural web framework (RWF) has become a consistent tool. Indicators from the RWF have been used to explore sustainable rural development for decision-making tasks, which improves the social, economic, and environmental performance of rural regions. However, the application of the RWF in studies is on the decline. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature reviews on the importance of the RWF and its relationship with different facets of sustainable development. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) (a) to explore how studies have used the RWF in the context of sustainable development and (b) to identify areas for further research. This study found that the RWF has mostly been used in developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries. We suggest that there should be increased application of the RWF, particularly in developing countries, to broaden the rural web–sustainable development discourse and its relevance. This paper presents several areas where the indicators of the RWF can be applied to illustrate their relevance for policy decisions towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Darfur farming and pastoralist livelihoods are both adaptations to the environmental variability that characterises the region. This article describes this adaptation and the longer‐term transformation of these specialised livelihoods from the perspective of local communities. Over several decades farmers and herders have experienced a continuous stream of climate, conflict and other shocks, which, combined with wider processes of change, have transformed livelihoods and undermined livelihood institutions. Their well‐rehearsed specialist strategies are now combined with new strategies to cope. These responses help people get by in the short term but risk antagonising not only their specialist strategies but also those of others. A combination of factors has undermined the former integration between farming and pastoralism and their livelihood institutions. Efforts to build resilience in similar contexts must take a long‐term view of livelihood adaptation as a specialisation, and consider the implications of new strategies for the continuity and integration of livelihood specialisations.

This study investigates the relationship between violent conflict, food price, and climate variability at the subnational level. Using disaggregated data on 113 African markets from January 1997 to April 2010, interrelationships between the three variables are analyzed in simultaneous equation models. We find that: (i) a positive feedback exists between food price and violence - higher food prices increase conflict rates within markets and conflict increases food prices; (ii) anomalously dry conditions are associated with increased frequencies of conflict; and (iii) decreased rainfall exerts an indirect effect on conflict through its impact on food prices. These findings suggest that the negative effects of climate variability on conflict can be mitigated by interventions and effective price management in local markets. Creating environments in which food prices are stable and reliable, and markets are accessible and safe, can lower the impacts of both climate change and conflict feedbacks.