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EntREsilience, a five-country longitudinal qualitative study, was launched in 2020 in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and the UK to understand how entrepreneurs manifested resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis events from March 2020 to February 2022. EntREsilience proposed a resilience-manifestation process model describing how entrepreneurs responded to the COVID-19 disruption, aided by external and internal enablers, adjusting their businesses to stabilise and even hunting for opportunities to grow their businesses. The present research adds to the findings of EntREsilience by analysing the strategies applied by entrepreneurs in their response to the crisis. This exploratory study focused on the entrepreneurs’ community interactions and studied the effects of these interactions on the response measures adopted by the entrepreneurs. The results describe how the awareness of their stakeholder challenges shaped the entrepreneurial response. Realising the importance of stakeholder well-being to the sustainability of their enterprise motivated the entrepreneurs to develop sustainability competencies towards their stakeholder challenges, innovating solutions for their mutual well-being. By extending the resilience-manifestation process model, this paper proposes a transformation model depicting the process of entrepreneurs transforming into sustainable leaders triggered by stakeholder challenge awareness and moderated by contextual factors.

In this paper we investigate the prospects for the large-scale use of low-emission energy technologies in Africa. Many African countries have recently experienced substantial economic growth and aim at fulfilling much of the energy needs associated with continuing along paths of economic expansion by exploiting their large domestic potentials of renewable forms of energy. Important benefits of the abundant renewable energy resources in Africa are that they allow for stimulating economic development, increasing energy access and alleviating poverty, while simultaneously avoiding emissions of greenhouse gases. In this study we analyse what the likely energy demand in Africa could be until 2050, and inspect multiple scenarios for the concomitant levels of greenhouse gas emissions and emission intensities. We use the TIAM-ECN model for our study, which enawbbles detailed energy systems research through a technology-rich cost-minimisation procedure. The results from our analysis fully support an Africa-led effort to substantially enhance the use of the continent's renewable energy potential. But they suggest that the current aim of achieving 300 GW of additional renewable electricity generation capacity by 2030 is perhaps unrealistic, even given high GDP and population growth: we find figures that are close to half this level. On the other hand, we find evidence for leap-frogging opportunities, by which renewable energy options rather than fossil fuels could constitute the cost-optimal solution to fulfil most of Africa's growing energy requirements. An important benefit of leap-frogging is that it avoids an ultimately expensive fossil fuels lock-in that would fix the carbon footprint of the continent until at least the middle of the century.

Abstract This paper evaluates the effects of thermal insulation on thermal comfort in low-income tropical housing in Uganda. Dynamic thermal simulations are conducted to assess the effects of wall, roof and floor insulation strategies. 96 combination scenarios are simulated for various geometries, insulation and construction methods. Adaptive approach is used to evaluate the conditions within the case study buildings. The results indicate that external wall insulation improves thermal comfort in all conditions whereas internal wall and floor insulation may deteriorate the conditions. Roof insulation is the most effective strategy to reduce the risk of overheating. Due to the effectiveness of roof insulation and marginal improvements of external wall insulation, especially for brick walls, wall insulation may be disregarded when used in conjunction with roof insulation.

This article outlines the current state of affairs in fossil fuel subsidy reform, and highlights its contribution at the nexus of climate policy, fiscal stability and sustainable development. It discusses common definitions, provides quantitative estimates, and presents the evidence for key arguments in favour of subsidy reform. The main drivers and barriers for reform are also discussed, including the role of (low) oil prices and political economy challenges. Commitments to subsidy reform by the international community are reviewed, as well as the progress at the country level. Although fossil fuel subsidy reform indeed plays a critical role in climate policy, experience shows that the rationale for such reforms is determined in a complex environment of political economy challenges, macro-economic, fiscal and social factors, as well as external drivers such as energy prices. The article synthesizes the key principles for designing effective reforms and emphasizes that subsidy reforms cannot only yield fi...

In most patients, the hypertrophy develops initially in the septum and extends to the free walls, often giving a picture of concentric hypertrophy. In ≈25% of patients with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHCM), asymmetrical septal hypertrophy leads to a highly variable pressure gradient between the apical left ventricular chamber and the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT).1 LVOT obstruction with a consecutive increase of left ventricular pressure fuels a vicious circle of further hypertrophy and increased LVOT obstruction. Clinical manifestations of LVOT may be present in early childhood or may develop much later in life.2 In most patients with LVOT obstruction, the hypertrophy is most pronounced in the high intraventricular septum compared with the rest of the left ventricle.3,4 Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy is characterized by a sphincter-like dynamic midventricular obstruction that creates an outflow tract pressure gradient of varying severity.5–7 The small left ventricular cavity is the main reason for the systolic anterior movement of the mitral valve (SAM), whereby the anterior leaflet may touch the hypertrophied septum.8 Mitral incompetence is almost invariably present with LVOT obstruction.4 Controversy exists regarding the contribution of the Venturi effect secondary to the increased ejection velocity. Most likely, this Venturi effect is the consequence rather than the origin of the LVOT gradient.9 Diastolic left ventricular abnormalities result from loss of myocardial compliance owing to fibrosis and hypertrophy. Whether ischemia is a primary feature or a consequence of the obstruction remains obscure. Because the LVOT obstruction is dynamic, patients in whom the disease is suspected and who do not have a gradient at rest should undergo provocation maneuvers with agents such as dobutamine to determine the severity of the gradient. If pressure gradients of >30 mm Hg at rest are present, the potential for further hypertrophy and deterioration is highly …

Climate change triggers major alterations to coastal zones worldwide. Quantification of these adverse impacts to coastal ecosystems is often done on a coarse scale of global regions. Consistent local scale estimates of physical impacts on ecosystems and monetary assessment of associated losses are scarce, especially in developing countries. With aim of facilitating such assessment, which is increasingly required, here we propose a coherent three-step framework and subsequently apply it to quantify potential sea level rise-driven alterations in the monetary value of ecosystem services in the coastal area of Semarang in Indonesia. Within this framework, we (1) quantify the present value of coastal ecosystem services by using economic valuation techniques; (2) identify the potential impacts of relative sea level rise (RSLR)-induced inundation on ecosystem services (for the year 2100 inundation scenarios); and (3) monetize these impacts by developing a novel scenario-based approach. The results show that full inundation (scenario A with 4 m RSLR) poses a median loss of 90% (US$ 2.8 – 3.5) and 25% (US$ 90 – 113) to the present art and fishery values per hectare, while amenity service is expected to lose upto 50% (US$ 3700 – 5400) of its present value. Additionally, recreation value of the coastal ecosystems in three selected sites (Marina and Maron beaches, and Plumbon estuary) will decrease by 70% (US$ 15,460 – 19,820) per hectare. However, in scenario B (RSLR of 1.1 m) with a 50% inundated area, these losses are estimated approximately 40% less than for scenario A. It is expected that researchers and policy makers may apply this approach in their areas of interest to gain a better understanding of the likely costs of sea level rise-driven environmental damages along coasts, ultimately contributing to the sustainable management of coastal environment in Indonesia and possibly in other developing countries.

Many households in Cameroon live in energy poverty. Thus, energy usage and energy efficiency have become increasingly important in Cameroon. An important step towards improving building energy efficiency is knowledge about household energy appliances. In Cameroon, the construction sector is mostly informal, presenting huge challenges for stakeholders including clients or dwelling owners to establish quality factors of household energy appliances for use in various building projects. Furthermore, studies about household energy appliances are scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate household energy appliances in relation to energy efficiency in dwellings. To achieve this aim, 15 dwellings in the political capital Yaounde of Cameroon were surveyed. Given the wider nature of building energy efficiency and the limited research materials about the same, the scope was limited to typology of household energy appliances, typical dwellings’ characteristics and energy consumption pattern. Some factors that have influence on energy consumption/pattern such as occupants’ daily activities were also considered. Although this study is still in its preliminary stages, the findings reported here can be useful in conducting detail research in the future.