Transport is at a crossroads as we move away from filling our tanks with liquid fossil fuels and powering them up from battery charging points. However, the lithium-ion batteries that displaced those tanks have a finite lifespan and must be replaced when their recharge capacity falls below a usable level. With millions of electric vehicles set to be driving our roads in the coming decades, the shift to a promised greener, cleaner future for transport is well underway…but only if we can manage the battery waste and ensure that their batteries don't end up in a pile-up of electrical waste.

Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, a team from India has carried out a critical review of where we stand in terms of transport and the future problem of battery waste and lost resources. Preeti Mishra and Sayali Apte of the Department of Civil Engineering at Symbiosis International (Deemed University) in Pune, Maharashtra, have examined key elements of the growing electric vehicle market. They have looked at the impact on the environment and the crucial role of recycling in making the industry sustainable. The team underscores the need for sustainable solutions from both the environmental and the human health perspective.

The so-called EV30@30 scenario suggests that we will be driving well over 43 million electric vehicles by 2030. Research into the long-term impact suggests that this transition will reduce pollution and our dependency on fossil fuels, provided power generation for those vehicles is sustainable, but there will also be an increase in electrical waste generation as the years roll by.

Recycling might reduce some of the waste and allow re-use of precious resources, but there will still be a lot of heavy metal waste that will end up in landfills the world over. Much of the research into this issue has been done in China and the USA modelling how the waste might be managed, but there is a dearth of research in developing countries, the team writes. Of course, in places where this is less research being undertaken, the problem of electrical and electronic waste ending up in landfill will inevitably be greatest, the review suggests.

Electric vehicles will hopefully motor us towards greener, cleaner transport, but there is always a compromise in the form of the waste management challenges they present, which are very different from those we have had to cope with in the era of the internal combustion engine. The issues cannot be off-roaded, they require immediate attention to allow us to develop sustainable battery chemistry, waste management techniques, and recycling practices.

Mishra, P. and Apte, S. (2023) 'Geo-environmental and human health impacts of spent lithium-ion battery waste and its recycling: a critical review', Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp.286–300.
DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2023.133591

Research in the International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing has shown how an adaptive approach to the size of data "chunks" in cloud computing storage systems can improve efficiency considerably.

Chalabi Baya of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique in Alger, Algeria and Slimani Yahya of the Universitié de La Manouba in Tunisia have considered the way in which unstructured data is stored as BLOBs (Binary Large Objects), in the cloud. They point out that most data management systems use data chunk sizes equal to a given BLOB but this seemingly simplistic approach belies a problem – BLOB sizes are not all equal. BLOBs are fundamental components in cloud computing and the issue of size puts obsactles in the way of moving data leading to inconsistent data access across systems, thus reducing efficiency. A reduction in efficiency means energy is wasted in shuttling and storing data.

The team points out that there are always compromises to be made in attempting to improve efficiency in computing systems. "As the chunk size affects the bandwidth, if the size of the chunk is small, then the network will be overloaded," the team explains. "On the other hand, if the chunk size is big and data are being accessed concurrently, the response time increases."

To help overcome the various problems, the researchers have developed an adaptive approach that tailors the chunk size dynamically based on a set of real-time metrics. These metrics encompass factors such as available bandwidth, storage usage, BLOB size, and the frequency of data access.

In tests to compare the new approach with fixed chunk-size methods, the team saw a 24% improvement in execution times and a 96% improvement over the random chunk-size methods. The researchers add that their data-striping technique might also be used with other data management systems. They are planning to test their approach with real-world cloud computing platforms, such as BlobSeer and Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS).

Baya, C. and Yahya, S. (2023) 'Efficient data storage: adaptively changing chunk size in cloud computing storage systems', Int. J. Grid and Utility Computing, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp.516–525.
DOI: 10.1504/IJGUC.2023.133455

In the questioning words of the 1955 Pete Seeger song: "Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing". Well, it seems Miami is where they've all gone and it's not taking them so long, after all.

Research in the International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies has shown how Miami International Airport (MIA) blossomed into the main entry point for 90% of fresh-cut flowers imported into the USA. The seed of the study used the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to analyze the way in which the airport optimized its operations to handle perishable cut flowers efficiently.

The work by Janaina Siegler of the Lacy School of Business at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, shows that crucial to its growth was addressing the need for a robust cold chain infrastructure given the highly perishable nature of cut flowers. Temperature control during transportation and storage is imperative and so MIA streamlined the unloading and storage in temperature-controlled warehouses that could cope with the hothouse that is the city of Miami.

In addition to the climatic constraints, MIA also had to effectively manage the customs process. The management realised that customs inspections at other US airports could be a significant bottleneck in the processing of goods and such delays could easily lead to floral droop. MIA thus pre-positioned flowers in its cold warehouses and so made customs inspections more efficient and cost-effective by reducing the number of ailing blooms. The airport thus was able to outperform many other airports in this regard.

Of course, the geographical position of MIA in Florida and its proximity to Latin America plays a significant role in its success, not least because of shared language and cultural factors. This allowed cargo aircraft loaded with colourful blooms to be efficiently transported from Bogota, Colombia, for instance, and for those same aeroplanes to return with products destined for southern countries. MIA thus fertilised a symbiotic relationship, which added mutual economic value to the two-way supply and demand chains.

The work provides invaluable insights into how strategic decisions and optimization of constraints can shape supply chains. The US cut-flower industry sustains more than 200000 jobs across various sectors, including importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and the florists themselves. Those insights could help researchers, policymakers, and various stakeholders better understand the dynamics behind MIA's role in this sector and so help improve future supply chain strategies and economic decisions. It might also help improve supply chains elsewhere in other import and export sectors.

Siegler, J. (2020) 'How Miami became the gateway for flowers in the USA', Int. J. Teaching and Case Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp.208–222.
DOI: 10.1504/IJTCS.2020.111136

Research in the International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion outlines an approach to cleaning photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to ensure they operate at maximum power-generation efficiency. The automatic and portable cleaning system, which can be adapted for different panel sizes is designed to combat efficiency reduction of up to 40% caused by the accumulation of dust on the sunlight-absorbing upper surface of PV panels. Dust and dirt accumulation have always been a significant problem undermining the performance of PVs.

Fulton Carlos Reategui-Ordoñez, Fernando Paredes Marchena, Juan Eduardo Reategui-Ordoñez, Hugo Guillermo, and Jimenez Pacheco of the Universidad Católica de Santa María in San José, Perú, focused on the impact of climate variations on PV cleanliness. They found that dust accumulation led to a remarkable reduction in panel efficiency with a fall of more than 11% and sometimes a peak reduction of 39.6% occurring during maximal incident sunlight. They add that a panel's fill factor (FF), a critical indicator of efficiency, drops significantly if a panel is coated with dust or otherwise dirty. Dust accumulation is, of course, dependent on local conditions and so an automated cleaning system would be most useful in some regions more than others.

Manual cleaning or relying on natural weather conditions are not optimal solutions and so the team has developed an automatic cleaning system that can consistently restore a panel to near-pristine conditions and so maximise efficiency. The system would be relatively easy to install and utilises a computerised controller to time cleaning and a microfibre cloth to remove dust without scratching the panel.

Reategui-Ordoñez, F.C., Paredes Marchena, F., Reategui-Ordoñez, J.E. and Jimenez Pacheco, H.G. (2023) 'Automatic and portable cleaning photovoltaic solar panels mechanism', Int. J. Power and Energy Conversion, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp.75–91.
DOI: 10.1504/IJPEC.2023.133629

A study in the International Journal of Business Excellence has revealed how accountability in the performance of social village-owned enterprises (VOEs) is critical to their meeting both their social mission and achieving financial viability without compromising either. The research, which focused on VOEs across four districts, examined 451 participants and showed how social ethics and financial aims must be delicately balanced.

Yesi Mutia Basri, Hariadi Yasni, Poppy Nurmayanti M., and Novita Indrawati of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Riau in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, explain that accountability is the pivot about which an organisation must balance its social impact and financial security. Moreover, when social organizations are held accountable for their actions and decisions, they tend to perform better both in terms of their social mission and financial health, the team found. This connection underscores the need for a clear approach to the organisation's social goals and its finances.

However, the team also showed that there can be confounding factors that can tip this delicate balance. They suggest that institutional pressures can affect the interplay between accountability and performance. Such pressures, which may arise from regulations, community expectations, or even the support of other organizations can reduce accountability and have a detrimental impact on financial performance and social aims within VOEs.

There are, of course, other factors at play such as public and business transparency and the rule of law. Indeed, the findings could offer some guidance to governments in the formulation of policies to enhance accountability within social organizations.

The team suggests that in order to build on the findings, future work will look at a wider range of social organization types and examine the impact of various governance principles as well as study the broader political context of the activities of those organisations. Such would add to our understanding of organizational accountability.

Basri, Y.M., Yasni, H., Nurmayanti M., P. and Indrawati, N. (2023) 'Accountability in social enterprises: the role of institutional pressure and social performance', Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp.155–175.
DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2023.133579

Research in the International Journal of Business Information Systems investigates user perception of mobile device security and offers several recommendations for users and manufacturers of such devices.

Nelson Tochukwu Agu, Joshua Ebere Chukwuere, and Tlhalitshi Volition Montshiwa of North-West University in Mahikeng, South Africa, offer several alarming insights into awareness of mobile security issues among students in the region. Their primary finding from a survey of 142 students at NWU is that some students mistakenly believe that mobile phones are inherently secure and others do not realise that such devices can be less secure than traditional desktop or laptop computers. The work suggests that there is a need for increased vigilance and education regarding mobile device security.

The team also found that while most users have a basic understanding of mobile device security, many of them lack knowledge of even common threats such as viruses, worms, Trojans, and phishing attacks. The researchers believe that this knowledge gap is particularly troubling, as it implies a lack of vigilance in safeguarding mobile devices against these various threats. Many such threats could detrimentally affect the individuals involved, but many have much broader implications allowing the spread of malware to other users and for malicious third parties to compromise devices and so build networks, botnets, under their control for illicit purposes, such as distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks on organisational and governmental networks, for instance.

The team also found that even those users who understand password protection, many of them neglect additional security measures such as encryption, PINs, patterns, or biometric authentication. They point out that users are happy to engage in risky behaviour, such as ignoring system security warnings, clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources, as well as over-sharing personal information on social media platforms, which might be useful to a third-party hoping to carry an identity theft or in fraudulent activity, based on social engineering in which a confidence trick is played out on an individual or member of an organisation rather than an attack being technological in nature, such as hacking or cracking to break into and compromise a computer system.

The researchers suggest that education of users is critical to bolster mobile phone security, but they insist that device manufacturers should also bear responsibility in addressing this issue and should be proactive in this educational process.

Agu, N.T., Chukwuere, J.E. and Montshiwa, T.V. (2023) 'Understanding users' perceptions of security in mobile devices using the two-step cluster analysis', Int. J. Business Information Systems, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp.81–101.
DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2023.133513

A research study in International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research has found a profound connection between the dynamics of the work environment and the widespread problem of burnout syndrome among professors in Brazilian academic institutions. The study considers six key facets of work life outlined by the areas of work life scale (AWS) – workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values, and uses them to discern insights into their predictive potential of academic burnout.

The team of Adriana Porto (Lutheran University of Brazil), Luis Felipe Dias Lopes (Federal University of Santa Maria), and Claudimar Pereira da Veiga (Fundação Dom Cabral) used the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) tool, which they tailored and calibrated for the Brazilian context, to delve into the measurement of three distinct dimensions of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and efficacy.

The team used data from 558 professors to look at aspects of the work environment and its impact on burnout within Brazilian academia. The findings validate the assertion that understanding the six areas of work life can significantly influence how burnout manifests and evolves within this sector.

Burnout, while commonly used in the vernacular represents a complex syndrome characterized by chronic workplace stress that has not been effectively managed. It can lead to physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. These problems, in turn, can lead to cynicism and detachment from one's work as well as a diminished sense of personal accomplishment and efficacy. Chronic burnout has far-reaching implications for those affected having a detrimental impact on well-being and physical health. It can also affect the workplace in which they find themselves leading to problems with productivity in the workplace, affecting those whom the workers serve. And, ultimately society at large and the wider economy, healthcare, education, and public services.

There is an urgent need for organizations to understand the multi-faceted nature of burnout and its connection with the work environment. Proactive measures addressing workload, control, rewards, community, fairness, and values can help create nurturing work environments that mitigate burnout risks. The research offers an invaluable roadmap for organizations to design interventions focused on enhancing employee well-being, and so fostering a healthier, more productive workforce and positively contributing to society more broadly.

Porto, A., Lopes, L.F.D. and da Veiga, C.P. (2023) 'Areas of worklife as predictors of the burnout syndrome', Int. J. Behavioural and Healthcare Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp.1–17.
DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2023.133535

Research in the International Journal of Enterprise Network Management reveals unexpected factors that influence an employee's intentions to quit their job in information technology. The findings challenge the received wisdom and could shed light on the dynamic role of online professional networking and social media profile updates.

There has been much research in employee intention to quit as it can have a significant impact on a wide range of organisations. Conventionally, researchers have focused on factors such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. These are the standard key indicators that can help predict which employees might be planning to leave and so allow organisations to perhaps manage staff turnover more effectively. However, there was an obvious gap in understanding how online activities, such as updating job profiles on social media platforms and engaging in professional networking sites, affect a person's intention to leave a job.

Ashish Kumar Biswas of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (Deemed to be University) in Hyderabad, R. Seethalakshmi of VIT-AP University in Amaravati, and Prabha Mariappan of Veltech University in Chennai, India, have employed a quantitative survey approach involving almost 600 participants and used a structural equation model to test their hypothesis and hopefully help fill this gap in our understanding of employee intention to quit.

The team found that, as one might anticipate, an increased engagement in professional networking sites ultimately influences an individual's intention to leave their current job and find employment elsewhere. This is not necessarily an obvious factor as many people might daydream about finding a new job and investigate their options, perhaps even uploading their CV (curriculum vitae or résumé) to a job-seekers web site, but a certain level of activity might nudge them towards quitting whereas casual interaction with such websites would not necessarily reinforce the tendency. Online activity of this kind cannot be ignored as an influential factor in affecting an individual's intentions in much the same way as job satisfaction and level of engagement should not be ignored, especially if they are dwindling. Moreover, the research suggests that employee commitment to a job is dynamic and can fluctuate with changing circumstances.

The team suggests that even highly committed employees might intensify their job search efforts, but this doesn't necessarily translate to higher turnover rates. In contrast, those members of staff who are not committed to their jobs may choose to stay with their current employer for various reasons, such as a competitive job market or personal obligations, and perhaps because they do not see the opportunities that might exist via social media and job-seekers websites.

Biswas, A.K., Seethalakshmi, R. and Mariappan, P. (2023) 'An emerging approach towards intention to quit among IT employees', Int. J. Enterprise Network Management, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp.283–298.
DOI: 10.1504/IJENM.2023.132967

Cyberattacks are a major problem for all kinds of organizations with the potential to compromise e-commerce, government, and healthcare. Research in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, highlights how Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which are not necessarily as well protected as conventional computers in terms of firewalls, antivirus, and malware protection, can represent an important vulnerability in a system. Such threats extend beyond potential financial loss where they can disrupt infrastructure, government, and even threaten human lives, particularly in healthcare facilities.

Taofeek Mobolarinwa Balogun, and Hayretdin Bahsi of Tallinn University of Technology in Tallinn, Estonia, and Omer F. Keskin and Unal Tatar of the University at Albany, State University of New York, USA offer a comparative framework for modelling the threat of cyber attack on IoT devices and networks.

The team's new framework can be used to evaluate particular vulnerabilities within an IoT network from the perspective of a putative third-party attacker. The framework can critically assess what factors are involved in determining the level of sophistication needed to carry out a successful cyberattack that causes damage to the system. It is more common not to consider the sophistication of an attacker but simply to harden firewalls and keep antimalware software up to date and hope these are sufficient to protect the system from attack. The factors considered include accessibility, stealth, technical ability, and time. Given enough of each, a sufficiently sophisticated attacker might be able to breach any security. Knowing just how sophisticated an attacker needs to be gives the IoT network manager the opportunity to increase the requisite level of defence.

The team demonstrated that two distinct IoT network types: SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) infrastructure and healthcare IoT infrastructure represent different levels of sophistication. SCADA networks demand greater expertise and sophistication compared with healthcare IoT networks. This suggests that there is a need for a bespoke approach to fortifying different types of critical systems. Understanding this requirement is an important part of allowing decision-makers at national and organizational levels to counter threats proactively without the need to over-extend security on more sophisticated systems that are intrinsically less vulnerable.

Balogun, T.M., Bahsi, H., Keskin, O.F. and Tatar, U. (2023) 'A comparative framework for cyber threat modelling: case of healthcare and industrial control systems', Int. J. Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp.405–431.
DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2023.133282

Research in the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology introduces a hybrid classification algorithm aimed at improving the recognition of human activities using smartphone data. The work could have implications for various fields, including healthcare and personal support.

Ahmad Taher Azar of both the Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Benha University in Benha, Egypt, hoped to demonstrate a tool for accurately categorizing six distinct human activities: lying, sitting, standing, walking, walking upstairs, and walking downstairs. He used supervised machine learning techniques that merged Random Forest Decision Trees (RFDT) and Neural Networks (NN) to this end.

The hybrid approach was able to classify six human activities with an accuracy rate of 96 per cent. This surpasses the performance of individual machine learning techniques like NN or RFDT and is comparable with the current state-of-the-art methods. However, what sets this algorithm apart is its efficiency in processing. The hybrid algorithm can infer behaviour from smartphone behaviour in just 0.073 seconds compared to the accuracy achieved with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which can take well over 1.5 seconds to do the same job and reach a similar level of accuracy.

Azar's work emphasises how useful such an efficiency improvement could be in that it would allow real-time processing of smartphone data even on devices without a built-in dedicated computer processing unit for coping with such tasks. This capacity has considerable implications, particularly in scenarios where immediate and accurate activity recognition is essential, such as in healthcare and personal support applications. A particularly timely application would be for patient support and monitoring on so-called "virtual wards" where the patient usually remains in their home and is looked after by healthcare professionals remotely using telemedicine tools for monitoring and advising.

It is worth noting that there remain several challenges for this kind of research. The identification of basic movements such as climbing the stairs or lying down is achievable provided the person has their smartphone about their person at all times. However, there is a need for deeper recognition of emotional state and other factors important to that person's health and wellbeing.

Azar, A.T. (2023) 'Hybrid machine learning approach for human activity recognition', Int. J. Computer Applications in Technology, Vol. 72, No. 3, pp.231–239.
DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2023.133307