BACKGROUND Hydrogels are formed through the cross-linking of hydrophilic polymer chains within an aqueous microenvironment. The gelation can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms, spanning physical entanglement of polymer chains, electrostatic interactions, and covalent chemical cross-linking. The water-rich nature of hydrogels makes them broadly applicable to many areas, including tissue engineering, drug delivery, soft electronics, and actuators. Conventional hydrogels usually possess limited mechanical strength and are prone to permanent breakage. The lack of desired dynamic cues and structural complexity within the hydrogels has further limited their functions. Broadened applications of hydrogels, however, require advanced engineering of parameters such as mechanics and spatiotemporal presentation of active or bioactive moieties, as well as manipulation of multiscale shape, structure, and architecture. ADVANCES Hydrogels with substantially improved physicochemical properties have been enabled by rational design at the molecular level and control over multiscale architecture. For example, formulations that combine permanent polymer networks with reversibly bonding chains for energy dissipation show strong toughness and stretchability. Similar strategies may also substantially enhance the bonding affinity of hydrogels at interfaces with solids by covalently anchoring the polymer networks of tough hydrogels onto solid surfaces. Shear-thinning hydrogels that feature reversible bonds impart a fluidic nature upon application of shear forces and return back to their gel states once the forces are released. Self-healing hydrogels based on nanomaterial hybridization, electrostatic interactions, and slide-ring configurations exhibit excellent abilities in spontaneously healing themselves after damages. Additionally, harnessing techniques that can dynamically and precisely configure hydrogels have resulted in flexibility to regulate their architecture, activity, and functionality. Dynamic modulations of polymer chain physics and chemistry can lead to temporal alteration of hydrogel structures in a programmed manner. Three-dimensional printing enables architectural control of hydrogels at high precision, with a potential to further integrate elements that enable change of hydrogel configurations along prescribed paths. OUTLOOK We envision the continuation of innovation in new bioorthogonal chemistries for making hydrogels, enabling their fabrication in the presence of biological species without impairing cellular or biomolecule functions. We also foresee opportunities in the further development of more sophisticated fabrication methods that allow better-controlled hydrogel architecture across multiple length scales. In addition, technologies that precisely regulate the physicochemical properties of hydrogels in spatiotemporally controlled manners are crucial in controlling their dynamics, such as degradation and dynamic presentation of biomolecules. We believe that the fabrication of hydrogels should be coupled with end applications in a feedback loop in order to achieve optimal designs through iterations. In the end, it is the combination of multiscale constituents and complementary strategies that will enable new applications of this important class of materials.

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Advances in engineering hydrogels

http://library.um.ac.id/free-contents/downloadpdf.php/buku/complexation-reactions-in-aquatic-systems-an-analytical-approach-j-buffle-translators-s-p-kounaves-a-kounaves-and-r-s-altman-12623.pdf

Complexation reactions in aquatic systems : an analytical approach / J. Buffle, translators S.P. Kounaves, A. Kounaves and R.S. Altman

As an emerging concept, green human resource management (green HRM) has been conceptualized to influence employee workplace green behavior. This research empirically tested this link. We first developed measures for green HRM, and then drew on the behavioral HRM and psychological climate literature along with the supplies-values fit theory, to test a conceptual model integrating the effects of psychological green climate and individual green values. Results revealed that green HRM both directly and indirectly influenced in-role green behavior, but only indirectly influenced extra-role green behavior, through the mediation of psychological green climate. Individual green values moderated the effect of psychological green climate on extra-role green behavior, but it did not moderate the effect of either green HRM or psychological green climate on in-role green behavior. These findings indicate that green HRM affects both employee in-role and extra-role workplace green behavior; however, this occurs through different social and psychological processes. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of Green HRM Practices on Employee Workplace Green Behavior: The Role of Psychological Green Climate and Employee Green Values

Environmental sustainability has become an important metric for assessing the success of supply chain management. We study several cooperation contracts within a green product supply chain and investigate their environmental performance. Stakeholders’ environmental responsibilities are considered in a two-echelon supply chain in which consumers are environmentally conscious, a manufacturer designs and produces a green product, and a retailer promotes the green product in its marketplace through green marketing. This problem is analyzed and modeled under three contracts in order of increasing cooperation level: price-only, green-marketing cost-sharing, and two-part tariff contracts. The analytical results show that cooperation among partners can help the supply chain achieve environmental improvements. Cooperating contracts are valuable in practice because consumers are now paying more attention to sustainability and have become more environmentally conscious. A counterintuitive but interesting result is that cooperation may not always profitably benefit all partners; manufacturing becomes more profitable when the manufacturer shares the green-marketing cost with the retailer, whereas the retailer is worse off under the cost-sharing contract than under the price-only contract. This result is more significant when consumers’ green awareness increases. The results on social-welfare performance show that the supply chain’s social welfare increases with the increase of the supply chain’s cooperation level.

Green product supply chain contracts considering environmental responsibilities

Recalling the pertinent provisions of the relevant international environmental conventions, especially the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal including the regional agreements developed within the framework of its Article 11,

Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants

The aim of this study is to perform a meta-analysis which analyses the individual research findings which pertain to the relationship between self-efficacy, employee motivation and work related performance of the employee. From the results of the study it is observed that self-efficacy theory can be applied for work related performance in terms of motivating different employee related facets as well as organizational pursuits. In this study the researcher has attempted to assess the influence of self-efficacy on the performance of individuals at workplace and the mechanism by which self-efficacy of an individual determines his/her work related performance and motivation. Thus, it becomes necessary to identify the practical implications of the outcomes related to improving employee self-efficacy in order to motivate them and improve their performance.

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Impact of Self Efficacy on Motivation and Performance of Employees

Increasing awareness on the various environmental problems has led a shift in the way consumers go about their life. There has been a change in consumer attitudes towards a green lifestyle. People are actively trying to reduce their impact on the environment. However, this is not widespread and is still evolving. Organizations and business however have seen this change in consumer attitudes and are trying to gain an edge in the competitive market by exploiting the potential in the green market industry. The current study introduces the concept of green marketing and looks into the various ways in which the different consumer attributes are related to the concept of green marketing. A conceptual framework is presented and the information is analyzed on the basis of the framework.

/pdf/green-marketing-a-study-of-consumers-attitude-towards-c27zjdmpg0.pdf

Green Marketing: A Study of Consumers' Attitude towards Environment Friendly Products

Hygroinduced motion is fundamental for applications that require actuation in response to changes in atmospheric humidity. Here, the authors report an actuating material that is capable of fast and perpetual motion driven by humidity gradient incorporating a photoactive dopant that can be controlled by light.

/pdf/photogated-humidity-driven-motility-1u9d2aakou.pdf

Photogated humidity-driven motility

There is a great deal of increase in the adoption of environment management systems by the corporate sector. Literature has given importance to adoption of environmental practices as a key objective of organizational functioning making it important to identify with the support of human resource management practices. Today there is debate and uncertainty associated with how green management principles can be implemented effectively amongst the workforce of the organization. This review article identifies how corporations today develop human resource policies for promoting environment management initiatives.

https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/article/download/19506/13897

Jolly Jacob

Papers

Impact of Self Efficacy on Motivation and Performance of Employees

Green Marketing: A Study of Consumers' Attitude towards Environment Friendly Products

Photogated humidity-driven motility

A Study of Green HR Practices and Its Effective Implementation in the Organization: A Review

A two step technique to remove the secondary phases in CZTS thin films grown by sol - gel method