Concordia University

About: Concordia University is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Control theory & Population. The organization has 13565 authors who have published 31084 publications receiving 783525 citations. The organization is also known as: Sir George Williams University & Loyola College, Montreal.

Is Environmental Governance Substantive or Symbolic? An Empirical Investigation.

Abstract: The emergence of environmental governance practices raises a fundamental question as to whether they are substantive or symbolic. Toward that end, we analyze the relationship between a firm’s environmental governance and its environmental management as reflected in its ultimate outcome, environmental performance. We posit that substantive practices would bring changes in organizations, most notably in terms of improved environmental performance, whereas symbolic practices would portray organizations as environmentally committed without making meaningful changes to their operations. Focusing on a sample of environmentally sensitive firms, results are consistent with environmental governance mechanisms being predominantly part of a symbolic approach to manage stakeholder perceptions on environmental management, having little substantial impact on organizations. Statistical analyses show mostly that there is no relation between environmental governance mechanisms and environmental performance, measured in terms of regulatory compliance, pollution prevention, and environmental capital expenditures. However, there is some indication that environmental incentives are associated with pollution prevention. Interviews with corporate directors shed further light on these results by underlining that environmental governance mechanisms are employed at the board level to protect the organization from reputational and/or regulatory harm, but are not necessarily intended to proactively improve environmental performance.

A novel approach for minimizing high-frequency transformer copper losses

Abstract: A graphical and numerical method of calculating and minimizing losses in windings, that generalizes previous findings, has been introduced Using electromagnetic theory and MMF diagrams in both space and time a method is proposed that provides insight into the mechanism of skin and proximity effect losses and that also yields quantitative results Using this method, several winding geometries for various topologies are covered The analysis and optimization process is experimentally verified using an interleaved flyback transformer The mathematical treatment justifying the use of the field method and which is essential in arriving at any numerical result is presented are more general equations for the calculation of copper losses are derived The relation between the fields in the transformer and copper losses is emphasized Also, the tools necessary to derive optimization diagrams are provided >

Wind Dispersal of Seeds from a Forest Into a Clearing

Abstract: Although there are many studies of wind dispersal of seeds from a forest into an adjacent clearing, no physical model has yet been advanced. The model constructed here calculates the trajectories of seeds from individual trees in the area source to a line of seed traps (in the clearing) oriented perpendicular to the forest edge. The model uses a log-normal distribution of horizontal wind velocities at a nearby reference station to evaluate wind velocities at any point in the forest and clearing as a function of both height above the ground and distance from the forest edge. The model predicts that (1) the slope of the area source dispersal curve (seed density vs. leeward distance) approximates a negative exponential ; and (2) the great majority of seed deposition in the clearing is contributed by source trees lying within a few tree heights of the forest edge. An evaluation of previously published empirical data shows that the area source model adequately characterizes the decline in seed density with leeward distance.