University of Windsor

About: University of Windsor is a education organization based out in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Argumentation theory. The organization has 10654 authors who have published 22307 publications receiving 435906 citations. The organization is also known as: UWindsor & Assumption University of Windsor.

Evaluating efficacy of an environmental policy to prevent biological invasions.

Abstract: Enactment of any environmental policy should be followed by an evaluation of its efficacy to ensure optimal utilization of limited resources, yet measuring the success of these policies can be a challenging task owing to a dearth of data and confounding factors. We examine the efficacy of ballast water policies enacted to prevent biological invasions in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We utilize four criteria to assess the efficacy of this environmental regulation: (1) Is the prescribed management action demonstrably effective? (2) Is the management action effective under operational conditions? (3) Can compliance be achieved on a broad scale? (4) Are desired changes observed in the environment? The four lines of evidence resulting from this analysis indicate that the Great Lakes ballast water management program provides robust, but not complete, protection against ship-mediated biological invasions. Our analysis also indicates that corresponding inspection and enforcement efforts should be undertaken to ensu...

Mapping the Contours of Contemporary Positive Psychology

Abstract: This paper seeks to quantify scholarly interest in the rapidly emerging field of Positive Psychology (PP) and to empirically map the contours of the discipline using six different methodologies. Results document extraordinary growth in the last decade and confirm that scholars in this area have devoted the lion's share of their attention to two of the three 'Pillars' of PP as proposed by SeUgman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000): (1) the study of positive subjective experience and (2) positive personal traits. While interest in positive institutions has been somewhat sparse, there has been increased concern with the topics of 'resilience' and eudaimonia (broadly defined). The latter developments help to dispel the myth that PP is an elite endeavour solely concerned with Pollyanna-style 'happiology' in people who find themselves in idyllic circumstances. Hopefully the results of our content analysis of the field will encourage instructors who teach PP to provide their students with a well-balanced curriculum, one that accurately reflects the heterogeneity of the field, and one that mirrors recent scholarly trends. Keywords: definition, positive psychology, review, domains, temporal trends, specializations As Noted by Yen (2010), "over the past 10 years, there has been a literal explosion of work within the new subdiscipline of positive psychology. Commanding record enrollment rates in undergraduate psychology courses across North America and around the world and attracting a considerable amount of media attention, positive psychology has become positively faddish. It is Harvard's most popular course, having recently supplanted introductory economics. . . . Within the academy, the field has rapidly established itself through a large and growing body of research data, journals, books, articles and special issues, international associations and conferences, funding, dedicated research centers, and courses and graduate programs. " (p. 67) While a number of authors have noted that increased attention is being given to Positive Psychology (PP), pronouncements of a boom have rarely been substantiated by empirical research that has approached the question using a quantitative methodology. In the current article, we document the growth of scholarly interest in PP by performing a year-by-year count of citations contained in PsycINFO. At the same time, in an effort to contribute to 'boundary work,' we also empirically map the contours of the field using six different methodologies. To briefly preview our findings, we were able to confirm anecdotal observations (e.g., Yen, 2010) suggesting PP has experienced extraordinary growth in the past decade. Our empirical efforts to demarcate PP' s self-narration yielded a heterogeneous picture. Content analyses of subdomains of concern to PP suggest a complex identity, one that is incongruent with the popular cultural stereotype that depicts PP as an elite endeavour concerned solely with grinning yellow smiley faces and Pollyanna-style positive thinking. We conclude our paper by encouraging instructors who teach PP to make use of the current results so as to provide students with a well-balanced and comprehensive curriculum, one that accurately reflects the empirically determined breadth and scope of the field. What Is the Evidence for a Boom? Wong (2011) agrees with Yen (2010) in suggesting PP has rapidly become a 'hot' topic in academic circles and in the popular culture. While anecdotal accounts touting the PP boom are plentiful, research is lacking that documents changes in the extent of interest in the academy over time. There is also a dearth of empirical evidence to quantify how much scholarly attention has been given to specific topic areas and whether interest is burgeoning equally in these emerging subdomains of inquiry. Thus, we do not know whether the boom that has ostensibly occurred since the year 2000 is generalised or localised to a few constructs/processes. …

Challenges and Alternatives to Plastics Recycling in the Automotive Sector

Abstract: Plastics are increasingly a preferred material choice in designing and developing complex, consumer products, such as automobiles, because they are mouldable, lightweight, and are often perceived to be highly recyclable materials. However, actually recycling the heterogeneous plastics used in such durable items is challenging, and presents very different scenarios to how simple products, such as water bottles, are recovered via curbside or container recycling initiatives. While the technology exists to recycle plastics, their feasibility to do so from high level consumer or industrial applications is bounded by technological and economical restraints. Obstacles include the lack of market for recyclates, and the lack of cost efficient recovery infrastructures or processes. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap between manufacturers, consumers, and end-of-life facility operators. For these reasons, end-of-life plastics are more likely to end up down-cycled, or as shredder residue and then landfilled. This paper reviews these challenges and several alternatives to recycling plastics in order to broaden the mindset surrounding plastics recycling to improve their sustainability. The paper focuses on the automotive sector for examples, but discussion can be applied to a wide range of plastic components from similarly complex products.

Effects of uncertainty on a tire closed-loop supply chain network

Abstract: In a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network, there are both forward and reverse supply chains. In this research, a tire remanufacturing CLSC network is designed and optimized based on tire recovery options. The objective of the optimization model is to maximize the total profit. The optimization model includes multiple products, suppliers, plants, retailers, demand markets, and drop-off depots. The application of the model is discussed based on a realistic network in Toronto, Canada using map. In addition, a new decision tree-based methodology is provided to calculate the net present value of the problem in multiple periods under different sources of uncertainty such as demand and returns. Furthermore, the discount cash flow is considered in the methodology as a novel innovative approach. This methodology can be applied in comparing the profitability of different design options for CLSCs.