INCREaSE 2023


Book Description

This book includes the proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Engineering and Sustainability in the XXI CEntury, INCREaSE 2023. INCREaSE is a congress with the aim to bring together valuable and novel scientific contributions that address the critical issues of renewable energy, sustainable building, sustainable manufacturing, sustainable food production and other sustainability science and engineering topics that have an impact in this diverse and fast-changing research area, both in academia and industry. This 3rd edition of INCREaSE was held during July 5-7, 2023, in Faro, Portugal, organized by the Institute of Engineering and hosted by University of Algarve. The areas to be covered were: • Big data and data analytics applied to sustainability; • Climate change and mitigation, carbon reduction; • Combined heat and power and district heating systems; • Control and optimization of renewable energy systems; • Energy and environmental assessment in buildings and cities; • Food loss and food waste solutions; • Food safety and quality engineering; • Information technology and artificial intelligence applied to sustainability; • Nanoelectronic, nanomachining, and new nanomaterials; • Smart buildings, smart cities, smart districts, smart countryside; • Sustainability in water management; • Sustainable building technologies; • Sustainable development and circular economy; • Sustainable energy generation and management; • Sustainable food processing and packaging; • Sustainable manufacturing and maintenance processes and technology; • Sustainable technologies for risk mitigations; • Sustainable transport, smart vehicles and smart roads; and • Thermo fluids modelling and experiments for sustainability. High quality and unpublished content is an essential feature for all included papers. Moreover, the Organizing Committee of the conference guarantees that contributions were subjected to an appropriate level of reviewing process.




INCREaSE 2019


Book Description

This book contains the proceedings of the INternational CongRess on Engineering and Sustainability in the XXI cEntury – INCREaSE 2019, which was held in Faro, Portugal, from October 09 to 11, 2019. The book promotes a multidisciplinary approach to sustainable development, exploring a number of transversal challenges. Among other topics it discusses Climate Changes and Environmental Protection; Renewable Energy; Energy Efficiency in Buildings; Green Governance and Mobility; Water for Ecosystem and Society; Healthy Food; Sustainable Construction; and Sustainable Tourism, offering perspectives from civil, electronics, mechanical, and food engineering.




The Pig Book


Book Description

The federal government wastes your tax dollars worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave. The 1984 Grace Commission uncovered that the Department of Defense spent $640 for a toilet seat and $436 for a hammer. Twenty years later things weren't much better. In 2004, Congress spent a record-breaking $22.9 billion dollars of your money on 10,656 of their pork-barrel projects. The war on terror has a lot to do with the record $413 billion in deficit spending, but it's also the result of pork over the last 18 years the likes of: - $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa - $102 million to study screwworms which were long ago eradicated from American soil - $273,000 to combat goth culture in Missouri - $2.2 million to renovate the North Pole (Lucky for Santa!) - $50,000 for a tattoo removal program in California - $1 million for ornamental fish research Funny in some instances and jaw-droppingly stupid and wasteful in others, The Pig Book proves one thing about Capitol Hill: pork is king!




The Freedom to Read


Book Description







World Economic Outlook, October 2020


Book Description

The global economy is climbing out from the depths to which it had plummeted during the Great Lockdown in April. But with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread, many countries have slowed reopening and some are reinstating partial lockdowns to protect susceptible populations. While recovery in China has been faster than expected, the global economy’s long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks.




How to Justify a Pay Raise in 2023


Book Description

Are you worth more than your paycheck? When was the last time you received a pay raise? Have you looked at the impact that the soaring inflation rate and cost of living index have had on your current salary? The last minimum wage increase was in 2009. Are you fine with making what you were in 2009, compared to the cost of things in 2023? The current book provides factual information, detailing the inflation rate and the minimum wage compared to what employees are actually making, as well as what they're actually taking home, after taxes. The book not only provides examples, but also details the steps that an employee can take, in order to not only ask for a pay raise, but to also JUSTIFY a pay raise.




State of The Global Workplace


Book Description

Only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. This represents a major barrier to productivity for organizations everywhere – and suggests a staggering waste of human potential. Why is this engagement number so low? There are many reasons — but resistance to rapid change is a big one, Gallup’s research and experience have discovered. In particular, organizations have been slow to adapt to breakneck changes produced by information technology, globalization of markets for products and labor, the rise of the gig economy, and younger workers’ unique demands. Gallup’s 2017 State of the Global Workplace offers analytics and advice for organizational leaders in countries and regions around the globe who are trying to manage amid this rapid change. Grounded in decades of Gallup research and consulting worldwide -- and millions of interviews -- the report advises that leaders improve productivity by becoming far more employee-centered; build strengths-based organizations to unleash workers’ potential; and hire great managers to implement the positive change their organizations need not only to survive – but to thrive.




INCREASE 2023


Book Description