This study investigates the recent changes in natural hazard prioritizations in northern Bangladesh and presents community-based risk analyses of the various natural hazards that present threats to sustainable agriculture. The study area in northern Bangladesh included two union council areas under the Panchagarh sub-district. Climatological data analysis, a detailed questionnaire survey, and focus group discussions were conducted to assess farmers’ perceptions regarding the shifting and identification of hazards, their seasonal variation, and hazard prioritizations. The SMUG (seriousness, manageability, urgency, and growth) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) models were applied for hazard prioritization. Hailstorms were found to be the most prioritized hazard over droughts and flash floods as perceived by the community. The farmers’ perceptions as evaluated through a questionnaire survey also support the findings of the SMUG and FEMA models. This was the first attempt to analyze the potential of hailstorms as a significant hazard in Bangladesh, and GIS maps showed their spatial distribution and temporal frequency across Bangladesh. This newly identified hazard is significantly diminishing farmers’ motivation to continue farming and has the potential to affect sustainable agriculture. The farmers’ perceptions, historical data analysis, use of the two models, institutional approach, hazard risk assessment, and vulnerability to the major sectors show that hailstorms should be considered as an important hazard in northern Bangladesh, and policymakers should pay urgent attention to minimize the threat to sustainable agriculture in northern Bangladesh.

Using electroluminescence (EL) as a monitor, we have investigated the behavior of charge carriers injected from electrodes and excitons generated by the recombination of charge carriers in multilayer organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using poly(methylphenylsilane) (PMPS) as a hole transporting material. Our multilayer LEDs have two or three functional organic layers including Coumarin 6 [3-(2′-benzothiazolyl)-7-diethylaminocoumarin, abbreviated as C6] and/or tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum layers as well as a PMPS layer. When the LEDs were fabricated, two parameters of the C6 layer were changed, the layer thickness (30–120 nm) and the dye concentration (1–100 wt %). We employed a combined analysis of the dependence of the EL spectra on the thickness and dye concentration of the C6 layer, the dye-selective fluorescence spectra and the current–voltage–EL characteristics, to reveal the thickness of the electron–hole capture zone and the behavior of charge carriers and excitons during operation in these LEDs.

Self-reliance is essential for community-based rural tourism (CBRT), ensuring effective running in the long term. However, existing studies have focused on general self-reliance conditions while overlooking details surrounding the community’s self-reliance in each activity of the CBRT value chain. This study filled this significant gap by observing community self-reliance in CBRT and considering the tourism value chain (TVC) framework. Built upon the abduction method, this study applied the systematic combining approach to observe three aspects of self-reliance, i.e., goals or objectives, rights and abilities, and owned resources, in the TVC of CBRT entities. Taking the case of CBRT in Sleman Regency, Indonesia, the data collection involved representatives of 49 community-based tourism villages (desa wisata). The results showed that observing community self-reliance in CBRT allows for the identification of multifaceted self-reliance problems in rural tourism communities. Apparently, the observed CBRT initiatives are unable to achieve complete self-sufficiency across all aspects of self-reliance. Reliance on external collaboration and support networks persists out of necessity rather than an inability to self-manage. Policy protections, capacity building, and collaborative partnerships are necessary to develop resilient and sustainable rural tourism amidst necessary dependencies. CBRT planning and policies should hence consider the abovementioned aspects of self-reliance to empower CBRT toward sustainable rural development.

Rural populations are aging and declining, which has reduced the capacity for rural landscape conservation. Thus, collaborative governance with non-local stakeholders is essential to foster innovative ideas by combining knowledge bases. In the current digital era, remote actors can play a part in rural governance across boundaries through information technology. This study focused on the potential of 3D visualization for rural landscape planning and examined the effects and challenges of using 3D models for collaboration with non-local stakeholders. We conducted a survey with remote participants about a rural village landscape, using 3D models created from drone-shot aerial photos, and then discussed the findings with local stakeholders in a workshop in the village. We found that, by using 3D models, various opinions could be obtained from non-local stakeholders who had never seen the actual landscape. They used the 3D model to view the landscape from various perspectives and it enabled participants to accurately grasp local situations and problems. However, some of the opinions gathered in the survey were unrealistic for actual landscape planning. We conclude that 3D models are a useful tool to incorporate external opinions into rural landscape planning across temporal and spatial boundaries, to maintain healthy rural landscapes.

In this paper, we focus on a batch manufacturing system with multiple industrial robots. In this system, material-handling robots (MHRs) and material-processing robots (MPRs) are operating. Since various operations are conducted at certain places, one of them might include a localized bottleneck. A localized bottleneck is a constraint that dominates the maximum amount of production in a system, that is, the productivity. In addition, the bottleneck induces congestion; as a result, the productivity declines. For these issues, there are two primary challenges: bottleneck prevention and restraint. To solve them, suitable operational techniques with respect to the MHRs and MPRs are needed in order for them to operate appropriately while relating to each other. In this paper, a constructive approach toward multi-robot coordination problems is taken. In this approach, we propose applicable operational techniques for the robots. Through simulation experiments, we examine the effectiveness of the proposed techniques and their combinations and, finally, show an integrated operational technique. Each of the operational techniques solves a localized bottleneck and the congestion, and the integrated technique successfully improves the productivity and results in the most efficient system.