bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Gd and Dy Concentrations in Layered Double Hydroxides on Contrast in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Nava Andrade Karina , Carbajal Arízaga Gregorio Guadalupe , Rivera Mayorga José Antonio
Published: April 2020

In this work, we explore the synthesis of layered double hydroxide (LDH) particles containing different molar ratios of Gd3+ and Dy3+ cations. A single crystalline phase was obtained for Zn2.0Al0.75Gd0.125Dy0.125-LDH and Zn2.0Al0.5Gd0.25Dy0.25-LDH, and their efficiency as contrast agents was evaluated by T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both GdDy-LDHs exhibited longitudinal relaxivity (r1) higher than a commercial reference. The highest contrast in the T1 mode was achieved with the Zn2.0Al0.75Gd0.125Dy0.125-LDH, which contained the lowest concentration of lanthanides; this efficiency is related to the lowest amount of carbonate anions complexing the lanthanide sites. On the contrary, the best contrast in the T2 mode was achieved with Zn2.0Al0.5Gd0.25Dy0.25-LDH. Zn2.0Al0.75Gd0.125Dy0.125-LDH and Zn2.0Al0.5Gd0.25Dy0.25-LDH presented r2/r1 ratios of 7.9 and 22.5, respectively, indicating that the inclusion of gadolinium and dysprosium into layered structures is a promising approach to the development of efficient bimodal (T1/T2) MRI contrast agents.
Novel Purification Process for Amyloid Beta Peptide(1-40)
Authors: Usui Kenji , Yokota Shin-ichiro , Iwata Kazuya , Hamada Yoshio
Published: April 2020

Amyloid beta peptide (Aβ)-related studies require an adequate supply of purified Aβ peptide. However, Aβ peptides are “difficult sequences” to synthesize chemically, and low yields are common due to aggregation during purification. Here, we demonstrate an easier synthesis, deprotection, reduction, cleavage, and purification process for Aβ(1-40) using standard 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-protected amino acids and solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) resin [HMBA (4-hydroxymethyl benzamide) resin] that provides higher yields of Aβ(1-40) than previous standard protocols. Furthermore, purification requires a similar amount of time as conventional purification processes, although the peptide must be cleaved from the resin immediately prior to purification. The method described herein is not limited to the production of Aβ(1-40), and can be used to synthesize other easily-oxidized and aggregating sequences. Our proposed methodology will contribute to various fields using “difficult sequence” peptides, such as pharmaceutical and materials science, as well as research for the diagnosis and treatment of protein/peptide misfolding diseases.
Impact of Credit Risk on Momentum and Contrarian Strategies: Evidence from South Asian Markets
Authors: Imran Hunjra Ahmed , Tayachi Tahar , Mehmood Rashid , Malik Sidra , Malik Zoya
Published: April 2020

We examine the profitability of the momentum and contrarian strategies in three South Asian markets, i.e., Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. We also analyze, whether credit risk influences momentum and contrarian return for these markets from 2008 to 2014. We use default risk that relates to non-payments of debts by firms as a measure of credit risk. For that purpose, we use distance to default (DD) by Kealhofer, McQuown, and Vasicek (KMV) model as a proxy of credit risk. We calculate the credit risk and form the momentum and contrarian strategies of the firms based on high, medium, and low risk. We find that in all three markets, the momentum and contrarian returns are significant for medium and high credit risk portfolios and no momentum and contrarian returns for low credit risk portfolios.
The Validity and Reliability of a New Simple Instrument for the Measurement of First Ray Mobility
Authors: Munuera-Martínez Pedro V. , Távara-Vidalón Priscila , Monge-Vera Manuel A. , Sáez-Díaz Antonia , Lafuente-Sotillos Guillermo
Published: April 2020

Several methods have been described to quantify the first ray mobility. They all have certain disadvantages (great size, sophistication, or lack of validation). The objective of this work was to study the validity and reliability of a new instrument for the measurement of first ray mobility. Anterior-posterior radiographs were obtained from 25 normal feet and 24 hallux valgus feet, with the first ray in a neutral position, maximally dorsiflexed and maximally plantarflexed. The first ray mobility was radiographicaly measured in both groups, and was also manually examined with the new device. A cluster analysis determined whether normal and hallux valgus feet were correctly classified, and a graphic analysis of Bland-Altman was performed to compare the radiographic and manual measurement techniques. Based on the radiographs, the first ray mobility only showed significant differences in dorsiflexion between both groups (P = 0.015). First ray dorsiflexion, plantarflexion and total range of motion measured with the new device were different between both groups (P = 0.040, P = 0.011 and P = 0.006, respectively). The silhouette measure of the cohesion and separation coefficients from the cluster analysis was greater than 0.50 for the dorsiflexion, plantarflexion and total range of motion obtained from the radiographs and from the new device. The Bland-Altman graph suggested that 96% of the data presented agreement between both measurement methods. These results suggested that the new instrument was valid and reliable.
Latency Compensated Visual-Inertial Odometry for Agile Autonomous Flight
Authors: Lee Kyuman , Johnson Eric N.
Published: April 2020

In visual-inertial odometry (VIO), inertial measurement unit (IMU) dead reckoning acts as the dynamic model for flight vehicles while camera vision extracts information about the surrounding environment and determines features or points of interest. With these sensors, the most widely used algorithm for estimating vehicle and feature states for VIO is an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The design of the standard EKF does not inherently allow for time offsets between the timestamps of the IMU and vision data. In fact, sensor-related delays that arise in various realistic conditions are at least partially unknown parameters. A lack of compensation for unknown parameters often leads to a serious impact on the accuracy of VIO systems and systems like them. To compensate for the uncertainties of the unknown time delays, this study incorporates parameter estimation into feature initialization and state estimation. Moreover, computing cross-covariance and estimating delays in online temporal calibration correct residual, Jacobian, and covariance. Results from flight dataset testing validate the improved accuracy of VIO employing latency compensated filtering frameworks. The insights and methods proposed here are ultimately useful in any estimation problem (e.g., multi-sensor fusion scenarios) where compensation for partially unknown time delays can enhance performance.
Universal Adaptive Neural Network Predictive Algorithm for Remotely Piloted Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle in Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Xu Hongyang , Fang Guicai , Fan Yonghua , Xu Bin , Yan Jie
Published: April 2020

Remotely piloted unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) will be a prospective mode of air fight in the future, which can remove the physical restraint of the pilot, maximize the performance of the fighter and effectively reduce casualties. However, it has two difficulties in this mode: (1) There is greater time delay in the network of pilot-wireless sensor-UCAV, which can degrade the piloting performance. (2) Designing of a universal predictive method is very important to pilot different UCAVs remotely, even if the model of the control augmentation system of the UCAV is totally unknown. Considering these two issues, this paper proposes a novel universal modeling method, and establishes a universal nonlinear uncertain model which uses the pilot’s remotely piloted command as input and the states of the UCAV with a control augmentation system as output. To deal with the nonlinear uncertainty of the model, a neural network observer is proposed to identify the nonlinear dynamics model online. Meanwhile, to guarantee the stability of the overall observer system, an adaptive law is designed to adjust the neural network weights. To solve the greater transmission time delay existing in the pilot-wireless sensor-UCAV closed-loop system, a time-varying delay state predictor is designed based on the identified nonlinear dynamics model to predict the time delay states. Moreover, the overall observer-predictor system is proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, two simulations verify the effectiveness and universality of the proposed method. The results indicate that the proposed method has desirable performance of accurately compensating the time delay and has universality of remotely piloting two different UCAVs.
Analyzing the Effectiveness and Contribution of Each Axis of Tri-Axial Accelerometer Sensor for Accurate Activity Recognition
Authors: Javed Abdul Rehman , Sarwar Muhammad Usman , Khan Suleman , Iwendi Celestine , Mittal Mohit , Kumar Neeraj
Published: April 2020

Recognizing human physical activities from streaming smartphone sensor readings is essential for the successful realization of a smart environment. Physical activity recognition is one of the active research topics to provide users the adaptive services using smart devices. Existing physical activity recognition methods lack in providing fast and accurate recognition of activities. This paper proposes an approach to recognize physical activities using only2-axes of the smartphone accelerometer sensor. It also investigates the effectiveness and contribution of each axis of the accelerometer in the recognition of physical activities. To implement our approach, data of daily life activities are collected labeled using the accelerometer from 12 participants. Furthermore, three machine learning classifiers are implemented to train the model on the collected dataset and in predicting the activities. Our proposed approach provides more promising results compared to the existing techniques and presents a strong rationale behind the effectiveness and contribution of each axis of an accelerometer for activity recognition. To ensure the reliability of the model, we evaluate the proposed approach and observations on standard publicly available dataset WISDM also and provide a comparative analysis with state-of-the-art studies. The proposed approach achieved 93% weighted accuracy with Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) classifier, which is almost 13% higher than the existing methods.
Non-Contact Water Level Response Measurement of a Tubular Level Gauge Using Image Signals
Authors: Kim Sung-Wan , Park Dong-Uk , Jeon Bub-Gyu , Chang Sung-Jin
Published: April 2020

The occurrence of excessive fluid sloshing during an earthquake can damage structures used to store fluids and can induce secondary disasters, such as environmental destruction and human casualties, due to discharge of the stored fluids. Thus, to prevent such disasters, it is important to accurately predict the sloshing behavior of liquid storage tanks. Tubular level gauges, which visually show the fluid level of a liquid storage tank, are easy to install and economical compared to other water level gauges. They directly show the fluid level and can be applied for various fluids because they can be constructed with various materials according to the fluid characteristics and the intended use. Therefore, in this study, the shaking table test was conducted to verify the validity of the method for measuring the water level response of the tubular level gauge installed on a liquid storage tank using image signals. In addition, image enhancement methods were applied to distinguish between the float installed in the tubular level gauge and the gray level of the background.
Trustworthiness and a Zero Leakage OTMP-P2L Scheme Based on NP Problems for Edge Security Access
Authors: Han Daoqi , Du Xiaofeng , Lu Yueming
Published: April 2020

Resource constraints have prevented comprehensive cryptography and multifactor authentication in numerous Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity scenarios. Existing IoT systems generally adopt lightweight security protocols that lead to compromise and privacy leakage. Edge computing enables better access control and privacy protection, furthermore, blockchain architecture has achieved a trusted store of value by open-source and distributed consensus mechanisms. To embrace these new paradigms, we propose a scheme that employs one-time association multitasking proofs for peer to local authentication (OTMP-P2L). The scheme chooses relevant nondeterministic polynomial (NP) problem tasks, and manages localized trust and anonymity by using smart devices such as phones and pads, thereby enabling IoT devices to autonomously perform consensus validation with an enhanced message authentication code. This nested code is a one-time zero-knowledge proof that comprises multiple logic verification arguments. To increase diversity and reduce the workload of each one, these arguments are chained by a method that establishes some of the inputs of the following task from the output of previous tasks. We implemented a smart lock system and confirmed that the scheme outperforms IoT authentication methods. The result demonstrates superior flexibility through dynamic difficulty strategies and succinct non-interactive peer-to-peer (P2P) verification.
Integrating Radio-Over-Fiber Communication System and BOTDR Sensor System
Authors: Ng Wai Pang , Lalam Nageswara , Dai Xuewu , Wu Qiang , Fu Yong Qing , Harrington Peter , Gomes Nathan J. , Lu Chao
Published: April 2020

In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate for the first time, the integration of a radio-over-fiber (RoF) communication system and a Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (BOTDR) distributed sensor system using a single optical fiber link. In this proof-of-concept integrated system, the communication system is composed of three modulation formats of quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) and 64-QAM, which are modulated onto an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. Whereas, the BOTDR sensor system is used for strain and/or temperature monitoring over the fiber distance with a spatial resolution of 5 m using a 25 km single-mode silica fiber. The error vector magnitude (EVM) is analyzed in three modulation formats in the presence of various BOTDR input pump powers. Using QPSK modulation, optimized 18 dBm sensing and 10 dBm data power, the measured EVM values with and without bandpass filter are 3.5% and 14.5%, respectively. The proposed system demonstrates a low temperature measurement error (±0.49 °C at the end of 25 km) and acceptable EVM values, which were within the 3GPP requirements. The proposed integrated system can be effectively applied for practical applications, which significantly reduces the fiber infrastructure cost by effective usage of a single optical fiber link.
Health and Wellbeing in an Outdoor and Adventure Sports Context
Authors: Allan John , Hardwell Ashley , Kay Chris , Peacock Suzanne , Hart Melissa , Dillon Michelle , Brymer Eric
Published: April 2020

Outdoor and adventure sports (OAS) have been linked to positive health and wellbeing outcomes. This Special Edition brings together cutting-edge research and thought on the implications of this link. An analysis of the papers in this Special Edition reveals important insights into (i) the diverse and powerful outcomes derived from adventure experiences, (ii) how adventure experiences facilitate these outcomes, (iii) how best to design outdoor and adventure experiences. The evidence in this edition indicates a need for a more systematic approach to the inclusion of OAS as important to good health and wellbeing. OAS should be included as part of education, health, policy and planning.
The Influence of Corporate Governance Systems on a Company’s Market Value
Authors: Oncioiu Ionica , Petrescu Anca-Gabriela , Bîlcan Florentina-Raluca , Petrescu Marius , Fülöp Melinda Timea , Topor Dan Ioan
Published: April 2020

Recent world events have refocused interest on the link between the existence of corporate governance and an entity’s effectiveness. The aim of this study was to identify the influence of the corporate governance system of an entity in order to measure its effects on market value. To achieve quality corporate governance and to increase an audit committee’s degree of effectiveness, one must take into consideration four core elements: members’ qualifications, authority, the resources necessary to develop the activity, and attention during the development of the activity. Our research methodology included a combination of qualitative analyses on theoretical aspects and a quantitative approach based on multiple regression and the estimation method. The main results showed that there is a solid link between strong corporate governance systems and effective audit committees, although we cannot state that the inclusion of an audit committee represents the key to success for a business. When studying the connection between audit committees and an entity’s market value, we found that this connection can lead to alleviating the problem of allocating power (principal–agent theory). We also found that the contribution of audit committees in corporate governance is to assess both the quality of financial reports and their approval and that creating an audit committee can have beneficial effects that can eventually lead to the consolidation of a company’s corporate governance.
Father Verspieren and Mali Aqua Viva: Lessons Learned from Fighting Drought and Poverty with Photovoltaic Solar Energy in Africa
Authors: Pagliaro Mario
Published: April 2020

Almost fifty years after the first installations, I identify the main lessons learned from fighting drought and poverty in Africa with direct solar-powered pumps, thanks to Father Bernard Verspieren and Mali Aqua Viva. Six main findings and three main recommendations emerge from the present analysis. They are of direct relevance to all the countries in Africa whose population has gone from 438 million in 1977 to 1308 million in 2019, with about 600 million still having no access to electricity. In place of “awareness campaigns” and extraordinary courses held by international organizations, I recommend the establishment of national solar energy institutes whose task will include the education of solar energy professionals and giving practice-oriented workshops on solar-powered drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting throughout each of Africa’s countries. This education will critically include the economic and social aspects of distributed “generation” of energy and water from sunlight and rainfall.
Research on the Structural Features and Influential Factors of the Spatial Network of China’s Regional Ecological Efficiency Spillover
Authors: Xu Jingrong , Huang Dechun , He Zhengqi , Zhu Yun
Published: April 2020

A regional coordinated development strategy is an important measure that is often used to implement sustainable development in China. However, many obstacles greatly limit the realization of regional ecological coordinated sustainable development. In this paper, ecological efficiency is utilized as an important indicator of sustainable development, and the network analysis method is used to explore the spatial correlation relationship of regional ecological coordinated sustainable development. This paper calculates the ecological efficiency of each region using the Window slacks-based measure (Window-SBM) model, formulates the spatial network of regional ecological efficiency spillover through the vector auto-regressive (VAR) Granger causality model, and analyzes the spatial spillover relationship and influencing factors of regional ecological efficiency by using the social network analysis method. It is found that the spillover network of ecological efficiency in each region presents a typical core-edge structure. In addition, there is an obvious hierarchical structure among blocks with different directions and functions. Industrial structure, economic development, and geographical proximity have a positive impact on the spatial spillover of regional ecological efficiency, while environmental regulation has a negative impact. Finally, relevant policy suggestions are put forward.
The Tipping Point in the Status of Socially Responsible Consumer Behavior Research? A Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Nova-Reyes Andrés , Muñoz-Leiva Francisco , Luque-Martínez Teodoro
Published: April 2020

Looking at the impact of society on the environment or, as we write this manuscript in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the scenes of consumers hoarding products, we wonder if consumers really do exhibit socially responsible consumer behaviors (SRCB). An initial literature review showed that few studies have addressed this issue, which creates opportunities for the development of new research lines. Furthermore, no study had examined the conceptual evolution or whether SRCB is a developed or fragmented theme from an exhaustive compilation of all previous academic research. To address the proposed research questions, we conducted a bibliometric analysis applied to a corpus of manuscripts on SRCB indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) bibliographic database, from its inception in 1991 up to 2019. Co-word analysis provided a structure of conceptual sub-domains classified based on their density and centrality. In addition, thematic networks were extracted that showed the important associations between the main issues that the SRCB community has addressed, which enabled the authors to examine the subject’s intellectual structuring over almost three decades. The findings showed that the research, over time, has focused most on corporate social responsibility (CSR), this being a motor theme between 2013 and 2016. In general, SRCB has been a very fragmented field of study, however in the last three years, it has developed into a distinct entity; in the past, it was basically addressed through CSR. The most productive thematic areas during the last 30 years have been: (a) Research into consumer attitude, (b) research on CSR, and (c) research on social and sustainable consumption behavior. In response to calls for greater theoretical clarification of the SRCB discipline, the authors providing experts and novices with a better understanding of the current state of the art and suggest future research directions.
Risk Assessment of New Energy Vehicle Supply Chain Based on Variable Weight Theory and Cloud Model: A Case Study in China
Authors: Yan Qingyou , Zhang Meijuan , Li Wei , Qin Guangyu
Published: April 2020

In order to protect the environment and reduce energy consumption, new energy vehicles have begun to be vigorously promoted in various countries. In recent years, the rise of intelligent technology has had a great impact on the supply chain of new energy vehicles, which, coupled with the complexity of the supply chain itself, puts it at great risk. Therefore, it is quite indispensable to evaluate the risk of the new energy vehicle supply chain. This paper assesses the risks faced by China’s new energy vehicle supply chain in this period of technological transformation. First of all, this paper establishes an evaluation criteria system of 16 sub-criterion related to three dimensions: the market risk, operational risk, and the environmental risk. Then, variable weight theory is proposed to modify the constant weight obtained by the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Finally, a risk assessment of China’s new energy vehicle supply chain is carried out by combining the variable weight and the cloud model. This method can effectively explain the randomness of matters, and avoid the influence of value abnormality on the criteria system. The results show that China’s new energy vehicle supply chain is at a high level. Through the identification of risk factors, mainly referring to the low clustering risk, technical level risk and information transparency risk, this paper can provide a risk prevention reference for corresponding enterprises.
Level of Sustainability Awareness among University Students in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alsaati Tasneem , El-Nakla Samir , El-Nakla Darin
Published: April 2020

In recent years, there has been a tremendous interest and increased awareness about sustainability and its related issues globally. The literature reviewed presented the positive role of sustainability education and how it affects students’ levels of sustainability awareness and influences behaviors. Therefore, to measure that level of current students’ awareness and knowledge of sustainability, a questionnaire was developed and conducted in seven universities within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, targeting a sample of 500 students from different study programs. The results show that high percentages of participants have heard the term “sustainability” from educational sources, but they lack the knowledge of sustainability, especially when it comes to recognizing recycling materials or renewable materials and energy consumptions measures. It is also noticed that the majority of students are not involved in any type of recycling anywhere. Other results reflecting students’ behaviors and lifestyles pertaining to sustainability showed high percentages of involvement in sustainability and conservation actions. The study concludes that in order to promote sustainability awareness among students, other stakeholders such as universities, schools, governments and local municipalities need to take part in the process. Recommendations introduced include actions to be implemented by educational institutes in sustainability literacy and behaviors such as offering mandatory sustainability courses, demonstrating and supporting students’ activities in-campus and off-campus to promote sustainable behavior, and to take some measures toward resources conservation and the necessary educational methods to influence students’ behaviors. Recommendations are also broadened to include other stakeholders that hold great influence on individuals’ sustainable knowledge and behaviors.
Reflexive Skills in Teacher Education: A Tweet a Week
Authors: Pérez Garcias Adolfina , Tur Gemma , Darder Mesquida Antònia , Marín Victoria I.
Published: April 2020

Social media has been broadly used in the context of higher education for educational purposes due to students’ familiarity with this type of communication. As one of the most interesting cases, Twitter has often been used in teacher education for many purposes. One of the most unexplored themes is using Twitter for reflexive aims, in which discussions featuring ambiguous and contradictory results about whether the characteristics of such a short format can promote reflexive writing. This study is aimed at contributing to this research gap and explores the possibilities of using Twitter for reflective aims in teacher education, considering the reflective level of students’ tweets and students’ perceptions after engaging on Twitter. For the evaluation of this reflection, a content analysis of tweets texts and emojis has been carried out by coding their content and developing an instrument to assess their reflective level. Additionally, perceptions of students have been collected through an online survey. This study is embedded in a design-based research process that is already in its fourth cycle. Findings show that most tweets are descriptive or analytical, and that tweets are mainly text-based. Furthermore, the data show that low-level reflective tweets may include emojis, which are mainly positive and located at the end of a tweet. The conclusions suggest that Twitter could be more useful when reflections are made during learning rather than on learning.
Analysis of Rock Raw Materials Transport and its Implications for Regional Development and Planning. Case Study of Lower Silesia (Poland)
Authors: Blachowski Jan , Buczyńska Anna
Published: April 2020

The movement of rock raw materials from source to demand areas is carried out predominately with road and railway transport. The latter is less damaging to infrastructure, the environment and society and is cheaper for longer distances, but it is also less flexible and not widely used. The Lower Silesia region in southwestern Poland is an important producer of rock raw materials and the principal provider of igneous and metamorphic dimension stones and crushed rocks in the country. A multicriteria scoring scheme has been developed and applied to identify mines presently using road transport, that are predisposed to switch to or include a railway form of transport. Four criteria have been proposed, C1—distance to railway loading point, C2—annual production of rock raw material, C3—economic reserves, and C4—type of rock raw material. The scoring scheme (classification) was developed based on the results of descriptive statistics for mines presently using railway or combined road and railway forms of transport. Two scenarios were analyzed, one with equal weights (0.25) and the other with higher significance of C1 = 0.40 and C2 = 0.30, and lower significance of C3 = 0.20 and C4 = 0.10. In the result, 24 mines were identified and ranked in terms of their potential to introduce railway transport. The proposed methodology can be used universally for other regions and countries, and the results will be included in drawing up regional spatial development policies.
Sustainable Co-Design with Older People: The Case of a Public Restorative Garden in Milan (Italy)
Authors: Fumagalli Natalia , Fermani Elisabetta , Senes Giulio , Boffi Marco , Pola Linda , Inghilleri Paolo
Published: April 2020

The demographic aging and the evolution of lifestyles require new strategies to promote the well-being and active aging of elderly. Active aging depends on many factors: some of these are related to objective data such as physical environment, others are personal elements; it is important to improve environmental physical factors to encourage personal attitudes to the green spaces in use. To design a small sustainable restorative green space in Milan, Italy, restorative garden design criteria are summarized in the first section of the paper and both social and environmental sustainability are considered. The methodology section describes the co-design process and how it was applied to include different older user groups in the design of the area. In the results section authors apply a taxonomy based on the four properties of restorative settings according to the Attention Restoration Theory by Kaplan (compatibility, being away, extent, fascination): this provides a unified system to classify users’ expectations and to describe the final project. The proposed co-design process combines social and environmental sustainability, as it provides designers an insight about the user’s experience in nature. Such information can be fruitfully integrated with professional competences about comfort aspects and environmental protection in order to improve the whole design project.
Can CEO’s Humble Leadership Behavior Really Improve Enterprise Performance and Sustainability? A Case Study of Chinese Start-Up Companies
Authors: Ren Qiuzhen , Xu Yingjie , Zhou Ranran , Liu Jingdong
Published: April 2020

The relationship between the leadership behavior of a chief executive officer (CEO) and start-up enterprise performance is key to effecting the survival and development of start-ups in the era of the internet economy. Currently, most studies on this topic focus more on the role of leadership effectiveness but rarely explore the CEO’s humility in leadership and the mechanism of its behavior affecting enterprise performance and its sustainable development. Based on leadership theory and upper-echelon theory, we build a research model of CEO’s humble leadership behavior, top management team’s (TMT’s) transactive memory system, and start-up enterprise performance, as well as the moderating roles exerted by strategic flexibility. Further, to validate the hypothesis, 400 valid questionnaires are obtained. Based on those data, the empirical results show humility, as a virtue, not only can significantly and positively improve start-up firm performance but also can promote the firm’s sustainable development in the long run by providing a trustworthiness climate for TMT members. Moreover, TMT’s transactive memory systems play a partial mediating role in the relationship between CEO’s humble leadership behavior and start-up enterprise performance. Meanwhile, strategic flexibility significantly and positively moderates the relationship between CEO’s humble leadership behavior and startup entrepreneurial performance. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.
Assessment of Spatial Accessibility to Residential Care Facilities in 2020 in Guangzhou by Small-Scale Residential Community Data
Authors: Wang Danni , Qiao Changjian , Liu Sijie , Wang Chongyang , Yang Ji , Li Yong , Huang Peng
Published: April 2020

Population aging has increasingly challenged socio-economic development worldwide, highlighting the significance of relevant research such as accessibility to residential care facilities (RCFs). However, a number of previous studies are carried out only on street (town)-to-district scales, which could cause errors of the accessibility to RCFs for a family. In order to improve the resolution to individual families, we measure and compare the accessibilities to RCFs based on 3494 residential communities and 169 streets of Guangzhou in 2020 through the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method. It was found that the distributions of the elderly and the service-dense blobs of the RCFs show patterns of a three-level spatial distribution, with a characteristic clustering at the center with peripheral dispersion. The resultant accessibility to RCFs in Guangzhou, ranging from 2.5 to 3.45, is generally consistent with the studies focusing on street scales. However, the maximum difference in the accessibility of two residential communities on the same street ranges from less than 0.02 to 0.94 in Guangzhou, indicating large variations. Although the relative errors of the accessibility results based on bi-scale data are relatively low, the cumulative errors can be high, e.g., over 25% in many streets of large cities. Consequently, hundreds of elderly persons per street can be adversely affected by those errors, with six streets over 1000. Therefore, this study focusing on the smaller-scale residential community data may provide more accurate reference to individual households. For the spatial allocation and optimal layout of Guangzhou and similar cities with population aging, we suggest maximizing RCFs in metropolises by taking full advantage of existing residential care facilities with necessary restructuring, improvements, and expansions on service capability. While for less connected cities, we encourage building new RCFs in situ.
Catalyzing Sustainable Transport Innovation through Policy Support and Monitoring: The Case of TRIMIS and the European Green Deal
Authors: Tsakalidis Anastasios , van Balen Mitchell , Gkoumas Konstantinos , Pekar Ferenc
Published: April 2020

Transport contributes significantly to economic growth and higher quality of life, but its associated externalities have an environmental, economic and social impact and are the main impetus to support innovation towards sustainable transport. The European Commission’s Communication on a European Green Deal sets out the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, for which transport emissions will need to be further reduced. Innovation within the transport sector gains greater prominence, with some anticipating an innovation revolution that would completely transform the sector. In this paper, the barriers that impede such a transition from happening are examined and a tool that aids policymakers and researchers with shaping transport innovation actions is presented; The Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS) is an integrated transport policy-support tool with a modular design serving as an open-access information and knowledge management system. This paper provides an overview of its main features and includes a case study on transport electrification and alternative fuels, showing how monitoring efforts can aid transport research and innovation (R&I) policymaking and governance. TRIMIS contributes to identifying evolutionary and revolutionary technologies, their funding and associated policy initiatives, so the anticipated transport revolution can be better monitored, evaluated and shaped.
Intellectual Capital Disclosure: Some Evidence from Healthy and Distressed Banks in Italy
Authors: Birindelli Giuliana , Ferretti Paola , Chiappini Helen , Cosentino Andrea
Published: April 2020

The article investigates the intellectual capital disclosure of Italian banks over the years 2016–2017, applying the specific lens of healthy and distressed banks. To this end, we used content analysis and encoding techniques. The main results point out that intellectual capital (IC) disclosure is generally poor and that the intensity of disclosure varies slightly between healthy and distressed banks. Regarding the quality of disclosure, healthy banks present a higher, albeit modest, tendency to disclose non-qualitative and forward-looking information, maybe due to the fact that they are more focused on the strategies and the relationships with stakeholders as opposed to a more short-term approach of the distressed banks. To complement our study on healthy and distressed banks, we repeated the analysis focusing on bank size and independent directors. In this case, results do not show relevant differences in terms of IC disclosure. Hence, our findings suggest the need to consider banks’ IC disclosure as a strategic asset for increasing, among others, transparency and reputation.
Minutely Active Power Forecasting Models Using Neural Networks
Authors: Kontogiannis Dimitrios , Bargiotas Dimitrios , Daskalopulu Aspassia
Published: April 2020

Power forecasting is an integral part of the Demand Response design philosophy for power systems, enabling utility companies to understand the electricity consumption patterns of their customers and adjust price signals accordingly, in order to handle load demand more effectively. Since there is an increasing interest in real-time automation and more flexible Demand Response programs that monitor changes in the residential load profiles and reflect them according to changes in energy pricing schemes, high granularity time series forecasting is at the forefront of energy and artificial intelligence research, aimed at developing machine learning models that can produce accurate time series predictions. In this study we compared the baseline performance and structure of different types of neural networks on residential energy data by formulating a suitable supervised learning problem, based on real world data. After training and testing long short-term memory (LSTM) network variants, a convolutional neural network (CNN), and a multi-layer perceptron (MLP), we observed that the latter performed better on the given problem, yielding the lowest mean absolute error and achieving the fastest training time.
Impact of Odor Nuisance on Preferred Place of Residence
Authors: Wojnarowska Magdalena , Sołtysik Mariusz , Sagan Adam , Stobiecka Jadwiga , Plichta Jarosław , Plichta Grażyna
Published: April 2020

Context of the research: Research is increasingly carried out to take into account the social behavior of residents, the type of industry located in the area, and perceived preference for the place of residence. The quality of life in urban space is increasingly seen as a problem of cooperation between various stakeholders. These studies not only identify factors and sources of odor emissions, but also serve as the basis for creating systems to alert people living in areas adjacent to industrial areas or harmful and unpleasant industrial emissions. In recent years, environmental issues, particularly unpleasant sensory experiences, have been one of the most important acceptance criteria. Aim of the article: The aim of the study is to assess the impact of odor nuisance in the south-eastern part of Kraków (Płaszów) on the residents’ decision to leave their place of residence. In particular, the research goal was achieved to indicate which of the unpleasant odors may cause a change of residence, as well as to assess the degree of their impact on the decision to move, taking into account the social and demographic characteristics of residents. New in the article: The novelty of the work was the finding out of the residents’ opinions about the quality of life by accepting the place of residence, taking into account the aspect of odor nuisance. Previous studies on odor nuisance have focused on the emission of odors from individual plants. A novelty of this research is its implementation in an urban area, in which numerous industrial plants are located, with various odors emitted. Research methodology: To assess odor nuisance, a measuring tool developed in accordance with VDI 3883 guidelines was used, based on the latest research results on odor and noise nuisance. The questionnaire was developed based on German experience. Conclusions from the research: The data obtained as a result of the research allow us to state that specific smells are so burdensome that they may cause the necessity to leave the place of residence, because the respondents feel various unpleasant smells that have an adverse impact upon the quality of life that they perceive. A possible need for relocation of domiciles out of the current place of residence due to unpleasant smells would affect the perceptible, specific level of grief—the greater it is, the more attached the residents are to their current place of residence.
Cause-Related Marketing and Purchase Intention toward Team-Licensed Products: Moderating Effects of Sport Consumers’ Altruism
Authors: Baek Woo-yeul , Song Hyun-seok , Kim Doo-Han , Byon Kevin K.
Published: April 2020

Cause-related marketing (CRM) has been a crucial concept of sport marketing literature in the professional sport context. However, there is little evidence available to address the effectiveness of CRM when the levels of sport fans’ embedded psychological characteristics helping others are considered. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of sport fans’ perceived CRM motive of a sport team on fan attitude and purchase intention for the team-licensed products, and the moderating effects of sport fans’ altruism on the relationships among these variables in the context of the Korean professional baseball league. A total of 164 Korean baseball fans participated in the present study. Results revealed that sport fans’ perceived CRM motive significantly affected fan attitude and purchase intention for the team-licensed products, and fan attitude also had a significant impact on purchase intention. Moreover, sport fans’ altruism had significant moderating effects on the relationships between perceived CRM motive and purchase intention, as well as team attitude and purchase intention for the team-licensed products. Consequently, the present study might demonstrate that professional sport fans with high altruism are more likely than fans with low altruism to evaluate the motive of a team’s CRM campaign as cause-oriented and show their support for the campaign.
Application of an Integrated Assessment Scheme for Sustainable Waste Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment: The Case of Ghana
Authors: Vaccari Mentore , Zambetti Fabiola , Bates Margaret , Tudor Terry , Ambaye Teklit
Published: April 2020

The effective management of solid waste, including waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in developing countries poses significant challenges. This paper reports on the development and utilization of a multi-criteria tool to improve the management of WEEE in Agbogbloshie, in Ghana. The tool was able to successfully evaluate key economic, social and environmental factors faced by workers and to suggest areas for improvement. In particular, the evaluation and comparison of different scenarios suggested that the best solution is the evolution from informal to formal management of WEEE, with workers provided with personal protective equipment, and the introduction of refurbishment activities, with the sale of components in the second-hand market. While it would require further use in other contexts, the tool could be adapted and employed for a range of other waste streams and in other developing countries.
Does Internal Control Contribute to a Firm’s Green Information Disclosure? Evidence from China
Authors: Huang Rongbing , Huang Yubo
Published: April 2020

The literature shows that a firm’s environmental information disclosure is affected by internal and external factors. However, it is unclear whether internal control positively impacts a firm’s green information disclosure. We collected data from the period 2010–2016 from either environmental reports or the environmental section of social responsibility reports of A-share listed companies in the heaviest polluting industries of the Chinese capital market, 1603 companies in total, and established an evaluation index for measuring firm greenness. Our research indicates that the level of internal control was positively correlated to the firm’s greenness level, and deficiencies in internal control were negatively correlated to the firm’s greenness level, indicating that high-quality internal control improves company green information disclosure. Pertaining to property rights, the internal control of state-owned enterprises had a significant effect on improving the level of environmental information disclosure. Among five elements of internal control, the internal environment, information and communication elements had a significant positive impact on firm greenness. Compared with samples with uncorrected major deficiencies in internal control, rectified companies’ environmental information disclosure was greener. These findings provide empirical evidence for a comprehensive understanding of the non-financial reporting goals of firm internal control, and will become a useful reference for firm green governance decision-making.
A Boundary Value Problem for Noninsulated Magnetic Regime in a Vacuum Diode
Authors: Rojas Edixon M. , Sidorov Nikolai A. , Sinitsyn Aleksandr V.
Published: April 2020

In this paper, we study the stationary boundary value problem derived from the magnetic (non) insulated regime on a plane diode. Our main goal is to prove the existence of non-negative solutions for that nonlinear singular system of second-order ordinary differential equations. To attain such a goal, we reduce the boundary value problem to a singular system of coupled nonlinear Fredholm integral equations, then we analyze its solvability through the existence of fixed points for the related operators. This system of integral equations is studied by means of Leray-Schauder’s topological degree theory.
Hamiltonian Analysis for the Scalar Electrodynamics as 3BF Theory
Authors: Radenković Tijana , Vojinović Marko
Published: April 2020

The higher category theory can be employed to generalize the B F action to the so-called 3 B F action, by passing from the notion of a gauge group to the notion of a gauge 3-group. The theory of scalar electrodynamics coupled to Einstein–Cartan gravity can be formulated as a constrained 3 B F theory for a specific choice of the gauge 3-group. The complete Hamiltonian analysis of the 3 B F action for the choice of a Lie 3-group corresponding to scalar electrodynamics is performed. This analysis is the first step towards a canonical quantization of a 3 B F theory, an important stepping stone for the quantization of the complete scalar electrodynamics coupled to Einstein–Cartan gravity formulated as a 3 B F action with suitable simplicity constraints. It is shown that the resulting dynamic constraints eliminate all propagating degrees of freedom, i.e., the 3 B F theory for this choice of a 3-group is a topological field theory, as expected.