bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Variability in Soil Parent Materials at Different Development Stages Controlled Phosphorus Fractions and Its Uptake by Maize Crop
Authors: Mahmood Mohsin , Xu Tianwei , Ahmed Waqas , Yang Jie , Li Jiannan , Mehmood Sajid , Liu Wenjie , Weng Jiechang , Li Weidong
Published: April 2022

An adequate phosphorus (P) supply in the rhizosphere is essential for proper P uptake through plant roots. Distributions of P varies depending on the soil structure, formation, and the parent material from which it originates. More research is needed to determine whether soil depth and parent materials have an impact on P distribution. It was hypothesized that the type of soil formed by different parent materials is related to P uptake and soil P fractions. Soil samples were taken from different profiles at various stages of development in loess, alluvium, shale, and sandstone parent materials. The samples were analyzed for P fractions using the Jiang and Gu fractionation scheme. In the present study, the P fractions were controlled according to the quantity and the components, such as organic matter, clay minerals, carbonates, iron, and aluminum oxides. Studying the phosphatase enzyme activity related to P fractions, the soil parent material, and their development was highly beneficial in defining which P pools are more accessible to plants, as well as the effect of phosphatase in limiting P availability. Among all the tested parent materials, the total P in soils derived from the loess parent material was higher (792 mg kg−1) than in soils derived from alluvium, shale, and sandstone, respectively. The amount of apatite P in alluvium parent material was higher, accounting for 51–56% of total P. Other P forms varied significantly in parent materials in the following order loess > alluvium > shale >> sandstone. Phosphatase enzyme was found to be an indicator of P availability by limiting its uptake by plants.
Embodied Energy Consumption in the Residential Sector: A Case Study of Affordable Housing
Authors: Anderson Nicole , Wedawatta Gayan , Rathnayake Ishara , Domingo Niluka , Azizi Zahirah
Published: April 2022

Embodied energy has a significant effect on the total environmental impact of a project. However, emphasis is often placed primarily on operational energy, resulting in a knowledge gap about the current state of embodied energy use in affordable housing. To address this, the study investigates the level of embodied energy consumption in affordable housing, as well as the drivers, barriers, and techniques to reduce embodied energy. Based on a single embedded case study covering the period from cradle to end of construction, data were collected using embodied energy calculations of three affordable housing units in the project, semi-structured interviews with five design team members, and a cross-examination of findings with contract documents. The results were analysed using sensitivity analysis and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that all three house units fulfilled the baseline embodied carbon target of 800 kg CO2/m2 and both detached properties fell within the LETI (2020) target of 500 kg CO2/m2. However, all three properties would fail to meet the RIBA or 2030 LETI target of 300 kg CO2/m2. This suggests that improvements are necessary to achieve future targets. The results show that financial capabilities and operational energy prioritisation act as the main enabler and barrier for reducing embodied energy. Local contractors/suppliers, minimising material use or intensity, and modular construction were highlighted as the key reduction techniques that can be used to help achieve future targets concerning embodied carbon in residential developments. The study contributes significantly to understanding the current state of embodied energy use in affordable housing and provides new insights on how to deal with embodied energy if we are to meet future energy targets.
Case Study of Multi-Course Project-Based Learning and Online Assessment in Electrical Engineering Courses during COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Khandakar Amith , Chowdhury Muhammad E. H. , Khalid Md. Saifuddin , Zorba Nizar
Published: April 2022

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an urgent need to move to online teaching and develop innovative teaching techniques to ensure that student learning outcomes (SOs) were fulfilled. This paper tries to answer the important question of whether an established teaching strategy through a multi-course project-based learning (MPL) approach, along with online assessment techniques, helps in the effective achievement of SOs in a senior-level electrical engineering (EE) course. The authors have developed a course project for attaining the objectives of a senior and a capstone course, where students are registered at the same time. In addition, the course conducts assessments online. The paper reports the effect of the two approaches on the attainment of the SOs of the two courses, along with testing the programming and problem-solving abilities of the students. It is known that the MPL approach enhances the critical thinking capacity of students, which is also a major outcome of Sustainable Development Education (ESD). It was ensured that the project that was used to test the fulfillment of a series of SOs were concentrated on soft engineering and project management skills. The difficulty of adopting the MPL method for the senior-level courses is in the scheduling of the course materials to help the student advance to the final project while also aligning the project towards fulfilling the learning outcomes of the individual course. The study also provides the students with feedback on online assessment techniques incorporated within the MPL. Besides this, the effect of the innovative teaching approaches was compared with the same senior course taught using conventional methods in an earlier semester. Based on the feedback from teachers and students from a previously conducted case study, it was concluded that the MPL approach had supported the student learning. The results of the statistical analysis (Chi-square, two-tailed T statistics and hypothesis testing using a z-test) show that an MPL approach and online assessment improved the attainment of the SOs despite the constraints posed by the pandemic.
Advances in Technological Research for Online and In Situ Water Quality Monitoring—A Review
Authors: Silva Gabriel Marinho e , Campos Daiane Ferreira , Brasil José Artur Teixeira , Tremblay Marcel , Mendiondo Eduardo Mario , Ghiglieno Filippo
Published: April 2022

Monitoring water quality is an essential tool for the control of pollutants and pathogens that can cause damage to the environment and human health. However, water quality analysis is usually performed in laboratory environments, often with the use of high-cost equipment and qualified professionals. With the progress of nanotechnology and the advance in engineering materials, several studies have shown, in recent years, the development of technologies aimed at monitoring water quality, with the ability to reduce the costs of analysis and accelerate the achievement of results for management and decision-making. In this work, a review was carried out on several low-cost developed technologies and applied in situ for water quality monitoring. Thus, new alternative technologies for the main physical (color, temperature, and turbidity), chemical (chlorine, fluorine, phosphorus, metals, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, pH, and oxidation–reduction potential), and biological (total coliforms, Escherichia coli, algae, and cyanobacteria) water quality parameters were described. It was observed that there has been an increase in the number of publications related to the topic in recent years, mainly since 2012, with 641 studies being published in 2021. The main new technologies developed are based on optical or electrochemical sensors, however, due to the recent development of these technologies, more robust analyses and evaluations in real conditions are essential to guarantee the precision and repeatability of the methods, especially when it is desirable to compare the values with government regulatory standards.
Same Same but Different? A Quantitative Exploration of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Agriculture
Authors: Schönherr Norma
Published: April 2022

Private governance by means of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) has become ubiquitous, especially for the governance of sustainability issues along global value chains in agriculture. As VSS have multiplied and proliferated, their commonalities and differences are not always easily discernable to value chain participants and their stakeholders. Concurrently, extant research is ambiguous on the degree of harmonization or diversification of standards currently available. Two core aspects have received particular attention: the meaning of sustainability reflected in VSS and the degree of stakeholder inclusion in standard governance. It is the purpose of this study to compare VSS from different types of standard setting initiatives regarding these two core aspects by analyzing their purported sustainability worldview and the inclusiveness of their institutional design. The quantitative exploration covers exemplars offered by inter-governmental organizations, business initiatives, non-governmental organizations as well as multi-stakeholder initiatives. The analysis finds significant ambiguity of sustainability worldviews across the sample, as well as almost universal uptake of design characteristics to enhance inclusiveness irrespective of the type of standard setting initiative. However, there are also significant differences in the way sustainability is understood among VSS offered by different standard setting initiatives.
Effects of Increasing Salinity by Drip Irrigation on Total Grain Weight Show High Yield Potential of Putative Salt-Tolerant Mutagenized Wheat Lines
Authors: Mousavi Hesam , Bruning Bas , Van Straten Gerrit , Almås Åsgeir R. , Lethin Johanna , Naik Nupur , Hassan Sameer , Olsson Olof , Aronsson Henrik
Published: April 2022

Twenty-three lines from a mutagenized Bangladeshi BARI Gom-25 wheat population that included previously identified salt-tolerant lines, and the BARI Gom-25 control variety, were cultivated in a drip-irrigated salinity test field at Salt Farm Texel, Netherlands, to assess their performance during salt stress in European climatic conditions. Lines were tested at irrigation salinity levels of 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 dS m−1 in four repetitions of plots with 24 plants per plot. Average plant height, tiller number, spike length, frequency of live plants, and total grain weight (TGW) were recorded as functions of seasonal mean pore water salinity in the soil. Increases in salinity triggered reductions in all evaluated variables of the assessed lines and the control variety. However, nine mutagenized lines had at least twofold higher mean TGW than the control variety, 18.73 ± 4.19 g/plot at 1–16 dS m−1 salinity levels. Common models of salt tolerance confirmed this pattern, but there were no clear differences in salinity tolerance parameter estimates between the mutagenized lines and the control variety. Thus, despite the apparent similarity in responses of all lines to salinity increase, we clearly identified lines that tended to have higher TGW at given salinities than the control variety. This higher TGW at the full range of salinity treatments indicates not only a possible higher salinity tolerance but a higher yield potential as well. The mechanisms involved clearly warrant further attention.
Heterogeneous Catalyzed Biodiesel Production Using Cosolvent: A Mini Review
Authors: Khan Haris Mahmood , Iqbal Tanveer , Yasin Saima , Irfan Muhammad , Abbas Muhammad Mujtaba , Veza Ibham , Soudagar Manzoore Elahi M. , Abdelrahman Anas , Kalam Md. Abul
Published: April 2022

Biodiesel is gaining recognition as a good replacement for typical diesel owing to its renewability, sustainability, and eco-friendly nature. Transesterification is the leading route for biodiesel generation, which occurs during homogeneous/heterogeneous/enzymatic catalysis. Besides this, the usage of heterogeneous catalysts is considered more advantageous over homogeneous catalysts due to the easy catalyst recovery. Consequently, numerous heterogeneous catalysts have been synthesized from multiple sources with the intention of making the manufacturing process more efficient and cost-effective. Alongside this, numerous researchers have attempted to improve the biodiesel yield using heterogeneous catalysts by introducing cosolvents, such that phase limitation between oil and alcohol can be minimized. This short review is aimed at examining the investigations performed to date on heterogeneously catalyzed biodiesel generation in the presence of different cosolvents. It encompasses the techniques for heterogeneous catalyst synthesis, reported in the literature available for heterogeneous catalyzed biodiesel generation using cosolvents and their effects. It also suggests that the application of cosolvent in heterogeneously catalyzed three-phase systems substantially reduces the mass transfer limitation between alcohol and oil phases, which leads to enhancements in biodiesel yield along with reductions in values of optimized parameters, with catalyst weight ranges from 1 to 15 wt. %, and alcohol/oil ratio ranges from 5.5 to 20. The reaction time for getting the maximum conversion ranges from 10 to 600 min in the presence of different cosolvents. Alongside this, most of the time, the biodiesel yield remained above 90% in the presence of cosolvents.
The Right to Inclusive Quality Education: Primary School Teachers’ Perceptions Based on the EPREPADI-1 Scale
Authors: María Yonatan Díaz Santa , Saorín Jesús Molina
Published: April 2022

The following study aimed to describe the perception of primary education teachers regarding pupils who are discriminated against on the grounds of low functional performance. In this way, the EPREPADI-1 scale (primary education teachers’ perception of their training and professional practice in relation to pupils with disabilities) was applied with a purposive and non-probabilistic sampling aimed at teachers in the Region of Murcia, obtaining a sample with a confidence level of 95% and a sampling error of 5% (410 participants). Being quantitative descriptive research, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out to determine the existence of seven key factors, of which three were considered, due to their high significance for the objectives of this study, to determine their correlation by means of the Pearson test, as well as the Chi-square test and Cramer’s V test to determine the correlation between the factors and the ordinal variables of the scale. These tests allowed us to analyse the existing relationships between the specific training received (initial and continuous), and the effects that this training had on the performance of their professional practice. At the same time, we investigated the perception teachers have of their use of the language of negation, and to what extent the semantics used can lead to situations of exclusion.
Sustainable Financial Development: Does It Matter for Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Authors: He Yuang , Gao Xiaodan , Wang Yinhui
Published: April 2022

As the detrimental effect of greenhouse gas emissions becomes increasingly significant, it has been a worldwide concern. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of sustainable financial development on greenhouse gas emissions via heterogeneous technological progress, using 162 countries as a sample. Empirical assessment is conducted using panel data from 2000 to 2019 and the mediation effect model as well as the country and year fixed-effect model. The findings are shown as follows: (1) Greenhouse gas emissions are increased as a result of sustainable financial development. (2) Environmental technology progress and technology choice progress have a dilution effect. Together, they have the ability to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by sustainable financial development. However, these two dilution effects do not completely cut down on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from global sustainable financial development, even though they do help. (3) The direct and indirect effects of sustainable financial development on greenhouse gas emissions are heterogeneous among countries with different income levels. Through technological progress, sustainable financial development in middle-income countries significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable financial development, on the other hand, increases greenhouse gas emissions in both high- and low-income countries, although there are distinctions between them. (4) Environmental technology progress in high-income countries has a dilution effect. Meanwhile, technological choice and progress in low-income countries have a mediating effect on greenhouse gas emissions. To conclude, the evidence provided in this paper may provide some potential solutions to the issue of greenhouse gas emissions, and also enrich the existing literature.
Adaptive Genetic Algorithm Based on Fuzzy Reasoning for the Multilevel Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem with Energy Consumption in Synchronizer Production
Authors: Wang Shuai , Hui Jizhuang , Zhu Bin , Liu Ying
Published: April 2022

The multilevel capacitated lot-sizing problem (MLCLSP) is a vital theoretical problem of production planning in discrete manufacturing. An improved algorithm based on the genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed to solve the MLCLSP. Based on the solution results, the distribution of energy consumption in a synchronous production case is analyzed. In the related literature, the GA has become a much-discussed topic in solving these kinds of problems. Although the standard GA can make up for the defects of the traditional algorithm, it will lead to the problems of unstable solution results and easy local convergence. For these reasons, this research presents an adaptive genetic algorithm based on fuzzy theory (fuzzy-GA) to solve the MLCLSP. Firstly, the solving process of the MLCLSP with the fuzzy-GA is described in detail, where algorithms for key technologies such as the capacity constraint algorithm and the algorithm of solving fitness value are developed. Secondly, the auto-encoding of decision variables for MLCLSPs is studied; within this, the decision variables of whether to produce or not are encoded into a hierarchical structure based on the bill of material; combined with external demand, the decision variables of lot-sizing are constructed. Thirdly, the adaptive optimization process of parameters of the GA for the MLCLSP based on fuzzy theory is expounded, in which membership function, fuzzy rule, and defuzzification of the MLCLSP is mainly presented. Experimental studies using the processed dataset collected from a synchronizer manufacturer have demonstrated the merits of the proposed approach, in which the energy consumption distribution of the optimized production plan is given. The optimal lot-sizing is closer to the average value of the optimal value compared with the standard GA, which indicates that the proposed fuzzy-GA approach has better convergence and stability.
The Impact of Economic Indicators on the Evolution of Business Confidence during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period
Authors: Olkiewicz Marcin
Published: April 2022

This publication focuses on issues related to the development of entrepreneurship. The aim of this publication is to demonstrate how fluctuations of economic indicators have been affecting business confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Business trust is important for entrepreneurs because it significantly determines the decision-making process and ensures stable development and functioning of an organization. Our study assessed the G7 and the E27 countries and Poland for comparison purposes for the years 2015–2021. Among other things, for the purposes of the study, the following were performed: literature analysis; formulation of the study research questions and a hypothesis: economic indicators negatively affecting business confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic period; data from the following databases which were used: EUROSTAT, GUS, OECD, TRADING ECONOMICS. The presented research results indicate that there is a relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of economic indicators and BCI. This is particularly noticeable during the development of the pandemic at the turn of the first and second quarters of 2020. The indicator shows negative values during this period. This study also showed that increasing COVID-19 infections in the pandemic’s initial stage led to growing insecurity in developing business activities, which is proven by the calculated Pearson correlation coefficient scoring −0.3982.
Estimation for Potential of Agricultural Biomass Sources as Projections of Bio-Briquettes in Indian Context
Authors: Vaish Sunny , Kaur Gagandeep , Sharma Naveen Kumar , Gakkhar Nikhil
Published: April 2022

Energy is an indicator of the socio-economic development of any country and has become an indispensable part of modern society. Despite several renewable sources of energy generation, biomass sources are still under-utilized due to the absence of standard policies of estimation of resources at the country level. This paper attempts to estimate the gross crop residue and surplus residue potential for all provinces of the agricultural country, India. In India, the total area under crop production is 94,305 thousand hectares and the yield from all significant crops is 309,133 kg per hectare. It is estimated that total gross crop residue generation in the country is 480 million tonnes. Subsequently, after consumption of crop residues for numerous applications, the surplus crop residues are 121 million tonnes. The bioenergy potential from the surplus residues is estimated as 1988 PJ, which offers a huge potential energy source, from materials otherwise treated as waste. The Indian province Punjab, rich in agricultural sources and covering only 7% of the total cropping area of the country, generates 11% of the total surplus crop which could be used for further efficient use as bio briquettes.
Development of a Rapid Inspection Driving Cycle for Battery Electric Vehicles Based on Operational Safety
Authors: Jiao Zhipeng , Ma Jian , Zhao Xuan , Zhang Kai , Meng Dean , Li Xuebo
Published: April 2022

The aim of this paper is to solve the problem for battery electric vehicles of low-precision and time-consuming inspection. A novel method of driving cycle development for battery electric vehicles’ operational safety is proposed in this paper. First, three inspection items are proposed based on relevant testing standards. The inspection calculation method of operational safety is developed based on the acceleration changing rate. Then the multi-cycle inspection method with the stable pedal mode is developed, and the Gauss filtering algorithm is applied for data preprocessing. A rapid inspection driving cycle construction method based on support vector machine is proposed, and a driving cycle is built with a total time of 204 s by fusing and splicing kinematic fragments. Finally, the proposed inspection calculation method is used to validate the operational safety inspection items by tracking the established rapid inspection driving cycle based on the test bench. The results shown are those that qualified the range of acceleration changing rate for driving stability [−0.35, −0.04]. The range for gliding smoothness is [0.05, 0.09]. The range for braking coordination is [−0.04, 0.095]. The maximum RMSE between the constructed rapid inspection segments is 9%, and the maximum RMSE between the tested driving segments is 6%. Test results meet design requirements. The thresholds for operational safety inspection items are evaluated based on the test results. We set less than 0.5 as the safety threshold for driving stability. During the experiment, gliding was less than 0.1 as the safety threshold for gliding comfort, and during braking it was less than 0.1 as the safety threshold for vehicle braking coordination.
Local Perceptions and Scientific Knowledge of Climate Change: Perspectives of Informal Dwellers and Institutions in Accra, Ghana
Authors: Adams Ishmael , Ghosh Sumita , Runeson Goran , Shah Mahsood
Published: April 2022

The extant literature in urban climate studies suggests that the urban poor are the most vulnerable to climate change. Local perceptions and knowledge of climate change are also generally viewed as crucial for sustainable adaptation planning in developing countries. Yet the extent to which perceptions of climate change are influenced by the context of informal urbanisation in the Global South remains unexamined. This paper aimed to examine the extent to which the context of residents of informal settlements influences their perceptions and the congruence of these perceptions with scientific knowledge of climate change in an African city. Using Accra, Ghana as a case, 582 household surveys, 25 institutional key informant interviews and 14 focus group discussions were conducted and analysed. Results show two main findings: (1) respondents mainly perceived changes in climate change related-phenomena which were in synergy with scientific sources but their claims of increases in flooding were not supported by scientific data; and (2) while the literacy levels of the respondents were unrelated to their perception about climate change, heir perceptions were also discordant with city authorities’ perceptions on the causes of flooding as a hazard. The study suggests the integration of local perceptions and knowledge of climate change in adaptation planning in Accra and similar contexts.
Does Financial Knowledge Matter in Using Fintech Services? Evidence from an Emerging Economy
Authors: Nguyen Thi Anh Nhu
Published: April 2022

Financial technology (FinTech) is one of the most important contributors applying technological applications to access financial products in financial markets. This research analyzes the determinants of financial knowledge and its impact on using FinTech services by employing survey data from a sample of 527 individuals in the southeast region of Vietnam, an emerging economy. The results indicate that women have a lower level of both actual financial knowledge and perceived financial knowledge than men. Moreover, men have a higher propensity to use FinTech services than women. Younger people also have higher FinTech usage compared with older people. Unlike previous studies in the financial field, an interesting finding emphasizes that actual financial knowledge does not affect the use of FinTech services but perceived financial knowledge does. To ensure the findings are robust, the research uses instrumental variable (IV) method, and 2SLS (two-stage least squares) estimation to resolve endogenous problems. Accordingly, to promote financial well-being, the findings suggest that financial institutions or FinTech firms should design and develop more user-friendly FinTech products and services so even older people can gain access to FinTech usage. Additionally, policymakers should devote attention to user protection in emerging economies where people are considered less financially literate.
Literature Review by Scientometric Methods on the Impact of the Circular Economy on Sustainable Industrial Products
Authors: Torcătoru Constantin , Săvescu Dan , Repanovici Angela
Published: April 2022

The circular economy (CE) is a contemporary concept that includes the use of renewable materials and technologies, making sustainability an important part of corporate management. The paper deals with issues related to the current state of learning and management of the application of circular economy concepts—CE. The main purpose of this work is to identify both the interest of industries in the CE field in terms of the principles of eco-design and eco-innovation of sustainable industrial products, as well as the approach and development of the concept during the pandemic period. The authors performed a scientometric analysis in the Web of Science (WOS) database for the CE field, having two search criteria: sustainability and eco-design. As a result, 66 publications from the last five years were retained. Given the higher number of publications in the last three years, CE was found to be a topical area. Out of the 66 publications, using the PRISMA diagram, the authors identified the eligible articles, excluding 15 of them as being only tangential to the CE field and not applied in the industry. Depending on the high frequency of certain keywords, the authors identified three important directions for the CE approach that corroborate and interpret the results obtained: M—management (1); P—packing (2); and L—Learning (3). Following this approach, the authors determined the focus of the manufacturing industries in terms of applying the concepts and principles of CE, thus being able to contribute to the creation of eco-innovation and eco-design practices of industrial products, especially industrial packaging. The paper will also be beneficial for Ph.D. students who show a certain interest in CE and will help develop the following research directions in this field.
Scenedesmus sp. Harvesting by Using Natural Coagulant after Phycoremediation of Heavy Metals in Different Concentrations of Wet Market Wastewater for Potential Fish Feeds
Authors: Apandi Najeeha Mohd , Gani Paran , Sunar Norshuhaila Mohamed , Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira Radin , AlGheethi Adel , Apandi Affah Mohd , Nagarajah Ramathasan , Shaari Noor Afifee Raihan , Cheong Kelly , Rahman Roshanida A.
Published: April 2022

The high level of organic elements and nutrients in wet market wastewater (WMW) has raised public concerns. The phycoremediation method, which utilizes microalgae, can be further valorized by converting it into various valuable potential bioproducts. The production of Scenedesmus sp. in WMW was investigated as an ingredient for fish feeds in this study. The potential of two natural plant-based coagulants, Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea) and Cicer arietinum (chickpea), for harvesting microalgae Scenedesmus sp. were compared. Statistical analysis and response surface methodology were used to investigate the flocculant dosage and pH effect on harvesting efficiency. It was found that Cajanus cajan (CC) and Cicer arietinum (CA) both had a harvesting efficiency of 89.29% and 88.56%, respectively. The optimal dosage and pH for CC were 178.75 mg/L and 11.72, and for CA, they were 137.77 mg/L and 9.15. This study indicated that Scenedesmus sp. can remove heavy metals cadmium (87.24%), chromium (85.55%), and ferum (90.35%), respectively. The level of heavy metals content (μg/kg in ppb) in dry biomass was found ultimately low and did not exceed the maximum concentration set up by the European Commission Regulation. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis of microalgae biomass displayed O-H, N-H and C-H functional groups. The protein–lipid for the potential application as fish feed in the sample was 45.8–43.6% and 15–13%. Moreover, the biomass contained 53% to 40% oleic acid, which is high concentration of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). As a result, there is high potential of Scenedesmus sp. in wastewater treatment; both natural coagulants give the possibilities for efficient microalgae biomass recovery as fish feed and are applicable for improving the quality of Scenedesmus sp. cultivated in WMW.
Modelling the Relationship of Infrastructure and Externalities Using Urban Scaling
Authors: Yang Jung-Hun , Nam Kwang-Woo
Published: April 2022

A surprising aspect of the agglomeration economy is the lack of attention to the impact on the physical environment. Even in the field of spatial planning, road infrastructure has been built in situations where the consideration of the agglomeration economy is insufficient. The urban scaling proposed by theoretical physicists is an excellent tool to solve this problem but is only at the level of conceptually comparing the index values extracted by individually scaling socioeconomic indicators and urban infrastructure with the population. Accordingly, the frame model scales the urban infrastructure with the number of workers by industry sector and includes a density externality structure so that the agglomeration economy and urban infrastructure can be linked directly. Three experiments were conducted to verify the frame model: first, the Zipf distribution of economic activity found straight lines in large cities, peaks in medium cities and hills in small cities; the cities were categorised by urban size. The second experiment verified that linearisation was due to Jacobs externalities, while the third confirmed that the peak was due to Marshall–Arrow–Romer externalities. Moreover, in distinguishing traditional and modern industries, thresholds of 0.6 in agglomeration and 1.0 in economic interaction were found.
Characteristics of Selected Silphium Species as Alternative Plants for Cultivation and Industry with Particular Emphasis on Research Conducted in Poland: A Review
Authors: Kowalska Grażyna , Baj Tomasz , Kowalski Radosław , Hanif Muhammad Asif
Published: April 2022

This article reviews the available research results of selected species of the genus Silphium L. (Asteraceae) as alternative plants for crops and industry. Silphium species have valuable qualities across a wide range of uses, which is very important in considering plant resources as a green alternative to a sustainable future. Species of the genus Silphium are tall perennials found in fields, prairies, open forests, and groves in the central and eastern parts of the United States and Canada. Various tribes of Native North American used Silphium for medicinal purposes. The cup plant Silphium perfoliatum L. is the most popular species of the genus Silphium due to its attractive ornamental, honey–giving, healing, and forage qualities. As the literature review shows, species of the genus Silphium are characterized by a high production potential in terms of yields and contain significant amounts of nutrients, i.e., carbohydrates, proteins, and L-ascorbic acid, as well as minerals and biologically active substances, e.g., terpenoids and essential oils, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and oleanosides. In addition, the research confirmed the possibility of using Silphium for fodder, as honeybee forage, phytoremediation plants, for reclamation of degraded land, as plants for energy purposes (biomass, biogas), and as plants that provide components with antimicrobial activity. This review largely takes into account many years of research experience conducted in Poland.
Interactions among Trialectic Spaces and Their Driving Forces: A Case Study of the Xisi Historical and Cultural Block in Beijing
Authors: Cheng Zhifen , Fan Boning , Zhou Shangyi , Zhang Baoxiu
Published: April 2022

Urban spaces are constantly changing. H. Lefebvre’s trialectic spaces are an analytical tool used to explain changes in urban spaces. However, in trialectic spaces, which space plays a leading role? What is the driving force of interactions in such spaces? At present, there is a lack of research on this issue. This paper, in response to the views of N. J. Babere, takes the Xisi historical and cultural block in Beijing as a case study to answer these questions and uses questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and follow-up surveys to analyze the interaction process of trialectic spaces within green spaces. Then, it analyzes the driving force of this interaction. The purpose of this study is to determine which space plays a leading role in interactions among trialectic spaces and what the driving force behind such interactions is. This paper draws the following conclusions: (1) Representational spaces play a decisive role in interactions among trialectic spaces.. This is consistent with Babere’s findings. (2) In historical and cultural blocks, culture is the driving force promoting the interaction of trialectic spaces. (3) The direction of interaction among trialectic spaces can be either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Measurement of Innovation-Driven Development Performance of Large-Scale Environmental Protection Enterprises Investing in Public–Private Partnership Projects Based on the Hybrid Method
Authors: Feng Jiao , Wang Nannan , Sun Guoshuai
Published: April 2022

Innovation is an important driving force for realizing high-quality economic development, which puts forward higher requirements for environmental protection enterprises to meet the dual goals of economic development and ecological protection. In order to better evaluate the innovation-driven development performance of environmental protection enterprises, a hybrid method is applied in this paper. Based on the sample data of 20 large-scale environmental protection enterprises investing in public–private partnership (PPP) projects from 2018 to 2020, the innovation-driven development performance is measured. The results show that the innovation-driven efficiency of environmental protection enterprises for infrastructure construction is significantly different, and the improvement of pure technical efficiency of environmental protection enterprises is obviously better than scale efficiency. Furthermore, the reasons influencing the innovation efficiency are analyzed and discussed. The results suggest that more attention should be paid to the transformation of labor and capital in environmental protection enterprises, and the use of innovation-driven resources should be optimized. Future studies can apply the hybrid method to measure the innovation-driven performance of environmental protection enterprises in other countries, so as to verify the effectiveness of the hybrid method proposed in this paper and overcome the limitations of the research conclusions.
Science Communication at a Time of Crisis: Emergency, Democracy, and Persuasion
Authors: Davies Sarah R.
Published: April 2022

This commentary essay reflects on the role of science communication in contemporary democratic societies, with a particular focus on how it should be imagined and practiced in times of crisis and emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic or climate change. I distinguish between science communication that is oriented to strategic and democratic goals, and argue for the continued importance of science communication in nurturing democracy even at times of crisis. I close by suggesting principles that might guide such communication, and by relating these arguments to an understanding of science communication as ‘the social conversation around science’.
Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity and Driving Mechanism of Co-Ordinated Urban Development: A Case Study of the Central Area of the Yangtze River Delta, China
Authors: Tao Fei , Tang Guoan , Wu Yihao , Zhou Tong
Published: April 2022

Urban system is a complex entirety composed of various subsystems, including land, population, economy, and society. The coordinated development of these subsystems is important for ensuring the advancement and improvement of the new urbanization process. Quantitatively evaluating the coordinated development level of a city or urban agglomeration is conducive to scientific urban planning and decision-making. In this paper, we constructed a multi-index evaluation system that includes land urbanization, population urbanization, economic urbanization, and social urbanization indicators to assess the degree of coordinated urbanization development. Experiments were then conducted in the central area of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2000 to 2019 using remote sensing images and statistical yearbook data. The driving factors of the urbanization evolution were also evaluated by the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model. The conclusions were drawn as follows: (1) The degree of coordinated urbanization development in the study area was constantly improving, from an extremely uncoordinated level in 2000 to a high-quality coordinated level in 2019; (2) During the period 2000–2019, the distribution of the cities with high coordinated development levels presented a northwest-southeast pattern, and the gravity center of the region constantly moved to the south; (3) In terms of the impact of various urbanization subsystems on the coordinated urbanization development in the YRD, economic urbanization had the greatest impact, while land urbanization had the least impact. (4) In connection with the problems existing in different dimensions of urbanization, we put forward corresponding development countermeasures and path suggestions based on the actual situation of the study area.
Water–Energy–Carbon Nexus Analysis for Water Supply Systems with Brackish Groundwater Sources in Arid Regions
Authors: Alresheedi Mohammad T. , Haider Husnain , Shafiquzzaman Md. , AlSaleem Saleem S. , Alinizzi Majed
Published: April 2022

Limited knowledge on the water–energy–carbon nexus of water supply systems (WSSs) with brackish groundwater sources in arid regions exists to date. In addition, the large amount of fossil-fuel energy utilized by treatment processes generating a significant amount of carbon emissions remains a challenge for the municipalities in Saudi Arabia to meet long-term sustainability goals. To achieve Saudi Arabia Vision 2030’s target of sustainable cities with reduced CO2 emissions, the present study aimed to analyse the water–energy–carbon nexus for WSSs and propose mitigation measures for reducing energy and carbon footprints from both the water management and treatment technologies perspectives. The detailed energy consumption data for three main components (source extraction, water treatment, and conveyance and distribution) of the main WSS, serving the 600,000 population of Buraydah City (Qassim, Saudi Arabia), was obtained from the concerned municipality. The city water treatment plant removes naturally occurring iron, TDS, and radionuclides in the source water with the help of ion detention, oxidation, sand filtration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, chlorination, and backwash water management. The study found that the treatment facility consumes around half of the total system’s energy (131,122 kWh/day); while, with deep confined aquifer (>600 m) and an average water loss of 8%, conveyance and distribution (34%) and source extraction (18%) are consistent with the reported literature. With oil-driven energy, carbon emissions were found to be 10.26, 27.18, and 19.72 million tons CO2 eq/year for source extraction, water treatment, and conveyance and distribution, respectively. The reverse osmosis process, with higher energy consumption—1.1 kWh/m3 of treated water—than the global average, consumes most (88%) of the treatment plant’s energy and thus needs effective energy management practices. Moving to renewable (solar and wind-driven) sources, subject to a detailed life cycle analysis, can achieve significant energy and associated carbon emission reductions. To sustainably meet the water demand of the growing population in arid regions, the study also suggests raising the awareness of the public about how water conservation can control CO2 emissions, proactive maintenance of aging infrastructure, and increasing rainwater and treated wastewater reuse, to enhance the operational life of existing treatment facilities.
Analysis of the Effectiveness of Green Waste Composting under Hyperbaric Conditions
Authors: Bieniek Jerzy , Gaze Błażej , Knutel Bernard , Rać Krzysztof , Góraj Sara
Published: April 2022

Increasing global population growth has a significant impact on waste production. The European Union (EU) focuses on waste recycling, biological treatment, and reuse. In the case of biodegradable waste, a significant problem is the long process of material decomposition so that the product meets the requirements of national regulations and EU directives. The search for a way to accelerate this process is still ongoing. This study presents the composting process of green waste under hyperbaric conditions. Eight experiments, four with air exchange frequency tAE = 4 h and four experiments with tAE = 8 h were established. The experiments were conducted in four variants: 0 (atmospheric pressure) and overpressures 50, 100, and 200 kPa. They were carried out on the same input material characterized by the initial moisture content of 60% and a mass of 2000 g. During the composting of green waste, all parameters of the obtained product (moisture content, pH, loss on ignition (LOI), C:N ratio, nutrient content (P, K), and the respiratory activity of microorganisms (AT4)) were also evaluated. The most significant weight loss of the composted material was observed in the variant of an overpressure of 200 kPa (tAE = 4 h). The compost weight in relation to the original material decreased by 23.7%. The highest organic matter removal efficiency was obtained for the overpressure variants of 50 and 100 kPa (tAE = 4 h).
Path Planning of Unmanned Helicopter in Complex Dynamic Environment Based on State-Coded Deep Q-Network
Authors: Yao Jiangyi , Li Xiongwei , Zhang Yang , Ji Jingyu , Wang Yanchao , Liu Yicen
Published: April 2022

Unmanned helicopters (UH) can avoid radar detection by flying at ultra-low altitudes; thus, they have been widely used in the battlefield. The flight safety of UH is seriously affected by moving obstacles such as flocks of birds in low airspace. Therefore, an algorithm that can plan a safe path to UH is urgently needed. Due to the strong randomness of the movement of bird flocks, the existing path planning algorithms are incompetent for this task. To solve this problem, a state-coded deep Q-network (SC-DQN) algorithm with symmetric properties is proposed, which can effectively avoid randomly moving obstacles and plan a safe path for UH. First, a dynamic reward function is designed to give UH appropriate rewards in real time, so as to improve the sparse reward problem. Then, a state-coding scheme is proposed, which uses binary Boolean expression to encode the environment state to compress environment state space. The encoded state is used as the input to the deep learning network, which is an important improvement to the traditional algorithm. Experimental results show that the SC-DQN algorithm can help UH avoid the moving obstacles to unknown motion status in the environment safely and effectively and successfully complete the raid task.
A Review of Cryptographic Electronic Voting
Authors: Kho Yun-Xing , Heng Swee-Huay , Chin Ji-Jian
Published: April 2022

A vast number of e-voting schemes including mix-net-based e-voting, homomorphic e-voting, blind signature-based e-voting, blockchain-based e-voting, post-quantum e-voting, and hybrid e-voting have been proposed in the literature for better security and practical implementation. In this paper, we review various e-voting approaches to date. We first compare the structures, advantages, and disadvantages of the different e-voting approaches. We then summarise the security properties of the e-voting approaches in terms of their functional requirements and security requirements. In addition, we provide a comprehensive review of various types of e-voting approaches in terms of their security properties, underlying tools, distinctive features, and weaknesses. We also discuss some practical considerations in the design of e-voting systems. Subsequently, some potential research directions are suggested based on our observations.
Analytical Solutions of Nonlocal Thermoelastic Interaction on Semi-Infinite Mediums Induced by Ramp-Type Heating
Authors: Hobiny Aatef , Abbas Ibrahim , Alshehri Hashim , Marin Marin
Published: April 2022

A novel nonlocal model with one thermal relaxation time is presented to investigate the propagation of waves in a thermoelastic semi-infinite medium. We used Eringen’s theory of the nonlocal continuum to develop these models. Analytical solutions in all physical quantities are provided by using Laplace transforms and eigenvalue techniques. All physical quantities are presented as symmetric and asymmetric tensors. The temperature, the displacement, and the stress variations in semi-infinite materials have been calculated. The effects of nonlocal parameters, ramp type heating, and the thermal relaxation times on the wave propagation distribution of physical fields for mediums are graphically displayed and analyzed.