bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DOA Estimation of Unknown Emitter Signal Based on Time Reversal and Coprime Array
Authors: Li Bing , Liu Shiqi , Zhao Deshuang , Hu Bin-Jie
Published: March 2019

In this paper, a novel direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for unknown (anonymous) emitter signal (ES) based on time reversal (TR) and coprime array (CA) is proposed. The resolution and accuracy of DOA estimation are enhanced from two aspects: one is from the view of array arrangement: the new distribution of CA is designed to reduce the holes, increase the degree of freedom (DOF) and apertures by rotating and translating only one subarray, which simplifies the operation. The other one is from the view of the algorithm: a neoteric DOA estimation algorithm with noise suppression based on TR, Capon and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is proposed for solving the wide sidelobe, multipath effect, low resolution and accuracy produced by conventional algorithms, in particular, those cannot work effectively under the existed hole condition. Furthermore, the resubmitting distorted noise and channel noise are suppressed effectively, which is not taken into considered in the conventional Capon algorithm. Simulation results including the resolution, accuracy, root mean square error (RMSE), Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) and the compared analyses on uniform linear array (ULA), nested array (NA) and minimum redundancy array(MRA) demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed DOA estimation algorithm even at very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition.
Improved Detection of Plasmon Waveguide Resonance Using Diverging Beam, Liquid Crystal Retarder, and Application to Lipid Orientation Determination
Authors: Isaacs Sivan , Harté Etienne , D. Alves Isabel , Abdulhalim Ibrahim
Published: March 2019

Plasmon waveguide resonance (PWR) sensors exhibit narrow resonances at the two orthogonal polarizations, transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM), which are narrower by almost an order of a magnitude than the standard surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and thus the figure of merit is enhanced. This fact is useful for measuring optical anisotropy of materials on the surface and determining the orientation of molecules with high resolution. Using the diverging beam approach and a liquid crystal retarder, we present experimental results by simultaneous detection of TE and TM polarized resonances as well as using fast higher contrast serial detection with a variable liquid crystal retarder. While simultaneous detection makes the system simpler, a serial one has the advantage of obtaining a larger contrast of the resonances and thus an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Although the sensitivity of the PWR resonances is smaller than the standard SPR, the angular width is much smaller, and thus the figure of merit is improved. When the measurement methodology has a high enough angular resolution, as is the one presented here, the PWR becomes advantageous over other SPR modes. The possibility of carrying out exact numerical simulations for anisotropic molecules using the 4 × 4 matrix approach brings another advantage of the PWR over SPR on the possibility of extracting the orientation of molecules adsorbed to the surface. High sensitivity of the TE and TM signals to the anisotropic molecules orientation is found here, and comparison to the experimental data allowed detection of the orientation of lipids on the sensor surface. The molecular orientations cannot be fully determined from the TM polarization alone as in standard SPR, which underlines the additional advantage of the PWR technique.
Measuring Mechanism and Applications of Polymer-Based Flexible Sensors
Authors: Yang Zewen , Xu Hong , Huang Yao , Sun Jingyao , Wu Daming , Gao Xiaolong , Zhang Yajun
Published: March 2019

A new type of flexible sensor, which could maintain the deformation consistency and achieve the real-time detection of the variation in load of the measured object, was proposed in this work. According to the principle of forced assembly, PDMS was used as the substrate of sensitive components and electrodes, while carbon fiber was added as a conductive medium to prepare a polymer-based flexible sensor, which effectively overcame the deformation limitation and output instability of conventional flexible sensors due to different substrates of sensitive components and the electrode. Combined with the sensor structure and the forced assembly method, a theoretical analysis of its conductive measurement mechanism was carried out. Meanwhile, an experimental test device was designed to test and analyze the output characteristics of the flexible sensor under a static and dynamic alternating load. The results show that the flexible sensor exhibited linear output under the dynamic alternating load of 10 kN to 60 kN and frequency of 3 Hz. Peak and valley value had the same phase with the load extremes. The dynamic and static experiments show that the resistance output signal and the sensitivity was in the range of 310~624.15 Ω and 171–183 N/Ω respectively. However, due to the hysteresis of the elastic recovery of the polymer, the output repeatability of the flexible sensor under the dynamic alternating load was 5.03% and 0.78% lower than that of the static load, respectively. Combined with the static and dynamic experiments, it was verified that the polymer-based flexible sensor can maintain the same deformation characteristics with the measured object, and at the same time outputted a resistance signal with a certain mapping relationship with the applied load. The repeatability of the output signal under dynamic and static experiments was within ±7%, which can meet the measurement requirements of the fatigue life of the measured body during periodic load.
Development of a PVDF Sensor Array for Measurement of the Dynamic Pressure Field of the Blade Tip in an Axial Flow Compressor
Authors: Cong Jiqing , Jing Jianping , Chen Changmin , Dai Zezeng
Published: March 2019

Tip clearance flow in axial flow compressor is unavoidable and responsible for pressure losses and noise generation and influences the stability of the compressor. However, necessary flow measurement in the blade tip region is a great challenge due to the small gap width as well as the structure limitation. In this paper, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric-film sensor array is developed to capture the dynamic pressure field over the blade tip in an axial flow compressor. The PVDF sensor array with 40 evenly distributed sensing points is fabricated directly on a 30 μm thick aluminum-metalized polarized PVDF film through photolithography. Dynamic calibration of the sensor is accomplished using acoustic source as excitation and a microphone as a reference. The test pressure range is up to 3.5 kPa and the sampling frequency is 20 kHz. The sensor presents a high signal-to-noise ratio and good consistency with the reference microphone. Sensitivity, frequency response, linearity, hysteresis, repeatability as well as the influence of temperature are also investigated through the calibration apparatus. The calibration gives credence to the relevance and reliability of this sensor for the application in dynamic pressure field measurement. The sensor is then applied to an actual measurement in a compressor. The output of the PVDF sensor array is also compared with the results of common pressure transducers, and the features of the dynamic pressure filed are discussed. The results indicate that the PVDF sensor array is capable of the dynamic pressure field measurement over the blade tip, and superior to the conventional approaches in installation, spatial resolution, frequency response, and cost. These advantages indicate its potential broad application in pressure measurement, especially for the complex spatial surface or thin-walled structure, such as the blade surface and the thin casing wall of the compressor.
What Works in Democratic Dialogue?
Authors: Kalliola Satu , Heiskanen Tuula , Kivimäki Riikka
Published: March 2019

As the global world produces new social problems and the continuously changing environment of work organizations calls for new modes of operation, there emerges a need for discussion forums to analyze and find practical solutions, involving the people concerned. This article examines, within the framework of realist evaluation, the potential of democratic dialogue, a Nordic method of workplace development, to generate outcomes that are put into practice in work organizations. Democratic dialogue is seen as a social program that, by providing the participants with new resources and new reasoning in work conferences and other dialogue forums, enables them to make new choices. The focus is on three Finnish action research networks applying democratic dialogue, and the recompilation of these cases along the Context-Mechanism-Outcomes formula of realist evaluation. Changes in the organizational patterns of communication, linked to the criteria of democratic dialogue and the design of work conferences, are identified and examined through the lenses of varied organizational concepts that elaborate the underlying processes generating change. The article suggests further research to compare cases with the same starting points but differing outcomes to trace the finer distinctions in the preconditions for accomplishing the desired objectives.
Phosphate Sorption Speciation and Precipitation Mechanisms on Amorphous Aluminum Hydroxide
Authors: Wang Xiaoming , Phillips Brian L. , Boily Jean-François , Hu Yongfeng , Hu Zhen , Yang Peng , Feng Xionghan , Xu Wenqian , Zhu Mengqiang
Published: March 2019

Aluminum (Al) oxides are important adsorbents for phosphate in soils and sediments, and significantly limit Phosphate (P) mobility and bioavailability, but the speciation of surface-adsorbed phosphate on Al oxides remains poorly understood. Here, phosphate sorption speciation on amorphous Al hydroxide (AAH) was determined under pH 3–8 and P concentration of 0.03 mM–15 mM using various spectroscopic approaches, and phosphate precipitation mechanisms were discussed as well. AAH exhibits an extremely high phosphate sorption capacity, increasing from 3.80 mmol/g at pH 7 to 4.63 mmol/g at pH 3. Regardless of reaction pH, with increasing P sorption loading, the sorption mechanism transits from bidentate binuclear (BB) surface complexation with dP-Al of 3.12 Å to surface precipitation of analogous amorphous AlPO4 (AAP), possibly with ternary complexes, such as (≡Al-O)2-PO2-Al, as intermediate products. Additionally, the percentage of precipitated phosphate occurring in AAP linearly and positively correlates with P sorption loading. Compared to phosphate reaction with ferrihydrite, phosphate adsorbs and precipitates more readily on AAH due to the higher solubility product (Ksp) of AAH. The formation of AAP particles involves AlIII release, which is promoted by phosphate adsorption, and its subsequent precipitation with phosphate at AAH surfaces or in the bulk solution.
Clustering Smart City Services: Perceptions, Expectations, Responses
Authors: Lytras Miltiadis , Visvizi Anna , Sarirete Akila
Published: March 2019

Smart cities research evolved into one of the most vibrant fields of research and policy-making with sustainability and well-being becoming the bons mots of the debate. The business sector, i.e., the developers and the vendors, form an equally important group of stakeholders in this context. The question is to what extent that debate yields the kind of output that the end-users would expect and would consider useful and usable. A plethora of smart city services exists. Literature suggests that a myriad of new ICT-enhanced tools could find application in urban space. Methodologically speaking, the question is how to link these two meaningfully. The objective of this paper is to address this issue. To this end, smart city services are mapped and clusters of services are identified; end users’ perceptions and expectations are identified and observations are drawn. The value added of this paper is threefold: (i) at the conceptual level, it adds new insights in the ‘normative bias of smart cities research’ thesis, (ii) at the empirical level, it typifies smart city services and clusters them, and (iii) it introduces a practical toolkit that policymakers, regulators, and the business sector might employ to query end-users’ perceptions and expectations to effectively respond to citizens’ needs.
Executive Compensation, Sustainability, Climate, Environmental Concerns, and Company Financial Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Commercial Banks
Authors: Kartadjumena Eriana , Rodgers Waymond
Published: March 2019

This research investigates whether executive compensation is designed to motivate managers to pursue corporate sustainability (CS) concerns as measured by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 3.1 disclosure indicators in Indonesian listed commercial banks throughout 2007–2014. In addition, this study examines the impact of executive compensation, climate, and environmental concerns on both financial health and market value performance as components of company financial performance (CFP). This study, based on an agency theoretic and stakeholder positions, focuses on banking entities in a developing country, and enriches the literature by examining topics through the application of the Throughput Model that captures different pathways and stages. The results suggest that higher executive compensation in Indonesian banking entities may motivate management to do more for climate and environmental concerns, as well as to enhance CFP. Contrary to expectations, climate and environmental concerns have a significant negative impact on both financial health and market value performance. This implies that Indonesian banking companies may tend to conduct corporate responsibility activities only for their own-sake as an altruism motive, which influences the reduction of firms’ financial performance. This study comes to the conclusion that CS concern depicts a weakening factor as well as a partial mediator in the relationship between executive compensation and financial health performance.
Enabling Collaborative Action between Self-Help Groups and Rural Local Bodies through an Exploratory Workshop: The Case of a Peri-Urban Village in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India
Authors: Kandpal Richa , Saizen Izuru
Published: March 2019

Peri-urban areas in developing countries pose unique governance challenges because of their rapid development. Villages in these areas are under-served in terms of the provision of waste management services. This research focused on an exploratory workshop conducted in one peri-urban village in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India, to raise community awareness regarding the importance of contributing towards effective waste management in their village and the means by which they can do so. The findings of the workshop show its effectiveness in raising the awareness levels of self-help group members. In addition to these findings, causal loop diagrams were drawn to construct effective institutional mechanisms from the perspective of the capacities of the participants and the officials. This study examined the policy initiatives necessary for meeting the sanitation and waste management needs of peri-urban villages. Inferences regarding the institutionalization of linkages between self-help groups and local bodies were made based on the principles of sociocracy. Theoretical insight was provided regarding the different factors affecting this system, and how this model is flexible enough to accommodate the contextual needs of peri-urban villages.
Characterising Local Knowledge across the Flood Risk Management Cycle: A Case Study of Southern Malawi
Authors: Šakić Trogrlić Robert , Wright Grant B. , Duncan Melanie J. , van den Homberg Marc J. C. , Adeloye Adebayo J. , Mwale Faidess D. , Mwafulirwa Joyce
Published: March 2019

People possess a creative set of strategies based on their local knowledge (LK) that allow them to stay in flood-prone areas. Stakeholders involved with local level flood risk management (FRM) often overlook and underutilise this LK. There is thus an increasing need for its identification, documentation and assessment. Based on qualitative research, this paper critically explores the notion of LK in Malawi. Data was collected through 15 focus group discussions, 36 interviews and field observation, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that local communities have a complex knowledge system that cuts across different stages of the FRM cycle and forms a component of community resilience. LK is not homogenous within a community, and is highly dependent on the social and political contexts. Access to LK is not equally available to everyone, conditioned by the access to resources and underlying causes of vulnerability that are outside communities’ influence. There are also limits to LK; it is impacted by exogenous processes (e.g., environmental degradation, climate change) that are changing the nature of flooding at local levels, rendering LK, which is based on historical observations, less relevant. It is dynamic and informally triangulated with scientific knowledge brought about by development partners. This paper offers valuable insights for FRM stakeholders as to how to consider LK in their approaches.
Towards a Heritage-Led Sustainable Post-Conflict Reconciliation: A Policy-Led Perspective
Authors: Alsalloum Ataa , Brown Andre
Published: March 2019

In today’s context, threats to heritage sites posed by armed conflicts are prevalent. This article argues for an urgently needed framework, based on authoritative heritage policy documents, to guide sustainable reconciliation in such circumstances. The methodological approach proposed derives from a content analysis strategy that investigated a selected list of documents. Key extractions are then synthesised to develop useful recommendations for sustainable post-conflict reconciliation in heritage contexts. This conceptual framework also helps to achieve the potential re-nomination of any reconstructed sites which, in turn, provides both additional robust protection of heritage values, and supports sustainable development. This article presents the first part of a broader research study and is intended to communicate the results to a multi-faceted international audience including stakeholders, along with policy and decision makers in the world heritage field. The application of the proposed framework to the world heritage cities of Damascus and Aleppo is the subject of the second part of this research and is presented in a subsequent paper in this special issue of the journal Sustainability.
Regulatory Measurements in Policy Coordinated Practices: The Case of Promoting Renewable Energy and Cleaner Transport in Sweden
Authors: Hansson Lisa , Nerhagen Lena
Published: March 2019

International organisations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU), are seeking to implement a cohesive Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) system in order to achieve better regulation and increased unity and transparency. Central to these evaluations is the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and related tools. A comprehensive analysis of the use of impact assessment in the EU shows that many assessments lack important economic components. This paper draws on an extensive document study of the Swedish policy making process related to the EU Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The aim of the paper is to examine how CBA is presented, negotiated and accounted for by central actors within a policy setting influenced by negotiation and policy coordination. The paper departs from a theoretical perspective on policy coordination and shows how this factor must be considered when explaining the low use of CBA. It concludes that the Swedish policy tradition, wherein the national government relies on consensus-based coordination between agencies, might counteract a more explicit assessment of different policy options. The paper also proposes a model that can be used for further studies on CBA and policy coordination.
Impacts of Caregivers’ Nutrition Knowledge and Food Market Accessibility on Preschool Children’s Dietary Diversity in Remote Communities in Southeast Nigeria
Authors: Onyeneke Robert Ugochukwu , Nwajiuba Chinyere Augusta , Igberi Christiana Ogonna , Umunna Amadi Mark , Anosike Francis Chidi , Oko-Isu Anthony , Munonye Jane , Uwadoka Christian , Adeolu Adewale Iyaniwura
Published: March 2019

Empirical evidence is scanty on the nexus between caregivers’ nutrition knowledge, market accessibility, and preschool children’s dietary diversity in remote communities of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. To fill this gap, this study evaluated the effects of caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and access to food market on dietary diversity of preschool children. We used cross-sectional data from four hundred households selected from twenty remote communities in Southeast Nigeria. The study adopted instrumental variable regression to estimate the impacts of nutrition knowledge and food market access on preschool children’s dietary diversity. The findings show that in remote communities, caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and households’ closeness to the market improved preschool children’s dietary diversity. The study demonstrates the potential of improving preschool children’s nutrition outcomes through enhancing access to food market and the nutrition knowledge of the caregivers.
Farmers’ Perceptions of the Warehouse Receipt System in Indonesia
Authors: Gunawan Endro , Kuwornu John K. , Datta Avishek , Nguyen Loc
Published: March 2019

This study assessed farmers’ perceptions of the warehouse receipt system (WRS) in the West Java Province in Indonesia. Primary data were collected from 500 farmers through questionnaire administration. The results of the weighted average index revealed that there was a strong perception that the WRS is not well known, provides easy access to credit, and limited access for smallholder farmers. Moreover, there was a weak perception that the WRS has complicated regulations and slowed delivery of warehouse receipts. The main problems include lack of awareness, lack of facilities and limited access for smallholders. The implications for improving the implementation of the WRS are presented.
Accounting for Individual Differences in Connectedness to Nature: Personality and Gender Differences
Authors: Di Fabio Annamaria , Rosen Marc A.
Published: March 2019

In the psychology of sustainability and the sustainable development framework, regarding the specific focus on the natural environment, the construct of connectedness to nature is studied in depth for its potential for environmental management. The present research focuses on individual differences, examining the relationships between connectedness to nature and the Big Five personality traits in 459 Italian university students. This work analyzes whether gender differences emerge with respect to connectedness to nature, answering a more exploratory research question, since previous studies have not considered this aspect. The results show that agreeableness and extraversion are positively associated with connectedness to nature in Italian university students. No gender differences emerged with respect to connectedness to nature. Also, the relationship between connectedness to nature and personality traits was mainly found to be gender invariant. Future perspectives for research and intervention are offered in the psychology of sustainability and the sustainable development framework.
Lighting Professionals versus Light Pollution Experts? Investigating Views on an Emerging Environmental Concern
Authors: Schulte-Römer Nona , Meier Josiane , Dannemann Etta , Söding Max
Published: March 2019

Concerns about the potential negative effects of artificial light at night on humans, flora and fauna, were originally raised by astronomers and environmentalists. Yet, we observe a growing interest in what is called light pollution among the general public and in the lighting field. Although lighting professionals are often critical of calling light ‘pollution’, they increasingly acknowledge the problem and are beginning to act accordingly. Are those who illuminate joining forces with those who take a critical stance towards artificial light at night? We explore this question in more detail based on the results of a non-representative worldwide expert survey. In our analysis, we distinguish between “lighting professionals” with occupational backgrounds linked to lighting design and the lighting industry, and “light pollution experts” with mostly astronomy- and environment-related professional backgrounds, and explore their opposing and shared views vis-à-vis issues of light pollution. Our analysis reveals that despite seemingly conflicting interests, lighting professionals and light pollution experts largely agree on the problem definition and problem-solving approaches. However, we see diverging views regarding potential obstacles to light pollution mitigation and associated governance challenges.
Is There Any Difference in the Effect of Different R and D Sources on Carbon Intensity in China?
Authors: Feng Feng , Peng Linlin
Published: March 2019

In recent decades, climate change, mostly caused by CO2 emissions, has become a critical issue of concern to people worldwide. It is necessary for countries all around the world to reduce carbon emissions. China, as the world’s largest carbon emitter, is under great pressure to implement carbon-reduction strategies. Technological progress plays a crucial role in balancing environmental and economic development. The main objective of this work is to empirically compare the effects of government and enterprise research and development (R and D) on carbon-emission reduction using the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2009 to 2016. The effects of both government and enterprise R and D investment on carbon intensity are compared in detail through a linear model and a threshold-regression model. Linear-regression results shows that both government and enterprise R and D decrease carbon intensity, while enterprise investment tends to be more instant. Further threshold-regression results indicate that the effects of government and enterprise R and D on carbon intensity are different in different urbanization stages. Guiding enterprises to invest in R and D in medium-developing areas, and increasing government support and subsidies for R and D activities in underdeveloped areas should be an important goal of the government policies.
Research on Role Cognition and Employment Strategy of Rural Female Laborers in Sichuan, China
Authors: Shui Yue , Xu Dingde , Liu Shaoquan
Published: March 2019

Paying attention to role cognition and the employment strategies of female rural laborers has great significance for the improvement of the status of women and the rational transfer of labor forces. However, there are few studies of role cognition amongst the rural female labor workforce. There is even less research on the relationship between role cognition and employment transfer strategies. In this study, a survey of 425 female rural laborers in the Sichuan Province, China, was conducted to construct a role-based cognitive scale in order to measure the cognitive levels of subjective ability, self-role expectations and role conflicts. This paper divides employment strategy into four aspects: Actual workplaces, workplace preferences, actual industries, and industry preferences. An unorganized multi-classification logistic regression model was constructed in order to explore the relationship between the role cognition and employment strategy selections. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between employment expectations and realities. Rural females with more equal modern role cognition had a higher expectation of employment. Meanwhile, those who had a strong feeling of role conflicts, tended to work in other places and choose secondary and tertiary industries. However, in reality, most were unemployed. The conflict of roles clearly restricts employment options of the rural female workforce. This study enhances our understanding of the relationship between the perceptions of the Chinese female labor workforce and the employment strategies used. The findings can help to provide a reference for guiding employment policies and the flow of the female labor workforce.
Toward Sustainable and Low Carbon Road Transportation: Policies, Tools, and Planning Methods
Authors: Monzon Andres , Wang Yang
Published: March 2019

The road sector is the dominant transport mode in terms of demand for both passengers and goods [...]
The Impact of Financial Sector Development and Sophistication on Sustainable Economic Growth
Authors: Paun Cristian Valeriu , Musetescu Radu Cristian , Topan Vladimir Mihai , Danuletiu Dan Constantin
Published: March 2019

The drivers of economic growth and development are among the most important issues explored by economic theory. Sustainability of economic development was previously linked by various economic schools of thought to natural resources (agriculture, land, minerals, metals etc.), labor force (including skills, productivity, and education), entrepreneurship or technology and innovation. Capital was later introduced by classical economic theory as the key element. Without significant capital accumulation, all other production factors remain idle. The value added of the production process is a result of the existence, the accessibility and the cost of capital. Therefore, the development and the sophistication of the financial sector has gradually become very important for any nation interested in sustainable growth. This paper investigates the impact of financial sector development, sophistication and performance on economic growth based on a panel regression methodology. We found statistically significant results that confirm the importance of this connection and that are very consistent with economic theory and previous relevant articles and studies.
Visualizing Sustainability of Selective Mountain Farming Systems from Far-eastern Himalayas to Support Decision Making
Authors: Shakya Bandana , Shrestha Anil , Sharma Ghanashyam , Gurung Tulsi , Mihin Dollo , Yang Shuo , Jamir Amba , Win Soe , Han Xi , Yang Yongping , Choudhury Dhrupad , Schneider Flurina
Published: March 2019

Mountain farming systems rely on both empirical and academic knowledge. Their sustainability depends on how effectively diverse knowledge is used for solution-oriented decision making. For mountains, decisions must be conducive to rural farmers whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and related activities. Adopting transdisciplinary research approach, we define a composite Sustainability Space indicator that will help decision makers better understand the ingredients for sustainability, and formulate policy and management decisions to reinforce on-the-ground sustainability. Sustainability Space was derived through analysis of the positive and negative impact factors co-defined by community and disciplinary experts, and visualized through a radar diagram. We used Principal Component Analysis to understand relationships between factors. The results on Sustainability Spaces for eight cases of farming systems from the far-Eastern Himalayas indicated that the sustainability of farming systems is strengthened if decisions holistically cater to (i) geophysical pre-requisites, (ii) ecological foundations, (iii) integrated processes and practices, (iv) resources, knowledge, and value systems, (v) stakeholders’ development and economic aspirations, (vi) well-being of farming communities, and (vii) government support mechanisms. More equitable the attention to these seven components, the higher the sustainability of farming systems in this region could be.
A Proposed Index of the Implementation and Maturity of Circular Economy Practices—The Case of the Pulp and Paper Industries of Portugal and Spain
Authors: Ferreira Inês de Abreu , de Castro Fraga Manuel , Godina Radu , Souto Barreiros Marta , Carvalho Helena
Published: March 2019

High industrial development, new consumption habits, and population growth have led to a discussion, in the various sectors of society, about resource scarcity, pollutant emissions, and waste generation. As a result, and in opposition to the linear economic model in which products are eliminated after production and consumption, a new business model emerged, called the “The Circular Economy”. This model is based on reuse, recovery, recycling, and repairing during the design and use cycle of a product. This research intends to make a study of the circular economy in the pulp and paper industries of Portugal and Spain. This sector was chosen because, in addition to representing about 2.5% of Portugal’s industrial production, it has made significant efforts to promote environmentally sustainable development. Therefore, this research intends to present the situation of the pulp and paper sector within the circular economy, making an Iberian comparison between the years 2011 and 2015. This comparison is made through the development of a comparative index based on the results of some environmental indicators. According to the research carried out, the pulp and paper sector in Portugal was about 26% higher in the implementation of the circular economy than the same sector in Spain in 2015, with the peculiarity that this difference has been decreasing in the last five years.
Identifying Causes for the Decline in International Arrivals to China−Perspective of Sustainable Inbound Tourism Development
Authors: Qiao Guanghui , Peng Shuai , Prideaux Bruce , Qiao Man
Published: March 2019

Chinese inbound tourism growth peaked in 2012 and in following years, arrivals have exhibited a downward trend. Over the same time Chinese outbound tourism has increased significantly and by 2016 the number of Chinese outbound tourists (52.7 million) was nearly twice that of international arrivals to China (28.1 million) (CTA, 2018). The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of international tourists visiting China based on destination attributes. For the purposes of this research, Australia was selected as a study site on the grounds that China has been a popular destination for Australian residents. This study examines a range of behavioral factors that may affect intentions to travel to China including: past travel experience to China; perceptions of overseas destination attributes; beliefs in China’s ability to satisfy the needs and constraints that appear to prevent Australian residents from traveling to China; and tourists’ intentions to visit or revisit. Data collected from Australian residents on aspects of travel to China included perceptions, beliefs, constraints, information sources, and past experience. The research shows that past experience was positively associated with intention to visit or revisit. Five constraint factors were identified. Based on these findings, the study discusses practical implications for management and government officials needed to boost Chinese inbound tourism.
Investigation and Evaluation of Energy Consumption Performance for Hospital Buildings in China
Authors: Ji Ru , Qu Shilin
Published: March 2019

Energy use in hospitals is higher than other public buildings, so it is essential to investigate and evaluate its energy consumption performance to save energy. In this paper, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to study energy consumption of hospitals in China. The investigation results show that electricity use accounts for the maximum share in total energy consumption of hospitals, especially in south China. Improving air conditioning systems is the most direct and effective way for realizing hospital building energy savings. What’s more, a new evaluation system of energy-saving performance for hospital buildings was developed. This evaluation system could evaluate performance of energy use in hospital, find out the weakness of energy use, and provide improving suggestions. Furthermore, a kind of visual software was given by our paper, which can be used intuitively by practitioners to evaluate building energy consumption performance of a hospital.
Improving Social Acceptance of Waste-to-Energy Incinerators in China: Role of Place Attachment, Trust, and Fairness
Authors: Hou Guanghui , Chen Tong , Ma Ke , Liao Zhiming , Xia Hongmei , Yao Tianzeng
Published: March 2019

Globally, acceptance among the general public of waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerators is a crucial factor in implementing national waste-to-energy policies. This study aims to shed light on the acceptance of WtE incinerators, with a focus on anti-incinerator sentiment and the influence and interactions of place-, trust-, and fairness-based factors, with a case study in China. A total of 338 residents in the Asuwei area in North Beijing completed a survey on a proposed WtE incinerator in the vicinity. Hierarchical regression analyses indicate that place attachment positively enhances anti-incinerator sentiment through direct effects, as well as moderation and mediation effects between risk perception and opposing willingness. Furthermore, institutional trust negatively moderates the impact of perceived risk on anti-incinerator sentiment, in addition to directly reducing perceived risk. Trust also influences anti-incinerator sentiment via risk perception, attesting to the effectiveness of a casual model of trust. Likewise, fairness perception acts as another determinant of opposing sentiment, similarly to trust. These findings demonstrate the importance of using a range of instrumental and more effective strategies to promote the acceptance of renewable energy infrastructure.
Creative Character Education in Mathematics for Prospective Teachers
Authors: Kim Dong-Joong , Bae Sung-Chul , Choi Sang-Ho , Kim Hee-Jeong , Lim Woong
Published: March 2019

This study examines preservice teachers’ perspectives of creativity and character education in mathematics through a university-based teacher education program. We developed a curricular unit on creative character education in a mathematics methods course and investigated participants’ (n = 56) emerging perspectives of teaching creativity and character by the integration of content and process in mathematics. Data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires and transcribed course discussion and presentation sessions. A quantitative analysis of the questionnaires through a t-test confirmed key changes in participants’ perspectives, while the qualitative context of data illustrates the participants’ emergent views on creative character education in mathematics. Overall, findings suggest that a mathematics teacher education curriculum integrating mathematical creativity and character education has the potential to prepare future educators to implement pedagogy that bridges between process and content in school mathematics for the next generation of learners.
Energy Efficiency and Coverage Trade-Off in 5G for Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Cellular Networks
Authors: Alsharif Mohammed H. , Kelechi Anabi Hilary , Kim Jeong , Kim Jin Hong
Published: March 2019

Recently, cellular networks’ energy efficiency has garnered research interest from academia and industry because of its considerable economic and ecological effects in the near future. This study proposes an approach to cooperation between the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and next-generation wireless networks. The fifth-generation (5G) wireless network aims to negotiate a trade-off between wireless network performance (sustaining the demand for high speed packet rates during busy traffic periods) and energy efficiency (EE) by alternating 5G base stations’ (BSs) switching off/on based on the traffic instantaneous load condition and, at the same time, guaranteeing network coverage for mobile subscribers by the remaining active LTE BSs. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used to determine the optimum criteria of the active LTE BSs (transmission power, total antenna gain, spectrum/channel bandwidth, and signal-to-interference-noise ratio) that achieves maximum coverage for the entire area during the switch-off session of 5G BSs. Simulation results indicate that the energy savings can reach 3.52 kW per day, with a maximum data rate of up to 22.4 Gbps at peak traffic hours and 80.64 Mbps during a 5G BS switched-off session along with guaranteed full coverage over the entire region by the remaining active LTE BSs.
Feature Extraction Method of Transmission Signal in Electronic Communication Network Based on Symmetric Algorithm
Authors: Song Dingyu
Published: March 2019

Because the existing methods extract the signal characteristics of electronic communication networks, there is a problem of poor extraction. In this paper, a feature extraction method based on symmetric algorithm for transmission signals in electronic communication networks is proposed. The transmission signal in the time domain is decomposed by three-layer wavelet packet decomposition through threshold denoising and data dimension reduction. The adaptive floating threshold is used as a threshold to quantify the wavelet coefficients of the signal, which can effectively remove noise while retaining valuable transmission signal. Secondly, the feature extraction algorithm based on symmetric Holder coefficient is used to transform the transmitted signal from time domain to frequency domain, identify the signal sequence, and classify the signal sequence using neural network classifier. The simulation results show that the proposed method can extract the transmission signal of electronic communication network with the highest accuracy of 98.21%. This method can extract the amplitude and frequency characteristics of the transmission signal accurately under strong vibration environment. It is an efficient method for feature extraction of transmission signal.
Fast Retrieval Method of Forestry Information Features Based on Symmetry Function in Communication Network
Authors: Wang Hui , Song Jie
Published: March 2019

Aiming at the problem of insufficient integration and sharing of forestry information resources under the current communication network and the lack of the concept set of forestry information attributes, which leads to poor information retrieval performance, a fast retrieval method of forestry information features based on symmetry function is studied in depth, and the method is implemented by PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)-BA (Buliding Automation). Using the SED (Stream Editor) forestry information acquisition method under a communication network to collect forestry information, a forestry signal noise cancellation method based on symmetric function method is obtained. In order to improve the accuracy of forestry information acquisition, denoising of the signal in the information was carried out. Constructing forestry information data ontology, integrating forestry resources, establishing a conceptual set of forestry information attributes, distinguishing forestry information attributes, establishing a fast retrieval model of forestry information features based on the synonym library, and completing the fast retrieval of forestry information features. The experimental results show that the recall and precision of this method are 99.25% and 99.24%, respectively, and the retrieval performance is superior, which has a certain application value.
On Conformable Double Laplace Transform and One Dimensional Fractional Coupled Burgers’ Equation
Authors: Eltayeb Hassan , Bachar Imed , Kılıçman Adem
Published: March 2019

In the present work we introduced a new method and name it the conformable double Laplace decomposition method to solve one dimensional regular and singular conformable functional Burger’s equation. We studied the existence condition for the conformable double Laplace transform. In order to obtain the exact solution for nonlinear fractional problems, then we modified the double Laplace transform and combined it with the Adomian decomposition method. Later, we applied the new method to solve regular and singular conformable fractional coupled Burgers’ equations. Further, in order to illustrate the effectiveness of present method, we provide some examples.
A New GM(1,1) Model Based on Cubic Monotonicity-Preserving Interpolation Spline
Authors: Zhu Yuanpeng , Jian Zehua , Du Yurui , Chen Wenqing , Fang Jiwei
Published: March 2019

In the classical GM(1,1) model, an accumulated generating operation is made on the original non-negative sequence to obtain a monotone increasing 1-AGO sequence, and the forecasting model is established based on the 1-AGO sequence. A great number of scholars have improved the accuracy of grey model prediction through better developed background value and the equation for the time response. In this work, we reconstruct the background value based on a new developed monotonicity-preserving piecewise cubic interpolations spline, and thereby establish a new GM(1,1) model. Numerical examples show that the new GM(1,1) model has better prediction quality of data than the original GM(1,1) model and improves the precision of prediction in practice.
Broad Bactericidal Activity of the Myoviridae Bacteriophage Lysins LysAm24, LysECD7, and LysSi3 against Gram-Negative ESKAPE Pathogens
Authors: Antonova Nataliia P. , Vasina Daria V. , Lendel Anastasiya M. , Usachev Evgeny V. , Makarov Valentine V. , Gintsburg Alexander L. , Tkachuk Artem P. , Gushchin Vladimir A.
Published: March 2019

The extremely rapid spread of multiple-antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative pathogens threatens to move humankind into the so-called “post-antibiotic era” in which the most efficient and safe antibiotics will not work. Bacteriophage lysins represent promising alternatives to antibiotics, as they are capable of digesting bacterial cell wall peptidoglycans to promote their osmotic lysis. However, relatively little is known regarding the spectrum of lysin bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria. In this study, we present the results of in vitro activity assays of three putative and newly cloned Myoviridae bacteriophage endolysins (LysAm24, LysECD7, and LysSi3). The chosen proteins represent lysins with diverse domain organization (single-domain vs. two-domain) and different predicted mechanisms of action (lysozyme vs. peptidase). The enzymes were purified, and their properties were characterized. The enzymes were tested against a panel of Gram-negative clinical bacterial isolates comprising all Gram-negative representatives of the ESKAPE group. Despite exhibiting different structural organizations, all of the assayed lysins were shown to be capable of lysing Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi strains. Less than 50 μg/mL was enough to eradicate growing cells over more than five orders of magnitude. Thus, LysAm24, LysECD7, and LysSi3 represent promising therapeutic agents for drug development.