bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Deploying Blockchain Technologies in Supply Chain Strategies and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Outlook
Authors: Nabipour Mohammad , Ülkü M. Ali
Published: September 2021

The emergence of a new pandemic, known as COVID-19, has touched various sections of the supply chain (SC). Since then, numerous studies have been conducted on the issue, but the need for a holistic review study that highlights the gaps and limits of previous research, as well as opportunities and agendas for future studies, is palpable. Through a systematic literature review on blockchain technology (BCT) deployment in supply-chain management (SCM) concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, this research seeks to add to the content of previous studies and to enlighten the path for future studies. Relevant papers were found using a variety of resources (Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and ProQuest). Seventy-two articles were systematically selected, considering the PRISMA procedure, and were thoroughly analyzed based on BCT, methodologies, industrial sectors, geographical, and sustainability context. According to our findings, there is a significant lack of empirical and quantitative methodologies in the literature. The majority of studies did not take specific industries into account. Furthermore, the articles focusing on the sustainability context are few, particularly regarding social and environmental issues. In addition, most of the reviewed papers did not consider the geographical context. The results indicate that the deployment of BCT in several sectors is not uniform, and this utilization is reliant on their services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the concentration of research on the impacts of the BCT on SCM differs according to the conditions of various countries in terms of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also show that there is a direct relationship between the deployment of BCT and sustainability factors, such as economic and waste issues, under the circumstances surrounding COVID-19. Finally, this study offers research opportunities and agendas to help academics and other stakeholders to gain a better knowledge of the present literature, recognize aspects that necessitate more exploration, and drive prospective studies.
Study on the Matching Degree between Land Resources Carrying Capacity and Industrial Development in Main Cities of Xinjiang, China
Authors: Liu Yu , Shi Fangchen , He Hongman , Shen Liyin , Luo Wenzhu , Sun Lingyun
Published: September 2021

The contradiction between industrial development (ID) and land resource carrying capacity (LRCC) is increasingly intensified with the rapid advancement of urbanization globally. This typical phenomenon exists particularly in these developing countries or regions. This study investigated the matching degree (MD) between ID and LRCC by using a coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) with referring to the main cities of Xinjiang, China. The data used in this study was collected from 16 sample cities in Xinjiang for the period of 2009–2018. The research findings reveal that (1) MD average value between 16 sample cities has been gaining steady growth; (2) although MD value in all sample cities has been increasing, there still exists a big room for improvement towards a well matching state; (3) the differences in MD values among all sample cities are very small; (4) the MD performance in the northern cities in Xinjiang is better than that in southern Xinjiang. This is mainly because of the radiation effect of Urumqi in northern cities. It is therefore suggested developing such a radiation city in southern Xinjiang in order to improve MD performance in southern Xinjiang. These research findings can provide policymakers in Xinjiang and other backward cities globally with valuable references in understanding the status of MD between ID and LRCC in the local cities, thus tailor-made policy instruments can be designated for the mission of sustainable development.
Organizational Justice and Leadership Behavior Orientation as Predictors of Employees Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Croatia
Authors: Bakotić Danica , Bulog Ivana
Published: September 2021

The aim of this paper was to examine the role of organizational justice and leadership behavior orientation in predicting job satisfaction by focusing on three organizational justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and two leadership behavior orientations (task and relations-oriented behaviors). The empirical research was conducted in Croatia, during 2019. The research sample included 298 participants. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to empirically test proposed hypotheses focusing on organizational justice and leadership behavior orientation as predictors of employees’ job satisfaction. Research results showed that interactional justice, distributive justice and relations-oriented leadership behavior have an almost equally powerful impact on job satisfaction. Those variables are based on social relations, which revealed the importance of connections among people and social interactions for job satisfaction development. Additionally, findings suggested that procedural justice and task-oriented leadership behavior did not affect employees’ job satisfaction. These results additionally bring social interactions in the focus of job satisfaction development. A better and more in-depth understanding of these links allows management to be efficient in rapidly changing organizational circumstances to stimulate employees to work effectively. Therefore, in order to enhance employees’ job satisfaction, managers need to create a working environment that is friendly, honest, and encouraging. They have to pay attention to relationships with their employees, providing them the perception of justice, respect, and trust, as well as motivation in everyday activities. Upcoming lines of research should put effort into further exploration of this cognition, by exploring some other social relations variables and their mediational impact on job satisfaction.
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Linking Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy to Intention to Stay in the Hospitality Industry Based on Internship Experience
Authors: Wang Chung-Jen
Published: September 2021

Internships are increasingly being used in the hospitality industry, as these can provide students with opportunities to examine their abilities, interests, and career decisions in a workplace context, as well as help cultivate human resources within this sector. This study thus examines students’ career decision-making self-efficacy with regard to internships. Based on social cognitive theory and career decision-making self-efficacy theory, we developed the research constructs with a focus group interview and a review of the existing literature, and then verified their content validity and scale reliability. Using 782 student data from the hospitality management departments, we found the direct influence of career decision-making self-efficacy in relation to internships on the intention to stay in the hospitality industry. Most important of all, we also found the mediating roles of internship satisfaction and career commitment in the relationship between decision-making self-efficacy and intention to stay in the hospitality industry, as well as the moderating roles of intrinsic motivation in the relationships among career decision-making self-efficacy, internship satisfaction, career commitment, and intention to stay in the hospitality industry. The theoretical and practical implications of these results in the context of hospitality will be discussed.
Convergence, Development, and Energy-Intensive Infrastructure in Africa: A Review of the Evidence
Authors: Ramachandran Vijaya
Published: September 2021

The structural changes in an economy that accompany its growth to high-income status have been predictable in Europe, the United States, and Asia, characterized by declining employment in agriculture and rising levels of urbanization driven by jobs in the modern industrial sector. As agricultural productivity rises, the share of people employed in agriculture declines, and both urbanization and employment in manufacturing increase. Food prices fall relative to wages, causing the share of income spent on food to decline to very low levels. Asian countries have followed a similar path, although at a much faster pace. Africa, however, is different. Despite a high share of the population in urban areas, most African countries have yet to see significant increases in agricultural productivity that might drive industrial growth and jobs. The rising share of urban population has not been matched by increases in agricultural productivity, falling food prices, or the emergence of a viable industrial sector. Available evidence shows that agricultural yields in Africa are low and food is costly, while the share of employment in agriculture remains high. For the process of structural transformation to get underway, African countries must invest in the manufacture of fertilizer, develop better methods of water control, improve transportation, and invest in cold storage. Each of these interventions requires significant amounts of energy, including energy from fossil fuels, and they are not replaceable—countries have managed structural transformation in different ways but to date none have leapfrogged the process.
Artificial Intelligence and Bio-Inspired Soft Computing-Based Maximum Power Plant Tracking for a Solar Photovoltaic System under Non-Uniform Solar Irradiance Shading Conditions—A Review
Authors: Ali Amjad , Irshad Kashif , Khan Mohammad Farhan , Hossain Md Moinul , Al-Duais Ibrahim N. A. , Malik Muhammad Zeeshan
Published: September 2021

Substantial progress in solar photovoltaic (SPV) dissemination in grid-connected and standalone power generation systems has been witnessed during the last two decades. However, weather intermittency has a non-linear characteristic impact on solar photovoltaic output, which can cause considerable loss in the system’s overall output. To overcome these inevitable losses and optimize the SPV output, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is mounted in the middle of the power electronics converters and SPV to achieve the maximum output with better precision from the SPV system under intermittent weather conditions. As MPPT is considered an essential part of the SPV system, up to now, many researchers have developed numerous MPPT techniques, each with unique features. A Google Scholar survey from 2015–2021 was performed to scrutinize the number of published review papers in this area. An online search established that on different MPPT techniques, overall, 100 review articles were published; out of these 100, seven reviews on conventional MPPT techniques under shading or partial shading and only four under non-uniform solar irradiance are published. Unfortunately, no dedicated review article has explicitly focused on soft computing MPPT (SC-MPPT) techniques. Therefore, a comprehensive review of articles on SC-MPPT techniques is desirable, in which almost all the familiar SC-MPPT techniques have to be summarized in one piece. This review article concentrates explicitly on soft computing-based MPPT techniques under non-uniform irradiance conditions along with their operating principles, block/flow diagram. It will not only be helpful for academics and researchers to provide a future direction in SC-MPPT optimization research, but also help the field engineers to select the appropriate SC-MPPT for SPV according to system design and environmental conditions.
A Multidimensional Model of Sustainable Renewable Energy Linking Purchase Intentions, Attitude and User Behavior in Nigeria
Authors: Ashinze Paul Chibuogwu , Tian Jian , Ashinze Peter Chiedu , Nazir Mehrab , Shaheen Imrab
Published: September 2021

This study investigates the challenges to Nigeria’s renewable energy growth; specifically, it analyzes the factors that influence the intention to use renewable energy in Nigeria. This paper was based on the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, the diffusion of innovation theory, and previous studies on acceptance. The proposed hypotheses have been tested using structured questionnaires based on a sample of 500 Nigerian family heads. A structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze the relationships of the studied variables—relative advantage, ease of use, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, awareness, cost, attitude, income, gender, age, and education—with purchase intention. The study findings show that attitude has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between intention to use and determinants (relative advantage, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, ease of use, cost and awareness) and no significant impact on the purchase intention of the control variables (income, education, age, and gender) in the structural model. The study’s results support business decisions in the renewable energy sub-sector in Nigeria and other developing nations. Furthermore, the results of this study could serve as a reference for the government to make decisions concerning the implementation of renewable energy.
Investigation on the Effect of Platform Height on Smoke Characteristics of Fire Scenarios for Subway Stations
Authors: Xu Desheng , Li Yanfeng , Li Junmei , Zhang Jin , Li Jiaxin
Published: September 2021

In this study, three full-scale experiments and a series of numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of subway platform height and atrium ceiling height of subway stations on smoke control by mechanical exhausting systems. The smoke temperature variation with time, maximum temperature distribution, and smoke stratification were discussed. Results showed that the atrium had capacity to store smoke, especially at the early stage of smoke spread. However, the efficiency of smoke extraction did not increase simply with the rise in platform height and atrium ceiling height, and favorable smoke exhaust velocity was crucial for smoke elimination. The optimal smoke exhaust velocity was studied by numerical simulation and it was found that the area of smoke diffusion in subway stations with a higher platform was significantly smaller under the optimal smoke exhaust velocity. In addition, a prediction model of optimal smoke exhaust velocity with subway platform height was proposed. This study could provide on-site data and smoke spread characteristics for smoke control design, operation, and, significantly, guide safety evacuation of the exhaust system of subway stations.
PLM Solutions in the Process of Supporting the Implementation and Maintenance of the Circular Economy Concept in Manufacturing Companies
Authors: Cholewa Mariusz , Minh Luan Huynh Ba
Published: September 2021

The Circular Economy (CE) is a priority topic for various stakeholders such as politicians, scientists, and industry. However, despite the significant interest in CE, there is still a lack of a framework explaining how manufacturing companies willing to become circular adapt their existing business model. The concept of this work is based on the use of Information Technologies such as the well-known and long-proven Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions in the implementation and maintenance of the CE concept to reduce the consumption of primary raw materials, increase employment rates, and reduce environmental damage. This paper aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of using the PLM approach to implement the CE concept. The authors selected the most common and effective PLM functionalities and then assessed them to support selected components of the CE concept using qualitative and quantitative methods. The performed assessment and the inter-relation matrix of benefits developed on its basis allowed for pointing out the feature combinations that would bring the best outcome. The conducted study proved that the implemented and properly working PLM solution could simultaneously support CE concepts. PLM functionalities such as (1) product development, (2) transparency, and (3) value-maximizing with the combination of CE functional areas of (1) personalization, (2) made to order, and support turned out to be particularly effective. This study contributes to ensuring an effective and quick process of implementing CE concept in manufacturing companies and moreover opens further research ideas in bringing the Circular Economy to life.
Application of the Hierarchy Analysis Method to Assess Interchanges in Cracow
Authors: Solecka Katarzyna , Dumanowski Łukasz , Taran Igor , Litvinova Yana
Published: September 2021

We propose an assessment methodology of interchanges, which is based on one of four multi-criteria decision aid method, the AHP method, allowing the ranking of interchanges from best to worst with regard to specific criteria. The selected criteria account for different evaluation aspects (social, technical, functional, environmental, and economic ones). The final ranking of the interchanges from best to worst allows making conclusions related to assessed elements of interchanges, which should be improved to make interchanges friendlier to the passengers. The proposed interchange assessment method allows the identification of the weakest elements of the assessed interchanges, which require improvement in order to make the interchanges friendlier for passengers, with a view to increasing the number of passengers and boosting passengers’ willingness to use the interchanges.
Traffic Volume Prediction: A Fusion Deep Learning Model Considering Spatial–Temporal Correlation
Authors: Zheng Yan , Dong Chunjiao , Dong Daiyue , Wang Shengyou
Published: September 2021

In this paper, a fusion deep learning model considering spatial–temporal correlation is proposed to solve the problem of urban road traffic flow prediction. Firstly, this paper holds that the traffic flow of a section in the urban road network not only depends on the fluctuation of its own time series, but is also related to the traffic flow of other sections in the whole region. Therefore, a traffic flow similarity measurement method based on wavelet decomposition and dynamic time warping is proposed to screen the sections which are similar to the traffic flow state of the target section. Secondly, in order to improve the prediction accuracy, the unstable time series are reconstructed into stationary time series by differential method. Finally, taking the extracted traffic flow data of a similar section as an independent variable and the traffic flow data of target section as dependent variable, we input the above variables into the proposed CNN-LSTM fusion deep learning model for traffic flow prediction. The results show that the proposed model has a higher accuracy and stability than the other benchmark models. The MAPE can reach 92.68%, 93.39%, 85.14%, and 76.14% at a time interval of 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min, and the other evaluation indexes are also better than the rest of the benchmark models.
Lean Manufacturing Tools Applied to Material Flow and Their Impact on Economic Sustainability
Authors: García-Alcaraz Jorge Luis , Díaz Reza José Roberto , Sánchez Ramírez Cuauhtémoc , Limón Romero Jorge , Jiménez Macías Emilio , Lardies Carlos Javierre , Rodríguez Medina Manuel Arnoldo
Published: September 2021

This paper presents a second-order structural equation model that analyzes three lean manufacturing tools associated with material flow, such as 5S, SMED, and continuous flow related to economic sustainability. The variables relate to each other through six hypotheses, tested with 169 responses to a questionnaire applied to the Mexican maquiladora industry, using the partial least squares technique and 95% confidence to estimate direct, the sum of indirect, and total effects. In addition, an analysis with conditional probabilities appears to determine how low and high implementation levels in independent variables affect the dependent variables’ occurrence. Findings indicate that 5S is a lean manufacturing tool with the most increased direct effects on SMED and continuous flow. Additionally, values indicate that SMED is essential to maintain continuous flow in production lines and is vital for economic sustainability due to the time reduction in setup.
Post-Pandemic Urbanism: Criteria for a New Normal
Authors: Neuman Michael , Chelleri Lorenzo , Schuetze Thorsten
Published: September 2021

Globalization, tourism, virtuality, climate change, and the explosive growth of cities have generated a wide range of stressors, pollutants, and toxins that have been ravaging populations. This, coupled with viral, bacterial, and other pandemics, is rapidly creating a new reality that requires public health factors to be integrated more thoroughly into the planning and design of city regions. This prompts a questioning of the role and form of city centers as well as the distribution of people and activities in city regions. This goes beyond more outdoor spaces, places, and activities and new criteria for indoor events. Moreover, public transport, mobility, and infrastructure in general need to be retooled to deal with these emergent circumstances.
Measuring Safety Climate in the Construction Industry: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Han Bumjin , Son Seunghyun , Kim Sunkuk
Published: September 2021

Recent studies on safety in various fields use the concept of safety climate to explain the causes of safety accidents. Many studies attempt to measure the safety climates and identify the causes for accidents in the high-risk construction industry. Studies have shown that the higher the level of the safety climate, the lower the accident rate at construction sites. Methods of measuring safety climate, including the NOSACQ-50 survey, have been presented. Studies on the methodology of measuring safety climate should be continued to improve reliability and precision. Although many studies have been conducted to measure safety climate, such as questionnaires, regression analysis, and suggestions for safety climate measurement methods, there are few studies on a systematic literature review of them. This requires a systematic literature review (SLR) of the studies conducted so far. This study conducted an SLR on the definition and measurement methods of safety climate in the construction industry published since 2000, when safety climate’s impact on accidents began to be established. This review study utilized the PRISMA method, analyzed 735 studies, and selected 57 papers finally. SLR was carried out for selected research works, and the results were summarized. There are three methods to measure safety climate: literature survey, questionnaire, and data analysis. Factor analysis, development of measuring model, development of questionnaire, statistical analysis, and machine learning were investigated as their sub-methods. This study’s results can be used as fundamental sources for improving existing methods and developing new methods of measuring safety climate in the construction industry.
Electronic Commerce for Sustainable Rural Development: Exploring the Factors Influencing BoPs’ Entrepreneurial Intention
Authors: Huang Lijuan , Xie Guojie , Huang Raoyi , Li Guokai , Cai Weiwei , Apostolidis Chrysostomos
Published: September 2021

Rural e-commerce entrepreneurship is an effective and credible means to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable social development, particularly in the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Understanding how to encourage BoPs’ entrepreneurial intention in the rural e-commerce market has become a key issue for private enterprises and local governments. Based on the entrepreneurial event model, we constructed a research framework to evaluate the factors influencing BoPs’ entrepreneurial intention in rural e-commerce. We conducted an online survey of rural e-commerce practitioners from Jieyang and Chaozhou in Guangdong Province, China, and empirically analyzed the survey results using SmartPLS software. The results show that professional knowledge, resource endowment, information and communication technology, and logistics infrastructure have a significant positive impact on BoP entrepreneurship in rural e-commerce, while previous market channels had a significant negative impact. Based on the findings, we recommend that BoPs should focus more on cultivating professional knowledge in e-commerce entrepreneurship and capitalize on local resource advantage. E-commerce enterprises and local governments should strengthen and improve information communication technology and logistics infrastructure among BoP communities. Policymakers should support BoP entrepreneurship in rural e-commerce by creating a favorable environment.
Two-Year Non-Destructive Evaluation of Eco-Efficient Concrete at Ambient Temperature and after Freeze-Thaw Cycles
Authors: Abed Mohammed A. , Tayeh Bassam A. , Abu Bakar B. H. , Nemes Rita
Published: September 2021

The increasing demand for eco-efficient concrete puts pressure on the industry to innovate new alternatives for its constituent materials. Coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RA) and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are considered promising substitutes for coarse natural aggregates (NA) and cement, respectively. Using destructive and non-destructive testing methods, the present work aims to evaluate the effect of RA and different types of waste SCMs on the long-term performance of self-compacting high-performance concrete (SCHPC). Twenty-one mixes that were prepared with a 0.35 water-to-binder ratio were tested for their compressive strength, surface hardness, and ultrasonic pulse velocity. These tests were conducted over a two-year period at ambient temperature and again after exposure to up to 150 freeze–thaw cycles. Study findings demonstrated the possibility of developing eco-efficient SCHPC mixes using RA and waste SCMs. In addition, correlations have been introduced for predicting the compressive strength of SCHPC.
A Systematic Literature Review of Inclusive Climate Change Adaption
Authors: Pham Ha , Saner Marc
Published: September 2021

Inclusive approaches have been applied in many areas, including human resources, international development, urban planning, and innovation. This paper is a systematic literature review to describe the usage trends, scope, and nature of the inclusive approach in the climate change adaptation (CCA) context. We developed search algorithms, explicit selection criteria, and a coding questionnaire, which we used to review a total of 106 peer-reviewed articles, 145 grey literature documents, and 67 national communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); 318 documents were reviewed in total. Quantitatively, the methodology reveals a slight increase in usage, with a focus on non-Annex 1 countries, gender issues, and capacity building. Qualitatively, we arranged the key insights into the following three categories: (1) inclusion in who or what adapts; (2) motivating inclusive processes; and (3) anticipated outcomes of inclusive CCA. We conclude, with the observation, that many issues also apply to Annex 1 countries. We also argue that the common language nature of the word ‘inclusive’ makes it applicable to other CCA-relevant contexts, including government subsidies, science policy, knowledge integration and mobilization, performance measurement, and the breadth of the moral circle that a society should adopt.
Study on the Effect and Mechanism of Alkali–Silica Reaction Expansion in Glass Concrete
Authors: Huang Da , Sun Pengliang , Gao Pengfei , Liu Guangyan , Wang Yuanhao , Chen Xuandong
Published: September 2021

The suppression of ASR expansion hazards of glass concrete has always been a key and hot issue in the research of glass concrete. According to the ASTM C1260-14 fast mortar rod method, glass sand and glass powder act as fine aggregate and auxiliary cementing material, respectively. The changes in expansion rate with different amounts of glass sand content and different particle sizes of glass powder in mortar rods were compared, and the effects of glass sand content and the glass powder particle size on the expansion of ASR were analyzed. SEM was used to compare and analyze the microstructure of mortar rods to explore the mechanism of ASR expansion of glass concrete, and the results showed that the addition of glass powder had a certain inhibitory effect on ASR expansion. The larger the particle size of glass powder was, the better the inhibition effect on ASR expansion and the longer its duration. Compared with the three groups of experiments of 0–13 μm, 13–38 μm, and 38–75 μm, it was found that the influence of the glass powder particle size on the expansion of ASR was weaker than that of dosage. The inhibitory effect of glass powder on ASR expansion is related to the fact that glass powder is more involved in pozzolanic reaction in the early hydration process.
Global Challenges of Digital Transformation of Markets: Collaboration and Digital Assets
Authors: Yadykin Vladimir , Barykin Sergey , Badenko Vladimir , Bolshakov Nikolai , de la Poza Elena , Fedotov Alexander
Published: September 2021

Cyber-physical system (CPS) and digital twin (DT) technologies are the key enablers of smart manufacturing. The main idea of CPS is to build bi-directional interaction channels between the physical and cyber worlds. The research gap is ontological consideration of the concept of the digital object (DO) as a representation of a physical object (PO) in the digital space/world. The objective of this study is an ontological analysis of the digital object (DO). This object is fairly well-understood from a technical point of view; although there are many options for its definition, its basic composition and functionality are defined clearly, but currently in the economic science DO has not yet been enough considered. The DO, which first appeared as a digital twin has not been properly explored by economic science. Authors attempt to determine whether all the properties and characteristics of the DO are described by modern economic language or whether there is a need to introduce new concepts and categories to describe such objects. The ontological analysis of the DO within the existing conceptual framework of economic science is presented. The result of the research is comprehensive study of DO which allows the consideration of the additional benefits that economic actors can gain from using the DO. We propose to analyze the DO in terms of such economic categories as goods; innovation process; the system of division of labor; the role of market participants in the creation and use of the DO; intellectual property; etc.
Tourist Satisfaction, Willingness to Revisit and Recommend, and Mountain Kangyang Tourism Spots Sustainability: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach
Authors: Zeng Liyun , Yi Man Li Rita
Published: September 2021

The rapid development of society and economy has imposed insurmountable pressure on the urban population, and many people suffer from sub-health conditions. Kangyang tourism (KT), which combines the concepts of health preservation, ecological resources, and tourism activities, has developed rapidly in China since the concept was first introduced. Although previous studies have examined the relationship among experience, satisfaction, and intention, there is a lack of study of experience value’s impact on Mountain Kangyang Tourim Spots’ Sustainability, that is, willingness to revisit and recommend to other potential tourists. Consequently, an “experience value (functional value, contextual value, emotional value, cognitive value, economic value), satisfaction and post-trip willingness to revisit and recommend” framework is suggested to examine mountain Kangyang tourism (MKT). Data were collected from 500 tourists after visiting five well-known MKT destinations in Panzhihua city. Using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, the results suggest that tourist satisfaction plays an important role in experience value as well as willingness to revisit and recommend the MKT spots after their revisits. Our research offers some practical suggestions for MKT destination operators when they design and provide MKT destinations. The results would be useful for governments and non-profit organizations which attempt to promote MKT.
Not All Demands Are Exhausted for Healthcare Workers. A Cross-Lagged Study on the Buffering Effect of Leadership Resources
Authors: Baka Łukasz , Ścigała Dawid , Grala Krzysztof
Published: September 2021

This study investigated the cross-lagged effects of a three job demands on exhaustion and buffering function of leadership resources among Polish healthcare workers. Job demands include quantitative and two emotional (related to engaging in the patient’s personal problems and related to hiding emotions) demands, while leadership resources include quality of leadership and trust in management. The study was conducted in two waves (both of them in COVID-19 pandemic), with a one-year interval between the measurements. Data were collected among 1251 healthcare workers. A moderated regression analysis showed that quantitative demands and demands for hiding emotions (T1 but not emotionally engagement in the patient’s personal problems) were related to high exhaustion (T2). Both leadership resources (T1) diminished the negative impact of quantitative (not emotional) demands on exhaustion, but the buffering effect of trust was stronger. Furthermore, the two leadership resources interact with each other and together neutralize the effects of quantitative demands. Specifically, the lowest level of exhaustion was observed in those healthcare workers who had high levels of both resources, measured one year before. The implications for theory and research on the effects of different job demands on exhaustion in pandemic are discussed.
Making the Gold Coast a Smart City—An Analysis
Authors: Khanjanasthiti Isara , Chandrasekar Kayalvizhi Sundarraj , Bajracharya Bhishna
Published: September 2021

In recent times, there has been a worldwide trend towards creating smart cities with a focus on the knowledge economy and on information and communication technologies. These technologies have potential applications in managing the built and natural environments more efficiently, promoting economic development, and actively engaging the public, thus helping build more sustainable cities. Whilst the interest in smart cities has been widespread predominantly amongst metropolitan cities, several regional cities such as the Gold Coast in Australia have also recently endeavoured to become smart cities. In response to this emerging trend, this study aimed to investigate key opportunities and challenges associated with developing regional cities into smart cities using the Gold Coast as a case study. It identified key factors critical to the planning and development of smart cities. These factors fall under five broad themes: cultural and natural amenities, technology, knowledge and innovation precincts, people and skills, and governance. The factors were applied to the Gold Coast to analyse the key opportunities and challenges for its development into a smart city. Finally, key lessons, which are potentially applicable to other regional cities seeking to develop into smart cities, are drawn from the case study.
Transformation towards Risk-Sensitive Urban Development: A Systematic Review of the Issues and Challenges
Authors: Roslan Ahmad Farhan , Fernando Terrence , Biscaya Sara , Sulaiman Noralfishah
Published: September 2021

Risk-sensitive urban development is an innovative planning approach that can transform the way cities are built in order to face the uncertainties that arise from climate-induced disaster risks. However, the potential to initiate such a transformative approach has not materialized because of the many underlying issues that need to be understood properly. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic review to gather empirical evidence on the issues and challenges in implementing risk-sensitive urban development. The study identified forty-six issues and challenges under seven key themes that need addressing in order to facilitate the desirable transition: trade-offs, governance, fragmentation and silos, capacity, design and development, data, and funding. The issues and challenges that exist under trade-offs for negotiating solutions for risk-sensitive urban development and the governance of multiple stakeholders were identified as the top two areas that need attention in facilitating the desirable transition. This study also revealed that important information, such as scientific information, hazard and risk information, temporal and spatial information, and critical local details are not being produced and shared between stakeholders in decision-making. A profound participatory process that involves all the stakeholders in the decision-making process was identified as the pathway to ensure equitable outcomes in risk-sensitive urban development.
Numerical Assessment of an Innovative Design of an Evacuated Tube Solar Collector Incorporated with PCM Embedded Metal Foam/Plate Fins
Authors: Dhaou Mohamed Houcine , Mellouli Sofiene , Alresheedi Faisal , El-Ghoul Yassine
Published: September 2021

The objective of this manuscript is to study the possibility of improving the thermal performance of an Evacuated Tube Solar Collector (ETSC) with the integration of a Phase Change Material (PCM) incorporated into metallic foam and fitted with plate fins. A 2D mathematical model has been proposed. Two types of metal foams (copper and nickel) were inserted. In addition, the effect of metal foam pore size of on heat transfer was studied. The results were acquired through numerical simulations of four different cases; namely, Case 1: pure PCM, Case 2: with metal foam, Case 3: with fins and Case 4: with metal foam and fins. The evaluation procedure involved observing the total change in Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) temperature and melted PCM fraction during a single day. The results proved that the thermal performance of ETSC is improved considerably by inserting metal foam and fins simultaneously. The time required for the whole process is improved by almost 9% compared to the case of pure PCM, and 2% compared to the case of inserting only plate fins. Results revealed that the pore size of the metal foams slightly affects the dynamic process of heat storage/release in the ETSC/PCM system.
Importance of Soil Organic Matter and the Species Pool for Local Species Richness in Montane Ecosystems
Authors: Li Xiang , Hu Wenhao , Yu Zhenrong
Published: September 2021

Understanding the response of plant species richness to environmental filters is critical for conservation management as there is an increasing emphasis on plant restoration in urban/rural planning. However, empirical studies on the effects that the regional species pool has on plant species richness often overlook small spatial scales, therefore requiring more comprehensive approaches. As mountains can act as barriers to plant dispersal, the impact on the species pool, particularly, should be a priority. This study aimed to investigate how the regional species pool affects the local plant species richness in a multivariate context. We sampled vascular plant communities along three transects located in three valleys across the Chongli District, China, where four common habitat types were selected for sampling: grassland, shrubbery, pure forest, and mixed forest. We compared the differences in the multi-scale species richness and species composition between habitats and regions and used piecewise structural equation modeling to analyze the relative importance of the regional species pool, habitat species pool, soil resource availability, and exposure for local plant richness. The β-diversity had the highest contribution to the total species richness between valleys and habitats. The species composition between regions and habitats showed a significant difference and the local species richness was most strongly affected by the soil characteristics, but effects from the regional species pool still played an important role. Conservation efforts and urban/rural planning should use a multi-level and multi-scale approach based on a detailed structural investigation.
Identification of Coupling and Influencing Factors between Urbanization and Ecosystem Services in Guanzhong, China
Authors: Chen Yiting , Li Zhanbin , Li Peng , Zhang Zipei , Zhang Yixin
Published: September 2021

Urbanization trades off the value of ecosystem services for economic value, either directly or indirectly. Optimizing the synergistic effects of both and identifying the coupled influences associated with human activities are essential for sustainable regional development and policy formulation. In this study, we analyzed the spatial differentiation of regional ecosystem service values and urbanization using ArcGIS 10.2, STATA 15.1, the value coefficient method, the urbanization index model, and the coupled coordination model, assessed their coupled coordination status, and further explored the influencing factors, taking the Guanzhong region of China as an example. The results show that the substrate has an important influence on ecosystem service values, with woodlands being the most important value provider and the largest contribution of regulating service values, with a spatial “center-periphery” ring-band growth distribution. There is a clear hierarchy of urbanization, with the higher the administrative level, the higher the level of urbanization. The overall coupling and coordination of ecosystem services and urbanization is in a non-equilibrium state, with high levels in the south and low levels in the north. Further research on the factors influencing the coupling found that the disposable income of urban residents and the population employed in the tertiary industry had the greatest influence.
A Comparative Analysis of the Use of the Concept of Sustainability in the Romanian Top Universities’ Strategic Plans
Authors: Stoian Claudia E. , Șimon Simona , Gherheș Vasile
Published: September 2021

As the effects of climate change on today’s society make the headlines across the globe, urging all stakeholders to join forces to act and to create a sustainable world, universities have started engaging in the process of building a sustainable future for the generations to come. The sustainable university has thus emerged, a pro-active and collaborative university that performs in several domains. Since the university’s strategic plan is an instance of official and public communication on the future institutional development, its investigation reveals the university’s position towards sustainability. This study highlights the explicit use of the concept of sustainability in the strategic plans for 2020–2024 of the twelve Romanian top universities and points to the sustainable domains associated with it. Moreover, to determine the direction towards which the Romanian top universities are heading, in terms of sustainability, the article draws a comparison with previous research conducted on the strategic plans for 2016–2020. The main conclusion reached is that although there is an increasing tendency to use the concept in the latest strategic plans, building sustainable universities in Romania is still a goal to be achieved in the future.
Assessing Energy Poverty in Urban Regions of Mexico: The Role of Thermal Comfort and Bioclimatic Context
Authors: Cedano Karla G. , Robles-Bonilla Tiare , Santillán Oscar S. , Martínez Manuel
Published: September 2021

The increase of energy access to households has been a global priority. By 2018, 89.59% of the world population had access to electricity, while 97.26% of the persons living in urban areas (The Mexican Government reports it at 99.99%) had access. We must now move beyond access to electricity and address energy poverty in urban spaces. A household is energy poor when their inhabitants are incapable of securing proper domestic energy services. Several different methodologies were developed to measure energy poverty. The Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) by Nussbaumer has been successfully used in Africa and in Latin-America. The MEPI considers five dimensions: cooking, lighting, household appliances, entertainment/education and communication. We developed a Multidimensional Energy Deprivation Index (MEDI), based on MEPI. Thermal comfort has been included as sixth dimension, by considering the temperature of the region where the household is located. We found important differences between MEPI and MEDI for Mexico at the national level (urban-MEPI at 0.028 vs. 0.071 urban-MEDI, which implies a higher degree of energy poverty). Also, differences between geopolitical and bioclimatic regions were found. Having better ways to assess energy poverty in the urban context is a key factor to develop effective public policies that might alleviate it.
Observational Scale Matters for Ecosystem Services Interactions and Spatial Distributions: A Case Study of the Ussuri Watershed, China
Authors: Zhang Jian , Xiang Hengxing , Hashimoto Shizuka , Okuro Toshiya
Published: September 2021

Understanding how observational scale affects the interactions and spatial distributions of ecosystem services is important for effective ecosystem assessment and management. We conducted a case study in the Ussuri watershed, Northeast China, to explore how observational scale (1 km to 15 km grid resolution) influences the correlations and spatial distributions of ecosystem services. Four ecosystem services of particular importance for the sustainable development of the study area were examined: carbon sequestration, habitat provision, soil retention, and water retention. Across the observational scales examined, trade-offs and synergies of extensively distributed ecosystem services were more likely to be robust compared with those of sparsely distributed ecosystem services, and hot/cold-spots of ecosystem services were more likely to persist when associated with large rather than small land-cover patches. Our analysis suggests that a dual-purpose strategy is the most appropriate for the management of carbon sequestration and habitat provision, and cross-scale management strategies are the most appropriate for the management of soil retention and water retention in the study area. Further studies to deepen our understanding of local landscape patterns will help determine the most appropriate observational scale for analyzing the spatial distributions of these ecosystem services.
The Sustainability Dimensions in Intelligent Urban Transportation: A Paradigm for Smart Cities
Authors: Reyes-Rubiano Lorena , Serrano-Hernandez Adrian , Montoya-Torres Jairo R. , Faulin Javier
Published: September 2021

The transportation sector has traditionally been considered essential for commercial activities, although nowadays, it presents clear negative impacts on the environment and can reduce social welfare. Thus, advanced optimization techniques are required to design sustainable routes with low logistic costs. Moreover, these negative impacts may be significantly increased as a consequence of the lack of synergy between the sustainability objectives. Correspondingly, the concept of transport optimization in smart cities is becoming popular in both the real world and academia when public decision making is lit by operations research models. In this paper, however, we argue that the level of urban smartness depends on its sustainability and on the level of information and communication technologies developed in the city. Therefore, the operations research models seek to achieve a higher threshold in the sustainable transport standards in smart cities. Thus, we present a generic definition of smart city, which includes the triple bottom line of sustainability, with the purpose of analyzing its effects on city performance. Finally, this work provides a consolidate study about urban freight transport problems, which show that sustainability is only one facet of the diamond of characteristics that depict a real smart city.