bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Iktishaf+: A Big Data Tool with Automatic Labeling for Road Traffic Social Sensing and Event Detection Using Distributed Machine Learning
Authors: Alomari Ebtesam , Katib Iyad , Albeshri Aiiad , Yigitcanlar Tan , Mehmood Rashid
Published: April 2021

Digital societies could be characterized by their increasing desire to express themselves and interact with others. This is being realized through digital platforms such as social media that have increasingly become convenient and inexpensive sensors compared to physical sensors in many sectors of smart societies. One such major sector is road transportation, which is the backbone of modern economies and costs globally 1.25 million deaths and 50 million human injuries annually. The cutting-edge on big data-enabled social media analytics for transportation-related studies is limited. This paper brings a range of technologies together to detect road traffic-related events using big data and distributed machine learning. The most specific contribution of this research is an automatic labelling method for machine learning-based traffic-related event detection from Twitter data in the Arabic language. The proposed method has been implemented in a software tool called Iktishaf+ (an Arabic word meaning discovery) that is able to detect traffic events automatically from tweets in the Arabic language using distributed machine learning over Apache Spark. The tool is built using nine components and a range of technologies including Apache Spark, Parquet, and MongoDB. Iktishaf+ uses a light stemmer for the Arabic language developed by us. We also use in this work a location extractor developed by us that allows us to extract and visualize spatio-temporal information about the detected events. The specific data used in this work comprises 33.5 million tweets collected from Saudi Arabia using the Twitter API. Using support vector machines, naïve Bayes, and logistic regression-based classifiers, we are able to detect and validate several real events in Saudi Arabia without prior knowledge, including a fire in Jeddah, rains in Makkah, and an accident in Riyadh. The findings show the effectiveness of Twitter media in detecting important events with no prior knowledge about them.
Investigation on Spectrum Estimation Methods for Bimodal Sea State Conditions
Authors: Rossi Giovanni Battista , Crenna Francesco , Berardengo Marta , Piscopo Vincenzo , Scamardella Antonio
Published: April 2021

The reliable monitoring of sea state parameters is a key factor for weather forecasting, as well as for ensuring the safety and navigation of ships. In the current analysis, two spectrum estimation techniques, based on the Welch and Thomson methods, were applied to a set of random wave signals generated from a theoretical wave spectrum obtained by combining wind sea and swell components with the same prevailing direction but different combinations of significant wave heights, peak periods, and peak enhancement factors. A wide benchmark study was performed to systematically apply and compare the two spectrum estimation methods. In this respect, different combinations of wind sea spectra, corresponding to four grades of the Douglas Scale, were combined with three swell spectra corresponding to different swell categories. The main aim of the benchmark study was to systematically investigate the effectiveness of the Welch and Thomson methods in terms of spectrum restitution and the assessment of sea state parameters. The spectrum estimation methods were applied to random wave signals with different durations, namely 600 s (short) and 3600 s (long), to investigate how the record length affected the assembled sea state parameters, which, in turn, were assessed by the nonlinear least square method. Finally, based on the main outcomes of the benchmark study, some suggestions are provided to select the most suitable spectrum reconstruction method and increase the effectiveness of the assembled sea state parameters.
Multi-Radio Based Rendezvous Technique for Heterogeneous Cognitive Radio Sensor Network
Authors: Islam Md. Tahidul , Kandeepan Sithamparanathan , Evans Robin. J.
Published: April 2021

In a distributed cognitive radio (CR) sensor network, transmission and reception on vacant channels require cognitive radio nodes to achieve rendezvous. Because of the lack of adequate assistance from the network environment, such as the central controller and other nodes, assisted rendezvous for distributed CR is inefficient in a dynamic network. As a result, non-assisted blind rendezvous, which is unaware of its counterpart node, has recently led to a lot of interest in the research arena. In this paper, we study a channel rendezvous method based on prime number theory and propose a new multi-radio-based technique for non-assisted rendezvous with the blind and heterogeneous condition. The required time and the optimal number of radios for the guaranteed rendezvous are calculated using probability-based measurement. Analytical expressions for probabilistic guaranteed rendezvous conditions are derived and verified by Monte Carlo simulation. In addition, the maximum time to rendezvous (MTTR) is derived in closed form using statistical and probabilistic analysis. Under different channel conditions, our proposed solution leads to a substantial time reduction for guaranteed rendezvous. For the sake of over-performance of our proposed system, the simulation outcome is compared to a recently proposed heterogeneous and blind rendezvous method. The Matlab simulation results show that our proposed system’s MTTR gains range from 11% to over 95% for various parametric values of the system model.
Investigating Master–Slave Architecture for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Jan Sadeeq , Yafi Eiad , Hafeez Abdul , Khatana Hamza Waheed , Hussain Sajid , Akhtar Rohail , Wadud Zahid
Published: April 2021

A significant increase has been observed in the use of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) over the last few decades. However, there exist several associated challenges with UWSNs, mainly due to the nodes’ mobility, increased propagation delay, limited bandwidth, packet duplication, void holes, and Doppler/multi-path effects. To address these challenges, we propose a protocol named “An Efficient Routing Protocol based on Master–Slave Architecture for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (ERPMSA-UWSN)” that significantly contributes to optimizing energy consumption and data packet’s long-term survival. We adopt an innovative approach based on the master–slave architecture, which results in limiting the forwarders of the data packet by restricting the transmission through master nodes only. In this protocol, we suppress nodes from data packet reception except the master nodes. We perform extensive simulation and demonstrate that our proposed protocol is delay-tolerant and energy-efficient. We achieve an improvement of 13% on energy tax and 4.8% on Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), over the state-of-the-art protocol.
(Re)imagining Entangled Sustainability: A Human and Nonhuman Theorisation of Belonging to Safeguard Sustainability’s Holism
Authors: Sadownik Alicja R. , Gabi Josephine
Published: April 2021

After years of research and theorisation connected to education for sustainable development, the holistic core of sustainability seems to have disappeared within the frames of the social, environmental and economic pillars. This article suggests a post-humanism inspired understanding of a sense of belonging. Even though the phenomenon of belonging is ascribed to social sustainability, the post-human theoretical toolkit challenges the humanism-based understanding of a sense of belonging as a human-related phenomenon. Using Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome and affect concepts and Barad’s concept of intra-action, we show the connections between the human and nonhuman elements constituting each other in our world. We conclude with the implications that using post-human language (to understand belonging) may have for policy, Early Childhood Education and care (ECEC) practice and theory.
Factors that Impact Farmers’ Organic Conversion Decisions
Authors: Karipidis Philippos , Karypidou Sotiria
Published: April 2021

This article helps to answer the question of how the diffusion of organic farming could be accelerated by analyzing farmers’ decisions. Given the fragmentation of the research findings, the determinants of farmers’ organic conversion decisions were integrated into a framework that enables a holistic approach to be adopted in research and policy scheduling. The most important factors of the external farm environment are the organic product demand, product price, access to markets, available technologies, education, knowledge transfer, peer networks, society’s attitudes, and subsidy provision. The most important farm characteristics are the farm’s location, farm size, enterprise, expected costs, profits, knowledge, information and communication technology use, farmers’ age, education, gender, off-farm activities, attitudes, and beliefs regarding organic farming and willingness to preserve the environment. Of particular importance are farmers’ satisfaction with economic incentives, the perception of technical problems, and the certification process. Such comprehensive information enables public authorities to bring about changes in the most important factors that effectively accelerate organic conversion decisions and to assess policy implementation. The market participants are facilitated to implement eco-strategies by encouraging farmers to decide to convert. Future research should broaden the sets of factors that are explored, taking into consideration the interactions and time-dependent changes that exist.
Job Design to Extend Working Time: Work Characteristics to Enable Sustainable Employment of Older Employees in Different Job Types
Authors: den Boer Hiske , van Vuuren Tinka , de Jong Jeroen
Published: April 2021

Due to an aging workforce and an increasing structural labor shortage across Western economies, it is important to design jobs for older workers that support their continued employability. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate how job type (operational, professional and managerial jobs) influences work characteristics older workers need to continue working. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 older (55+) Dutch employees working in the health and education sector. A full thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed, and work characteristics were identified, coded, categorized and compared to discover patterns of similarities and differences between job types. The results show that job types have a number of work characteristics in common: operational job types share autonomy with managers and client interaction with professionals, and professionals and managers share mentorship. Unique work characteristics for operational roles are supervisor support and comfortable workspace. Professionals especially want to use their expertise and flexible working hours, and managers are different because they value personal development and contact with colleagues. In conclusion, the results show that certain work characteristics have a different impact on the design of future jobs for older workers, depending on the type of job of the employee.
Sustainability in City-Regionalism as Emergent Practice: The Case of the BRICS
Authors: Harrison Philip
Published: April 2021

Sustainability concerns transgress jurisdictional boundaries compelling multi-scalar and inter-jurisdictional responses. The city-region is one of the scales at which governance actors may mobilise for sustainability and this is now recognised in literatures on integrated food systems, for example. However, within the mainstream debates on city-regions, sustainability as a motivation for inter-jurisdictional governance is still given scant attention. This paper considers the extent to which sustainability is present as a driver towards city-region governance, using countries within the still underexplored BRICS cluster as cases studies. The paper shows that in practice the connection between environmental sustainability and city regionalism remains mainly limited and fractious. In all cases, however, there are emergent connections which offer the potential for stronger connections. Most importantly, public reaction to a mounting environmental crisis in the BRICS is obliging the actors of governance, concerned with sustaining their public legitimacy, to establish or strengthen inter-jurisdictional and collaborative relationships across city-regions. There are however significant limits to these endeavours, especially where levels of social trust are low, or where sustainability problems are rooted within unsustainable national growth paths.
The Organic Mindset: Insights from a Mixed Methods Grounded Theory (MM-GT) Study into Organic Food Systems
Authors: Kretschmer Sebastian , Langfeldt Bettina , Herzig Christian , Krikser Thomas
Published: April 2021

A broad understanding of food systems includes a complex web of activities, outcomes and drivers, encompassing not only the food and agriculture sectors, but also the social norms and cultures in which those activities are embedded. The organic food and farming movement has lately been portrayed as a food system of its own right, since it contains all necessary sub-systems, consisting of food environments, distribution networks, processing, as well as production and supply, all of which are bounded by an organic guarantee system. The underlying hypothesis of this investigation is that drivers in the organic food system operate on a paradigm level that is associated with the codified principles of ecology, health, fairness and care. Personality science suggests that the choice to act in pro-environmental ways is driven by an internalized sense of obligation or personal norms, which justifies our pursuit of seeking key drivers of food systems in the mindset of the actor. Through integrated findings from actor-centered mixed methods grounded theory research involving eleven case territories, this study identified a pattern of global mindset attributes that intuitively drive organic food system actors toward holistic human and sustainable development.
Key Approaches, Risks, and Product Performance in Managing the Development Process of Complex Products Sustainably
Authors: Almoslehy Salah Ahmed Mohamed , Alkahtani Mohammed Saad
Published: April 2021

In the Industry 4.0 environment, being sustainably competitive is essential in global markets. In an endeavor to optimize the added value in the design process of complex products such as robots, managing the development process of such products is studied. The present study identifies the level of product performance that yields maximum return on product development in Industry 4.0. The study also identifies and reviews the key approaches to understanding and managing the design process of such complex products. It has been found that the hybrid approach is the most efficient approach. The study proposes an approach to effectively manage risk in the product design process that hybridizes attributes of both the lean and agile design paradigms. The proposed approach has been validated using five case studies with 99% level of statistical confidence. The results of this study enable efficient development of complex products such as robotic systems towards realizing sustainable competitiveness.
Disclosure Dynamics and Non-Financial Reporting Analysis. The Case of Romanian Listed Companies
Authors: Beleneși Mărioara , Bogdan Victoria , Popa Dorina Nicoleta
Published: April 2021

New challenges and perspectives to improve non-financial reporting and the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance indicators have been launched towards the development horizon of Romanian public interest entities, implementing the provisions of Directive 2014/95/EU in the local regulatory framework. In this context, our approach focused on the content analysis of the non-financial information reported by listed companies, for the period 2017–2019, and the measure of the average disclosure degree on environmental, social, economic, and governance (ESEG) indicators. To measure the average degree of disclosure, a composite index was constructed through the main component analysis for categorical data that allowed the classification of sampled companies by sustainable performance. The results showed a slight increase in the ESEG disclosure index at the level of the sampled companies, from 47 units in 2017 to 52 units in 2019, several companies “went ahead” and others “recovered over the period”. Cross-sectional analysis revealed differences in the average non-financial disclosure index, and also in the disclosure index of ESEG indicators. The non-parametric correlation analysis highlighted the existence of a statistically significant positive correlation of medium intensity between the disclosure index of non-financial information and the publication of the non-financial statement or report.
The Mechanism of Driving Green Growth and Decreasing Energy Security Risks by Innovation in China
Authors: Wang Feng , Wang Ruiqi
Published: April 2021

The role of innovation for economic growth has been proved by studies. However, whether innovation can decrease environmental cost and energy security risks remains to be studied. To explore the theoretical mechanism of driving green economic growth by innovation, we constructed a four-sector endogenous growth model, including the final-goods sector, the intermediate-goods sector, the Research and Development (R&D) sector, and the energy sector. Then we measured the innovation-driven effect of green growth and calculated the green added value of 40 industries in China during 2005–2016. Based on the calculations, we used a threshold regression model to test the mechanism of driving green growth and decreasing energy security risks by innovation. The results showed that: (1) the innovation-driven effect on green growth increased from 0.2729 in 2005 to 0.3446 in 2016. (2) The proportion of green added value in the traditionally added value increased from 79.54% in 2005 to 92.25% in 2016. (3) Innovation had a threshold effect on green growth: the role of innovation in driving green growth weakened in the long term, but not in the short term (4) Innovation also had a threshold effect on energy security risk: after the innovation-driven effect crossed the threshold, innovation decreased energy security risk more significantly.
Investigation of Informal Settlement Indicators in a Densely Populated Area Using Very High Spatial Resolution Satellite Imagery
Authors: Mudau Naledzani , Mhangara Paidamwoyo
Published: April 2021

Automation of informal settlements detection using satellite imagery remains a challenging task in urban remote sensing. This is due to the fact that informal settlements vary in shape, size and spatial arrangement from one region to the other in some cases within a city. This paper investigated the methodology to detect informal settlements in a densely populated township by assessing informal settlement indicators observed from very high spatial resolution satellite imagery. We assessed twelve informal settlement indicators to determine the most effective indicators to distinguish between informal and informal classes. These indicators included the spectral indices first and second-order statistical measurements. In addition to the commonly used informal settlement indicators, we assessed the effectiveness of built-up area and iron cover. The GLCM textural measures performed poorly in separating informal and formal settlements compared to first-order statistics measurement and spectral indices. The built-up area index, coastal blue index and the first-order statistics mean measurements produced higher separability distance of informal and formal settlements. The iron index performed better in separating the two settlement types than the commonly used GLCM measure and NDVI. The proposed ruleset that uses the three features with the highest separability distance achieved producer and user accuracies of informal settlements of 95% and 82%, respectively. The results of this study will contribute towards developing methodologies to automatically detect informal settlements.
Passenger Preferences in Rail Transport in Poland as Regards Travelling Time and Cost
Authors: Rosa Grażyna
Published: April 2021

The paper includes an analysis of passengers’ preferences in the context of selected marketing activities conducted by leading railway companies operating in the passenger transport sector in Poland. Operators’ offers are highly varied, which may make it difficult to find the benefits expected by the passenger. Basing on earlier research, the main categories covered by operators’ classic marketing activities include the time and cost of the journey, and, less frequently, safety and comfort. The purpose of the analysis was to find whether the categories of time and price (cost categories) applied in most of the marketing activities, used for development of the operator’s offer, corresponded with contemporary passengers’ preferences. The conclusions are based on the results of primary research conducted on a random-quota sample of 1012 passengers. Research results—major factors determining preferences among long-distance passengers included trip duration and favorable departure hours, whereas the price was not a major issue. The importance of price increased with the age of respondents. Moreover, on short-distance routes, price and time were major factors depending on the domicile of respondents. The smaller the town, the more important these two factors were.
Indoor Distance Measurement System COPS (COVID-19 Prevention System)
Authors: Shin Minchan , Moon Nammee
Published: April 2021

With the rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), measures are needed to detect social distancing and prevent further infection. In this paper, we propose a system that detects social distancing in indoor environments and identifies the movement path and contact objects according to the presence or absence of an infected person. This system detects objects through frames of video data collected from a closed-circuit television using You Only Look Once (v. 4) and assigns and tracks object IDs using DeepSORT, a multiple object tracking algorithm. Next, the coordinates of the detected object are transformed by image warping the area designated by the top angle composition in the original frame. The converted coordinates are matched with the actual map to measure the distance between objects and detect the social distance. If an infected person is present, the object that violates the movement path and social distancing of the infected person is detected using the ID assigned to each object. The proposed system can be used to prevent the rapid spread of infection by detecting social distancing and detecting and tracking objects according to the presence of infected persons.
Heavy Metal Concentrations in Orchard Soils with Different Cultivation Durations and Their Potential Ecological Risks in Shaanxi Province, Northwest China
Authors: Dong Hongmei , Zhao Jingbo , Xie Mengping
Published: April 2021

The heavy metal pollution of soils, resulting from long-term fertilizing activity, is becoming serious in many countries, endangering ecological safety and human health. This study employed inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to investigate concentrations of eight heavy metal elements (Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn) in five apple orchard soil profiles after different cultivation durations, one modern intercropping farmland soil profile, and one natural soil profile from Baishui County, in Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. The potential risk associated with the presence of heavy metals in the soils was assessed by the single-factor pollution index (Pi), Nemerow comprehensive index (NCI), and potential ecological risk index (RI). Results showed that the average concentrations of Cr, Ni, As, Pb, and Hg in the farmland soil were higher than those in the apple orchard soils. The average concentrations of Ni, Cu, As, and Hg in the apple orchard soils reached the highest after 25 years of cultivation. The results imply that concentrations of heavy metals will increase with increasing cultivation time. The farmland soil had the highest NCIs, while the NCIs of the apple orchard soils also increased with cultivation time. Compared with the quality standards of pollution-free orchards and green food production areas, all Pis and NCIs were less than 1 and 0.7, respectively, indicating that the soils were in healthy condition. The RI results also suggest that the soils have a low ecological risk (RI < 150). Although the potential ecological risk is currently low, predicting and reducing heavy metal input should be considered.
Investigating the Linkage between Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability in India: Do Agriculture and Trade Openness Matter?
Authors: Orhan Ayhan , Adebayo Tomiwa Sunday , Genç Sema Yılmaz , Kirikkaleli Dervis
Published: April 2021

This paper assesses the linkage between CO2 emissions and economic growth while taking into account the role of energy consumption, agriculture, and trade openness in India. Using data covering the period between 1965 and 2019, the Bayer and Hanck cointegration and Gradual shift causality tests are applied to assess these economic indicators relationships’. Furthermore, we employed the wavelet coherence test. The advantage of the wavelet coherence test is that it differentiates between short-, medium-, and long-run dynamics over the entire sampling period. To the best of the authors’ understanding, the present paper is the first to apply wavelet analysis to investigate this relationship by incorporating agriculture as a determinant of environmental degradation. The empirical outcomes show that all variables appear to be highly correlated with CO2 emissions with the exemption of trade openness. This is further affirmed by the Gradual shift causality test, which shows that agriculture and energy consumption are crucial determinants of CO2 emissions in India. Accordingly, adequate policy measures are proposed based on these findings.
Technological Platforms for Inclusive Practice at University: A Qualitative Analysis from the Perspective of Spanish Faculty Members
Authors: Perera Víctor H. , Moriña Anabel , Sánchez-Díaz Nieves , Spinola-Elias Yolanda
Published: April 2021

Currently, the development of new virtual environments as a complementary tool to face-to-face teaching and the increased presence of students with disabilities at university classrooms are changing the landscape of university teaching. This article analyses the actions of faculty members who carry out inclusive practices in the context of technological platforms. The research was based on the assumptions of the qualitative paradigm, using individual semi-structured interviews with 119 faculty members from 10 Spanish public universities. The results show the reasons for inclusive learning with technological platforms, the use that faculty members make of these platforms in their inclusive educational practices, and the influence of these on the learning of students, especially students with disabilities. The conclusions give a good account of the conditions that determine the pedagogical use that faculty members make of virtual environments to facilitate the inclusion of students.
Electro-Decontamination of Spent Ion Exchange Resins Contaminated with Iron Oxide Deposits under Dynamic Conditions
Authors: Tokar Eduard , Matskevich Anna , Egorin Andrei
Published: April 2021

A method for the electro-decontamination of spent ion exchange resin contaminated with hematite under dynamic conditions using sulfuric acid solutions has been suggested. It has been shown that decontamination under dynamic conditions excludes the secondary adsorption of radionuclides on ion-exchanger sites. The efficiency of this approach has been compared to that of control experiments without direct current treatment. A positive effect of the introduction of Fe2+ on the rate of dissolution of hematite has been demonstrated. This allows for decreasing the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution without decreasing the decontamination efficiency.
Study of Alternatives for the Design of Sustainable Low-Income Housing in Brazil
Authors: Bianchi Pollyanna Fernandes , Yepes Víctor , Vitorio Paulo Cezar , Kripka Moacir
Published: April 2021

Despite insufficient housing facilities, particularly in developing countries, construction systems are generally selected intuitively or based on conventional solutions sanctioned by practice. The present study aims to evaluate different options for the design of low-income housing in Brazil by integrating the life cycle assessment (LCA) into the decision-making process. To achieve this objective, three single-family projects with different construction systems were selected and analyzed. The most sustainable design was selected through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The considered parameters, which were obtained through a survey with professionals and customers, included cost, environmental impact, thermal comfort, construction time, and cultural acceptance. LCA and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) were performed with the frontier’s system considering the cradle-to-gate cycle, which included the extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials, and housing construction. The projects were modelled using Autodesk Revit software with the Tally application for LCA evaluation. The results indicated that light steel frame houses present a better behavior than other conventional alternatives, and the integration of building information modelling with LCA and LCCA in the design phase can lead to the development of more sustainable houses.
Emotional Cartography of Everyday Heritage via Photography
Authors: Castro-Fernández Belén , López-Facal Ramón
Published: April 2021

This paper presented the results of a heritage education intervention in a non-formal context via a collective photographic exhibition organised by a cultural association. In accordance with the Faro Convention on the value of cultural heritage for society, people’s role in the construction and sustaining of their identity is recognised, and the fostering of shared responsibility towards the environment was sought. A mixed methodology was employed in order to evaluate the effects of participation in this project on the perception of heritage, to analyse what relationship there was between this conception and the photographic output, and to explain to what extent participation in a collective exhibition had an influence on the emotional resignification of everyday heritage. The results showed that the participants modified their traditional conception of heritage towards a symbolic-identity type, consciously questioned their relationship and commitment with everyday places, and rediscovered their environment by way of a contextualised learning sequence.
The Teacher’s Perspective on Inclusion in Education: An Analysis of Curriculum Design
Authors: Jurado-de-los-Santos Pedro , Colmenero-Ruiz María Jesús , Valle-Flórez Rosa Eva , Castellary-López Macarena , Figueredo-Canosa Victoria
Published: April 2021

The study we present is based on the responses given to students with specific educational support needs in compulsory education stages. Focused from the perspective of teachers within the framework of educational inclusion. To this end, the role of teachers and their influence on curriculum design, methodology, and assessment is taken into account. A descriptive and inferential methodological approach is used, with a sample of 2457 teachers from the Spanish context, applying an ad-hoc questionnaire. The results indicate the influence of teachers’ socio-demographic variables on the implementation of curriculum design, methodology, and assessment strategies in line with educational inclusion. The conclusions highlight the reactive versus proactive nature of teaching, although the sufficiency of educational practice is considered, characterised by differences according to age, gender, experience, or location of educative centre, among other variables analysed. It is established that improvements can be identified that can be strengthened. Specifically those related to the interests and motivations of students with SEN and their participation in assessment processes.
Who Is Willing to Share Their AV? Insights about Gender Differences among Seven Countries
Authors: Polydoropoulou Amalia , Tsouros Ioannis , Thomopoulos Nikolas , Pronello Cristina , Elvarsson Arnór , Sigþórsson Haraldur , Dadashzadeh Nima , Stojmenova Kristina , Sodnik Jaka , Neophytou Stelios , Esztergár-Kiss Domokos , Hamadneh Jamil , Parkhurst Graham , Etzioni Shelly , Shiftan Yoram , Di Ciommo Floridea
Published: April 2021

The introduction of shared autonomous vehicles into the transport system is suggested to bring significant impacts on traffic conditions, road safety and emissions, as well as overall reshaping travel behaviour. Compared with a private autonomous vehicle, a shared automated vehicle (SAV) is associated with different willingness-to-adopt and willingness-to-pay characteristics. An important aspect of future SAV adoption is the presence of other passengers in the SAV—often people unknown to the cotravellers. This study presents a cross-country exploration of user preferences and WTP calculations regarding mode choice between a private non-autonomous vehicle, and private and shared autonomous vehicles. To explore user preferences, the study launched a survey in seven European countries, including a stated-preference experiment of user choices. To model and quantify the effect of travel mode attributes and socio-demographic characteristics, the study employs a mixed logit model. The model results were the basis for calculating willingness-to-pay values for all countries and travel modes, and provide insight into the significant heterogeneous, gender-wise effect of cotravellers in the choice to use an SAV. The study results highlight the importance of analysis of the effect of SAV attributes and shared-ride conditions on the future acceptance and adoption rates of such services.
I Believe I Can Fly—Conceptual Foundations for Behavioral Rebound Effects Related to Voluntary Carbon Offsetting of Air Travel
Authors: Kerner Christoph , Brudermann Thomas
Published: April 2021

Voluntary carbon offsets (VCO) have been introduced as a means of compensating personal carbon emissions related to travelling. Purchases of VCO have remained low in the past, but might increase in the future due to rising awareness about climate change. VCO have been assumed to increase the acceptability of flying among eco-minded people. Therefore, VCO might not only be a tool to offset emissions but also to compensate for “flight shame”. Much research has been carried out to detect VCO purchasers’ motives, but none has explored the potential behavioral rebound effects of VCO with regard to flying. This article contributes to the debate by presenting a conceptual framework that was developed to investigate these rebound effects. First, we present the motives that travelers have for offsetting their flight emissions. These motives already indicate the possibility of a rebound effect. Second, we discuss several conceptual ideas which should be considered for the design of empirical studies. Overall, we argue that the use of VCO might lead to unintended carbon emissions; however, isolating the specific role of VCO remains a difficult task. Nevertheless, research on behavioral rebound effects is needed to clarify whether VCO counteract sustainability in the transport sector.
Beside and Behind the Wheel: Factors that Influence Driving Stress and Driving Behavior
Authors: Magaña Víctor Corcoba , Pañeda Xabiel García , Garcia Roberto , Paiva Sara , Pozueco Laura
Published: April 2021

A large percentage of traffic accidents are due to human errors. Driving behavior and driving stress influence the probability of making these mistakes. Both are influenced by multiple factors, among which might be elements such as age, gender, sleeping hours, or working hours. The objective of this paper is to study, in a real scenario and without forcing the driver’s state, the relationship between driving behavior, driving stress, and these elements. Furthermore, we aim to provide guidelines to improve driving assistants. In this study, we used 1050 driving samples obtained from 35 volunteers. The driving samples correspond to regular commutes from home to the workplace. ANOVA and ANCOVA tests were carried out to check if there are significant differences in the four factors analyzed. Although the results show that driving behavior and driving stress are affected by gender, age, and sleeping hours, the most critical variable is working hours. Drivers with long working days suffer significantly more driving stress compared to other drivers, with the corresponding effect on their driving style. These drivers were the worst at maintaining the safety distance.
Operating Principles, Performance and Technology Readiness Level of Reversible Solid Oxide Cells
Authors: Bianchi Fiammetta Rita , Bosio Barbara
Published: April 2021

The continuous increase of energy demand with the subsequent huge fossil fuel consumption is provoking dramatic environmental consequences. The main challenge of this century is to develop and promote alternative, more eco-friendly energy production routes. In this framework, Solid Oxide Cells (SOCs) are a quite attractive technology which could satisfy the users’ energy request working in reversible operation. Two operating modes are alternated: from “Gas to Power”, when SOCs work as fuel cells fed with hydrogen-rich mixture to provide both electricity and heat, to “Power to Gas”, when SOCs work as electrolysers and energy is supplied to produce hydrogen. If solid oxide fuel cells are an already mature technology with several stationary and mobile applications, the use of solid oxide electrolyser cells and even more reversible cells are still under investigation due to their insufficient lifetime. Aiming at providing a better understanding of this new technological approach, the study presents a detailed description of cell operation in terms of electrochemical behaviour and possible degradation, highlighting which are the most commonly used performance indicators. A thermodynamic analysis of system efficiency is proposed, followed by a comparison with other available electrochemical devices in order to underline specific solid oxide cell advantages and limitations.
Why Socially Responsible? Determinant Factors of Organizational Performance: Case of Dangote Cement Factory in Ethiopia
Authors: Dunay Anna , Ayalew Abebe , Abdissa Gemechu
Published: April 2021

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility on the organizational performance of the Dangote cement factory in Ethiopia. In order to achieve the research objectives, the authors adopted both a descriptive and explanatory research design. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data from the targeted group of the study, where the probability and non-probability sampling technique was employed to draw a sample of 179. The collected data were presented and analyzed using the SPSS (version 20) statistical software package. A multiple linear regression model was applied to see the effect of CSR on organizational performance. The study showed that philanthropic activities, ethical activities, and legal activities affect organizational performance, have a positive relationship, and are statistically significant at a 1% confidence interval. It was concluded that for the existence of business industries, the community relation is key to ensuring a conducive atmosphere for the business to succeed.
The Sustainability of Regenerative Cafes Utilizing Idle Industrial Facilities in South Korea
Authors: Eom Jun-Sik , Yoon Sung-Hoon , An Dai-Whan
Published: April 2021

This study investigates the sustainable values of cafes established using idle industrial facilities that are a part of the cultural heritage of South Korea in terms of the characteristics of the architectural space and consumers’ space utilization. Twenty regenerative cafes in five regions were selected, and five of them were analyzed by comparing their characteristics with those of the conventional cafes. Unlike conventional cafes, regenerative cafes have architectural spaces that seem to be non-everyday and elicit a feeling of the passage of time. Users utilized these cafes as spaces for activities and experiences for long periods compared to conventional cafes. Consequently, regenerative cafes were found to contain sustainable values as complex networking spaces, as cultural heritage that can be experienced and as independent tourist destinations. Regenerative cafes have become unique differentiated architectural spaces utilized by several users.
Comprehensive Evaluation of Green Development in Dongliao River Basin from the Integration System of “Multi-Dimensions”
Authors: Wang Aoyang , Tong Zhijun , Du Walian , Zhang Jiquan , Liu Xingpeng , Yang Zhiyi
Published: April 2021

The bottlenecks in enhancing regional green development are resource shortages, environmental pollution, and ecological degradation. Taking the Dongliao River Basin (DRB) of Jilin Province as an example, this study explored green development from a multidimensional perspective. Based on the dimension evaluation results of REECC (resources, environment, and ecological carrying capacity), PLES (production–living–ecological space), and ER (ecological redline), the coupling coordination degree model and spatial autocorrelation model were constructed to explore the coupling coordination degree and spatial distribution of green development. The results showed that REECC had significant spatial differences, and the REECC index showed an increasing trend from northwest to southeast. In 2018, the overall level of green development in the DRB has obvious spatial dependence, but there were spatial differences, with a more obvious polarization from northwest to southeast. The spatial distribution of the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree is roughly the same, and there is a clustering distribution. The conclusions have practical significance for future environmental protection and economic production in the DRB.
Sustainable Solutions for Mass-Housing Design in Africa: Energy and Cost Assessment for the Somali Context
Authors: Del Pero Claudio , Bellini Oscar Eugenio , Martire Maricla , di Summa Davide
Published: April 2021

Today, the main issue of providing adequate and affordable housing is to go beyond the mere offer of basic shelters, intending to create sustainable and durable settlements. Due to the fragile and uncertain nature of its social, political and economic context, characterized by the lack of common shared legislative references and business strategies in the housing sector, Somalia is a challenging reality to be explored and improved. This paper describes the outcomes of the BECOMe project, intending to propose sustainable solutions for mass-housing design for new sustainable settlements in Mogadishu, involving local entrepreneurs, social organizations and renewable energy. In detail, social, environmental and economic key sustainability requirements (KSRs) for mass-housing are identified first. Then, the most appropriate climate-responsive design and construction technologies at the building level, tailored to the Mogadishu context, are selected; the outcomes are applied to a specific case-study building, assessing energy and cost performances to pave the way for implementation projects in Somalia.
Impacts of Composition and Canopy Characteristics of Plant Communities on Microclimate and Airborne Particles in Beijing, China
Authors: Fan Shuxin , Zhang Mengyuan , Li Yilun , Li Kun , Dong Li
Published: April 2021

As the basic component of urban green-spaces, plant communities regulate both the microclimate and air particle levels. Understanding the regulatory mechanism of plant communities represents the theoretical basis for using green spaces to improve the urban climate and mitigate air particle pollution. Based on field investigations, differences in the daily air temperatures (AT), relative humidity (RH), and PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in eight compositional types of plant communities were quantitatively analyzed. In addition, the correlations between these variables and various canopy parameters were further established in order to detect critical thresholds. The results showed that, among the eight compositional types, significant differences existed in daily AT, RH, PM10 and PM2.5 levels. The mixed tree, shrub and grass (M-TSG) community had the strongest cooling and PM10 reduction effects; the broad-leafed tree, shrub and grass (B-TSG) community had the best humidifying effect; while the mixed tree and grass (M-TG) community most effectively reduced PM2.5 concentrations. The daily AT and PM10 concentrations were significantly negatively correlated with canopy density (CD) and leaf area index (LAI), but positively correlated with canopy porosity (CP) and sky view factor (SVF), while these correlations were opposite for daily RH. The response of daily PM2.5 concentrations to canopy characteristics was complex, featuring multiple non-linear relations. Critical thresholds were found in some cases. Overall, M-TSG or M-TG communities with about 75% CD, 55% CP, 2.5 LAI and 0.18 SVF perform most noticeable both microclimate and air particle regulation services.
Identifying Research Topics and Trends in Asset Management for Sustainable Use: A Topic Modeling Approach
Authors: Jung Hosang , Kim Boram
Published: April 2021

Asset management is not new, and research has been conducted in private and public sectors on how to systematically maintain infrastructure or facilities for sustainable use and achieve the level of service desired by users or customers at the lowest life cycle costs. This research identifies the research topics and trends in asset management over the past 30 years. To this end, latent Dirichlet allocation, a topic modeling approach, was applied to articles published in engineering journals and investigated the following three research questions: (1) what have the key topics been for the past three decades? (2) what are the main activities and target sectors of asset management? (3) how have the research topics and keywords changed over the past three decades? The analysis shows that the target field of asset management has broadened while the main activities of asset management have been limited to several popular activities such as life cycle cost analysis and reliability analysis. Some implications and future research directions are also discussed.
Evaluation of Changes in the Permeability Characteristics of a Geotextile–Polynorbornene Liner for the Prevention of Pollutant Diffusion in Oil-Contaminated Soils
Authors: Park Jeongjun
Published: April 2021

In this study, changes in the permeability characteristics of a geotextile–polynorbornene liner at different oil pollutant contact times were evaluated. Experiments and numerical analyses were performed, and ASTM D5887 and ASTM D6766 were applied as test methods. The test results show that, when the pollutant contact time and pressure head were 4 h and 75 kPa, the reaction between the geotextile–polynorbornene liner and the pollutant was almost complete. Moreover, a numerical analysis was used to measure the ratio of the concentration of the pollutant that permeated through the geotextile–polynorbornene liner to the initial pollutant concentration at different pollutant contact times. The ratio was between 70 and 83% after a pollutant contact time of 0.5 h and between 0.1 and 1.0% after 4 h. The test and numerical analysis results confirm that, as a reactive medium, the geotextile–polynorbornene liner can effectively prevent the diffusion of oil pollutants by changing its permeability characteristics.
Towards an Arctic Sustainability Monitoring Framework
Authors: Petrov Andrey N. , Vlasova Tatiana
Published: April 2021

It is becoming more evident that in the twenty-first century we are living in the new era of Anthropocene, where humans attained the ability to alter planetary processes, bringing new urgency to the systematic understanding of current and future social and environmental changes [...]