bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Malaysian Students’ Perceptions of “Telop” as a Teaching Tool to Enhance the Japanese Learning Experience
Authors: Azam Kamarul , Musaev Talaibek , Wong Ngan Ling , Prasetyo Yogi Tri
Published: February 2023

Scholars have confirmed that apart from being an aid to hearing impaired or deaf people, intralingual subtitles, also known as captions, have a function as an audio–visual aid in language learning as well. While many studies verified the effect of using normal captions on various language skills such as listening, reading, comprehension, and vocabulary, little is known about the distinctive captions from Japan known as telop. This study tries to find out how Japanese language learners (JFL) feel about the use of open captions telop (OCT) (henceforth, telop) and what makes a lesson successful. Eight participants majoring in the Japanese language at Universiti Malaya were chosen to participate in this study and joined a lesson. During the lesson, they were asked to complete vocabulary tests, video analysis sheets, comprehension tests, and a learning diary. One interview was held to study their perceptions of OCT. The results show that there are five perceptions of the use of telop in JFL classrooms. We also found that there are four factors that can be addressed to make a lesson become successful. This study concluded that telop has many benefits that can help JFL learners improve their learning experience. Therefore, the use of telop by JFL instructors as an alternative way to expose authentic conversation to learners should be encouraged.
Adoption and Applications of Blockchain Technology in Marketing: A Retrospective Overview and Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Wasiq Mohammad , Bashar Abu , Akmal Syed , Rabbani Mustafa Raza , Saifi Mohd Afzal , Nawaz Nishad , Nasef Youssef Tarek
Published: February 2023

Blockchain technology has disrupted the traditional approaches of marketing and introduced altogether contemporary marketing frameworks using its unique capabilities of decentralization, security and transparency. In recent times, this technology has attracted both academicians and practitioners to study the underlying processes and opportunities of the application of blockchain technology in marketing. Although there is an increasing deliberation in researching the use of blockchain in marketing, there exists an intermittent gap in holistic overview of the current trends and future boundaries. This article is an attempt to present a comprehensive current state and prospects of expansion in the research of the application of blockchain technology in marketing using state of the art bibliometric review analysis. The bibliometric analysis using 161 articles from Scopus database revealed the influential aspects of research such as prolific authors, influential documents, countries, affiliations, sources and keywords. Moreover, emerging research streams about the application of blockchain is identified and enumerated using network synthesis and visualization of co-citation, and keywords co-occurrence networks. These findings pave the ways for future research expansion. The results shows that the research on applications of blockchain technology has been maturing over time. However, the research streams reveal that blockchain based marketing framework is still in its infancy stage.
Carbon Footprint Prediction of Thermal Power Industry under the Dual-Carbon Target: A Case Study of Zhejiang Province, China
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Zou Xiong , Lin Chuan
Published: February 2023

China is the world’s primary energy consumer. In order to address global warming, China has proposed a strategic goal of “reaching peak carbon and carbon neutrality”, which is related to a balance between human and natural life and has vital strategic significance for accelerating the construction of a sustainable society and achieving high-quality development. The energy sector is the main battlefield upon which the country will strive to achieve the “double carbon” goal, and power systems take the hierarchical first place in the current carbon emissions structure in China. Thermal power enterprises are facing severe challenges, such as low-carbon development, transformation, and upgrading. Therefore, it is crucial to study the thermal power industry’s carbon footprint. A scenario prediction method for estimating the carbon footprint of the thermal power industry in Zhejiang Province based on stacking integrated learning—i.e., the STIRPAT model—is proposed in this study. Using this model, to identify the main influencing factors, one can take the coefficient of determination (R2) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) as evaluation indicators, building a fusion advantage model to predict the carbon footprint. Four carbon peak action scenarios are set up to determine the thermal power industry’s carbon peak in 2021–2035, taking Zhejiang Province as an example. The findings indicate that the proposed method can accurately predict the carbon footprint of the thermal power industry, with the prediction coefficient (R2) being higher than 0.98 and the error (MAPE) being lower than 0.01. The carbon emission peaks of the thermal power industry under different carbon peak action scenarios are calculated, verifying that Zhejiang Province can reach the goal of a carbon peak; however, the low-carbon development model is too extreme and needs to be revised in combination with more reasonable improvement methods. Therefore, Zhejiang Province must be restructured industrially, the construction of high-tech industries must be encouraged, the energy consumption structure must be optimized, energy efficiency must be boosted, and energy use must be reduced. Relevant research offers a theoretical foundation and benchmark for China’s thermal power industry to promote industrial restructuring and low-carbon transformation by means of comprehensive governance.
Leveraging Blockchain to Support Collaborative Distributed Manufacturing Scheduling
Authors: Ramakurthi Veera Babu , Manupati Vijaya Kumar , Varela Leonilde , Putnik Goran
Published: February 2023

The recent trend in collaborative distributed manufacturing scheduling (CDMS) has gained significant importance in extended, networked, and virtual manufacturing environments due to its adaptability and integration potential. In a distributed manufacturing environment, CDMS can occur within a single factory or across multiple companies in a dynamic and variable extended or virtual organization. For effective collaboration, the CDMS system must be secure, transparent, and trustworthy. This paper proposes a blockchain-based model for CDMS and discusses its implementation in the processing of manufacturing functions, specifically joint process planning and scheduling. An illustrative example is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach and its potential to enhance the management processes of CDMS enterprises. The results of the analysis indicate that the proposed blockchain approach can effectively facilitate communication and integration among CDMS enterprises. Additionally, the approach can be expanded to more complex manufacturing environments under different conditions.
Evolutionary Game of Digital-Driven Photovoltaic–Storage–Use Value Chain Collaboration: A Value Intelligence Creation Perspective
Authors: Yu Jing , Liu Jicheng , Sun Jiakang , Shi Mengyu
Published: February 2023

In the context of “carbon neutral”, distributed energy, including photovoltaic power generation and energy storage systems, is developing rapidly. Meanwhile, the new generation of information technology, such as “Cloud computing, Big data, the Internet of things, Mobile Internet, AI, Blockchain”, is driving the digital transformation of the energy industry. Under digital drive, how the agents in the photovoltaic–storage–use value chain collaborate and create value intelligently is a question worthy of deep consideration. Firstly, the value creation mechanism and collaborative process of the digital-driven photovoltaic–storage–use value chain are analyzed from a value intelligence creation perspective. Secondly, the tripartite evolutionary game model of photovoltaic power generator, energy storage provider and user is established. Finally, the influencing factors of digital- driven photovoltaic–storage–use value chain collaboration are explored through a numerical simulation, and management suggestions are put forward. The study finds the following: (1) The behavior choice of each agent in the value chain will affect the decision of other agents. In particular, the photovoltaic power generator has a great influence on the cooperative willingness of other agents. To promote value chain collaboration, the guiding role of the photovoltaic power generator should be fully realized. (2) Agents on the value chain can use a variety of digital technologies to improve enabling benefits, which is conducive to promoting value chain collaboration. (3) The driving costs and potential risks are obstacles for value chain collaboration. Cost reduction and risk prevention are effective ways to improve the willingness of collaboration. (4) Reasonable incentive compensation mechanisms and information asymmetry punishment measures are the keys to enhancing collective willingness. This research provides theoretical support for photovoltaic–storage–use value chain collaboration from a value intelligence creation perspective.
A Graph-Based Network Analysis of Global Coffee Trade—The Impact of COVID-19 on Trade Relations in 2020
Authors: Bacsi Zsuzsanna , Fekete-Farkas Mária , Ma’ruf Muhammad Imam
Published: February 2023

International trade relations have been considerably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Our analysis was aimed at identifying its effect on the global trade network of green coffee beans, comparing the COVID-year 2020 to the pre-COVID year 2018. The methodology applied was that of social network analysis using trade value data for the above two years. Our results show that between the pre-pandemic and the pandemic years, the role of some major actors considerably changed, and many trade relationships were disrupted. Overall trade value decreased, and the number of trade connections also changed—some countries gained, but more countries lost compared to their former positions. The network measures, i.e., degree distribution, betweenness, closeness and eigenvector centralities, modularity-based clustering and the minimum spanning tree, were suitable for quantifying these changes and identifying differences between affected countries. The changes found between the two years are assumed to be due to the effects of the pandemic, but further analysis is needed to reveal the actual mechanisms leading to these results.
Using Reputation Scores to Foster Car-Sharing Activities
Authors: Postorino Maria Nadia , Sarnè Giuseppe M. L.
Published: February 2023

In the near future, the growth of personal mobility is expected to continue all over the world and to cause impacts such as increased levels of traffic congestion and worsened quality of life, mainly in highly populated urban areas. Alternative solutions for individual mobility have been promoted to dissuade people from using private cars. Particularly, renting private vehicles scarcely used by their owners would result in several benefits, including environmental ones, and traffic reduction. This type of solution, based on the willingness of individuals to rent their own vehicles, is called Peer-to-Peer Car-Sharing (P2P-CS). This study proposes a methodological approach focused on the adoption of both a reputation system and blockchain technology to support P2P-CS activities. Reputation scores are introduced to meet CS actors’ expectations of dealing with trusted partners, by allowing both access to service and the opportunity to customize CS fares, while the blockchain makes reputation scores publicly accessible and unchangeable and allows the P2P-CS transport solution to be managed without third parties. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been verified by several tests carried out on real and simulated data. The obtained results are satisfactory and encourage the adoption of these further sustainable travel mode opportunities.
Entrepreneurs’ Cognitive Schemas and New Venture Business Model Innovativeness: The Mediating Effect of Environmental Scanning
Authors: Chi Kaoxun , Wang Senqiang , Ahmad Mahmood
Published: February 2023

Sustainable innovation now plays a leading role in the transformation and upgrading activities of enterprises, and the new business model is increasingly a typical form of innovation. Therefore, based on neo-institutional theory of organization, this study mainly analyzes the impact of cognitive schemas on new ventures’ business model innovativeness by selecting new service industry enterprises as the research object and referring to data from the China Statistical Yearbook and “China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Index”. In addition, we entrusted professional market research companies and business incubators to collect 142 valid questionnaires. The results show that general cognitive schema negatively affects business model innovativeness, while specific cognitive schema positively affects it. Specifically, general cognitive schema reduces the level of effort and sustainability of entrepreneurial environmental scanning activities, which is not conducive to the design of highly innovative business models; specific cognitive schema not only improves the level of effort and sustainability of entrepreneurial environmental scanning activities, but also drives the entrepreneurs to pay more attention to new information outside the industry, which is conducive to the design of a highly innovative business model.
The Praxis of User Experience (UX) in the Design of Undergraduate Online Classes: Framing the Perceptions of Engineering and Social Sciences Students
Authors: Fayez Orchida , Ozfidan Burhan , Ismail Hala
Published: February 2023

A sustainable educational design that derives from a user experience (UX) frame does not only represent the praxis of online class design(s), but also empowers students to take an active part in their educational journey. The purpose of the study is to promote user experience (UX) measurements for the design of online classes. An online survey based on the criteria of user experience, UX, derived from the literature is administered in two higher educational contexts in Saudi Arabia and the USA with 890 participants from both genders and diverse fields of study. User experience is identified within usability, educational context, and the emotional or hedonic aspects of the experience, which are measured from thirty-six items from the survey constituting the independent variables. Reframing of students’ perceptions into UX offers a sustainable model of technology design that ensures a student-centered model by filling the gap between theoretical use of students’ perceptions and the praxis of online class design. The findings reveal that a working educational model should be centered around human values in addition to usability. This model can be replicated in various educational online contexts, but it has to be an ongoing process accompanying online design where student satisfaction is the outcome from variable measurement.
Research into the Mechanism and Application of Liquid CO2 Phase-Transition Fracturing in a Coal Seam to Enhance Permeability
Authors: Zhang Feng
Published: February 2023

The geological structures of the coal fields in China are complex. With a continuous increase in the mining depth, the coal seams show the characteristics of high gas and low permeability, and the disaster potential for a coal and gas outburst intensifies in the process of coal mining. Gas drainage is one of the primary measures used to prevent and control gas disasters. Effectively improving the permeability of a coal seam requires urgent attention. Currently, the method of loose blasting is used in engineering to enhance the permeability of coal seams. However, the technology of loose blasting easily leads to the poor development of coal fractures or the severe crushing of coal, which will affect the gas drainage. Thus, this paper studied the technology of liquid CO2 phase-transition fracturing in a coal seam. COMSOL was used to determine the influence radius of the liquid carbon-dioxide phase-transition cracking, which was 13.4 m, and to design the scheme of the borehole. The field test was carried out in the 81,506th working face of the Baode Coal Mine. From the onsite-monitoring data, the results showed that the drainage effect increased by 293.9%, the gas-drainage concentration increased by 242.4%, the permeability coefficient of the coal seam increased by 3–7.75 times, and the permeability enhancement effect was good.
Research on Contract Coordination Mechanism of Contract Farming Considering the Green Innovation Level
Authors: Wu Yuqiang , Guo Weiwei , Cai Zigong , Tong Yang , Chen Jingpeng
Published: February 2023

Green agriculture is an important issue in agricultural development. The farming cooperative frequently chooses to improve its green innovation level of agricultural products to support the growth of green agriculture. Based on the characteristics of contract farming, this paper establishes a decision-making objective function for agricultural cooperatives considering the level of green innovation and uses the Stackelberg game method to analyze the decision-making behavior of contract farming supply chain participants. The research found that the green innovation level of the cooperative increased with the increase in yield per mu, and that the optimal contract price and planting area increased with the expansion of the market size. In particular, the planting area and green innovation level under the decentralized decision-making situation were lower than those under the centralized decision-making situation. Therefore, to better achieve supply chain coordination and improve the green innovation level, this paper proposes a “Cost sharing + Alliance expense” contract coordination mechanism. Numerical analysis shows that the contract coordination mechanism can effectively improve the green innovation level and realize the Pareto improvement in the profits of the cooperative and the enterprise.
Internet of Medical Things Privacy and Security: Challenges, Solutions, and Future Trends from a New Perspective
Authors: Kamalov Firuz , Pourghebleh Behrouz , Gheisari Mehdi , Liu Yang , Moussa Sherif
Published: February 2023

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), an application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the medical domain, allows data to be transmitted across communication networks. In particular, IoMT can help improve the quality of life of citizens and older people by monitoring and managing the body’s vital signs, including blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and others. Since IoMT has become the main platform for information exchange and making high-level decisions, it is necessary to guarantee its reliability and security. The growth of IoMT in recent decades has attracted the interest of many experts. This study provides an in-depth analysis of IoT and IoMT by focusing on security concerns from different points of view, making this comprehensive survey unique compared to other existing studies. A total of 187 articles from 2010 to 2022 are collected and categorized according to the type of applications, year of publications, variety of applications, and other novel perspectives. We compare the current studies based on the above criteria and provide a comprehensive analysis to pave the way for researchers working in this area. In addition, we highlight the trends and future work. We have found that blockchain, as a key technology, has solved many problems of security, authentication, and maintenance of IoT systems due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain. In the current study, this technology is examined from the application fields’ points of view, especially in the health sector, due to its additional importance compared to other fields.
Research on Supply Chain Decisions for Production Waste Recovery and Reuse Based on a Recycler Focus
Authors: Liu Xingyao , Wang Kai , Lu Hui
Published: February 2023

Production waste recovery has economic and environmental benefits but carbon quotas limit it. To avoid future high-cost recovery technologies, we present an example of Starkelberg model between a recycler and a manufacturer, focusing on recycling exhaust gases containing metal elements from production waste. From the perspective of a recycler, this paper outlines the process of waste recycling, processing, and sales, highlighting how the proportion of recovered waste gas directly or indirectly affects sales volume. The study shows that the impact of different factors on sales volume is bifurcated, with transaction factors affecting both ordinary and new products negatively, while technical aspects positively impact new products. Surprisingly, manufacturers and recyclers benefit, even if the reasons for selling ordinary and new products are different. In the end, the products of ordinary and new in the market are mutual constraints and mutual influence.
GIS-Based Soil Erosion Risk Assessment in the Watersheds of Bukidnon, Philippines Using the RUSLE Model
Authors: Dapin Indie G. , Ella Victor B.
Published: February 2023

The sustainability of watersheds for supplying water and for carbon sequestration and other environmental services depends to a large extent on their susceptibility to soil erosion, particularly under changing climate. This study aimed to assess the risk of soil erosion in the watersheds in Bukidnon, Philippines, determine the spatial distribution of soil loss based on recent land cover maps, and predict soil loss under various rainfall scenarios based on recently reported climate change projections. The soil erosion risk assessment and soil loss prediction made use of GIS and the RUSLE model, while the rainfall scenarios were formulated based on PAGASA’s prediction of drier years for Bukidnon in the early-future to late-future. Results showed that a general increase in soil loss was observed in 2015, over the period from 2010 to 2020, although some watershed clusters also showed a declining trend of soil erosion, particularly the Agusan-Cugman and Maridugao watershed clusters. Nearly 60% of Bukidnon has high to very severe soil loss rates. Under extreme rainfall change scenario with 12.61% less annual rainfall, the soil loss changes were only +1.37% and −2.87% in the category of none-to-slight and very severe, respectively. Results showed that a decrease in rainfall would have little effect on resolving the excessive soil erosion problem in Bukidnon. Results of this study suggest that having more vegetative land cover and employing soil conservation measures may prove to be effective in minimizing the risk of soil erosion in the watersheds. This study provides valuable information to enhance the sustainability of the watersheds. The erosion-prone areas identified will help decision-makers identify priority areas for soil conservation and environmental protection.
An Efficacious Modulation Gambit Using Fewer Switches in a Multilevel Inverter
Authors: Bandela Sathyavani , Sandipamu Tara Kalyani , Vemuganti Hari Priya , Rangarajan Shriram S. , Collins E. Randolph , Senjyu Tomonobu
Published: February 2023

Since multicarrier based modulation techniques are simple to implement and can be used to control inverters at any level, they are frequently employed in modern multilevel inverters in high or medium power applications. When considering the many multi-carrier modulation techniques available, level-shifted pulse-width modulation (LSPWM) is often chosen for its superior harmonic performance. However, this traditional LSPWM method is not suitable for controlling newly proposed reduced switch count (RSC) MLI topologies. The research work in this paper seeks to elucidate the reasons why conventional LSPWM is ineffective in controlling RSC MLI topologies, and proposes a generalized LSPWM system based on logical expressions. The proposed method can be utilized with symmetrical and asymmetrical RSC MLIs, and can be extended to an arbitrary number of levels. The merit of the proposed method for controlling any RSC configuration with satisfactory line-voltage THD (≈1.8%) performance (identical to conventional LSPWM) was evaluated using multiple 13-level asymmetrical RSC-MLI topologies. A MATLAB model was developed and then subjected to simulation and real-world testing to prove the effectiveness of the proposed modulation strategy.
Effect of Mica Content on Mechanical Properties of Yili River Valley Loess under the Impact of Freezing and Thawing
Authors: Mu Yanxiao , Zhang Zizhao , Zhou Tiansheng , Guo Zekun
Published: February 2023

Natural disasters, including collapse, landslides, and debris flows, commonly occur in the Yili River Valley as a result of its distinctive terrain and climate. A large proportion of these are loess landslides. Hence, studying the mechanism of their occurrence is crucial. The loess in the Yili River Valley has a high mica content. By using freeze-thaw (FT) cycling tests, unconsolidated and undrained triaxial shear tests, and FT cycling experiments, the study clarifies the impact of mica content on the mechanical properties of the loess in the Yili River Valley under FT cycling conditions. The findings demonstrated that the loess’s shear strength was negatively impacted by both the mica content and freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs). Under the same FT cycle conditions, the shear strength of the Yili Valley loess decreased with an increase in the mica content, particularly during the first ten cycles. Cohesion represented the impact of the mica content on the shear strength parameters. The cohesion decreases as the mica content increases. After ten cycles, the values of the cohesion tended to become stable, while the internal friction angle showed the opposite trend. For the same mica content, the shear strength of the Yili valley loess decreased with the increase in the number of FTCs, while the cohesion decreased, and the internal friction angle first increased and then decreased. The study’s findings might offer a theoretical foundation for preventing and reducing loess landslides in the Yili River Valley caused by FTCs and high mica content.
Delivering Sustainable Housing through Material Choice
Authors: Taylor Cameron , Roy Krishanu , Dani Aflah Alamsah , Lim James B. P. , De Silva Karnika , Jones Mark
Published: February 2023

Increasing importance is being placed on sustainability worldwide to limit climate change’s effects. In New Zealand, a sizeable increase in demand for housing is driving a residential construction boom, with new dwelling consents increasing yearly for the last decade. The New Zealand Government’s commitment to sustainability has become legislation through the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019. Therefore, the next stage is how the construction industry can limit and reduce its carbon emissions through one of the strategies, namely material choice. This study was intended to examine the influence of various building materials on climate change and to identify how more sustainable home construction and design in New Zealand may contribute to the government’s 2050 emissions reduction targets. A life-cycle assessment (LCA) was used in this study to investigate the global warming potential (GWP) produced by five case study houses and various material options for building envelope components. The study focused on the environmental impact of materials with high usage in industry and potential new materials that have shown an ability to conform to the New Zealand Building Code standards. It was found that case study House 1 (with timber flooring founded on senton piles with concrete footings, a timber frame, plywood wall cladding, and metal roof cladding) and House 2 (with a concrete waffle slab, a light steel frame, masonry wall cladding, and metal roof cladding) had the lowest GWP emissions compared to the other case study houses, with 631.13 and 633.16 kg CO2eq/m2, respectively. However, it should be noted that all the case study houses were not similar in size and design. In addition, the study investigated the different building envelope material options for the foundation, wall cladding, framing, and roof cladding. The study found that some new materials or materials that are not common in New Zealand could be used as an option for the housing envelope by having lower carbon emissions, such as 3D-printed concrete blocks compared with brick and concrete masonry for wall cladding systems.
Nitrogen Fertilization Causes Changes in Agricultural Characteristics and Gas Emissions in Rice Field
Authors: Park Jae-Ryoung , Jang Yoon-Hee , Kim Eun-Gyeong , Lee Gang-Seob , Kim Kyung-Min
Published: February 2023

Rice is a source of food for the majority of the global population. Currently, the rice yield is declining owing to extreme climate change. Farmers use nitrogen fertilizers to increase the yield; however, excessive nitrogen fertilizer application has a negative impact on plants and the environment. Nitrogen fertilizer is necessary for the growth of rice, but it is an important cause of environ-mental pollution. Carbon monoxide (CO) emitted from rice fields due to nitrogen fertilizer reacts with greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide or methane, affecting global warming. Although CO does not directly affect global warming, it is a gas that needs attention because it reacts with various other gases. In this study, a chamber was designed and manufactured to collect the CO emitted from the paddy field after nitrogen fertilizer application in 2021 and 2022. In paddy fields, nitrogen fertilizer treatment affected the pH, EC, and soil temperature, and affected various agricultural traits. Various agricultural characteristics and the number of spikes, number of tillers, and chlorophyll content increased with nitrogen fertilizer application, whereas the amylose content decreased. Adequate nitrogen fertilizer should be applied to increase the rice yield; however, excessive nitrogen fertilizer application has a serious negative effect on grain quality and can accelerate global warming by releasing CO from paddy fields. The appropriate application of nitrogen fertilizer can have a positive effect on farmers by increasing yield. However, caution should be exercised in the application of excessive nitrogen fertilizers, as excessive nitrogen fertilizers increase the emission of CO, which affects greenhouse gases.
A Voxelization Algorithm for Reconstructing mmWave Radar Point Cloud and an Application on Posture Classification for Low Energy Consumption Platform
Authors: Wu Jiacheng , Cui Han , Dahnoun Naim
Published: February 2023

Applications for millimeter-wave (mmWave) radars have become increasingly popular in human activity recognition. Many researchers have combined radars with neural networks and gained a high performance on various applications. However, most of these studies feed the raw point cloud data directly into the networks, which can be unstable and inaccurate under certain circumstances. In this paper, we define a reliability measure of the point cloud data and design a novel voxelization algorithm to reconstruct the data. Experiments show that our algorithm can improve the stability of the point cloud generated from mmWave radars in terms of error reduction and scene re-construction. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm using a neural network-based system for identifying a person’s sitting direction. In our experiment, compared with the baseline, our voxelization algorithm can improve the system in terms of accuracy (4.3%), training time (55.6%), and computational complexity, which is more suitable for light-weighted networks and low energy consumption platforms.
Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Agricultural Carbon Emissions in China, 2000–2020
Authors: Zhang Xidong , Zhang Juan , Yang Chengbo
Published: February 2023

Agricultural carbon mitigation is one of the most important components of China’s carbon mitigation goals. This paper calculates China’s agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs) from 2000 to 2020, studies the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of China’s ACEs, and aims to provide references for the development of China’s ACEs reduction policies. The results show that the total ACEs in China presented an inverted “W” trend, with a slight increase of 2.81% in total. China’s ACEs mainly came from livestock and poultry breeding and agricultural material inputs. Although the carbon emissions from rice cultivation and soil accounted for a relatively low proportion, they showed an uptrend of fluctuation during the study period. From a geographical point of view, ACEs in the regions of central China and western China were relatively high compared to those in eastern China. Carbon emissions decreased for crop farming and livestock and poultry breeding in most eastern provinces. Crop farming carbon emissions grew, while the emissions from livestock and poultry breeding declined in most of the central provinces. Carbon emissions increased for crop farming and livestock and poultry breeding in most western provinces. Therefore, the existing low-carbon agricultural policies should be optimized, crop farming technologies should be improved, and specific policies should be applied in the corresponding regions to support China’s ACEs reduction.
Measuring and Evaluating the Commodification of Sustainable Rural Living Areas in Zhejiang, China
Authors: Wei Chen , Zheng Guoquan
Published: February 2023

This study aims to construct an evaluation index system to measure the commodification of living space in Chinese rural areas and investigate the spatial characteristics of the commodification. Based on the dataset collected from public institutions in Zhejiang province, this study applies the entropy method to calculate the weights of the evaluation indicators and the commodification level. The results reveal that overall commodification levels of rural spaces in Zhejiang Province are different from each other due to different levels of economic development, transportation, tourism resources, and government support. In addition, this study suggests appropriate commodification strategies corresponding to the commodification development potential of the four types of rural living spaces (i.e., advanced development areas, promotion development areas, transformation development areas, and potential development areas). This study provides an evaluation index system measuring the commodification of rural living places and guidelines for effectively developing commodification of rural places.
Persuasive Determinants in the Hotel Industry’s Newsletter Opening Rates
Authors: Araújo Carlota Rocha , Pires Paulo Botelho , Delgado Catarina , Santos José Duarte
Published: February 2023

Email marketing plays a key role in business communications and is one of the most widely used applications by consumers. The literature review points to several determinants that, when applied, increase the open rate of newsletters. This research evaluates the impact of six determinants of persuasion on the opening rate of a newsletter in the hotel industry. The determinants are the day of sending, the time of sending, subject line personalization, scarcity appeal, curiosity appeal, and authority figure. The chosen methodology focused on real experiments, using a high-end luxury hotel, and the respective customer database. The newsletter was sent to the subscriber list, where one part received the control and the other part received a variant with the test version. Ten A/B tests were conducted for each determinant. The results obtained were not in line with what is indicated in the literature review. Although the literature review yielded results that showed that the application of determinants increased the open rate of newsletters, this study obtained findings to the opposite and did not confirm what was prescribed by the reviewed literature. The results of the A/B tests were conclusive and revealed that the determinants did not increase the open rate of newsletters.
Evaluation of Agricultural Eco-Efficiency and Its Spatiotemporal Differentiation in China, Considering Green Water Consumption and Carbon Emissions Based on Undesired Dynamic SBM-DEA
Authors: Feng Yunfei , Zhang Yi , Wu Zhaodan , Ye Quanliang , Cao Xinchun
Published: February 2023

Both agricultural output and environmental pollution in China show certain characteristics of spatiotemporal variation due to the evolution and inter-provincial disparities of resource endowment, economic development level, and production mode. This paper considered the green water consumption, carbon emissions in agricultural production, and the persistent role of fixed asset investment, constructed an undesired dynamic SBM-DEA model, and evaluated the agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) of 31 provinces in China from 2007 to 2018, analyzing the spatiotemporal differentiation. The results show that, during 2007–2018, the following can be concluded: (1) The AEE of 31 provinces in China showed the characteristics of an overall stable rise from 0.64 to 0.70 but uneven development among regions from 2007 to 2018. (2) The averages of either the agricultural resource consumption efficiency index or pollution emission efficiency index in 31 provinces slightly increased over time, while the average value of the agricultural fixed asset investment efficiency index showed a decline in volatility. The spatial discrepancy of any index mainly stems from the index disparity between groups with a high AEE and groups with a low one, with contribution rates of more than 85%. (3) It is recommended to emphasize strengthening communication and cooperation between provinces with high and low AEE and implement distinct regional strategies to improve AEE.
User Privacy Awareness, Incentive and Data Supply Chain Pricing Strategy
Authors: Yu Haifei , Zheng Shanshan , Wu Hao
Published: February 2023

In recent years, the collection, mining, and utilization of data have become a new profit growth point for enterprises, and these events have also accelerated the pace of enterprises to collect users’ data. However, the relevance of personal data privacy and the frequent occurrence of data leakage events have increased users’ privacy awareness. The purpose of our study is to enhance the effective flow of data while protecting users’ data privacy. The data supply chain consists of the end user, data provider, and service provider, and involves the flow of the value-added process of data. Our study focuses on the pricing strategy of data products considering data incentive and data protection levels. We propose three models—centralized pricing, decentralized pricing, and revenue-sharing pricing—and solve them, and then we analyze the impact of users’ privacy awareness on data incentives, protection, and pricing of data products in the three models. We also analyze which pricing method works best for participants.
Toward 30 m Fine-Resolution Land Surface Phenology Mapping at a Large Scale Using Spatiotemporal Fusion of MODIS and Landsat Data
Authors: Ruan Yongjian , Ruan Baozhen , Zhang Xinchang , Ao Zurui , Xin Qinchuan , Sun Ying , Jing Fengrui
Published: February 2023

Satellite-retrieved land surface phenology (LSP) is a first-order control on terrestrial ecosystem productivity, which is critical for monitoring the ecological environment and human and social sustainable development. However, mapping large-scale LSP at a 30 m resolution remains challenging due to the lack of dense time series images with a fine resolution and the difficulty in processing large volumes of data. In this paper, we proposed a framework to extract fine-resolution LSP across the conterminous United States using the supercomputer Tianhe-2. The proposed framework comprised two steps: (1) generation of the dense two-band enhanced vegetation index (EVI2) time series with a fine resolution via the spatiotemporal fusion of MODIS and Landsat images using ESTARFM, and (2) extraction of the long-term and fine-resolution LSP using the fused EVI2 dataset. We obtained six methods (i.e., AT, FOD, SOD, RCR, TOD and CCR) of fine-resolution LSP with the proposed framework, and evaluated its performance at both the site and regional scales. Comparing with PhenoCam-observed phenology, the start of season (SOS) derived from the fusion data using six methods of AT, FOD, SOD, RCR, TOD and CCR obtained r values of 0.43, 0.44, 0.41, 0.29, 0.46 and 0.52, respectively, and RMSE values of 30.9, 28.9, 32.2, 37.9, 37.8 and 33.2, respectively. The satellite-retrieved end of season (EOS) using six methods of AT, FOD, SOD, RCR, TOD and CCR obtained r values of 0.68, 0.58, 0.68, 0.73, 0.65 and 0.56, respectively, and RMSE values of 51.1, 53.6, 50.5, 44.9, 51.8 and 54.6, respectively. Comparing with the MCD12Q2 phenology, the satellite-retrieved 30 m fine-resolution LSP of the proposed framework can obtain more information on the land surface, such as rivers, ridges and valleys, which is valuable for phenology-related studies. The proposed framework can yield robust fine-resolution LSP at a large-scale, and the results have great potential for application into studies addressing problems in the ecological environmental at a large scale.
The Impact of Inclusive Leadership and Autocratic Leadership on Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Commitment in Sport Organizations: The Mediating Role of Organizational Trust and The Moderating Role of Sport Involvement
Authors: Oh Jihyeon , Kim Dae Hee , Kim Daehwan
Published: February 2023

Leadership and organizational trust have become increasingly important in sport organizations. This study investigated the separate effects of inclusive leadership and autocratic leadership on organizational trust and the moderating role of sport involvement in these relationships. A total of 250 sport organization employees participated in the survey. This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis and latent moderated structural equation modeling (LMS) to test the research hypotheses. We found that while inclusive leadership was positively related to organizational trust, autocratic leadership was negatively related to organizational trust. Organizational trust positively influenced employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The findings also confirmed that sport involvement moderated the relationship between inclusive leadership and organizational trust. Furthermore, sport involvement had a marginally significant moderating effect on the relationship between autocratic leadership and organizational trust. The results of this study provide meaningful insight into sport organizations.
Study on Wind-Proof Effect and Stability of Windbreak Fence in Alpine Skiing Center
Authors: Fu Zhaokun , Li Qingwen
Published: February 2023

As a venue for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the National Alpine Skiing Center is located on Xiaohaitou Mountain in Beijing’s Yanqing district, where strong winds occur frequently. To reduce the impact of strong winds on the competition, windbreak fences have been installed in the ski area. To determine the effect and stability of the windbreak fences beside the ski slope of the alpine skiing center, the numerical simulation method was used to study the performance of 3.7 m, 4.7 m and 7.9 m high wind barriers. According to the actual meteorological conditions, two kinds of inlet wind speeds of 10 m/s and 33 m/s were set. The results show that the ambient wind speed is maximum only in a small area near the opening through the windbreak fence. When the ambient wind speed is 10 and 33 m/s, the wind speed in most drainage areas behind the barrier is below 5 and 15 m/s, respectively, which is significantly lower than the wind speed of incoming flow, and the wind protection effect is obvious. When the wind speed at the entrance height is 10 m and 33 m/s, the wind-proof effect is obvious. The wind-proof effect of 7.9 m high windproof bars is better than that of 3.7 and 4.7 m high windproof bars. The wind pressure at the top of the fence is the highest, and the wind pressure also increases when the wind speed increases. Under the action of maximum wind speed, the stability of a 7.9 m high storm fence is low.
Cost and Heat Integration Analysis for CO2 Removal Using Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid-ASPEN PLUS Modelling Study
Authors: Qureshi Tooba , Khraisheh Majeda , Almomani Fares
Published: February 2023

The recent advancement in efficient and recoverable CO2 capture solvents has been stimulated by the environmental harm resulting from the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Ionic liquids (ILs) and IL-based solvents have given rise to a novel method of CO2 collection that is highly efficient, economical, and environmentally benign. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the implementation of this process on a wider scale, and it has limitations, including high solvent costs. This simulated study shows that [EMIM][NTF2] can remove up to 99.4% of the CO2 from industrial waste effluents using three distinct compositions. Following an economic study using a 20-year plant life estimate, with a plant capacity of 4000 kg/h (206.165 kmol/h) for the raw mixed stream flow (inlet) and a maximum CO2 capacity of 38.1 kmol/h, it was determined that the process’s overall annualized cost was USD 2.1 million with operating expenses being USD 1.8 million. The Aspen Activated Energy Analysis’s recommendation of adding a heat exchanger, with a payback year of 0.0586 years, a 23.34 m2 area, and potential energy cost savings of USD 340,182/Year was also implemented successfully. These findings propose a conceptual framework for the development of novel ionic liquids for CO2 capture. It also demonstrates that sustainable [EMIM][Tf2N]-based absorption techniques for CO2 capture have the potential to be an industrial technology.
The Effect of the Potamogeton crispus on Phosphorus Changes throughout Growth and Decomposition: A Comparison of Indoor and Outdoor Studies
Authors: Wang Lizhi , Zhang Liying , Song Hongli , Dong Bin , Wang Yun , Yu Wanni , Wu Yuanzhi , Wu Xiaodong , Ge Xuguang
Published: February 2023

Phosphorus (P) transport and transformation in water were investigated using Potamogeton crispus. To compare and evaluate our indoor experiment with outdoor data, we used the simultaneous indoor experiment and field observation approach. The effects of P. crispus growth and decomposition on P concentrations were investigated. P. crispus significantly reduced the P content of different forms in the water during the growth period, and significantly increased the P content of different forms in the water during the decomposition period, according to the findings. As a result, the P level of the water varied seasonally and regularly. The pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) of environmental factors in the water revealed an increasing trend during the P. crispus growth period and a negative trend during the decomposition period. The changing trend of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) was inverse, decreasing during the growth period of P. crispus and increasing during the decomposition period. In the P. crispus growth environment, all forms of P in water were positively related to Chl-a, APA, and pH, and negatively related to DO. The comparison of the indoor experiment with field data revealed that the indoor experiment number has a larger standard deviation, indicating that the indoor experiment data fluctuated substantially. The indoor simulation experiment has the disadvantage of large data fluctuation. As a result, this study demonstrated that P. crispus regulated the P cycle in water via absorption and changes in environmental factors during the growth period, and released nutrients via decomposition during the decomposition period, thereby influencing the migration and transformation of P in the water. This work may be used as a reference for future research into the process of P exchange between sediments and water interfaces caused by P. crispus.