bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Topical Delivery of 3-O-ethyl l-ascorbic Acid from Complex Solvent Systems
Authors: Iliopoulos Fotis , Hossain A. S. M. Monjur Al , Sil Bruno C. , Moore David J. , Lucas Robert A. , Lane Majella E.
Published: April 2020

3-O-ethyl l-ascorbic acid (EA), an ether derivative of Vitamin C, is widely used in skincare formulations. Previously, we reported the effects of neat solvents on EA percutaneous absorption and observed that 0.6–7.5% of the applied EA was delivered through the skin over 24 h. In this work, we designed complex formulations using combinations of solvents that may act synergistically and examined their impact on EA permeation in porcine skin in vitro under finite dose conditions. Binary combinations of propylene glycol (PG) with propylene glycol monolaurate (PGML) were effective in enhancing skin permeation of EA compared with individual solvents (p < 0.05). Combining PGML with 1,2-hexanediol (HEX) did not result in significantly higher EA permeation compared with the neat solvents (p > 0.05). Addition of the volatile solvent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to PG solutions also did not improve EA skin delivery compared with neat PG. Ternary solvent systems containing PG:PGML were subsequently prepared by the addition of a lipophilic solvent, either isopropyl myristate (IPM), medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) or isostearyl isostearate (ISIS). The optimum vehicle, PG:PGML:IPM, promoted up to 70.9% skin delivery of EA. The PG:PGML:ISIS vehicles also promoted EA permeation across the skin, but to a significantly lesser extent than the IPM-containing vehicles. No enhancement of EA delivery was noted for the PG:PGML:MCT mixtures. These results will inform the development of targeted formulations for EA in the future.
Regarding Smart Cities in China, the North and Emerging Economies—One Size Does Not Fit All
Authors: Browne Nigel J. W.
Published: April 2020

This article explores the significance of the “Smart city” concept by reviewing its key components, namely: Internet of Things (IoT), big (urban) data, and urban informatics/analytics, which are discussed against the background of two ongoing trends impacting everyone in the world—the Fourth Paradigm (the digital revolution) and rapid urbanization. China is seen as a great success story in the sense of how urbanization has driven a significant improvement in the economic wellbeing and prosperity of many of its citizens. Chinese expansion has come at a cost, and the question remains concerning the sustainability of the Chinese model. Along with this, the article suggests some of the short comings of the components of the Smart city concept and reflects on the human resource skills that will be required to implement Smart cities in the north. This is contrasted with the piecemeal way in which elements of the Smart city are being implemented in emerging economies. A process that very much seems to reflect fundamental technical and capacity issues that may hinder any blanket application of the Smart city in the emerging economies for a long time.
Investigating Some Construct Validity Threats to TALIS 2018 Teacher Job Satisfaction Scale: Implications for Social Science Researchers and Practitioners
Authors: Zakariya Yusuf F.
Published: April 2020

The credibility of findings ensuing from cross-sectional survey research depends largely on the validity and reliability of the research instruments. Critical attention to the quality of such instruments will ensure logical and valid results. The purpose of this article is to provide evidence for two methodological issues observed that are potential threats to construct validity of widely used Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 data on teacher job satisfaction scale (TJSS). The first issue concerns reverse recoding of some items necessary to obtain a coherence covariance between these items and other items on the same subscale. The second issue concerns the addition of item cross-loading necessary to improve the fit of the TJSS. Both conceptual and empirical arguments are provided in the current article to substantiate these observations. A series of structural equation modeling tests are evaluated to assess the measurement model of the TJSS across 27 randomly selected countries/economies that participated in the survey. The results reveal gross misspecifications in the measurement model if these issues are not addressed. An alternative two-factor structure with an item cross-loading is proposed and evaluated for TJSS and found acceptable across the countries/economies. Some implications of findings for methodologists and practitioners are presented.
The Contours of State Retreat from Collaborative Environmental Governance under Austerity
Authors: Kirsop-Taylor Nick , Russel Duncan , Winter Michael
Published: April 2020

Although the effects of public austerity have been the subject of a significant literature in recent years, the changing role of the state as a partner in collaborative environmental governance under austerity has received less attention. By employing theories of collaborative governance and state retreat, this paper used a qualitative research design comprised of thirty-two semi-structured interviews within the case study UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the United Kingdom to address this lacuna. Participants perceived that the austerity period has precipitated negative changes to their extant state-orientated funding regime, which had compelled changes to their organisational structure. Austerity damaged their relationships with the state and perceptions of state legitimacy whilst simultaneously strengthening and straining the relationships between intra-partnership non-state governance actors. This case offers a critical contemporary reflection on normative collaborative environmental governance theory under austerity programmes. These open up questions about the role of the state in wider sustainability transitions.
The Influence of 24-Hour Sleep Deprivation on the Strength of Lower Limb Muscles in Young and Physically Fit Women and Men
Authors: Kujawa Karolina , Ołpińska-Lischka Marta , Maciaszek Janusz
Published: April 2020

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of 24-h sleep deprivation on the muscle strength of young, healthy and physically fit people. The research material consisted of physical education students. In total, 67 people participated in the study, including 38 women and 29 men. Respondents were divided into an experimental group “E” of 44 persons subjected to 24-h sleep deprivation and a control group “C” of 23 persons. Students completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) measuring daytime sleepiness. Students performed measurements of the maximum strength of knee joint extensor and flexor muscles. Measurements of muscle strength of flexors and extensors of the knee were taken on a UPR-02 A/S chair with Moment II by Sumer software. ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to determine the significance of differences between experimental “E” and control “C” group. Statistical significance was defined at the level of p ≤ 0.05. Statistically significant differences were observed in the change of strength levels between groups at the strength moments of right (p < 0.05, η2p = 0.16) and left (p < 0.05, η2p = 0.08) knee muscles extensor. Changes in extensor muscle strength are significant for students with left dominant legs.
Digital Entrepreneurship and its Role in Innovation Systems: A Systematic Literature Review as a Basis for Future Research Avenues for Sustainable Transitions
Authors: Satalkina Liliya , Steiner Gerald
Published: April 2020

Digital entrepreneurship is an essential driver within the innovation system. It changes the structure, aims, and networking mechanisms of the overall business system and, ultimately, affects the various levels and dimensions of the innovation system. Bringing inevitable changes to the innovation system, digital technologies may not only provide new business opportunities but also be disruptive and cause new vulnerabilities. In order to gain a rigorous understanding of the hybrid concept of digital entrepreneurship and its role within the transformation of the innovation system, we conducted a systematic literature review. The results of 52 core papers allow for the identification of key categories of digital entrepreneurship and also its differentiation from other types of business activities. The analysis leads to the distinction of the determinants of digital entrepreneurship within three core dimensions of the innovation system, which encompass the entrepreneur (including, e.g., behavioral, competence. and mentality patterns, as well as personal outcomes and consequences of entrepreneurial activity), the entrepreneurial process (including activities that concern digitalization in organizational management processes, transformations within strategic and operational activities, and digital start-up establishment), and its relevant ecosystem (which encompasses, among others, the influence that external infrastructure and institutions have on digital entrepreneurship development). The systematization of the existing literature is highly relevant for future research that aims to understand the interrelations between the transformation of entrepreneurial structures within innovation systems as well as the socioeconomic system in general. Such understanding requires further extended research in fields related to method, content, and theory.
Application of an Institutional Assessment and Design (IAD)-Enhanced Integrated Regional Energy Policy and Planning (IREPP) Framework to Island States
Authors: Shah Kalim U. , Roy Sashwat , Chen Wei-Ming , Niles Keron , Surroop Dinesh
Published: April 2020

The integrated regional energy policy and planning (IREPP) framework was devised to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in meeting declared national targets. While the framework advances the comprehensiveness of the feasibility assessment by bringing in concepts like environment economic equity, the muted way in which institutional factors and capacity are addressed remains weak and ineffective. Here, we corrected this weakness by presenting an IREPP framework that is enhanced by integrating principles of the institutional assessment and design (IAD) framework. The IAD framework emphasizes the careful consideration of contextual factors, it draws attention to the full range of transaction costs, and does not presume a priori that one type of institutional arrangement. This IREPP-IAD framework was used to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in three different island jurisdictions—Taiwan, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. With ambitious national targets, these islands are good testing grounds for this updated approach. Through qualitative comparative case study analysis, several institutional factors were found to play an influence if national energy policies are likely to meet set targets. These factors included: government/policy decision makers and the decision/policymaking environment; governance structure and commitment for energy policy; existing policy instruments and tools that are in play and those planned; polycentricity; stakeholder participation and community building; market dynamics; information transparency; pilot programs and technology innovations/research; compliance or responsibilities under the Paris Accord; grid connectivity and monitoring of the policy implementation progress. This study contributes in two ways. First, by providing a more robust framework for assessing institutional arrangements that moderate how energy policies are implemented and second, providing insightful assessments of the energy policies in three island jurisdictions, thereby increasing our understanding of island energy policymaking and implementation in these understudied geographies.
A Negotiation Approach to Support the Strategies Alignment Process in Collaborative Networks
Authors: Andres Beatriz , Blanes Vicente Javier
Published: April 2020

This paper proposes a negotiation approach to support the strategies alignment (SA) collaborative process. The negotiation approach is presented as a complementary mechanism to deal with the SA process. The strategies alignment negotiation approach (SA-NA) considers three different levels of collaboration, which differ by the accurateness of information and amount of data exchanged among the collaborative enterprises. Accordingly, three negotiation processes are proposed, equivalent to the three collaboration levels identified. This paper describes from a conceptual and mathematical point of views the phases of the SA-NA to carry out at each collaboration level. The SA-NA enables users to identify aligned strategies to be activated by the collaborative network (CN) partners. The main aim of the SA-NA is to identify those aligned strategies that satisfy all the CN enterprises, allowing users to achieve the objectives and performance levels required at the enterprises’ level while the network performance is maximized. The SA-NA enables CN partners to negotiate and achieve a suitable solution for all the CN enterprises, promoting sustainable collaboration among the partners participating in the CN through the activation of aligned strategies.
Expanding the Role of Biodiversity in Laypeople’s Lives: The View of Communicators
Authors: Hooykaas Michiel J. D. , Schilthuizen Menno , Smeets Ionica
Published: April 2020

Biodiversity is a fundamental part of sustainable development, yet it is threatened by numerous factors associated with human population growth. The current lack of broad-based support for biodiversity conservation may be explained by the widening gap between people and nature. In order to conserve biodiversity, people should be engaged in biodiversity, yet it is not yet clear what potential is present in highly urbanized environments. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve biodiversity communicators in the Netherlands, a highly urbanized country, and used their perceptions and experiences to explore motivations, opportunities and challenges for expanding the role of biodiversity in people’s lives in an increasingly urban world. Overall, the interviewees perceived the current role of biodiversity in laypeople’s lives to be too limited, but they were positive about the potential to expand the role. Based on communicators’ perceptions potential lies in a combination of direct exposure to biodiversity outdoors, the media, and education. Furthermore, strategically designed communication is also expected to play an essential part in opening people’s eyes for biodiversity. The results are valuable both at national and international levels, as they can motivate and aid professionals operating in urbanized contexts at reaching out to their audiences about biodiversity.
Observed Characteristics and Modeled Emissions of Transit Buses on Ramps
Authors: Liu Haobing , Zhang Shuyang , Chen Guojun , Gao Qian
Published: April 2020

On-ramps and off-ramps that serve as connections between high-speed facilities and arterials are potential hotspots for vehicle emissions. The engine load associated with grade and acceleration on uphill ramps can lead to significant emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs) over a short distance. This study explores transit bus operations and emissions at ramps using Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected from Detroit transit buses. Ramp-associated operating data are extracted from the vehicle traces using ArcGIS and assigned to the applicable United States Environmental Protection Agency’s emission rates, i.e., EPA’s Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES). The results show that transit bus emission rates for on-ramp operations at 40 mph (64.37 km/h) are about double the average emission rate on the MOVES highway cycles. For lower on-ramp speeds (< 64.37 km/h), as average speeds decrease, on-ramp emission rates drop roughly to the highway emission rates given the less aggressive acceleration noted in the data. Off-ramp emission rates are approximately half of the highway emission rates. The study also finds that post-ramp acceleration, right after buses enter the highway from the on-ramp, contributes to high emissions, because of the high-speed and high-power operations. This is true for the loop on-ramp, where the bus emission rate after entering the highway is higher than the emissions associated with driving on the ramp. On-ramp emissions are found to vary across a wide range of conditions, indicating that further study and more data are needed to explore the overall impacts of on-ramp and post-ramp activity in emissions modeling. A sensitivity analysis of ramp grade effect on emission indicates that ramp grade should be specifically considered in project-level analyses. The research results are useful for understanding ramp driving characteristics, the potential impacts of ramp grade on emissions, and the ramp hotspot analysis.
Relationship between Rural Settlements’ Plant Communities and Environmental Factors in Hilly Area of Southeast China
Authors: Wang Ziyan , Wang Cheng , Jiang Zehui , Hu Tao , Han Wenjing , Zhang Chang , Jin Jiali , Wei Kaiyue , Zhao Jiao , Wang Xinyu
Published: April 2020

The construction of the ecological environment in rural settlements is a very important part of the development of human settlements. Key to this construction is the coordinated and sustainable development of plant environment, geographical environment, and human activities. Therefore, it is necessary to study the characteristics of plant diversity and their driving mechanisms. The study area, ‘Shanchuan Town’, is located in the hilly area of Southeast China, Anji County, Zhejiang Province. As bamboo forests cover 62% of the total forests, it has the reputation of being the “China town of bamboo”. To interpret rural plant community features, we extracted topography data by the field survey, satellite image, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) based on ArcGIS platform, then used Spearman’s correlation and a redundancy analysis to examine the relationships between explanatory variables (e.g., plot elevation, slope aspect and architectural height, etc.) and the distribution of plant community diversity. In this study, 227 plots were selected from 14 settlements to investigate totally 105, 88, 206, and 17 species of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vines, respectively, belonging to 147 families, 324 genera, and 416 species. Among them, there were 19 bamboo species, and 47 species of alien plants, which accounted for 11.3% of the total. The dominant trees and shrubs were mainly native species with high edible or ornamental value. The dominant bamboo species were common species for bamboo shoots in Zhejiang Province, while most of the dominant herbaceous species were alien species. Among the explanatory variables, the impact of plot elevation (PE) on plant community was significantly higher than those of other explanatory factors. The correlation analysis showed that the richness and diversity indices of different plant life layers were significantly related to PE. Among the architectural factors, the architectural orientation (AO) and layout type (AT) effect on shrubs and other herbaceous species was stronger than those on trees and bamboo. There was a high plant community richness in the study area, and both topography and architectural factors had a significant effect on plant community. Therefore, construction of the plant landscape should conform to the topography and regulate the residential construction activities properly, so as to get rid of urban planning thinking and the excessive pursuit of plant diversity, realizing the sustainable development of ecological environment in settlements.
A Dynamic Adjustment Model of Cruising Taxicab Fleet Size Combined the Operating and Flied Survey Data
Authors: Ye Xiaofei , Li Min , Yang Zhongzhen , Yan Xingchen , Chen Jun
Published: April 2020

Due to the lack of adjustment index systems for taxi fleet sizes in China, this paper used the taxi operating datasets from Ningbo City and established a regression tree model to consider the endogenous indicators that affect taxi fleet sizes. Then, a dynamic adjustment mechanism of taxi fleet sizes was proposed by combining the exogenous and endogenous indicators. The importance of the exogenous and endogenous indicators was sorted using the Delphi method. The threshold value of each indicator was also given. The results indicated that (1) in the three-layer structure of the regression tree model, the mileage utilization had the strongest effect on the fleet size of taxis, and the F statistic was 63.73; followed by the average daily revenue of a single taxi, the average waiting time to catch a single taxi, the average operating time of a single taxi, and the revenue per 100 km. The overall accuracy of the model was found to be valid. (2) When the mileage utilization was less than 0.6179 and the average daily revenue of a single taxi was less than 798.38 Yuan, the fleet size of cruising taxis was surplus and should be reduced by 362 vehicles. (3) When the mileage utilization was more than 0.6774 and the average waiting time to catch a single taxi was more than 259.09 s, the fleet size of cruising taxis was insufficient, and we suggest an increase of 463 taxis.
Intent-Based End-to-End Network Service Orchestration System for Multi-Platforms
Authors: Rafiq Adeel , Mehmood Asif , Ahmed Khan Talha , Abbas Khizar , Afaq Muhammad , Song Wang-Cheol
Published: April 2020

On-demand service is the main feature of the 5G network, and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) provides it by virtualizing the existing 5G network infrastructure. NFV crafts various virtual networks on a shared physical network, but one of the core challenges in future 5G networks is to automate the modeling of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) and end-to-end Network Service (NS) orchestration with less human interaction. Traditionally, the descriptor of VNF and NS is created manually, which requires expert-level skills. This manual approach has a big threat of human error, which can be avoided by using the Intent-Based Networking (IBN) approach. The IBN approach eliminates the requirement of expertise for designing VNFs and NS by taking users’ intentions as an input. In this paper, the proposed system presents the Intent Management System for VNF modeling and end-to-end NS orchestration for multi-platforms. This system takes the high-level information related to a specific service, configures it accordingly, and converts it into the selected platform. The proposed system is tested using Mobile Central Office Re-architected as Data Center (M-CORD) and Open-Source Management and Orchestration (OSM) orchestrators. The results section shows that the proposed system reduces the effort of the end-user in creating network slices and provides seamless end-to-end service orchestration.
Refining the Spatial Scale for Maize Crop Agro-Climatological Suitability Conditions in a Region with Complex Topography towards a Smart and Sustainable Agriculture. Case Study: Central Romania (Cluj County)
Authors: Croitoru Adina-Eliza , Man Titus Cristian , Vâtcă Sorin Daniel , Kobulniczky Bela , Stoian Vlad
Published: April 2020

In the context of global climate change, the agricultural sector is one of the most responsive. This study focused on changes detected in temperature requirements for maize crops based on growing season length and the growing degree day indices in Central Romania (Cluj County). Daily air temperature data over the period 1981–2013 was derived from two databases with different spatial resolutions: Agri4Cast Resources Portal and ROmanian ClimAtic Dataset. Further analysis, performed for the entire period and three 10/13-y sub-periods, focused on calculating and mapping the area of arable land for each suitability zone. The main findings were: there were differences up to 16% in the area of suitability zones when switching from the results obtained based on the coarse spatial resolution to the improved one; the differences were larger for the shorter and more recent sub-periods than for the entire period or for the first decade; and there was considerable improvement of thermal conditions for maize crops in the focus region over the considered period—suitability zone I was not detected for the first sub-period and became dominant for the last one. It can be concluded that using or developing a better spatial resolution database is very important for maximizing the profitability of agriculture.
Development of Self-Assessment Indicators for Motorcycle Riders in Thailand: Application of the Motorcycle Rider Behavior Questionnaire (MRBQ)
Authors: Uttra Savalee , Jomnonkwao Sajjakaj , Watthanaklang Duangdao , Ratanavaraha Vatanavongs
Published: April 2020

The purposes of this research are (1) to create a motorcycle riding behavior measurement model for a Thai population by Motorcycle Rider Behavior Questionnaire (MRBQ) modification with exploratory factor analysis (EFA); (2) to verify the measurement model by second-order confirmatory factor analysis (second-order CFA); and (3) to define the guidelines of the self-assessment report for Thai people in terms of riding motorcycles. Collected data were distributed among four areas: metro-municipalities, municipalities, district municipalities, and non-municipalities from five regions. The sample consisted of 1516 motorcycle riders who were at least 20 years old. Of these riders, 91.4% had motorcycle riding licenses, 84.4% had over five years of experience in motorcycle riding, 75.5% used a motorcycle to go to work/study, and 82.1% used a helmet sometimes. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (second-order CFA) were used for measurement model creation. The results presented 26 indicators that were confirmed to compose the motorcycle riding behavior of Thai people at a statistical significance level of α = 0.05; these were separated into four factors, namely, traffic error, control error, stunts, and safety equipment. The results of this MRBQ study can inform future study of the motorcycle riding behavior of Thai people.
Artificial Intelligence, Transport and the Smart City: Definitions and Dimensions of a New Mobility Era
Authors: Nikitas Alexandros , Michalakopoulou Kalliopi , Njoya Eric Tchouamou , Karampatzakis Dimitris
Published: April 2020

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful concept still in its infancy that has the potential, if utilised responsibly, to provide a vehicle for positive change that could promote sustainable transitions to a more resource-efficient livability paradigm. AI with its deep learning functions and capabilities can be employed as a tool which empowers machines to solve problems that could reform urban landscapes as we have known them for decades now and help with establishing a new era; the era of the “smart city”. One of the key areas that AI can redefine is transport. Mobility provision and its impact on urban development can be significantly improved by the employment of intelligent transport systems in general and automated transport in particular. This new breed of AI-based mobility, despite its machine-orientation, has to be a user-centred technology that “understands” and “satisfies” the human user, the markets and the society as a whole. Trust should be built, and risks should be eliminated, for this transition to take off. This paper provides a novel conceptual contribution that thoroughly discusses the scarcely studied nexus of AI, transportation and the smart city and how this will affect urban futures. It specifically covers key smart mobility initiatives referring to Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), autonomous Personal and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (PAVs and UAVs) and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), but also interventions that may work as enabling technologies for transport, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Physical Internet (PI) or reflect broader transformations like Industry 4.0. This work is ultimately a reference tool for researchers and city planners that provides clear and systematic definitions of the ambiguous smart mobility terms of tomorrow and describes their individual and collective roles underpinning the nexus in scope.
Exploring Determinants of Consumers’ Platform Usage in “Double Eleven” Shopping Carnival in China: Cognition and Emotion from an Integrated Perspective
Authors: Xu Xiaoyu , Wang Luyao , Zhao Kai
Published: April 2020

There is a great deal of interest concerning how e-commerce in China can be developed in sustainable ways. Answering this question requires not only the strategic management at the aggregate level, but also developing a micro framework that can effectively understand the cognitive-behavioral pathway of consumers in various online contexts. This paper focuses on the “Double Eleven” Global Online Shopping Carnival (GOSC) in China and attempts to investigate the determinants of consumers’ behaviors of shopping platform usage. The distinguishing feature of this study is that we define GOSC as a unique scenario compared to normal online shopping context, where consumers’ emotional state towards such an event plays a larger role in determining behaviors. Based on Cognitive Emotion Theory (CET), the main findings of this paper suggest that (1) consumers’ behaviors of online platform usage can be affected by both cognitions related factors, including price value, gamification and personalized services, and by emotional state such as having arousal and being pleasured; (2) cognition has an effect on emotional state, such as the positive effect of price value on arousal and pleasure or gamification on arousal. Our study, therefore, has highlighted a number of key points to the sustainable development of GOSC. Limitations and further research directions are also discussed.
Research on the Knowledge Association Reasoning of Financial Reports Based on a Graph Network
Authors: Liang Zhuoqian , Pan Ding , Deng Yuan
Published: April 2020

With increasingly strict supervision, the complexity of enterprises’ annual reports has increased significantly, and the size of the text corpus has grown at an enormous rate. Information fusion for financial reporting has become a research hotspot. The difficulty of this problem is in filtering the massive amount of heterogeneous data and integrating related information distributed in different locations according to decision topics. This paper proposes a Graph NetWork (GNW) model that establishes the overall connection between decentralized information, as well as a graph network generation algorithm to filter large and complex data sets in financial reports and to mine key information to make it suitable for different decision situations. Finally, this paper uses the Planar Maximally Filtered Graph (PMFG) as a benchmark to show the effect of the generation algorithm.
Smart City-Ranking of Major Australian Cities to Achieve a Smarter Future
Authors: Tariq Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman , Faumatu Alavaiola , Hussein Maha , Shahid Muhammad Laiq Ur Rahman , Muttil Nitin
Published: April 2020

A Smart City is a solution to the problems caused by increasing urbanization. Australia has demonstrated a strong determination for the development of Smart Cities. However, the country has experienced uneven growth in its urban development. The purpose of this study is to compare and identify the smartness of major Australian cities to the level of development in multi-dimensions. Eventually, the research introduces the openings to make cities smarter by identifying the focused priority areas. To ensure comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the smart city’s performance, 90 indicators were selected to represent 26 factors and six components. The results of the assessment endorse the impacts of recent government actions taken in different urban areas towards building smarter cities. The research has pointed out the areas of deficiencies for underperforming major cities in Australia. Following the results, appropriate recommendations for Australian cities are provided to improve the city’s smartness.
New Power Structures and Shifted Governance Agendas Disrupting Climate Change Adaptation Developments in Kenya and Uganda
Authors: Renner Julia
Published: April 2020

Kenya and Uganda are currently two of the fastest growing countries in the East African Community. The political leaderships’ prioritization of sociopolitical and economic development, combined with the wish for a closer integration into the world market, shifted the countries’ governance structures and agenda setting. Undertaken economic projects, including oil explorations, mining and gold extractions, flower farming and intense rice growing, put conservation areas at great risk and led to a decrease of the country’s wetland and forest cover. Accordingly, the impact of climate change on the vulnerability of countries is increasing. The paper critically investigates how particularly recent economic investments by national and international companies question the coherence between the institutional framework on climate policies, especially on a sub-national level of decision-making. Based on two field visits to the area, this paper raises the question of how the institutional frameworks shape climate governance processes in Kenya and Uganda. Looking at both political and climate governance structures from a pragmatic perspective, this paper concludes that the insufficient implementation of existing governance structures hampers the better integration of climate policies. National actors do not consider climate financing as an important issue which results in the fragmentation and undermining of climate policy processes.
Factors Affecting Residents’ Support for Protected Area Designation
Authors: Park Sunjoo , Zielinski Seweryn , Jeong Yoonjeong , Kim Seong-il
Published: April 2020

This study examined the formation of residents’ behavioral intentions to support the expansion of protected areas (PAs). A structural equation model combining the theory of planned behavior and an expectancy disconfirmation model were employed to test seven hypotheses on the influence of expectations, performance, satisfaction, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on behavioral intention to support PA designation. The findings indicate that although the expectations of PA performance did not significantly influence the satisfaction from PAs, the perceived performance after the designation significantly contributed to building satisfaction, which in turn had a significant role in explaining attitudes. Furthermore, positive and significant associations of subjective norms and behavioral control with behavioral intention to support additional designation were identified. These results provide indications for PA managers and environmental agencies regarding aspects to consider when engaging in planning with local communities and appropriate ways to respond to their concerns.
Evaluation of Drought Monitoring Effect of Winter Wheat in Henan Province of China Based on Multi-Source Data
Authors: Li Yuan , Dong Yi , Yin Dongqin , Liu Diyou , Wang Pengxin , Huang Jianxi , Liu Zhe , Wang Hongshuo
Published: April 2020

Monitoring agricultural drought is important to food security and the sustainable development of human society. In order to improve the accuracy of soil moisture and winter wheat yield estimation, drought monitoring effects of optical drought index data, meteorological drought data, and passive microwave soil moisture data were explored during individual and whole growth periods of winter wheat in 2003–2011, taking Henan Province of China as the research area. The model of drought indices and relative meteorological yield of winter wheat in individual and whole growth periods was constructed based on multiple linear regression. Results showed a higher correlation between Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) drought indices and 10 cm relative soil moisture (RSM10) than 20 cm (RSM20) and 50 cm (RSM50). In the whole growth period, the correlation coefficient (R) between vegetation supply water index (VSWI) and RSM10 had the highest correlation (R = −0.206), while in individual growth periods, the vegetation temperature condition index (VTCI) was superior to the vegetation health index (VHI) and VSWI. Among the meteorological drought indices, the 10-day, 20-day, and 30-day standard precipitation evapotranspiration indices (SPEI1, SPEI2, and SPEI3) were all most relevant to RSM10 during individual and whole growth periods. RSM50 and SPEI3 had a higher correlation, indicating that deep soil moisture was more related to drought on a long time scale. The relationship between Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS soil moisture (AMSR-E SM) and VTCI was stable and significantly positive in individual and whole growth periods, which was better compared to VHI and VSWI. Compared with the drought indices and the relative meteorological yield in the city, VHI had the best monitoring effect during individual and whole growth periods. Results also showed that drought occurring at the jointing–heading stage can reduce winter wheat yield, while a certain degree of drought occurring at the heading–milk ripening stage can increase the yield. In the whole growth period, the combination of SPEI1, SPEI2, and VHI had the best performance, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.282 with the combination of drought indices as the independent variables and relative meteorological yield as the dependent variable. In the individual growth period, the model in the later growth period of winter wheat performed well, especially in the returning green–jointing stage (R2 = 0.212). Results show that the combination of multiple linear drought indices in the whole growth period and the model in the returning green–jointing period could improve the accuracy of winter wheat yield estimation. This study is helpful for effective agricultural drought monitoring of winter wheat in Henan Province.
Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Correlation Analysis of Ecosystem Service Value and Landscape Ecological Risk in Wuhu City
Authors: Jia Yanyan , Tang Xiaolan , Liu Wei
Published: April 2020

The comprehensive application of ecosystem service value (ESV) and ecological risk index (ERI) assessment can provide better decision support for regional ecological environment protection. Based on the remote sensing image data of Wuhu city of 1995, 2005 and 2016, the paper analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution of ESV and ERI in Wuhu city and its associated characteristics using an ESV, ERI assessments and a bivariate spatial autocorrelation method. The results showed that (1) the total ESV of Wuhu city continued to decline from 1995 to 2016, with a decrease of US$ 363.664 million. The total ESV per unit area of the sampling plot decreased, and the high-value was mainly distributed in areas within 5–10 km along the Yangtze River floodplain. (2) Wuhu city was mainly dominated by a relatively low ERI and medium ERI from 1995 to 2016. The high-value areas were mainly distributed in the mainstream of the Yangtze River, and the overall ERI improved. (3) There was a positive spatial correlation between the total ESV per unit area and ERI in Wuhu city, and these areas were mainly distributed in the Yangtze River mainstream region. According to this research, it is necessary to pay attention to the protection of wetland and forest landscapes, strengthen wetland ecological protection based on the Yangtze River and protect and restore natural mountain forests, all of which play important roles in improving the ecosystem service function of Wuhu city and protecting the ecological environment of the Yangtze River. We should act on that knowledge, and produce effective environmental regulations and habitat restoration efforts that improve the ESV and reduce the ERI. The findings of the study can serve as a reference for the management and protection of ecological environments in river-crossing cities.
Using Building Information Modelling to Manage Client Requirements in Social Housing Projects
Authors: Baldauf Juliana P. , Formoso Carlos T. , Tzortzopoulos Patricia , Miron Luciana I. G. , Soliman-Junior Joao
Published: April 2020

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to manage client requirements in the context of social housing projects. A process model representing main activities involved in requirements management has been devised, as well as nine constructs that can be used for assessing the effectiveness of using BIM for client requirements management. The process of managing and modelling clients’ requirements is important to improve value generation, considering the limited resources usually available for social housing projects, as well as the need to deal with the diversity of user profiles. The use of BIM-based tools to support this process can potentially improve the performance of those projects in terms of environmental and social sustainability. Design Science Research was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation. The main outcome of this study, the set of guidelines, emerged from an empirical study carried out in a social housing project from Brazil. This study explores the managerial perspective of client requirements modelling, proposing practical contributions, such as understanding the challenges of managing requirements in social housing projects, and theoretical contributions, such as descriptions of the activities involved in client requirements management and their interactions, and constructs for assessing BIM-based solutions for that problem.
Perceived Risks, Travel Constraints, and Destination Perception: A Study on Sub-Saharan African Medical Travellers
Authors: Khan Mohammad Jamal , Khan Firoz , Amin Saba , Chelliah Shankar
Published: April 2020

In medical travel, previous studies have investigated the factors that influence medical travellers to receive treatment outside the country. However, most of these studies are limited to travel motivations and perceptions of medical services at destinations. The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between medical travellers’ perceived risks, travel constraints, and destination image based on medical and non-medical attributes. This is a quantitative study whereby the data was collected from 306 sub-Saharan African medical travellers, who visited India for the treatment. The study found that physical-health risk has a significant negative influence on destination image based on medical attributes. The service quality risk has a negative effect on destination image based on both medical and non-medical attributes, and destination risk has a negative effect on destination image based on medical attributes. The study also found that travel constraints have a negative influence on both medical and non-medical destination image.
Experimental Study Based on Game Theory on the Private, Voluntary Supply Mechanisms of Goods for Forestry Infrastructure from the Perspective of Quasi-Public Goods
Authors: Zhang Liying , Wu Chengliang , Zhang Yang
Published: April 2020

The existing research on forestry infrastructure has focused on suggestions from other areas of forestry research: that forestry infrastructure should be completed and improved. However, research on forestry infrastructure is relatively rare. In the real world, there are various problems with creating forestry infrastructure, such as complex approval procedures for facility construction, irrational facility layout, insufficient funding for facility construction, and conflicts between the nature of land used for facility construction and the nature of forest land. This paper uses game theory to analyze the behavior of forest infrastructure goods suppliers. Relevant parameters related to forest area infrastructure were designed, including communication, environmental certainty, information feedback, and reward and punishment mechanisms, and experimental economics methods were used to simulate accurate behavior regarding the supply of goods. Then, the key factors that affect the provision of quasi-public goods for forestry infrastructure were studied. At the end of the paper, some targeted suggestions that distinguish rural infrastructure from general infrastructure are given.
Optimal Placement of TCSC for Congestion Management and Power Loss Reduction Using Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Nguyen Thang Trung , Mohammadi Fazel
Published: April 2020

Electricity demand has been growing due to the increase in the world population and higher energy usage per capita as compared to the past. As a result, various methods have been proposed to increase the efficiency of power systems in terms of mitigating congestion and minimizing power losses. Power grids operating limitations result in congestion that specifies the final capacity of the system, which decreases the conventional power capabilities between coverage areas. Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) can help to decrease flows in heavily loaded lines and lead to lines loadability improvements and cost reduction. In this paper, total power loss reduction and line congestion improvement are assessed by determining the optimal locations and compensation rates of Thyristor-Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC) devices using the Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). The results of applying the proposed method on the IEEE 30-bus test system confirmed the efficiency of the proposed procedure. In addition, to check the performance, applicability, and effectiveness of the proposed method, different heuristic algorithms, such as the multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm, and Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Program (MINLP) technique, are used for comparison. The obtained results show the accuracy and fast convergence of the proposed method over the other heuristic techniques.
Are They All Equal? Uncovering Adopter Groups of Battery Electric Vehicles
Authors: Burs Lukas , Roemer Ellen , Worm Stefan , Masini Andrea
Published: April 2020

Battery Electric Vehicles are regarded as highly important to reach environmental goals, such as CO2 savings in the transport sector. Despite governments making strong efforts to encourage their adoption and diffusion, sales still remain at a notoriously low level. One of the reasons may be the lack of a deeper understanding of the differences among potential adopters of Battery Electric Vehicles. To close this research gap, the authors segment adopter groups in a new way. They simultaneously use preferences for product attributes and personal characteristics to identify and characterize adopter groups of Battery Electric Vehicles. In this way, adopters can be effectively segmented, uncovering a more precise picture of adopters’ needs. Moreover, the authors introduce a three-step-procedure combining inputs from an adaptive choice-based conjoint experiment with a questionnaire. This approach can be used to segment adopter groups of other eco-innovations, as well. Based on three adopter groups of Battery Electric Vehicles (Utilitarian Savers, Performance Seekers, and Green Technologists), the authors develop tailored measures for decision-makers in policy and management to foster the adoption and diffusion of Battery Electric Vehicles.