bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Research on Particle Swarm Compensation Method for Subdivision Error Optimization of Photoelectric Encoder Based on Parallel Iteration
Authors: Hou Han , Cao Guohua , Ding Hongchang , Li Kun
Published: June 2022

Photoelectric encoders are widely used in high-precision measurement fields such as industry and aerospace because of their high precision and reliability. In order to improve the subdivision accuracy of moiré grating signals, a particle swarm optimization compensation model for grating the subdivision error of a photoelectric encoder based on parallel iteration is proposed. In the paper, an adaptive subdivision method of a particle swarm search domain based on the honeycomb structure is proposed, and a raster signal subdivision error compensation model based on the multi-swarm particle swarm optimization algorithm based on parallel iteration is established. The optimization algorithm can effectively improve the convergence speed and system accuracy of traditional particle swarm optimization. Finally, according to the subdivision error compensation algorithm, the subdivision error of the grating system caused by the sinusoidal error in the system is quickly corrected by taking advantage of the high-speed parallel processing of the FPGA pipeline architecture. The design experiment uses a 25-bit photoelectric encoder to verify the subdivision error algorithm. The experimental results show that the actual dynamic subdivision error can be reduced to ½ before compensation, and the static subdivision error can be reduced from 1.264″ to 0.487″ before detection.
Recent Advances in Touch Sensors for Flexible Wearable Devices
Authors: Anwer Abdul Hakeem , Khan Nishat , Ansari Mohd Zahid , Baek Sang-Soo , Yi Hoon , Kim Soeun , Noh Seung Man , Jeong Changyoon
Published: June 2022

Many modern user interfaces are based on touch, and such sensors are widely used in displays, Internet of Things (IoT) projects, and robotics. From lamps to touchscreens of smartphones, these user interfaces can be found in an array of applications. However, traditional touch sensors are bulky, complicated, inflexible, and difficult-to-wear devices made of stiff materials. The touch screen is gaining further importance with the trend of current IoT technology flexibly and comfortably used on the skin or clothing to affect different aspects of human life. This review presents an updated overview of the recent advances in this area. Exciting advances in various aspects of touch sensing are discussed, with particular focus on materials, manufacturing, enhancements, and applications of flexible wearable sensors. This review further elaborates on the theoretical principles of various types of touch sensors, including resistive, piezoelectric, and capacitive sensors. The traditional and novel hybrid materials and manufacturing technologies of flexible sensors are considered. This review highlights the multidisciplinary applications of flexible touch sensors, such as e-textiles, e-skins, e-control, and e-healthcare. Finally, the obstacles and prospects for future research that are critical to the broader development and adoption of the technology are surveyed.
Temporal Stability Analysis of Lighting Conditions in Traffic Accidents
Authors: Hou Fujin , Lv Chen , Liu Qun , Yue Rui , Gao Huarui , Pi Rendong , Cai Ruirui , Guo Xinming
Published: June 2022

Different lighting conditions can result in accidents of different levels of severity. However, current studies lack the consideration of the heterogeneity and temporal stability of accident data under various lighting conditions. Therefore, three years’ worth of data were used to investigate the critical factors of accident severity. The random parameters logit model was employed to investigate the influence of different lighting conditions on temporal stability and heterogeneity. The critical factors affecting injury severity were also identified. The temporal stability and transferability of the models were investigated by a series of likelihood ratio tests. Based on different lighting conditions (daylight conditions, and night-time conditions with street lighting on), six models were established. Three kinds of accident injury severity levels were classified: property damage only (PDO), severe injury (SI), and fatal injury (FI). The estimation results showed contributing factors of accident severity were significantly different between the two kinds of lighting conditions. Additionally, accidents showed temporal instability. The proposed method can provide a guide for infrastructure construction, operation, and maintenance in traffic-safety management.
Chemical Composition in Kernels of Ten Grafted Pecan (Carya illinoensis) Varieties in Southeastern China
Authors: Zhang Xiaodan , Chang Jun , Yao Xiaohua , Wang Jingru , Zhang Jiatian , Yang Yang , Yang Shuiping , Wang Kailiang , Ren Huadong
Published: June 2022

As woody oil crop, pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] may be a solution to the shortage of edible oil in the future. In this study, fruit traits, kernel nutrition and fatty acid composition of 10 pecan varieties were determined to assess the potential of pecans for exploitation as edible oil, as well as to further screen varieties that could be used as edible oil resources and to understand their development prospects for cultivation in mountainous hills. The study showed that all the fruit trait indicators measured, including green-fruit weight (mean 28.47 g), nut weight (10.33 g), kernel weight (5.25 g), nut percentage (36.83%) and kernel percentage (50.50%), showed highly significant differences among the 10 varieties. Among the main nutritional indicators of the kernels, the crude fat content was stable (mean 70.01%) with non-significant differences, while protein (67.50 mg·g−1), soluble sugar (10.7 mg·g−1) and tannin (6.07 mg·g−1) showed highly significant differences between varieties. The oil percentage of nuts (kernel percentage * crude fat) averaged 35.36%, with highly significant differences between varieties. The fatty acid composition was dominated by unsaturated fatty acids (mean 91.82%), with unsaturated fatty acids being 11.24 times more abundant than saturated fatty acids. Among the monounsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid was the highest (mean 70.02%), with highly significant differences between varieties, followed by cis-11-eicosanoic acid (0.25%), with non-significant differences between varieties; among the polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid was the highest (19.58%), followed by linolenic acid (0.97%), both of which showed highly significant differences between varieties; monounsaturated fatty acids were 2.42 times more abundant than polyunsaturated fatty acids. Compared to other oilseed crops, pecan has the potential to produce “nutritious, healthy and stable” edible oil, while its wide habitat and good productivity benefits offer broad prospects for development in the hills and mountains of subtropical China.
Organic Carbon Speciation in Urban Anthrosols—The Legacy of Historical Waste Management
Authors: Esiana Benneth O. I. , Berns Anne E. , Adderley W. Paul , Bol Roland
Published: June 2022

The impacts of waste management on various soils of agricultural and urban lands may last centuries or even millennia; however, generally, most studies tend to focus only on decadal or shorter timescales. This study investigates the characteristic properties of anthrosols in and around the urban settlement of St Andrews (Scotland), in the context of soil management and organic carbon content and speciation. Formed by the repeated application of fresh organic and pyrogenic wastes since the medieval period, these soils provide a 1000-year urban research context based on historical accounts of town waste management. We employed complementary methods of high-field solid-state 13C-CPMAS NMR, in situ magnetic susceptibility measurement, elemental micro-analysis and portable optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). A significant proportion of the soil organic carbon was present as refractory aromatic C structures, including aryl-C moieties. Portable OSL assessment revealed differences in the intensity and rate of sediment accumulation. The medieval urban areas had higher soil phosphorus concentrations, organic carbon content and magnetic susceptibility relative to the extra-urban site located outside of the medieval burgh. The study confirms that specific signatures, including carbon group functionalities, do reveal evidence of such induced long-lasting past anthropogenic soil modifications.
Programming Plyometric-Jump Training in Soccer: A Review
Authors: Ramirez-Campillo Rodrigo , Moran Jason , Oliver Jon L. , Pedley Jason S. , Lloyd Rhodri S. , Granacher Urs
Published: June 2022

The aim of this review was to describe and summarize the scientific literature on programming parameters related to jump or plyometric training in male and female soccer players of different ages and fitness levels. A literature search was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus using keywords related to the main topic of this study (e.g., “ballistic” and “plyometric”). According to the PICOS framework, the population for the review was restricted to soccer players, involved in jump or plyometric training. Among 7556 identified studies, 90 were eligible for inclusion. Only 12 studies were found for females. Most studies (n = 52) were conducted with youth male players. Moreover, only 35 studies determined the effectiveness of a given jump training programming factor. Based on the limited available research, it seems that a dose of 7 weeks (1–2 sessions per week), with ~80 jumps (specific of combined types) per session, using near-maximal or maximal intensity, with adequate recovery between repetitions (<15 s), sets (≥30 s) and sessions (≥24–48 h), using progressive overload and taper strategies, using appropriate surfaces (e.g., grass), and applied in a well-rested state, when combined with other training methods, would increase the outcome of effective and safe plyometric-jump training interventions aimed at improving soccer players physical fitness. In conclusion, jump training is an effective and easy-to-administer training approach for youth, adult, male and female soccer players. However, optimal programming for plyometric-jump training in soccer is yet to be determined in future research.
Effect of Fertilizer Application on Watermelon Growth, Structure of Dissolved Organic Matter and Microbial Functional Diversity in Organic Substrates
Authors: Song Xiuchao , Wang Qiujun , Luo Jia , Guo Dejie , Ma Yan
Published: June 2022

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the immediate energy, carbon, and other nutrient substrates for microbial growth and, therefore, plays an essential role in agroecosystem biochemical processes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the interrelationships among watermelon growth, DOM chemical characteristics, nutrient content, and microbial functional diversity in organic soilless growing substrates. We analyzed the effect of no fertilizer application (CK), PK fertilizer application (PK), and NPK fertilizer application (NPK) on fruit yield of watermelon, DOM chemical structure, nutrient status, and microbial functional diversity in organic substrates cultivated with watermelon. Compared with the CK, the NPK treatment resulted in a significantly lower fruit yield of watermelon, lower DOC concentration, significantly higher DON concentration, and higher NO3−-N concentration. The application of NPK chemical fertilizer in substrates decreased the degree of humification in DOM and microbial functional diversity compared with CK treatment. Our results demonstrate that the quality of DOM plays an important role in improving the fruit yield of watermelon and is tightly related to microbial functional diversity in organic substrates.
Leveraging the Dynamics of Food Supply Chains towards Avenues of Sustainability
Authors: Almuflih Ali Saeed , Sharma Janpriy , Tyagi Mohit , Bhardwaj Arvind , Qureshi Mohamed Rafik Noor Mohamed , Khan Nawaf
Published: June 2022

Increased globalization and the surging count of the population across the world indicate the need for more sustainable supply chains, especially those allied with the food industry. Nowadays, the demand for processed food items is increasing and establishing new markets globally. The sequence of activities starting from the farm and ending at the fork determines the sustainability within processed food supply chain (FSC) dynamics. Emphasizing sustainability-based performance systems in the processed FSC marks an effective and efficient utilization of resources, strengthening the dimension of economic, environmental, and societal benefits. The presented work aimed to review the avenues for adopting sustainability in the actions of Indian processed FSCs. For the same relation hierarchical models, clustering the various key enactors of sustainability in processed FSCs, every functional tier was developed. This relational, hierarchical framework was contemplated by implying the Pythagorean fuzzy set. The proposed methodology handled the mutual interrelation between the enactors and the uncertainty associated with human judgments, establishing the sequence of sustainability enactors. Outcomes of the presented study have implications in developing the framework, policy formulation, decisional attributes, facilitating field practitioners in streamlining, and embedding sustainability within the actions of processed FSCs.
A Study of Community Group Purchasing Vehicle Routing Problems Considering Service Time Windows
Authors: Song Wei , Yuan Shuailei , Yang Yun , He Chufeng
Published: June 2022

In this paper, a vehicle routing problem (VRP) model considering delivery time windows and variable service time is established for the delivery problem in community group purchasing. A solution model for an improved ant colony algorithm (ACA) is proposed by improving the initial feasible solution and the neighbourhood search mechanism of the ant colony algorithm. The algorithm of the improved ant colony and the commonly used algorithm are solved for real cases and publicly available benchmark datasets, respectively, for comparative analysis. The results show that the improved ACA has stronger optimization capability, faster convergence speed, and has advantages in solving VRPTW problems with variable service time. The computational efficiency is also improved by 41% over the genetic algorithm (GA) in the solution of the benchmark dataset, which provides a certain reference for solving the community group distribution problem.
Application Research of a Biomass Insulation Material: Eliminating Building Thermal Bridges
Authors: Liu Lifang , Li Yakun , Long Leixiang
Published: June 2022

Building joints always lead to water leakage, wind penetration, and thermal bridges, which especially cannot be ignored in prefabricated buildings. Thus, in order to solve this problem, we propose a novel and feasible insulating element with a multi-layered structure, which can realize waterproof and thermal insulation at the same time. Its performance was evaluated by experiments and scenario analysis, including its water resistance, moisture resistance, cohesiveness, fire resistance, weatherability, thermal insulation, etc. The research results show that, compared with building foundation materials, the proposed building element obtained satisfactory performance: water absorption was reduced from 35.7% to 18.5%; moisture absorption from 7.0% to 2.1%; and weatherability and fire resistance performance were good. The proposed novel insulating element can be applied in prefabricated buildings, and the research can open up new ideas for other related insulating elements with more advanced and better performance which focus on solving problems caused by cold or hot bridges and building joints.
Mapping the Evolution of Digital Business Research: A Bibliometric Review
Authors: Chae Bongsug (Kevin)
Published: June 2022

Prevalent digital technologies have changed the landscape of business. There have been a growing number of studies investigating the intersection of digital technologies and business. This study aimed to map the academic literature in digital business by adopting a bibliometric approach. In this study, we considered 1868 articles spanning twenty years, between 2000 and early 2021. Specifically, the study focused on the trends of research in digital business, popular publication sources, highly cited articles and productive researchers, and popular themes and their changes over time.
Coupling Mechanisms and Development Patterns of Revitalizing Intangible Cultural Heritage by Integrating Cultural Tourism: The Case of Hunan Province, China
Authors: Yuan Chuanchuan , Gan Li , Zhuo Huili
Published: June 2022

The integration of the cultural/creative and tourism industries is one way to present different types of regional cultural heritage to the world. This study examined the coupling of intangible cultural heritage and cultural tourism development in Hunan, seeking a pattern for the development of the former under the latter. The study included analyzing the coupling between tourism resources and ICH and exploring modes of revitalizing or developing ICH in the context of cultural tourism. We used methods of GIS spatial technology, including nearest neighbor indexing, kernel density estimation, and queuing analysis, to estimate the kernel density of a buffer of points (high-speed railway stations, and 5A and 4A scenic spots) and lines (high-speed railways and highways). The results show (1) the overall spatial aggregation of Hunan’s ICH resources; (2) how tourist attractions drive ICH resources, as illustrated by the coupling between the spatial distribution of ≥4A attractions and ICH; and (3) the pattern of high-speed road and railroad network development, featuring region-wide guidance for the development of Hunan’s ICH resources. This research not only provides development patterns and concepts for the study of intangible cultural heritage and tourism development planning in Hunan, but also provides useful references for the combination of the two in other regions.
Impacts of Various Connectivity Processes in Central Asia on Sustainable Development of Kyrgyzstan
Authors: Komendantova Nadejda , Rovenskaya Elena , Strelkovskii Nikita , Rodriguez Fernando Santiago
Published: June 2022

Kyrgyzstan is facing a strategically important period in its history. The government’s ambition of reindustrializing is affecting its engagement with various international organizations and donors. As these plans will lead to societal transition and affect such areas as social development, national economy, and environment, a careful consideration of their impacts is required, especially given the country’s need to achieve sustainable development. At the same time, the geographical position of Kyrgyzstan puts it at the cross-roads of three distinct regional economic connectivity processes: the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and various connectivity initiatives and projects taking place under the umbrella of the European Union (EU). A major issue is the extent to which Kyrgyzstan can leverage these processes to boost its economic revitalization plans and decarbonize its economy in line with international climate change mitigation and energy security policies, while ensuring a reliable energy supply. As a result, novel governance mechanisms need to be established that address the possible impacts of these economic connectivity processes; this is especially important given the frequently diverging perceptions and opinions of the various Kyrgyz and foreign stakeholders involved in industrial policymaking. Perceptual heterogeneity influences the development of solutions based on compromise and participatory governance that are crucial to implementing different industrial policy options; it also impacts the nature of the economic relationship between Kyrgyzstan and other countries in the Central Asian region. The aim of this paper is to understand the implications of perceptual heterogeneity for the various connectivity processes in Kyrgyzstan, their benefits, and their impacts. The methodology of this paper includes a variety of methods such as surveys and interviews with key stakeholders, scenario development, and participatory workshops in various regions of the country.
Analysis of Spring Community Structure and Evaluation of Ecological Niche in Tangshan Marine Ranching, China
Authors: Li Jiaxing , Yin Zengqiang , Yang Jun , Chen Lei , Xu Min , Zhang Yunling , Wu Zhongxin , Tian Tao
Published: June 2022

To investigate the fishery community structure in spring at the early stage of construction of Tangshan Marine Ranching, in China. This study analyzed the relationship between species composition, diversity and community structure of fishery resources in marine ranching using survey data from March, April, and May 2017. The results showed that a total of 53 species of organisms occurred in the spring in the waters inside and outside the reef area of the marine pasture. Among them, 20 species of fish were among the chordates. 16 species of arthropods, including 6 species of shrimps and 8 species of crabs. Ten species of mollusks, including 6 species of snails. 5 species of echinoderms, 1 species of annelids, and 1 species of Cnidaria). The diversity index, evenness index and richness index outside the reef area of marine ranching in spring were greater than those in the reef area. According to cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scale ranking analysis, the biological communities inside and outside the reef area can be divided into four groups, with the similarity of the communities in the reef area being greater. The Abundance-Biomass Comparison curves (ABC curve) indicated that the biological communities within and outside of the reef had been moderately disturbed. The relative importance index and niche analysis demonstrated that there had been sufficient bait in the reef area, and the ecological structure of the marine ranching was taking shape.
On the Potential of Biochar Soil Amendments as a Sustainable Water Management Strategy
Authors: Lyon Steve W. , Fischer Benjamin M. C. , Morillas Laura , Rojas Conejo Johanna , Sánchez-Murillo Ricardo , Suárez Serrano Andrea , Frentress Jay , Cheng Chih-Hsin , Garcia Monica , Johnson Mark S.
Published: June 2022

Biochar has been put forward as a potential technology that could help achieve sustainable water management in agriculture through its ability to increase water holding capacity in soils. Despite this opportunity, there are still a limited number of studies, especially in vulnerable regions like the tropics, quantifying the impacts of biochar on soil water storage and characterizing the impacts of biochar additions on plant water composition. To address this critical gap, we present a case study using stable water isotopes and hydrometric data from melon production in tropical agriculture to explore the hydrological impacts of biochar as a soil amendment. Results from our 10-week growing season experiment in Costa Rica under drip irrigation demonstrated an average increase in volumetric soil moisture content of about 10% with an average moisture content of 25.4 cm3 cm−3 versus 23.1 cm3 cm−3, respectively, for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Further, there was a reduction in the variability of soil matric potential for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Our isotopic investigation demonstrated that for both biochar and control plots, there was a consistent increase (or enrichment) in isotopic composition for plant materials moving from the roots, where the average δ18O was −8.1‰ and the average δ2H was −58.5‰ across all plots and samples, up through the leaves, where the average δ18O was 4.3‰ and the average δ2H was 0.1‰ across all plots and samples. However, as there was no discernible difference in isotopic composition for plant water samples when comparing across biochar and control plots, we find that biochar did not alter the composition of water found in the melon plant material, indicating that biochar and plants are not competing for the same water sources. In addition, and through the holistic lens of sustainability, biochar additions allowed locally sourced feedstock carbon to be directly sequestered into the soil while improving soil water availability without jeopardizing production for the melon crop. Given that most of the expansion and intensification of global agricultural production over the next several decades will take place in the tropics and that the variability of tropical water cycling is expected to increase due to climate change, biochar amendments could offer a pathway forward towards sustainable tropical agricultural water management.
Based on ISM—NK Tunnel Fire Multi-Factor Coupling Evolution Game Research
Authors: Liu Jie , Yang Guanding , Wang Wanqing , Zhou Haowen , Hu Xinyue , Ma Qian
Published: June 2022

A tunnel is a complex network system with multiple risk factors interacting. At present, the cause analysis of tunnel fire accidents focuses on exploring risk sources and risk assessment, ignoring the interaction between risk factors. A single model has certain limitations. By proposing the concept of the multi-factor coupled evolutionary game of tunnel fire, integrating the natural killing model (NK) and the explanatory structure model (ISM), the evolutionary game of multi-factor coupling of tunnel fire is studied from the perspective of micro and macro analysis, qualitative and quantitative research, the coupling relationship and effect between risk factors are discussed, 100 tunnel fire accidents and 158 tunnel fire literature at home and abroad are analyzed, and 40 typical tunnel fire risk factors and 31 coupling types of fire cause factors are extracted. Using the combined ISM-NK model, a seven-level network model of tunnel fire accident risk coupling is constructed, and the degree of coupling of various types of risk factors is evaluated. The hierarchical network cascade model revealed that 4 of the 40 typical tunnel fire risk factors were the underlying risk factors, 23 shallow layers were the risk factors and direct influencing factors, and 13 were the middle-risk factors and indirect influencing factors. The NK model shows that with the increase of coupling nodes, the frequency of tunnel fire accidents also shows an upward trend, and the subjective risk factor coupled with tunnel fires have a higher frequency than the objective risk factors.
U.S. Consumer Attitudes toward Antibiotic Use in Livestock Production
Authors: Meerza Syed Imran Ali , Gulab Sabrina , Brooks Kathleen R. , Gustafson Christopher R. , Yiannaka Amalia
Published: June 2022

Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, has led to concerns about the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Consumers play an important role in influencing producers’ decisions about the use of antimicrobials through their choices in the marketplace, which are driven by attitudes toward these practices. This study examines consumers’ levels of concern about (and acceptance of) the use of antibiotics in livestock production for four objectives: to treat, control, and prevent infections, and to promote growth. Results reveal that the majority of respondents were highly concerned about antibiotic use to promote growth in livestock production and considered this use to be unacceptable. Participants with higher objective knowledge of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock production were more likely to accept antibiotic use to treat and control disease, but less likely to accept its use to prevent disease or to promote growth. Participants with high levels of trust in the livestock industry were more likely to accept antibiotic use to control and prevent infections and to be neutral about antibiotic use to promote growth in food animals. Respondents who believed that antibiotic use decreases animal welfare were more likely to be very concerned about antibiotic use to treat, prevent, and control disease, and less likely to accept antibiotic use to treat diseases in food animals. The study findings should be of interest to producers considering the adoption of sustainable technologies and production practices, food retailers making procurement decisions, and policymakers identifying policies that can alleviate antimicrobial resistance in the agri-food sector.
Blockchain Adoption to Secure the Food Industry: Opportunities and Challenges
Authors: Tanwar Sudeep , Parmar Akshay , Kumari Aparna , Jadav Nilesh Kumar , Hong Wei-Chiang , Sharma Ravi
Published: June 2022

With the growth in food products’ usage, ensuring their quality and safety has become progressively difficult. Specifically, food traceability turns out to be a very critical task for retailers, sellers, consumers, surveillance authorities, and other stakeholders in the food supply chain system. There are requirements for food authenticity verification (correct declaration of cultivation, origin, and variety), quality checks (e.g., justification for higher prices), and preventing food products from fraudsters in the food industry. The ubiquitous and promising technology of blockchain ensures the traceability of food trade networks with high potential and handles the aforementioned issues. Blockchain makes the food industry more transparent at all levels by storing data immutably and enabling quick tracking across the stages of the food supply chain. Hence, commodities, stakeholders, and semi-finished food items can be recognized significantly faster. Motivated by these facts, in this paper, we present an in-depth survey of state-of-the-art approaches to the food industry’s security, food traceability, and food supply chain management. Further, we propose a blockchain-based secure and decentralized food industry architecture to alleviate security and privacy aspects and present a comprehensive solution taxonomy for a blockchain-based food industry. Then, a comparative analysis of existing approaches with respect to various parameters, i.e., scalability, latency, and food quality, is presented, which facilitates the end-user in selecting approaches based on the merits over other approaches. Finally, we provide insights into the open issues and research challenges with concluding remarks.
Indoor Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Thermal Behaviors of Students in Primary Schools Located in the Humid Subtropical Climate of India
Authors: Lala Betty , Murtyas Solli , Hagishima Aya
Published: June 2022

This study investigated children’s perceptions and adaptive behaviors related to indoor thermal conditions of classrooms in primary schools with no air-conditioning systems during both summer and winter in Dehradun City, Uttarakhand, India. Responses were collected from 5297 school children aged 6–13 years. During the measurement periods, 100% and 94% of the samples were obtained under conditions outside an 80% thermally acceptable comfort range in winter and summer, respectively. The analysis using receiver operating characteristics suggested that the students had the least sensitivity to the temperature variation for all scales of the thermal sensation vote (TSV). Approximately 95.1% of students were “very satisfied”, “satisfied”, or “slightly satisfied” with the thermal conditions under the condition of “extreme caution” or “danger” of heat risk. In contrast, adaptive thermal behaviors, such as adjusting clothing insulation ensembles, opening or closing classroom windows and doors, and utilizing ceiling fans, were found to be the most affordable options for optimizing indoor thermal comfort. Children’s reports of thermal sensations and thermal satisfaction did not correspond to the actual physical environment. This draws attention to the adequacy of applying widely used methods of TSV-based identification of the thermal comfort range in classrooms for children, especially in hot environments. The findings of this study are expected to serve as an evidence-based reference for local governments and authorities to take appropriate measures to mitigate heat risks for schoolchildren in the future.
The Impact of Sustainable Management Strategies of Sports Apparel Brands on Brand Reliability and Purchase Intention through Single Person Media during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Path Analysis
Authors: Chung Taerin , Lee Kwang-Yong , Kim Uk
Published: June 2022

Recently, a variety of efforts have been taken to convey sustainable management strategies of sports apparel brands through single-person media. However, there is a lack of theoretical information on the path that leads these corporate marketing activities to brand reliability and purchase intention of consumers. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the path through which the sustainable management strategy established by a sports apparel brand affects the brand awareness and reliability, as well as the purchase intention of consumers when experiencing this strategy through single-person media. The results are summarized as follows: Firstly, the sustainable management strategies of a sports apparel brand carried out through single-person media had statistically significant positive impacts on the benevolence reliability perceived by single-person media viewers. Secondly, benevolence also had a statistically significant positive impact on the consumers’ purchase intention. It is expected that the results of this study will serve as an important resource for the methods of utilizing sustainable management strategies among sports apparel brands in the future.
Designing Value Chains for Industry 4.0 and a Circular Economy: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Awan Usama , Sroufe Robert , Bozan Karoly
Published: June 2022

The growth of emerging digital technologies has led to premature and inconsistent conclusions about the relationship between circular economy and value chain activities. A structured, systematic review approach was used to examine the titles and abstracts of 912 papers from the circular economy and digital transformation, strategic management, and operations management literature. We looked at a relevant selection of 79 articles to develop a research agenda. The literature review helped identify strategic initiatives impacting the firm value chain’s redesign involving logistics capabilities, marketing, sales, and service. Outcomes of this study make significant contributions to the field. First, firms must reorganize their business models that align with their value chain activities. Second, the literature review in this study adds to a growing understanding of the field of research by showing that engaging with Industry 4.0 and the circular economy is desirable and necessary for internalizing knowledge flows across different value chain actors. Third, this study is a first step in the right direction in developing and understanding the critical role of value chains and evolving business models in a global economy with calls for more sustainable development.
Climate Change, Social Work, and the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: A Scoping Review
Authors: Mason Lisa Reyes , Melton Colleen Cummings , Gray Darian , Swallow Andrea L.
Published: June 2022

Climate change is a crisis in our midst. This scoping review examines practices to transition away from fossil fuels in the social work literature, to inform social work engagement in climate mitigation and in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and 13 (Climate Action). We searched peer-reviewed and grey literature, applying the inclusion criteria: (1) published on or since 1 January 2005; (2) social work literature; (3) examines at least one topic related to the transition away from fossil fuels; and (4) describes, examines, or evaluates a specific form of practice for the transition away from fossil fuels that occurred or is occurring. Fifty-eight items met the inclusion criteria, containing 79 practices. The most frequent practice types were “organizing or advocacy” and “energy at home”. Common targets of change were individuals/households and private industry. The most organizing against private industry was led by Indigenous or Tribal nations. More social work engagement in the transition away from fossil fuels is needed, including engagement that embraces an ecosocial approach. Local organizing, advocacy, and program development are an area of strength and an intervention scale at which social workers can influence multi-prong efforts to transition away from fossil fuels. New social work policy analysis and advocacy at global, national, and state levels is also recommended.
Green Credit Policy and Investment Decisions: Evidence from China
Authors: Ling Xiaoting , Yan Lijuan , Dai Deming
Published: June 2022

Previous studies have reported mixed results on the effect of the green credit policy on firms’ behaviors. Investment decision making is one of the most important elements of firms’ behaviors, but few studies have discussed the relationship between the green credit policy and firms’ investment decisions. Therefore, this paper explores the effect of green credit policy on firms’ investment decisions. Using Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2020, we found that the green credit policy tended to reduce pollutant-emitting firms’ investment level but increases pollutant-emitting firms’ investment efficiency; this effect was more pronounced in state-owned firms, firms with high-quality corporate governance, and those with a higher analyst following. This paper contributes to the literature on the economic consequences of the green credit policy and can help commercial banks and other financial institutions allocate green credits more effectively.
Dynamic Simulation Research on the Effect of Governance Mechanism on Value Co-Creation of Blockchain Industry Ecosystem
Authors: Zhang Hui , Xiong Huanhuan , Xu Jianxin
Published: June 2022

The development of blockchain technology promotes the evolution of the industrial ecosystem, and the value co-creation in the ecosystem has become an important factor for the sustainable and coordinated development of the blockchain industry ecosystem. By answering the question of how governance mechanisms affect the value co-creation of the blockchain industry ecosystem, this paper aims to clarify the realization mechanism of value co-creation of the blockchain industry ecosystem. Based on the transaction cost theory and social exchange theory, the governance mechanisms of the blockchain industry ecosystem are divided into contract governance and trust governance. The system dynamics method is used to analyze the causality of the effect of governance mechanisms on value co-creation of the blockchain industry ecosystem, the model of system flow chart is established, and Vensim PLE software is used to perform simulation and sensitivity analyses of the model. The results show that: both contract governance and trust governance can positively affect the value co-creation of the blockchain industry ecosystem; due to the existence of bounded rationality, compared with contract governance, trust governance has a more significant impact on system resource innovation and value co-creation; there is a co-existence effect among contract governance and trust governance, and compared with the single effect, the co-existence effect of two can promote the value co-creation process of the blockchain industry ecosystem more actively. The research results reveal the internal laws of the value co-creation and provide valuable insights into the exploitation of governance mechanisms to facilitate effectively the value creation of the blockchain industry ecosystem.
Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Rural Carbon Emissions in Ecologically Fragile Energy Areas—Taking Ejin Horo Banner in Inner Mongolia as an Example
Authors: Wang Jian , Xue Dongqian , Wang Meng , Yan Weibin
Published: June 2022

To achieve carbon neutrality in our country, studying the carbon emissions of rural residents in ecologically fragile energy areas is an important way to scientifically explore a green and low-carbon development mechanism of rural regional systems. Taking Ejin Horo Banner as an example, and based on the survey data drawn from it, this paper analyzes the characteristics and mechanism of carbon emissions in rural regional systems by using the methods of the carbon emissions factor method and multiple stepwise regression. The result showed that: (1) in the total composition of carbon emissions in Ejin Horo Banner, the sources of rural carbon emissions had remarkable characteristics. Energy consumption and livestock and poultry breeding accounted for the largest proportion, 63.89% and 22.72%, respectively. (2) In the family attributes of the rural villages in Ejin Horo Banner, the two factors that had the greatest correlation with the total carbon emissions were age and income. In energy consumption, the largest correlation coefficient with carbon emissions was 0.804 for coal, and the lowest was 0.550 for gasoline. In agricultural inputs, chemical fertilizer had the strongest correlation with carbon emissions, with a correlation coefficient of 0.734, and irrigation had the weakest, with a correlation coefficient of 0.657. In livestock production, cattle had the strongest correlation with carbon emissions, with a correlation coefficient of 0.724. In family life, the factors of daily diet consumption had a strong correlation with carbon emissions, among which the highest was the liquor consumption at 0.784, and the lowest was wastewater treatment at 0.442. (3) The multiple stepwise regression result showed that in the three production and living sectors of energy consumption, agricultural and animal husbandry investment, and household life, 21 factors had a significant predictive power on the carbon emissions in the rural regional systems of Ejin Horo Banner. Through the analysis, it was found that accelerating the popularization of green energy-saving technology, promoting the transformation of rural traditional energy utilization, improving energy efficiency, and advocating a green lifestyle are the important ways to realize rural green development in ecologically fragile energy areas.
Does Lockdown Reduce Employment in Major Developing Countries? An Assessment Based on Multiregional Input–Output Model and Scenario Analysis
Authors: Bai Shouxin , Zhou Shicheng , Sheng Yuyao , Wang Xingwei
Published: June 2022

With the development of global value chains, more and more countries are involved in global trade, which has brought an extensive social impact. Past studies on the employment impact of trade have pointed out that free trade has significantly boosted employment in developing economies, with large populations working in export-related jobs along the value chains. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused global trade protectionism to become more rampant. This study aims to establish a trade employment effect accounting model, based on the comparison of multiple scenarios, to discuss the employment impact of trade lockdown on major developing and developed countries. Specifically, based on a multi-regional input–output model, we map the flow network of trade-induced employment in 15 major global economies, and the scenarios of free trade and restricted trade are simulated to determine the employment impact of protectionism across multiple trade patterns. The results show that the current labor flow induced by global trade mainly flows from developing countries such as China and India to developed countries such as the EU and the United States. In the total employment induced by trade, the proportion of final products trade reached 42.82%. Trade protection would cut 19.86 million jobs worldwide. Under the trade restriction scenario, employment in developing countries would be reduced, with China and India losing 45.24 million and 10.10 million jobs, respectively. People working in the final product processing trade face the greatest risk of unemployment, especially in manufacturing and services. Among developed countries, the EU and the US would add 5.52 and 2.23 million jobs due to industrial repatriation.
Modeling of a Combined Kalina and Organic Rankine Cycle System for Waste Heat Recovery from Biogas Engine
Authors: Öksel Cem , Koç Ali
Published: June 2022

Converting waste heat into electricity has captured the interest of scientists for years because of its enormous potential to improve energy efficiency and to lessen environmental impacts. While there are numerous applications to recover lost energy, they are often not efficient or cheap enough to make a real-world impact. The aim of this study is to develop a heat recovery system for the waste recycling factory operating in Hatay, Turkey. We combined the Kalina Cycle (KC) with the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to extract exhaust gas and jacket water waste heat from a combined heat and power engine. An ammonia–water mixture was selected as the working fluid in KC, while R123, R236ea and R124 were chosen and tested for the ORC. The selection of working fluids was made based on certain environmental impacts such as global warming or ozone depletion potential, without further exploring other working fluid options, which could be considered a limitation of this study. The optimal values of KC parameters, including mass fraction, turbine inlet pressure and inlet temperature, were found to be 90%, 430 °C and 90 bar, respectively. The KC was then combined with the ORC using three different working fluids, among which R123 yielded the best results. The net power, exergy and thermal efficiency of the combined cycle were calculated as 211.03 kW, 52.83% and 26.50%, respectively, while the payback period was estimated to be 4.2 years. It should be noted that the applicability domain of the obtained results is limited to the climate conditions studied here. We concluded that the combination of the KC and ORC can be efficiently used for the recovery of waste heat energy.
Telework Systematic Model Design for the Future of Work
Authors: Stoian Carmen-Alexandra , Caraiani Chirața , Anica-Popa Ionuț Florin , Dascălu Cornelia , Lungu Camelia Iuliana
Published: June 2022

The practice and popularity of telework has expanded significantly in the past few years, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a critical factor contributing to business resilience, the new work model challenged companies to figure out innovative ways to address contemporary organizational and employee needs. To address this gap, this study approaches the telework concept from a broader perspective, integrating inputs, outputs and outcomes in an analytical framework. Drawing from data collected based on interviews and questionnaires addressed to professionals in the business service industry who experienced telework, frequency analysis, discourse analysis and chi-square test were used to synthesize the findings. Results show that resource availability and professional relationships represent the basic factors, while technology may be more than a facilitator. Moreover, knowledge exchange, work–life balance and professional isolation are critical factors emerging from the virtual environment that influence work goals achievement. This study contributes to research by proposing a Telework Systematic Model (TSM), which addresses the interaction of various organizational dynamics factors as a result of mixed working patterns. The discussions address the future of work by including the hybrid work model, platform innovation and new business opportunities to enhance organizational resilience for sustainable innovation and change through digital technology.