bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PaCE Yourself: Impact of COVID-19 on Patient-Centered Care Experience
Authors: Wilhite Kristen , Jones Mikael , Kebodeaux Clark
Published: February 2021

(1) Background: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, forced colleges of pharmacy to implement new online learning methodologies to ensure that students could complete required courses. This transition was especially acute for laboratory simulation courses that require students to practice professional skills. This study aims to compare student assessment performance within a simulation-based laboratory course for students who completed the module prior to and after the online transition. (2) Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort comparison of student outcome performance with two distinct content delivery methods. Students were organized into two tracks at the beginning of the semester to determine the order of the simulation module. The online learning transition occurred in-between the delivery of the same module, which allowed comparison of online versus in-person content delivery with consistent assessment. Remediation rates on each assessment were compared using chi-squared tests. (3) Results: Student pharmacists across the first and second professional year performed similarly despite in-person or online course formats, with no significant differences in remediation rates. (4) Conclusions: Pharmacy course content, including laboratory-based simulation activity, may produce similar assessment performance when using online content delivery. Further research into hybrid or mixed-delivery models may enhance learning without affecting assessment performance.
Sport and Enhancement in the Age of Human Rights: Genetic Testing as a Case Study
Authors: Salardi Silvia
Published: February 2021

The paper focuses on the ethical–legal implications of a specific area of scientific and technological progress for the recognition of sport as a human right, which is the field of genetic advances with regard to application of genetic testing for non-medical purposes, and in particular for talent identification (genetic talent identification). As with most biomedical innovations, this use of genetic tests has both constructive and more ethical–legal problematic implications. The attempt made by this paper is to highlight controversial implications of genetic talent identification tests for the recognition of sport as human right.
Elevated Nitrogen Priming Induced Oxinitro-Responses and Water Deficit Tolerance in Rice
Authors: Umnajkitikorn Kamolchanok , Fukudome Mitsutaka , Uchiumi Toshiki , Teaumroong Neung
Published: February 2021

Under water deficit conditions, the essential macronutrient nitrogen becomes limited as a result of reduced dissolved nitrogen and root nitrogen uptake. An elevated nitrogen level might be able to mitigate these effects, integrated with the idea of using nitric oxide as abiotic stress tolerant inducers. In this study, we evaluated the potential of using elevated nitrogen priming prior to water shortage to mitigate plant stress through nitric oxide accumulation. We grew rice plants in 300 mg L−1 nitrogen for 10 weeks, then we primed plants with four different nitrogen concentrations: 100, 300 (control), 500 and 1000 mg L−1 nitrogen prior to inducing water deficit conditions. Plants primed with 500 mg L−1 nitrogen possessed a higher photosynthetic rate, relative water content, electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation under water deficit conditions, compared to control plants. The induction of water deficit tolerance was supported with the activation of antioxidant defense system, induced by the accumulation of nitric oxide in leaves and roots of rice plants. We originally demonstrated the accumulation of nitric oxide in leaves of rice plants. The elevated nitrogen priming can be used to enhance water deficit tolerance in irrigated paddy fields, instead of nitric oxide donors.
Evolutionary Divergence and Biased Expression of NAC Transcription Factors in Hexaploid Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Authors: Ma Jianhui , Yuan Meng , Sun Bo , Zhang Daijing , Zhang Jie , Li Chunxi , Shao Yun , Liu Wei , Jiang Lina
Published: February 2021

The NAC genes, a large plant-specific family of transcription factors, regulate a wide range of pathways involved in development and response to biotic and abiotic stress. In this study, the NAC transcription factors were identified in 27 green plants, and the results showed that NAC transcription factors in plants undergo an appearance stage from water to land and a number expansion stage from gymnosperm to angiosperm. Investigating the evolutionary process of the NAC transcription factors from diploid species to hexaploid wheat revealed that tandem replications during the polyploidization process is an important event for increasing the number of NAC transcription factors in wheat. Then, the molecular characteristics, phylogenetic relationships, and expression patterns of 462 NAC transcription factors of hexaploid wheat (TaNACs) were analyzed. The protein structure results showed that TaNAC was relatively conservative at the N-terminal that contains five subdomains. All these TaNACs were divided into Group I and Group II by phylogenetic analysis, and the TaNACs in Group I should undergo strong artificial selection based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. Through genome synteny and phylogenetic analysis, these TaNACs were classified into 88 groups and 9 clusters. The biased expression results of these TaNACs showed that there are 24 groups and 67 groups of neofunctionalization genes under biotic and abiotic stress, respectively, and 16 groups and 59 groups of subfunctionalization genes. This shows that neofunctionalization plays an important role in coping with different stresses. Our study provides new insights into the evolution of NAC transcription factors in hexaploid wheat.
Removal of Methylene Blue and Congo Red Using Adsorptive Membrane Impregnated with Dried Ulva fasciata and Sargassum dentifolium
Authors: Labena Ahmed , Abdelhamid Ahmed E. , Amin Abeer S. , Husien Shimaa , Hamid Liqaa , Safwat Gehan , Diab Ayman , Gobouri Adil A. , Azab Ehab
Published: February 2021

Biosorption is a bioremediation approach for the removal of harmful dyes from industrial effluents using biological materials. This study investigated Methylene blue (M. blue) and Congo red (C. red) biosorption from model aqueous solutions by two marine macro-algae, Ulva fasciata and Sargassum dentifolium, incorporated within acrylic fiber waste to form composite membranes, Acrylic fiber-U. fasciata (AF-U) and Acrylic fiber-S. dentifolium (AF-S), respectively. The adsorption process was designed to more easily achieve the 3R process, i.e., removal, recovery, and reuse. The process of optimization was implemented through one factor at a time (OFAT) experiments, followed by a factorial design experiment to achieve the highest dye removal efficiency. Furthermore, isotherm and kinetics studies were undertaken to determine the reaction nature. FT-IR and SEM analyses were performed to investigate the properties of the membrane. The AF-U membrane showed a significant dye removal efficiency, of 88.9% for 100 ppm M. blue conc. and 79.6% for 50 ppm C. red conc. after 240 min sorption time. AF-S recorded a sorption capacity of 82.1% for 100 ppm M. blue conc. after 30 min sorption time and 85% for 100 ppm C. red conc. after 240 min contact time. The membranes were successfully applied in the 3Rs process, in which it was found that the membranes could be used for five cycles of the removal process with stable efficiency.
Recent Advances in UHMWPE/UHMWPE Nanocomposite/UHMWPE Hybrid Nanocomposite Polymer Coatings for Tribological Applications: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Abdul Samad Mohammed
Published: February 2021

In the recent past, polymer coatings have gained the attention of many researchers due to their low cost, their ability to be coated easily on different substrates, low friction and good anti-corrosion properties. Various polymers such as polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyurethane (PU), polyamide (PA), epoxy and ultra-high molecular weight polytheylene (UHMWPE) have been used to develop these coatings to modify the surfaces of different components to protect them from wear and corrosion. However, among all these polymers, UHMWPE stands out as a tribologist’s polymer due to its low friction and high wear resistance. These coatings have found their way into applications ranging from microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) to demanding tribological applications such as bearings and biomedical applications. Despite its excellent tribological properties, UHMWPE suffers from limitations such as low load bearing capacity and low thermal stability. To overcome these challenges researchers have developed various routes such as developing UHMWPE composite and hybrid composite coatings with several types of nano/micro fillers, developing composite films system and developing dual film systems. The present paper is an effort to summarize these various routes adopted by different researchers to improve the tribological performance of UHMWPE coatings.
Determination of Temperature-Dependent Coefficients of Viscosity and Surface Tension of Tamarind Seeds (Tamarindus indica L.) Polymer
Authors: Malviya Rishabha , Jha Sheetal , Fuloria Neeraj Kumar , Subramaniyan Vetriselvan , Chakravarthi Srikumar , Sathasivam Kathiresan , Kumari Usha , Meenakshi Dhanalekshmi Unnikrishnan , Porwal Omji , Sharma Akanksha , Kumar Darnal Hari , Fuloria Shivkanya
Published: February 2021

The rheological properties of tamarind seed polymer are characterized for its possible commercialization in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Seed polymer was extracted using water as a solvent and ethyl alcohol as a precipitating agent. The temperature’s effect on the rheological behavior of the polymeric solution was studied. In addition to this, the temperature coefficient, viscosity, surface tension, activation energy, Gibbs free energy, Reynolds number, and entropy of fusion were calculated by using the Arrhenius, Gibbs–Helmholtz, Frenkel–Eyring, and Eotvos equations, respectively. The activation energy of the gum was found to be 20.46 ± 1.06 kJ/mol. Changes in entropy and enthalpy were found to be 23.66 ± 0.97 and −0.10 ± 0.01 kJ/mol, respectively. The calculated amount of entropy of fusion was found to be 0.88 kJ/mol. A considerable decrease in apparent viscosity and surface tension was produced when the temperature was raised. The present study concludes that the tamarind seed polymer solution is less sensitive to temperature change in comparison to Albzia lebbac gum, Ficus glumosa gum and A. marcocarpa gum. This study also concludes that the attainment of the transition state of viscous flow for tamarind seed gum is accompanied by bond breaking. The excellent physicochemical properties of tamarind seed polymers make them promising excipients for future drug formulation and make their application in the food and cosmetics industry possible.
Effects of TiO2 Nanoparticles on the Corrosion Protection Ability of Polymeric Primer Coating System
Authors: Mardare Laurentiu , Benea Lidia
Published: February 2021

This research work presents the results obtained from a comparative corrosion evaluation of welded joints on uncoated steel in flat position, welded joints in flat position on steel protected with polymeric film, and welded joints in flat position on steel covered with nanocomposite polymeric film (primer reinforced with TiO2 nanoparticles). The electrochemical methods of open circuit potential, linear polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used for corrosion evaluation. The results of the electrochemical tests indicate that titanium oxide reinforcing polymeric film to form nanocomposite layers over naval welded steel increases the corrosion protection of polymeric film as compared with unmodified primer.
Utilization of Bracing Arms as Additional Reinforcement in Pultruded Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Cross-Arms: Creep Experimental and Numerical Analyses
Authors: Asyraf Muhammad Rizal Muhammad , Ishak Mohamad Ridzwan , Sapuan Salit Mohd , Yidris Noorfaizal
Published: February 2021

The application of pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites (PGFRPCs) as a replacement for conventional wooden cross-arms in transmission towers is relatively new. Although numerous studies have conducted creep tests on coupon-scale PGFRPC cross-arms, none had performed creep analyses on full-scale PGFRPC cross-arms under actual working load conditions. Thus, this work proposed to study the influence of an additional bracing system on the creep responses of PGFRPC cross-arms in a 132 kV transmission tower. The creep behaviors and responses of the main members in current and braced PGFRPC cross-arm designs were compared and evaluated in a transmission tower under actual working conditions. These PGFRPC cross-arms were subjected to actual working loads mimicking the actual weight of electrical cables and insulators for a duration of 1000 h. The cross-arms were installed on a custom test rig in an open area to simulate the actual environment of tropical climate conditions. Further creep analysis was performed by using Findley and Burger models on the basis of experimental data to link instantaneous and extended (transient and viscoelastic) creep strains. The addition of braced arms to the structure reduced the total strain of a cross-arm’s main member beams and improved elastic and viscous moduli. The addition of bracing arms improved the structural integrity and stiffness of the cross-arm structure. The findings of this study suggested that the use of a bracing system in cross-arm structures could prolong the structures’ service life and subsequently reduce maintenance effort and cost for long-term applications in transmission towers.
Strategies for the Development of pH-Responsive Synthetic Polypeptides and Polymer-Peptide Hybrids: Recent Advancements
Authors: Dharmayanti Cintya , Gillam Todd A. , Klingler-Hoffmann Manuela , Albrecht Hugo , Blencowe Anton
Published: February 2021

Synthetic polypeptides and polymer-peptide hybrid materials have been successfully implemented in an array of biomedical applications owing to their biocompatibility, biodegradability and ability to mimic natural proteins. In addition, these materials have the capacity to form complex supramolecular structures, facilitate specific biological interactions, and incorporate a diverse selection of functional groups that can be used as the basis for further synthetic modification. Like conventional synthetic polymers, polypeptide-based materials can be designed to respond to external stimuli (e.g., light and temperature) or changes in the environmental conditions (e.g., redox reactions and pH). In particular, pH-responsive polypeptide-based systems represent an interesting avenue for the preparation of novel drug delivery systems that can exploit physiological or pathological pH variations within the body, such as those that arise in the extracellular tumour microenvironment, intracellularly within endosomes/lysosomes, or during tissue inflammation. Here, we review the significant progress made in advancing pH-responsive polypeptides and polymer-peptide hybrid materials during the last five years, with a particular emphasis on the manipulation of ionisable functional groups, pH-labile linkages, pH-sensitive changes to secondary structure, and supramolecular interactions.
Early Warning of Internal Leakage in Heat Exchanger Network Based on Dynamic Mechanism Model and Long Short-Term Memory Method
Authors: Tian Wende , Liu Nan , Sui Dongwu , Cui Zhe , Liu Zijian , Wang Ji , Zou Hao , Zhao Ya
Published: February 2021

In the process of butadiene rubber production, internal leakage occurs in heat exchangers due to excessive pressure difference. It leads to the considerable flow of organic matters into the circulating water system. Since these organic matters are volatile and prone to explode in the cold water tower, internal leakage is potentially dangerous for the enterprise. To prevent this phenomenon, a novel intelligent early warning and risk assessment method (DYN-EW-QRA) is proposed in this paper by combining dynamic simulations (DYN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and quantitative risk assessment (QRA). First, an original internal leakage mechanism model of a heat exchanger network is designed and simulated by DYN to obtain datasets. Second, the potential relationships between variables that have a direct impact on the hazards of the accident are deeply learned by LSTM to predict the internal leakage trends. Finally, the QRA method is used to analyze the range and destructive power of potential hazards. The results show that DYN-EW-QRA method has excellent performance.
Analysis of the Efficiency of Various Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’s Collection Routes: A Case Study Focusing on Collection Route for Waste Mobile Phones in the Tohoku Area of Japan
Authors: Liu Xiaoyue , Yu Jeongsoo , Okubo Kazuaki
Published: February 2021

Each year, more than 5 million Waste Mobile Phones (WMP) is generated in Japan. Since WMPs contain many rare metals and precious metals, it is essential to collect and recycle high-value metal resources from them effectively. Although multiple stakeholders have already developed WMP collection routes, these WMP collection routes’ current status is unclear. Furthermore, some WMP collection routes can only collect a small number of WMP, and so, their resource efficiency is low. This research aims to clarify each WMP collection route’s characteristics and evaluate their resource efficiency by conducting interview research on related stakeholders and the WMP dismantle experiment. The result shows that local government, authorized recyclers, and telecom carriers are the major stakeholders in collecting WMPs in Japan. To improve the WMP collection rate in cities with high population densities, using the local government’s collection route and installing an authorized recycler’s collection station is considered to be more effective. In cities with low population densities, the collection stations built by authorized recyclers are sufficient. The collection stations can also improve recycling behavior by offering points. Furthermore, the telecom carriers are encouraged to participate in the WMP collection business, but they should figure out a way to monitor the flow route of secondhand phones they exported and prompt the proper recycling of exported phones.
A Bibliometric Research on Next-Generation Vehicles Using CiteSpace
Authors: Wang Shuoyao , Yu Jeongsoo
Published: February 2021

Next-generation vehicles (NGVs), which mainly refers to hybrid vehicles (HVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs), electric vehicles (EVs), fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs), and clean diesel vehicles (CDVs), are becoming more and more popular as the potential answer to decreasing fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emission from traffic sectors. Although the research on NGVs started in the 1990s, a systematic observation or summarization of the research on NGVs has not been performed yet. Thus, the current status, characteristics, latest trends, and issues of the research on NGVs have not been clarified yet. This research analyzed the research on NGVs recorded in the Web of Science published between 1990 to 2020 using CiteSpace, from a macro perspective. The results show that HVs and EVs are the crucial research objects in comparison with FCVs and CDVs. The research on NGVs was mainly performed by countries that own large vehicle makers or markets. However, it is noticeable that many developing countries have also started to study NGVs, which proves that NGVs have become popular globally. On the other hand, the research topics and categories of NGV study have always had a strong bias in favor of their function and technology development. Since NGVs have been sold for years in many countries already, there will be a considerable number of waste NGVs generated in the future, and so, future research should focus on recycling policies and/or recycling technology for NGVs to guarantee their sustainable development.
Bilad al-Brazil: The Importance of West African Scholars in Brazilian Islamic Education and Practice in Historic and Contemporary Perspective
Authors: Ogunnaike Ayodeji
Published: February 2021

While it is well established now that the middle passage did not entirely separate Africans who were forcibly brought to the Americas from their home cultures and traditions, these connections are often studied and understood in the form of survivals or ancestral memory. This paper argues that in major urban centers in Brazil until around the time of World War I, West Africans not only managed to recreate Islamic communities and intellectual traditions, but maintained important contacts with their homelands. In much the same way that scholars have argued that the Sahara constituted an avenue of exchange and connection between North Africa and Bilad al-Sudan, I argue here that the Atlantic Ocean was not an insurmountable barrier but provided opportunities for African Muslims to extend the traditions of Bilad al-Sudan into Brazil—albeit to a much lesser extent.
Phase Center Corrections for BDS IGSO and MEO Satellites in IGb14 and IGSR3 Frame
Authors: Qu Ziyang , Guo Jing , Zhao Qile
Published: February 2021

As pre-launch antenna calibrations are not available for GPS and GLONASS satellites, the high correlation between the terrestrial scale and phase center offset (PCO) prevents a reliable estimation of the terrestrial scale with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) technology. Fortunately, the ground calibrated PCO values for Galileo, BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS), and QZSS have been released, making a reliable estimation of the terrestrial scale with GNSS possible. In the third reprocess (repro3) of International GNSS Service (IGS), the terrestrial scale derived with Galileo, has been used. To evaluate the consistency of the terrestrial scale derived from the BDS-released PCOs as well as Galileo-released ones, and to incorporate BDS into IGS repro3 as well as operational legacy analysis, the phase center variations (PCV) and PCO for BDS medium earth orbit (MEO) and inclined geostationary orbit (IGSO) satellites are estimated to be consistent with GPS/GLONASS antenna offsets in two frames, i.e., IGb14 and IGS R3, considering robot calibrations of the ground receiver antenna models for BDS released by Geo++. We observe that the average offset of Z-PCOs achieves +98.8 mm between BDS official released and the estimated PCOs in IGb14 frame for BDS-3 MEO satellites, whereas the average offset for Z-PCO is about +174.1 mm (about −1.27 ppb at the height of BDS MEO satellites) between the solutions in IGSR3 and IGb14 frame. The phase center solutions are evaluated with orbit boundary disclosures (OBD) as well as the global station coordinates. The orbit consistency benefits from the PCO/PCV estimates, particularly for BDS-2 MEO satellites, of which the 3D RMS (root mean square) OBD is reduced by 50%, whereas 3D OBD achieves about 90.0 mm for BDS-3 MEO satellites. Moreover, the scale bias between BDS-derived station coordinates and IGS legacy solutions in IGb14 frame is reduced from +0.446 ± 0.153 ppb to +0.012 ± 0.112 ppb using PCO/PCV estimates in IGb14, instead of the BDS official released values. Additionally, the residuals of the BDS-derived station heights (after the Helmert transformation) are slightly reduced from 9.65 to 8.62 mm. On the other hand, about +0.226 ± 0.175 ppb is observed between BDS-only coordinate solutions derived from PCO/PCV estimates in IGSR3 frame and the IGS repro3 initial combination. These results demonstrate that the scale inconsistency derived from BDS and Galileo released PCOs is about +1.854 ± 0.191 ppb, and a good consistency of PCO/PCC estimates for BDS in IGb14 and IGSR3 frame with other systems of GPS/ GLONASS antenna offsets is achieved.
Anomaly Detection in Airborne Fourier Transform Thermal Infrared Spectrometer Images Based on Emissivity and a Segmented Low-Rank Prior
Authors: Zhu Xuhe , Cao Liqin , Wang Shaoyu , Gao Lyuzhou , Zhong Yanfei
Published: February 2021

Although hyperspectral anomaly detection is commonly conducted in the visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared spectral regions, there has been less research on hyperspectral anomaly detection in the longwave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral region. The radiance of thermal infrared hyperspectral imagery is determined by the temperature and emissivity. To avoid the detection uncertainty caused by the single factor of temperature, emissivity can be introduced to detect anomalies. However, in the emissivity domain, the spectral contrast and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are low, which makes it difficult to separate the anomalies from the background. In this paper, an anomaly detection method combining emissivity and a segmented low-rank prior (EaSLRP) is proposed for use with thermal infrared hyperspectral imagery. The EaSLRP method is divided into three parts—1) temperature/emissivity retrieval, 2) extraction of the thermal infrared hyperspectral background information, and 3) Mahalanobis distance detection. A homogeneous region generation method is also proposed to solve the problem of the complex global background leading to inaccurate background estimation. The GoDec method is used for matrix decomposition and background information extraction and to remove some of the noise. The proposed Mahalanobis distance detector then uses the background component and original image for anomaly detection, while highlighting the spectral difference between the anomalies and background. This method can also suppress the influence of noise, to some extent. The experimental results obtained with airborne Fourier transform thermal infrared spectrometer hyperspectral images demonstrate that the EaSLRP method is effective when compared with the Reed–Xiaoli detector (RXD), the segmented RX detector (SegRX), the low-rank and sparse representation-based detector (LRASR), the low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition (LRaSMD)-based Mahalanobis distance method (LSMAD), and the locally enhanced low-rank prior method (LELRP-AD).
Use of Bi-Temporal ALS Point Clouds for Tree Removal Detection on Private Property in Racibórz, Poland
Authors: Przewoźna Patrycja , Hawryło Paweł , Zięba-Kulawik Karolina , Inglot Adam , Mączka Krzysztof , Wężyk Piotr , Matczak Piotr
Published: February 2021

Trees growing on private property have become an essential part of urban green policies. In many places, restrictions are imposed on tree removal on private property. However, monitoring compliance of these regulations appears difficult due to a lack of reference data and public administration capacity. We assessed the impact of the temporary suspension of mandatory permits on tree removal, which was in force in 2017 in Poland, on the change in urban tree cover (UTC) in the case of the municipality of Racibórz. The bi-temporal airborne laser scanning (ALS) point clouds (2011 and 2017) and administrative records on tree removal permits were used for analyzing the changes of UTC in the period of 2011–2017. The results show increased tree removal at a time when the mandatory permit was suspended. Moreover, it appeared that most trees on private properties were removed without obtaining permission when it was obligatory. The method based on LiDAR we proposed allows for monitoring green areas, including private properties.
Physical Ergonomic Improvement and Safe Design of an Assembly Workstation through Collaborative Robotics
Authors: Colim Ana , Faria Carlos , Cunha João , Oliveira João , Sousa Nuno , Rocha Luís A.
Published: February 2021

One of the key interesting features of collaborative robotic applications is the potential to lighten the worker workload and potentiate better working conditions. Moreover, developing robotics applications that meets ergonomic criteria is not always a straightforward endeavor. We propose a framework to guide the safe design and conceptualization of ergonomic-driven collaborative robotics workstations. A multi-disciplinary approach involving robotics and ergonomics and human factors shaped this methodology that leads future engineers through the digital transformation of a manual assembly (with repetitive and hazardous operations) to a hybrid workstation, focusing on the physical ergonomic improvement. The framework follows four main steps, (i) the characterization of the initial condition, (ii) the risk assessment, (iii) the definition of requirements for a safe design, and (iv) the conceptualization of the hybrid workstation with all the normative implications it entails. We applied this methodology to a case study in an assembly workstation of a furniture manufacturing company. Results show that the methodology adopted sets an adequate foundation to accelerate the design and development of new human-centered collaborative robotic workstations.
Consumers’ Intentions towards Green Hotels in China: An Empirical Study Based on Extended Norm Activation Model
Authors: Yan Hongru , Chai Huaqi
Published: February 2021

Although the occupancy rate of green hotels is a hot topic in the sustainable tourism economy, few empirical studies have used the expanded norm activation model to explore what drives consumers’ intentions to stay at green hotels. This study took environmental concern and perceived consumer effectiveness as antecedents, and perceived price, policy, and publicity as moderator variables to broaden the norm activation mode to explore consumers’ willingness to stay at green hotels. The hypothesis was tested in a survey that comprised a sample size of 435 participants in China. The outcomes exhibited environmental concern, and perceived consumer effectiveness as having a significant positive influence on personal norm and behavioral intention. Perceived price, as the external cost, negatively moderated the relationship between personal norm and consumers’ behavioral intentions. Policy and publicity had a positive moderating impact on the link between personal norms and consumers’ behavioral intentions.
Financial and Non-Financial Barriers to Innovation and the Degree of Radicalness
Authors: Radicic Dragana
Published: February 2021

The aim of this study is to analyse the effects of barriers to innovation on firms’ propensity to engage in radical and incremental innovations. We look at innovative and potentially innovative firms and estimate the effect of three types of barriers—financial, knowledge and competition—on the propensity to radical innovation new to the world, radical innovation new to the market and incremental innovation. An empirical study has been performed, drawing on data collected from the German Mannheim Innovation Panel covering the period from 2014 to 2016. Empirical results reveal heterogeneous effects of barriers depending on the degree of radicalness. In particular, knowledge and competition barriers are an impediment to radical innovation, whereas financial and knowledge barriers reduce a probability of incremental innovation. Based on the findings, we discuss policy recommendations for mitigating barriers to innovation conditional on the degree of radicalness.
Measuring the Openness of Innovation
Authors: Bellantuono Nicola , Pontrandolfo Pierpaolo , Scozzi Barbara
Published: February 2021

Measuring the openness of innovation is essential to understanding whether and under which conditions increasing openness is beneficial for organizations. However, no consensus has been so far achieved on which dimensions characterize the openness of innovation, which approach should be used to measure it, or which unit of analysis should be adopted. This paper proposes an approach, named ATOM (Aggregative Technique for Openness Measurement), to characterize and measure the openness of innovation, rooted in the concepts of knowledge supply (KS) and innovation practice (IP). As prescribed by the confirmation phase of theory building model, the approach has been successfully applied to a real innovation project. The paper contributes to clarifying the concept of innovation openness and attempts to improve its measurement by adopting a micro-level unit of analysis (i.e., single KS within an innovation project) as well as dimensions that extant literature considers relevant to managing external collaborations. The proposed approach can also support firms involved in an innovation project to (i) identify and measure the criticality of knowledge supplies, (ii) assess the openness of the adopted innovation practices, and (iii) support ex-post learning on the way the project was managed.
Embracing the Potentials of Intermodal Transport in Ethiopia: Strategies to Facilitate Export-Led Growth
Authors: Nitsche Benjamin
Published: February 2021

Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and by 2025 Ethiopia aims to become the manufacturing hub of Africa. To maintain growth, the Ethiopian government heavily supports industrial development in different industry sectors. However, Ethiopia is still a developing, low-income country that has to overcome several barriers in order to attract foreign companies to become a middle-income country. Therefore, efficient intermodal transport is seen as one of the key contributors to facilitating export-led growth. This study seeks to map the current state of intermodal transport in Ethiopia by synthesizing a holistic picture of current challenges and to propose strategies for dealing with them. A moderated nominal group technique (NGT) exercise was applied among 38 experts from local manufacturing industries, domestic and international logistics services, academia, and associations as well as governmental and non-governmental institutions. Through the NGT process, the study condenses 19 challenges for intermodal transport in Ethiopia that are grouped into eight different clusters and assesses the importance of resolving those challenges in order to facilitate logistics performance. Moreover, strategies are proposed to improve the current state of intermodal transport and assessed according to their effectiveness and complexity. Consequently, recommendations and implications for four stakeholder groups are given: (1) governmental institutions; (2) non-governmental institutions; (3) foreign investors/manufacturers and local manufacturers; as well as (4) local and international logistics service providers.
Standardization of the Dimensions of a Portable Weighing Lysimeter Designed to Be Applied to Vegetable Crops in Mediterranean Climates
Authors: Soler-Méndez Manuel , Parras-Burgos Dolores , Mas-Espinosa Estefanía , Ruíz-Canales Antonio , Intrigliolo Diego S. , Molina-Martínez José Miguel
Published: February 2021

The progress made in developing information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the fact that water resources are becoming increasingly scarce make precision agriculture a very valuable tool for efficient and sustainable crop management, particularly for irrigation and fertilisation. In line with this, the water balance estimate is considered one of the most accurate methods for estimating crops’ water requirements. The Agromotic Engineering and Sea Research Group of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain) has worked in this direction to obtain portable weighing lysimeters with improved functions compared to traditional measurement systems. This study analysed the most important vegetable crops in south-eastern Spain to standardise suitable dimensions so that these portable weighing lysimeters can monitor practically all of today’s vegetable and herbaceous crops in Mediterranean climates. The dimensions established for the cultivation tank are 150 cm long, 45 cm wide, and 50 cm deep, with an equipment resolution of up to 0.09 mm expressed as water lamina. The validation over seven irrigation events established that the structural system achieved here allows precise monitoring of the water exchanges produced in the cultivation tank, so this portable weighing lysimeter can be useful for the efficient management of fertigation.
Enhancing LPG Adoption in Ghana (ELAG): A Trial Testing Policy-Relevant Interventions to Increase Sustained Use of Clean Fuels
Authors: Carrión Daniel , Prah Rebecca , Tawiah Theresa , Agyei Oscar , Twumasi Mieks , Mujtaba Mohammed , Jack Darby , Asante Kwaku Poku
Published: February 2021

Rural Ghanaians rely on solid biomass fuels for their cooking. National efforts to promote the Sustainable Development Goals include the Rural Liquefied Petroleum Gas Promotion Program (RLP), which freely distributes LPG stoves, but evaluations have demonstrated low sustained use among recipients. Our study objective was to assess if cheap and scalable add-on interventions could increase sustained use of LPG stoves under the RLP scheme. We replicated RLP conditions among participants in 27 communities in Kintampo, Ghana, but cluster-randomized them to four add-on interventions: a behavioral intervention, fuel delivery service, combined intervention, or control. We reported on the final 6 months of a 12-month follow-up for participants (n = 778). Results demonstrated increased use for each intervention, but magnitudes were small. The direct delivery intervention induced the largest increase: 280 min over 6 months (p < 0.001), ~1.5 min per day. Self-reported refills (a secondary outcome), support increased use for the dual intervention arm (IRR = 2.2, p = 0.026). Past literature demonstrates that recipients of clean cookstoves rarely achieve sustained use of the technologies. While these results are statistically significant, we interpret them as null given the implied persistent reliance on solid fuels. Future research should investigate if fuel subsidies would increase sustained use since current LPG promotion activities do not.
One Year Residual Effect of Sewage Sludge Biochar as a Soil Amendment for Maize in a Brazilian Oxisol
Authors: Fachini Joisman , Coser Thais Rodrigues , Araujo Alyson Silva de , Vale Ailton Teixeira do , Jindo Keiji , Figueiredo Cícero Célio de
Published: February 2021

The thermochemical transformation of sewage sludge (SS) to biochar (SSB) allows exploring the advantages of SS and reduces possible environmental risks associated with its use. Recent studies have shown that SSB is nutrient-rich and may replace mineral fertilizers. However, there are still some questions to be answered about the residual effect of SSB on soil nutrient availability. In addition, most of the previous studies were conducted in pots or soil incubations. Therefore, the residual effect of SSB on soil properties in field conditions remains unclear. This study shows the results of nutrient availability and uptake as well as maize yield the third cropping of a three-year consecutive corn cropping system. The following treatments were compared: (1) control: without mineral fertilizer and biochar; (2) NPK: with mineral fertilizer; (3) SSB300: with biochar produced at 300 °C; (4) SSB300+NPK; (5) SSB500: with biochar produced at 500 °C; and (6) SSB500+NPK. The results show that SSB has one-year residual effects on soil nutrient availability and nutrient uptake by maize, especially phosphorus. Available soil P contents in plots that received SSB were around five times higher than the control and the NPK treatments. Pyrolysis temperature influenced the SSB residual effect on corn yield. One year after suspending the SSB application, SSB300 increased corn yield at the same level as the application of NPK. SSB300 stood out and promoted higher grain yield in the residual period (8524 kg ha−1) than SSB500 (6886 kg ha−1). Regardless of pyrolysis temperature, biochar boosted the mineral fertilizer effect resulting in higher grain yield than the exclusive application of NPK. Additional long-term studies should be focused on SSB as a slow-release phosphate fertilizer.
Analysis and Distribution of Conveyor Belt Noise Sources under Laboratory Conditions
Authors: Bortnowski Piotr , Nowak-Szpak Anna , Król Robert , Ozdoba Maksymilian
Published: February 2021

In compliance with ecological policies, activities undertaken by surface mines in relation to environment protection should be comprehensive and must take into account the principle of sustained development. One of the most basic tasks in this area is to reduce the nuisance caused by the noise emitted to the environment. The problem of above-standard noise levels caused by transportation systems operated in mines can be solved only after major noise sources are identified and analyzed in detail. This article first focuses on the literature studies to describe the possible sources of noise generated by a belt conveyor and in its second part it presents exploratory research into noise sources. The research was performed under laboratory conditions with the use of an acoustic camera as a tool for spatially identifying and classifying individual noise sources. The article identifies some phenomena related to the operation of main belt conveyor components and describes their characteristic frequency ranges.
Real-Time Nuisance Fault Detection in Photovoltaic Generation Systems Using a Fine Tree Classifier
Authors: Barker Collin , Cipkar Sam , Lavigne Tyler , Watson Cameron , Azzouz Maher
Published: February 2021

Nuisance faults are caused by weather events, which result in solar farms being disconnected from the electricity grid. This results in long stretches of downtime for troubleshooting as data are mined manually for possible fault causes, and consequently, cost thousands of dollars in lost revenue and maintenance. This paper proposes a novel fault detection technique to identify nuisance faults in solar farms. To initialize the design process, a weather model and solar farm model are designed to generate both training and testing data. Through an iterative design process, a fine tree model with a classification accuracy of 96.7% is developed. The proposed model is successfully implemented and tested in real-time through a server and web interface. The testbed is capable of streaming in data from a separate source, which emulates a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or weather station, then classifies the data in real-time and displays the output on another computer (which imitates an operator control room).
The Role of Enterprise Architecture for Digital Transformations
Authors: van de Wetering Rogier , Kurnia Sherah , Kotusev Svyatoslav
Published: February 2021

In the current turbulent and unpredictable markets, competitive advantage can no longer be achieved through high product quality or efficient processes alone [...]
Planning Strategy for the Reduction of Runoff Using Urban Green Space
Authors: Yang Byungsun , Lee Dong Kun
Published: February 2021

Urban green space plays an important role in treating stormwater. In a highly dense urban environment, it is difficult to create large areas of green space. To utilize green space in urban areas effectively, locating an effective green space type is important. In this study, we examined the effect of green space on runoff reduction by comparing different green space setting scenarios. By changing the green space area ratio, green space structure, street tree type, and rainfall duration and amount, we compared the runoff rates. The results showed that the green space area ratio was more effective when more than 10% of the area was green space, and the runoff reduction rate was decreased more effectively when the tree canopy LAI (leaf area index) value increased from 2 to 2.5 than when the LAI value was higher. Green space was more effective at lower intensities of rainfall events. Different green space structures cause other effects on evaporation and soil infiltration. Each strategy needs to be implemented correctly for green infrastructure policy purposes.
Mapping and Quantifying Comprehensive Land Degradation Status Using Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in the Headwaters Area of Upper Blue Nile River
Authors: Ewunetu Alelgn , Simane Belay , Teferi Ermias , Zaitchik Benjamin F.
Published: February 2021

Mapping and quantifying land degradation status is important for identifying vulnerable areas and to design sustainable landscape management. This study maps and quantifies land degradation status in the north Gojjam sub-basin of the Upper Blue Nile River (Abbay) using GIS and remote sensing integrated with multicriteria analysis (MCA). This is accomplished using a combination of biological, physical, and chemical land degradation indicators to generate a comprehensive land degradation assessment. All indicators were standardized and weighted using analytical hierarchy and pairwise comparison techniques. About 45.3% of the sub-basin was found to experience high to very high soil loss risk, with an average soil loss of 46 t ha−1yr−1. More than half of the sub-basin was found to experience moderate to high level of biological degradation (low vegetation status and low soil organic matter level). In total, 80.2% of the area is characterized as having a moderate level of physical land degradation. Similarly, the status of chemical degradation for about 55.8% and 39% of the sub-basin was grouped as low and moderate, respectively. The combined spatial MCA of biological, chemical, and physical land degradation indicators showed that about 1.14%, 32%, 35.4%, and 30.5% of the sub-basin exhibited very low, low, moderate, and high degradation level, respectively. This study has concluded that soil erosion and high level of biological degradation are the most important indicators of land degradation in the north Gojjam sub-basin. Hence, the study suggests the need for integrated land management practices to reduce land degradation, enhance the soil organic matter content, and increase the vegetation cover in the sub-basin.
Engineering Graphics for Thermal Assessment: 3D Thermal Data Visualisation Based on Infrared Thermography, GIS and 3D Point Cloud Processing Software
Authors: Antón Daniel , Amaro-Mellado José-Lázaro
Published: February 2021

Engineering graphics are present in the design stage, but also constitute a way to communicate, analyse, and synthesise. In the Architecture-Engineering-Construction sector, graphical data become essential in analysing buildings and constructions throughout their lifecycles, such as in the thermal behaviour assessment of building envelopes. Scientific research has addressed the thermal image mapping onto three-dimensional (3D) models for visualisation and analysis. However, the 3D point cloud data creation of buildings’ thermal behaviour directly from rectified infrared thermography (IRT) thermograms is yet to be investigated. Therefore, this paper develops an open-source software graphical method to produce 3D thermal data from IRT images for temperature visualisation and subsequent analysis. This low-cost approach uses both a geographic information system for the thermographic image rectification and the point clouds production, and 3D point cloud processing software. The methodology has been proven useful to obtain, without perspective distortions, 3D thermograms even from non-radiometric raster images. The results also revealed that non-rectangular thermograms enable over 95% of the 3D thermal data generated from IRT against rectangular shapes (over 85%). Finally, the 3D thermal data produced allow further thermal behaviour assessment, including calculating the object’s heat loss and thermal transmittance for diverse applications such as energy audits, restoration, monitoring, or product quality control.