bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Methodology for the Design and Engineering of Smart Product Service Systems: An Application in the Manufacturing Sector
Authors: Arioli Veronica , Ruggeri Giovanni , Sala Roberto , Pirola Fabiana , Pezzotta Giuditta
Published: December 2022

The combination of servitization and digitalization is increasingly changing the economy and society at the global level towards sustainability goals. Companies are shifting their business models, typically oriented to selling products, towards providing bundles of products and services and integrating them with technologies enabling data collection and analysis, resulting in the so-called smart Product Service Systems (PSS). Different approaches and techniques have been put forth to design PSS and, more recently, smart PSS, but they continue to primarily concentrate on establishing value propositions and ignore the question of what sort of operational data can be gathered and used to deliver the PSS solution. Therefore, manufacturing companies willing to expand their portfolio with new advanced services nowadays still face multiple challenges. To address this gap, this study proposes the Service Engineering Methodology for the engineering of smart PSS (SEEM-Smart), which takes into account the trade-off between customer satisfaction and internal efficiency with a focus on data gathering and information flow. The methodology is then applied in a real-world setting. The case study shows the application of the SEEM-Smart for engineering a new data-driven service offering enabled by a cloud-based platform supporting the service provision.
Agricultural Livelihood Types and Type-Specific Drivers of Crop Production Diversification: Evidence from Aral Sea Basin Region
Authors: Akramkhanov Akmal , Akbarov Adkham , Umarova Shakhzoda , Le Quang Bao
Published: December 2022

Understanding the factors driving the farmers’ decisions to diversify their crop production is important for management strategies and policies promoting climate-smart agricultural development. Options for diversification and its associated drivers might be shaped by livelihood context, and it remains as a general gap in knowledge. This study aimed to reveal the driving factors behind households’ decisions to diversify their crops in different livelihood contexts. This information could be useful to inform stakeholders on a set of context-fitted options for improving natural resources and rural livelihood resilience to climatic variability and risks. This study applied the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) to guide surveys and multivariate analyses that identified agricultural livelihood context types at the village level, and also evaluated both the common and type-specific drivers encouraging households to diversify their agricultural production in two rural villages in the Aral Sea region. This study objectively identified three distinct agricultural livelihood types and the main factors differentiating these types from each other. When the total sampled population was analyzed, the results indicated that the agricultural experience of the household heads, levels of education, sources of income, number of cattle and land endowments, and proximity to markets were common and significant drivers in diversifying these households’ crop production. Analyzing the decisions behind diversifying crop production for each agricultural livelihood type revealed type-specific drivers of diversification. The findings suggested that considering both common and type-specific drivers of diversification would allow better understanding of household decisions and provide more insights to develop effective policies promoting climate-smart agriculture through diversification, rather than continuing to use the current “uniform blanket” approach.
Influence of Knowledge Management on Business Processes: Value-Added and Sustainability Perspectives
Authors: Atkočiūnienė Zenona Ona , Gribovskis Justas , Raudeliūnienė Jurgita
Published: December 2022

Knowledge management (KM) practice is increasingly less considered as a supportive activity, as knowledge management processes (KMP) are inseparable from critical business processes (BP). Even though some scientific studies underlined that KM integration into BP are expensive and slow due to many organizational barriers, their sustainable value to organizations is undeniable. Although KMPs’ interactions have been studied in the scientific literature, there is still a lack of comprehensive studies related to knowledge-intensive organizations’ practices on the impact of the whole KM cycle—consisting of knowledge creation, sharing, storage, and application—on BP, such as development, production, and sales, for creating value-added (VA) and sustainability. In order to identify interconnections between individual KMP and BP, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of KMP on BP to support the continuous improvement of BP and the creation of VA in knowledge-intensive organizations. A research model was developed to analyze the impact of KMP on BP and VA perspectives. An empirical study was performed in Lithuanian project management companies that used BP in their operations and involved 144 managers from 72 IT organizations. Survey (structured questionnaire) and statistical analysis methods (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA); Pearson’s correlation analysis; multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis; cluster analysis and chi-square analysis) were applied in this study. The research results confirmed that every KMP positively affected individual BP, where knowledge creation had the most significant impact. The hypothesis that every KMP positively affected the VA created in an organization was partially confirmed since knowledge sharing and creation had a strong influence. The study demonstrated that KMP as a whole had a positive effect on the central BP, change (improvement) of BP increased VA created in organizations, and BP acted as a mediator of the positive correlation between KMP and the VA. The effectiveness of individual KMP depended on the size of the organization. As a result, the study confirmed that KMP in organizations could not be performed separately and had to be integrated into BP to maximize the VA. The significance of the research model lay not only in its ability to identify the influence of KMP on the VA created in organizations but also in evaluating each KMP individually.
Quantifying the Competitiveness of Cultural Industry and Its Impacts on Chinese Economic Growth
Authors: Yao Linlin , Maneejuk Paravee , Yamaka Woraphon , Liu Jianxu
Published: December 2022

One potential way to promote China’s economic growth is to develop a cultural industry and enhance its competitiveness. To confirm this hypothesis, this study first utilizes the five-element diamond model, principal component analysis, and factor analysis to evaluate the competitiveness of the cultural industry in the 31 Chinese provinces during the period 2013–2019. The results reveal that the competitiveness of cultural industry in the eastern region is the strongest, followed in descending order by the central, northeastern, and western regions of China. Then, the panel regression is employed to explore the impact of the cultural industry’s competitiveness index on economic growth. The results indicate that the cultural industry’s competitiveness is positively associated with China’s economic growth. We also conduct another panel regression analysis by examining the impact of cultural industry factors on China’s economic growth to gain insight into the influence of the cultural industry components on growth. In this analysis, our results indicate that cultural industry factors, including fixed asset investment and labor, significantly play an important role in Chinese growth. This study also finds that total patent applications, the total profit of cultural enterprises, and government expenditure positively impact economic growth, but the evidence is weak. Thus, these three variables could be considered potential future driver factors. The empirical findings offer insights into strategies that the national government could implement to strengthen the cultural industry’s competitiveness as China’s new powerful driver of economic development. Compared with previous empirical studies, this research deepens the competitive cultural analysis, increases the number of observations, and lengthens the period studied.
Relationship of Meteorological Data with Heat Stress Effect on Dairy Cows of Smallholder Farmers
Authors: Hossain Md. Delowar , Salam Md. Abdus , Ahmed Shabbir , Habiba Mst. Umme , Akhtar Shahrina , Islam Md. Mazharul , Hoque S. A. Masudul , Selim Abu Sadeque Md. , Rahman Md. Morshedur
Published: December 2022

Global warming has been increasing heat stress threat in animals, which can be monitored via the Temperature Humidity Index (THI). The present study describes the THI pattern and the relationship between THI and the production performances of dairy cows in a selected area of Bangladesh. The THI value was calculated using weather station data gathered over 35 years. Based on the THI pattern, January and June were identified as the coolest and hottest months, respectively. Consequently, the production performances of 10 crossbred cows with homogenous characteristics were monitored every January and June for a 5-year period. The average THIMEAN was found to be 17% higher in June when compared to January; with this increment of THIMEAN, average milk production was decreased by 24.4% (p < 0.05). The milk fat and protein content were also reduced (p < 0.05) by 14.5 and 15.2%, respectively, suggesting a negative correlation. However, ash content increased by 15.3%, which indicates a positive correlation. In addition, multiple regression analysis revealed that, with each point increase in THIMEAN and rectal temperature, there was a decrease in milk yield of 0.04 and 1.17 kg ECM, respectively. In contrary, each point increase in THIMEAN resulted in 0.059 °C increase of rectal temperature. Taken together, THIMEAN calculated using meteorological station data has a distinct relationship with the production performances of lactating crossbred dairy cows.
Cybersecurity and Country of Origin: Towards a New Framework for Assessing Digital Product Domesticity
Authors: Ozdemir Serkan , Wynn Martin , Metin Bilgin
Published: December 2022

Recent events concerning the Kaspersky anti-virus software in the UK and the Android operating system in the US have highlighted the significance of the domesticity of digital products for national cybersecurity, and the importance of establishing the origin of digital products has been further brought into focus by the war in Ukraine and China’s military activities around Taiwan. Digital products can contain hardware components, software elements, embedded systems, and data, and determining the country of origin (COO) in these circumstances is problematic. The aim of this research, and its main contribution, is to provide an operational framework for the application of the COO concept to address this problem. Using an inductive research methodology based on semi-structured interviews and an online survey, a 19-parameter framework for assessing the COO of digital products is developed and then applied to the case example of a mobile phone import in Turkey. This article concludes that new processes and policies are urgently required to enhance the cyber and information security for digital products, aid domestic digital technology production, and support the transition to recyclable technologies. Such developments are of significance not only for western nations concerned with data and security issues, but also for developing world countries trying to develop their own domestic digital product manufacturing capabilities. This is also of relevance to the computer end-user, who would benefit from greater clarity on the origin of digital products ahead of a purchase decision.
Climate Change and Tourism Sustainability in Jeju Island Landscape
Authors: Song Wonseob
Published: December 2022

The transformation of tourism as a reaction to climate change involves the adoption of a low-carbon route, which comprises policy and institution reforms, behavior changes, and climate change action as major components. Using Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea as a case study, this research highlights the potential of an organic relationship between climate change reaction and the development of sustainable tourism. The situation on Jeju Island, which is detailed in this study, highlights the link between low-carbon tourism and initiatives for mitigating climate change. This article outlines how climate action congruent with climate change and sustainable tourism may be implemented on Jeju Island. In addition, the link between climate change and sustainable tourism is studied in depth by evaluating the likelihood of the failure of a number of climate change-response programs. This approach emphasizes how the example of Jeju Island might be a small step toward addressing climate change and sustainable tourism issues in developing countries.
Will Green Innovation Bring about the Financial Spillover Effect? Evidence from China’s High-Carbon Listed Companies
Authors: Zhang Min , Su Yu , Zhu Peng
Published: December 2022

Is there a spillover effect from enterprises’ green innovation activities that promotes the coordinated development of the economy and the environment? Very few studies examine the impact of green innovation on corporate performance. Based on the data from Chinese listed firms in high-carbon industries from 2000 to 2021, this paper finds that green innovation has a significant promotion effect on enterprise performance, and the degree of regional intellectual property protection and enterprises’ financial resource base positively regulate the relationship between green innovation and enterprise performance. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that high-quality green innovation can better promote improvements in enterprise performance. In nonstate-owned enterprises, the spillover effect of such high-quality green innovation is more significant than that in state-owned enterprises. Meanwhile, the heterogeneity of the corporate governance level also affects the relationship between green innovation and enterprise performance. Green innovation has played a more significant role in promoting company performance in companies with high equity ratios. Finally, this paper proposes that companies should completely utilize their resource advantages to carry out high-quality green innovation practices to realize the coordinated development of the economy and the environment. This study provides empirical evidence and policy implications for accelerating the high-quality, sustainable development of enterprises.
Life Cycle Assessment of Integrated Municipal Organic Waste Management Systems in Thailand
Authors: Rotthong Maneechotiros , Takaoka Masaki , Oshita Kazuyuki , Rachdawong Pichaya , Gheewala Shabbir H. , Prapaspongsa Trakarn
Published: December 2022

The majority of municipal solid waste in Thailand is organic waste including food and garden waste. Improper waste management has caused negative impacts on the environment. This study aimed to find a hypothetical municipal organic waste management scenario with the lowest environmental impacts using life cycle assessment (LCA). The system boundary of organic waste management includes collection and transportation; treatment, including centralized and on-site treatment technologies; and by-product utilization. The two main waste management systems considered in this study were centralized and on-site waste management systems. The first two scenarios take into account all the amount of the municipal organic waste collected and transported and then treated by centralized waste treatment technologies (composting, anaerobic digestion, and landfill). The remaining three scenarios are integrated between 10% on-site (home composting, food waste processor, and composting bin) and 90% centralized (composting, anaerobic digestion, and incineration) waste treatment technologies; the scenario combining centralized (food waste anaerobic digestion, garden waste composting, and incineration) and on-site (home composting) systems yielded the lowest environmental impacts (except short-term climate change, freshwater, and marine eutrophication). On-site systems can help reduce collection, transportation, and treatment impacts, particularly photochemical oxidant formation, which was proportional to the amount of waste or distance reduced. Benefits from the by-product utilization can offset all impacts in terms of fossil and nuclear energy use and freshwater acidification, and result in a negative impact score or impact reduction. This research can be used as guidance for developing countries with conditions and waste composition similar to Thailand for making initial decisions on environmentally sustainable municipal organic waste management.
Criticality and Recyclability Assessment of Car Parts—A Thermodynamic Simulation-Based Approach
Authors: Iglesias-Émbil Marta , Abadías Alejandro , Valero Alicia , Calvo Guiomar , Reuter Markus Andreas , Ortego Abel
Published: December 2022

Using a thermodynamic approach, this paper identifies the most critical parts of a car, considering their composition. A total of 11 car parts that contain valuable and scarce materials have been selected using thermodynamic rarity, an indicator that helps assess elements and minerals in exergy terms according to their relative scarcity in the crust and the energy required to extract and refine them. A recyclability analysis using a product-centric approach was then undertaken using dedicated software, HSC Chemistry. To that end, the dismantling of these car parts into three main fractions was performed. Each car part was divided into non-ferrous, steel, and aluminum flows. A general metallurgical process was developed and simulated for each flow, including all the required equipment to extract most of the minor but valuable metals. Of the 11 parts, only 7 have a recyclability potential higher than 85%. By treating these selected car parts appropriately, the raw materials’ value recovered from the car can increase by 6%. The approach used in this paper can help provide guidelines to improve the eco-design of cars and can also be applied to other sectors. Ultimately, this paper uniquely introduces simulation-based thermodynamic rarity analysis for thermodynamic based product “design for recycling”.
Coupling Coordination Relationship between Tourism Industry and Ecological Civilization: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China
Authors: Yuan Dan , Jang Guanwei
Published: December 2022

Ecological civilization has a significant role in the sustainable development of the regional tourism industry. The high dependence of tourism on ecological civilization contributes to the complex interaction between the two. How to coordinate the relationship between tourism and ecological civilization has affected the sustainable development and ecological civilization strategy of Guangdong Province and even the whole of China. Previous quantitative research on the coupling and coordination of the two has certain limitations. One limitation is the lack of dynamic prediction. In this paper, an evaluation index system of the relationship between tourism and ecological civilization is constructed. Quantitative methodologies such as entropy-weight, gray relation analysis, and obstacle degree are integrated. Meanwhile, the gray model (GM), GM (1,1) model is used for prediction. The data sample is based on the years 2005 to 2021 in Guangdong Province, China. The main results are as follows: (1) Tourism and ecological civilization both rise slowly from a low starting point. Affected by the epidemic, tourism declines rapidly in 2020 and rises slowly in 2021, but it still lags behind ecological civilization. Both continue a slow upward trend over the next decade. (2) The degree of coupling coordination has undergone a fluctuating evolution from moderate disorder to mild coordination and falls back to the barely coordination stage from 2020 to 2021. In the next decade, the coupling coordination between the two will be gradually optimized. The coupling coordination degree will be greater than 0.8 having entered a benign coordination stage in 2028; (3) The gray relation and obstacle factors show different dynamics. High gray relation comes from the ecological civilization. Partial factors are still in the region with high gray relation and high obstacle degree. The results of this paper are expected to contribute to a more appropriate ecotourism model and provide some enlightenment for implementing the effectively coordinated sustainable development of tourism and ecological civilization in Guangdong Province, China, as well as those areas with the same industrial characteristics.
Innovation of Contemporary Chinese Urban Community Governance under the Perspective of Social Capital: Participation of Multiple Subjects Based on Community Proposals
Authors: Wang Dexin , Li Shijun
Published: December 2022

To improve the modernization of social governance, the Chinese government has invested a large number of resources and policies into the field of community governance in recent years. This study takes the community proposal in China’s Experimental Zone for Community Governance and Service Innovation as research cases, conducts a multi-case comparative analysis, applies social capital theory, summarizes four different community governance models from the differences of emotional and institutional social capital, and individual and collective social capital, and analyzes the process of community governance and proposal operation with the participation of multiple subjects. The study finds that community proposals expand the possibility of public participation, which is an extremely important reference value for the process of urban community governance and social democratization in contemporary China. However, community proposals are still policy-oriented, administrative, and benchmark-oriented, and the participatory roles and functions of multiple subjects remain unbalanced. The key to contemporary urban community governance in China lies in tapping community social capital, expanding the dimensions of social capital, and creating a sustainable mechanism for social capital transformation.
Introduction to Sand-Restoration Technology and Model in China
Authors: Gao Shuhan , Wu Jiaru , Ma Le , Gong Xiaoqian , Zhang Qing
Published: December 2022

As one of the countries with the highest desertification in the world, sand ecological restoration and management have been given great attention in China. However, a systematic and comprehensive review of sand-restoration technology is still lacking. Therefore, with “sand restoration technology” and “China” as the keywords, we reviewed 226 English articles and 512 Chinese articles based on the Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure data sources from 1990 to 2021. The results showed that (1) The number of published articles about sand-restoration technology increased during the last 30 years, experiencing a slow–fast–steady growth process. (2) The analysis of keyword hotspots showed that the literature focuses on restoration, Maowusu sandy land, vegetation restoration, sand barrier, governance model, etc. (3) Biological restoration techniques are dominant among sand-restoration techniques and are mainly carried out through plant and physical technology. (4) Composite sand-restoration technology, including arbors, shrubs, grass, and soil, is a progressive research topic for the future. By installing an incorporated device for sand-restoration generation, we offer a theoretical foundation for strengthening sand-restoration generation in China and beyond.
Technical Trends and Competitive Situation in Respect of Metahuman—From Product Modules and Technical Topics to Patent Data
Authors: Gong Xuandi , Ren Jinluan , Wang Xinyan , Zeng Li
Published: December 2022

As a form of technological integration, metahuman has a significant influence on sustainable production because of its consistent technological evolution. However, few studies have provided insights into the technical assessment of metahuman by employing patents. In this paper, patent analysis is conducted to identify technological trends and the competitive situation in respect of metahuman from a product modularity perspective. First, we identify 17 highly relevant metahuman keywords by combining a literature analysis and an expert interview method and identify 42,256 patents from the Derwent Innovation Index (DII), thus improving the accuracy and validity of the data collection process. Then, metahuman product modularity is implemented using the function-behavior-structure (FBS) model, and seven technical topics are extracted from patents via latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). Lastly, the procedure for identifying technology areas in respect of metahuman is improved by applying an optimized method to establish the connecting paths of product modules, technical topics, and patent data. The analysis results show that the development of metahuman technology can be divided into three periods. Different patent priority countries have distinctive competitive advantages and characteristics at the product module level. The findings of this study are intended to aid R&D enterprises and the government in formulating sustainable decision-making and promoting the development of the metahuman industry.
Research on Parking Space Status Recognition Method Based on Computer Vision
Authors: Li Yongyi , Mao Hongye , Yang Wei , Guo Shuang , Zhang Xiaorui
Published: December 2022

To improve the utilization rate of parking space resources and reduce the cost of installing and maintaining sensor recognition, this paper proposed an improved computer vision-based parking space status recognition method. The overall recognition accuracy was improved by graying the video, filtering smoothing noise reduction, image enhancement pre-processing, introducing texture feature extraction method based on LBP operator, improving the background difference method, and then, we used a perceptual hash algorithm to calculate the Hamming distance between the background image and the hash string of the current frame of the video, excluding the influence of light and pedestrian on recognition accuracy. Finally, a parking space status recognition system is developed relied on the Python environment, and parking spaces are recognized in three environmental states: with direct light, without direct light, and in rain and snow. The overall average accuracy of the experimental results was 97.2%, which verifies the accuracy of the model.
Seismic Damage Identification of Composite Cable-Stayed Bridges Using Support Vector Machines and Wavelet Networks
Authors: Shi Zhongqi , Zhong Rumian , Jin Nan
Published: December 2022

A seismic damage identification method for composite cable-stayed bridges has been developed. The proposed method is based on a Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Wavelet Network (WN). A shaking table test of a composite cable-stayed bridge is employed to verify the identification accuracy of the WNSVM method; the test results show that the nonlinear Finite Element Model (FEM) can correctly simulate the single-tower cable-stayed bridge, and the learning samples of WNSVM can be produced based on the nonlinear FEM. The structural damage results identified by the WNSVM method are in good agreement with those obtained by the shaking table test, and the maximum error is less than 8%. Therefore, the WNSVM method can be used for the seismic damage identification of composite cable-stayed bridges.
Sustainable Prebiotic Dessert with Sericin Produced by Bombyx mori Worms
Authors: Matran Irina Mihaela , Matran Cristian , Tarcea Monica
Published: December 2022

(1) Background: The processing of silk threads secreted by the silkworm Bombyx mori leads to large amounts of sericin as textile waste. Its biochemical and medical properties open a new perspective for its use in the food industry and its authorization as a new food ingredient in the European Union, by the European Commission and the European Food Safety Authority. (2) Methods: Experimental and physico–chemical analyzes were carried out to obtain a sustainable prebiotic dessert with low energy value, containing Sericin produced by Bombyx Mori, which does not contain sugar and can be consumed both by people who want a healthy diet and people who need food for special nutritional conditions, such as diabetes, dysphagia or inflammatory diseases. (3) Results: The sustainable jelly was made from depectinized apple juice, pectin, sericin, lactoferrin, stevia and pectin. This dessert is natural and can be certified organic and HALAL. (4) Conclusions: Sericin can be used in the manufacture of a very wide range of foods. Being a glycoprotein, it can also be used to obtain jelling foods with low energy value, including foods for patients with dysphagia. This represents an important sustainable resource of essential amino acids for the normal homeostasis of the human body.
Smart Space Design–A Framework and an IoT Prototype Implementation
Authors: Alsamani Badr , Chatterjee Samir , Anjomshoae Ali , Ractham Peter
Published: December 2022

In the last decade, the need for smart-space design has been on the rise. Various data collected from Internet-of-Things (IoT) and sensors are used to optimize the operation of smart spaces, which, in urban areas, are evolving into smart cities. How can smart spaces provide value to citizens? There is a need to develop smart services that leverage emerging technologies while taking an inclusive and empowering approach to the inhabitants. To address this need, we present a framework for designing smart spaces and we use a bottom-up (inclusive) approach to instantiate a smart kiosk (SK). The SK prototype provides a practical approach for transforming a traditional building into a smart space utilizing IoT and artificial intelligence technologies. The design science research (DSR) methodology was followed for designing and evaluating the prototype. An iterative process that involves occupant feedback and brainstorming sessions coupled with a literature review was carried out to identify the issues and services related to a smart building. The SK prototype implements three intelligent services that were prioritized by the citizens of the building. The results show that the SK has a high usage and acceptance rate and it can transform a lobby into a highly engaged and smart building space. The prototyping process suggests important factors to ideate and assess smart services and shows that small-scale projects can be successful to enable smart buildings. The framework provides a theoretical contribution while the design and development process assists practitioners in identifying and developing intelligent services based on IoT technology.
Banking Support for Energy Security: The Customer Aspect
Authors: Milicevic Nikola , Djokic Nenad , Mirovic Vera , Djokic Ines , Kalas Branimir
Published: December 2022

Within the increased concern for environmental protection, an important aspect is related to renewable energy not only because of the potential for carbon emission reductions but also because of energy security. Relying on renewable energy sources can be a basis for less dependence of the economy on limited energy sources, especially when considering their potential price fluctuations. The role of banks has already been recognized in the context of supporting the greater use of renewable energy solutions. In this paper, the focus is on green banking (GB) services and customers’ intention to adopt them. For its analysis, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was applied. It was extended with environmental consciousness, as a predictor of attitude and behavioral intention. Moreover, relations between customer intention and its predictors were examined separately for the male and female gender. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research in which behavioral intention toward green banking services was investigated by including mentioned variables from the gender aspect. According to the obtained results, environmental consciousness, attitude and perceived behavior control have the largest influence on customers’ intention. In addition, from the gender aspect, unlike male, the intention of female customers is significantly affected by perceived behavior control.
Analyzing the Process of Land-Use Transfer Flow in the Suhai Lake Basin in China, 1980–2018
Authors: Guo Zhaonan , Zhou Junju , Qiu Yu , Tang Haitao , Luo Chuyu , Wang Xue , Ma Dongfeng , Dou Jiao , Shi Wei , Zhang Dongxia , Liu Chunfang , Wei Wei , Zhu Guofeng
Published: December 2022

The Suhai Lake Basin has held major ecological status as a crucial component of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau’s ecological security barrier. The Suhai Lake Migratory Bird Nature Reserve’s safety and the livelihood of Kazakh citizens are now directly endangered by the frequent switching between land-use types and the decrease of ecosystem service functions caused by climate change and human activity. As a result, this work introduces the idea of land-use transfer flow. Through the application of interval level change and the land-use transfer chain, the process, affecting factors, and current issues of land-use change in the Suhai Lake Basin over the past 40 years are thoroughly investigated. The results showed that the intensity of land-use change was significant, at 0.055%, during the period 1990–2000, whereas the grassland area significantly increased, with a net increase of 23.07 km2, mainly from the conversion of saline-alkali land, swamp, and other unused land in the middle and lower reaches. The key factor influencing the growth of the grassland throughout this time has been the ecological management policy. As a result of the climate’s ongoing warming between 2000 and 2018, glacial meltwater and precipitation increased, the middle and lower ranges of the groundwater table rose, and the grassland degradation, swamp shrinkage, and soil salinization in the watershed all worsened. The degradation of grassland will result from both overgrazing and overprotection. Suhai Lake Wetland and Haizi Grassland Wetland are the most readily apparent examples of land-use changes in the Suhai Lake Basin from a spatial perspective. More consideration should be given to the ecological deterioration and land exposure in the glacier retreat zone of the upstream source region. The results can provide important information on the impact of regional development and the environmental governance policies of the changes in land use/cover in the Suhai Lake Basin.
A Real-Time Negative Obstacle Detection Method for Autonomous Trucks in Open-Pit Mines
Authors: Ruan Shunling , Li Shaobo , Lu Caiwu , Gu Qinghua
Published: December 2022

Negative obstacles such as potholes and road collapses on unstructured roads in open-pit mining areas seriously affect the safe transportation of autonomous trucks. In this paper, we propose a real-time negative obstacle detection method for self-driving trucks in open-pit mines. By analyzing the characteristics of road negative obstacles in open-pit mines, a real-time target detection model based on the Yolov4 network was built. It uses RepVGG as the backbone feature extraction network, applying SimAM space and a channel attention mechanism to negative obstacle multiscale feature fusion. In addition, the classification and prediction modules of the network are optimized to improve the accuracy with which it detects negative obstacle targets. A non-maximum suppression optimization algorithm (CIoU Soft Non-Maximum Suppression, CS-NMS) is proposed in the post-processing stage of negative obstacle detection. The CS-NMS calculates the confidence of each detection frame with weighted optimization to solve the problems of encountering obscure negative obstacles or poor positioning accuracy of the detection boxes. The experimental results show that this research method achieves 96.35% mAP for detecting negative obstacles on mining roads with a real-time detection speed of 69.3 fps, and that it can effectively identify negative obstacles on unstructured roads in open-pit mines with complex backgrounds.
Research on the Coordinated Development of Coastal Port Logistics and International Trade: Based on Six Coastal Provinces of China
Authors: Wang Weixin , Wu Qiqi
Published: December 2022

As an important channel for international trade cargo transportation, the logistics development level of coastal ports is a key factor to promote the growth of international trade. Strengthening the coordinated development of coastal port logistics and international trade will help promote the sustainable development process of countries (regions). Based on this, this paper explores the sustainable development of coastal port logistics and international trade. Taking six coastal provinces (cities) in China as samples, by analyzing the index data of each subsystem from 2016 to 2020, the entropy weight method is used to calculate the weight of each index, and the coupling coordination model of coastal port logistics development and international trade is constructed to explore the coordinated development degree. Through empirical analysis, it is proposed to strengthen the infrastructure construction of coastal ports, promote low-carbon operations, improve the optimal allocation of resources, and deepen the development of cooperation with coastal ports in importing and exporting countries. The results show that the coordination degree of China’s coastal port logistics and international trade development has great regional differences. Shanghai and Zhejiang Province have been at a good level of coordinated development in recent years, while the coordinated development degree of Liaoning Province and Tianjin is in the reciprocal position.
Sub-National Scale Initiatives for Climate Change Mitigation: Refining the Approach to Increase the Effectiveness of the Covenant of Mayors
Authors: Sporchia Fabio , Marchi Michela , Nocentini Enrico , Marchettini Nadia , Pulselli Federico Maria
Published: December 2022

Climate change mitigation strategies include sub-national initiatives proposed and operated by municipalities. An example of such initiatives is the Covenant of Mayors, the signatories of which are requested to compile territorial greenhouse gas emission inventories to identify entry points for mitigating policies and to be able to monitor their effectiveness over time. However, the current accounting approach presents some limitations, providing an incomplete picture of the territorial emissive status, thus hampering the mitigation potential of the set of measures. The present study shows that the current approach required by the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) guidelines for compiling the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) can be complemented with the accounting guidelines proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in order to fill existing gaps and provide a comprehensive picture from a different point of view. The proposed refinement demonstrates that local administrative bodies can count on a tool able to provide detailed and accurate information, stimulate knowledge and awareness, and optimize local mitigation efforts sometimes limited by the application of large scale (national) top-down initiatives.
Tourism Forecasting Using the Delphi Method and Implications for Sustainable Tourism Development
Authors: Yoopetch Chanin , Kongarchapatara Boonying , Nimsai Suthep
Published: December 2022

Tourism forecasting is one of the most important aspects of tourism studies in today’s competitive environment. It is crucial not only for tourism businesses to understand and foresee trends and future changes, but also for government agencies to develop the competitiveness of their tourism sectors in order to stay competitive or even outperform other tourist destinations. The purpose of this research is to conduct tourism forecasting using the Delphi technique and to collect data from experts in the field of tourism and hospitality, providing useful information about the future of Thailand’s tourism directions and sustainable development. The results show that Thailand could maintain its tourism strengths in many aspects, including tourism attractions for tourists from various income groups, and the cultural uniqueness of “Thai-ness”. Thailand’s tourism capabilities can support the growing importance of tourism development in Southeast Asia. In addition, the research findings reveal some areas for improvement for Thai tourism to support sustainable tourism development, including the necessity for improving the quality of training programs for human resources in tourism-related organizations, a less strict immigration policy, the adoption of new information technology, and more updated tourism information. The discussion of findings and practical implications for sustainable tourism development are also discussed in detail.
Competencies of Industrial Engineers for Implementing Augmented Reality Metadata Systems
Authors: Broum Tomáš , Hořejší Petr , Malaga Miroslav , Grzona Pierre
Published: December 2022

The paper focuses on the use of augmented reality (AR) by industrial engineers, especially for determining the necessary competencies required for its use. Industrial engineers are not inherently programmers. Nevertheless, augmented reality is a modern trend in their field, especially in relation to the concept of Industry 4.0 and industry in general, where it has a higher potential than virtual reality. In the first part of this paper, we placed augmented reality and the competencies required for its use in the context of industrial engineering. Subsequently, we described our own methods of implementing an augmented reality industrial metadata visualization system, namely Help Lightning Fieldbit and Unity 3D, using the Vuforia extension. We chose the metadata used in the methods with regard to their environmental potential. In this part of the paper, we also described the chosen and applied testing methodology using a questionnaire survey. Subsequently, we described the results from the questionnaire surveys of both these approaches of implementing augmented reality methods. Finally, we evaluated the results and compared them with each other and with results from other authors. As the results show, the most important competencies for creating the described AR environments are analytical competencies. We draw conclusions from the collected data regarding the necessary competencies for the creation of AR scenes using these methods and their deployment in industry, including an outline for further research.
EFND: A Semantic, Visual, and Socially Augmented Deep Framework for Extreme Fake News Detection
Authors: Nadeem Muhammad Imran , Ahmed Kanwal , Li Dun , Zheng Zhiyun , Alkahtani Hend Khalid , Mostafa Samih M. , Mamyrbayev Orken , Abdel Hameed Hala
Published: December 2022

Due to the exponential increase in internet and social media users, fake news travels rapidly, and no one is immune to its adverse effects. Various machine learning approaches have evaluated text and images to categorize false news over time, but they lack a comprehensive representation of relevant features. This paper presents an automated method for detecting fake news to counteract the spread of disinformation. The proposed multimodal EFND integrates contextual, social context, and visual data from news articles and social media to build a multimodal feature vector with a high level of information density. Using a multimodal factorized bilinear pooling, the gathered features are fused to improve their correlation and offer a more accurate shared representation. Finally, a Multilayer Perceptron is implemented over the shared representation for the classification of fake news. EFND is evaluated using a group of standard fake news datasets known as “FakeNewsNet”. EFND has outperformed the baseline and state-of-the-art machine learning and deep learning models. Furthermore, the results of ablation studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed framework. For the PolitiFact and GossipCop datasets, the EFND has achieved an accuracy of 0.988% and 0.990%, respectively.
Renewable Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from an Oil-Rich Economy
Authors: Mukhtarov Shahriyar , Aliyev Fuzuli , Aliyev Javid , Ajayi Richard
Published: December 2022

This article examines the influence of renewable energy consumption, real GDP per capita, exports and imports on consumption-based CO2 emissions in Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2019 by employing the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares Method (DOLS). The results reveal that renewable energy consumption has a negative impact on CO2 emissions, while real GDP per capita has a positive effect. According to the findings, a 1% increase in renewable energy consumption leads to a 0.26% decrease in consumption-based CO2 emissions, while a 1% rise in real GDP per capita leads to a 0.46% rise in consumption-based CO2 emissions. In addition, imports and exports show positive and negative effects respectively. Numerically, a 1% rise in imports results in a 0.18% rise in CO2 emissions, whereas a 1% increase in exports reduces CO2 emissions by 0.16%. This is consistent with expectations and theoretical outcomes described in the functional specification and data section. The negative influence of renewable energy consumption, as well as the larger effect of imports, emphasize the necessity of implementing ecologically friendly measures in both energy sectors (particularly, the need to increase the share of renewable energy in total energy use) and international trade.
Research on BIPV in Office and Public Utility Buildings in Aesthetic and Utility Context
Authors: Marchwiński Janusz
Published: December 2022

The idea of the article is to examine the perception of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) by users of buildings in which BIPV has been applied. The study aims at determining the acceptance degree as well as problem areas related to the use of BIPV within façades in the aesthetic and utility context. The article includes survey research conducted among 232 employees working in six office and public buildings with BIPV in Poland. The buildings were selected so that the PV modules within their façades were visible both outside and inside the building. For this reason, two groups of buildings were chosen for the study: those with PV modules as external glazing and with an external PV shelves (three buildings each). The research results indicate differences in the perception of the aesthetic, semantic, and functional roles of BIPV depending on the aforementioned BIPV application method, the observation place (outside or inside the building), and employee characteristics, i.e., groups divided regarding such aspects as their age and time spent in the room with BIPV. The research novelty is in examining the influence of BIPV on users’ reactions in their workplace in terms of aesthetic and utility issues. The research includes post-occupancy evaluation method (POE), which is for the first time used in relation to BIPV in office and public utility buildings. The research can prove useful for investors and designers at the planning and design concept stage. The outcomes constitute a practical source of knowledge for BIPV manufacturers.