bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CO2 in Lyotropic Liquid Crystals: Monoethanolamine-Facilitated Uptake and Swelling
Authors: Rodríguez-Fabià Sandra , Norrman Jens , Sjöblom Johan , Paso Kristofer
Published: August 2018

Ternary systems consisting of amphiphilic block copolymers/water/monoethanolamine (MEA) have been studied as potential solvents for carbon capture and storage (CCS). The phase behavior of two poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) copolymers with average compositions (EO)8(PO)47(EO)8 (L92) and (EO)3(PO)50(EO)3 (L81) have been investigated by cross-polarized visual observation and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The respective ternary phase diagrams have been studied for systems containing MEA and the equivalent systems containing CO2-loaded MEA. The presence of MEA loaded with CO2 hinders self-association, preventing the formation of liquid crystalline phases. One-phase liquid crystalline regions were found at low MEA concentrations (below 20 wt %) in L92. In the case of L81, only one one-phase region consisting of coexisting lamellar and disordered aggregates was found at 5 wt % MEA. The swelling of the liquid crystalline phases with MEA was investigated along designated dilution lines. The lattice parameters of L92 liquid crystals decrease upon addition of MEA, whereas L81 aggregates show the opposite behavior.
Effects of Pulse Interval and Dosing Flux on Cells Varying the Relative Velocity of Micro Droplets and Culture Solution
Authors: Wang Zhanwei , Liu Kun , Ning Jiuxin , Chen Shulei , Hao Ming , Wang Dongyang , Mei Qi , Ba Yaoshuai , Ba Dechun
Published: August 2018

Microdroplet dosing to cell on a chip could meet the demand of narrow diffusion distance, controllable pulse dosing and less impact to cells. In this work, we studied the diffusion process of microdroplet cell pulse dosing in the three-layer sandwich structure of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane)/PCTE (polycarbonate) microporous membrane/PDMS chip. The mathematical model is established to solve the diffusion process and the process of rhodamine transfer to micro-traps is simulated. The rhodamine mass fraction distribution, pressure field and velocity field around the microdroplet and cell surfaces are analyzed for further study of interdiffusion and convective diffusion effect. The cell pulse dosing time and drug delivery efficiency could be controlled by adjusting microdroplet and culture solution velocity without impairing cells at micro-traps. Furthermore, the accuracy and controllability of the cell dosing pulse time and maximum drug mass fraction on cell surfaces are achieved and the drug effect on cells could be analyzed more precisely especially for neuron cell dosing.
Their Fault, Not Mine: Religious Commitment, Theological Conservatism, and Americans’ Retrospective Reasons for Divorce
Authors: Perry Samuel L.
Published: August 2018

How does religion influence the ways divorcées frame their divorce experience? Building on Mills’s “vocabularies of motive” concept, I theorize that Americans who are more religious or affiliated with a conservative Protestant tradition will be more likely to emphasize their former spouse’s role in the divorce while minimizing their own. Data are taken from a large, representative sample of divorced Americans in the 2014 Relationships in America survey. Analyses affirm that divorced Americans who attend worship services more frequently are more likely to say that their former spouse wanted the divorce more than they did. Looking at 17 specific reasons for divorce, those who feel religion is more important to them are consistently more likely to select reasons that put blame on their former spouse or circumstances, while frequent attendees are less likely to cite their own behaviors or intentions. Though less consistent, notable patterns also emerged for conservative Protestants. Given the stigma against divorce in many religious communities, I argue that divorcées in such communities likely feel internal pressure to account for their divorce in ways that deflect blame.
The Resource Utilization of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [Mart.] Solms) and Its Challenges
Authors: Su Weiping , Sun Qingping , Xia Meisheng , Wen Zhengshun , Yao Zhitong
Published: August 2018

The unchecked growth of Eichhornia crassipes can cause significant harm, including covering of the water surface, depletion of oxygen, clogging of river channels, and promotion of the breeding of flies and mosquitoes. These effects can significantly impact farmland irrigation, water transportation, and human health. However, methods for controlling its growth are not ideal, and control using biological and chemical agents can result in secondary pollution. The utilization of E. crassipes as a resource, for example, as animal feed or organic substrates, can not only turn waste into valuable resources, but it can also solve the problem of its growth, thus bringing about economic and ecological benefits. In this paper, the growth and ecological characteristics of E. crassipes, its nutrient composition, and resource utilization approaches were reviewed. The challenges associated with the large-scale utilization of E. crassipes were also analyzed in order to provide references for the control and resource utilization of the species. Regarding challenges such as the difficulty of cultivation and the high cost of harvesting and dehydrating, it is necessary to investigate the proper water surface and coverage characteristics of E. crassipes cultivation to assure adequate biomass and protect the ecological landscape. It is also necessary to evaluate the effect of E. crassipes cultivation on the health of aquatic ecosystems and the safety of the water environment in order to prevent the significant potential ecological and environmental risks. In addition, developing portable, high-efficiency facilities to promote the effectiveness of harvesting, transportation and dehydration are needed, as well as further improvement in the techniques of utilization and assessment of the economic value.
A General Framework for Portfolio Theory. Part II: Drawdown Risk Measures
Authors: Maier-Paape Stanislaus , Zhu Qiji Jim
Published: August 2018

The aim of this paper is to provide several examples of convex risk measures necessary for the application of the general framework for portfolio theory of Maier-Paape and Zhu (2018), presented in Part I of this series. As an alternative to classical portfolio risk measures such as the standard deviation, we, in particular, construct risk measures related to the “current” drawdown of the portfolio equity. In contrast to references Chekhlov, Uryasev, and Zabarankin (2003, 2005), Goldberg and Mahmoud (2017), and Zabarankin, Pavlikov, and Uryasev (2014), who used the absolute drawdown, our risk measure is based on the relative drawdown process. Combined with the results of Part I, Maier-Paape and Zhu (2018), this allows us to calculate efficient portfolios based on a drawdown risk measure constraint.
Spatio-Temporal Variations of Soil Active Layer Thickness in Chinese Boreal Forests from 2000 to 2015
Authors: Bai Xiongxiong , Yang Jian , Tao Bo , Ren Wei
Published: August 2018

The soil active layer in boreal forests is sensitive to climate warming. Climate-induced changes in the active layer may greatly affect the global carbon budget and planetary climatic system by releasing large quantities of greenhouse gases that currently are stored in permafrost. Ground surface temperature is an immediate driver of active layer thickness (ALT) dynamics. In this study, we mapped ALT distribution in Chinese boreal larch forests from 2000 to 2015 by integrating remote sensing data with the Stefan equation. We then examined the changes of the ALT in response to changes in ground surface temperature and identified drivers of the spatio-temporal patterns of ALT. Active layer thickness varied from 1.18 to 1.3 m in the study area. Areas of nonforested land and low elevation or with increased air temperature had a relatively high ALT, whereas ALT was lower at relatively high elevation and with decreased air temperatures. Interannual variations of ALT had no obvious trend, however, and the ALT changed at a rate of only −0.01 and 0.01 m year−1. In a mega-fire patch of 79,000 ha burned in 2003, ΔALT (ALTi − ALT2002, where 2003 ≤ i ≤ 2015) was significantly higher than in the unburned area, with the influence of the wildfire persisting 10 years. Under the high emission scenario (RCP8.5), an increase of 2.6–4.8 °C in mean air temperature would increase ALT into 1.46–1.55 m by 2100, which in turn would produce a significant positive feedback to climate warming.
A CNN-SIFT Hybrid Pedestrian Navigation Method Based on First-Person Vision
Authors: Zhao Qi , Zhang Boxue , Lyu Shuchang , Zhang Hong , Sun Daniel , Li Guoqiang , Feng Wenquan
Published: August 2018

The emergence of new wearable technologies, such as action cameras and smart glasses, has driven the use of the first-person perspective in computer applications. This field is now attracting the attention and investment of researchers aiming to develop methods to process first-person vision (FPV) video. The current approaches present particular combinations of different image features and quantitative methods to accomplish specific objectives, such as object detection, activity recognition, user–machine interaction, etc. FPV-based navigation is necessary in some special areas, where Global Position System (GPS) or other radio-wave strength methods are blocked, and is especially helpful for visually impaired people. In this paper, we propose a hybrid structure with a convolutional neural network (CNN) and local image features to achieve FPV pedestrian navigation. A novel end-to-end trainable global pooling operator, called AlphaMEX, has been designed to improve the scene classification accuracy of CNNs. A scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT)-based tracking algorithm is employed for movement estimation and trajectory tracking of the person through each frame of FPV images. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The top-1 error rate of the proposed AlphaMEX-ResNet outperforms the original ResNet (k = 12) by 1.7% on the ImageNet dataset. The CNN-SIFT hybrid pedestrian navigation system reaches 0.57 m average absolute error, which is an adequate accuracy for pedestrian navigation. Both positions and movements can be well estimated by the proposed pedestrian navigation algorithm with a single wearable camera.
Assessing Coastal SMAP Surface Salinity Accuracy and Its Application to Monitoring Gulf of Maine Circulation Dynamics
Authors: Grodsky Semyon A. , Vandemark Douglas , Feng Hui
Published: August 2018

Monitoring the cold and productive waters of the Gulf of Maine and their interactions with the nearby northwestern (NW) Atlantic shelf is important but challenging. Although remotely sensed sea surface temperature (SST), ocean color, and sea level have become routine, much of the water exchange physics is reflected in salinity fields. The recent invention of satellite salinity sensors, including the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer, opens new prospects in regional shelf studies. However, local sea surface salinity (SSS) retrieval is challenging due to both cold SST limiting salinity sensor sensitivity and proximity to land. For the NW Atlantic, our analysis shows that SMAP SSS is subject to an SST-dependent bias that is negative and amplifies in winter and early spring due to the SST-related drop in SMAP sensor sensitivity. On top of that, SMAP SSS is subject to a land contamination bias. The latter bias becomes noticeable and negative when the antenna land contamination factor (LC) exceeds 0.2%, and attains maximum negative values at LC = 0.4%. Coastward of LC = 0.5%, a significant positive land contamination bias in absolute SMAP SSS is evident. SST and land contamination bias components are seasonally dependent due to seasonal changes in SST/winds and terrestrial microwave properties. Fortunately, it is shown that SSS anomalies computed relative to a satellite SSS climatology can effectively remove such seasonal biases along with the real seasonal cycle. SMAP monthly SSS anomalies have sufficient accuracy and applicability to extend nearer to the coasts. They are used to examine the Gulf of Maine water inflow, which displayed important water intrusions in between Georges Banks and Nova Scotia in the winters of 2016/17 and 2017/18. Water intrusion patterns observed by SMAP are generally consistent with independent measurements from the European Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. Circulation dynamics related to the 2016/2017 period and enhanced wind-driven Scotian Shelf transport into the Gulf of Maine are discussed.
Progressive Degradation of an Ice Rumple in the Thwaites Ice Shelf, Antarctica, as Observed from High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models
Authors: Kim Seung Hee , Kim Duk-jin , Kim Hyun-Cheol
Published: August 2018

Ice rumples are locally-grounded features of flowing ice shelves, elevated tens of meters above the surrounding surface. These features may significantly impact the dynamics of ice-shelf grounding lines, which are strongly related to shelf stability. In this study, we used TanDEM-X data to construct high-resolution DEMs of the Thwaites ice shelf in West Antarctica from 2011 to 2013. We also generated surface deformation maps which allowed us to detect and monitor the elevation changes of an ice rumple that appeared sometime between the observations of a grounding line of the Thwaites glacier using Double-Differential Interferometric SAR (DDInSAR) in 1996 and 2011. The observed degradation of the ice rumple during 2011–2013 may be related to a loss of contact with the underlying bathymetry caused by the thinning of the ice shelf. We subsequently used a viscoelastic deformation model with a finite spherical pressure source to reproduce the surface expression of the ice rumple. Global optimization allowed us to fit the model to the observed deformation map, producing reasonable estimates of the ice thickness at the center of the pressure source. Our conclusion is that combining the use of multiple high-resolution DEMs and the simple viscoelastic deformation model is feasible for observing and understanding the transient nature of small ice rumples, with implications for monitoring ice shelf stability.
Identifying Establishment Year and Pre-Conversion Land Cover of Rubber Plantations on Hainan Island, China Using Landsat Data during 1987–2015
Authors: Chen Bangqian , Xiao Xiangming , Wu Zhixiang , Yun Tin , Kou Weili , Ye Huichun , Lin Qinghuo , Doughty Russell , Dong Jinwei , Ma Jun , Luo Wei , Xie Guishui , Cao Jianhua
Published: August 2018

Knowing the stand age of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations is vitally important for best management practices, estimations of rubber latex yields, and carbon cycle studies (e.g., biomass, carbon pools, and fluxes). However, the stand age (as estimated from the establishment year of rubber plantation) is not available across large regions. In this study, we analyzed Landsat time series images from 1987–2015 and developed algorithms to identify (1) the establishment year of rubber plantations; and (2) the pre-conversion land cover types, such as old rubber plantations, evergreen forests, and cropland. Exposed soil during plantation establishment and linear increases in canopy closure during non-production periods (rubber seedling to mature plantation) were used to identify the establishment year of rubber plantations. Based on the rubber plantation map for 2015 (overall accuracy = 97%), and 1981 Landsat images since 1987, we mapped the establishment year of rubber plantations on Hainan Island (R2 = 0.85/0.99, and RMSE = 2.34/0.54 years at pixel/plantation scale). The results show that: (1) significant conversion of croplands and old rubber plantations to new rubber plantations has occurred substantially in the northwest and northern regions of Hainan Island since 2000, while old rubber plantations were mainly distributed in the southeastern inland strip; (2) the pattern of rubber plantation expansion since 1987 consisted of fragmented plantations from smallholders, and there was no tendency to expand towards a higher altitude and steep slope regions; (3) the largest land source for new rubber plantations since 1988 was old rubber plantations (1.26 × 105 ha), followed by cropland (0.95 × 105 ha), and evergreen forests (0.68 × 105 ha). The resultant algorithms and maps of establishment year and pre-conversion land cover types are likely to be useful in plantation management, and ecological assessments of rubber plantation expansion in China.
Biologically Inspired Hierarchical Contour Detection with Surround Modulation and Neural Connection
Authors: Li Shuai , Xu Yuelei , Cong Wei , Ma Shiping , Zhu Mingming , Qi Min
Published: August 2018

Contour is a very important feature in biological visual cognition and has been extensively investigated as a fundamental vision problem. In connection with the limitations of conventional models in detecting image contours in complex scenes, a hierarchical image contour extraction method is proposed based on the biological vision mechanism that draws on the perceptual characteristics of the early vision for features such as edges, shapes, and colours. By simulating the information processing mechanisms of the cells’ receptive fields in the early stages of the biological visual system, we put forward a computational model that combines feedforward, lateral, and feedback neural connections to decode and obtain the image contours. Our model simulations and their results show that the established hierarchical contour detection model can adequately fit the characteristics of the biological experiment, quickly and effectively detect the salient contours in complex scenes, and better suppress the unwanted textures.
Using Acoustic Signal and Image to Achieve Accurate Indoor Localization
Authors: Xi Rui , Liu Daibo , Hou Mengshu , Li Yujun , Li Jun
Published: August 2018

Location information plays a key role in pervasive computing and application, especially indoor location-based service, even though a mass of systems have been proposed, an accurate and practical indoor localization system remains unsettled. To tackle this issue, in this paper, we present a new localization scheme, SITE, combining acoustic Signals and Images to achieve accurate and robust indoor locaTion sErvice. Relying on a pre-deployed platform of acoustic sources with different frequencies, using proactively generated Doppler effect signals, SITE could track relative directions between the phone and the sources. Given m (m≥5) relative directions, SITE can use the angle differences to compute a set of locations corresponding to different subsets of sources. Then, based on a key observation—while the simultaneously estimated locations using different sets of acoustic anchors are within a small circle, the results converge to a point near the true location—SITE proposes a decision scheme that confirms whether these locations satisfy the demand of localization accuracy and can be used to search the user’s location. If not, SITE utilizes VSFM(Visual Structure from Motion) technique to achieve a set of relative locations using some images captured by the phone’s camera. By exploiting the synergy between the set of relative locations and the set of initial locations computed by relative directions, an optimal transformation relationship is obtained and applied to refine the initial calculated results. The refined result will be regarded as the user’s location. In the evaluation, we implemented a prototype and deployed a real platform of acoustic sources in different scenarios. Experimental results show that SITE has excellent performance of localization accuracy, robustness and feasibility in practical application.
The Sensory Quality and Volatile Profile of Dark Chocolate Enriched with Encapsulated Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum Bacteria
Authors: Mirković Milica , Seratlić Sanja , Kilcawley Kieran , Mannion David , Mirković Nemanja , Radulović Zorica
Published: August 2018

Cocoa and dark chocolate have a wide variety of powerful antioxidants and other nutrients that can positively affect human health. Probiotic dark chocolate has the potential to be a new product in the growing number of functional foods. In this study, encapsulated potential probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 564 and commercial probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 299v were added in the production of dark chocolate. The results show very good survival of probiotic bacteria after production and during storage, reaching 108cfu/g in the first 60 days and over 106cfu/g up to 180 days. No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in chemical composition and no major differences in the volatile profiles between control and experimental chocolate samples were observed, indicating no impact of probiotic bacteria on compositional and sensory characteristics of dark chocolate. The sensory evaluation of control and both probiotic dark chocolate samples showed excellent sensory quality after 60 and 180 days of storage, demonstrating that probiotics did not affect aroma, texture and appearance of chocolate. Due to a high viability of bacterial cells and acceptable sensory properties, it can be concluded that encapsulated probiotics Lb. plantarum 564 and Lb. plantarum 299v could be successfully used in the production of probiotic dark chocolate.
Modified A-Star Algorithm for Efficient Coverage Path Planning in Tetris Inspired Self-Reconfigurable Robot with Integrated Laser Sensor
Authors: Le Anh , Prabakaran Veerajagadheswar , Sivanantham Vinu , Mohan Rajesh
Published: August 2018

Advancing an efficient coverage path planning in robots set up for application such as cleaning, painting and mining are becoming more crucial. Such drive in the coverage path planning field proposes numerous techniques over the past few decades. However, the proposed approaches were only applied and tested with a fixed morphological robot in which the coverage performance was significantly degraded in a complex environment. To this end, an A-star based zigzag global planner for a novel self-reconfigurable Tetris inspired cleaning robot (hTetro) presented in this paper. Unlike the traditional A-star algorithm, the presented approach can generate waypoints in order to cover the narrow spaces while assuming appropriate morphology of the hTtero robot with the objective of maximizing the coverage area. We validated the efficiency of the proposed planning approach in the Robot Operation System (ROS) Based simulated environment and tested with the hTetro robot in real-time under the controlled scenarios. Our experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed coverage path planning approach resulting in superior area coverage performance in all considered experimental scenarios.
Board Composition and Corporate Social Responsibility Performance: Evidence from Chinese Public Firms
Authors: Zhuang Yiming , Chang Xinyue , Lee Younggeun
Published: August 2018

This study investigates the relationship between board composition and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Specifically, we examine the impact of board composition (aspects like political experience, academic experience, overseas background, and gender diversity) on CSR performance. We test our hypotheses using data collected from 839 Chinese public firms during the period from 2008 to 2016. Applying generalized least squares regression, the study shows that the political experience, academic experience, and overseas background of the board members are positively related to the firm’s CSR performance. Moreover, we discuss the distinctive relationship between gender diversity and CSR performance in the context of Chinese culture. We extend the CSR literature by examining unique aspects of board composition in the Chinese context and offer fruitful implications for both scholars and practitioners.
Eating More but Not Better at School? Impacts of Boarding on Students’ Dietary Structure and Nutritional Status in Rural Northwestern China
Authors: Chen Qihui , Pei Chunchen , Zhao Qiran
Published: August 2018

While the impact of boarding on students’ development has attracted considerable attention from researchers and policy makers, rigorous analysis of students’ food consumption behavior and nutritional status has been rare. This study fills this gap by analyzing data on nearly 7600 rural primary school students from two northwestern Chinese provinces, using students’ home-to-school distance as an instrumental variable for their boarding status. Our estimation results suggest that boarding significantly reduces students’ dietary diversity, as measured by a Diet Diversity Score constructed following guidelines provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. While the reduced dietary diversity does not undermine students’ overall nutrition intake, as measured by their body mass index (BMI) for age, it does increase their probability of being anemic. Further investigation reveals that boarders consume significantly less protein-rich food and significantly more carbohydrate-rich food than their non-boarding counterparts.
Possible Impact of Long and Heavy Vehicles in the United Kingdom—A Commodity Level Approach
Authors: Liimatainen Heikki , Greening Phil , Dadhich Pratyush , Keyes Anna
Published: August 2018

The potential effects of implementing longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) in road freight transport have been studied in various countries, nationally and internationally, in Europe. These studies have focused on the implementation of LHVs on certain types of commodities and the experience from countries like Finland and Sweden, which have a long tradition of using LHVs, and in which LHVs used for all types of commodities have not been widely utilised. This study aimed to assess the impacts of long and heavy vehicles on various commodities in the United Kingdom based on the Finnish experiences in order to estimate the possible savings in road freight transport vehicle kilometres, costs, and CO2 emissions in the United Kingdom if LHVs would be introduced and used similarly to in Finland in the transport of various commodities. The study shows that the savings of introducing longer and heavier vehicles in the United Kingdom would be 1.5–2.6 billion vehicle kms, £0.7–1.5 billion in transport costs, and 0.35–0.72 Mt in CO2 emissions. These findings are well in line with previous findings in other countries. The results confirm that considerable savings in traffic volume and emissions can be achieved and the savings are very likely to outweigh possible effects of modal shift from rail to road.
What Drove Changes in the Embodied Energy Consumption of Guangdong’s Exports from 2007–2012?
Authors: Tang Zhipeng , Zou Jialing , Wu Shuang
Published: August 2018

China’s economy has been highly reliant on exports in recent years, with Guangdong its biggest province in export trade volume. Despite the global financial crisis of 2008, exports from Guangdong continued to increase significantly; however, the energy consumption embodied in exports is unknown. In this study, we investigate the changes of energy embodied in exports from 2007 to 2012 in Guangdong Province. We use EIO (Environmental Input-Output) and LMDI (Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index) method to find out the drivers of such changes embodied in total exports and export of each sector. Our results show: Firstly, from 2007 to 2012, the export structure in Guangdong has changed, reflecting in low energy intensity industry experiencing faster growth in exports than high energy intensity industry. Secondly, the growth rate of embodied energy consumption in Guangdong’s exports is slowing, with average annual growth from 2007 to 2012 of 6.8%. Thirdly, though Guangdong’s exports grew significantly, the energy consumption embodied therein decreased by 23% from 2007 to 2012, representing a drop of 50.51 Mtce. Finally, the most prominent change driver differed across sectors: For low value-added industries, such as metal smelting and rolling, the main contributor was export structure change, whereas for high value-added industries, such as communications, computers, and other electronic equipment, the main contributor was technical change. Guangdong is playing a leading role in industrial upgrading in China, and this has made the embodied energy consumption decreased obviously in Guangdong. It will be interesting to further investigate the trends of embodied energy consumption of other provinces in China, as this would give us deeper understanding of Chinese resource and environment problems.
Sustainable Returns: The Effect of Regional Industrial Development Policy on Institutional Investors’ Behavior in China
Authors: Lin Shu Ling , Lu Jun , Su Jung-Bin , Chen Wei-Peng
Published: August 2018

Within the market economy system controlled by the Chinese government, this study mainly explores whether government policies can sufficiently guide the investment decisions of professional investors. Thus, we examine whether professional investment institutions can support the government’s policy for long-term investment to produce sustainable returns and create value for both the country and investment institutions. To perform this test, we use the annual data from firms held by institutional investors and listed in China A-shares to run a panel regression model. We then explore the following three issues: first, we examined whether firm-level characteristics or regional industrial development policy affect the investment behavior of the institutional investors. Second, we investigated whether four types of institutions have different favorite economic regions in China under the regional industrial development policy. Third, we analyzed which type of institutional investor supports the regional industrial development policy. The above four types of institutions are: independent, grey, domestic, and qualified foreign institutions. Empirical results show that both firm-level characteristics and regional industrial development policy can affect the investment behavior of the institutional owners. Of all the firm-level characteristics selected by institutions in China, return on equity (ROE) is the condition most commonly selected for all types of institutions, whereas the dividend yield (DY) is considered only by qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs). Notably, both independent and domestic institutions have the same firm selection criteria. As for the institutions’ favorite industries for investment, only grey institutions prefer the power industry and QFIIs prefer manufacturing industry. In addition, all four types of institutional investors have different industrial favorites in the four economic regions in China under the regional industrial development policy. For example, independent institutions prefer the information industry and grey institutions appear to be interested in every industry. Moreover, domestic institutions prefer the manufacturing and information industries, whereas QFIIs prefer the manufacturing industry. Regarding the regional participation of institutions, both domestic institutions and QFIIs seem to focus on every region. Moreover, independent institutions focus on the eastern and western regions, whereas grey institutions only focus on the western region. Finally, domestic institutions received the greatest level of support, followed by grey and independent institutions, whereas the QFIIs receive the least support. Put simply, domestic institutions are deeply engaged in industrial development all over China, whereas QFIIs are only slightly engaged in this development.
Community as a Key Word: A Heuristic for Action-Oriented Sustainability Research
Authors: Boda Chad Stephen
Published: August 2018

In this article, I outline the foundations of a consistent and systematic approach to conceptualizing communities in action-oriented sustainability research. More specifically, I develop a conceptual heuristic based on key questions related to ontology, epistemology, methodology and motivation that should be useful for researchers regarding the process of initiating, clarifying and reporting on research with communities. While the use of the community concept in sustainability research is particularly prominent, variability in the possible types of social groupings combined with the concept’s long and complicated etymology in the English language means the community concept lends itself easily to ambiguous and unspecified use. This can lead to problems of both conceptual vagueness and concept-object mismatch in scientific research, which in turn can influence the applicability and efficacy of research outcomes. While problems with community conceptualization are generally recognized, the heuristic developed here contributes by providing researchers with a framework and procedure for addressing these persistent challenges. The heuristic supports the rational and systematic development of a community concept that is sensitive to concrete contextual characteristics, while maintaining roots in a consistent philosophy of scientific knowledge production.
Sustainability Assurance in Socially-Sensitive Sectors: A Worldwide Analysis of the Financial Services Industry
Authors: Seguí-Mas Elies , Polo-Garrido Fernando , Bollas-Araya Helena María
Published: August 2018

Sustainability reporting and assurance have considerably increased in the last decades. Among different sectors, ‘sensitive sectors’ attracted the attention of many academics. However, most of research works were focused only on ‘environmentally-sensitive sectors’. Therefore, after the loss of trust caused by the lack of transparency due to the crisis, ‘socially-sensitive sectors’ as financial services sector needs to strengthen users’ confidence in the credibility of their reported activities. The aim of this paper is to assess assurance practices worldwide in one of the main ‘socially-sensitive sectors’: the financial services sector. We study what factors are associated with adoption of assurance and choice of assurance provider, and whether assurance statements differ across providers. Our results reveal that, compared to the global context, companies operating in the financial services sector are more likely to adopt assurance and to choose accountants as assurance providers. Our findings show that adoption of assurance depends on company size. We also found that companies using the financial services sector supplement are more prone to adopt assurance. Our results also evidence that choice of assurance provider depends on the country and listing status Finally, our research shows a great variability in assurance statements across providers.
Dynamic Decomposition of Factors Influencing the Export Growth of China’s Wood Forest Products
Authors: Cao Xuping , Yang Shuai , Huang Xiangmeng , Tong Juxi
Published: August 2018

Wood forest products (WFPs) are globally important environmental products, with economic, ecological, and renewable characteristics. China is the world’s largest WFP exporter. However, many factors, such as the downturn of traditional major export markets and the rise of the price of production factors, have generated great challenges and uncertainties for China’s WFP export market. This study improves the product scope of WFPs. The category of WFPs has been expanded to 14 categories and 30 sub-categories, which is more detailed and more developed than in previous literature. Based on the United Nations’ Comtrade Database (COMTRADE), this paper uses the revised constant market share (CMS) model to measure and analyze empirically the factors affecting the export growth of China’s WFPs from the perspective of market, structure, and competitiveness. It is found that (1) the competitive effect exerts the biggest influence on export growth, followed by market size effects, with the effects of market distribution and product structure both being small; (2) wooden furniture, wooden products, plywood, paper, and its products play a main role in enhancing the competitive effect in China’s WFPs; and (3) China’s WFPs have a strong market competitiveness in other markets such as the USA, China Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Therefore, it is crucial for China’s WFP market to improve its product structure effects and market distribution effects in order for it to participate in international competition. On the other hand, considering that China’s exports of WFPs mainly consist of resource- and labor-intensive products, the improvement of standards such as the technology level, environmental protection and sustainable development, must not be ignored.
Integrating the Additive Seasonal Model and Super-SBM Model to Compute the Efficiency of Port Logistics Companies in Vietnam
Authors: Wang Chia-Nan , Day Jen-Der , Lien Nguyen Thi Kim , Chien Luu Quoc
Published: August 2018

The growing trade process is pushing the importing and exporting ratio of products at ports in Vietnam. The total amount of goods is determined by analyzing the effectiveness of products that are delivered at ports. Thus, this research presents a whole performance picture of the port logistics operation process at two airports and six seaport logistics companies in Vietnam to describe exchanging products by utilizing additive trend methods to formulate the efficiency and rank them from previous periods to future terms. Based on the prediction analysis, the best accuracy result is calculated by the additive Holt Winters method when the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) indicators remain at the standard level, and its average qualification is also the lowest. Combining the actual and prediction values, the ranking of all ports accordingly by year during the past, current, and future time periods from 2011–2022 is obtained after calculating the final efficiency via the super-SBM model. The empirical result of the current and estimated efficiency denotes that Da Nang port logistics is always selected as the best port logistics company and maintained the first ranking with consistently high scores on the basis of the performance qualification. The empirical analysis result proposes the status quo of port logistics companies in Vietnam from the past to future to describe the amount of exchanging goods.
Analysis and Research on the Key Success Factors of Marketing Ugly Fruits and Vegetables
Authors: Tu Jui-Che , Lee Yi-Lin , Wei Miao-Yu
Published: August 2018

According to the 2011 research report of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, one-third of the world’s edible fruits and vegetables are wasted every year, totaling about 1.3 billion metric ton. A source of such waste is ugly fruits and vegetables, which have the same nutritional value as that of normal fruits and vegetables, but are discarded due to poor appearance for selling. If consumers can rediscover their value, it will be one of the ways to change food waste. This study first explored related topics through the literature; then, it drew up an interview outline, obtained and ranked the key success factors for the evaluation indices through education and interviews with industry professionals, and summarized the key success factors of marketing ugly fruits and vegetables through questionnaire and experts interview perspectives that targeted consumer groups as the questionnaire respondents. The conclusion of the study provides suggestions for enterprises to innovate service marketing through the blueprint of service design, which hopes to reduce food waste and maintain a balance with the environment, in order to achieve the goal of environmental sustainability. The results show that if consumers understand the relevant issues and pay attention to the truth of vegetable and fruit production, they can use their consumption power to protect their own and environmental rights. However, the trust between producers and consumers requires strengthening. Reducing the unnecessary waste of food and labor is expected to create more ecological and environmental consumption patterns in the future.
The Influence of Poverty Alleviation Resettlement on Rural Household Livelihood Vulnerability in the Western Mountainous Areas, China
Authors: Liu Wei , Xu Jie , Li Jie
Published: August 2018

Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) is China’s largest-ever resettlement program and one of China’s flagship poverty alleviation initiatives. Resorting to this state-led conversation and development program, the central and provincial governments aim to lift the poor out of the poverty trap and into sustainable livelihoods, by delivering improvements in housing conditions, infrastructure services, public amenities, and living standards. Taking Ankang as an example, this study examines the PAR from the perspective of vulnerability through a household survey conducted in Ankang prefecture of Shaanxi province, China. A total of six townships in Ankang are covered, with 657 valid questionnaires collected. This study shows that there is a difference in exposure, sensitivity, and the adaptive capacity of rural households with different relocation characteristics, hence generating different livelihood vulnerabilities. The PAR generally achieves the target of livelihood vulnerability reduction. Specifically, the project-induced relocation has a significant positive effect on vulnerability, but there is a significant negative correlation between livelihood vulnerability and relocation region, relocation time, and relocation subsidy. Challenges and problems remain to be addressed for the next phases of the PAR, including diminishing the financial burden on those relocated and providing free public transportation services, carrying out community-building programs and updating the household registration institution, balancing the redistribution and sharing of farmland, furnishing assistance measures for employment searches and training in specific skills, and creating an impartial project to safeguard the non-movers from the significant negative impacts on their physical and spiritual dimensions.
The Cause and Evolution of Urban Street Vitality under the Time Dimension: Nine Cases of Streets in Nanjing City, China
Authors: Xu Xiaodong , Xu Xinhan , Guan Peng , Ren Yu , Wang Wei , Xu Ning
Published: August 2018

Street vitality is associated with a comfortable human-based public environment and urban sustainability. In most current studies, street vitality is assessed considering single or multi factors; however, the impact of time dimension is ignored. This study selects nine different year-built streets in old, main, and new urban areas, in Nanjing, China, proposes a framework to assess street vitality considering the different time dimensions and selects the following factors: street form, including building density, continuity, and height-width; street business type, including store density, function density, and permeation rate; and street accessibility, including location, the number of entrances/exits, transportation, and walkability. After calculating the values of the subfactors, a ranking method was applied to assign the ranking of impact of all factors for a comprehensive analysis. The results showed that Pipa Street, Wufu Street in a main urban area, and Hongmiao Street had the highest street vitality and the highest rankings of almost all the factors. Street vitality in different periods demonstrated that street vitality in new urban areas is lower compared with old and main urban areas.
A Fuzzy Set-Valued Autoregressive Moving Average Model and Its Applications
Authors: Wang Dabuxilatu , Zhang Liang
Published: August 2018

Autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models are important in many fields and applications, although they are most widely applied in time series analysis. Expanding the ARMA models to the case of various complex data is arguably one of the more challenging problems in time series analysis and mathematical statistics. In this study, we extended the ARMA model to the case of linguistic data that can be modeled by some symmetric fuzzy sets, and where the relations between the linguistic data of the time series can be considered as the ordinary stochastic correlation rather than fuzzy logical relations. Therefore, the concepts of set-valued or interval-valued random variables can be employed, and the notions of Aumann expectation, Fréchet variance, and covariance, as well as standardized process, were used to construct the ARMA model. We firstly determined that the estimators from the least square estimation of the ARMA (1,1) model under some L2 distance between two sets are weakly consistent. Moreover, the justified linguistic data-valued ARMA model was applied to forecast the linguistic monthly Hang Seng Index (HSI) as an empirical analysis. The obtained results from the empirical analysis indicate that the accuracy of the prediction produced from the proposed model is better than that produced from the classical one-order, two-order, three-order autoregressive (AR(1), AR(2), AR(3)) models, as well as the (1,1)-order autoregressive moving average (ARMA(1,1)) model.
Binary Icosahedral Group and 600-Cell
Authors: Choi Jihyun , Lee Jae-Hyouk
Published: August 2018

In this article, we have an explicit description of the binary isosahedral group as a 600-cell. We introduce a method to construct binary polyhedral groups as a subset of quaternions H via spin map of SO(3). In addition, we show that the binary icosahedral group in H is the set of vertices of a 600-cell by applying the Coxeter–Dynkin diagram of H4.
Channel Estimation and Data Detection Using Machine Learning for MIMO 5G Communication Systems in Fading Channel
Authors: Motade Sumitra N. , Kulkarni Anju V.
Published: August 2018

In multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems, multi-user detection (MUD) algorithms play an important role in reducing the effect of multi-access interference (MAI). A combination of the estimation of channel and multi-user detection is proposed for eliminating various interferences and reduce the bit error rate (BER). First, a novel sparse based k-nearest neighbor classifier is proposed to estimate the unknown activity factor at a high data rate. The active users are continuously detected and their data are decoded at the base station (BS) receiver. The activity detection considers both the pilot and data symbols. Second, an optimal pilot allocation method is suggested to select the minimum mutual coherence in the measurement matrix for optimal pilot placement. The suggested algorithm for designing pilot patterns significantly improves the results in terms of mean square error (MSE), symbol error rate (SER) and bit error rate for channel detection. An optimal pilot placement reduces the computational complexity and maximizes the accuracy of the system. The performance of the channel estimation (CE) and MUD for the proposed scheme was good as it provided significant results, which were validated through simulations.