bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance of Laser-Based Electronic Devices for Structural Analysis of Amazonian Terra-Firme Forests
Authors: Pereira Iokanam Sales , Mendonça do Nascimento Henrique E. , Boni Vicari Matheus , Disney Mathias , DeLucia Evan H. , Domingues Tomas , Kruijt Bart , Lapola David , Meir Patrick , Norby Richard J. , Ometto Jean P.H.B. , Quesada Carlos A. , Rammig Anja , Hofhansl Florian
Published: March 2019

Tropical vegetation biomass represents a key component of the carbon stored in global forest ecosystems. Estimates of aboveground biomass commonly rely on measurements of tree size (diameter and height) and then indirectly relate, via allometric relationships and wood density, to biomass sampled from a relatively small number of harvested and weighed trees. Recently, however, novel in situ remote sensing techniques have been proposed, which may provide nondestructive alternative approaches to derive biomass estimates. Nonetheless, we still lack knowledge of the measurement uncertainties, as both the calibration and validation of estimates using different techniques and instruments requires consistent assessment of the underlying errors. To that end, we investigate different approaches estimating the tropical aboveground biomass in situ. We quantify the total and systematic errors among measurements obtained from terrestrial light detection and ranging (LiDAR), hypsometer-based trigonometry, and traditional forest inventory. We show that laser-based estimates of aboveground biomass are in good agreement (<10% measurement uncertainty) with traditional measurements. However, relative uncertainties vary among the allometric equations based on the vegetation parameters used for parameterization. We report the error metrics for measurements of tree diameter and tree height and discuss the consequences for estimated biomass. Despite methodological differences detected in this study, we conclude that laser-based electronic devices could complement conventional measurement techniques, thereby potentially improving estimates of tropical vegetation biomass.
Using Remote Sensing to Identify Drivers behind Spatial Patterns in the Bio-physical Properties of a Saltmarsh Pioneer
Authors: Oteman Bas , Morris Edward Peter , Peralta Gloria , Bouma Tjeerd Joris , van der Wal Daphne
Published: March 2019

Recently, spatial organization in salt marshes was shown to contain vital information on system resilience. However, in salt marshes, it remains poorly understood what shaping processes regulate spatial patterns in soil or vegetation properties that can be detected in the surface reflectance signal. In this case study we compared the effect on surface reflectance of four major shaping processes: Flooding duration, wave forcing, competition, and creek formation. We applied the ProSail model to a pioneering salt marsh species (Spartina anglica) to identify through which vegetation and soil properties these processes affected reflectance, and used in situ reflectance data at the leaf and canopy scale and satellite data on the canopy scale to identify the spatial patterns in the biophysical characteristics of this salt marsh pioneer in spring. Our results suggest that the spatial patterns in the pioneer zone of the studied salt marsh are mainly caused by the effect of flood duration. Flood duration explained over three times as much of the variation in canopy properties as wave forcing, competition, or creek influence. It particularly affects spatial patterns through canopy properties, especially the leaf area index, while leaf characteristics appear to have a relatively minor effect on reflectance.
Weakly Supervised Segmentation of SAR Imagery Using Superpixel and Hierarchically Adversarial CRF
Authors: Ma Fei , Gao Fei , Sun Jinping , Zhou Huiyu , Hussain Amir
Published: March 2019

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image segmentation aims at generating homogeneous regions from a pixel-based image and is the basis of image interpretation. However, most of the existing segmentation methods usually neglect the appearance and spatial consistency during feature extraction and also require a large number of training data. In addition, pixel-based processing cannot meet the real time requirement. We hereby present a weakly supervised algorithm to perform the task of segmentation for high-resolution SAR images. For effective segmentation, the input image is first over-segmented into a set of primitive superpixels. This algorithm combines hierarchical conditional generative adversarial nets (CGAN) and conditional random fields (CRF). The CGAN-based networks can leverage abundant unlabeled data learning parameters, reducing their reliance on the labeled samples. In order to preserve neighborhood consistency in the feature extraction stage, the hierarchical CGAN is composed of two sub-networks, which are employed to extract the information of the central superpixels and the corresponding background superpixels, respectively. Afterwards, CRF is utilized to perform label optimization using the concatenated features. Quantified experiments on an airborne SAR image dataset prove that the proposed method can effectively learn feature representations and achieve competitive accuracy to the state-of-the-art segmentation approaches. More specifically, our algorithm has a higher Cohen’s kappa coefficient and overall accuracy. Its computation time is less than the current mainstream pixel-level semantic segmentation networks.
A Remote Sensing Based Method to Detect Soil Erosion in Forests
Authors: Xu Hanqiu , Hu Xiujuan , Guan Huade , Zhang Bobo , Wang Meiya , Chen Shanmu , Chen Minghua
Published: March 2019

Rainwater-induced soil erosion occurring in the forest is a special phenomenon of soil erosion in many red soil areas. Detection of such soil erosion is essential for developing land management to reduce soil loss in areas including southern China and other red soil regions of the world. Remotely sensed canopy cover is often used to determine the potential of soil erosion over a large spatial scale, which, however, becomes less useful in forest areas. This study proposes a new remote sensing method to detect soil erosion under forest canopy and presents a case study in a forest area in southern China. Five factors that are closely related to soil erosion in forest were used as discriminators to develop the model. These factors include fractional vegetation coverage, nitrogen reflectance index, yellow leaf index, bare soil index and slope. They quantitatively represent vegetation density, vegetation health status, soil exposure intensity and terrain steepness that are considered relevant to forest soil erosion. These five factors can all be derived from remote sensing imagery based on related thematic indices or algorithms. The five factors were integrated to create the soil erosion under forest model (SEUFM) through Principal Components Analysis (PCA) or a multiplication method. The case study in the forest area in Changting County of southern China with a Landsat 8 image shows that the first principal component-based SEUFM achieves an overall accuracy close to 90%, while the multiplication-based model reaches 81%. The detected locations of soil erosion in forest provide the target areas to be managed from further soil loss. The proposed method provides a tool to understand more about soil erosion in forested areas where soil erosion is usually not considered an issue. Therefore, the method is useful for soil conservation in forest.
A Global, 0.05-Degree Product of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Derived from OCO-2, MODIS, and Reanalysis Data
Authors: Li Xing , Xiao Jingfeng
Published: March 2019

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) brings major advancements in measuring terrestrial photosynthesis. Several recent studies have evaluated the potential of SIF retrievals from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) in estimating gross primary productivity (GPP) based on GPP data from eddy covariance (EC) flux towers. However, the spatially and temporally sparse nature of OCO-2 data makes it challenging to use these data for many applications from the ecosystem to the global scale. Here, we developed a new global ‘OCO-2’ SIF data set (GOSIF) with high spatial and temporal resolutions (i.e., 0.05°, 8-day) over the period 2000–2017 based on a data-driven approach. The predictive SIF model was developed based on discrete OCO-2 SIF soundings, remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and meteorological reanalysis data. Our model performed well in estimating SIF (R2 = 0.79, root mean squared error (RMSE) = 0.07 W m−2 μm−1 sr−1). The model was then used to estimate SIF for each 0.05° × 0.05° grid cell and each 8-day interval for the study period. The resulting GOSIF product has reasonable seasonal cycles, and captures the similar seasonality as both the coarse-resolution OCO-2 SIF (1°), directly aggregated from the discrete OCO-2 soundings, and tower-based GPP. Our SIF estimates are highly correlated with GPP from 91 EC flux sites (R2 = 0.73, p < 0.001). They capture the expected spatial and temporal patterns and also have remarkable ability to highlight the crop areas with the highest daily productivity across the globe. Our product also allows us to examine the long-term trends in SIF globally. Compared with the coarse-resolution SIF that was directly aggregated from OCO-2 soundings, GOSIF has finer spatial resolution, globally continuous coverage, and a much longer record. Our GOSIF product is valuable for assessing terrestrial photosynthesis and ecosystem function, and benchmarking terrestrial biosphere and Earth system models.
Formation of Interstitial Hot-Spots Using the Reduced Gap-Size between Plasmonic Microbeads Pattern for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Analysis
Authors: Lee Taeksu , Jung Sanghee , Kwon Soongeun , Kim Woochang , Park Jinsung , Lim Hyungjun , Lee JaeJong
Published: March 2019

To achieve an effective surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor with periodically distributed “hot spots” on wafer-scale substrates, we propose a hybrid approach combining physical nano-imprint lithography and a chemical deposition method to form a silver microbead array. Nano-imprint lithography (NIL) can lead to mass-production and high throughput, but is not appropriate for generating strong “hot-spots.” However, when we apply electrochemical deposition to an NIL substrate and the reaction time was increased to 45 s, periodical “hot-spots” between the microbeads were generated on the substrates. It contributed to increasing the enhancement factor (EF) and lowering the detection limit of the substrates to 4.40 × 106 and 1.0 × 10−11 M, respectively. In addition, this synthetic method exhibited good substrate-to-substrate reproducibility (RSD < 9.4%). Our research suggests a new opportunity for expanding the SERS application.
Modeling and Studying Acceleration-Induced Effects of Piezoelectric Pressure Sensors Using System Identification Theory
Authors: Xu Fujing , Ma Tiehua
Published: March 2019

Transient pressure testing is often accompanied by shock acceleration. Aiming at the acceleration-induced effects of pressure sensors, a dynamic compensation method combining empirical mode decomposition (EMD) with system identification theory (SIT) is proposed in this paper. This method is more effective at reducing the error of the acceleration-induced effects without affecting the sensor’s sensitivity and inherent frequency. The principle and theoretical basis of acceleration-induced effects is analyzed, and the static and dynamic acceleration-induced effects on the quartz crystal of a piezoelectric pressure sensor are performed. An acceleration-induced effects dynamic calibration system is built using a Machete hammer, which generates acceleration signals with larger amplitude and narrower pulse width, and an autoregressive exogenous (ARX)mathematical model of acceleration-induced effects is obtained using empirical mode decomposition-system identification theory (EMD-SIT). A digital compensation filter for acceleration-induced effects is designed on the basis of this model. Experimental results explain that the acceleration-induced effects of the pressure sensor were less than 11% after using the digital compensation filter. A series of test data verify the accuracy, reliability, and generality of the model.
Unmanned Surface Vehicle Simulator with Realistic Environmental Disturbances
Authors: Paravisi Marcelo , H. Santos Davi , Jorge Vitor , Heck Guilherme , Gonçalves Luiz Marcos , Amory Alexandre
Published: March 2019

The use of robotics in disaster scenarios has become a reality. However, an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) needs a robust navigation strategy to face unpredictable environmental forces such as waves, wind, and water current. A starting step toward this goal is to have a programming environment with realistic USV models where designers can assess their control strategies under different degrees of environmental disturbances. This paper presents a simulation environment integrated with robotic middleware which models the forces that act on a USV in a disaster scenario. Results show that these environmental forces affect the USV’s trajectories negatively, indicating the need for more research on USV control strategies considering harsh environmental conditions. Evaluation scenarios were presented to highlight specific features of the simulator, including a bridge inspection scenario with fast water current and winds.
Recent Progress on Non-Conventional Microfabricated Probes for the Chronic Recording of Cortical Neural Activity
Authors: Kim Chaebin , Jeong Joonsoo , Kim Sung June
Published: March 2019

Microfabrication technology for cortical interfaces has advanced rapidly over the past few decades for electrophysiological studies and neuroprosthetic devices offering the precise recording and stimulation of neural activity in the cortex. While various cortical microelectrode arrays have been extensively and successfully demonstrated in animal and clinical studies, there remains room for further improvement of the probe structure, materials, and fabrication technology, particularly for high-fidelity recording in chronic implantation. A variety of non-conventional probes featuring unique characteristics in their designs, materials and fabrication methods have been proposed to address the limitations of the conventional standard shank-type (“Utah-” or “Michigan-” type) devices. Such non-conventional probes include multi-sided arrays to avoid shielding and increase recording volumes, mesh- or thread-like arrays for minimized glial scarring and immune response, tube-type or cylindrical probes for three-dimensional (3D) recording and multi-modality, folded arrays for high conformability and 3D recording, self-softening or self-deployable probes for minimized tissue damage and extensions of the recording sites beyond gliosis, nanostructured probes to reduce the immune response, and cone-shaped electrodes for promoting tissue ingrowth and long-term recording stability. Herein, the recent progress with reference to the many different types of non-conventional arrays is reviewed while highlighting the challenges to be addressed and the microfabrication techniques necessary to implement such features.
Suitability of the Kinect Sensor and Leap Motion Controller—A Literature Review
Authors: Guzsvinecz Tibor , Szucs Veronika , Sik-Lanyi Cecilia
Published: March 2019

As the need for sensors increases with the inception of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the suitability of the two Kinect devices and the Leap Motion Controller. When evaluating the suitability, the authors’ focus was on the state of the art, device comparison, accuracy, precision, existing gesture recognition algorithms and on the price of the devices. The aim of this study is to give an insight whether these devices could substitute more expensive sensors in the industry or on the market. While in general the answer is yes, it is not as easy as it seems: There are significant differences between the devices, even between the two Kinects, such as different measurement ranges, error distributions on each axis and changing depth precision relative to distance.
Integration of African Customary Legal Concepts into Modern Law: Restorative Justice: A Kenyan Example
Authors: Bwire Buluma
Published: March 2019

African societies have been governed according to known norms, customs, and practices that together constitute African customary law. These societies have placed emphasis on communal as opposed to individual identity, and this has extended to their justice systems. African customary law therefore has placed emphasis on the concept of restorative justice based on the understanding of restoring the societal balance that has been disrupted by crime. This has fostered offender accountability, reparation to the victim, and full participation by the affected community members. This essay examines the resurgence of African legal philosophy and its subsequent integration into modern African formal legal systems. In particular, it interrogates the recent Kenyan example of integrating traditional dispute resolution mechanisms as one of the guiding principles for the exercise of judicial authority by Kenyan courts under the 2010 Constitution. It argues for the development of structures to properly utilize such mechanisms within the Kenyan context.
The Salt without the Girl: Negotiating Embodied Identity as an Agender Person with Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Nowakowski Alexandra C.H.
Published: March 2019

In this manuscript, I build and expand on prior work by myself (Nowakowski, 2016) and others exploring the dynamics of embodiment among people with chronic health conditions. Specifically, I critically investigate the intersecting social and medical elements of responses to bodies perceived as too thin and otherwise lacking in physical ability, using my own experiences of living and aging with cystic fibrosis (CF) as a case example. In these explorations, I center gendered identity and its intersection with disabling physical illness. I do so by using my own lived experiences as autoethnographic anchor points to guide critical review of key concepts from the nexus of these two content areas. I focus throughout on exploring how others’ reactions to a frail-looking body often constitute a form of forced gendering via the narratives people attempt to construct for why a person’s body appears that way. The title of the manuscript supports this framework by referencing three cornerstones of patient experience in the CF community: the general trend of patients having salty skin due to the pathology of the disease, a prior embodiment project called Salty Girls (Pettigrew, 2012) that engages this idea, and the more abstract concept of “saltiness” in describing the grit marginalized people display in responding to microaggressions.
Climate Justice Movement Building: Values and Cultures of Creation in Santa Barbara, California
Authors: Grosse Corrie
Published: March 2019

This article analyzes how young people in the climate justice movement cultivate a prefigurative culture centered on justice as a response to the threat of climate change. Employing grounded theory and drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 29 youth activists and participant observation in Santa Barbara County, California, the birthplace of both the environmental movement and offshore oil drilling, I argue that four key values—relationships, accessibility, intersectionality, and community—enable movement building, a stated goal of the climate justice movement. These values emerge from interviewees’ words and practices. Drawing on John Foran’s (2014) notion of political cultures of creation, I conceptualize these values and the practices that embody them as constituting a “climate justice culture of creation” that shapes and is shaped by ideas, experiences, social relations, and the reality of a changing atmosphere. These values, and movement building, are about creating alternative futures—cultures that are not dependent on inequality and fossil fuels.
Microstructure and Strength of Alkali-Activated Bricks Containing Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) Fly Ash Developed as Construction Materials
Authors: Xu Peng , Zhao Qingliang , Qiu Wei , Xue Yan , Li Na
Published: March 2019

Alkali-activated materials (AAM) are widely applied in the field of building materials and civil engineering to substitute cement materials. This study used two types of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI-FA): grate-firing fly ash (GFFA) and fluidized bed fly ash (FBFA) as brick raw materials. Various weight ratio of 20%, 30%, and 40% GFFA and FBFA were added to coal fly ash (CFA), GGBFs (Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag), and an alkali-activating reagent to produce alkali-activated bricks. Microstructure and crystalline phase composition were observed to analyze their compressive strength, and a leaching test was used to prove the material’s safety for the environment. It can be seen from the results of this study that the alkali-activated bricks containing FBFA had higher compressive strength than those containing GFFA in the same amount. Considering the engineering properties, the alkali-activated bricks containing FBFA are more suitable to be used as building materials. The difference in the compressive strength resulted from the large amount of calcium compounds and chloride salts present in the GFFA. From SEM analysis, it was observed that there was a large number of pores in the microstructure. It was also found from the results of XRD that the bricks containing GFFA contained a large amount of chloride salt. From the results of the two leaching tests, it was found that the amounts of six heavy metals detected in the leachates of the bricks in this study met the corresponding regulation standards. This described MSWI-FA is suitable for use as alkali-activated material, and its products have potential to be commercially used in the future.
From Rare to Neglected Diseases: A Sustainable and Inclusive Healthcare Perspective for Reframing the Orphan Drugs Issue
Authors: Saviano Marialuisa , Barile Sergio , Caputo Francesco , Lettieri Mattia , Zanda Stefania
Published: March 2019

This work is about how healthcare issues can be reframed from a sustainable and inclusive development perspective. Focusing on the case of orphan drugs and rare diseases, first, a country-based review of the main regulatory approaches to orphan drugs is conducted; then, the main contributions of the literature are reviewed to identify dominant views and the way the problem is more commonly framed. The main findings reveal that the dominant regulatory approaches and theoretical interpretations of the problem are mainly based on economic considerations. However, this does not seem to have led to very satisfactory results. Reflecting upon what the sustainability perspective can highlight with reference to healthcare, substantial connections between the orphan drugs issue and that of neglected diseases are highlighted. These connections suggest reframing the orphan drugs issue as a social equality and inclusiveness problem, hence the need to adopt a sustainable and inclusive development perspective. As a key sustainable development goal (SGD) to be shared by all nations, healthcare should always be approached by putting the principles of sustainable and inclusive development at the core of policy makers’ regulatory choices. Accordingly, we think that the orphan drugs issue, like that of neglected diseases, could be better faced by adopting a social equality and inclusiveness perspective.
Universal Welfare May Be Costly: Evidence from School Meal Programs and Student Fitness in South Korea
Authors: Baek Deokrye , Choi Yongjun , Lee Hong
Published: March 2019

The Free School Meal Program (FSMP) initiated in 2011 in South Korea allows participating schools to provide free lunches to all students regardless of their household income. This paper examines how universal free school meal programs are associated with student health outcomes. We empirically show that FSMP reduces the share of students with high fitness grades by up to 1.5% of the student population. We also find that expenses for physical education decrease in schools that adopt FSMP. These results suggest that FSMP could crowd out investments in student physical activities, and student fitness could be negatively impacted. The paper sheds light on the importance of budgetary balance between universal welfare programs and other educational programs.
Service-Oriented Load Balancing Approach to Alleviating Peak-Hour Congestion in a Metro Network Based on Multi-Path Accessibility
Authors: Huang Zhiyuan , Xu Ruihua , Fan Wei (David) , Zhou Feng , Liu Wei
Published: March 2019

To further improve the service quality and reduce safety risks in current congested metro systems during peak hours, this paper presents a load balancing (LB) approach so that available capacity can be utilized more effectively in order to alleviate peak hour congestion. A set of under-utilized yet effective alternative routes were searched using a deletion algorithm (DA) in order to share the passenger loads on overcrowded metro line segments. An optimization model was constructed based on an improved route generalized time utility function considering the penalties of both in-vehicle congestion and transfers. A detailed load balancing solution was generated based on the proposed algorithm. A real-world example of three overloaded metro line segments in the Shanghai metro network were selected and used to verify the feasibility and validity of the developed load balancing method. The results show that the load balancing method can effectively reduce the overcrowding situation to a great extent. Finally, two prospective inducing schemes are discussed to help implement the load balancing solution in the actual metro system in an efficient and effective manner.
Life Cycle Assessment Comparison of Two Refractory Brick Product Systems for Ladle Lining in Secondary Steelmaking
Authors: Boenzi Francesco , Ordieres-Meré Joaquín , Iavagnilio Raffaello
Published: March 2019

This paper aims to compare the environmental performance of two types of refractory bricks for the internal lining of ladles in secondary steelmaking, where the dissolved inclusions coming from the refractory material require fine control to obtain the target steel quality. In this context, magnesia-carbon-based refractories are largely utilized, thanks to the adequate durability of the ladle lining in terms of number of heats before re-lining, but the utilization of organic binders in the mixture (pitch, resins) arises ecological and human health concerns. Concurrently, research efforts in refractory material science look at improving the quality of steel by reducing the content of dissolved carbon due to the release from the bricks, thus focusing on different refractory materials and specifically on alumina-based materials. The European Commission funded the research project “LeanStory”, aiming to promote such new lines of refractories through the cooperation between industrial partners and scholars where different recipes are considered. In the present paper, two representative systems of the refractory types considered, magnesia-carbon and magnesia-alumina, are compared with a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Suppliers and transports for the two product systems have been taken into account, referring to one tonne of refractory material as the functional unit for comparison. Preliminary impact results (adopting the ReCiPe Midpoint–Hierarchist perspective methodology for calculating the impact indicators) show that the new solution performs largely better almost for each indicator. Further investigations are required in order to assess the ecological performance of the two systems, considering the effective consumption of bricks for the production of steel.
An Assessment of Trade Facilitation’s Impacts on China’s Forest Product Exports to Countries Along the “Belt and Road” Based on the Perspective of Ternary Margins
Authors: Zhang Jinzhu , Li Fangfang , Liu Yu , Cheng Baodong
Published: March 2019

With the reduction of traditional tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, trade facilitation measures, such as improved port efficiency and the customs environment, have become increasingly important for improving the structure of export growth and exploring the trade potential of forest products. Our research divided China’s export growth of forest products into extensive margins (variety), quantity margins (quantity), and price margins (quality), and discussed how trade facilitation impacted China’s forest product export growth structure from the perspective of ternary margins. An evaluation system of trade facilitation was constructed, and principal component analysis was used to measure the levels of trade facilitation of 13 countries which had large trade flows of forest products with China along the “Belt and Road”. In addition, we used transnational panel data and the extended gravity model to analyze the impact of their trade facilitation on the ternary margins of China’s export growth. In order to overcome the endogeneity of the model, the 2 stage least squares (2SLS) method was used and the first-order lags of trade facilitation indicators were selected as instrument variables. The decomposition results of ternary margins showed that the “low price and high quantity” export growth pattern had remained in China’s forest products trade, and the 2SLS regression results indicated that the improvement of trade facilitation had a significantly positive impact on the quantity margins and price margins, but no significant impact on the extensive margins. It is suggested that China should make differentiated investments to countries along the “Belt and Road” based on their different levels of trade facilitation, in order to promote constant improvement of product quality and optimization of export growth structure in the forest products industry.
Evaluating the Minor Coarse Cereals Product Crowdfunding Platform through Evolutionary Game Analysis
Authors: Yu Zhiyuan , Hafeez Muhammad , Liu Lihan , Mahmood Muhammad Tariq , Wu Hong
Published: March 2019

In the modern era, the minor coarse cereals (MCC) are particularly popular among consumers. Price fluctuations cause misperceptions for growers, but also bring about complications for processing enterprises and consumers. To solve this problem, a multi-grain product crowdfunding platform is proposed. To this end, an evolutionary game model is constructed to investigate the game equilibrium between growers and crowdfunders. The analysis determines that evolutionary game equilibrium is related to the relative price difference between the sowing period and the harvest period, and to the social/logistical cost. Under normal circumstances, the crowdfunder may default when the sowing-period price is greater than the harvest-period price. The grower may default if the sowing-period price is less than the harvest-period price. Therefore, in the design of a crowdfunding system for MCC products, a certain percentage of advance payment (30%) and certain default deposits should be collected from crowdfunders and growers, respectively.
Understanding Farmers’ Behavior towards Sustainable Practices and Their Perceptions of Risk
Authors: Nastis Stefanos A. , Mattas Konstadinos , Baourakis George
Published: March 2019

Farmers, as the first link in the agri-food value chain, are key in assuring its sustainability. Farmers’ behavior and attitudes towards implementing sustainable farm practices is influenced by their perceptions of risk affecting the farm and their household, either directly or indirectly. In this study, we elicit farmers’ perceived risk perception and preferences and test their robustness and validity using a sample of Greek smallholder farmers since they represent the majority of Greek holdings. Results suggest that farmers exhibit risk aversion in most situations of farm-level decision making. In many situations, farmers will prefer on-farm environmental sustainability strategies over other risk mitigation strategies. More specifically, higher age, higher education, farm size, proportion of rented land, and the existence of a farm succession plan reveal an increase in farmers’ preference for on-farm environmentally sustainable strategies and suggest reduced incentives towards implementing other on-farm or off-farm solutions.
Selection of Sustainable Short-Span Bridge Design in Brazil
Authors: Kripka Moacir , Yepes Victor , Milani Cleovir José
Published: March 2019

Owing to the elevated cost of bridges, especially when compared to the cost of roads, their rational design and material selection are fundamental properties to consider when aiming to reduce the environmental impacts and lengthen the lifespan of the bridge. Especially in developing countries, the construction of new bridges (mainly short spanned) is still a necessity, and it is important that these new structures are designed according to all the sustainability parameters, instead of being based only on the construction cost. Thus, the present work aims to study short-span bridges by integrating environmental assessments into the decision-making process. To achieve this goal, three short-span bridge designs, proposed by public organizations in Brazil, are evaluated: Precast concrete bridge, mixed concrete/steel bridge, and timber bridge. In order to allow comparison, the same location and span are considered. The structures are evaluated considering the following quantitative aspects: Cost of construction, assembly and material transportation, lifespan, and environmental impact (measured by the global warming potential, GWP). In addition, some more subjective factors are considered, such as the architecture (layout and appearance) and the user’s sensation of security. The selection is made by the adoption of two multi-criteria decision-making methods (analytic hierarchy process or AHP and Vikor). The results obtained with both methods indicate the mixed concrete/steel bridge as the most adequate alternative. Some additional analysis is performed in order to evaluate the influence of the qualitative aspects, as well as to study the importance of the variations in the costs on the results.
Nature-based Tourism or Mass Tourism in Nature? Segmentation of Mountain Protected Area Visitors Using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM)
Authors: Taczanowska Karolina , González Luis-Millán , García-Massó Xavier , Zięba Antoni , Brandenburg Christiane , Muhar Andreas , Pellicer-Chenoll Maite , Toca-Herrera José-Luis
Published: March 2019

Mountain protected areas play a fundamental role in the conservation of natural environment and at the same time provide the population with social benefits such as offering space for leisure and recreation. Understanding motivations and behavior of protected area visitors is crucial to effectively manage vulnerable areas. Our objective was to identify the profiles of visitors to a heavily used tourist destination—Kasprowy Wierch within the Tatra National Park (Poland), using the self-organizing maps (SOM) analytical method. In order to explore the socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of the visitors a total sample of 2488 respondents were interviewed on site. Self-organizing map analysis is based on cerebral processes for managing and storing information in order to classify subjects and/or find relationships among variables. As a result, four heterogeneous tourist profiles were identified. Interestingly, two of these groups (Cluster 1 and Cluster 3), which were found to be the most challenging groups for management purposes, visited the national park for reasons other than its natural attractions. Especially, one sub-segment of Cluster 3 was mainly motivated by the possibility to use a cable car, admiring views and stayed within close proximity of the upper cable car station. Less than a half of visitors to Kasprowy Wierch (42%) were seeking a nature experience during their trip (Cluster 2 and Cluster 4). The results bring a new point of view in the discussion on visitor management within Kasprowy Wierch region, in particular by overlapping presented visitor segmentation with trip types and/or purchased cable car tickets. Within international context, we highlight the SOM technique as a valuable tool in profiling of tourists and underline the problem of the existence of mass tourism destinations within protected areas.
Does the Belt and Road Initiative Reduce the R&D Investment of OFDI Enterprises? Evidence from China’s A-Share Listed Companies
Authors: Chen Yahui , Xu Changsheng , Yi Ming
Published: March 2019

Existing studies on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) primarily explain its impact on foreign trade, foreign direct investment and economic development of the countries concerned, whereas its impact on the performance of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) enterprises has rarely been examined. By considering the BRI as exogenous policy shock, this paper analyzes the mechanism and impact of the BRI on the research and development (R&D) investment of China’s OFDI enterprises investing in countries along the Belt and Road. With propensity score matching and a difference-in-difference approach, it tackles the endogeneity problem caused by self-selecting into the BRI enterprise group. The estimates indicate that BRI has not effectively promoted the R&D investment of OFDI enterprises, but plays an inhibitory role in the short term, and the marginal effect increases firstly and then decreases. Further mechanism analysis shows that the BRI leads to the addition of overseas revenue and the reduction of return on assets, which are the main reasons for the decrease of the R&D investment. In addition, the ownership heterogeneity analysis finds a higher negative effect on the state-owned enterprises, while a smaller effect on non-state-owned enterprises.
Competition and Cooperation between Shared Bicycles and Public Transit: A Case Study of Beijing
Authors: Jin Haitao , Jin Fengjun , Wang Jiao’e , Sun Wei , Dong Libo
Published: March 2019

As an eco-friendly transportation mode, shared bicycles provide a new option for public transit users in urban areas. China’s bicycle-sharing market began flourishing in July 2016 and reached a plateau in 2017. How shared bicycles influenced public transit systems during this period is an interesting topic. A case study of Beijing is conducted. This study aims to identify the competitive and cooperative influences of shared bicycles on public transit by exploring the changes in public transit trip distances before and after the upsurge in bicycle-sharing. A histogram shifting method is introduced to examine the influences of shared bicycles on public transit services from a travel distance perspective. A spatial correlation of bicycling usage and public transit changes is calculated using units of gridded cell spaces. The results show: (1) overall transit usage continued growing after the shared bicycles market reached a plateau; (2) short public transits within 2 km decreased while transfers within 2 km increased; and (3) the decrease of short transits and increase of transfers within 3 km were spatially highly correlated to the usage of shared bicycles. Hence, the role of bicycle-sharing systems is competitive for existing public transit systems during short trips and cooperative for connecting transits.
Control Strategy of a Hybrid Energy Storage System to Smooth Photovoltaic Power Fluctuations Considering Photovoltaic Output Power Curtailment
Authors: Ma Wei , Wang Wei , Wu Xuezhi , Hu Ruonan , Tang Fen , Zhang Weige
Published: March 2019

The power fluctuations of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems have negative impacts on the power quality and stability of the utility grid. In this study, the combinations of a battery/supercapacitor hybrid energy storage system (HESS) and the PV power curtailment are used to smooth PV power fluctuations. A PV power curtailment algorithm is developed to limit PV power when power fluctuation exceeds the power capacity of the HESS. A multi-objective optimization model is established to dispatch the HESS power, considering energy losses and the state of charge (SOC) of the supercapacitor. To prevent the SOCs of the HESS from approaching their lower limits, a SOC correction strategy is proposed to correct the SOCs of the HESS. Moreover, this paper also investigates the performances (such as the smoothing effects, losses and lifetime of energy storage, and system net profits) of two different smoothing strategies, including the method of using the HESS and the proposed strategy. Finally, numerous simulations are carried out based on data obtained from a 750 kWp PV plant. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method is more economical and can effectively smooth power fluctuations compared with the method of using the HESS.
Critical Issues at the Upstream Level in Sustainable Supply Chain Management of Agri-Food Industries: Evidence from Pakistan’s Citrus Industry
Authors: Naseer Muhammad , Ashfaq Muhammad , Hassan Sarfraz , Abbas Azhar , Razzaq Amar , Mehdi Mubashir , Ariyawardana Anoma , Anwar Mumtaz
Published: March 2019

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has recently received increasing attention from researchers and the business community. Due to globalization and changing consumption patterns, agri-food industries have undergone a transformation, and the sustainability of agri-food supply chains has also received greater attention. However, the issues of SSCM at the upstream level of the supply chain in agri-food industries have not been adequately empirically studied. This paper aims to list key issues or constraints in the production and marketing through farmers’ group discussions, supplemented by the literature, and empirically identifies key constraints to SSCM of the citrus industry in Pakistan. The paper used cross-sectional data from 300 farmers involved in the production and marketing of citrus in Punjab, Pakistan. Farmers were asked to answer on a Likert scale data about potential constraints identified from the literature and farmers’ group discussions. Kendell’s coefficient of concordance and the mean ranking technique was used to rank and to identify the critical constraints in the production and marketing of citrus. In addition, factor analysis (principal component analysis) was used for the grouping of these constraints. In production constraints, factors, such as fertilizer, pesticide, and seed quality, climate change, high production cost, and agricultural labor performance, are important. These constraints are aligned with some key marketing factors, such as packaging, grading, and storage facilities. The findings convey messages for policymakers to solve these issues and challenges at the upstream level of the SSCM chain in the citrus and related agri-food industries.
Credit Rationing in Small and Micro Enterprises: A Theoretical Analysis
Authors: Jin Yuhuan , Zhang Sheng
Published: March 2019

One of the features of credit markets is that borrowers are sometimes rationed in the amount that they can borrow, which differentiates them from other markets. Small and micro enterprises (SMEs) are more likely to be eliminated than large and medium-sized enterprises under credit rationing. However, SMEs play a significant role in employment creation and growth of gross domestic products in developing countries. So, it is of great significance to study the reasons why SMEs are more vulnerable to credit constraints. By considering the differences in characteristics between SMEs and large and medium-sized enterprises, we established a theoretical model with endogenous enterprise size, and by considering banks’ screening principles before and after the loan approval, we have analyzed the micro-mechanism in which there are significant differences in credit availability between SMEs and large and medium-sized enterprises. Our conclusion indicates that credit rationing in SMEs is the result of the rational choice by banks for the purpose of profit maximization.
Sustainability Challenges in Maritime Transport and Logistics Industry and Its Way Ahead
Authors: Lee Paul Tae-Woo , Kwon Oh Kyoung , Ruan Xiao
Published: March 2019

Sustainability issues in the field of shipping, port and maritime logistics, commonly known as the maritime transport and logistics industry, have historically received less stakeholder attention as compared to aviation and overland freight sectors. However, as International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations on ships and port/city interaction has increased since 1997, the stakeholders in the industry have gradually started paying attention to sustainability issues, across all the sectors, such as, aviation, land transport, and supply chain. As a result, the industry has accumulated a significant body of academic research outcomes over the last two decades. This Special Issue aims to examine the various themes in recent sustainability studies, particularly relating to shipping, port, and maritime logistics, and identify and discuss the key topics emerging in sustainability in the industry. It will contribute to increasing industry stakeholders’ understanding of the current situation in sustainability, assist them in the design of appropriate managerial insights and help them develop appropriate sustainability policies for the industry.
Revealing the Varying Impact of Urban Built Environment on Online Car-Hailing Travel in Spatio-Temporal Dimension: An Exploratory Analysis in Chengdu, China
Authors: Li Tian , Jing Peng , Li Linchao , Sun Dazhi , Yan Wenbo
Published: March 2019

Online car-hailing travel is an increasingly popular mode of urban transport. A fundamental understanding of the relationship between the urban built environment and online car-hailing travel is essential for developing the corresponding traffic strategy and addressing sustainable urban planning and design. However, the varying impact of the urban built environment on online car-hailing travel in the spatial dimension has not been sufficiently investigated. This paper aims to fill this gap by using geographically weighted regression (GWR) to check the spatial heterogeneity of the likely influence. The result shows that the GWR model is superior to the global model (OLS) from the perspective of goodness of fit. The study finds that the recreation and entertainment Point of Interest (POI) and the residential district POI are the most influential factors on night online car-hailing travel. Land-use mix is found to have a positive effect on online car-hailing travel, and online car-hailing services can be a complementary mode for public transport, especially in suburban areas.