bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engaging with Religious History and Theological Concepts through Music Composition: Ave generosa and The Song of Margery Kempe
Authors: Inglis Brian Andrew
Published: May 2023

This article explores the intersections among music composition, religious history and spiritual texts, with their attendant concepts. It focuses on two works with medieval sources—the concert piece Ave generosa (1996) and the chamber opera The Song of Margery Kempe (2008)—which were featured in the online Gallery of the conferences in 2021 and 2022, respectively, of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT). Through the lenses of semiotics and intertextuality, it explores the ways by which theological concepts and spiritual contexts can be evoked and ‘translated’ into musical sound, both instrumental and vocal. A sampling of the literature on medieval monasticism and St Hildegard of Bingen, whose corpus forms the source of Ave generosa, supports a musical exegesis of its ‘spiritual programme’. In the case of The Song of Margery Kempe, recent scholarship on the text frames examples of the multiplication of meanings provided by dramatisation and musical setting. Art in general and music composition in particular are presented as a commentary, or gloss, on both religious history and enduring spiritual themes, and a different way of thinking about religion and spirituality.
Losing and Finding Braj: Commodification and Entrepreneurship in the Sacred Land of Krishna
Authors: Taneja Leena
Published: May 2023

Braj is a sacred place revered by Bengali Vaishnavas, followers of the bhakti sect of Vaishnavism, one of four branches of Hindu devotion. Followers of the sect worship the God Krishna, who it is believed manifested in Braj and carried out many divine feats and activities that are imprinted onto the land. Braj today is dotted with thousands of holy shrines, temples and natural places connected to Krishna. Devotees connect to Krishna through the landscape of Braj; it is where the transcendental and the physical realms meet. Braj has been transformed in a multitude of ways with the influx of money from Western sources, commercial enterprises and developers that wish to modernize and commercialize it for the new religious consumer. New infrastructure, condo developments and other changes illustrate both the challenge and the promise of modernity. This paper examines how these transformations are impacting the region of Braj.
Special Issue Overview: Advances in Remote Sensing and Mapping for Integrated Studies of Reef Ecosystems in Oceania (Great Barrier Reef and Beyond)
Authors: Devlin Michelle J. , Petus Caroline , Oubelkheir Kadija
Published: May 2023

The recent widespread and recurrent coral bleaching events over the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system on Earth and a hotspot of marine biodiversity, are a reminder of the vulnerability of reef ecosystems to human activities and a warming world. Protection of the Great Barrier Reef and similar reef ecosystems across Oceania requires a better understanding of environmental and socio-economic pressures, as well as the development of integrated management strategies. The rapid expansion of Earth Observation technologies and data has greatly advanced our capability to map and monitor reef habitats, ecological processing and exposure risk, providing spatially rich data essential to support and evaluate management and conservation strategies. However, these technologies are proportionally still under-utilized, and it is important to synthesise remote-sensing-derived tools and methods currently available for mapping reef ecosystems in Oceania to facilitate their intake in coral reefs studies. Publications in this Special Issue contribute toward filling this gap and explore recent advances in remote sensing of the Great Barrier Reef and other reef ecosystems in Oceania, from novel methodological approaches (sensors, algorithm development and improved thematic classification) to applications for environmental monitoring and management.
Organic Matter Retrieval in Black Soil Based on Oblique Extremum Signatures
Authors: Zhang Mingyue , Wang Maozhi , Wang Daming , Wang Shangkun , Xu Wenxi
Published: May 2023

How to extract the indicative signatures from the spectral data is an important issue for further retrieval based on remote sensing technique. This study provides new insight into extracting indicative signatures by identifying oblique extremum points, rather than local extremum points traditionally known as absorption points. A case study on retrieving soil organic matter (SOM) contents from the black soil region in Northeast China using spectral data revealed that the oblique extremum method can effectively identify weak absorption signatures hidden in the spectral data. Moreover, the comparison of retrieval outcomes using various indicative signature extraction methods reveals that the oblique extremum method outperforms the correlation analysis and traditional extremum methods. The experimental findings demonstrate that the radial basis function (RBF) neural network retrieval model exposes the nonlinear relationship between reflectance (or reflectance transformation results) and the SOM contents. Additionally, an improved oblique extremum method based on the second-order derivative is provided. Overall, this research presents a novel perspective on indicative signature extraction, which could potentially offer better retrieval performance than traditional methods.
A Method for Predicting Canopy Light Distribution in Cherry Trees Based on Fused Point Cloud Data
Authors: Yin Yihan , Liu Gang , Li Shanle , Zheng Zhiyuan , Si Yongsheng , Wang Yang
Published: May 2023

A proper canopy light distribution in fruit trees can improve photosynthetic efficiency, which is important for improving fruit yield and quality. Traditional methods of measuring light intensity in the canopy of fruit trees are time consuming, labor intensive and error prone. Therefore, a method for predicting canopy light distribution in cherry trees was proposed based on a three-dimensional (3D) cherry tree canopy point cloud model fused by multiple sources. First, to quickly and accurately reconstruct the 3D cherry tree point cloud model, we propose a global cherry tree alignment method based on a binocular depth camera vision system. For the point cloud data acquired by the two cameras, a RANSAC-based orb calibration method is used to externally calibrate the cameras, and the point cloud is coarsely aligned using the pose transformation matrix between the cameras. For the point cloud data collected at different stations, a coarse point cloud alignment method based on intrinsic shape signature (ISS) key points is proposed. In addition, an improved iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm based on bidirectional KD-tree is proposed to precisely align the coarse-aligned cherry tree point cloud data to achieve point cloud data fusion and obtain a complete 3D cherry tree point cloud model. Finally, to reveal the pattern between the fruit tree canopy structure and the light distribution, a GBRT-based model for predicting the cherry tree canopy light distribution is proposed based on the established 3D cherry tree point cloud model, which takes the relative projected area features, relative surface area and relative volume characteristics of the minimum bounding box of the point cloud model as inputs and the relative light intensity as output. The experiment results show that the GBRT-based model for predicting the cherry tree canopy illumination distribution has good feasibility. The coefficient of determination between the predicted value and the actual value is 0.932, and the MAPE is 0.116, and the model can provide technical support for scientific and reasonable cherry tree pruning.
Spatiotemporal Evolution of Urban Agglomeration and Its Impact on Landscape Patterns in the Pearl River Delta, China
Authors: Wu Jiong , Wu Caiyan , Zhang Qi , Zhuang Minghao , Xiao Huirong , Wu Hui , Ouyang Linke , Liu Yuhan , Meng Chen , Song Conghe , Haase Dagmar , Li Junxiang
Published: May 2023

An urban agglomeration is the engine of regional and national economic growth, but also causes many ecological and environmental issues that emerge from massive land changes. In this study, the spatiotemporal evolution of an urban agglomeration was quantified and its impacts on the urban and regional landscape patterns were evaluated. It showed that the urbanized land area of the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration (PRDUA) in China nearly quadrupled, having linearly increased from 1819.8 km2 to 7092.2 km2 between 1985 and 2015. The average annual growth rate presented a bimodal wave-like pattern through time, indicating that the PRDUA has witnessed two rounds of the urbanization process. The growth modes (e.g., leapfrog, edge-expansion, infilling) were detected and they exhibited co-existing but alternating dominating patterns during urbanization, demonstrating that the spatiotemporal evolution of the urban development of the PRDUA follows the “spiral diffusion-coalescence” hypothesis. The morphology of the PRDUA presented an alternating dispersal-compact pattern over time. The city-level and regional-level landscape patterns changed synchronously with the spatiotemporal evolution of the PRDUA over time. The urbanization of the PRDUA increased both the complexity and aggregation of the landscape, but also resulted in an increasing fragmentation and decreasing connectivity of the natural landscape in the Pearl River Delta region. These findings are helpful for better understanding how urban agglomerations evolve and in providing insights for regional urban planning and sustainable land management.
Generating Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Attitude Maneuver Profiles Using Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Yun Seok-Teak
Published: May 2023

To perform Earth observations, low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites require attitude maneuvers, which can be classified into two types: maintenance of a target-pointing attitude and maneuvering between target-pointing attitudes. The former depends on the observation target, while the latter has nonlinear characteristics and must consider various conditions. Therefore, generating an optimal reference attitude profile is difficult. Mission performance and satellite antenna position-to-ground communication are also determined by the maneuver profile between the target-pointing attitudes. Generating a reference maneuver profile with small errors before target pointing can enhance the quality of the observation images and increase the maximum possible number of missions and accuracy of ground contact. Therefore, herein we proposed a technique for optimizing the maneuver profile between target-pointing attitudes based on data-based learning. We used a deep neural network based on bidirectional long short-term memory to model the quaternion profiles of LEO satellites. This model was used to predict the maneuvers between target-pointing attitudes. After predicting the attitude profile, it was differentiated to obtain the time and angular acceleration profiles. The optimal maneuver reference profile was obtained by Bayesian-based optimization. To verify the performance of the proposed technique, the results of maneuvers in the 2–68° range were analyzed.
Sports Performance and Breathing Rate: What Is the Connection? A Narrative Review on Breathing Strategies
Authors: Migliaccio Gian Mario , Russo Luca , Maric Mike , Padulo Johnny
Published: May 2023

Breathing is a natural and necessary process for humans. At the same time, the respiratory pace and frequency can vary so much, depending on the status of the subject. Specifically, in sports, breathing can have the effect of limiting performance from a physiological point of view, or, on the other hand, breathing can regulate the psychological status of the athletes. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to focus on the literature about the physiological and psychological aspects of breathing pace in sports performance, merging these two aspects because they are usually considered split, in order to create a new integrated vision of breathing and sports performance. Voluntary breathing can be divided into a slow or fast pace (VSB and VFB, respectively), and their effects on both the physiological and psychological parameters are very different. VSB can benefit athletes in a variety of ways, not just physically but mentally as well. It can help improve cardiovascular fitness, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve overall health and well-being, allowing athletes to maintain focus and concentration during training and competition. VFB is normal during physical training and competition, but away from training, if it is not voluntary, it can cause feelings of anxiety, panic, dizziness, and lightheadedness and trigger a stress response in the body, affecting the athlete’s quality of life. In summary, the role of breathing in the performance of athletes should be considered, although no definitive data are available. The connection between breathing and sports performance is still unclear, but athletes can obtain benefits in focus and concentration using slow breathing strategies.
The Effect of a Company’s Sustainable Competitive Advantage on Their Tax Avoidance Strategy—Focusing on Market Competition in Korea
Authors: Shin Yoojin , Park Jung-Mi
Published: May 2023

This study analyzes whether a company’s competitive advantage affects a company’s tax avoidance strategy. Additionally, it analyzes whether these effects depend on the level of competition in the market to which the company belongs. This is because a company’s tax avoidance strategy may vary depending on the characteristics of the firm, such as the financial position and governance structure, the market dominance, or the degree of competition in the market to which the company belongs and it can act as an incentive for tax avoidance. Results of this study is follows. Tax avoidance increases significantly as a company’s market share increases. Also, if the sample is divided by the level of market competition and analyzed, the results show that tax avoidance increases significantly with the increase in a company’s market power only in oligopolistic markets with low market competition. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the effect of a company’s market power on tax avoidance varies depending on the level of competition in the market.
Predictive Modeling and Computer Vision-Based Decision Support to Optimize Resource Use in Vertical Farms
Authors: Shasteen KC , Kacira Murat
Published: May 2023

This study evaluated several decision-support tools that can be used to create a control system capable of taking advantage of fluctuations in the price of resources and improving the energy use efficiency of growing crops in vertical farms. A mechanistic model was updated and calibrated for use in vertical farm environments. This model was also validated under changing environmental conditions with acceptable agreement with empirical observations for the scenarios considered in this study. It was also demonstrated that lettuce plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) more efficiently later in their development, producing around 22% more biomass during high CO2 conditions during the fourth-week post-transplant than in the first week. A feedback mechanism using top-projected canopy area (TPCA) was evaluated for its ability to correlate with and provide remote biomass estimations. It was shown that for a given set of constant environmental conditions, a scaling factor of 0.21 g cm−2 allowed the TPCA to serve as a rough proxy for biomass in the period prior to canopy closure. The TPCA also was able to show deviation from expected growth under changing CO2 concentrations, justifying its use as a feedback metric.
Experiment and Simulation on a Refrigeration Ventilation System for Deep Metal Mines
Authors: Shao Wei , Wang Shuo , Wang Wenpu , Shao Kun , Xiao Qi , Cui Zheng
Published: May 2023

Significant harm from heat has become a key restriction for deep metal mining with increasing mining depth. This paper proposes a refrigeration ventilation system for deep metal mines combined with an existing air cycling system and builds an experimental platform with six stope simulation boxes. Using the heat current method and the driving-resistance balance relationship, the heat transfer and flow constraints of the system were constructed. An artificial neural network was used to establish models of heat exchangers and refrigerators with historical experimental data. Combining the models of the system and stope simulation box, an algorithm that iterates the water outlet temperature of the evaporator and condenser of the refrigerator was proposed to design the coupled simulation model. The heat balance analysis and comparison of the air outlet temperatures of the stope, as well as the heat transfer rates of the heat exchangers with the experimental data, validated the coupled simulation model. Additionally, the effects of cooling fans and the air inlet temperature of the cooling tower were discussed, which provided a powerful modelling method for the coupled model of a refrigeration ventilation system, helps to reduce energy consumption, and improves the sustainability of mining production.
A Hybrid Forecasting Model to Simulate the Runoff of the Upper Heihe River
Authors: Xue Huazhu , Wu Hui , Dong Guotao , Gao Jianjun
Published: May 2023

River runoff simulation and prediction are important for controlling the water volume and ensuring the optimal allocation of water resources in river basins. However, the instability of medium- and long-term runoff series increases the difficulty of runoff forecasting work. In order to improve the prediction accuracy, this research establishes a hybrid deep learning model framework based on variational mode decomposition (VMD), the mutual information method (MI), and a long short-term memory network (LSTM), namely, VMD-LSTM. First, the original runoff data are decomposed into a number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using VMD. Then, for each IMF, a long short-term memory (LSTM) network is applied to establish the prediction model, and the MI method is used to determine the data input lag time. Finally, the prediction results of each subsequence are reconstructed to obtain the final forecast result. We explored the predictive performance of the model with regard to monthly runoff in the upper Heihe River Basin, China, and compared its performance with other single and hybrid models. The results show that the proposed model has obvious advantages in terms of the performance of point prediction and interval prediction compared to several comparative models. The Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) of the prediction results reached 0.96, and the coverage of the interval prediction reached 0.967 and 0.908 at 95% and 90% confidence intervals, respectively. Therefore, the proposed model is feasible for simulating the monthly runoff of this watershed.
The Configuration Effect of Institutional Environment, Organizational Slack Resources, and Managerial Perceptions on the Corporate Water Responsibility of Small- and Medium-Sized Corporations
Authors: Gu Jiahao , Zheng Liyuan , Cheng Changgao , Wang Mengjiao
Published: May 2023

Under the background of the water crisis, there has been much research on corporate water responsibility (CWR), a subfield of corporate environmental responsibility (CER). Studies on CWR and CER are mainly focused on isolated factors, such as institutional pressure, corporate features, and managerial perceptions, with a notable lack of consensus. These studies have largely ignored the complex relationship between different contributing factors; thus, the internal mechanism of the multi-level synergistic influence of such factors on CWR or CER remains unclear. Configuration theory forgoes consideration of the correlation between variables and instead analyzes the synergistic effect between variables from the perspective of set theory. Thus, this paper focuses on formal and informal institutional pressure, unabsorbed and absorbed CSR slack, and economic and ethical perceptions, and uses fsQCA to investigate the configurations contributing or unconducive to a high level of CWR from a configuration theory perspective. The results show that three configurations contribute and two configurations are unconducive to a high level of CWR. Managerial perception is foundational for implementing CWR, and ethical perception is a necessary condition for high-level CWR, while a lack of benefit perception contributes to a lower level of CWR.
Research on the Impact of Internet Use on Farmers’ Adoption of Agricultural Socialized Services
Authors: Yang Chunfang , Cheng Changming , Cheng Nanyang , Zhang Yifeng
Published: May 2023

Developing agricultural socialized services is of great significance for promoting agricultural sustainable development and ensuring food security. The use of the Internet provides new opportunities to promote the development of agricultural socialized services. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2016 and 2018 with 8850 observations, this paper investigates the effects of Internet use on farmers’ adoption decision and adoption degree of agricultural socialized services, and explores the mediating effect of social networks. The adoption of agricultural socialized services is divided into adoption decision and adoption degree, and the Probit model and Tobit model are used for empirical analysis. The results showed that: (1) Internet use has a significant positive impact on both the adoption decision and the adoption degree of agricultural socialized services. Specifically, the impact of Internet use on the adoption decision and adoption degree of agricultural machinery services is greater than that of agricultural hired labor services. (2) The mechanism analysis found that social networks partially mediated the effect of Internet use on farmers’ adoption decision and adoption degree of agricultural socialized services. Furthermore, social networks have a greater mediating effect on the influence of Internet use on farmers’ adoption decision and adoption degree of agricultural machinery services compared to agricultural hired labor services. (3) The heterogeneity test found that Internet use has no significant impact on the adoption of agricultural socialized services by older farmers and farmers with a low education level. Therefore, it is crucial to fully leverage the potential of the Internet to facilitate the supply and demand of agricultural socialized services. Moreover, it is essential to integrate the market of agricultural socialized services with the rural social network to realize the synergy of “Internet plus social network”. This integration facilitates the organic connection between small farmers and modern agricultural development.
A Study on the Effects of Tax Reduction Policies on Fiscal Sustainability in China
Authors: Liu Qiongzhi , Zhang Xikai
Published: May 2023

Tax reduction policies can promote economic development, employment, and social equity in the short term. Especially during economic downturns, their effects are even more pronounced. Following the massive tax cuts amounting to 4 trillion yuan in China in 2022, the government work report for 2023 has revealed that tax reduction will continue to be the central theme of fiscal policies. However, amidst a backdrop of economic growth slowdown, China is facing objective challenges such as sluggish growth in fiscal revenues, rising inflexibility in fiscal expenditures, mounting debt burdens, and fiscal imbalances among regions, which pose severe threats to fiscal sustainability. This paper selects panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2019. Controlling for provincial and year fixed effects, FGLS method is used to empirically test the impact of tax reduction policies on fiscal sustainability. The results indicate that tax reduction significantly undermines fiscal sustainability, which exhibits a certain degree of persistence. Heterogeneity tests reveal that tax reduction policies have more pronounced inhibitory effects on fiscal sustainability in western regions, regions with lower proportions of the tertiary industry, and regions with higher levels of fiscal decentralization. Further analysis demonstrates that tax reduction primarily impacts local fiscal sustainability through two channels: stimulating enterprise production and distorting local government behavior. Based on these findings, our study proposes the need to moderate the pace of overall tax reduction policies in China, implement tax reduction policies with varying intensities tailored to regional characteristics, and promote tax reduction policy dividends as well as reduce policy costs to enhance fiscal sustainability.
Experimental Study on Disintegration of Guilin Red Clay
Authors: Liu Bao-Chen , Wang Liang-Yu , Zhou Hao-Feng , Yang Bai , Xiao Wei-Wei , Ling Fu-Kang , Peng Gang
Published: May 2023

In order to study the disintegration characteristics of red clay under different moisture content and temperature, red clay taken from Guilin was prepared into samples with different moisture content, and the disintegration test of red clay was carried out by self-made test equipment. Considering the influence of water absorption and weight gain in red clay, a parallel water absorption test was carried out for each disintegration test, and the disintegration amount–time relationship curve was corrected with the results of the water absorption test so as to propose a new disintegration amount calculation formula. In this experiment, the disintegration characteristics of red clay under different moisture content and temperature were investigated. The experimental results show that the disintegration amount decreases with the increase in moisture content, the moisture content exceeds 25%, and the red clay basically does not disintegrate within 2 h. The amount of disintegration increases with increasing temperature, but the disintegration of red clay in natural environments is not sensitive to temperature. The comprehensive analysis of moisture content and temperature shows that in the natural climate range, moisture content is the main influencing factor of soil disintegration.
Bearing Fault Diagnosis Using ACWGAN-GP Enhanced by Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Chen Bin , Tao Chengfeng , Tao Jie , Jiang Yuyan , Li Ping
Published: May 2023

Rolling bearings are one of the most widely used parts in all kinds of rotating machinery (including wind power equipment) and also one of the most easily damaged parts, which makes fault diagnosis of rolling bearings a promising research field. To this end, recent studies mainly focus on fault diagnosis cooperating with deep learning. However, in practical engineering, it is very challenging to collect massive fault data, resulting in low accuracy of bearing fault classification. To solve the problem, an auxiliary classifier optimized by a principal component analysis method is proposed to generate an adversarial network model in which Wasserstein distance and gradient penalty are used to improve the stability of the network training process in case of over-fitting and gradient disappearance during model training. Specifically, we implement the model system using two main components. First, the one-dimensional time domain signal is transformed into a two-dimensional grayscale image and the principal component analysis is employed to reduce the dimension of the original data; this is instead of random noise as the input of the generator thereby preserving the characteristics of the original data to a certain extent. Second, in a generative adversarial network, the label information of the fault data is inserted into the generator to achieve supervised learning, thereby improving the data generation performance and reducing the training time cost. The experimental results show that our model could produce high-quality samples that are similar to real samples and that it could significantly improve the classification accuracy of fault diagnosis in the case of insufficient fault samples.
Investigating the Environmental Benefits of Novel Films for the Packaging of Fresh Tomatoes Enriched with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Compounds through Life Cycle Assessment
Authors: Tsouti Christina , Papadaskalopoulou Christina , Konsta Angeliki , Andrikopoulos Panagiotis , Panagiotopoulou Margarita , Papadaki Sofia , Boukouvalas Christos , Krokida Magdalini , Valta Katerina
Published: May 2023

Food systems account for 21–37% of total net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, in the European Union, the retail and consumption stages account for half of the total food waste produced across the entire food supply chain. For this, there is a continuous development of novel packaging materials to extend the shelf life of fresh products and thus reduce food waste produced at these stages. The aim of the present research is to examine the environmental performance of such materials enriched with antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds by considering their effect on the shelf-life extension of packed fresh tomatoes. In particular, two novel packaging films, a film with incorporated tomato leaf-stem extract and Flavomix through extrusion and a film coated with zein nanofibers containing the aforementioned bio-active compounds through electrospinning were studied for the packaging of fresh tomatoes and compared to conventional polypropylene packaging film. An antioxidant effect was recorded for both films achieving a shelf life prolongation of three days. Moreover, both films exhibited in vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In addition, antimicrobial activity was observed against yeast and molds and the total viable bacterial count in packed fresh tomatoes. The environmental benefits were evaluated using a life cycle assessment. The results indicated a decrease in the environmental impacts by 14% considering the entire food supply chain for both novel films. The environmental performance of novel film production by extrusion shows an increased impact of 31% compared to conventional film, while nanocoating shows an increased impact of 18%.
Integrating Environmental and Social Dimensions with Science-Based Knowledge for a Sustainable Pesticides Management—A Project of Lombardy Region in Italy
Authors: Calliera Maura , Di Guardo Andrea , L’Astorina Alba , Polli Maurizio , Finizio Antonio , Capri Ettore
Published: May 2023

Achieving a change towards the sustainable use and management of pesticides requires a multiple perspective approach that combines traditional knowledge, experience of different local stakeholders, scientific expertise, and context-specific data to provide useful and understandable information for the target farmers. In this paper, the incorporation of the information on environmental and social dimensions into a “science-based” pesticide management practice is presented as an example of a replicable multidisciplinary approach. This approach depicts the importance of the context-specific scenario analysis and of the involvement of farmers starting from their practices and their knowledge. A diverse range of engagement initiatives have been adopted to consult, inform, and involve the community. Tools as target guidelines of good practices, self-evaluation checklists, and a user-friendly indicator that considers social, environmental, and territorial parameters of the specific area, gained a lot of interest and trust and have proven to be useful in disseminating the methodology of environmental risk assessment to farmers, supporting and assisting them in the comparison of different phytosanitary strategies at farm scale to identify weaknesses in their current pesticide management at farm level and to find corresponding corrective actions. The experience also highlighted the importance of the role of properly trained and informed advisors.
Design of Metaheuristic Optimization with Deep-Learning-Assisted Solar-Operated On-Board Smart Charging Station for Mass Transport Passenger Vehicle
Authors: Justin Shekaina , Saleh Wafaa , Lashin Maha M. A. , Albalawi Hind Mohammed
Published: May 2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) have become popular in reducing the negative impact of ICE automobiles on the environment. EVs have been predicted to be an important mode of mass transit around the globe in recent years. Several charging stations in island and remote areas are dependent on off-grid power sources and renewable energy. Solar energy is used in the daytime as it is based on several environmental components. The creation of efficient power trackers is necessary for solar arrays to produce power at their peak efficiency. To deliver energy during emergencies and store it in case there is an excess, energy storage systems are required. It has long been known that reliable battery management technology is essential for maintaining precise battery charge levels and avoiding overcharging. This study suggests an ideal deep-learning-assisted solar-operated off-board smart charging station (ODL-SOOSCS) design method as a result. The development of on-board smart charging for mass transit EVs is the main goal of the ODL-SOOSCS technique that is being described. In the ODL-SOOSCS approach described here, a perovskite solar film serves as the generating module, and the energy it generates is stored in a module with a hybrid ultracapacitor and a lithium-ion battery. Broad bridge converters and solar panels are incorporated into the deep belief network (DBN) controller, which doubles as an EV charging station. An oppositional bird swarm optimization (OBSO) algorithm is used as a hyperparameter optimizer to improve the performance of the DBN model. Moreover, an MPPT device is exploited for monitoring and providing maximal output of the solar panel if the power sources are PV arrays. The proposed system combines the power of metaheuristic optimization algorithms with deep learning techniques to create an efficient and smart charging station for mass transport passenger vehicles. This integration of two powerful technologies is a novel approach toward solving the complex problem of charging electric vehicles in mass transportation systems. The experimental validation of the ODL-SOOSCS technique is tested on distinct converter topologies. A widespread experimental analysis assures the promising performance of the ODL-SOOSCS method over other current methodologies.
Informing Diet and Physical Activity Interventions with Family Involvement in an Urban Setting: Views of Children and Adults in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Orighoye Oritseweyinmi , Apekey Tanefa A. , Maynard Maria J.
Published: May 2023

There is limited evidence on diet and physical activity (PA) interventions to prevent childhood over- and under-nutrition in Nigeria, particularly those with parental involvement. The aim of this qualitative cross-sectional study was to explore parents’, children’s, and other stakeholders’ views on what might enable or hinder participation in diet and PA interventions with parental involvement, and potential intervention components likely to be feasible and acceptable. The study took place in Lagos State, Nigeria. Sixteen boys and girls aged 8–11 years in four participating schools were involved in the study. In addition, women (n = 19) and men (n = 13) aged 18–60 years took part. These included parents, teachers, school heads, community leaders, health professionals, and health or education civil servants, recruited via the participating schools, community and professional links. Data were collected in schools, homes, and places of work via one-to-one interviews and focus groups, audio-recorded with participants’ consent. Topics included knowledge about a balanced diet and active living; frequency of exercise and barriers and facilitators of participation; and ideas for fostering good diet and physical activity habits. Socio-demographic data were collected orally at the start of each discussion. Thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts of the recordings was conducted. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Active community collaboration; (2) strategies for involving families; and (3) schools as key settings for interventions. The main barriers to participation in potential interventions included poor access to clean water, safe outdoor play space, and menstrual hygiene products. Suggested solutions included increased security, infrastructure improvements using recycled materials, school gardening, and health campaigns funded by local dignitaries. Health literacy education for parents, tailored to local dialects, was considered an important potential intervention component that would engage families. The feasibility and acceptability of grassroots suggestions for intervention components and parental involvement could usefully be explored in future pilot studies.
The Coupling Relationship and Driving Factors of Fertilizer Consumption, Economic Development and Crop Yield in China
Authors: Zhang Yansong , Fan Xiaolei , Mao Yu , Wei Yujie , Xu Jianming , Wu Lili
Published: May 2023

China has become the largest consumer of chemical fertilizers. The excessive application of chemical fertilizers has resulted in a series of problems including environmental pollution, seriously threatening China’s sustainable development. Therefore, it is highly important to study the factors driving chemical fertilizer consumption. In this study, we used the panel data of 31 provinces in China and the Tapio decoupling model to explore the coupling relationship between fertilizer consumption, economic growth and crop yield increase, build the IPAT-LMDI model, and identify and analyze the factors driving the observed changes. The results show the following: (1) Since 2015, the consumption of chemical fertilizers in most provinces of China has decreased significantly, and the implementation of the zero-fertilizer policy in various regions has generally achieved remarkable results. (2) Since 1980, China’s crop production and economic development have undergone coordinated growth, but the decoupling relationship between chemical fertilizer consumption and economic growth has changed from weak to strong, and the dependence of China’s crop production on chemical fertilizers has gradually been reduced. (3) Fertilizer consumption in China is promoted by factors related to economic level (Pg), crop value (Cval), fertilizer efficiency (Feff), fertilization intensity (Fein), per capita arable land area (Clap) and population size (P), while it is restrained by factors related to science and technology level (Ffag), agricultural population (P1) and industrial structure (Inst). (4) Fertilizer consumption has arrived at its peak in East China, South China and Central China, while there is still room for growth in the western areas; gaps in economic and technological development between different provinces are the main factors affecting changes in fertilizer consumption. Finally, we offer specific suggestions for improving the efficiency of chemical fertilizers from the perspectives of farming modes and science and technology.
The Role of Sustainable Leadership in Promoting the Visibility of the Territories Represented by the Tourism Information Centres of Latvian State Cities
Authors: Lusena-Ezera Inese , Bikse Veronika , Pusaudze Sintija , Rivza Baiba , Pole Laura
Published: May 2023

The aim of this study is to carry out an analysis on the implementation of the principles of sustainable leadership in the tourism information centres of Latvian State cities in order to promote the visibility of the territory they represent. This article presents an analysis of the literature on sustainable leadership and visibility of the territories, and provides characteristics of the sector represented by the tourism information centres of Latvian State cities. To identify the possible solutions to the improvement of sustainable leadership principles in the tourism information centres of Latvian State cities, we analysed the following: the implementation of sustainable leadership principles; and the views of the cooperation partners on the visibility of the tourism information centres in their areas, and the promotion of the territory they represent. The results of the study indicate that, based on the assessment of the cooperation partners, the principles of sustainable leadership are generally applied in only three (out of ten) tourism information centres. It was concluded that the application of sustainable leadership principles in the tourism information centres would promote smooth entry into priority target markets and the fastest possible initiation of promotion activities in secondary target markets, which soon could potentially rank on the list of priority target markets, in order to replace one audience with another due to the changing geopolitical situation in the world.
Influence of Gas Pressure on the Failure Mechanism of Coal-like Burst-Prone Briquette and the Subsequent Geological Dynamic Disasters
Authors: Chen Ying , Wang Zhiwen , Hui Qianjia , Zhang Zhaoju , Zhang Zikai , Huo Bingjie , Chen Yang , Liu Jinliang
Published: May 2023

Rock bursts and coal and gas outbursts are geodynamic disasters in underground coal mines. Laboratory testing of raw coal samples is the dominant research method for disaster prediction. However, the reliability of the experimental data is low due to the inconsistency of the mechanical properties of raw coal materials. The utilization of structural coal resources and the development of new coal-like materials are of significance for geodynamic disaster prediction and prevention. This paper studies the failure characteristics and dynamic disaster propensities of coal-like burst-prone briquettes under different gas pressures. A self-made multi-function rock–gas coupling experimental device was developed and burst-prone briquettes were synthesized, which greatly improved the efficiency and precision of the experimental data. The results showed that the burst proneness of the briquette was thoroughly reduced at a critical gas pressure of 0.4 MPa. When the gas pressure was close to 0.8 MPa, both the bearing capacity and the stored burst energy reduced significantly and the dynamic failure duration extended considerably, indicating the typical plastic-flow failure characteristics of coal and gas outbursts. The acoustic emission monitoring results showed that with the increase in gas pressure, the post-peak ringing and the AE energy ratio of coal samples increased, suggesting that the macroscopic damage pattern changed from bursting-ejecting of large pieces to stripping–shedding of small fragments adhered to mylonitic coal. In addition, the transformation and coexistence of coal failure modes were discussed from the perspectives of coal geology and gas migration. This study provides a new method for the scientific research of compound dynamic disaster prevention in burst coal mines with high gas contents.
Supply-Chain Finance and Investment Efficiency: The Perspective of Sustainable Development
Authors: Li Xinli , Yan Junzhou , Cheng Jun , Li Jiaying
Published: May 2023

Recent debates regarding supply-chain finance have separated financial attributes from supply-chain attributes, ignoring their unity and the utilization efficiency of funds after financing. Can supply-chain finance affect corporate investment efficiency? There is still insufficient research in existing studies. In this paper, multiple regression analysis is used on 9757 listed companies in China for the period 2010–2020, to empirically test the impact of supply-chain finance on investment efficiency by integrating financial and supply-chain attributes of supply-chain finance, and we further analyze its mechanism. The results show that supply-chain finance can alleviate corporate under-investment and inhibit over-investment. The relationship is stronger for nonstate-owned corporations and is stronger when corporations operate in a superior information environment. Further, financial constraint plays an intermediary role between supply-chain finance and under-investment, while corporate social responsibility plays an intermediary role between supply-chain finance and over-investment. This study enriches the relevant research on the economic consequences of supply-chain finance, and provides new evidence for how supply-chain finance can promote the high-quality development of the real economy.
Creating a Virtuous Food Cycle in Monterrey, Mexico
Authors: Roggema Rob , Mallet Ana Elena , Krstikj Aleksandra
Published: May 2023

This article focuses on the connection between health, food, and social wellbeing. Several health problems are caused by the types of food consumed. At the same time, traditional ingredients are increasingly less used. The potential of healthy, traditional foods, locally grown ingredients, and preparation in local quality restaurants could decrease health problems, especially in disadvantaged communities. The methodology focuses on developing the missing links between traditional recipes, the growth of local food, and the preparation and consumption of healthy food. The main finding of this article is the interconnected model and the definition of the components that link the abovementioned separate fields. Major components are a collection of traditional recipes from the elderly in local communities, establishing an urban farm in disadvantaged communities, local quality chefs who use the recipes and ingredients in their menu, and pop-up restaurants in the local communities where residents have access to healthy dishes. The main conclusion is that by connecting the fragmented fields of investigation, the most vulnerable residents gain access to healthy food options.
Investigating the Potential of Biobinder for Bottom Ash Solidification/Stabilization: Leaching Behaviour and pH Dependence
Authors: Li Zhongliu , Wu Nianze , Song Yuying , Xiang Junchen
Published: May 2023

Nowadays, a large amount of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (IBA) is produced from waste incineration plants; therefore, it is still a challenge for IBA management. To investigate the potential of microbially-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) for IBA treatment, a harmless biobinder was prepared by using biosolutions with different bacterial concentrations. A series of tests were carried out on the sample of the IBA treated with different biosolutions, such as leaching behavior, sequential extraction, pH dependence, pore distribution, and microscopic morphology. The results showed that Zn, Cu, and Pb in the IBA after biotreatment were all below the standard limitation. In the sample with 108 cells/mL bacterial concentration, the leaching concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cr were 0.39 mg/L, 0.12 mg/L, 0.025 mg/L, and 0.021 mg/L, respectively, and the average immobilization ratio reached 76.4%. The results of the characterization and microscopic morphology showed that biomineralization generated a large number of bioprecipitates and biogels, which formed a compact structure to reduce the pore size of samples, thus immobilizing the heavy metals. The bacteria could change the chemical speciation and bonds of the heavy metals by induction, which turned the heavy metals into stable compounds. Additionally, the lowest leaching concentration of Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cr appeared at pH of 8–10.5. This study analyzed the feasibility of bacterial concentration for IBA solidification/stabilization and provides a new biotechnology idea for IBA management.