bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Challenges of Palm Oil Sustainable Consumption and Production in China: An Institutional Theory Perspective
Authors: Wang Rui , Lee Khai Ern , Mokhtar Mazlin , Goh Thian Lai
Published: April 2022

The emerging economies are the centrepieces in the sustainable consumption and production of palm oil (SCP). With the collaborative efforts of the European Union and some non-governmental organisations, producers are kept in the spotlight, and scrutiny has begun to sweep down the supply chain. Palm oil environmental liabilities are extended to the consuming countries and criticism of emerging economies is evident in the context of weak institutions and inadequate attention from interest groups. China, one of the major consumers of palm oil, encompasses almost every potential environmental performance issue at the end of the palm oil supply chain. Sherri Torjman’s six-step approach has been used to parse the constraints and contributions of institutional coercive, mimetic and normative drivers to the three goals of the economic, social and environmental performance of palm oil SCP. This paper investigates the relevant institutions in China and compares in detail the content of SCP-related elements in these institutions through desktop research. An institutional theoretical perspective is provided to take a more comprehensive look at the SCP challenges facing the palm oil supply chain in China whereby this paper aims to shed light on the linkages between the challenges and institutional drivers.
Sense of Place, Biocultural Heritage, and Sustainable Knowledge and Practices in Three Italian Rural Regeneration Processes
Authors: Bindi Letizia , Conti Mauro , Belliggiano Angelo
Published: April 2022

This paper addresses sustainable development processes based on biocultural heritage, sense of place, and socio-cultural innovation and inclusiveness in the rural context, particularly focusing different scales of endogenous/neo-endogenous rural regeneration processes. Ethnographic and grounded case studies allow a critical analysis of different forms of rural development from a multidisciplinary perspective based on old and new rurality, rural and local communities’ participation, resilience and regeneration processes, sense of place, belongingness, and “restanza”. The three cases are situated in three areas of Italy: the ecomuseum of pastoralism in Pontebernardo in the northern region of Piedmont as a driver of local shared development pathways; the municipality of Castel del Giudice, in the Central-Southern region of Molise, enabling different and integrated local regeneration actions; and the Association “Casa delle AgriCulture”/Green Night Festival in Castiglione d’Otranto in the Southern region of Puglia as a performative opportunity to define innovative and transversal as well as community-oriented activities. In these contexts, different local regeneration programs were applied in order to provide a critical evaluation of the knowledge and practices of sustainability in terms of their entanglements with biocultural heritage and socio-cultural innovation. The present analysis insists on the impact of biocultural heritage in regeneration processes in rural regions and endogenous/neo-endogenous factors in rural sustainable development.
Establishment and Utilization Plans of Apartment Housing Envelope System Database
Authors: Lee Jong-Geon , Jang Hyeong-Jae , Tae Sungho , Ahn Yonghan
Published: April 2022

Recently, apart from the energy saving of new buildings, various carbon-centered environmental policies for climate change were implemented to improve the energy performance of existing buildings, actively promoting green remodeling businesses. This study proposed a classification system for green remodeling envelope systems to select the applicable representative method and input material for the green remodeling of apartment housing. The system boundaries were divided into the material production stage and construction waste processing stage, and the classification system of the envelope system was implemented for applicable green remodeling. A database for the environmental, economic, and energy performances of the classification system was created. Moreover, a green remodeling evaluation sheet system was proposed. According to our results, the economic, energy, and environmental performances of the proposed combinations of the insulation systems were higher than those of the reference combination by 30%, 10%, and 30%, respectively. Regarding the window systems, the economic and energy performances of the proposed input material combinations were higher than those of the reference combination by 22% and 10%, respectively. Additionally, the energy performance of the proposed input material combinations was higher than that of the reference combination by 8~64%.
Mandatory Non-Financial Information Disclosure under European Directive 95/2014/EU: Evidence from Portuguese Listed Companies
Authors: Carmo Cecília , Ribeiro Cristiana
Published: April 2022

This paper investigates the effects of Directive 95/2014/EU on the quality of non-financial information (NFI) disclosed by Portuguese listed companies and explains the reporting practices adopted in this context. For this purpose, a content analysis of non-financial disclosures made a year before (2016) and in the first and second years of the implementation of the Directive (2017 and 2018) was performed. A self-constructed index that covers the disclosure matters required by the Directive was used to measure the quality of NFI. The findings showed that the major effects on the quality of non-financial disclosures were observed in the first year of implementation. Furthermore, it was observed that companies that had high-quality voluntary reporting practices, such as the presentation of a sustainability report, the use of GRI Standards and the certification of NFI, maintained these practices after the Directive. After two years of implementation, there were still companies that did not mention the framework used or did not disclose information on sensitive matters such as human rights or anti-corruption and bribery. The evidence found supports the existence of a ‘routine’ effect that has influenced the reporting practices adopted. The results obtained have implications for policymakers helping them to identify aspects of the Directive’s requirements that need to be improved.
Drone Forensics and Machine Learning: Sustaining the Investigation Process
Authors: Baig Zubair , Khan Majid Ali , Mohammad Nazeeruddin , Brahim Ghassen Ben
Published: April 2022

Drones have been increasingly adopted to address several critical challenges faced by humanity to provide support and convenience . The technological advances in the broader domains of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as the affordability of off-the-shelf devices, have facilitated modern-day drone use. Drones are readily available for deployment in hard to access locations for delivery of critical medical supplies, for surveillance, for weather data collection and for home delivery of purchased goods. Whilst drones are increasingly beneficial to civilians, they have also been used to carry out crimes. We present a survey of artificial intelligence techniques that exist in the literature in the context of processing drone data to reveal criminal activity. Our contribution also comprises the proposal of a novel model to adopt the concepts of machine learning for classification of drone data as part of a digital forensic investigation. Our main conclusions include that properly trained machine-learning models hold promise to enable an accurate assessment of drone data obtained from drones confiscated from a crime scene. Our research work opens the door for academics and industry practitioners to adopt machine learning to enable the use of drone data in forensic investigations.
What Attributes of Meat Substitutes Matter Most to Consumers? The Role of Sustainability Education and the Meat Substitutes Perceptions
Authors: Jang Ha-Won , Cho Meehee
Published: April 2022

Given the rising environmental, health, and food safety concerns, the advantages of meat substitutes are garnering increased attention. Applying the extended theory of planned behavior, this study explored what aspects of meat substitutes positively influence consumer purchase intention associated with attitude, subjective norms, and behavioral control. In addition, the level of consumers’ education in sustainability was analyzed for its potential moderating effect within the proposed model. A total of 319 responses obtained from Korean consumers were used. The analysis results revealed that the health attributes of meat substitutes improved consumer attitude, subjective norms, and behavioral control. The environmental attributes enhanced consumer attitude and behavioral control but had no significant effect on subjective norms. Further, subjective norms led to a positive attitude, and attitude and behavioral controls positively improved meat substitutes’ purchase intention. Our analysis revealed that sustainability education significantly enhanced the positive relationship between behavioral control and purchase intention. This study provides an integrative framework that allows for a systematic understanding of consumer responses regarding meat substitutes. Our model may be useful in exploring other influential attributes of meat substitutes that can lead to more positive consumer responses and ultimately enhance consumption.
Neural Network and Spatial Model to Estimate Sustainable Transport Demand in an Extensive Metropolitan Area
Authors: Barreda-Luna Antonio A. , Rodríguez-Reséndiz Juvenal , Flores Rangel Alejandro , Rodríguez-Abreo Omar
Published: April 2022

Urban renewal projects worldwide focus mainly on resolving motorized, personal, and low occupancy problems instead of sustainable mobility. As part of the process, traditional field audits have a high cost in time and resources. This paper reviews a spatial model of accessibility and habitability of the streets, oriented to the location of the volume of people moving sustainably out of an extensive street network. The exercise site is in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, the second largest in Mexico. Here, the population that moves sustainably as the collective (public and enterprise transportation) and the active (cycling, walking, and others) represents a considerable portion (49%) of travelers, thus, confirming the need for intervention. The spatial model is elaborated in a Geographical Information System (GIS), and the main results are compared with the actual public transport demand using a neural networks process. The results of the tool as a predictor have a 91% efficiency, making it possible to determine the location of urban renewal projects related to the volume of people moving sustainably.
No-Tillage Combined with Appropriate Amount of Straw Returning Increased Soil Biochemical Properties
Authors: Chen Wanhua , Yuan Wei , Wang Jie , Wang Ziyang , Zhou Zhengping , Liu Shiping
Published: April 2022

(1) Background: Few studies have focused on the interaction of tillage and straw returning on soil carbon and nitrogen. Therefore, this study was conducted for investigating the effects of tillage and straw returning on soil biochemical properties under a rice–wheat double cropping system; (2) Methods: Six treatments were set up to determine soil biochemical properties, including no-tillage with all straw returning (NTS), wheat plow tillage and rice no-tillage with half straw returning (RT1), wheat no-tillage and rice plow tillage with half straw returning (RT2), plow tillage with all straw returning (CTS), less tillage with half straw returning (MTS), and plow tillage with no straw returning (CT); (3) Results: Straw returning increased soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) and soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN), but had no significant effects on total nitrogen (TN) and soil organic carbon (SOC). In the treatments of straw returning, the contents of SMBC, SMBN, TN, and SOC under no-tillage were increased in the 0–7 cm soil layer. Tillage and straw returning had no significant effects in the 7–14 cm and 14–21 cm soil layers. In addition, SMBC/SMBN for all the treatments was maintained within a reasonable range, and microbial quotient (SMQ) and SMBN/TN in the no-tillage treatment had a significant improvement; (4) Conclusions: The results showed that no-tillage with an appropriate amount of straw returning improved the soil biochemical properties and maintained the nitrogen mineralization capacity in the 0–7 cm soil layer for this region.
Financial Impacts of the Energy Transition in Housing
Authors: Dolores Luigi , Macchiaroli Maria , De Mare Gianluigi
Published: April 2022

This paper explores the topic of the energy transition in housing. The work aims to offer a knowledge base for energy policy on the current scenario of the energy redevelopment of Italian multi-family buildings. The financial feasibility of energy retrofit projects in the case of multi-apartment buildings is then analyzed. From a set of projects located in the Campania region (Italy), the typical building on which to carry out ordinary energy efficiency works was identified. Two design variants are considered on which to implement the Cost-Revenue Analysis (CRA): (i) energy retrofit intervention not including photovoltaic system; (ii) energy retrofit intervention including photovoltaic system. For the second design variant, further analyses were conducted (sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, risk analysis) to identify the main sensitive variables and to estimate the probability of financial failure of the intervention. The study shows that interventions without photovoltaics are unlikely to be financially sustainable. However, although the presence of photovoltaics significantly increases the savings in the bill, the Payback Period (PP) remains quite high. An ordinary energy retrofit project including photovoltaic technology can be made financially sustainable only by resorting to government building bonuses, in the absence of which the probability of failure is 46%.
Assessment of Various Trombe Wall Geometries with CFD Study
Authors: Fidaros Dimitrios , Baxevanou Catherine , Markousi Michalina , Tsangrassoulis Aris
Published: April 2022

An investigation of the optimal geometric configuration of a Trombe wall is presented with simulation of the transfer phenomena, that take place during its operation, using computational fluid dynamics. A numerical model is developed for a 2D steady-state simulation of a Trombe wall cross-section operation, and it is validated against an energy balance model’s results. Then the developed model is used for the evaluation of 10 different geometrical configurations examining various air gap widths, storage wall thicknesses, ventilation slots distances, and ventilation slots diameters. The examined geometries were evaluated with respect to the achieved temperature at the air gap exit and at the room facing storage wall surface, the achieved mass air flow in the air gap, and the ability of warm air stream from the gap to enter the test room. The aim was to ventilate the whole space without leaving large areas where the air just recirculates unaffected by the Trombe wall operation. According to the above-described criteria, optimum solution is an air gap width of 5 to 8 cm with increased distance between ventilation slots and a configuration of upper ventilation slot with an inclination of 30 degrees.
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting for Stakeholders’ Health and Wellbeing in the Food and Beverage Industry: A Case Study of a Multinational Company
Authors: Macassa Gloria , Rashid Mamunur , Rambaree Brita Backlund , Chowdhury Ehsanul Huda
Published: April 2022

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) used to be seen as a social obligation of businesses to make decisions and take responsible action in accordance with the goals and values of the society. The concept is today understood as the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large. This study aimed to apply Chowdhury and co-authors’ framework to the Unilever Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Content Index 2020 to explore the feasibility of the framework as well as identify potential challenges related to its use in the field of public health. Findings show that the framework is suitable for analysing CSR reporting on activities aimed to promote internal and external stakeholders’ health and wellbeing from a public health perspective. A greater number of GRI disclosures reported by Unilever related to external stakeholders’ health and wellbeing than to activities impacting internal stakeholders. Further research should aim at testing the framework in other types of business organizations across other types of industries.
A Sustainable Approach to the Preparation of MoO2 Quantum Dots and the Pseudocapacitive Performance before and after Calcination
Authors: An Yi , Gong Weizhi , Wang Junli , Liu Jianlin , Zhou Liexing , Xia Yi , Pan Cheng , Wang Mingjun , Fang Dong
Published: April 2022

The present preparation methods of molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) quantum dots (QDs) are often cumbersome and not environmentally friendly, and more importantly, the prepared MoO2 QDs are usually wrapped in surfactants, which are difficult to be removed and impact their intrinsic characterization and performance. Herein, we present a facile, scalable and sustainable approach to obtain clean and pure MoO2 QDs (1.5~3 nm), which consists of a hydrothermal reaction and a further calcination process in vacuum following freeze drying. Furthermore, the influence of calcination temperature, atmosphere and time is also studied. The calcination at 400 °C for 2 h in vacuum can efficiently remove the surfactants wrapping on the MoO2 QDs without obvious size change, whereas the calcination in nitrogen will lead to a slight increase in size, and the calcination in air could transform MoO2 QDs into MoO3 nanoplates. In addition, the pseudocapacitive performance of the as-prepared samples is tested and compared by electrochemical methods, and the specific capacitance of the clean MoO2 QDs is about 1.4 times larger than that of MoO2 QDs with surfactants at 5 mV s−1. This study also demonstrates a possible way to efficiently remove the organic substance wrapping on quantum dot materials.
The Impact of Economic Growth, Industrial Transition, and Energy Intensity on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China
Authors: Yang Zhoumu , Cai Jingjing , Lu Yun , Zhang Bin
Published: April 2022

Carbon emission reduction has become a worldwide concern on account of global sustainability issues. Many existing studies have focused on the various socioeconomic influencing factors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the corresponding transmission mechanisms, while very few models have unified the scale effect, structure effect, and technique effect in the context of China. This paper attempted to analyze the impact of economic growth, industrial transition, and energy intensity on CO2 emissions in China by constructing an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results showed that there are long-term cointegration relationships between the three factors mentioned above and CO2 emissions. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions, which not only verifies the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, but also upholds the scale effect. In addition, the proportion of added value of secondary industry and energy intensity has significant positive impacts on CO2 emissions. On one hand, this confirms the structure effect and technique effect; on the other hand, it implies that the reduction effect is the dominant effect in the case of China, instead of the rebound effect. This paper is expected to make a valuable contribution to research in the field of sustainable development by providing both theoretical support and implementation of path choice for CO2 reduction in China.
Structural, Mechanical and Chemical Properties of Low Content Carbon Geopolymer
Authors: Nenadović Snežana , Gulicovski Jelena , Mirković Miljana , Kljajević Ljiljana , Bošković Ivana , Vukčević Mira , Nenadović Miloš
Published: April 2022

In recent years geopolymers have shown increased interest as binders with low CO2 emission compared to Portland cement. The main goal of this research is focused on connecting green and sustainable characteristics with the mechanical and chemical properties of fly ash-based geopolymer. The samples of different ratios of fly ash (FA) and metakaolin (MK) were prepared. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) showed that in the geopolymer synthesis reaction a new amorphous phase was formed. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT) confirmed characteristic bands of the Si-O and O-Si-O groups at 1045 cm−1. Compressive strength analysis revealed that the optimal ratio of FA and MK is 50:50 and exhibits the highest value. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed the total reduction of carbon content in the alkali-activated geopolymer with the optimal stoichiometry of 50:50. This indicates the possibility of obtaining a geopolymer material with an almost complete absence of carbon, which implies further application as a material with a very high environmental potential and of zero carbon emissions.
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Rainfall Dynamics of 120 Years (1901–2020) Using Innovative Trend Methodology: A Case Study of Haryana, India
Authors: Chauhan Abhilash Singh , Singh Surender , Maurya Rajesh Kumar Singh , Kisi Ozgur , Rani Alka , Danodia Abhishek
Published: April 2022

As we know, climate change and climate variability significantly influence the most important component of global hydrological cycle, i.e., rainfall. The study pertaining to change in the spatio-temporal patterns of rainfall dynamics is crucial to take appropriate actions for managing the water resources at regional level and to prepare for extreme events such as floods and droughts. Therefore, our study has investigated the spatio-temporal distribution and performance of seasonal rainfall for all districts of Haryana, India. The gridded rainfall datasets of 120 years (1901 to 2020) from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) were categorically analysed and examined with statistical results using mean rainfall, rainfall deviation, moving-average, rainfall categorization, rainfall trend, correlation analysis, probability distribution function, and climatology of heavy rainfall events. During each season, the eastern districts of Haryana have received more rainfall than those in its western equivalent. Rainfall deviation has been positive during the pre-monsoon season, while it has been negative for all remaining seasons during the third quad-decadal time (QDT3, covering the period of 1981–2020); rainfall has been declining in most of Haryana’s districts during the winter, summer monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons in recent years. The Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) shows a declining trend in rainfall during the winter, post-monsoon, and summer monsoon seasons while an increasing trend occurs during the pre-monsoon season. Heavy rainfall events (HREs) were identified for each season from the last QDT3 (1981–2020) based on the available data and their analysis was done using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis Interim (ERA-Interim), which helped in understanding the dynamics of atmospheric parameters during HREs. Our findings are highlighting the qualitative and quantitative aspects of seasonal rainfall dynamics at the districts level in Haryana state. This study is beneficial in understanding the impact of climate change and climate variability on rainfall dynamics in Haryana, which may further guide the policymakers and beneficiaries for optimizing the use of hydrological resources.
Spatial Matching Analysis and Development Strategies of County Night-Time Economy: A Case of Anning County, Yunnan Province
Authors: Wang Weiwu , Liu Lingjun , Yang Yuxin
Published: April 2022

The Chinese government regards the night-time economy as one of the essential means to expand domestic demand and enhance sustainable economic development. Scientifically choosing the night-time economic development path of the suburban counties of the Chinese metropolis (SCCM) and proposing a reasonable spatial matching planning strategy is an urgent problem for Chinese local governments. This study takes Anning county, a suburban Kunming metropolitan area, as the research area. Using Python to capture multi-spatial data, such as POI and Baidu heatmap, we use ArcGIS spatial analysis and statistical tools to show the spatial distribution characteristics of the night-time economic formats in Anning County. At the same time, the spatial coupling coordination model is used to calculate the coupling coordination degree of the night-time economic formats distribution and comprehensive traffic distribution (D1), night-time economic formats distribution and night-crowd vitality (D2), and the spatial coupling coordination of the three (D3). It is divided into five spatial matching levels and analyzes the shortage of night-time economic development in each subdistrict. The research results show that the spatial development of the night-time economy in Anning county is unbalanced at the current stage. The northern part of the county has a good development trend, and the Lianran subdistrict has the highest coupling coordination degree (0.995). In contrast, the southern part of the county has the lowest coupling coordination degree due to a lack of economic formats and traffic restrictions (0.115). According to the subdistricts’ differences, the sustainable development strategy of the county’s night-time economy should be formulated from the perspective of the long-term development of metropolitan areas. We hope that this research can provide valuable inspiration and a development reference for relevant countries and regions to stimulate the sustainable power of the night-time economy.
Bibliometric Analysis of Data Sources and Tools for Shoreline Change Analysis and Detection
Authors: Ankrah Johnson , Monteiro Ana , Madureira Helena
Published: April 2022

The world has a long record of shoreline and related erosion problems due to the impacts of climate change/variability in sea level rise. This has made coastal systems and large inland water environments vulnerable, thereby activating research concern globally. This study is a bibliometric analysis of the global scientific production of data sources and tools for shoreline change analysis and detection. The bibliometric mapping method (bibliometric R and VOSviewer package) was utilized to analyze 1578 scientific documents (1968–2022) retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases. There is a chance that in the selection process one or more important scientific papers might be omitted due to the selection criteria. Thus, there could be a bias in the present results due to the search criteria here employed. The results revealed that the U.S.A. is the country with the most scientific production (16.9%) on the subject. Again, more country collaborations exist among the developed countries compared with the developing countries. The results further revealed that tools for shoreline change analysis have changed from a simple beach transect (0.1%) to the utilization of geospatial tools such as DSAS (14.6%), ArcGIS/ArcMap (13.8%), and, currently, machine learning (5.1%). Considering the benefits of these geospatial tools, and machine learning in particular, more utilization is essential to the continuous growth of the field. Found research gaps were mostly addressed by the researchers themselves or addressed in other studies, while others have still not been addressed, especially the ones emerged from the recent work. For instance, the one on insights for reef restoration projects focused on erosion mitigation and designing artificial reefs in microtidal sandy beaches.
Girls in STEM: Addressing SDG 4 in Context
Authors: Campbell Coral , Hobbs Linda , Xu Lihua , McKinnon Jorja , Speldewinde Chris
Published: April 2022

Raising girls’ aspirations for STEM careers is one way to address Sustainability Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—quality education—which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Various strategies have been suggested in STEM education research literature to achieve this. One such initiative begins with exposing girls to STEM industries during their formative school years. While a range of industry-school partnerships exist, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes an investigation into how industry professionals, university educators, teachers, and students successfully implemented a STEM education experience (Girls as Leaders in STEM (GALS)). Formative and summative evaluation processes were used to generate data through a co-design research approach to describe and measure changes in student practices, attitudes, and engagement in relation to STEM and leadership as a result of connecting to industry problems. This research focused on the analysis of teacher and student interview data generated upon the completion of the program, which provided feedback on the different aspects of the process and, in particular, the role of industry in relation to the girls’ attitudes. This research highlights the benefits of industry involvement with girls in terms of their engagement with STEM, the authenticity of STEM learning, and the novelty of the learning experience. These benefits are discussed with respect to how they can raise girls’ STEM aspirations and ensure equitable educational opportunities—aligning with SDG4.
Does Information-and-Communication-Technology Market Openness Promote Digital Service Exports?
Authors: Yi Ziyu , Wei Long , Huang Xuan
Published: April 2022

ICT has become an important support for the booming trade in services in the digital era. However, the extent to which trade activities can benefit from ICT will depend on the regulatory constraints and the market-openness level of the ICT market. This study empirically examines the impact of ICT market openness on digital service exports on the basis of bilateral trade data at the industry level from 2007 to 2019 from 50 countries. The results show that: (1) ICT market openness seeks the combination of effective regulation and moderate openness, which is mainly reflected in three policy areas: improving information interconnection and sharing, reducing access restrictions and promoting fair competition; (2) The ICT market openness in both exporting and importing countries can significantly boost digital service exports, but in different ways. Exporting countries expand digital service exports mainly by promoting fair competition, while importing countries have the most obvious positive impact on exports through the reduction of access restrictions; (3) The greater the gap between the ICT development levels, and the lower the bilateral risk levels between the two trading countries, the greater the marginal effect that ICT market openness will have on the promotion of digital service exports. Thus, improving market openness indicates an important direction for ICT regulatory reform, but the impact on digital service exports will vary by specific policy area and by trading-partner country.
The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty on Corporate Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies
Authors: Deng Mingjun , Fang Xusheng , Tian Ziyan , Luo Wenbing
Published: April 2022

Corporate innovation is an important topic in the academic community, but there are few studies on the impact of the micro operation environment on corporate innovation. Using the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2009 to 2020, this paper examines the impact of environmental uncertainty on enterprise innovation from a micro perspective. The results show that there is an overall negative correlation between environmental uncertainty and corporate innovation. Companies facing a higher degree of environmental uncertainty are more cautious in their innovation investment. We also find that this negative correlation was more pronounced in companies with weaker risk-taking ability. Further research finds that financing constraints have a partial intermediary effect on the impact of environmental uncertainty on innovation, that is, environmental uncertainty can have a negative impact on innovation by increasing the financing constraints faced by corporations. Our research provides micro-level evidence for the impact of uncertainty on corporate innovation.
Feeding Bakery Former Foodstuffs and Wheat Distiller’s as Partial Replacement for Corn and Soybean Enhances the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Beef Cattle Farming
Authors: Grossi Silvia , Massa Valentina , Giorgino Andrea , Rossi Luciana , Dell’Anno Matteo , Pinotti Luciano , Avidano Filippo , Compiani Riccardo , Rossi Carlo Angelo Sgoifo
Published: April 2022

The effects of the partial substitution of corn and soybean meals with bakery former foodstuffs (BFF) and wheat wet distiller’s grains (WDGs) on environmental sustainability, production performance, and health status were evaluated in beef cattle. Newly arrived Limousine beef heifers (n = 408) housed an intensive farm in Campagnatico (Grosseto, Italy) were balanced for initial weight and body conformation and then randomly divided in two groups: (i) Traditional corn–soybean meal diet; (ii) Circular diet with average as-fed 1.5 kg BFF and 1.5 kg WDGs as substitute for 1.6 kg corn and 0.3 kg soybean meal. The environmental impact of the diet was analyzed considering greenhouse gases emissions (GHG, kg CO2 eq), water (H2O, L), and land use (LU, m2) as well as consumption of human-edible feeds (HE, kg). The growth performance, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass characteristics, apparent total tract digestibility (aTTD), and health status of heifers were evaluated. The Circular diet led to a reduction per kg of cold carcass weight (CCW) of 1.00 kg CO2 eq of GHG, 72.38 L of H2O, 1.20 m2 of LU, and 0.95 kg of HE (p < 0.0001). Growth performances, carcass characteristics, and health status were not affected (p > 0.05). Sugar and pectin aTTD were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in the Circular group. Replacing traditional feed ingredients with BFF and WDGs reduced the environmental impact of the diet of fattening Limousine heifers and the food competition between humans and beef cattle in accordance with circular economy principles.
A Hybrid Model for the Measurement of the Similarity between Twitter Profiles
Authors: Shoeibi Niloufar , Shoeibi Nastaran , Chamoso Pablo , Alizadehsani Zakieh , Corchado Juan Manuel
Published: April 2022

Social media platforms have been an undeniable part of our lifestyle for the past decade. Analyzing the information that is being shared is a crucial step to understanding human behavior. Social media analysis aims to guarantee a better experience for the user and to increase user satisfaction. To draw any further conclusions, first, it is necessary to know how to compare users. In this paper, a hybrid model is proposed to measure the degree of similarity between Twitter profiles by calculating features related to the users’ behavioral habits. For this, first, the timeline of each profile was extracted using the official TwitterAPI. Then, three aspects of a profile were deliberated in parallel. Behavioral ratios are time-series-related information showing the consistency and habits of the user. Dynamic time warping was utilized to compare the behavioral ratios of two profiles. Next, the audience network was extracted for each user, and to estimate the similarity of two sets, the Jaccard similarity was used. Finally, for the content similarity measurement, the tweets were preprocessed using the feature extraction method; TF-IDF and DistilBERT were employed for feature extraction and then compared using the cosine similarity method. The results showed that TF-IDF had slightly better performance; it was therefore selected for use in the model. When measuring the similarity level of different profiles, a Random Forest classification model was used, which was trained on 19,900 users, revealing a 0.97 accuracy in detecting similar profiles from different ones. As a step further, this convoluted similarity measurement can find users with very short distances, which are indicative of duplicate users.
Urban Green Parks for Long-Term Subjective Well-Being: Empirical Relationships between Personal Characteristics, Park Characteristics, Park Use, Sense of Place, and Satisfaction with Life in The Netherlands
Authors: van Dinter Mayke , Kools Mieke , Dane Gamze , Weijs-Perrée Minou , Chamilothori Kynthia , van Leeuwen Eveline , Borgers Aloys , van den Berg Pauline
Published: April 2022

As our living environment is becoming increasingly urbanized, this puts the livability, health, and quality of life in cities under pressure. Due to the urbanization process, urban green spaces are under threat of becoming scarce, while it is recognized that these green spaces can positively contribute to the subjective well-being of citizens. It is thus important to maximize the use and benefits derived from green spaces by designing them as positively experienced places. The aim of this research is to gain more empirical insights on the relationships between personal and park characteristics, park use behavior, sense of place, and park visitors’ long-term subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction). An online questionnaire was administered to participants in two medium-sized cities in The Netherlands, namely Eindhoven and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Data were analyzed using a structural equation model. The results of this study show that the appreciation of facilities and the absence of disturbances positively influence the use and sense of place of a park. Furthermore, the findings show that sense of place has a positive influence on life satisfaction. The findings can be used by designers and policy-makers as guidelines to improve existing parks or to design new parks that support the subjective well-being of individuals in The Netherlands.
Solving Ecological Problems through Physical Computing to Ensure Gender Balance in STEM Education
Authors: Stupurienė Gabrielė , Jevsikova Tatjana , Juškevičienė Anita
Published: April 2022

Research and practice have shown that female students are less interested in engineering and programming. This is related to gender stereotypes and technological self-efficacy. Research has also pointed out that students in rural schools tend to do less well in STEM subjects and are less likely to pursue STEM studies than their peers from large cities. Previous studies have highlighted the benefits of hands-on real-world-related engineering projects by building connections with students’ interests and technology while giving them something exciting to focus on. This study is aimed at investigating whether and how students’ individual characteristics (such as attitudes toward engineering and technology, motivation, and technology anxiety) are associated with rural school students’ engagement, gender differences, and inclusion in sustainable ecological engineering activities with Arduino microcontrollers. Surveys were conducted before and after the activity with pupils of a rural lower secondary school (ages 13–15). The results show that, female students’ initial attitude toward engineering and technology was significantly less positive than that of male students. Despite being novices in physical computing, a whole group of pupils were intrinsically motivated while performing these activities. The findings of this study provide transferable insights into practical STEM education that may strengthen students’ engagement, motivation, and achievement in STEM. The implications of the results of this study can be useful for a better understanding of the individual factors of students that influence future engineering activity design and STEM career selection opportunities.
Evaluation of the Dynamic Impact of a Passing Vehicle on a Bridge Deck Due to a Damaged Expansion Joint
Authors: Gao Jing , Zhang Xintao , Lei Jiayan
Published: April 2022

When a vehicle passes over a bridge, it may jump on the bridge due to a damaged expansion joint. The sudden jump induces a heavy dynamic impact on the bridge and therefore damages the bridge deck and girder. The traditional dynamic amplification factor defined by the current bridge design code shows the amplification of the static effects on the bridge. However, it only concerns the stable moving load induced by the vehicle. The sudden vehicle impact due to a damaged expansion joint sometimes exceeds the allowable design load, so it is important to evaluate the dynamic impact in practice. In fact, the dynamic impact can be approximately considered as a contact force between a damped harmonic oscillator and a beam due to the bilateral symmetry of the vehicle; therefore, a model-based approach using the bridge midspan acceleration is proposed in this study to approximately evaluate the impact force, where it is assumed as an exponentially damped sine function. This is a typical parametric model-based inverse problem. The conjugate direction method is used to determine the unknown parameters and the initial values are determined by a simple global search method. Since only five parameters are included, the proposed method is simpler than the conventional basis function-based methods. Numerical simulations were conducted to validate the proposed method. Generally, the proposed method performs well to identify the dynamic impact. In particular, the displacement measured directly from the bridge is preferred since the displacement obtained from the acceleration has numerical errors; the measurement noise in the range of 1% to 5% shows a slight influence on the proposed method; and the error of frequencies and mode shapes greatly affects the proposed method, especially for the maximum force.
Cerebral Polymorphisms for Lateralisation: Modelling the Genetic and Phenotypic Architectures of Multiple Functional Modules
Authors: McManus Chris
Published: April 2022

Recent fMRI and fTCD studies have found that functional modules for aspects of language, praxis, and visuo-spatial functioning, while typically left, left and right hemispheric respectively, frequently show atypical lateralisation. Studies with increasing numbers of modules and participants are finding increasing numbers of module combinations, which here are termed cerebral polymorphisms—qualitatively different lateral organisations of cognitive functions. Polymorphisms are more frequent in left-handers than right-handers, but it is far from the case that right-handers all show the lateral organisation of modules described in introductory textbooks. In computational terms, this paper extends the original, monogenic McManus DC (dextral-chance) model of handedness and language dominance to multiple functional modules, and to a polygenic DC model compatible with the molecular genetics of handedness, and with the biology of visceral asymmetries found in primary ciliary dyskinesia. Distributions of cerebral polymorphisms are calculated for families and twins, and consequences and implications of cerebral polymorphisms are explored for explaining aphasia due to cerebral damage, as well as possible talents and deficits arising from atypical inter- and intra-hemispheric modular connections. The model is set in the broader context of the testing of psychological theories, of issues of laterality measurement, of mutation-selection balance, and the evolution of brain and visceral asymmetries.
Bipolar Fuzzy Set Theory Applied to the Certain Ideals in BCI-Algebras
Authors: Abughazalah N. , Muhiuddin G. , Elnair Mohamed E. A. , Mahboob A.
Published: April 2022

The study of symmetry is one of the most important and beautiful themes uniting various areas of contemporary arithmetic. Algebraic structures are useful structures in pure mathematics for learning a geometrical object’s symmetries. In this paper, we introduce new concepts in an algebraic structure called BCI-algebra, where we present the concepts of bipolar fuzzy (closed) BCI-positive implicative ideals and bipolar fuzzy (closed) BCI-commutative ideals of BCI-algebras. The relationship between bipolar fuzzy (closed) BCI-positive implicative ideals and bipolar fuzzy ideals is investigated, and various conditions are provided for a bipolar fuzzy ideal to be a bipolar fuzzy BCI-positive implicative ideal. Furthermore, conditions are presented for a bipolar fuzzy (closed) ideal to be a bipolar fuzzy BCI-commutative ideal.
Stochastic Finite-Time Stability for Stochastic Nonlinear Systems with Stochastic Impulses
Authors: Hu Wei
Published: April 2022

In this paper, some novel stochastic finite-time stability criteria for stochastic nonlinear systems with stochastic impulse effects are established. The results in this paper blackgeneralized the related results in from two aspects: 1. the model in is the deterministic systems, which means that the noise effect that can be described as a symmetric Markov process Brownian motion is considered in our models; 2. the stochastic finite-time stability criterion is established in this paper, not the asymptotic stability and the input-to-state stability that are studied in the form literature. Finally, an example is given to show the significance blackand usefulness of our results.
The Symmetry and Topology of Finite and Periodic Graphs and Their Embeddings in Three-Dimensional Euclidean Space
Authors: O’Keeffe Michael , Treacy Michael M. J.
Published: April 2022

We make the case for the universal use of the Hermann-Mauguin (international) notation for the description of rigid-body symmetries in Euclidean space. We emphasize the importance of distinguishing between graphs and their embeddings and provide examples of 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-periodic structures. Embeddings of graphs are given as piecewise linear with finite, non-intersecting edges. We call attention to problems of conflicting terminology when disciplines such as materials chemistry and mathematics collide.
Brain Functional Connectivity Asymmetry: Left Hemisphere Is More Modular
Authors: Jajcay Lucia , Tomeček David , Horáček Jiří , Španiel Filip , Hlinka Jaroslav
Published: April 2022

Graph-theoretical approaches are increasingly used to study the brain and may enhance our understanding of its asymmetries. In this paper, we hypothesize that the structure of the left hemisphere is, on average, more modular. To this end, we analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 90 healthy subjects. We computed functional connectivity by Pearson’s correlation coefficient, turned the matrix into an unweighted graph by keeping a certain percentage of the strongest connections, and quantified modularity separately for the subgraph formed by each hemisphere. Our results show that the left hemisphere is more modular. The result is consistent across a range of binarization thresholds, regardless of whether the two hemispheres are thresholded together or separately. This illustrates that graph-theoretical analysis can provide a robust characterization of lateralization of brain functional connectivity.