bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Shortwave Infrared Multi-Angle Polarization Imager (MAPI) Onboard Fengyun-3 Precipitation Satellite for Enhanced Cloud Characterization
Authors: Wang Haofei , Zhang Peng , Yin Dekui , Li Zhengqiang , Shang Huazhe , Xu Hanlie , Shang Jian , Gu Songyan , Hu Xiuqing
Published: September 2022

Accurate measurement of the radiative properties of clouds and aerosols is of great significance to global climate change and numerical weather prediction. The multi-angle polarization imager (MAPI) onboard the Fengyun-3 precipitation satellite, planned to be launched in 2023, will provide the multi-angle, multi-shortwave infrared (SWIR) channels and multi-polarization satellite observation of clouds and aerosols. MAPI operates in a non-sun-synchronized inclined orbit and provides images with a spatial resolution of 3 km (sub-satellite) and a swath of 700 km. The observation channels of the MAPI include 1030 nm, 1370 nm, and 1640 nm polarization channels and corresponding non-polarization channels, which provide observation information from 14 angles. In-flight radiometric and polarimetric calibration strategies are introduced, aiming to achieve radiometric accuracy of 5% and polarimetric accuracy of 2%. Simulation experiments show that the MAPI has some unique advantages of characterizing clouds and aerosols. For cloud observation, the polarization phase functions of the 1030 nm and 1640 nm around the scattering angle of a cloudbow show strong sensitivity to cloud droplet radius and effective variance. In addition, the polarized observation of the 1030 nm and 1640 nm has a higher content of information for aerosol than VIS-NIR. Additionally, the unique observation geometry of non-sun-synchronous orbits can provide more radiometric and polarization information with expanded scattering angles. Thus, the multi-angle polarization measurement of the new SWIR channel onboard Fengyun-3 can optimize cloud phase state identification and cloud microphysical parameter inversion, as well as the retrieval of aerosols. The results obtained from the simulations will provide support for the design of the next generation of polarized imagers of China.
Improving Road Safety during Nocturnal Hours by Characterizing Animal Poses Utilizing CNN-Based Analysis of Thermal Images
Authors: Mowen Derian , Munian Yuvaraj , Alamaniotis Miltiadis
Published: September 2022

Animal–vehicle collision is a common danger on highways, especially during nighttime driving. Its likelihood is affected not only by the low visibility during nighttime hours, but also by the unpredictability of animals’ actions when a vehicle is nearby. Extensive research has shown that the lack of visibility during nighttime hours can be addressed using thermal imaging. However, to our knowledge, little research has been undertaken on predicting animal action through an animal’s specific poses while a vehicle is moving. This paper proposes a new system that couples the use of a two-dimensional convolutional neural network (2D-CNN) and thermal image input, to determine the risk imposed by an animal in a specific pose to a passing automobile during nighttime hours. The proposed system was tested using a set of thermal images presenting real-life scenarios of animals in specific poses on the roadside and was found to classify animal poses accurately in 82% of cases. Overall, it provides a valuable basis for implementing an automotive tool to minimize animal–vehicle collisions during nighttime hours.
Unlocking the Full Sustainability Potential of School Buildings by Reconciling Building Properties with Educational and Societal Needs
Authors: Seuntjens Oskar , Buyle Matthias , Belmans Bert , Audenaert Amaryllis
Published: September 2022

This study explores how school buildings can be exploited more efficiently in the future, since, at present, they remain unused for a substantial amount of time. One possibility to tackle this inefficiency, is to involve the local community more closely in usage of its school building. First, a theoretical analysis was carried out to increase the fundamental understanding of the underlying dynamics related to opening school infrastructure to the local community. Second, focus group discussions were organized to research whether involving the local community in the school building was compatible with educational needs. The first highlighted that more extensive building usage could lead to positive social, environmental, educational and economic benefits. In the second, educational experts stressed that they wanted to adopt more innovative and flexible forms of teaching in the future, such as team teaching. Technical directors expressed concerns on safety issues if the local community is to be more closely involved. In the final step, all findings were translated into their technical consequences. From this analysis, it could be concluded that a school building with a high degree of short-term flexibility was the preferred option to reconcile societal and educational needs.
Wave Energy Potential of the Coast of El Hierro Island for the Exploitation of a Wave Energy Converter (WEC)
Authors: Padrón Isidro , García Manuel Damián , Marichal Graciliano Nicolás , Avila Deivis
Published: September 2022

In this paper, we studied the territorial, technical, and economic conditions for the potential installation of a wave energy converter plant (WEC) connected to the small power grid of the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands). To define the best location, the non-directional gross energy potential at the selected points was computed from long series of data of deep-water waves, propagated up to the coast using coefficients of refraction and shoaling calculated for the bathymetry of the island. The study concludes that the best location is the northeastern coast of the island “Llanos Blancos”, where the gross energy potential for the non-directional oscillating water column (OWC) plant used as a reference is 265.40 MWh/m per year. The methodology proposed in the work uses light computing means and affordable data series and is easily extrapolated by industry practitioners to other regions, particularly oceanic insular regions subject to waves potentially from any direction.
The Impact of Higher Education on Health Literacy: A Comparative Study between Urban and Rural China
Authors: Long Yanwen , Jia Changli , Luo Xiaoxia , Sun Yufeng , Zuo Wenjing , Wu Yibo , Wu Yunchou , Kaierdebieke Ayidana , Lin Zhi
Published: September 2022

Health China 2030 calls for health equity. The strict household registration system, known as Hukou, results in an uneven distribution of social resources between urban and rural China. Higher education can promote social mobility and narrow health inequality. Health literacy is a significant indicator to predict health status. Drawing on national representative data recently collected, this study examines the impact of higher education on health literacy in urban and rural China. Propensity score matching was used to address potential selection bias. Ordinary least squares regressions and Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition techniques were conducted to explore urban-rural disparities in health benefits from higher education. The findings indicate that there are existing gaps in health literacy, higher education attainment, household income, and healthcare coverage between urban and rural China. Higher education attainment can significantly promote health literacy both in urban and rural China, after controlling for a series of demographic, socio-economic, and individual characteristics. Moreover, this study highlights a negative heterogenous treatment effect pattern: those who are less likely to attend college can obtain more health benefits from higher education than those who are more likely to be admitted into college. Public education and health programs, policies, and goals should be further optimized to promote integrated development in urban and rural China.
Can Environmental Regulation Improve High-Quality Economic Development in China? The Mediating Effects of Digital Economy
Authors: Wang Jun , Zhang Guixiang
Published: September 2022

Environmental regulation is an effective environmental policy tool, which can balance the interests of the government, enterprises, and the public and can effectively address the internalization of environmental externalities. The digital economy has emerged as a brand-new force for the advancement of high-quality economic development. In order to successfully come true to high-quality economic development based on coordinated development of environmental protection and economic growth, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate whether environmental regulation promotes high-quality economic development from a digital economy perspective. This paper empirically analyzed the impact of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development in 236 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019, using the mediation effect model, threshold regression model, and spatial Durbin model. The results demonstrated that environmental regulation has a significant positive effect on the general high-quality economic development. Specifically, formal environmental regulation has a positive nonlinear effect with decreasing marginal effect on high-quality economic development, whereas informal environmental regulation has a positive nonlinear effect with increasing marginal effects. The digital economy is an important path for environmental regulation to strengthen high-quality economic development. Environmental regulation and the digital economy jointly promote high-quality economic development. In spatial effects, formal environmental regulation has a negative spatial spillover effect on high-quality economic development, whereas informal environmental regulation has a positive spatial spillover effect. Based on these conclusions, it is proposed that the government should actively develop and strengthen the interaction mechanism between formal and informal environmental regulation, enhance the integration of digital platforms and environmental regulation, and develop a coordinated development mechanism for the environment and economy across regions.
The Impact of the Urbanization Process on Agricultural Technical Efficiency in Northeast China
Authors: Zhao Zhe , Peng Pengyu , Zhang Fan , Wang Jiayin , Li Hongxuan
Published: September 2022

In this paper, on the basis of a theoretical analysis, we quantitatively explore the impact of urbanization on agricultural technical efficiency after measuring the agricultural technical efficiency and the urbanization level, from the perspective of different dimensions in 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China, using the SE-DEA model, entropy-TOPSIS method, and the panel regression model. The results show that, except for some cities that achieved technical efficiency in individual years, such as Yichun in 2012 (1.003), and Benxi in 2015 and 2016 (1.011 and 1.254, respectively), the overall level of agricultural technical efficiency in the Northeast Region is still relatively low. The level of overall urbanization in Liaoning was significantly higher than that in Heilongjiang and Jilin. The population urbanization and land urbanization levels of most cities were relatively high, but an obvious improvement trend was not observed. Some cities even appeared to undergo the phenomenon of “anti-urbanization”, and the economic urbanization showed an obvious characteristic of “high begins and low ends” in the Northeast. Moreover, except for the population urbanization, the overall urbanization, land urbanization, and economic urbanization all had a significant positive effect on the agricultural technical efficiency; the effect in Heilongjiang province was higher than that in Liaoning province, and Heilongjiang province showed an obvious catch-up trend. While enriching the research on urbanization and efficiency, this study provided political implications on strengthening the flow of factors between the urban and rural, improving the investment in technology and labor training, and improving the compensation mechanism.
Antecedents and Consequences of Environmental Capability towards Sustainability and Competitiveness
Authors: Karia Noorliza
Published: September 2022

There is still little theoretically driven research and empirical evidence on how firms develop and adjust their existing resource capabilities to create environmental values that enable sustainability and competitiveness. This paper aims to establish a framework of environmental capability that predicts antecedents to and impacts on sustainable performance and competitiveness. The data contained in the review are analyzed based on articles from the perspectives of logistics service providers (LSPs) concerning sustainable and green practices. The results show that green resource-based logistics capabilities anticipate environmental capabilities, impacting sustainable performance and competitiveness. This inductive reasoning makes use of a number of theories and empirical studies that generalize the framework of environmental capabilities and hence contribute to the absence of theoretically driven research and empirical evidence. The study contributes to five types of emergent green resource-based logistics: physical, technological, knowledge-based, relational, and organizational, which must be aligned and developed to create a unique and durable framework of environmental capability for sustained environmental and competitive progress. The findings provide constructs and measurements for green resource-based logistics capabilities, sustainability, and competitiveness. This paper suggests that LSPs can reach superb performance outcomes through investing in green resource-based logistics to achieve a more positive impact in terms of environmental capability.
Partnership Diplomacy and China’s Exports
Authors: Liu Yaying , Chen Jin , Sun Churen
Published: September 2022

The use of active diplomacy tactics could explain the rapid growth of China’s trade. By collecting information from the official statements on China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, we constructed a dataset of China’s partnerships to investigate whether partnership diplomacy influenced China’s exports during the period of 1995–2018. We found empirical evidence that partnership diplomacy had a significant and positive impact on China’s exports. The lag terms of the partnerships and the voting data from the United Nations General Assembly have been used as instruments to reduce potential endogeneity. Our mechanism analysis showed that the positive effect of partnership diplomacy on China’s exports followed the law of comparative advantage. By reducing bilateral trade costs, partnership diplomacy has mainly fostered exports in products and industries for which China is more productive and competitive, such as “machinery and electrical equipment” and “textile and articles thereof”. Partnership diplomacy is believed to bridge the ideological gaps between partner countries and enable them to pursue common interests. In light of this, partnership diplomacy could be regarded as a positive factor that has driven China’s export expansion.
COVID Crisis and Tourism Sustainability: An Insightful Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Bhatt Ketan , Seabra Claudia , Kabia Sunil Kumar , Ashutosh Kumar , Gangotia Amit
Published: September 2022

The pernicious impact of COVID-19 on all the aspects of travel and tourism has posed a question of tourism sustainability before policymakers and researchers. This research aims to cast light on the bibliometric construct and knowledge structure of the contemporaneous research that evolved around tourism sustainability amid COVID-19. Bibliometric methods of performance analysis and science mapping were used to analyze a total of 440 bibliographic records retrieved from the Scopus database. The major findings showed sustainability as a trending area of tourism research amid COVID-19 and revealed the concentration of research in three prime domains: Management and sustainable development of tourism, environmental health, and mobility trends in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. These areas may be perceived as the recent domains, and they are imperative for future research.
Examining the Relationship between Tourism and Gender Equality: Evidence from Asia
Authors: Zhang Yan , Xu Shenglan , Zhang Jiekuan
Published: September 2022

This study analyzes the relationship between tourism and gender equality using panel vector autoregression and vector error correction models estimated by the generalized method of moment. This methodology is based on panel data from 36 Asian countries between 2006 and 2019. The other three variables including the economy, employment, and education are also analyzed. The results show that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between tourism and gender equality. In the short run, tourism is not the Granger cause for gender equality; however, tourism significantly contributes to gender equality in all regions in the long run. Furthermore, a heterogeneous causality between tourism and gender equality is found across the regions. Tourism’s positive effect on gender equality does not depend entirely on economic empowerment. All the economy, education and employment mostly contribute to realizing gender equality, but this contribution is not decisive. The findings and policy implications are finally discussed.
Special Sacrifice and Determination of Compensation Standard for Land Expropriation in the Urbanization Process—A Perspective of Legal Practice
Authors: You Wei , Dai Tianyu , Du Wuqing , Chen Jiabai
Published: September 2022

In the current context of rapid global urbanization, China’s urbanization is also accelerating, and the rational planning and sustainable use of state land and space have become a growing concern. The expansion of urban geographic space is inevitably accompanied by the massive expropriation of rural land. The research objective of this article is to explore, from a jurisprudence perspective, under what circumstances land expropriation in urbanization has caused special sacrifices to farmers and what compensation standards have been determined by the Chinese courts after the special sacrifices have been caused. To achieve this research objective, the authors first identified the causal relation between the expansion of urbanization and conflicts over land expropriation in China through the empirical analysis method, and found that the expansion of urban geographic space has led to an increase in conflicts over land expropriation and that the land expropriation compensation system is the key to alleviating such conflicts. Secondly, by interpreting and summarizing the compensation standards for land expropriation in China’s legislation texts and judicial judgments through normative analysis, this article finds that the compensation standards for land expropriation currently adopted by the people’s courts of China are pluralistic and conflict with those in the legislation text. This article concludes that if land expropriation in urbanization leads to an infringement of civil liberties which results in a special sacrifice of citizens, such special sacrifice should be justly compensated. To effectively mitigate the conflicts concerning land expropriation in the urbanization process, China should build a unified compensation standard for land expropriation under the guidance of legislative text in the future, achieve a reconciliation between the doctrinal and practical compensation standards for land expropriation, and support the rule of law to guarantee the sustainable development of urbanization.
Behaviour and Design of Bolt-Coupler Connections under Compression in Prefabricated CFST Columns
Authors: Hassan Md Kamrul , Ahmed Bulbul , Ram Anmol , Saha Swapan
Published: September 2022

The paper presents the investigated results of bolt-coupler connections under compression experimentally. Bolt-coupler connections have been developed recently for prefabricated column-to-column (PCC) connections to simplify the construction process of prefabricated concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns and to transfer the upper column load to the bottom column through bolt-coupler connections. However, the behaviour of bolt-coupler connections under compression has not been investigated in the past although there are some experimental and numerical studies conducted on bolt-coupler connections under tension. To address these research gaps, the behaviour of bolt-coupler connections under compression has been investigated. The main parameters considered in this study are bolt diameters (M16, M20, M24), bolt grades (8.8, 10.9 grade), gap inside the coupler between two bolts of bolt-coupler connection (0, 10, 20 mm), and coupler grade (5.6, 8.8 grade). It is observed that the ultimate capacity of bolt-coupler connections is reduced significantly with an increase in the bolt gap inside the coupler of the bolt-coupler connection. Based on the test data, a design equation is developed to determine the design capacity of bolt-coupler connections under compression, which will be very useful in designing the PCC connections of sustainable prefabricated CFST columns.
From Chestnut Tree (Castanea sativa) to Flour and Foods: A Systematic Review of the Main Criticalities and Control Strategies towards the Relaunch of Chestnut Production Chain
Authors: Aglietti Chiara , Cappelli Alessio , Andreani Annalisa
Published: September 2022

Castanea sativa plays a key role in different production chains (timber, flour, honey, and tannins). Moreover, considering the great importance of chestnuts and chestnut flour for the food industry and for the subsistence of piedmont communities, a relaunch of this production chain is definitely essential, thus motivating this review. The first aim of this literature overview is to summarize current knowledge regarding the main criticalities in chestnut tree cultivation, chestnut processing, and in chestnut flour production. The second aim is to suggest specific improvement strategies to contrast the main pests and diseases affecting chestnut trees, improve chestnut processing and flour production, and, finally, valorize all by-products generated by this production chain. With respect to chestnut trees, it is essential to develop specific integrated strategies based on early detection and management to contrast known and emerging issues. With regard to chestnut drying and flour production, particular attention needs to be paid to molds and mycotoxins which definitely represent the main criticalities. In addition, further investigations are needed to improve the dying process in both traditional and modern dry kilns, and to develop innovative drying processes. Finally, to face the monumental challenge of environmental sustainability, the valorization of the whole chestnut by-products is crucial. This review clearly highlighted that the recovery of polyphenols from chestnut by-products is the most interesting, sustainable, and profitable strategy. However, the fungal fermentation or the incorporation of little amounts of these by-products into foods seems a very interesting alternative.
Investigating the Impacting Factors on the Public’s Attitudes towards Autonomous Vehicles Using Sentiment Analysis from Social Media Data
Authors: Wang Shengzhao , Li Meitang , Yu Bo , Bao Shan , Chen Yuren
Published: September 2022

The attitudes of the public play a critical role in the acceptance, purchase, utilization, and research and development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Currently, the attitudes of the public toward AVs have been mostly estimated through traditional survey data, which bears a low quantity of samples with high labor costs. It is probably also one of the reasons why the critical factors on the attitudes of the public toward AVs have not been studied from a comprehensive perspective yet. To address the issue, this study aims to propose a method by using large-scale social media data to investigate key factors that affect the attitudes of the public toward AVs. A total of 954,151 Twitter data related to AVs and 53 candidate independent variables from seven categories were extracted using the web scraping method. Then, sentiment analysis was used to measure the public attitudes towards AVs by calculating sentiment scores. Random forests algorithm was employed to preliminarily select candidate independent variables according to their importance and a linear mixed model was utilized to explore the impacting factors, considering the unobserved heterogeneities caused by the subjectivity level of tweets. The results showed that the attitudes of the public toward AVs were slightly optimistic. Factors, such as “drunk”, “blind spot”, and “mobility”, had the largest impacts on public attitudes. In addition, people were more likely to express positive feelings when talking about words, such as “lidar” and “Tesla”, related to high technologies. Conversely, factors, such as “COVID-19”, “pedestrian”, “sleepy”, and “highway”, were found to have significantly negative effects on the attitudes of the public. The findings of this study are beneficial for the development of AV technologies, the guidelines for AV-related policy formulation, and the understanding and acceptance of the public toward AVs.
Can Safety Leadership Be an Antidote in the COVID-19 Fear of Job Insecurity and the Work Engagement Relationship in the Norwegian Service Industry? A Moderated-Mediation Model
Authors: Unur Mert , Atai Guzide , Capkiner Emel , Arasli Huseyin
Published: September 2022

While there is evidence of job-related antecedents of work engagement, there is little information in the relevant literature on cross-domain effects. The purpose of this empirical study is to examine this under-researched aspect by analyzing data from the conservation of resource theory and the job-demand resource model. A moderated mediation model is proposed wherein COVID-19, the fear reduces service employees’ work engagement through job insecurity, and safety leadership acts as the supportive construct to cope with adverse effects of the pandemic on mentioned outcomes. The research, based on the experiences of 376 Norwegians working in the service sector, found that: the fear of COVID-19 had a major deterrent effect on employee engagement. One of the reasons for this relationship was job insecurity, which acted as a mediator between the COVID-19 fear and engagement, in work. In addition, the moderating role of the safety leadership in the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and worker engagement was confirmed. In other words, workers who were under the supervision of safety leaders had lower links between these concepts, even if they were indirectly linked through job insecurity. With regard to the stress-related effects of COVID-19 on service personnel’s perceptions, attitude, and actions regarding their jobs and conditions of employment, this study has both theoretical and managerial implications. It also expands upon the existing understanding of how managers can handle such negative consequences. The limitations of the study’s contextual scope and sampling procedure of the study are discussed.
Eucalyptus Growth Responses to Soil Water Storage Capacity in Arenosols and Acrisols Soils: Wood and Biomass Stock Modelling
Authors: Cavalli Jean Pierre , Frank de Araújo Elias , Reichert José Miguel
Published: September 2022

Eucalyptus is the main fast-growing tree for biomass production in the tropics, providing resources for pulp and paper industries and bioenergy. The potential productivity of forest sites over an eight-year rotation in Brazil was evaluated by the Physiological Principles in Predicting Growth (3-PG) model for two soils, Acrisols and Arenosols, with high and low water storage, respectively, and distinct productive potential capacity. The model was parameterized by data-sets obtained in bimonthly forest inventories performed in stands with 33, 58 and 89 months-old trees, and edaphic surveys. The average volumetric productivity of wood and biomass of the main stem determined at the 89 months-old stand was 374 m3 ha−1 (177 Mg ha−1) for Acrisols and 272.3 m3 ha−1 (130.0 Mg ha−1) for Arenosols. The estimated volumetric production in the Arenosols had a high mean annual increment up to the age of 58 months, with a significant reduction in growth rates after this time. In Acrisols, high incremental rates in wood volume up to age of 89 months (MAIVW > 50 m3 ha−1 year−1) indicate that, under ideal soil conditions, the cutting cycle may exceed 8 years with no productivity impairment. The parameterized model matched well for forest yield (r2 > 0.9) and dendrometric variables (r2 > 0.78). The expected results of lower productivity in Arenosols occurred only after 58 months, while for Acrisols productivity remained high up to 89 months. The results showed the eucalyptus cycle should be shorter in Arenosols, since the lower cutting cycle can provide higher final productivity, when using the mean annual increment to evaluate productivity.
Changes in Vegetation Period Length in Slovakia under the Conditions of Climate Change for 1931–2110
Authors: Kišš Vladimír , Pagáč Jakub , Tárník Andrej , Čimo Ján
Published: September 2022

The global mean near-surface temperature between 2012 and 2021 was 1.11 to 1.14 °C warmer than the pre-industrial level. This makes it the warmest period on record. The aim of this article was to investigate vegetation period changes (onset and termination of the temperature T ≥ 5 °C, T ≥ 10 °C, and T ≥ 15 °C) due to climate change from the average air temperature for the periods 1931–1961, 1961–1991, and 1991–2020 for 24 stations in Slovakia and forecast the length of vegetation periods for the periods 2021–2050, 2051–2080, and 2081–2110. The number of days with these characteristic temperatures was used as an input dataset, from which map outputs were generated in ArcGIS software. Spatial analysis of the vegetation periods in the past, present, and future showed an earlier start of the vegetation period in spring and a later ending in autumn during the last 30 years. The maximum duration of the vegetation period will expand from the south to the north of Slovakia. Future scenarios showed an extension of the vegetation period duration. On the other hand, this potential advantage for crop cultivation is limited by a lack of arable land in the north of Slovakia and by a lack of precipitation in the south of Slovakia.
Traffic Flow Prediction with Attention Mechanism Based on TS-NAS
Authors: Zhao Cai , Liu Ruijing , Su Bei , Zhao Lei , Han Zhiyong , Zheng Wen
Published: September 2022

The prediction of traffic flow is of great significance in the traffic field. However, because of the high uncertainty and complexity of traffic data, it is challenging that doing traffic flow prediction. Most of the existing methods have achieved good results in traffic flow prediction, but are not accurate enough to capture the dynamic temporal and spatial relationship of data by using the structural information of traffic flow. In this study, we propose a traffic flow prediction method with temporal attention mechanism and spatial attention mechanism based on neural architecture search (TS-NAS). Firstly, based on temporal and spatial attention mechanisms, we design a new attention mechanism. Secondly, we define a novel model to learn temporal flow and space flow in traffic network. Finally, the proposed method uses different modules about time, space and convolution and neural architecture search to be used for optimizing the model. We use two datasets to test the method. Experimental results show that the performance of the method is better than that of the existing method.
International Trends and Practices on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Leal Filho Walter , Coronado-Marín Alfonso , Salvia Amanda Lange , Silva Fernanda Frankenberger , Wolf Franziska , LeVasseur Todd , Kirrane Maria J. , Doni Federica , Paço Arminda , Blicharska Malgorzata , Schmitz Marina , Grahl Anselm T. , Moggi Sara
Published: September 2022

Sustainability reports are regarded as important tools in offering information about the environmental, social, economic, and institutional performance of an institution, and in demonstrating a commitment to matters related to sustainable development. But even though sustainability reporting has been used by a variety of higher education institutions to date, it is not as widely practiced as it should be. To further investigate this topic, a twofold approach was used: a study focusing on sustainability reporting approaches deployed in a sample of 30 universities across a set of countries; and a survey with a sample of 72 universities from different global regions to assess the extent to which they are deploying sustainability reporting as part of their activities. The scientific value of the paper resides in the fact that it offers a comprehensive overview of the subject matter of sustainability reporting, and how higher education institutions handle it. It also outlines the efforts in developing these documents which may catalyse further progress in this key area.
Feasibility of UTS Smart Home to Support Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations (UN SDGs): Water and Energy Conservation
Authors: Kee Keh-Kim , Ting Huong-Yong , Lim Yun-Seng , Ting Jackie-Tiew-Wei , Peter Marcella , Ibrahim Khairunnisa , Show Pau Loke
Published: September 2022

The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations strive to maximize development needs, while minimizing environmental deterioration, without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. Nevertheless, due to urbanization, the escalating trend in natural-resource use, particularly electricity and water, is currently a crucial challenge for sustainable development. One of the promising options is the smart home, which is an extension of building automation with smart characteristics in monitoring, analyzing, controlling, and cloud computing with networked smart devices. Due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure and conscious consumption, its global adoption in the construction industry remains low. We present a technical feasibility of a multi-functional experimental smart home to support the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations in terms of water and energy conservation. The layered architecture of the cloud platform with an application program interface enables seamless integration of heterogeneous smart-home technologies and data sources. Use cases demonstrated its capacity to conserve electrical energy and water resources in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Aside from that, the smart home’s electricity self-consumption of at least three autonomy days was confirmed with zero emissions and electricity bills, and a reduced supply-water consumption.
Effects of Influence Parameters on Freezing Wall Temperature Field in Subway Tunnel
Authors: Zhao Yanxi , Wei Youxin , Jiang Jingshan , Jin Hua
Published: September 2022

In order to study the influence of different factors on the temperature field of the freezing wall of connecting passage, and to evaluate the effect of different influencing factors, four groups of analyses were carried out through three-dimensional finite element software, including the influence of brine temperature, the influence of freezing pipe diameter, the influence of freezing pipe spacing, and the influence of soil water content. The analysis shows that the finite element method based on the thermodynamics theory can better simulate the freezing temperature field and formation law of the freezing wall of each section. Among the influencing factors, the brine temperature and the freezing pipe spacing have the greatest influence on the temperature field of the freezing wall. The thickness of the freezing wall increases linearly with the increase in the freezing time. At the same time, the thickness of the freezing wall increases with the increase in the diameter of the freezing tube and the decrease in the spacing between the freezing tubes. With the decrease in brine temperature and water content, the difference of freezing wall thickness at different levels becomes larger and larger with the increase in freezing time. The influence of various factors on the freezing wall is in the order of brine temperature, freezing tube spacing, and freezing tube diameter. At present, the saltwater temperature in the freezing project of the metro shield tunnel is generally controlled at −28~−30 °C. Generally, from the perspective of actual engineering, it is better to control the spacing of freezing pipes at 1.0~1.3 m, and the diameter of the freezing pipe of the connecting channel is generally more than 89 mm. By comparing the numerical simulation value with monitoring data, the numerical calculation result is consistent with the monitoring temperature change rule.
‘Water Sensitive Cities’: Planning and Evaluation of Its Theoretical Application in a Mexican City with High Hydric Stress
Authors: Cabañas-Melo Laura Sofía , Santiago Luis Enrique , Hernández-Marín Martín , Pacheco-Martínez Jesús
Published: September 2022

Cities can be viewed as a source of solutions to environmental problems. The Water-Sensitive Cities (WSC) model is part of the solution when trying to transform the current negative relationship between water and cities, since it has remained at the conceptual level, without evaluating the implications of its application in cities from developing countries. The primary aim of the article is to analyse a potential scenario under the WSC model, seeking an alternative solution to the problems of water availability and supply in cities in semi-arid environments with prominent levels of water stress from the Global South. We selected Aguascalientes City, Mexico, as a case study, and through geospatial analysis, it was possible to generate and assess urban planning strategies for stormwater harvesting and alternative sustainable infrastructure for urban and peri-urban areas. The results show that this analysis would imply a considerable reduction in groundwater extracted for urban consumption in the city, reducing local water stress; however, the various political and social implications intrinsic to the implementation of this model should be considered, as they may represent an obstacle to its execution.
Investigating the Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) as a Climate-Smart Drought-Tolerant Crop under Jordanian Arid Environments
Authors: Bani Hani Nabeel , Aukour Fakher J. , Al-Qinna Mohammed I.
Published: September 2022

To investigate drought tolerance under arid conditions, eleven pearl millet breeds (HHVBC tall B6; IP13150; IP19586; IP19612; IP22269; IP6110; IP7704; MC94C2; P. millet icms7709; Sudan-pop I; Sudan-pop III) were tested under arid water-scarce climatic conditions. A field randomized complete block design experiment with three replicates per year was conducted at the Deir-Alla Regional Agriculture Research center in the middle Ghor within the Jordan Valley from 2010 to 2020. The plant-deficit irrigation was maintained at 80% based on the crop water requirements using a time-domain reflectometer. The plant morphological characteristics, forage production, seed formation, and water-use efficiency (WUE) were monitored for ten years for two case scenarios: seed and forage production. The individual and combined drought indices of the precipitation, temperature, and vegetation were calculated and correlated with the millet morphological and yield parameters. Climate change analyses show significant impacts, reaching a 1 mm/year reduction in precipitation and a 0.04 mm/year increase in air temperature, which causes the study area to be more prone to drought events. Along with the proven increase in the drought intensity over time, the millet breeds showed significant drought-tolerance capacities under arid, drought-prone conditions by adjusting their system to tolerate salt, heat, and water stresses. For the seed production scenario, the WUE ranged from 27 to 57.3 kg/ha·mm, and from 7.1 to 14.9 kg/ha·mm for fresh and dry conditions, respectively. The IP13150 millet breed showed the highest capacity to tolerate the drought of Jordan’s environment, and it is thus recommended as a good substitute under water-scarcity situations, with an average production of 17.7 ton/ha. For the vegetative production scenario, the WUE ranged from 32.03 to 64.82 kg/ha·mm for the fresh biomass and from 10.8 to 24.6 kg/ha·mm for the dry biomass. Based on the WUEs and vegetative production results, the IP19586, IP22269, IP19612, IP7704, and HHVBC tall B6 millet breeds are recommended as forage support due to their phenological characteristics, which tolerate drought and heat conditions. In contrast to the vegetation drought index, both the precipitation and temperature drought indices show strong correlations (above r > 0.6) with the plant growth factors and a moderate correlation (0.3 < r < 0.6) with the yield factors. Both precipitation and temperature indices are capable of explaining the variations among millet breeds, especially as related to millets’ morpho-physiological characteristics.
Micro-Level CSR as a New Organizational Value for Social Sustainability Formation: A Study of Healthcare Sector in GCC Region
Authors: AlDhaen Esra
Published: September 2022

Purpose: The purpose of the research work is to investigate whether micro-level corporate social responsibility (MCSR) plays a positive role in forming and promoting organizational social sustainability (SOS). It further investigates how each of the four dimensions of MCSR are linked with organizational social sustainability. Additionally, the study aims at studying MSCR and SOS within a context where such kinds of studies are scant. Methodology: A quantitative, cross sectional, and explanatory design was used to conduct the study. A sample 516 respondents were drawn from five hospitals in Bahrain through random sampling technique, and 441 questionnaires complete from all aspects were included for analysis. Different reliability and validity tests were carried out to check the goodness of the data. Inferential statistics, including regression analysis, were applied to test the hypotheses. Findings: Data analysis showed a significant relationship between micro-level CSR and organizational social sustainability. Ethical dimensions of MCSR proved to be the most dominant influencer of SOS, followed by environmental dimension of MCSR. However, the relationships of philanthropic and economic MCSR with SOS were statistically significant, but the intensity of relationships was weak. Originality: It is the seminal work in terms of investigating the relationship between MSCR and SOS which, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, has not been investigated before. Testing the relationship of each dimension of MCSR with SOS is another original value, in addition to the existing body of literature.
Transcending the Locality of Grassroots Initiatives: Diffusion of Sustainability Knowledge and Practice through Transdisciplinary Research
Authors: Ortiz Willington , Vilsmaier Ulli
Published: September 2022

Community-based approaches to natural resource management are being discussed and experienced as promising ways for pursuing ecological conservation and socio-economic development simultaneously. However, the multiplicity of levels, scales, objectives and actors that are involved in sustainability transformations tends to be challenging for such bottom-up approaches. Collaborative and polycentric governance schemes are proposed for dealing with those challenges. What has not been fully explored is how knowledge from local contexts of community-based initiatives can be diffused to influence practices on higher levels and/or in other local contexts. This study explores how theoretical advances in the diffusion of grassroots innovation can contribute to understanding and supporting the diffusion of knowledge and practices from community-based initiatives and proposes a transdisciplinary approach to diffusion. For that aim, we develop an analytical perspective on the diffusion of grassroots innovations that takes into consideration the multiplicity of actors, levels and scales, the different qualities/types of knowledge and practices, as well as their respective contributions. We focus on the multiplicity and situatedness of cognitive frames and conceptualize the diffusion of grassroots innovations as a transdisciplinary process. In this way three different diffusion pathways are derived in which the knowledge and practices of grassroots initiatives can be processed in order to promote their (re)interpretation and (re)application in situations and by actors that do not share the cognitive frame and the local context of the originating grassroots initiative. The application of the developed approach is illustrated through transdisciplinary research for the diffusion of sustainable family farming innovations in Colombia. This conceptualization accounts for the emergence of multiplicity as an outcome of diffusion by emphasizing difference as a core resource in building sustainable futures.
The Role of Internet on Agricultural Sector Performance in Global World
Authors: Suroso Arif Imam , Fahmi Idqan , Tandra Hansen
Published: September 2022

The Internet is considered to be an important factor in accelerating economic growth. There is a statistic regarding the inline of higher economic growth with higher Internet access. However, the impact of the Internet on agriculture as a real sector regarding its contribution on economic growth has not been explored in detail. The purpose of this study is to analyze the global effect of the Internet on agricultural sector performance. Static panel regression was used in this study by involving 126 countries using data from World Bank Open Data (2012–2019). Extended analysis was employed by applying the regression into two classifications, namely, countries by continent and the country composition of World Economic Outlook (WEO) groups. The result of this study shows that there exists a positive and significant global effect from Internet users, fixed broadband subscriptions, and secure Internet servers on agricultural sector performance. Additionally, the positive effect of Internet variables on agriculture was only found in Africa, Asia, and Oceania. In the country composition of WEO groups, there existed a positive and significant effect of Internet users and fixed broadband subscriptions on agricultural sector performance in economies classified as emerging and developing. This implies that the role of the Internet on agriculture is relatively higher in developing countries. Therefore, policymakers in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and emerging and developing economies (WEO Groups) must consider the role of Internet to improve agricultural sectors.
The Impact of Digital Transformation on Supply Chain Procurement for Creating Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study
Authors: Alabdali Mahmoud Abdulhadi , Salam Mohammad Asif
Published: September 2022

This study examined the impact of digital transformation (DT) on supply chain procurement (SCP) for the creation of competitive advantage (CAD). This study adopted a quantitative approach using a survey administered to 221 supply chain (SC) professionals through the professional networking website LinkedIn. The conceptual model was evaluated with the partial least squares-based structural equation model (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS. The findings showed that DT has significant positive impacts on SCP and CAD, and that SCP has a significant positive impact on CAD. Supply chain procurement plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between DT and CAD. The findings are useful for decision-makers investing in digitally modernising their SC processes. The study recommends starting the DT of an SC with procurement, as procurement is a complex process involving a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. The results show that digital procurement may be an SC game changer in a competitive market. The study provides initial guidelines for a transition from traditional to smart procurement (procurement 4.0). Despite the prevalence of studies on SCP, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how DT of procurement functions can lead to sustainable CAD.