bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Seasonal and Diurnal Variation Characteristics of Soil Moisture at Different Depths from Observational Sites over the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Li Hongyi , Xiao Ziniu , Wei Junhong , Wang Ge
Published: October 2022

Using observational data of soil moisture from the third Tibetan Plateau Experiment for atmospheric science (TIPEX III), the seasonal and diurnal variations characteristics of soil moisture at different depths of 5–160 cm from seven stations were analyzed, with emphasis on the comparative analysis of the differences of soil moisture between different sites and the differences of the synergistic relationship between soil moisture and temperature. The soil moisture was wet in the southeast and dry in the northwest. The studied sites were Lhari, Biru, Nyainrong, Amdo, Nagqu, Baingoin and Seng-ge Kambab in descending order, according to the soil moisture. The seasonal variation of soil moisture at the different sites showed a significant three-peak structure, which was more obvious in the shallow layer than in the deep layer. The first peak occurred from March to May, which was mainly due to the soil thawing in spring. The other two peaks corresponded to the two rainy seasons in the plateau. Soil moisture was the greatest during this rainy period. The diurnal variations of soil moisture and temperature in Amdo, Nagqu, Nyainrong and Baingoin showed a significant positive correlation in the four seasons. The soil moisture and temperature in Lhari and Biru were significantly positively correlated in winter and spring but negatively correlated in summer and autumn. The profiles of the soil moisture with depth varied greatly at different stations in different seasons. The distribution of soil water content at each observational site did not increase or decrease with depth but showed a certain high aquifer, which might be related to the types of the underlying surface and physical properties of soil. During the summer monsoon period, soil moisture in the shallow layer of 5–10 cm was higher at all observational sites. The spatial distribution of soil moisture in the plateau was more heterogeneous than that in the plain area, and only in the central part of the Tibetan Plateau, the soil moisture varied greatly from site to site. This also indicated that it was unreasonable to only use the soil moisture of several stations to represent the overall soil moisture of the region. The results provided a multi-angle observational basis for the validation of satellite data and parameterization of the numerical model of soil moisture over the Tibetan Plateau.
Monitoring Damage Caused by Pantana phyllostachysae Chao to Moso Bamboo Forests Using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Images
Authors: Huang Xuying , Zhang Qi , Hu Lu , Zhu Tingting , Zhou Xin , Zhang Yiwei , Xu Zhanghua , Ju Weimin
Published: October 2022

Pantana phyllostachysae Chao (PPC) is one of the deadliest defoliators of Moso bamboo. Accurately locating and evaluating PPC damage is essential for the management of bamboo forests. Moso bamboo has a unique biennial growth cycle, consisting of the on-year period (bamboo shoots are incubated and then produced) and the off-year period (old leaves are dropped and then new leaves are grown, and no bamboo shoots are produced in the coming year). The similar physiological characteristics of off-year bamboo and damaged on-year bamboo create difficulties in monitoring PPC damage using remote sensing data. In this study, we synergistically used Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and field inventory data to construct machine learning (extreme gradient boosting, XGBoost) models monitoring PPC damage. The results show that the single-time observation feature-based model (using images from October) outperformed the double-time observation feature-based model (using the differences between remote sensing signals from October and February or April) due to the interference from other disturbance agents (e.g., logging and weeding). The overall accuracy (OA) values of the single-time observation feature-based model were at least 3% and 10% higher than those for double-time observation feature-based models for on- and off-year samples, respectively. With the consideration of the on- and off-year phenological differences, OA was improved by over 4%. The model without differentiation of the phenological difference tended to underestimate the damaged area of on-year bamboo and overestimate that of off-year bamboo. We also found that the responses of optical and SAR (synthetic aperture radar) features to PPC damage were different. The optical features increased or decreased with increasing damage severity. SAR features decreased significantly at the initial stage of PPC damage and then changed marginally with the increase in damage severity. The addition of SAR features to optical features improved the model performance, mainly for healthy and mildly damaged samples. The methodology developed in this study provides technical and theoretical support for the pest monitoring of bamboo forests using remote sensing data.
Impact of Fengyun-3E Microwave Temperature and Humidity Sounder Data on CMA Global Medium Range Weather Forecasts
Authors: Kan Wanlin , Dong Peiming , Weng Fuzhong , Hu Hao , Dong Changjiao
Published: October 2022

In this study, the polarization characteristics of the newly launched Fengyun-3E (FY-3E) microwave sounding instruments are discussed, and its data quality is also assessed using one month of observation by the double-difference method. By comparison with the equivalent channels onboard Fengyun-3D (FY-3D) and advanced technology microwave sounder (ATMS), the data quality of FY-3E Microwave Humidity Sounder-II (MWHS-II) is improved and comparable to ATMS, while the data of FY-3E Microwave Temperature Sounder-III (MWTS-III) are slightly worse than data of FY-3D. The data of FY-3E MWTS-III are more susceptible to the early-morning orbit than the data of MWHS-II. In addition, striping noise is still present in channels 5–10 of MWTS-III. After the assessments, FY-3E microwave data are preprocessed and assimilated in the global forecast system for the Chinese Meteorology Administration (CMA-GFS). A total of six individual experiments over the period from 16 July to 15 August 2021 were conducted and the impact was evaluated with the composite score used in operation. It is shown that not only the forecasts for the southern hemisphere and tropics are improved significantly, but also the predictions for the northern hemisphere show some improvements in an overall neutral change from adding FY-3E microwave sounding instruments. The impact of FY-3E microwave radiance is equivalent to ATMS as they are assimilated individually. Furthermore, we note that the forecast impact is affected by the cloud detection scheme to a large extent.
Integrating a UAV-Derived DEM in Object-Based Image Analysis Increases Habitat Classification Accuracy on Coral Reefs
Authors: Nieuwenhuis Brian O. , Marchese Fabio , Casartelli Marco , Sabino Andrea , van der Meij Sancia E. T. , Benzoni Francesca
Published: October 2022

Very shallow coral reefs (<5 m deep) are naturally exposed to strong sea surface temperature variations, UV radiation and other stressors exacerbated by climate change, raising great concern over their future. As such, accurate and ecologically informative coral reef maps are fundamental for their management and conservation. Since traditional mapping and monitoring methods fall short in very shallow habitats, shallow reefs are increasingly mapped with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). UAV imagery is commonly processed with Structure-from-Motion (SfM) to create orthomosaics and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) spanning several hundred metres. Techniques to convert these SfM products into ecologically relevant habitat maps are still relatively underdeveloped. Here, we demonstrate that incorporating geomorphometric variables (derived from the DEM) in addition to spectral information (derived from the orthomosaic) can greatly enhance the accuracy of automatic habitat classification. Therefore, we mapped three very shallow reef areas off KAUST on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast with an RTK-ready UAV. Imagery was processed with SfM and classified through object-based image analysis (OBIA). Within our OBIA workflow, we observed overall accuracy increases of up to 11% when training a Random Forest classifier on both spectral and geomorphometric variables as opposed to traditional methods that only use spectral information. Our work highlights the potential of incorporating a UAV’s DEM in OBIA for benthic habitat mapping, a promising but still scarcely exploited asset.
Oil Spill Detection by CP SAR Based on the Power Entropy Decomposition
Authors: Gao Sheng , Li Sijie , Liu Hongli
Published: October 2022

In recent years, marine oil spills have adversely affected the marine economy and ecosystem, and the detection of marine oil slicks has attracted great attention. Combining different polarimetric features for better oil spill detection is a topic that needs to be studied in depth. Previous studies have shown that the compact polarimetric (CP) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can be effectively applied to the detection of sea surface oil spill due to its own ability, which is conducive to the extraction of sea surface oil slick. In this paper, we apply the power–entropy (PE) decomposition theory, which decomposes the total scattered power according to the entropy contribution of each cell in the response, to CP SAR data for oil spill detection. The purpose of this study is to enhance the oil slick and the separability of the sea. As a result, an oil spill detection method based on the low-entropy radiation amplitude parameter lesa is proposed. We compare lesa with the other five popular polarimetric features and validate by quantitative evaluation that lesa is superior to other types of polarization feature parameters under different band data. Moreover, the random forest classification is performed on the feature map and achieves the visualization results of oil spill detection. The experimental results show that the lesa can combine the information of the two polarimetric characteristic parameters of entropy and total scattering power, and can clearly indicate the oil slick information under different scenarios.
Temporal and Spatial Changes and GLOF Susceptibility Assessment of Glacial Lakes in Nepal from 2000 to 2020
Authors: Hu Jiayu , Yao Xiaojun , Duan Hongyu , Zhang Yuan , Wang Yu , Wu Tongyu
Published: October 2022

Glacial lakes are a sensitive indicator of regional climate change and one of the initiators of glacier disasters. It is of great significance to understand the spatial distribution and change characteristics of glacial lakes for exploring their response patterns to climate change and assessing the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) susceptibility. Based on Gaofen-1/6 PMS, Sentinel-2A/2B MSI and Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images from 2000 to 2020, we integrated geographic information technology and mathematical and statistical methods to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of glacial lakes in Nepal and their dynamic changes, and further discriminated and evaluated the GLOF susceptibility of glacial lakes. The results show that there were 2420 glacial lakes in Nepal in 2020, mainly distributed within the 4500~5500 m, with an area of 87.21 km2 and a water storage of 1921.72 × 106 m3. The number and area of glacial lakes with each area above 0.01 km2 in Nepal showed an increasing trend from 2000 to 2020, while 499 new glacial lakes were born, 139 lakes disappeared, the area and water storage increased by 19.46 km2, 403.07 × 106 m3, respectively. Glacial lakes at altitudes <3000 m were relatively stable, while the number and area of glacial lakes at altitudes within 4500~5500 m increased rapidly. We assessed the GLOF susceptibility of 40 moraine-dammed glacial lakes with an area above 0.2 km2 in Nepal, and found that there were 8, 12, 14 and 6 glacial lakes with low, medium, high and very high susceptibility, respectively. Among glacial lakes with very high GLOF susceptibility, potential GLOF events of Tsho Rolpa glacial lake, Lower Barun glacial lake and glacial lake with code of GL87091E27797N will cause great harm to downstream regions. GLOFs in Nepal will be in an active status in the future, therefore, the dynamics of glacial lakes and their surroundings should be continuously monitored.
Robust Cuboid Modeling from Noisy and Incomplete 3D Point Clouds Using Gaussian Mixture Model
Authors: Jung Woonhyung , Hyeon Janghun , Doh Nakju
Published: October 2022

A cuboid is a geometric primitive characterized by six planes with spatial constraints, such as orthogonality and parallelism. These characteristics uniquely define a cuboid. Therefore, previous modeling schemes have used these characteristics as hard constraints, which narrowed the solution space for estimating the parameters of a cuboid. However, under high noise and occlusion conditions, a narrowed solution space may contain only false or no solutions, which is called an over-constraint. In this paper, we propose a robust cuboid modeling method for point clouds under high noise and occlusion conditions. The proposed method estimates the parameters of a cuboid using soft constraints, which, unlike hard constraints, do not limit the solution space. For this purpose, a cuboid is represented as a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). The point distribution of each cuboid surface owing to noise is assumed to be a Gaussian model. Because each Gaussian model is a face of a cuboid, the GMM shares the cuboid parameters and satisfies the spatial constraints, regardless of the occlusion. To avoid an over-constraint in the optimization, only soft constraints are employed, which is the expectation of the GMM. Subsequently, the soft constraints are maximized using analytic partial derivatives. The proposed method was evaluated using both synthetic and real data. The synthetic data were hierarchically designed to test the performance under various noise and occlusion conditions. Subsequently, we used real data, which are more dynamic than synthetic data and may not follow the Gaussian assumption. The real data are acquired by light detection and ranging-based simultaneous localization and mapping with actual boxes arbitrarily located in an indoor space. The experimental results indicated that the proposed method outperforms a previous cuboid modeling method in terms of robustness.
Permafrost Early Deformation Signals before the Norilsk Oil Tank Collapse in Russia
Authors: Zhang Peng , Chen Yan , Ran Youhua , Chen Yunping
Published: October 2022

Despite the profound roles of surface deformation monitoring techniques in observing permafrost surface stability, predetermining the approximate location and time of possibly occurring severe permafrost degradation before applying these techniques is extremely necessary, but has received little attention. Taking the oil tank collapse accident in the Norilsk region as a case, we explored this concern by analyzing the permafrost deformation mechanisms and determining early surface deformation signals. Regarding this case, we firstly applied the Small Baseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SBAS-InSAR) technique to obtain its permafrost surface deformation rate, then utilized a sine model to decompose its interannual deformation and seasonal deformation, and finally compared the relationship between the topographic slope and deformation rate. Based on experimental results, we reveal that when the annual average temperature continuously increases at a rate of 2 °C/year for 2∼3 consecutive years, permafrost areas with relatively large topographic slopes (>15°) are more prone to severe surface deformation during the summer thaw period. Therefore, this paper suggests that permafrost areas with large topographic slopes (>15°) should be taken as the key surveillance areas, and that the appropriate monitoring time for employing surface deformation monitoring techniques should be the summer thawing period after a continuous increase in annual average temperature at a rate of 2 °C/year for 2∼3 years.
Assessment of Material Layers in Building Walls Using GeoRadar
Authors: Gilmutdinov Ildar , Schlögel Ingrid , Hinterleitner Alois , Wonka Peter , Wimmer Michael
Published: October 2022

Assessing the structure of a building with non-invasive methods is an important problem. One of the possible approaches is to use GeoRadar to examine wall structures by analyzing the data obtained from the scans. However, so far, the obtained data have to be assessed manually, relying on the experience of the user in interpreting GPR radargrams. We propose a data-driven approach to evaluate the material composition of a wall from its GPR radargrams. In order to generate training data, we use gprMax to model the scanning process. Using simulation data, we use a convolutional neural network to predict the thicknesses and dielectric properties of walls per layer. We evaluate the generalization abilities of the trained model on the data collected from real buildings.
Prediction of Radar Echo Space-Time Sequence Based on Improving TrajGRU Deep-Learning Model
Authors: Zeng Qiangyu , Li Haoran , Zhang Tao , He Jianxin , Zhang Fugui , Wang Hao , Qing Zhipeng , Yu Qiu , Shen Bangyue
Published: October 2022

Nowcasting of severe convective precipitation is of great importance in meteorological disaster prevention. Radar echo extrapolation is an effective method for short-term precipitation nowcasting. The traditional radar echo extrapolation methods lack the utilization of radar historical data as well as overlooking the nonlinear motion of small- to medium-sized convective systems in radar echoes. To solve this, we propose a deep-learning model combining CNN and RNN. The model T-UNet proposed in this paper uses an efficient convolutional neural network of UNet architecture with a residual network, where the encoder and decoder networks are connected by nested dense skip paths, while a TrajGRU recurrent neural network is added at each layer, to achieve the perceptual capability of time series. The quantitative statistical evaluation showed that the use of T-UNet could improve the nowcasting skill (CSI score, HSS score) by a maximum of 10.57% and 7.80% over a 60 min prediction cycle. Further evaluation showed that T-UNet also improved the prediction accuracy and prediction performance in the strong echo region.
An Oblique Projection-Based Beamforming Method for Coherent Signals Receiving
Authors: Guo Yumei , Li Qiang , Zhang Linrang , Zhang Juan , Chen Zhanye
Published: October 2022

Within a complex sea or ground surface background, multipath signals are strongly correlated or even completely coherent, which leads to signal cancellation when conventional optimal beamforming is performed. Aiming at the above problem, a coherent signal-receiving algorithm is proposed based on oblique projection technology in this paper. The direction of arrival (DOA) of incident signals is estimated firstly by the space smoothing-based MUSIC method. The composite steering vector of multipath coherent signals is then obtained utilizing the oblique projection matrix constructed with the estimated angles. The weight vector is thereby derived with the minimum variance distortionless response criteria. The proposed oblique projection-based beamformer can receive the multipath coherent signals effectively. Moreover, the proposed beamformer is more robust and converges to optimal beamformer rapidly without aperture loss. The theoretical analysis and simulation verify the validity and superiority of the proposed coherent signal beamformer.
Temperature and Temperature Humidity Index Changes during Summer to Autumn in a Temperate Zone May Affect Liveweight Gain and Feed Efficiency in Sheep
Authors: Ponnampalam Eric N. , McCaskill Malcolm , Giri Khageswor , Muir Stephanie K. , Cameron Fiona , Jacobs Joe L. , Knight Matthew I.
Published: October 2022

Lamb finishing during summer in southern Australia faces the challenges of dry paddock feed of low nutrient value and energy concentration, combined with periods of high temperature that reduce appetite. One potential forage to overcome these challenges is camelina, a brassica with a high lipid concentration. Liveweight gain (LWG) and feed efficiency (FE) of a pelleted diet containing 15% camelina hay (CAM) were compared with an equivalent diet based on oaten hay (STD), a feed commonly used during dry seasons. The experiment was conducted under summer to autumn conditions using 56 maternal Composite (Composite) wether lambs (4 months, 28–38 kg liveweight) and 56 Merino wether yearlings (15 months, 37–43 kg liveweight). Animals were maintained in group pens (8/pen) and weekly average feed intakes per pen and liveweights per pen were determined in a shaded well-ventilated animal house. The LWG and FE for both animal types were significantly lower during weeks 5–8 compared with weeks 1–4. These changes coincided with a higher proportion of daytime maxima exceeding 28 °C (50% vs. 21%) and night-time hours exceeding 22 °C (15% vs. 9%). The experiment indicated that the LWG and FE of sheep fed the CAM diet were less affected by the elevated temperatures than sheep fed the STD diet during weeks 5–8. However, further research under controlled environmental conditions is required to further validate these results.
Design and Implementation of an Ultrasonic Flowmeter Based on the Cross-Correlation Method
Authors: Ren Rui , Wang Hongliang , Sun Xiaolei , Quan He
Published: October 2022

Ultrasonic flowmeters play an important role in industrial production, aerospace and other fields. In this paper, a high-precision ultrasonic flowmeter based on the cross-correlation method is designed, and the commercial finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 is used to simulate the propagation process of ultrasonic waves during flow measurement, and the implementation process of the cross-correlation algorithm is simulated by Python language. The flowmeter adopts the cross-correlation algorithm to improve the measurement accuracy of ultrasonic time of flight and adopts the method of combining FPGA and an embedded microprocessor to improve operation efficiency. In order to verify the performance of the flowmeter, we tested the flowmeter on the National Institute of Metrology and the self-built test platform, using the still water dragging method, the dynamic volume method and the field comparison method, respectively. The results show that the flowmeter has the ability to test the flow under the condition of high flow velocity (26 m/s) and a pipe diameter in the range of DN6~DN1600, that the absolute value of the relative indication error does not exceed 0.815% and that the repeatability does not exceed 0.150%. The designed ultrasonic flowmeter has high measurement accuracy, good repeatability, strong stability and a wide application range.
Integrative Medicine and Helmet Constructions—A Feature Article about Milestones and Perspectives
Authors: Litscher Gerhard
Published: October 2022

Helmet designs have not only been used successfully in integrative medicine for decades in acupuncture research, but they are also increasingly being used in the field of transcranial photobiomodulation (TPBM), primarily in so-called mental diseases. The author of this article has been dealing with developed helmet constructions for neuromonitoring for over 25 years and not only gives an overview of the development of these methods, but also shows new methods and perspectives. The future of this branch of research certainly lies in the development of so-called sensor-controlled therapy helmets for TPBM.
Integration of SETS (Social–Ecological–Technological Systems) Framework and Flood Resilience Cycle for Smart Flood Risk Management
Authors: Ariyaningsih  , Shaw Rajib
Published: October 2022

The concept of “water smart city” is increasingly being recognized as a new approach to managing urban environments (including urban floods), especially in the context of developing countries, such as Indonesia. While Indonesia’s national capital relocation plan is expected to attract significant human migration to two nearby cities, Samarinda City and the port city of Balikpapan, these cities have continuously faced with severe risk of flooding. Therefore, this research proposes a flood management approach by reviewing the local city government’s flood risk management strategies and the smart city plan to enhance flood resilience. The integration of the SETS (Social–Ecological–Technological systems) framework and the Flood Resilience Cycle is undertaken to determine the state of flood management, which is followed by a review of smart city plans and programs in two selected cities (Samarinda and Balikpapan). The research mainly identifies how it can be implemented in the two selected cities based on SETS–FRC distribution. In accordance with the SETS–FRC (Flood Resilience Cycle) framework, it is revealed that both these cities have a higher emphasis on the flood prevention phase, as compared to other resilience phases. Based on the overall results, this study emphasizes the implementation of a water smart city concept for effective and smart flood risk management.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategies Adopted in a European University Alliance to Facilitate the Higher Education-to-Work Transition
Authors: Siri Anna , Leone Cinzia , Bencivenga Rita
Published: October 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted higher education, imposing the need to add new strategies to academic educational models to facilitate young people’s transitions from education to work. Among the new challenges, the research study focuses on the importance of valuing and incrementing inclusion, raising awareness of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategies and policies. Many universities have yet to develop inclusive processes and cultures that provide equality of opportunity for all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, physical ability, identity, and cultural background. Since 2019, the European Commission has financed “European Universities”, networks of universities creating international competitive degrees that combine excellent study programmes in different European countries. Today, 340 institutions in 44 European University Alliances (EUAs) promote European values and identity and revolutionise their quality and competitiveness to become the “universities of the future”. This article proposes a comprehensive approach to promote EDI within the EUA “ULYSSEUS” involving Spanish, Italian, Austrian, French, Finnish, and Slovakian universities through micro-actions to apply EDI principles at the project level. The authors will frame the theoretical basis of the experience through documentary analysis and their academic expertise in promoting strategies connected with the European values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union: pluralism, tolerance, justice, solidarity, non-discrimination and equality. Implementing these values through visible micro-actions could document and counteract the disadvantages underrepresented groups face in academia. In the mid-term, the experience had by the students in the EUA could facilitate the higher education-to-work transition, allowing them to replicate their EDI-related experience as students to their future roles as citizens and workers. The outcome could thus contribute to a life-wide learning perspective for a more inclusive Europe in the long term.
Do Assistive Products Enhance or Equalize Opportunities? A Comparison of Capability across Persons with Impairments Using and Not Using Assistive Products and Persons without Impairments in Bangladesh
Authors: Borg Johan , Layton Natasha , Östergren Per-Olof , Larsson Stig
Published: October 2022

Aiming to compare capability across persons with impairments using and not using assistive products and persons without impairments in Bangladesh for 16 different functionings, we contrast two sets of self-reported cross-sectional data from eight districts of Bangladesh: (i) data from persons with hearing impairment not using hearing aids, persons with hearing impairment using hearing aids and persons without impairments (N = 572); and (ii) data from persons with ambulatory impairment not using manual wheelchairs, persons with ambulatory impairment using manual wheelchairs and persons without impairments (N = 598). Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to compare levels of capability across the three groups in each data set. Results showed that, for all functionings in both data sets, the levels of capability were statistically significantly highest for persons without impairments. Compared to persons with hearing impairment not using hearing aids, persons with hearing impairment using hearing aids scored higher in all functionings, with statistical significance at the .05 level for 12 of them. Persons with ambulatory impairment using manual wheelchairs scored higher than persons with ambulatory impairment not using manual wheelchairs for 11 of the functionings, but none of the comparisons between the two groups were significant at the .05 level. Assistive products—hearing aids more than manual wheelchairs—enhance capabilities but do not fully equalize opportunities between people with and without impairments.
Transformative Processes of Gerontological Responses in Different Models of Public Providentialism in the COVID-19 Context: A Bibliometric Review
Authors: Pires Bruno , Gonçalves Hermínia
Published: October 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world population at multiple levels. Within the most vulnerable population, the elderly have seen their usual fragilities worsened in an epidemiological context. Thus, it was necessary to reinforce the gerontological response to aging at home, or in place, framed in situations of comorbidities, health problems, economic need and isolation, among other situations of premeditated situations of aging fragility. Objective: Seeking to explain a model of gerontological response to aging-in-place in future pandemic situations. For that purpose, we have explored, through a scientific literature review, the relationship between public participation and the gerontological response to aging-in-place during COVID-19, considering the four main European welfare models. During this analysis we also intended to identify the reconfigurations from those responses, considering their place-based/neutral order. Methodology: To proceed in this analysis, we used a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to identify a series of articles that add value to this problem. Next, in order to identify current research trends, we undertook a Bibliometric Analysis (BA), using the metadata from the same set of articles collected from Scopus and Web of Science. Results: The literature on the subject is interdisciplinary, dispersed throughout areas such as health; social sciences; politics; and computational, molecular, and even environmental fields of study. Through the use of keywords, the literature found on the relationship between the type of gerontological responses to aging-in-place and providence systems is still insufficient. There are, however, other research possibilities, such as exploring indicators of gerontological responses, of public expenditure or of the type of support from interlocutor stakeholders through a comparative study between countries, which allowed us to robustly answer the central question: Is there any relationship between the different public welfare systems and the public participation model, which included community participation, in the gerontological response to aging-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Siberian Cedar in Russian Business Naming: A Case Study
Authors: Ermolaev Vladimir A. , Ruban Dmitry A.
Published: October 2022

Business naming is important in the modern economy, but it can differ between countries. This makes it urgent to pay attention to representative examples of business naming (to be distinguished from brand naming) from different countries. This case study focuses on the usage of Siberian cedar in the names of Russian firms. This huge tree from taiga forests is not a true cedar, but pine. The national database permits the identification of 87 organizations named after Siberian cedar. Their geographical distribution is mapped, and their relation to industries is established. It is found that the considered firms are registered in 19 regions of Russia. A total of 42% of these regions are not Siberian, and they host 18% of the firms. A total of 16 types of activities characterize the considered firms, and more than half of the industries are not related to the usage of this tree. Hypothetically, these findings can be explained by the general interest of Russians in Siberia and their awareness of Siberian cedar coupled with the symbolic potential of this tree, which is able to symbolize stability and power. The studied principle of business naming contributes to the environmental knowledge of the public.
Teachers’ Work-Related Well-Being in Times of COVID-19: The Effects of Technostress and Online Teaching
Authors: Pace Francesco , Sciotto Giulia , Randazzo Naomi Alexia , Macaluso Vincenza
Published: October 2022

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first measures implemented in Italy was the transition from frontal teaching to online teaching. The sudden need to use technologies to perform their job has added a source of stress to teachers’ work: so-called technostress. The difficulties experienced in this transition may also have affected the perception of work-related well-being, although other variables, such as the perception of the meaningfulness of work, could alleviate this sense of uneasiness. The study aims to examine the relationships between technostress, online teaching, pleasure in working, and meaningful work perceptions among 219 teachers from different school grades through a moderated mediation model. The results confirm negative associations between technostress and pleasure in working, although this relationship varies according to the levels of perceived meaningfulness. Analyzing the factors related to teachers’ perceptions of their work, both in general and during the pandemic situation, is useful for tracing new coping strategies and planning interventions to implement new teaching methods. Further implications concerning the protective role of meaningful work are discussed.
‘Seizing the Window of Strategic Opportunity’: A Study of China’s Macro–Strategic Narrative since the 21st Century
Authors: Song Wenlong
Published: October 2022

Since the turn of the 21st century, China has leveraged the international environment in its favour to achieve a spectacularly rapid rise, a success that Chinese strategic policymakers attribute in part to ‘seizing the strategic window of opportunity’. How has China perceived the international environment and shaped the narrative of its macro-strategy? What impact has it had on China and the world? The article explores the evolution of the strategic narrative of the ‘window of opportunity’ in three stages since the 21st century and explores its impact in terms of quantity and keyword mapping by analysing the narrative texts of China’s ‘discourse coalition’ (government, official media and intellectual elites). The study found that China’s macro-strategic narrative is primarily driven by the official political and semi-official intellectual elites and places a premium on domestic political persuasion rather than external displays of strategic intent. It combines classical and modern philosophical thinking and methodology with the two core objectives of ‘maintaining peace’ and an ‘economic priority’. Over 20 years, the trend of narrative production of the ‘strategic opportunity period’ has shown a concentrated emergence and fluctuating decline, and its narrative elements have been enriched, interlinked and aligned with the narrative of the CPC’s core policies. The narrative of the ‘strategic opportunity period’ has been a powerful force in building domestic legitimacy, guaranteeing partial fulfilment of strategic objectives and offering lessons for other countries to learn from. Inevitably, the narrative faces a number of dilemmas and challenges.
Course of Values of Key Performance Indicators in City Hotels during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Poland Case Study
Authors: Widz Monika , Krukowska Renata , Walas Bartłomiej , Kruczek Zygmunt
Published: October 2022

The main goal of this article is to assess the functioning of hotels during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis was carried out on the basis of selected Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in hotels in Polish cities (Kraków; Poznań; Tri-City: Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot; Warsaw; Wrocław). The time range of the analysis covers the whole period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland (March 2020–February 2022) with data for 2019—before the outbreak of the pandemic. The analysis of the collected results of OCC, ADR, and RevPAR generally indicates instability of the basic economic indicators dependent not only on the demand limited by the pandemic restrictions but also on the type of tourism prevailing in individual cities. There is a difference between the hotel industry in cities, based mainly on foreign guests and business tourism, and the hotel industry in tourist/coastal regions, which are dominated by leisure tourism. During the greatest restrictions, hotels in Poland recorded huge drops in KPIs: a 95% drop in OCC and RevPAR. It was also found that the instability of demand during the pandemic and rapid changes in the values of the indicators prove the need for greater use of KPI benchmarks.
Rural Social Security, Precautionary Savings, and the Upgrading of Rural Residents’ Consumption Structure in China
Authors: Hong Mingyong , Wang Ji , Tian Mengjie
Published: October 2022

Based on the 2012 and 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this paper explores the influence mechanism between rural social security, precautionary savings, and the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results show that China’s rural social security can significantly promote the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, and 1.79% of the positive effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China is realized through the mediating effect of precautionary saving; the robustness of the regression results is tested by a placebo test and substitution matching method. Through further research, it is found that the promotion effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China varies by region and age. In order to promote the sustainable upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, rural social security policies should be further improved, and new rural social pension insurance policies should be formulated according to local conditions, which will ultimately promote the economic development of rural areas.
Mineral Composition and Environmental Importance of Fe–Mn Nodules in Soils in Karst Areas of Guangxi, China
Authors: Ji Wenbing , Lu Yuanyuan , Zhao Caiyi , Zhang Xiaoyu , Wang Heng , Hu Zhewei , Yu Tao , Wen Yubo , Ying Rongrong , Yang Zhongfang
Published: October 2022

The mineral composition of Fe–Mn nodules (FMNs) is closely related to the environment in which FMNs are formed. The formation mechanism of FMNs has consistently been one of the major topics in related research. In this study, the mineral composition of FMNs in soils derived from carbonate rocks in typical karst areas with high geochemical background in Guangxi, Southwest China, was investigated. The results showed that Fe2O3 (30.06%), SiO2 (19.72%), Al2O3 (17.93%), TiO2 (0.96%), P2O5 (0.78%), and MnO2 (0.64%) were the main elemental composition, while four alkaline oxides K2O, Na2O, CaO, and MgO were less than 0.5% in soil FMNs. In addition, 10 mineral types were identified in soil FMNs in the study area, namely quartz, goethite, clinochlore, illite, kaolinite, boehmite, albite, microcline, lithiophorite, and hematite. There were no obvious differences in the mineral composition of soil FMNs in the study area compared with those observed in non-karst areas worldwide. The formation process of FMNs can be determined based on the surrounding environment that affects the soil mineral composition. The results suggested a relatively complex formation mechanism of soil FMNs. Moreover, both primary and secondary minerals were found in soil FMNs. However, some minerals can exist stably under normal redox conditions, while the other part of minerals can be easily weathered and dissolved, indicating a relatively high formation rate of soil FMNs and a relatively stable internal environment.
Does Self-Monitoring Influence Golfers? Analysis of Golf Tourism Using the Existence–Relatedness–Growth Theory
Authors: Lee Ji-Hae , Cho Hye-Kyung , Kim Min-Jun
Published: October 2022

Considering the recent paradigm shift in sports tourism due to COVID-19, it is essential to understand the tourism needs and mentality of consumers. This study aimed to verify the relationship between tourism needs, self-monitoring, and the switching intention of golfing tourists. We used online questionnaires to survey golf tourists who experienced negative attention from other people in the context of COVID-19. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis are as follows: (1) tourism needs partially affect self-monitoring; (2) self-monitoring has a significant effect on switching intention; (3) self-monitoring did not play a mediating role between existence needs and switching intention; and (4) relatedness needs and growth needs were shown to play a mediating role. From the standpoint of tourism planning and marketing, the findings reveal a desire for tourism despite the COVID-19 infection risks. Marketers should identify the preferred tourism content, according to consumers’ tourism needs, and develop customized plans.
Host Identity and Consumption Behavior: Evidence from Rural–Urban Migrants in China
Authors: Ma Nianzhai , Sun Weizeng , Wang Zhen
Published: October 2022

Rural–urban migrants significantly contribute to developing economy, whereas they face high housing prices, rare work opportunities and insufficient consumption. By stimulating the consumption of migrants, their happiness and life satisfaction can increase, regional consumption structural transformation can be stimulated, and economic growth can be boosted. By exploiting the data from the “China Migrants’ Dynamic Survey” (CMDS) conducted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, this study explores the effect of rural–urban migrants’ host identity on their consumption. We measure host city identity by migrants’ sense of belonging in the city. Propensity score matching (PSM), instrumental variable methods (IV), and structural equation modeling (SEM) are adopted to tackle down the potential selection bias and endogeneity concerns. As indicated by the empirical results, host identity significantly impacts rural–urban migrants’ consumption, while regional cultural differences hinder migrants from forming host identity. Compared with those without a host identity, migrants with a host identity, the monthly household consumption increased by 4%, and savings decreased significantly by 1.7%. As revealed by the heterogeneity analysis, the host identity effects are significantly larger for migrants aged over 30 years or for those staying in big cities. The results of SEM show that a one-unit increase in the latent variable of identity will increase the consumption by 5.2%, and education, social insurance, and household registration have a significant effect not only on consumption but also on host identity. The findings of this paper contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the psychological and economic integration of migrants in cities and provide valuable suggestions for city managers and policymakers.
Advanced Pressure Management for Sustainable Leakage Reduction and Service Optimization: A Case Study in Central Chile
Authors: Ortega-Ballesteros Andrés , Iturriaga-Bustos Francisco , Perea-Moreno Alberto-Jesus , Muñoz-Rodríguez David
Published: October 2022

The central part of Chile has been in severe unprecedented drought for more than ten years, becoming a water-stressed area. ESVAL, one of the main water utilities in the Chilean water sector, is responsible for delivering potable water to the population and securing long-term supply in the vast majority of this area. In order to achieve this goal, ESVAL is implementing different measures, with pressure management being one of them. This paper aims to describe the works executed in La Calera city to implement a new advanced pressure management scheme on an existing pressure-reducing valve with two main targets: reducing leakage and improving the level of service to the customers. The results show that advance pressure management generates a 10.12% reduction in the minimum night flow while, at the same time, helping to improve the level of service to the customers reducing the number of times pressure falls below the minimum target set by ESVAL by 52%. It is concluded that pressure management facilitates quick water savings by optimizing the performance of existing pressure-reducing valves.
The Attitudes of Teachers towards Disadvantaged Young Students: Israel–Romania Comparative Analysis
Authors: Levi-Sudai Pazit , Neagu Gabriela
Published: October 2022

The aim of this article is to identify and analyze the attitudes of teachers toward disadvantaged young students (DYS) in two different social, economic, and cultural contexts: Israel and Romania. In terms of methodology, we used a qualitative method—focus group—for data collection. Focus groups were organized around open-ended questions that were designed to encourage teachers to reflect on the situation of DYS and their attitudes towards them. From a theoretical point of view, our analysis began with the description of the meanings of four central concepts: attitude, educational integration, inclusive education, and DYS. The results of our research confirmed the fact that knowledge, feelings, and behaviors are widely recognized as the three pillars of teachers’ attitudes towards DYS. Through the comparative analysis of two different educational systems, we highlighted that teachers’ attitudes towards DYS can be influenced by structural elements—level of socioeconomic development, and historical and cultural specificity—but also by individual elements: the training of teachers to work in different educational contexts, the level of support received, and the type of school. The results of this research can represent a source of relevant information for the policies and practices of quality education for all.