bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Food Safety System (HACCP) as Quality Checkpoints in a Spin-Off Small-Scale Yogurt Processing Plant
Authors: Mureşan Crina Carmen , Marc Romina Alina (Vlaic) , Jimborean Mirela , Rusu Iulian , Mureşan Andruţa , Nistor Alina , Cozma Angela , Suharoschi Ramona
Published: November 2020

The present study describes the implementation of a food safety system in the dairy pilot plant “Gourmeticus Academicum,” a spin-off within the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj Napoca, Romania. In order to improve Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) the preliminary programs were integrated into the quality management system (QMS) by monitoring the biological hazards. The process provides future specialists with good practice hands-on and educational tools. This study focused on hazard analysis, the determination and establishment of prerequisite programs, and the role of critical control points (CCPs) based on HACCP and the challenges found during the process as a critical thinking model on education programs. The determination of the CCPs in the processing of yogurt was made by applying the decision tree method. Besides, biological hazards are included as a by-control of the system’s implementation performance. For the successful implementation of HACCP principles, prerequisite programs (PRPs) and operational prerequisite programs (OPRPs) were initially implemented. This process could be challenging but feasible to be reached in small-scale food industries with remarkable results as educational tools.
Digital Competence of Future Secondary School Teachers: Differences According to Gender, Age, and Branch of Knowledge
Authors: Jiménez-Hernández David , González-Calatayud Víctor , Torres-Soto Ana , Martínez Mayoral Asunción , Morales Javier
Published: November 2020

The development of related technological skills in secondary students is perceived as unachievable if the teachers do not have enough technological expertise to guide their students. This study was based on investigating digital competence on the population of graduate students undertaking a Master’s degree in Education to train as teachers for the secondary educational level. The study made it possible to conclude, on the one hand, the homogeneity of university degrees within the scope of the Bologna Plan, with respect to mean levels of digital training. On the other hand, more exhaustively, differences have come to light concerning specific training on the different digital competence areas in the DigComp evaluation system, related to gender, branch of knowledge, age, and by considering the self-perception of individuals on their own capabilities in everyday technological issues. Consequently, the need for incorporating an ICT syllabus into the subjects covered by a Master’s in education has been highlighted, as well as promoting females, older people, and nontechnological degrees. Digital training on critical competence areas for teaching, such as the creation of digital content, suffers from major shortcomings and should also be promoted.
Promoting LNG as A Marine Fuel in Norway: Reflections on the Role of Global Regulations on Local Transition Niches
Authors: Laribi Sofiane , Guy Emmanuel
Published: November 2020

Contemporary societies are marked by constant tensions between the notion to improve sustainability and the reluctance to engage in uncertain changes. In any sector, the transition is a delicate and complex process that involves many actors, organizations, and institutions. Niche analysis approaches such as the multilevel perspective model (MLP) explain how such a process grows from innovation within a very restricted field to its generalized application on a global scale. Shipping is a sector particularly challenged by the transition process away from heavy fuel oil towards more environment-friendly alternatives such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or even non-fossil alternatives. Within this industry, Norway stands as an early adopter and leader of the emerging transition. Drawing from a wide discussion of the treatment of scale in transition literature and from this national case study, we propose that the transition process can emerge not only from a local niche perspective, as widely documented in the literature, but can also be driven by changes at a much larger scale and initiated by new international regulations.
Strategies to Manage the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Supply Chain: Implications for Improving Economic and Social Sustainability
Authors: Taqi Hasin Md. Muhtasim , Ahmed Humaira Nafisa , Paul Sumit , Garshasbi Maryam , Ali Syed Mithun , Kabir Golam , Paul Sanjoy Kumar
Published: November 2020

This paper aims to identify the negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on supply chains and propose strategies to deal with the impacts in the context of the readymade garment (RMG) industry supply chain of an emerging economy: Bangladesh. To achieve the aims, a methodological framework is proposed through a literature review, expert inputs, and a decision-aid tool, namely the grey-based digraph-matrix method. A total of 10 types of negative impacts and 22 strategic measures to tackle the impacts were identified based on the literature review and expert inputs. Then, the grey-based digraph-matrix was applied for modeling the strategic measures based on their influence to deal with the impacts. Findings reveal that the strategies “manufacturing flexibility”, “diversify the source of supply”, and “develop backup suppliers” have significant positive consequences for managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the RMG supply chain. The findings help industrial managers recover from supply chain disruptions by identifying and classifying the impacts and strategies required to manage the major supply chain disturbances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a theoretical contribution, this study is one of few initial attempts to evaluate the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and the strategies to deal with the impacts in the supply chain context.
Indigenous Heritage Tourism Development in a (Post-)COVID World: Towards Social Justice at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, USA
Authors: Wahl Jeff , Lee Seunghoon , Jamal Tazim
Published: November 2020

While a growing body of literature explores tourism impacts in search of sustainable outcomes, research on justice in diverse tourism settings is nascent. Theoretically informed studies drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives are just beginning to emerge to help examine contestations and injustices such as addressed in the case study presented here. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (or “Custer’s Last Stand” as some know it; LBH) is a protected heritage tourism site that commemorates a battle between Native American tribes and the U.S. military in 1876. Indigenous stakeholders have struggled for decades with the National Park Service to overturn a long legacy of misrepresentation and exclusion from the commemoration and development of the site for heritage tourism. Site closures and other effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic present additional challenges for Native American stakeholders like the Crow Tribe. Guided by Nancy Fraser’s principles of trivalent justice (redistribution, recognition, and representation), this qualitative study traces the conflict over heritage commemoration, and explores the potential for praxis through ethical tourism development and marketing. Fraser’s trivalent approach to justice demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary research to examine historically entrenched discrimination, redress injustices, and facilitate healing and well-being of diverse groups at sites like LBH.
Decision Support to Sustainable Parking Management—Investment Planning through Parking Fines to Improve Pedestrian Flows
Authors: Ivić Majda , Kilić Jelena , Rogulj Katarina , Jajac Nikša
Published: November 2020

With the urbanization and expansion of cities, which have taken place over recent decades, new demands and problems are emerging, among which is the problem of inadequate transport infrastructure. The number of motor vehicles is growing, while transport infrastructure is not following that growth fast enough. One of the problems that arises is the insufficient number of garages and parking lots, causing an increase in illegal parking on sidewalks, which impedes and endangers pedestrian traffic. This paper proposes a new decision support concept (DSC) for the management of illegally parked cars in urban centers, which offers a method that can contribute to solving this problem and improving the flow of pedestrians on city roads. Due to its complexity, the problem addressed in this research is recognized as a multicriteria one and therefore the proposed model is based on the use of multicriteria analysis methods—more precisely, the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation—PROMETHEE, and the analytic hierarchy process—AHP. The proposed DSC is validated in the city of Split (Croatia), more precisely in the neighborhood of Sućidar, which shows that this methodology is applicable and effective for finding not a temporary but a permanent solution to the problem described.
Life Satisfaction, Physical Activity and Quality of Life Associated with the Health of School-Age Adolescents
Authors: Urchaga José D. , Guevara Raquel M. , Cabaco Antonio S. , Moral-García José E.
Published: November 2020

The main purpose of this study is to understand the Quality of Life Associated with Health (QLAH) of a sample of school-age adolescents, and the existing associations between the latter and other variables, such as family life satisfaction, personal life satisfaction (LS), friendships satisfaction, physical activity with family, friends and personal physical activity. The sample consisted of 1226 Spanish school-age adolescents (50.9% boys and 40.1% girls) with ages between 12 and 16 years old. Several scales that were extracted from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2016 study, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), were used as working instruments in this piece of research. SPSS (24.0) was the software package used to perform the analyses of descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression, whereas AMOS (24.0) was used for structural equations. The results reveal a strong association between the physical activity (PA) students undertake (personal, with their families and friends) and life satisfaction, family life satisfaction and satisfaction with the relationships with friends. Additionally, both constructs (physical activity and satisfaction, understood as an indicator of good health) can predict the respondents’ Quality of Life Associated with Health. The variables (QLAH, LS and PA) are interrelated, thus resulting in major practical implications.
Value-Free Analysis of Values: A Culture-Based Development Approach
Authors: Tubadji Annie
Published: November 2020

Recent literature in the fields of Political Economy, New Institutional Economics and New Cultural Economics has converged in the use of empirical methods, offering a series of consistent quantitative analysis of values. However, an overarching positive methodology for the value-free study of values has not yet precipitated. Building on a mixed systematic-integrative literature review of a pluralistic variety of perspectives from Adam Smith’s ‘Impartial’ Spectator to modern moral philosophy, the current study suggests the Culture-Based Development (CBD) approach for analyzing the economic impact of values on socio-economic development. The CBD approach suggests that the value-free analysis needs: (i) to use positive methods to classify a value as local or universal; (ii) to examine the existence of what is termed the Aristotelian Kuznets curve of values (i.e., to test for the presence of an inflection point in the economic impact from the particular value) and (iii) to account for Platonian cultural relativity (i.e., the cultural embeddedness expressed in the geographic nestedness of the empirical data about values). The paper details the theoretical and methodological cornerstones underpinning the proposed CBD approach for value-free analysis of values.
Efficiency in the Holiday and Other Short-Stay Accommodation Industry
Authors: Alberca Pilar , Parte Laura
Published: November 2020

This study extends previous empirical efficiency research by focusing on a tourism sector which has limited evidence to date: the holiday and other short-stay accommodation industry (tourist apartments and hostels). The sample comprises 12,864 firm-level observations during the period 2005–2016. First, we calculate the efficiency index using a non-radial Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Second, we test the association between efficiency index and contextual factors using both Tobit and bootstrapped regression. Another major contribution is the use of a radial DEA model to confirm the results of the study. The current study offers new insights by focusing on an industry with scarce evidence, using radial and non-radial DEA approaches, and examining a wide variety of efficiency drivers. The efficiency results are examined by year, region and tourist destination type (including tourism dimensions such as rural, cultural and wine tourism). This is an important novelty of the study. The main findings reveal that the most efficient tourism destinations correspond to mixed or diversified destinations: those that combine some dimensions such as cultural, rural and wine tourism. The regressions models show that environmental, macroeconomic and business variables are drivers of tourism competitiveness. Taken together, the study goes a step further in the efficiency field.
Framework for Designing Sustainable Structures through Steel Beam Reuse
Authors: Kim Seongjun , Kim Sung-Ah
Published: November 2020

The architecture, engineering, and construction sector requires carbon-intensive materials, such as steel, in the construction process and generates a large amount of waste in the life cycle. This causes global warming and waste problems. The demand for the reuse of construction materials is increasing, although it is not the convention, to reduce the environmental impact. Although the sustainable effect of the reuse of materials has been proven in several studies, materials are not always reused in practice, owing to the lack of an information system for reusable materials and the economic uncertainty. In this study, we propose a framework for designing structures using reusable steel beams. The design framework consists of a material bank and a design support tool. The material bank provides information on reusable materials based on the building information modeling. The design support tool generates efficient material procurement plans and provides information about the environmental and economic impact of the project. In a case study used to verify the framework, CO2 emissions were reduced by up to 77% through material reuse, which was consistent with the results of previous studies. However, owing to the cost of processing reusable materials, the overall cost was found to increase by up to about 40%. Therefore, an economic analysis over the entire life cycle when using reusable materials needs to be done.
Safety Contributions, Events and Operating Context as Criteria in Safety Awards: A Case Study from a Large Organisation
Authors: Karanikas Nektarios , Obadimu Solomon O. , Plioutsias Anastasios
Published: November 2020

Although the value and impact of safety award programmes (SAPs) have been criticised in literature, various programmes still operate within and across industries to recognise safety achievements, motivate employees and organisations, promote participation in safety improvements and raise the overall profile of nominees. In our study, following the request of a large aviation organisation (LAO) already implementing a SAP based merely on rates of safety events and occurrences, we introduced an award scheme by including and balancing safety positives and negatives as per the suggestions of contemporary safety thinking. The new SAP was based on the existing safety management system of the organisation and the data already available, included contributions to safety and considered differences in the context nominees operated along with lagging indicators. The pilot implementation of the new programme resulted in remarkable differences from the results obtained via the previous award scheme, a finding that satisfied management. Nonetheless, difficulties relating to the inadequate understanding of the new SAP by the targeted nominees and inconsistencies in the recording of data across the organisation led to the suspension of the programme after its first launch. Due to its limitations, this study does not recommend a safety awards standard for the industry. However, its methodological approach, the concepts embraced and the difficulties encountered could be considered by any organisation.
A Scientometric Review of Powered Micromobility
Authors: O’Hern Steve , Estgfaeller Nora
Published: November 2020

Micromobility is an emerging field of transportation, referring to trips undertaken by a range of microvehicles. Microvehicles encompass both traditional and emerging types of light vehicles from conventional bicycles and powered-two wheelers, through to e-bikes and e-scooters, e-skateboards and “hoverboards”. The recent uptake in powered microvehicles emphasizes the need to understand the knowledge domain of micromobility research. This paper summarises the research status by identifying main contributors to and evolutionary trends in the field. The study applied scientometric analysis techniques to review 474 articles published between 1991 and 2020. The search on Thomson Reuter’s Web of Science database was guided by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) common vocabulary for powered micromobility. Results show a proliferation of research in the field of powered micromobility since 2012, which demonstrates that the growth in research is occurring alongside the increased availability of microvehicles and trips being made using microvehicles. A broad range of research topics including user behaviour, vehicle technology, planning, policy, health and safety were identified with the latter two found to be the most studied areas. Findings suggest many potential benefits of using micromobility and that the field will continue to grow, spurred by the popularity of shared e-scooter schemes. Greater collaboration in the field is desirable to broaden the dissemination of knowledge.
Impacts of Educational Agritourism on Students’ Future Career Intentions: Evidence from Agricultural Exchange Programs
Authors: Chen Tang-Ping , Lee Ku-Yuan , Kabre Pegdwende Moise , Hsieh Chi-Ming
Published: November 2020

Destination tourists are a critical stakeholder for developing sustainable tourism. Exchange students as tourists have become a growing segment of the international tourism market. Students undertake courses, internships, or exchange programs at an overseas university for a period of time. Student exchange programs (SEPs) through educational tourism offer exchange students ample learning opportunities from local universities, industries, and other stakeholders. The purpose of this research was to assess the relationships between experiential benefits (including practical business benefits, rural environmental benefits, and personal sociocultural benefits), professional identity, career choice intentions, and support for educational tourism via SEPs. This study surveyed students from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and others who attended exchange programs in the field of agriculture in Taiwan and other host countries during the last 15 years and are back in their respective countries. Primary data on exchange students were collected using an online questionnaire survey with a sample size of 326 respondents. The results indicated that professional identity has a full intermediating influence on relationships among experiential benefits, career choice intentions, and support for educational tourism via SEPs. The findings are expected to contribute to the understanding of agricultural students’ SEP behaviors, and to provide suggestions for planning and managing relevant policy to encourage more students to join SEPs overseas.
The Paradox of Informal Settlements Revealed in an ATLAS of Informality: Findings from Mapping Growth in the Most Common Yet Unmapped Forms of Urbanization
Authors: Samper Jota , Shelby Jennifer A. , Behary Dean
Published: November 2020

Informal settlements are the most common form of urbanization on the planet, accounting for one-third of the total urban form. It is expected that by the mid twenty-first century, up to three billion people will live in informal urban environments. However, we lack a consistent mapping method to pinpoint where that informality is located or how it expands. This paper presents the findings from a collection of standardized measurements of 260 informal settlements across the world. The main research goal is to identify a standard global sample of informal neighborhoods. It then focuses on mapping urban growth with remote sensing and direct mapping tools. The third stage classifies settlements based on how adjacency features such as development, topography, or bodies of water relate to their growth. The survey of growth corroborates the idea of informality as expanding geography, although at different rates than previously cited in the literature. We found peri-urban location to be a suitable estimator of informal settlement growth. This finding validates the comparison of multiple settlements to understand rates of change of urban informality worldwide. The findings here are vital to resolve important questions about the role of informal urban development in the context of accelerated global population growth.
Continuous Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Biowaste with Crude Glycerol under Mesophilic Conditions
Authors: Sprafke Jan , Shettigondahalli Ekanthalu Vicky , Nelles Michael
Published: November 2020

A persistent topic of the anaerobic digestion of biowaste is the efficient use of co-substrates. According to Renewable Energy Sources Act the co-substrate input is limited to 10 percent of the average daily substrate feed in Germany. In this concern, the primary focus of this paper is to understand the suitability of crude glycerol in anaerobic digestion of biowaste. Two identical lab-scale anaerobic digester units were added with crude glycerol, and each unit was equipped with four identical fermenters. Unit A was fed with an average organic loading rate of 4.5 kg VS m−3 d−1, and the average organic loading rate of unit B was set at 5.5 kg VS m−3 d−1. The share of crude glycerol in the total feed was 0.77 percent of the fresh matter. The abort criterion is a ratio of the volatile organic acids and buffer capacity (FOS/TAC) in the fermenter above 1.2. The abort criterion was reached after 16 days. In summary, the results lead us to the conclusion crude glycerol is not suitable as a co-substrate for anaerobic digestion for several reasons.
Introduction: The Metabolism of Islands
Authors: Singh Simron Jit. , Fischer-Kowalski Marina , Chertow Marian
Published: November 2020

This editorial introduces the Special Issue “Metabolism of Islands”. It makes a case why we should care about islands and their sustainability. Islands are hotspots of biocultural diversity, and home to 600 million people that depend on one-sixth of the earth’s total area, including the surrounding oceans, for their subsistence. Today, they are on the frontlines of climate change and face an existential crisis. Islands are, however, potential “hubs of innovation” and are uniquely positioned to be leaders in sustainability and climate action. We argue that a full-fledged program on “island industrial ecology” is urgently needed with the aim to offer policy-relevant insights and strategies to sustain small islands in an era of global environmental change. We introduce key industrial ecology concepts, and the state-of-the-art in applying them to islands. Nine contributions in this Special Issue are briefly reviewed to highlight the metabolic risks inherent in the island cases. The contributors explore how reconfiguring patterns of resource use will allow island governments to build resilience and adapt to the challenges of climate change.
Influential Factors Affecting Travelers’ Mode Choice Behavior on Mass Transit in Bangkok, Thailand
Authors: Witchayaphong Phattarasuda , Pravinvongvuth Surachet , Kanitpong Kunnawee , Sano Kazushi , Horpibulsuk Suksun
Published: November 2020

Increasing use of single or fewer occupant vehicles has increased traffic congestion and transport-related emissions. Public transport as mass transit options are increasingly being encouraged amongst travelers to use, as this is an influential strategy to improve the transport network performance. This paper presents a study based on a revealed preference survey conducted on a random sample of 4467 respondents to understand the influential factors affecting the users’ choice of mass transit in Bangkok, Thailand. This study identified an inversely proportional relationship of socio-economic and spatial attributes on public transport mode choice. The binary logit model was employed to compare the utility of private vehicles and mass transit modes. The results showed that gender, age, average income, auto ownership, total travel cost in private transport, total travel time in public transport and distance range from home to mass transit station were the factors that influenced travelers’ mode choice behavior. Moreover, to ascertain the effects of explanatory variables which influence the likelihood of Thai travelers, another binary logit model analysis was utilized by the four distance ranges condition. The studied results showed that there were few significant differences in the propensity to use mass transit. Due to the longer distance of the station, total travel time in public transport was not affected by the Thai travelers mode choice. This research will aid transport authorities and planners to gain knowledge on the impact of socio-economic and spatial behavior of public transport users on their mode choice, resulting in the development in sustainable transport in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Role of Human–Machine Interactive Devices for Post-COVID-19 Innovative Sustainable Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Authors: Van Nguyen Thi Thanh , Vrana Vasiliki , Duy Nguyen Thien , Minh Doan Xuan Huy , Dzung Pham Tien , Mondal Subhra R. , Das Subhankar
Published: November 2020

In this research article, we aim to study the proposed role of human–machine interactive (HMI) technologies, including both artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR)-enabled applications, for the post-COVID-19 revival of the already depleted tourism industry in Vietnam’s major tourist destination and business hub of Ho Chi Minh City. The researchers aim to gather practical knowledge regarding tourists’ intentions for such service enhancements, which may drive the sector to adopt a better conclusive growth pattern in post-COVID-19 times. In this study, we attempt to focus on travelers who look for paramount safety with the assurance of empathetic, personalized care in post-COVID-19 times. In the current study, the authors employ structural equation modeling to evaluate the intentions of tourists both structurally and empirically for destination tourism with data collected from tourists with previous exposure to various kinds of these devices. The study shows that human–machine interactive devices are integrating AI and VR and have a significant effect on overall service quality, leading to tourist satisfaction and loyalty. The use of such social interactive gadgets within tourism and mostly in hospitality services requires an organization to make a commitment to futuristic technologies, along with building value by enriching service quality expectations among fearful tourists. This research shows that tourists mainly focus on the use of such HMI devices from the perspective of technology acceptance factors, qualitative value-enhancing service and trustworthy information-sharing mechanisms. The concept of the tour bubble framework is also discussed in detail. The analysis of this discussion gives us a more profound understanding of the novel opportunities which various administrative agencies may benefit from to position these devices better in smart, sustainable destination tourism strategies for the future so that, collectively, service 5.0 with HMI devices can possibly bring back tourism from being disintegrated. Such service applications are the new social innovations leading to sustainable service and a sophisticated experience for all tourists.
Systemic Sustainable Development in the Transport Service Sector
Authors: Sztangret Izabela
Published: November 2020

The concept of sustainability and sustainable development, especially systemic sustainable development, still raises controversy in literature. The article makes an attempt to re-examine these concepts from a systems perspective, seeking foundations and applications in the selected sector. It is becoming increasingly clear that sustainability and sustainable development are aimed at integrated economic, social, cultural, political, and ecological factors. This causes a need for a constructive approach to the issue, taking into account all the actors, areas and dimensions involved in the pursuit of systemic sustainable development. As a result, both local and global dimensions and the way they interact must be explored in a multifaceted manner in order to offer a perspective more effective and useful than other analytical approaches, as the systems view is a way of thinking in terms of connectedness, relationships, and context. The article aims to review selected publications and studies so as to form the general idea of systemic sustainable development and define the systemic development of sustainable transport, including in particular the perspective of the actors of the sector, transport providers (passenger, urban), and transport development program, implemented both by local governments and on the European scale. An attempt was made to identify elements of the systemic sustainable development model, setting it in the reality of the following subcategories: “Society”, “Economy”, and “Environment” in sectoral terms. It is supposed that systemic sustainable development is a conglomerate of public administration entities, companies operating in the sector, individual and corporate customers, acting in certain conditions for economic, social, and environmental well-being, and a number of their initiatives of major or minor significance, grouped in six sub-areas, undertaken to achieve systemic value in the examined sector, with a positive or negative business/economic, social, and environmental impact.
Formulation of Biochar-Based Phosphorus Fertilizer and Its Impact on Both Soil Properties and Chickpea Growth Performance
Authors: Wali Farman , Naveed Muhammad , Bashir Muhammad Asaad , Asif Muhammad , Ahmad Zulfiqar , Alkahtani Jawaher , Alwahibi Mona S. , Elshikh Mohamed Soliman
Published: November 2020

There is no alternative to phosphorus (P) in agriculture as it is second most important plant nutrient after nitrogen. Mineral P fertilizers are derived from rock phosphate (RP) which is finite, non-renewable and geographically restricted to a few countries, thus its shortage likely affects agriculture in near future as the world population is growing at a greater pace. This could increase P inputs in agriculture in order to meet rising food demands which may result in the depletion of RP reserves. Furthermore, P losses from farmlands in case of mineral P fertilizers also demands the sustainable use of P not only because of its finite resources but also the environmental concerns associated with P fertilization such as eutrophication. The present study was designed to formulate biochar-based P fertilizer that would help in the sustainable use of P fertilizer. Biochar(s) were prepared using wheat straw at 350–400 °C pyrolytic temperature followed by enrichment with Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) taking into account all possible combination of DAP to biochar on the w/w basis (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0). Enrichment was carried out using two different methods i.e., phosphorus enriched biochar (PEB1) by hot method and cold method (PEB2). An incubation experiment was performed to assess the impact of each biochar on selected properties of soil. The treatments were organized in factorial arrangement under complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Both the amendments were applied at rate of 1% of dry soil on a w/w basis. A significant increase in soil extractable P and total nitrogen (N) was recorded for the ratio 50:50 as compared to control as well of rest of treatments. Similarly, high organic contents were found for both PEB1 and PEB2 at the ratio 50:50. An incubation experiment was followed by pot trial using 50:50 for both PEB1 and PEB2 and split doses of recommended P were applied (0%, 25%, 50% and 100%) with a control under CRD with three replications using chickpea as test crop. Both PEB1 and PEB2 with 50% P have significantly improved crop growth, yield, nodulation, and plant physiological and chemical parameters as compared to a recommended dose of P alone. The result may imply that the integration of P-enriched biochar and chemical fertilizer could be an effective approach to improve chickpea production and soil properties.
Estimation of Ecological Connectivity in a City Based on Land Cover and Urban Habitat Maps
Authors: Kim Dohee , Shin Wonhyeop , Choi Heejoon , Kim Jihwan , Song Youngkeun
Published: November 2020

Anthropogenic land use has led to the loss and fragmentation of native habitats and disruption to ecosystem processes, resulting in a decline in landscape connectivity and biodiversity. Here, in order to find the potentials of improvements in ecological connectivity, we provide a spatial analysis to present differences in ecological connectivity based on land cover maps and urban habitat maps in Suwon city, Republic of Korea. We generated two permeability maps for use in a network analysis, one being land cover and the other urban habitat, including a 5-km buffer area from the city boundary. We then determined the current-flow betweenness centrality (CFBC) for each map. Our results indicate that forests are typically the most highly connected areas in both maps. However, in the land cover map results, nearly all high-priority areas were in the mountainous region (CFBC value: 0.0100 ± 0.0028), but the urban habitat indicated that grasslands and rivers within the city also significantly contribute to connectivity (CFBC value: 0.0071 ± 0.0022). The CFBC maps developed here could be used as a reference when introducing green infrastructure in cities. Before establishing ecological networks for urban areas, future work should integrate the land use and ecological data of different administrative districts with continuous ecological connection.
Measures for the Improvement of Feasibility Studies and Investment Reviews: Identification and Verification of Major Project Sectors Considering Balanced Regional Development
Authors: Shim Heecheol , Kim Jaehwan
Published: November 2020

This study identified the balanced development indicators that affected the results of the 2019 central investment review of local financial investment projects in South Korea. Factors with positive B values and categorized under the sectors of safety, health, and social welfare were given greater weight during the investment review. Based on the empirical analysis results and verification of the findings using sector-specific weights, this study proposed measures to improve investment reviews of local financial projects considering balanced regional development. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because there is a lack of empirical studies on the topic, especially those using sector-specific weights based on investment review criteria. Further, we believe that this paper will be of interest to the readership of your journal because it addresses balanced regional development, which is considered a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth.
Trend and Linearity Analysis of Meteorological Parameters in Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: Saimi Farahani Mohd , Hamzah Firdaus Mohamad , Toriman Mohd Ekhwan , Jaafar Othman , Tajudin Hazrina
Published: November 2020

Climate change has often led to severe impact on the environment. This study aimed to investigate the monthly trends and linearity of meteorological parameters at four locations during the period from 1970 to 2016. These locations represent the south, north, east, and west of Peninsular Malaysia. The meteorological parameters used were monthly total precipitation (mm) and monthly average temperature (°C). To illustrate the methodology, the Mann–Kendall (MK) trend test and a non-parametric regression model were used. The MK trend test did not indicate significant trends in precipitation, but indicated a trend in temperature for all locations. The Sen value gives the amount of fluctuation of precipitation and temperature for every year. The results of the linearity test exhibited a linear trend for precipitation and temperature for most of the months throughout the study period. Thus, this study gives insights into the monthly trends of meteorological parameters, especially in Peninsular Malaysia.
Validating the Pro-Environmental Behavior Task in a Japanese Sample
Authors: Lange Florian , Iwasaki Shimpei
Published: November 2020

Controlled experimentation is critical for understanding the causal determinants of pro-environmental behavior. However, the potential of experimental pro-environmental behavior research is limited by the difficulty to observe pro-environmental behavior under controlled conditions. The Pro-Environmental Behavior Task (PEBT) was developed to address this limitation by facilitating the experimental analysis of pro-environmental behavior in the laboratory. Previous studies in Belgian samples have already supported the validity of the PEBT as a procedure for the study of actual pro-environmental behavior. Here, we aimed for a cross-cultural replication of this finding in a sample of N = 103 Japanese college students. Along the lines of previous studies, we found PEBT choice behavior to be sensitive to within-subject manipulations of its behavioral costs and environmental benefits. This implies that participants take these consequences into account when choosing between PEBT options. In addition, we showed, for the first time, that such consequence effects can also be detected in a less powerful between-subjects design. These results support the generality of consequence effects on PEBT choice behavior as well as the validity and utility of the PEBT for use in samples from different cultural backgrounds.
Remote Sensing and Modelling Based Framework for Valuing Irrigation System Efficiency and Steering Indicators of Consumptive Water Use in an Irrigated Region
Authors: Usman Muhammad , Mahmood Talha , Conrad Christopher , Bodla Habib Ullah
Published: November 2020

Water crises are becoming severe in recent times, further fueled by population increase and climate change. They result in complex and unsustainable water management. Spatial estimation of consumptive water use is vital for performance assessment of the irrigation system using Remote Sensing (RS). For this study, its estimation is done using the Soil Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) approach. Performance indicators including equity, adequacy, and reliability were worked out at various spatiotemporal scales. Moreover, optimization and sustainable use of water resources are not possible without knowing the factors mainly influencing consumptive water use of major crops. For that purpose, random forest regression modelling was employed using various sets of factors for site-specific, proximity, and cropping system. The results show that the system is underperforming both for Kharif (i.e., summer) and Rabi (i.e., winter) seasons. Performance indicators highlight poor water distribution in the system, a shortage of water supply, and unreliability. The results are relatively good for Rabi as compared to Kharif, with an overall poor situation for both seasons. Factors importance varies for different crops. Overall, distance from canal, road density, canal density, and farm approachability are the most important factors for explaining consumptive water use. Auditing of consumptive water use shows the potential for resource optimization through on-farm water management by the targeted approach. The results are based on the present situation without considering future changes in canal water supply and consumptive water use under climate change.
Industry 4.0 Implementation in B2B Companies: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence on Digital Transformation in the CEE Region
Authors: Szabo Roland Zs. , Vuksanović Herceg Iva , Hanák Robert , Hortovanyi Lilla , Romanová Anita , Mocan Marian , Djuričin Dragan
Published: November 2020

Previous research has pointed out that Industry 4.0 will lead to more sustainable production; however, it may have profound effects on European competitiveness. Today, firms in the CEE countries face a limited scope for continued economic expansion, and hence there is a growing pressure on them to move upward in the global value chain by investing heavily in advanced technology. Consequently, the authors argue that B2B firms from the CEE countries can have a massive impact on Europe’s long-term competitiveness by reversing the effect of digital transformation due to their strong interdependencies on other European economies. Therefore, in a cross-country survey, research data were collected (n = 302) about the driving forces, barriers, and role of stakeholders in the implementation of digital transformations. The authors found that some technologies are implemented much more frequently compared to others, with some indication for country specialization. The leading driving force is customer satisfaction followed by productivity and financial motives. Shortage of skilled human resources and high implementation costs are the main barriers. The firms tend to rely on universities and research centers, while the government is perceived only as a financial provider. The results are also informative for practitioners and policymakers—providing them with benchmarks.
Factors Driving Success of Cost Management Practices in Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
Authors: Elghaish Faris , Hosseini M. Reza , Talebi Saeed , Abrishami Sepehr , Martek Igor , Kagioglou Michail
Published: November 2020

Integrated project delivery (IPD) is a mode of project procurement recognised as facilitating superior project performance. However, this success is contingent on effective cost management practices that share cost data with all project stakeholders in an accurate, timely and transparent manner. Despite an extensive literature on aspects of cost management, none identifies the essential ingredients required of an effective cost management system, sufficiently robust to support successful IPD projects. Candidate cost management augmenting practices are drawn from the literature, and presented for scrutiny in questionnaire form, to fifty IPD experienced experts, based in the USA, UK and Australia. Findings reveal activity-based costing (ABC) to be effective at identifying overhead costs and creating accounting transparency. Similarly, earned value management (EVM), in combination with ABC, is effective at developing mathematical models for equitable risk-reward distribution. Moreover, web-based management systems, as supported by Building Information Modelling (BIM), are effective at generating trust and collaboration on which IPD success depends. A questionnaire survey using purposive sampling was conducted to assess the factors driving success of implementing IPD regarding cost management process. The contribution to knowledge made by this paper is in identifying requisite support mechanisms essential to elevate traditional cost management practices to the higher standard needed to ensure IPD delivery success.
Current Practice of Managing the Waste of the Waste: Policy, Market, and Organisational Factors Influencing Shredder Fines Management in Sweden
Authors: Gunaratne Tharaka , Krook Joakim , Andersson Hans
Published: November 2020

The recycling-industry residue called shredder fines (fines) presents a disposal problem, incurs handling costs, and reduces resource efficiency in general. This study aims to identify the challenges of facilitating fines valorisation in the Swedish context. Hence, the shredding company perspective of the underlying factors that sustain the current practice of fines management is established by studying the case of a specific shredding company using semi-structured interviews. Utilisation in landfill covering offers the company a secure outlet and a legislatively-compliant low-cost disposal option for fines. Additionally, lack of specific regulatory standards, unfavourable regulation of waste reutilisation, and lack of market demand for secondary raw materials (SRMs) create disincentives to develop valorisation options. Also, the lack of corporate-level focus on the issue has resulted in a lack of organising for and capacities to improve the handling of the material. Initiating fines valorisation needs to challenge these prevailing circumstances and thus necessitates governmental interventions. Simultaneously, favourable conditions for SRM utilisation are needed; that is, established outlets for fines-derived SRMs and clear regulatory and market playing rules that reduce uncertainty and investment risk of developing tailored processes for upgrading and resource recovery need to be available.
Sustainability of Public Transportation: An Examination of User Behavior to Real-Time GPS Tracking Application
Authors: Chan Wei Chiang , Wan Ibrahim Wan Hashim , Lo May Chiun , Suaidi Mohamad Kadim , Ha Shiaw Tong
Published: November 2020

Public transportation is an effective method of mobility that promotes cost-saving and is environmentally friendly. Poor public transport ridership in Malaysia is due to the unsatisfactory attitude of public transport users and inaccurate information on departure and arrivals. Sarawak, a state of Malaysia, is especially poor in ridership of public transport. A real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking application (app) was found to be an effective tool to increase the ridership of public transport. Hence, a mobile app named UniBus was developed to enhance the ridership of public transport in Sarawak. The determinants that affect satisfaction and customer loyalty such as accessibility, reliability, comfort, safety, and security were all examined before and after the use of real-time GPS tracking app. The data was collected in Kuching, and targeted public transport users who used the UniBus app. The result indicated that all the mentioned variables were improved after using a real-time GPS tracking app. It is suggested that future studies can consider other factors such as service quality, availability, and perceived value as well as cover other states of Malaysia.