bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Updated Review and Outlook on Electric Vehicle Aggregators in Electric Energy Networks
Authors: Nazari-Heris Morteza , Abapour Mehdi , Mohammadi-Ivatloo Behnam
Published: November 2022

Electric vehicles (EVs) are predicted to be highly integrated into future smart grids considering their significant role in achieving a safe environment and sustainable transportation. The charging/discharging flexibility of EVs, which can be aggregated by an agent, provides the opportunity of participating in the demand-side management of energy networks. The individual participation of consumers at the system level would not be possible for two main reasons: (i) In general, their individual capacity is below the required minimum to participate in power system markets, and (ii) the number of market participants would be large, and thus the volume of individual transactions would be difficult to manage. In order to facilitate the interactions between consumers and the power grid, an aggregation agent would be required. The EV aggregation area and their integration challenges and impacts on electricity markets and distribution networks is investigated in much research studies from different planning and operation points of view. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review and outlook on EV aggregation models in electrical energy systems. The authors aim to study the main objectives and contributions of recent papers and investigate the proposed models in such areas in detail. In addition, this paper discusses the primary considerations and challenging issues of EV aggregators reported by various research studies. In addition, the proposed research outlines the future trends around electric vehicle aggregators and their role in electrical energy systems.
Research on Water Rights Trading and Pricing Model between Agriculture and Energy Development in Ningxia, China
Authors: Qin Changhai , Jiang Shan , Zhao Yong , Zhu Yongnan , Wang Qingming , Wang Lizhen , Qu Junlin , Wang Ming
Published: November 2022

The contradiction between the supply and demand of water resources has become increasingly prominent, and water rights trading is an effective approach to increase the efficiency of water resource utilization and allocation so as to achieve sustainable use of water resources. Current transferring cost and price in China are both underestimated, taking into account the construction and maintenance fee of water conservation project and the irrigation risk compensation fee but ignoring the renovation and reconstruction fee of water conservation projects, and the compensation fee for farmers. This paper takes assignee rights, assignee capacity, and compensation to third parties into comprehensive considerations in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where the contradictions between water, energy and food are most prominent in China. Tradable water use rights were analyzed based on a water transfer pricing model. The results show that there is an obvious negative correlation between shadow water price and water usage, and the shadow price of water resources is between 10.91 and 40.52 CNY/m3, which is an optimal solution under the constraint of water usage from 6.65 to 7.03 billion m3. The reasonable water transfer price is 10.91 CYN/m3, of which the earning of the agricultural assignor was 5.96 CNY/m3. This price guarantees the interests of the assignee and is also affordable to the assignee. This research provides a specific calculation method for the transfer pricing of water rights under non-market conditions, which is of important theoretically and has practical significance.
Solid as a Rock: Media Portrayals of Cross-Border Activities
Authors: Suchacek Jan
Published: November 2022

Much has been said and written about the importance of cross-border activities. With the process of opening up the borders, these cross-border activities became increasingly intense. Nevertheless, much less has been revealed on media portrayals of cross-border activities. The purpose of this article is to analyse, assess, and interpret regionally orientated contributions that deal with cross-border activities and are broadcasted within the national TV reporting in Czechia. While material or tangible aspects of cross-border activities have been traditionally examined thoroughly, the media reflection of those activities has not been captured in an adequate manner so far. The article deals with the issue from both quantitative and qualitative points of view. This complementary view is useful from the perspective of the interpretation of findings. Moreover, such an approach largely helps to fill in the existing research gaps. It has been found out that media portrayals of cross-border activities are inadequate from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives and barely reflect genuine processes related to cross-border interactions in real circumstances. Taking into account the general importance of cross-border activities and processes for developments of whole territories, less plastic media capturing of these activities and processes might seem surprising.
A Study on the Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention to Revitalize Idle Homesteads Based on Improved TPB Framework—Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Farmer Differentiation
Authors: Lu Mengyuan , Guo Bin , Chen Guohua , Yuan Lei , Xing Runnan , Huang Yu
Published: November 2022

Under the dual structure of urban and rural lands, revitalizing rural idle homesteads is an effective measure for reducing resource waste and improving the efficiency of rural land use. Therefore, the intention of farmers, as the primary decision-makers in revitalizing rural idle homesteads, is the key to the success of revitalizing idle homesteads. With an analytical framework based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study used multiple linear regressions to analyze the survey data (N = 680). The results showed that attitude toward the behavior (AB), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) had significant positive effects on the farmers’ intention to revitalize, with SN, PBC, and AB in descending order of influence. It confirmed that the TPB applies to the study of farmers’ intention to revitalize idle homesteads in the context of China. In addition, this study focused on the social phenomenon of farmer differentiation, which is prominent in the urbanization process. It emphasizes the moderating effect of farmer differentiation on the relationships of “attitude toward the behavior–intention to revitalize,” “subjective norm–intention to revitalize,” and “perceived behavioral control–intention to revitalize,” and further improves TPB. The present empirical study using hierarchical regression found that the deeper the differentiation of farmers, the stronger the effective influence of AB, SN, and PBC on farmers’ intention to revitalize idle homesteads. Therefore, it is suggested that the Chinese government should enhance farmers’ intention to revitalize by cultivating a positive attitude toward the behavior, strengthening the positive influence of subjective norms on farmers, and enhancing farmers perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, it is more important to pay full attention to the phenomenon of farmer differentiation and design a revitalization policy according to the differences in sensitivity of different types of farmers to attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.
Cooking Up a Circular Kitchen: A Longitudinal Study of Stakeholder Choices in the Development of a Circular Building Component
Authors: Wouterszoon Jansen Bas , van Stijn Anne , Gruis Vincent , van Bortel Gerard
Published: November 2022

The built environment can be made more circular by gradually replacing building components with more circular components during construction, renovation, or maintenance. However, many different design options can be seen as circular. Although there is a growing number of studies about circular design options, research on what makes these options feasible or not feasible in practice is limited. This type of research requires intensive, long-term involvement with practitioners. Therefore, this article presents a longitudinal case study of an exemplary circular building component: the circular kitchen. The researchers actively engaged in a co-creation with industry partners to develop a circular kitchen design, supply chain model, and business model. All the choices made from initiative to market implementation were documented. Five lessons were drawn from an analysis of the stakeholder choices that can aid the future development of feasible circular building components: about ambition, aesthetics, design scale, participation, and focus.
Factors Influencing Vocational Education and Training Teachers’ Professional Competence Based on a Large-Scale Diagnostic Method: A Decade of Data from China
Authors: Zhang Zhixin , Tian Jinyou , Zhao Zhiqun , Zhou Wei , Sun Fangfang , Que Yongping , He Xingguo
Published: November 2022

China has the world’s most extensive vocational education and training (VET) system, and VET teachers are central to training high-quality technical and skilled workers. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing VET teachers’ professional competence based on empirical research. We used a large-scale diagnostic method based on the competence measurement of VET, the teachers’ professional competence model. Comprehensive diagnostic tasks, assessment criteria, and test protocols jointly developed by Chinese and German researchers were used to diagnose professional competence. Background questionnaires were collected from 601 VET teachers in 39 vocational colleges and schools in China over ten years. Path analysis was used to explore factors influencing the professional competence of VET teachers. The study found that skill awards, highest academic degree, course type (practical over theoretical), highest level of professional qualification, and enterprise support positively influenced professional competence. School support negatively influenced VET teachers’ professional competence. Organizational identification mediated the relationship between enterprise support, school support, and professional competence. However, professional identity or learning strategy aren’t mediated the relationship between enterprise support, school support, and professional competence. This study provides an empirical basis for enhancing VET teachers’ professional competence and facilitating further development of theories regarding the professional competence of VET teachers.
Sources, Indicators, and Assessment of Soil Contamination by Potentially Toxic Metals
Authors: Xin Xiaoping , Shentu Jiali , Zhang Tiequan , Yang Xiaoe , Baligar Virupax C. , He Zhenli
Published: November 2022

Soil pollution caused by potentially toxic metals has become a worldwide environmental issue. Geogenic processes and anthropogenic activities are two important sources of soil pollution. Soils may inherit toxic metals from parent materials; however, soil pollution mostly results from industrial and agricultural activities. Contamination by metals can be indicated by the changes in chemical, biochemical, and microbial properties of soils and plant responses. The total concentration of toxic metals in soil is still the most widely used indicator for risk assessment although extractable amounts have been reported to be more closely related to plant uptake. Several models have been proposed for assessing soil contamination by toxic metals, but none of them are commonly accepted for application to a wide range of soils. This review paper highlights how toxic metal contamination negatively affects soil and environmental quality, impacts food quality and security, and poses a threat to human health. Further research is needed to not only improve soil contamination diagnosis, modeling, and regulatory standards but also for remediation efficiency.
Analyzing the Potential Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Regional Energy Integration Scenarios of a Bio-Based Industrial Network
Authors: Bezama Alberto , Hildebrandt Jakob , Thrän Daniela
Published: November 2022

The goal of this work was to evaluate the socio-economic and environmental life cycle advantages of alternative defossilization pathways for a bio-based industrial network in Central Germany. Five scenarios were defined considering the potential energy utilization of further regionally available biomass capacities. The evaluation was made using an integrated approach, i.e., using a traditional life cycle assessment methodology, complemented by a regionalized socio-economic life cycle assessment framework. The results show that the environmental advantages from the change in energy provisioning reduced about 5% of the total environmental impacts. The analysis of the socio-economic impacts shows that the path to defossilization of the integrated network provides a clear enhancement of the expected regional socio-economic impacts. These results show that 100% decoupling from natural gas brings overall positive sustainability advantages to all organizations participating in the evaluated value chains. The methodological approach presented in this work can allow the identification of hotspots and opportunities within the regions where the implementation of technological alternatives takes place.
Probabilistic Forecasting for Demand of a Bike-Sharing Service Using a Deep-Learning Approach
Authors: Lim Heejong , Chung Kwanghun , Lee Sangbok
Published: November 2022

Efficient and sustainable bike-sharing service (BSS) operations require accurate demand forecasting for bike inventory management and rebalancing. Probabilistic forecasting provides a set of information on uncertainties in demand forecasting, and thus it is suitable for use in stochastic inventory management. Our research objective is to develop probabilistic time-series forecasting for BSS demand. We use an RNN–LSTM-based model, called DeepAR, for the station-wise bike-demand forecasting problem. The deep-learning structure of DeepAR captures complex demand patterns and correlations between the stations in one trained model; therefore, it is not necessary to develop demand-forecasting models for each individual station. DeepAR makes parameter forecast estimates for the probabilistic distribution of target values in the prediction range. We apply DeepAR to estimate the parameters of normal, truncated normal, and negative binomial distributions. We use the BSS dataset from Seoul Metropolitan City to evaluate the model’s performance. We create district- and station-level forecasts, comparing several statistical time-series forecasting methods; as a result, we show that DeepAR outperforms the other models. Furthermore, our district-level evaluation results show that all three distributions are acceptable for demand forecasting; however, the truncated normal distribution tends to overestimate the demand. At the station level, the truncated normal distribution performs the best, with the least forecasting errors out of the three tested distributions.
Application of YOLO and ResNet in Heat Staking Process Inspection
Authors: Jung Hail , Rhee Jeongjin
Published: November 2022

In the automobile manufacturing industry, inspecting the quality of heat staking points in a door trim involves significant labor, leading to human errors and increased costs. Artificial intelligence has provided the industry some aid, and studies have explored using deep learning models for object detection and image classification. However, their application to the heat staking process has been limited. This study applied an object detection algorithm, the You Only Look Once (YOLO) framework, and a classification algorithm, residual network (ResNet), to a real heat staking process image dataset. The study leverages the advantages of YOLO models and ResNet to increase the overall efficiency and accuracy of detecting heat staking points from door trim images and classify whether the detected heat staking points are defected or not. The proposed model achieved high accuracy in both object detection (mAP of 95.1%) and classification (F1-score of 98%). These results show that the developed deep learning models can be applied to the real-time inspection of the heat staking process. The models can increase productivity and quality while decreasing human labor cost, ultimately improving a firm’s competitiveness.
Evaluation of Fresh and Hardened Concrete Properties Incorporating Glass Waste as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate
Authors: Jamellodin Zalipah , Qian Yi Lim , Latif Qadir Bux Alias Imran , Algaifi Hassan Amer , Hamdan Rafidah , Al-Gheethi Adel
Published: November 2022

To date, the utilization of glass waste as an alternative aggregate in concrete has gained significantly increasing attention, owing to its remarkable properties. However, its high replacement content and glass particle size, of greater than 5 mm, causes an increase in the alkali-silica reaction expansion and a reduction in the concrete strength in most of the present literature. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of a lower sand replacement content (5–25%) in glass waste (smaller than 5 mm) on both the mechanical and durability properties of concrete. In particular, the effect of varying the replacement of fine aggregate by glass waste (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) on compressive strength and water permeability of concrete (30 MPa grade) was evaluated at 7 and 28 days. Moreover, scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests were taken into account to assess the morphology characteristics of the concrete. Based on the results, the highest concrete strength (37.5 MPa) was recorded when the replacement percentage was 15%, while the control strength was 33.5 Mpa. The outcomes also exposed that the water permeability coefficient of the samples was decreased (0.883 × 10−9 m/s), at 5% compared to that of the control mix (1.097 × 10−9 m/s). In conclusion, a lower replacement percentage of glass waste leads to enhanced concrete properties and would act as a sustainable and alternative material in the near future.
Solid Waste Management Scenario in India and Illegal Dump Detection Using Deep Learning: An AI Approach towards the Sustainable Waste Management
Authors: Shahab Sana , Anjum Mohd
Published: November 2022

The study is presented in four sections. The first section defines the municipal solid waste and solid waste management system. The second section illustrates the descriptive statistical analysis of waste generation patterns in India. The average waste generation in India was 160,038.9 tons per day in 2021; 95% of this total waste was collected and transported to the disposal sites. Based on scientific studies and observations, the per capita waste generation rate in 2018 was 0.490–0.626 g per day. In the last one and a half decades (1999–2000 to 2015–2016), Delhi and Bangalore have shown the highest percentage growth of 2075% and 1750%, respectively, in total waste generation among the highest population cities. The analysis of waste generation patterns concludes urbanization is a major factor that highly influences the waste generation rate. The third section describes the major issues in current solid waste management services. Some of these issues are the unavailability of web portals for citizens, no real-time monitoring of bins, collection vehicles and illegal dumping. These issues are identified based on the survey performed in a city and analysis of related research studies and scientific reports. We determined that illegal dumping is one of these major concerns and needs a technological solution. In the fourth section, we propose a multipath convolutional neural network (mp-CNN) to detect and localize the waste dumps on streets and roadsides. We constructed our dataset to train and test the proposed model, as no benchmark dataset is publicly available to obtain this objective. We applied the weakly supervised learning approach to training the model. In this approach, mp-CNN was trained according to the image class; in our case, it is two (waste and non-waste). In the testing phase, the model showed the performance evaluation matrices 97.82% of precision, 98.86% of recall, 98.34% of F1 score, 98.33% of accuracy, and 98.63% of AUROC for this binary classification. Due to the scarcity of benchmark datasets, waste localization results cannot be presented quantitatively. So, we performed a survey to compare the overlapping of the mask generated by the model with the region waste in the actual image. The average score for the generated mask obtained a score of 3.884 on a scale of 5. Based on the analysis of model performance evaluation parameters, precision-recall curve, receiver characteristic operator curve, and comparison of mask generated by the model over waste with corresponding actual images show that mp-CNN performs remarkably good in detection, classification, and localization of waste regions. Finally, two conceptual architectures in the context of developing countries are suggested to demonstrate the future practical applications of the mp-CNN model.
The Acceptance Behavior of Blended Learning in Secondary Vocational School Students: Based on the Modified UTAUT Model
Authors: Li Bei , Sun Jianmin , Oubibi Mohamed
Published: November 2022

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of online learning for students and teachers in schools across the country has become more crucial than ever. Blended learning, combining online and offline learning, has gradually developed into a new normal mode in primary and secondary schools. However, the factors influencing the acceptance behavior of secondary vocational school students have been inadequately investigated and have failed to address if secondary vocational students are willing to accept this learning model. This study aimed to analyze the influential factors and measure the behavioral acceptance of blended learning. This study adopted the modified model of the unified theory of acceptance use of technology (UTAUT) to understand the behavioral acceptance of blended learning from secondary vocational school students. Multiple-item scales were established, based on validated previous measurement scales and adjusted following the characteristics of secondary vocational school students. Data from 240 valid samples were analyzed statistically, applying the partial least square structural equation modelling. The results indicated that the acceptance intention was positively influenced by students’ perceptions of social influence, facilitating conditions, perceived joyfulness, self-learning management and self-efficacy. Meanwhile, performance expectancy and effort expectation were insignificant. Personal characteristics, such as gender, grade, voluntariness and experience, insignificantly adjusted the influence of all factors on the acceptance of blended learning. The conclusion of this study can provide some theoretical support and practical guidance for the improvement of blended learning quality in secondary vocational schools. The results indicated that students’ perceptions of SI, FC, PJ, SM, and SE could positively anticipate the UA to accept blended learning, having a relatively strong influence from SE and PJ.
A Review of Cross-Disciplinary Approaches for the Identification of Novel Industrially Relevant Plastic-Degrading Enzymes
Authors: Herbert Josephine , Beckett Angela H. , Robson Samuel C.
Published: November 2022

The large-scale global use of plastics has led to one of the greatest environmental issues of the 21st century. The incredible durability of these polymers, whilst beneficial for a wide range of purposes, makes them hard to break down. True recycling of plastics is difficult and expensive, leading to accumulation in the environment as waste. Recently, a new field of research has developed, aiming to use natural biological processes to solve this man-made problem. Incredibly, some microorganisms are able to produce enzymes with the capacity to chemically break down plastic polymers into their monomeric building blocks. At an industrial scale, this process could allow for a circular recycling economy, whereby plastics are broken down, then built back up into novel consumer plastics. As well as providing a solution for the removal of plastics from the environment, this would also eliminate the need for the creation of virgin plastics. Analytical techniques, such as those allowing quantification of depolymerisation activity and enzyme characterization, have underpinned this field and created a strong foundation for this nascent inter-disciplinary field. Recent advances in cutting-edge ‘omics approaches such as DNA and RNA sequencing, combined with machine learning strategies, provide in-depth analysis of genomic systems involved in degradation. In particular, this can provide understanding of the specific protein sequence of the enzymes involved in the process, as well as insights into the functional and mechanistic role of the enzymes within these microorganisms, allowing for potential high-throughput discovery and subsequent exploitation of novel depolymerases. Together, these cross-disciplinary analytical techniques offer a complete pipeline for the identification, validation, and upscaling of potential enzymatic solutions for industrial deployment. In this review, we provide a summary of the research within the field to date, the analytical techniques most commonly applied for enzyme discovery and industrial upscaling, and provide recommendations for a standardised approach to allow research conducted in this field to be benchmarked to ensure focus is on the discovery and characterisation of industrially relevant enzymes.
Replay-Attack Detection and Prevention Mechanism in Industry 4.0 Landscape for Secure SECS/GEM Communications
Authors: Al-Shareeda Mahmood A. , Manickam Selvakumar , Laghari Shams A. , Jaisan Ashish
Published: November 2022

Starting from the First Industrial Revolution to the current and Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0), various industrial machines are present in the market and manufacturing companies. As standardized protocols have become increasingly popular, more utilities are switching to Internet Protocol (IP)-based systems for wide-area communication. SECS/GEM is one of the standards that permit industries to collect information directly from the machines, either using RS323 or TCP/IP communication. TCP/IP communication is becoming more critical than ever, especially given our accelerated digital transformation and increasing reliance on communication technologies. The growth of IT is accelerating with cyberthreats as well. In contrast, security features in the SECS/GEM protocol may be neglected by some companies as it is only used in factories and not mostly used in the outside world. However, communication of SECS/GEM is highly susceptible to various cyberattacks. This paper analyzes the potential replay-attack cyberattacks that can occur on a SECS/GEM system. In replay attacks, this paper supposes an adversary that wants to damage an operation-based control system in an ongoing condition. The adversary has the ability to capture messages to watch and record their contents for a predetermined amount of time, record them, and then replay them while attacking in order to inject an exogenous control input undetected. The paper’s objectives are to prove that SECS/GEM communication is vulnerable to cyberattack and design a detection mechanism to protect SECS/GEM communications from replay attacks. The methodology implements a simulation of the replay-attack mechanism on SECS/GEM communication. The results indicate that the design mechanism detected replay attacks against SECS/GEM communications and successfully prevented them.
Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Selector Based on Machine Learning for Next-Generation Networks
Authors: Okey Ogobuchi Daniel , Maidin Siti Sarah , Lopes Rosa Renata , Toor Waqas Tariq , Carrillo Melgarejo Dick , Wuttisittikulkij Lunchakorn , Saadi Muhammad , Zegarra Rodríguez Demóstenes
Published: November 2022

In next-generation networks, including the sixth generation (6G), a large number of computing devices can communicate with ultra-low latency. By implication, 6G capabilities present a massive benefit for the Internet of Things (IoT), considering a wide range of application domains. However, some security concerns in the IoT involving authentication and encryption protocols are currently under investigation. Thus, mechanisms implementing quantum communications in IoT devices have been explored to offer improved security. Algorithmic solutions that enable better quantum key distribution (QKD) selection for authentication and encryption have been developed, but having limited performance considering time requirements. Therefore, a new approach for selecting the best QKD protocol based on a Deep Convolutional Neural Network model, called Tree-CNN, is proposed using the Tanh Exponential Activation Function (TanhExp) that enables IoT devices to handle more secure quantum communications using the 6G network infrastructure. The proposed model is developed, and its performance is compared with classical Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and other machine learning methods. The results obtained are superior to the related works, with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 99.89% during testing and a time-cost performance of 0.65 s for predicting the best QKD protocol. In addition, we tested our proposal using different transmission distances and three QKD protocols to demonstrate that the prediction and actual results reached similar values. Hence, our proposed model obtained a fast, reliable, and precise solution to solve the challenges of performance and time consumption in selecting the best QKD protocol.
Diesel Spray: Development of Spray in Diesel Engine
Authors: Djamari Djati Wibowo , Idris Muhammad , Paristiawan Permana Andi , Abbas Muhammad Mujtaba , Samuel Olusegun David , Soudagar Manzoore Elahi M. , Herawan Safarudin Gazali , Chandran Davannendran , Yusuf Abdulfatah Abdu , Panchal Hitesh , Veza Ibham
Published: November 2022

Research and development in the internal combustion engine (ICE) has been growing progressively. Issues such as air pollution, fuel cost, and market competitiveness have driven the automotive industry to develop and manufacture automobiles that meet new regulation and customers’ needs. The diesel engine has some advantages over the gasoline or spark ignition engine, including higher engine efficiency, greater power output, as well as reliability. Since the early stage of the diesel engine’s development phase, the quest to obtain better atomization, proper fuel supply, and accurate timing control, have triggered numerous innovations. In the last two decades, owing to the development of optical technology, the visualization of spray atomization has been made possible using visual diagnostics techniques. This advancement has greatly improved research in spray evolution. Yet, a more comprehensive understanding related to these aspects has not yet been agreed upon. Diesel spray, in particular, is considered a complicated phenomenon to observe because of its high-speed, high pressure, as well as its high temperature working condition. Nevertheless, several mechanisms have been successfully explained using fundamental studies, providing several suggestions in the area, such as liquid atomization and two-phase spray flow. There are still many aspects that have not yet been agreed upon. This paper comprehensively reviews the current status of theoretical diesel spray and modelling, including some important numerical and experimental aspects.
Back to the Future: Agricultural Booms, Busts, and Diversification in Maine, USA, 1840–2017
Authors: Hoshide Aaron Kinyu
Published: November 2022

In temperate forested regions, historical agricultural production and value have been characterized by booms and busts. Agricultural diversification can encourage more stable agricultural development in the future. Agricultural Census and Survey data from 1840 to 2017 were used to estimate crop and livestock species’ product production and value for Maine, USA. These data were also used to calculate agricultural diversity indicators over time such as species richness, relative abundance, effective number of species, species diversification index, evenness, Shannon-Weiner index, and composite entropy index. Maine’s historical grass-based livestock systems included crops raised to feed livestock from the state’s establishment until the 1950’s. Since the 1950’s, production and value of livestock commodity products (e.g., meat chicken, eggs) have busted after initial booms. Three categories where diversity indicators have become more favorable since the 1950’s in Maine include livestock, livestock forage/feed, and potatoes and potato rotation crops. Mixed vegetables, fruits, nuts, and specialty crops as a category have had diversity increases during the 1970’s back-to-the-land movement and over the past two decades. Floriculture, propagation, and X-Mas trees as a category have witnessed volatile diversity indicator changes over time. Past diversification strategies can inspire farmers to go “back to the future” to improve sustainability.
Spatial Structure Evolution and Economic Benefits of Rapidly Expanding the High-Speed Rail Network in Developing Regions: A Case Study in Western China
Authors: Yang Bo , Yang Yaping , Liu Yangxiaoyue , Yue Xiafang
Published: November 2022

High-speed rail (HSR) is an important form of transportation that affects the economic development of the regional spatial structure. However, there is less discussion about the impact of economically underdeveloped regions and the rapid construction of HSR on the region. This study uses a spatial econometric model to explore whether a rapidly formed high-speed rail network with changes in the network structure can bring economic effects based on the spatio-temporal panel data on high-speed rail construction and economic development in western China from 2015 to 2020. First, data of the daily departures between high-speed rail cities were used to analyze the western high-speed rail network’s spatial and temporal evolution characteristics. Second, we analyzed the changes in the centrality, external and internal connectivity, and transfer potential of the economic gap of the western HSR network. Finally, we analyzed the different economic effects of the HSR network structure by combining the Cobb–Douglas production function with the spatial econometric model. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The HSR network in western China is dense at the intra-provincial HSR network; then it expands along the cross-provincial region; and is gradually embedded in the national HSR network, forming a figure-8-shaped spatial structure. (2) In the rapid expansion and densification of the HSR network in western China, connectivity takes precedence, and dominance and control are then increased. The external connectivity of the western HSR city network develops first and shows fluctuating growth, while the internal connectivity improves relatively slowly. (3) The connectivity, convenience of transit, transshipment capacity, and internal and external connection structure of the HSR network all contribute to the economic development of western cities. The transfer potential of economic gaps is detrimental to their economic development but has a positive effect on adjacent cities.
Blockchain-Enabled Cross-Border E-Commerce Supply Chain Management: A Bibliometric Systematic Review
Authors: Zhou Fuli , Liu Yijie
Published: November 2022

Driven by the internet-based advanced information technologies and logistics channel improvement, the cross-border e-commerce industry keeps an increasing trend in Chinese industrial market. Blockchain, as an empowered technology, contributes to the management innovations for industrial sectors. The blockchain technology, due to its transparency, visibility, and dis-intermediation characteristics, helps to improve operations management of cross-border e-commerce supply chain by innovative industrial applications. However, practical applications of the blockchain technique-enabled cross-border e-commerce sector are still in their infancy and still at the proof-of-concept stage. This paper presents a systematic review on blockchain-enabled cross-border e-commerce supply chain management by employing a bibliometric data-driven analysis. All relevant publications from the Web of Science database from 2013 to 2021 were collected as the research samples. Besides, the VosViewer is adopted to conduct the network and co-word study by visualizing collaborative relationships of sampled literatures. Results show that the blockchain technique has substantial applications in the field of cross-border e-commerce supply chain, whose contributions mainly focus on cross-border e-commerce platform, supply chain operations, and data governance and information management. Academic researchers and industrial managers can promote innovative management practices in cross-border e-commerce supply chain by adopting blockchain. Moreover, we hope this study serves as a future direction for both researchers and engineers on leveraging blockchain to improve the supply chain management performance of the cross-border e-commerce.
Research on Optimizing the Location and Layout of National Emergency Material Reserve
Authors: Wu Zhuang , Liu Chenjun , Yao Zhiying , Zhang Yi
Published: November 2022

Scientific planning, and the layout of the national level reserve base of emergency materials, will help improve the effectiveness of a country’s overall emergency disaster reduction system. Based on the P-center location theory, this paper analyzes the factors affecting site selection at the national and state levels, determines the reasonable number of emergency material reserve bases at national and state levels, and then develops a national macro-level emergency supply reserve location planning model. In this study, the city of 28 states in a country were selected as alternative reserve cities and emergency demand city matrix, to conduct the research. The model is solved using a variable neighborhood search algorithm (VNS). The calculation results obtain the reasonable number of emergency material reserve bases set at the national level in this studied country, and the optimal solution of the base layout can be obtained if the number of emergency reserve bases set at the national level remains unchanged. The experimental results shows that the selected algorithm is reasonable.
Which Provincial Regions in China Should Give Priority to the Redevelopment of Abandoned Coal Mines? A Redevelopment Potential Evaluation Based Analysis
Authors: Yang Yuliang , Cui Chaoqun
Published: November 2022

Abandoned mines have a double nature consisting of resources and assets, and their rational redevelopment is one of the most important practices of the recycling economy. To direct the layout of the regional abandoned mine redevelopment, this paper constructs a comprehensive assessment framework for abandoned mine redevelopment potential based on the driving force–state–response (DSR) model. It is quantitatively evaluated by three-dimensional cloud models, and the results are coupled using a four-quadrant approach. From the perspective of space control, this paper proposes classification principles of redevelopment potential and redevelopment sequence and summarizes the important policy implementations for each category. The paper studies the redevelopment potential of abandoned mines from the provincial perspective in 25 coal-producing provinces of China. The results indicate that not all areas with high resource potential are suitable for redevelopment. In the northern and western regions, the regional abandoned mines have high resource potential and strong redevelopment drivers. However, the spatial pattern of the suitability of the development conditions is not distributed in the same way as the resources. The distribution of the abandoned mine redevelopment potential reveals that the eastern and east-central regions should give priority to the construction of demonstration projects. Different driving force scenarios confirm that most provinces have no obvious driving factor preference, with a few exceptions. This evaluation model is established from a more comprehensive perspective and is a valuable aid for decision makers when arranging abandoned mine regeneration projects.
Simple Aminated Modified Zeolite 4A Synthesized Using Fly Ash and Its Remediation of Mercury Contamination: Characteristics and Mechanism
Authors: Gao Mengdan , Yang Liyun , Yang Shuangjian , Jiang Tong , Wu Fei , Nagasaka Tetsuya
Published: November 2022

In this study, through simple ammonia impregnation, more amine functional groups could be introduced into the zeolite 4A synthesized using fly ash, which efficiently improved the mercury ion removal capacity of modified zeolites. The impregnation-modification mechanism of NH3·H2O, ammonium chloride, and silane coupling agent (KH792) for zeolite 4A, and the Hg2+ ion removal-efficiency by aminated zeolites, were studied and compared. Through ion exchange and hydroxyl reactions, NH3·H2O impregnation introduced the same kinds of nitrogen-containing groups into zeolite as KH792 grafting, which was more than the NH4Cl modification. The Hg2+ ion adsorption capacity of NH3·H2O-zeolite was higher than those of KH792-zeolite and NH4Cl-zeolite through ion exchange and the complexation of nitrogen-containing groups. When coexisting with Pb2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ ions, the Hg2+ ion removal rate of NH3·H2O-zeolite was still higher than 99%. After five adsorption and desorption cycles, the Hg2+ ion removal rate of NH3·H2O-zeolite was 72.03%. When NH3·H2O-zeolite was added to the leaching of mercury-contaminated soil, the content of soluble mercury significantly decreased. Therefore, we synthesized a potential cheap and safe adsorbent using fly ash as the main raw material through the simple NH3·H2O impregnation modification for the treatment of mercury-contaminated water and soil.
Arrangement of Belleville Springs on Endplates Combined with Optimal Cross-Sectional Shape in PEMFC Stack Using Equivalent Beam Modeling and FEA
Authors: Zhang Zhiming , Ren Hui , Hu Song , Zhang Xinfeng , Zhang Tong , Zhou Jiaming , Jiang Shangfeng , Yu Tao , Deng Bo
Published: November 2022

A set of Belleville springs integrated into an endplate plays a key role in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack, which makes the applied assembly force smoother, resulting from the absorbed vibration and thermal expansion. The appropriate arrangement of Belleville springs is important in PEMFC stack design. The aim of this study is to establish an equivalent beam model to optimize the numbers and positions of Belleville springs to minimize endplate deformation. Based on this, a finite element analysis (FEA) model of the PEMFC stack is proposed to further optimize the cross-sectional shape of the endplate. For the endplate with two, three and four groups of Belleville springs, its optimal positions correspond to 0.17lin, 0.27lin and 0.5lin (lin is the equal distance between steel belts). In addition, the low thickness should be 2/3 of the high thickness of the curved endplate for a uniform contact pressure distribution as well as the high-volume-specific power. However, the curvature radius of the endplate arc is negative to the uniformity of the contact pressure distribution, and particularly the internal cells of the PEMFC stack. This study provides a design direction for endplates combined with Belleville springs in large fuel cell stacks clamped with steel belts.
Toward a System Theory of Corporate Sustainability: An Interim Struggle
Authors: Kantabutra Sooksan
Published: November 2022

In response to the prevailing sustainability problems that are difficult to solve since they are characterized by complex interdependencies, and the effort to solve one aspect of a sustainability problem may lead to other problems, the present study’s objective is to develop an interim, system-based theory of corporate sustainability to fill in significant gaps in the corporate sustainability field. The paper starts by outlining the gaps, introducing a theory building approach, followed by discussing components of the emerging theory. As a system-based theory, the emerging theory is demonstrated through the Corporate Sustainability system, comprising Sustainability Culture, Resilience and Corporate Sustainability Performance subsystems. These subsystems interact to ensure a continuous delivery of sustainability performance outputs and outcomes. The resulting theory is highly dynamic in nature with a feedback loop of learning to reflect the actual reality of high-velocity environment. Implications for corporate practitioners and theorists are also discussed.
Willingness to Pay for Mobile Health Live Streaming during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Integrating TPB with Compatibility
Authors: Lu Fuyong , Huang Xian , Wang Xintao
Published: November 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to limit their physical interactions, which has led to unprecedented growth in mobile health live streaming (MHLS). Such practices have been facilitated by the rapid development of consumers’ willingness to pay for MHLS. However, few efforts appear in the literature to understand this change. This study aims to integrate the theory of planned behavior with compatibility to clarify payment motivations for MHLS during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Accordingly, the current study used a web-based, self-reported questionnaire to collect data from 506 Chinese consumers. Of the 535 distributed questionnaires, we received 505 valid responses, yielding an effective rate of 94.3%. The valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and the associated hypotheses were tested using partial least squares regression. The results showed that attitude, self-efficacy, preferred lifestyle, information quality, and interactive immersion (but not subjective norms) significantly predicted consumers’ willngness to pay (WTP). In addition, attitude partially mediated the association between preferred lifestyle, information quality, and WTP, respectively, while the mediating role in the relationship between interactive immersion and WTP was not confirmed. These findings can be used to formulate effective marketing strategies to benefit MHLS services and mobile payment technology in the country.
Sustainable Food Production from a Labor Supply Perspective: Policies and Implications
Authors: Xu Na , Zhang Liqin , Leng Xiyuan
Published: November 2022

Sustainable food production is an important foundation for a country’s development. With the accelerated pace of China’s economic development, many farmers are relocating to cities. This change in farmers’ part-time employment may lead to a shortage of agricultural labor supply and can result in insufficient food production. Therefore, the government implemented grain subsidies to promote food production. This study investigates the impact of grain subsidies on the labor supply of farm households, using panel data from fixed observations in rural China. The results show that grain subsidies increase the agricultural labor time of incompletely divided part-time farmers, especially the time spent growing food. This increase is because the members of these households are more likely to be engaged in temporary-seasonal-nonfarm work, and they can switch between nonfarm and agricultural work more easily. Moreover, this study finds that as the total amount of subsidies received by farmers increases, the effect of per-unit subsidies becomes more pronounced. These findings may provide evidence of subsidy effects and present policy implications for ensuring adequate food supply and sustainable agricultural development in the future.