bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Concretization of Sustainable Urban Design Education in the Project Based Learning Approach—Experiences from a Fulbright Specialist Project
Authors: Bradecki Tomasz , Hallova Anyeley , Stangel Michal
Published: June 2022

While there is a growing general awareness of sustainable development challenges among the students in Poland, the transition from a general notion to specific applications on various scales of designing the built environment is still a challenge. The described experience was aimed at setting up engaging learning experiences to improve education in sustainable urban design. In the presented case, introducing sustainability issues in urban design education was fostered by sharing international best practices and experiences through a Fulbright Specialist project, which allowed a range of means and opportunities to share knowledge and expertise in sustainable urban design. The Fulbright Specialist Program provides short-term consultancies of U.S. established professionals as experts on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning, etc. In the discussed project, implemented in Poland, an American expert in real estate and sustainable urban development shared her experiences with an integrated sustainable approach to planning, development and design. The project demonstrated successful ways of maximizing the impact and knowledge-sharing in various activities: lectures, workshops, consultancies and TEDx talks. This experience shows how short-term workshops backed by a foreign specialist can trigger inspiration and opportunities for synergy in incorporating environmental, social and economic sustainability in education and campus design.
Prediction of Future Lake Water Availability Using SWAT and Support Vector Regression (SVR)
Authors: Jayanthi Sri Lakshmi Sesha Vani , Keesara Venkata Reddy , Sridhar Venkataramana
Published: June 2022

Lakes are major surface water resource in semi-arid regions, providing water for agriculture and domestic use. Prediction of future water availability in lakes of semi-arid regions is important as they are highly sensitive to climate variability. This study is to examine the water level fluctuations in Pakhal Lake, Telangana, India using a combination of a process-based hydrological model and machine learning technique under climate change scenarios. Pakhal is an artificial lake built to meet the irrigation requirements of the region. Predictions of lake level can help with effective planning and management of water resources. In this study, an integrated approach is adopted to predict future water level fluctuations in Pakhal Lake in response to potential climate change. This study makes use of the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) dataset which contains 21 Global Climate Models (GCMs) at a resolution of 0.25 × 0.25° is used for the study. The Reliability Ensemble Averaging (REA) method is applied to the 21 models to create an ensemble model. The hydrological model outputs from Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) are used to develop the machine-learning based Support Vector Regression (ν-SVR) model for predicting future water levels in Pakhal Lake. The scores of the three metrics, correlation coefficient (R2), RMSE and MEA are 0.79, 0.018 m, and 0.13 m, respectively for the training period. The values for the validation periods are 0.72, 0.6, and 0.25 m, indicating that the model captures the observed lake water level trends satisfactorily. The SWAT simulation results showed a decrease in surface runoff in the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 scenario and an increase in the RCP 8.5 scenario. Further, the results from ν-SVR model for the future time period indicate a decrease in future lake levels during crop growth seasons. This study aids in planning of necessary water management options for Pakhal Lake under climate change scenarios. With limited observed datasets, this study can be easily extended to the other lake systems.
Information Disclosure and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the Spanish Tourism Industry
Authors: Camisón-Haba Sergio , Gonzáles-Cruz Tomás , Clemente-Almendros José Antonio
Published: June 2022

Of all the resources and capabilities that have a well-established impact on decision-making, information stands out. With the advent of the digital economy, organizations have been making significant information and communication technology (ICT) investments, but the empirical evidence of the impact of these investments on business outcomes has been inconsistent. This article studies the conditions that disclosed information resources and ICT must fulfil in order to become a source of sustainable competitive advantage in tourism organizations. The results point to the need to identify distinct financial and non-financial information dimensions, distinguished according to their direct potential for creating and maintaining competitive advantages through the improvement in relations with various stakeholders.
EnviroCoin: A Holistic, Blockchain Empowered, Consensus-Based Carbon Saving Unit Ecosystem
Authors: Shokri Amin , Shokri Ali , White Dean , Gelski Richard , Goldberg Yosse , Harrison Stephen , Rashidi Taha Hossein
Published: June 2022

The capacity of the greenhouse gas recycling mechanism in nature has long reached its limit, resulting in a sharply increasing trend in the marginal cost of recycling one unit of human-produced carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Externalities associated with the marginal cost of greenhouse gas emissions affect health, climate, and the economy, which have urged global authorities and governments to request urgent actions to slow down the production of such pollutants. Nonetheless, without public awareness and a holistic mechanism to monetise the impact of pollutants, a universal strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is condemned to failure. This paper presents an overview of emerging technologies that can come together to offer an innovative solution for monetising, incentivising and realising the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Through a brief review of the literature, an innovative ecosystem is proposed for the first time, accounting for a unified platform for carbon verification, validation and monetisation, which can be adopted as a business model to validate and monetise the amount of incentivising businesses and people for carbon saving on a decentralised blockchain platform.
Developing Reusable COVID-19 Disaster Management Plans Using Agent-Based Analysis
Authors: Inan Dedi I. , Beydoun Ghassan , Othman Siti Hajar , Pradhan Biswajeet , Opper Simon
Published: June 2022

Since late 2019, the COVID-19 biological disaster has informed us once again that, essentially, learning from best practices from past experiences is envisaged as the top strategy to develop disaster management (DM) resilience. Particularly in Indonesia, however, DM activities are challenging, since we have not experienced such a disaster, implying that the related knowledge is not available. The existing DM knowledge written down during activities is generally structured as in a typical government document, which is not easy to comprehend by stakeholders. This paper therefore sets out to develop an Indonesia COVID-19 Disaster Management Plan (DISPLAN) template, employing an Agent-Based Knowledge Analysis Framework. The framework allows the complexities to be parsed before depositing them into a unified repository, facilitating sharing, reusing, and a better decision-making system. It also can instantiate any DISPLAN for lower administration levels, provincial and regency, to harmonise holistic DM activities. With Design Science Research (DSR) guiding these processes, once the plan is developed, we successfully evaluate it with a real case study of the Manokwari Regency. To ensure its effectivity and usability, we also conduct a post-evaluation with two authorities who are highly involved in the Indonesia task force at the regency level. The results from this post-evaluation are highly promising.
Evaluation of Pavement Roughness by the International Roughness Index for Sustainable Pavement Construction in New Taipei City
Authors: Chen Shong-Loong , Lin Chun , Tang Chao-Wei , Hsieh Hsin-Ang
Published: June 2022

Good road quality is an indicator of urban progress. In August 1998, the New Taipei City government implemented the “Road Leveling Project” on roads within its jurisdiction to improve the quality of public transportation. This paper aimed to analyze the International Roughness Index (IRI) of 152 asphalt concrete pavement sections in New Taipei City before and after road leveling. An intelligent pavement inspection vehicle that met the requirements of E 950 Class I was used to detect the IRI values of the road sections before and after maintenance. The statistical analysis showed that the implementation of the Road Leveling Project had a significant effect on improving the road roughness of roads under its jurisdiction. Moreover, it became possible to arrange a budget for roads with IRI values above a threshold or to estimate the budget needed to improve roads with an IRI higher than a certain value.
Sponge–Microbial Symbiosis and Marine Extremozymes: Current Issues and Prospects
Authors: Nnaji Praise Tochukwu , Morse H. Ruth , Adukwu Emmanuel , Chidugu-Ogborigbo Rachael U.
Published: June 2022

Marine microorganisms have great potential for producing extremozymes. They enter useful relationships like many other organisms in the marine habitat. Sponge–microbial symbiosis enables both sponges and microorganisms to mutually benefit each other while performing their activities within the ecosystem. Sponges, because of their nature as marine cosmopolitan benthic epifaunas and filter feeders, serve as a host for many extremophilic marine microorganisms. Potential extremozymes from microbial symbionts are largely dependent on their successful relationship. Extremozymes have found relevance in food processing, bioremediation, detergent, and drug production. Species diversity approach, industrial-scale bioremediation, integrative bioremediation software, government and industrial support are considered. The high cost of sampling, limited research outcomes, low species growth in synthetic media, laborious nature of metagenomics projects, difficulty in the development of synthetic medium, limited number of available experts, and technological knowhow are current challenges. The unique properties of marine extremozymes underpin their application in industry and biotechnological processes. There is therefore an urgent need for the development of cost-effective methods with government and industry support.
Inter- and Mixed Cropping of Different Varieties Improves High-Temperature Tolerance during Flowering of Summer Maize
Authors: Li Shuyan , Zhao Junfang , Li Junling , Shao Ruixin , Li Hongping , Fang Wensong , Hu Liting , Liu Tianxue
Published: June 2022

Global warming increases the risk of high-temperature injury to maize. Inter- and mixed-cropping of maize varieties with different genotypes is one way to effectively alleviate the high-temperature injury during the flowering period. However, the mitigation effect of different varieties and intercropping modes on high-temperature injury is still unclear. Based on previous years of field production, Denghai 605, which is more sensitive to high temperatures during the flowering period, was determined as the main test variety, and Zhengdan 958, Dedan 5, Weike 702, and Xianyu 335, which have great genotypic differences, were used as auxiliary varieties. The main test varieties and auxiliary varieties were intercropped and mixed cropped, respectively. Plant height, ear height, leaf area index, population light transmittance, ear characteristics, and yield were measured, and the land equivalent ratio (LER) was calculated. The plant height of Denghai 605 intercropped with Zhengdan 958 and Dedan 5 and mixed with Weike 702 and Xianyu 335 decreased significantly. The population light transmittance of the bottom or middle layer in Denghai 605 increased significantly when intercropped with other varieties. The grain number per ear increased significantly under inter- and mixed cropping with Zhengdan 958 and Weike 702. Except under intercropping with Dedan 5, the yield of Denghai 605 increased significantly, by 8.8–28.0%, under inter- and mixed cropping. Under intercropping with Zhengdan 958 and inter- and mixed cropping with Weike 702 and Xianyu 335, respectively, the group land equivalent ratio was greater than 1.1, indicating that under the combination of these varieties, inter- and mixed cropping effectively reduced the impact of high temperatures during flowering.
Revitalization of Mill Island Cultural Facilities as a Factor of the Region’s Attractiveness and Competitiveness
Authors: Jóźwiak Marek , Sieg Patrycja , Posadzińska Iwona
Published: June 2022

In 2004, far-reaching changes in the appearance of Mill Island were triggered by the decisions of Bydgoszcz city authorities. The city authorities’ decision to transform the area into a space of cultural significance has given it a new life. Mill Island has become the city’s landmark. The article attempts to determine the significance of revitalization for the preservation of Mill Island’s unique cultural heritage as well as identify the factors improving the region’s competitiveness. To pursue the research objectives, the authors conducted a survey among the residents of the city of Bydgoszcz and its immediate surroundings. As the aim of the study, the authors indicated the importance of the revitalization of Mill Island for the preservation of cultural heritage and the improvement of the competitiveness of the place from the point of view of the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz. It was found that Bydgoszcz is most commonly associated with cultural tourism. The respondents pointed to the fact that the cultural heritage of Mill Island, which enhances the city’s attractiveness and increases the region’s competitiveness, has been preserved.
Consuming Location: The Sustainable Impact of Transformational Experiential Culinary and Wine Tourism in Chianti Italy
Authors: Esau Darcen , Senese Donna M.
Published: June 2022

Tourists visit wine and culinary destinations for unique, geographically indicated experiences that are place specific. The objective of this research is to understand how the transformational potential of experiential wine and culinary tourism best promotes sustainability in the context of international educational travel. Our case study in the iconic Chianti Region of Italy applies a ‘Hopeful Tourism Enquiry’ perspective and focuses on participatory, co-transformative learning, and mindful sustainability. A mixed qualitative research strategy was implemented that integrates the results of in-depth interviews with industry experts, excerpts from expository travel journals simultaneously captured during the experience, and focus group dialogues with participating students at the end of the field course. This case study revealed three overlapping thematic results that illustrate the influence of experiential educational tourism on the sensory and cultural experience of sustainable food and wine to produce co-transformative learning. The co-creation of memorable experiences establishes a unique sensual representation of provenance through the interaction with the region through narrative so that not only is the food and wine being consumed, but also the consumption of place through the storyscape of a positive and memorable experience.
Public Value Capture, Climate Change, and the ‘Infrastructure Gap’ in Coastal Development: Examining Evidence from France and Greece
Authors: Karadimitriou Nikos , Guelton Sonia , Pagonis Athanasios , Sousa Silvia
Published: June 2022

This paper examines the role that two Public Value Capture (PVC) mechanisms could play in providing a source of funding for urban infrastructure in the case of two coastal areas in France and Greece. High development pressures in those areas have been exacerbated in recent times by the growing ‘informality of desire’. Therefore, in a context of climate change the two case study areas face the dual challenge of an increasing ‘investment gap’ and increasing vulnerability. Although the estimated costs are still based on approximate calculations, they are substantive. Using primary and secondary data, as well as analysis of the legal and policy framework, the paper shows that ‘informality of desire’ is not only tolerated but actually incentivised in both countries. This leads to substantial short-term financial benefits for private developers and property owners but also some gains for local authorities and central governments. However, the value captured via the legalisation fees and property taxation is not adequately ringfenced and in any case it is not enough to cover the infrastructure gap and the potential compensation in case of natural disasters.
Cement Kiln Dust (CKD): Potential Beneficial Applications and Eco-Sustainable Solutions
Authors: Al-Bakri Ali Y. , Ahmed Haitham M. , Hefni Mohammed A.
Published: June 2022

Over many decades, cement has been the primary component in construction projects and is considered one of the essential industries worldwide. At the same time, it overconsumes natural resources and can negatively impact the environment through a few byproducts, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and cement kiln dust (CKD). The generated quantity of CKD is estimated to be 15–20% of the produced cement, which means CKD can be induced in hundreds of millions of metric tons synchronously with annual global cement production. Unfortunately, not all materials of CKD are suitable for recycling in cement manufacturing since it contains high levels of alkalis, sulfate, and chloride, leading to excessive concentrations in the final product. Therefore, CKD industrial utilization has become highly recommended in recent research as a potential beneficial application from economic, environmental, and sustainability perspectives. This review paper highlights and discusses the recently conducted research articles that investigate the industrial applications of CKD. The obtained outcomes showed that CKD has physical and chemical properties that make it practical in many fields, such as soil stabilization, concrete mix, chemical treatment, ceramic and brick manufacturing, and mine backfill. They also indicate a lack of studies investigating CKD in mine backfill applications as a partial replacement material for cement due to the high cost of binders, optimization, and sustainability purposes.
Harmonics Minimisation in Non-Linear Grid System Using an Intelligent Hysteresis Current Controller Operated from a Solar Powered ZETA Converter
Authors: Pattathurani Lakshmana Perumal , Dash Subhransu S. , Dwibedi Rajat K. , Raj Mani Devesh , Kannadasan Raju , Savio Max F. , Alsharif Mohammed H. , Kim James Hyungkwan
Published: June 2022

Due to the non-linear load characteristics in the domestic three-phase grid system, the quality of power transmission is a challenge for researchers. In this paper, the harmonics injected in a three-phase grid system due to the non-linear loads and a solution for harmonics minimisation using the hysteresis current controller (HCC) is presented. The proposed work consists of switched dc loads such as personal computers, SMPS, etc., connected to the three-phase grid system through the rectifier unit. These loads connected with other AC loads inject harmonics in the power lines. The total harmonic distortion (THD) at the power line is therefore increased. A ZETA embedded three-phase inverter using an artificial neural network-based HCC (ANN-HCC) is used to minimise the voltage and the current THDs. To ease the power consumption, a solar photovoltaic system (SPV) is used to power the ZETA embedded three-phase inverter. The output of the SPV is regulated using the ZETA dc/dc converter. However, the hysteresis bands (Uupper and Ulower) are selected using the ANN with respect to the actual value compared with the calculated current error. The vector shifts to the next based on the previous vector applied, and thereby the process repeats following the same pattern. The back propagation (BP)-based neural network is trained using the currents’ non-linear and differential functions to generate the current error. The neural structure ends when the value hits the hysteresis band. Simultaneously, the PWM control waveform is tracked by the neural network output. The proposed system is mathematically modelled using MATLAB/Simulink. An experimental setup of a similar prototype model is designed. The voltage and the current harmonics are measured using a Yokogawa CW240 power quality meter and the results are discussed.
Secondary Education Students’ Knowledge Gain and Scaffolding Needs in Mobile Outdoor Learning Settings
Authors: Väljataga Terje , Mettis Kadri
Published: June 2022

Science education enhances students’ scientific literacy in order to interact with the world responsibly and contribute to democratic and informed decision-making. The emergence of place-responsive pedagogy and mobile technology with a variety of affordances has refocused attention on students’ direct embodied experience. P-responsive pedagogy combined with mobile technologies provides numerous opportunities for investigating, across contexts, everyday socio-economical environmental problems inherent to a particular location. Forming an evidence-based decision on socio-economical environmental real-life problems requires a more in depth understanding of natural processes than just making use of everyday knowledge that is based on perceptions and direct observations. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the secondary education students’ (a) awareness and understanding about a timely socio-environmental challenge, (b) development of the scientific vocabulary, (c) scaffolding needs during the mobile outdoor collaborative inquiry-based learning event. To fulfill the aims, action research with an experimental technology-enhanced collaborative inquiry learning design was created to investigate students’ knowledge gain and scaffolding needs. Three interventions with a total of 68 secondary education students (age 14–15) were conducted. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. The results demonstrate the change in students’ opinions about the complex socio-economical environmental challenge and transformation from everyday concepts to more scientific knowledge, and their need for conceptual and procedural scaffolding. This paper adds new insights on how to utilize non-gamified use of mobile technology to empower secondary students’ scientific literacy and understanding in authentic settings.
Method for Setting Weight Tolerance Limits in High-Speed Weigh-in-Motion Systems: A Case Study in Brazil
Authors: Pellizzon Nayara Donelli , da Silva Alan Ricardo , Otto Gustavo Garcia
Published: June 2022

High-speed weighing systems are considered a potential tool to restrain overloaded vehicles traffic, since this practice promotes threats to the infrastructure’s durability and to citizens’ safety. In view of the discussion on the certification of such systems, a method to define the weight tolerance limits of heavy goods vehicles was proposed in this work, using statistical experimentation methods. The method was applied to a case study in Brazil, which considered a high-speed weighing system and three known vehicles (3C, 2S3, and 3S3). The vehicles were loaded with gravel and the bending plate scale was used to set the weight. The test was conducted by checking the weight of the vehicles in the HS-WIM system and composed by the observance of three mandatory speeds (60, 70, and 80 km/h), in three different lateral positions in relation to the lane (center, left, and right), and at various times during the collection days. As result, maximum weights accuracy limits were obtained for gross vehicle weight (GVW) and for axes groups (G1, G2, and G3) as 13% (GVW), 20% (G1), 20% (G2), and 17% (G3).
Incentive Compensation Mechanism for the Infrastructure Construction of Electric Vehicle Battery Swapping Station under Asymmetric Information
Authors: Cheng Huibing , Zheng Shanshui
Published: June 2022

Driven by the application and promotion of the electric vehicle battery swapping station (BSS), this paper addresses a key challenge in the BSS’s infrastructure construction, which is information asymmetry between the government and BSS. First, inspired by the insights of financial contracting, this study constructs the government’s capital allocation and compensation models for the BSS via the principal–agent approach. This paper is the first developing an incentive-compatible (IC) compensation mechanism for improving the operation of BSS in the presence of two kinds of asymmetric information (operation level and effort level). Next, this paper derives the government and BSS’s equilibrium strategies under two scenarios of symmetry and asymmetry information, respectively. Finally, this paper compares the equilibrium solutions obtained in the above two scenarios to verify the effectiveness of the allocation scheme and compensation mechanism. This paper finds that the capital allocation scheme and compensation mechanism proposed in this paper can incentivize the BSS to report its actual operation level and take the corresponding effort level. Moreover, the government and BSS’s underinvestment problems become smaller when the BSS’s operation level is relatively high. Several important managerial insights are derived based on our analytical and numerical results.
The Future of Interior Lighting Is Here
Authors: Doulos Lambros T. , Tsangrassoulis Aris
Published: June 2022

One word that characterizes the situation in the lighting industry during recent years is “change” [...]
Potential Failure Prediction of Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System by Isolation Density Method
Authors: Zhu Yong , Liu Mingyi , Wang Lin , Wang Jianxing
Published: June 2022

Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems have achieved rapid development and are a key part of the achievement of renewable energy transition and the 2030 “Carbon Peak” strategy of China. However, due to the complexity of this electrochemical equipment, the large-scale use of lithium-ion batteries brings severe challenges to the safety of the energy storage system. In this paper, a new method, based simultaneously on the concepts of statistics and density, is proposed for the potential failure prediction of lithium-ion batteries. As there are no strong assumptions about feature independence and sample distribution, and the estimation of the anomaly scores is conducted by integrating several trees on the isolation path, the algorithm has strong adaptability and robustness, simultaneously. For validation, the proposed method was first applied to two artificial datasets, and the results showed that the method was effective in dealing with different types of anomalies. Then, a comprehensive evaluation was carried out on six public datasets, and the proposed method showed a better performance with different criteria when compared to the conventional algorithms. Finally, the potential failure prediction of lithium-ion batteries of a real energy storage system was conducted in this paper. In order to make full use of the time series characteristics, voltage variation during a whole discharge cycle was taken as the representation of the operation condition of the lithium-ion batteries, and three different types of voltage deviation anomalies were successfully detected. The proposed method can be effectively used for the predictive maintenance of energy storage systems.
Indigenous Community Fishing Practices in Nagaland, Eastern Indian Himalayas
Authors: Ovung Etsoshan Y. , Kithan Lizabeni M. , Brearley Francis Q. , Tripathi Shri Kant
Published: June 2022

The significance of indigenous knowledge under the current scenario of biodiversity imperilment is well-known since such knowledge is gained through continuous intergenerational observations of natural systems. In this study, we present a description of indigenous community fishing practices in Nagaland and investigate their relationship with the cultural and traditional aspects of the associated communities through oral interactions, questionnaires and as a participatory observer. We observed inter- and intra-community fishing in which the piscicidal plants Millettia pachycarpa and Derris elliptica (both Fabaceae) were used as fish poison. M. pachycarpa was commonly used in inter-community ‘fishing festivals’ since it is easily available, less laborious to collect and there are no reports of harm to the body in comparison to D. elliptica which causes allergy and/or dermatological effects. Indigenous community fishing is conducted to develop a sense of peaceful co-existence and prosperity within and among the neighboring communities. However, the increasing use of synthetic fish poisons has overlapped with the traditional practices of fishing, exerting pressure on the livelihoods and food security of the tribal populations while contributing to riverine ecosystem degradation. Formulation of policies banning synthetic fish poison, and judicious use of traditional piscicidal plant fishing is therefore recommended.
The Mexican Ecological Conscience: A Predictive Model
Authors: Müller-Pérez Jessica , Acevedo-Duque Ángel , Llanos-Herrera Gonzalo R. , García-Salirrosas Elizabeth Emperatriz , Ovalles-Toledo Luiz Vicente , Sandoval Barraza Lidyeth Azucena , Álvarez-Becerra Rina
Published: June 2022

Recently, the number of Mexicans who buy sustainable products has been increasing, which has led to sustainable trade. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine which variables have a greater effect on Mexicans’ intention to buy green products, their ecological awareness, or moral obligation, and, in turn, to determine the degree to which moral obligation is affected by ecological awareness. A sample of 690 Mexicans was obtained, and a PLS–SEM model was applied for data analysis. The results confirmed that both a moral obligation and ecological awareness explain the intention to purchase green products, with ecological awareness contributing the most to the intention. Furthermore, the findings showed that moral obligation is affected by ecological awareness. The originality of the article is that it contributes to the consumer behavior literature by providing an insight for companies that manufacture sustainable products to understand and promote environmentally conscious consumer behavior. However, there are some limitations that can be addressed in future research.
Systematic Quantification of Waste Compositions: A Case Study for Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment Plastics in the European Union
Authors: Boudewijn Alexander , Peeters Jef R. , Cattrysse Dirk , Dewulf Wim , Campadello Luca , Accili Alessia , Duflou Joost R.
Published: June 2022

Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a prominent and increasing waste stream for which the Commission of the European Union has put in place ambitious recycling targets. However, these targets can only be achieved by ensuring that both industry and governments develop adequate infrastructure and policies for recycling plastics in an economically and technically optimal manner. Unfortunately, a quantitative overview of WEEE plastics covering the composition of waste streams down to the product component level and describing polymer and additive concentrations, is currently lacking. This hinders policymakers and recyclers in making strategic decisions regarding WEEE plastics recycling. Therefore, a novel method is proposed in this paper combining experimental results with findings from prior literature in order to provide sound quantitative insights into the volume and characteristics of the plastics content of WEEE collected in the European Union. The provided overview was obtained through a combination of proprietary experimental data and a statistical data integration method. More specifically, over 3800 samples awere analysed through manual composition analysis, FTIR, and XRF. The obtained results were integrated with data from prior literature through a novel data integration methodology based on linear opinion pools. The obtained results confirm that distinct plastic types can be found in different product categories and that flame retardants are only found in high concentrations in specific waste streams or components thereof. Hence, the presented analysis provides a quantitative substantiation for the separate collection and treatment of specific waste streams in order to reduce the complexity of the mix of plastic types and allow for the more cost-efficient and higher quality recycling of plastics.
Ticket Allocation Optimization of Fuxing Train Based on Overcrowding Control: An Empirical Study from China
Authors: Wang Yu , Shan Xinghua , Wang Hongye , Zhang Junfeng , Lv Xiaoyan , Wu Jinfei
Published: June 2022

At the peak of passenger flow, some passengers extend travel sections, which will be likely to lead to overcrowding of high-speed railway (HSR) trains. Therefore, the problem of train overcrowding control needs to be considered in ticket allocation. Firstly, by simulating the passenger demand function and utility function, an optimization model of ticket allocation for multiple trains and multiple stops with the goal of maximizing revenue is constructed. Secondly, the concepts of the travel extension coefficient and risk coefficient are introduced, the number of passengers is estimated under the risk coefficient as the probability, and the total number of passengers on the train arriving at any station is obtained. Thus, preventing the number of passengers on the train from exceeding the train capacity is introduced to the ticket allocation optimization model of multiple trains and multiple stops as a constraint. Finally, this model is solved by the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO). The research results show that the idea of controlling passenger numbers so as not to exceed train capacity based on ticket allocation proposed in this paper has strong practical feasibility. By reasonably and accurately allocating the tickets to the departure terminal section and long-distance terminal sections, it can ensure that, even if there are some passengers extending their travel section, the train will not be overcrowded under a certain probability, improving the train safety and passenger travel experiences.
Biogeochemistry of Iron Enrichment in Groundwater: An Indicator of Environmental Pollution and Its Management
Authors: Xia Xuelian , Teng Yanguo , Zhai Yuanzheng
Published: June 2022

Iron (Fe) is one of the most biochemically active and widely distributed elements and one of the most important elements for biota and human activities. Fe plays important roles in biological and chemical processes. Fe redox reactions in groundwater have been attracting increasing attention in the geochemistry and biogeochemistry fields. This study reviews recent research into Fe redox reactions and biogeochemical Fe enrichment processes, including reduction, biotic and abiotic oxidation, adsorption, and precipitation in groundwater. Fe biogeochemistry in groundwater and the water-bearing medium (aquifer) often involves transformation between Fe(II) and Fe(III) caused by the biochemical conditions of the groundwater system. Human activities and anthropogenic pollutants strongly affect these conditions. Generally speaking, acidification, anoxia and warming of groundwater environments, as well as the inputs of reducing pollutants, are beneficial to the migration of Fe into groundwater (Fe(III)→Fe(II)); conversely, it is beneficial to the migration of it into the media (Fe(II)→Fe(III)). This study describes recent progress and breakthroughs and assesses the biogeochemistry of Fe enrichment in groundwater, factors controlling Fe reactivity, and Fe biogeochemistry effects on the environment. This study also describes the implications of Fe biogeochemistry for managing Fe in groundwater, including the importance of Fe in groundwater monitoring and evaluation, and early groundwater pollution warnings.
Towards Resilient and Sustainable Rail and Road Networks: A Systematic Literature Review on Digital Twins
Authors: Vieira João , Poças Martins João , Marques de Almeida Nuno , Patrício Hugo , Gomes Morgado João
Published: June 2022

The digital transformation of engineering assets has been receiving increased attention from the scientific community in the last few years. In this regard, Digital Twins (DTs) have been widely applied in the industry and are now reaching the civil infrastructures domain. At the same time, infrastructure managers face an increasing need to improve the sustainability and resilience of their assets. This paper aims firstly to map and present the current extent of DT application in rail and road networks, and secondly to perceive how these applications can contribute to increase their sustainability and resilience. To achieve this, the authors propose a systematic review on the DT literature related to rail and road infrastructure networks. The results show that the DT research in this domain is still scarce and that only a few use cases have attracted the attention of the scientific community. The results also indicate that most applications in rail and road networks focus on their operation and maintenance, and that there is a considerable unexplored potential for DT applications in this sector. More DT-related studies within this scope are expected to emerge in the coming years, and further research regarding its contribution to sustainability and resilience is needed.
The Effect of Personal Environment Suitability and Work Environment of Luxury Hotels on Psychological Capital and Innovation Behavior
Authors: Lee Ki-Seoung , Kim Yoon-Seo , Shin Hyoung-Chul
Published: June 2022

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of personal environment suitability and the work environment of luxury hotels on psychological capital and innovation behavior. Seven hypotheses were proposed. First, the work environment will have a positive effect on psychological capital. Second, personal environment suitability will have a positive effect on psychological capital. Third, the work environment will have a positive impact on innovation behavior. Fourth, the suitability of one’s environment will have a positive impact on one’s innovation behavior. Fifth, psychological capital will have a positive (+) effect on innovation behavior. Sixth and seventh, work environment and personal environment suitability will have a positive (+) effect on innovation behavior through psychological capital. To achieve the purpose of this study, eligible respondents (n = 327; 214 male and 113 female) were recruited from four-star hotels or higher located in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do and then evaluated for an online survey method. Hypothesis verification was conducted through CFA and structural equation model analysis. As a result of the analysis, all hypotheses except Hypothesis 3 were adopted. Personal environmental suitability drives innovation behavior at the organizational level, but programs that recognize work environment fit are also needed. This study has an advantage in that psychological capital has a mediating role in the relationship between work environment, personal environment suitability, and innovation behavior. As a result, it is suggested that hotels need to understand the psychological state of their members and manage their responses and attitudes. This study also suggests that personal environment suitability leads to organizational-level innovation behavior, but programs for work environment suitability are also needed.
An Optimization Study of Provincial Carbon Emission Allowance Allocation in China Based on an Improved Dynamic Zero-Sum-Gains Slacks-Based-Measure Model
Authors: Zheng Xin , Mao Shenya , Lv Siqi , Wang Sheng
Published: June 2022

In order to achieve its 2030 carbon emission peak target, China needs to adjust and allocate energy consumption and initial carbon emission allowances for each province in a phased and planned manner. Thus, this study applied an improved dynamic undesirable zero-sum-gains slacks-based-measure (ZSG-SBM) model to evaluate provincial CO2 emission reduction scenarios and energy allocation for 2015–2019 and calculate the optimal allocation values of carbon emission allowances for each province in 2030. The results showed that China’s allocation efficiency values for total energy exhibited rising and then declining trends during 2015–2019 and that most input–output term efficiency values had room for improvement. Furthermore, after four adjustment iterations of the improved dynamic undesirable ZSG-SBM model, the modeled China achieved optimal carbon emission efficiency for the whole country. In the final model, 19 provinces were allowed to increase their carbon emissions in 2030, while the remaining 11 provinces needed to reduce their emissions. The findings of this paper can help regulators to establish fairer and more effective policy solutions to promote regional synergistic emission reduction, achieve the national goal of peak total carbon emissions, and promote the green, coordinated, and sustainable development of China’s economy.
Designing a Crowd-Based Relocation System—The Case of Car-Sharing
Authors: Brendel Alfred Benedikt , Lichtenberg Sascha , Morana Stefan , Prinz Christoph , Hillmann Boris M.
Published: June 2022

Car-sharing services promise environmentally sustainable and cost-efficient alternatives to private car ownership, contributing to more environmentally sustainable mobility. However, the challenge of balancing vehicle supply and demand needs to be addressed for further improvement of the service. Currently, employees must relocate vehicles from low-demand to high-demand areas, which generates extra personnel costs, driven kilometers, and emissions. This study takes a Design Science Research (DSR) approach to develop a new way of balancing the supply and demand of vehicles in car-sharing, namely crowd-based relocation. We base our approach on crowdsourcing, a concept by which customers are requested to perform vehicle relocations. This paper reports on our comprehensive DSR project on designing and instantiating a crowd-based relocation information system (CRIS). We assessed the resulting artifact in a car-sharing simulation and conducted a real-world car-sharing service system field test. The evaluation reveals that CRIS has the potential for improving vehicle availability, increasing environmental sustainability, and reducing operational costs. Further, the prescriptive knowledge derived in our DSR project can be used as a starting point to improve individual parts of the CRIS and to extend its application beyond car-sharing into other sharing services, such as power bank- or e-scooter-sharing.
Development of Natural Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites Ballistic Helmet Using Concurrent Engineering Approach: A Brief Review
Authors: Asyraf M. Z. , Suriani M. J. , Ruzaidi C. M. , Khalina A. , Ilyas R. A. , Asyraf M. R. M. , Syamsir A. , Azmi Ashraf , Mohamed Abdullah
Published: June 2022

In this decade, all researchers and industry players compete to develop sustainable product design by exploring natural fibre composites in product design development. One of the essential methodologies in creating composite products is concurrent engineering (CE). Industrial design and production engineering should be involved in the development of ballistic helmets. This publication aims to provide a quick overview of the evolution of natural fibre composite ballistic helmet designs. This manuscript is still in its early stages, but it already includes a summary of the progress of ballistic helmet design from 1915 to the present. Renewable materials, such as natural fibre, should be highlighted as an alternative to synthetic composites in developing a sustainable ballistic helmet design. Furthermore, launching the design development process for a ballistic helmet demands a CE strategy that includes multi-disciplinary knowledge. Computational modelling aids in the development of ballistic helmet designs, reducing the time and cost of manufacturing ballistic helmets. The ergonomic component of ballistic helmet design is also crucial, as is the thermal comfort factor, which can be handled using natural fibre composites with thermal solid insulating characteristics. The development of natural fibre composite ballistic helmets can be used as a consideration in the future as a revolution to create a sustainable design. Finally, this review can be used as a guide for industrial designers. In conclusion, this review might be utilized as a reference for industrial designers due to a shortage of studies, especially in producing product-related natural fibre.
Representations of Social Justice and Digital Civic Engagement: The Influence of Psychosocial Variables in Teacher Training
Authors: Albalá Genol Miguel Ángel , Etchezahar Edgardo , Maldonado Rico Antonio , Gómez Yepes Talía
Published: June 2022

Teacher training programs usually contain specific psychoeducational aspects, but these should also promote citizenship competences based on social justice in order to encourage a more sustainable world. The three dimensions of Social Justice, the Belief in a Just World (BJW) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) are psychosocial variables linked to the construction of civic engagement and participation, including in digital frameworks. The aim of the study was to analyze these variables in students seeking teaching training degrees that have begun their program and students who are finishing their studies. The sample was composed of 420 teachers enrolled in a Teacher Training Degree for Elementary Education with an age range between 17 to 44 (M = 21.10; DT = 3.26), among which a subgroup was in their first year of study (n = 217) and another group was in the fourth year (n = 203). The results shows that there were significant differences in social justice representations, and in levels of SDO and BJW, with a better psychosocial index at the end of training. The changes in social justice representations of future teachers are not uniform for the three dimensions and some gender differences were maintained, showing no significant differences in the variables evaluated in both stages of training. Finally, linear regression analyses showed that BJW and SDO predicted social justice representations and the Digital Civic Engagement of future teachers. The implications of the psychosocial variables studied are discussed as possible factors to consider in educational psychology to promote innovative developments from teacher training programs.
The 15-Minute City—The Geographical Proximity of Services in Krakow
Authors: Noworól Aleksander , Kopyciński Piotr , Hałat Paweł , Salamon Jeremiasz , Hołuj Artur
Published: June 2022

The discussion about 15-minute cities (also referred to as cities of short distances) has gained considerable momentum in the last decade. Thanks to the optimal spatial layout of these urban areas, their residents can meet most or all of their day-to-day needs within a short walk or a bicycle ride from their place of residence. This is especially important in the context of problems currently faced by most large agglomerations worldwide, the negative externalities caused by predominantly motorised transport and inappropriate spatial planning policies that entail substantial environmental and technical infrastructure outlays. The concept of spatial proximity to services played a key role in the empirical part of the present study, where Krakow’s layout was analysed in detail from the perspective of a 15-minute city. Krakow is a resident-friendly, inclusive city created primarily with local communities in mind. However, certain design flaws in terms of spatial proximity to services prompted us to reconsider how its specific spatial components operate. To achieve the study’s goal—a comprehensive assessment of Krakow as a 15-minute city—we proposed several solutions that can be made universally adaptable for other urban areas striving to meet the short distance criteria.