bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insights for Shaping Entrepreneurship Education: Evidence from the European Entrepreneurship Centers
Authors: Ndou Valentina , Secundo Giustina , Schiuma Giovanni , Passiante Giuseppina
Published: November 2018

The pivotal role of Entrepreneurship centers in the development of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) is receiving more attention. This study aims to open the “black box” of “how, when, why and what” entrepreneurial mindset and competencies in the field of technology entrepreneurship are learned over time in the Entrepreneurship Centers. The study adopts an empirical web-based content analysis of ten entrepreneurship centers in European Universities from seven countries, analyzing 105 curricular and extra-curricular entrepreneurship education programs. This method allows researchers to address generalization bias and to effectuate a cross-case comparison, thus revealing more common patterns regarding the phenomenon. Findings reveal some common pillars of EE as developed within the Entrepreneurship centers in terms of five key dimensions: target audience, learning objectives, entrepreneurship contents, learning pedagogies and stakeholders’ engagement. This analysis provides the basis to introduce a process-based framework for entrepreneurial mindset creation in EE that is organized around four main phases: inspiration, engagement, exploitation and sustainment. The process-based model of EE supports entrepreneurship centers in designing learning initiatives that are aimed to inspire students at all levels of education, young entrepreneurs and start-uppers and scientists in their need to be equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset for technology entrepreneurship. The originality of the paper stands on the “process-based” framework that is proposed that serves as an interactive pathway that dynamically combines the phases toward entrepreneurial venture creation, the entrepreneurial competence level, the entrepreneurial learning strategies and collaboration with the University’s stakeholders’ network toward the achievement of the competence goal.
A Re-Examination of the Structural Diversity of Biobased Activities and Regions across the EU
Authors: Philippidis George , Sanjuán-López Ana I.
Published: November 2018

This study evaluates the performance of European Union (EU) member state biobased activities. More specifically, statistical clustering techniques, based on biobased sectors’ demand and supply driven multipliers, identify regional EU typologies of biobased sector performance. The aim is to establish sector-region combinations of biobased driven economic growth. The study employs a consistent macroeconomic accounting dataset, known as a social accounting matrix (SAM). The dataset (dubbed BioSAM), is enriched with detailed accounts for agrifood activities, as well as further contemporary sources and uses of biomass. The results identify cases where biobased activities are potentially important engines of growth, although this result varies considerably by EU region. Confirming previous literature, the influence of biobased sectors is very much dominated by demand driven economic growth, whilst one-in-three biobased activities is defined as ‘key’. Examining the regional EU cluster typologies, the ‘Eastern and Mediterranean’ region exhibits the strongest biobased wealth generation, whilst weak biobased economic performance is observed in the ‘Mediterranean Islands and Luxembourg’ regional cluster. Finally, a comparison with previous studies tentatively confirms that structural change, accelerated by the financial crisis, has elevated the relative economy-wide contribution of biobased sectors.
How Much Are Insurance Consumers Willing to Pay for Blockchain and Smart Contracts? A Contingent Valuation Study
Authors: Nam Seung Oh
Published: November 2018

Blockchain is highly secure in design and can hand huge data efficiently. A smart contract, based on a blockchain, can automate the entire process and make the contract self-executing in nature. Since the first introduction of these technologies in the 1990s, they have been at the center interest for academia and industry. Numerous researchers and practitioners have investigated the principles and usage of blockchain and smart contracts. However, little is coincidental regarding estimating the consumer’s additional willingness to pay (WTP) and analyzing the relationship with socio-economic characteristics of the consumer for blockchain and smart contracts in the insurance sector. This study conducted the survey on 1000 heads of the household or homemakers who represent population well in South Korea and estimated additional WTP using one-and-one-half-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation (OOHB DC CV) method. About 65% of sample respondents answered they are willing to pay some additional premium for blockchain and smart contracts. The mean WTP has the value of KRW 28,425.43 (USD 25.38) and the median WTP is KRW 16,111.71 (USD 14.39). Those with high incomes, high education and more insurance contracts are more likely to pay extra for insurance policies using blockchain and smart contracts. Considering the total number of households in South Korea, the aggregated additional WTP is about 8 percent of the net income of the insurance industry in fiscal year of 2017. Consequently, strategic development of insurance products using block chains and smart contracts targeting educated consumers with high-income will increase the number of policyholders, which can in turn increase premium revenues.
A Control Scheme for Variable-Speed Micro-Hydropower Plants
Authors: Fan Youping , Zhang Dai , Li Jingjiao
Published: November 2018

The aim of this work was to design and build a control system to control the performance of the Pelton wheel and synchronous generator system at different upstream water flow and electrical load conditions. The turbine output power is determined by the upstream water flow and spear valve, whilst the generator output power is determined by the turbine output power and the electrical load. A spear valve is used to control the generator output power at different water and load conditions. An autotuning proportion integration (PI) arithmetic-based controller was built using a relay feedback tuning method. An on–off relay was used in the program in order to oscillate the system. The optimal PI gains can be estimated via the Ziegler–Nichols method. A fully open test was used to test the tuned PI gains. The performance of the original gains and the new tuned gains were discussed. A controller was used to maintain the frequency or voltage of the output power by automatic regulation of the turbine valve. The program could search for the maximum generation efficiency by entering the output current value of the generator into the program manually.
Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions
Authors: Teixeira Heitor Mancini , Van den Berg Leonardo , Cardoso Irene Maria , Vermue Ardjan J. , Bianchi Felix J. J. A. , Peña-Claros Marielos , Tittonell Pablo
Published: November 2018

Agroecology is increasingly promoted by scientists, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), international organisations and peasant movements as an approach to foster the transition to sustainable and equitable food systems. The challenges to agroecological transitions are not the same for all farmers, as they can face different social and bio-physical conditions. We developed a farm typology combining participatory and quantitative methodologies to assess and categorise farm diversity and its implications for developing strategies to promote agroecological transitions. The participatory typology was developed during workshops to acquire insights on local farmers’ perceptions and knowledge, and to generate hypotheses on family farm diversity. The participatory-based hypotheses were tested in the quantitative farm characterisation, which provided information on household characteristics, production strategies, land use, participation in public policies and extension services. Farms were located in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil, which harbour a wide diversity of farmers and where different actors have been engaged in agroecological transitions for the past 30 years. Our main findings were: (i) In the face of agroecological transitions, farmers differ in their management strategies, practices and principles; (ii) farmers identified as agroecological typically had stronger engagements in a network composed of farmers’ organisations, universities and NGO’s; (iii) agroecological farms showed great potential to provide a wide range of ecosystem services as they featured a higher crop diversity and a higher number of crops for self-consumption; (iv) to promote agroecology, it is crucial to recognise peasant knowledge, to change the dominant discourse on agriculture through social movement dynamics, and to generate support from public policies and funds; and (v) participatory and quantitative methodologies can be combined for more precise and relevant assessments of agroecological transitions.
An Investigation of Wind Direction and Speed in a Featured Wind Farm Using Joint Probability Distribution Methods
Authors: Zhang Lidong , Li Qikai , Guo Yuanjun , Yang Zhile , Zhang Lei
Published: November 2018

Wind direction and speed are both crucial factors for wind farm layout; however, the relationship between the two factors has not been well addressed. To optimize wind farm layout, this study aims to statistically explore wind speed characteristics under different wind directions and wind direction characteristics. For this purpose, the angular–linear model for approximating wind direction and speed characteristics were adopted and constructed with specified marginal distributions. Specifically, Weibull–Weibull distribution, lognormal–lognormal distribution and Weibull–lognormal distribution were applied to represent the marginal distribution of wind speed. Moreover, the finite mixture of von Mises function (FVMF) model was used to investigate the marginal distribution of wind direction. The parameters of those models were estimated by the expectation–maximum method. The optimal model was obtained by comparing the coefficient of determination value (R2) and Akaike’s information criteria (AIC). In the numerical study, wind data measured at a featured wind farm in north China was adopted. Results showed that the proposed joint distribution function could accurately represent the actual wind data at different heights, with the coefficient of determination value (R2) of 0.99.
Exploring the Connections between Agroecological Practices and Ecosystem Services: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Palomo-Campesino Sara , González José A. , García-Llorente Marina
Published: November 2018

Current patterns of global change are threatening the supply of agrarian ecosystem services on which human well-being depends. Within this context, agroecology has emerged within political and scientific arenas as a socially equitable and ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. We performed a systematic literature review to explore how agroecology and the ecosystem services framework have been adopted together in the scientific literature, focusing on studies including empirical data on the effects of agroecological practices on the supply of ecosystem services. In our search, we combined terms related to agricultural practices and terms related to ecosystem services. A total of 179 scientific articles were analyzed. Most of the studies used a biophysical approach to evaluate ecosystem services, with regulating and provisioning services being more frequently analyzed than cultural services. More than half of the analyzed relationships between agroecological practices and ecosystem services were positive. Remarkably, our review showed that many of the ten elements of agroecology defined by the FAO have not been properly addressed in the literature. Finally, we identified research gaps and provided insights on where future research and policies should be focused in order to promote the transition towards sustainable agrarian social-ecological systems that increase the supply of ecosystem services while minimizing environmental impacts.
The Impact of Micro-Level Influencing Factors on Home Value: A Housing Price-Rent Comparison
Authors: Cui Nana , Gu Hengyu , Shen Tiyan , Feng Changchun
Published: November 2018

The housing sales market in China has flourished and gained considerable interest, while the housing rental market has lagged behind and been ignored over the past two decades. With the acceleration of urbanization, the housing rental demand is rising rapidly. Exploring and comparing the influencing factors on housing sale prices and rental prices has significance for sustainable urban planning and management. Using house purchase transaction and rent transaction data in 2017, as well as the average housing price and rent data in 2016 in Beijing, China, this paper compares the spatial distribution and it employs the hedonic price model and quantile regression model to quantify the average and distributional effects of micro-level influencing factors on housing prices and housing rents. Results show that housing prices and housing rents both have a decentralized distribution with multiple centers, but rents of residential communities with high housing prices may not necessarily be high. Both homeowners and renters prefer properties with good structural, locational, and neighborhood characteristics, as well as a good school attendance zone, whereas they still differ in terms of preferences. Homeowners prefer a higher-quality living environment. Renters are more concerned with proximity to an employment center and public transit convenience. Moreover, the price premium of school quality for homeowners exceeds the premium for renters. Higher-priced homeowners or renters differ in the preferences from lower-priced homeowners or renters. Higher-priced homeowners and higher-priced renters are more willing to live in property with a larger number of bedrooms, proximity to a major employment center, park, or school, as well as a location in a school attendance zone with higher school quality.
Qualitative Analysis of the Occupational Health and Safety Performance of Chinese International Construction Projects
Authors: Lei Zhen , Tang Wenzhe , Duffield Colin F. , Zhang Lihai , Hui Felix Kin Peng , You Richun
Published: November 2018

Chinese contractors undertaking international projects are frequently criticized for their poor Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. It is noticed that people with different occupations may perceive OHS differently. From a qualitative perspective, this study investigates the perceived OHS performances of design managers and construction managers engaged in Chinese overseas construction projects, considering a range of subgroups classified by people’s overseas experience, project size, project industry, project location, and firm size. The analysis was based on an e-questionnaire survey that sampled responses from 52 design managers and 160 construction managers involved in 110 international projects, and face-to-face interviews with 26 managers. The findings indicate that the assessment variation of OHS performance between design managers and construction managers is not only related to their different mental ways, but also can be mediated by their in-progress communication and affected by project and organizational conditions. The varying OHS performance in projects with different sizes or from different regions also suggests that Chinese contractors should be more proactive in OHS management instead of passively responding to external requirements.
Cost-Sharing Mechanisms for A Wood Forest Product Supply Chain under Carbon Cap-and-Trade
Authors: Sun Mingjun , Peng Hongjun , Wang Shuai
Published: November 2018

We consider a wood forest product supply chain consisting of a forestry company and a wood forest products manufacturer, where the forestry company produces timber and forestry carbon sinks, and the manufacturer consumes timber and carbon emission rights. A Stackelberg model is adopted to investigate the forest scale and carbon emission reduction decisions of the supply chain. We design and analyze the carbon emission reduction cost-sharing (ERCS) mechanism and carbon sink cost-sharing (SCS) mechanism, respectively. The result shows that both contracts can help the wood forest product supply chain to achieve higher profits. The ERCS mechanism may encourage the manufacturer to increase emission reduction level and the forestry company to expand the forest scale. The SCS mechanism is beneficial to the expansion of carbon sink forests; however, it may lead to the manufacturer decreasing investment in carbon emission reduction measures.
Trends and Driving Forces of Carbon Emissions from Energy Consumption: A Case Study of Nanjing, China
Authors: Li Kong-Qing , Lu Ran , Chu Rui-Wen , Ma Dou-Dou , Zhu Li-Qun
Published: November 2018

Based on the scientific calculation of carbon emissions from energy consumption in Nanjing, this paper analyzed the driving forces of carbon emissions from 2000 to 2016 by using the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) model. The results show that from 2000 to 2016, the energy carbon emissions of Nanjing were on the rise; the urbanization rate, population, GDP per capita, and energy intensity had a significant positive impact on the growth of carbon emissions in Nanjing, China. Based on this, we presented five development scenarios to analyze the future trend of carbon emissions of the city. By contrast, the growth rate of carbon emissions from energy consumption is the slowest when the population maintains a low growth rate and the GDP per capita and technical level maintain high growth. This indicates a better urban development strategy in which industrial restructuring must be associated with talent structure adjustment to decarbonize the urban economy, and the extensive urban sprawl development approach might need to be changed.
Weekly Hotel Occupancy Forecasting of a Tourism Destination
Authors: Zhang Muzi , Li Junyi , Pan Bing , Zhang Gaojun
Published: November 2018

The accurate forecasting of tourism demand is complicated by the dynamic tourism marketplace and its intricate causal relationships with economic factors. In order to enhance forecasting accuracy, we present a modified ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD)–autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, which dissects a time series into three intrinsic model functions (IMFs): high-frequency fluctuation, low-frequency fluctuation, and a trend; these three signals were then modeled using ARIMA methods. We used weekly hotel occupancy data from Charleston, South Carolina, USA as an empirical test case. The results showed that for medium-term forecasting (26 weeks) of hotel occupancy of a tourism destination, the modified EEMD–ARIMA model provides more accurate forecasting results with smaller standard deviations than the EEMD–ARIMA model, but further research is needed for validation.
A Comparative Study of Chinese and Foreign Green Development from the Perspective of Mapping Knowledge Domains
Authors: Li Xingwei , Du Jianguo , Long Hongyu
Published: November 2018

This paper identifies the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics, research hotspots, research frontiers and knowledge base of green development research by using the bibliometric method, mapping knowledge domains and spatial analysis method, and through making a comparison of green development research between China and foreign. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The number of research literature on green development in China and aboard both show a trend of increasing year by year, and the gap of annual volume evolve a M-shaped trend compared with international scholars. The United States and China are both major countries in green development research, and their international academic cooperation is relatively close. Moreover, the main research findings are concentrated in the northern hemisphere while there is less distribution in the southern hemisphere, and the eastern and western hemispheres are distributed widely. (2) The research hotspots of China’s green development mainly include development concepts, regional and urban development and ecological environment while international green development mainly include green economy, framework, city and supply chain management. (3) The frontiers of China’s green development research are focused on coordinated development, ecological environment and green development concepts while international green development research are more abundant. (4) The knowledge base of the research includes Manuscript of Economics and Philosophy in 1844, the concept of sustainable development and the theory of two mountains.
Morphological Indices as Urban Planning Tools in Northeastern Brazil
Authors: Silva Ivanize , Santos Rafael , Lopes António , Araújo Virgínia
Published: November 2018

The purpose of this article is to analyze urban form through the mapping of morphological indices, namely impervious surface fraction, building density, verticality, height/width ratio, roughness length, and porosity, to support urban planning in the city of João Pessoa, PB, in northeastern Brazil. The application of this study identifies and calculates such significant indices for the city’s urban space from a Geographic Information System (GIS) model. The spatial indices play notable roles in climate at different scales, developing guidelines to maximize environmental quality, promote improvements to thermal comfort, minimize the urban heat island in the city of João Pessoa, and provide relevant data (considering microclimate aspects), guiding decisions related to the planning process.
The Influence of Social Capital on Farm Household’s Borrowing Behavior in Rural China
Authors: Sun Hong , Hartarska Valentina , Zhang Lezhu , Nadolnyak Denis
Published: November 2018

This paper evaluates whether social capital affects the ability of farm households to obtain formal and informal loans. We test for the impact of two measures of social capital. The first measure, kinship, captures the traditional aspects of bonding social capital in rural areas that might affect the probability of getting informal loans. As the economic reforms in China have changed the traditional rural way of life and weakened the role of kinship, more mobile farmers are likely to develop a different kind of social capital also based in the Chinese tradition but not focused exclusively on kin. This friendship social capital is hypothesized to affect farmers’ ability to get both formal and informal loans. We use the Chinese Household Finance Survey data from 2013 and estimate the probability of obtaining credit, while also accounting for the reverse causality. In addition, we use the Heckman selection model to establish how social capital affects not only the probability of getting loans but also the size of the loan. Empirical results suggest that social capital affects borrowing by farm households. In particular, the friendship social capital has a positive effect on farm household’s ability to get formal loans, and has a substitution effect on informal borrowing, while kinship has a positive effect on farm households’ ability to get informal loans. Friendship and kinship are positively associated with the amount of a farm household’s formal and informal loans, respectively.
Supply Chain-Based Business Model Innovation: The Case of a Cross-Border E-Commerce Company
Authors: Wang Ying , Jia Fu , Schoenherr Tobias , Gong Yu
Published: November 2018

Cross-border e-commerce has gained increasing popularity globally and thrives under the backdrop of the ‘One Belt One Road’ policy of China, which resonates with UN’s sustainable development goals targeting countries in the South. In this study, we investigate Zongteng, which is one of the first cross-border e-commerce companies in China, to assess how supply chain innovation activities can become core to a firm’s business model innovation. Data were collected from Zongteng senior managers, internal company documents, and open online resources. We found that the firm needed changes in its business model, which brought new participants into the business ecosystem and changed their respective positions. We further identified three types of supply chain localisations in cross-border e-commerce for export markets (sales, warehousing, and R&D localisation), which the company’s establishment of overseas warehouses enabled. The three localisation strategies serve as the driving force and the main business model innovation in cross-border e-commerce. This study contributes to the supply chain innovation literature by proposing that overseas warehouses, bonded warehouses, and supply chain finance are capabilities that form part of the business model innovation in cross-border e-commerce.
Bamboo as an Alternative Bioenergy Crop and Powerful Ally for Land Restoration in Indonesia
Authors: Sharma Roshan , Wahono Jaya , Baral Himlal
Published: November 2018

The energy demand in Indonesia has increased significantly with its population growth, urbanization, and economic development. The growing concern of meeting energy demand while reducing dependency on fossil fuels has resulted in an increasing demand for renewable energy. As a country with a rich biomass base, bioenergy is now an important component of Indonesia’s energy agenda. However, a crucial problem in bioenergy production is the selection of species that can provide a sustainable supply of feedstock without having an impact on food security and the environment. In this context, we discuss the characteristics and benefits of using bamboo, a perennial grass, as a potential species for bioenergy feedstock in Indonesia. We describe the fuel characteristics of bamboo along with the possibility to align its cultivation, production, and usage with environmental and developmental agendas which makes it a suitable bioenergy crop in the country. In addition, its ability to grow on degraded lands, fast growth, long root system, and easy maintenance prove it as a powerful ally for the restoration of degraded land. We recommend in-depth research on the social, ecological, and economic feasibility of using this species for bioenergy production.
Analysis of the Impact of Rural Households’ Behaviors on Heavy Metal Pollution of Arable Soil: Taking Lankao County as an Example
Authors: Ren Shixin , Li Erling , Deng Qingqing , He Haishan , Li Sijie
Published: November 2018

As heavy metal pollution of arable soil is a significant issue concerning the quality of agricultural products and human health, the rural households’ behaviors have a direct impact on heavy metal content in arable soil and its pollution level, but only a few researches have been done at such microscopic scale. Based on 101 field questionnaires of rural households in Lankao County and the monitoring data on heavy metal of arable soil of each rural household, the kind of rural households’ behaviors which impose obvious influence on heavy metal content of arable soil are investigated via single-factor pollution index, Nemerow pollution index and econometric model in this study. The results show that, rural households’ land utilization mode affects heavy metal content in soil, e.g., the degree of heavy metal pollution of soil for intensive planting is higher than that of traditional planting, viz. vegetable greenhouse > garlic land > traditional crop farmland. The management of cultivated land with due scale is beneficial to reducing heavy metal content in soil, that is, the land fragmentation degree is in direct proportion to heavy metal content in soil, so rural households are encouraged to carry out land circulation and combine the patch into a large one. Excess application of fertilizer, pesticide and organic fertilizer will lead to heavy metal pollution of soil, while agricultural technical training organized by government department and the foundation of agricultural cooperative can promote the technical level and degree of organization of rural households and enable them to be more scientific and rational in agrochemicals selection and application, hence reducing or avoiding heavy metal pollution of soil. Single factor pollution level of heavy metal in the soil for planting various crops is different, so it is recommended to prepare various pollution reduction programs for different land types and pollution levels for the harmony and unity of human-nature system.
Does the Belt and Road Initiative Promote Sustainable Development? Evidence from Countries along the Belt and Road
Authors: Xiao Hongjun , Cheng Junjie , Wang Xin
Published: November 2018

The “Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative” is an innovative idea proposed by China aimed at promoting common prosperity in the world. Although it has gained more and more recognition and response, there is also some one-sided understanding or distortion. Taking the 60 countries along the Belt and Road from 2010 to 2015 as samples, this paper mainly answers three questions from the perspective of sustainable development: (1) What is the current status of sustainable development in all countries along the “B&R”? (2) Is the “B&R Initiative” conducive to promoting the sustainable development of all countries along the “B&R”? (3) How could the “B&R” be better promoted? The study found that, first, various countries along the “B&R” have manifested an imbalanced characteristic in terms of the sustainable development, and there is much room for improvement in general. Second, the “B&R Initiative” has a positive impact on the sustainable development of all countries. However, due to the relatively short period of time, this impact is not significant at present. Third, to promote “B&R” construction, we must take sustainable development as the fundamental goal to jointly promote the connectivity of facilities, integrate the UN 2030 sustainable development goals, and strengthen the cross-border cooperation between non-governmental and non-profit organizations.
The Role of Social Media in Promoting Information Disclosure on Environmental Incidents: An Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective
Authors: Gao Shan , Ling Shuang , Liu Wenhui
Published: November 2018

In recent years, social media has had a crucial role in promoting governments to act more responsibly. However, few studies have investigated whether social media use actually leads to increased disclosure during environmental incidents, or how social media influences regional governments’ information disclosure, even though delayed and insufficient disclosure on relevant incidents is often widespread in China. In this article, we model information disclosure during environmental incidents as an evolutionary game process between the central government and local governments, and examine the role of social media on game participants’ strategy selections in the information disclosure game. The results indicate that social media plays an active role in promoting the regional government to proactively disclose information during environmental incidents through two mechanisms: the top–down intervention mechanism, and the bottom–up reputation mechanism. More specifically, social media can provide efficient information channels for the central government to supervise local officials’ limited disclosure during environmental incidents, essentially sharing the central government’s supervision costs, and thus improving its supervision and intervention efficiency. Social media helps focus the public’s attention on the limited disclosure of local officials in environmental incidents, and actively mobilizes citizens to protest to maintain their interests, placing considerable pressure on the reputation of local governments.
Solar and Shading Potential of Different Configurations of Building Integrated Photovoltaics Used as Shading Devices Considering Hot Climatic Conditions
Authors: Asfour Omar S.
Published: November 2018

This study investigates the use of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) as shading devices in hot climates, with reference to the conditions of Saudi Arabia. It used parametric numerical modelling to critically appraise the potential of eight design configurations in this regard, including vertical and horizontal shading devices with different inclination angles. The study assumed that the examined shading devices could be entirely horizontal or vertical on the three exposed facades, which is common practice in architecture. The study found that the examined configurations offered different solar and shading potentials. However, the case of horizontal BIPV shading devices with a 45° tilt angle received the highest amount of annual total insolation (104 kWh/m2) and offered effective window shading of 96% of the total window area on average in summer. The study concluded that, unlike the common recommendation of avoiding horizontal shading devices on eastern and western facades, it is possible in countries characterised with high solar altitudes such as Saudi Arabia to use them effectively to generate electricity and provide the required window shading.
Analysing the Synergies and Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Services to Reorient Land Use Planning in Metropolitan Bilbao (Northern Spain)
Authors: Peña Lorena , Onaindia Miren , Fernández de Manuel Beatriz , Ametzaga-Arregi Ibone , Casado-Arzuaga Izaskun
Published: November 2018

In the last decades, some European cities have undergone important changes in search of a more sustainable development. This is the case for the city of Bilbao (Bizkaia, Basque Country), where a Greenbelt has been maintained surrounding the urban areas allowing the periurban areas to deliver ecosystem services (ES) to society. However, the role of the different ecosystems in the provision of ES is not the same, which can lead to conflicts among them. The aim of this study is to analyze the synergies and trade-offs among the eight most important ES in the Bilbao Metropolitan Greenbelt (BMG) to orient their management strategies towards more multifunctional landscapes. We mapped the ES and overlapped them looking for the most relevant areas for the provision of multiple ES and areas that are mostly lacking ES provision. We identify also existing ES trade-offs and synergies between ES using correlations so that managers can prioritize preservation efforts of land use types in the rest of the area. The results show that provisioning ES had trade-offs with regulating and cultural ES and the latter showed synergies between them. The former are mainly delivered by semi-natural ecosystems, while regulating and cultural ES are delivered mainly by natural ecosystems. Moreover, the most relevant areas for the provision of multiple ES were proposed as potential components of a Green Infrastructure (GI). Their identification and ES bundles could help decision-makers to orient their management strategies towards sustainability in metropolitan areas.
Explaining and Measuring Social-Ecological Pathways: The Case of Global Changes and Water Security
Authors: Bolognesi Thomas , Gerlak Andrea K. , Giuliani Gregory
Published: November 2018

The Social-Ecological Systems framework serves as a valuable framework to explore and understand social and ecological interactions, and pathways in water governance. However, it lacks a robust understanding of change. We argue an analytical and methodological approach to engaging global changes in SES is critical to strengthening the scope and relevance of the SES framework. Relying on SES and resilience thinking, we propose an institutional and cognitive model of change where institutions and natural resources systems co-evolve. Our model of change provides a dynamic understanding of SES that stands on three causal mechanisms: institutional complexity trap, rigidity trap, and learning processes. We illustrate how data cube technology could overcome current limitations and offer reliable avenues for testing hypotheses about the dynamics of Social-Ecological Systems and water security by offering to combine spatial and time data with no major technical requirements for users.
Social Life Cycle Assessment: Specific Approach and Case Study for Switzerland
Authors: Lobsiger-Kägi Evelyn , López Luis , Kuehn Tobias , Roth Raoul , Carabias Vicente , Zipper Christian
Published: November 2018

This article proposes a specific social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach, to be applied in a case study on energy production in Switzerland. The aim of the present study is to describe the social conditions along the global supply chains and to compare them with the social situation in Switzerland. Therefore, a specific S-LCA methodology was developed that combines a relevance analysis with a performance reference point (PRP) assessment. The relevance analysis is carried out to identify the most relevant unit processes and S-LCA indicators and the Swiss PRPs (SPRPs) are designed to compare the social issues along the value chain to the situation in Switzerland. The methodology was applied to two life cycle stages of the copper supply chain (resource extraction and wire production), relevant for the production of renewable energy technologies, where it was found that the most critical step is mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to the artisanal way of mining. The proposed methodology offers a comprehensive overview for the analysis of supply chains and the comparison of different life cycle phases. Nevertheless, the methodology can result in a very coarse resolution with low validity. However, if the data and the results are treated transparently, they provide meaningful information about the social conditions along the supply chain.
Assessment of Green Practices in Residential Buildings: A Survey-Based Empirical Study of Residents in Kazakhstan
Authors: Tokbolat Serik , Karaca Ferhat , Durdyev Serdar , Nazipov Farnush , Aidyngaliyev Ilyas
Published: November 2018

In the lead-up to the Paris climate change conference, the majority of the UN Member States submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions on carbon emissions reduction to be met by 2030. Kazakhstan is no exception. The government made pledges and, therefore, has to adapt its national policies and regulations to meet the set ambitious goals. In this regard, the role of residential building sector is of the utmost importance due to its significant share in the country’s energy consumption and carbon emissions profile. Thus, this study presents the types of residential buildings available and assesses how far they are from meeting the green building (GB) indicators set in various certification schemes and standards. This would help in suggesting practical steps to improve the sustainability levels of the residential building stock of Kazakhstan. This study collected a robust set of data on existing residential buildings in Astana, chosen as a case study location, classified them and, based on a developed checklist, evaluated their performance compared to GB standards. The study has found that old buildings tend to have a rather poor level of sustainability, whereas the sustainability of new buildings depends on the class of the building—steadily increasing from economy to premium class in all categories of the checklist. A detailed analysis of the results has led to the development of recommendations on how each type of building should be improved to meet the GB standards.
A Century-Long Ex-Post Evaluation of a Countermeasure for a Serious Pollution Problem in Japan
Authors: Huang Guangwei , Fu Yiqi , Xue Han , Li Huibin
Published: November 2018

Current environmental literature provides insufficient information and analysis on how today’s environmental state was shaped by countermeasures to pollution taken in the last century, which could be characterized as a century of environmental degradation. Such a look back is crucial to better understand and predict how policy and countermeasure choices today may shape the world in the future. Following this line of reasoning, the present work conducted a post audit on the long-term consequence of a countermeasure against a major heavy metal pollution case caused by the operation of the Ashio Copper Mine in Japan. It examined this issue from both environmental and societal perspectives by document analysis, field investigation on the heavy metal concentration in the soils of a heavy mental catchment area and questionnaire survey on the public knowledge with regard to the copper mining contamination case as well. It shed new light on how environment may evolve via the interaction with human activities by identifying drivers behind major changes. It also revealed a gap between the reality and the public perception towards the consequence of the copper contamination. Such insights will deepen the discussion on what is sustainability and motivate further study to pursue sustainable development.
Transceiver Design and Power Allocation for SWIPT in MIMO Cognitive Radio Systems
Authors: Wu Fahui , Xiao Lin , Yang Dingcheng , Cuthbert Laurie , Liu Xiaoping
Published: November 2018

In this paper, we consider a symmetric wireless communication network, i.e., each user is equipped with the same number of antennas. Specifically, this paper studies simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in a K-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) cognitive radio network where the secondary users (SUs) access the same frequency band as the pre-existing primary user (PU) without generating any interference. The transceivers and power splitting ratio are designed and power allocation is considered in our system model. To guarantee the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and harvested energy requirement of the PU, its optimal transceiver and minimal transmitted power are obtained by the technique of semi-definite relaxation (SDR). We design the beamformers of the SUs using the distance between the interference subspaces at the PU and the null space of PU’s desired signal to preserve the PU from the interference caused by the SUs. We aim to maximize the sum rate of all the SUs by jointly designing power splitting ratios and allocating transmission power. Furthermore, to consider the performance fairness of SUs, we propose another approach to maximize the minimum SINR of the SUs. Finally, numerical results are given to evaluate the performance of proposed approaches.
A Comparison of Regularization Techniques in Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Nusrat Ismoilov , Jang Sung-Bong
Published: November 2018

Artificial neural networks (ANN) have attracted significant attention from researchers because many complex problems can be solved by training them. If enough data are provided during the training process, ANNs are capable of achieving good performance results. However, if training data are not enough, the predefined neural network model suffers from overfitting and underfitting problems. To solve these problems, several regularization techniques have been devised and widely applied to applications and data analysis. However, it is difficult for developers to choose the most suitable scheme for a developing application because there is no information regarding the performance of each scheme. This paper describes comparative research on regularization techniques by evaluating the training and validation errors in a deep neural network model, using a weather dataset. For comparisons, each algorithm was implemented using a recent neural network library of TensorFlow. The experiment results showed that an autoencoder had the worst performance among schemes. When the prediction accuracy was compared, data augmentation and the batch normalization scheme showed better performance than the others.
The Influence of Organs on Biochemical Properties of Tunisian Thuja occidentalis Essential Oils
Authors: Bellili Sana , Aouadhi Chedia , Dhifi Wissal , Ghazghazi Hanene , Jlassi Chaima , Sadaka Carmen , Beyrouthy Marc El , Maaroufi Abderrazak , Cherif Ameur , Mnif Wissem
Published: November 2018

In this study, the chemical composition and biological activities of the essential oil (EO) extracts (from leaves and cones) of the Tunisian Thuja occidentalis were evaluated. The composition of the leaf EO extract was more complex than that of the cones. The major components of the leaf EO extract were α-Pinene (34.4%), cedrol (13.17%), and β-Phellandrene (8.04%), while the composition of the cone EO extract was characterized by the predominance of α-Pinene (58.55%) and 3-Carene (24.08%). All EO extracts showed much better antioxidant activity than Trolox against 2, 2′-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, but EOs extracted from leaves exhibited the highest total antioxidant activity. All EOs showed strong antibacterial and antifungal activities against nine tested foodborne microorganisms (Bacillus cereus American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 1247, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Aeromonas hydrophila EI, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Salmonella typhimurium NCTC 6017, Aspergillus flavus (foodborne isolate), and Aspergillus niger CTM 10099. The highest antimicrobial activities by disk diffusion assay were recorded for the EOs extracted from leaves, while no difference in potency was marked between leaf and cone EO extracts by the agar dilution method. The most potent antimicrobial activity was recorded among fungi. This study confirms the strong antimicrobial and antioxidant potential of EO extracts from the Tunisian T. occidentalis (from the Sidi Bou Said site), highlighting its potential as a natural preservative against foodborne pathogens, particularly against E. coli and S. typhimurium.
An Enhanced Approach for the Multiple Vehicle Routing Problem with Heterogeneous Vehicles and a Soft Time Window
Authors: Kang He-Yau , Lee Amy H. I.
Published: November 2018

The vehicle routing problem (VRP) is a challenging combinatorial optimization problem. This research focuses on the problem under which a manufacturer needs to outsource materials from other suppliers and to ship the materials back to the company. Heterogeneous vehicles are available to ship the materials, and each vehicle has a limited loading capacity and a limited travelling distance. The purpose of this research is to study a multiple vehicle routing problem (MVRP) with soft time window and heterogeneous vehicles. Two models, using mixed integer programming (MIP) and genetic algorithm (GA), are developed to solve the problem. The MIP model is first constructed to minimize the total transportation cost, which includes the assignment cost, travelling cost, and the tardiness cost, for the manufacturer. The optimal solution can present multiple vehicle routing and the loading size of each vehicle in each period. The GA is next applied to solve the problem so that a near-optimal solution can be obtained when the problem is too difficult to be solved using the MIP. A case of a food manufacturing company is used to examine the practicality of the proposed MIP model and the GA model. The results show that the MIP model can obtain the optimal solution under a short computational time when the scale of the problem is small. When the problem becomes non-deterministic polynomial hard (NP-hard), the MIP model cannot find the optimal solution. On the other hand, the GA model can obtain a near-optimal solution within a reasonable amount of computational time. This paper is related to several important topics of the Symmetry journal in the areas of mathematics and computer science theory and methods. In the area of mathematics, the theories of linear and non-linear algebraic structures and information technology are adopted. In the area of computer science, theory and methods, and metaheuristics are applied.