bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SAR Target Recognition via Meta-Learning and Amortized Variational Inference
Authors: Wang Ke , Zhang Gong
Published: October 2020

The challenge of small data has emerged in synthetic aperture radar automatic target recognition (SAR-ATR) problems. Most SAR-ATR methods are data-driven and require a lot of training data that are expensive to collect. To address this challenge, we propose a recognition model that incorporates meta-learning and amortized variational inference (AVI). Specifically, the model consists of global parameters and task-specific parameters. The global parameters, trained by meta-learning, construct a common feature extractor shared between all recognition tasks. The task-specific parameters, modeled by probability distributions, can adapt to new tasks with a small amount of training data. To reduce the computation and storage cost, the task-specific parameters are inferred by AVI implemented with set-to-set functions. Extensive experiments were conducted on a real SAR dataset to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. The results of the proposed approach compared with those of the latest SAR-ATR methods show the superior performance of our model, especially on recognition tasks with limited data.
Effect of Loading Rate on Tensile and Failure Behavior of Concrete
Authors: Chen Xiaocui , Sun Liguo , Zhao Wenhu , Zheng Yuan
Published: October 2020

Three-point bending experiments of concrete beams were conducted under the strain rate range of 10−6 s−1 and 1.5 × 10−3 s−1. A novel 3D laser scanner, Handy SCAN, was employed to detect the areas of interface, mortar and aggregate on the crack surface after the experiment. In this paper, the inhomogeneity of materials and the inertial effect were considered as the main factors in the strength enhancement of concrete together with a proposed dynamic model. With the obtained experimental results, the initial elastic modulus and tensile strength of concrete showed obvious rate sensitivity. Moreover, an empirical relationship of dynamic increase factor and strain rate was established for the strain rate range of 10−6 s−1 and 1.5 × 10−3 s−1. The contributions of aggregate and inertia effect to the dynamic enhancement of concrete strength were quantified with respect to the loading rate. The rate effect of concrete obtained by the experiments was verified by the finite element analysis on the mesoscopic scale with the model built by the three-dimensional random aggregate software.
Analytical Modelling of MSW Landfill Surface Displacement Based on GNSS Monitoring
Authors: Adamcová Dana , Bartoň Stanislav , Osinski Piotr , Pasternak Grzegorz , Podlasek Anna , Vaverková Magdalena Daria , Koda Eugeniusz
Published: October 2020

Displacements of landfills play an important role in the reclamation process and geotechnical safety improvement of such sites. Landfill settlements are defined as a vertical displacement of waste body due to compression, degradable nature of the waste, and creep phenomenon of the waste particles. Waste composition is more diverse than natural soil. Thus, it has to be properly placed and compacted since the landfill body will continuously settle down. Several models of the landfill displacement estimation have already been developed. The aim of the present study was: (i) to review the methods of landfill settlements computation and (ii) to propose the model allowing landfill body displacements simulation based on monitoring datasets applying a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurement. The new model employs Gauss-Newton iteration and Runge-Kutta methods to estimate landfill surface displacements. The objectives were to analyse and mathematically describe the landfill body displacements. The GNSS geodetic survey and computations allowed concluding that the landfill body has been transformed over the years. The results revealed that the curves of waste displacement are in agreement with the measured total displacement of the landfill, and all curves corresponding to waste displacement are perpendicular to the active edge of the landfill. In the period of a maximum of 4.5 years after the waste deposition with a layer of up to 16.2 m thickness, the phenomenon of expansion was observed, which then disappears, and more settlement occurs due to the gravity of upper layers. The analysed landfill as a whole does not experience significant displacements. Neither of the slope failures are observed, even for large inclination.
Energy-Efficient Wearable EPTS Device Using On-Device DCNN Processing for Football Activity Classification
Authors: Kim Hyunsung , Kim Jaehee , Kim Young-Seok , Kim Mijung , Lee Youngjoo
Published: October 2020

This paper presents an energy-optimized electronic performance tracking system (EPTS) device for analyzing the athletic movements of football players. We first develop a tiny battery-operated wearable device that can be attached to the backside of field players. In order to analyze the strategic performance, the proposed wearable EPTS device utilizes the GNSS-based positioning solution, the IMU-based movement sensing system, and the real-time data acquisition protocol. As the life-time of the EPTS device is in general limited due to the energy-hungry GNSS sensing operations, for the energy-efficient solution extending the operating time, in this work, we newly develop the advanced optimization methods that can reduce the number of GNSS accesses without degrading the data quality. The proposed method basically identifies football activities during the match time, and the sampling rate of the GNSS module is dynamically relaxed when the player performs static movements. A novel deep convolution neural network (DCNN) is newly developed to provide the accurate classification of human activities, and various compression techniques are applied to reduce the model size of the DCNN algorithm, allowing the on-device DCNN processing even at the memory-limited EPTS device. Experimental results show that the proposed DCNN-assisted sensing control can reduce the active power by 28%, consequently extending the life-time of the EPTS device more than 1.3 times.
Midpoint Relay Selection Using Social Trust and Battery Level to Enhance Throughput in Cooperative Device-to-Device Communications
Authors: Shrestha Khwakhali Ushik , Suksompong Prapun , Gordon Steven
Published: October 2020

Device-to-device communications in underlay mode has emerged as a promising way to enhance spectrum efficiency in cellular networks. Recently, relay selection in D2D communications underlaying cellular networks is gaining more research interest. In this paper, we propose two relay selection schemes for D2D communications underlaying cellular networks, Midpoint Relay Selection using Social Trust and Battery Level (MRS-ST-BL) and Midpoint Relay Selection using Social Distance and Battery Level (MRS-SD-BL). These proposed schemes utilize battery power level information of devices together with social trust information of users in the network for relay selection. For performance evaluation, initially we show that the throughput of state-of-the-art schemes Hybrid Relay Selection (HRS) and our previously proposed schemes Midpoint Relay Selection using Social Trust (MRS-ST) and Midpoint Relay Selection Using Social Distance (MRS-SD) decrease, when relays have varying battery power. Then, we compare the performance of our proposed schemes against existing schemes including HRS, MRS-ST and MRS-SD. The performance comparison is done at various social trust scenarios and device densities. We show that our proposed schemes can significantly improve the throughput of D2D communications, particularly when relays have different battery power levels in weak social trust scenarios. Finally, we show that the performance of our proposed scheme MRS-ST-BL varies with the change in battery power threshold.
Diagnosis of Occlusal Tooth Wear Using 3D Imaging of Optical Coherence Tomography Ex Vivo
Authors: Kashiwa Misa , Shimada Yasushi , Sadr Alireza , Yoshiyama Masahiro , Sumi Yasunori , Tagami Junji
Published: October 2020

The aim of this study was to assess the utility of 3D imaging of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the diagnosis of occlusal tooth wear ex vivo. Sixty-three extracted human molars with or without visible tooth wear were collected to take digital intraoral radiography and 3D OCT images. The degree of tooth wear was evaluated by 12 examiners and scored using 4-rank scale: 1—slight enamel wear; 2—distinct enamel wear; 3—tooth wear with slight dentin exposure; 4—tooth wear with distinct involvement of dentin. The degree of tooth wear was validated by the histological view of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic analysis were calculated. Diagnostic accuracy was compared with the agreement with CLSM observation using weighted kappa. The results were statistically analyzed at a significance level of α = 0.05. Three-dimensional OCT showed significantly higher sensitivity (p < 0.05) for all the diagnostic thresholds of enamel wear and dentin exposure than digital radiography (0.82, 0.85, and 0.79 vs. 0.56, 0.52, and 0.57, respectively). Three-dimensional OCT showed higher AUC and kappa coefficients than digital radiography (p < 0.05), where mean AUC and Kappa values were 0.95 and 0.76 for OCT and 0.92 and 0.47 for radiography, respectively. No significant difference of specificity was observed (p > 0.05). Three-dimensional OCT could visualize and estimate the degree of tooth wear and detect the dentin exposure at the tooth wear surface accurately and reproducibly. Consequently, a new guideline for tooth wear assessment can be proposed using OCT.
Radar Cross Section Near-Field to Far-Field Prediction for Isotropic-Point Scattering Target Based on Regression Estimation
Authors: Liu Yang , Hu Weidong , Zhang Wenlong , Sun Jianhang , Xing Baige , Ligthart Leo
Published: October 2020

Radar cross section near-field to far-field transformation (NFFFT) is a well-established methodology. Due to the testing range constraints, the measured data are mostly near-field. Existing methods employ electromagnetic theory to transform near-field data into the far-field radar cross section, which is time-consuming in data processing. This paper proposes a flexible framework, named Neural Networks Near-Field to Far-Filed Transformation (NN-NFFFT). Unlike the conventional fixed-parameter model, the near-field RCS to far-field RCS transformation process is viewed as a nonlinear regression problem that can be solved by our fast and flexible neural network. The framework includes three stages: Near-Field and Far-field dataset generation, regression estimator training, and far-field data prediction. In our framework, the Radar cross section prior information is incorporated in the Near-Field and Far-field dataset generated by a group of point-scattering targets. A lightweight neural network is then used as a regression estimator to predict the far-field RCS from the near-field RCS observation. For the target with a small RCS, the proposed method also has less data acquisition time. Numerical examples and extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can take less processing time to achieve comparable accuracy. Besides, the proposed framework can employ prior information about the real scenario to improve performance further.
Very High Bit Rate Near-Field Communication with Low-Interference Coils and Digital Single-Bit Sampling Transceivers for Biomedical Sensor Systems
Authors: Stoecklin Sebastian , Rosch Elias , Yousaf Adnan , Reindl Leonhard
Published: October 2020

The evolution of microelectronics increased the information acquired by today’s biomedical sensor systems to an extent where the capacity of low-power communication interfaces becomes one of the central bottlenecks. Hence, this paper mathematically analyzes and experimentally verifies novel coil and transceiver topologies for near-field communication interfaces, which simultaneously allow for high data transfer rates, low power consumption, and reduced interference to nearby wireless power transfer interfaces. Data coil design is focused on presenting two particular topologies which provide sufficient coupling between a reader and a wireless sensor system, but do not couple to an energy coil situated on the same substrate, severely reducing interference between wireless data and energy transfer interfaces. A novel transceiver design combines the approaches of a minimalistic analog front-end with a fully digital single-bit sampling demodulator, in which rectangular binary signals are processed by simple digital circuits instead of sinusoidal signals being conditioned by complex analog mixers and subsequent multi-bit analog-to-digital converters. The concepts are implemented using an analog interface in discrete circuit technology and a commercial low-power field-programmable gate array, yielding a transceiver which supports data rates of up to 6.78 MBit/s with an energy consumption of just 646 pJ/bit in transmitting mode and of 364 pJ/bit in receiving mode at a bit error rate of 2×10−7, being 10 times more energy efficient than any commercial NFC interface and fully implementable without any custom CMOS technology.
Compressing Deep Networks by Neuron Agglomerative Clustering
Authors: Wang Li-Na , Liu Wenxue , Liu Xiang , Zhong Guoqiang , Roy Partha Pratim , Dong Junyu , Huang Kaizhu
Published: October 2020

In recent years, deep learning models have achieved remarkable successes in various applications, such as pattern recognition, computer vision, and signal processing. However, high-performance deep architectures are often accompanied by a large storage space and long computational time, which make it difficult to fully exploit many deep neural networks (DNNs), especially in scenarios in which computing resources are limited. In this paper, to tackle this problem, we introduce a method for compressing the structure and parameters of DNNs based on neuron agglomerative clustering (NAC). Specifically, we utilize the agglomerative clustering algorithm to find similar neurons, while these similar neurons and the connections linked to them are then agglomerated together. Using NAC, the number of parameters and the storage space of DNNs are greatly reduced, without the support of an extra library or hardware. Extensive experiments demonstrate that NAC is very effective for the neuron agglomeration of both the fully connected and convolutional layers, which are common building blocks of DNNs, delivering similar or even higher network accuracy. Specifically, on the benchmark CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets, using NAC to compress the parameters of the original VGGNet by 92.96% and 81.10%, respectively, the compact network obtained still outperforms the original networks.
Long-Chain Base (LCB)-Targeted Lipidomics Study Uncovering the Presence of a Variety of LCBs in Mammalian Blood
Authors: Ohira Mari , Okuyama Torayuki , Mashima Ryuichi
Published: October 2020

Globotriaosylsphingosine (LysoGb3) is a biomarker for Fabry disease (OMIM 301500) that contains long-chain bases (LCBs) as a building block. There have been several studies proposing that LysoGb3 forms with distinct LCBs could be putative disease subtype-related biomarkers for this congenital disorder; however, there have been no detailed multiple reaction monitoring-based studies examining the LCB distribution in this lysosphingolipid. To achieve this, we established an assay procedure that aimed at elucidating the LCB-targeted lipidome using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Consistent with previous studies, we found d18:1 to be the major LCB species of the LysoGb3 in pooled human plasma, while some atypical LCBs, such as d18:2, d18:0, t18:1, d16:1, and d17:1, were detected as minor fractions. When the same methodology was applied to fetal bovine serum (FBS) as a positive control, we identified additional unique LCB species, such as t18:0, d20:1, t19:1, and t21:1, in herbivore LysoGb3. Furthermore, we found an elevation of sphingosine and LysoGb3, which are N-deacylated forms of ceramide and Gb3, respectively, in FBS, suggesting that ceramidase activity may be involved in this process. Thus, our LCB-targeted lipidomics data revealed that mammalian LCBs in glycosphingolipids have a greater variety of molecular species than previously expected.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Social Capital and Academic Stress in South Korea
Authors: Jarvis Jonathan A. , Corbett Allison W. , Thorpe Jared D. , Dufur Mikaela J.
Published: October 2020

In intense academic environments such as in South Korea, students experience extreme levels of academic stress. This stress peaks as students prepare for the college entrance exam in the final year of high school. Stress is associated with a host of negative outcomes, and academic stress is the leading cause of suicidal ideation among youth in South Korea. Research suggests that in high-stress contexts such as this, social capital can improve academic success and mental health, while reducing risky or deviant behaviors. However, this research has predominantly focused on Western contexts. Because of the unique intensity of educational pursuits and intense investment in education by parents, South Korea provides a compelling case for research on the effects of family and school social capital on youth academic stress. Using data from the Korea Youth Panel Survey (N = 2753), we find that particular components of family and school social capital can both reduce and exacerbate academic stress. While measures of closeness and connection to parents reduced academic stress, school social capital had a limited impact on academic stress. Furthermore, there may be a limit to the effectiveness of social capital to help with academic stress before it becomes too much of a good thing.
Review on Energy and Fire Performance of Water Wall Systems as a Green Building Façade
Authors: Rathnayake Uthpala , Lau Denvid , Chow Cheuk Lun
Published: October 2020

Glass façades are widely utilized in green buildings. Ensuring fire safety while reducing the energy need without compromising occupants’ comfort is a challenge in the modern-day green buildings with glass façades. One way of achieving both aspects is to construct a water wall system as a building façade. A water wall system has a water layer between two glass panes and can be considered as a glass façade system. The focus of this review, which builds on the published studies, is how water wall systems can help ensure fire safety and reduce energy demand in green buildings. The water layer within two glass panes of the water wall system store the solar radiation heat throughout the daytime, reducing the amount of heat transferred through the building facade. The reduced heat transfer effects lessen the need for air conditioning to sustain the thermal comfort of the building occupants. The stored energy is released during the nighttime. The transparency of the water wall system also allows daylight to enter the building, thus reducing artificial lighting needs. Furthermore, the water layer acts as a fire safety mechanism in case of a fire. However, the water wall systems are not much utilized in the modern-day green buildings due to their unpopularity and the unavailability of design guidelines. On the basis of the findings of the literature review, stakeholders and the public are encouraged to adopt water wall systems in green building projects as an energy-efficient strategy and a fire safety mechanism.
Can Material and Energy Be Saved by Differentiating Water Quality Targets in the Water Purification Process?
Authors: Dente Sébastien M. R. , Shimizu Toshiyuki , Wang Tao , Hashimoto Seiji
Published: October 2020

The current organization of water supply systems demands drinking standards for all the households’ usage of water. Few dual water systems, i.e., systems in which the quality of the water supplied is differentiated by types of use, exist but are mainly circumscribed to developing countries. Besides, bath and showers are so far considered as a potable use of water despite only drinking and cooking activities requiring the high-quality standards of potable water. The present work demonstrates how the principles of dual water systems can be incorporated into the sustainable concept of product-service system (PSS) using a dual water system of a municipal water supply treatment plant in France as a case study. The PSS is based on the water quality, and the bathing activity of households is considered with a dedicated standard for the first time. Two systems are considered, S1 and S2, supplied with the same raw water quality and treated with drinking (S1) bathing standards (S2). The quality parameters considered are total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity (T) and the potential savings related to costs, material, and energy consumptions are assessed using EVALEAU as a process modeling tool. The treatment lines consisted of powdered activated carbon (PAC) addition, coagulation, flocculation, settling, and rapid sand filtration. Results show that material consumption can be reduced by 41% mainly through the decrease in chemical consumption associated with the change of requirement for the TOC parameter. On the opposite, energy consumption was found dependent on the water of volume treated rather than its quality leading to only marginal savings. The cost was decreased by 37% as a result of the reduction of the chemicals consumed.
Empirical Modeling of Direct Expansion (DX) Cooling System for Multiple Research Use Cases
Authors: Joe Jaewan , Im Piljae , Dong Jin
Published: October 2020

This study provides a general procedure to generate a direct expansion (DX) cooling coil system for a roof top unit (RTU), which is a typical heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system for commercial buildings in the United States. Experimental data from a full-scale unoccupied 2-story commercial building is used for the HVAC modeling. The regression for identifying the model coefficients was carried out with multiple stages, and the results were validated with measured data. The model’s applicability was evaluated with multiple case studies, including a building energy simulation (BES) program validation, model-based predictive control (MPC), and fault diagnostics and detection (FDD).
Water Footprint Expands with Gross Domestic Product
Authors: Hernandez Yeray , Naumann Gustavo , Corral Serafin , Barbosa Paulo
Published: October 2020

The exponential increase in water demand has been a focus since the 1970s in the well-known report on the “Limits to growth” [...]
Big Data and the Ethical Implications of Data Privacy in Higher Education Research
Authors: Florea Diana , Florea Silvia
Published: October 2020

Despite the claimed worth and huge interest regarding the increasing volumes of complex data sets and the rewarding promise to improve research, there is, however, a growing concern regarding data privacy that affects both qualitative and quantitative higher education research. Within the contemporary debates on the impact of Big Data on the nature of higher education research and the effective ways to harmonize Big Data practice with privacy restrictions and regulations, this study sets out to qualitatively examine current issues regarding data privacy, anonymity, informed consent and confidentiality in data-centric higher education research, with a focus on the data collector, data subject and data user. We argue that within current regulations, data protection of research subjects concerns more data collection and disclosure and insufficiently describes use, having procedural implications for both the complex nature of higher education (HE) research and the type of research data being collected. We work our argument through an examination of several factors that call for a reconsideration of data privacy and access to private information in HE research. The conclusions indicate that Big Data-centric HE research is increasingly becoming a mainstream research paradigm which needs to address critical data privacy issues before being widely embraced.
Revisiting Stakeholder Theory and Environmentalism: Evidence from an Emerging Economy
Authors: Saleem Farida , Zhang-Zhang Yingying , Malik Muhammad Imran , Allui Alawiya
Published: October 2020

In this study, we evaluated corporate environmental activities within the framework of stakeholders’ concerns and taking an emerging economy as the field of study. This paper integrates the stakeholder theory and corporate environmental behavior to develop a model and then tests this model in an emerging economy context. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey from managers operating in a variety of industries in Pakistan. A structural equation modeling technique has been used for data analysis. Results revealed that regulatory bodies are the most significant while media, customers, and activists are insignificant stakeholders. Top management commitment is identified as an important endogenous and exogenous variable.
Relationship between Perceived Teamwork Effectiveness and Team Performance in Banking Sector of Serbia
Authors: Berber Nemanja , Slavić Agneš , Aleksić Marko
Published: October 2020

Teamwork is one of the most important factors for business success in the modern economy. In almost every area of business, teams receive more and more attention, since it has been found that teamwork leads to greater individual, group, and even organizational performance. The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of teamwork and its relationship with team performances. Specifically, the authors tried to investigate which factors of teamwork effectiveness have a positive relationship with teamwork performance and the sustainability of teams in the future. The subject of the research is the effectiveness of teamwork as a construct that is widely presented in the scientific field of organizational behavior and human resource management, but is still underexplored in empirical research, especially in the banking sector. An investigation with a self-audit questionnaire on teamwork effectiveness was conducted on a sample of 401 employees in the banking sector in Serbia, in 16 out of the 26 existing banks in the country. The authors used SmartPLS software in order to test the questionnaire (indicator loadings, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity) and proposed research question (PLS-SEM). The results showed that factors such as innovative behavior of the team members, the quality of teamwork, and teamwork synergy have positive relations to teamwork performance. This paper contributes to the better understanding of the factors of teamwork effectiveness that contribute to team performances, with respect to the banking industry in Serbia. The limitation of the paper is the size of the sample, with respect to the total population.
Real-Time Data Utilization Barriers to Improving Production Performance: An In-depth Case Study Linking Lean Management and Industry 4.0 from a Learning Organization Perspective
Authors: Saabye Henrik , Kristensen Thomas Borup , Wæhrens Brian Vejrum
Published: October 2020

This study presents empirical evidence for the ongoing discussion about the link between Lean Management (LM) and industry 4.0 (I4.0) by exploring a non-technical perspective on how manufacturers can capitalize on their technological investments. The paper, therefore, studies the link between LM and I4.0 from a learning organization (LO) perspective by examining the implementation, commissioning, and utilization of a real-time operational data gathering system at a Danish building material manufacturer. This six months in-depth case study finds that for the manufacturer to utilize real-time operational data from a LO perspective, several barriers must be addressed: problem solving that is not initiated by operators, operators who do not have second-order problem-solving abilities, operators who perceive the new real-time data technology as coercive, poor learning environments and processes, and a lack of leadership that supports learning. This study can help practitioners understand the importance of balance, the prevalent technocentric focus when implementing new I4.0 technologies with a LO focus. Furthermore, the study provides practitioners with a list of specific barriers from a LO perspective to be mindful of when aiming to combine LM and I4.0 to improve production performance.
Environmental Flows Assessment in Nepal: The Case of Kaligandaki River
Authors: Suwal Naresh , Kuriqi Alban , Huang Xianfeng , Delgado João , Młyński Dariusz , Walega Andrzej
Published: October 2020

Environmental flow assessments (e-flows) are relatively new practices, especially in developing countries such as Nepal. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the influence of hydrologically based e-flow methods in the natural flow regime. The study used different hydrological-based methods, namely, the Global Environmental Flow Calculator, the Tennant method, the flow duration curve method, the dynamic method, the mean annual flow method, and the annual distribution method to allocate e-flows in the Kaligandaki River. The most common practice for setting e-flows consists of allocating a specific percentage of mean annual flow or portion of flow derived from specific percentiles of the flow duration curve. However, e-flow releases should mimic the river’s intra-annual variability to meet the specific ecological function at different river trophic levels and in different periods over a year covering biotas life stages. The suitability of the methods was analyzed using the Indicators of Hydrological Alterations and e-flows components. The annual distribution method and the 30%Q-D (30% of daily discharge) methods showed a low alteration at the five global indexes for each group of Indicators of Hydrological Alterations and e-flows components, which allowed us to conclude that these methods are superior to the other methods. Hence, the study results concluded that 30%Q-D and annual distribution methods are more suitable for the e-flows implementation to meet the riverine ecosystem’s annual dynamic demand to maintain the river’s health. This case study can be used as a guideline to allocate e-flows in the Kaligandaki River, particularly for small hydropower plants.
Using Experimentally Validated Navier-Stokes CFD to Minimize Tidal Stream Turbine Power Losses Due to Wake/Turbine Interactions
Authors: Attene Federico , Balduzzi Francesco , Bianchini Alessandro , Campobasso M. Sergio
Published: October 2020

Tidal stream turbines fixed on the seabed can harness the power of tides at locations where the bathymetry and/or coastal geography result in high kinetic energy levels of the flood and/or neap currents. In large turbine arrays, however, avoiding interactions between upstream turbine wakes and downstream turbine rotors may be hard or impossible, and, therefore, tidal array layouts have to be designed to minimize the power losses caused by these interactions. For the first time, using Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics simulations which model the turbines with generalized actuator disks, two sets of flume tank experiments of an isolated turbine and arrays of up to four turbines are analyzed in a thorough and comprehensive fashion to investigate these interactions and the power losses they induce. Very good agreement of simulations and experiments is found in most cases. The key novel finding of this study is the evidence that the flow acceleration between the wakes of two adjacent turbines can be exploited not only to increase the kinetic energy available to a turbine working further downstream in the accelerated flow corridor, but also to reduce the power losses of said turbine due to its rotor interaction with the wake produced by a fourth turbine further upstream. By making use of periodic array simulations, it is also found that there exists an optimal lateral spacing of the two adjacent turbines, which maximizes the power of the downstream turbine with respect to when the two adjacent turbines are absent or further apart. This is accomplished by trading off the amount of flow acceleration between the wakes of the lateral turbines, and the losses due to shear and mixing of the front turbine wake and the wakes of the two lateral turbines.
Urban Freight Last Mile Logistics—Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Sustainability: A Literature Review
Authors: Bosona Techane
Published: October 2020

Last mile logistics (LML) is the least efficient and complex part of supply chain. The main objective of this study was to identify major challenges of urban freight LML and opportunities for intervention. For this, 42 peer-reviewed full papers published after 2010 and three additional references were used. The findings indicated that urban freight flow has a trend of steady growth. The main driving forces behind this steady growth are population growth, urbanization, densification, globalization, online and omni-channel (OC) retailing, and urban economic development. Using typology analysis, three main potential freight LML configurations were mapped and discussed. Freight LML configurations that involve light cargo vehicles and cargo bike-based delivery schemes could be more attractive freight LML models if the delivery failure is minimized. The LML challenges were categorized as technological, infrastructural, LML system and management, and logistic cost related challenges, and discussed broadly. Similarly, the potential opportunities were discussed from environmental, economic, and social sustainability aspects. Finally, this report has pinpointed future potential research agendas related to LML. The study could be a knowledge base useful for academicians and practitioners, logistics and technical service providers, policy makers, and customers.
What Determines Innovative Performance of International Joint Ventures? Assessing the Effects of Foreign Managerial Control
Authors: Jin Kyuho , Park Chulhyung , Lee Jeonghwan
Published: October 2020

International joint ventures (IJVs) have long been considered a vibrant venue for innovation, one source of sustainable competitive advantage. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research that seeks to understand what determines their innovative performance. We draw attention to and examine the control structure of IJVs as a determinant of innovation. Using the complementary lenses of local embeddedness, the liability of outsidership, and open innovation, we argue that foreign managerial control reduces IJV innovation and that equity ownership balance between foreign and local parent firms and affiliation of IJVs with local market business groups weaken this negative relationship. Using panel data of 48 IJVs in Korea during the periods between 2000 and 2016, we find empirical support for these arguments. This study contributes to the literature by extending our understanding of how to design IJVs for enhancing innovative output and consequently improving their sustainability.
Tourist Renewal as a Strategy to Improve the Competitiveness of an Urban Tourist Space: A Case Study in Maspalomas-Costa Canaria
Authors: Sanabria Díaz José M. , Aguiar Quintana Teresa , Araujo Cabrera Yazmina
Published: October 2020

The reclassification of accommodation for tourism, understood as the change of tourist category or classification in terms of accommodation activity, is put forward as one of the ways to increase competitiveness in any establishment. So, recent regulation on planning, renovation and modernization of Tourism in Canary Islands established the need to increase the classification of the accommodation offering by restoring degraded tourist areas and renovating different public and private infrastructures. Using a case study methodology in this paper, the characteristics of the rehabilitation process undertaken in different touristic establishments of the coast of Gran Canaria, are analyzed, more specifically in Maspalomas-Costa Canaria destination. Comparative analysis of these cases presenting it as a rehabilitation model that allowed it to re-join the market, benefiting from the urban incentives policies through the upgrading strategy, increasing the quality and quantity of the services offered.
Heuristic Thinking and Credibility of Organic Advertising Claims: The Role of Knowledge and Motivations
Authors: Lanero Ana , Vázquez José-Luis , Sahelices-Pinto César
Published: October 2020

Consumers are often overexposed to sustainability symbols and claims on food product packages and find it difficult to accurately judge their meaning when making purchase decisions. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), this paper aims to identify cognitive mechanisms to reduce the heuristic credibility of organic advertising claims and to increase the motivation for searching for more reliable information when making product judgements. Particularly, we hypothesize that knowledge and defense and accuracy motivations affect organic claim credibility, which in turn is related to organic product judgement. Data collected from an experimental between-subject study with a sample of 412 Spanish undergraduates was analyzed using partial least squares. The results indicated that claim credibility was directly related to the attribution of organic properties to products, and was affected by defense motivation especially when appropriate knowledge was not available. Improving consumers’ knowledge reduced organic claim credibility and triggered a positive effect of accuracy motivation on credibility. The findings stress the importance of improving the regulation of ambitious advertising claims and developing specific educational campaigns to empower consumers and prevent biased purchase decisions of organic products.
Young People’s Perceptions about the Difficulties of Entrepreneurship and Developing Rural Properties in Family Agriculture
Authors: Keiko Yamaguchi Cristina , Stefenon Stéfano Frizzo , Ramos Ney Kassiano , Silva dos Santos Vanessa , Forbici Fernanda , Rodrigues Klaar Anne Carolina , Silva Ferreira Fernanda Cristina , Cassol Alessandra , Marietto Márcio Luiz , Farias Yamaguchi Shana Kimi , de Borba Marcelo Leandro
Published: October 2020

This article aims to understand the perceptions of young rural entrepreneurs about the difficulties in investing in family farms in which they work. Ninety-eight people were interviewed at the event “Meeting of Young Entrepreneurs of the Rural Environment of Santa Catarina: the rural youth leading the sustainable development”, held in May 2019. The methodology applied in this paper is qualitative and quantitative, through a bibliographic review and a numerical analysis on work conditions and workers’ profile. A brief theoretical background is presented to facilitate the understanding of the results and their relation to family farming, entrepreneurship and its reality in Brazil. As a result, the economic issue was pointed out with 34% of the cases, as a hinter to undertake in rural properties, followed by the lack and low qualification of the workforce available with 12.6% of the cases and the lower selling price for the producer with 7.6% of the cases.
Deployable Membrane-Based Energy Technologies: the Ethiopian Prospect
Authors: Besha Abreham Tesfaye , Tsehaye Misgina Tilahun , Tiruye Girum Ayalneh , Gebreyohannes Abaynesh Yihdego , Awoke Aymere , Tufa Ramato Ashu
Published: October 2020

Membrane-based energy technologies are presently gaining huge interest due to the fundamental engineering and potentially broad range of applications, with economic advantages over some of the competing technologies. Herein, we assess the potential deployability of the existing and emerging membrane-based energy technologies (MEnT) in Ethiopia. First, the status of the current energy technologies is provided along with the active energy and environmental policies to shape the necessary research strategies for technology planning and implementation. Ethiopia is a landlocked country, which limits the effective extraction of energy, for instance, from seawater using alternative, clean technologies such as reverse electrodialysis and pressure retarded osmosis. However, there exists an excess off-grid solar power (up to 5 MW) and wind which can be used to drive water electrolyzers for hydrogen production. Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that, for instance, can be used in fuel cells providing zero-emission solutions for transport and mobility. Although Ethiopia is not among the largest CO2 emitters, with more than 90% energy supply obtained from waste and biomass, the economic and industrial growth still calls for alternative CO2 capture and use technologies, which are highlighted in this work. We believe that the present work provides (i) the status and potential for the implementation of MEnT in Ethiopia (ii) and basic guidance for researchers exploring new energy pathways toward sustainable development in developing countries.
Social Trust and Dynamics of Capitalist Economies in the Context of Clashing Managerial Factors with Risks and Severe Turbulence: A Conceptual Inquiry
Authors: Burciu Aurel , Kicsi Rozalia , Bostan Ionel
Published: October 2020

Nowadays, in the context of a complex fragility that radically transforms the economic habitat, the cyclical evolution of the economy is governed by new rules and constraints that transcend the economic area and increasingly interfere with the socio-cultural features of life. In this context, the aim of this paper is to outline the conceptual domain of a new insight into the relationship between social and economic dimensions of life by summarizing and integrating two of the main groundbreaking and inspirational streams of thought—social trust and economic dynamics. To do so, we developed theoretical syntheses of the most important contributions documenting the nature of trust and business cycle; then, the much more recent ”niche” of the influence between them was placed under conceptual discussion. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that the nature of the relationship between social trust and economic dynamics is still minimally explored and understood, and the research conducted thus far is mainly positioned in a macroeconomic perspective, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches that still leave many questions unanswered. However, the lack of a deep understanding of these influences launches new challenges for theoretical developments and creates the framework for an integrative understanding. These new insights can support more rigorous studies whose results could be of utmost importance for business organizations in addressing the problem of business sustainability, but also for economic decision-makers. At the macro level, economic crises are influencing the income distribution and are expected to exacerbate poverty, thus affecting progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 01 (No poverty).
Subjective Well-Being, Emotional Intelligence, and Mood of Parents: A Model of Relationships. Impact of Giftedness
Authors: Llinares-Insa Lucía I. , Casino-García Ana M. , García-Pérez Josefa
Published: October 2020

The well-being of parents could be either a protective or risk factor for themselves or their children. Our objective is to analyse the affective components of subjective well-being (SWB), emotional intelligence (EI), and parental mood. Parents of gifted children may be a vulnerable group because they face exceptional challenges in raising their children, sometimes with neither educational nor social support. We assess whether parents’ EI predicts their SWB and whether positive and negative mood mediate this relationship in two different groups of parents (with or without gifted children). The sample comprised 280 parents. To test the hypotheses, descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were conducted. In both groups of parents, EI predicted SWB, and mood played a mediating role. Parents of gifted children had poorer SWB due to a higher number of negative experiences. Additionally, these parents tended to express more anger. Thus, parents of gifted children are an at-risk group. Our work highlights the need for teachers and social agents to consider families to facilitate the inclusion of gifted students and improve their health and that of their parents.
Development of Vulnerability Assessment Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction at Three Levels of Geopolitical Units in the Philippines
Authors: Robielos Rex Aurelius C. , Lin Chiuhsiang Joe , Senoro Delia B. , Ney Froilan P.
Published: October 2020

This study developed a comprehensive framework for vulnerability assessment as a tool to measure vulnerability at three levels of geopolitical units in the Philippines. This is a comprehensive multi-disaster framework that can provide information to a decentralized type of government system like the Philippines. The vulnerability assessment framework (VAF) that has been developed was anchored upon the IPCC model and used the integration of community-based monitoring system (CBMS) data, expert inputs, and a series of community-based activities such as consultative fora, focus group discussions, workshops, and risk reduction immersion activities. The developed VAF for the assessment of vulnerability indices (VIs) is a system framework composed of a vulnerability scoping diagram (VSD) and an expanded vulnerability assessment model (VAM). The VSD is composed of three dimensions (e.g., exposure, sensitivity, resiliency), seven identified hazards, with 26, 27, and 29 sub-indicators for household, barangay, and municipal levels, respectively. Measuring vulnerability can be an effective strategy for assessing the potential impact/s of natural disasters on society. The continuous occurrence of natural disasters in the Philippines requires enhancement of public understanding of vulnerability. This would provide transparent understanding and enhance community competency leading to the development of methodologies and tools to assess various factors and indicators of vulnerability. The information extracted from using the VAF and VSD are helpful to the local government units, especially in preparing budgets, strategies, and programs for disaster risk reduction.
Functional Outcome in Patients with Dural Arteriovenous Fistulae after Surgical Treatment
Authors: Hostettler Isabel C , Butenschoen Vicki M , Meyer Bernhard , Wostrack Maria
Published: October 2020

Spinal dural arterio-venous fistulas (SDAVF) are rare vascular pathologies. Degree of symptom improvement after surgery remains unclear. We evaluated surgically treated SDAVF patients for functional outcome and symptom improvement. Retrospective inclusion of consecutive patients treated surgically in our department between 2007–2019. We measured functional outcome using the McCormick Scale and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score. We included 27 patients with a median follow-up of 8.8 months (IQR 27.8). Mean age was 61.8 years (SD 8.4), 40.7% were female. Most frequent location was the thoracic spine in 15 (55.6%) followed by lumbar in 8 (29.6%), cervical in 3 (11.1%) and sacral spine in one patient (3.7%). Most common presenting symptom was progressive myelopathy (24/27 patients, 88.9%). In all patients the SDAVF was completely resected; however, four patients (14.8%) required a second surgery. Six patients (22.2%) deteriorated immediately after surgery with five recovering to baseline upon discharge. On discharge, presenting symptoms had improved in 17 patients (63%); 8/25 patients (32%) had a McCormick score of 1. Twenty (74.1%) continued to improve on follow-up. In total 23/27 patients (85.2%) improved. In the univariable analysis mJOA score on admission was associated with mJOA score on follow-up (coefficient 0.6, 95%CI 0.4–0.81, p < 0.001), whereas age was inversely associated (coefficient −0.1, 95%CI −0.19–0.01, p = 0.08). Untreated SDAVF leads to progressive myelopathy which may result in considerable disability. Surgical disconnection and resection provides a safe treatment option with low perioperative morbidity and excellent chances for symptom improvement or progression prevention.