bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Perception and Experience of Rural Natural Landscape among Youth Groups: An Empirical Analysis from Three Villages around Hefei
Authors: Guo Yanlong , Chen Pengyu , Zhang Han , Jiang Zuoqing
Published: December 2022

Research on the perception and evaluation degree that the rural natural landscape plays an important role in improving rural sustainable development and construction. However, the views of young people, who play a key role in social development, on the natural landscape of the countryside have been neglected. Based on the perspective of the rural natural landscape in China, this study combines the field research of Ma Ying, San Shi Gang, and Shen Fu villages around Hefei, Anhui Province, and constructs a perception and experience evaluation index and questionnaire of the rural natural landscape from four dimensions of rural landscape ecology, water environment, climate, and sound. Through the online questionnaire, 316 questionnaires were distributed to young people aged 18 to 35 years old, and 283 valid questionnaires were recovered with an effective recovery rate of 89.56%. The Cronbach coefficient was 0.954, and the KMO value was 0.968. The reliability and validity were good. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) combined with the entropy method was used to calculate the weight of each index and analyze the influencing factors of young people’s perception evaluation of the rural landscape. Firstly, young people have a good perception of rural climate conditions, but the planning and layout of rural landscape ecology need to be improved. Secondly, sound comfort, air cleanliness, and landscape adaptation in a rural environment are the key factors that affect young people’s perception and experience of rural areas. Thirdly, improving the adaptability of the rural natural landscape to the local environment and the richness of vegetation is conducive to improving young people’s favorable understanding of the rural environment.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Its Impact on Post-Pandemic Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management in the United States
Authors: Chen Allison P. , Hansoti Bhakti , Hsu Edbert B.
Published: December 2022

Among the impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the public health system in the United States has been a reevaluation of emergency response systems and procedures. This study uses publicly available literature from government, private sector, and academic sources to identify changes and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic in specific aspects of emergency response, namely human resources, health service delivery, and logistics, determined based on the World Health Organization Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (WHO Health EDRM) Framework. Major themes of changes implemented include those intended to increase mobility and flexibility of workforce and resources, integration of various parts of the health system, and effective communication, and are anticipated to be incorporated into response systems going forward.
Blockchain, Data Protection and P2P Energy Trading: A Review on Legal and Economic Challenges
Authors: Chiarini Alessandra , Compagnucci Lorenzo
Published: December 2022

Blockchain technology (BCT) enables the automated execution of smart contracts in peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading. BCT-based P2P platforms allow the sharing, exchange and trade of energy among consumers or prosumers as peers, fostering the decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization of the energy industry. On the other hand, BCT-based P2P energy trading relies on the collection, storage and processing of a large amount of user data, posing interdisciplinary challenges, including user anonymity, privacy, the governance of BCT systems and the role of energy market players. First, this paper seeks to review the state of the art of European data protection law and regulations by focusing on BCT compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2018. Second, it explores both the potentials and the challenges of BCT-based P2P energy trading from a legal–economic perspective. To do so, the paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach which intertwines both law and economics, by reviewing the recent literature on BCT and P2P energy trading. Findings have revealed that the deployment of BCT-based P2P energy trading is still in its pilot stage because of technology immaturity, data protection uncertainty, incomplete disintermediation and the lack of both user awareness and collaboration among market players. Drawing on the review, the paper also proposes a selection of solutions to foster the implementation of BCT-based P2P energy trading.
DCKT: A Novel Dual-Centric Learning Model for Knowledge Tracing
Authors: Chen Yixuan , Wang Shuang , Jiang Fan , Tu Yaxin , Huang Qionghao
Published: December 2022

Knowledge tracing (KT), aiming to model learners’ mastery of a concept based on their historical learning records, has received extensive attention due to its great potential in realizing personalized learning in intelligent tutoring systems. However, most existing KT methods focus on a single aspect of knowledge or learner, not paying careful attention to the coupling influence of knowledge and learner characteristics. To fill this gap, in this paper, we explore a new paradigm for the KT task by exploiting the coupling influence of knowledge and learner. A novel model called Dual-Centric Knowledge Tracing (DCKT) is proposed to model knowledge states through two joint tasks of knowledge modeling and learner modeling. In particular, we first generate concept embeddings in abundant knowledge structure information via a pretext task (knowledge-centric): unsupervised graph representation learning. Then, we deeply measure learners’ prior knowledge the knowledge-enhanced representations and three predefined educational priors for discriminative feature enhancement. Furthermore, we design a forgetting-fusion transformer (learner-centric) to simulate the declining trend of learners’ knowledge proficiency over time, representing the common forgetting phenomenon. Extensive experiments were conducted on four public datasets, and the results demonstrate that DCKT could achieve better knowledge tracing results over all datasets via a dual-centric modeling process. Additionally, DCKT can learn meaningful question embeddings automatically without manual annotations. Our work indicates a potential future research direction for personalized learner modeling, which is of both accuracy and high interpretability.
Smart Distribution Mechanisms—Part I: From the Perspectives of Planning
Authors: Khan Shahid Nawaz , Kazmi Syed Ali Abbas , Altamimi Abdullah , Khan Zafar A. , Alghassab Mohammed A.
Published: December 2022

To enhance the reliability and resilience of power systems and achieve reliable delivery of power to end users, smart distribution networks (SDNs) play a vital role. The conventional distribution network is transforming into an active one by incorporating a higher degree of automation. Replacing the traditional absence of manual actions, energy delivery is becoming increasingly dependent on intelligent active system management. As an emerging grid modernization concept, the smart grid addresses a wide range of economic and environmental concerns, especially by integrating a wide range of active technologies at distribution level. At the same time, these active technologies are causing a slew of technological problems in terms of power quality and stability. The development of such strategies and approaches that can improve SDN infrastructure in terms of planning, operation, and control has always been essential. As a result, a substantial number of studies have been conducted in these areas over the last 10–15 years. The current literature lacks a combined systematic analysis of the planning, operation, and control of SDN technologies. This paper conducts a systematic survey of the state-of-the-art advancements in SDN planning, operation, and control over the last 10 years. The reviewed literature is structured so that each SDN technology is discussed sequentially from the viewpoints of planning, operation, and then control. A comprehensive analysis of practical SND concepts across the globe is also presented in later sections. The key constraints and future research opportunities in the existing literature are discussed in the final part. This review specifically assists readers in comprehending current trends in SDN planning, operation, and control, as well as identifying the need for further research to contribute to the field.
“We Like That It Matters!”: Towards a Socially Sustainable Retail Store Brand Experience
Authors: Grassi Alessia
Published: December 2022

Social sustainability is a topic that is gaining increased attention and yet has not been overly discussed, in particular with reference to the fashion industry. There is a shift in consumer demands, where brands are urged to stand for values, affect change in the industry, and have a clear purpose and positive impact over society. At the same time, brands are struggling to provide offers beyond products, or product-related experiences, at the risk of dissatisfying consumers expectations. Part of such dissatisfaction is clearly represented by the lack of footfall in retail stores and the fast-pace abandonment of the high-street by brands that cannot afford empty stores. This paper suggests an opportunity to rethink the retail store functionality as a space for brands to provide consumers with educational initiatives related to important societal issues, hence build their socially responsible profile. A netnographic exploratory analysis of Patagonia platforms was conducted in order to pinpoint potential positive reaction to a purpose-driven brand and its educational initiatives. The brand was chosen due to its value-committed strategy and constant educational effort towards consumers, both offline (product-related) and online (societal-related). This paper suggests that brands such as Patagonia, purpose and value driven in positively impacting society, should bring their activism and educational efforts on the high-street and in the retail spaces. By doing so, brands would concurrently provide consumers with experiences beyond product consumption, could revitalise our high-street, and could reinstate a sense of community belonging while raise their socially sustainable profile. This paper contributes to the existing literature of consumer education in retailing by expanding into the specific domain of fashion, a domain in which many social issues could be successfully addressed through a socially-driven consumer education at the moment still overlooked by researchers and brands.
Impact of High-Speed Rail on Spatial Structure in Prefecture-Level Cities: Evidence from the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration, China
Authors: Wang Xiaomin , Liu Jingyu , Zhang Wenxin
Published: December 2022

The impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on urban spatial structure has attracted much attention since the 1970s. It mainly realizes the change of urban spatial structure by affecting the spatial distribution of population and economy. Based on population and industry data on 29 cities in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration (CPUA) located in central China during 2005–2017, in this paper difference-in-difference (DID) models are utilized to explore the influence of HSR on the spatial structure of prefecture-level cities at the single/multicenter levels according to the dimensions of polycentricity and dispersion. The main conclusions are shown as: (1) HSR on the spatial structure of the CPUA has a monocentric trend, but the characteristics of different prefecture-level cities vary. Currently, agglomeration remains the dominant force of the spatial structure of the CPUA in prefecture-level cities. (2) HSR have a noticeable effect on the spatial structure of industry, whereas the influences of the HSR on the spatial structure of the population are insignificant. Its development is the result of the combined effects of many factors, including natural factors, socioeconomic factors, policies, and transportation factors. Among the controlling factors, the administrative area, economic development level, urban population, and number of research units are the critical factors having a hold on the population spatial structure of the CPUA.
Spatiotemporal Variations of Air Pollution during the COVID-19 Pandemic across Tehran, Iran: Commonalities with and Differences from Global Trends
Authors: Maghrebi Mohsen , Danandeh Mehr Ali , Karrabi Seyed Mohsen , Sadegh Mojtaba , Partani Sadegh , Ghiasi Behzad , Nourani Vahid
Published: December 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced changes in global air quality, mostly short-term improvements, through worldwide lockdowns and restrictions on human mobility and industrial enterprises. In this study, we explored the air pollution status in Tehran metropolitan, the capital city of Iran, during the COVID-19 outbreak. To this end, ambient air quality data (CO, NO2, O3, PM10, SO2, and AQI) from 14 monitoring stations across the city, together with global COVID-19-related records, were utilized. The results showed that only the annual mean concentration of SO2 increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to burning fuel oil in power plants. The findings also demonstrated that the number of days with a good AQI has significantly decreased during the pandemic, despite the positive trend in the global AQI. Based on the spatial variation of the air quality data across the city, the results revealed that increasing pollution levels were more pronounced in low-income regions.
Digital Bicycling Planning: A Systematic Literature Review of Data-Driven Approaches
Authors: Zare Parisa , Pettit Christopher , Leao Simone , Gudes Ori
Published: December 2022

To increase the amount of bicycling as a mode of transport, many countries are developing placed based bicycling plans and strategies. However, this approach necessitates considering a fine-scale mapping of bicycling patterns and a detailed description of urban spaces. The rise of new data and technologies offers much promise to planners and researchers to access diverse and richer sources of information to optimise the bicycling network design. This review aims to comprehensively examine the role of data and technology in bicycling planning, historical changes in using data-driven approaches, and current domains in the existing body of research in bicycling planning from 1990 to 2021. For this, a systematic literature review has been conducted according to PRISMA framework. A total number of 1022 studies was analysed and synthesised with the VOS Viewer and CiteSpace platforms. Upon completing the review, we extracted the most-used datasets, tools, and methodologies. The results of the systematic review reveal three evolutionary phases in using data-driven approaches from 1990 to 1999, 2000 to 2009, and 2010 to 2021. In addition, we identified six knowledge domains in using data-driven approaches in bicycling planning that is (i) smart city, (ii) infrastructure, (iii) built environment, (iv) decision making, (v) people, and (vi) safety.
Evaluating Influencing Factors of Tourists’ Experiences with Smart Tour Guide System: A Mixed Method Research
Authors: Gao Junjie , Pan Younghwan
Published: December 2022

The issue that this study explores is evaluation of tourists’ experiences with smart tour guide system (STGS). To address this issue, the purpose of this study is to explore what factors influence tourists’ experiences with STGS in four Chinese smart tourism destinations (STDs). An exploratory sequential mixed method was used to collect the data. Tourists who had used STGS in four Chinese STDs participated in the research. In the first and second phase, Semi-structured interviews with 12 interviewees were conducted, and these interviewees put forward six factors affecting tourists’ experiences with STGS: approachability, visual, operability, function, offline service, and interactivity. The third phase involved an analysis of a survey of 248 participants who had used STGS in the Chinese four STDs to verify the influencing factors. By using the method of linear regression analysis, we found that approachability, visual, operability, function and offline service have a significant impact on tourists’ experiences with STGS while interactivity contributes little impact to tourists’ experiences with STGS. The findings will be useful for STDs to explore and promote STGS services, as well as enhancing tourists’ smart experiences with STTs.
Dynamic Characteristics of Reinforced Soil Retaining Wall with Composite Gabion Based on Time Domain Identification Method
Authors: Cai Xiaoguang , Zhang Shaoqiu , Li Sihan , Xu Honglu , Huang Xin , Zhu Chen , Liu Xin
Published: December 2022

A series of shaking table tests was carried out on the dynamic performance and working mechanism of a gabion reinforced soil retaining wall under seismic load. The test results show that the panel presents the deformation mode of middle and upper bulging at the contact point between the rigid box and the retaining wall The settlement of top backfill is relatively uniform, and there is basically no differential settlement, the natural frequencies at different positions and heights inside the retaining wall are basically the same, and the natural frequencies are stable between 22.61 and 23.04 Hz below 0.8 g. The damping ratio decreases with the increase in wall height, and the damping ratio at each stage after vibration is greater than that before vibration. The seismic earth pressure is nonlinearly distributed. The measured value of the lower part of the retaining wall is smaller than that calculated by the Seed–Whitman method with an increase in peak acceleration, and the measured value of the upper part of the retaining wall is larger than the theoretical calculation results. The position of the resultant action point of seismic earth pressure is greater than 0.33 times the wall height specified by the Mononobe–Okabe method.
Urban Water Crisis Causes Significant Public Health Diseases in Jackson, Mississippi USA: An Initial Study of Geographic and Racial Health Inequities
Authors: Meng Qingmin
Published: December 2022

Clean and safe water is at the core of sustainable development, and access to it is critical to public health. Urban water crisis is even more challenging because of population aggregations and its consequences for the clustered social-economic activities in an urban area. It can also be a right issue even in developed countries due to the available investment in water infrastructure and its maintenance that may not be equally available to all communities, in addition to the increasing threats by flooding or drought disasters. Using the decadal urban water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi USA as a case study, this primary research focuses on public health inequities between the white and black, and between the city of Jackson and its eight peripheral cities. The hypothesis is that the urban water crisis in Jackson has resulted in extreme public health injustice geographically against African Americans. Then, this research uses the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PLACES census tract health data, which provide two health status measurements and 12 health outcomes attributes, to conduct a statistical comparison between Jackson and its eight peripheral cities. The results indicated that the urban water crisis in Jackson already results in immense public health inequities. The small p-values (i.e., <<0.05) from T tests showed the significantly worse mental and physical health status and health outcomes in Jackson, Mississippi than other seven cities, which indicated the city of Jackson with about 83% African Americans may already have started a critical degradation in public health, and the current water crisis continuously threatens the black majority communities in Jackson in addition to the city of Canton, another majority-black city. It indicates that the federal and state governments must face and address this crucial crisis of urban water issues caused public health disparities in addition to the social injustice and environmental injustice of clean and safe water availability to the black communities.
The Mechanism of the Impact of Export Trade on Environmental Pollution: A Study from a Heterogeneous Perspective on Environmental Regulation from China
Authors: Luo Haiyan , Qu Xiaoe , Hu Yanxin
Published: December 2022

The majority of the literature currently in existence on trade and pollution has concentrated on the analysis of both factors’ combined effects, and only a few studies have used heterogeneous environmental regulation as a starting point to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the impact of export trade on environmental pollution at the indirect level. We construct a mediating and moderating effect model using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2002 to 2019 to investigate the mechanism of the effect of export trade on environmental pollution. Export trade produces large indirect inhibitory effects on environmental pollution only through market incentive-based restrictions, whereas the mediation impacts of government administrative and public monitoring laws are not significant. By interacting with elements such as technical innovation and energy structure, export trade can also negatively regulate its bad consequences on environmental degradation. According to the heterogeneity analysis’s findings, processing trade indirectly reduces pollution emissions by changing administrative rules and cutting emission costs, but general trade indirectly increases environmental pollution by favorably impacting market-based incentives regulations. The moderating effects of improving energy structures, industrial structure optimization, and R&D competition effects diminish the positive aggravating effect of general trade on pollution emissions, while processing trade has the opposite effect. The only means of controlling the harmful impact of processing trade on environmental degradation is through interaction with technical progress.
Religious Tourist Attractions and Ecological Concerns in the Italian Dolomites: The Case of the Trekking of the Thinking Christ
Authors: Rech Giovanna
Published: December 2022

The article examines the mobilisation of a local community after the creation of a religious attraction and a popular mountain trail in a protected and fragile context. Despite much research on the topic, the boundaries between spiritual or religious tourism and pilgrimage are still quite complicated. The research questions focused on the social reasons behind the growing invention and reinvention of religious places outside of liturgical celebrations and religious practices. Through a case study, the question of whether/how a religious attraction can give new meaning to a mountain tourist spot on the border of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage List Site is addressed, while also raising ecological issues.
Spatial Accessibility Assessment of Emergency Response of Urban Public Services in the Context of Pluvial Flooding Scenarios: The Case of Jiaozuo Urban Area, China
Authors: Zhang Yongling , Li Xin , Kong Nana , Zhou Miao , Zhou Xiaobing
Published: December 2022

Urban pluvial flooding has become an important factor in urban casualties and economic losses, thus, there is an urgent need to strengthen urban emergency management research and improve emergency response capabilities to flooding. The SCS–CN hydrological model combined with GIS spatial analysis were used to assess the spatial accessibility of the emergency response to key urban public services (medical and fire) for different pluvial flooding scenarios of the Jiaozuo urban area. The results show that the coverage area of the public service department (medical and fire) emergency response decreases as the period of pluvial flooding recurrence increases. The accessibility of the public service department (medical and fire services) emergency response shows a gradual decline from the center of the Jiaozuo urban area to the periphery. The depth and area of water accumulation in the northern part of the Zhongzhan District, the northeastern part of the Macun District, and the southwestern part of the Shanyang District gradually increased as the heavy rainfall recurrence period increased. Emergency response from public services (medical and fire services) could not arrive within 15 min.
The Influence of Party Organization Involvements in Corporate Governance on Innovation: Evidence from China’s Private-Owned Enterprises
Authors: Liu Xiaoxue , Zhou Jingyun , Wu You , Hao Na
Published: December 2022

As the grassroots-party organizations of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are increasingly involved in the governance of private-owned enterprises (POEs), whether this new pattern promotes corporate innovation is still a research gap. Therefore, based on the data of 1357 POEs’ party-organization involvements and their patent applications from 2003 to 2017, this paper analyzes the impact of the party-organization involvements on corporate innovation by using the multiple regression model. The results include: (1) party-organization involvements including party organization activities and senior executives’ participation can significantly promote innovation, especially after 2012; (2) party-organization activities improve innovation by increasing research and development (R&D) investment and reducing operating risk, while the senior executives’ participation only influences on R&D investment; (3) the party-organization involvements have a stronger promotion on non-invention patent applications, especially for the utility-model-patent applications, than invention-patent applications; (4) the promotion is more pronounced for family businesses, technology-intensive and capital-intensive enterprises, as well as those located in the northern, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Yangtze River delta. After applying PSM sampling and difference-in-differences (DID) analyses, and substituting the dependent variables, the results remain robust. This paper provides Chinese evidence for party construction and corporate innovation, and also provides references about political connection and corporate innovation for other countries to some extent.
Analysis of Optimal Operation of Multi-Energy Alliance Based on Multi-Scale Dynamic Cost Equilibrium Allocation
Authors: Cui Yong , Andriamahery Anselme , Ao Lie , Zheng Jian , Huo Zhiqiang
Published: December 2022

This paper discusses the power generation characteristics between new energy and traditional energy. This paper uses different energy alliance operation modes for a power system led by new energy power generation. The peak-valley power imbalance issue for real-time load is mitigated through coordinated and optimized energy supply by wind, photovoltaic, hydro (hydropower station with pumped storage function as an example.), and thermal power, aiming to peak load shifting for the system. Moreover, from the perspective of optimal allocation of resources within the alliance and multi-scale cost equilibrium optimization of each subject’s power generation combination, the marginal contribution of different agents is considered. A multi-energy alliance operation optimization decision-making method is designed based on the Shapley value method. This paper studies the multi-scale combination cost allocation of each subject and the distribution law of dynamic optimization of its output ratio. The relationship between the power generation ratio and the cost allocation for each subject. Moreover, the discrete coefficient equation of cost equilibrium values is constructed to verify the equilibrium distribution effect of the Shapley cost allocation model. The case analysis shows that the 46th combination scheme for the multi-energy alliance can realize the main output of wind power and photovoltaic new energy under the premise of the relatively stable alliance corresponding output ratio of 0.2 and 0.4, respectively. The research proves that the operation mechanism of the multi-energy alliance plays a supporting role in the optimal operation of the new energy power system. Meanwhile, this method can be used as a basis for the power generation planning, cost control, and power generation combination optimization decisions on each entity within the alliance.
Risk Perceptions Using Urban and Advanced Air Mobility (UAM/AAM) by Applying a Mixed Method Approach
Authors: Yoo Jaeho , Choe Yunseon , Rim Soo-i
Published: December 2022

From a mobility rationale, advanced air mobility (AAM) and/or urban air mobility (UAM) claims a reduction in travel time with integration into intermodal transportation networks and a reduction in ground traffic congestion due to the current modal shift to air, ultimately contributing to more sustainable transportation. Starting in 2025, South Korea is planning to operate air taxis between International Airport and Seoul downtown. This study applied a mixed-method approach to identify barriers to the use of air taxis by investigating consumers’ risk perception of air taxis. A focus group interview yielded a scale with 18 items across five dimensions. Next, through exploratory factor analysis, the 18 items were reduced to 10 items across two dimensions: safety risk (6 items) and cyber risk (4 items). The findings of this study will offer practical guidelines for creating marketing tools and designing strategic management planning for air taxis. The risk perception using air taxis will assist with creating a more strategic and efficient business model that destination management organizations, developers, and policymakers can utilize.
Melatonin as a Foliar Application and Adaptation in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) Crops under Drought Stress
Authors: Yasmeen Sidra , Wahab Abdul , Saleem Muhammad Hamzah , Ali Baber , Qureshi Kamal Ahmad , Jaremko Mariusz
Published: December 2022

Here, we grow two different varieties of lentil (lentil-2009 and lentil-93) under different drought levels and with different applications of melatonin. Increasing the levels of soil water deficit significantly decreased numerous morphological and biochemical characteristics, including shoot length, total chlorophyll content, and transpiration rate, in both varieties of lentil. Contrastingly, drought stress increased the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and electrolyte leakage, an indicator of oxidative damage to membrane-bound organelles. The activities of enzymatic antioxidants and osmolytes were initially increased up to a drought level of 80% water field capacity (WFC) but gradually decreased with higher levels of drought stress (60% WFC) in the soil. At the same time, the results also showed that the lentil-2009 is more tolerant to drought stress than lentil-93. The negative impact of drought stress can be overcome by the application of melatonin. Melatonin increased plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange characteristics, and enhanced the activities of various enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants and proline content by decreasing oxidative stress. We conclude that foliar application of melatonin offers new possibilities for promoting lentil drought tolerance.
Wastewater System Integration: A Biogenic Waste Biorefinery Eco-Industrial Park
Authors: Lai Yin Hui , Chew Irene Mei Leng
Published: December 2022

In recent years, great interest has been shown in the utilization of biogenic wastes in biorefineries as part of the concept of a circular bioeconomy. However, various challenges arise including the availability, cost and characteristics of the biogenic wastes in ensuring consistent biorefinery production processes. This work presents an optimization-based approach of a biogenic waste biorefinery eco-industrial park (BWB EIP). An indirect integration scheme is presented with a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) acting as a centralized utility hub to treat the biogenic wastes generated from the participating plants and to supply volatile fatty acid (VFA) demanded by the participating plants through the WWTP interceptors. The objective of minimizing the VFA demanded by the participating plants from external sources is achieved. To further assess the influence of a future increase in VFA demand for one of the participating plants which is the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) plant on the integration network, a sensitivity analysis is conducted. The results indicated that two WWTP interceptors are required with a 32.8% and 27.4% reduction in fresh VFA from external sources achieved through the integration network before and after sensitivity analysis. This work provides an insight into developing the framework for other BWB processes.
Antibacterial Activity of Ferulic Acid Ester against Ralstonia solanacearum and Its Synergy with Essential Oils
Authors: Tu Qing-Bo , Shi Hui-Cong , Li Ping , Sheng Sheng , Wu Fu-An
Published: December 2022

Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the ten most harmful plant bacteria worldwide, and traditional agrochemicals are not very effective in controlling this pathogen. Moreover, excessive pesticides always bring organic residues and resistant strains, which cause the unsustainability of the environment. In this paper, ferulic acid and essential oils are used as antibacterial materials. These compounds are natural substances with low toxicity and environmental safety. Through the structural optimization and the analysis of binary combined bacteriostatic efficiency, the MIC values of chlorobutyl ferulate (2e) and peppermint essential oil (EO1) were 0.64 mg/mL and 2.02 mg/mL, respectively, and the MIC value of 2e-EO1 (mass ratio 1:1.5) was 0.40 mg/mL. The growth rate of bacteria treated with 2e-EO1 was inhibited, the OD590nm value of cell membrane decreased by 57.83%, and the expression levels of hrpB, pehC, pilT, polA, aceE, egl, and phcA were downregulated to 18.81%, 30.50%, 14.00%, 44.90%, 86.79%, 23.90%, and 27.56%, respectively. The results showed that 2e-EO1 had a synergistic inhibitory effect against R. solanacearum. It significantly affected the formation of the bacterial cell membrane and the expression of pathogenic genes. Consequently, 2e-EO1 provides the potential to become a green pesticide and can promote the sustainability of the agricultural ecological environment.
Special Issue “Towards the Sustainability of AI; Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Investigate the Hidden Costs of AI”
Authors: van Wynsberghe Aimee , Vandemeulebroucke Tijs , Bolte Larissa , Nachid Jamila
Published: December 2022

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, i [...]
Marketing Strategies 4.0: Recent Trends and Technologies in Marketing
Authors: Kaur Ravneet , Singh Rajesh , Gehlot Anita , Priyadarshi Neeraj , Twala Bhekisipho
Published: December 2022

Industry 4.0 technologies have transformed the traditional methods of various study areas, using digitalization to fulfill sustainability and introduce innovative infrastructure. In the present era, every organization requires a distinct marketing strategy in order to meet customer and market demands in the form of products and services. Customer satisfaction, customer retention, customer behavior, customer profiling, and rewards systems are key parameters in the effective implementation of an organization’s marketing strategy for achieving better productivity. There are limited studies that have focused on discussing all the Industry 4.0 enabling technologies used in marketing for transforming the digital and intelligent ecosystem. Based on the analyses, this study identified the applications of the Industry 4.0 enabling technologies for market strategies, such as strategic information for customer satisfaction of the target customer; development of digital infrastructure for receiving real-time feedback on products and services; forecasting customer behavior to develop personalized messages or services; using business analytics to strengthen the quality of a product or service; developing effective simulations to monitor, test, and plan product improvements, based on consumer and market demand. Finally, a framework is recommended, and the vital recommendations for future adoption while maintaining sustainability are discussed.
Investigating the Role of Green Innovation in Economic Growth and Carbon Emissions Nexus for China: New Evidence Based on the PSTR Model
Authors: Nan Shijing , Wang Zhaomin , Wang Jinwei , Wu Jianluan
Published: December 2022

In the context of climate change and high-quality economic growth, the penetration of green innovation is crucial for attaining sustainable economic development. However, the economic growth and carbon emissions nexus has not been fully investigated from the green innovation perspective. Using green innovation as the transition variable, this research employs the panel smooth transition regression model to examine the influence of economic growth on carbon emissions in 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2000–2019. The empirical results indicate that economic growth and carbon emissions have a substantially nonlinear nexus. The promoting influence of economic growth on carbon emissions is offset and even transformed into an inhibiting effect as green innovation degree rises; that is, green innovation alters the economic growth and carbon emissions nexus and plays a considerable part in carbon reduction for China. Additionally, the temporal variations analysis indicates that the positive nexus economic growth effect exerted on carbon emissions decreases gradually as time goes on. In terms of spatial variations, economic growth in the eastern area with higher levels of green innovation exerts the least positive impacts on carbon emissions. The research findings indicate that it is crucial for the Chinese government to lay down effective environmental protection policies to stimulate the enthusiasm of green innovation for social entities.
The Particle-Rotor-Quadrupole-Coupling Model for Transitional Odd-A Nuclei
Authors: Li Aoxue , Wu Yingxin , Zhang Yu , Feng Ziwei , Pan Feng , Dai Lianrong
Published: December 2022

The particle-rotor-quadrupole-coupling model, in which the quadrupole–quadrupole interaction of the even-even core is described by a triaxial rotor with a single-j particle, is adopted to describe low-lying spectra of odd-A nuclei within the vibrational to triaxial transition region. In contrast to the particle-plus-rotor-model, the quadrupole–quadrupole interaction introduced in the particle-rotor-quadrupole-coupling model keeps the rotational symmetry in the collective model framework without approximation. To demonstrate the usability, low-lying level energies, reduced E2 transition probabilities, and ground-state quadrupole moments of 135Ba and 131Xe are fit by the model, of which the results are compared with the experimental data and those of other models. It is shown that the fitting results of the particle-rotor-quadrupole-coupling model to the low-lying level energies, reduced E2 transition probabilities, and ground-state electric quadrupole moments of 135Ba and 131Xe are the best, of which the model parameters of the even-even core are determined by the triaxial rotor model in fitting the low-lying spectra of 134Ba and 130Xe. In comparison with the E(5/4) model results of 135Ba, it is also shown that the quadrupole–quadrupole interaction of the even-even core with the single particle adopted can indeed reproduce the E(5/4) critical point behavior. The fitting quality of the reduced E2 transition probabilities among low-lying states by the particle-rotor-quadrupole-coupling model is also noticeably improved. Thus, it can be concluded that the particle-rotor-quadrupole-coupling model is suitable to describe low-lying properties of odd-A nuclei within the transitional region.
Symmetry in Neutrino Oscillation in Matter: New Picture and the νSM–Non-Unitarity Interplay
Authors: Minakata Hisakazu
Published: December 2022

We update and summarize the present status of our understanding of the reparametrization symmetry with an i↔j state exchange in neutrino oscillation in matter. We introduce a systematic method called “Symmetry Finder” (SF) to uncover such symmetries, demonstrate its efficient hunting capability, and examine their characteristic features. Apparently they have a local nature: the 1–2 and 1–3 state exchange symmetries exist at around the solar and atmospheric resonances, respectively, with the level-crossing states exchanged. However, this view is not supported, to date, in the globally valid Denton et al. (DMP) perturbation theory, which possesses the 1–2, but not the 1–3, exchange symmetry. This is probably due to our lack of understanding, and we find a clue for a larger symmetry structure than we know of. In the latter part of this article, we introduce non-unitarity, or unitarity violation (UV), into the νSM neutrino paradigm, a low-energy description of beyond νSM new physics at a high (or low) scale. Based on the analyses of UV extended versions of the atmospheric resonance and the DMP perturbation theories, we argue that the reparametrization symmetry has a diagnostic capability for the theory with the νSM and UV sectors. Speculation is given on the topological nature of the identity, which determines the transformation property of the UV α parameters.
Hypernetwork Representation Learning Based on Hyperedge Modeling
Authors: Zhu Yu , Zhao Haixing , Wang Xiaoying , Huang Jianqiang
Published: December 2022

Most network representation learning approaches only consider the pairwise relationships between the nodes in ordinary networks but do not consider the tuple relationships, namely the hyperedges, among the nodes in the hypernetworks. Therefore, to solve the above issue, a hypernetwork representation learning approach based on hyperedge modeling, abbreviated as HRHM, is proposed, which fully considers the hyperedges to obtain ideal node representation vectors that are applied to downstream machine learning tasks such as node classification, link prediction, community detection, and so on. Experimental results on the hypernetwork datasets show that with regard to the node classification task, the mean node classification accuracy of HRHM approach goes beyond other best baseline approach by about 1% on the MovieLens and wordnet, and with regard to the link prediction task, except for HPHG approach, the mean AUC value of HRHM approach surpasses that of other baseline approaches by about 17%, 18%, and 6%, respectively, on the GPS, drug, and wordnet. The mean AUC value of HRHM approach is very close to that of other best baseline approach on the MovieLens.
Some Basic Inequalities on (ϵ)-Para Sasakian Manifold
Authors: Choudhary Majid , Khan Mohammad , Siddiqi Mohd
Published: December 2022

We propose fundamental inequalities for contact pseudo-slant submanifolds of (ϵ)-para Sasakian space form employing generalized normalized δ-Casorati curvature. We characterize submanifolds for which equality cases hold and illustrate the main result with some applications. Further, we have considered a certain type of submanifold for a Ricci soliton and after computing its scalar curvature, developed an inequality to find correlations between intrinsic or extrinsic invariants.
Multistability Dynamics Analysis and Digital Circuit Implementation of Entanglement-Chaos Symmetrical Memristive System
Authors: Lei Tengfei , Zhou You , Fu Haiyan , Huang Lili , Zang Hongyan
Published: December 2022

Aiming at an entangled-chaos system with a memristor, the dynamic analysis and circuit realization are studied. Combining with the quadratic flux-controlled memristor, a memristive chaotic system is constructed, and the multistable behavior of the system when the initial value of the system changes is studied by using the system phase diagram, bifurcation diagram, and Lyapunov exponent spectrum (LE). Spectral entropy (SE), C0, and SampEn are used to describe the complexity of the memristive entanglement-chaos system. Finally, the multistable behavior of the system is realized by the digital circuit chip STM32. The experimental results are consistent with the system analysis and the numerical simulation of the MATLAB software. The experimental results of the circuit provide a foundation for the engineering application of the system.
Subordination Results for the Second-Order Differential Polynomials of Meromorphic Functions
Authors: Ahmed Sarah , Darus Maslina , Oros Georgia Irina
Published: December 2022

The outcome of the research presented in this paper is the definition and investigation of two new subclasses of meromorphic functions. The new subclasses are introduced using a differential operator defined considering second-order differential polynomials of meromorphic functions in U\{0}=z∈C:0<z<1. The investigation of the two new subclasses leads to establishing inclusion relations and the proof of convexity and convolution properties regarding each of the two subclasses. Further, involving the concept of subordination, the Fekete–Szegö problem is also discussed for the aforementioned subclasses. Symmetry properties derive from the use of the convolution and from the convexity proved for the new subclasses of functions.
Method of an Analysis of the Nonlinear Monotonic Simultaneous Stability of Two Orientation Angles of an Asymmetric Spacecraft in the Martian Atmosphere
Authors: Lyubimov Vladislav V.
Published: December 2022

One of the most relevant and practically important directions in the development of the modern mathematical theory of stability is the development of effective methods for analyzing the nonlinear stability for solutions of dynamical systems with several degrees of freedom. The aim of this paper is to develop a new qualitative method for analyzing the nonlinear monotonic simultaneous stability of the solutions of a dynamical system of equations describing the motion of a solid body with two angles of orientation. The method is based on the application of the classical mathematical investigation method for the function of one independent variable and combinatorics. The method assumes that two analyzed functions describing the evolution of two orientation angles are defined and are twice continuously differentiable over the considered interval of change of the independent variable. The main result of the paper is the determination of the number of all different cases of nonlinear monotone simultaneous stability. The paper shows how, based on the application of this method, it is possible to solve a practically significant problem of qualitative analysis of the simultaneous nonlinear monotonic stability of two orientation angles of an asymmetric spacecraft performing an uncontrolled rotation in the Martian atmosphere. In conclusion, it should be noted that the presented method can be used to analyze the nonlinear monotonic simultaneous stability of solutions in various continuous dynamic systems.