bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Moving Object Tracking Based on Sparse Optical Flow with Moving Window and Target Estimator
Authors: Choi Hosik , Kang Byungmun , Kim DaeEun
Published: April 2022

Moving object detection and tracking are technologies applied to wide research fields including traffic monitoring and recognition of workers in surrounding heavy equipment environments. However, the conventional moving object detection methods have faced many problems such as much computing time, image noises, and disappearance of targets due to obstacles. In this paper, we introduce a new moving object detection and tracking algorithm based on the sparse optical flow for reducing computing time, removing noises and estimating the target efficiently. The developed algorithm maintains a variety of corner features with refreshed corner features, and the moving window detector is proposed to determine the feature points for tracking, based on the location history of the points. The performance of detecting moving objects is greatly improved through the moving window detector and the continuous target estimation. The memory-based estimator provides the capability to recall the location of corner features for a period of time, and it has an effect of tracking targets obscured by obstacles. The suggested approach was applied to real environments including various illumination (indoor and outdoor) conditions, a number of moving objects and obstacles, and the performance was evaluated on an embedded board (Raspberry pi4). The experimental results show that the proposed method maintains a high FPS (frame per seconds) and improves the accuracy performance, compared with the conventional optical flow methods and vision approaches such as Haar-like and Hog methods.
Bi-Directional Piezoelectric Multi-Modal Energy Harvester Based on Saw-Tooth Cantilever Array
Authors: Čeponis Andrius , Mažeika Dalius , Kilikevičius Artūras
Published: April 2022

The paper presents numerical and experimental investigations on a bi-directional multi-modal energy harvester which is based on a piezoelectric saw-tooth cantilever array. The harvester is composed of four piezoelectric cantilevers which are connected rigidly to each other. At each junction of the cantilevers, there are placed seismic masses which are used to reduce resonant frequencies of the cantilever array. Moreover, at the center of the cantilever array is placed a Z-shaped seismic mass, which is used to obtain an additional rotation moment during excitation of the energy harvester to this way increase the stability of output characteristics via the whole angular range. The rigid connection between cantilevers ensures the transfer of bending deformations from cantilevers which are resonant to cantilevers which are out of resonance operation mode. The design of cantilever array ensures that all piezo ceramics are affected or partly affected by bending deformations while excitation frequency changes from 10 Hz to 160 Hz. In addition, such a composition of the array ensures the multi-modal operation principle. Additionally, the proposed cantilever array is designed to respond to changes of excitation force angle in an XY plane. The numerical and experimental investigation have shown that the proposed energy harvester has four resonant frequencies at a range from 10 Hz to 160 Hz. The electrical characteristics of the harvester were investigated as well. The results of these investigations have shown that cantilever array is able to provide an average output power of 15.3 mW while excitation amplitude is 0.5 m/s2 and the angle of excitation force changes in range from 0° to 350°.
Skew-Circulant-Matrix-Based Harmonic-Canceling Synthesizer for BIST Applications
Authors: Garayar-Leyva Guillermo G. , Osman Hatem , Estrada-López Johan J. , Moreira-Tamayo Oscar
Published: April 2022

Testing is an important part of the design flow in the semiconductor industry. Unfortunately, it also consumes up to half of the production cost. On-silicon stimulus generators and response analyzers can be integrated with the Device-Under-Test (DUT) to reduce production costs with a minimum increment in power and area consumption. This practice is known as the Built-In Self-Test (BIST). This work presents a single-tone generator for BIST applications that is based on the Harmonic-Canceling (HC) technique. The main idea is to cancel or filter out the harmonics of a square-wave signal in order to obtain a highly pure sine wave. The design challenges of this technique are the precise implementation of irrational coefficients in silicon and the strong dependence of the output’s linearity on the coefficients’ precision. In order to reduce this dependence, this work introduces an irrational coefficient generator that is based on the recursive use of special matrices called skew-circulant matrices (SCMs). A complete study of the SCM-based HC synthesizer, its properties, and the proposed implementation in 180 nm CMOS technology are presented. The measured results show that the proposed HC synthesizer is able to filter out up to the 47th harmonic of a given square wave and to generate signals from 0.8 to 100 MHz with a maximum Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) of 66 dB.
Lightweight Long Short-Term Memory Variational Auto-Encoder for Multivariate Time Series Anomaly Detection in Industrial Control Systems
Authors: Fährmann Daniel , Damer Naser , Kirchbuchner Florian , Kuijper Arjan
Published: April 2022

Heterogeneous cyberattacks against industrial control systems (ICSs) have had a strong impact on the physical world in recent decades. Connecting devices to the internet enables new attack surfaces for attackers. The intrusion of ICSs, such as the manipulation of industrial sensory or actuator data, can be the cause for anomalous ICS behaviors. This poses a threat to the infrastructure that is critical for the operation of a modern city. Nowadays, the best techniques for detecting anomalies in ICSs are based on machine learning and, more recently, deep learning. Cybersecurity in ICSs is still an emerging field, and industrial datasets that can be used to develop anomaly detection techniques are rare. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised deep learning methodology for anomaly detection in ICSs, specifically, a lightweight long short-term memory variational auto-encoder (LW-LSTM-VAE) architecture. We successfully demonstrate our solution under two ICS applications, namely, water purification and water distribution plants. Our proposed method proves to be efficient in detecting anomalies in these applications and improves upon reconstruction-based anomaly detection methods presented in previous work. For example, we successfully detected 82.16% of the anomalies in the scenario of the widely used Secure Water Treatment (SWaT) benchmark. The deep learning architecture we propose has the added advantage of being extremely lightweight.
Uniaxial Partitioning Strategy for Efficient Point Cloud Registration
Authors: Souza Neto Polycarpo , Marques Soares José , Pereira Thé George André
Published: April 2022

In 3D reconstruction applications, an important issue is the matching of point clouds corresponding to different perspectives of a particular object or scene, which is addressed by the use of variants of the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm. In this work, we introduce a cloud-partitioning strategy for improved registration and compare it to other relevant approaches by using both time and quality of pose correction. Quality is assessed from a rotation metric and also by the root mean square error (RMSE) computed over the points of the source cloud and the corresponding closest ones in the corrected target point cloud. A wide and plural set of experimentation scenarios was used to test the algorithm and assess its generalization, revealing that our cloud-partitioning approach can provide a very good match in both indoor and outdoor scenes, even when the data suffer from noisy measurements or when the data size of the source and target models differ significantly. Furthermore, in most of the scenarios analyzed, registration with the proposed technique was achieved in shorter time than those from the literature.
Suppression Method of Optical Noises in Resonator-Integrated Optic Gyroscopes
Authors: Kuai Xuebao , Wei Lei , Yang Fuhua , Yan Wei , Li Zhaofeng , Wang Xiaodong
Published: April 2022

Resonator-integrated optical gyroscopes have advantages such as all-solid-state, on-chip integration, miniaturized structure, and high precision. However, many factors deteriorate the performance and push it far from the shot-noise limited theoretical sensitivity. This paper reviews the mechanisms of various noises and their corresponding suppression methods in resonator-integrated optical gyroscopes, including the backscattering, the back-reflection, the polarization error, the Kerr effect, and the laser frequency noise. Several main noise suppression methods are comprehensively expounded through inductive comparison and reasonable collation. The new noise suppression technology and digital signal processing system are also addressed.
The Midwifery Student’s Observations about the Implementation of International Guidelines and Protocols in Greek Maternity Hospitals
Authors: Orovou Eirini , Ymeraj Marinela , Lilo Marsida , Antoniou Evangelia
Published: April 2022

Background: Childbirth is a unique experience ina woman’s life and always remains indelibly engraved in her memory. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure appropriate conditions to have a positive birth experience. Thus, guidelines and protocols have been developed by major international organizations that aim to promote normal labor and better care for the mother and fetus without unnecessary interventions. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the international guidelines and protocols are observed in Greek maternity hospitals. Methods: The study involved 124 male and female students from the three departments of Midwifery: University of West Attica, International Hellenic University and University Western Macedonia, which completed an equal number of self-report questionnaires with their socio-demographic data and were then asked to answer questions posed by instructions for normal childbirth. Results: It was observed that many of the guidelines are not followed, such as grooming and enema, prohibition of feeding and fluid intake, application of pressure on the bottom of the uterus, frequent vaginal examination, prohibition in the presence of sessions, continuous cardiotocographic follow-up in low-risk pregnancies, termination of delivery only in a supine gynecological position, routine perineotomy and immediate ligation of the umbilical cord. Conclusions: The purpose of the guidelines is to maintain the natural course of childbirth by avoiding a series of unnecessary acts that alter the naturalness and undermine the rights of women in childbirth.
Level of Agreement, Reliability, and Minimal Detectable Change of the MusclelabTM Laser Speed Device on Force–Velocity–Power Sprint Profiles in Division II Collegiate Athletes
Authors: Ghigiarelli Jamie J. , Ferrara Keith J. , Poblete Kevin M. , Valle Carl F. , Gonzalez Adam M. , Sell Katie M.
Published: April 2022

This study examined the level of agreement (Pearson product-moment correlation [rP]), within- and between-day reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]), and minimal detectable change of the MusclelabTM Laser Speed (MLS) device on sprint time and force–velocity–power profiles in Division II Collegiate athletes. Twenty-two athletes (soccer = 17, basketball = 2, volleyball = 3; 20.1 ± 1.5 y; 1.71 ± 0.11 m; 70.7 ± 12.5 kg) performed three 30-m (m) sprints on two separate occasions (seven days apart). Six time splits (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 m), horizontal force (HZT F0; N∙kg−1), peak velocity (VMAX; m∙s−1), horizontal power (HZT P0; W∙kg−1), and force–velocity slope (SFV; N·s·m−1·kg−1) were measured. Sprint data for the MLS were compared to the previously validated MySprint (MySp) app to assess for level of agreement. The MLS reported good to excellent reliability for within- and between-day trials (ICC = 0.69–0.98, ICC = 0.77–0.98, respectively). Despite a low level of agreement with HZT F0 (rP = 0.44), the MLS had moderate to excellent agreement across nine variables (rp = 0.68–0.98). Bland–Altman plots displayed significant proportional bias for VMAX (mean difference = 0.31 m∙s−1, MLS < MySp). Overall, the MLS is in agreement with the MySp app and is a reliable device for assessing sprint times, VMAX, HZT P0, and SFV. Proportional bias should be considered for VMAX when comparing the MLS to the MySp app.
A Preferred Road to Mental Restoration in the Chinese Classical Garden
Authors: Xie Jing , Luo Shixian , Furuya Katsunori , Kagawa Takahide , Yang Mian
Published: April 2022

The impact that classical gardens have on the well-being and quality of life of visitors, especially city dwellers, is an important topic. Scholars have previously focused on landscape aspects, such as water bodies, plants, rocks, chairs, pavilions, and public squares, in various green spaces but have overlooked the road settings that visitors walk on. This study used the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum as the subject region and employed a convenience sampling method (n = 730) to analyze the preference and mental restoration of different road settings of Chinese classical gardens. According to the findings, the majority of visitors felt that the road settings in these classical gardens provided psychological recovery, and half of the roads received a preference score of five or above. The regression results indicated that nature, culture, space, refuge, and serene were found to be important predictive dimensions for both mental restoration and preference. Furthermore, this study divides landscape elements in road settings into two major categories (natural and artificial elements) and eight subcategories (trees, shrubs, lawns, roads, fences, walls, decorations, and buildings) to investigate the relationship between various types of specific road setting elements and visitors’ perceived preferences as well as restorability. The correlation results showed that in terms of preference, tree > lawn > path > fence > shrub > wall; in terms of restoration, tree > lawn > shrub > fence > path > decoration > building > wall. Overall, the findings of this research can improve visitor preferences and restoration in a given environmental setting, resulting in a more enjoyable experience.
Tourism, Residents Agent Practice and Traditional Residential Landscapes at a Cultural Heritage Site: The Case Study of Hongcun Village, China
Authors: Zuo Di , Li Changrong , Lin Mingliang , Chen Pinyu , Kong Xiang
Published: April 2022

The contradiction between tourism development and sustainable heritage is a topic of academic debate. Taking Hongcun village, a UNESCO World Heritage site in China, as a case study, this paper focuses on the role of resident spatial practice and provides the possibility of balance between capital-driven and sustainable development and local culture, which has important implications for the sustainable development of cultural heritage. The study used archival research, non-participatory observations, and semi-structured interviews, following Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice to analyze the practical logic of local residents who transform their dwellings to achieve the aim of landscape sustainability. This study found that in the development of Hongcun tourism, the residential landscape has been adaptively transformed at both the material and non-material levels, due to residents’ habitus and the capital brought in by tourism. This material transformation was mainly manifested in the change of residential function, the courtyard structure, and the alienation of residential space. The non-material transformation was mainly manifested in the relationships between residents and other actors. Residents who tended to conduct protection actions positively were more likely to achieve a sustainable livelihood that contributes to a sustainable cultural landscape. This paper argues that the sustainable development of heritage requires that attention be paid to the positive role of grassroots agents and practices. Bottom-up agency is the key to realizing the adaptation of living heritage to external changes.
Plastic Waste Management in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and Roadmap for Circular Economy
Authors: Hossain Rumana , Islam Md Tasbirul , Shanker Riya , Khan Debishree , Locock Katherine Elizabeth Sarah , Ghose Anirban , Schandl Heinz , Dhodapkar Rita , Sahajwalla Veena
Published: April 2022

Plastic waste (PW) is one of the most rapid-growing waste streams in municipal solid waste all over the world. India has become a global player in the plastic value chain. Despite low consumption, domestic generation and imports create a significant burden on the overall waste management system, which requires in-depth understanding of the scenario and pathways that can mitigate the crisis. Although Indian researchers have widely researched technology-related issues in academic papers, a substantial knowledge gap exists in understanding the problem’s depth and possible solutions. This review article focuses on current plastic production, consumption, and waste generation in India. This review article mainly analyzes data and information regarding Indian PW management and highlights some critical issues such as reverse supply chain, effective PW management, source-specific recovery, and PW rules in India. Comprehensively, this review will help to identify implementable strategies for policymakers and research opportunities for future researchers in holistic PW management and recycling in India, focusing on the circular economy and sustainable development goals.
Science and Citizen Collaboration as Good Example of Geoethics for Recovering a Natural Site in the Urban Area of Rome (Italy)
Authors: Procesi Monia , Di Capua Giuseppe , Peppoloni Silvia , Corirossi Marco , Valentinelli Alessandra
Published: April 2022

Natural sites in urban spaces can have a key role in citizen well-being, providing fundamental ecosystem services to the population and assuring a multitude of benefits. Therefore, cities should guarantee a number of green areas and their conservation in time as an essential part of urban architecture. In this framework, cooperation between scientists, decision makers and citizens is critical to ensure the enhancement of green public spaces. Social and scientific communities are called to work in a tuned way to combine scientific knowledge and methods to local socio-economic contexts, driven by the values of geoethics. The Bullicante Lake case study, discussed in this work, represents an example of application of geoethical values, such as inclusiveness, sharing, sustainability and conservation of bio- and geodiversity. This urban lake in Rome appeared following illegal excavation works in 1992 and remained closed until 2016 favouring re-naturalization processes. Over time, this site was often threatened by pending actions for building. The aim of this study was to highlight how fruitful cooperation between science and citizens is able to transform a degraded urban area into a place of knowledge, recreation, enjoyment and eco-systemic preservation. Moreover, on the basis of this experience, the authors proposed a generalised approach/strategy to be developed and applied in other contexts. The active involvement of citizens and the cooperation among scientists, artists and institutions were able to redress opportunistic behaviours well by preventing site degradation and its improper use, favouring environmental safeguarding and making possible the site’s recognition as a natural monument. The results of these actions led to the improved quality of citizen life, showing an excellent example of virtuous cooperation between science and society.
An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing
Authors: Nemes Noémi , Scanlan Stephen J. , Smith Pete , Smith Tone , Aronczyk Melissa , Hill Stephanie , Lewis Simon L. , Montgomery A. Wren , Tubiello Francesco N. , Stabinsky Doreen
Published: April 2022

In this paper we examine definitions of ‘greenwashing’ and its different forms, developing a tool for assessing diverse ‘green’ claims made by various actors. Research shows that significant deception and misleading claims exist both in the regulated commercial sphere, as well as in the unregulated non-commercial sphere (e.g., governments, NGO partnerships, international pledges, etc.). Recently, serious concerns have been raised over rampant greenwashing, in particular with regard to rapidly emerging net zero commitments. The proposed framework we developed is the first actionable tool for analysing the quality and truthfulness of such claims. The framework has widespread and unique potential for highlighting efforts that seek to delay or distract real solutions that are urgently needed today to tackle multiple climate and environmental crises. In addition, we note how the framework may also assist in the development of practices and communication strategies that ultimately avoid greenwashing.
Census-Based Variables Are Informative about Subjective Neighborhood Relations, but Only When Adjusted for Residents’ Neighborhood Conceptions
Authors: von Stülpnagel Rul , Findler Franziska , Brand Daniel
Published: April 2022

Subjective neighborhood perceptions (such as attachment or satisfaction) have been linked to demographic factors and self-reported living conditions. There has been less success to include census-based variables. One explanation is the frequent a priori application of rigid neighborhood definitions. We assessed subjective neighborhood relations, demographic information, and self-defined neighborhoods via a postcard-based, participatory GIS approach. We linked several census-based variables (e.g., the proportion of seniors or the average members per household) to four different neighborhood definitions. We found that census-based variables allowed no prediction of neighborhood relations when adjusted to statistical districts, and a limited prediction when adjusted to two different-sized buffers. We found the best prediction of neighborhood relations through census-based variables when they were adjusted to self-defined neighborhoods. Larger households, fewer households per building, and a higher proportion of seniors benefited neighborhood relations. Our findings underline the importance of adjusting the definition of ‘neighborhood’ to that of the residents when studying neighborhood attachment or sense of community.
University Students’ Attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca in a Multilingual Sustainable Society
Authors: Zeng Yuntao , Wallace Matthew P. , Fan Chun-Wai , Guo Yawei
Published: April 2022

The present study investigated Macao university students’ attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Macao maintains a diverse multilingual society, with speakers from several cultures converging into one city for work and travel. Traditionally, the common languages of communication have been Chinese and Portuguese, due to Macao’s historical connection with both mainland China and Portugal. However, with the development of tourism and economy, English has become a lingua franca in the city. Despite this, it is unclear what attitudes are held about ELF and whether these attitudes may differ according to academic interest, academic background, and experience with intercultural communication. To address this need, 303 university students completed a survey measuring attitudes towards ELF on five dimensions. Afterwards, nine participants were interviewed to expand on their survey responses. The descriptive results indicated that in general Macao university students’ attitudes towards ELF were positive in many aspects, but also included conservative attitudes. Results from t-tests showed that English minors, local Macao students, and students who have overseas intercultural communication experience held more positive attitudes towards ELF than English majors, mainland Chinese students, and those without overseas experience, respectively. Implications for English teaching in Macao are discussed.
Recycling of Industrial Waste Gypsum Using Mineral Carbonation
Authors: Kang Chan-Ung , Ji Sang-Woo , Jo Hwanju
Published: April 2022

Direct mineral carbonation (MC) is used to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This method has the great advantages of reducing the amount of industrial residues and creating valuable materials by incorporating CO2. Waste gypsum, industrial waste including flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum (25.27–53.40 wt% of CaO), and phosphogypsum (30.50–39.06 wt% of CaO) can be used for direct MC (conversion rate up to 96%). Mineral carbonation converts waste gypsum into calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which can be recycled during desulfurization. Furthermore, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4), which is used as a fertilizer, can be prepared as a by-product when the carbonation reaction is performed using ammonia (NH3) as a base. In this study, recent progress in the carbonation kinetics and preparation of CaCO3 using FGD gypsum and phosphogypsum with NH3 was investigated. Temperature, CO2 partial pressure, CO2 flow rate, and NH3 concentration were reviewed as factors affecting carbonation kinetics and efficiency. The factors influencing the polymorphs of the prepared CaCO3 were also reviewed and summarized. A state-of-the-art bench-scale plant study was also proposed. In addition, economic feasibility was investigated based on a bench-scale study to analyze the future applicability of this technology.
Evaluating the Use of QR Codes on Food Products
Authors: Rotsios Konstantinos , Konstantoglou Aggeliki , Folinas Dimitris , Fotiadis Thomas , Hatzithomas Leonidas , Boutsouki Christina
Published: April 2022

Today, consumers consider food packaging to be as equally important as a product brand. In addition, the increase in smartphone usage by consumers has led marketers to design new forms of packaging. Among the latest marketing trends, smart packaging with the use of QR Codes is emerging as one of the most promising technologies to enhance the information provided to consumers and influence their buying behavior. This study evaluates the use of a QR Code on bottled milk and more specifically on milk produced by one of the most well-known “boutique” Greek dairy producers. It consists of two phases. In the first one, data was gathered from 537 consumers of the product to capture and analyze their (i) buying behavior, (ii) perception of the product’s package, and (iii) knowledge about the product. In the second phase, a Quick Response (QR) Code was placed on the bottle’s label. Consumers who scanned it were linked to a web page containing information on the product. A total of 308 from the 537 initial respondents scanned the code, accessed the site, and answered the second questionnaire. Similar to the first stage, (i) the consumers’ buying behavior, (ii) their perception of the product’s package, and (iii) their knowledge about the product were examined, following their visit to the above-mentioned website through the QR Code. The objective was to evaluate the use of web applications using enriched text information. The results show that a QR Code on the packaging of food products, which directs consumers to entertaining and enriched content, results in an increased level of usage intention. Moreover, they proved that comprehension and self-confidence are higher with the adoption of the QR Code. In addition, the use of QR Codes enables businesses to provide timely and accurate information and positively influence consumers′ buying behavior.
Sustainable Management Strategy for Solidification/Stabilization of Zinc Plant Residues (ZPR) by Fly Ash/Clay-Based Geopolymers
Authors: Dacuba Juan , Llano Tamara , Cifrian Eva , Andrés Ana
Published: April 2022

Solidification/stabilization (S/S) of acid waste using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is widely implemented, but, due to the impact on climate change, alternative methods are being investigated. In this work, first, the feasibility of using coal fly-ash/clay-based geopolymers for the S/S of Zn plant residues (ZPR), Cadmium Sponge (CS), and Anode Mud (AM) is proposed as a treatment prior to disposal in landfills. Different variables, such as the type of processing, molding (as-received waste), and pressing (dried waste), and activators, a commercial and an alternative residual sodium carbonate, have been studied. The technical and environmental assessments of the S/S process by means of compressive strength and the leaching of critical pollutants have been monitored. Immobilization efficiencies of Cd and Zn higher than 99% have been obtained by dosing 50% of the acid waste, 6 M NaOH solution (20 min contact time), cured at 75 °C (48 h) and at room temperature (28 days), achieving in the leachates pH values of 7 to 10 and [Cd] and [Zn] < 1 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively. However, alkaline activation increases As leaching, mainly associated with the clay. Secondly, removing clay from the geopolymer formulation, the optimization of geopolymer parameters, acid waste/geopolymer ratio, liquid/solid ratio, and NaOH molar concentration enables obtaining a significant reduction in the release of As and Cd, and Zn is kept at acceptable values that meet the non-hazardous waste landfill disposal limits for the S/S of both acid wastes.
Measuring the Impact of Greece as a Safe Branding Tourist Destination: Evidence from Spain and Greece
Authors: Metaxas Theodore , Juárez Laura , Andrinos Meletios
Published: April 2022

After the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, many tourist destinations promoted a safe, COVID-free image to attract tourists. The main purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze the effect that the image of a place as a safe tourist destination (STD)—in our case, Greece—can have on the decision-making processes of tourists who were willing to take summer holidays in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the relationships between destination safety perceptions, trust, attractive attributes of destinations, travel intentions, and health-protective behavior for domestic and inbound tourists from Spain. This study confirms differences in destination safety perceptions among domestic and inbound tourists from countries that have suffered significant negative impacts due to the novel coronavirus.
The Large-Scale Effect of Forest Cover on Long-Term Streamflow Variations in Mediterranean Catchments of Central Chile
Authors: Pizarro Roberto , Valdés-Pineda Rodrigo , Garcia-Chevesich Pablo A. , Ibáñez Alfredo , Pino Juan , Scott David F. , Neary Daniel G. , McCray John E. , Castillo Miguel , Ubilla Patricio
Published: April 2022

Forest ecosystems play an important role in hydrological processes as surface and subsurface runoff, as well as the storage of water at the catchment scale. Therefore, it is important to have a greater understanding of the effects of forests in the long-term water balance of Mediterranean catchments. In this sense, this study evaluates the effect of native forests, forest plantations, and the combination of both, on long-term streamflow variations in central Chile, an unusual area of Mediterranean climate characterized by a well-marked annual cycle with dry summers and wet winters. Thus, the temporal pattern of monthly streamflow was evaluated for mean flow (Qmean), maximum flow (Qmax), and minimum flow (Qmin) in 42 large-scale (>200 km2) Mediterranean catchments. Each series of monthly streamflow data was QA/QC, and then evaluated using the Mann–Kendall’s non-parametric statistical test to detect temporal variations between 1994 and 2015. In addition to the previous analysis, the monthly series were grouped into wet seasons (April–September) and dry seasons (October–April), to determine if there were any significant differences within the annual hydrological cycle. The areas covered with native and forest plantations and their relative changes were evaluated for each catchment through streamflow variations and forest cover indicators. Results revealed that streamflow variations are positive and significant when more forest cover exists. The intra-catchment relationships assessed for both species revealed the significant role of native forests and mixed masses as key ecosystems for the long-term conservation of summer streamflow in Mediterranean catchments of central Chile. These findings encourage an urgent need to create highland afforestation programs on degraded areas of central Chile, to maximize water storage in a region that is quickly drying out due to unsustainable water and land use management practices and the effects of global warming.
Applicability Evaluation of Landslide Vulnerability Criteria for Decision on Landcreep-Vulnerable Areas in South Korea
Authors: Park Jae-Hyeon , Park Seong-Gyun , Kim Hyun
Published: April 2022

Landcreep, which is a natural hazard, frequently occurs in South Korea. However, despite many differences between general landslides and landcreep, landcreep is still treated as a kind of landslide. A bigger problem in this reality is that no verification has been made on whether the national landslide vulnerability criteria can be applied to the decision on landcreep-vulnerable areas. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the applicability of the landslide vulnerability criteria for the decision on landcreep-vulnerable areas. For verification, first, as a result of a correlation analysis that extracted seven types of geomorphological environment criteria that are used in deciding landslide-vulnerable areas from 57 landcreep areas, a positive correlation was shown only in the slope type and the parent rock. Second, as a result of the evaluation of the landcreep area by applying the landslide vulnerability criteria, it was analyzed that 61.4% were areas with low or no possibility of the occurrence of landslides. Third, on the basis of the overlapping analysis of the landslide hazard map and landcreep areas, 67.6% were in Level 3 or lower, except for Levels 1 and 2, which had high hazards, and 21.5% were landcreep areas that were not included in the hazard levels. Applying the landslide vulnerability criteria for deciding on landcreep-vulnerable areas is not appropriate, and it is urgent to prepare landcreep vulnerability criteria.
Groundwater Potentiality Assessment of Ain Sefra Region in Upper Wadi Namous Basin, Algeria Using Integrated Geospatial Approaches
Authors: Derdour Abdessamed , Bouanani Abderrazak , Kaid Noureddine , Mukdasai Kanit , Algelany A. M. , Ahmad Hijaz , Menni Younes , Ameur Houari
Published: April 2022

Water demand has been increasing considerably around the world, mostly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has caused many problems for water supply, especially in arid areas. Consequently, there is a need to assimilate lessons learned to ensure water security. In arid climates, evaluating the groundwater potential is critical, particularly because the only source of drinking water and irrigation for the community is groundwater. The objective of this report is to locate and identify probable groundwater basins in the upper Wadi Namous basin’s Ain Sefra area. GIS and RS were used to evaluate the parameters of morphometry and to demarcate groundwater potential zones by using eight different influencing factors, viz., geology, rainfall, height, slope, land cover, land use, and lineaments density are all factors to consider. The analytical hierarchical process (AHP) was used to give weightages to the factors, and definitions within each attribute were sorted in order of priority for groundwater potentiality. The major findings of the research were the creation of groundwater-potential zones in the watershed. The hydrogeological zone of the basin was assessed as follows: very poor (0.56%), poor (26.41%), moderate (44.72%), good (25.22%), and very good (3.1%). The groundwater recharge potential zones are concentrated in low cretaceous locations, according to analytical data. The groundwater potential regions were checked to field inventory data from 45 water locations to corroborate the findings. The qualitative findings and the groundwater inventory data agreed 77.78%, according to the cross-validation study. The produced groundwater potential map might substantially assist in the development of long-term management plans by enabling water planners and decision-makers to identify zones appropriate for the placement of productive wells and reducing investment losses caused by well drilling failures. The results of the study will also serve as a benchmark for further research and studies, such as hydrogeological modeling.
Sustainability Model to Select Optimal Site Location for Temporary Housing Units: Combining GIS and the MIVES–Knapsack Model
Authors: Hosseini S. M. Amin , Ghalambordezfooly Rama , de la Fuente Albert
Published: April 2022

Selecting the best site location for temporary housing (TH) is one of the most critical decision-making processes in the aftermath of disasters. Many spatial variables and multi-criteria indicator problems are involved in the decision-making analysis. Incorrect treatment of these components often led to failure in previous post-disaster recovery programmes. Wrong decisions caused short- and long-term negative impacts on the environment and people as well as wasting capital spending. In this regard, this research paper aims to present a novel multi-criteria decision-making approach that helps decision makers select optimal site locations to consider spatial and sustainability-related aims by assessing numerous alternatives. This new model is based on combining a knapsack algorithm and the integrated value model for sustainability assessment (MIVES) to derive optimal alternatives. This model makes it possible to objectively quantify sustainability indicators (economic, environmental, and social aspects) and derive satisfaction indices for each site (or set of sites) in terms of TH location. The model is designed to receive and filter data from a geographic information system (GIS). Using this model in future post-disaster recovery programs is believed to increase stakeholders’ satisfaction and maximise the sustainability associated with the selection.
Beyond a Balanced View of Social Entrepreneurship within a Social–Commercial Dichotomy: Towards a Four-Dimensional Typology
Authors: Hein Rüdiger
Published: April 2022

With regard to the basic understanding of the location of social entrepreneurship, there is a widespread explanatory approach of a dichotomy with two poles: social and entrepreneurial. According to this, a lesser expression of one pole automatically leads to an approach toward the other pole. Social entrepreneurship is to be positioned in the middle of the two poles. On the basis of a qualitative empirical study (qualitative content analysis and metaphor analysis), this paper questions the basic understanding of the bipolar continuum and postulates a different, four-dimensional basic understanding of social entrepreneurship. This new draft does better justice to the given complexity of social entrepreneurship and provides an expanded explanatory approach to how social entrepreneurship can be conceptualized beyond the two dimensions. An approach with 36 types of social entrepreneurship emerges from the research results. The implications for science and practice are discussed. This article contributes to a better understanding of the different logics of social enterprises with hybrid organizational principles dedicated to sustainable development.
Callous Optimism: On Some Wishful Thinking ‘Blowbacks’ Undermining SDG Spatial Policy
Authors: Cooke Philip
Published: April 2022

Established students and studies of sustainable urban planning and broader regional varieties of spatial evolution have been seized with ambitions to ‘make the world a better place’. To criticise that ambition would be more than churlish, except that it tends to betray a certain ‘cognitive dissonance’. For what they wish to ‘make better’ was already in a bad, even ‘parlous state’ by the aspirations of their predecessor students, studies, and tellingly, actions. Of course, there are exceptions. Some urban actions seem to have ‘worked’ historically. Barcelona’s Eixample by Ildefons, Haussmann’s questionably motivated but now widely admired re-design of Paris, and Vienna’s Ringstrasse vilified by early modernist Adolf Loos, mentor of Richard Neutra, originator of the domestic International Style. These were a mixed bag of architects, by turns municipal, militaristic, and radical, albeit thwarted in Neutra’s case by McCarthyite blacklisting of his Elysian Fields 3300 dwelling public housing project at Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles. Clearly, the top-down tendency persists in the image of the ‘heroic architect’ that can still be found. As well as much-vaunted ‘starchitecture’, it also persists in the failed imagery of ‘garden bridges’, ‘urban Vessels’, ‘smart cities’ and London’s ‘urban mound fiasco’. This article acts as a corrective advocating more collective than individualistic crafting of ‘solutions’ constructed upon wishful thinking if not callous optimism in efforts at mitigation of global heating. The article consists of a brief account of ‘seeing like a city’ rather than a ‘sovereign state’ in sustainability policy-pledging and its origins. It then combs through some five exemplars—from green city planning to ambient heating, food waste, plastic waste and water eutrophication—of ‘callously optimistic’ wishful thinking in SDG proposals for urban and regional climate change moderation. Modest new communicative governance methodology is proposed in the cause of SDG policy learning.
The Role of GARCH Effect on the Prediction of Air Pollution
Authors: Yao Kai-Chao , Hsueh Hsiu-Wen , Huang Ming-Hsiang , Wu Tsung-Che
Published: April 2022

Air pollution prediction is an important issue for regulators and practitioners in a sustainable era. Air pollution, especially PM2.5 resulting from industrialization, has fostered a wave of global weather migration and jeopardized human health in the past three decades. Taiwan has evolved as a highly developed economy and has a severe PM2.5 pollution problem. Thus, the control of PM2.5 is a critical issue for regulators, practitioners and academics. More recently, GA-SVM, an artificial-intelligence-based approach, has become a preferred prediction model, attributed to the advances in computer technology. However, hourly observation of PM2.5 concentration tends to present the GARCH effect. The objective of this study is to explore whether the integration of GA-SVM with the GARCH model can build a more accurate air pollution prediction model. The study adopts central Taiwan, the region with the worst level of PM2.5, as the source of observations. The empirical implementation of this study took a two-step approach; first, we examined the potential existence of the GARCH effect on the observed PM2.5 data. Second, we built a GA-SVM model integrated with the GARCH framework to predict the 8 h PM2.5 concentration of the sample region. The empirical results indicate that the prediction performance of our proposed alternative model outperformed the traditional SVM and GA-SVM models in terms of both MAPE and RMSE. The findings in this study provide evidence to support our expectation that adopting the SVM-based approach model for PM2.5 prediction is appropriate, and that prediction performance can be improved by integrating the GARCH model. Moreover, consistent with our prior expectation, the evidence further supports that taking the GARCH effect into account in the GA-SVM model significantly improves the accuracy of prediction. To the knowledge of the authors, this study is the first to attempt to integrate the GARCH effect into the GA-SVM model in the prediction of PM2.5. In summary, with regard to the development of sustainability for both regulators and practitioners, our results strongly encourage them to take the GARCH effect into consideration in air pollution prediction if a regression-based model is to be adopted. Furthermore, this study may shed light on the application of the GARCH model and SVM models in the air pollution prediction literature.
A Qualitative Based Causal-Loop Diagram for Understanding Policy Design Challenges for a Sustainable Transition Pathway: The Case of Tees Valley Region, UK
Authors: Gudlaugsson Bjarnhedinn , Ghanem Dana Abi , Dawood Huda , Pillai Gobind , Short Michael
Published: April 2022

The energy transition is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive and structured approach to policymaking. Such an approach is needed to ensure that transition pathways and policies enable greener energy alternatives whilst ensuring prosperity for people living in the region and limiting environmental degradation to the local ecosystem. This paper applies a qualitative approach based on systematic literature research and review analysis to identify and analyse previous work within this interdisciplinary field in order to understand the complexity of energy transitions and identify key variables and sub-sectors that need to be addressed by policymaking. The paper then looks at the problem from a regional level and uses the Tees Valley region in North East England as a reference case for the energy system and potential proposed policies for the energy transition. A system dynamics methodology was employed to help visualise and emphasise the major complexity of the energy transition and the challenges that policymaking needs to tackle for the successfully enable implementation and application of the energy transition policies. The results of this study identified that in relation to the Tees Valley energy system, its development and transition towards decarbonisation, the major challenge for the policymakers is to ensure that proposed policies foster growth in job creation without leading to job losses within the local employment market.
Drought Analysis for the Seyhan Basin with Vegetation Indices and Comparison with Meteorological Different Indices
Authors: Dikici Mehmet
Published: April 2022

Various drought indices have been developed to monitor drought, which is a result of climate change, and mitigate its adverse effects on water resources, especially in agriculture. Vegetation indices determined by remote sensing were examined by many recent studies and shed light on drought risk management. In the current study, one of the 25 drainage basins in Turkey—the Seyhan Basin, located in the south of the country—was investigated. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) are the most widely used vegetation indices and are very useful because they give results only based on satellite images. This study examined the Seyhan Basin using satellite data in which the vegetation transformation occurring due to the decline of agricultural and forest areas was seen. An increase in drought frequency was detected in the Seyhan Basin using the NDVI and VCI indices and compared with different indices. The results obtained revealed that climate change and drought is increasing with a linear uptrend. It is recommended that decision-makers take the necessary measures by considering the drought risk maps. Long-term drought management plans should also be prepared and implemented.
Urban Traffic Noise Mapping Using Building Simplification in the Panyu District of Guangzhou City, China
Authors: Lee Hsiao Mun , Luo Wensheng , Xie Jinlong , Lee Heow Pueh
Published: April 2022

This study constructed an urban traffic noise map (including road and railway traffic noises) of the Panyu District in Guangzhou City by combining field measurement and numerical modeling methods. This noise map was then used to identify the area covered by different noise quality levels and the compliance rate of traffic noise in various acoustic environment functional areas throughout the day, night and day–night. The results showed that traffic noise pollution along the traffic arteries was severe. The area with heavy noise pollution was as large as 157.5 km2 (29.72%) and 146.2 km2 (27.59%) in the day and night, respectively. The total area of the Panyu District that complied with the noise limit in the day and night was 326.5 km2 (61.62%) and 87.2 km2 (16.46%), respectively. The outcomes of the current efforts can provide new technical guidelines for novel construction and analysis methods for large scale urban traffic noise mapping.