bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Technology Interface and Student Engagement Are Significant Stimuli in Sustainable Student Satisfaction
Authors: Pandita Alka , Kiran Ravi
Published: May 2023

The technology interface and student engagement are important factors that can contribute to sustainable student satisfaction. Technology has become an integral part of the recent teaching–learning setup and it can significantly impact student satisfaction. Additionally, student engagement is vital for sustainable student satisfaction. Engaged students are more likely to take an active role in their education, participate in discussions, and ask questions. When students are engaged, they feel a sense of ownership over their learning experience, which can lead to higher levels of satisfaction. Therefore, educational institutions should strive to provide students with technology that is intuitive and easy to use and create an environment that fosters engagement and collaboration. By doing so, institutions can increase student satisfaction and improve overall academic outcomes. This research study was primarily conducted to understand the potential of the technology interface (TI) and student engagement (SE) in enhancing student satisfaction (SS). The study uses a survey to collect responses from 400 respondents from higher educational institutions (HEIs). PLS-SEM has been used to test the proposed hypothesis. Three dimensions of the technology interface (TI) include cyber infrastructure, quality of e-content, and technology-assisted facilities. It is essential to understand how the technology interface influences student engagement (SE) through three dimensions, viz. new skills development, active involvement, and academic achievements. The student satisfaction scale has an employability perspective, teaching perspective, and learning perspective as subscales. Initially, the study examines the influence of the technology interface on student engagement. The findings support a positive impact on student engagement. The next step was to study the direct effect of the technology interface on student satisfaction. The results lend support to a positive influence. An attempt was also made to investigate the mediation of student engagement between the technology interface and student satisfaction. The findings highlight that with the mediation of student engagement, the influence of the technology interface on student satisfaction is improved. This study is one of the pioneering empirical studies highlighting the importance of the technology interface on the mediation of student engagement in student satisfaction. Technology may be a prerequisite, but it needs to be translated to student satisfaction by using it with student engagement (new skills development, active involvement, and academic achievements). The study has meaningful implications for policymakers at universities to enable them to strategize around practices conducive to the implementation of technology, and for student engagement activities to enhance student satisfaction in higher education institutes (HEIs).
A Soil Screening Study to Evaluate Soil Health for Urban Garden Applications in Hartford, CT
Authors: Clos Hayley , Chrysochoou Marisa , Bompoti Nefeli , Isleib Jacob
Published: May 2023

Urban agriculture is a sustainable practice for communities to have access to healthy and affordable produce by reducing the energy costs of food production and distribution. While raised beds are often used in community gardens to ensure that soil quality meets proper standards, the use of existing urban soils is desired for economic and sustainability purposes. The main objective of this study is to evaluate a methodology to test soil health parameters using in situ screening methods. Soil testing was conducted at three urban lots in Hartford, CT, that were candidates for community gardens. In situ measurements of metals were taken with a pXRF instrument in all three lots, and an additional 30 samples were tested in the laboratory, both on pressed pellets via pXRF and with acid digestion and ICP-MS analysis. Ultimately, in situ pXRF measurements were comparable to pelletized pXRF and ICP-MS measurements for elements of interest, and pXRF is shown to be a reliable screening tool to evaluate exceedances for metal regulatory thresholds exceeding 100 ppm (e.g., Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Se), although soil moisture content exceeding 5% is shown to have a dilution effect on in situ results up to about a 30% difference. The current study serves as a case study in Hartford, CT, for the evaluation of in situ pXRF analysis as a rapid soil screening tool, and further research will be needed to extend the current recommendations to a general rapid soil assessment methodology.
The Effect of Gender and Age in Small Bicycle Sharing Systems: Case Study from Logroño, Spain
Authors: Cortez-Ordoñez Alexandra , Tulcanaza-Prieto Ana Belén
Published: May 2023

During recent years, bike sharing systems (BSS) have been adopted in many large cities around the world. Thanks to their environmental and health benefits, BSS’ popularity as a green transportation mode is exponentially increasing and many small cities are also adopting them. However, few of these small cities have the resources to manage and analyze the massive amount of data produced by these systems in order to optimize them and promote their use among citizens. This manuscript analyzes BiciLog (Logroño, Spain) data and studies customers’ usage patterns, disaggregated by gender and age. The t-test is the inferential statistic test employed to compare the equality of the means among different groups. Results show differences in how women and men are using the BiciLog system. Women use the system less but ride for longer than men. There are also differences between age groups. Most of the users are between 20 and 29 years old. However, customers between 60 and 69 years old are also extensively using BSS. In fact, they not only make more trips but also their rides are around three times longer than customers in other age groups. These results can be used by BiciLog operators to create and evaluate campaigns to motivate BSS use among target groups and improve the system based on customers’ preferences. The main limitation of this investigation is the lack of data available to calculate additional information such as the real distance covered by customers when riding, or their preferred routes. For future research, a longer data period can be considered to compare usage patterns across different years. Additionally, customer surveys can help us to understand their motivations to use the system and corroborate the results found in this study.
Design and Effectiveness Evaluation of a Smart Greenhouse Virtual Reality Curriculum Based on STEAM Education
Authors: Huang Chuang-Yeh , Cheng Bo-Yuan , Lou Shi-Jer , Chung Chih-Chao
Published: May 2023

This study developed a smart greenhouse virtual reality (VR) curriculum based on STEAM learning and explored its effects on students’ satisfaction and learning outcomes. The objectives included evaluating STEAM capability indicators, the practicability of VR-assisted teaching, constructing the VR curriculum, discussing students’ satisfaction, and assessing the impact on learning effectiveness. The fuzzy Delphi method was used to evaluate the importance of STEAM capabilities and the practicability of VR-assisted teaching. Experimental teaching was carried out on 26 engineering students, and the case study method was adopted for hybrid analysis and discussion based on quality and quantity. The study found that “hands-on skills” and “problem-solving” were the most important capabilities, with the highest practicability in VR-assisted teaching. Based on this, an analysis was conducted on the integrated teaching design, and the smart greenhouse VR teaching materials based on STEAM learning were developed. After 18 weeks of experimental teaching, most students expressed significant positive affirmation of their satisfaction with the “STEAM smart greenhouse VR” curriculum. The study highlights the importance of hands-on skills and problem-solving in VR-assisted teaching. The study suggests that the practicability analysis of VR-assisted teaching should be reviewed according to the curriculum characteristics, and three phases of VR-assisted teaching modes, such as teacher operation, student exercises, and student testing, should be planned to guide students to learn step by step. The curriculum design and planning based on STEAM learning in this study could provide a reference for teachers and researchers to plan students’ STEAM capability training and interdisciplinary capability learning and development. The study highlights the importance of hands-on skills, problem-solving in VR-assisted teaching, and the positive impact of multi-sensory experiences on student learning outcomes. These findings can inform the development of future VR-assisted teaching materials and curricula.
A Novel Survey-QFD-WASPAS Methodological Approach for Designing Crowd Storage Platforms: A Case Study of Serbia
Authors: Stanković Aleksandra , Andrejić Milan , Pajić Vukašin , Kilibarda Milorad , Djurdjević Dragan
Published: May 2023

The concept of crowd logistics has been present in practice for several decades, while it has gained importance in the literature in recent years. Crowd delivery is a widely accepted concept, while crowd storage is still nowhere near its potential. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no scientific papers dealing with crowd storage in the literature. Crowd storage is one of the categories of crowd logistics services, which involves renting free space on the basis of an agreement, usually between individuals, using specialized online platforms, which are also markets for crowd storage services. Since the concept has not been researched in the literature so far, this paper focuses on several aspects. A unique methodological approach that includes three phases is proposed in this paper. In the first phase, research regarding crowd storage services in the world is carried out. The second phase involves research regarding the crowd storage services in Serbia. The third phase, at the same time the most complex, in the first step defines user requirements and the required resources for the development of crowd storage platforms based on the survey results. In the second step, the weights of the criteria are determined by applying the QFD method. In the third step, the WASPAS method is used for the software solution selection. Furthermore, the results of the research show that crowd storage services in Serbia are still not experiencing expansion. Finally, based on the results of the survey, and by applying the QFD method, user requirements are determined, as well as the resources needed. The crowd storage platform is the alternative with the highest value after the evaluation. Bearing in mind the aforementioned, the justification for the introduction of the specialized online crowd storage platform is confirmed. The concept itself creates numerous positive effects of sustainability: human, social, economic, and environmental.
Leisure Agriculture and Rural Tourism Benefit Analysis on Eco-Environmental Resource Use
Authors: Sun Baoding , Wang Guixia , Liu Yunjia
Published: May 2023

In recent years, particularly, the expansion of tourism has become more and more prosperous, and along with it, the impact on the natural environment has become greater and greater. As a result of the continuous development of the economy, human activity is having a greater impact on the natural environment and agricultural depth. The desire to feel more connected to nature and life is leading an increasing number of people to relocate to more rural areas. Because of this, the management and preparation of rural tourism destinations are of utmost significance. This paper presents a study on the analysis of the benefits of the use of ecological and environmental resources driven by the development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism. The study was carried out by the Environmental Economics and Policy Group (EEPG). The primary purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of the benefits of agroecological environment and resource use in Jilin Province in accordance with the evaluation system of resource and environmental benefits of leisure agriculture. This evaluation will be combined with an analysis of the current situation of resource use and will be based on the principle of net social benefits of resource and environmental supply. The results of the experiments show that the coupling degree of the agricultural economic system in Jilin Province from 2015 to 2021 is greater than 0.9, which places it in the category of high-quality coupling (0.9 ≤ C ≤ 1). The degree of synergy ranges from 0.54608 to 0.78358 and exhibits an upward trend, but it remains in the medium synergy stage (0.50 ≤ D ≤ 8). This paper carries out relevant research on ecological and environmental resource use, which is of great practical significance in promoting the rational use of leisure agricultural resources, and, ultimately, the long-term sustainable development of leisure agriculture. In addition, the paper presents an analysis of the benefits of ecological and environmental resource use promoted by the development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism.
The United States Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions: A Comprehensive Forecast Using a Regression Model
Authors: Keerthana Krishnamurthy Baskar , Wu Shih-Wei , Wu Mu-En , Kokulnathan Thangavelu
Published: May 2023

The Earth’s climate change, colloquially known as global warming, is detrimental to life across the globe. The most significant contributor to the greenhouse gas (GHG) effect is carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. In the United States (US) economy, the major benefactor of CO2 emissions is the energy sector, with the top contribution coming from fossil fuels. The estimated 2020 CO2 emission was 5981 million metric tons, despite a dramatic reduction in the trendline compared to the year 2019. An ultimatum for energy consumption rises from fiscal development, growing population, and technological advancements. Energy use and GHG emissions are inclined upward, provoking an unwholesome nation. This paper studies (i) the principal sources of energy use and CO2 emission, (ii) the inclination of such sources, (iii) trends and drivers of GHG emissions, (iv) low carbon development and carbon footprint, and (v) the diverse US projects for reducing GHG emissions and the challenges in deploying them. We have forecasted the emissions from fossil fuels from 2025 to 2050 and compared the results using MAPE to calculate the mean percentage error. The forecasted results of 2050 show high accuracy, suggesting probable approaches to reduce further CO2 emissions, measures to reduce emissions through carbon capture and sequestration, and help in the development of improved GHG mitigations for the nation.
Application of Biochar for Ion-Adsorption of Rare Earth Contaminated Soil Remediation: A Review
Authors: Chen Haimei , Chen Haibin , Kardos Levente , Szabó Veronika
Published: May 2023

Rare earth elements, particularly middle and heavy rare earth, are among the most valuable resources in the pursuit of a greener economy. The production of middle and heavy rare earth elements heavily relies on ion adsorption, which constitutes over 80% of global output and is centered in southern China. Unfortunately, the extensive mining activities have led to severe environmental pollution, resource depletion, and risks to human health. In contrast, biochar application offers a cost-effective and efficient phytoremediation solution. However, existing literature on the biochar application in IAT-Res mine tailings is limited. In this paper, we conducted a literature review and summarized the contaminations in the ion adsorption mine tailings, as well as explored the potential of using biochar to remediate contaminations. We aim to raise interest and encourage further research on utilizing biochar for pollution remediation in ion adsorption rare earth mine tailings. By effectively managing contamination, this approach can contribute to the sustainable supply of ion adsorption rare earth elements while ensuring their long-term viability.
Analysis of Environmental Carrying Capacity Based on the Ecological Footprint for the Sustainable Development of Alborz, Iran
Authors: Pourebrahim Sharareh , Hadipour Mehrdad , Emlaei Zahra , Heidari Hamidreza , Goh Choo Ta , Lee Khai Ern
Published: May 2023

The quick development of industrial sectors, tourism, and agriculture, which coincided with human habitation in cities, has led to the degradation of environmental qualities. Thus, a detailed plan is required to balance the development and environmental conservation of urban areas to achieve sustainability. This paper uses the environmental carrying capacity (i.e., ecological footprint and biological capacity) model to estimate ecological sustainability and achieve the desired balance. The results reveal that problems, such as unbalanced land development, the destruction of protected areas, and changes in land use in favor of industrial and residential development, persist in the area under study. Additionally, the studied area has been facing an ecological deficit since 1992. If this trend continues, the area will lose its chance for ecological restoration by 2030, when the ecological deficit reaches −3,497,368 hectares. The most important indicators in the ecological footprint were resource consumption in industries, water consumption in agriculture, and pollution generation from industries and household consumption. Therefore, in a sustainable scenario, the ratio of these indicators was changed based on Alborz’s development policies. In order to achieve ecological balance in the study area, short-, medium-, and long-term scenarios were proposed, as follows: (a) preventing the ecological deficit from reaching the critical threshold by 2030, (b) maintaining the ecological deficit at the same level until 2043, and (c) bringing Alborz to ecological balance (bringing the ecological deficit to zero) by 2072.
Investigating the Serially Mediating Mechanisms of Organizational Ambidexterity and the Circular Economy in the Relationship between Ambidextrous Leadership and Sustainability Performance
Authors: Katou Anastasia A. , Kafetzopoulos Dimitrios , Vayona Anastasia
Published: May 2023

In this study, based on a resource-based view, we investigate the influence of ambidextrous leadership (reflected in transformational and transactional leadership styles) on sustainability performance (reflected in economic, environmental, and social performance) through the serially mediating mechanisms of organizational ambidexterity (reflected in explorer and exploiter attributes) and the circular economy (reflected in fields of action). By applying structural equation modelling analyses to survey data collected from private and public Greek organizations, which operate in manufacturing, services, and trade sectors, under an externally dynamic environmental context, we found that (a) organizational ambidexterity and the circular economy fields of action positively mediate the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and sustainability performance and (b) the mechanism originating from transformational leadership has a higher impact on sustainability performance compared to the mechanism that originates from transactional leadership. Accordingly, this study addresses the aspect of the special issue that refers to modern approaches to management and leadership for sustainable business performance research and makes several theoretical and practical implications.
Data-Driven Modeling of Vehicle-to-Grid Flexibility in Korea
Authors: Jang Moon-Jong , Kim Taehoon , Oh Eunsung
Published: May 2023

With the widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs), the potential to utilize them as flexible resources has increased. However, the existing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) studies have focused on V2G operation methods. The operational performance is limited by the amount of availability resources, which represents the flexibility. This study proposes a data-driven modeling method to estimate the V2G flexibility. A charging station is a control point connected to a power grid for V2G operation. Therefore, the charging stations’ statuses were analyzed by applying the basic queuing model with a dataset of 1008 chargers (785 AC chargers and 223 DC chargers) from 500 charging stations recorded in Korea. The basic queuing model obtained the long-term average status values of the stations over the entire time period. To estimate the V2G flexibility over time, a charging station status modeling method was proposed within a time interval. In the proposed method, the arrival rate and service time were modified according to the time interval, and the station status was expressed in a propagated form that considered the current and previous time slots. The simulation results showed that the proposed method effectively estimated the actual value within a 10% mean absolute percentage error. Moreover, the determination of V2G flexibility based on the charging station status is discussed herein. According to the results, the charging station status in the next time slot, as well as that in the current time slot, is affected by the V2G. Therefore, to estimate the V2G flexibility, the propagation effect must be considered.
An Evaluation of Local Comprehensive Plans Regarding Green Infrastructure in 52 Cities across the U.S. Gulf Coast Region
Authors: Le Trang , Tran Tho
Published: May 2023

The utilization of green infrastructure (GI) showed promising results as a flood mitigation strategy and a viable solution for building community resilience and achieving sustainability, especially in light of the challenges posed by climate change and increasing climate-related hazards. Meanwhile, it remains uncertain how local governments incorporated the key principles of GI into their planning and regulatory frameworks, particularly their comprehensive plans. This study aimed to fill in the gaps by evaluating U.S. Gulf Coast cities’ comprehensive plans regarding GI. Using the content analysis method, a sample of fifty-two city comprehensive plans was evaluated to determine how well local plans support GI and to examine the factors which influence the quality of local plans. Our results indicate that the sampled cities in the Gulf Coast region are likely to have low willingness to plan and implement GI. Moreover, results from statistical analysis implied that the sampled Gulf Coast cities are more likely to produce higher-quality plans in terms of GI when there are more opportunities for public participation and involvement in the planning process. Findings from our study can provide valuable information and direction for local authorities and planners to improve the performance of their comprehensive plans and support GI implementation in the future.
The Effect of Social Capital and Organizational Health on Competitive Advantages of Culinary and Craft SMEs in Samarinda City
Authors: Widyawati Feny , Soemaryani Imas , Muizu Wa Ode Zusnita
Published: May 2023

Samarinda City was appointed as a buffer for the new capital city of Indonesia through culinary and craft SMEs. Culinary and craft SMEs are believed to be the drivers in accelerating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which are part of the strategy of the Provincial Government of East Kalimantan. Even so, 72% of the problems culinary and craft SMEs face in Samarinda City are related to competitive advantages. Culinary and craft SMEs in Samarinda City are still constrained by competitive disadvantage, especially in the non-substitutable resource aspect. This study aimed to analyze the effect of organizational capital and health on competitive advantage, especially in the era of post-COVID-19 economic recovery through the creative economy. This study used a survey method with a quantitative approach. The analysis techniques used were descriptive analysis and factor analysis using structural equation modeling with item parceling. The subjects of this study were SMEs in the culinary and craft sub-sector in Samarinda City (N = 365 SMEs). This study found that social capital and organizational health positively and significantly affect competitive advantage, both partially and simultaneously. Surprisingly, the dimension of work culture and climate s not suitable for modeling the impact of social capital and organizational health on the competitive advantage of culinary and craft SMEs in Samarinda City. This research is expected to contribute theoretically to developing a new model to achieve optimal competitive advantage through social capital and health organizations. This research is expected to strengthen the people’s economy to achieve SDGs through SMEs, especially for Samarinda City, a buffer for the new capital city of the Republic of Indonesia and post-COVID-19 economic recovery through the creative economy.
The Mediating Role of Social Support on the Relationship between Employee Resilience and Employee Engagement
Authors: Okojie Glory , Ismail Ida Rosnita , Begum Halima , Ferdous Alam A. S. A. , Sadik-Zada Elkhan Richard
Published: May 2023

The present study addresses the mediating role of social support in the relationship between employee resilience and employee engagement. A cross-sectional design was adopted to collect data from a sample of 260 registered nurses working in public hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria. The findings suggest that employee resilience is significantly related to social support and employee engagement. However, the quantitative analysis could not establish a significant mediation role of social support in the relationship between employee resilience and employee engagement. Based on the results, this research provides empirical evidence for the importance of employee resilience to greater employee engagement.
Sustainable Operations: A Systematic Operational Performance Evaluation Framework for Public–Private Partnership Transportation Infrastructure Projects
Authors: Du Juan , Wang Wenxin , Gao Xinghua , Hu Min , Jiang Haili
Published: May 2023

With the application of public–private partnership (PPP) model in urban transportation infrastructure projects, various participants have put forward multi-dimensional demands to the operation and maintenance of infrastructures. This study aims to establish a systematic operational performance evaluation framework for PPP transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a literature review, the balanced scorecard was improved, and a conceptual model of multidimensional performance assessment was constructed. The structure of the qualitative performance assessment system was quantified and analyzed by combining structural equation modeling with questionnaires to obtain causal relationships among the indicators. Subsequently, a system dynamics model was constructed to assess the performance dynamically, and a validation analysis was conducted. It finds that maintaining a low level of operational quality over an extended period can significantly reduce stakeholder satisfaction, consequently exacerbating the decline in project performance. In contrast, an improvement in the level of informatization is found to positively contribute to enhancing operational quality and facilitating the long-term sustainability of project operations. It innovatively integrates four dimensions of financial, multi-stakeholder satisfaction, operation and maintenance quality, and sustainability performance to enrich the theoretical system of PPP transportation infrastructure performance assessment. At the same time, it analyzes the influence mechanism among the indicators and its long-term dynamic performance, which provides an effective decision-making tool for operational performance management.
Collective Intelligence to Co-Create the Cities of the Future: Proposal of an Evaluation Tool for Citizen Initiatives
Authors: Berigüete Fanny E. , Rodriguez Cantalapiedra Inma , Palumbo Mariana , Masseck Torsten
Published: May 2023

Citizen initiatives (CIs), through their activities, have become a mechanism to promote empowerment, social inclusion, change of habits, and the transformation of neighbourhoods, influencing their sustainability, but how can this impact be measured? Currently, there are no tools that directly assess this impact, so our research seeks to describe and evaluate the contributions of CIs in a holistic and comprehensive way, respecting the versatility of their activities. This research proposes an evaluation system of 33 indicators distributed in 3 blocks: social cohesion, urban metabolism, and transformation potential, which can be applied through a questionnaire. This research applied different methods such as desk study, literature review, and case study analysis. The evaluation of case studies showed that the developed evaluation system well reflects the individual contribution of CIs to sensitive and important aspects of neighbourhoods, with a lesser or greater impact according to the activities they carry out and the holistic conception they have of sustainability. Further implementation and validation of the system in different contexts is needed, but it is a novel and interesting proposal that will favour decision making for the promotion of one or another type of initiative according to its benefits and the reality and needs of the neighbourhood.
Utilizing Fuzzy AHP in the Evaluation of Barriers to Blockchain Implementation in Reverse Logistics
Authors: Naseem Muhammad Hamza , Yang Jiaqi , Zhang Tongxia , Alam Waseem
Published: May 2023

Digital technologies like blockchain, the Internet of Things, and smart warehouses have been developed due to the fourth industrial revolution, or “Industry 4.0.” Any business’ supply chain includes several stakeholders, including manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and final consumers. The demand for firms to utilize these technologies to gain competitive advantages has intensified in the modern world due to rising worldwide rivalry. Additionally, the adoption of blockchain technology, in particular, can have a huge impact on a company’s reverse logistics, accelerating processes by decentralizing, tracking, and overseeing the delivery of items to final consumers. The goal of this study is to pinpoint those significant obstacles because several must be overcome for blockchain technology to be successfully implemented in reverse logistics. This study identified 16 impediments to the adoption of blockchain technology after a thorough analysis of the literature and expert opinion. The fuzzy AHP approach was used in this study to rank those barriers as this approach helps to address the complexity and uncertainty associated with decision-making in supply chain management and provides a more robust and reliable ranking of the barriers to blockchain adoption. A case study of Pakistan’s e-commerce industry was carried out. The results show that the high installation cost, stakeholders’ resistance to the blockchain, and the lack of top-management support are the critical success factors in blockchain adoption. From an industrial perspective, the study highlights the need for businesses to carefully evaluate the potential benefits and costs of adopting blockchain technology. It also underscores the importance of addressing the barriers to adoption to ensure successful implementation. By doing so, businesses can enhance their supply chain management and improve their overall competitiveness.
School Trips and Local Heritage as a Resource in Primary Education: Teachers’ Perceptions
Authors: Sánchez-Fuster Mª Carmen , Miralles-Martínez Pedro , Serrano-Pastor Francisca-José
Published: May 2023

This paper presents the opinions of primary education teachers in relation to school trips (outdoor learning environment). The following questions are answered: What importance do educational trips have in the context of the curriculum? Does the teacher take advantage of the resources that the environment offers? Are the contents of the curriculum taught during field trips? Are outings planned with the aim of showing students the heritage of the surrounding area? What do students’ families think? In order to answer these questions, a structured questionnaire (CUELX-M ©) was designed, which was then completed by 124 primary school teachers who work in the Region of Murcia (Spain). Through the analysis of the responses to this questionnaire, a detailed study of teachers’ perceptions according to age, gender and teaching experience has been carried out. The reliability of the questionnaire was subjected to expert validation by judges (content, technical and methodological aspects). The reliability of each of the dimensions was also studied, and finally, the construct validity of the scales was studied. The results of Cronbach’s alpha test (=0.867) show that the questionnaire is internally consistent. 98% of the teachers participating in the study agree that school field trips should not be merely recreational and that heritage resources located in the surroundings of schools and cities should be used. However, they also point out that parents of students are sometimes reluctant for their children to participate in such activities due to their economic cost.
Calibration Experiment and Temperature Compensation Method for the Thermal Output of Electrical Resistance Strain Gauges in Health Monitoring of Structures
Authors: Jin Zhihao , Li Yuan , Fan Dongjue , Tu Caitao , Wang Xuchen , Dang Shiyong
Published: May 2023

Electrical resistance strain gauges are widely used in asymmetric structures for measurement and monitoring, but their thermal output in changing temperature environments has a significant impact on the measurement results. Since thermal output is related to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the strain gauge’s sensitive grating material and the measured object, the temperature self-compensation technique of strain gauges fails to eliminate the additional strain caused by temperature because it cannot match the coefficient of thermal expansion of various measured objects. To address this problem, in this study, the principle of the thermal output of electrical resistance strain gauges was analyzed, a calibration experiment for thermal output in the case of a mismatch between the coefficient of linear expansion of the measured object and the strain gauge grating material was conducted, and the mechanism for temperature influence on thermal output was revealed. A method was proposed to obtain the thermal output curves for different materials by using thermostats with dual temperatures to conduct temperature calibration experiments. A linear regression method was used to obtain a linear formula for the thermal output corresponding to each temperature. The thermal output conversion relationship was derived for materials with different coefficients of linear expansion. An in situ temperature compensation technique for electrical resistance strain gauges that separates the measured strain into thermal and mechanical strains was proposed. The results showed that the thermal output curve for the measured object can be calibrated in advance and then deducted from the measured strain, thus reducing the influence of temperature-induced additional strain on the mechanical strain. In addition, a new method was provided for the calculation of the thermal output among materials with similar coefficients of linear expansion, providing a reference for the health monitoring of asymmetric structures.
Ray Tracing Simulation of X-ray Microdiffraction Beamline on the Inverse Compton Source
Authors: Vinogradov Alexander , Feshchenko Ruslan , Shvedunov Vasiliy , Artyukov Igor
Published: May 2023

This paper deals with the simulation of output beam parameters of the inverse Compton X-ray Source (ICS). The simulation takes into account the main parameters of the laser and electron beams, such as their pulse shapes, polarization properties as well as the angular and energy dispersion of the electrons. The layout of the presented ICS and X-ray optical beamline is dedicated to X-ray micro-diffraction studies. To maintain the axial symmetry of output X-ray beams at different photon energies, the beamline monochromator is based on a single crystal installed in the Borrmann transparency condition.
Parallel Binary Rafflesia Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Feature Selection Problem
Authors: Pan Jeng-Shyang , Shi Hao-Jie , Chu Shu-Chuan , Hu Pei , Shehadeh Hisham A.
Published: May 2023

The Rafflesia Optimization Algorithm (ROA) is a new swarm intelligence optimization algorithm inspired by Rafflesia’s biological laws. It has the advantages of high efficiency and fast convergence speed, and it effectively avoids falling into local optimum. It has been used in logistics distribution center location problems, and its superiority has been demonstrated. It is applied to solve the problem of continuity, but there are many binary problems to be solved in the actual situation. Thus, we designed a binary version of ROA. We used transfer functions to change continuous values into binary values, and binary values are used to symmetrically represent the meaning of physical problems. In this paper, four transfer functions are implemented to binarize ROA so as to improve the original transfer function for the overall performance of the algorithm. In addition, on the basis of the algorithm, we further improve the algorithm by adopting a parallel strategy, which improves the convergence speed and global exploration ability of the algorithm. The algorithm is verified on 23 benchmark functions, and the parallel binary ROA has a better performance than some other existing algorithms. In the aspect of the application, this paper adopts the datasets on UCI for feature selection. The improved algorithm has higher accuracy and selects fewer features.
Enhanced Example Diffusion Model via Style Perturbation
Authors: Zhang Haiyan , Feng Guorui
Published: May 2023

With the extensive applications of neural networks in several fields, research on their security has become a hot topic. The digitization of paintings attracts our interest in the security of artistic style classification tasks. The concept of symmetry is commonly adopted in the construction of deep learning models. However, we find that low-quality artistic examples can fool high-performance deep neural networks. Therefore, we propose the enhanced example diffusion model (EDM) for low-quality paintings to symmetrically generate high-quality enhanced examples with positive style perturbations, which improves the performance of the deep learning-based style classification model. Our proposed framework consists of two parts: a style perturbation network that transforms the inputs into the latent space and extracts style features to form a positive style perturbation, and a conditional latent diffusion model that generates high-quality artistic features. High-quality artistic images are combined with positive style perturbations to generate artistic style-enhanced examples. We conduct extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets, and find the effectiveness of our approach in improving the performance of deep learning models.
Spatial Correlation Network Analysis of Industrial Green Technology Innovation Efficiency in China
Authors: Fan Decheng , Wu Xiaolin
Published: May 2023

Exploring the spatial correlation network and its structural characteristics of China’s industrial green technology innovation efficiency is significant for promoting the coordinated development of inter-regional industrial green transformation. Based on the innovation value chain, this paper divides China’s industrial green technology innovation system into three interrelated sub-stages: technology research and development, achievement transformation, and commercialization. The NSBM model is used to measure the efficiency of industrial green technology innovation in 30 provinces and cities in mainland China from 2011 to 2020. The modified gravity model and social network analysis method are introduced to explore its spatial correlation network’s structural characteristics and evolution rules. The results show that the spatial network correlation intensity of the three stages of green technology innovation efficiency in regional industry has gradually strengthened. There is no strict hierarchical structure, and the spatial network tends to be stable. The network shows an apparent “core–edge” distribution in all three stages, with the eastern coastal and central more developed regions at the network’s core. Meanwhile, the northeastern and western remote areas are at the network’s edge and less connected with other regions’ provinces and cities. The distribution of network blocks in the three stages of green technology innovation efficiency is similar. The net benefit block mainly includes the eastern coastal and surrounding developed areas. The net spillover block mainly consists of the economically backward northwest region. The broker block is primarily distributed in the surrounding provinces and cities of the Bohai Rim. The bidirectional spillover block is mainly located in the southwest region. Finally, some suggestions are put forward to promote the coordinated improvement of regional industrial green technology innovation efficiency from the perspective of integrity, individuality, and agglomeration.
Preprocessing Selection for Deep Learning Classification of Arrhythmia Using ECG Time-Frequency Representations
Authors: Holanda Rafael , Monteiro Rodrigo , Bastos-Filho Carmelo
Published: May 2023

The trend of using deep learning techniques to classify arbitrary tasks has grown significantly in the last decade. Such techniques in the background provide a stack of non-linear functions to solve tasks that cannot be solved in a linear manner. Naturally, deep learning models can always solve almost any problem with the right amount of functional parameters. However, with the right set of preprocessing techniques, these models might become much more accessible by negating the need for a large set of model parameters and the concomitant computational costs that accompany the need for many parameters. This paper studies the effects of such preprocessing techniques, and is focused, more specifically, on the resulting learning representations, so as to classify the arrhythmia task provided by the ECG MIT-BIH signal dataset. The types of noise we filter out from such signals are the Baseline Wander (BW) and the Powerline Interference (PLI). The learning representations we use as input to a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model are the spectrograms extracted by the Short-time Fourier Transform (STFT) and the scalograms extracted by the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT). These features are extracted using different parameter values, such as the window size of the Fourier Transform and the number of scales from the mother wavelet. We highlight that the noise with the most significant influence on a CNN’s classification performance is the BW noise. The most accurate classification performance was achieved using the 64 wavelet scales scalogram with the Mexican Hat and with only the BW noise suppressed. The deployed CNN has less than 90k parameters and achieved an average F1-Score of 90.11%.
Co-Clinical Imaging Metadata Information (CIMI) for Cancer Research to Promote Open Science, Standardization, and Reproducibility in Preclinical Imaging
Authors: Moore Stephen M. , Quirk James D. , Lassiter Andrew W. , Laforest Richard , Ayers Gregory D. , Badea Cristian T. , Fedorov Andriy Y. , Kinahan Paul E. , Holbrook Matthew , Larson Peder E. Z. , Sriram Renuka , Chenevert Thomas L. , Malyarenko Dariya , Kurhanewicz John , Houghton A. McGarry , Ross Brian D. , Pickup Stephen , Gee James C. , Zhou Rong , Gammon Seth T. , Manning Henry Charles , Roudi Raheleh , Daldrup-Link Heike E. , Lewis Michael T. , Rubin Daniel L. , Yankeelov Thomas E. , Shoghi Kooresh I.
Published: May 2023

Preclinical imaging is a critical component in translational research with significant complexities in workflow and site differences in deployment. Importantly, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) precision medicine initiative emphasizes the use of translational co-clinical oncology models to address the biological and molecular bases of cancer prevention and treatment. The use of oncology models, such as patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDX) and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), has ushered in an era of co-clinical trials by which preclinical studies can inform clinical trials and protocols, thus bridging the translational divide in cancer research. Similarly, preclinical imaging fills a translational gap as an enabling technology for translational imaging research. Unlike clinical imaging, where equipment manufacturers strive to meet standards in practice at clinical sites, standards are neither fully developed nor implemented in preclinical imaging. This fundamentally limits the collection and reporting of metadata to qualify preclinical imaging studies, thereby hindering open science and impacting the reproducibility of co-clinical imaging research. To begin to address these issues, the NCI co-clinical imaging research program (CIRP) conducted a survey to identify metadata requirements for reproducible quantitative co-clinical imaging. The enclosed consensus-based report summarizes co-clinical imaging metadata information (CIMI) to support quantitative co-clinical imaging research with broad implications for capturing co-clinical data, enabling interoperability and data sharing, as well as potentially leading to updates to the preclinical Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard.
Characterization of the Molecular Diversity and Degranulation Activity of Mastoparan Family Peptides from Wasp Venoms
Authors: Ye Xiangdong , Liu Xin , Luo Xudong , Sun Fang , Qin Chenhu , Ding Li , Zhu Wen , Zhang Huajun , Zhou Haimei , Chen Zongyun
Published: May 2023

Wasp stings have become an increasingly serious public health problem because of their high incidence and mortality rates in various countries and regions. Mastoparan family peptides are the most abundant natural peptides in hornet venoms and solitary wasp venom. However, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive studies on mastoparan family peptides from wasp venoms. In our study, for the first time, we evaluated the molecular diversity of 55 wasp mastoparan family peptides from wasp venoms and divided them into four major subfamilies. Then, we established a wasp peptide library containing all 55 known mastoparan family peptides by chemical synthesis and C-terminal amidation modification, and we systematically evaluated their degranulation activities in two mast cell lines, namely the RBL-2H3 and P815 cell lines. The results showed that among the 55 mastoparans, 35 mastoparans could significantly induce mast cell degranulation, 7 mastoparans had modest mast cell degranulation activity, and 13 mastoparans had little mast cell degranulation activity, suggesting functional variation in mastoparan family peptides from wasp venoms. Structure–function relationship studies found that the composition of amino acids in the hydrophobic face and amidation in the C-terminal region are critical for the degranulation activity of mastoparan family peptides from wasp venoms. Our research will lay a theoretical foundation for studying the mechanism underlying the degranulation activity of wasp mastoparans and provide new evidence to support the molecular design and molecular optimization of natural mastoparan peptides from wasp venoms in the future.