bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ECG Localization Method Based on Volume Conductor Model and Kalman Filtering
Authors: Nakano Yuki , Rashed Essam A. , Nakane Tatsuhito , Laakso Ilkka , Hirata Akimasa
Published: June 2021

The 12-lead electrocardiogram was invented more than 100 years ago and is still used as an essential tool in the early detection of heart disease. By estimating the time-varying source of the electrical activity from the potential changes, several types of heart disease can be noninvasively identified. However, most previous studies are based on signal processing, and thus an approach that includes physics modeling would be helpful for source localization problems. This study proposes a localization method for cardiac sources by combining an electrical analysis with a volume conductor model of the human body as a forward problem and a sparse reconstruction method as an inverse problem. Our formulation estimates not only the current source location but also the current direction. For a 12-lead electrocardiogram system, a sensitivity analysis of the localization to cardiac volume, tilted angle, and model inhomogeneity was evaluated. Finally, the estimated source location is corrected by Kalman filter, considering the estimated electrocardiogram source as time-sequence data. For a high signal-to-noise ratio (greater than 20 dB), the dominant error sources were the model inhomogeneity, which is mainly attributable to the high conductivity of the blood in the heart. The average localization error of the electric dipole sources in the heart was 12.6 mm, which is comparable to that in previous studies, where a less detailed anatomical structure was considered. A time-series source localization with Kalman filtering indicated that source mislocalization could be compensated, suggesting the effectiveness of the source estimation using the current direction and location simultaneously. For the electrocardiogram R-wave, the mean distance error was reduced to less than 7.3 mm using the proposed method. Considering the physical properties of the human body with Kalman filtering enables highly accurate estimation of the cardiac electric signal source location and direction. This proposal is also applicable to electrode configuration, such as ECG sensing systems.
Multi-Location External Workload Profile in Women’s Basketball Players. A Case Study at the Semiprofessional-Level
Authors: Gómez-Carmona Carlos D. , Mancha-Triguero David , Pino-Ortega José , Ibáñez Sergio J.
Published: June 2021

The external workload measured in one anatomical location does not determine the total load supported by the human body. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to characterize the multi-location external workload through PlayerLoadRT of 13 semi-professional women’s basketball players, as well as to analyze differences among anatomical locations (inter-scapulae line, lumbar region, 2× knee, 2× ankle) and laterality (left vs. right) during five tests that represent the most common movements in basketball—(a) linear locomotion, 30-15 IFT; (b) acceleration and deceleration, 16.25-m RSA (c) curvilinear locomotion, 6.75-m arc (d) jump, Abalakov test (e) small-sided game, 10’ 3 vs. 3 10 × 15-m. Statistical analysis was composed of a repeated-measures t-test and eta partial squared effect size. Regarding laterality, differences were found only in curvilinear locomotion, with a higher workload in the outer leg (p < 0.01; ηp2 = 0.33–0.63). In the vertical profile, differences among anatomical locations were found in all tests (p < 0.01; ηp2 = 0.56–0.98). The nearer location to ground contact showed higher values except between the scapulae and lumbar region during jumps (p = 0.83; ηp2 = 0.00). In conclusion, the multi-location assessment of external workload through a previously validated test battery will make it possible to understand the individual effect of external workload in each anatomical location that depends on the type of locomotion. These results should be considered when designing specific strategies for training and injury prevention.
Sea Spectral Estimation Using ARMA Models
Authors: Berardengo Marta , Rossi Giovanni Battista , Crenna Francesco
Published: June 2021

This paper deals with the spectral estimation of sea wave elevation time series by means of ARMA models. To start, the procedure to estimate the ARMA coefficients, based on the use of the Prony’s method applied to the auto-covariance series, is presented. Afterwards, an analysis on how the parameters involved in the ARMA reconstruction procedure—for example, the signal time length, the number of poles and data used—affect the spectral estimates is carried out, providing evidence on their effect on the accuracy of results. This allowed us to provide guidelines on how to set these parameters in order to make the ARMA model as accurate as possible. The paper focuses on mono-modal sea states. Nevertheless, examples also related to bi-modal sea states are discussed.
An Analytics Environment Architecture for Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems Big Data Solutions
Authors: Hinojosa-Palafox Eduardo A. , Rodríguez-Elías Oscar M. , Hoyo-Montaño José A. , Pacheco-Ramírez Jesús H. , Nieto-Jalil José M.
Published: June 2021

The architecture design of industrial data analytics system addresses industrial process challenges and the design phase of the industrial Big Data management drivers that consider the novel paradigm in integrating Big Data technologies into industrial cyber-physical systems (iCPS). The goal of this paper is to support the design of analytics Big Data solutions for iCPS for the modeling of data elements, predictive analysis, inference of the key performance indicators, and real-time analytics, through the proposal of an architecture that will support the integration from IIoT environment, communications, and the cloud in the iCPS. An attribute driven design (ADD) approach has been adopted for architectural design gathering requirements from smart production planning, manufacturing process monitoring, and active preventive maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) scenarios. Data management drivers presented consider new Big Data modeling analytics techniques that show data is an invaluable asset in iCPS. An architectural design reference for a Big Data analytics architecture is proposed. The before-mentioned architecture supports the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) environment, communications, and the cloud in the iCPS context. A fault diagnosis case study illustrates how the reference architecture is applied to meet the functional and quality requirements for Big Data analytics in iCPS.
Design of an SVM Classifier Assisted Intelligent Receiver for Reliable Optical Camera Communication
Authors: Rahman Md. Habibur , Shahjalal Md. , Hasan Moh. Khalid , Ali Md. Osman , Jang Yeong Min
Published: June 2021

Embedding optical camera communication (OCC) commercially as a favorable complement of radio-frequency technology has led to the desire for an intelligent receiver system that is eligible to communicate with an accurate light-emitting diode (LED) transmitter. To shed light on this issue, a novel scheme for detecting and recognizing data transmitting LEDs has been elucidated in this paper. Since the optically modulated signal is captured wirelessly by a camera that plays the role of the receiver for the OCC technology, the process to detect LED region and retrieval of exact information from the image sensor is required to be intelligent enough to achieve a low bit error rate (BER) and high data rate to ensure reliable optical communication within limited computational abilities of the most used commercial cameras such as those in smartphones, vehicles, and mobile robots. In the proposed scheme, we have designed an intelligent camera receiver system that is capable of separating accurate data transmitting LED regions removing other unwanted LED regions employing a support vector machine (SVM) classifier along with a convolutional neural network (CNN) in the camera receiver. CNN is used to detect every LED region from the image frame and then essential features are extracted to feed into an SVM classifier for further accurate classification. The receiver operating characteristic curve and other key performance parameters of the classifier have been analyzed broadly to evaluate the performance, justify the assistance of the SVM classifier in recognizing the accurate LED region, and decode data with low BER. To investigate communication performances, BER analysis, data rate, and inter-symbol interference have been elaborately demonstrated for the proposed intelligent receiver. In addition, BER against distance and BER against data rate have also been exhibited to validate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme comparing with only CNN and only SVM classifier based receivers individually. Experimental results have ensured the robustness and applicability of the proposed scheme both in the static and mobile scenarios.
Is Satellite Ahead of Terrestrial in Deploying NOMA for Massive Machine-Type Communications?
Authors: Arcidiacono Antonio , Finocchiaro Daniele , De Gaudenzi Riccardo , del Rio-Herrero Oscar , Cioni Stefano , Andrenacci Marco , Andreotti Riccardo
Published: June 2021

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technologies are considered key technologies for terrestrial 5G massive machine-type communications (mMTC) applications. It is less known that NOMA techniques were pioneered about ten years ago in the satellite domain to match the growing demand for mMTC services. This paper presents the key features of the first NOMA-based satellite network, presenting not only the underlying technical solutions and measured performance but also the related deployment over the Eutelsat satellite fleet. In particular, we describe the specific ground segment developments for the user terminals and the gateway station. It is shown that the developed solution, based on an Enhanced Spread ALOHA random access technique, achieves an unprecedented throughput, scalability and service cost and is well matched to several mMTC satellite use cases. The ongoing R&D lines covering both the ground segment capabilities enhancement and the extension to satellite on-board packet demodulation are also outlined. These pioneering NOMA satellite technology developments and in-the-field deployments open up the possibility of developing and exploiting 5G mMTC satellite- and terrestrial-based systems in a synergic and interoperable architecture.
Integration of Fine Model-Based Decomposition and Guard Filter for Ship Detection in PolSAR Images
Authors: Liu Dongsheng , Han Ling
Published: June 2021

Ship detection with polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) has gained extensive attention due to its widespread application in maritime surveillance. Nevertheless, designing identifiable features to realize accurate ship detection is still challenging. For this purpose, a fine eight-component model-based decomposition scheme is first presented by incorporating four advanced physical scattering models, thus accurately describing the dominant and local structure scattering of ships. Through analyzing the exclusive scattering mechanisms of ships, a discriminative ship detection feature is then constructed from the derived contributions of eight kinds of scattering components. Combined with a spatial information-based guard filter, the efficacy of the feature is further amplified and thus a ship detector is proposed which fulfills the final ship detection. Several qualitative and quantitative experiments are conducted on real PolSAR data and the results demonstrate that the proposed method reaches the highest figure-of-merit (FoM) factor of 0.96, which outperforms the comparative methods in ship detection.
Autonomous Collision Avoidance Using MPC with LQR-Based Weight Transformation
Authors: Taherian Shayan , Halder Kaushik , Dixit Shilp , Fallah Saber
Published: June 2021

Model predictive control (MPC) is a multi-objective control technique that can handle system constraints. However, the performance of an MPC controller highly relies on a proper prioritization weight for each objective, which highlights the need for a precise weight tuning technique. In this paper, we propose an analytical tuning technique by matching the MPC controller performance with the performance of a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller. The proposed methodology derives the transformation of a LQR weighting matrix with a fixed weighting factor using a discrete algebraic Riccati equation (DARE) and designs an MPC controller using the idea of a discrete time linear quadratic tracking problem (LQT) in the presence of constraints. The proposed methodology ensures optimal performance between unconstrained MPC and LQR controllers and provides a sub-optimal solution while the constraints are active during transient operations. The resulting MPC behaves as the discrete time LQR by selecting an appropriate weighting matrix in the MPC control problem and ensures the asymptotic stability of the system. In this paper, the effectiveness of the proposed technique is investigated in the application of a novel vehicle collision avoidance system that is designed in the form of linear inequality constraints within MPC. The simulation results confirm the potency of the proposed MPC control technique in performing a safe, feasible and collision-free path while respecting the inputs, states and collision avoidance constraints.
Towards Clean and Safe Water: A Review on the Emerging Role of Imprinted Polymer-Based Electrochemical Sensors
Authors: Zheng Xiaofeng , Khaoulani Sohayb , Ktari Nadia , Lo Momath , Khalil Ahmed M. , Zerrouki Chouki , Fourati Najla , Chehimi Mohamed M.
Published: June 2021

This review critically summarizes the knowledge of imprinted polymer-based electrochemical sensors for the detection of pesticides, metal ions and waterborne pathogenic bacteria, focusing on the last five years. MIP-based electrochemical sensors exhibit low limits of detection (LOD), high selectivity, high sensitivity and low cost. We put the emphasis on the design of imprinted polymers and their composites and coatings by radical polymerization, oxidative polymerization of conjugated monomers or sol-gel chemistry. Whilst most imprinted polymers are used in conjunction with differential pulse or square wave voltammetry for sensing organics and metal ions, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) appears as the chief technique for detecting bacteria or their corresponding proteins. Interestingly, bacteria could also be probed via their quorum sensing signaling molecules or flagella proteins. If much has been developed in the past decade with glassy carbon or gold electrodes, it is clear that carbon paste electrodes of imprinted polymers are more and more investigated due to their versatility. Shortlisted case studies were critically reviewed and discussed; clearly, a plethora of tricky strategies of designing selective electrochemical sensors are offered to “Imprinters”. We anticipate that this review will be of interest to experts and newcomers in the field who are paying time and effort combining electrochemical sensors with MIP technology.
Editorial: Understanding Exploitation in Consensual Sex Work to Inform Occupational Health & Safety Regulation: Current Issues and Policy Implications
Authors: Benoit Cecilia
Published: June 2021

The impetus behind this Special Issue emerged from a quest to move beyond binary thinking in the contemporary period about people who sell sexual services, including recent disputes about “sex trafficking vs [...]
Homeschooling during COVID-19: Gender Differences in Work–Family Conflict and Alcohol Use Behaviour among Romantic Couples
Authors: DesRoches Danika I. , Deacon S. Hélène , Rodriguez Lindsey M. , Sherry Simon B. , Nogueira-Arjona Raquel , Elgendi Mariam M. , Meier Sandra , Abbass Allan , King Fiona E. , Stewart Sherry H.
Published: June 2021

Homeschooling due to COVID-19 school closures is likely to increase conflict between work and family demands, potentially leading to adverse substance-use effects. We conducted a survey with 758 couples focusing on homeschooling, work–family conflict, and alcohol use (April 2020). The 211 homeschooling couples reported more work–family conflict than the 547 non-homeschooling couples; there also were stronger effects on family interference with work in women. Among the homeschooling couples, homeschooling hours were associated with greater partner drinking. In distinguishable dyad analyses by gender, women’s hours homeschooling were associated with greater drinking frequency by both parents. Men’s hours homeschooling were associated with lower drinking frequency in their partners. Increased work–family conflict in homeschooling couples is particularly worrisome given its link to increased stress and poor mental health. Moreover, women’s increased drinking may impede their ability to support their families during the pandemic. Men’s increased drinking could put homeschooling mothers at risk for escalating conflict/domestic violence, given links of male drinking to intimate partner violence. Finally, the protective-partner effects of men’s homeschooling hours on women’s drinking frequency suggests that more egalitarian division of homeschooling labor may have protective cross-over effects.
Establishing the Regional Sustainable Developmental Role of Universities—From the Multilevel-Perspective (MLP) and Beyond
Authors: Radinger-Peer Verena , Pflitsch Gesa , Kanning Helga , Schiller Daniel
Published: June 2021

This article establishes the multilevel perspective (MLP) as one of the main research approaches in transition research to study complex systemic change processes in socio-technical systems at different structural levels. The application of the MLP to the higher education system, especially to conceptualize the transition of universities towards a sustainable (regional) developmental role, is still in its infancy. Through using a descriptive narrative analysis of seminal articles, the results of the four-years cooperation within an expert working group, and own empirical findings, the present paper investigates the suitability of the MLP to study the transition of universities and university systems towards a sustainable developmental role in the regional context. Based on these investigations, three further perspectives (which must be considered for establishing a more comprehensive understanding of the universities’ sustainable developmental role) are identified and conceptualized: (a) The target dimension of sustainable regional development, (b) the role of agency, and (c) the introduction of space and place to multiscalar regional transitions. Based on these perspectives, a future research agenda beyond the MLP is developed.
The Human Capital for Value Creation and Social Impact: The Interpretation of the IR’s HC Definition
Authors: Cisi Maurizio , Centrone Francesca Alice
Published: June 2021

The paper aimed at assessing and identifying in a comparative way the potentiality and suitability of the Integrated Reporting (IR)’s definition of human capital (HC) within a selection of companies and social cooperatives. Employing in-depth interviews, the qualitative study analyzed the points of view of a selection of human resources managers to firstly check and test the connection between human capital, value creation, and social impact. The contribution of human capital to value creation is not easily recognized, especially by smaller-sized companies. The results suggested that the HC definition of the IR in the for-profit sector seems to be more applicable to the top management than to the whole workforce, while it appears as “fitting” for the managers of social cooperatives because of its explicit focus on ethical values, loyalty, and motivation. This allowed opening possible channels of dialogue between the profit and not-for-profit sectors. The paper proposed practical recommendations to operationalize the IR’s HC definition.
Channel Depth or Consistency? A Study on Establishing a Sustainable Omnichannel Strategy for Fashion Department Store Retailers
Authors: Kopot Caroline , Cude Brenda J.
Published: June 2021

In recent years, fashion department stores have struggled to sustain their foothold in the competitive market due to changing consumer behavior as well as technological advancement. This study aimed to examine customers’ perspectives on the shopping channels of omnichannel fashion department stores. The analysis was based on data from 552 customers who shopped at U.S. omnichannel fashion department stores. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized to analyze the hypothesized relationship. The results showed that brand attitude mediated the influence of perceived fluency of customers’ purchase intentions in the omnichannel fashion department store setting. Content consistency and process consistency also positively affected customers’ perceived fluency of the channels of those fashion department stores. Customers are more likely to purchase from a fashion department store that provides consistent content and processes across the multiple shopping channels from which they can purchase merchandise. Further, customers value consistency of the content and processes across all fashion department store channels. The results are insightful especially for industry practitioners, as it enables them to develop a sustainable omnichannel business strategy by focusing on the depth of the channels and channel consistencies (content and process) while improving customers’ purchase intention from their stores.
The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Supporting Second-Order Social Capital and Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity
Authors: Khan Asif , Chen Li-Ru , Hung Chao-Yang
Published: June 2021

This research contributes to the developing literature on CSR, second-order social capital, and sustainable innovation ambidexterity by (1) offering a complete theoretical framework grounded on related theories by clarifying the associations between the four components of CSR proposed by Carroll, because this model suggests a company to be a responsible member of the society by following the required laws while generating profits and conducting philanthropic initiatives, SSC, and sustainable innovation ambidexterity, and (2) testing this framework in a new setting and with a new target population. This study focuses on the top-level management of different manufacturing companies located in Pakistan. A total of 34 manufacturing industries were selected using a cluster sampling technique based on their proximity in the selected cluster. Geographical location and industry type were selected as the criteria to group the industries in clusters. The data collected from 220 top and middle-level managers were analyzed using a partial least square method while the moderation analysis was conducted by using variance analysis. According to the findings of this study, economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropical responsibilities of CSR were all found to have a positive influence on second-order social capital. The economic, ethical, and legal responsibility of CSR did not influence sustainable innovation ambidexterity, whereas the philanthropical responsibility of CSR was found to have a positive influence on sustainable innovation ambidexterity. The findings of this research study will allow the managers to identify the right mix of CSR initiatives required to manage SSC and sustainable innovation exploitation and exploration techniques.
Identifying Entrepreneurial Interest and Skills among University Students
Authors: Portuguez Castro May , Gómez Zermeño Marcela Georgina
Published: June 2021

This study presents the profile of the participants in an online course on entrepreneurship that followed a challenge-based learning methodology and was applied to undergraduate students at a university in Mexico. Students were given challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the course and were allowed to recognize their interest in solving these problems. This paper seeks to identify the entrepreneurial profile of university students through their experiences, interests, attitudes, and entrepreneurial skills. Although entrepreneurship courses are offered more frequently in universities, it is necessary to know the characteristics of the students’ interest and their abilities to continue strengthening them. The data were collected through a questionnaire conducted with 20 multidisciplinary participants. The analysis compared the results of those who finished the course vs. those who did not to determine the significant differences in their answers. The results showed that the participants generated sustainable business ideas that favor local and global problems. Additionally, the students showed great interest in social entrepreneurship and developing companies based on the knowledge acquired during their university studies. It is recommended to continue with the training so that these ideas can become real ventures through linkages with other actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and favor the solution of sustainable problems. The questionnaire instrument enabled identifying the students’ characteristics, interests, and entrepreneurial skills, which could be strengthened with other programs that train them. It was also possible to recognize skills that they did not possess before starting the e-learning course which require further strengthening.
Improving Model Predictions—Integration of Real-Time Sensor Data into a Running Simulation of an Agent-Based Model
Authors: Lenfers Ulfia A. , Ahmady-Moghaddam Nima , Glake Daniel , Ocker Florian , Osterholz Daniel , Ströbele Jonathan , Clemen Thomas
Published: June 2021

The current trend towards living in big cities contributes to an increased demand for efficient and sustainable space and resource allocation in urban environments. This leads to enormous pressure for resource minimization in city planning. One pillar of efficient city management is a smart intermodal traffic system. Planning and organizing the various kinds of modes of transport in a complex and dynamically adaptive system such as a city is inherently challenging. By deliberately simplifying reality, models can help decision-makers shape the traffic systems of tomorrow. Meanwhile, Smart City initiatives are investing in sensors to observe and manage many kinds of urban resources, making up a part of the Internet of Things (IoT) that produces massive amounts of data relevant for urban planning and monitoring. We use these new data sources of smart cities by integrating real-time data of IoT sensors in an ongoing simulation. In this sense, the model is a digital twin of its real-world counterpart, being augmented with real-world data. To our knowledge, this is a novel instance of real-time correction during simulation of an agent-based model. The process of creating a valid mapping between model components and real-world objects posed several challenges and offered valuable insights, particularly when studying the interaction between humans and their environment. As a proof-of-concept for our implementation, we designed a showcase with bike rental stations in Hamburg-Harburg, a southern district of Hamburg, Germany. Our objective was to investigate the concept of real-time data correction in agent-based modeling, which we consider to hold great potential for improving the predictive capabilities of models. In particular, we hope that the chosen proof-of-concept informs the ongoing politically supported trends in mobility—away from individual and private transport and towards—in Hamburg.
Horizontal Accountability for SDG Implementation: A Comparative Cross-National Analysis of Emerging National Accountability Regimes
Authors: Breuer Anita , Leininger Julia
Published: June 2021

Achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda requires strong and accountable institutions. However, the focus on sustainability outcomes set forth in the Agenda’s 17 SDGs has side-lined the debate on accountability mechanisms to ensure effective policy implementation. Six years into the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, it is time to assess progress made in this regard. Drawing on theories of public interest and rational choice, this paper argues that horizontal accountability between different state organs will be key to the emergence of national SDG accountability regimes. We provide evidence on monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for SDG progress based on an original database (AccountSDG) built through a document analysis of 136 Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) submitted between 2016 and 2019. Our analysis provides the first systematic cross-national empirical analysis of the role assigned to parliaments, Supreme Auditing Agencies (SAI), and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) in national processes of SDG implementation. We conclude that horizontal accountability, especially the role of SAI and NHRI, remains under-institutionalized in most countries. We conclude by discussing best practices and addressing the most important lacunae, as well as by pointing out limitations of our study and avenues for future research.
Assessment of the Mechanism for Mining Technology Transfer in the Area: Loopholes in ISA Practice and Its Mining Code
Authors: Ning Yu
Published: June 2021

Draft commercial exploitation regulations have been on the agenda of the ISA since several 15-year exploration contracts expired a few years ago. Given the ineffective implementation in practice and the ignored chapter in several mining regulations on the transfer of mining technology, the future Enterprise and developing countries may take a more positive approach to the transfer of mining technology by striking a delicate balance between the provisions on the protection of intellectual property and those on capacity building under the framework of UNCLOS and the 1994 Agreement, through reciprocal and mutual beneficial means such as direct technology purchasing and investment cooperation. The International Seabed Authority, as the competent inter-governmental organization, has the duty to foster favorable conditions for such transfer.
Sources and Applications of Emerging Active Travel Data: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Alattar Mohammad Anwar , Cottrill Caitlin , Beecroft Mark
Published: June 2021

Active travel (AT) has the potential to integrate with, or in some cases substitute for, trips taken by motorized transportation. In this paper we review relevant research on AT outcomes to address the potential of AT and emerging data sources in supporting the transport paradigm shift toward AT. Our analysis identifies physical, mental, built and physical environmental, monetary, and societal outcomes. Traditional methods used to acquire AT data can be divided into manual methods that require substantial user input and automated methods that can be employed for a lengthier period and are more resilient to inclement weather. Due to the proliferation of information and communication technology, emerging data sources are prevailing and can be grouped into social fitness networks, in-house developed apps, participatory mapping, imagery, bike sharing systems, social media, and other types. We assess the emerging data sources in terms of their applications and potential limitations. Furthermore, we identify developing policies and interventions, the potential of imagery, focusing on non-cycling modes and addressing data biases. Finally, we discuss the challenges of data ownership within emerging AT data and the corresponding directions for future work.
Analyzing Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Land Management Practices in Mecha Woreda, Northwestern Ethiopia
Authors: Nebere Habtamu , Tolossa Degefa , Bantider Amare
Published: June 2021

In Ethiopia, the practice of land management started three decades ago in order to address the problem of land degradation and to further boost agricultural production. However, the impact of land management practices in curbing land degradation problems and improving the productivity of the agricultural sector is insignificant. Various empirical works have previously identified the determinants of the adoption rate of land management practices. However, the sustainability of land management practices after adoption, and the various factors that control the sustainability of implemented land management practices, are not well addressed. This study analyzed the factors affecting the sustainability of land management practices after implementation in Mecha Woreda, northwestern Ethiopia. The study used 378 sample respondents, selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were qualitatively and concurrently analyzed with the quantitative data. The sustained supply of fodder from the implemented land management practices, as well as improved cattle breed, increases the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. While lack of agreement in the community, lack of enforcing community bylaws, open cattle grazing, lack of benefits of implemented land management practices, acting as barrier for farming practices, poor participation of household heads during planning and decision-making processes, as well as the lack of short-term benefits, reduce the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. Thus, it is better to allow for the full participation of household heads in planning and decision-making processes to bring practical and visible results in land management practices. In addition, recognizing short-term benefits to compensate the land lost in constructing land management structures must be the strategy in land management practices. Finally, reducing the number of cattle and practicing stall feeding is helpful both for the sustainability of land management practices and the productivity of cattle. In line with this, fast-growing fodder grass species have to be introduced for household heads to grow on land management structures and communal grazing fields for stall feeding.
Using Quantile Regression to Analyze the Relationship between Socioeconomic Indicators and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in G20 Countries
Authors: Alotaibi Abdulaziz A. , Alajlan Naif
Published: June 2021

Numerous studies addressed the impacts of social development and economic growth on the environment. This paper presents a study about the inclusive impact of social and economic factors on the environment by analyzing the association between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and two socioeconomic indicators, namely, Human Development Index (HDI) and Legatum Prosperity Index (LPI), under the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. To this end, we developed a two-stage methodology. At first, a multivariate model was constructed that accurately explains CO2 emissions by selecting the appropriate set of control variables based on model quality statistics. The control variables include GDP per capita, urbanization, fossil fuel consumption, and trade openness. Then, quantile regression was used to empirically analyze the inclusive relationship between CO2 emissions and the socioeconomic indicators, which revealed many interesting results. First, decreasing CO2 emissions was coupled with inclusive socioeconomic development. Both LPI and HDI had a negative marginal relationship with CO2 emissions at quantiles from 0.2 to 1. Second, the EKC hypothesis was valid for G20 countries during the study period with an inflection point around quantile 0.15. Third, the fossil fuel consumption had a significant positive relation with CO2 emissions, whereas urbanization and trade openness had a negative relation during the study period. Finally, this study empirically indicates that effective policies and policy coordination on broad social, living, and economic dimensions can lead to reductions in CO2 emissions while preserving inclusive growth.
Towards a Future Scenario for Offshore Wind Energy in Chile: Breaking the Paradigm
Authors: Mattar Cristian , Cabello-Españon Felipe , Alonso-de-Linaje Nicolas G.
Published: June 2021

Offshore wind energy continues to be a potential candidate for meeting the electricity consumption needs of the Chilean population for decades to come. However, the Chilean energy market is skeptical about exploiting offshore marine energy. At present, there are no offshore marine energy farms. This is probably attributable to the current legal framework, payback period, initial costs of inversions, and future wind speed trends. This work aims to break this paradigm by advancing knowledge regarding the main issues concerning offshore marine energy in Chile. To this end, we estimated the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) from 2000 to 2054 using the CMIP RCP 4.5 and 8.5 climate projections. These projections were based on the estimations for a 608 MW offshore wind project located along the Chilean coast. A comprehensive analysis of the legal framework for implementing offshore marine energy is also presented. The results show that the LCOE ranges between 24 USD/MWh and 2000 USD/MWh. Up to 80% of the study area presents favorable results. Future climate scenarios did not affect the project’s economic viability and notably indicated two major zones with low interannual variability. In terms of legal frameworks, there is a gap in a Chilean trans-ministerial law that ends up causing several processes to be duplicated. Further research is needed to reduce the uncertainties associated with offshore wind energy generation on the Chilean coast. This study aims to further knowledge related to both the opportunities and challenges associated with offshore wind.
Legal Issues Regarding Arctic Cruise Shipping in the Russian Federation
Authors: Kseniia Novikova , Khan Mehran Idris , Chang Yen-Chiang
Published: June 2021

With the development of the transportation network, vessels are increasingly used in the tourism business. The international cruise business requires huge investments and a clear international and domestic legal framework. Russia has unique opportunities to develop cruise tourism as a country with the world’s longest total length of coastal line (37.7 thousand kilometres). Russia intends to develop and support cruise tourism in the Arctic and increase the tourist flow to the Arctic to a certain level in order to promote socio-economic development in the region. At the same time, a rapidly evolving tourism in the Arctic brings new challenges related to the preservation of environmental safety and protection of national interests and requires comprehensive legal cover and regulation at the national level. This article deals with Russian Federation’s laws regulating sea/river cruise shipping involving an international element. It scrutinises state rules and policies on navigation in the Russian Arctic waters and relevant International Treaties of the Russian Federation, highlights the peculiarity of the cruise shipping contract in terms of Russian laws regulating the relationship arising from it, and finally, analyses the effects of Russian legislation in the field of Arctic tourism to its development. The authors attempted to summarise experts’ views on relevant Russian legislation’ shortcomings and put forward possible solutions.
Impacts of Urbanization and Technology on Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Yangtze River Economic Belt at Two Stages: Based on an Extended STIRPAT Model
Authors: Liu Yiping , Han Yuling
Published: June 2021

In the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), one of the most important challenges at present is to promote green, low-carbon development. This study attempted to explore the impact of different dimensions of urbanization and technology on CO2 emissions at different stages in YREB by using an extended STIRPAT model on provincial panel data from 2000 to 2017. To examine the change differences based on the different effects of urbanization and technology on CO2 emissions, we divided the total study period into two stages according to the change trends of CO2 emissions and considered the YREB as a whole as well as the lower, middle, and upper reaches individually. The main findings are as follows. First, an inverted U relationship was found between economic urbanization and CO2 emissions for the entire study period along with the period of a rapid rise in CO2 emissions (Stage I) only in YREB and the upper reaches, while in the stable change period (Stage II), the inverted U relationship existed in the upper and lower reaches. An inverted U relationship between technology and CO2 emissions was only found in the middle reaches for Stage I and in the middle and lower reaches for Stage II. Second, during the entire study period, economic urbanization had the greatest inhibitory effect on carbon dioxide emissions, followed by energy intensity and population urbanization; during Stage I, the main reduction factors were economic urbanization and energy intensity, and population urbanization had a non-significant impact. Third, per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and population size had a positive impact on CO2 emission increases. Specifically, during Stage II, the fitting effect was not good (R2 is 0.3948), and the whole formula was not significant. In lower reaches, the economic urbanization had a positive impact at Stage I, the energy intensity had a rebound effect and per capita GDP had a non-significant impact at Stage II.
Recent Advancements in Technical Design and Thermal Performance Enhancement of Solar Greenhouse Dryers
Authors: Gorjian Shiva , Hosseingholilou Behnam , Jathar Laxmikant D. , Samadi Haniyeh , Samanta Samiran , Sagade Atul A. , Kant Karunesh , Sathyamurthy Ravishankar
Published: June 2021

The food industry is responsible for supplying the food demand of the ever-increasing global population. The food chain is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and global food waste accounts for one-third of produced food. A solution to this problem is preserving crops, vegetables, and fruits with the help of an ancient method of sun drying. For drying agricultural and marine products, several types of dryers are also being developed. However, they require a large amount of energy supplied conventionally from pollutant energy sources. The environmental concerns and depletion risks of fossil fuels persuade researchers and developers to seek alternative solutions. To perform drying applications, sustainable solar power may be effective because it is highly accessible in most regions of the world. Greenhouse dryers (GHDs) are simple facilities that can provide large capacities for drying agricultural products. This study reviews the integration of GHDs with different solar technologies, including photovoltaic (PV), photovoltaic-thermal (PVT), and solar thermal collectors. Additionally, the integration of solar-assisted greenhouse dryers (SGHDs) with heat pumps and thermal energy storage (TES) units, as well as their hybrid configuration considering integration with other renewable energy sources, is investigated to improve their thermal performance. In this regard, this review presents and discusses the most recent advances in this field. Additionally, the economic analysis of SGHDs is presented as a key factor to make these sustainable facilities commercially available.
Site-Specific Determinants and Remains of Medieval City Fortifications as the Potential for Creating Urban Greenery Systems Based on the Example of Historical Towns of the Opole Voivodeship
Authors: Łakomy Katarzyna
Published: June 2021

The article discusses the natural and historic heritage of medieval towns in the Opole Silesia region in the context of their ability to take advantage of their potential for sustainable development, especially in tourism. The chosen environmental, urban, architectural, and landscape factors were compared through this aspect and subjected to a multidimensional comparative analysis. The research studies applied mostly archival materials, contemporary topographic maps, statistical data, and both landscape as well as urban field studies. As a result, the studies indicated that the natural conditions of the locations, the preservation level of the urban system along with its development trends, and the areas of the old fortifications with their accompanying greenery constitute these towns’ very value and identity. As they combine elements of nature and culture, they may serve as the basis for development of tourism, which is likely to contribute to the social and economic revitalization of the region itself. What may play a major role in the quest for sustainable development are the urban greenery systems to be designed based on former fortification areas, city greenery, and natural environmental resources, which have been integral elements of these towns over many past centuries.
A New Challenge for the Management and Disposal of Personal Protective Equipment Waste during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Wang Zheng , Guy Christophe , Ng Kelvin Tsun Wai , An Chunjiang
Published: June 2021

To prevent the transmission of the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the public, the demand and consumption of personal protective equipment (PPE) increased drastically. Such wide use of PPE has brough a new challenge to waste management and disposal. It is difficult to sort PPE waste before further treatment, and such waste will often end up being processed by some traditional disposal methods. During the pandemic, incineration and landfill facilities are currently under significant pressure. In addition, a certain amount of PPE waste is discarded into the environment rather than going to landfills and incinerators. It not only directly affects the ecosystem, but also indirectly threatens human health through various routes of exposure. PPE waste is also the source and carrier of pathogens and chemical contaminants, causing a secondary pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to establish appropriate strategies to deal with the PPE problems related to energy, environment and health, requiring the collaborative efforts of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and governments.
University Social Responsibility during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Universities’ Case in the BRICS Countries
Authors: Rababah Abedalqader , Nikitina Natalya I. , Grebennikova Veronica M. , Gardanova Zhanna R. , Zekiy Angelina O. , Ponkratov Vadim V. , Bashkirova Nadezhda N. , Kuznetsov Nikolay V. , Volkova Tatyana I. , Vasiljeva Marina V. , Ivleva Marina I. , Elyakova Izabella D.
Published: June 2021

University social responsibility (USR) is an important assessment criterion of the QS Stars. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the social orientation of universities as intellectual leaders in the development of society gains particular importance. The research purpose is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the university activity directions in the framework of strategies (USR). An empirical assessment of the level and complementary factors of USR in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) was conducted, using the method of integral and expert assessment. Grounded on scoring according to the principal component analysis, the structure of the factors of the USR development in the BRICS countries was determined. Multifactor regression modeling allowed substantiating the priority of factors stimulating the development of USR in the BRICS countries in modern conditions and arguing the main barriers to introducing the concept of social responsibility into university activities and expanding the stakeholders’ circle in it. The research results showed that the university management creativity, effective communication with the public and stakeholders, the quality of the educational process and the development of scientific activities stimulate USR development in the BRICS countries and should be used as the basis for the strategic planning of activities in the context of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Conceptual trends in the USR development can be useful for universities in the studied countries when adapting strategic development plans regarding the social needs of modern society.