bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Let’s Draw a Line between Dos and Don’ts”: Pakistani Journalists’ Perspectives about the Ethics of Conflict-Sensitive Reporting
Authors: Jamil Sadia , Appiah-Adjei Gifty
Published: January 2023

In conflict-ridden countries, the news media has a pivotal role to perform as an active advocate of human rights and societal peace, as well as a facilitator of conflict mitigation and resolution through the gathering and dissemination of non-partisan information. While today the world witness armed conflicts in more forms than ever before, some countries are more sensitive to conflict and violence—such as Pakistan. The country is recognized as one of the riskiest places for working journalists by virtue of recurrent political, ethnic, and religious conflicts. The Pakistani journalists work in a climate of fear and risks and with opposing groups seeking to influence the news media, which creates more difficulties for them to report unbiased and accurate news to the public. The practice of ethics has become more challenging for the Pakistani journalists because the country lacks an effective and standardized code of conduct to report on conflict. Therefore, drawing on the theory of the conflict triangle by Galtung, this study seeks the Pakistani journalists’ perspectives about the ethics of conflict sensitive reporting. In doing so, this study uses the quantitative method of survey and the qualitative method of in-depth interviews. The study uses descriptive analysis to present the survey findings in the form of percentage and thematic analysis to present the findings of interview data.
Thematic Review of Motivational Factors, Types of Uncertainty, and Entrepreneurship Strategies of Transitional Entrepreneurship among Ethnic Minorities, Immigrants, and Women Entrepreneurs
Authors: Raimi Lukman , Panait Mirela , Gigauri Iza , Apostu Simona
Published: January 2023

The current study examines the motivational factors, types of uncertainty, and entrepreneurship strategies of transitional entrepreneurship among ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women entrepreneurs, drawing insights from an extensive literature review. To understand the dynamics of transitional entrepreneurship, a thematic review, a qualitative research tool, was used to analyze the research problem and provide answers to the research questions. Three insightful findings emerged from the thematic review. First, six broad themes emerged as catalysts for transitional entrepreneurship among the three focused entrepreneurs, namely, the institutional environment, push factors, pull factors, ethnic resource dependence, cultural inheritance, and gender identity issues. Specific elements of each of the six themes are explicated. Moreover, two levels of uncertainty (Levels 1 and 2) confront transitional entrepreneurs depending on countries and institutional contexts. Level 1 uncertainty presents a clear future with likelihoods, possibilities, and probabilities of success, while Level 2 uncertainty presents several alternate paths and trajectories with a blurred possibility of success for these entrepreneurs. Finally, transitional entrepreneurs leverage optioned and adaptive entrepreneurship strategies in different ways to cope with the two types of uncertainty in their host countries. Given the prospects of TE, the paper provides implications on how to remove the institutional barriers facing transitional entrepreneurs for more balanced socioeconomic inclusion in host countries. It further explicates a need to leverage the motivational factors and entrepreneurship strategies for economic development. By providing a theoretical-based framework of motivations, types of uncertainty, and entrepreneurship strategies, the paper bridges the gaps in the literature and contributes to a better way of understanding TE among ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women entrepreneurs in the period of transition.
Multifunctional Evolution and Allocation Optimization of Rural Residential Land in China
Authors: Qu Yanbo , Wu Meijing , Zhan Lingyun , Shang Ran
Published: January 2023

The rural residential land functions are the comprehensive embodiment of the storage quantity and structural organization of the rural man–land system. Mastering the evolution rule and allocation situation is the basis of effective rural land management and targeted poverty alleviation activities. Based on the theoretical understanding of rural residential multifunction, this paper identifies five functional types and characteristic elements uses a variety of methods to calculate to reveal the spatio-temporal differentiation and allocation and discusses the process mechanism and spatial pattern of function optimization. According to the results, during the sample period, the multifunctional index of rural residential land in China was ranked from large to small as residential function (RF), living function (LF), service function (SF), production function (PF) and ecological function (EF), and the growth rate was ranked from large to small as ecological function (EF), production function (PF), residential function (RF), living function (LF) and service function (SF), and the comprehensive function index increased by more than 50%. The distribution characteristics of all the functional indexes were basically the same. The regional performance was east > central > northeast > west, and the range of each functional index in terms of the interprovincial performance decreased; however, the convergence degree increased, and the number of provinces with comparative advantages in terms of the various functions expanded to more than 50%. The living, ecological, and comprehensive functions increased, while the residential, production, and service functions decreased. The continuous deprivation of the functions and their deprivation in many provinces are problems. This study can provide decision support for promoting the normalization and standardization of superior rural functions.
Spatiotemporal Change Analysis and Prediction of the Great Yellow River Region (GYRR) Land Cover and the Relationship Analysis with Mountain Hazards
Authors: Gao Chunliu , Cheng Deqiang , Iqbal Javed , Yao Shunyu
Published: January 2023

The study of land use/land cover (LULC) changes plays an important guiding role in regional ecological protection and sustainable development policy formulation. Especially, the simulation study of the future scenarios may provide a hypothetical prospect which could help to determine the rationality of current and future development policies. In order to support the ecological protection and high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin proposed by the Chinese government, the Great Yellow River Region (GYRR) is taken as the research area. The multi-period land cover data are used to carry out the analysis of land cover changes. The MOLUSCE (Modules for Land Use Change Simulations) plugin of QGIS software is used to carry out a land cover simulation and prediction study for 2030 on a large regional scale. Finally, the land cover status in the mountainous areas of the GYRR is analyzed thoroughly. The results show a decrease in agricultural land and increase in forest land during the past 25 years from 1995 to 2020, and that this trend would continue to 2030. The landscape pattern index analysis indicates that the land cover in the GYRR has become more and more abundant, and the degree of fragmentation has become higher and higher, while landscape patches were more evenly distributed in the GYRR until 2020. On the other hand, the landscape pattern would tend to achieve a certain degree of stability in 2030. The decrease in farmland and the increase in forest land illustrate the efforts made by the GYRR residents and governments in improving the ecological environment under the policy of returning farmland to forests and grasslands. On the other hand, although the residential areas in the mountainous areas are far away from the mountain hazard historical points because of consideration during construction with the help of the development of disaster prevention and mitigation over the years, there could be problem of rapid and haphazard urbanization. It is worth mentioning here that the harmonious and sustainable development of people and land in the GYRR mountainous areas still requires a large amount of effort.
Remote Sensing and Invasive Plants in Coastal Ecosystems: What We Know So Far and Future Prospects
Authors: Villalobos Perna Priscila , Di Febbraro Mirko , Carranza Maria Laura , Marzialetti Flavio , Innangi Michele
Published: January 2023

Coastal environments are highly threatened by invasive alien plants (IAP), and Remote Sensing (RS) may offer a sound support for IAP detection and mapping. There is still a need for an overview of the progress and extent of RS applications on invaded coasts that can help the development of better RS procedures to support IAP management. We conducted a systematic literature review of 68 research papers implementing, recommending, or discussing RS tools for IAP mapping in coastal environments, published from 2000 to 2021. According to this review, most research was done in China and USA, with Sporobolus (17.3%) being the better studied genus. The number of studies increased at an accelerated rate from 2015 onwards, coinciding with the transition from RS for IAP detection to RS for invasion modeling. The most used platforms in the 2000s were aircraft, with satellites that increased from 2005 and unmanned aerial vehicles after 2014. Frequentist inference was the most adopted classification approach in the 2000s, as machine learning increased after 2009. RS applications vary with coastal ecosystem types and across countries. RS has a huge potential to further improve IAP monitoring. The extension of RS to all coasts of the world requires advanced applications that bring together current and future Earth observation data.
Reimagining the Development of Downtown Cahokia Using Remote Sensing Visualizations from the Western Edge of the Grand Plaza
Authors: Stauffer J. Grant , Grooms Seth B. , Hu Lorraine W. , Mersmann Joy , Kidder Tristram R. , Henry Edward R.
Published: January 2023

The distribution of mounds, plazas, and defensive palisades associated with Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (CMSHS) defines the core urban environment of Eastern North America’s first American Indian city. The large mounds surrounding Cahokia’s centrally located Grand Plaza, including the palisades that enclose them, are referred to as Downtown Cahokia. In this portion of the site, archaeologists have identified material culture (e.g., ceramics), earthen fills to level the plaza, and several earthen mound constructions. These findings suggest an occupational history for the area that occurred over the 9th–14th centuries CE, with the emergence of plaza delineation and earthwork construction beginning in the early 11th century CE. In sum, Downtown Cahokia and its Grand Plaza are considered by archaeologists to be a vibrant space characterized by ongoing American Indian transformations to an early metropolitan landscape. We conducted magnetometer and electromagnetic induction surveys at the western edge of the Grand Plaza. When compared with the LiDAR-derived visualizations we generated from this portion of the site, our aerial and terrestrial remote sensing data offered new information on the nature and sequence of monument construction in Downtown Cahokia, as well as architectural changes in domestic and special-use structures. These multi-scalar and complementary remote sensing datasets allowed us, without excavating, to trace important sequences of change in Downtown Cahokia’s history.
The Method of Segmenting the Early Warning Thresholds Based on Fisher Optimal Segmentation
Authors: Li Xiangyu , Lei Tianjie , Qin Jing , Wang Jiabao , Wang Weiwei , Liu Baoyin , Chen Dongpan , Qian Guansheng , Zhang Li , Lu Jingxuan
Published: January 2023

Most slope collapse accidents are indicated by certain signs before their occurrence, and unnecessary losses can be avoided by predicting slope deformation. However, the early warning signs of slope deformation are often misjudged. It is necessary to establish a method to determine the appropriate early warning signs in sliding thresholds. Here, to better understand the impact of different scales on the early warning signs of sliding thresholds, we used the Fisher optimal segmentation method to establish the early warning signs of a sliding threshold model based on deformation speed and deformation acceleration at different spatial scales. Our results indicated that the accuracy of the early warning signs of sliding thresholds at the surface scale was the highest. Among them, the early warning thresholds of the blue, yellow, orange, and red level on a small scale were 369.31 mm, 428.96 mm, 448.41 mm, and 923.7 mm, respectively. The evaluation accuracy of disaster non-occurrence and occurrence was 93.25% and 92.41%, respectively. The early warning thresholds of the blue, yellow, orange, and red level on a large scale were 980.11 mm, 1038.16 mm, 2164.63 mm, and 9492.75 mm, respectively. The evaluation accuracy of disaster non-occurrence and occurrence was 97.22% and 97.44%, respectively. Therefore, it is necessary to choose deformation at the surface scale with a large scale as the sliding threshold. Our results effectively solve the problem of misjudgment of the early warning signs of slope collapse, which is of great significance for ensuring the safe operation of water conservation projects and improving the slope deformation warning capability.
Temporal and Spatial Changes of Habitat Quality and Their Potential Driving Factors in Southwest China
Authors: Li Tao , Bao Rui , Li Ling , Tang Mingfang , Deng Hongbing
Published: January 2023

Climate change and human activities have considerably changed the spatial patterns and functional elements of regional habitats. Understanding spatiotemporal changes in habitat quality (HQ) and their potential driving factors is essential for maintaining ecosystem health and protecting biodiversity. To explore the effect of physical and human factors on HQ changes in Southwest China, we firstly analyzed the land-use change intensity (LCI). We then evaluated spatiotemporal changes in HQ based on the InVEST model and explored the spatial heterogeneity of the main driving factors of HQ changes based on a geographical detector and a geographical weighted regression model. The results showed that LCI had obvious spatiotemporal differences, and LCI from low-quality habitat to high-quality habitat (LCI1) was significantly higher than that from high-quality habitat to low-quality habitat (LCI2). The HQ improved steadily in Southwest China in 1990–2015, showing a trend of low–high–low from southeast to northwest. Moreover, there were twelve factors, including aboveground biomass, ecological land area ratio, population density, slope, etc., which had a significant impact on the spatial differences in HQ, and the effects of different factors on HQ had observable spatial heterogeneity. The effect of LCI2 on the spatial difference of HQ was greater than that of LCI1. These results suggested that the current ecosystem protection and management policy had a positive effect on improving HQ. Our study provides an important decision-making reference for sustainable land development and utilization and regional ecological protection and restoration.
Factors Influencing the Spatiotemporal Changes of Permafrost in Northeast China from 1982 to 2020
Authors: Yang Dongyu , Zhan Daqing , Li Miao , Zang Shuying
Published: January 2023

Permafrost in northeast China, which is at the southern edge of the high-latitude permafrost belt in Eurasia, is extremely sensitive to climate warming. However, the distribution of permafrost in the region in recent years has been poorly studied, and there is a lack of understanding of the relative importance of environmental factors affecting the region. Based on observed ground surface temperature (GST) data, this study quantifies changes in the permafrost area in northeast China from 1982 to 2020 using a surface frost number model, and the influencing factors are identified based on dominance analysis and spatial correlation analysis. The results suggest that the permafrost in northeast China during the observation period underwent degradation with a degradation rate of 0.33 × 104 km2/a. In addition, the permafrost degradation also exhibited altitudinal and latitudinal zonality. Permafrost degradation under typical grassland, deciduous forest, and savannah cover was more significant than that under evergreen forest, mixed forest, and shrubbery cover. As revealed by the dominance analysis results, the annual average snow cover, annual average snow depth and annual average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) had the largest contributions to the variance of the permafrost area in northeast China, accounting for 88.3% of the total variance contribution of the six influencing factors. The spatial correlation results reveal that areas with a significantly increased NDVI and significantly reduced snow depth and snow cover were coincident with areas with significantly degraded permafrost. Hence, the snow cover, snow depth, and NDVI were found to have the greatest influence on the permafrost distribution in northeast China. The results of this study evidently increase the understanding of the changing permafrost in northeast China, providing important knowledge about permafrost for researchers and the related community.
Simulation of Urban Areas Exposed to Hazardous Flash Flooding Scenarios in Hail City
Authors: Hamdy Omar , Abdelhafez Mohamed Hssan Hassan , Touahmia Mabrouk , Alshenaifi Mohammed , Noaime Emad , Elkhayat Khaled , Alghaseb Mohammed , Ragab Ayman
Published: January 2023

According to the United Nations (UN), an additional 1.35 billion people will live in cities by 2030. Well-planned measures are essential for reducing the risk of flash floods. Flash floods typically inflict more damage in densely populated areas. The province of Hail encompasses 120,000 square kilometers, or approximately 6% of the total land area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Due to its innate physiographic and geologic character, Hail city is susceptible to a wide variety of geo-environmental risks such as sand drifts, flash floods, and rock falls. The aim of this work is to evaluate the rate of urban sprawl in the Hail region using remote sensing data and to identify urban areas that would be affected by simulated worst-case flash floods. From 1984 to 2022, the global urbanization rate increased from 467 to 713% in the Hail region. This is a very high rate of expansion, which means that the number of urban areas exposed to the highest level of flood risk is rising every year. With Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA), a wide range of hydrologic scenarios can be simulated. The data sources for the soil type, infiltration, and initial moisture were utilized to create the coverage and index maps. To generate virtual floods, we ran the GSSHA model within the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) program to create the hazard map for flash flooding. This model provides a suitable method based on open access data and remote data that can help planners in developing countries to create the risk analysis for flash flooding.
Contrasting Response of Mountain Plant-Pollinator Network to Fragmented Semi-Natural Grasslands
Authors: Della Rocca Francesca , Tagliani Arianna , Milanesi Pietro , Barcella Matteo , Assini Silvia Paola
Published: January 2023

The majority of the world’s plants rely on animal pollinators for reproduction, making pollination a key ecosystem service for the maintenance of natural and cultivated plant communities. Mutual interactions between plants and pollinators, also called “plant-pollinator networks”, are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to the intensification of anthropogenic land use and climate change. Thus, due to the rapid decline of semi-natural grasslands in the Northern Apennines (Italy), we aimed at understanding how the fragmentation of these habitats, the spatial distribution, and the amount of semi- and natural areas surrounding them, could affect species diversity and plant-pollinator networks. Specifically, in the Northern Apennines, we monitored semi-natural grasslands belonging to the EU habitat type 6510 to evaluate the effect of fragmentation on plant and pollinator richness and on the plant-pollinator network. We carried out generalized linear models considering three taxonomical and six network descriptors as response variables and the combinations of grasslands size and isolation, as well as 10 other factors describing landscape composition as explanatory variables. We found a well-structured plant-pollinator network, characterized by a high diversity of both plants and pollinators, with mutual relations marginally specialized, highly affected by habitat fragmentation and the land use of surrounding grasslands. Moreover, large and neighboring patches increased pollinator richness and improved the overall network structure while the occurrence of meadows and shrubs around fragmented patches was important to ensure the continuity of floristic resources. Finally, extensive croplands and agricultural settlements significantly reduced plant and pollinator diversity, favoring generalist (probably invasive) species, which however increased the strength and stability of the network.
Credit Constraint, Interlinked Insurance and Credit Contract and Farmers’ Adoption of Innovative Seeds-Field Experiment of the Loess Plateau
Authors: Yu Leshan , Song Yan , Wu Haixia , Shi Hengtong
Published: January 2023

The interlinked insurance and credit contract is an emerging model of agricultural insurance in China. However, the development of interlinked insurance and credit contract and farmers’ demands for it are poorly understood. Based on the wheat farmers on the Loess Plateau in China, a field experiment is employed to obtain dynamic choice data from 415 farmers. We empirically analyzed the inhibitory effect of credit constraint on farmers’ adoption behavior of innovative seeds and also explored the heterogeneity of farmers’ innovative seeds adoption due to the availability of interlinked insurance and credit contract. The results illustrate that credit constraint can hinder farmers’ innovative seeds adoption significantly, and interlinked insurance and credit contracts can encourage farmers to adopt innovative seeds effectively by dispersing natural risks and alleviating credit rationing. Further, constrained by low education levels in China’s rural areas, providing interlinked insurance and credit contract to farmers is not beneficial to enhance farmers’ innovative seeds adoption. In addition, farmers who are relatively poor may underestimate the benefits of innovative seeds at the beginning of planting, making their adoption behavior have some delayed effect. This research provides a new perspective for promoting the spread of innovative technology in rural areas.
What Are the Relationships between Public Transit and Gentrification Progress? An Empirical Study in the New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island Areas
Authors: Chen Yefu , Xi Hao , Jiao Junfeng
Published: January 2023

Transit-oriented development has been a widely accepted tool among transportation planning practitioners; however, there are concerns about the risk of increasing residential property values leading to gentrification or displacements. Therefore, it is critical to provide precise investigations of the relationships between public transit and gentrification. Although numerous studies have explored this topic, few have discussed these relationships based on detailed measurements of gentrification from a regional perspective. This study aims to fill the research gap by measuring the gentrification subcategories through a hierarchical definition based on data in the New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island areas and applying the transit desert concept as the measurement of transit services. Through multinomial logistic regression and machine-learning approaches, findings indicate that the rate of transit deserts in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods is higher than the others. In addition, the impacts of transit services are significant in gentrification but insignificant in super-gentrification. These findings can advance the knowledge of the role of the transit service in different gentrification progresses. Based on these findings, policymakers need to be careful when allocating public transit budgets and note the effects of these investments on neighborhoods with different socioeconomic statuses.
Pull and Push Drivers of Giant-Wave Spectators in Nazaré, Portugal: A Cultural Ecosystem Services Assessment Based on Geo-Tagged Photos
Authors: Azevedo António
Published: January 2023

This paper maps the cultural ecosystem services (CES) of a well-known giant-wave hotspot located in Nazaré, Portugal. The paper adopts a qualitative approach combining an auto-ethnographic direct observation of a journey and the content analysis of photos and videos posted on the YouTube and Facebook pages of tourists and operators. A total of 44 geotagged photos from a sample of 6914 photos retrieved from Flickr allowed the classification and spatial distribution of several CES: (1) recreational—surf activities; (2) aesthetic—photography; (3) spiritual—dark tourism and risk recreation; (4) intangible heritage—maritime knowledge; (5) scientific—wave height forecast; (6) sense of place; and (7) social relations. The paper also proposes a theoretical framework that highlights the pull drivers (risk recreation, storm chasing, or spectacular death voyeurism) and the push drivers (e.g., marketing campaigns and wave forecasts alerts) that explain the behaviors of the big-wave spectators/chasers during the experience journey. Public decision-makers, destination marketing organizations, tourism operators, and business entrepreneurs must acknowledge the relevance of journey mapping in order to identify the moments of stress and the touchpoints associated with peak/positive experiences generated by these CES. This study confirms some push and pull factors assessed by previous studies.
Local and Landscape Factors Influence Plant-Pollinator Networks and Bee Foraging Behavior across an Urban Corridor
Authors: Pardee Gabriella L. , Ballare Kimberly M. , Neff John L. , Do Lauren Q. , Ojeda DianaJoyce , Bienenstock Elisa J. , Brosi Berry J. , Grubesic Tony H. , Miller Jennifer A. , Tong Daoqin , Jha Shalene
Published: January 2023

Given widespread concerns over human-mediated bee declines in abundance and species richness, conservation efforts are increasingly focused on maintaining natural habitats to support bee diversity in otherwise resource-poor environments. However, natural habitat patches can vary in composition, impacting landscape-level heterogeneity and affecting plant-pollinator interactions. Plant-pollinator networks, especially those based on pollen loads, can provide valuable insight into mutualistic relationships, such as revealing the degree of pollination specialization in a community; yet, local and landscape drivers of these network indices remain understudied within urbanizing landscapes. Beyond networks, analyzing pollen collection can reveal key information about species-level pollen preferences, providing plant restoration information for urban ecosystems. Through bee collection, vegetation surveys, and pollen load identification across ~350 km of urban habitat, we studied the impact of local and landscape-level management on plant-pollinator networks. We also quantified pollinator preferences for plants within urban grasslands. Bees exhibited higher foraging specialization with increasing habitat heterogeneity and visited fewer flowering species (decreased generality) with increasing semi-natural habitat cover. We also found strong pollinator species-specific flower foraging preferences, particularly for Asteraceae plants. We posit that maintaining native forbs and supporting landscape-level natural habitat cover and heterogeneity can provide pollinators with critical food resources across urbanizing ecosystems.
Is Land Expropriation to Keep Agricultural Use an Effective Strategy for the Conservation of an Urban Agricultural Heritage System? Evidence from China
Authors: Zhao Fei , Zhu Changqiao , Zhang Jia’en , Luo Shiming , Feng Yueyi , Xiang Huimin , Jiang Yichen , Lu Xiali , Tian Yi
Published: January 2023

Urbanization is one of the major threats to the dynamic inheritance of the agricultural heritage system (AHS). The ability to achieve sustainable development in intra-urban areas is an essential proposition related to the innovation of AHS conservation principles. The Haizhu high bed-low ditch agroecosystem (HHBLDA), a China-Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage System site located at the center of Guangzhou City, is taken as an example in this study. The effect of implementing the Land Acquisition to Keep Agricultural Use (LAKAU) on intra-urban AHS conservation is assessed through literature collection and review, field survey, and in-depth interviews. The results show that the LAKAU was implemented because of a three-decades-long struggle between ecological conservation and urban sprawl. Because of the important functions of ecosystem services, the AHS can coexist with urban land use in the course of rapid urbanization. The LAKAU mode can ensure that the nature of farmland remains unchanged, which is an effective strategy for the conservation of an urban AHS. The resulting problems, such as high operating costs, insufficient agricultural outputs, and insufficient local farmers in the AHS site because of off-farm opportunities, should be addressed by establishing an effective self-sustaining mechanism. Realizing the compatibility of management concepts between the AHS and nature reserves, adapting to the changing role of farmers, and strengthening the acceptance of the AHS by urban managers should attract the attention of decision-makers.
Active and Passive Carbon Fractions in Contrasting Cropping Systems, Tillage Practices, and Soil Types
Authors: Rakesh S. , Sinha Abhas Kumar , Sarkar Deepranjan , Roy Dewali , Bodiga Divya , Sahoo Samaresh , Jha Prakash Kumar , Dubey Pradeep Kumar , Rakshit Amitava
Published: January 2023

The rate of change in the relative amount of active and passive carbon (AC and PC) due to the land management practices (cropping systems combined with tillage) may vary with soil types depending on their level of chemical and/or physical protection from the decomposition but has rarely been directly measured. We have quantified the C storage potentiality of different soil types, namely old alluvial Inceptisol of Malda and recent alluvial Entisol of Coochbehar in West Bengal (subtropical eastern India) under the influence of different cropping systems (rice-maize: RM and rice-wheat: RW) and tillage practices (zero-tillage: ZT and conventional tillage: CT). The key objective was to demonstrate the short-term impact of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil C dynamics over the conventional practice. Research revealed that after short-term CA, total organic carbon (TOC), AC, PC, and total nitrogen (TN) showed significant (p < 0.05) improvement under the RM cropping system over the RW. The highest TOC content under the RM cropping system was recorded in the sites of Malda over the Coochbehar sites. The ZT significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the TOC in the upper layers (0–5 and 5–10 cm) and the CT showed improvements in the lower depths (10–20 cm). We observed some irregular variations in the interactions of the cropping system and tillage with respect to different sites. However, the ZT performed better in improving C fractions under RM and RW as compared to CT. The TOC and TN stocks were maximum in the lower depth which was evident in both soil types. The TOC linearly regressed on TN accounted for 94.2% variability (R2 = 0.942) of the C accumulation in soil and vice-versa. The PC was in a significant relationship with TN (R2 = 0.943), but AC was moderately regressed (R2 = 0.851). Lower stratification ratio values in Coochbehar soils (sandy loam in texture) indicated higher profile distribution of AC and PC in the soil profile; while in the Inceptisol, accumulation of the C fractions on the soil surface due to heavy texture resulted in the higher stratification values. The novelty of this study is that old alluvial Inceptisol showed a comparatively greater amount of AC and PC storage capability in comparison with the new alluvial Entisol. Conclusively, our study demonstrated that the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA practice/ZT) in cropping systems with higher C biomass input would significantly enhance the AC and PC fractions; however, the amount of storage is highly governed by the soil type and climatic factors.
Neighborhood Spatio-Temporal Impacts of SDG 8.9: The Case of Urban and Rural Exhibition-Driven Tourism by Multiple Methods
Authors: Cai Gangwei , Zou Baoping , Chi Xiaoting , He Xincheng , Guo Yuang , Jiang Wen , Wu Qian , Zhang Yujin , Zhou Yanna
Published: January 2023

Rural arts events (triennials/festivals) are mainly aimed at local and regional revitalization. This exhibition-driven tourism (unlike traditional festivals, conferences, and exhibitions) has existed for more than 20 years in Japan. The curators of exhibition-driven tourism hope that these events can promote the economy and stop population decline as a result of the aging population. Therefore, this paper attempts to evaluate the effects of urban and rural arts event tourism in local and neighborhood areas in Niigata, Japan from the perspective of SDG 8.9. The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial and Water and Land Niigata Art Festival were chosen as case studies. Panel data (1997–2019) concerning tourists, income, and population in Niigata were evaluated using multiple empirical methods with descriptive correlation statistics (simple linear regression (SLR) and one-way ANOVA) and spatial analysis (Moran’s I). Through multiple-method analysis, the positive impacts of urban and rural arts event tourism in local and neighborhood areas in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 8.9 were evaluated. The findings presented herein have meaningful implications for tourism academia and the industry in general.
Socioeconomic Effects of Good Governance Practices in Urban Land Management: The Case of Lega Tafo Lega Dadi and Gelan Towns
Authors: Udessa Fraol , Adugna Dagnachew , Workalemahu Liku
Published: January 2023

This study’s objective is to assess the socioeconomic effects of good governance practices in urban land management in two particular Ethiopian towns. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to achieve this objective. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to collect data, and the collected data were analyzed descriptively. According to the study’s findings, the poor were hit particularly hard by weak governance in urban land management, since they could not afford to bribe authorities to acquire services or legal protection. Development was hampered by poor governance and corruption in the management of urban land, which raised business risks, decreased investment incentives, and restricted access to financing in the towns. Communities bribed officials to remove limits on land-use planning and to influence the decision to stop the implementation of environmental protection rules. Due to their unregistered land, the majority of suburban inhabitants did not pay property taxes. Similarly, since paying property taxes was seen as a necessary step in towns’ regularization process, informal settlers were prohibited from doing so. As a result, residents in urban areas began to construct homes without registering their land and land rights. As a result, after being delimited to the towns, more landowners in peri-urban regions utilized their property for residential purposes and unlawful transactions, while fewer were using it for agricultural purposes. Consequently, due to poor governance in urban land management, land-related socioeconomic development was unable to be fostered.
Research on the Interactive Relationship of Spatial Expansion between Estuarine and Coastal Port Cities
Authors: Li Zeyang , Luan Weixin , Zhang Zhenchao , Su Min
Published: January 2023

In both developed and developing countries, port-city relationships have always attracted much attention. However, in the port–city interface, views differ as to whether the port drives the city or vice versa. The combination of remote sensing data and geospatial big data (point of interest) has provided a favorable solution. Taking the typical estuarine and coastal port cities in China’s coastal zone as an example, this study examines the following contents based on the port–city interface: the formation age of urban built-up areas and port areas on both sides of the port–city boundary; interaction between port and urban built-up areas; and the distribution of urban functional areas outside the port. Results show that the degree of spatial integration in estuarine port cities is higher than that of coastal port cities and that in the past 30 years, the expansion of ports has led to the expansion of cities. This expansion is port- and sea-oriented, and the expansion direction of the port city is consistent. On the port–city interface, the estuarine and coastal port cities form different urban regional structure modes. Aside from enriching literature on the port–city relationship, this study provides a reference for the spatial planning and transformation of ports and cities in the future.
A GIS-Based Typological Interpretation of Cultivated Land Loss: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Tai’an Prefecture in the North China Plain
Authors: Huang Daquan , Chen Yu , Liu Tao , Liu Ming
Published: January 2023

Loss of cultivated land has become a global issue that is especially critical in populous and rapidly urbanizing countries. However, knowledge in this field in general and its spatiality in particular have long been restrained in developing countries for the lack of accurate and reliable data. This study addresses this issue from a typological perspective by distinguishing the patterns and determinants of the conversion of cultivated land to nonagricultural use, nongrain use, and ecological land use. By using land use survey data from 2009 to 2019, and taking villages as the research units, the cultivated land loss in an ordinary prefecture, Tai’an, in the North China Plain was investigated from its temporal–spatial patterns, destination uses, and various driving factors. GIS methods such as spatial visualization, overlay analysis, and hotspot analysis were used to depict the geography of cultivated land loss in total and by cause. Multiple linear regression models were then developed to explore the roles of natural, locational, economic, social, and policy factors in predicting the overall and three types of cultivated land loss. The results show that (1) the cultivated land area in Tai’an Prefecture decreased by 1338.3 km2 over the decade, which was 32.4% of that in 2009. Ecological use, rather than the widely blamed urban expansion, was the dominant reason, accounting for 55.6% of the total loss of cultivated land. (2) The hotspot areas of cultivated land loss were mainly distributed in the northeastern mountainous area and villages around cities and county seats in the southwest. The hotspot areas of nongrain and ecological conversion were mainly located around the central city, whereas those of nonagricultural conversion were the most extensive around county centers. (3) The factors were found to have heterogeneous effects on the three types of cultivated land loss. For example, land transfer is conducive to large-scale farming and is thus associated with a lower probability of nonagricultural conversion of cultivated land. However, it often facilitates ecological conversion of cultivated land. (4) The basic farmland protection policy was proven to be effective in preventing all three types of cultivated land loss. The above results indicate the great heterogeneity among the three types of cultivated land loss in their geography and determinants, demonstrating the necessity and significance of the typological perspective adopted to interpreting cultivated land loss in urbanizing and transitional societies. To some extent, only by reasonably distinguishing, spatially analyzing, and fully understanding the different types, various causes, and internal structure of cultivated land loss can we formulate more targeted and effective policies of cultivated land protection.
The Social Sustainability of the Infrastructures: A Case Study in the Liguria Region
Authors: Rosasco Paolo , Sdino Leopoldo
Published: January 2023

One of the indicators that measures the economic development of a territory is its infrastructural endowment (road, rail, etc.). The presence of roads, railways, and airports are essential elements in creating the optimal conditions for the establishment or development of productive activities and economic growth; and also to generate benefits. However, the presence of infrastructure can have strong impacts on the environment and the living conditions of the population and infrastructure can be subject to actions related to contrast and opposition. Therefore, in parallel with the economic and environmental sustainability assessment, it is essential to decide whether or not to build new infrastructure. In addition, social sustainability is also pursued on the basis of an assessment that takes into account various aspects that relate the work to the population, also in order to identify the most satisfactory design solution. Alongside the adopted methodology, the assessment must be identified suitable criteria which are capable of taking into account the various impacts generated by the infrastructure, not only of an economic and environmental type, but also social and attributed relative importance (or weight) that is congruous with the correct balance of the three aspects of sustainability. This contribution deals with the identification of criteria for assessing the social sustainability of infrastructure projects, by taking as reference the 24 infrastructure projects in the planning and construction phase in the Liguria Region that make use of the Regional Law n. 39/2007 on the “Regional Strategic Intervention Programs—P.R.I.S.” (Regional Strategic Intervention Programs); which guarantees citizens affected by the infrastructure. In this research work, the selection is performed through the involvement of local stakeholders as well as the subjects and institutions that operate within the decision-making process of a work (designers, technicians from public administrations). The selected criteria are then weighted through the pairwise comparison method used in the multi-criteria technique of ThomasSaaty—Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The goal is to identify the useful criteria for assessing social sustainability and the weights attributed by the various parties involved in the decision-making process by citizens directly or indirectly affected by the infrastructure.
Landscape Design Outdoor–Indoor VR Environments User Experience
Authors: Saorin Jose Luis , Carbonell-Carrera Carlos , Jaeger Allison J. , Díaz Dámari Melián
Published: January 2023

Virtual reality (VR) helps to visualize the spatial relationships between the different elements of the landscape in landscape architecture, allowing the user to feel the designed environment and navigate through it interactively. VR can be used to navigate spaces designed both indoors (inside a building) and outdoors (landscape). In the present research, the perception of the 3D environment during navigation was compared between indoor and outdoor virtual reality environments. The value of the user experience was measured with the Questionnaire on User eXperience in Immersive Virtual Environments, analyzing the presence, engagement, immersion, flow, skill, emotion, usability, technology adoption, judgment and experience consequence subscales. In overall self-reported user experience, results showed that the perception of the environment during navigation was higher in open VR environments than in closed ones. Regarding subscales, the existence of obstacles limits the freedom of movement, which causes a lesser sense of presence. A more fluid VR navigation also generates positive effects on the flow subscale. In outdoor environments, lighting generates shadows, which help in spatial perception and orientation tasks during navigation, which facilitates and increases the perception of immersion. In closed environments, light plays a less important role during navigation.
Enhanced Tribological Behaviour of Hybrid MoS2@Ti3C2 MXene as an Effective Anti-Friction Additive in Gasoline Engine Oil
Authors: Markandan Kalaimani , Nagarajan Thachnatharen , Walvekar Rashmi , Chaudhary Vishal , Khalid Mohammad
Published: January 2023

Hybrid molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-MXene (Ti3C2) was added as an additive in SAE 5W-40-based engine oil in an attempt to reduce interfacial friction between contact surfaces. It was found that the coefficient of friction (COF) and wear scar diameter (WSD) were reduced by 13.9% and 23.8%, respectively, with the addition of 0.05 wt.% MoS2-Ti3C2 compared to base engine oil due to the interlaminar shear susceptibility of MXene. However, we postulate that the high surface energy and presence of -OH, -O and -F functional groups on the surfaces limited the dispersibility and stability of MXene in base oil, while high activity of MoS2 nanoparticles due to large surface area and vigorous Brownian motion prompted fast settling of nanoparticles due to gravitational force. As such, in the present study, hybrid MoS2-Ti3C2 were amine-functionalized to attain stability in SAE 5W-40-based engine oil. Experimental findings indicate that amine-functionalized 0.05 wt.% MoS2-Ti3C2 exhibited higher COF and WSD, i.e., 12.8% and 12.3%, respectively, compared to base oil added with 0.05 wt.% unfunctionalized MoS2-Ti3C2. Similarly, Noack oil volatility was reduced by 24.6% compared to base oil, indicating reduced oil consumption rate, maximal fuel efficiency and enhanced engine performance for a longer duration.
Evaluation of Wear Resistance of AISI L6 and 5140 Steels after Surface Hardening with Boron and Copper
Authors: Lysykh Stepan , Kornopoltsev Vasily , Mishigdorzhiyn Undrakh , Kharaev Yuri , Xie Zhongliang
Published: January 2023

(1) Background: Boriding is one of the most common methods of thermal-chemical treatment due to its excellent hardness and wear resistance of the produced diffusion layers. However, it has limited application compared to carburizing and nitriding because of fragility and chipping. Introducing another alloying element into the boron media helps avoid those drawbacks and improve other surface properties of the layer. The purpose of this work is to improve the surface mechanical properties of L6 and 5140 low alloy steels by two-component surface hardening with boron and copper. (2) Methods: The treatment was performed by means of a powder-pack method using boron, copper, and aluminum powders in the following proportions: 60% B4C + 20% Al2O3 + 16% CuO + 4% NaF. The time–temperature parameters of the treatment were four hours exposure at 950 °C. Microstructure, elemental, and phase composition were investigated as well as microhardness and wear resistance of the obtained layers. (3) Results: Layers of up to 180–200 μm thick are formed on both steels as a result of treatment. Needle-like structures similar to pure boriding was obtained. The maximum microhardness was 2000 HV on L6 steel and 1800 HV on 5140 steel. These values correspond to iron borides and were confirmed by XRD analysis revealing FeB, Fe2B, and Cr5B3. The wear resistance of both steels was about ten times higher after the treatment compared to non-treated samples. (4) Conclusions: Surface hardening with boron and copper significantly improves the mechanical properties of both alloy steels. The results obtained are beneficial for different tribo-pair systems or three-body wear with abrasion and minimum impact loads.