bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Smart Search System of Autonomous Flight UAVs for Disaster Rescue
Authors: Oh Donggeun , Han Junghee
Published: October 2021

UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have been developed and adopted for various fields including military, IT, agriculture, construction, and so on. In particular, UAVs are being heavily used in the field of disaster relief thanks to the fact that UAVs are becoming smaller and more intelligent. Search for a person in a disaster site can be difficult if the mobile communication network is not available, and if the person is in the GPS shadow area. Recently, the search for survivors using unmanned aerial vehicles has been studied, but there are several problems as the search is mainly using images taken with cameras (including thermal imaging cameras). For example, it is difficult to distinguish a distressed person from a long distance especially in the presence of cover. Considering these challenges, we proposed an autonomous UAV smart search system that can complete their missions without interference in search and tracking of castaways even in disaster areas where communication with base stations is likely to be lost. To achieve this goal, we first make UAVs perform autonomous flight with locating and approaching the distressed people without the help of the ground control server (GCS). Second, to locate a survivor accurately, we developed a genetic-based localization algorithm by detecting changes in the signal strength between distress and drones inside the search system. Specifically, we modeled our target platform with a genetic algorithm and we re-defined the genetic algorithm customized to the disaster site’s environment for tracking accuracy. Finally, we verified the proposed search system in several real-world sites and found that it successfully located targets with autonomous flight.
Identification of Risk Factors Associated with Fatal Intersection Crashes and Assessment of the In-Service Safety Performance of Signalized Intersections and Roundabouts in Abu Dhabi
Authors: Awadalla Dina Mustafa Mohammad , de Albuquerque Francisco Daniel Benicio
Published: October 2021

Several research studies conducted in North America and Europe have consistently shown that converting signalized intersections into roundabouts leads to safety benefits. These studies have led North American and European transportation agencies to convert hundreds of signalized intersections into roundabouts over the last few decades. Meanwhile, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has replaced many of its long-standing roundabouts with signalized intersections (i.e., controlled by traffic lights) despite the fact that no UAE-based scientific study comparing the safety performance of these two intersection types can be found in the literature. Hence, the objectives of this paper are to (i) identify factors that significantly contribute to fatal intersection-related crashes and (ii) assess the in-service safety performance of signalized intersections and roundabouts. It is anticipated that the findings from this research will provide road designers and decision-makers with much needed scientific guidance on which factors contribute to fatal intersection crashes as well as on whether converting existing roundabouts into signalized intersections improves public safety or not in Abu Dhabi. The findings from this research should also benefit neighboring Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries considering their similarities in road design, traffic characteristics, and driving culture.
Randomized Clinical Trial of Primary Care Based Online Depression Prevention Intervention: Impact on Adolescent Modifiable Factors and Behaviors
Authors: Gupta Kushagra B. , Rusiewski Calvin , Koczara Camilla , Fitzgibbon Marian , Reinecke Mark , Fogel Joshua , Schiffer Linda , Lee Miae , Sykes Emily , Griffiths Kathy , Gladstone Tracy R. G. , Van Voorhees Benjamin W.
Published: October 2021

The developmental period of adolescence can pose a risk for the onset of depressive disorders, but is also a time when potentially modifiable factors and behaviors related to depressive episode onset can develop. An online health intervention can provide an opportunity to reach at-risk adolescents in between primary care visits and could impact these modifiable factors and behaviors to support healthy development. We explore the Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive-Behavioral, Humanistic, and Interpersonal Therapy (CATCH-IT), a self-directed online cognitive behavioral therapy prevention intervention, and its impact on modifiable factors and behaviors related to: (1) program completion, (2) normative adolescent development, (3) coping, (4) family relations, (5) general health behaviors, and (6) externalizing behaviors, in a primary care sample of adolescents at intermediate to high risk of developing depression. Adolescents were enrolled into either CATCH-IT or Health Education (HE) control group and followed for 24 months. CATCH-IT improved some factors related to program completion (e.g., motivation, recommendation to peers for depression prevention, and physician positive relationship), coping (e.g., perceived behavior change), and family relations (e.g., parental psychological control, sibling relative status) as compared to HE. HE improved normative adolescent development (e.g., health and loss life events) as compared to CATCH-IT. CATCH-IT utilized in primary care may benefit some at-risk adolescents in selective factors and behaviors.
Does She Deserve It? The Influence of Gender and Meritocracy in Reactions to Affirmative Action Legislation
Authors: Silva Virgínia , Santos Maria , Rosa Miriam
Published: October 2021

Gender equality is a matter for debate worldwide. In 2018, Portugal enacted legislation (Decree Law no. 62/2017) to balance gender representation on the executive boards of listed and public sector organizations with measures similar to those causing controversies in other countries. Thus, in accordance with previous research, a study took place to examine the attitudes towards the justice of this legislation and the role of merit in these attitudes. This study (n = 129 women and 94 men) deployed an experimentally manipulative type of affirmative action program to consider the role of individual perceptions of the justice of the legislation coupled with the influence of beliefs in meritocracy and participant gender. The results identify how the type of affirmative action impacted on the perceived justice, also influenced by merit, which seems normative and fundamental to evaluating the justice of such legally stipulated provisions. Nonetheless, objectively evaluating candidate merits revealed difficulties in disentangling this process from personality traits.
Mitigating COVID: Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown and School Closure on Children’s Well-Being
Authors: Munir Fouzia
Published: October 2021

As governments around the globe rushed to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the imposed lockdowns led to the closure of several sectors of economy and educational institutions including schools. People were advised to stay at home and maintain social and physical distancing. The destructive socio-economic effects of the pandemic were felt worldwide. Amid these traumatic times, several studies explored the impacts of lockdown on the well-being of the general population. However, very few investigated the devastating effect of COVID lockdown on children, and even fewer talked about the lived experiences of this vulnerable group of our society. This study reports on what the children went through during lockdown by focusing on the research and data available about the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on children. The study analyses children’s experiences of this lockdown in light of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. The findings reveal that as a result of the mitigating measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19, many children’s rights are being neglected. The lockdowns and school closures have disproportionately affected children’s well-being and have heightened huge disparities that exist between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. There is a need to understand how children are being impacted by the ongoing restrictions and to safeguard rights of all children. The study’s findings are to be considered while devising policy around children who are unable to make their voices heard by those whose decisions impact their well-being.
Environmental Impacts Associated with Intensive Production in Pig Farms in Mexico through Life Cycle Assessment
Authors: Giraldi-Díaz Mario Rafael , Castillo-González Eduardo , De Medina-Salas Lorena , Velásquez-De la Cruz Raúl , Huerta-Silva Héctor Daniel
Published: October 2021

In this research, environmental impacts associated with the intensive production of pigs on a farm in Mexico were determined through the application of life cycle assessment methodology. The research was focused on the following stages of the product system: (i) pig rearing and growth phases; (ii) production operations in the pig-house; (iii) the supply of feed. The life cycle inventory database was mainly made up of data collected in field visits to local farms. The functional unit was defined as one finished swine weighing 124 kg. The results for the selected impact categories of carbon, water, and energy footprints were 538.62 kg CO2eq, 21.34 m3, and 1773.79 MJ, respectively. The greatest impact was generated in the final stages of pig fattening, mainly due to the large quantity of feed supplied. The impacts caused by operation of the pig farm were less significant, their contribution in all cases was less than a third of the total quantified values. The energy conversion of pig slurry improves the environmental performance of the product system by reducing the carbon footprint.
Knowledge Structure of the Application of High-Performance Computing: A Co-Word Analysis
Authors: Lee Kiwon , Lee Suchul
Published: October 2021

As high-performance computing (HPC) plays a key role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the application of HPC in various industries is becoming increasingly important. Several studies have reviewed the research trends of HPC but considered only the functional aspects, causing limitations when discussing the application. Thus, this study aims to identify the knowledge structure of the application of HPC, enabling practical and policy support in various industrial fields. Co-word analysis is mainly used to establish the knowledge structure. We first collected 28,941 published papers related to HPC applications and built a co-word network that used author keywords. We performed centrality analysis and cluster analysis of the co-word network; as a result, we derived the major keywords and 18 areas of HPC applications. To validate the knowledge structure, we conducted a case study to find opportunities for HPC research plans in the research community. As a result, we discovered 17 new research topics and presented their research priorities by conducting expert interviews and Analytic Hierarchy Process. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the application of HPC, to exploring promising research fields for technological and social development, and to supporting research plans for successful technology commercialization.
Define–Investigate–Estimate–Map (DIEM) Framework for Modeling Habitat Threats
Authors: Muhammed Khaleel , Anandhi Aavudai , Chen Gang , Poole Kevin
Published: October 2021

As the human population increases, the landscape is altered to provide housing, food, and industry. Human activity poses a risk to the health of natural habitats that, in turn, affect biodiversity. Biodiversity is necessary for a functioning ecosystem, as species work synergistically to create a livable environment. It is, therefore, important to know how human practices and natural events threaten these habitats and the species living in them. A universal method of modeling habitat threats does not exist. This paper details the use of a literature review to formulate a new framework called Define–Investigate–Estimate–Map (DIEM). This framework is a process of defining threats, investigating an area to discover what threats are present, estimating the severity of those threats, and mapping the threats. Analysis of 62 studies was conducted to determine how different authors define and characterize threats in various contexts. The results of this analysis were then applied to a case study to evaluate the Choctawhatchee River and Bay Watershed. Results suggest that the most abundant threat in the watershed is agricultural development, and the most destructive threat is urban development. These two threats have the greatest impact on the total threat level of the watershed. Applying the DIEM framework demonstrates its helpfulness in regional analysis, watershed modeling, and land development planning.
Adoption of Sustainable Water Management Practices among Farmers in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alotaibi Bader Alhafi , Kassem Hazem S.
Published: October 2021

Promoting sustainable water management (SWM) practices among farmers is essential in order to ensure water sustainability. This study aimed to analyze patterns in the adoption of SWM practices by farmers at the farm level, and how their awareness regarding the causes of agricultural water pollution influence SWM adoption. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect field data using structured questionnaires from 129 farmers in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that 38.8% of farmers had a high awareness of the causes of water pollution from agriculture. Approximately half of the farmers exhibited a high rate of adoption of SWM practices, most of whom adopted water quality and soil management practices. The findings reveal a positive association (0.37, p < 0.01) between SWM adoption and awareness regarding water pollution caused by agriculture, whereby the farmers with more awareness regarding the causes of water pollution from agriculture showed a higher level of adoption for 55% of the SWM practices. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the awareness levels regarding the causes of agricultural water pollution and cultivated crops significantly influenced the adoption of SWM by farmers. The findings and implications provide an understanding of the SWM practices of farmers, and offers insights for policymakers aiming to reformulate strategies and policies combatting water scarcity in Saudi Arabia.
Environmental Assessment of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Technology System with Phase Change Material for Domestic Heating Applications
Authors: Chocontá Bernal Daniel , Muñoz Edmundo , Manente Giovanni , Sciacovelli Adriano , Ameli Hossein , Gallego-Schmid Alejandro
Published: October 2021

The emissions generated by the space and water heating of UK homes need to be reduced to meet the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The combination of solar (S) collectors with latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technologies with phase change materials (PCM) can potentially help to achieve this goal. However, there is limited understanding of the environmental sustainability of LHTES technologies from a full life cycle perspective. This study assesses for the first time 18 environmental impacts of a full S-LHTES-PCM system from a cradle to grave perspective and compares the results with the most common sources of heat in UK homes. The results show that the system’s main environmental hotspots are the solar collector, the PCM, the PCM tank, and the heat exchanger. The main cause of most of the impacts is the extensive consumption of electricity and heat during the production of raw materials for these components. The comparison with other sources of household heat (biomass, heat pump, and natural gas) indicates that the S-LHTES-PCM system generates the highest environmental impact in 11 of 18 categories. However, a sensitivity analysis based on the lifetime of the S-LHTES-PCM systems shows that, when the lifetime increases to 40 years, almost all the impacts are significantly reduced. In fact, a 40-year S-LHTES-PCM system has a lower global warming potential than natural gas.
A Risk-Based Approach to Mine-Site Rehabilitation: Use of Bayesian Belief Network Modelling to Manage Dispersive Soil and Spoil
Authors: Ghahramani Afshin , Bennett John McLean , Ali Aram , Reardon-Smith Kathryn , Dale Glenn , Roberton Stirling D. , Raine Steven
Published: October 2021

Dispersive spoil/soil management is a major environmental and economic challenge for active coal mines as well as sustainable mine closure across the globe. To explore and design a framework for managing dispersive spoil, considering the complexities as well as data availability, this paper has developed a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN)-a probabilistic predictive framework to support practical and cost-effective decisions for the management of dispersive spoil. This approach enabled incorporation of expert knowledge where data were insufficient for modelling purposes. The performance of the model was validated using field data from actively managed mine sites and found to be consistent in the prediction of soil erosion and ground cover. Agreement between predicted soil erosion probability and field observations was greater than 74%, and greater than 70% for ground cover protection. The model performance was further noticeably improved by calibration of Conditional Probability Tables (CPTs). This demonstrates the value of the BBN modelling approach, whereby the use of currently best-available data can provide a practical result, with the capacity for significant model improvement over time as more (targeted) data come to hand.
When Harmful Tax Expenditure Prevails over Environmental Tax: An Assessment on the 2014 Mexican Fiscal Reform
Authors: López Pérez Sugey de Jesús , Vence Xavier
Published: October 2021

This article examines the role of environmental taxation in mitigating environmental problems and contributing to sustainability in Mexico. It focuses on environmental tax revenues and tax expenditures since the 2014 Public Financial Reform (PFR), according to pro- or anti-environmental orientation. The research carried out combines the study of the regulation of the selected tax instruments, their classification and the empirical analysis of the tax revenues and tax expenditures associated with the different taxes over the periods of validity of the taxes and benefits studied, using the databases of the CIAT and the Mexican SHCP. A critical analysis addresses the weak environmental function of environment-related taxes (IEPS, ISAN…), as well as the late implementation and reduced impact of the carbon and pesticide taxes introduced in 2014. The evolution of tax incentives and expenditure is thoroughly examined by examining both environmental measures, which have evolved positively but within a very reduced level, and the most prevalent tax expenditure measures, with harmful impacts to the environment. Based on the results obtained, long-term structural changes in the Mexican tax system are suggested. As for the short to medium term, profound changes in tax expenditure are proposed to eliminate of those tax benefits harmful to the environment, introduce of tax benefits for circular activities (e.g., repairing, reusing and remanufacturing) and broaden the carbon tax base and rates. The conclusions include recommendations for moving towards a systemic green tax reform that assists the transformation towards a sustainable economy.
Do Career Demands and Career Choices Always Coincide? A Matching Perspective Based on Career Anchors and Job Characteristics
Authors: Chen Hong , Wang Yujie , Ding Yunqiao
Published: October 2021

Career choice is an important behavior for people wanting to develop their social life and is a key link to doing so. The matching of career choice with an individual’s real work demands will have a significant impact on the development of individuals, organizations, and society. However, at this stage, there are few studies on this matching situation. From the perspective of the matching of career anchors and job characteristics, this study explored the distribution and different characteristics of employees’ career demands and their career choices through a survey of 407 employees, and further discussed the matching status of these. The results of the study are as follows: (1) Individual career demands (career anchors) presented three attributes: single, multiple, and unclear. Among the single career anchor types, life anchors had the largest proportion, while among multiple career anchor individuals, individuals with both challenge anchors and service anchors accounted for the majority. (2) Individual career demands (career anchors) were significantly different across most demographic variables and organizational/work variables. (3) Deviations between employees’ career demands and their career choices seemed to be a common phenomenon, with the highest degree of fit (62.79%) with the entrepreneurial creativity anchor and the lowest degree of fit (21.28%) with the lifestyle anchor. In addition, in an analysis of three job fit characteristics, the entrepreneurial creativity anchor had a significant preference for managerial characteristics, whereas the challenge anchor had a significant preference for technological characteristics. The degrees of fit of the other anchors were characterized by the frequency of ‘right suboptimal fit’ being larger than that of ‘left suboptimal fit’. In other words, a specific career anchor had a significant preference for job characteristics matched by the right career anchor, with the midpoint of the career anchor octagon model defining the angle of observation. This study provides a reference for human resource management departments and for employees’ recognition and planning of career anchors.
Manifestations and Preconditions of Child Rights Protection—Specialists’ Aggression towards Caregivers and Child in the Situation of Child Removal from the Family
Authors: Petružytė Donata , Gevorgianienė Violeta , Charenkova Jūratė , Seniutis Miroslavas , Žalimienė Laimutė , Šumskienė Eglė , Gvaldaitė Lijana
Published: October 2021

Numerous studies have focused on the issue of client aggression against various help professionals. Much less attention has been paid to the opposite phenomenon—the aggression of help professionals towards clients, especially aggression of child rights protection specialists (CRPS). Comparative analysis of four perspectives (CRPS, parents, children, and police officers) was performed in order to reveal the manifestations and preconditions of CRPS aggression towards parents and children during the process of removing a child from a family. The manifestations of psychological and physical CRPS aggression were alluded to by all groups of research participants. The preconditions can be classified as being related to the behavior of the child and parents, the employee’s personality traits, competencies and psychological states related to a specific work situation, and institutional, inter-institutional, social, and political contexts. Based on our research results, suggestions can be made on how the procedure of removing a child from an unsafe family environment can be improved, such as by making it less harmful for children, more constructive for the whole family, and making the CRP system operate in such a manner that it does not create preconditions for CRPS to transgress the boundaries of professional relations.
Life Cycle Assessment of Autonomous Electric Field Tractors in Swedish Agriculture
Authors: Lagnelöv Oscar , Larsson Gunnar , Larsolle Anders , Hansson Per-Anders
Published: October 2021

There is an increased interest for battery electric vehicles in multiple sectors, including agriculture. The potential for lowered environmental impact is one of the key factors, but there exists a knowledge gap between the environmental impact of on-road vehicles and agricultural work machinery. In this study, a life cycle assessment was performed on two smaller, self-driving battery electric tractors, and the results were compared to those of a conventional tractor for eleven midpoint characterisation factors, three damage categories and one weighted single score. The results showed that compared to the conventional tractor, the battery electric tractor had a higher impact in all categories during the production phase, with battery production being a majority contributor. However, over the entire life cycle, it had a lower impact in the weighted single score (−72%) and all three damage categories; human health (−74%), ecosystem impact (−47%) and resource scarcity (−67%). The global warming potential over the life cycle of the battery electric tractor was 102 kg CO2eq.ha−1 y−1 compared to 293 kg CO2eq.ha−1 y−1 for the conventional system. For the global warming potential category, the use phase was the most influential and the fuel used was the single most important factor.
Integrated Deep Renovation of Existing Buildings with Prefabricated Shell Exoskeleton
Authors: Zanni Jacopo , Cademartori Stefano , Marini Alessandra , Belleri Andrea , Passoni Chiara , Giuriani Ezio , Riva Paolo , Angi Barbara , Brumana Giovanni , Marchetti Angelo Luigi
Published: October 2021

The European goal to reach carbon neutrality in 2050 has further put the focus on the construction sector, which is responsible for great impacts on the environment, and new sustainable solutions to renovate the existing building stock are currently under development. In this paper, the AdESA (Adeguamento Energetico Sismico ed Architettonico, in Italian) system, a holistic retrofit technique for the integrated renovation of the existing buildings, is presented. The system was developed by a consortium of enterprises and universities and was applied to a pilot building. The system consists of a dry, modular and flexible shell exoskeleton technique that implements different layers depending on the building retrofit needs (cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels for the structural retrofit, thermal insulation panels for the energy efficiency amelioration, and claddings for the architectural restyling). In order to foster actual sustainability, the solution contextually targets eco-efficiency, safety and resilience. To this end, the system not only couples the structural and energy interventions to reduce the operating costs, but it is also conceived in compliance with life cycle thinking (LCT) principles to reduce impacts throughout the remaining building service life (from retrofit time to the end of its life). The system is designed to be easily mountable and demountable to allow for the reuse/recycling of its components at the end of life by adopting macro-prefabricated dry components and standardized connections, to reduce damage caused by earthquakes by reducing the allowed inter-story drift, and by amassing the possible damage into sacrificial replaceable elements. The paper describes the AdESA system from a multidisciplinary perspective and its effective application for the deep renovation of an existing gymnasium hall.
Spatial Connectivity and Regional Economic Resilience in Turbulent Times
Authors: Giannakis Elias , Papadas Christos T.
Published: October 2021

The increasing number of economic shocks and disruptions and their highly heterogeneous territorial impacts reopened the debate on the ability of regions to withstand and recover from exogenous shocks. This paper focuses on the recessionary impact of the 2008 global financial economic crisis. It empirically explores the relationship between pre-crisis spatial connectivity and economic resilience across European Union (EU) regions over the 2008–2015 period. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of 1312 NUTS-3 regions in 25 countries. Standard, spatial and multilevel hierarchical regression models are applied to investigate the effect of spatial connectivity and other pre-crisis determinants on regional economic resilience across three geographical scales: national, NUTS-2 regional and NUTS-3 regional. The results show that accessibility is an important factor for EU NUTS-3 regions to build resilience capabilities to exogenous shocks. Our findings demonstrate that higher accessibility is associated with greater regional economic resilience. The model results indicate a positive effect of migration and a negative effect of the ageing population on regional reaction to the crisis. Our analysis highlights the importance of country effects and spatial spillover effects on the ability of regions to shape resilience capabilities.
Economic Downturns and Land-Use Change: A Spatial Analysis of Urban Transformations in Rome (Italy) Using a Geographically Weighted Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Tomao Antonio , Mattioli Walter , Fanfani David , Ferrara Carlotta , Quaranta Giovanni , Salvia Rosanna , Salvati Luca
Published: October 2021

Globally, processes that drive urbanization have mostly evolved within economic downturns. Economic crises have been more severe and frequent, particularly in the Mediterranean region. However, studies on the recession effects on urbanization are limited. The present study explores possible differences in spatial direction and intensity of land-use change trajectories at two time intervals (2006–2012, 2012–2018) using high-resolution Copernicus Land Urban Atlas images in the Rome metropolitan area. To this aim, a landscape ecology classical approach based on land-use metric analysis combined with a multivariate spatial analysis has been carried out. Results have identified different land-use change patterns during expansion and recession. “Greening”, defined as the conversion of urban marginal areas into croplands and forests, increased during the recession. At the same time, the rate of urban expansion into rural areas decreased, thus indicating a beneficial effect of economic downturns in reducing urban sprawl.
Integration of a Solar Parabolic Dish Collector with a Small-Scale Multi-Stage Flash Desalination Unit: Experimental Evaluation, Exergy and Economic Analyses
Authors: Babaeebazaz Ali , Gorjian Shiva , Amidpour Majid
Published: October 2021

In this study, a small-scale two-stage multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination unit equipped with a vacuum pump and a solar parabolic collector (PDC) with a conical cavity receiver were integrated. To eliminate the need for heat exchangers, a water circulation circuit was designed in a way that the saline feedwater could directly flow through the receiver of the PDC. The system’s performance was examined during six days in July 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., under two distinct scenarios of the MSF desalination operation under the vacuum (−10 kPa) and atmospheric pressure by considering three saline feedwater water flow rates of 0.7, 1 and 1.3 L/min. Furthermore, the performance of the solar PDC-MSF desalination plant was evaluated by conducting energy and exergy analyses. The results indicated that the intensity of solar radiation, which directly affects the top brine temperature (TBT), and the values of the saline feedwater flow rate have the most impact on productivity. The maximum productivity of 3.22 L per 5 h in a day was obtained when the temperature and saline feedwater flow rate were 94.25 °C (at the maximum solar radiation of 1015.3 W/m2) and 0.7 L/min, respectively, and the MSF was under vacuum pressure. Additionally, it was found that increasing the feedwater flow rate from 0.7 to 1.3 L/min reduces distillate production by 76.4% while applying the vacuum improves the productivity by about 34% at feedwater flow rate of 0.7 L/min. The exergy efficiency of the MSF unit was obtained as 0.07% with the highest share of exergy destruction in stages. The quality parameters of the produced distillate including pH, TDS, EC and DO were measured, ensuring they lie within the standard range for drinking water. Moreover, the cost of freshwater produced by the MSF plant varied from 37 US$/m3 to 1.5 US$/m3 when the treatment capacity increased to 8000 L/day.
Simulation and Analysis Approaches to Microgrid Systems Design: Emerging Trends and Sustainability Framework Application
Authors: Akinyele Daniel , Amole Abraham , Olabode Elijah , Olusesi Ayobami , Ajewole Titus
Published: October 2021

Energy systems modelling and design are a critical aspect of planning and development among researchers, electricity planners, infrastructure developers, utilities, decision-makers, and other relevant stakeholders. However, to achieve a sustainable energy supply, the energy planning approach needs to integrate some key dimensions. Importantly, these dimensions are necessary to guide the simulation and evaluation. It is against this backdrop that this paper focuses on the simulation and analysis approaches for sustainable planning, design, and development of microgrids based on clean energy resources. The paper first provides a comprehensive review of the existing simulation tools and approaches used for designing energy generation technologies. It then discusses and compares the traditional strategies and the emerging trends in energy systems simulation based on the software employed, the type of problem to be solved, input parameters provided, and the expected output. The paper introduces a practical simulation framework for sustainable energy planning, which is based on the social-technical-economic-environmental-policy (STEEP) model. The STEEP represents a holistic sustainability model that considers the key energy systems planning dimensions compared to the traditional techno-economic model used in several existing simulation tools and analyses. The paper provides insights into data-driven analysis and energy modelling software development applications.
Analyzing the Spatial Heterogeneity of the Built Environment and Its Impact on the Urban Thermal Environment—Case Study of Downtown Shanghai
Authors: Han Jiejie , Zhao Xi , Zhang Hao , Liu Yu
Published: October 2021

Ongoing urban expansion has accelerated the explosive growth of urban populations and has led to a dramatic increase in the impervious surface area within urban areas. This, in turn, has exacerbated the surface heat island effect within cities. However, the importance of the surface heat island effect within urban areas, scilicet the intra-SUHI effect, has attracted less concern. The aim of this study was to quantitatively explore the relationship between the spatial heterogeneity of a built environment and the intra-urban surface heat island (intra-SUHI) effect using the thermally sharpened land surface temperature (LST) and high-resolution land-use classification products. The results show that at the land parcel scale, the parcel-based relative intensity of intra-SUHI should be attributed to the land parcels featured with differential land developmental intensity. Furthermore, the partial least squares regression (PLSR) modeling quantified the relative importance of the spatial heterogeneity indices of the built environment that exhibit a negative contribution to decreasing the parcel-based intra-SUHI effect or a positive contribution to increasing the intra-SUHI effect. Finally, based on the findings of this study, some practical countermeasures towards mitigating the adverse intra-SUHI effect and improving urban climatic adaption are discussed.
Is Inflation Fiscally Determined?
Authors: Bazzaoui Lamia , Nagayasu Jun
Published: October 2021

This paper examines the relationship between fiscal policy and inflation for 44 countries, from 1960 to 2020. The study was conducted using a panel VAR approach while accounting for the difference in monetary policy frameworks and the levels of fiscal space across countries. Results suggest that budget deficits are less likely to cause inflation when monetary policy is based on inflation targeting. In contrast, they are inflationary in the group of countries with a poorly structured monetary policy (such as partially dollarized Latin American economies).
Internet Development and Environmental Quality—Evidence from the Development of Chinese Cities
Authors: Zhong Xiaoying , Xie Ruhe , Chen Peng , Ke Kaili
Published: October 2021

Based on the data of the 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018, this paper examines the impact of Internet development on environmental quality. The results show that China’s urban PM2.5 has a significant spatial spillover effect. In general, the Internet has a significant negative direct effect on urban environmental pollution, which means that the development of the Internet can improve urban environmental quality. This result remains robust under different methods. As the Internet has evolved over the years, its influence on environmental quality has increased and became more and more significant. In terms of regions, the spatial spillover effect of PM2.5 shows a pattern of eastern region < central region < western region < northeast region, where the eastern region is the only region with a statistically significant negative value for the coefficient, which indicates the direct effects of Internet development on the environmental quality. In addition, the statistic testing on mediating effect shows that the Internet’s effect on urban environment quality is mainly transmitted through the upgrading of industrial structure. With the industrial structure being used as the threshold variable, the influence of Internet development on environmental quality could be divided into two stages.
Investigating the Impact of Institutional Quality on FDI: Are There Promotional Effects in Economic Integration Regions?
Authors: Chen Fuzhong , Jiang Guohai
Published: October 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of institutional quality on foreign direct investment (FDI) using panel data of 117 countries around the world from the period of 2001 to 2018. To enhance the accuracy of the estimation results, this study includes various statistical tests to select the estimation method that best fits the sampling data used in this study. Furthermore, while the robust standard error is applied to correct the problem of heteroscedasticity, this study addresses the potential endogeneity problem by system GMM estimation. The results indicate that the improvement in institutional quality significantly and positively contributes to FDI. More importantly, the results also reveal that economic integration has improved the role of institutional quality, indicating that the promotional effects of institutional quality on FDI are greater in economic integration areas. The results also suggest that the launch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative has greatly enhanced the promotional effects of institutional quality on FDI. The findings of this study offer policy implications for policymakers to take measures to improve institutional quality and thereby to enhance FDI and further accelerate the formation of economic integration in a more sustainable way.
Frontier Markets and Sustainable Entrepreneurial Competences: An Exploratory Study of the Impact of a New Industry in Guatemala
Authors: Godinez Jose , Dunlap Denise R.
Published: October 2021

There is growing interest among scholars and policy makers to develop sustainable entrepreneurial competences in pre-emerging, frontier markets characterized by limited access to advanced capital, high protectionism, and weak formal institutional environments. To become internationally competitive, these markets need to radically rethink their long-standing, embedded practices, which have often been linked to socioeconomic inequality. Our study, grounded in corporate entrepreneurship, is an exploratory analysis of why and how well-established firms, operating in the financial service industry, created more equity-based businesses practices to enter the new industry of mobile banking. The firms in our study needed a combination of both economic incentives and social pressures to do so but, in the process, developed new entrepreneurial competencies. Successful firms were those that significantly altered their embedded practices and engaged in fostering new informal relationships with previously overlooked stakeholders, particularly customers from indigenous backgrounds. Our multi-case, inductive research design offers theoretical and practical insights regarding how incorporating internal and external corporate entrepreneurial factors in an underserved market setting, such as the frontier market of Guatemala, not only fosters socioeconomic equality but also creates international attractiveness and competitiveness.
Alleviation of Cadmium Phytotoxicity Using Silicon Fertilization in Wheat by Altering Antioxidant Metabolism and Osmotic Adjustment
Authors: Heile Abdihakim Osman , Zaman Qamar uz , Aslam Zubair , Hussain Afzal , Aslam Mustansar , Saleem Muhammad Hamzah , Abualreesh Muyassar H. , Alatawi Aishah , Ali Shafaqat
Published: October 2021

Humans are facing very serious health threats from food contamination with cadmium (Cd), and Cd uptake by wheat is amongst the main causes of Cd entrance into the food chain. The current study examined the effect of foliar application (0, 1.50, 3.00 and 4.00 mM) of various silicate chemicals (calcium silicate and potassium silicate) on wheat growth and Cd addition by wheat under Cd stress 20 mg kg−1 of soil using CdCl2. The results revealed that under control conditions, the application of Si improved all the growth, physiological, biochemical and quality attributes by reducing malondialdehyde contents and electrolyte leakage. Under Cd stress, the supplementation of Si conferred a better growth rate, gaseous exchange for metabolic activity and maintained the tissues’ turgor and membranes’ stabilities compared to those obtained under control (without Si). The enzymatic activities (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase) also show rapid action by the application of Si supplement, which were associated with elevated osmoprotectant contents and antioxidants, having role in antioxidant defense against Cd stress. These results suggested that a 4.50 mM concentration of Si supplement (potassium silicate) works effectively against Cd stress. The given results showed that Si supplement is beneficial for the enhancement of many metabolic activities that takes places in plants during the growth period that proved a feasible approach in controlling the Cd concentration within wheat plants and, ultimately, in humans.
‘A Slow Build-Up of a History of Kindness’: Exploring the Potential of Community-Led Housing in Alleviating Loneliness
Authors: Hudson Jim , Scanlon Kath , Udagawa Chihiro , Arrigoitia Melissa Fernández , Ferreri Mara , West Karen
Published: October 2021

This article explores the potential of community-led housing (CLH) in combatting loneliness, and represents a mixed-methods research project carried out from just before the beginning of the pandemic, through 2020. Methods comprised a nationwide quantitative online survey of members of CLH groups (N = 221 respondents from England and Wales), followed by five case studies of communities representing a range of different CLH models. This qualitative element comprised participant observation, and semi-structured interviews at each group. The article also considers data from a smaller research project carried out by the same team in July 2020, that aimed to capture the experience of the pandemic for CLH groups, and comprising an online questionnaire followed by 18 semi-structured interviews. We conclude that members of CLH projects are measurably less lonely than those with comparable levels of social connection in wider society, and that such benefits are achieved through combinations of multiple different elements that include physical design, social design and through social processes. Notably, not all aspects of communities that contribute positively are a result of explicit intentionality, albeit the concept is considered key to at least one of the models.
The Silent Discrimination against Headscarved Professionals in the Turkish Labor Market: The Case of Women in the Banking Sector
Authors: Karahan Hatice , Tugsuz Nigar
Published: October 2021

This study addresses the widespread discriminatory policies against headscarved professionals in the Turkish job market, by focusing on the female-intensive banking sector. Although the number of professionals wearing headscarves has increased since 2013 with the removal of the ban on headscarves for workers in the public sector, we argue that significant ideological discriminatory practices and bias against these women still exist. To expose this hidden reality and uncover its dynamics, we undertook exploratory in-depth interviews with 30 professionals from the Turkish banking sector, including both men and women. Our findings verify a severe underrepresentation of headscarved professionals in the commercial banking sector. Whereas, after 2013, state-owned banks began, to some extent, to recruit women wearing the headscarf, private commercial banks have not amended their exclusionist policy towards headscarved white-collar employees. Research findings confirm that in the Turkish banking sector, policies regarding the headscarf are still shaped by ideological corporate values. This study suggests that the appointment and promotion of female professionals in the Turkish banking sector are blocked by long-established stereotypes and prejudices, which stand in the way of inclusive practices supporting social equity, as well as diversity and the equality of women in the workplace.
Research on Airport Scheduling of FGAP Multi-Objective Programming Model Based on Uncertainty Theory
Authors: Hu Xijian , Teng Jiaqi , Wu Wei , Li Yan , Sheng Yuhong
Published: October 2021

Based on the current background of airport management and flight-gate scheduling in China, this paper takes Shanghai Pudong International Airport’s flight number of the rising and landing aircraft in a certain day as the research object, and it establishes an uncertain FGAP (Flight-Gate Assignment Problem) multi-objective programming model under the framework of uncertainty theory. Using genetic algorithm to solve the model, the specific flight-gate assignment scheduling plan is given. The research results show that the model in this paper can effectively alleviate the problems, such as unbalanced flight-gate allocation and excessive operating pressure of a single gate, in the conventional model, and make the allocation and scheduling more reasonable and efficient. Finally, we give the future application of uncertainty theory in finance and management, as well as the prospect of combining it with symmetry in physics.
On a New Construction of Generalized q-Bernstein Polynomials Based on Shape Parameter λ
Authors: Cai Qing-Bo , Aslan Reşat
Published: October 2021

This paper deals with several approximation properties for a new class of q-Bernstein polynomials based on new Bernstein basis functions with shape parameter λ on the symmetric interval [−1,1]. Firstly, we computed some moments and central moments. Then, we constructed a Korovkin-type convergence theorem, bounding the error in terms of the ordinary modulus of smoothness, providing estimates for Lipschitz-type functions. Finally, with the aid of Maple software, we present the comparison of the convergence of these newly constructed polynomials to the certain functions with some graphical illustrations and error estimation tables.