bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Intelligent Approach to Active and Reactive Power Control in a Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic System
Authors: Alsaidan Ibrahim , Chaudhary Priyanka , Alaraj Muhannad , Rizwan Mohammad
Published: April 2021

The increasing demand of electrical energy and environmental concerns are invigorating the use of renewable energy resources for power generation. Renewable energy resources can provide an attractive solution for present and future energy requirements. In this scenario, solar photovoltaic systems are becoming prominent and sustainable solutions with numerous advantages. However, the utilization of solar photovoltaic systems in distribution generation makes it mandatory to deploy efficient and organized control measures for integrating solar photovoltaic plants with the grid. In this paper, the control of grid-tied solar photovoltaic systems using a Kalman filter-based generalized neural network is presented with a variable step size perturb and observe-based maximum power point tracking controller to extract the maximum power from a solar photovoltaic plant. The presented system provides power-quality enhancement and supports a three-phase AC grid. The proposed approach extracts the load currents’ primary components for efficient harmonics elimination, synchronizes the system with the grid and provides a fast response during rapidly changing conditions. The results of the proposed control technique are also compared with the artificial neural network-based control technique for validation purposes. The proposed algorithm is found more suitable for using a smaller number of unknown weights and training patterns with reduced computational time.
Road User Attitudes and Their Reported Behaviours in Abuja, Nigeria
Authors: Uhegbu Uchenna Nnabuihe , Tight Miles R.
Published: April 2021

The continuous increases in the numbers of road traffic crashes (RTC) over the years, especially in developing countries, have been a source of worry. The majority of the RTC are attributed to road user behaviours exhibited by the drivers. This study sets out to investigate the road user attitudes and behaviours in Abuja, Nigeria. A total of 1526 questionnaires were distributed, of which 321 questionnaires were completed and returned. The questionnaires tried to understand four major road user behaviours, namely use of seatbelts, drink driving, use of mobile phone while driving, and use of child restraints. The results after analysing the questionnaires showed that the majority of the road users in Abuja showed high non-compliance with the use of seatbelts, either when driving or when being driven. About 64% of the respondents admitted to not using seatbelts. Results from the cross-tabulation process showed that the high non-compliance to seatbelt usage was statistically associated with young, single road users. Around one-third of Abuja road users admitted to drink driving. Road users who were married engaged in more frequent drink driving than road users who were single, and the association was statistically significant. A high percentage of Abuja road users admitted to using mobile phones while driving and 55.8% of the total respondents admitted to not using child restraints while driving. A lack of child restraints was statistically associated more with male road users than female road users. It is recommended that stricter enforcement of road safety laws should be undertaken and that the government should provide road safety agents with the right equipment (e.g., speed guns, breathalyzers) that would aid road safety agents to perform their duties effectively in order to curb the excessive bad road user behaviours in Abuja.
Risk and Performance of European Green and Conventional Funds
Authors: Gonçalves Tiago , Pimentel Diego , Gaio Cristina
Published: April 2021

This paper analyzes how the risk-adjusted returns of green funds compare to those of conventional funds, between the years 2005 and 2020 for the European Union countries. Additionally, we tested how the performance of green funds correlates to the business cycle, subdividing their performance through expansionary and recessionary times. The findings are summarized as follows: our regression results demonstrated green and conventional funds exhibiting negative abnormal adjusted-returns against the developed world market benchmark for the single-factor and multifactor models. For the European market benchmark, we found environmental mutual funds presenting a positive performance for both models and conventional funds displaying negative results for the single-factor model and positive results for the multifactor model. The factor loadings for green funds indicated a negative load on momentum, book-to-market (HML) and size (SMB) factors, revealing a higher exposure to big and value companies. Subsampling per business cycle exhibited green mutual funds providing higher risk-adjusted returns to investors during crisis periods and mixed results for the non-crisis periods.
The Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Regional Accessibility and Spatial Development—Updated Evidence from China’s Mid-Yangtze River City-Cluster Region
Authors: Liu Liwen , Zhang Ming
Published: April 2021

There has been long and ongoing interest in the impacts of high-speed rail (HSR) on regional spatial development. Most existing studies, however, reported findings at relatively coarse geographic scales, i.e., at the prefecture-city or above level in the Chinese context. This paper presents the empirical evidence of HSR impacts from the county-level cities in China’s Mid-Yangtze River City-Cluster Region (MYRCCR). The study utilized rail time data and the socio-economic data for MYRCCR’s 185 county-level cities in the years of 2006 (without HSR) and 2014 (with HSR) and analyzed the impacts of HSR on inter-city travel times, accessibility, spatial inequality, and regional economic linkages among the MYRCCR cities. The results show that, from 2006 to 2014, HSR reduced city-to-city average travel time by 34.5% or 124 min and improved accessibility to all cities in the MYRCCR. HSR’s impacts on accessibility and spatial equality exhibited a scale-differentiated pattern. MYRCCR-wide, HSR transformed a pattern of spatial polarization towards the one of corridorization. Cities located on major HSR corridors became more balanced in 2014 than in 2006. Nevertheless, at the county-city level, the gap between cities with the most and the least accessibility gains was much greater than the gap between those with the largest and the smallest travel time savings. Attributable to HSR services, the intensity of economic linkage increased between MYRCCR cities, especially between the provincial capital cities and those on the major lines of the national HSR grid, which implies an emerging process towards territorial cohesion in MYRCCR. National, provincial, and local governments should consider transportation as well as non-transportation policies and measures to direct HSR impacts towards further enhanced spatial development and regional equality.
A Novel Index (RI) to Evaluate the Relative Stability of Soils Using Ultrasonic Agitation
Authors: Abbas Fakher , Lin Fang , Zhu Zhaolong , An Shaoshan
Published: April 2021

As soil stability is a complex phenomenon, various methods and indexes were introduced to assess the strength of soils. Because of the limitations of different stability methods and indexes (including wet sieving-based), we aimed to presents a relative stability index (RI) that was based on the estimated components of the soil overall disruptive characteristic curve (SODC): (1) soil disruption constant (Ki, that is based upon dispersion energy of soils); (2) resulting change in mean weight diameter (ΔMWD). To evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of RI as well as to compare it with classical soil stability indexes of mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD). Ultrasonic agitation (UA) along with a wet sieving method (followed by dry sieving) was applied against four different soils named on the basis of sample location, Qingling soil (QL), Guanzhong soil (GZ), Ansai soil (AS), and Jingbian soil (JB). To evaluate the relative strength of soils at different applied energies (increase in sonication duration usually resulted in increased input energy and temperature of soil–water suspension), soils were subjected to six sonication durations (0, 30, 60, 120, 210, and 300 s) with a fixed (and exact) initial amplitude and temperature. Output energy was calculated based on the amplitude and temperature of the suspension, vessel, and system. The most abrupt and maximum disruption of soil aggregates was observed at a dispersion energy level of 0–200 J g−1. The MWD value of surface and subsurface ranged between 0.58 to 0.15 mm and 0.37 to 0.17 mm, respectively, while GMD was ranged from 0.14 to 0.33 mm overall. The results for MWD and GMD showed a similar trend. MWD and GMD showed more strong associations with physicochemical characteristics of soil than RI. A non-significant correlation was found between RI and MWD/GMD. Contrary to MWD and GMD, RI was significantly positively correlated with sand content; this finding indicated the influential role of sand in assessing the soil’s relative strength. The results indicated that JB soil possessed the least MWD and GMD but proved to be relatively stable because of having the highest RI value.
A Novel Development Scheme of Mobility as a Service: Can It Provide a Sustainable Environment for China?
Authors: Zhang Zipeng , Zhang Ning
Published: April 2021

Mobility as a service (MaaS), a new concept of transportation, is regarded as an effective solution to prevalent urban traffic problems because of its sustainable development properties such as sharing, integration, humanism and low-carbon. However, progress from pilots to large-scale implementation has hitherto been slow especially in China. In this paper, we propose a new alliance-based framework of development scenarios for the Chinese MaaS system. At the same time, by distinguishing the experience and lessons between the UbiGo project in Sweden and Whim project in Finland, we summarize that the key to the success of prior pilot projects is the cooperation of industry alliance, government policy support, and data sharing mechanism. Moreover, this paper also proposes some MaaS solutions for the obstacles of alliance-based cooperation, data resource sharing, business model selection, operation conditions, development path, policy support and other aspects in China.
Communion, Care, and Leadership in Computer-Mediated Learning during the Early Stage of COVID-19
Authors: Sederevičiūtė-Pačiauskienė Živilė , Valantinaitė Ilona , Kliukas Romualdas
Published: April 2021

This qualitative inquiry explores how, during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania (European Union), the stakeholders in the education system—university teachers, general education teachers, students, and children’s parents—coped with the encountered challenge and what was important to them under the changed conditions. This paper uses a communication management objective to describe how participants in the education system responded to the emerging distance learning situation and its challenges. The phenomenographic research approach was chosen to carry out the qualitative study. The 37 interviews from higher education teachers, university students, school teachers, and parents of minor school-aged children were conducted during the early stage of COVID-19 quarantine. The research allows for concluding that, after a successful transition to distance learning, the dimensions of communion and supportive collaboration acquired importance among stakeholders in education. Starting new activities, a need for communion and mobilization for joint activities under the crisis emerged. The research showed that the adaptation period was necessary at the beginning of these new activities. Competent leadership was expected from the teacher. Additionally, the preparation of all the actors in the education process was needed. The data offer a window into the dynamics of online teaching in crisis and experiences with a new activity that are key to success. Although research on technology-mediated learning has increased in recent years, it still lags behind developments in practice.
A Fuzzy Network DEA Approach to the Selection of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Authors: Lu Tim
Published: April 2021

The selection of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) is an essential yet complex decision that requires careful consideration of various performance criteria. In real-world applications, there are cases that observations are difficult to measure precisely, observations are represented as linguistic terms, or the data need to be estimated. Since the growth of engineering sciences has been the key reason for the increased utilization of AMTs, this paper develops a fuzzy network data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the selection of AMT alternatives considering multiple decision-makers (DMs) and weight restrictions when the input and output data are represented as fuzzy numbers. By viewing the multiple DMs as a network one, the data provided by each DM can then be taken into account in evaluating the overall performances of AMT alternatives. In the solution process, we obtain the overall and DMs efficiency scores of each AMT alternative at the same time, and a relationship in which the former is a weighted average of the latter is also derived. Since the final evaluation results of AMTs are fuzzy numbers, a ranking procedure is employed to determine the most preferred one. An example is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed methodology.
The Empirical Analysis of Green Innovation for Fashion Brands, Perceived Value and Green Purchase Intention—Mediating and Moderating Effects
Authors: Chen Lihong , Qie Kexin , Memon Hafeezullah , Yesuf Hanur Meku
Published: April 2021

Aiming at the problems of pollution and waste in the clothing industry, the concept of the green innovation of clothing brands is put forward here and analyzed in terms of five dimensions: green product innovation, green technology innovation, green image innovation, green service innovation, and marketing green innovation. Based on the theory of perceived value, in this study we analyzed the mechanism of clothing brand green innovation with regard to consumers’ purchase intention and, on this basis, investigated the mediating role of perceived value and the moderating role of consumer innovation. Simultaneously, we designed a measurement scale for clothing brand green innovation and used the structural equation model to test the research hypothesis. The results showed that clothing brand green innovation can effectively promote green purchase intention and behavior, that consumers produce purchase intention and behavior through the perception of novelty, usefulness, and greenness, and that highly innovative consumers are more likely to perceive novelty and are more willing to buy. This study provides new ideas and references for clothing brand green innovation.
Creative and Culture Industry in Baltic Sea Region Condition and Future
Authors: Klein Monika , Gutowski Piotr , Gerlitz Laima , Gutowska Ewelina
Published: April 2021

The creative industries are recognized as one of the most perspective sectors of the economy with high potential to both contribute to local and regional prosperity and employment generation. Globally, the cultural and creative industries (CCIs, or culture and creative sector) became a large part of the economy in the first decade of the 21st century. They made a 3% contribution to the global economy. They generate US $2250 billion and create 29.5 million jobs worldwide. In parallel to economic benefits, the cultural and creative sectors also deliver benefits to people. They foster sustainable urban development, creativity, and culture. Furthermore, they support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Creativity and culture also have significant intangible value. They promote social inclusion and encourage dialogue and understanding between people. Culture is both a driver and an enabler of sustainable human development. It empowers people to take responsibility for their own development and boosts innovation and creativity, which can drive inclusive and sustainable development. The presence of CCI in a particular area is an important factor of competitiveness, image, and economic development. This paper presents the results of a study on the determinants of the development of creative industries in the Baltic Sea Region. The summary of the main results of the study focuses on the economic importance, innovation in creative enterprises, and the needs of organizations to grow. It shows that creative industries, which are characterized by rather small entities and elastic work organizations, acquire new ideas and approaches primarily through the mobility of independent employees. Since creative industries make a decisive contribution to the competitiveness of the national innovation system and enhance sustainable growth at the same time, it concludes with implications and challenges for regional innovation policies to improve the framework conditions for creative industries. This article presents the conclusions of research that was conducted in four countries of the Baltic Sea Region (Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland). The research was conducted by using a Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) survey. A total of 682 correctly completed questionnaires were obtained. The results were subjected to statistical inference, in which the technique of detecting hidden interdependencies between the examined phenomena using the V-Cramer method was also applied. The main aim of this article is to verify the state of the creative industry in the Baltic Sea Region. And the research hypothesis is that the organizations of creative sectors are doing well in turbulent circumstances, and, by doing so, they continually enhance the realization of sustainability goals.
Revitalizing the Global Alliances for Sustainable Development: Analyzing the Viability of Sustainable Development Goal 17—A Multi-Actor Governance Approach
Authors: Bulmer Elena , del Prado-Higuera Cristina
Published: April 2021

The seventeenth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, Partnerships for the Goals, aims to strengthen the means of the implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. The successful implantation of the UN’s seventeenth Sustainable Development Goal will aid the execution and achievement of the other sixteen goals. This article explores the importance and viability of Sustainable Development Goal 17, using a case study based in Valencia, Spain. The study presents an illustrative stakeholder situation, where we see that there are conflicting interests among conservationists, fishermen, municipality representatives, and others. Data collection was done using desk-based research and semi-structured interviews. The interview process was performed between October 2018 and October 2019. In total, 21 different stakeholders were interviewed. For the data analyses, a stakeholder register, Power–Interest Matrices, and a stakeholder map were used, and, to complement the latter, narratives were developed. The different analyses showed that most project stakeholders supported the project, while there was really only one stakeholder, the fishermen themselves, who were reticent about participating. However, it was shown over time that, by developing a common vision with them, the fishermen came on board the project and collaborated with the scientists. Stakeholder engagement analyses are especially useful in the application of Sustainable Development Goals at the project level. Although this case study is specifically applicable to a marine conservation context, it may be extrapolated and applied to any other Sustainable Development Goals’ context.
Contribution of Natural Forest Products to Rural Livelihoods at Mavunde and Sambandou Villages, Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa
Authors: Dalu Mwazvita T. B. , Gunter Ashley W. , Makatu Mulweli , Dowo Gregory M. , Dondofema Farai , Dalu Tatenda
Published: April 2021

With ~70% of the sub-Saharan population living in rural areas, more than 90% of rural African households depend on natural forest products. Although several studies in other parts of South Africa have looked into the use of natural forest products in poverty alleviation, little is known on the roles and relative contribution of natural forest products as daily and safety nets specifically within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa. This study assessed the different roles played by natural forest products in households and the patterns of their relative contribution to households both as sources of income and direct consumption within differing household compositions as well as socio-economic factors. These included employment and income diversification role and the monetised value of natural resources in the rural livelihoods of households in Sambandou and Mavunde, Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study inter alia compared a wide use of natural resources by two villages and determined on which forest products they most relied for their economic welfare. Their relative contributions to livelihoods were assessed by identifying factors that affected their contributions. Findings of the study showed that Sambandou had a high number of people with formal jobs and females, and fewer old-age pensioners. Differences in employment and education between villages were observed. In all villages, the most frequently used or harvested resource was fuelwood, wild edible fruits, herbs, grass/shrub hand sweepers, insects for food, thatch grass/reeds and poles for fencing and housing. Overall, Mavunde village households were found to be more dependent on natural resource harvesting both for income and subsistence substitution. Findings suggest that this may have been a consequence of socio-economic factors such as income and employment, as well as general underdevelopment in the village. This study’s findings could contribute to further studies into how these results compare to other parts of the country and region, as well as their respective developmental implications.
A Geoethical Approach to Unlock a Social-Ecological Governance Problem: The Case of the Tordera River (Catalonia, Spain)
Authors: Bellaubi Francesc , Mallarach Josep Maria , Sardá Rafael
Published: April 2021

This paper introduces a geoethical dilemma in the coastal zone of the Tordera Delta as a case study with the objective of showing the contribution of geoethics to the governance of coastal social-ecological systems. The Tordera Delta, located in Costa Brava, Catalonia, constitutes a social-ecological system that suffers from intense anthropization mainly due to tourist pressures causing a cascade of different environmental problems impacting the Delta functions. The massive sun and beach tourism brought human well-being and economic development to the region, but has caused an intense urbanization of the coastline that altered the coastal dynamics, eroded its beaches, and degraded many ecosystem services, a process that is being worsened today by the climate change events such as the rising sea level or the magnitude of the storms (“llevantades”), typical of the Western Mediterranean coast. Posing the problem of governance in terms of a geoethical dilemma enables discerning among the values connected to the intrinsic meaning of coastal landscapes and the instrumental values that see beaches as goods (commodities) for tourism uses. Finally, the paper reflects on options to overcome this dichotomy of values by considering meaning values as elements that forge cultural identities, contributing to highlighting this societal challenge in the Tordera Delta area, as a case study that can be useful for similar ecosystems.
Suggestions for Improving South Korea’s Fall Accidents Prevention Technology in the Construction Industry: Focused on Analyzing Laws and Programs of the United States
Authors: Lim Jeeyoung , Son Kiyoung , Park Chansik , Kim Daeyoung
Published: April 2021

Since the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1981, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency has endeavored to prevent fall accidents in the construction industry. However, many fatalities still occur in the South Korean construction industry. Meanwhile, the United States improved various systems and conducted studies to prevent fall accidents, significantly reducing such occurrences in the construction industry. The objective of this study is to present improvements to South Korea’s fall prevention technology by analyzing the laws and programs of the United States. To achieve this, this study has analyzed the United States’ fall prevention technology and derived improvements applicable in South Korea through an expert opinion survey. This study suggests to (1) set the height standard of a fall accident to 2 m, (2) adopt an active fall prevention system, (3) create a map of fallen fatalities, and (4) employ safety experts to support foreign workers. In the future, the results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for policies and programs related to fall accidents in the construction industry.
How Can Cultural Values and Entrepreneurship Lead to the Consideration of Innovation-Oriented or Non-Innovation-Oriented Countries?
Authors: López-Cabarcos M. Ángeles , Piñeiro-Chousa Juan , Quiñoá-Piñeiro Lara , Santos-Rodrigues Helena
Published: April 2021

This study provides an analysis of the existing relationship between culture, entrepreneurship, and orientation towards innovation at the national level. Drawing on the creation of an Artificial Neural Network, and using a sample of 37 countries, this paper aims to catalogue each country as innovation-oriented or non-innovation-oriented considering the six cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede’s model and the country´s entrepreneurial activity. The results achieved suggest that three of the cultural dimensions—long-term orientation, individualism, and indulgence—are positively associated with the consideration of a country as innovation-oriented, but one of them—uncertainty avoidance—is associated with the consideration of a country as non-innovation-oriented. On the other hand, while power distance and masculinity do not seem to be significant variables in this analysis, the entrepreneurial activity rate is associated with countries classified as non-innovation-oriented. This study aims to shed light on the relationships between cultural values, entrepreneurship, and orientation towards innovation, providing valuable information for stakeholders, mainly those belonging to private sector and governments, when designing strategies aimed at creating favourable environments for the development of a country’s technology, research, and innovation.
Modelling and Prediction of Water Quality by Using Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Hmoud Al-Adhaileh Mosleh , Waselallah Alsaade Fawaz
Published: April 2021

Artificial intelligence methods can remarkably reduce costs for water supply and sanitation systems and help ensure compliance with the quality of drinking and wastewater treatment. Therefore, modelling and predicting water quality to control water pollution has been widely researched. The novelty of the proposed system is presented to develop an efficient operation of monitoring drinking water to ensure a sustainable and friendly green environment. In this work, the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) algorithm was developed to predict the water quality index (WQI). Feed-forward neural network (FFNN) and K-nearest neighbors were applied to classify water quality. The dataset has eight significant parameters, but seven parameters were considered to show significant values. The proposed methodology was developed based on these statistical parameters. Prediction results demonstrated that the ANFIS model was superior for the prediction of WQI values. Nevertheless, the FFNN algorithm achieved the highest accuracy (100%) for water quality classification (WQC). Furthermore, the ANFIS model accurately predicted WQI, and the FFNN model showed superior robustness in classifying the WQC. In addition, the ANFIS model showed accuracy during the testing phase, with a regression coefficient of 96.17% for predicting WQI, and the FFNN model achieved the highest accuracy (100%) for WQC. This proposed method, using advanced artificial intelligence, can aid in water treatment and management.
Methodology for Residential Building Stock Refurbishment Planning—Development of Local Building Typologies
Authors: Ignjatović Dušan , Bojana Zeković , Ćuković Ignjatović Nataša , Đukanović Ljiljana , Radivojević Ana , Rajčić Aleksandar
Published: April 2021

This paper presents the methodology for the implementation of building typology principles as a tool for the strategic planning of residential building stock energy retrofits on a municipal level in Serbia. Research was conducted under the IEE EPISCOPE (Intelligent Energy Europe EPISCOPE/TABULA project) project with the aim of developing an adequate tool for creating building stock energy retrofit management strategies on a local level. An approach that envisions the diversity and uneven spatial distribution of building stock in smaller scale municipalities and includes statistically relevant sampling of all relevant building types was developed and tested in the pilot project that focused on the city of Vršac. Two options for local typology development were formulated: a top-down approach, which relies on the data from the national typology or other available databases by reducing them to the local level, and a bottom-up approach, which represents a new data gathering and processing method. Both approaches were tested in the pilot project and the results are compared in this paper. From the conclusions of these analyses, a common methodology for the development of local building typologies has been defined. It can be used in the strategic planning of building stock, whether for the purpose of developing local energy action plans (LEAPs) or other purposes internationally.
Advanced Driver Assistant Systems Focused on Pedestrians’ Safety: A User Experience Approach
Authors: Šucha Matúš , Risser Ralf , Honzíčková Kristýna
Published: April 2021

Globally, pedestrians represent 23% of all road deaths. Many solutions to protect pedestrians are proposed; in this paper, we focus on technical solutions of the ADAS–Advanced Driver Assistance Systems–type. Concerning the interaction between drivers and pedestrians, we want to have a closer look at two aspects: how to protect pedestrians with the help of vehicle technology, and how pedestrians–but also car drivers–perceive and accept such technology. The aim of the present study was to analyze and describe the experiences, needs, and preferences of pedestrians–and drivers–in connection with ADAS, or in other words, how ADAS should work in such a way that it would protect pedestrians and make walking more relaxed. Moreover, we interviewed experts in the field in order to check if, in the near future, the needs and preferences of pedestrians and drivers can be met by new generations of ADAS. A combination of different methods, specifically, an original questionnaire, on-the-spot interviewing, and expert interviews, was used to collect data. The qualitative data was analyzed using qualitative text analysis (clustering and categorization). The questionnaire for drivers was answered by a total of 70 respondents, while a total of 60 pedestrians agreed to complete questionnaires concerning pedestrian safety. Expert interviews (five interviews) were conducted by means of personal interviews, approximately one hour in duration. We conclude that systems to protect pedestrians–to avoid collisions of cars with pedestrians–are considered useful by all groups, though with somewhat different implications. With respect to the features of such systems, the considerations are very heterogeneous, and experimentation is needed in order to develop optimal systems, but a decisive argument put forward by some of the experts is that autonomous vehicles will have to be programmed extremely defensively. Given this argument, we conclude that we will need more discussion concerning typical interaction situations in order to find solutions that allow traffic to work both smoothly and safely.
Social and Economic Factors of Industrial Carbon Dioxide in China: From the Perspective of Spatiotemporal Transition
Authors: Li Jingyuan , Cheng Jinhua , Diao Beidi , Wu Yaqi , Hu Peiqi , Jiang Shurui
Published: April 2021

The reduction of CO2 emission has become one of the significant tasks to control climate change in China. This study employs Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) to identify the provinces in China with different types of spatiotemporal transition, and applies the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to analyze the influencing factors of industrial CO2 emissions. Spatial autocorrelation of provincial industrial CO2 emissions from 2003 to 2017 has been demonstrated. The results are as follows: (1) 30 provinces in China are categorized into 8 types of spatiotemporal transition, among which 24 provinces are characterized by stable spatial structure and 6 provinces show significant spatiotemporal transition; (2) For all types of spatiotemporal transition, economic scale effect is mostly contributed to industrial CO2 emission, while energy intensity effect is the most crucial driving force to reduce industrial carbon dioxide emission; (3) provinces of type HH-HH, HL-HL and HL-HH are most vital for CO2 emission reduction, while the potential CO2 emission increase of developing provinces in LL-LL, LH-LH and LL-LH should also be taken into account. Specific measures for CO2 emission reduction are suggested accordingly.
Adsorption/Desorption Capability of Potassium-Type Zeolite Prepared from Coal Fly Ash for Removing of Hg2+
Authors: Kobayashi Yuhei , Ogata Fumihiko , Saenjum Chalermpong , Nakamura Takehiro , Kawasaki Naohito
Published: April 2021

The feasibility of using potassium-type zeolite (K-type zeolite) prepared from coal fly ash (CFA) for the removal of Hg2+ from aqueous media and the adsorption/desorption capabilities of various potassium-type zeolites were assessed in this study. Potassium-type zeolite samples were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of CFA at different intervals (designated CFA, FA1, FA3, FA6, FA12, FA24, and FA48, based on the hours of treatment) using potassium hydroxide solution, and their physicochemical characteristics were evaluated. Additionally, the quantity of Hg2+ adsorbed was in the order CFA, FA1 < FA3 < FA6 < FA12 < FA24 < FA48, in the current experimental design. Therefore, the hydrothermal treatment time is important to enhance the adsorption capability of K-type zeolite. Moreover, the effects of pH, temperature, contact time, and coexistence on the adsorption of Hg2+ were elucidated. In addition, Hg2+ adsorption mechanism using FA48 was demonstrated. Our results indicated that Hg2+ was exchanged with K+ in the interlayer of FA48 (correlation coefficient = 0.946). Finally, adsorbed Hg2+ onto FA48 could be desorbed using a sodium hydroxide solution (desorption percentage was approximately 70%). Our results revealed that FA48 could be a potential adsorbent for the removal of Hg2+ from aqueous media.
Use of Simulated and Observed Meteorology for Air Quality Modeling and Source Ranking for an Industrial Region
Authors: Kumar Awkash , Dikshit Anil Kumar , Patil Rashmi S.
Published: April 2021

The Gaussian-based dispersion model American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (AERMOD) is being used to predict concentration for air quality management in several countries. A study was conducted for an industrial area, Chembur of Mumbai city in India, to assess the agreement of observed surface meteorology and weather research and forecasting (WRF) output through AERMOD with ground-level NOx and PM10 concentrations. The model was run with both meteorology and emission inventory. When results were compared, it was observed that the air quality predictions were better with the use of WRF output data for a model run than with the observed meteorological data. This study showed that the onsite meteorological data can be generated by WRF which saves resources and time, and it could be a good option in low-middle income countries (LIMC) where meteorological stations are not available. Also, this study quantifies the source contribution in the ambient air quality for the region. NOx and PM10 emission loads were always observed to be high from the industries but NOx concentration was high from vehicular sources and PM10 concentration was high from industrial sources in ambient concentration. This methodology can help the regulatory authorities to develop control strategies for air quality management in LIMC.
A Rigid Cuckoo Search Algorithm for Solving Short-Term Hydrothermal Scheduling Problem
Authors: Zheyuan Cui , Hammid Ali Thaeer , Kareem Ali Noori , Jiang Mingxin , Mohammed Muamer N. , Kumar Nallapaneni Manoj
Published: April 2021

The key criteria of the short-term hydrothermal scheduling (StHS) problem is to minimize the gross fuel cost for electricity production by scheduling the hydrothermal power generators considering the constraints related to power balance; the gross release of water, and storage limitations of the reservoir, and the operating limitations of the thermal generators and hydropower plants. For addressing the same problem, numerous algorithms were being used, and related studies exist in the literature; however, they possess limitations concerning the solution state and the number of iterations it takes to reach the solution state. Hence, this article proposes using an enhanced cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) called the rigid cuckoo search algorithm (RCSA), a modified version of the traditional CSA for solving the StHS problem. The proposed RCSA improves the solution state and decreases the iteration numbers related to the CSA with a modified Lévy flight. Here, the movement distances are divided into multiple possible steps, which has infinite diversity. The effectiveness of RCSA has been validated by considering the hydrothermal power system. The observed results reveal the superior performance of RCSA among all other compared algorithms that recently have been used for the StHS problem. It is also observed that the RCSA approach has achieved minimum gross costs than other techniques. Thus, the proposed RCSA proves to be a highly effective and convenient approach for addressing the StHS problems
Factors Facilitating the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Regional and Local Planning—Experiences from Norway
Authors: Bardal Kjersti Granås , Reinar Mathias Brynildsen , Lundberg Aase Kristine , Bjørkan Maiken
Published: April 2021

Successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on regional and local authorities’ ability to implement the goals in their respective contexts. Through a survey and interviews with informants in Norwegian municipalities and county councils, this paper explores and offers new empirical insight into (1) which factors can be identified as facilitating the implementation of the SDGs in Norwegian local and regional planning; (2) how the facilitating factors are conditioned by the different local and regional institutional contexts; and (3) how these factors from the Norwegian context correspond or differ from those in the international literature. We find that the existing Planning and Building Act is considered a suitable framework for the implementation of the SDGs in the Norwegian context, and that the SDGs are high on the national and regional governmental agendas. However, work remains in integrating the SDGs into underlying governmental activities. They must be incorporated into action plans and planning tools, which will require involvement, collaboration and development work across sectors and authority levels, and the development of guidelines for how this can be done. Allocating enough resources for this work will be crucial, and smaller municipalities may need other types and degrees of support than larger ones.
Productivity-Enhancing Technologies. Can Consumer Choices Affect the Environmental Footprint of Beef?
Authors: Aboagye Isaac A. , Cordeiro Marcos R. C. , McAllister Tim A. , Ominski Kim H.
Published: April 2021

Use of productivity-enhancing technologies (PET: growth hormones, ionophores, and beta-adrenergic agonists) to improve productivity has recently garnered public attention regarding environmentally sustainability, animal welfare, and human health. These consumer perceptions and increased demand for PET-free beef offer opportunities for the beef industry to target niche premium markets, domestically and internationally. However, there is a need to critically examine the trade-offs and benefits of beef raised with and without the use of PETs. This review contains a summary of the current literature regarding PET products available. The implications of their use on resource utilization, food safety and security, as well as animal health and welfare are discussed. Furthermore, we identified gaps in knowledge and future research questions related to the sustainability of these technologies in beef production systems. This work highlights the tradeoffs between environmental sustainability of beef and supplying the dietary needs of a growing population.
Aerodynamic Characteristics of Airfoil and Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Employed with Gurney Flaps
Authors: Chakroun Yosra , Bangga Galih
Published: April 2021

In the present studies, the effects of Gurney flaps on aerodynamic characteristics of a static airfoil and a rotating vertical axis wind turbine are investigated by means of numerical approaches. First, mesh and time step studies are conducted and the results are validated with experimental data in good agreement. The numerical solutions demonstrate that the usage of Gurney flap increases the airfoil lift coefficient CL with a slight increase in drag coefficient CD. Furthermore, mounting a Gurney flap at the trailing edge of the blade increases the power production of the turbine considerably. Increasing the Gurney flap height further increases the power production. The best performance found is obtained for the maximum height used in this study at 6% relative to the chord. This is in contrast to the static airfoil case, which shows no further improvement for a flap height greater than 0.5%c. Increasing the angle of the flap decreases the power production of the turbine slightly but the load fluctuations could be reduced for the small value of the flap height. The present paper demonstrates that the Gurney flap height for high solidity turbines is allowed to be larger than the classical limit of around 2% for lower solidity turbines.
On (p,q)-Analogues of Laplace-Typed Integral Transforms and Applications
Authors: Jirakulchaiwong Sansumpan , Nonlaopon Kamsing , Tariboon Jessada , Ntouyas Sotiris K. , Kim Hwajoon
Published: April 2021

In this paper, we establish (p,q)-analogues of Laplace-type integral transforms by using the concept of (p,q)-calculus. Moreover, we study some properties of (p,q)-analogues of Laplace-type integral transforms and apply them to solve some (p,q)-differential equations.
Linear Energy Density and the Flux of an Electric Field in Proca Tubes
Authors: Dzhunushaliev Vladimir , Folomeev Vladimir , Tlemisov Abylaikhan
Published: April 2021

In this work, we study cylindrically symmetric solutions within SU(3) non-Abelian Proca theory coupled to a Higgs scalar field. The solutions describe tubes containing either the flux of a color electric field or the energy flux and momentum. It is shown that the existence of such tubes depends crucially on the presence of the Higgs field (there are no such solutions without this field). We examine the dependence of the integral characteristics (linear energy and momentum densities) on the values of the electromagnetic potentials at the center of the tube, as well as on the values of the coupling constant of the Higgs scalar field. The solutions obtained are topologically trivial and demonstrate the dual Meissner effect: the electric field is pushed out by the Higgs scalar field.
Multi-Modal Evolutionary Deep Learning Model for Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis
Authors: Ghoniem Rania M. , Algarni Abeer D. , Refky Basel , Ewees Ahmed A.
Published: April 2021

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common reason for mortality among women. Deep learning has recently proven better performance in predicting OC stages and subtypes. However, most of the state-of-the-art deep learning models employ single modality data, which may afford low-level performance due to insufficient representation of important OC characteristics. Furthermore, these deep learning models still lack to the optimization of the model construction, which requires high computational cost to train and deploy them. In this work, a hybrid evolutionary deep learning model, using multi-modal data, is proposed. The established multi-modal fusion framework amalgamates gene modality alongside with histopathological image modality. Based on the different states and forms of each modality, we set up deep feature extraction network, respectively. This includes a predictive antlion-optimized long-short-term-memory model to process gene longitudinal data. Another predictive antlion-optimized convolutional neural network model is included to process histopathology images. The topology of each customized feature network is automatically set by the antlion optimization algorithm to make it realize better performance. After that the output from the two improved networks is fused based upon weighted linear aggregation. The deep fused features are finally used to predict OC stage. A number of assessment indicators was used to compare the proposed model to other nine multi-modal fusion models constructed using distinct evolutionary algorithms. This was conducted using a benchmark for OC and two benchmarks for breast and lung cancers. The results reveal that the proposed model is more precise and accurate in diagnosing OC and the other cancers.
Recognition of Heavy Metal Ions by Using E-5-((5-Isopropyl-3,8-Dimethylazulen-1-yl) Dyazenyl)-1H-Tetrazole Modified Electrodes
Authors: Păun Adina-Maria , Matica Ovidiu-Teodor , Anăstăsoaie Veronica , Enache Laura-Bianca , Diacu Elena , Ungureanu Eleonora-Mihaela
Published: April 2021

Chemically modified electrodes (CMEs) based on polymeric films of E-5-((5-isopropyl-3,8-dimethylazulen-1-yl) diazenyl)-1H-tetrazole (L) deposited on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode have been used for the recognition of heavy metal (Me) ions. The electrochemical study of L was done by three methods: differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and rotating disk electrode voltammetry (RDE). The CV, DPV, and RDE studies for L were performed at different concentrations in 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate solutions in acetonitrile. The polymeric films were formed by successive cycling or by controlled potential electrolysis (CPE). The film formation was proven by recording the CV curves of the CMEs in ferrocene solution. The CMEs prepared at different charges or potentials were used for detection of heavy metal ions. Synthetic samples of heavy metal ions (Cd(II), Pb(II), Cu(II), Hg(II)) of concentrations between 10−8 and 10−4 M were analyzed. The most intense signal was obtained for Pb(II) ion (detection limit of about 10−8 M). Pb(II) ion can be detected by these CMEs in waters at such concentrations. The ability of the ligand L to form complexes with Pb(II) and Hg(II) ions was also tested by UV-Vis spectrometry. The obtained results showed the formation of Me(II)L2 complexes.