bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Person Tracking in Ultra-Wide Band Hybrid Localization System Using Reduced Number of Reference Nodes
Authors: Rajchowski Piotr , Stefanski Jacek , Sadowski Jaroslaw , Cwalina Krzysztof K.
Published: April 2020

In this article a novel method of positional data integration in an indoor hybrid localization system combining inertial navigation with radio distance measurements is presented. A point of interest is the situation when the positional data and the radio distance measurements are obtained from less than thee reference nodes and it is impossible to unambiguously localize the moving person due to undetermined set of positional equations. The presented method allows to continuously provide localization service even in areas with disturbed propagation of the radio signals. Authors performed simulation and measurement studies of the proposed method to verify the precision of position estimation of a moving person in an indoor environment. It is worth noting that to determine the simulation parameters and realize the experimental studies the hybrid localization system demonstrator was developed, combining inertial navigation and radio distance measurements. In the proposed solution, results of distance measurements taken to less than three reference nodes are used to compensate the drift of the position estimated using the inertial sensor. In the obtained simulation and experimental results it was possible to reduce the localization error by nearly 50% regarding the case when only inertial navigation was used, additionally keeping the long term root mean square error at the level of ca. 0.50 m. That gives a degradation of localization precision below 0.1 m with respect to the fusion Kalman filtration when four reference nodes are present.
RETRACTED: Muminov et al. Modern Virtual Fencing Application: Monitoring and Controlling Behavior of Goats Using GPS Collars and Warning Signals. Sensors 2019, 19, 1598
Authors:   Sensors Editorial Office
Published: April 2020

It has come to our attention that the majority of the content in the title paper [...]
Deep Generative Models-Based Anomaly Detection for Spacecraft Control Systems
Authors: Ahn Hyojung , Jung Dawoon , Choi Han-Lim
Published: April 2020

A spacecraft attitude control system provides mechanical and electrical control to achieve the required functions under various mission scenarios. Although generally designed to be highly reliable, mission failure can occur if anomalies occur and the attitude control system fails to properly orient and stabilize the spacecraft. Because accessing spacecraft to directly repair such problems is usually infeasible, developing a continuous condition monitoring model is necessary to detect anomalies and respond accordingly. In this study, a method for detecting anomalies and characterizing failures for spacecraft attitude control systems is proposed. Herein, features are extracted from multidimensional time-series data of a simulation of the attitude control system. Then, the artificial neural network learning algorithms based on two types of generation models are applied. A Bayesian optimization algorithm with a Gaussian process is used to optimize the hyperparameters for the neural network to improve the performance. The performance is evaluated based on the reconstruction error through the algorithm using the newly generated data not used for learning as input data. Results show that the detection performance depends on the operating characteristics of each submode in the operation scenarios and type of generation model. The diagnostic results are monitored to detect anomalies in operation modes and scenarios.
Accuracy Improvement of Binocular Vision Measurement System for Slope Deformation Monitoring
Authors: Hu Qijun , Feng Ziyuan , He Leping , Shou Zihe , Zeng Junsen , Tan Jie , Bai Yu , Cai Qijie , Gu Yucheng
Published: April 2020

This paper studies the limitations of binocular vision technology in monitoring accuracy. The factors affecting the surface displacement monitoring of the slope are analyzed mainly from system structure parameters and environment parameters. Based on the error analysis theory, the functional relationship between the structure parameters and the monitoring error is studied. The error distribution curve is obtained through laboratory testing and sensitivity analysis, and parameter selection criteria are proposed. Corresponding image optimization methods are designed according to the error distribution curve of the environment parameters, and a large number of tests proved that the methods effectively improved the measurement accuracy of slope deformation monitoring. Finally, the reliability and accuracy of the proposed system and method are verified by displacement measurement of a slope on site.
Proposal of Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy-PI Controller Hardware
Authors: Silva Sérgio N. , Lopes Felipe F. , Valderrama Carlos , Fernandes Marcelo A. C.
Published: April 2020

This work proposes dedicated hardware for an intelligent control system on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The intelligent system is represented as Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy-PI controller. The implementation uses a fully parallel strategy associated with a hybrid bit format scheme (fixed-point and floating-point). Two hardware designs are proposed; the first one uses a single clock cycle processing architecture, and the other uses a pipeline scheme. The bit accuracy was tested by simulation with a nonlinear control system of a robotic manipulator. The area, throughput, and dynamic power consumption of the implemented hardware are used to validate and compare the results of this proposal. The results achieved allow the use of the proposed hardware in applications with high-throughput, low-power and ultra-low-latency requirements such as teleoperation of robot manipulators, tactile internet, or industry 4.0 automation, among others.
Reliability of Vibroarthrography to Assess Knee Joint Sounds in Motion
Authors: Kalo Kristin , Niederer Daniel , Sus Rainer , Sohrabi Keywan , Groß Volker , Vogt Lutz
Published: April 2020

Knee acoustic emissions provide information about joint health and loading in motion. As the reproducibility of knee acoustic emissions by vibroarthrography is yet unknown, we evaluated the intrasession and interday reliability of knee joint sounds. In 19 volunteers (25.6 ± 2.0 years, 11 female), knee joint sounds were recorded by two acoustic sensors (16,000 Hz; medial tibial plateau, patella). All participants performed four sets standing up/sitting down (five repetitions each). For measuring intrasession reliability, we used a washout phase of 30 min between the first three sets, and for interday reliability we used a washout phase of one week between sets 3 and 4. The mean amplitude (dB) and median power frequency (Hz, MPF) were analyzed for each set. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs (2,1)), standard errors of measurement (SEMs), and coefficients of variability (CVs) were calculated. The intrasession ICCs ranged from 0.85 to 0.95 (tibia) and from 0.73 to 0.87 (patella). The corresponding SEMs for the amplitude were ≤1.44 dB (tibia) and ≤2.38 dB (patella); for the MPF, SEMs were ≤13.78 Hz (tibia) and ≤14.47 Hz (patella). The intrasession CVs were ≤0.06 (tibia) and ≤0.07 (patella) (p < 0.05). The interday ICCs ranged from 0.24 to 0.33 (tibia) and from 0 to 0.82 (patella) for both the MPF and amplitude. The interday SEMs were ≤4.39 dB (tibia) and ≤6.85 dB (patella) for the amplitude and ≤35.39 Hz (tibia) and ≤15.64 Hz (patella) for the MPF. The CVs were ≤0.14 (tibia) and ≤0.08 (patella). Knee joint sounds were highly repeatable within a single session but yielded inconsistent results for the interday reliability.
How to Achieve Compliance with GDPR Article 17 in a Hybrid Cloud Environment
Authors: Kelly Miriam , Furey Eoghan , Curran Kevin
Published: April 2020

On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)Article 17, the Right to Erasure (‘Right to be Forgotten’) came into force making it vital for organisations to identify, locate and delete all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) where a valid request is received from a data subject to erase their PII and the contractual period has expired. This must be done without undue delay and the organisation must be able to demonstrate reasonable measures were taken. Failure to comply may incur significant fines, not to mention impact to reputation. Many organisations do not understand their data, and the complexity of a hybrid cloud infrastructure means they do not have the resources to undertake this task. The variety of available tools are quite often unsuitable as they involve restructuring so there is one centralised data repository. This research aims to demonstrate compliance with GDPR’s Article 17 Right to Erasure (‘Right to be Forgotten’) is achievable in a Hybrid cloud environment by following a list of recommendations. However, 100% retrieval, 100% of time will not be possible, but we show that small organisations running an ad-hoc Hybrid cloud environment can demonstrate that reasonable measures were taken to be Right to Erasure (‘Right to be Forgotten’) compliant.
How Colonial Power, Colonized People, and Nature Shaped Hansen’s Disease Settlements in Suriname
Authors: Menke Henk , Pieters Toine , Menke Jack
Published: April 2020

According to the Dutch colonizers in Suriname, leprosy (or Hansen’s disease) was highly contagious and transmitted from human-to-human. A “cordon sanitaire” was constructed around the patients, mainly African slaves and Asian indentured laborers and their descendants. They were tracked down and incarcerated in remote leprosy settlements located in the rainforest. Some patients obeyed the authorities while others resisted and rebelled. Their narratives, revealing conceptual entanglement of the disease with their culture and the Surinamese natural environment, contain important information for understanding their world and their life inside and outside of leprosy settlements. They combined traditional health practices and medicinal plants from their natural habitat with biomedical treatments (practicing medical pluralism). They believed in a diversity of disease explanations, predominantly the taboo concepts treef, tyina, and totem animals associated with their natural habitat (the Surinamese biome). Some of their imaginary explanations (e.g., “leprosy is carried and/or transmitted through soil and certain animals”) show a surprising analogy with recent findings from leprosy scientists. Our research shows that nature contributes to shaping the world of Hansen’s disease patients. An ecological approach can make a valuable contribution to understanding their world. Comparative historical and anthropological research needs to be conducted to map the influence of different biomes on local explanatory models. The now deserted Hansen’s disease settlements and their natural environments are interesting research sites and important places of cultural heritage.
Sustainability by High–Speed Rail: The Reduction Mechanisms of Transportation Infrastructure on Haze Pollution
Authors: Chen Yu , Wang Yuandi , Hu Ruifeng
Published: April 2020

Haze pollution impacts human health, as well as the competitive capabilities of firms and local economic development. Considerable attention has been given to the study of mechanisms for reducing haze pollution, but few studies have investigated the effect of city-to-city transportation infrastructures on environmental issues based on an institutional perspective. To address this research gap, this study advances our understanding by assessing the effect of city–to–city transportation on haze pollution caused by the operation of high-speed rail, which triggers the rapid flow of individuals and information, improves information transparency, as well as imposes institutional pressure on local governments and firms to reduce haze pollution. To further verify the underlying mechanisms, we tested the development of hard infrastructure (information communication technology) and soft infrastructure (market development level), which represent two conditions for which the mechanism is likely to be critical. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 288 prefecture-level cities in China during the period from 2005 to 2016. The empirical results indicate that the operation of high-speed rail can reduce haze pollution by 17% on average.
Black Hole Algorithm for Sustainable Design of Counterfort Retaining Walls
Authors: Yepes Víctor , Martí José V. , García José
Published: April 2020

The optimization of the cost and CO 2 emissions in earth-retaining walls is of relevance, since these structures are often used in civil engineering. The optimization of costs is essential for the competitiveness of the construction company, and the optimization of emissions is relevant in the environmental impact of construction. To address the optimization, black hole metaheuristics were used, along with a discretization mechanism based on min–max normalization. The stability of the algorithm was evaluated with respect to the solutions obtained; the steel and concrete values obtained in both optimizations were analyzed. Additionally, the geometric variables of the structure were compared. Finally, the results obtained were compared with another algorithm that solved the problem. The results show that there is a trade-off between the use of steel and concrete. The solutions that minimize CO 2 emissions prefer the use of concrete instead of those that optimize the cost. On the other hand, when comparing the geometric variables, it is seen that most remain similar in both optimizations except for the distance between buttresses. When comparing with another algorithm, the results show a good performance in optimization using the black hole algorithm.
The Development of a Decision Support Model for Eco-Friendly Material Selection in Vietnam
Authors: Pham Anh-Duc , Nguyen Quang Trung , Luong Duc Long , Truong Quynh Chau
Published: April 2020

In recent years, the awareness of sustainable construction has increasingly risen in countries around the world, with the main goal being to avoid depleting energy resources and raw materials and to greatly reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the selection of eco-friendly building materials becomes a difficult task and choosing the best construction strategy is a complicated process. Most of the studies of the building material selection often focus on optimizing material-related green building scores with budget constraints based on the environmental impacts of those materials. However, these studies do not pay attention to the impact of sustainable materials on two important aspects of a project: The initial investment cost and the total labor-working days. Hence, this study developed a model that optimizes a material mix for buildings considering the building budget, total labor-working days, and material-related green building scores. A case study in Vietnam was conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. This proposed model provides a guidance for decision-makers in selecting approximate materials for buildings toward sustainability.
The Implication of Fiscal Principles and Rules on Promoting Sustainable Public Finances in the EU Countries
Authors: Onofrei Mihaela , (Vatamanu) Anca Gavriluţă , Bostan Ionel , Oprea Florin , Paraschiv Gigel , Lazăr Cristina Mihaela
Published: April 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze fiscal behavior in the European Union countries, to highlight the implications of institutional constraints on healthy fiscal attitudes, and to test the relationship between government decisions, fiscal responsibility instruments, and the sustainability of public finances during the period 2000–2014. By using panel data analysis, we tested the responsiveness of primary balance to government indebtedness, as well as to some determinants of fiscal responsibility, such as the degree of public spending or fiscal rules effectiveness, and we included two different perspectives regarding fiscal rules status. First, we computed a fiscal responsibility index, which measures the applicability of or compliance with the fiscal rules, referring to legal dimensions and administrative and institutional capacity. Second, we established a fiscal responsibility convergence index, which measures the status of the EU Member States regarding the approach of numerical rules. The empirical findings indicate that fiscal authorities do not act to the existing stock of public debt and highlights a negative response of budget balances to the stock of outstanding debt. Fiscal position improves when the index of fiscal responsibility is involved and countries become more sustainable when they are related to the entire level of fiscal governance, with respect to legal framework, institutional and administrative capacity, but at the debt ratio threshold of over 90%, the effect of the overall fiscal rule comes out as less relevant for the improvement of the primary balance.
Efficiency Gap Caused by the Input Data in Evaluating Energy Efficiency of Low-Income Households’ Energy Retrofit Program
Authors: Kim Joowook , Myoung Jemin , Lim Hyunwoo , Song Doosam
Published: April 2020

Energy efficiency policies are made to reduce the energy necessary to achieve a given level of indoor heating and to decrease the greenhouse gas emission worldwide. National and state regulators routinely tighten the energy efficiency building code appliance standards. In particular, for low-income households, the government has been implementing an energy efficiency program, and the most common measures include furnace replacement, attic and wall insulation, and infiltration reduction. The belief that the energy efficiency programs are beneficial and lead to energy reductions often fails, which is known as the ‘efficiency gap.’ This paper analyzed the effect of input data in calculating the energy savings of the energy efficiency program for low-income households as a cause of the energy efficiency gap in energy efficiency treatments for low-income households. According to the retrofit of the low-income household, the energy saving effect predicted through the input data of detailed measurement was 65%, which was higher than 41% of the conventional prediction method (walk-through audit). The resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction effect was also the same as the energy savings, and the results predicted by the existing prediction methods were less predicted than the detailed measurement results.
Financing the Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Lagoarde-Segot Thomas
Published: April 2020

This paper contends that carving out pathways to finance the sustainable development goal (SDG) agenda entails to reconsider tacit assumptions regarding the functioning of financial systems. We first use a history of economic thought perspective to demonstrate the flaws of the loanable fund theory, which has come to underlie SDG finance strategies. We then introduce the alternative endogenous money theory using a consistent theoretical and accounting framework. This allows us to identify and discuss a set of financing mechanisms that would permit to bridge the SDG budget gap. These mechanisms include the issuing of sovereign green bonds, the modification of the European Central Bank’s collateral framework, changes in capital adequacy ratios, a market of SDG lending certificates and the introduction of rediscounting policies. We back up the discussion with examples from economic history.
Electric Bus Selection with Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Green Transportation
Authors: Hamurcu Mustafa , Eren Tamer
Published: April 2020

Multicriteria decision-making tools are widely used in complex decision-making problems. There are also numerous points of decision-making in transportation. One of these decision-making points regards clean technology vehicle determination. Clean technology vehicles, such as electric buses, have some advantages compared to other technologies like internal combustion engine vehicles. Notably, electric vehicles emit zero tailpipe emissions, thereby ensuring cleaner air for cities and making these clean technologies preferable to other technologies, especially in highly populated areas for better air quality and more livable cities. In this study, we propose a multicriteria decision-making process using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) in the context of an electric bus in the center of Ankara. Six potential electric bus alternatives were evaluated under seven specific criteria. Overall, EV-2 electric buses outperformed other electric bus alternatives based on the chosen criteria. In addition, the stability of the results obtained under different scenarios using this method was established via sensitivity analysis.
Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany
Authors: Singer-Brodowski Mandy , von Seggern Janne , Duveneck Anika , Etzkorn Nadine
Published: April 2020

The educational governance discourse aims at capturing how different actors, participating in a specific political process, coordinate their actions while working together within multi-actor policy networks. In Germany, such multi-actor policy networks have set up ambitious political goals on the implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) that has resulted in the National Action Plan. The current domestic slogan “From Project to Structure” reveals the overall aim of scaling ESD. In this article, a governance perspective is used to examine how the actors involved in ESD in Germany coordinate their actions with each other. Six focus group discussions for different educational areas were conducted and analyzed with a structuring content analysis in MAXQDA. Additionally, an in-depth case comparison of the actors from different sectors (administration, politics, academia, civil society, and educational practice) was carried out. The results show sector-specific boundary work—the way in which actors construe, maintain, or even bridge boundaries when coordinating their actions in scaling ESD. Actors from the various sectors positioned themselves in patterns of more structure-immanent or more structure-transcending positionings. The conclusion shows that reflection and relational agency is pivotal for cooperation within multi-stakeholder governance networks and for moving strategically within structures.
Interdependencies of Culture and Functions of Sustainability Governance at Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Bauer Mara , Niedlich Sebastian , Rieckmann Marco , Bormann Inka , Jaeger Larissa
Published: April 2020

Sustainable development practices in higher education institutions are diverse, with regard not only to the types of challenges that have to be addressed, but also to the forms of sustainability governance adopted by individual higher education institutions. This paper aims to reflect on the aspects of organizational culture that are particularly crucial for the implementation of sustainable practices at higher education institutions. Specifically, it addresses the research question: how do different organizational cultures affect approaches to sustainability governance at higher education institutions (HEIs)? It reflects on data from multi-case studies at eleven German higher education institutions. Four of the cases are analyzed in this paper to draw out the insights they offer on how organizational culture shapes the institutions’ approach to sustainable development. A governance equalizer is used as a functional framework for evaluating and discussing the influence of different cultural orientations on sustainability governance. In addition to providing many insights and findings in relation to specific cases, comparison of the different institutions, their governance structures and their cultures of sustainable development helps to emphasize that there is no single cultural factor that can be identified as directly promoting particular governance structures. Rather, there is an active interplay between cultural orientations, which influence, and are also influenced by, the measures deployed. Such influence is not instantly apparent but needs time to develop, and it evolves in a variety of ways as illustrated by the case studies.
Variation in Phytoplankton Community Due to an Autumn Typhoon and Winter Water Turbulence in Southern Korean Coastal Waters
Authors: Baek Seung Ho , Lee Minji , Park Bum Soo , Lim Young Kyun
Published: April 2020

We evaluated changes in the phytoplankton community in Korean coastal waters during October 2016 and February 2017. Typhoon Chaba introduced a large amount of freshwater into the coastal areas during autumn 2016, and there was a significant negative relationship between salinity and nutrients in the Nakdong estuarine area, particularly in the northeastern area (Zone III; p < 0.001). The abundance of diatom species, mainly Chaetoceros spp., increased after this nutrient loading, whereas Cryptomonas spp. appeared as opportunists when there was relatively low diatom biomass. During winter, biotic and abiotic factors did not differ among the surface, middle, and lower layers (p > 0.01; ANOVA), implying that water mixing by winter windstorms and low surface temperature (due to the sinking of high-density water) physically accelerated mixing of the whole water column. Diatoms predominated under these conditions. Among diatoms, the centric diatom Eucampia zodiacus remained at high density at the inshore area and its abundance had a negative correlation with water temperature, implying that this species can grow at cold temperatures. On the other hand, the harmful freshwater diatom Stephanodiscus hantzschii mainly appeared in conditions with low salinity and high nutrients, implying that it can persist even in the saltwater conditions of the Nakdong Estuary. Our results indicate that hydro-oceanographic characteristics, such as river discharge after an autumn typhoon and winter water turbulence, have major effects on the composition of phytoplankton communities and can potentially affect the occurrence and characteristics of harmful algal blooms in southern Korean coastal waters.
Examining Structural Relationships among Brand Experience, Existential Authenticity, and Place Attachment in Slow Tourism Destinations
Authors: Shang Wenwen , Yuan Qing , Chen Nan
Published: April 2020

Understanding how tourists’ brand experiences impact their existential authenticity, and the role of existential authenticity in the formation mechanism of place attachment to the destination, are key issues for the marketing of a destination. The current study examines the relationship between tourists’ experience, existential authenticity, and place attachment, and the indirect effect of existential authenticity on the relationship between destination brand experience and place attachment from the oriental perspective against the slow tourism background. A self-administered survey was conducted at Yaxi town, the first international slow city in China. A total of 398 samples were analyzed using a two-step approach of the structural equation model (SEM). The findings show that destination brand experience partially impacts existential authenticity, and both the intrapersonal and interpersonal authenticity (the sub-dimensions of existential authenticity) significantly influence place attachment. Additionally, affective and behavioral experience indirectly influence place attachment through existential authenticity. Based on the conclusions, theoretical and practical recommendations are considered.
Life Cycle Analysis of a Geothermal Power Plant: Comparison of the Environmental Performance with Other Renewable Energy Systems
Authors: Basosi Riccardo , Bonciani Roberto , Frosali Dario , Manfrida Giampaolo , Parisi Maria Laura , Sansone Franco
Published: April 2020

A life cycle analysis was performed for the assessment of the environmental performances of three existing Italian power plants of comparable nominal power operating with different sources of renewable energy: Geothermal, solar, and wind. Primary data were used for building the life cycle inventories. The results are characterized by employing a wide portfolio of environmental indicators employing the ReCiPe 2016 and the ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ methods; normalization and weighting are also applied using the ReCiPe 2016 method at the endpoint level. The midpoint results demonstrate a good eco-profile of the geothermal power plant compared to other renewable energy systems and a definite step forward over the performance of the national energy mix. The Eco-Point single score calculation showed that wind energy is the best technology with a value of 0.0012 Eco-points/kWh, a result in line with previously documented life cycle analysis studies. Nevertheless, the geothermal power plant achieved a value of 0.0177 Eco-points/kWh which is close to that calculated for the photovoltaic plant (0.0087 Eco-points/kWh) and much lower than the national energy mix one (0.1240 Eco-points/kWh). Also, a scenario analysis allowed for a critical discussion about potential improvements to the environmental performance of the geothermal power plant.
The Drivers of Sustainable Apparel and Sportswear Consumption: A Segmented Kano Perspective
Authors: Baier Daniel , Rausch Theresa Maria , Wagner Timm F.
Published: April 2020

The steady increase of sustainable consumer behavior leads companies to strengthen their efforts to become socially and ecologically more sustainable. Particularly in the clothing and footwear industry, more and more companies are aware of their need to fundamentally adapt the way they create value. Sustainability offerings are developed, e.g., usage of upcycled materials (e.g., ocean plastic), circular business models (e.g., decomposition of returned products into components for new ones), as well as adapted product ranges (e.g., smaller or with fewer fashion cycles). However, it is frequently unclear in advance, which offerings will increase (or decrease) satisfaction and, consequently, drive (or not drive) sustainable consumption. The application of a segmented Kano perspective in an apparel and sportswear context that helps to answer these questions is presented: 17 potential offerings were assessed by a sample of 490 consumers. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of this methodology and that returning used products (to recycle them), discounts for buying sustainable products, sustainability level indicators, and biobased materials are highly attractive. However, the responsiveness varies across the derived consumer segments, from being decisive or attractive to indifferent or reverse. As assumed, gender and attitude towards sustainability are good predictors for segment membership.
Do Immigrant Entrepreneurs Have Natural Cognitive Advantages for International Entrepreneurial Activity?
Authors: Middermann Laura Helen
Published: April 2020

Are entrepreneurs with an immigration background more willing to internationalize their entrepreneurial firms compared to their nonimmigrant peers? Previous research has already emphasized that immigrant entrepreneurs possess superior human resources and social capabilities—such as international experience, networks and language skills—that help them to better identify and evaluate international entrepreneurial opportunities. However, literature other than capability-based explanations is rare, and thus it is not yet understood in what sense immigrant entrepreneurs differ from other entrepreneurs in terms of their cognitive characteristics for international entrepreneurial activity. This study addresses this gap by involving a quantitative study of Berlin-based high-tech founding entrepreneurs to empirically investigate how immigrant entrepreneurs vary in their cognitive characteristics, and how this affects their intention to engage in international entrepreneurship. The findings show that immigrant entrepreneurs possess higher levels of proactive behavior, which lead to a more favorable evaluation of international business opportunities, and in turn positively affect the willingness to engage in international entrepreneurial activity. This contributes to a deeper understanding of immigrant entrepreneurs’ natural cognitive advantages and the role they play for entrepreneurial growth, success and national economic development.
Spatio-Temporal Nonstationary Effects of Impact Factors on Industrial Land Price in Industrializing Cities of China
Authors: Yang Shengfu , Hu Shougeng , Li Weidong , Zhang Chuanrong , Song Dongdong
Published: April 2020

Industrialization has brought about great differences in industrial development and land use demand among different regions and cities, especially in rapidly industrializing countries with a vast territory. In those areas, implementing local-specific policies on industrial land price is of great significance to improve industrial land use efficiency and facilitate the sustainable development of regional economy. Based on the land pricing monition files of 105 industrializing cities, geographically weighted regression (GWR) was applied to detect the spatial variation of the industrial land price and its main impact factors (for example, tax, leased land, population, and location quotient index) in China in 2009, 2011 and 2014. The results show that the relationships were generally spatio-temporally nonstationary. More specifically, while the effect of tax on industrial land price was significantly positive and spatially stable all over China in 2009, the effect varied spatially in the two later studied years, weakened in North and East China and strengthened in South China. The effect of leased land on industrial land price was generally negative; it was very weak in 2009 and 2011 but became negatively strong in most studied cities in 2014, except for a few cities in Middle China. Population had a significant positive effect on industrial land price in the cities of East and Northeast China. For the three studied years, the location quotient index always had negative effect in Bohai Economic Rim and positive effect in Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, and the negative effect strengthened with time. Meanwhile, the underlying reasons behind the relationships were further analyzed, showing that the spatio-temporal changes of industrial land price are closely correlated with the population mobility, industrial agglomeration, government intervention and economic situation.
Instagram as a Co-Creation Space for Tourist Destination Image-Building: Algarve and Costa del Sol Case Studies
Authors: Iglesias-Sánchez Patricia P. , Correia Marisol B. , Jambrino-Maldonado Carmen , de las Heras-Pedrosa Carlos
Published: April 2020

Instagram is a popular social media platform. Its ability to convey feelings through photographs has become a valuable communication tool for tourism destination branding. The cases of two destinations in Southern Europe provide an understanding of how Instagram can be used to promote a destination’s image by Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). For this purpose, a content analysis is carried out, first of the official Instagram accounts of Algarve (Portugal) and Costa del Sol (Spain), and then of the most popular hashtags related to them, showing User-Generated Content (UGC) from the points of view of both destination managers and tourists. The results show that Instagram is a strategic social media platform for enhancing the brand image by engaging customers. Destinations seize content generated by tourists; therefore, the hermeneutic circle of representation is inverted, as photos taken by tourists aim to reproduce the perceived image of a destination and motivate tourists to capture their experiences with the best picture. Additionally, it is worth highlighting, as a main finding, the role of sustainability as a key factor in UGC for DMOs and for Instagram users. This research provides valuable information about designing promotion strategies for DMOs, in order to understand the potential of Instagram in building a destination’s image and inspiring tourism through images.
The Impact of Interest Rate, Exchange Rate and European Business Climate on Economic Growth in Romania: An ARDL Approach with Structural Breaks
Authors: Hatmanu Mariana , Cautisanu Cristina , Ifrim Mihaela
Published: April 2020

The role of the interest and exchange rates in sustaining economic growth has been a highly researched subject. Therefore, this study examines the influence of the monetary policy interest rate, the real exchange rate and the business climate in the Euro area on the economic growth in Romania. For this purpose, we have applied a pre-test for structural breaks to identify the existence of structural breaks, followed by the traditional unit root tests and the unit root tests with structural breaks to verify the stationarity of the variables. The results of the Bound cointegration test led to the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) short-run model that measures the short-run impact of the interest rate, exchange rate and the business climate in the Euro area on the economic growth of Romania. Our findings show that in the short run, the economic growth is negatively influenced by the interest rate, and positively by the exchange rate. We also indicate that the business climate in the Euro area has mixed effects on the economic growth. Finally, considering the growing interdependence between the internal and external (European) business environment, the results are highly significant for handling the interest and exchange rates in sustaining economic growth.
Trends in the Fashion Industry. The Perception of Sustainability and Circular Economy: A Gender/Generation Quantitative Approach
Authors: Gazzola Patrizia , Pavione Enrica , Pezzetti Roberta , Grechi Daniele
Published: April 2020

The significant changes which have occurred in the competitive scenario in which fashion companies operate, combined with deep transformation in the lifestyles of final consumers, translate into the need to redefine the business models. Starting from a general overview of the emerging trends today affecting the fashion industry, the paper will devote particular attention to the analysis of the most important phenomena that are influencing this market and the drivers for long-lasting competitiveness: sustainability and attention to the so-called circular economy. According to the literature, from the consumer behavior’s point of view, the younger generations are paying growing attention to these issues. In light of these considerations, this paper aimed to analyze how sustainability and circular economy principles are influencing the perception of the fashion world among the new generations of consumers. After mapping the emerging trends in the fashion industry and analyzing the role of sustainability from both the demand and supply side, this paper presents the results of a survey conducted through an anonymous questionnaire made in collaboration with Insubria University. The results of the survey describe the students’ behaviour as regards fashion’s emerging trends, with particular attention to sustainability issues and the application of circular economy principles. The survey results were analyzed from both a descriptive and quantitative point of view with the aim to check the different perceptions as regards sustainable fashion and circular economy in fashion, focusing mainly on the so-called Generation Z. The results of the analysis proved to be consistent with the theoretical framework and confirm the relevance of sustainability issues in the fashion industry today in driving the demand of Generation Z, by considering a gender perspective. Moreover, the circular economy is descriptively analyzed with the aim to understand the relevance of the different facets for the entire sample of respondents.
Robust Proof of Stake: A New Consensus Protocol for Sustainable Blockchain Systems
Authors: Li Aiya , Wei Xianhua , He Zhou
Published: April 2020

In the digital economy era, the development of a distributed robust economy system has become increasingly important. The blockchain technology can be used to build such a system, but current mainstream consensus protocols are vulnerable to attack, making blockchain systems unsustainable. In this paper, we propose a new Robust Proof of Stake (RPoS) consensus protocol, which uses the amount of coins to select miners and limits the maximum value of the coin age to effectively avoid coin age accumulation attack and Nothing-at-Stake (N@S) attack. Under a comparison framework, we show that the RPoS equals or outperforms Proof of Work (PoW) protocol and Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol in three dimensions: energy consumption, robustness, and transaction processing speed. To compare the three consensus protocols in terms of trade efficiency, we built an agent-based model and find that RPoS protocol has greater or similar trade request-satisfied ratio than PoW and PoS. Hence, we suggest that RPoS is very suitable for building a robust digital economy distributed system.
Rapidity of Change in Population Age Structures: A Local Approach Based on Multiway Factor Analysis
Authors: Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir Rares , Cividino Sirio , Egidi Gianluca , Salvia Rosanna , Salvati Luca
Published: April 2020

In the light of complex adaptive system thinking, population age structures in Europe have increasingly reflected the interplay between ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ socioeconomic dynamics driven by natural population growth and migration. Assuming the importance of demographic dynamics shaping regional growth in recent times, a diachronic analysis of local-scale population age structures was developed for 156 districts of Greece between 1971 and 2011. By using appropriate indicators, the analysis was aimed at demonstrating how ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ transitions contribute to socioeconomic change in both urban and rural areas. A comprehensive analysis of change in population age structures between 1971 and 2011 allows identification of latent spatial structures as a result of population re-distribution from urban cores to broader rural regions. Following residential mobility, the empirical results of this study indicate (i) a late phase of urbanization (1971–1981) with population densification and settlement compactness, (i) a rapid suburbanization (1981–1991) consolidating distinctive demographic structures in urban and rural areas, (ii) a mild counter-urbanization (1991–2001) with moderate aging of suburban populations and (iii) a latent re-urbanization (2001–2011) reducing the suburban-urban divide in population age structures. Residential mobility contributed to a more balanced age structure during suburbanization and an increased demographic divide in the subsequent urban waves. A refined analysis of long-term population dynamics in metropolitan regions reflects spatial outcomes and latent aspects of demographic transitions shedding light on the debate over the future development of urban and rural societies in advanced economies.
Rammed Earth Construction: A Proposal for a Statistical Quality Control in the Execution Process
Authors: Canivell Jacinto , Martín-del-Río Juan Jesús , Falcón Raúl M. , Rubio-Bellido Carlos
Published: April 2020

Unlike other common contemporary construction materials such as concrete, mortars, or fired clay bricks, which are widely supported by international standards and regulations, building with rammed earth is barely regulated. Furthermore, its quality control is usually problematic, which regularly encourages the rejection of this technique. In the literature, many authors have suggested ways to safely build a rammed earth wall, but only a few of them have delved into its quality control before and during the construction process. This paper introduces a preliminary methodology and establishes unified criteria, based in a statistical analysis, for both the production and the quality control of this constructive technique in cases dealing with both samples and walls.
Fog BEMS: An Agent-Based Hierarchical Fog Layer Architecture for Improving Scalability in a Building Energy Management System
Authors: Na Uikyun , Lee Eun-Kyu
Published: April 2020

It has been found that a cloud building energy management system (BEMS) alone cannot support increasing numbers of end devices (e.g., energy equipment and IoT devices) and emerging energy services efficiently. To resolve these limitations, this paper proposes Fog BEMS, which applies an emerging fog computing concept to a BEMS. Fog computing places small computing resources (fog nodes) just next to end devices, and these nodes process data in real time and manage local contexts. In this way, the BEMS becomes distributed and scalable. However, existing fog computing models have barely considered scenarios where many end devices and fog nodes are deployed and interconnected. That is, they do not scale up and cannot be applied to scalable applications like BEMS. To solve the problem, this paper (i) designs a fog network where a list of functionally heterogeneous nodes is deployed in a hierarchy for collaboration and (ii) designs an agent-based, modular programming model that eases the development and management of computing services at a fog node. We develop a prototype of a fog node and build a real-world testbed on a campus to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system. We also conduct experiments, and results show that Fog BEMS is scalable enough for a node to connect up to 900 devices and that network traffic is reduced by 27.22–97.63%, with varying numbers of end devices.
An Examination of Last Mile Delivery Practices of Freight Carriers Servicing Business Receivers in Inner-City Areas
Authors: Aljohani Khalid , Thompson Russell G.
Published: April 2020

Freight carriers experience major challenges while operating in highly dense inner-city areas. Timely deliveries are crucial for the success of businesses and for the long-term economic growth of metropolitan areas. Previous freight studies have paid little attention to the characteristics of freight movements in a highly dense urban context. Accordingly, this study sought to quantify the operational practices for freight carriers that deliver light parcels to inner-city business receivers. Direct insights were collected using semistructured interviews and an online survey with freight carriers in Melbourne, Australia. The intent was to describe the delivery trips and vehicle types involved in this unique segment. An assessment of operational challenges to the efficiency of freight carriers is presented in the study. In general, freight deliveries to inner-city receivers are characterised by underutilised transport capacity along with a large number of delivery stops. The findings shed light on the challenges that couriers encounter in congested inner-city areas.
Education for Sustainable Development in Germany: Not Just Desired but Also Effective for Transformative Action
Authors: Grund Julius , Brock Antje
Published: April 2020

Despite its role as a key factor for transformation, there is still a lack of large-scale studies on the effects of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The aim of this study is to predict sustainable behavior based on reported implementation of ESD as well as psychological (e.g., attitudes, emotions) and socio-demographic variables. Descriptive statistics and a multiple regression model were used to analyze data from 2564 young people from different formal educational fields and 525 teachers from Germany. Both learners and educators desire a distinctly higher amount of ESD within formal educational settings compared to the status quo. The multiple regression model explains 26% of variance in sustainable behavior. By far the strongest predictors are, firstly, connectedness with nature, followed by emotions regarding sustainability and ESD implementation on the content level (making connections between past, present and future, the local and the global, and ecology, economy and the social). One implication of the research findings is an “update” for ESD: Emphasizing the emotional dimension of education and relating the didactics of “controversial issues” to ESD.