bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Output Signal Distortion of Galvanic Isolation Circuits for Monitoring the Mains Voltage Waveform
Authors: Havrlík Matouš , Libra Martin , Poulek Vladislav , Kouřím Pavel
Published: October 2022

Different methods for galvanically isolated monitoring of the mains voltage waveform were evaluated. The aim was to determine the level of distortion of the output signal relative to the input signal and the suitability of each method for calculating active power values. Six fixtures were tested: two voltage transformers, an electronic circuit with a current transformer, a standalone current transformer, a simple circuit with optocouplers, and a circuit with an A/D-D/A converter with capacitive coupling. The input and output waveforms were mathematically analyzed by three methods: (1) calculating the spectral components of waveforms and the relative changes in their THD (total harmonic distortion) values, (2) determining the similarity of waveforms according to the size of the area bounded by the input and output waveform curves, and (3) determining the accuracy of the active power calculation based on the output waveform. The time difference in the zero crossing of the input and output signals was measured, and further calculations for the second and third method were performed on the zero-crossing time shift-corrected waveforms. Other aspects of selecting the appropriate type of monitoring element, such as power consumption or overall circuit complexity, were also evaluated.
Spatio-Temporal Neural Dynamics of Observing Non-Tool Manipulable Objects and Interactions
Authors: Li Zhaoxuan , Iramina Keiji
Published: October 2022

Previous studies have reported that a series of sensory–motor-related cortical areas are affected when a healthy human is presented with images of tools. This phenomenon has been explained as familiar tools launching a memory-retrieval process to provide a basis for using the tools. Consequently, we postulated that this theory may also be applicable if images of tools were replaced with images of daily objects if they are graspable (i.e., manipulable). Therefore, we designed and ran experiments with human volunteers (participants) who were visually presented with images of three different daily objects and recorded their electroencephalography (EEG) synchronously. Additionally, images of these objects being grasped by human hands were presented to the participants. Dynamic functional connectivity between the visual cortex and all the other areas of the brain was estimated to find which of them were influenced by visual stimuli. Next, we compared our results with those of previous studies that investigated brain response when participants looked at tools and concluded that manipulable objects caused similar cerebral activity to tools. We also looked into mu rhythm and found that looking at a manipulable object did not elicit a similar activity to seeing the same object being grasped.
Transcutaneous Pulsed RF Energy Transfer Mitigates Tissue Heating in High Power Demand Implanted Device Applications: In Vivo and In Silico Models Results
Authors: Karim Mohammad L. , Bosnjak Antonio M. , McLaughlin James , Crawford Paul , McEneaney David , Escalona Omar J.
Published: October 2022

This article presents the development of a power loss emulation (PLE) system device to study and find ways of mitigating skin tissue heating effects in transcutaneous energy transmission systems (TETS) for existing and next generation left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Skin thermal profile measurements were made using the PLE system prototype and also separately with a TETS in a porcine model. Subsequent data analysis and separate computer modelling studies permit understanding of the contribution of tissue blood perfusion towards cooling of the subcutaneous tissue around the electromagnetic coupling area. A 2-channel PLE system prototype and a 2-channel TETS prototype were implemented for this study. The heating effects resulting from power transmission inefficiency were investigated under varying conditions of power delivery levels for an implanted device. In the part of the study using the PLE setup, the implanted heating element was placed subcutaneously 6–8 mm below the body surface of in vivo porcine model skin. Two operating modes of transmission coupling power losses were emulated: (a) conventional continuous transmission, and (b) using our proposed pulsed transmission waveform protocols. Experimental skin tissue thermal profiles were studied for various levels of LVAD power. The heating coefficient was estimated from the porcine model measurements (an in vivo living model and a euthanised cadaver model without blood circulation at the end of the experiment). An in silico model to support data interpretation provided reliable experimental and numerical methods for effective wireless transdermal LVAD energization advanced solutions. In the separate second part of the study conducted with a separate set of pigs, a two-channel inductively coupled RF driving system implemented wireless power transfer (WPT) to a resistive LVAD model (50 Ω) to explore continuous versus pulsed RF transmission modes. The RF-transmission pulse duration ranged from 30 ms to 480 ms, and the idle time (no-transmission) from 5 s to 120 s. The results revealed that blood perfusion plays an important cooling role in reducing thermal tissue damage from TETS applications. In addition, the results analysis of the in vivo, cadaver (R1Sp2) model, and in silico studies confirmed that the tissue heating effect was significantly lower in the living model versus the cadaver model due to the presence of blood perfusion cooling effects.
Comprehensive Indicators for Evaluating and Seeking Elasto-Magnetic Parameters for High-Performance Cable Force Monitoring
Authors: Yan Shuangsheng , Wang Yujue , Li Peng , Gao Zhichao , Wu Bin , Liu Xiucheng
Published: October 2022

The elasto-magnetic method is a promising pathway for cable force monitoring in cable-stayed bridges. Under the action of an externally applied pulsed magnetic field, both the variation in the main flux recorded by the induction coil and the localized surface magnetic field measured by the packaged magnetic sensor are typical signals for observing the elasto-magnetic effect in tensioned cables. However, the performances of the parameters extracted from the two types of elasto-magnetic signals are never strictly compared in the experiment. Meanwhile, comprehensive indicators for evaluating the ability of elasto-magnetic parameters on cable force characterization are seldom discussed. As a result, it is difficult to compare the performances of elasto-magnetic devices developed by different teams, and the pathway of seeking new parameters for cable force monitoring is obstructed. In this study, elasto-magnetic calibration experiments were performed on a cable of seven-wire steel strands to simultaneously measure the variation in the main flux and the localized surface magnetic field. Comprehensive indicators considering sensitivity, hysteresis error, and cable force resolution are proposed to examine the performances of classic elasto-magnetic parameters and new candidate ones. Through comparative study, two new parameters demonstrated outstanding ability for cable force measurement, and they are the minimum amplitude of the induced voltage and the area under the curve between two points of 3 dB height of the voltage measured by a Hall sensor. The latter is recommended for high-performance cable force monitoring from the perspective of simplicity in sensor configuration.
Color Transfer Algorithm between Images Based on a Two-Stage Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Xu Min , Ding Youdong
Published: October 2022

A color transfer algorithm between images based on two-stage convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed. The first stage network is based on VGG19 architecture as the backbone. The reference image-based color transfer (RICT) model was used to extract the features of the reference image and the target image, so as to realize the color transfer between them. The second stage is based on progressive convolutional neural network (PCNN) as its backbone. The palette-based emotional color enhancement (PECE) model is adopted to enhance the emotional coloring of the resulting image by comparing the palette, emotional value and the proportion of each color of the reference image. Through five sets of experiments, it is proved that the visual effect processed by our model is obviously better than several main colorization methods in both subjective evaluation and objective data. It can be applied to various complex scenes, and in the near future, it can also be better applied to the fields of digital restoration of old image archives, medical image coloring, art restoration, remote sensing image enhancement, infrared image enhancement and other fields.
End-to-End Deep Convolutional Recurrent Models for Noise Robust Waveform Speech Enhancement
Authors: Ullah Rizwan , Wuttisittikulkij Lunchakorn , Chaudhary Sushank , Parnianifard Amir , Shah Shashi , Ibrar Muhammad , Wahab Fazal-E
Published: October 2022

Because of their simple design structure, end-to-end deep learning (E2E-DL) models have gained a lot of attention for speech enhancement. A number of DL models have achieved excellent results in eliminating the background noise and enhancing the quality as well as the intelligibility of noisy speech. Designing resource-efficient and compact models during real-time processing is still a key challenge. In order to enhance the accomplishment of E2E models, the sequential and local characteristics of speech signal should be efficiently taken into consideration while modeling. In this paper, we present resource-efficient and compact neural models for end-to-end noise-robust waveform-based speech enhancement. Combining the Convolutional Encode-Decoder (CED) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) in the Convolutional Recurrent Network (CRN) framework, we have aimed at different speech enhancement systems. Different noise types and speakers are used to train and test the proposed models. With LibriSpeech and the DEMAND dataset, the experiments show that the proposed models lead to improved quality and intelligibility with fewer trainable parameters, notably reduced model complexity, and inference time than existing recurrent and convolutional models. The quality and intelligibility are improved by 31.61% and 17.18% over the noisy speech. We further performed cross corpus analysis to demonstrate the generalization of the proposed E2E SE models across different speech datasets.
Low SNR Multi-Emitter Signal Sorting and Recognition Method Based on Low-Order Cyclic Statistics CWD Time-Frequency Images and the YOLOv5 Deep Learning Model
Authors: Huang Dingkun , Yan Xiaopeng , Hao Xinhong , Dai Jian , Wang Xinwei
Published: October 2022

It is difficult for traditional signal-recognition methods to effectively classify and identify multiple emitter signals in a low SNR environment. This paper proposes a multi-emitter signal-feature-sorting and recognition method based on low-order cyclic statistics CWD time-frequency images and the YOLOv5 deep network model, which can quickly dissociate, label, and sort the multi-emitter signal features in the time-frequency domain under a low SNR environment. First, the denoised signal is extracted based on the low-order cyclic statistics of the typical modulation types of radiation source signals. Second, the time-frequency graph of multisource signals was obtained through CWD time-frequency analysis. The cyclic frequency was controlled to balance the noise suppression effect and operation time to achieve noise suppression of multisource signals at a low SNR. Finally, the YOLOv5s deep network model is used as a classifier to sort and identify the received signals from multiple radiation sources. The method proposed in this paper has high real-time performance. It can identify the radiation source signals of different modulation types with high accuracy under the condition of a low SNR.
A Review of Recent Advances in Vital Signals Monitoring of Sports and Health via Flexible Wearable Sensors
Authors: Sun Wenbin , Guo Zilong , Yang Zhiqiang , Wu Yizhou , Lan Weixia , Liao Yingjie , Wu Xian , Liu Yuanyuan
Published: October 2022

In recent years, vital signals monitoring in sports and health have been considered the research focus in the field of wearable sensing technologies. Typical signals include bioelectrical signals, biophysical signals, and biochemical signals, which have applications in the fields of athletic training, medical diagnosis and prevention, and rehabilitation. In particular, since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in real-time interest in personal health. This has created an urgent need for flexible, wearable, portable, and real-time monitoring sensors to remotely monitor these signals in response to health management. To this end, the paper reviews recent advances in flexible wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health. More precisely, emerging wearable devices and systems for health and exercise-related vital signals (e.g., ECG, EEG, EMG, inertia, body movements, heart rate, blood, sweat, and interstitial fluid) are reviewed first. Then, the paper creatively presents multidimensional and multimodal wearable sensors and systems. The paper also summarizes the current challenges and limitations and future directions of wearable sensors for vital typical signal detection. Through the review, the paper finds that these signals can be effectively monitored and used for health management (e.g., disease prediction) thanks to advanced manufacturing, flexible electronics, IoT, and artificial intelligence algorithms; however, wearable sensors and systems with multidimensional and multimodal are more compliant.
Management and Regulation of Drone Operation in Urban Environment: A Case Study
Authors: Tran Thuy-Hang , Nguyen Dinh-Dung
Published: October 2022

With the exponential growth of numerous drone operations ranging from infrastructure monitoring to even package delivery services, the laws and privacy regarding the use of drones in the urban planning context play an essential role in future smart cities. This study provides a comprehensive survey of the regulation of drone application and drone management systems, including a comparison of existing rules, management methods, and guidelines in drone operation to guarantee the safety and security of people, property, and environment. Evaluating existing regulations and laws practiced worldwide will assist in designing drone management and regulation. In Vietnam, the current rules can manage and regulate general guidelines of drone operations based on prohibited, restricted, and controlled areas within the urban context. The legislation, however, is unclear as to how it regulates smaller civilian unmanned aircraft used in the country. In the legal aspect, the potential consequences consist of the inefficiency of compensation responsibility, the violation of drone regulations, and information insecurity.
The Emotional Dimension of the Spanish Far Right and Its Effects on Satisfaction with Democracy
Authors: Jaráiz Gulías Erika , Castro Martínez Paloma , Colomé García Gabriel
Published: October 2022

The recent rise of the far right in Spain highlights the importance of analysing the elements that have contributed to VOX’s success and the party’s ascent to the third political power in the country after the general election held in November 2019. In order to explain the electoral support for VOX, in this study we adopt an emotional perspective, giving emotions a fundamental role alongside the traditional variables involved in the far-right vote. After describing the emotional regime of VOX voters, we observe the relationship between these voters’ emotions towards political actors and the levels of satisfaction with democracy. Subsequently, we try to identify the determining elements of the vote for VOX through a multivariate analysis. Finally, after stating that hope in Santiago Abascal is one of the main variables that explain voters’ support for VOX, we analyse its constituent elements. Our findings reveal that hope for VOX’s leader is not made up of structural elements but cultural elements, citizens’ ratings of political leaders and ideological and identity questions.
A Research Agenda for Collaborative Roadmapping Supported by Blockchain Technology
Authors: Piccirillo Isabela Neto , Amaral Daniel Capaldo , De Oliveira Maicon Gouvêa
Published: October 2022

Roadmapping is a well-known management approach that helps with the collaborative development and management of technology and innovation planning. In this context, the management of shared information is critical to effective and reliable collaboration. Blockchain technology supports disruptive and distributed IP management solutions, especially in a multi-stakeholder environment. This research investigates opportunities to apply blockchain to support collaborative roadmapping. First, a literature review was conducted to identify potential benefits provided by blockchain technologies. The connections between the collaborative roadmapping gaps and potential blockchain benefits were translated into research opportunities. Blockchain by nature can support two unsolved gaps in collaborative roadmapping: confidentiality and security. Additionally, the research reveals three new potential benefits of blockchain technologies: certification, shared value, and traceability.
Impacted Application of Water-Hyacinth-Derived Biochar and Organic Manures on Soil Properties and Barley Growth
Authors: Hammam Amr A. , Mohamed Elsayed Said , El-Namas Ashraf E. , Abd-Elmabod Sameh Kotb , Badr Eldin Rasha M.
Published: October 2022

The biochar application can improve the physiochemical properties of both sandy and clayey loam soils and is considered a potential adaptation tool toward climate change. Therefore, the current study is novel in combining water-hyacinth-derived biochar with organic manures as a suggested effective way of treating the soil with biochar under arid and semiarid conditions. Water hyacinth weeds were slow pyrolyzed at a temperature of 300 °C, which resulted in nonalkaline biochar with a pH value of 6.31, which is suitable for alkaline soils. A pot experiment was established to study the impact of the solo application of nonalkaline water-hyacinth-derived biochar (WHB) and its combined application with farmyard (WHB/FM) and poultry manure (WHB/PM) at a rate of 1.5 and 3%, respectively, on some chemical and physical properties of sandy and clay loam soils and some barley’s growth parameters. WHB, WHB/FM, and WHB/PM significantly affected the soil pH at different application rates (1.5 and 3%) in sandy soil. A considerable alteration in water-stable aggregates (WSA), dispersion ratio (DR), available water content (AWC), and cation ratio of soil structural stability (CROSS) index resulted from combining manures (FM and PM) with biochar better than the solo application of biochar. WHB/PM treatments had a superior effect in improving barley’s growth. Relative increases were by 37.3 and 11.0% in plant height and by 61.6 and 28.5% in the dry matter in sandy and clayey loam soils, respectively. Under the conditions of this study, we can conclude that treating the soil with WHB/PM at a rate of 1.5 and 3% is the most effective application. The current study may have a vital role in Egyptian agriculture sustainability by enhancing the soil characteristics of the old agricultural and the newly reclaimed lands.
Influences of University Education Support on Entrepreneurship Orientation and Entrepreneurship Intention: Application of Theory of Planned Behavior
Authors: Aliedan Meqbel M. , Elshaer Ibrahim A. , Alyahya Mansour A. , Sobaih Abu Elnasr E.
Published: October 2022

This study examined the impact of university education support on entrepreneurial intention among higher education students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study adopts the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as the theoretical foundation and examines the effect of constructs of TPB as mediating variables between university education support and entrepreneurial intention. The study adopted a quantitative research approach through a questionnaire survey directed to senior students at King Faisal University (KFU). The results of SEM “structural equation modeling” with AMOS software showed that university education support has a significant positive direct impact on entrepreneurial intention. It also has significant positive and indirect effects through the three constructs of TPB, which were found to have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intention among higher education students. This research result sends several important messages to higher education policymakers in relation to the promotion of entrepreneurship intention among higher education students. The results also have some theoretical implications for scholars, which are also discussed in the study.
A Study of the Impacts of Air Pollution on the Agricultural Community and Yield Crops (Indian Context)
Authors: Pandya Sharnil , Gadekallu Thippa Reddy , Maddikunta Praveen Kumar Reddy , Sharma Rohit
Published: October 2022

Air pollution has been an vital issue throughout the 21st century, and has also significantly impacted the agricultural community, especially farmers and yield crops. This work aims to review air-pollution research to understand its impacts on the agricultural community and yield crops, specifically in developing countries, such as India. The present work highlights various aspects of agricultural damage caused by the impacts of air pollution. Furthermore, in the undertaken study, a rigorous and detailed discussion of state-wise and city-wise yield-crop losses caused by air pollution in India and its impacts has been performed. To represent air-pollution impacts, the color-coding-based AQI (Air Quality Index) risk-classification metrics have been used to represent AQI variations in India’s agrarian states and cities. Finally, recent impacts of air pollution concerning AQI variations for May 2019 to February 2020, Seasonal AQI variations, impacts of PM2.5, and PM10 in various agrarian states and India cities are presented using various tabular and graphical representations.
Accessing Occupational Health Risks Posed by Fishermen Based on Fuzzy AHP and IPA Methods: Management and Performance Perspectives
Authors: Yan Jin-Ling , Xue Yong-Jie , Mohsin Muhammad
Published: October 2022

In developing countries such as China, commercial fishermen’s occupational health risks are rarely studied despite being extremely critical for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector. In this study, we attempt for the first time to categorize and prioritize multiple types of health risks posed by these fishermen. This was accomplished by conducting a structured questionnaire survey between 9 January 2022 and 24 May 2022. We sought the professional opinion of fishermen that were located in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, China, namely Zhoushan (121 responses, 64%), Taizhou (66 responses, 49%), and Wenzhou (94 responses, 53%). This study used two hundred eighty-one questionnaires with a consistency ratio (CR) below 0.1 and completed in every respect. Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (Fuzzy AHP) and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) statistics were employed to perform statistical analysis. Results have revealed that commercial fishermen’s health is affected by five main risk factors, namely natural (0.058), biological (0.088), social (0.152), psychological (0.234), and physical (0.468), which are arranged from the least to the most significant risk factors. As for the performance of the main risk factors, the physical risk was ranked first (4.786), followed by social risk (4.571), psychological risk (4.214), biological risk (4.000), and natural risk (3.429). These research findings can serve as guidelines for managers. Moreover, this study discusses ramifications, constraints, and proposals for future research.
Study on Crack Development in Red Clay from Guangxi Guilin with Different Clay Grain Content
Authors: Liu Baochen , Wang Liangyu , Yang Bai
Published: October 2022

In order to study the influence of different clay contents on the fractality of red clay, specimens having four different water contents were prepared. The cracking characteristics of the specimens were observed at 20 °C and 60 °C. Image J software was used to measure and calculate the crack area, crack ratio, crack length and width of each sample. The test results showed that the development of cracks in red clay could be divided into three stages: crack generation, crack development and crack stabilization. The clay particle content, temperature and water content have significant effects on crack development, and from the test analyses, it was determined that for construction in the Guilin area, it is necessary to pay attention to drainage protection.
In Search of Effective Gen Z Engagement in the Hospitality Industry: Revisiting Issues of Servant and Authentic Leadership
Authors: Sigaeva Natalia , Arasli Huseyin , Ozdemir Emel , Atai Guzide , Capkiner Emel
Published: October 2022

The purpose of this study is to provide a theoretical framework that demonstrates how psychological capital (PsyCap) can simultaneously mediate the effects of servant leadership (ServL) and authentic leadership (AuthL) on employee engagement in the workplace. This study examines whether AuthL better explains PsyCap and workplace engagement from the perspective of Generation Z (Gen Z) than ServL, although recent research shows that ServL and AuthL correlate well with Generations X and Y, respectively. In addition, there is limited research on the above aspects in the hospitality industry. These studies either have a very limited sample, contradictory results in their own context, or contradictory results in the same industry regarding the above relationships. This study will attempt to shed light on these contradictory findings. The researchers surveyed 393 members of Gen Z working in the hospitality business in one of Russia’s most popular destinations, Krasnodar. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, bootstrap analysis and descriptive statistics. Although both leadership styles have a positive impact on PsyCap and work engagement (WorkE) of Gen Z employees, AuthL has a greater impact on PsyCap and work engagement than ServL, according to the results. PsyCap was found to mediate the relationship between the two leadership styles and frontline Gen Z employees, and the study also found that it influenced overall Gen Z performance. The influence of PsyCap on the job engagement of Gen Z employees in the Russian hospitality industry is examined.
Research Progress of Urban Wind and Thermal Environment Based on CiteSpace and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database
Authors: Liu Heng , Liu Xinyu , Nie Lufeng , Hong Xiaochun , Ji Xiang
Published: October 2022

The urban wind–thermal environment affects the sustainable development of the urban ecological environment. In recent years, China has frequently suffered from storms, hurricanes, floods, and other disasters that damage the urban ecology. The urban wind and thermal environment involves many components; therefore, it is necessary to systematically review the current research progress in China. This paper uses CiteSpace software to analyze researchers, institutions, keywords, and research hotspots. By summarizing the knowledge structure, temporal and spatial distribution, evolution trends, and frontiers and hotspots of urban wind and thermal environment research, it is found that (1) the urban wind and thermal environment has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of the urban ecological environment; (2) the cooperative relationship between authors generally presents the characteristics of “large dispersion, small aggregation”, and the inter-institutional cooperation in this field is close and forms part of the interdisciplinary cooperation; (3) the research content involves a variety of disciplines and provides a good platform for interdisciplinary research, and the focus of the research has gradually shifted from the macro urban layout to the micro urban local environment; and (4) in order to obtain a more targeted understanding of the mechanisms of the urban wind–thermal environment, technical methods and regulatory means should be used to study the target at different scales and levels. In the future, multidisciplinary communication should be strengthened, qualitative and quantitative research should be performed with the help of mature technical methods in various disciplines, and the scale classification of research objects should be refined to improve the theoretical methods and evaluation system of each scale.
Management Attitude Shaping Cultural Sustainability in a Taxi Company—An Israeli Case Study
Authors: Moskovich Yaffa
Published: October 2022

This research examined human interaction in a taxi driving company, analyzing the cultural influence of the management’s social definition of its employees. In addition, this case study examined the relevance of “activity theory” through the perspective of the “iceberg model”. Based on this model, the researcher explored the overt and practical layers of the organizational culture of the company as well as its hidden layers. The ethnographic research developed along qualitative lines: 28 interviews and 10 direct observations in the organizational setting. The research questions were: ‘How did the owners’ attitude shape the culture of their taxi company and how did their behavior influence cultural sustainability?’ The findings portrayed a culture of conflict, driven by the owners’ motivation to become rich quickly. The overt layers of the organizational culture included domineering managerial behavior, exploiting the drivers’ inferior status, creating a high level of stress, and openly humiliating them. The drivers were deeply dissatisfied, which led to high rates of turnover. Moreover, analyzing the social interactions in the firm uncovered the hidden agenda of the owners (i.e., the covert layers), which was to amass a fortune in a short time at the expense of their workers. The analysis highlighted the damage this capitalist managerial attitude caused to the organizational sustainability of the company. The managerial behavior caused high driver turnover, which led to a constant shortage of drivers and instability in the company. By focusing on one taxi driving company in northern Israel, this research enriches the literature in the fields of social interaction, activity theory, organizational culture, and sustainability. This paper presents insights that stem from “activity theory”, according to which managers can interact with their employees, overcoming mistrust and conflict, in order to enhance organizational sustainability.
YouTube Channels, Subscribers, Uploads and Views: A Multidimensional Analysis of the First 1700 Channels from July 2022
Authors: Lupșa-Tătaru Dana Adriana , Lixăndroiu Radu
Published: October 2022

In a world of online social life and social media development, more people are interested in developing video content-based businesses, including YouTube channels, and information sharing with the main purpose of making money. This paper conducts a multidimensional analysis of the first 100 YouTube channels (July, 2022) from each of the 17 domains identified, using SocialBalde.com. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the crucial factors to take into consideration when starting a social media business on YouTube, namely the domain and description of the channel. The objective is to equip future social media entrepreneurs with two elements that should be considered when starting an online business. We perform a two-fold analysis, by exploring correlations between data for each channel and conducting a semantical analysis of the text describing each channel. In spite of the numerous research papers related to YouTube, none of them focus on this topic, i.e., the practical transformation of information into data that can be measured with multidimensional instruments. The results have interesting implications regarding how a successful channel should be developed; we also present sustainable guidelines for social media entrepreneurs to follow during the process of starting a business. Consequently, a successful online business is partly the result of the domain chosen and the channel description.
A Fuzzy Linguistic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Assess Emergency Suppliers
Authors: Li Huilin , Yang Jiaqi , Xiang Ziquan
Published: October 2022

Under the influence of COVID-19, various emergency supplies have repeatedly broken links, seriously affecting normal life and hindering the sustainable development of enterprises and society. Therefore, suitable emergency suppliers are crucial. To prioritize and select suitable emergency suppliers, key indicators were determined, and evaluation models were established based on the characteristics of epidemic situations and epidemic prevention materials. The application of the MCDM (multi-criteria decision-making) issue combining fuzzy SWARA (the stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis) and the actor analysis method to emergency supplier selection studies, called the fuzzy SWARA-based actor analysis method, is used to identify appropriate suppliers for optimizing pre-preparation. Results of evaluation system weight computations by the Fuzzy SWARA-based actor analysis method show that the overall prioritization of four non-economic factors in ranking orders are “Delivery Capacity”, “Flexible Supply Capacity”, “Quality”, and “Social Evaluation and Reputation”. For the inclusion of conflicting standards and the unquantifiable feature, economic and non-economic factors were discussed separately and evaluated by language variables. Additionally, the fuzzy actor analysis indicated that economic factors and non-economic factors need to be considered comprehensively for emergency supplier selection. This method has good operability and reference value, convenient for the final choice making according to actual situation.
Hydrothermal Changes and Physicochemical Characteristics of Subtropical Subalpine Soils under Freezing and Thawing
Authors: Pan Yueyan , Zhou Shijun , Li Zhen , Zhang Mingxiang , Zhang Zhenming
Published: October 2022

The soil column samples were collected for indoor simulated freeze-thaw experiments to monitor the soil hydrothermal dynamics and measure the basic physicochemical properties to research the effects of freeze-thaw on the hydrothermal process of peat bog soil and its relationship with physicochemical properties. The results indicate that in the initial phase of freezing-thawing, soil water content decreases and soil temperature changes, respectively. Unfrozen water content in soil in the stable freezing period decreases sharply. Compared with the freezing period, the fluctuation of soil moisture rate during thawing is more moderate with the temperature change. Soil ammonium nitrogen content decreases with decreasing soil temperature and is significantly positively correlated with soil water content after freeze-thaw, while total phosphorus, fast-acting phosphorus, total nitrogen and nitrate have no significant correlation with soil temperature and soil moisture content after freeze-thaw.
The Impact of Human Activities on River Pollution and Health-Related Quality of Life: Evidence from Ghana
Authors: Zhou Lulin , Appiah Ruth , Boadi Emmanuel Bosompem , Ayamba Emmanuel Ceasar , Larnyo Ebenezer , Antwi Henry Asante
Published: October 2022

Due to rapid development and population growth in Ghana’s urban and peri-urban areas, most freshwater resources are degrading, directly affecting residents in these vicinities. This study, therefore, evaluates how human activities such as urbanization, farming and industrialization affect the Bonsa River and the health-related quality of life of residents living downstream. The study adopted statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess the data retrieved from the residents living in and around the Bonsa River in Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ghana. The study’s outcome reveals a positive and significant impact of land use change on freshwater resource degradation and poor health-related quality of life of the inhabitants in the catchment area. The study has numerous practical and policy implications for the government, environmental and healthcare industry, and policymakers.
Type Identification of Land Use in Metro Station Area Based on Spatial–Temporal Features Extraction of Human Activities
Authors: Xu Dandan , Zhang Xiaodong , Zhang Xinghua , Yu Yongguang
Published: October 2022

As a social carrier, a city is a place of human activities, and human activities also shape and influence the city through its dynamic demand. The in-depth understanding of urban functions is important for urban planning, and the full utilization of the spatial–temporal variation of human activities can be more effective in the identification of land functions. However, the complete extraction of time series features is one of the difficulties. To solve the above problems, the paper explores the identification of land use types based on human activity feature extraction, by taking Beijing as an example. Firstly, this paper constructs a time series that characterizing the change of passenger flow in the metro station area with AFC data, and realizes the feature extraction and type clustering of the time series. Secondly, this paper forms an index system for land use type identification by introducing POI-based indicators, which achieves a comprehensive representation of population activity data. Finally, this paper constructs a land use type identification model based on multi-source human activity data by using GBDT classifier. The results show that the model has high recognition accuracy. It is found that the fusion application of AFC and POI improves the land use recognition accuracy in the case of “Consistent change in time series but different types of demand”, and the different POI triggers the seemingly overall stable but random activity demand within the city. The research results promote the innovative application of open-source big data in the field of urban planning.
The Impact of the Degree of Urbanization on Spatial Distribution, Sources and Levels of Heavy Metals Pollution in Urban Soils—A Case Study of the City of Belgrade (Serbia)
Authors: Tešić Mirjana , Stojanović Nadežda , Knežević Milan , Đunisijević-Bojović Danijela , Petrović Jovana , Pavlović Pavle
Published: October 2022

This study investigated the effects of urbanization on the spatial distribution, sources, and levels of heavy metals pollution in urban soils of the city of Belgrade. A total of 126 composite topsoil (0–10 cm) and subsoil (10–40 cm) samples was collected within four urban zones (central, suburban, external, and rural) of Belgrade and analysed for content, spatial distribution, sources, and pollution indices using statistical methods including descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Concentration levels of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) in the soil of urban zones in Belgrade were found to be significantly higher in the central and suburban zones compared to the external and rural ones. The spatial variance and the general trend of heavy metals accumulation in the soil were found to be along the urban–rural gradient. The topsoil concentration levels for the same elements were higher compared to the subsoil concentration levels for the same elements in all urban zones, except for the external and the rural zones. These results indicate the need for the implementation of urban soils pollution monitoring according to specific urban zones to provide an applicable basis for the development of plans and strategies concerning urban soil use management for the purpose of the sustainable urban development.
Cross-Border E-Commerce Brand Internationalization: An Online Review Evaluation Based on Kano Model
Authors: Fan Mingyue , Tang Zhuoran , Qalati Sikandar Ali , Tajeddini Kayhan , Mao Qian , Bux Ali
Published: October 2022

The objective of this study was to build an international evaluation index system of cross-border e-commerce brands. It improves the sustainable development ability of the brand and then drives the sustainable development of the enterprise’s brand internationalization. As the top priority in the innovative development process of cross-border e-commerce enterprises, it is a key means to achieve longer-term and more stable development of cross-border enterprises and to maintain a place in the fiercely competitive market. Therefore, the internationalization of cross-border e-commerce brands is a topic that needs to be explored in depth to provide a comprehensive understanding to businesses from the consumers’ perspectives. This study constructs an international evaluation index system for cross-border e-commerce brands. The keywords in the online reviews are captured through the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and matched to the indexes, and the indicators are classified into Kano categories through Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) training to explore the promotion strategies of different Kano categories in the process of brand internationalization. Based on the empirical analysis of online reviews of the Kano model, it was determined that in the process of internationalization of cross-border e-commerce brands, managers should focus on service indicators related to expected factors, give priority to meeting service indicators related to essential factors, strive to meet service indicators related to charm factors, and make appropriate choices to observe service indicators related to indifference factors in real-time.
Residents’ Perceptions toward Tourism Development: A Case Study from Grand Canyon National Park, USA
Authors: Hu Fangbing , Kong Wenqing , Innes John L. , Wu Wanli , Sunderland Terry , Wang Guangyu
Published: October 2022

Although the impacts and challenges of tourism in towns and cities near protected areas have been studied extensively, there is a lack of both data and understanding that limits progress towards generalizable solutions, planning strategies, and guidance for addressing the increasing pressures affecting these communities. This article compares the factors influencing residents’ perceptions and local support of tourism in five gateway communities to Grand Canyon National Park. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to assess the proposed measurements of perceptions and hypotheses concerning local support and to compare the relationships among selected variables, such as community participation (CP), living environment (LE), trust in tourism institutions (TT), tourism benefits (TB), community satisfaction (CS), and perceived tourism cost (TC). Four groups of factors influenced residents’ perceptions; these were classified into four stages based on their management priority. A gap between the desires of community residents for the development of national parks and community tourism and the current state of development was identified, suggesting that these communities would benefit from management measures to mitigate the impacts of tourism. Through SEM, five factors were verified as drivers of local support for national park tourism development, including community participation, living environment, trust in tourism institutions, tourism benefits, and community satisfaction. Perceived tourism cost was not found to be a significant driver.
The Impact of Climate Change on Gender Inequality in the Labour Market: A Case Study of South Africa
Authors: Ngepah Nicholas , Conselho Mwiinga Regina
Published: October 2022

South Africa has been exposed to climate change and has been experiencing associated extreme climatic events such as droughts, floods, and heat waves. These have impacted water and fuel sources, habitats, human health, and economic productivity. Poorer populations and particularly females are more affected. The main objective of this study is therefore to assess gender inequalities in employment resultant from the effects of climate change and extreme climatic events. The study employs binary, ordered, and multinomial logistic models to analyse the effects on employment, intensity of employment and the effects in economic sectors, respectively. The study computes temperature deviations from its long-run mean as climate change variable and uses the Keetch–Byram Drought Index and number of heatwave days per year as proxies for extreme climatic events. Data for the work are from the South African Weather Services database and the National Income Dynamic Survey. The findings suggest that climate change reduces the probability of being employed more for males than females, but extreme events have more negative effects on female employment than males. We suggest that while climate change mitigations and adaptation measures geared towards the labour market should take priority in general, when extreme climate events occur, labour market support measures should weigh more towards females.
Experiential Learning for Sustainability in Supply Chain Management Education
Authors: Salinas-Navarro David Ernesto , Mejia-Argueta Christopher , Montesinos Luis , Rodriguez-Calvo Ericka Z.
Published: October 2022

This work is about sustainability-related learning experiences for the discipline of supply chain management (SCM) in Higher Education. It arises from the need to motivate students with relevant and interesting activities to improve their learning performance. Higher Education must respond to dynamic demands to keep impactful topics for students, organizations, and society over time. This work addresses the relevance of contemporary challenges in real-world SCM situations concerning Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also provides an actionable framework integrating experiential learning ideas, the ADDIE model for instructional design, the Triple Bottom Line for sustainability, the continuous improvement cycle, and the SDGs into an SCM model. In a case study, the article illustrates the use of this framework for instructional design in a learning experience from an undergraduate course in an Industrial and Systems Engineering program. The application describes the impact of food ecosystems on cities and communities during the COVID-19 crisis. The results suggest positive attainment levels in students’ learning outcomes and highly favorable opinions regarding learning relevance, interest, motivation, and the recommendation of the course. Therefore, this work contributes to SCM education by including sustainability-related challenges and disciplinary topics in novel instructional designs that will actively prepare future professionals and decision-makers.