bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Sustainability of the Prepandemic Impact on Fuzzy Traveling Sellers Problem with a New Fermatean Fuzzy Scoring Function
Authors: Baranidharan Balasundaram , Meidute-Kavaliauskiene Ieva , Mahapatra Ghanshaym S. , Činčikaitė Renata
Published: December 2022

This article focused on transportation sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic situation under the Fermatean fuzzy environment. In both developed and developing nations, sustainability has risen to the top of the priority list for transportation policies and planning. We introduce a simplified presentation of the Fermatean fuzzy traveling seller problem solved by using a new computation approach. Several approaches for solving the traveling seller problem using fuzzy parameters have been described in the literature. Even so, all the current strategies use general fuzzy numbers as the parameters for the traveling salesman problems, but his study, focused on the new Fermatean fuzzy number, is more effective for representing real-life incidents. The Fermatean fuzzy scoring functions and numerical conditions in distinct models in the Fermatean fuzzy environment were described to construct the algorithm. New solution methodology developed through scoring functions to find the best solution to fulfill our goal of sustainable transportation for traveling sellers problem. Sustainable cost and the optimal path are obtained by this study.
Estimates of Food Losses and Wastes at Each Node of the Wheat Value Chain in Morocco: Implications on Food and Energy Security, Natural Resources, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Authors: Bartali El Houssine , Boutfirass Mohamed , Yigezu Yigezu Atnafe , Niane Abdoul Aziz , Boughlala Mohamed , Belmakki Mohammed , Halila Habib
Published: December 2022

Several research and development efforts have been made to ensure food security in developing countries. Dissemination of improved agricultural technologies was used as the main avenue through which some increases in food supply have been achieved. However, food insecurity remains a major challenge. This paper argues and provides empirical evidence that reducing food loss and waste can be an effective food and energy security, and natural resource, and environmental conservation strategy. Following the life cycle framework, the annual amount of wheat-based food lost or wasted from farm-to-fork in Morocco was estimated at 4 million tons (equivalent to 36% of total supply) valued at US$1.0 billion. Among all nodes, the magnitudes of farm management-related losses, wastage during consumption, and storage losses rank first to third accounting for about 17.4%, 7.92%, and 7.06%, respectively of total wheat supply in the country. Were these losses and wastes entirely prevented, Morocco would have been able to feed 29.3 million more people, or save 1.79 million hectares of land, 2.66 billion m3 of water, and 64.28 million GJ of energy, and prevented the emission from landfills of at least 16.61 million kg of methane annually. Besides the ongoing efforts to disseminate agricultural technologies, the Moroccan government needs to develop short- and medium-term national strategies to reduce food losses and wastage particularly targeting the storage and consumption nodes. Replacing bread subsidy with food vouchers targeting only the needy and creation of public awareness about the magnitudes and consequences of food loss and wastage alone may go long way in reducing them.
Suitability of Fast-Growing Tree Species (Salix spp., Populus spp., Alnus spp.) for the Establishment of Economic Agroforestry Zones for Biomass Energy in the Baltic Sea Region
Authors: Daugaviete Mudrite , Makovskis Kristaps , Lazdins Andis , Lazdina Dagnija
Published: December 2022

The main goal of this review was to provide an assessment of the potential of fast-growing tree species for the suitable transformation of agroforestry areas for biomass production in the Baltic Sea region. Our interest was to highlight the research on the management process of agroforestry zones by establishing short rotation plantations with the tree species Salix spp., Populus spp. and Alnus spp. to explore the prospects of planning these zones as biomass producers. Short rotation forestry (SRF) with trees whose rotation period is 15 to 30 years, depending on the species, is the most suitable approach for management of these agroforestry zones. Willows (Salix spp.) and poplars (Populus spp.) are suitable for short rotation coppice (SRC), as these tree species can be harvested at much shorter intervals, respectively, 1–5 and 4–10 years, facilitating their use in agricultural systems. The rotation period of Alnus spp. in short rotation plantations for energy wood production is generally assessed to be 15–30 years. The black alder plantations in agroforestry zones are used for sawnwood and firewood production, with a rotation period of 20–40 years. The calculated repayment period of the economic agroforestry zone is about 10–15 years, if 2021 costs and prices are used.
Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Carbon Emission Intensity of Main Crops in Henan Province
Authors: Li Zhi , Cao Tingting , Sun Zhongye
Published: December 2022

Agriculture is the national economy’s primary industry, and its carbon emissions (CE) are one of the most significant factors influencing the environment. As a large agrarian province, reducing the carbon emission intensity (CEI) of agricultural is of great practical significance to the sustainable development of agriculture in Henan province. In this paper, the CEI of rice, maize, and wheat from 2001 to 2020 in 18 prefecture-level cities in Henan province was calculated, and its spatial-temporal evolution patterns were analyzed. The Spatial Dubin model was used to study the impact mechanism and spatial spillover effect of the main crops’ CEI. As a result, the following was determined: (1) The CEI of main crops in 18 cities of Henan province showed an inverted “V” shape, whereas the geographical distribution showed an oblique “T” shape mainly in the north and west. (2) The CEI of main crops was significantly different under different factors. Technical efficiency, agricultural openness, urbanization level, agriculture production agglomeration, and agriculture fiscal expenditure negatively impact the main crops’ CEI. The structure of the food industry and the cost of water for agriculture and forestry positively affect the CEI of main crops. (3) The spatial spillover effects of agricultural openness, production technology efficiency, environmental protection, and fiscal expenditure spread to the surrounding areas through factor flow, technology spillover, and policy spread. The efficiency of production technology and fiscal expenditure on environmental protection have a demonstrative effect, and the degree of agricultural openness has a siphon effect. Based on the research results, we should strengthen agriculture technology extension and investment and gradually improve technical efficiency. Agriculture should be financially supported by the government. We will actively promote the optimization of the structure of the grain industry by promoting orderly urbanization, strengthening the sharing of factors among regions, and reducing the CEI of main crops.
One Step Back or One Step Forward? Effects of Grade Retention and School Retention Composition on Portuguese Students’ Psychosocial Outcomes Using PISA 2018 Data
Authors: Pipa Joana , Peixoto Francisco
Published: December 2022

Grade retention is a common practice applied to academically struggling students within the Portuguese context. Studies investigating the psychological experiences of grade-retained students are still scarce. In addition, most studies tend to neglect the multilevel nature of the school context. This study examines the effects of grade retention in grades 1–9 on Portuguese students’ psychosocial outcomes by the age of 15, using PISA 2018 data. Using a quasi-experimental design through full matching, we reduced the bias between 1362 retained and 4189 promoted students in relevant background variables. Results from the multilevel models showed that retained students, by the age of 15, present lower task orientation and school belonging. In addition, we found that the high retention rates negatively relate to students’ reading self-concept, task orientation, and school valuing and that school retention rates moderate the relationship between students’ retention and the psychosocial variables considered. Overall, these findings suggest detrimental effects of grade retention and that grade retention also affects the promoted peers of retained students.
Effective Synergy of Market Agents: The Core of Achieving Multi-Agent Governance on the Internet Platform
Authors: He Hongyang , Zhang Bin
Published: December 2022

In recent years, the governance strategies of Internet platforms proposed by the academic community have given more consideration to the responsibilities of social subjects. Since the subjects come from different social strata, the study on the interaction mechanism between the subjects has become an important topic to ensure the effective play of the multi-agent governance model. This paper makes comprehensive use of evolutionary game and principal-agent theory to build an interactive relationship model between government, platform, and public, gradually discusses measures to improve the effect of government regulation, multi-agent governance, and the level of responsibility of subjects, and then puts forward suggestions to achieve collaboration among all subjects. The results show that the level of market information obtained by the government and the probability of merchants being investigated are the key factors affecting the effect of government regulation, and the former is better than the latter. Improving the effort level of the platform is the core issue to achieve the effect of multi-agent governance, and public participation, technology promotion and system improvement are measures to motivate the platform’s responsibility. Giving full play to the advantages of the subjects and coordinating the relationship between the subjects are the key tasks to achieve the multi-agent governance effect of the Internet.
CGAN-Assisted Renovation of the Styles and Features of Street Facades—A Case Study of the Wuyi Area in Fujian, China
Authors: Zhang Lei , Zheng Liang , Chen Yile , Huang Lei , Zhou Shihui
Published: December 2022

With the development of society and the economy, the unified planning of architectural styles has become a significant problem in the balance between urban expansion and the protection of traditional buildings in villages and towns. This also allows people to re-examine the appearance of and quality of life, experienced by those in traditional village buildings. This research employs a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) to develop a generative technique for designing building facades in villages and cities. The provided results can be used to develop schemes and as design references for building facade design, enhancing the design efficiency of building facades. Simultaneously, we utilized this model for the rehabilitation of building facades in villages and towns, as well as in the visual design of rural tourism products, demonstrating its practical usefulness and design-related potential. We took villages and towns in the Wuyishan area of China as an example and carried out model training, image generation, and a comparison of the derivation results of different assumed buildings and product contours. The research shows that: (1) CGAN can be used to produce and supply reference schemes for conventional civil construction facade design in rural and urban areas. (2) In terms of adaptability, CGAN may develop architectural facade design schemes with a reference value for the hypothetical experimental building facades, and it can play a role in other design domains, as well. (3) The construction of this method is not only applicable to villages and towns in the World Heritage es Cities Programme, but can be further promoted and used in the future for cities and villages that have a demand for architectural style consistency.
Extruded Corn Snacks with Cricket Powder: Impact on Physical Parameters and Consumer Acceptance
Authors: Ruszkowska Millena , Tańska Małgorzata , Kowalczewski Przemysław Łukasz
Published: December 2022

Edible insects are more and more widely researched and presented as a good source of nutrients. Among the available raw materials, cricket powder (CP), obtained from roasted and crushed crickets, deserves attention because it can be used as an ingredient in many food products. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of CP addition on the physical and sensory properties of extruded corn snacks. In the extrusion process, five variants of corn snacks were produced with 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% additions of CP, and with 8% CP and 2% baking powder. Snacks without CP addition were used as a control (R). The study also evaluated the storage life of the manufactured snack products based on their sorption properties. It was found that increasing the CP content in snacks has a significant effect on their characteristics, with a lower expansion ratio as the result of the higher CP content in the extrudates. CP increased the solubility and decreased the water absorption of the snacks. Color changes were also observed in the produced snacks. The more CP in the recipe, the darker the end product. In addition, the color parameters a* and b* were shifted towards red and blue in cross-sections of snacks with higher percentages of CP. According to the sensory analysis, CP additions up to 6% allow for obtaining sensory-attractive snacks. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the snack parameters, expansion ratio, and water absorption index are of the greatest importance for sensory acceptance. Therefore, when planning the incorporation of CP into this type of product, special attention should be paid to obtaining extrudates with appropriate parameters.
Techno-Economic Assessment of the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Geothermal Systems
Authors: Tagliaferri Mauro , Gładysz Paweł , Ungar Pietro , Strojny Magdalena , Talluri Lorenzo , Fiaschi Daniele , Manfrida Giampaolo , Andresen Trond , Sowiżdżał Anna
Published: December 2022

Enhanced geothermal systems distinguish themselves among other technologies that utilize renewable energy sources by their possibility of the partial sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus, CO2 in its supercritical form in such units may be considered as better working fluid for heat transfer than conventionally used water. The main goal of the study was to perform the techno-economic analysis of different configurations of supercritical carbon dioxide-enhanced geothermal systems (sCO2-EGSs). The energy performance as well as economic evaluation including heat and power generation, capital and operational expenditures, and levelized cost of electricity and heat were investigated based on the results of mathematical modeling and process simulations. The results indicated that sCO2 mass flow rates and injection temperature have a significant impact on energetic results and also cost estimation. In relation to financial assessment, the highest levelized cost of electricity was obtained for the indirect sCO2 cycle (219.5 EUR/MWh) mainly due to the lower electricity production (in comparison with systems using Organic Rankine Cycle) and high investment costs. Both energy and economic assessments in this study provide a systematic approach to compare the sCO2-EGS variants.
Multidimensional Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of Demersal Small-Scale Fishery in the Azores
Authors: Pereira Inês , Peixoto Ualerson Iran , Medeiros-Leal Wendell , Casal-Ribeiro Morgan , Santos Régis
Published: December 2022

The Azorean demersal fishery sector is one of the most important in the archipelago. As a small-scale fishery, it plays an important role in the livelihood of the community, being a source of employment and income, and contributing to poverty alleviation. Because fisheries are a complex system, a multidisciplinary approach that includes socioeconomic indicators is required for a broader assessment of fishery sustainability. This study analyzes the Azorean bottom longline fishery using the Fishery Performance Indicators tool, regarding its ecology, economy, and community indicators. The findings indicated that the fishery is mostly sustainable, although there is still opportunity for improvement. Its ecological indicators had a good performance, mainly due to the effort and work of the scientific community that makes continuous studies to examine the state of its stocks. The economic indicators are in good condition as well, but some obstacles stopped the indicator from obtaining a better performance; mainly the landing volatility and the fishery’s main source of capital (subsidies), which can make the fishery less competitive. Finally, its community indicator had a very good performance, which reflects the fishery’s socioeconomic and cultural relevance for the Azores.
A Numerical Study of Turbulent Combustion of a Lignocellulosic Gas Mixture in an Updraft Fixed Bed Reactor
Authors: Khlifi Saaida , Lajili Marzouk , Perré Patrick , Pozzobon Victor
Published: December 2022

Lignocellulosic biomass is an established source of energy with various applications. Yet, its diversity renders the proper combustion of its thermochemical degradation vapors challenging. In this work, the combustion of syngas obtained from biomass thermochemical conversion was numerically investigated to limit pollutant emission. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation was performed using the open-source OpenFOAM. The reactor was considered in an axisymmetric configuration. The gas mixture resulting from the pyro-gasification devolatilization was composed of seven species: CO, CO2, H2O, N2, O2, light, and heavy hydrocarbon, represented by methane (CH4) and benzene (C6H6), respectively. The evolutions of mass, momentum, energy, and species’ concentrations were tracked. The flow was modeled using the RANS formulation. For the chemistry, reduced kinetic schemes of three and four steps were tested. Moreover, the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) model was used to account for the turbulence–chemistry interaction. The numerical prediction enabled us to describe the temperature and the species. Results show that all transported variables were closely dependent on the mass flow rate of the inflow gas, the primary and the secondary air injections. Finally, from a process perspective, the importance of the secondary air inlet to limit pollutants emissions can be concluded.
Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance, and Performance of Listed Companies—An Empirical Application of a Semi-Parametric Quantile Regression Model
Authors: Nie Jiamin , Ye Shanli
Published: December 2022

China’s listed companies have different ownership characteristics and market environments from those of other countries and thus exhibit vastly different changes. From the existing corporate life cycle perspective, companies differ in their different development stages, which makes each factor’s effect dynamic. How to adjust the governance mechanism to the requirements of the company’s stage of development is an urgent issue in sustainable corporate governance. To address the above issues, we establish a semi-parametric quantile regression model to analyze the relationship between the ownership structure and corporate performance based on the data of listed companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange between 2013 and 2021. Moreover, corporate governance measures taken at different stages of the corporate life cycle are discussed to see whether they effectively improve corporate governance. We conclude that there are non-linear effects of ownership structure while dynamic changes in corporate governance mechanisms exist. Companies should be concerned about the non-linear effects of ownership structures while considering the company’s life cycle and choosing appropriate governance measures. The results will help develop a sustainable development strategy to ensure that the company can improve its profitability and mitigate agency problems.
The Influencing Mechanism of High-Speed Rail on Innovation: Firm-Level Evidence from China
Authors: Zheng Kairui , Li Yijie , Xin Xiaohui
Published: December 2022

There is an urgent need to change the economic development mode from “resources driven” to “innovation driven” with the stagnation of the economy in China. Most existing research on the effect of high-speed rail (HSR) on firm innovation has lacked theoretical support and empirical evidence of firm innovation through knowledge spillover. This study introduces HSR as a cost coefficient to the classical heterogeneous firm model to construct a theoretical framework to determine the impact of HSR on firms’ innovation output. By matching the data of listed firms with the data of prefecture-level cities, the general difference-in-differences (DID) method is used to explore the impact of HSR on firm innovation and its mechanism. The research shows that the construction of HSR has a significant effect on the number of applied patent and authorized patents of firms and that there is a marginal increasing trend relating to the density and timing of HSR. The study found that in peripheral cities, firms in industries with rapid technological advances and highly innovative behaviors benefit more from HSR. HSR is associated with knowledge spillover within and between central and peripheral cities. It also has a heterogeneous sorting effect bounded by city size that promotes highly educated talent and the innovative output of firms that becomes significant only after the population size of a city reaches a certain threshold. HSR stimulates firm innovation mainly by improving the effect of firm resource allocation, promoting the spillover effect of innovation due to the flow and aggregation of resources, and increasing the scale effect of market expansion. Therefore, when designing innovation policies, the role of improving the construction of transportation to increase the frequency of face-to-face communication should be included, thus promoting the flow of knowledge and research collaboration.
Development of a Low-Cost Remote Fault Detection System for a Photovoltaic Power Plant
Authors: Chao Kuei-Hsiang , Pu Wen-Cheng , Chen Hsuan-Hao
Published: December 2022

The main purpose of this study is to develop a cost-effective photovoltaic module array (PVMA) fault detection system. The system installs a fault detection module in the junction box at the back of each photovoltaic module (PVM), connects it to the Wi-Fi on the case site, and transfers data and information to the server for data analysis. The PVM outputs the voltage to the isolated DC-DC power module as the power supply of the overall circuits. The fault detection module sends data to the message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) broker through the protocol in MQTT. As for the server host end, the visualization IoT development tool Node-RED is set up to display complex data sent by the fault detection module by means of data visualization. At the same time, it is linked to the open source time series database (OSTSDB) to process time series data. Finally, the results of the PVM are instantly sent to the maintenance personnel through an exception alert notification in order to inform the maintenance personnel to quickly rule out the failure. As the developed fault detection system hardware is more cost-effective than existing detection systems, the cost-effectiveness is favorable for mass production with market competitiveness.
Does Fintech Development Enhance Corporate ESG Performance? Evidence from an Emerging Market
Authors: Wang Deli , Peng Ke , Tang Kaiye , Wu Yewei
Published: December 2022

The effectiveness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) has been widely discussed and is often linked to corporate sustainability strategies. However, corporate ESG performance cannot be achieved without the support of financial development and the underlying mechanisms through which fintech development affects corporate ESG performance in emerging markets remain unexplored. Firms that are less financially constrained exhibit higher ESG performance in cities with better developed fintech. Moreover, the results remain robust after addressing the endogeneity between fintech development and ESG performance and using different city-level fintech indexes. Additionally, the results remain robust after addressing the endogeneity between fintech development and ESG performance and using different model specifications and variable measurement. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effect of fintech development on ESG performance is stronger for firms that are small, operate in technology industries, and have financial executives. These findings provide new insights into the role of fintech development in promoting sustainable social and economic development.
Addressing of Value Management Implementation Barriers within the Indian Construction Industry: A PLS-SEM Approach
Authors: Kineber Ahmed Farouk , Siddharth Shah , Chileshe Nicholas , Alsolami Badr , Hamed Mohammed Magdy
Published: December 2022

This study aims to evaluate the value management (VM) implementation barriers in construction projects. Consequently, information from 126 experts in the building industry was gathered via a questionnaire survey. Subsequently, the data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partial least square structural modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of EFA revealed that the VM barriers were grouped into six new constructs: client, knowledge, information, culture, resources, team members, and workshop. The barriers prioritization model was developed using PLS-SEM, and it indicated that team members are critical barriers to VM adoption. Although this study was limited to India’s VM context, its findings can be applied to other developing countries yet to implement VM in their construction industries. The study enhances stakeholder awareness and an understanding of the barriers affecting the implementation of VM, including building professionals, in India. It suggests strategies and activities overcome these barriers and facilitate a higher building quality, while maintaining a reasonable price.
Characterization of Natural Fiber Extracted from Corn (Zea mays L.) Stalk Waste for Sustainable Development
Authors: Devi Saroj , Poonia Pawan Kumar , Kumar Vikas , Tiwari Anjali , Meena Rajesh Kumar , Kumar Uttam , Gulnaz Aneela , Al-Sadoon Mohammad Khalid
Published: December 2022

Corn stalk fibers were extracted from corn stalk using sodium hydroxide for textile application. The extraction conditions were optimized on the basis of the quality and quantity of extracted fibers. The optimum conditions were obtained by treating corn stalk with 5 g/L concentration of sodium hydroxide for 60 min at boiling temperature using a 1:50 material-to-liquor ratio. Extracted fibers were bleached and tested for different physical and chemical properties. Besides these properties, the characterization of extracted fibers was carried out by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Fourier–transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. SEM was used to study the morphological changes in the raw and bleached fibers. The crystallinity changes of the raw and bleached samples were measured with an X-ray diffractometer by peak height method. FTIR was used to examine the compositional changes in the bleaching process. It was found that raw fibers contained the cellular residues such as lignin and hemicelluloses, which cement the fibers together. The chemical treatments such as alkali and bleaching partially removed hemicelluloses, lignin, and amorphous fractions of cellulose. This led to the gradually increasing crystallinity of the treated fiber. Peak height values were obtained by measuring the transmittance of the spectra through FTIR analysis. Different physical and chemical properties of the extracted corn stalk fibers indicated that it can be used for making biodegradable composite materials.
A Simplified Framework for the Equity-Based Spatial Assessment of Alternative Public Transport Networks
Authors: Giuffrida Nadia , Binetti Mario , Viscio Salvatore , Ottomanelli Michele
Published: December 2022

Nowadays, approximately 75% of the European population lives in urban areas, and these figures are expected to grow in future. The consequent expansion of cities means that the population might locate its residence far from daily facilities, generating a so-called transport social need. The possibility to easily reach education, health, recreation, and job opportunities is a key factor in fostering and guaranteeing the social inclusion of people in society. Spatial planning plays a fundamental role in filling the gap between people residing in the center and those living in the suburbs. In particular, public transport planning should ensure access to essential services, providing at least the same opportunities as private vehicles. In this context, this study presents a simplified quantitative method to consider equity in transit network design and assessment, considering horizontal and vertical indicators based on the socio-demographic characteristics of a population and the accessibility to main opportunities. The validity of the indicators is tested by applying them to a case study located in the Apulia region (Italy). The approach could be considered a basis for more complex transport-network design optimization oriented to social inclusion in urban areas.
Investigations on the Mechanical Properties of Composite T-Joints with Defects under Bending Loading
Authors: Luo Geng , Chai Chengpeng , Liu Junzhe , Xiao Yaozhi , Chen Yisong , Xu Fengxiang
Published: December 2022

The composite T-joint, a typical structural element, is widely used in the fields of aerospace due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, several defects might occur in this material during manufacturing because of the application of co-curing and co-bonding technologies. The existence of the defects results in the reduction in the load bearing capacity, which negatively affects the safety of the structure. In this study, a finite element (FE) model of composite T-joints is established, which is verified by quasi-static tests to investigate the load bearing capacity and failure modes of composite T-joints under bending loadings with different types of defects, including core material defects, radius floating of the fillet, and debonding defects. It is indicated that the failure modes of T-joints with different kinds of defects under bending loadings are similar, i.e., the delamination occurs firstly at the interface between the filling area and the L-rib before expanding to both sides. Meanwhile, the types of defects exert great effects on the load bearing capacity of T-joints, and the debonding defects in the arc area represent the most dangerous one. Furthermore, the orthogonal test method was adopted to analyze the influence of combined defects on the load bearing capacity of T-joints, and the findings reveal that the most sensitive type of defect is the debonding defects, followed by the radius floating of the fillet, and then core material defects. This result indicates that combined defects have a coupling effect on the load bearing capacity of composite T-joints. This study provides theoretical guidance and technical support for the repair of the defects of composite T-joints.
Study on Sustainable Development Strategy of Rural E-Commerce in the Northeast of China—A Case Study of 11 Villages, 11 Towns and 4 Counties
Authors: Wang Yanfeng , Jing Zaifang , Lyu Jie
Published: December 2022

Using field research data from 11 towns and 11 villages in 4 counties of Shenyang, data building, coding and analysis were conducted through Nvivo 11 to distill the influencing factors of rural e-commerce development in Shenyang into advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats. Combined with the SWOT-AHP model, the weights of each influencing factor on rural e-commerce development were obtained by scoring by experts from five aspects, including government, enterprises, farmers, etc. The results show that the weak infrastructure and high cost of express delivery are important factors affecting the development of rural e-commerce, confirming the folk experience of “to get rich, first build roads”. At the same time, the awakening of brand awareness and the strengthening of technology services are advantages and opportunities for the development of rural e-commerce. Finally, according to the different combinations of influencing factors, we proposed a breakthrough strategy for rural e-commerce development based on “external help + internal drive”, supplemented by “cooperation + demonstration leading” and “industrial upgrading + channel integration”.
Influence of the Urban Green Spaces of Seville (Spain) on Housing Prices through the Hedonic Assessment Methodology and Geospatial Analysis
Authors: Ramírez-Juidías Emilio , Amaro-Mellado José-Lázaro , Leiva-Piedra Jorge Luis
Published: December 2022

The city of Seville (Spain) is made up of a historical network of pre-existing city overlaps, which increase the economic and heritage value of certain urban areas. To date, green spaces are one of the most important variables in determining the economic value of housing. Thus, this paper uses the hedonic technique and geostatistical analysis with GIS as a methodological approach to infer the economic influence of urban green spaces on housing prices. Along with the traditional variables used to explain dwelling prices, the size of the green space has also been taken into account as an environmental variable affecting prices. The sample consists of 1000 observations collected from Seville. According to the findings, the most relevant variables depend on the hedonic model. Still, in general terms, a dwelling’s selling price is related to basic explanatory variables such as living area, number of rooms, age, and number of baths. The green area per inhabitant present in a dwelling’s district is also included as part of these basic explanatory variables. In conclusion, the hedonic linear model is the model that best fits housing prices where the values are similar to those obtained by kriging regardless of the district. Based on this research, each square meter of green space per inhabitant in a district raises the housing value by 120.19 €/m2.
An Improved Social Force Model of Pedestrian Twice–Crossing Based on Spatial–Temporal Trajectory Characteristics
Authors: Ma Siyuan , Guo Yongqing , Wei Fulu , Li Qingyin , Wang Zhenyu
Published: December 2022

Pedestrian two-stage crossing, as one of the key elements of the urban roadway network, affects not only vehicle flow at signalized interactions, but also road capacities in the transport system. Therefore, it is vital to deeply understand the behavioral characteristics of pedestrian twice-crossing in order to improve the safety and efficiency of the road transport network. Based on our previous study, this study continues to improve the social force model by classifying the trajectory type of pedestrian twice crossing. In the interactive aggregation, the pedestrian trajectory line was divided into two types: straight path and curved path. The Work–Energy Principle and Impulse–Momentum Principle were used to identify the spatial and temporal characteristics of pedestrian twice-crossing behaviors. It was found that when pedestrians on the two sides are facing very close in a congested section, the maximum repulsive force appears to be a dramatic increase and remains for a period of time. This result provides us with direction for updating the social force model, focusing on the repulsive force generated by the opposite flow. The improved model can achieve high precision in predicting pedestrian twice-crossing behaviors. The findings of this study have great implications for designing pedestrian facilities and optimizing pedestrian signal timings, thus helping to increase the mobility and safety of pedestrian twice-crossing.
The Impact of Stakeholders’ Management Measures on Citizens’ Participation Level in Implementing Smart Sustainable Cities
Authors: Alamoudi Abood Khaled , Abidoye Rotimi Boluwatife , Lam Terence Y. M.
Published: December 2022

Smart sustainable cities (SSC) tend to utilise technology to promote themselves by involving their citizens in urban development. Several cities around the world have adopted the “smart city” label in recognition of these advantages. In fact, citizen engagement in public urban development and decision making has been acknowledged globally in many countries; yet, evaluations of the outcomes that allow the contribution of empowerment to be measured and compared with other influences are lacking. This study examines the correlation between stakeholder management measures (SMM) and citizen participation level (CPL) in the process of achieving an SSC. Four SMM factors were extracted from a literature review and sent out to be examined by experts in the field of built environments. Mean score (MS) ranking was used to confirm the importance of these variables in terms of predicting correlations with CPL. The results were generalised by multiple regression analysis techniques. This study shows a positive significant correlation between SMM and CPL in terms of Regulation, Collaboration, Legitimates, and Control. These four predictors make a significant contribution to escalating the levels of engagement and empowerment of citizen participation (CP). This paper contributes to knowledge in the field by identifying pillars that can increase CPL. Our findings could support the stakeholders of SSC projects to raise CPL, not only by hearing their voices but also by delegating power.
Spatial Validation of Agent-Based Models
Authors: Wikstrom Kristoffer , Nelson Hal T.
Published: December 2022

This paper adapts an existing techno–social agent-based model (ABM) in order to develop a new framework for spatially validating ABMs. The ABM simulates citizen opposition to locally unwanted land uses, using historical data from an energy infrastructure siting process in Southern California. Spatial theory, as well as the model’s design, suggest that adequate validation requires multiple tests rather than relying solely on a single test-statistic. A pattern-oriented modeling approach was employed that first mapped real and simulated citizen comments across the US Census tract. The suite of spatial tests included Global Moran’s I, complemented with bivariate correlations, as well as the local indicators of spatial association (LISA) test. The global tests showed the model explained up to 65% of the variation in the historical data for US Census tract-level citizen comments on a locally unwanted land use. These global tests were also found helpful to inform the model’s calibration for the current application. The LISA results were even stronger, showing that the model predicted citizen comment clustering correctly in five of six Census tracts. It slightly over predicted comments further away from the land use. The LISA results and pattern-oriented modeling validation techniques identified theoretical factors to improve the modeling specification in future applications. The combined suite of validation techniques helped improve confidence in the model’s predictions.
Does the Tone in Corporate Social Responsibility Reports Misdirect Analysts’ Forecasts in China?
Authors: Liang Xiaoying , Wu Hongjun
Published: December 2022

With increasing emphasis being placed on corporate social responsibility, the number of companies furnishing corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports is increasing. This study investigates the impact of abnormal positive tone in CSR reports on analysts’ earnings forecast bias. The textual analysis of CSR reports of Chinese listed companies between 2006 and 2016 reveals that an abnormal positive tone significantly and positively relates to an optimistic bias in analysts’ forecasts. This effect is pronounced among companies with poor financial transparency and those operating in regions where culture is stakeholder-oriented. Further analysis confirms that the poorer the company’s CSR performance, the more it tends to mislead analysts using an abnormal positive tone in its CSR report. Based on these findings, this study suggests that firms may greenwash using an abnormally positive tone in their CSR reports.
The Rotor-Vibrator Plus Multi-Particle-Hole Description of 154Gd
Authors: Wu Yingxin , Li Aoxue , Pan Feng , Dai Lianrong , Draayer Jerry
Published: December 2022

Based on the well-known rotor-vibrator model and the particle-plus-rotor model, multi-particle-hole excitations from a collective even-even core described by the rotor-vibrator is considered to describe well-deformed even-even nuclei. Like the particle-plus-rotor model, the intrinsic Vierergruppe (D2) symmetry is still preserved in the rotor-vibrator plus multi-particle-hole description. It is shown that a series of experimentally observed 0+ states in these nuclei may be interpreted as the multi-particle-hole excitations in a complementary manner to the beta and gamma vibrations described by the rotor-vibrator model. As a typical example of the model application, low-lying positive parity level energies below 1.990 MeV in the eight experimentally identified positive parity bands; a series of 0+ excitation energies up to 016+; and some experimentally known B(E2) values, E2 branching ratios, and E2/M1 and E0/E2 mixing ratios of 154Gd are fitted and compared to the experimental data. The results suggest that the multi-particle-hole-pair configuration mixing may play a role in these 0+ states.
Geometric Properties for a New Class of Analytic Functions Defined by a Certain Operator
Authors: Breaz Daniel , Murugusundaramoorthy Gangadharan , Cotîrlǎ Luminiţa-Ioana
Published: December 2022

The aim of this paper is to define and explore a certain class of analytic functions involving the (p,q)-Wanas operator related to the Janowski functions. We discuss geometric properties, growth and distortion bounds, necessary and sufficient conditions, the Fekete–Szegö problem, partial sums, and convex combinations for the newly defined class. We solve the Fekete–Szegö problem related to the convolution product and discuss applications to probability distribution.
An Update on the Momentum 360 Method of Vehicle Impact Reconstruction through 3D Modeling and Computer Simulation
Authors: Karapetkov Stanimir , Dimitrov Lubomir
Published: December 2022

Although vehicles as a whole are symmetric, car crashes rarely follow the symmetric line (crashes are axisymmetric). In this paper, we examine car crashes by an updated Momentum 360 method, and car symmetry helps us easily find out what happens within the accident. We propose an improvement of the Momentum 360 method by taking into account the frictional forces between the wheels and the road surface during the time of impact. According to the momentum change theorem for the duration of the impact for each car and the kinetic moment change theorem for the relative motion of the given vehicle around its center of mass, the impact problem is introduced and solved. The solution considers the impulses of the principal vectors of the wheel friction forces, the gravity force, and the aerodynamic force for each car at the time of impact, as well as the principal moments of the friction forces between the tires and the road surface as a function of time. A mechano-mathematical multi-mass 3D model and a computer simulation of the movement (“Expertcar” software) are used to study the movement of each vehicle after the impact. Through successive approximations, the velocity vectors of the mass centers of the vehicle immediately before the impact are determined, and the location of the impact is identified. The presented decision model significantly improves the accuracy of road accident investigations.
Development of an Immunofluorescent Capillary Sensor for the Detection of Zearalenone Mycotoxin
Authors: Majer-Baranyi Krisztina , Barócsi Attila , Gádoros Patrik , Kocsányi László , Székács András , Adányi Nóra
Published: December 2022

A capillary-based immunofluorescence sensor was developed and incorporated in a flow injection analysis system. The light-guiding capillary was illuminated axially by a 473 nm/5 mW solid state laser through a tailored optofluidic connector. High sensitivity of the system was achieved by efficiently collecting and detecting the non-guided fluorescence signal scattered out along the wall of the capillary. The excitation was highly suppressed with bandpass and dichroic filters by simultaneously exploiting the guiding effect inside the capillary. The glass capillary used as a measuring cell was silanized in liquid phase by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS), and the biomolecules were immobilized using glutaraldehyde inside the capillary. The applicability of the developed system was tested with a bovine serum albumin (BSA)—anti-BSA-IgG model-molecule pair, using a fluorescently labeled secondary antibody. Based on the results of the BSA–anti-BSA experiments, a similar setup using a primary antibody specific for zearalenone (ZON) was established, and a competitive fluorescence measurement system was developed for quantitative determination of ZON. For the measurements, 20 µg/mL ZON-BSA conjugate was immobilized in the capillary, and a 1:2500 dilution of the primary antibody stock solution and a 2 µg/mL secondary antibody solution were set. The developed capillary-based immunosensor allowed a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.003 ng/mL and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.007 ng/mL for ZON in the competitive immunosensor setup, with a dynamic detection range of 0.01–10 ng/mL ZON concentrations.
Occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 in Cow, Goat, Buffalo, Camel, and Yak Milk in China in 2016
Authors: Zheng Nan , Min Li , Li Dagang , Tan Sheng , Gao Yanan , Wang Jiaqi
Published: December 2022

In this present study, 195 cow milk, 100 goat milk, 50 buffalo milk, 50 camel milk, and 50 yak milk samples were collected in China in May and October 2016. The presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. For all cow milk samples, 128 samples (65.7%) contained AFM1 in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.191 µg/L, and 6 samples (3.1%) from Sichuan province in October were contaminated with AFM1 above 0.05 µg/L (EU limit). For all goat milk samples, 76.0% of samples contained AFM1 in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.135 µg/L, and 9 samples (9.0%) from Shanxi province in October were contaminated with AFM1 above 0.05 µg/L. For all buffalo milk samples, 24 samples (48.0%) contained AFM1 in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.089 µg/L, and 2 samples collected in October were contaminated with AFM1 above 0.05 µg/L. Furthermore, 28.0% of samples contained AFM1 in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.007 µg/L in camel milk samples, and 18.0% of samples contained AFM1 in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.007 µg/L in yak milk samples. Our survey study has expanded the current knowledge of the occurrence of AFM1 in milk from five dairy species in China, in particular the minor dairy species.