bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Miniaturized Folded-Slot CubeSat MIMO Antenna Design with Pattern Diversity
Authors: Hussain Rifaqat , Aljaloud Khaled , Rao Abida Shaheen , AlGarni Abdullah M. , Alqahtani Ali H. , Aziz Abdul , Aladadi Yosef T. , Alhuwaimel Saad I. , Hussain Niamat
Published: October 2022

In this paper, a folded slot-based multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) antenna design for Cube Satellite (CubeSat) applications is presented for the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band. A unique combination of a reactively loaded meandered slot with a folded structure is presented to achieve the antenna’s miniaturization. The proposed antenna is able to operate over a wide frequency band from 430~510 MHz. Moreover, pattern diversity is achieved by the antenna’s element placement, resulting in good MIMO diversity performance. The four elements are placed on one Unit (1U) for CubeSat dimensions of 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm. The miniaturized antenna design with pattern diversity over a wide operating band is well suited for small satellite applications, particularly CubeSats in the UHF band.
A Simple and Effective Method for Measuring the Density of Non-Newtonian Thickened Tailings Slurry during Hydraulic Transport
Authors: Gruszczyński Maciej Filip , Kostecki Stanisław , Zieliński Szymon , Skrzypczak Zbigniew , Stefanek Paweł , Czaban Stanisław , Popczyk Marcin
Published: October 2022

The extension of the Żelazny Most tailings store facility (TSF), which is the largest in Europe, requires the transport of large amounts of tailings, e.g., from the central area of the TSF reservoir to the new southern extension (SE). In order to use the mature fine tailings deposits located under the clarified water in the TSF reservoir, which were thickened in the process of natural sedimentation, it was decided to choose suction dredgers that collect tailings a few meters from under the water surface. The dredgers, which are most commonly used for the extraction of sand or gravel, showed the ability to pump fine flotation tailings slurry in the conducted tests. However, in order to reduce the costs of the entire operation, it was necessary to control the density of the slurry. The article presents a prototype installation for measuring the efficiency of the solid phase of the “in situ” dredging process in real time. The installation was designed for the needs of dredging a deposit of tailings that were thickened in the natural sedimentation process, and which had a particle size of below 63 μm. The installation consists of a flow meter, a densimeter, and a section for measuring the head loss of the flow of the slurry. The applied methodology allows for the current assessment of the dredger’s operating parameters, which translates into a more effective–in terms of process efficiency–management of the dredger’s work.
Development of a Human Factors Approach to Equine-Related Human Accident Analysis, and Preliminarily Evaluation with Simulated Incidents
Authors: Chapman Meredith , Fenner Kate , Thomas Matthew J. W.
Published: October 2022

Accident analysis frameworks such as Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) are widely used in high-risk industries to determine risk mitigation strategies. In comparison, equestrianism which is classified high-risk due to human-horse interactions at work, sport, and social activities, rarely utilizes accident analysis. This study developed and tested the validity and inter-rater reliability of an equestrian-specific accident analysis framework, that included elements of human error, horse risk factors, and environmental factors. The study involved three coders who independently classified 10 simulated horse-related human accident reports with the novel Human Factors Analysis and Classification System-Equestrianism (HFACS-Eq) framework. The results demonstrated that the HFACS-Eq framework achieved moderately reliable to reliable coding percentage agreement. In addition, substantial to reliable agreement was achieved for HFACS-Eq nominal category and nano-codes levels. This study is the first step towards an equestrian industry-specific, accident analysis framework to improve industry safety. Elimination of possible bias and validation with real incident data are required before the wider application of the framework can be recommended. The study highlights organizational and procedural failures, segregating the horse as a contributing factor as well as the environment in which the human acts or makes decisions informing risk.
Living Lab Participants’ Knowledge Change about Inclusive Smart Cities: An Urban Living Lab in Seongdaegol, Seoul, South Korea
Authors: Park Jooho , Fujii Sayaka
Published: October 2022

The emergence of smart cities has illuminated positive expectations, such as the solving of urban problems through information and communications technology (ICT). Behind the spotlight of the smart city, not everybody is enjoying the smart infrastructure owing to knowledge gaps such as the digital divide. Living labs provide a new platform for smart cities that can prevent the failure of urban development. They give citizens a better understanding of how to adapt to life in a smart city, enabling the development of smart cities that are more likely to succeed through a participatory approach. In this way, the competencies of participants may affect the success of a living lab. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on improving participants’ knowledge through living labs. This study aims to examine how participation in an urban living lab influences the knowledge level of photovoltaic power generation and to identify the influencing factors. Our empirical study shows that the knowledge level of solar power technology improved through participation in a living lab. Additionally, the results indicate that the types of activity programs in the living lab were not associated with knowledge acquisition.
Social Services Management in the Context of Ethnic Roma Issues in the Czech Republic with a Focus on Education for Roma Children
Authors: Merhaut Marek , Fulkova Marie , Rudorfer Lothar Filip
Published: October 2022

According to qualified estimates by sociologists, the Czech national census and governmental bodies in the EU, as many as 350,000 ethnic Roma people live in the Czech Republic. Yet, only a fraction of the Roma population has received higher education and are achieving careers within and not alongside the majority society. Some believe that a more inclusive and integrative approach in education will facilitate long-term community work and better removal of prejudices. This represents quite a force that could appreciably affect the political landscape. Unfortunately, we run into the disunity of the Roma people among themselves, which brings more challenges to the forefront rather than solutions to the current status quo. This should change in the future. The current government concept for this purpose supports the development of Roma culture and education. This overview study should bring more arguments to the table regarding the need for Czech Romani/Roma intervention in education and social affairs. This overview article gives an insight into current Czech Roma/Romani education and social service-related issues.
Assessing Türkiye’s Prospective Involvement in the Arctic Region: A Qualitative Inquiry from Energy and Environmental Perspectives
Authors: Biresselioglu Mehmet Efe , Demir Muhittin Hakan , Solak Berfu , Altinci Sebnem , Egeli Sitki
Published: October 2022

Recent developments in the Arctic region, mainly marked by climate change, have caused the region to receive increasing attention from regional and non-regional actors, mainly due to emerging energy-related opportunities and environmental concerns. The main reason for non-regional stakeholders to become involved in the Arctic region to pursue their interests is to obtain the observer status in the Arctic Council. Accordingly, this manuscript analyzes the long-term perspective of Türkiye’s involvement in the Arctic region as a non-regional actor and reveals a set of enablers and disablers pertaining to energy and environmental domains. For this purpose, in-depth interviews with experts from Türkiye, with Arctic Council members, or with observer countries are conducted. Results of the analysis are also utilized to provide insights regarding countries with similar profiles to Türkiye, i.e., middle-power and developing countries that are geographically distant from the Arctic region. The results highlight energy security, hydrocarbon reserves, and climate change as significant factors for countries such as Türkiye. Scientific, private sector, or intergovernmental cooperation with regional actors to encourage global action and environmental initiatives are the main enablers. Challenges in the extraction and sharing of energy resources, high costs and high technology requirements of energy exploration and extraction activities, increasing human activity, and damages to the Arctic ecosystem are identified as significant disablers.
Does the Type of Anaerobic Test Matter? A Comparison between the Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test and Wingate Anaerobic Test in Taekwondo Athletes
Authors: Boutios Stefanos , di Cagno Alessandra , Buonsenso Andrea , Centorbi Marco , Iuliano Enzo , Calcagno Giuseppe , Fiorilli Giovanni
Published: October 2022

The specificity of training as well as the specificity of monitoring the training process are believed to be fundamental principles to efficiently plan and carry out the preparation and performance development of athletes. The Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT) is a sport-specific field test used to specifically evaluate the anaerobic profile of Taekwondo athletes. The aim of this study was to verify whether TAIKT and the ‘gold standard’ Wingate Anaerobic test (WAnT) were both efficient means to optimally determine the anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity of Greek Taekwondo athletes at a middle-high technical level. Fifteen athletes, 10 females and 5 males (mean age 23.4 ± 4.14 years), underwent the two anaerobic tests (TAIKT and WAnT). The peak of power, the anaerobic capacity, and the peak of blood lactate (BL) were recorded. The two tests showed a moderate correlation with the r value ranging between 0.353 and 0.428, if applied to a sample of middle-high technical level athletes. Regarding the peak of BL, data indicated 40% concordance between the two tests with a coefficient of variation of 12%. Consequently, the two tests were correlated even if not interchangeable due to the different type of exercise required in these assessments. In conclusion, to assess the anaerobic performances and physiological characteristics of Taekwondo athletes, independently of their technical level, the WAnT resulted suitable, while to better assess the functional performance and specific demands of Taekwondo, the TAIKT is more indicated.
Challenges for the Construction of Environmental Journalism in Ecuador and the COP26 in Digital Media
Authors: Medranda-Morales Narcisa , Sánchez-Montoya Roberto , Ayuy Cevallos Josselyn Vanessa , Soria Rojas Joselyne Andrea
Published: October 2022

The objective of this research is to analyze the role of two different digital media in the message development for care of the environment in Ecuador in the context of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26). To address this qualitative research, we worked on a comparison of contents, complemented with text analysis and interviews with experts related to protecting the environment and journalists who generated content on this topic. In one case, the journalistic coverage had limitations, and, in the other, some superficial issues were addressed. In both cases, the wording was relatively complex, and each medium adapted the news to its ideological bias. It is necessary to change how journalism has been built; in other words, we need to “build” environmental journalism in Ecuador. Independent spaces for analysis, specialized personnel in topics related to this area, and professional training processes, research, and dissemination of content to raise citizens’ awareness of environmental issues are required.
Legal and Socio-Economic Conditions Underlying the Shaping of the Agricultural System in Poland
Authors: Kryszk Hubert , Kurowska Krystyna , Marks-Bielska Renata
Published: October 2022

The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the state in managing the Polish market of agricultural property through the introduced legal regulations. The analysis was based on declarations of intent to exercise pre-emptive rights to agricultural property that were issued in the province of Warmia and Mazury between 2016 and 31 December 2021. Legal regulations aiming to restrict the purchase of the agricultural property of the State Treasury Reserve (STR) in particular by foreign buyers came into force in 2016. At present, the main task of the National Support Center for Agriculture (Polish acronym: KOWR) is to purchase and repurchase agricultural property from private owners (pre-emptive right and the right of purchase). KOWR exercises its pre-emptive right to agricultural property before it is offered to other buyers, and it is entitled to purchase that property on the conditions specified by the parties to the agreement and for the agreed price. The research results justify the conclusion that the Polish state’s interventionism in the sale of agricultural land has an impact on the shape of the agricultural system in Poland.
Sustainable Urban Logistics Distribution Network Planning with Carbon Tax
Authors: Guo Jidong , Zhao Qiuhong , Xi Menghao
Published: October 2022

Global warming caused by excessive carbon dioxide emissions is threatening the sustainable development of human society. Considering the upcoming carbon tax policy in China, this paper studies the planning of dual-level urban logistics distribution network in the context of carbon emissions. Based on reasonable assumptions, a bi-objective mixed-integer programming model considering logistics operating costs and carbon emission costs is constructed. Given the problem size, an improved genetic algorithm is designed. Based on a numerical example, the optimization results of the improved genetic algorithm and the GLPK optimization suite are compared to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm. Under different carbon tax rates, by adjusting the logistics distribution network along, the logistics operators can achieve a maximum cost savings of 19.4%, while carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 47.8%. The major conclusions include: carbon tax will bring about huge cost burdens for urban logistics operators; the reconfiguration of urban logistics network is a powerful measure to reduce carbon emission with the least extra costs; with problem size rises quickly, the intelligent algorithm as proposed in this article can always find near optimal solutions with acceptable time costs.
Examining the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Elementary Students’ Mathematics Achievement: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Hwang Sunghwan
Published: October 2022

With the increasing attention to artificial intelligence (AI) in education, this study aims to examine the overall effectiveness of AI on elementary students’ mathematics achievement using a meta-analysis method. A total of 21 empirical studies with 30 independent samples published between January 2000 and June 2022 were used in the study. The study findings revealed that AI had a small effect size on elementary students’ mathematics achievement. The overall effect of AI was 0.351 under the random-effects model. The effect sizes of eight moderating variables, including three research characteristic variables (research type, research design, and sample size) and five opportunity-to-learn variables (mathematics learning topic, intervention duration, AI type, grade level, and organization), were examined. The findings of the study revealed that mathematics learning topic and grade level variables significantly moderate the effect of AI on mathematics achievement. However, the effects of other moderator variables were found to be not significant. This study also suggested practical and research implications based on the results.
Outage Probability Analysis and Transmit Power Optimization for Blind-Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Assisted Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Uplink
Authors: Kumaravelu Vinoth Babu , Imoize Agbotiname Lucky , Soria Francisco R. Castillo , Velmurugan Periyakarupan Gurusamy Sivabalan , Thiruvengadam Sundarrajan Jayaraman , Murugadass Arthi , Gudla Vishnu Vardhan
Published: October 2022

Fifth-generation (5G) advancements improve transmitter and receiver functionalities, but the propagation environment remains uncontrolled. By changing the phase of impinging waves, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) have the potential to regulate radio propagation environments. RIS-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) improves spectrum efficiency while enabling massive connectivity. The uplink outage probability expressions for blind-RIS-NOMA are derived in this work using RIS as a smart reflector (SR) and RIS as an access point (AP). Extensive Monte-Carlo simulations are performed to validate the derived closed-form expressions. The optimal powers to be allocated to the users are also derived in order to maximize the uplink sum capacity. In comparison to the sub-optimal power allocation, the optimal power allocation enhances the sum capacity. In terms of sum capacity for 20 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 32 reflecting elements, it is demonstrated that the blind-RIS-NOMA surpasses the conventional NOMA by ≈38%. The sum capacity and outage performances are enhanced by the addition of RIS elements.
Effects of the Combined Application of Chinese Milk Vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) and Red Mud to Remediate the Cadmium-Polluted Acidic Paddy Soil
Authors: Fan Meirong , Liu Xin , Zhou Yaoyu , Núñez-Delgado Avelino , Luo Lin , Long Shiping , Huang Huang , Hu Li , Liao Yulin
Published: October 2022

In this study, we conducted field experiments to assess the effects of the combined application of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L., CMV) and red mud (RM) to remediate the cadmium-polluted acidic paddy soil. The results showed that the combined application increased the yield component index and improved the grain yields, compared with the control, RM1, RM2, and CMV treatments. However, the increased range of soil pH values in the CMV-RM1 and CMV-RM2 treatments was smaller than that of the RM1 and RM2 treatments at the different rice growth stages. The soil organic matter (SOM) contents of the RM-only treatments did not differ throughout the whole period, but were significantly different (p < 0.05) between CMV-RM2 and the control. Compared with the control, the combined application decreased the concentration of exchangeable Cd in the early rice soil. The combined application of CMV and RM substantially decreased the rice uptake of Cd. However, we found no significant difference (p < 0.05) between the CMV-RM1 and CMV-RM2 treatments. Therefore, compared with remediation with RM or CMV alone, we recommend the combined application of CMV and RM as an economical, highly effective, and replicable amendment for remediating acidic, Cd-polluted paddy soil. Considering the restorative effect and proper use of RM, we recommend CMV-RM1 treatment.
Red Mud as Adsorbent to Recover Phosphorous from Wastewater Streams
Authors: Somogyi Viola , Pitás Viktória , Berta Kinga M. , Kurdi Róbert
Published: October 2022

Background: Phosphorous (P) is an essential nutrient with finite and non-renewable resources; however, it can cause eutrophication in freshwater. The use or storage of red mud (RM), a by-product of alumina production with high iron and aluminium content, poses another environmental issue. Objective: This paper examines the possibility of P recovery from various wastewaters and landfill leachate with RM. Methods: Pulverized, on-site pre-treated red mud was used. Synthetic P solution, poultry wastewater effluent, the spiked effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant and landfill leachate were examined. Results and conclusions: Removal efficiencies of 0.41–1.24 mg P/mg RM for the wastewater effluents and 0.10–0.13 mg P/g RM for the leachate resulted in a decreased phosphorous concentration (0.02–0.57 mg P/L) for each liquid. Despite the doses being substantially higher than the stoichiometric value (103 mg P/g RM), the dosage increase did not result in a considerable cost increase. Further investigation is in progress to insert this solution into existing wastewater treatment technologies to facilitate excellent effluent quality and utilize the nutrient content of red mud.
Evaluation Study on the Ecosystem Governance of Industry–Education Integration Platform in China
Authors: Li Yuqian , Hsu Wei-Ling , Zhang Yuwen
Published: October 2022

The industry–education integration platform itself is an ecosystem composed of multiple subjects, and its effective governance cannot be separated from contract management. Platform operation requires efforts to overcome institutional transaction costs and clarify the distribution of benefits among cooperative subjects. Each cooperative subject displays cooperative behavior with consistent organizational goals, which contributes to effective platform regulation reaching a steady state. Therefore, the industry–education integration platform ecosystem involves key elements such as contracts, transaction costs, property rights definition, cooperative behavior, and stability within the ecosystem. Thus, this paper takes the context of the integration of industry and education in China and innovatively proposes an evaluation index system for the governance of the ecosystem of the industry–education integration platform. Then, this paper takes the 14 industry–education integration platforms in China as an example. The grey correlation method was applied to the obtained sample data, which overcame the deficiency of sample evaluation with little data and poor information. Subjective and objective index weight assignment methods are used to improve the scientific and rational nature of the model evaluation. Finally, to improve the governance level of the ecosystem of the industry–education integration platform, new references are provided in four aspects: establishing a flawless mechanism of the platform contract, protecting the rights and interests of platform-related subjects, improving the protection and development mechanism of resources, and exploring the outsourcing of educational services.
Optimal Operational Planning of RES and HESS in Smart Grids Considering Demand Response and DSTATCOM Functionality of the Interfacing Inverters
Authors: Ali Abdelfatah , Shaaban Mostafa F. , Sindi Hatem F.
Published: October 2022

With countries moving toward renewable energy sources (RES), the need for dispatchability and storage solutions has become more prevalent. The uncertainty associated with wind turbine (WT) units and photovoltaic (PV) systems further complex a system with a high level of intermittency. This work addresses this problem by proposing an operational planning approach to determine the optimal allocation of WT units, PV systems, and hybrid energy storage systems (HESS) in smart grids. The proposed approach considers the uncertainties of the RES and load demand, price-based demand response, and distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) functionality of the RES interfacing inverters. The operational planning problem is divided into two subcategories: (1) optimal long-term planning and (2) optimal operation. In the first problem, probabilistic models of RES and load reflect on the sizes and locations of the used RES and storage technologies. This allocation is further optimized via the optimal operation of the smart grid. The proposed operational planning approach is formulated as a nested optimization problem that guarantees the optimal planning and operation of the RES and HESS simultaneously. This approach is tested on the IEEE 33-bus distribution system and solved using meta-heuristic and mathematical algorithms. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated using a set of case studies. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach optimally allocates the RES and HESS with a 30.4% cost reduction and 19% voltage profile improvement.
Selection for Ornamental Purposes of ‘Angela’ Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) Cultivar with Unpigmented Fruit
Authors: Medda Silvia , Fadda Angela , Mulas Maurizio
Published: October 2022

Myrtle species includes the melanocarpa (with pigmented fruit when ripe) and the leucocarpa varieties (with unpigmented fruit). Myrtle-bearing pigmented fruit is more common as a wild or cultivated plant for red liqueur production, while genotypes with unpigmented fruit are rare. Myrtle is also appreciated in the international market of ornamental plants as a garden shrub, a flowering and fruiting potted plant, and for the production of cut leafy branches. Varieties with pigmented fruit, compact habitus and small leaves like microcarpa and tarentina are mostly propagated for this purpose. Contrarily, the leucocarpa variety is a strongly vigorous plant, with big leaves, large internodes, and long fruit peduncles. These unique characteristics together with the long persistence of immature fruit in the winter months may represent a new potential specimen for ornamental plant production. This innovative concept of ornamental myrtle was developed with the selection of the cultivar ‘Angela’ here described for its morphological traits, good nursery management, and performance in agamic propagation.
The Impact of V2G Charging/Discharging Strategy on the Microgrid Environment Considering Stochastic Methods
Authors: Iqbal Sheeraz , Habib Salman , Ali Muhammad , Shafiq Aqib , ur Rehman Anis , Ahmed Emad M. , Khurshaid Tahir , Kamel Salah
Published: October 2022

Although electric vehicles (EVs) play a vital role in realizing remarkable features, however, the integration of a huge number of EVs leads to grid congestion as well. As a result, uncontrolled charging might give rise to undervoltage and complex congestion in the electric grid. The reasons for the uncontrolled charging of EVs have been investigated in the recent past to mitigate the effects thereof. It is very challenging to achieve controlled charging due to different constraints at the customer end; therefore, it is better to take the benefits of power prediction schemes for the charging and discharging of EVs. The power prediction scheme is based on a practical power forecast system that exploits the needs of various patterns, and the current research focuses on considering users’ demands. The primary objective of this study is to develop an effective and efficient coordination system for the charging and discharging of EVs by exploiting a smart algorithm that intelligently tackles the possible difficulties to attain optimum power requirements. In this context, a model is proposed based on stochastic methods for analyzing the impact of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging and discharging in the microgrid environment. A Markov model is used to simulate the use of EVs. This method works well with the Markov model because of its ability to adjust to random changes. When considering an EV, its erratic travel patterns suggest a string of events that resemble a stochastic process. The proposed model ensures that high power requirements are met during peak hours in a cost-effective manner. In simpler words, the promising features of the proposed scheme are to meet electricity/power demands, monitoring and the efficient forecasting of power. The outcomes revealed an effective power system, EV scheduling, and power supply without compromising the electric vehicle’s presentation of the EV owner’s tour schedule. In terms of comprehensiveness, the developed algorithm exhibits a significant improvement.
A Transformer-Based Machine Learning Approach for Sustainable E-Waste Management: A Comparative Policy Analysis between the Swiss and Canadian Systems
Authors: Ali Saidia , Shirazi Farid
Published: October 2022

Efficient e-waste management is crucial to successfully achieve sustainable urban growth universally. The upsurge in e-waste has resulted in countries, including Canada, adopting a wide array of policies associated with sustainable management. In this study, we conducted a mixed-method analysis of Canadian e-waste management policies to showcase the opportunities and limitations of the current system. We examine and compare the effectiveness of electronic waste management strategies in Canada and Switzerland using a comparative policy evaluation and by quantitatively measuring their efficiencies through two efficiency methods, namely a transformer-based, bidirectional, unsupervised machine learning model for natural language processing (NLP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Switzerland is utilized as a comparison case due to its robust legal framework that has been in place for proper management e-waste in order to enhance Canada’s electronic waste management system. The policy considerations presented in this study are directed toward urban planners, policy makers, and corporate strategists. These involve a mix of political, economic, social, and environmental planning tools concerning how to communicate and foster competent e-waste management in these countries. This is the first study to incorporate DEA and NLP-based BERT analysis to identify the most efficient policy deployment concerning e-waste management.
Evaluation of Differentiated Services Policies in Multihomed Networks Based on an Interface-Selection Mechanism
Authors: Oleiwi Haider W. , Saeed Nagham , Al-Taie Heba L. , Mhawi Doaa N.
Published: October 2022

Quality of service metrics and differentiated service mechanism policies are the most important criteria to deliver essential Internet requirements, especially during user handover, due to the rapid growth of users, multimedia applications, and traffic. DiffServ routers provide per-hop behaviors to manage traffic for services, whereas their policies have been applied to several types of Internet traffic, such as hypertext transfer protocol, file transfer protocol, and content-based routing. Multihoming aims to improve the reliability, scalability, and performance of data communications networks. This paper evaluated DiffServ various policies compared in a systematic manner (in two stages) over the multihomed networks to utilize and adopt the best policy for communicating packets, and enhanced the overall performance in terms of throughput, end-to-end latency, and processing time. Moreover, the paper introduced an interface-selection technique for multihomed nodes to select a proper interface, which provides the best services and links the behaviors that this interface yields. The overall results showed how the introduced multihoming-based interface-selection mechanism managed to maintain communication with the multihomed node. Furthermore, our results showed that the DiffServ time-sliding window with a three-color marking policy achieved the best system performance compared with the remaining policies.
Impact of Differential Leadership on Employee Zhengchong Behavior: A Complex Network’s Perspective
Authors: Ma Zejun , Fan Ming , Su Jialu , Ouyang Chenhui , Wu Mengyun
Published: October 2022

Differential leadership exists widely in family businesses. How to maintain the effective operation of differential leadership by conforming to cultural traditions and shaping people’s psychology and sense of value has become a popular topic in recent years. At the same time, employee zhengchong (striving for a favor) behavior is common in the family enterprises formed by the logic that there are insiders (employees on leaders’ own side) and outsiders (employees not on leaders’ own side) in family enterprises. How to reasonably guide employee zhengchong behavior is very important to the sustainable development of family enterprises. Based on the social comparison theory, this study focuses on exploring the influence of differential leadership on employee zhengchong behavior. Based on the perspective of a complex network, a network evolutionary game model among employees was constructed, and through numerical simulation, it was attempted to explore the key factors affecting the choice of strategies for employee zhengchong behavior in family enterprises. The simulation results show that the degree of partiality of differential leadership has a certain influence on employee zhengchong behavior. For today’s family businesses, moderate partiality is more conducive to the spread of employee zhengchong behavior. In addition, employees’ perception of differential atmosphere has a positive role in promoting favoritism. Leadership plays an important role in the process of employees showing themselves and improving their skills. Therefore, it is of great significance for the sustainable development of the family business to understand how the differential leadership style can effectively promote the positive behavior of employees. This study innovatively uses the complex network theory to reveal the influence of differential leadership on employee zhengchong behavior and confirms that leaders’ moderate partiality and employees’ perception of differential atmosphere can promote employee zhengchong behavior. The research conclusions can provide practical experience for enterprises.
Graphene–Silver Hybrid Nanoparticle based Organic Phase Change Materials for Enhanced Thermal Energy Storage
Authors: Kalidasan B. , Pandey A. K. , Rahman Saidur , Yadav Aman , Samykano M. , Tyagi V. V.
Published: October 2022

Due to the intermittent nature of solar energy, researchers and scientists are working to develop thermal energy storage (TES) systems for effective utilization of solar energy. Phase change materials (PCMs) are considered to be promising materials for TES. In this study, organic paraffin RT50 and graphene silver (Gr:Ag) nanopowder are adopted as TES material and thermal property enhancers. Microstructure and morphological behavior as well as chemical, optical, and thermal stability of the prepared composite PCM are visually investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, thermal conductivity analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Furthermore, based on the outstanding thermal performance of the composite, an extended investigation on the thermal and chemical properties are evaluated for 500 thermal cycles to ensure their reliability. Results show the thermal conductivity of RT50 improved by 53.85% when Gr:Ag nanopowder is dispersed at a weight percent of 0.8 (RT50-0.8Gr:Ag). The change in latent heat value of the composite sample is less than 3%, which is significant for effective thermal energy storage. The thermal decomposition of RT50 is slightly improved from 300 °C to 330 °C. To ensure a reliable and passive technique for thermal energy storage within solar thermal application devices, such as solar air heaters and solar photovoltaic thermal systems, using nanoparticle enhanced PCMs at the range of a 50 °C melting point are a current research hotspot.
Systematic Review of Education Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Lim Chen Kim , Haufiku Martin Shafiihuna , Tan Kian Lam , Farid Ahmed Minhaz , Ng Theam Foo
Published: October 2022

It is vital to enforce the distinguished assimilation of sustainability entities in higher education (HE) and establish an academia-wide collective curriculum on sustainability in an efficient manner, in order to disseminate and stimulate thoughts with forthcoming generations. The remit of this paper is to document the available literature and map the research landscape into a coherent taxonomy. This research adds to the available literature; moreover, it could also aid in the community comprehension of education in sustainable development (ESD) implementation and/or integration into higher education institutions (HEIs). We perform an attentive search in relation to education sustainable development (ESD) in three relevant electronic databases, namely, Web of Science (WoS), ScienceDirect and IEEE Xplore. The result of the review is a taxonomy that includes 148 articles published between early 2014 and mid-2019 that were then categorized into six classes, namely, the accomplishment of SD, awareness and commitment, evaluation and commentary, structural transformation, course coordination and university management. Additionally, we acknowledge varied involvement from different levels of communities supporting and promoting education to achieve sustainable development (SD).
Actions and Strategies for Coronavirus to Ensure Supply Chain Resilience: A Systemic Review
Authors: Bernabei Margherita , Colabianchi Silvia , Costantino Francesco
Published: October 2022

The COVID-19 outbreak adversely impacted agri-food supply chains and caused a severe socio-economic crisis worldwide. Preventive measures taken by several countries have affected production and distribution. Moreover, producers have had to face difficulties related to changes in local and international export markets, a decrease in the labor force due to the spread of the virus, and challenges in harvesting, processing, and shipment of products. However, despite the extraordinary nature of the disruption, supply chains have demonstrated a fair, resilient, and sustainable crisis recovery. Although a large number of papers deal with supply chains and the pandemic’s impact, a review of measures implemented that comprehensively includes resilience dimensions is still lacking. The scope of this paper is to survey available literature in order to understand whether there are classes of actions and strategies undertaken by meat supply chains in managing the pandemic. Documents were reviewed through a protocol based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) review technique. The survey highlights which actions have enabled supply chain resilience by underling virtuous behaviors and lessons learned. These findings support the need for further investigation of supply chain resilience and offer practitioners guidance toward a greater understanding of impacts and implementable strategies.
Geochemical and Advanced Electron Microscopical Characterisations of Artisanal Gold Mining Rejects in Colombia
Authors: Akinyemi Segun A. , Mercado-Caruso Nohora , Nyakuma Bemgba B. , Oliveira Marcos L. S.
Published: October 2022

Artisanal gold mining causes widespread health problems due to illegal exposure to hazardous inorganic compounds, such as arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg). The sources and prevalence of mining pollution are strongly influenced by topography, stream dynamics, soil type, and land use. In the present study, the potential hazardous elements (PHEs), absorption abilities of nanoparticles (NPs), and ultrafine particles (UFPs) were analysed from clandestine gold mining soils in Colombia. The proportions of PHEs including As, Hg, Cu, Cr, and Pb in carbonates, sulfides, clays, oxides, hydroxides, and sulfates were determined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED)/micro-beam diffraction (MBD)/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results revealed that the concentrations of As, Hg, and Zn were significantly higher in clay particles when compared to the other soil samples. Furthermore, Al and Fe manifested excellent PHEs sorption abilities in the artisanal gold mining soils. The results presented will be useful for future mitigation measures in the gold mining areas.
Research on the Emission Reduction Decision of Cost-Sharing Logistics Service Supply Chain in the O2O Model
Authors: Zhang Guangsheng , Wang Xiao , Zhang Yu , Kang Jiayun
Published: October 2022

As an effective way to realize energy savings and environmental protection, cost sharing is gradually becoming an important measure to reduce emissions in the logistics service supply chain under O2O mode in recent years. How to conduct contract selection and design optimization under the cost-sharing situation, and then improve the operational efficiency of the logistics service supply chain is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Firstly, based on the initial market demand for logistics, this paper involves the influence of both online logistics service integrators and onsite functional logistics service providers on logistics market demand in terms of emission reduction and platform brand image and develops a model based on the logistics service demand function in the O2O mode. Secondly, for the role of online and onsite emission reduction services in multi-cycle continuous cooperation to enhance the platform integrator’s brand image, a cost-sharing differential game model between online and onsite services is developed to facilitate providers’ adoption of high-quality emission reduction services. Finally, the HJB equation is used to compare the non-cooperative Nash game, the cost-sharing Stackelberg game, and the cooperative game to make the optimal abatement decision, the optimal benefit, and the cost-sharing ratio of the abatement service supply chain in the non-cooperative Nash game, the cost-sharing Stackelberg game, and the cooperative game. By comparing the results of the three games, we find that the optimal onsite and online abatement service decision is related to the cost, marginal revenue, and the impact of the service on demand; the abatement cost-sharing contract and cooperation are both better than the non-cooperative independent decision state, which can effectively guide the provision of high-quality onsite abatement service and improve the revenue of both parties involved in the logistics service supply chain and the total system’s revenue in the O2O mode. Compared with the cooperative game model, the cost-sharing contract can more effectively facilitate close cooperation between the actors, and the relationship between onsite and online marginal revenue affects the improvement of both parties’ revenue. The findings of the study can provide useful managerial insights for the selection and design optimization of abatement contracts for logistics service supply chains considering cost-sharing via the O2O model.
Small Towns’ Functions as a Determinant of the Standard of Living in Rural Areas—An Example from Poland
Authors: Bogdański Marcin , Janusz Marcin
Published: October 2022

Rural areas, due to their importance for the economy and society, have always been a subject of efforts to understand and model the growth drivers in these areas as well as to improve the standard of living (SoL) of rural populations. One of the most important factors shaping the functioning of rural areas is the presence of small towns and the number of functions they provide for surrounding areas. The significance of this factor is especially high in peripheral regions, such as the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship in Poland. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to analyze how the number and structure of functions performed by small towns in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie region affected the standard of living of rural residents in the years 2008–2020. The first part of the analysis was concerned with calculating the number and structure of functions performed by small towns in the region, using methods developed in the framework of urban economic base theory. The TOPSIS method was then used to quantify living standards in rural areas. Finally, the results of the two analyses were compared against each other. The results of the studies show that the standard of living in rural areas usually improved with an increase in the number of functions performed by the small towns. Additionally, the structure of these functions influenced the living conditions of the rural population. However, considering the relative rigidness of the urban network within the regional socio-economic system, it leads to the conclusion that existing disparities in the standard of living will be difficult to reduce in the near future.
Environmental Regulation, Family Involvement and Green Innovation Efficiency—Based on Sew Theory Framework
Authors: Zheng Zhiyong , Xu Yongbin
Published: October 2022

The green innovation of family enterprises under environmental regulation is essentially the balance between emotional benefits and emotional costs, which manifests as the reputation incentive and risk aversion, respectively. The reputation incentive refers to inheriting extended social–emotional wealth, and risk aversion means maintaining constrained social–emotional wealth. Based on the theoretical framework of social–emotional wealth, this paper selects 3006 family enterprises in China from 2015 to 2020, establishes a panel model of fixed effects, and discusses the impact of environmental regulation on the green innovation efficiency in family enterprises from the perspective of family involvement. The findings indicate that command-based environmental regulation promotes green innovation efficiency in family enterprises, while market-based environmental regulation inhibits the green innovation efficiency of family enterprises. The involvement of family ownership strengthens the positive effect of command-based environmental regulation on green innovation efficiency, while the involvement of family management rights strengthens the negative effect of market-based environmental regulation on green innovation efficiency. Through mechanism analysis, it is found that command-based environmental regulation promotes green innovation efficiency in family enterprises through reputation incentives, while market-based environmental regulation reduces the green innovation efficiency of family enterprises by avoiding risks. Further analysis shows that high-competition and high-pollution industries are more significantly affected by the relationship between them. Therefore, this paper proposes improvements to green innovation efficiency in family enterprises based on the adjustment of four aspects: improving the risk management level, consolidating family control, increasing the shareholding ratio of nonfamily shareholders, and giving full play to the role of reputation incentives to achieve the sustainable development of family enterprises. Furthermore, we strive to contribute to the realization of the dual carbon goals and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Thermodynamic Analysis of a New Combined Cooling and Power System Coupled by the Kalina Cycle and Ammonia–Water Absorption Refrigeration Cycle
Authors: Wang Haojin , Wang Jianyong , Liu Zhuan , Chen Haifeng , Liu Xiaoqin
Published: October 2022

In order to improve the utilization efficiency of low-temperature heat sources, a new combined cooling and power system using ammonia–water is proposed. The system combines Kalina cycle with absorption refrigeration cycle, in which the waste heat of the Kalina cycle serves as the heat source of the absorption refrigeration cycle. The steady-state mathematical model of system is established in detail first, and then the simulation results of design condition are obtained, which show that the thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency can reach 24.62% and 11.52%, respectively. Based on the system design condition, an exergy destruction analysis is conducted and shows that four heat exchangers and the turbine contribute most of the total exergy destruction. Finally, the effects of five key parameters on the system performance are examined, which reveal that within certain ranges, there is an optimal turbine inlet pressure that makes the exergy efficiency maximal. Increasing the ammonia–water temperature at the vapor generator outlet and the ammonia-weak solution temperature at the bottom outlet of the rectification column will reduce the thermal efficiency but raise the exergy efficiency. With the increase of rectification column pressure, both the thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency drop, while the evaporation pressure has an opposite effect on the system performance.