bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatial–Temporal Characteristics of Freezing/Thawing Index and Permafrost Distribution in Heilongjiang Province, China
Authors: Song Chengjie , Dai Changlei , Gao Yaqi , Wang Chuang , Yu Miao , Tu Weiming , Jia Minghui , Li Ruotong
Published: December 2022

Under the trend of climate warming, the high-latitude permafrost in Heilongjiang Province is becoming seriously degraded. The question of how to quantitatively analyze the spatial and temporal trends of multi-year permafrost has become fundamental for current permafrost research. In this study, the temporal and spatial variations of annual mean air temperature (MAAT), annual mean ground temperature (MAGST) and freezing/thawing index based on air and surface temperature data from 34 meteorological stations in Heilongjiang Province from 1971–2019, as well as the variation characteristics of permafrost distribution, were analyzed based on the freezing index model. The results showed that both MAAT and MAGST in Heilongjiang Province tended to decrease with the increase of altitude and latitude. For interannual variation, the MAAT and MAGST warming rates tended to be consistent across Heilongjiang Province, with multi-year variation from −8.64 to 5.60 °C and from −6.52 to 7.58 °C, respectively. From 1971–2019, the mean annual air freezing index (AFI) and ground surface freezing index (GFI) declined at −5.07 °C·d·a−1 and −5.04 °C·d·a−1, respectively, whereas the mean annual air thawing index (ATI) and ground surface thawing index (GTI) were elevated at 7.63 °C·d·a−1 and 11.89 °C·d·a−1, respectively. The spatial distribution of the multiyear mean AFI, ATI, GFI and GTI exhibited a latitudinal trend, whereas the effect of altitude in the northern mountainous areas was greater than that of latitude. Permafrost was primarily discovered in the Daxing’an and Xiaoxing’an Mountains in the north, and sporadically in the central mountainous regions. The southern boundary of permafrost shifted nearly 2° to the north from 1970 to 2010s, while the southern boundary of permafrost in Heilongjiang Province was stable at nearly 51° N. The total area of permafrost narrowed from 1.11 × 105 km2 in the 1970s to 6.53 × 104 km2 in the 2010s. The results of this study take on a critical significance for the analysis of the trend of perennial permafrost degradation at high latitudes in Heilongjiang Province and the whole northeastern China, as well as for mapping the distribution of large areas of permafrost using the freezing index model. This study provides a reference for natural cold resource development, ecological protection, climate change and engineering construction and maintenance in permafrost areas.
Network-Based Space-Time Scan Statistics for Detecting Micro-Scale Hotspots
Authors: Shiode Shino , Shiode Narushige
Published: December 2022

Events recorded in urban areas are often confined by the micro-scale geography of street networks, yet existing spatial–analytical methods do not usually account for the shortest-path distance of street networks. We propose space–time NetScan, a new spatial–temporal analytical method with improved accuracy for detecting patterns of concentrations across space and time. It extends the notion of a scan-statistic-type search window by measuring space-time patterns along street networks in order to detect micro-scale concentrations of events at the street-address level with high accuracy. Performance tests with synthetic data demonstrate that space-time NetScan outperforms existing methods in detecting the location, shape, size and duration of hotspots. An empirical study with drug-related incidents shows how space-time NetScan can improve our understanding of the micro-scale geography of crime. Aside from some abrupt one-off incidents, many hotspots form recurrent hotbeds, implying that drug-related crimes tend to persist in specific problem places.
How Does Internet Use Promote Farmer Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China
Authors: Liu Zimei , Ren Yezhi , Mei Yanlan
Published: December 2022

Entrepreneurship and innovation are important driving forces for economic sustainable development. Despite the rapid popularity of the Internet in rural areas, whether—and if so, how—the Internet use may affect farmer entrepreneurship remains a key research gap. This paper studies the impact of the use of the Internet on farmer entrepreneurship and its mechanism by using Probit model, the Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) method and China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) dataset from 2014 to 2018. It is found that: (1) Use of the Internet has a positive impact on farmer entrepreneurship, and this result remains robust after addressing endogeneity. (2) Necessity entrepreneurship is more likely to be affected by use of the Internet than opportunity entrepreneurship. (3) Use of the Internet can significantly influence necessity entrepreneurship by affecting farmers’ risk attitude, social capital and information acquisition, while opportunity entrepreneurship is not affected by these mediating effects. (4) Among three mediating effects, the effect of social capital accounts for the largest contribution to the impact of the use of the Internet on farmer entrepreneurship. Our empirical findings could provide theoretical references for policies or reforms intended to promote entrepreneurship in rural regions.
Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Forest Carbon Stocks—A Case Study from Gori Valley, Western Himalaya
Authors: Bisht Soni , Bargali Surendra Singh , Bargali Kiran , Rawat Gopal Singh , Rawat Yashwant Singh , Fartyal Archana
Published: December 2022

Carbon stock assessment in various ecosystems is vital for monitoring the health of these ecosystems and national accounting for the United Nations convention on climate change. The influence of various anthropogenic drivers on carbon stock in different ecosystems has not been examined comprehensively. This study aims to determine the impact of anthropogenic pressures (lopping, cutting, grazing) on soil physico-chemical properties and carbon stock in four temperate broadleaf forests dominated by different species of oak, viz., Banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora), Rianj oak (Quercus lanuginosa), Moru oak (Quercus floribunda) and Kharsu oak (Quercus semecarpifolia) along an elevation gradient from 1700–3000 m asl in Gori valley, western Himalaya. Biomass data were collected from 120 quadrats of 10 × 10 m size at three distinct altitudes (4 forest sites × 3 altitudes × 10 quadrats) and analysed for carbon stock, whereas soil samples were randomly collected in triplicate from three depths of each altitude of the forest site and further analysed for their physico-chemical properties. A total of 767 individual trees with a diameter of ≥31 cm were measured at twelve sites and standing biomass was estimated following the growing stock volume equations. Mean carbon stock was highest in Moru oak (396.6 ± 29.5 Mg C ha−1) and lowest in Banj oak forest (189.3 ± 48.6 Mg C ha−1). We also found soil to be the largest pool of forest carbon (43.0–59.7%) followed by aboveground biomass (31.5–45.0%), belowground biomass (8.4–11.7%) and litter (0.4–0.5%). The basal area showed significant effect on altitude and carbon stock, whereas disturbance showed significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation with the total carbon stock. Soil nitrogen exhibited a significant positive correlation (R2 = 0.60) with the basal area, indicating that nitrogen enhances tree growth and forest carbon stock. However, anthropogenic disturbance showed a significant negative impact on the basal area, soil nutrients and carbon stock of oak forests. This concludes that forest structure, anthropogenic pressure and soil parameters contribute to the carbon stock of the area. Considering the significance of these overexploited oak forests, it is recommended to conserve the old-growth forest species in the study area, since they have the highest carbon accumulation potential.
Evaluating Pedestrian Service of the New Super Diverging Diamond Interchange on Three Case Study Sites in Denver, Colorado
Authors: Haq Muhammad Tahmidul , Molan Amirarsalan Mehrara , Ksaibati Khaled
Published: December 2022

Ensuring safe and comfortable conditions for pedestrians necessitates specific strategies at intersections and service interchanges where traffic and pedestrians interact in complex ways with other modes of transportation. This study aims to investigate pedestrian performance at the new Super Diverging Diamond Interchange (Super DDI) using real-world locations (i.e., I-225 and Mississippi Ave, I-25 and 120th Ave, and I-25 and Hampden Ave in Denver, Colorado). Three alternative designs, typical DDI, and two versions of Super DDI were considered to make a reasonable comparison with the existing Conventional Diamond Interchange (CDI). A comprehensive series of simulation models (192 scenarios with 960 runs) were tested using VISSIM and Synchro to analyze pedestrian operation (travel time, number of stops, and waiting time) in various traffic and pedestrian distributions. As one of the primary contributions in this paper, pedestrian safety was evaluated based on a surrogate performance measure called design flag, introduced by the new National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP-948) guideline. The results indicated that the proposed new Super DDI designs are relatively safe when compared with CDI and DDI. For example, a pedestrian analysis of one of the most popular alternative interchanges, DDI, showed potential for unsafe pedestrian conditions in all aspects.
Coordinated Frequency Control of an Energy Storage System with a Generator for Frequency Regulation in a Power Plant
Authors: Ibrahim Lateef Onaadepo , Chung In-Young , Youn Juyoung , Shim Jae Woong , Sung Youl-Moon , Yoon Minhan , Suh Jaewan
Published: December 2022

Considering the controllability and high responsiveness of an energy storage system (ESS) to changes in frequency, the inertial response (IR) and primary frequency response (PFR) enable its application in frequency regulation (FR) when system contingency occurs. This paper presents a coordinated control of an ESS with a generator for analyzing and stabilizing a power plant by controlling the grid frequency deviation, ESS output power response, equipment active power, and state of charge (SoC) limitation of the ESS in a power plant. The conventional generator and FR-ESS controllers were investigated and compared. To obtain the optimal frequency and power response, an ESS-based adaptive droop control method was proposed. The proposed control strategy was developed and implemented considering the changes and limitations of the dynamic characteristics of the system, FR requirements, and an ESS using the PSCAD/EMTDC software. The simulation results showed that the proposed method was more effective than the conventional droop-control-based FR-ESS, and the effectiveness of this method was validated.
Systems Thinking and Group Concept Mapping for Classification of Marketing Techniques in Mobility Plans
Authors: Armenia Stefano , Tsaples Georgios , Onori Riccardo , Pompei Alessandro , Magnuszewski Robert
Published: December 2022

Due to the increasing urbanization of the global population, policymakers and academia have shifted their attention toward mobility plans and inquiries on how to best design and implement them. Hence, in order to introduce meaningful and lasting mobility plans, coordination and addressing the needs of a wide number of stakeholders are required. Reaching such a broad target audience may appear challenging for policymakers; nonetheless, the employment of appropriate marketing techniques can make the different stakeholders aware of the problems at stake and inform them about the available solutions. However, the question of which marketing technique to use in order to increase the probability of success for the mobility plan still remains. The purpose of the current paper is to propose a hybrid method that can assist policymakers in categorizing the marketing techniques towards the sustainable urban mobility plan’s steps, with the combination of Systems Thinking and modified Group Concept Mapping. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations to policymakers on which marketing technique appears to be the most appropriate under different conditions. The novelties of the paper are the combination of the two methodologies and the practical recommendations that could be useful by policymakers. Moreover, the paper illustrates an example of how to structure and more efficiently use evidence-based policies.
Employee Adversarial Growth Driven by Organizational Learning in the Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry
Authors: Sun Yanwei , Mo Dazhuo , Nie Ting
Published: December 2022

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to pharmaceutical companies and their employees. Over the past three years, intensive antipandemic tasks have placed high demands on the physical and mental strength of pharmacy professionals. By using a questionnaire, data were collected from 391 technicians in pharmaceutical companies from southern coastal areas of China. The study examined the influence mechanism of organizational learning on employee adversarial growth with the moderating effect of resilience. Our analysis shows that adaptive and experimental learning promote employee adversarial growth by enhancing individual role-breadth self-efficacy. Moreover, resilience reinforces the positive effect of organizational learning on role-breadth self-efficacy. The results imply that in a complex and changing environment, experimental learning has greater value for organizations to respond to crises and enables employees to promote personal growth.
The Mediating Role of Green Technology Innovation with Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm Financial, and Environmental Performance: The Case of Chinese Manufacturing Industries
Authors: Xu Xiaoyang , Imran Muhammad , Ayaz Muhammad , Lohana Sonia
Published: December 2022

This research aims to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR), firm environmental performance (FEP), and firm financial performance (FFP), as well as how green technology innovation performs a mediating role in this relationship. The manufacturing firms listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchanges were selected as the representative sample for the study, and data were gathered from 470 managers and directors of manufacturing firms using a simple random sampling technique. The response rate was 87%. For hypothesis testing, PLS-SEM was used. In addition, green technology innovation is a positive and significant mediator between corporate social responsibility and firm financial and environmental performance. This research provides useful implications for manufacturing firms’ managers, directors, and policymakers to improve corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green technology innovation in measuring the firm’s financial and environmental performance. The results also have several practical implications that may benefit the management of firms. They urge all of the organization’s stakeholders to consider investing in organizational social behavior and green innovation to enhance the manufacturing firms’ overall performance.
A Case Study: Layout Optimization of Three Gorges Wind Farm Pakistan, Using Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Bin Ali Muhammad , Ahmad Zeshan , Alshahrani Saad , Younis Muhammad Rizwan , Talib Irsa , Imran Muhammad
Published: December 2022

Wind is an important renewable energy source. The majority of wind farms in Pakistan are installed in Jhimpir, Sindh Wind Corridor. At this location, downstream turbines encounter upstream turbines’, wake, decreasing power output. To maximize the power output, there is a need to minimize these wakes. In this research, a method is proposed to maximize the power output using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). Hub heights and inter-turbine spacing are considered variables in this method. Two wind farms located at Jhimpir, Sindh, namely, Second and Third Three Gorges Wind Farms (TGWFs), have been analyzed. Three different cases are considered to maximize the power output. In Case 1, thesame hub heights and inter-turbine spacing without wake effects are considered. In Case 2, the same hub heights and inter-turbine spacing with wake effects are considered. In Case 3, variable hub heights and inter-turbine spacing with wake effects are considered. The results revealed that TGWFs, with variable hub heights and inter-turbine spacing, produce more power output. It is also revealed that the increase in power output, in the case of two different hub heights, is greater in comparison to three different hub heights. Eventually, the proposed method may help in the layout optimization of a wind farm.
Driving Innovation by Managing Entrepreneurial Orientation, Cooperation and Learning for the Sustainability of Companies in the Energy Sector
Authors: Sánchez-García Eduardo , Marco-Lajara Bartolomé , Seva-Larrosa Pedro , Martínez-Falcó Javier
Published: December 2022

Nowadays, the attitude of companies seems to play a relevant role in detecting and exploiting opportunities to create value, especially in terms of knowledge and cooperation. Thereon, the concept of entrepreneurial orientation has become relevant over the last years. Firms are entrepreneurially oriented when their decision-making, techniques, and procedures allow them to identify opportunities, develop a proactive mindset, and use creative ways to achieve their objectives. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and companies’ innovation capacity, in addition to the mediating effect of entrepreneurial networks and firms’ learning capacity in this relationship. A sample of 197 Spanish companies in the energy sector is analyzed using the variance-based structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM), using the software “SmartPLS” in its version 3.9. The results show a direct positive and significant influence of entrepreneurial orientation on companies’ innovation capacity, as well as the existence of an indirect effect through the mediation of entrepreneurial networks and the learning capacity of firms. It is concluded that businesses must dedicate time and resources to develop a strong entrepreneurial orientation which, in addition to allowing them to exploit external entrepreneurial networks, boosts their learning and innovation capabilities, favoring the development of new sustainable possibilities for value creation.
The Impact of Reading Anxiety of English Professional Materials on Intercultural Communication Competence: Taking Students Majoring in the Medical Profession
Authors: Liao Hung-Chang , Huang Sheng-hui Cindy
Published: December 2022

In most medical universities in Taiwan, English-language professional materials are used in professional courses. Thus, a student’s reading ability is very important for understanding the content of English professional materials. The professional knowledge gained will facilitate intercultural communication in their future work setting. In this paper, the authors explored the impact of students’ anxiety when reading English professional materials on intercultural communication competence (ICC). A mixed method was applied. Firstly, sample data from 312 students majoring in the medical profession were investigated to obtain the results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of two scales: a reading anxiety regarding English professional materials scale (RAEPMS) and an intercultural communication competence scale (ICCS). The RAEPMS, with a total explained variance of 81.67%, included three factors: worry about comprehension, lack of satisfaction with one’s reading ability, and language distance. The ICC, with a total explained variance of 80.02%, included four factors: skill, attitude, awareness, and knowledge. Secondly, sample data from 205 students majoring in the medical profession were obtained to form the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the two scales, and then structural equation modeling (SEM) between RAEPMS and ICCS was created. The results showed that “worry about comprehension” impacts “skills” and “attitudes”; “lack of satisfaction with one’s reading ability” impacts all four ICC factors; and “language distance” impacts “skills”, “awareness”, and “knowledge”. Furthermore, interview results from three teachers were obtained to understand the significant connection between RAEPMS and ICCS. Additionally, pedagogical implementations, based on the interviews’ results, which could decrease reading anxiety and increase ICC were discussed. This paper provides a significant contribution to student education and professional training. The benefit of this research is to think how to design the pedagogy implementation to ensure the education of students and their professional training. Thus, students majoring in the medical profession will be more easily trained to communicate with people of different cultures in their future workplace.
Assessment and Adjustment of Export Embodied Carbon Emissions with Its Domestic Spillover Effects: Case Study of Liaoning Province, China
Authors: Xu Shuangjie , Cheng Hao , Zhang Menghan , Guo Kexin , Liu Qian , Gao Yuan
Published: December 2022

Export embodied carbon emissions (EECE) and their domestic spillover effects (DSE) are typical interregional carbon transfer phenomena. They have diversified impacts for different regions within a country, and result in the associated effect on the economy and environment. From 2007 to 2017, the EECE of China was mainly concentrated in five provinces, and EECE intensity mostly decreased. Liaoning Province had the largest EECE intensity and EECE growth from 2012 to 2017. Based on the multi-region input-output tables of China, we applied the Multi-region Input-output Model and constructed the Coupling Relationship Model for trade value and carbon emission, quantitatively assessed the EECE and its DSE for Liaoning Province, depicted the spatial-temporal evolution patterns, proposed sectoral adjustment countermeasures, and evaluated the adjustment effects. The research found that the EECE and its DSE of Liaoning Province was 32.08 MtCO2 and 5.43 MtCO2 in 2017. It was mainly concentrated in the metal smelting and rolling processing sector (MetalSmelt) and the petroleum processing, coking and nuclear fuel processing sectors (RefPetral). The spatial agglomeration effect was obvious, and Jilin Province was the largest DSE region. According to the Coupling Relationship Model of export trade value and export embodied carbon emissions, the sectors were divided into four types, and different adjustment countermeasures were proposed, such as encouragement, control, targeted promotion and targeted reduction. For the MetalSmelt and the RefPetral, if the export value reduced 100 million CNY, the EECE would be reduced by 21.57 ktCO2 and 23.35 ktCO2, respectively, and the DSE would be reduced by 1.59 ktCO2 and 1.65 ktCO2, respectively. The conclusions could provide a decision-making basis for the case area to formulate lower-cost and better-effective carbon reduction adjustment countermeasures. It could also provide reference and scientific support for the achievement of “Carbon Neutrality” and sustainable development in similar regions of the world with the rapid growth of EECE.
An Analysis of the Impact of the Digital Economy on High-Quality Economic Development in China—A Study Based on the Effects of Supply and Demand
Authors: Pang Jianing , Jiao Fangyi , Zhang Yimeng
Published: December 2022

The development of information technology draws forth the digital economy, representing the third form of economic and social development following the agricultural and industrial economies. It represents one of the new era’s most important economic growth points. How to use the advantages of the digital economy to escape the “Malthusian trap” has always been an essential part of the attention of economists and policymakers. This paper investigates the degree of development of China’s digital economy and employs the entropy method and fixed-effect model to test how the digital economy has impacted high-quality economic development. Based on the study, digital economy development significantly promotes high-quality economic development. After controlling various factors that influence high-quality economic development and using instrumental variables to correct endogenous estimation biases, the results remain stable. The analysis also finds that the digital economy in economically backward areas has a more significant impact on high-quality economic development. In addition, the analysis of Nax’s “Vicious Circle of Poverty” theory shows that the digital economy can promote high-quality economic development through the supply and demand effect. Therefore, it is imperative to actively promote digital economy development and form a dynamic balance between supply and demand at a higher level by stimulating the consumption potential to ensure high-quality economic growth.
A Sustainable Production Scheduling with Backorders under Different Forms of Rework Process and Green Investment
Authors: Udayakumar R. , Priyan S. , Mittal Mandeep , Jirawattanapanit Anuwat , Rajchakit Grienggrai , Kaewmesri Pramet
Published: December 2022

Rework is currently a necessity for businesses and commercial organizations across the world. It is only beneficial in tackling climate change if the process emits less greenhouse gases than would otherwise be emitted. This study designs an optimal production scheduling model to reduce both carbon emissions during the processes of production, transport and storage, and setup cost by leveraging on green technology efforts in an imperfect production process where a fraction of items is erroneous so that the firm may run out of inventory. The producer implements a rework strategy to rectify the flawed products, anda flexible rework rate is offered since the rework might be executed on various schemes. The flexible rework allows the producer to choose therework rate, which can differ from the production rate, as well as the rework process itself, which can be asynchronous or synchronous.The two forms of green investments: quadratic and exponential are considered in the study. The main point of the study is to derive a solution procedure of the various problem settings associated with the rework rate, rework process and green investment. The findings suggest that developing the optimal production schedule (lot-sizes, backorders, setup cost and green investment amount) can lower the manufacturing sector’s excessive ecological carbon emissions. The findings also support the idea that making green investments is the most cost-effective way to cut carbon emissions and setup cost simultaneously.
An Evaluation and Optimization of Green Development Strategy for the Nanjing-Hangzhou Eco-Economic Zone in China
Authors: Tao Dekai , Zhou Wenli
Published: December 2022

The Analytic Hierarchy Process and Entropy Weight Method were used to measure the green development level of nine major urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta and the Nanjing-Hangzhou Eco-economic Zone. The results demonstrated that firstly, the green development level of the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou metropolitan area shows increasingly sequential characteristics, with each city generally experiencing a “ladder” over time and displaying a hierarchy in its spatial distribution. Second, according to the green development subsystem evaluation, the Nanjing-Hangzhou Eco-economic zone is better than Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou in terms of environmental loading and green governance, but it is weaker than both regarding economic performance, social welfare, and driving innovation. Therefore, this paper focuses on the general idea of green development and proposes optimization strategies and implementation recommendations for strengthening the green development of the Nanjing-Hangzhou Eco-economic Zone with respect to the currently weak areas of innovation, economic performance, and social welfare.
Coupling Coordination and Interactivity between Farmland Transfer and Rural Financial Development: Evidence from Western China
Authors: Liu Junnan , Chen Tong , Song Yulan
Published: December 2022

The farmland transfer system (FTS) and rural financial development system (FDS) are economic systems with extensive connotation and coupling characteristics, and the interactive development of these systems is of great significance to rural economic growth. This study takes 10 provinces in western China as the research object and establishes a multi-index evaluation system. The entropy method, coupling coordination model and panel vector autoregression model (PVAR) were used to explore the comprehensive development level, coupled coordination degree and interaction of the FTS and the FDS in western China. The following results can be drawn: (1) the comprehensive development level of the FTS in western China is much higher than that of the FDS in both time and space; and (2) the FTS and FDS in western China have a strong correlation. The two subsystems interact with each other and restrict and promote each other, and their coupling coordination degree is optimized year by year. However, the coupling coordination degree and relative development level of each province vary by the economic development level, natural resources, agricultural productivity level and financial development structure of each province. (3) The FTS and FDS have the greatest effect on themselves, respectively, and the effect of the FTS on the FDS is greater than that of the FDS on the FTS. We suggest that the government strengthen support for rural financial institutions and speed up the market-oriented reform of agricultural land, rural finance and other production factors to realize the long-term mechanism of coordinated development of the FTS and FDS.
Sustainable Manufacturing for a Circular Economy
Authors: Kazakova Elena , Lee Joosung
Published: December 2022

The emerging circular economy paradigm and subsequently changing consumption patterns drive the manufacturing industry to more sustainable designs and operations. Not only the environmental standards, but the way firms conduct business in economic and social aspects also comes into the consideration of buyers and investors. In this article, the framework consisting of four sustainable manufacturing pillars of supply chain, materials, design and production, and management and organization is presented so that manufacturers can embrace relevant examples in their business activities and make further transitions toward a circular economy. The analysis revealed several sustainability-oriented agendas and techniques such as sustainable management of supply chains and materials, smart and lean production, servitization, and environmental/social/corporate governance principles can form a virtuous cycle of socio-economic and environmental value creation.
Study on Failure Mechanism of Soil–Rock Slope with FDM-DEM Method
Authors: Zheng Yanni , Zheng Lifeng , Zhan Huyue , Huang Qingfu , Jia Chaojun , Li Zhong
Published: December 2022

A discrete-continuous coupling analysis method based on FLAC2D/PFC2D is established with the help of the program’s own FISH language and Socket O/I data transfer interface. According to the statistical characteristics of the mesostructure of the slope site, the computer stochastic simulation method is used to construct the mesostructure model of the soil–rock mixture in the discrete domain. The deformation and failure mechanism of the SRM slope is studied by using the established discrete-continuous coupled analysis method. The results show that the statistical distribution of the mesoscopic contact characteristics (such as contact direction and contact force) between soil and rock particles inside the slope changes and adjusts significantly. Among them, the main direction of the statistical distribution is adjusted most significantly, and the main direction is finally adjusted to being basically the same as the sliding direction of the slope. The change in the mesoscopic contact characteristics between soil and rock particles is the internal driving factor for the macroscopic deformation of the slope and the adjustment of the stress state.
Municipal Wastewater Effects on the Performance of Nutrient Removal, and Lipid, Carbohydrate, and Protein Productivity of Blue-Green Algae Chroococcus turgidus
Authors: Sisman-Aydin Goknur , Simsek Kemal
Published: December 2022

The use of microalgae in wastewater treatment (WWT) is seen as a promising and sustainable alternative to conventional WWTs, and the obtained biomass is gaining importance as a bio-product. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using municipal wastewater (MWW) as a nutritional supplement for the cultivation of the cyanobacteria Chroococcus turgidus (Kützing) Nägeli 1849 and the pollutant removal potential of the microalgae. The WW received from the different treatment stages (primary, secondary, and final effluent) was applied to the microalgae culture, and algal growth was compared with regard to growth rate, nutrient removal efficiency, and final algal lipid (%) and protein (%) content. In 7-day batch experiments, except for BOD5 analysis, COD, PO4-P, and N forms analyses were carried out daily in parallel with in vivo Chl-a and Chl-b, DO, pH, temperature, and conductivity measurements. The growth rates and Chl-a quotas of the microalgae grown in trials were different, and the highest growth rate was with a 1.03 ± 0.06 d−1 in the primary effluent (PE). The highest Chl-a and Chl-b quotas among WW trials of microalgae were obtained from the PE trial as 252.4 ± 2 µg L−1 and 112 ± 18 µgL−1, respectively. NH4-N, NO3-N, NO2-N, PO4-P, BOD5, and COD treatment efficiencies were in the ranges of (74.6–83%), (16–71.2%), (22.2–63.6%), (89–95.3%), (50–76.2%), and (70.3–78.6%), respectively. The microalgae were observed to accumulate the highest lipid (28.05 ± 2.26%DW) content in secondary effluent (SE), the highest carbohydrate (43.93 ± 1.02%DW) content in the effluent (E), and the highest protein content (35.25 ± 1.22%DW) in the PE. The results of this study suggested that C. turgidus is a new candidate for bioremediate pollution load of MWW, and its biomass has the potential to offer options in bio-product applications.
Detecting Compressed Deepfake Images Using Two-Branch Convolutional Networks with Similarity and Classifier
Authors: Chen Ping , Xu Ming , Wang Xiaodong
Published: December 2022

As a popular technique for swapping faces with someone else’s in images or videos through deep neural networks, deepfake causes a serious threat to the security of multimedia content today. However, because counterfeit images are usually compressed when propagating over the Internet, and because the compression factor used is unknown, most of the existing deepfake detection models have poor robustness for the detection of compressed images with unknown compression factors. To solve this problem, we notice that an image has a high similarity with its compressed image based on symmetry, and this similarity is not easily affected by the compression factor, so this similarity feature can be used as an important clue for compressed deepfake detection. A TCNSC (Two-branch Convolutional Networks with Similarity and Classifier) method that combines compression factor independence is proposed in this paper. The TCNSC method learns two feature representations from the deepfake image, i.e., similarity of the image and its compressed counterpart and authenticity of the deepfake image. A joint training strategy is then utilized for feature extraction, in which the similarity characteristics are obtained by similarity learning while obtaining authenticity characteristics, so the proposed TCNSC model is trained for robust feature learning. Experimental results on the FaceForensics++ (FF++) dataset show that the proposed method significantly outperforms all competing methods under three compression settings of high-quality (HQ), medium-quality (MQ), and low-quality (LQ). For the LQ, MQ, and HQ settings, TCNSC achieves 91.8%, 93.4%, and 95.3% in accuracy, and outperforms the state-of-art method (Xception-RAW) by 16.9%, 10.1%, and 4.1%, respectively.
Optimal Decision Making for Customer-Intensive Services Based on Queuing System Considering the Heterogeneity of Customer Advertising Perception
Authors: Fu Gang , Dong Linxiao , Zhan Wentao , Jiang Minghui
Published: December 2022

In customer-intensive services, advertising can increase customers’ patience and bring more utility to customers. However, customers’ different perceptions of advertising can affect their utility and indirectly affect the decision making of the service provider. Thus, this paper uses the M/M/1 queueing model to study the optimal decision making of customer-intensive service providers in different markets according to the customers’ heterogeneity. We first classify customers into two categories: high sensitivity and low sensitivity, and then we analyze the consumption behavior of these two types of customers in the service system as the potential customer arrival rate increases. Finally, the optimal decisions of the service provider with different demands are determined. We find that the service provider can benefit from making optimal decisions based on market demand as the potential customer arrival rate increases. If the potential arrival rate exceeds a certain threshold, the service provider has more dominance in the market, and relevant decision making is no longer affected by the potential customer arrival rate. Furthermore, it is not always beneficial for the service provider to serve all customers regardless of whether there are low-sensitivity customers in the service system, and advertising can tap more highly sensitive customers and help to further increase the revenue of service providers. The results also show that ignoring the heterogeneity of customers’ sensitivity to advertising very likely leads to losses in revenue.
Haze Risk Assessment Based on Improved PCA-MEE and ISPO-LightGBM Model
Authors: Dai Hongbin , Huang Guangqiu , Zeng Huibin , Yu Rongchuan
Published: December 2022

With the economic development in China, haze risks are frequent. It is important to study the urban haze risk assessment to manage the haze disaster. The haze risk assessment indexes of 11 cities in Fenwei Plain were selected from three aspects: the sensitivity of disaster-inducing environments, haze component hazards and the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies, combined with regional disaster system theory. The haze hazard risk levels of 11 cities in Fenwei Plain were evaluated using the matter-element extension (MEE) model, and the indicator weights were determined by improving the principal component analysis (PCA) method using the entropy weight method, and finally, five haze hazard risk assessment models were established by improving the particle swarm optimization (IPSO) light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) algorithm. It is used to assess the risk of affected populations, transportation damage risk, crop damage area risk, direct economic loss risk and comprehensive disaster risk before a disaster event occurs. The experimental comparison shows that the haze risk index of Xi’an city is the highest, and the full index can improve the evaluation accuracy by 4–16% compared with only the causative factor index, which indicates that the proposed PCA-MEE-ISPO-LightGBM model evaluation results are more realistic and reliable.
Modeling and Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Leveraging Systems Modeling Language (SysML)
Authors: Hossain Niamat Ullah Ibne , Lutfi Mostafa , Ahmed Ifaz , Akundi Aditya , Cobb Daniel
Published: December 2022

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has seen a significant increase over time in several industries such as defense, healthcare, and agriculture to name a few. Their affordability has made it possible for industries to venture and invest in UAVs for both research and commercial purposes. In spite of their recent popularity; there remain a number of difficulties in the design representation of UAVs, including low image analysis, high cost, and time consumption. In addition, it is challenging to represent systems of systems that require multiple UAVs to work in cooperation, sharing resources, and complementing other assets on the ground or in the air. As a means of compensating for these difficulties; in this study; we use a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach, in which standardized diagrams are used to model and design different systems and subsystems of UAVs. SysML is widely used to support the design and analysis of many different kinds of systems and ensures consistency between the design of the system and its documentation through the use of an object-oriented model. In addition, SysML supports the modeling of both hardware and software, which will ease the representation of both the system’s architecture and flow of information. The following paper will follow the Magic Grid methodology to model a UAV system across the SysML four pillars and integration of SysML model with external script-based simulation tools, namely, MATLAB and OpenMDAO. These pillars are expressed within standard diagram views to describe the structural, behavior, requirements, and parametric aspect of the UAV. Finally, the paper will demonstrate how to utilize the simulation capability of the SysML model to verify a functional requirement.
Hypoxia and Cellular Senescence, Emerging Toxic Mechanisms of Mycotoxins and Toxins: A New Understanding of the Negative Immune Regulations
Authors: Wu Qinghua , You Li , Wu Wenda , Wang Xu
Published: December 2022

Mycotoxin contamination is an important issue that has plagued the world [...]
Putative C2H2 Transcription Factor AflZKS3 Regulates Aflatoxin and Pathogenicity in Aspergillus flavus
Authors: Liang Liuke , Yang Haojie , Wei Shan , Zhang Shuaibing , Chen Liang , Hu Yuansen , Lv Yangyong
Published: December 2022

Aflatoxin is a carcinogenic secondary metabolite that poses a serious threat to human and animal health. Some C2H2 transcription factors are associated with fungal growth and secondary metabolic regulation. In this study, we characterized the role of AflZKS3, a putative C2H2 transcription factor based on genome annotation, in the growth and aflatoxin biosynthesis of A. flavus and explored its possible mechanisms of action. Surprisingly, the protein was found to be located in the cytoplasm, and gene deletion in A. flavus resulted in defective growth and conidia formation, as well as increased sensitivity to the fluorescent brightener Calcofluor white, Congo red, NaCl, and sorbitol stress. Notably, the biosynthesis of aflatoxin B1 was completely inhibited in the ΔAflZKS3 deletion strain, and its ability to infect peanut and corn seeds was also reduced. RNA sequencing showed that differentially expressed genes in the ΔAflZKS3 strain compared with the control and complementation strains were mainly associated with growth, aflatoxin biosynthesis, and oxidative stress. Thus, AflZKS3 likely contributes to growth, cell development, and aflatoxin synthesis in A. flavus. These findings lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of the roles of C2H2 transcription factors in A. flavus and provide a potential biocontrol target for preventing aflatoxin contamination.
Overweight and Obesity as Risk Factors for Recurrent Herpetic Stromal Keratitis during Long-Term Antiviral Prophylaxis
Authors: Hsu Chiung-Ju , Hung Jia-Horung , Lin I-Huang , Tseng Sung-Huei , Lin Sheng-Hsiang , Huang Yi-Hsun
Published: December 2022

Although past research has shown an association between obesity and herpes simplex virus infection, the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) recurrence has never been investigated. In this study, we included HSK patients who received oral valacyclovir as prophylactic treatment between January 2016 and January 2021. Recurrence, possible risk factors, and the time to recurrence were recorded during follow-ups. Among the 56 patients included in this study, recurrence was reported in 21 (37.5%) patients. The age at disease onset and mean follow-up time were not significantly different in the recurrence and non-recurrence groups. However, in the Cox regression analysis, BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 was noted as the variable having significant correlation with recurrence (p = 0.01 in univariate analysis and p = 0.001 in multivariate analysis). In conclusion, overweight and obesity were revealed as risk factors for HSK recurrence in patients receiving long-term antiviral prophylaxis. Further studies are needed to determine the appropriate acyclovir concentrations in the blood or aqueous humour in order to achieve desirable prophylactic effects, especially in the overweight and obese patients.
A Novel Coronavirus and a Broad Range of Viruses in Kenyan Cave Bats
Authors: Kamau Joseph , Ergunay Koray , Webala Paul W. , Justi Silvia A. , Bourke Brian P. , Kamau Maureen W. , Hassell James , Chege Mary N. , Mwaura David K. , Simiyu Cynthia , Kibiwot Sospeter , Onyuok Samson , Caicedo-Quiroga Laura , Li Tao , Zimmerman Dawn M. , Linton Yvonne-Marie
Published: December 2022

Background and Methods: To investigate virus diversity in hot zones of probable pathogen spillover, 54 oral-fecal swabs were processed from five bat species collected from three cave systems in Kenya, using metagenome sequencing. Results: Viruses belonging to the Astroviridae, Circoviridae, Coronaviridae, Dicistroviridae, Herpesviridae and Retroviridae were detected, with unclassified viruses. Retroviral sequences were prevalent; 74.1% of all samples were positive, with distinct correlations between virus, site and host bat species. Detected retroviruses comprised Myotis myotis, Myotis ricketti, Myotis daubentonii and Galidia endogenous retroviruses, murine leukemia virus-related virus and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum retrovirus (RFRV). A near-complete genome of a local RFRV strain with identical genome organization and 2.8% nucleotide divergence from the prototype isolate was characterized. Bat coronavirus sequences were detected with a prevalence of 24.1%, where analyses on the ORF1ab region revealed a novel alphacoronavirus lineage. Astrovirus sequences were detected in 25.9%of all samples, with considerable diversity. In 9.2% of the samples, other viruses including Actinidia yellowing virus 2, bat betaherpesvirus, Bole tick virus 4, Cyclovirus and Rhopalosiphum padi virus were identified. Conclusions: Further monitoring of bats across Kenya is essential to facilitate early recognition of possibly emergent zoonotic viruses.
Nanomechanical and Vibrational Signature of Chikungunya Viral Particles
Authors: Cardoso-Lima Ruana , Filho Joel Félix Silva Diniz , de Araujo Dorneles Maria Luiza , Gaspar Renato Simões , Souza Pedro Filho Noronha , Costa dos Santos Clenilton , Santoro Rosa Daniela , Santos-Oliveira Ralph , Alencar Luciana Magalhães Rebelo
Published: December 2022

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) belongs to the genus Alphaviridae, with a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome of 11.8 kbp encoding a polyprotein that generates both non-structural proteins and structural proteins. The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus mosquitoes, depending on the location. CHIKV infection leads to dengue-like musculoskeletal symptoms and has been responsible for several outbreaks worldwide since its discovery in 1952. Patients often experience fever, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and skin rashes. However, the ultrastructural and mechanical properties of CHIKV have not been fully characterized. Thus, this study aims to apply a physical approach to investigate CHIKV′s ultrastructural morphology and mechanical properties, using atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy as the main tools. Using nanomechanical assays of AFM and a gold nanoparticles substrate for Raman signal enhancement, we explored the conformational plasticity, morphology, vibrational signature, and nanomechanical properties of the chikungunya virus, providing new information on its ultrastructure at the nanoscale and offering a novel understanding of the virus’ behavior upon mechanical disruptions besides its molecular composition.