bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engineered Biomaterials for Reducing Phosphorus and Nitrogen Levels from Downstream Water of Aquaculture Facilities
Authors: Bare W. F. Rance , Struhs Ethan , Mirkouei Amin , Overturf Kenneth , Small Brian
Published: March 2023

The United States (U.S.) has a nearly USD 17 billion seafood trade deficit annually. However, the U.S. aquaculture industry faces strict micronutrient (e.g., phosphorus and nitrogen) level mandates that negatively impact fish production, especially for the state of Idaho, which produces 70–75% of the nation’s rainbow trout. This study investigates the sustainability benefits of producing engineered biomaterials from lignocellulosic-based feedstocks near collection sites via portable biorefineries for use by fish farms to reduce eutrophication (oversupply of micronutrients) impacts. In this study, sustainability assessments are performed on a case study in southern Idaho, the largest U.S. commercial producer of rainbow trout. The results show that 20 and 60 min of water treatment, using small particle size biomaterial from lodgepole pine, has the highest total phosphorus removal rate, at 150–180 g of phosphorus per 1 metric ton of engineered biomaterials. The results of techno-economic and environmental impacts studies indicate that pinewood-based biomaterials production cost ranges from USD 213 USD 242 per ton and reduces the eutrophication potential by 5–17 kg PO4eq/ton. Additionally, the environmental impact results show that the total greenhouse gas emission for biomaterial production is 47–54 kg CO2eq/ton; however, the used biomaterials after water treatment can be sold for around USD 850 per ton as nutrient-rich soil conditioners. This study concluded that engineered biomaterials from lignocellulosic-based feedstocks could be a sustainable solution to the challenge that aquaculture faces, particularly capturing micronutrients from eutrophic water and reusing them as fertilizers.
Synthesis of Aluminum Nitride Using Sodium Aluminate as Aluminum Source
Authors: Li Guangqi , Li Bin , Ren Bo , Chen Haiyang , Zhu Bo , Chen Junhong
Published: March 2023

At present, the carbothermal reduction and nitridation process is an important method for the large-scale preparation of aluminum nitride powder in industry, but the tremendous energy consumption caused by long-term high temperatures seriously restricts its practical application. To solve this problem, the (NaAlO2+C) mixture with a mole ratio of NaAlO2:C = 1:3 was prepared based on sodium aluminate and carbon black which has been ball milled with anhydrous ethanol as a grinding liquid. The crystal structure evolution and nitridation reaction behavior of sodium aluminate at 800–1600 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of carbon were systematically studied employing XRD, SEM, and ICP-MS. The results showed that: high energy θ-Al2O3, η-Al2O3 can be excited by heating sodium aluminate to 1400 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of carbon. The transformation process between sodium aluminate and aluminum nitride is carried out via the direct nitridation of θ-Al2O3, η-Al2O3. Benefiting from the direct nitridation of η-Al2O3 and θ-Al2O3, high-purity aluminum nitride powder with a particle size of 0.50 ± 0.18 μm was synthesized at 1400 °C. This work provides a new path for reduced energy consumption in the aluminum nitride industry.
Through the Open Gate of Heavens: The Tōdaiji Objects and Salvation in Vairocana’s Lotus Treasury World
Authors: Walley Akiko
Published: March 2023

The set of eighth-century objects known as the “Tōdaiji Golden Hall Platform Pacifying Objects” (Tōdaiji Kondō chindangu 東大寺金堂鎮壇具; “Tōdaiji objects”) is among the earliest concrete evidence of ritual practice in the Nara period. This study reveals how the Tōdaiji objects transformed the space inside the temple’s colossal central statue of the Vairocana Buddha into a symbolic heavenly realm where the deceased would traverse to arrive at Vairocana’s Pure Land. Close analysis of the Tōdaiji objects within Sovereigns Shōmu’s and Kōken’s religiopolitical applications of the Kegon teaching strengthens Okumura Hideo’s argument that Kōken orchestrated the emplacement of these objects in the year 757 as part of commemorating the one-year anniversary of Shōmu’s death. I argue that the Tōdaiji objects encapsulated Kōken’s filial piety towards her father, Shōmu, by praying for his swift ascension to Vairocana’s Pure Land. The objects furthermore served as a reenactment of Buddhist repentance that not only ensured Shōmu’s salvation, but also the prosperity of Kōken’s new reign.
Nonlinear Bias Correction of the FY-4A AGRI Infrared Radiance Data Based on the Random Forest
Authors: Zhang Xuewei , Xu Dongmei , Li Xin , Shen Feifei
Published: March 2023

Bias correction is a key prerequisite for radiance data assimilation. Directly assimilating the radiance observations generally involves large systematic biases affecting the numerical prediction accuracy. In this study, a nonlinear bias correction scheme with Random Forest (RF) technology is firstly proposed based on the Fengyun-4A (FY-4A) Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI) channels 9–10 observations in the Weather Research and Forecasting Data Assimilation (WRFDA) system. Two different settings of the predictors are additionally designed and evaluated based on the performance of the RF model. It seems that an apparent scene temperature-dependent bias could be effectively resolved by the RF scheme when applying the RF method with newly added predictors. Results suggest that the proposed nonlinear scheme of RF performs better than the linear scheme does in terms of reducing the systematic biases. A more idealized error distribution of observation minus background (OMB) is found in the RF-based experiments that measure the nonlinear relationship between the OMB biases and the predictors when using the Gaussian distribution as the reference. Furthermore, the RF scheme shows a consistent improvement in bias correction with the potential to ameliorate the atmospheric variables of analyses.
Channel Imbalance Calibration Based on the Zero Helix of Bragg-like Targets
Authors: Guo Hanglan , Zhao Xingjie , Liu Xiuqing , Yu Weidong
Published: March 2023

The calibration of channel imbalances is currently the main concern in polarimetric calibration (POLCAL) since the crosstalk of recent polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (Pol-SAR) systems is lower than −20 dB. The existing channel imbalance calibration method without corner reflectors utilizes both volume-dominated and Bragg-like targets. However, there are two limitations to using volume-dominated targets. One is that the inaccurate selection of volume-dominated areas in the uncalibrated Pol-SAR images has a negative influence on the estimation of cross-polarization (x-pol) channel imbalance, which subsequently impacts the estimation of copolarization (copol) channel imbalance. The other is that there are minimal volume-dominated areas in some special applications of Pol-SAR, such as planetary exploration. Thus, only selecting Bragg-like targets to estimate the values of both transmitting and receiving channel imbalances, which is proposed in this paper, can avoid the uncertainty brought about by selecting other distributed targets in an uncalibrated imaginary. In addition, the reciprocity assumption and characteristics corresponding to H/α¯ decomposition are introduced to eliminate the phase ambiguity for the first time. Compared with previous methods, our method had an obvious advantage in terms of universality, since Bragg-like targets are common in the most illuminating areas. The novel method was applied to both the simulated data from the L-band Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and C-band GaoFen-3 (GF-3), and to real data with corner reflectors on site. The results from the simulated data showed that the errors of the amplitude and phase estimation were less than 0.5 dB and 5.0° in most topographical features. Meanwhile, the VV/HH terms from all trihedral corner reflectors were less than 0.3 dB for amplitude, and 5.5° for phase after calibration by using the estimated channel imbalances.
Spatial–Temporal and Driving Factors of Land Use/Cover Change in Mongolia from 1990 to 2021
Authors: Hao Junming , Lin Qingrun , Wu Tonghua , Chen Jie , Li Wangping , Wu Xiaodong , Hu Guojie , La Yune
Published: March 2023

During the past several decades, desertification and land degradation have become more and more serious in Mongolia. The drivers of land use/cover change (LUCC), such as population dynamics and climate change, are increasingly important to local sustainability studies. They can only be properly analyzed at small scales that capture the socio-economic conditions. Several studies have been carried out to examine the pattern of LUCC in Mongolia, but they have been focused on changes in single land types at a local scale. Although some of them were carried out at the national scale, the data interval is more than 10 years. A small-scale and year-by-year dataset of LUCC in Mongolia is thus needed for comprehensive analyses. We obtained year-by-year land use/cover changes in Mongolia from 1990 to 2021 using Landsat TM/OLI data. First, we established a random forest (RF) model. Then, in order to improve the classification accuracy of the misclassification of cropland, grassland, and built and barren areas, the classification and regression trees model (CART) was introduced for post-processing. The results show that 17.6% of the land surface has changed at least once among the six land categories from 1990 to 2021. While the area of barren land has significantly increased, the grassland and forest areas have exhibited a decreasing trend in the past 32 years. The other land types do not show promising changes. To determine the driving factors of LUCC, we applied an RF feature importance ranking to environmental factors, physical factors, socioeconomic factors, and accessibility factors. The mean annual precipitation (MAP), evapotranspiration (ET), mean annual air temperature (MAAT), DEM, GDP, and distance to railway are the main driving factors that have determined the distribution and changes in land types. Interestingly, unlike the global anti-V-shaped pattern, we found that the land use/cover changes show an N-shaped trend in Mongolia. These characteristics of land use/cover change in Mongolia are primarily due to the agricultural policies and rapid urbanization. The results present comprehensive land use/cover change information for Mongolia, and they are of great significance for policy-makers to formulate a scientific sustainable development strategy and to alleviate the desertification of Mongolia.
UAV Photogrammetry in Intertidal Mudflats: Accuracy, Efficiency, and Potential for Integration with Satellite Imagery
Authors: Chen Chunpeng , Tian Bo , Wu Wenting , Duan Yuanqiang , Zhou Yunxuan , Zhang Ce
Published: March 2023

The rapid, up-to-date, cost-effective acquisition and tracking of intertidal topography are the fundamental basis for timely, high-priority protection and restoration of the intertidal zone. The low cost, ease of use, and flexible UAV-based photogrammetry have revolutionized the monitoring of intertidal zones. However, the capability of the RTK-assisted UAV photogrammetry without ground control points, the impact of flight configuration difference, the presence of surface water in low-lying intertidal areas on the photogrammetric accuracy, and the potential of UAV/satellite Synergy remain unknown. In this paper, we used an RTK-assisted UAV to assess the impact of the above-mentioned considerations quantitatively on photogrammetric results in the context of annual monitoring of the Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve, China based on an optimal flight combination. The results suggested that (1) RTK-assisted UAVs can obtain high-accuracy topographic data with a vertical RMSE of 3.1 cm, without the need for ground control points. (2) The effect of flight altitude on topographic accuracy was most significant and also nonlinear. (3) The elevation obtained by UAV photogrammetry was overestimated by approximately 2.4 cm in the low-lying water-bearing regions. (4) The integration of UAV and satellite observations can increase the accuracy of satellite-based waterline methods by 51%. These quantitative results not only provide scientific insights and guidelines for the balance between accuracy and efficiency in utilizing UAV-based intertidal monitoring, but also demonstrate the great potential of combined UAV and satellite observations in identifying coastal erosion hotspots. This establishes high-priority protection mechanisms and promotes coastal restoration.
Use-Case-Oriented Evaluation of Wireless Communication Technologies for Advanced Underground Mining Operations
Authors: Theissen Marius , Kern Leonhard , Hartmann Tobias , Clausen Elisabeth
Published: March 2023

This work aims to give an overview of wireless communication technologies (WCT) for underground applications. Difficulties regarding the harsh mining environment and operational constraints for WCT implementation and use are discussed. Selected technologies are then classified regarding underground mining-specific use cases in advanced mining operations. Use-case-based application categories such as ‘automation and teleoperation’, ‘tracking and tracing’ and ‘Long-Range Underground Monitoring (LUM)’ are defined. The use cases determine requirements for the operational suitability and also quantify evaluation criteria for the evaluation of WCT. The result is a comparison by category of the wireless technologies, which underlines potentials of different technologies for defined use cases, but it can be concluded that the technology always has to be evaluated within the use case and operational constraints.
Regularized Denoising Masked Visual Pretraining for Robust Embodied PointGoal Navigation
Authors: Peng Jie , Xu Yangbin , Luo Luqing , Liu Haiyang , Lu Kaiqiang , Liu Jian
Published: March 2023

Embodied PointGoal navigation is a fundamental task for embodied agents. Recent works have shown that the performance of the embodied navigation agent degrades significantly in the presence of visual corruption, including Spatter, Speckle Noise, and Defocus Blur, showing the weak robustness of the agent. To improve the robustness of embodied navigation agents to various visual corruptions, we propose a navigation framework called Regularized Denoising Masked AutoEncoders Navigation (RDMAE-Nav). In a nutshell, RDMAE-Nav mainly consists of two modules: a visual module and a policy module. In the visual module, a self-supervised pretraining method, dubbed Regularized Denoising Masked AutoEncoders (RDMAE), is designed to enable the Vision Transformers (ViT)-based visual encoder to learn robust representations. The bidirectional Kullback–Leibler divergence is introduced in RDMAE as the regularization term for a denoising masked modeling task. Specifically, RDMAE mitigates the gap between clean and noisy image representations by minimizing the bidirectional Kullback–Leibler divergence. Then, the visual encoder is pretrained by RDMAE. In contrast to existing works, RDMAE-Nav applies denoising masked visual pretraining for PointGoal navigation to improve robustness to various visual corruptions. Finally, the pretrained visual encoder with frozen weights is applied to extract robust visual representations for policy learning in the RDMAE-Nav. Extensive experiments show that RDMAE-Nav performs competitively compared with state of the arts (SOTAs) on various visual corruptions. In detail, RDMAE-Nav performs the absolute improvement: 28.2% in SR and 23.68% in SPL under Spatter; 2.28% in SR and 6.41% in SPL under Speckle Noise; and 9.46% in SR and 9.55% in SPL under Defocus Blur.
A Field Study Implementing New Monitoring Technology for Roof Caving and Systematic Monitoring for Gob-Side Entry Retaining via Roof Cutting in Underground Coal Mining
Authors: Chen Ying , Zhang Zikai , Cao Chen , Zhang Zhaoju , Han Jun , Hui Qianjia , Huo Bingjie , Jia Fengshuo , Zhu Zhijie , Chen Yang
Published: March 2023

The longwall mining method with gob-side entry retaining via roof cutting is a new underground coal mining method which has the characteristics of a high resource recovery ratio and environmental friendliness. Due to the complexity of this method, the research method of case-based dynamic on-site monitoring, analysis, adjustment, and optimization is usually adopted. Based on a roadway retaining via roof cutting project, in addition to the traditional indirect monitoring method of hydraulic support pressure, this study innovatively establishes a direct monitoring method for roof caving by monitoring the gangue pressure in the goaf, which provides data for the roof cutting effect and offers a new method for studying the overlying strata movement. In the project, a comprehensive monitoring and analysis system was established, including gangue pressure, cable bolt stress, bracket pressure, roadway deformation, and roof separation, which was used to dynamically analyze the effect of roof cutting and optimize the support design. The results show that the pressure of the hydraulic support close to the roof cutting is low, indicating that roof cutting is favorable in the roadway retaining mining method. The roadway deformation in the advanced abutment pressure area of the working face is small. The mining-induced stress caused by the collapse and compaction of the overlying strata in the goaf is the dominant factor affecting the effect of roadway retaining, especially in the 50–100 m range behind the working face, where the dynamic load causes high bearing capacity of the support elements, large roadway convergence, and roof separation. Temporary support and supplementary reinforcement should be added when necessary. The monitoring system presented in this study is highly comprehensive, simple, reliable, and low in cost, providing a reference for roof cutting roadway retaining projects and roof caving-related studies.
Four-Port 38 GHz MIMO Antenna with High Gain and Isolation for 5G Wireless Networks
Authors: Ibrahim Ahmed A. , Ali Wael A. E. , Alathbah Moath , Sabek Ayman R.
Published: March 2023

In this paper, a 38 GHz 4-port multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with considerable isolation and gain enhancement for 5G applications is introduced. The suggested antenna element is a monopole antenna composed of a circular patch with a rectangular slot etched from it and a partial ground plane is used to extend the desired frequency to operate from 36.6 GHz to 39.5 GHz with a center frequency of 38 GHz. The high isolation is achieved by arranging the four elements orthogonally and adding four stubs to reduce mutual coupling between elements at the desired frequency bands. The gain improvement is also introduced by placing a frequency selective structure (FSS) which is designed at the same frequency bands of the antenna under the suggested MIMO antenna to act as a reflector. The proposed four-element MIMO with the FSS prototype is built and tested in order to confirm the simulated results. The suggested antenna operated from 37.2 GHz to 39.2 GHz with an isolation of less than 25 dB across the obtained frequency range. The peak gain of the antenna is enhanced from 5.5 dBi to around 10 dBi by utilizing the FSS structure; furthermore, the back radiation is enhanced. The MIMO performance is validated by extracting its parameters and comparing with the simulated results. The results extracted from the simulation and the measurement show satisfactory matching along with the target band, indicating that the proposed structure could be used for 5G communications.
A Method for Stress Detection Using Empatica E4 Bracelet and Machine-Learning Techniques
Authors: Campanella Sara , Altaleb Ayham , Belli Alberto , Pierleoni Paola , Palma Lorenzo
Published: March 2023

In response to challenging circumstances, the human body can experience marked levels of anxiety and distress. To prevent stress-related complications, timely identification of stress symptoms is crucial, necessitating the need for continuous stress monitoring. Wearable devices offer a means of real-time and ongoing data collection, facilitating personalized stress monitoring. Based on our protocol for data pre-processing, this study proposes to analyze signals obtained from the Empatica E4 bracelet using machine-learning algorithms (Random Forest, SVM, and Logistic Regression) to determine the efficacy of the abovementioned techniques in differentiating between stressful and non-stressful situations. Photoplethysmographic and electrodermal activity signals were collected from 29 subjects to extract 27 features which were then fed into three different machine-learning algorithms for binary classification. Using MATLAB after applying the chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient on WEKA for features’ importance ranking, the results demonstrated that the Random Forest model has the highest stability (accuracy of 76.5%) using all the features. Moreover, the Random Forest applying the chi-test for feature selection reached consistent results in terms of stress evaluation based on precision, recall, and F1-measure (71%, 60%, 65%, respectively).
Patient-Reported Outcomes with Benralizumab in Patients with Severe Eosinophilic Asthma and Severe Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps
Authors: Chan Rory , Stewart Kirsten , Misirovs Rasads , Lipworth Brian
Published: March 2023

Introduction: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) are common comorbidities characterised by type 2 inflammation associated with increased expression of interleukin 5. Methods: Eight patients with SEA and severe CRSwNP attended the Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research as part of a clinical trial (EudraCT number 2019-003763-22). Following an initial 4-week run-in period (baseline) when patients took their usual inhaled and intranasal corticosteroid treatment for SEA and CRSwNP, they all received subcutaneous benralizumab 30 mg q4w for 12 weeks. Results: Following 12 weeks of benralizumab, no significant differences were detected in nasal global symptom visual analogue score (VAS), hyposmia VAS, total nasal symptom score, or peak nasal inspiratory flow. In contrast, Asthma Control Questionnaire significantly improved along with near-complete depletion of peripheral blood eosinophils by 99%, while eosinophil-derived neurotoxin fell by 72%. Conclusions: Greater improvements in patient-reported outcomes related to asthma were observed than with CRSwNP in response to benralizumab.
University Students Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage Adoption in Taiwan
Authors: Wang Hui-Chi , Lee Hua-Chang
Published: March 2023

Taiwan is the first country in Asia to recognize the legal rights of same-sex couples to get married. Although same-sex marriage has been legal in Taiwan since May 2019, the same-sex marriage family was not allowed to adopt child legally; only stepchild adoption was permitted. This is still a very controversial issue, so this study intended to understand the views of Taiwanese college students, whose voices should be heard and whose opinions should be valued by legislators. To investigate this issue, a questionnaire was constructed, and 440 objects were collected. The questionnaire regarding attitudes toward same-sex marriage adoption consisted of three dimensions: “Worry and against”, “Idea Recognition” and “Action Support”. Each dimension has good reliability. The internal consistent coefficients (Cronbach’s α) were 0.86, 0.93, and 0.94. The responses reveal that college students in Taiwan have a relatively positive attitude towards same-sex marriage adoption, and college students who are biologically female, non-heterosexual, non-Christian, major in social work, and are acquainted with the LGBT community have more positive attitudes. College students’ same-sex marriage and adoption attitudes can be predicted by biological sex, sexual orientation, religion, grade, whether they major in social work, have contact experience with the LGBT community, contact experience with adoption, and same-sex parenting concepts. The same-sex parenting concept is the most important predictor variable, which means that the judgment about whether same-sex marriage couples can bear the responsibility of raising children is the most critical factor affecting the attitude of same-sex marriage adoption.
Availability and the Possibility of Employing Wastes and Biomass Materials Energy in Jordan
Authors: Al-Bawwat Ala’a K. , Jurado Francisco , Gomaa Mohamed R. , Cano Antonio
Published: March 2023

The state of Jordan’s energy independence is critical, with the country relying almost entirely on imported oil and gas. Consequently, energy availability is considered to be the most significant challenge faced by Jordan’s industrial sectors. Between 2014–2019, the Jordan generated over 12,000 kilo-tons of waste and residue each year. The available quantities of agricultural residues and animal wastes produced in Jordan were approximately 1284.2 kilo-tons/year and 10,909.6 kilotons/year, respectively, of which an estimated 42% could be used as a source of biogas. Two options for utilizing biomass resources have been reviewed in this paper: thermal treatment (direct combustion) and as a source of biogas. The quantity of biogas that can be produced in Jordan from a variety of biomass feedstocks is estimated to be 816.2 million cubic meters (MCM), which is equivalent to a yearly power output of 960.9 GWh, representing approximately 5.1% of the total electricity consumed by Jordan in 2019 (18,853 GWh). Assuming a thermal efficiency of 70%, biogas can generate as much as 4.8 TWh of heat energy. Alternatively, the direct combustion of various biomasses can provide Jordan with 2316.7 GWh of electricity. These findings may lead to the development of a long-term strategic plan for the intelligent utilization of available biomass feedstocks for electrical generation and/or as a source of biogas. This would consequently raise the proportion of sustainable energy derived from biomass in Jordan’s energy mix. This work aims to assess the technical, economic, and environmental aspects associated with incorporating biomass resources into Jordan’s energy network.
A Smart Contract Architecture Framework for Successful Industrial Symbiosis Applications Using Blockchain Technology
Authors: Bruel Aurélien , Godina Radu
Published: March 2023

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) involves a network of organizations that exchange energy, materials, and by-products to lower production costs, reduce environmental impact, and conserve natural resources. Despite over two decades of extensive research into IS, its benefits are well known, but implementation remains challenging. This paper proposes utilizing blockchain technology (BCT) to digitize IS, making it more secure and transparent. First, drivers and barriers of BCT implementation in IS are identified. A smart contract architecture framework using Hyperledger Fabric is then proposed using the constructed theoretical background and abductive method. Finally, the paper discusses how this framework supports the implementation of BCT in IS by addressing its drivers and attempting to overcome its barriers. It is a resource for those seeking a comprehensive grasp of the foundational elements necessary for constructing a successful IS blockchain design, which is adaptable to all types of IS network configurations.
An Empirical Approach to Integrating Climate Reputational Risk in Long-Term Scenario Analysis
Authors: Guastella Gianni , Pareglio Stefano , Schiavoni Caterina
Published: March 2023

We propose an empirical approach to estimate the impact of climate transition risk on corporate revenues that specifically accounts for reputational risk. We employ the information on disclosed Scope 3 emissions to proxy companies’ carbon footprint along the value chain. A threshold regression is employed to identify the emission level above which reputational risk impacts revenues, and we link this impact to a climate policy stringency indicator. We estimate the threshold regression on a sample of companies within the European Union (EU), and find the threshold at around the 70th percentile of the Scope 3 emissions distribution. We find that companies with Scope 3 emissions beyond the threshold experienced substantially lower revenue growth as climate policies have become more stringent, compared to other companies.
Guarantee Stability of Supply Chain with Dual Channels under Supply Failure of Goods
Authors: Hu Lihua , Fan Tao
Published: March 2023

The supply chain is an extremely important and complex system, which is widely related to the social system and the management system. The hierarchical scheduling and production planning of a dynamic supply chain can enable enterprises in the supply chain to obtain, and maintain, stable and lasting competitive advantages; thus, improving the overall competitiveness of the supply chain. Simultaneously, research on supply chains is also a hotspot in system engineering. At present, research on complex supply chain systems with dual channels is insufficient, and analysis of dynamic supply chains with supply failure of goods is rare. In the epidemic era, dynamic supply chain management was affected by the epidemic and became a very challenging topic. The control of the supply chain system under the impact of an epidemic situation is particularly important. This paper focused on H∞ the fault-tolerant control of a complex supply chain system with dual channels. First, from the perspective of engineering practice and green production, we established a new green supply chain model. This supply chain model includes the dual-channel supply of goods and also considers the supply failure of goods. At the same time, production delay and supply delay are also considered in this model. Second, a supply scheduling scheme was designed through cybernetics to ensure the stability of a supply chain with dual channels under supply failure of goods, and we completed supply chain management. Finally, the effectiveness of our results was verified by specific Chinese enterprise data.
Exploring the Optimistic Approaches and Directives of Cameroon’s Textile Sector for Reliable Development
Authors: Elvis Nguepi Tsafack , Cheng Hua , Providence Buregeya Ingabire
Published: March 2023

Cameroon is one of the largest producers of cotton in Central Africa. Currently, Cameroon’s textile sector is facing problems regarding manufacturing that restrict the expectations of various shareholders in the sector. This study examined accurate and strategically reliable instructions for the Cameroonian textile sector by utilizing explorative and depictive techniques and properly applying the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) approaches to perform a pivotal analysis after several surveys of the textile sector in Cameroon. The SWOT–AHP strategy was used in the case of secondary data sources. The resulting analysis underlines the strategic challenges and enhances the textile sector’s competing capability. The weakness and opportunity (WO) strategy broadly had the greatest significance, which indicated, correspondingly, that this strategy should be prioritized for use in the Cameroonian textile sector. Governmental authorities should serve a controlling function rather than a decision-making one, thus facilitating improvements in the management of businesses. Furthermore, it suggested that efforts must be made by the government to promote workforce education and skill development, as well as update obsolete technology, which are currently the deficiencies of the textile sector. Additionally, to add value to the national economy’s capacity, Cameroon should slowly transform its cotton exports to finished textile goods within the country. To achieve this, the government, through a framework of collaboration with foreign companies, should industrialize, deregulate, and denationalize the textile industry and reduce taxes and withdrawal quotas to serve the interests of investors.
Transit Travel Community Detection and Evolutionary Analysis: A Case Study of Shenzhen
Authors: Yan Jingjing , Huang Zhengdong , Zhao Tianhong , Zhang Ying , Chang Fei
Published: March 2023

Community detection can reveal specific urban spatial structures related to human activities, and is achieved using mobility data from various sources. In the existing research, less attention has been devoted to communities related to urban transit travel. As public transit is a key component of the urban transport system, it is important to understand how transit communities are organized and how they evolve. This research proposes an approach to urban transit travel community detection using transit travel data and examines how the communities have evolved over time. The results in Shenzhen from 2015 to 2017 showed that the transit travel network had an obvious community structure, and the components (TAZs in this case) of the communities changed over time. During the three years, the western part of Shenzhen experienced more component changes on weekdays, and the central part of the city underwent more component changes on weekdays. In addition, the transit travel communities had a significant coupling relationship with urban administrative divisions. Exploring transit travel communities provides insight for improving public transit systems and enriches the research genealogy of urban spatial structure.
New Fungal Strains from Peat Soil in Malaysia: Morphological and Molecular Characteristics
Authors: Noman Efaq Ali , Al-Gheethi Adel Ali , Talip Baliks A. , Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira Radin , Almoheer Reyad , Al-Wrafy Fairoz Ali , Al-Shorgani Najeeb , El Enshasy Hesham Ali
Published: March 2023

Fungi have unique properties and are used in many areas of agriculture and industry because they can produce different enzymes. This study aims to study the fungal diversity in peat soil from Pontian in Johor, Malaysia. The fungal isolates were described on different culture media and on a new culture medium called EVA medium and were identified using the phenotypical characteristics and molecular properties of the D1/D2 domain of the 28S large subunit ribosomal RNA (28S rRNA) and ITS (ITS1-ITS4) rDNA regions. The results revealed that 14 fungal species (15 isolates) were identified, among them, 6 were categorized as newly isolated strains and recorded in Malaysia; these include Aspergillus arenarioides EAN603, A. iizukae EAN605, Paraconiothyrium brasiliense EAN202, Parengyodontium album EAN602, Penicillium pedernalense EAN604, and Purpureocillium lilacinum EAN601. The cultural, morphological, microstructure, and molecular characteristics of these new strains have been described in this study. It was noted that the EVA medium exhibited a moderate support for fungal growth and sporulation compared to other culture media. Furthermore, the efficiency of the new medium as an enrichment medium to isolate fungi from peat soils with high ligninolytic content was discussed.
FinTech and Green Credit Development—Evidence from China
Authors: Liu Qian , You Yiheng
Published: March 2023

The existing literature on FinTech and green finance has primarily focused on exploring sustainable economic and environmental benefits. However, empirical research examining the effect of FinTech on green finance remains underexplored. In light of the advantageous position of green credit in the development of green finance in China, this study analyzes the impact of FinTech on green credit development using polluting listed firms in 2012–2021. The results show that FinTech significantly improves the development of green credit, affecting it through two crucial mechanisms: information asymmetry and green credit allocation efficiency. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that FinTech has a more significant impact on regions with higher government environmental objectives, small-to-medium enterprises with low carbon emissions, and firms with high external ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) scores. Overall, our findings indicate that financial institutions should be committed to leveraging FinTech for the pre-loan investigation of green credit, and policymakers should encourage the development of FinTech in order to perfect environmental information disclosure policies to establish environmental information-sharing platforms.
How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence
Authors: Zhang Zhi , Yang Zhaoying , Gu Jiang , Kim Moon-Seop
Published: March 2023

Given the increasingly strained relationship between humans and the environment, green marketing has become a necessity for the sustainable development of society. In this context, this paper seeks to explore the influence of multinational enterprises’ green marketing behavior on Chinese consumers’ green consumption willingness. Through reviewing the related theories and deeply analyzing multinational corporations’ CSR, a theoretical model of multinational corporations’ CSR and consumer purchase intention has been built in this paper based on consumers’ perceptions. The paper provides empirical research on the multinational corporations’ CSR, corporate image, consumer ambivalence, and purchase intention, and offers a hypothesis of the relationship between the four. Consumer ethnocentrism can significantly negatively regulate the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ willingness to buy and further negatively regulate the process of establishing the corporate social responsibility system of multinational corporations.
Optimizing Multi-Vehicle Demand-Responsive Bus Dispatching: A Real-Time Reservation-Based Approach
Authors: Zhou Xuemei , Wei Guohui , Zhang Yunbo , Wang Qianlin , Guo Huanwu
Published: March 2023

The demand-responsive public transport system with multi-vehicles has the potential to efficiently meet real-time and high-volume transportation needs through effective scheduling. This paper focuses on studying the real-time vehicle scheduling problem, which involves dispatching and controlling different model vehicles uniformly based on generated vehicle number tasks at a given point in time. By considering the immediacy of real-time itinerary tasks, this paper optimizes the vehicle scheduling problem at a single time point. The objective function is to minimize the total operating cost of the system while satisfying constraints such as passenger capacity and vehicle transfer time. To achieve this, a vehicle scheduling optimization model is constructed, and a solution approach is proposed by integrating bipartite graph optimal matching theory and the Kuhn–Munkres algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing it with a traditional greedy algorithm using the same calculation example. The results show that the optimization method has higher solution efficiency and can generate a scheduling scheme that effectively reduces operating costs, improves transportation efficiency, and optimizes the operation organization process for demand-responsive buses.
Effectiveness of an Acrobatic Gymnastics Programme for the Improvement of Social Skills and Self-Esteem in Adolescents
Authors: Reguera-López-de-la-Osa Xoana , Gómez-Landero Luis Arturo , Leal-del-Ojo Pureza , Gutiérrez-Sánchez Águeda
Published: March 2023

Background: The study of psychosocial aspects in adolescents is of increasing interest in the field of formal education. Therefore, the design and evaluation of an Acrobatic Gymnastics (AG) programme focused on the personal and social needs of adolescents in Physical Education (PE) is proposed. The objectives of this research are to establish the associations and relationships between self-esteem and social skills in order to determine the effectiveness of the programme. Methods: This is an evaluative research study in which a participatory action research method was used. Eighty-three secondary school students aged 14 and 15 participated in the study. The Ambez@r Group Social Skills Questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used for data collection. Results: Students with socially skilful behaviour have a high level of self-esteem. The designed programme produces statistically significant improvements in both constructs. Conclusions: The programme is effective in improving the social skills and self-esteem of adolescents, and there is a clear association between both constructs.
Green Loans in Bank Portfolio: Financial and Marketing Implications
Authors: Mirovic Vera , Kalas Branimir , Djokic Ines , Milicevic Nikola , Djokic Nenad , Djakovic Milos
Published: March 2023

Banks represent important subjects in business, with dominant positions in the financial system in the world. Banks developed various financial products and services that can cover most market needs. As a result of adequate portfolio diversifications, banks recorded positive profitability rates. In addition to being adjusted to competition, banks should also focus on the environment. Therefore, banks have recognized an opportunity to offer green products and services and support environmentally-friendly initiatives and projects. The aim of this paper is to identify whether crucial determinants of bank profitability are moderated by the presence of green loans in the bank portfolio. For this purpose, a panel fixed-effects approach was applied to data from the Republic of Serbia (2014–2021). The obtained results indicate that the presence of green loans in a bank’s portfolio moderates the influences of a bank’s liquidity on the bank’s profitability measured by return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The contribution of the conducted research is that it is, according to the authors’ knowledge, the first measurement and estimation of the moderating effects of green loans’ presence in banks’ portfolios on their profitability. In addition to financial, marketing implications were considered.
Response of Growth-Related Traits of Submerged Macrophytes to Light Reduction: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Gao Jing , Hu Wei , Wang Jiawei , Cui Yichong , Li Liuxin
Published: March 2023

Underwater light reduction is presumably becoming more frequent and intensified due to eutrophication and algal blooms, which may significantly affect submerged macrophytes’ growth. However, a comprehensive understanding of how light reduction influences growth-related traits and responses is currently lacking. Here, we compiled data from 333 records of 62 published works that used controlled experiments to explore the responses of functional traits associated with growth to light reduction. Our results indicated that light reduction significantly decreased the relative growth rate (RGR), ramet number (RM), shoot biomass (SB), root biomass (RB), soluble carbohydrates (SC), and leaf number (LN) by 38.2%, 60.0%, 59.2%, 55.4%, 30.0%, and 56.1%, respectively, but elevated the chlorophyll content (Chl) by 25.8%. Meanwhile, the responses of RGR to light reduction increased significantly with the responses of RM, SB, RB, and root-to-shoot ratio (R/S). Considering the relationships among the growth-related traits, we further found that the responses of RGR to light reduction were mainly driven by the RM rather than leaf photosynthetic capability, indicating the importance of tiller ability under low light stress. We also identified a tipping point of the response of RGR to light reduction, which might be incorporated into hydrophyte dynamic models to improve precision. Our results highlight the importance of growth-related traits, andthese traits may need to be incorporated into models to improve the prediction of distribution and area for submerged species or to provide guidance for the restoration and sustainable development of aquatic ecosystems.
Comparative Analysis of Advection–Dispersion Equations with Atangana–Baleanu Fractional Derivative
Authors: Alshehry Azzh Saad , Yasmin Humaira , Ghani Fazal , Shah Rasool , Nonlaopon Kamsing
Published: March 2023

In this study, we solve the fractional advection–dispersion equation (FADE) by applying the Laplace transform decomposition method (LTDM) and the variational iteration transform method (VITM). The Atangana–Baleanu (AB) sense is used to describe the fractional derivative. This equation is utilized to determine solute transport in groundwater and soils. The FADE is converted into a system of non-linear algebraic equations whose solution leads to the approximate solution for this equation using the techniques presented. The proposed approximate method’s convergence is examined. The suggested method’s applicability is demonstrated by testing it on several illustrative examples. The series solutions to the specified issues are obtained, and they contain components that converge more quickly to the precise solutions. The actual and estimated results are demonstrated in graphs and tables to be quite similar, demonstrating the usefulness of the proposed strategy. The innovation of the current work is in the application of an effective method that requires less calculation and achieves a greater level of accuracy. Furthermore, the proposed approaches may be implemented to prove their utility in tackling fractional-order problems in science and engineering.
Xeomin®, a Commercial Formulation of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A, Promotes Regeneration in a Preclinical Model of Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Mastrorilli Valentina , De Angelis Federica , Vacca Valentina , Pavone Flaminia , Luvisetto Siro , Marinelli Sara
Published: March 2023

Xeomin® is a commercial formulation of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) clinically authorized for treating neurological disorders, such as blepharospasm, cervical dystonia, limb spasticity, and sialorrhea. We have previously demonstrated that spinal injection of laboratory purified 150 kDa BoNT/A in paraplegic mice, after undergoing traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), was able to reduce excitotoxic phenomena, glial scar, inflammation, and the development of neuropathic pain and facilitate regeneration and motor recovery. In the present study, as proof of concept in view of a possible clinical application, we studied the efficacy of Xeomin® in the same preclinical SCI model in which we highlighted the positive effects of lab-purified BoNT/A. Data comparison shows that Xeomin® induces similar pharmacological and therapeutic effects, albeit with less efficacy, to lab-purified BoNT/A. This difference, which can be improved by adjusting the dose, can be attributable to the different formulation and pharmacodynamics. Although the mechanism by which Xeomin® and laboratory purified BoNT/A induce functional improvement in paraplegic mice is still far from being understood, these results open a possible new scenario in treatment of SCI and are a stimulus for further research.