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Sustainable urban logistics require support of sustainable logistics center location planning. Nevertheless, urban public authorities generally experience difficulties in choosing a successful planning scheme, due to the lack of a rigorous analytical tool designed to help understand how logistics center location affects sustainability throughout the supply chain. A poor location can keep a firm or a supply chain from reaching its economic, environmental, and social sustainability goals. A good location can help meet these goals. To address the pressing cause of policy failure, this paper developed an analytical framework by integrating the multi-criteria decision-making method and the shortest path model with multiple objectives. The developed framework can be used to evaluate the effects of logistics center location schemes on travel time, transport costs, carbon emission, and road traffic, and further explore the conflict level among them. It is applied to Beijing in this paper. The analysis results reveal that: (1) travel time, transport costs, and carbon emissions all vary along with the distance from logistics center location to the city center; (2) encouraging cargo companies to plan their truck paths with the navigation objective of minimizing travel time is an excellent way to achieve sustainable urban logistics, because in this scenario, freight transport is the quickest, and transport costs and carbon emissions are all more moderate. Additionally, this paper confirmed the conflict level among sustainability goals of urban logistics based on actual contextual data. The proposed framework is a helpful guide tool for urban planners to develop sustainable logistics land-use planning and responsive policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modernist architecture of the twentieth century, often referred to as the International Style, exhibited diverse forms and urban layouts shaped by local cultural, economic, and political factors. To comprehensively understand the architectural heritage of this era, it is essential to consider both universal and local principles. This paper explores the adaptation of modernism within a local context by analysing the urban layouts of housing estates in Izmir (Turkey) and Tychy (Poland), constructed during the latter half of the twentieth century. The aim is to enhance our understanding of the architectural heritage of this modernist period through a comparative analysis. The selection of these examples is based on their shared formal similarities, despite the vastly different contexts in which they were built. While the circumstances surrounding the two cases were starkly dissimilar, the scale of the buildings and the spatial arrangements exhibit similarities. This study employs a mixed-method approach, incorporating qualitative methods such as observation and case study alongside quantitative methods such as research and surveys. The comparative analysis presented in this paper illuminates the local idiosyncrasies of architecture while unveiling the complexity of the modernist architectural legacy and the intricate developmental processes that culminated in ostensibly similar spatial outcomes. This proposed comparative analysis aims to address existing gaps in the literature on modern housing and contribute to broader discussions within an international context. It intends to promote knowledge, raise awareness, and contribute to the sustainable discourse of modern architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of two methodologies that can be used to predict refueling behavior. Both models aim to provide insights into hydrogen-fuel vehicle users' refueling patterns and behaviors. The first model leverages probabilistic transitions between refueling states to simulate and predict the refueling behavior of hydrogen vehicle users. In contrast, the GP-1 model employs Gaussian processes to capture the underlying patterns and uncertainties in hydrogen-fuel vehicle refueling behavior, taking into consideration additional factors such as weather conditions and the time of the year. The model demonstrates statistical significance and accuracy in predicting trips while identifying the insignificance of precipitation and high ambient temperatures. The methodologies, findings, strengths, and limitations of the two models were tested and compared to identify their relevant contributions. By contrasting their methodologies and evaluating their predictive performance, using performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, and recall values, this study provides valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of each approach. Limitations include assuming a stationary refueling process and excluding external factors and limitations related to data availability, as well as the absence of a specific focus on hydrogen-fuel vehicles. By understanding the differences and similarities between these two models, this paper aims to provide a unique perspective on gaps and further requirements for accurate prediction and modeling of refueling behavior to guide policymakers, infrastructure planners, and stakeholders in making informed decisions regarding the design and optimization of hydrogen refueling infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a promising lever to achieve a more sustainable, co-modal, and flexible urban system for daily mobility. MaaS is crucial to addressing the challenges imposed by hyper-urbanization, social changes, saturation of public soil with private motor vehicles, and local and global environmental issues. The aim of this paper is to analyse important characteristics of MaaS, namely public governance, regional scale, and high level of development. A total of 13 MaaS initiatives implemented in some European cities were compared using multi-criteria analysis. The results show that, although the MaaS implementation process is faster for private initiatives, public governance is shown to be the most appropriate entity to develop stable MaaS services, as it can enable the achievement of a higher level of integration, coupled with a high rate of service adoption, as well as reduce market entry barriers for service providers while also guaranteeing fair competition, and consequently fostering a higher level of service provided to users. The regional coverage of MaaS is crucial to ensure service provision to a wider population, living in both metropolitan and rural areas. These important features are included in the BIPforMaaS project run by the Italian region of Piedmont, described in detail in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable transportation goals include an improvement in the level of road safety worldwide. It is well known that traffic accidents are one of the major causes of death worldwide. Black spots are road locations with a higher than statistically expected number of accidents. Remedying black spots would decisively improve road safety. A literature review of black spot identification methods, i.e., accident numbers, accident rates related to exposure, severity of accidents, Poisson and quality control methods, is presented within the framework of this paper. The various approaches adopted by key European and other countries are also summarized and evaluated. An important parameter is the unit length of a road, where accidents are referred. The quality of accident records is also critical. It is concluded that the coupling of statistical and accident severity index methods can contribute to assessing road infrastructure in a more holistic way and, therefore, in providing more reliable results with regard to the road safety level. The design and implementation of effective road safety strategies, based on black spot analysis, can be of great value for the decision makers and decision takers who are involved in the development of a sustainable transportation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a platform to improve the efficiency of matching supply and demand, parking applications once blossomed in many cities. However, some have achieved success while others quickly withered. By comparing the development of parking applications between Beijing and London, it is found that price controls are a key factor. Price controls include price limits and hourly limits. Flexible price or controlled duration facilitate platform sustainability, as these increase the supply side's digital investment and willingness to access the platform, and also increase demanders' willingness to use the platform. Meanwhile, flat and low pricing or no time limit will make the platform less attractive, since these reduce the supply and its mobility, and also discourage demanders from using the platform. This paper enriches the literature on the digital platform ecosystem and information systems (IS) and provides practical inspiration for urban parking management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry has great potential for carbon emission reduction, which strongly impacts the peak of carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. This paper compares foreign and Chinese articles on building carbon emissions from publication objects, journals, subject categories, authors, and institutions. It discusses the differences in research trends and hotspots from keywords, reference co-citation analysis, and historical citation analysis. The results show that the number of publications on building carbon emissions steadily increased. The research on building carbon emissions in foreign articles is earlier and more systematic than that in China, and the output and influence of foreign articles are generally more prominent than those of Chinese articles. However, the production and influence of articles by certain Chinese authors and institutions have been remarkable. The topics of 'CO2 emission', 'life-cycle assessment', 'environmental impact', 'greenhouse gas emission', and 'renewable energy' are essential subjects for foreign and Chinese articles in the research field of building carbon emissions and the development trend is similar. The thematic direction of Chinese articles is more divergent and lacks well-developed themes that greatly influence other research themes. Finally, based on the research results, this study puts forward the potential future research direction of building carbon emissions. The results of this study will provide a current and systematic overview of this field, which will be helpful for future researchers to promote the development of research on building carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with problems of freight transport sustainability from the perspective of four key factors: greenhouse gas production, fossil fuel dependence, congestion, and accident rates. It is based on the results of the FreightVision project, in which the author participated as a researcher and member of the design team. The aim was to develop a set of 35 recommendations to serve as a tool for European Union decision-making in transport policy matters at the highest level. The developed measures were prioritized, and a list of individual recommendations was drawn up according to their potentials. Then, the set of measures was processed using multi-criteria analysis tools, and these results were compared with the original list using comparative analysis to identify differences between the two approaches. The contribution of this work is the development of a methodology for evaluating the traffic measures according to their priorities and, at the same time, the verification of the empirical results thus obtained with the results that were the output of the mathematical processing. This work fills a research gap in a similar problem area by working with specific measures systematically developed for the purposes of analysis; these results are used to formulate recommendations for the European Commission whose policy decisions should lead to an increased level of freight transport sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with problems of the comparative analysis of results provided by the processing of predicting trends in freight transport, especially concerning dependency on fossil fuels and GHG (greenhouse gas) production. This topic has been in compliance with current requests for sustainable transport and the environment both being strongly emphasized in recent EU directions. Based on publicly available statistical data covering the selected time period, two completely different predicting methods—neural networks and mathematical statistics—are used for forecasting both of the above-mentioned trends. Obtained results are further analyzed from viewpoints of value concordance and reliability. The concluding comparative analysis summarizes the pros and cons of both approaches. Given the fact that forecasting methods generate model values representing future events whose states are unverifiable, the presented procedure can be used as a tool for verifying of their verisimilitude by means of comparing results obtained by the above-mentioned methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularization of electric vehicles (EVs) is beneficial to the sustainable development of energy and the environment. China's promotion and development strategy for EVs will serve as a model for other countries. EV ownership has a significant difference between first/second-tier (FST) cities and third/fourth-tier (TFT) cities and there is a huge growth potential for the EV market in those TFT cities. This paper aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption intentions for EVs in FST and TFT cities under a subsidy deduction and to make a comparative analysis of their regional heterogeneity. Based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model, the structural equation model is used to compare the factors affecting the adoption intention for EVs of 858 respondents in China. The results show that attitude, subjective norms, novelty seeking, non-financial incentive, product cognition, and environmental concerns are positively related to intention in FST and TFT cities; however, infrastructure development only has a positive significant impact in the TFT cities. Additionally, the subsidy deduction has a more negative impact on the adoption intentions in FST cities. Our findings provide vital insights for formulating government regulations and marketing strategies depending on the diverse sizes and attributes of Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and food safety and how best to promote CSR in Chinese food companies by comparing two groups of food companies, one which had food safety incidents in the previous three years and one which had no food safety incidents during the same period. Managers of 498 food companies in 17 regions of China were surveyed. It was found that companies where the senior management gave higher levels of support and commitment to CSR and companies that had higher levels of CSR engagement had lower food safety incident rates. Motives for CSR engagement by food companies are the expected benefits that might accrue to the company including helping to achieve strategic objectives, improving daily management, ensuring food safety, improving internal cooperation, enhancing food quality, improving employees' skills at work, increasing employee benefit and improving their morale, and maintaining business integrity. It was also found that the external factors for CSR engagement are consumer demand, as well as pressures from the government and from other companies in the supply chain. Finally, the paper makes a number of suggestions for improvements in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging countries in Southeast Asia are facing considerable challenges in addressing rising motorisation and its negative impact on air quality, traffic, energy security, liveability, and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the approach and status of sustainable, low-carbon transport policy in ASEAN countries and identifies differences and similarities. The methodology is based on a taxonomy of policy components as developed by Howlett and Cashore. The data come from comprehensive country studies for Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam and interviews with policymakers. We find that each country has a specific set of goals, objectives and targets that support sustainable transport, and, directly or indirectly, climate change mitigation. In terms of specific mechanisms and calibrations, which we analyse based on the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach, there are notable differences between the countries, for example in terms of fuel economy policy. Even though an initial response to climate change mitigation challenges is visible in these countries' transport policies, much more effort is required to enable a transition to a transport system compatible with long-term climate change and sustainable development targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the aggregate index of national economies' circularity (INEC) was proposed and empirically verified. For this purpose, the taxonomic linear ordering method was used, which is a multi-criteria decision-making procedure. This method replaces the analysis of the phenomenon described by a set of indicators with an analysis using one aggregate indicator: the so-called 'synthetic metric'. Based on 14 circular economy indicators that are available in the Eurostat database, the circularity indexes were constructed for 24 EU countries (including the United Kingdom). This allowed the author, on the one hand, to create a ranking of the countries, and on the other, to assign them to four groups, which were characterized by a similar level of circularity. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: how circular are the European economies? What are the main challenges in achieving circularity in Europe? Taking into account the INEC range [0,1], it should be noted that the level of circularity in the analysed European countries is low (an average of 0.3021). Therefore, the paper indicates the areas requiring improvement in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional streets serve as intermediary spaces between the Central Business Districts (CBDs) and surrounding residential areas, offering diverse functions and activities within urban interiors. However, a practical methodology for accurately classifying these streets has been lacking, due primarily to transitional areas' spatial constraints and functional complexities. This study leverages Point of Interest (PoI) data from 2023 to develop an innovative methodological framework that addresses these challenges. This framework analyses transitional streets' functional distribution and typology, employing PoI frequency density and functional type ratios to identify and classify functional zones. It generally delineates eight main types of transitional streets in the CBD of Chongqing, a prototypical hillside city. Utilising advanced data technology from internet maps, this research pioneers new approaches for identifying and analysing the functionality of transitional streets. The findings underscore the effectiveness of PoI data in precisely recognising the functional types of transitional streets, thereby providing a robust theoretical and practical foundation for the in-depth study of transitional streets. Moreover, the results enhance urban spatial planning in hillside cities of China, effectively demonstrating the advantages of PoI data in defining street typology compared to traditional methods. This approach provides a more detailed understanding of urban functional dynamics by allowing for a more nuanced data analysis of street functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to comprehensively analyze the operational status and international competitiveness of global container shipping enterprises in the era of sustainability and digitalization within the field of international container transportation. Utilizing the entropy method, this study quantitatively evaluates the direct operational strength of 14 leading container shipping enterprises while considering multiple factors including environmental protection, service quality, company scale, customer satisfaction, research and development level, and brand influence. The contributions of this study to the existing knowledge are primarily manifested in several aspects: firstly, by constructing a comprehensive evaluation framework, it offers a new perspective for assessing the international competitiveness of container shipping enterprises, facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, this study emphasizes the crucial roles of environmental protection and customer service in the competitiveness of shipping enterprises, providing new strategic directions for the industry's sustainable development and digital transformation. Lastly, through detailed analysis of the operational performance of different companies, this study provides specific improvement suggestions for shipping enterprises, aiding them in achieving more precise management and more efficient development. The research findings demonstrate that companies exhibit varied performance in different aspects, showcasing their respective strengths and challenges. Particularly, this study identifies leading enterprises that have made significant progress in environmental technology innovation and customer service, while also highlighting deficiencies in some companies regarding scale expansion and brand building. These findings not only offer valuable insights for the development of the shipping industry but also serve as a window for policymakers, investors, and consumers to gain a deeper understanding of the shipping market. Through the thorough analysis conducted in this study, we aim to contribute to the sustainable development and digital transformation of the global container shipping industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To slow down climate warming and achieve sustainable development, the Paris Agreement attempts to establish cooperative approaches (Article 6.2 in the Paris Agreement) and a sustainable development mechanism (Article 6.4 in the Paris Agreement) for carbon trading. However, deficiencies in implementation exist due to a lack of systematic execution regulations and an integrated management system. To strengthen the effectiveness of the two carbon trading mechanisms for reducing carbon emission, this paper aims to propose an implementation framework of cooperative approaches and a sustainable development mechanism. Based on the international regime theory in global climate change and the nine elements of the market mechanism, the paper makes use of comparative analysis to discuss the type of mechanism, coverage of the system, operational framework, governance framework, and implementation framework of cooperative approaches and a sustainable development mechanism. The main results and conclusions are as follows: (1) Cooperative approaches are considered as project-based and quota-/credit-based carbon market mechanisms. Under cooperative approaches, trading units should be authorized at the international-regional and sub-regional levels. CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, and NF3 are the seven types of greenhouse gases that could be traded through cooperative approaches, and they shall be accounted by the unit of CO2-eq. (2) The sustainable development mechanism is considered as an industry-based and credit-based carbon market framework. Under the sustainable development mechanism, trading units should be authorized at the international level. CO2, CH4, N2O, and PFCs can work in the sustainable development mechanism as subject matters. The unit of gases shall be CO2-eq as well. (3) The implementation framework of cooperative approaches ought to follow three stages: project preparation, project submission, and auditing, as well as internationally transferred mitigation outcomes transfer. The implementation framework of the sustainable development mechanism ought to contain three stages: project development and review, project implementation and monitoring, and project acceptance and unit transfer. The authors hope it can work as a guideline for the early implementation stage of the cooperative approaches and sustainable development mechanism to stimulate carbon reduction and further slow climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the transition from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), heralds an important turn in global sustainability policy. With implementation now taking place in all countries, regardless of GDP, a key question is how affluent governments in large metropolitan areas can effectively contribute to global sustainable development. This paper argues that urban food systems strategies--a relatively new tool in local policymaking in the Global North--have the potential to amplify and consolidate national and international efforts in this direction and facilitate a more synergistic approach to SDG implementation. An in-depth comparative analysis of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable food systems strategies of five of the ten largest cities in North America--New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto--helps to uncover key gaps and areas of convergence between goals, objectives, and evaluation frameworks. Goal- and indicator-level analyses cast light on promising areas for cross-jurisdictional cooperation and suggest that, while not without limitations, urban food systems strategies offer manifold pathways to streamline global, national, and local implementation efforts and effectively forward the 2030 Agenda over the next decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are produced through the combustion of fossil fuels, cause climate change. Unfortunately, South Korea is highly dependent on fossil fuels because of its industrial nature. However, many islands in South Korea have the potential to generate a considerable amount of renewable energy, which should be studied. KEPCO (Korea Electricity Power Corporation), which runs micro-grid facilities in Gasado Island in Jindo, South Korea, built micro-grid facilities in Mozambique in 2015. The micro-grid construction of Gasado Island is considered one of the most successful micro-grid projects of KEPCO, so KEPCO is hoping to expand energy development overseas and become a top-tier global power company. This study aims to find a more technologically and economically optimal hybrid energy system for Gasado Island that KEPCO should have built. We also compared this optimal solution to the Korean government plan. The Korean government plan is the same as the KEPCO plan because KEPCO is classified as a market-oriented public corporation under the Act on the Management of Public Institutions. In the final section of this paper, both the implications and limitations are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at presenting the notion of corporate social responsibility in Europe by examining its application in Southern European countries, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. These major Mediterranean countries, beside the geographical proximity and common features, were at the center of the financial crisis in Europe in 2009. The aforementioned countries are under evaluation on the one hand as a European region and on the other hand as independent ones. Considering the complexity of CSR, its aspects through time, its diversity depending on the geographical position and the necessity of ethical CSR as part of business activity, this paper presents a new categorization of existing quantitative indicators and a method of evaluation that covers the multidimensional notion of CSR. The new model, which combines quantitative indicators, is used to measure CSR during the period from 2009 until 2016 and reflects companies' ethical policy, the degree of understanding their moral obligations. The longitudinal comparative analysis is the starting point for further improvement as the countries, except for Portugal, are fluctuating within low levels and the Mediterranean region as a whole in average ones. Furthermore, having estimate CSR index, the examination of the financial performance of Greek companies within the period 2015–2016 confirms the majority of the literature that the adoption of CSR's good practices, is not only a moral rule, but contributes at least partly, to the development of their effectiveness. As a conclusion, the structure of a commonly acceptable measurement model of the National Social Responsibility and the longitudinal measurement will be a useful tool for all involved institutions, with immediate results to both the society and the companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically examines existing frameworks aimed at establishing restorative practices in community development by conducting a comparative analysis of a meso-level development framework called the Five Pillars of Development and a micro-level framework implemented by a grassroots initiative. Both frameworks were implemented in Washington, DC, and both seek to address the enduring negative externalities disinvested communities face and suggest the need for restorative practices in community development. Restorative development practices trace their roots to the field of restorative economics, which is a subfield of sustainable development. It argues that sustainability must also address the sins of the past and restore systems and systems components that have been negatively impacted by past development practices. This study aims to discern the adaptability of the more broadly applicable meso-level Five Pillars framework in capturing nuanced micro-level frameworks like the one devised by the grassroots organization in Ward 8. By identifying potential gaps, this study proposes strategies to enhance the utility of the more transferable meso-level framework, particularly for communities lacking resources to formulate their own micro-level framework. This study, therefore, contributes valuable insights and recommendations for bridging potential disparities between the meso-level and micro-level frameworks, as demonstrated in the Ward 8 case. The overarching objective is to enrich the community development field by presenting a restorative framework that refines existing meso-level approaches and facilitates opportunities for micro-level applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility as a service (MaaS), a new concept of transportation, is regarded as an effective solution to prevalent urban traffic problems because of its sustainable development properties such as sharing, integration, humanism and low-carbon. However, progress from pilots to large-scale implementation has hitherto been slow especially in China. In this paper, we propose a new alliance-based framework of development scenarios for the Chinese MaaS system. At the same time, by distinguishing the experience and lessons between the UbiGo project in Sweden and Whim project in Finland, we summarize that the key to the success of prior pilot projects is the cooperation of industry alliance, government policy support, and data sharing mechanism. Moreover, this paper also proposes some MaaS solutions for the obstacles of alliance-based cooperation, data resource sharing, business model selection, operation conditions, development path, policy support and other aspects in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea's main industry is the manufacturing industry, and it requires stable energy. Korea heavily relies on importing oils to produce energy, thus efficient energy management is critical. This is why many renewable and smart energy policies and infrastructure planning are being set up currently. Supplying reliable and sustainable renewable energy to remote areas has especially been questioned; therefore, adopting sustainable and clean energy based on renewable resources cannot be delayed any more. This research examines the most economically, technologically and environmentally suitable energy grid of two South Korean Islands. Several hybrid energy system configurations that analyze and identify the optimal grid-connected and grid-independent hybrid power generation systems are simulated in this study. According to the results of the study, the optimal regionally detached power generation system was the wind-PV-battery-converter hybrid system. At the end of this paper, implications and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart city evaluation is a critical component in smart city construction and plays an important role in guiding and promoting smart development of cities. Currently, existing research and applications of smart city evaluation are still in the exploration stage. They mainly focus on evaluation of one single aspect, use indicators with distinct regional characteristics and poor extensibility, and cannot be well-integrated with common and shareable smart city frameworks; these limitations have led to biased evaluation results. Based on a common and shareable smart city framework, this paper proposes a well-integrated, universal, strongly practical, and highly extensible evaluation system. Then, using the above-mentioned evaluation system, 17 smart cities in China are assessed. This application demonstrates that the evaluation system plays an important guiding role for better understanding the overall smart city platform construction situation in China, performing horizontal comparisons and establishing benchmarks among smart cities. Comparative analyses of indicators demonstrate that future smart city construction in China should pay more attention to novel innovations, the construction of dynamic information resources and spatiotemporal big data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lot of attention has been paid in the last years to urban freight transport (UFT) activities generated by specific market segments such as food, retail, or home deliveries, while relatively little attention has been paid to the transport of goods to and from construction sites in urban areas. Although transport of construction materials represents up to 30% of freight movements in cities and even more in terms of pollutant emissions. Using data collected over eight months in four construction sites, this paper provides a better understanding of the urban freight transport activity related to construction and presents the potential benefits of the implementation of construction consolidation centres (CCCs). A CCC is an innovative approach, which aims at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of logistics processes by reducing the number of deliveries. Consequently, the use of a CCC in urban areas can reduce congestion and pollutant emissions due to construction freight movements. This paper presents results of CCC usage simulations for the four construction sites mentioned above. The results suggest that the distribution of goods to and from construction sites is peculiar as compared to other, better-known, urban supply chains and reinforce the call to researchers and decision makers from both private and public sides to devote more attention to this market segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) thrive on providing a communication channel between vehicles and infrastructures that facilitate efficient and safe Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) as well as Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications. Reliable and efficient transmission amongst vehicles and Road Side Units (RSUs) is a prime concern of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One of the primary challenges involved in vehicular communication is designing an efficient routing mechanism for data dissemination from node to node via a reliable route. The harsh vehicular environment with varied road conditions and obstacles in the signal propagation path induces another challenge. Therefore, this paper presents a comparative analysis of existing routing protocols with propagation models to assist researchers in gaining insight into the existing propagation model and routing protocols. The study also optimizes routing and propagation models for reliable packet dissemination. This work uses a realistic scenario from Open Street Map (OSM), and simulations are performed using SUMO. The trace files generated from SUMO are used for further simulation in NS-3. The simulation results are presented and studied in detail. The results show that the Two-Ray Ground and FRIIS propagation model outperforms the compared models, and the routing protocol OLSR outperforms AODV and DSDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Higher Education institutions all around the world to revise their praxis and update tools and numerous procedures. This study offers a comparative analysis of three Latin American students' and instructors' perspectives on a selection of both the pedagogical and emotional aspects of higher educational life that were affected. The report is about the participants' perception of others' empathy, their evaluation of the organization of teaching and learning and of collaborative learning experiences, their appreciation of the quality of learning assessment practices, and, eventually, their perception of learning. An exploratory study was carried out, based on survey research in Likert-scale form, responded to by 2742 students and 926 instructors. Significant differences were found among subsamples, with Chilean students and instructors having less favorable views in all dimensions compared with their Mexican and Ecuadorian counterparts; also, differences were found with respect to educational levels, discipline areas, and participants' gender. This study contributes with a double-sided view of both protagonists' perspectives (students' and instructors') to reinforce the importance of instructional design, instructor-student bond, meaningful and realistic assessments that allow for the application of knowledge, and opportunities for feedback in post-pandemic virtual education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the moral argument for gender diversity has already been made and is incontestable, and more and more economical arguments have been brought to support the business case for the presence of women on the boards of directors of publicly listed companies, the bottom-line issue of what kind of impact gender diverse boards have on firm financial performance is still unclear. The aim of this paper is to deliver a comparative analysis of the impact of gender diverse boards on firm financial performance in France and Romania. Our results do not to provide any evidence of a link between boards' gender diversity and companies' financial performance, but while the analysis has failed to find a positive link between female presence and firm financial performance, it has not outlined a negative one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition is a relevant element in any open economy. Public policies are necessary to induce economic efficiency and to create conditions to preserve or stimulate a competitive environment. This paper aims to assess the competitiveness of hydrous ethanol price in a period of political, social and economic crises, in 15 Brazilian state capitals between the years 2012 and 2019. We compared the ethanol–gasoline price ratio behavior in two different periods, before and after the import parity price policy implemented by Petrobras in 2016. Mann–Whitney and Levene's tests, two non-parametric statistical methods, were applied to verify significant changes between these periods. The implementation of changes in Petrobras' pricing policy from 2016 onwards caused a statistically significant increase in the ratio coefficient of variation in two-thirds of the distribution market and more than the half of analyzed retail markets. Second, overall, the cities that showed statistically significant changes in the median and coefficient of variation in the distribution market price ratio were followed by the retail market. Our findings suggest that government interventions in the fuel and byproduct final selling prices to distributors negatively impact competition between companies that are part of the fuel distribution and retail chain, also affecting the sale of biofuels in Brazil and discouraging the initiatives to use renewable fuels to reduce the emission of pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study asserts that the higher the degree of artists' and residents' participation in a culture-led renewal project, the higher the level of residents' satisfaction. Engaging artist groups and introducing cultural programs can facilitate building a collaborative network between artists and residents. This paper adopts an experimental study method and defines the experimental and control groups as follows: the experimental group (Changwon city) has relatively high artist participation, and the control group (Sacheon, Gimhae, Miryang cities) have relatively low artist involvement. Multiple regression analysis was conducted utilizing 192 valid survey data in R studio software. The significant variables were compared between the experimental group (Model 1) and the control group (Model 2). As a result, the relative effects of "1. experience (or amount) of residents' participation in urban renewal programs", "2. reflection of residents' opinions", and "3. neighborly trust" on "residents' satisfaction with urban regeneration projects and expected outcomes" was shown to be greater in the experimental group. The result implies that the involvement of cultural entities and the operation of arts programs increase residents' will to participate in renewal projects and to build neighborly trust. Further, collection and reflection of residents' opinions about the renewal works were more smoothly completed when mediated by artist participation and using cultural content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation sector is considered one of the driving forces behind the increased release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), with road transport being this sector's main emissions contributor. In turn, efforts should be devoted to reducing emitted GHGs from this sector, and many such opportunities lie in the road transport life cycle. This paper investigated fourteen emission reduction scenarios based on the green initiatives issued by the Abu Dhabi Government. The explored measures are either related to road works and road municipal services or to traffic movement. The proposed measures were evaluated with reference to a baseline study previously reported by the authors for three different road projects in Abu Dhabi city. Findings reveal that normalized GHG emission reduction could be significantly reduced by (i) replacing 30% of internal combustion engine passenger cars with battery electric vehicles where the power demand is covered almost equally from nuclear and liquified natural gas (LNG) sources, (ii) reducing the number of passenger cars by 10%, and (iii) having one-fifth of passenger cars powered by LNG. A lesser significant reduction could be achieved by replacing conventional lamps with light-emitting diode (LED) lamps or by having one-fourth of lighting powered by solar energy. Even lesser reduction could be achieved by (i) replacing a portion of Portland cement with ground granulated blast furnace slag in concrete structures, (ii) fully utilizing treated sewage effluent for roadside-plant irrigation, (iii) reducing desalinated water used for roadside-plant irrigation by 20%, and (iv) increasing the number of higher efficiency passenger cars by 10%. Replacing hot-mix asphalt with warm-mix asphalt and using asphalt with a high stiffness modulus in the base layer results in low emission reduction. The use of 15% recycled asphalt or the use of 50% recycled aggregate in road construction has the least impact on emission reduction. When all explored scenarios were combined, an overall normalized GHG emissions reduction of 9–17% during the road project life cycle could be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To a great extent, Pakistan and Turkey rely on imported fossil fuels to meet their energy demands. Pakistan is moving in the right direction, placing focus on renewable energy resources in its current infrastructure in order to address the energy shortage. Several projects (e.g., wind power and solar PV (photovoltaic) technologies) are operational or under development; they are intended to reduce energy challenges in Pakistan. The new government in Pakistan aims to increase the share of renewable energy in total power generation to 30% by 2030. On the other hand, Turkey surpasses Pakistan in renewable energy resources; for example, there are 186 operational wind energy power plants across the country. In addition, Turkey utilizes solar energy—mainly for residential usage. Turkey's Vision 2023 energy agenda aims to supply 30% of their power demands from modern renewable energy resources. Turkey has implemented solar PV, solar buildings, wind power plants, geothermal energy resources, and biomass technology for heating, cooling and electricity generation. At present, Turkey's supply to meet energy demands in the country is 56% fossil fuel energy resources and 44% renewable energy, including hydropower. Accessible details reveal that geothermal energy resources have been continuously neglected in Pakistan by the Ministry of Energy (power division); this is in contrast to the Turkish case, in which utilization of geothermal energy resources for heating and cooling purposes is efficient. With all the facts and figures under consideration, in this paper, comparative analyses are performed which reveal that the production of electricity from geothermal energy technologies is lower than the massive potential in both countries. Recommendations are made for important policies to promote renewable energy technologies, which could effectively support energy decentralization by providing electricity to rural areas and the national grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's socioeconomic transformation and rapid urbanization since the end of the 20th Century have had an important impact on the social spatial structure of large cities. Social differentiation within cities is becoming increasingly prominent. Using detailed data gathered by the Fifth National Population Census of 2000, this study compares the social spatial structure and dynamic mechanisms of the core areas of the cities of Beijing and Chengdu. Factorial ecology analysis is used at the mesoscale to explore the following research questions: 'How did factors shape the social spaces of two cities with similar topography but at different stages of development during China's transition from a planned to a market economy?'; and 'Are the traditional Western theories of socio-spatial interpretation equally applicable to China?'. The results show that Chengdu exhibits a combination of a concentric circle, fan-shaped, and multi-core socio-spatial structure, while Beijing shows a fan-shaped structure. In 2000, influenced by its overall level and stage of socioeconomic development, Beijing was experiencing a faster socio-spatial transformation than Chengdu, and the driving effect of capital on social differentiation and spatial competition was more obvious. The main dynamic mechanisms driving the formation of socio-spatial structures in Beijing and Chengdu include the natural environmental foundation, historical inheritance, urban planning, housing policies, and international influence. The three major variables in the study of traditional Western social spaces, namely economy, family, and ethnic status, were confirmed as applicable to our two case study cities with socioeconomic status as measured by occupation and housing conditions exerting the strongest effect. This perspective of comparing different cities in the same transitional period offers unique insights in identifying the key drivers of socio-spatial differentiation and polarization and their relative magnitude of effect, while enriching the catalog of empirical urban social space research both in China and in the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale fisheries account for 94% of the Greek fishing fleet. The sector consists mainly of family-owned vessels and highly depends on family labor. While the role of women as crew members is of particular interest, there is little evidence of their actual employment status, labor situation, and contribution in the fishing activity. This paper focuses on women in small-scale fisheries in order to investigate their role in the sector and reveal their contribution to fishing enterprises. In addition, it implements a comparative analysis to investigate the differences in various socio-economic indicators in small-scale vessels with and without female crew members. The results indicate that the presence of women has a positive outcome on several social and economic indicators that reflect the wealth of both fishing households and employees. In terms of employment, several differences in the structural characteristics appeared regarding the onshore employment, the share of unpaid labor, and the total hours worked. The majority of female crew members can be characterized as "fisherwomen," since fishing is their main occupation. Further in-depth research to investigate the family relations among crew members and how they affect the fishing enterprise can supplement the existing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) as the new paradigm of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and rapid changes in technology and urban needs urge cities around the world towards formulating smart city policies. Nevertheless, policy makers, city planners, and practitioners appear to have quite different expectations from what smart cities can offer them. This has led to the emergence of different types of smart cities and pathways of development. This paper aims to answer the research question: When comparing a selection of smart city projects, can we classify pathways for their implementation? We do this by using a cross-case research design of four cities to explore commonalities and differences in development patterns. An input-output (IO) model of smart city development is used to retrieve which design variables are at play and lead to which output. The four cases pertain to the following smart city projects: Smart Dubai, Masdar City, Barcelona Smart City, and Amsterdam Smart City. Our analysis shows that Amsterdam is based on a business-driven approach that puts innovation at its core; for Masdar, technological optimism is the main essence of the pathway; social inclusion is the focus of Barcelona Smart City; and visionary ambitious leadership is the main driver for Smart Dubai. Based on these insights, a classification for smart city development pathways is established. The results of the present study are useful to academic researchers, smart city practitioners, and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As interests in sustainability have been increasing and discussions of environmental issues are ongoing globally, the MICE industry (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Convention, and Exhibition), which is attracting attention as a high value-added industry, also became an important part of the sustainability domain. Consequently, there has been a rise in hosting 'green conventions', or 'green MICE' which are designed to minimize all the negative impacts on the environment such as energy and water consumption. At some point, a large number of studies had been conducted for the development of green conventions, but most of them mainly used empirical methods. Although the Ministry of Environment has presented guidelines and some domestic exhibition convention centers have implemented strategies, they are not enough compared to overseas countries. This study aims to examine the latest guidelines to supplement the guidelines of Korea's green convention. In this regard, the study will use a comparative analysis method among the current guidelines of convention centers in Australia (Sydney), Canada (Vancouver), and the U.S.A (Detroit and San Francisco) and draw up complementary directions. As a result, we could draw out common items in the facility management and event planning and operation section. Some items were similar in all convention centers, but others were included in the guidelines of few centers only. This research is sure to be the academic background for developing related practices and standards for the future green convention in Korea. In addition, this study will have value in terms of investigating sustainable management in the convention industry as the importance of sustainability in the tourism industry emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organization efficiency is a pivotal paradigm for an organization's profitability in short-term cycles and long-term sustainability as a responsible stakeholder of a society. Measurement of organizational efficiency primarily depends on tracking the performance of the organization based on key performance indicators established commonly and differently by sectors. Literature on measuring organizational efficiency is limited in quantity and qualitatively poor, specifically on organizations operating in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf where specific culture and traditions take precedence. This paper brings about a comparative review on organizational efficiency models, measurements, and indicators based on international best practices and conduct a comparative analysis from the Qatari organizational context. The methodology involved in measuring and benchmarking organizational sustainability identify the "as is" state of organizational sustainability and efficiency in the organization. Identifying the best sustainability practices across peer organizations and equipping organizations with the appropriate tools and skills to implement the identified best practices to fill the efficiency gap is essential. Defining and benchmarking indicators with peer organizations help the management to understand the "as is" state of the organization and is the impetus for the advancement of short- and long-term sustainability goals. The key performance indicators and focal themes for air transport, electricity–public utility, oil and gas, retail banking, and steel manufacturing are compared and identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current phosphorus (P) use in European countries is highly dependent on mineral P imports and not sustainably managed. In order to identify and implement measures for sustainable P management, a comprehensive understanding of national P flows and stocks and their temporal dynamics is essential. We conduct a substance flow analysis (SFA) of the Swiss P system of the year 2015, and study the dynamics of the national P system by looking into its development since 1989. Furthermore, we investigate how political-legislative interventions affected the P system during this period. The results show that between 1989 and 2015, the P efficiency in Swiss agriculture increased from 59% to 94%, mainly due to a considerable reduction of fertilization in the agricultural subsystem. At the same time, Switzerland's P import dependency decreased from 33% to 24% between 1989 and 2002 because of a reduction of mineral fertilizer import and use. Between 2002 and 2015, the import dependency stagnated because further improvements in P use efficiency in agriculture were outweighed by a decrease of P recycling and an increase of P losses in the waste management system. By embedding these temporal dynamics in their political-legislative context, we found that top-down interventions such as incentives for a balanced nutrient budget in agriculture, restrictions of the use of animal by-products in the agri-food system or the ban of direct sewage sludge recycling in agriculture significantly affected and shaped the national P system. Our analysis provides profound quantitative and qualitative insights into past and present P management in Switzerland and is followed by part 2 of the paper, where we analyze possible future pathways of P management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although industrial activity has brought about rapid economic growth, it also faces the dual challenges of resource constraints and environmental pressure. Industrial ecology (IE) and ecological modernization (EM) are two theories regarding the conceptualization and implementation of sustainable development that emerged from the natural and social sciences, respectively. Over the past three decades, scholars have conducted copious amounts of theoretical and applied research on IE and EM, but comparative studies from an interdisciplinary perspective on the relationship between the two remain relatively rare. On the basis of a bibliometric analysis, this study offers a comprehensive examination of the background, theoretical connotations, and main content of IE and EM, also exploring the role of both theoretical perspectives in the promotion of sustainable industrial development. The findings are fourfold: (1) the research on IE and EM has been increasing year by year, particularly in the past decade; (2) the research is mostly concentrated in developed countries such as the United States and European Union member nations, and contributions from China have increased significantly in recent years; (3) IE has a broader research community than EM and has evolved clearer and more specific research contents and methods; and (4) IE, which analyzes the problems of specific industrial systems, and EM, which constitutes a higher-level institutional policy design, exhibit a trend of cross-fertilization. This study provides a reference for building a more systematic and comprehensive theoretical system of ecological transformation and discusses the future research directions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most innovation activities that are inevitable for sustainable growth are coordinated via research and development (R&D) projects, which can differ widely in terms of both project and open innovation characteristics, even when conducted within the same firm. Therefore, it is important to consider the peculiarities of R&D projects when evaluating the performance of open innovation strategies, as well as to explore how the benefits and costs of open innovation are shaped by cross-level interactions. This study identifies the differences between successful and unsuccessful open innovation projects, in both firm-level and project-level terms. We focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which usually lack the full set of internal resources and competences required to effectively develop, produce, and commercialize their innovations, and thus must adopt open innovation approaches more actively for sustainability. Adopting an empirical approach, we conducted a survey of 517 Korean SMEs and analyzed 241 successful and unsuccessful open innovation projects in depth. By combining measurements at the firm and project levels, this study provides new insight into the intra-organizational challenges of implementing open innovation projects, which are not only helpful to strategic decision-makers in SMEs, but also to those who make policies for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tree-growing sector is considered to be an important supplier of food and raw material for industry worldwide. Increasingly competitive decisions regarding international investment in orchards depend on business analysis. This study compares three apple orchards situated in Cluj-Napoca, on the Eastern limits of the Transylvanian Plain, Romania. While the climatic and soil conditions are relatively consistent among the three orchards, the technical and economic results (expressed in hectares) vary due to the use of three different technological systems of apple production: extensive, intensive, and super-intensive. The study compares the life cycle, starting with age of fructification, production level (quantity and quality), costs (investment and production costs-divided into material costs, mechanical costs, human costs, and overhead costs), income, profit (including rate of profit), and investment efficiency: Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PP). It was observed that the most economically efficient technological system in terms of investments is the super-intensive one, with a higher production level, a higher share of Extra Class apples, and a younger age of initial fructification. However certain inconveniences of this system-such as a more expensive investment, a higher cost of running the business throughout the year, and a reduced life cycle-cannot be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing discourse on air quality and climate changes positions walkability as a pivotal point of sustainable urban planning. Urban studies examine a city's walkability in terms of pedestrian flows, design qualities, and street network topology, leaving walkability comparative frameworks under development. Building on the space syntax theory, this research introduces a "walkability compass", a four spatial indicator-designed tool for city walkability assessment and comparison. The tools are being tested on eight Baltic region cities: Vilnius, Kaunas (LT), Malmö (SE), Riga (LV), Tallinn (ES), Gdansk, Bialystok, Lublin (PL). The nine-step method framework integrates four indexes: Gravity (Gr), Reach (Re), Straightness (St), and Population density (Pop). The "walkability compass" results reveal significant Re and St correlations; thus, visual and cultural aspects become the main factors in pedestrian-friendly cities. The spatial pattern typology has matched similar cities (Malmö and Kaunas) to work closely on sustainable urban planning development. In all case studies, specific walkability zones were mapped, but the Gr zones turned out to be the most compact ones (the Z-score of Gr was ranged from 355.4 to 584; other indexes oscillated between 209.4 and 542.6). The walkability mapping results are publicly shared via WebMap to stimulate the participatory discussion on case studies cities further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the total primary energy consumption has increased from 479 × 1015 BTU in 2010 to 528 × 1015 BTU in 2020. To address this ever-increasing energy demand, as well as prevent environmental pollution, clean energies are presented as a potential solution. In this regard, evaluating and selecting the most appropriate clean energy solution for a specific area is of particular importance. Therefore, in this study, a comparative analysis in Jiangsu province in China was performed by describing and implementing five prominent multi-criteria decision-making methods in the field of energy technology selection, including SAW, TOPSIS, ELECTRE, VIKOR, and COPRAS. The decision problem here consists of four clean energy options, including solar photovoltaic, wind, nuclear, and biomass, which have been evaluated by twelve basic and important criteria for ranking clean energy options. The obtained results, according to all five MCDM methods, indicate that solar photovoltaic was the optimal option in this study, followed by wind energy. The nuclear and biomass options placed third and fourth, respectively, except in the ELECTRE method ranking, in which both options scored the same and thus neither was superior. Finally, by conducting a comprehensive two-stage sensitivity analysis, in the first stage, it was found that changes in the weights of land use and water consumption criteria had the greatest impact on the performance of options, among which biomass and nuclear showed high sensitivity to variations in criteria weights. In the second stage, by defining five scenarios, the ranking of options was evaluated from different aspects so that the decision maker/organization would be able to make appropriate decisions in different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction accuracies of machine learning (ML) models may not only be dependent on the input parameters and training dataset, but also on whether an ensemble or individual learning model is selected. The present study is based on the comparison of individual supervised ML models, such as gene expression programming (GEP) and artificial neural network (ANN), with that of an ensemble learning model, i.e., random forest (RF), for predicting river water salinity in terms of electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved solids (TDS) in the Upper Indus River basin, Pakistan. The projected models were trained and tested by using a dataset of seven input parameters chosen on the basis of significant correlation. Optimization of the ensemble RF model was achieved by producing 20 sub-models in order to choose the accurate one. The goodness-of-fit of the models was assessed through well-known statistical indicators, such as the coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). The results demonstrated a strong association between inputs and modeling outputs, where R2 value was found to be 0.96, 0.98, and 0.92 for the GEP, RF, and ANN models, respectively. The comparative performance of the proposed methods showed the relative superiority of the RF compared to GEP and ANN. Among the 20 RF sub-models, the most accurate model yielded the R2 equal to 0.941 and 0.938, with 70 and 160 numbers of corresponding estimators. The lowest RMSE values of 1.37 and 3.1 were yielded by the ensemble RF model on training and testing data, respectively. The results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that HCO3− is the most effective variable followed by Cl− and SO42− for both the EC and TDS. The assessment of the models on external criteria ensured the generalized results of all the aforementioned techniques. Conclusively, the outcome of the present research indicated that the RF model with selected key parameters could be prioritized for water quality assessment and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study was to provide a critical analysis of the oil and fat sub-complex for deep walnut processing, to determine and compare the profitability of enterprises' activities under different business models for implementation in the agro-food value chain. The latter was considered as an important factor for the development of the domestic market of walnuts and export opportunities. Business modeling of the enterprise activity in the oil and fat sub-complex for deep walnut processing was carried out. The stages of production and marketing activities of the enterprise from the garden planting or the purchase of the processed raw materials to the sale of the processed raw materials and products obtained from walnut processing depending on the chosen business model were considered. A comparative analysis of profitability of the enterprise activity and absolute values of income and profitability indicators under various business models of the enterprise activity were shown. The most cost-effective business-model entailed the combination of walnut production and its processing, which will provide profitability of up to 4640.32% in the 20th year of the project implementation. The results of the given study are intended for the agricultural enterprises of central region of Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: In the context of differences among countries developing pre-entrepreneurship ecosystems in relation to agritourism, the need to define the specific challenges and facilitators in the group of post-communist countries is recognised. Given that, we aim to examine the differences between the countries belonging to the former USSR and the satellite countries of the former USSR. (2) Methods: For the realisation of the intended objective, we analysed studies of the literature on the subject, in terms of the theoretical treatment of the entrepreneurial eco-system in the field of agritourism, and current legal acts. Our own observations from stays in the regions in question were also used, along with statistical methods concerning the density of the transport network, comparative analysis of historical and political conditions, and SWOT analysis. (3) Results: Substantial differences were found between the components of the agritourism entrepreneurship ecosystem in Poland and Kazakhstan, primarily related to the level of transport infrastructure density (satisfactory in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, insufficient in North Kazakhstan), tradition of individual farming (well established in Poland, poorly present in Kazakhstan), support for agritourism development by central and local authorities (relatively high in Poland, incidental and with a short history in Kazakhstan), and finally, differences in the target group of agritourism service recipients (stable in Poland, undefined in Kazakhstan). (4) Conclusions: The research leads to the conclusion of the heterogeneity of the determinants of the development of the agritourism entrepreneurship ecosystem in countries collectively defined as post-communist. There are clearly different challenges and facilitations resulting not so much from the past political system as from the ethnic-historical considerations, the position of agriculture in the economy, and the degree and effectiveness of the involvement of administrative authorities in the development of agritourism. The study leads to a recommendation on the need for more efficient targeting of agritourism consumers abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain economic actors are considered by many as involved in or associated with an activity that is considered unethical or immoral, such as the producers of tobacco, alcohol and firearms (often referred to as sin stocks). In an environment in which stakeholders are increasingly interested in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, it is important to understand how firms respond to these issues which divide public opinion. Our study compares the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance for a targeted sample of 79 sin stocks and a control group of comparable firms. We observe that sin stocks have a lower overall ESG performance as well as for each of the three ESG pillars, and that this difference is more significant in relation to governance and some key social and environmental issues for which sin stocks could have compensated risk exposure with responsible management practices. In other words, our results demonstrate that sin stocks are exposed to more severe ESG issues and consistently lack the necessary practices to mitigate these issues. Our study provides relevant insights into the informativeness of ESG scores to distinguish firms (and sectors) investing in management practices that offset ESG risk exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of signal-free management at road junctions is tailored for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), in which the conventional signal control is replaced by various right-of-way assignment policies. First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) is the most commonly used policy. In most proposed strategies, although the traffic signals are replaced, the organization of vehicle trajectory remains the same as that of traffic lights. As a naturally signal-free strategy, roundabout has not received enough attention. A key motivation of this study is to theoretically compare the performance of signalized intersection (I-Signal), intersection using FCFS policy (I-FCFS), roundabout using the typical major-minor priority pattern (R-MM), and roundabout adopting FCFS policy (R-FCFS) under pure CAVs environment. Queueing theory is applied to derive the theoretical formulas of the capacity and average delay of each strategy. M/G/1 model is used to model the three signal-free strategies, while M/M/1/setup model is used to capture the red-and-green light switch nature of signal control. The critical safety time gaps are the main variables and are assumed to be generally distributed in the theoretical derivation. Analytically, I-Signal has the largest capacity benefiting from the ability to separate conflict points in groups, but in some cases it will have higher delay. Among the other three signal-free strategies, R-FCFS has the highest capacity and the least average control delay, indicating that the optimization of signal-free management of CAVs based on roundabout setting is worthy of further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automobile traffic has shifted the use of bicycles in many developed regions to being mainly for sport, recreation and commuting. Due to the desire to mitigate the impacts of climate change and alleviate traffic jams, bicycle sharing is booming in China. Governmental public bicycles and dockless bicycles are the main types of bicycle sharing in China, each with different types of management and pricing. Field research has found that many bicycle sharing networks are idle and wasteful, and thus we investigated which type is more popular and suitable for Chinese cities. This research comparatively analyzes the application of governmental public bicycles and dockless bicycles, mainly focusing on the cycling destination, cycling frequency, and cycling factors, taking Linfen City as an example. The results show that: (1) The purpose is different between governmental public bicycles and dockless bicycles. On the one hand, the aim of riding a governmental public bicycle to work represents the largest proportion at about 29%, mainly because of the fixed route of travel, and the fact that the fixed placement of governmental public bicycles makes them more available compared to the random arbitrariness of dockless bicycles. On the other hand, the aim of riding a dockless bicycle for entertainment accounts for the largest proportion, at about 34%, mainly due to the ease of borrowing and returning a bike, and mobile payment. (2) In terms of frequency, the public's choice of riding a dockless bicycle or a governmental public bicycle has no essential difference, given that there are only two options for citizens in Linfen. (3) The response to the two kinds of bicycle sharing is different; the governmental public bicycle has the advantage of lower cost, but the dockless bicycle has more advantages in the procedure of borrowing and returning the bicycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-COVID-19 era, virology-related research, which not only depends on the governments as its main source of funding but also requires international and interdisciplinary collaborations, is recognized as an essential defense for sustainability. Few published studies have examined the trend, but only for certain viruses before the mid-2010s. Moreover, it is challenging to define generally accepted virology-related research fields due to its broad spectrum. Thus, it is time that we confront the unprecedented pandemic to understand the status of nationally supported projects in developed nations to establish international collaborative research strategies from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this study, 32,365 national-funded projects were collected from the US, EU, and Japan and assigned to five scientific fields to conduct a cluster analysis. Then, an expert-based approach was utilized to define an individual cluster. Moreover, a comparative analysis between nations was carried out to determine if there was a competitive edge for collaboration. As a result, a framework for virology-related research areas was constructed to provide the status quo and differences between nations' research capabilities, thereby eliciting practical global research and development (R&D) cooperation to achieve a common agenda and a direction for goals in the post-COVID-19 era. These findings have implications for viral response R&D, policy, and practice for future pandemics. A systematic approach based on scientific evidence and an R&D collaboration strategy between industry and academia is essential to resolve the interdisciplinary barriers between countries and promote sustainable virus R&D collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the relationship between fuel consumption and speed for a vehicle on a superhighway with a design speed exceeding 120 km/h, the fuel consumption data provided by the Test of Easy Car platform are used to fit the fuel consumption of different models. The fitting results show that the fitting degree of fuel consumption by a cubic curve is the highest, and the correlation coefficient is above 0.95. A fuel consumption cubic curve model of different vehicle types is established by using the fitting parameters to predict the fuel consumption when a vehicle is running at a speed of 130 km/h–180 km/h. The prediction results show that the average fuel consumption of compact vehicles is the lowest when a vehicle is running on a superhighway at speeds of 130 km/h–180 km/h, with values of 8.95 L/100 km–16.26 L/100 km; the average fuel consumption of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) is the highest, with values of 12.65 L/100 km–22.70 L/100 km. The prediction results can be used to estimate the cost of using a superhighway and provide a basis for estimating the feasibility of superhighways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]