Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 4 (February-2 2021) – 826 articles

Shared mobility options, such as car sharing, are often claimed to be more sustainable, although evidence at an individual or city level may contradict these claims. This study aims to improve understanding of the effects of car sharing on transport-related emissions at an individual and city level. This is done by quantifying the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the travel habits of individuals before and after engaging with car sharing. The analysis uses a well-to-wheel (WTW) approach, including both business-to-consumer (B2C) and peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing fleets. Changes in GHG emissions after engaging in car sharing vary among individuals. Transport-related GHG emissions caused by car-free individuals tend to increase after they engage in car sharing, while emissions caused by previous car owners tend to fall. At the city level, GHG emissions savings can be achieved by using more efficient cars in sharing systems and by implementing greener mobility policies. Changes in travel habits might help to reduce GHG emissions, providing individuals migrate to low-carbon transport modes. The findings can be used to support the development and implementation of transport policies that deter car ownership and support shared mobility solutions that are integrated in city transport systems. Full article

This paper reports on the indoor and outdoor air quality in informal urban and rural settlements in Kenya. The study is motivated by the need to improve consciousness and to understand the harmful health effects of air quality to vulnerable people, especially in poor communities. Ng’ando urban informal settlement and Leshau Pondo rural village in Kenya are selected as representative poor neighborhoods where unclean energy sources are used indoor for cooking, lighting and heating. Filter based sampling for gravimetrical, elemental composition and black carbon (BC) analysis of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) is performed. findings from Ng’ando and Leshau Pondo showed levels exceeding the limit suggested by the world health organization (WHO), with rare exceptions. Significantly higher levels of PM_2.5 and black carbon are observed in indoors than outdoor samples, with a differences in the orders of magnitudes and up to 1000 µg/m³ for PM_2.5 in rural settlements. The elemental composition reveals the presence of potentially toxic elements, in addition to characterization, emission sources were also identified. Levels of Pb exceeding the WHO limit are found in the majority of samples collected in the urban locations near major roads with heavy traffic. Our results demonstrate that most of the households live in deplorable air quality conditions for more than 12 h a day and women and children are more affected. Air quality condition is much worse in rural settlements where wood and kerosene are the only available fuels for their energy needs. Full article

Cultural and creative tourism is emerging in tourism industry with the potential to be sustainable as an important carrier of traditional culture. This study adopts stimulus–response theory in a cultural integration perspective to investigate how tourists’ cultural memories, cultural contact, and attitude to culture affect their revisit intention. With the questionnaire survey responses from 651 tourists and structural equation modeling method, it was found that tourists’ cultural contact affected their revisit intentions directly and indirectly through cultural memory. Attitude to culture played critical moderating roles in the effects of tourists’ cultural contact on their cultural memory and revisit intention, but it had no significant impact on the relationship between tourists’ cultural memory and their revisit intention. This study indicates that cultural memory dominates tourists’ behavioral decisions, while attitude to culture highlights different effects at different influence paths. The findings provide marketers and managers with strategies for the sustainable development of cultural and creative districts. Full article

Communities in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) are at the forefront of the global climate emergency. Yet, they are not passive victims; local-level programs are being implemented across the region to maintain livelihoods and promote adaptation. At the same time, there is a recent call within global governance literature to pay attention to how global policy is implemented and affecting people on the ground. Thinking about these two processes, we ask the question: (how) can global governance assist northern Indigenous communities in Canada in reaching their goals of adapting their food systems to climate change? To answer this question, we argue for a “community needs” approach when engaging in global governance literature and practice, which puts community priorities and decision-making first. As part of a collaborative research partnership, we highlight the experiences of Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation, located in Kakisa, NWT, Canada. We include their successes of engaging in global network building and the systemic roadblock of lack of formal land tenure. Moreover, we analyze potential opportunities for this community to engage with global governance instruments and continue connecting to global networks that further their goals related to climate change adaptation and food sovereignty. Full article

The brick and tile industry was selected to investigate the impact of pollutants emitted from such industry on air quality. Based on the 2018 Zhengzhou City Census data and combined with field sampling and research visits, an emission inventory of the brick and tile industry in Xinmi City was established using the emission factor method. Based on the established emission inventory, the concentrations of SO₂, NO_X, and PM_2.5 emitted by 31 brick and tile enterprises were then predicted using the CALPUFF model (California puff model, USEPA), which had been evaluated for accuracy, and the simulation results were compared with the observed results to obtain the impact of pollutant emissions from the brick and tile industry on air pollution in the simulated region. Results show that SO₂, NO_X, and PM_2.5 emissions from the brick and tile industry in the study area in 2018 were 564.86 tons, 513.16 tons, and 41.01 tons, respectively. The CALPUFF model can simulate the characteristics of meteorological changes and pollutant concentration trends, and the correlation coefficient of the fit curve between the pollutant observed data and the simulated data was higher than 0.8, which can reproduce the impact of key industrial point sources on air quality well. The simulated concentration values and spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of SO₂, NO_X, PM_2.5 in spring, summer, autumn, and winter were obtained from the model simulations. The contribution of pollutant emissions from the brick and tile industry to the monthly average concentrations of SO₂, NO_X, and PM_2.5 in the simulated region were 6.58%, 5.38%, and 1.42%, respectively, with the Housing Administration monitoring station as the receptor point. The brick and tile industry should increase the emission control measures of SO₂ and NO_X, and at the same time, the emission control of PM_2.5 cannot be slackened. Full article

This article spans issues of international student mobility, inequalities in higher education, and spaces for transformative learning for sustainable development. We tracked PhD alumni of an international Swiss research program in 2012 and 2017 and found that students from the global South experienced a significant, immediate career boost; most graduates decided to remain in or return to their country of origin after graduation (brain circulation). Career advancement among global North students took longer to develop. In-depth interviews with selected graduates gave students a voice: they felt empowered by networks, new friendships, and working relationships across disciplinary boundaries. The “safe spaces” or “Third Spaces” created in the program—encompassing inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, institutional and cultural diversity, and a real-world focus—were key for transformative learning, supported by an unconventional teaching and research strategy. To support disruptive learning leading to changes in mindsets and to reduce inequality in higher education, Western universities must question their own privileged position. Full article

A museum’s core activities traditionally focus on such areas as collections’ care, exhibitions and scholarship. Income generation, including retail activities, is considered secondary. Academic research into museums’ merchandise, especially into the perceived value and purchase intentions, is limited. Drawing on literature embracing both core museum functions and marketing, this research, based on the Palace Museum in Beijing, China, explores the impact of the perceived value of a museum’s cultural and creative products on purchase intentions. Combining the results of in-depth interviews with museum visitors and experts, this study defines a construct composed of six perceived value dimensions, namely quality, social, price, innovation, educational, and experience values. A relationship model of perceived value and purchase intentions is proposed. Some 346 valid survey responses were obtained by distributing a questionnaire online and on-site at the Palace Museum, and hypotheses were tested by structural equation modelling. Results showed that innovation and experience values have a significant positive effect on purchase intentions, while quality, social, price, and educational values had no significant influence on purchase intentions. This research outlines feasible strategies and actions for the development of cultural and creative products at museums that have a strong tourism role. Full article

The conventional building design and construction have detrimental impact onto the environment. With the current pace of development of the contemporary society, these issues cannot be fully addressed with the concept of sustainable design and construction, which is based on causing less harm to the environment. Thus, the regenerative concept is gaining relevance, as it is changing the construction paradigm toward the delivery of a human-centric environment, which, when coupled with the circular economy, aims to enable the natural environment to evolve. In order to have a more frequent delivery of regenerative buildings, it is necessary to broaden the knowledge on regenerative design, which is the objective of this paper. The aim is to investigate the design process, strategies, and technologies that are applied during the design and construction of a refurbished residential building, which is intended to be the first regenerative building in Spain, and is currently in the process of certification as per the Living Building Challenge (LBC) standard. Therefore, a literature review was performed, followed by a site visit of the case-study building. The research is organized according to the seven categories (petals) of the Living Building Challenge standard, and all 20 imperatives of the LBC are discussed. Additionally, the aspects of costs and project management are investigated. The findings point out the main design features and challenges toward the realization of regenerative refurbishment, in order to fully adhere to the demands of the LBC, and discusses their potential for a broader application in rural as well as urban settings. The analysis of the case-study design and construction can serve as a valuable insight to deliver future regenerative buildings and accelerate their implementation in the construction industry. This article is based upon the work of COST Action RESTORE CA16114, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). Full article

The growing popularity of social media data brings questions about its accuracy and usefulness for a wide array of cultural heritage projects, often lacking data sources crucial for better planning and implementation. In this paper, we are studying the opportunities offered by the freely available Facebook Ads Manager data on target group sizes in different locations. We conducted a small experiment and a pilot survey to verify if Facebook data concerning its users’ interests is accurate and could be used to facilitate the implementation of projects in the field of adaptive reuse. Despite all discovered limitations of this approach, we point out how Facebook data, along with other social media outlets, can be used to extract some strategic information and add to the socio-cultural assessment toolbox. As such, this type of data could be of use to local leaders planning activities and investments around cultural heritage sites. We also posit that such data can facilitate benefit transfer between cities through better understanding of local preferences and values-orientations. Full article

Industry and industrial complexes are often located in the proximity of people’s homes. One of the negative effects of industry is noise emissions into the surrounding environment. With the increasing concentration of the human population and the increase in industrial production, more and more people are exposed to the negative effects of noise. This article discusses a comprehensive approach to reducing noise emissions from industrial operations, and the subsequent impacts on surrounding villages and human health. The first step of the whole process is to understand the current state of the acoustic situation in industrial operation and in the nearby villages, an important part of which is the identification and localization of dominant noise sources. For this purpose, a unique noise visualization tool was used, namely, an acoustic camera. The next important step is to propose a technical solution and measures to reduce the noise of the individual source. Consequently, it is necessary to create a mathematical model, i.e., noise maps, in order to verify whether the proposed measures will be sufficient. Once the proposed measures have been implemented, verification of the effectiveness of these measures needs to be carried out through repeated noise measurements in nearby villages and also on the site of the industrial installation. The above procedure was applied to the operation of a wastewater treatment plant that was causing noise exceeding the permissible levels in the surrounding villages. The application of this approach, the implementation of the proposed measures, and the subsequent verification confirmed a significant reduction in the noise levels in the affected villages, and the measures implemented were assessed as highly effective. Full article

Current flood risk management is based on statistical models and assessments of the risk of occurrence over a given time period, although with very short measurement periods, usually following catastrophic events. Ongoing monitoring of basic hydrological (river-water level and streamflow) and climate data are the basis for sustainable water management and long-term flood control planning. The lack of data has proven to be particularly negative during this period of global climate change, when non-seasonal flooding (during summer) is becoming increasingly frequent, and the resulting damage greater. The aim of this study was to analyse the possible use of tree ring width chronologies of trees growing in floodplain areas to reconstruct hydrodynamic variables (river-water level and streamflow). The study analysed the influence of climatic and hydrological variables on the growth of narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl) in the Sava River basin. The results indicate the significant potential of narrow-leaved ash tree-ring width chronologies to reconstruct the summer streamflows of the Sava River (R² = 0.45). These results can serve to develop long-term data series on the summer streamflows of the river, thereby enabling better insight into its spatial and temporal dynamics with the goal of more successful, sustainable management of floodplain areas. Full article

This study shows the effect of different types of internal curing liquid on the properties of alkali-activated slag (AAS) mortar. NaOH solution and deionized water were used as the liquid internal curing agents and zeolite sand was the internal curing agent that replaced the standard sand at 15% and 30%, respectively. Experiments on the mechanical properties, hydration kinetics, autogenous shrinkage (AS), internal temperature, internal relative humidity, surface electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and setting time were performed. The conclusions are as follows: (1) the setting times of AAS mortars with internal curing by water were longer than those of internal curing by NaOH solution. (2) NaOH solution more effectively reduces the AS of AAS mortars than water when used as an internal curing liquid. (3) The cumulative heat of the AAS mortar when using water for internal curing is substantially reduced compared to the control group. (4) For the AAS mortars with NaOH solution as an internal curing liquid, compared with the control specimen, the compressive strength results are increased. However, a decrease in compressive strength values occurs when water is used as an internal curing liquid in the AAS mortar. (5) The UPV decreases as the content of zeolite sand that replaces the standard sand increases. (6) When internal curing is carried out with water as the internal curing liquid, the surface resistivity values of the AAS mortar are higher than when the alkali solution is used as the internal curing liquid. To sum up, both NaOH and deionized water are effective as internal curing liquids, but the NaOH solution shows a better performance in terms of reducing shrinkage and improving mechanical properties than deionized water. Full article

The growing recognition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been integrated globally into product design and business activities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered a useful tool for designers to apply in the early stages of product design to mitigate the environmental impact. The study aims to identify the challenges of applying simplified LCA tools to improve the eco-efficiency of products and achieve a higher level of sustainable innovation. The study was conducted in a sustainable design course at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, for four consecutive years. All challenges and opportunities by using ECO-it, Eco-indicators, and the Materials, Energy use, and Toxic emissions (MET) matrix to assess the environmental impact in each phase of 11 home appliances are presented and discussed. Results show the positive potential of applying the tools to achieve function innovation in design for sustainable innovation. The needs for guided instruction, the availability of the database, the complexity of a study product, and the overlooking of social dimensions are four major challenges in applying the tools in the early stages of product redesign. Further study in testing the tools and developing a database in collaboration with industries should be conducted to compare and validate the results. Full article

All building users should have the right to safe evacuation. However, evacuation becomes a big challenge when it concerns people with disabilities. Nowadays, computer programs are used to plan escape routes. Therefore, the manuscript deals with the issues of modeling evacuation with particular emphasis on people with disabilities. A review of different evacuation modeling software is presented. The research is performed mainly to see what the limitations of different programs are and how they regard occupants with disabilities. The analyses contain a study of six cases of the evacuation from a building. In this study the three following programs—SIMULEX, STEPS and Pathfinder—are considered. Different populations of people with mobility impairments are modeled. The comparison of the methodology when using these three programs is presented in the following sections. Research has shown that despite the same input data, the results obtained with the three programs differ significantly. In the case of the total evacuation time, the differences reach up to 8%. Full article

Although inorganic and organic manures with high concentrations of heavy metals can lead to accumulation or contamination of heavy metals in soils, there are few reports on the effects of long-term application of swine and green manures on the accumulation of heavy metals in rice grains in paddy soils. A long-term field experiment, which was established in 1990 in paddy soil in Hangzhou, China, was used to investigate the effects of inorganic and organic manures on the availability and accumulation of heavy metals in soil and uptake by rice plant. The results showed that long-term application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (NPK) plus green manure or swine manure, and swine manure only increased 202%, 146%, and 100% for total Cd, and 5.5%, 7.6%, and 6.6% for total Cu in rice grains, respectively compared to the control without fertilization. Total Zn in rice grain was significantly increased by 13.9% for the treatment of NPK plus green manure. The accumulation of Cd, Zn, and Cu in rice grains after long-term application of swine and green manures is due to the combined effects of the increased concentrations of total and EDTA extractable Cd, Zn, and Cu in soil and the changes of soil properties. Furthermore, the highest bioconcentration factor for Cd was found in the treatment of NPK plus green manure while for Zn and Cu it was observed in NPK treatment. Thus, it may be concluded that green manure and manure with increased Cd, Zn, and Cu in rice grain results in a potential risk of metal accumulation in paddy soils. Full article

Green roofs (GRs) have been one of the most popular solutions for water harvesting in urban areas. Apart from their water retention role and increasing biodiversity, they constitute the missing link between the built and the natural environment, which is required for sustainable human living in cities. This paper aims to calculate the ecological (EE) and economic effect (EcE) of water harvesting via GRs, by contrasting with a traditional roof, and to perform an economic analysis of the social cost benefits that GRs generate during their life cycle, using the Net Present Value (NPV) method. All the calculations and analyses were conducted for both intensive and extensive GRs in 11 of the largest municipalities in Poland, with a population of >250,000 inhabitants. According to the results of this study, water retention and the economic and ecological effects of GRs are highest in the municipalities with the highest assumed number of GRs (Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, and Szczecin). The average EE and EcE equals 507,000 m³/yr and 621,000 USD/yr. The NPV results show that the effectiveness of investments in intensive GRs is, to a certain extent, more significant than in extensive GRs and the average equals 60.77 and 4.47 USD/yr for intensive and extensive GRs, respectively. The results could serve as a reference for the evaluation and optimization of the energy efficiency of rainwater harvesting schemes, in European cities. Full article

To analyze the characteristics, influencing factors, and microscopic mechanisms of county-level city shrinkage, this paper uses a quantitative push-pull model to explore the shrinking counties of Shandong Province between 2000 and 2018. The measurement method formulates three research objectives. First, the shrinking intensity and characteristics are analyzed according to statistics about the average annual rate of population growth, the primary production proportion, and public expenditure. Second, the influence factors are explored. Living standards, industrial development, social input, and public resource indicators are selected to quantitatively identify the push factors and pull factors and the correlated relationship of how the factors influence the population decline using ridge regression. Finally, the circular feedback mechanism and push-pull effect of multiple factors are explained. How do the factors affect each other and which is the decisive factor shaping county shrinkage? The push-pull mechanism is analyzed using dynamic relationship testing and the Granger causality test. The results show that the shrinkage of county-level cities faces common problems, including lack of resources, slowing down of the economy, and declining cityscape quality of life, which are the push factors for the population decline. There are differentiated characteristics of shrinkage. There has not yet been a full-scale recession in Shandong Province in terms of the degree of shrinkage. The towns with population loss accounted for only 15.4%, and the loss of population was less than 10% in ten years. In terms of impact mechanisms, county economic strength has a nonlinear correlation to population migration. Some counties tend to shrink in population and society. The degradation of the cultural environment, quality of life, and social welfare highlight social shrinkage signs in counties. A healthy living environment, equal public services, and a slowing down of relative deprivation have become essential pull factors for migration. County governments should shift from economic growth to people’s well-being, balancing government governance, economic growth, cultural development, environmental protection, and improving the livability level, as they are important directions for improving shrinking counties’ resilience. Full article

The melting heat transfer of CuO—coconut oil embedded in a non-uniform copper metal foam—was addressed. Copper foam is placed in a channel-shaped Thermal Energy Storage (TES) unit heated from one side. The foam is non-uniform with a linear porosity gradient in a direction perpendicular to the heated surface. The finite element method was applied to simulate natural convection flow and phase change heat transfer in the TES unit. The results showed that the porosity gradient could significantly boost the melting rate and stored energy rate in the TES unit. The best non-uniform porosity corresponds to a case in which the maximum porosity is next to a heated surface. The variation of the unit placement’s inclination angle is only important in the final stage of charging, where there is a dominant natural convection flow. The variation of porous pore size induces minimal impact on the phase change rate, except in the case of a large pore size of 30 pore density (PPI). The presence of nanoparticles could increase or decrease the charging time. However, using a 4% volume fraction of nanoparticles could mainly reduce the charging time. Full article

Nitrogen (N) in the agricultural production system influences many aspects of agroecosystems and several critical ecosystem services widely depend on the N availability in the soil. Cumulative changes in regional ecosystem services may lead to global environmental changes. Thus, the soil N status in agriculture is of critical importance to strategize its most efficient use. Nitrogen is also one of the most susceptible macronutrients to environmental loss, such as ammonia volatilization (NH₃), nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, nitrate leaching (NO₃), etc. Any form of N losses from agricultural systems can be major limitations for crop production, soil sustainability, and environmental safeguard. There is a need to focus on mitigation strategies to minimize global N pollution and implement agricultural management practices that encourage regenerative and sustainable agriculture. In this review, we identified the avenues of N loss into the environment caused by current agronomic practices and discussed the potential practices that can be adapted to prevent this N loss in production agriculture. This review also explored the N status in agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing knowledge gaps and questions that need to be addressed. Full article

Fugitive dust is a serious threat to unpaved road users from a safety and health point of view. Dust suppressing materials or dust suppressants are often employed to lower the fugitive dust. Currently, many dust suppressants are commercially available and are being developed for various applications. The performance of these dust suppressants depends on their physical and chemical properties, application frequency and rates, soil type, wind speed, atmospheric conditions, etc. This article presents a comprehensive review of various available and in-development dust suppression materials and their dust suppression mechanisms. Specifically, the dust suppressants that lower the fugitive dust either through hygroscopicity (ability to absorb atmospheric moisture) and/or agglomeration (ability to cement the dust particles) are reviewed. The literature findings, recommendations, and limitations pertaining to dust suppression on unpaved roads are discussed at the end of the review. Full article

The healthcare system’s climate footprint is equivalent to 4.4% of global net emission. The food service offered, with subsequent food waste production and energy consumption, falls within the spectrum of environmentally harmful activities. The development of a Sustainable Food Procurement Strategy is an opportunity to counteract these negative effects. This article aims to identify the nature and extent of the evidence found in the literature on the processes related to food procurement within healthcare systems and analyse them from the perspective of sustainability dimensions. A scoping review is carried out using online databases to identify scientific and grey literature published in English during the period 2000–2019. An analytical-synthetic approach is used for charting the data. Twenty-six studies are included; 65% of them published in the last five years. These include research articles (n 11), an opinion article (n 1), policy handbooks and guides (n 2), project reports (n 4) and technical reports (n 3), policy forums (n 1), factsheet documents (n 3), and legislative directives (n 1). The outcomes framework highlights multilevel governance, a sustainable food supply system, and healthy and sustainable food services as the main action areas for a sustainable food procurement strategy, along with six transversal features: long-term commitment, investment, evaluation, communication, gender, and a holistic approach. Full article

Users voluntarily generate large amounts of textual content by expressing their opinions, in social media and specialized portals, on every possible issue, including transport and sustainability. In this work we have leveraged such User Generated Content to obtain a high accuracy sentiment analysis model which automatically analyses the negative and positive opinions expressed in the transport domain. In order to develop such model, we have semiautomatically generated an annotated corpus of opinions about transport, which has then been used to fine-tune a large pretrained language model based on recent deep learning techniques. Our empirical results demonstrate the robustness of our approach, which can be applied to automatically process massive amounts of opinions about transport. We believe that our method can help to complement data from official statistics and traditional surveys about transport sustainability. Finally, apart from the model and annotated dataset, we also provide a transport classification score with respect to the sustainability of the transport types found in the use case dataset. Full article

The transportation sector of the world is in the transformation stage, shifting from conventional fossil fuel-powered vehicles to zero or ultra-low tailpipe emission vehicles. To support this transformation, a proper charging station (CS) infrastructure in combination with information technology, smart distributed energy generating units, and favorable government policies are required. The motive of this paper is to address the key aspects to be taken care of while planning for the charging station infrastructure for electric vehicles. The paper also provides major indagation and developments in planning and technological aspects that are going on for the enhancement of the design and efficient management of charging station infrastructure. The paper addresses the present scenario of India related to electric vehicle charging station developments. The paper specially provides a critical review on the research and developments in the charging station infrastructure, the problems associated with it, and the efforts that are going on for its standardization to help the researchers address the problems. Full article

The demand of renewable energy has increased the interest in whole-tree harvesting. The sustainability of whole-tree harvesting after clear-cutting, from an acidification point of view, depends on two factors: the present acidification status and the further loss of buffering capacity at harvesting. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between these two factors at 26 sites along an acidification gradient in Sweden, to divide the sites into risk classes, and to examine the geographical distribution of them in order to provide policy-relevant insights. The present status was represented by the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in soil solution, and the loss of buffering capacity was represented by the estimated exceedance of critical biomass harvesting (CBH). The sites were divided into three risk classes combining ANC and exceedance of CBH. ANC and exceedance of CBH were negatively correlated, and most sites had either ANC < 0 and exceedance (high risk) or ANC > 0 and no exceedance (low risk). There was a geographical pattern, with the high risk class concentrated to southern Sweden, which was mainly explained by higher historical sulfur deposition and site productivity in the south. The risk classes can be used in the formulation of policies on whole-tree harvesting and wood ash recycling. Full article

Recent strategies to improve the performance of the cycling mode of transport are based on infrastructural, behavioral, and multimodal measures, which are related to the concept of bikeability. A literature review on “bikeability indexes” was conducted focusing on indicators, using a four-step systematic process. Fourteen studies were included for the final analysis and provided 138 indicators, 17 criteria, and four domains. The exploratory analysis evidenced limited application of indicators related to pollution, scarce use of indicators related to bicycle sharing systems (BSS), absence of indicators related to electric bicycles, lack of indicators related to digital solutions, and the need of a calibration and validation process for bikeability indexes. Considering the changes and opportunities created by emerging innovations (namely BSS and electric bicycles) and the health trade-off related to pollution reduction, this research reveals that the current bikeability indexes do not fully address the real potential of a cycle network, limiting its use as a comprehensive tool for the promotion of sustainable mobility. Full article

This paper presents a comprehensive review of machine learning (ML) based approaches, especially artificial neural networks (ANNs) in time series data prediction problems. According to literature, around 80% of the world’s total energy demand is supplied either through fuel-based sources such as oil, gas, and coal or through nuclear-based sources. Literature also shows that a shortage of fossil fuels is inevitable and the world will face this problem sooner or later. Moreover, the remote and rural areas that suffer from not being able to reach traditional grid power electricity need alternative sources of energy. A “hybrid-renewable-energy system” (HRES) involving different renewable resources can be used to supply sustainable power in these areas. The uncertain nature of renewable energy resources and the intelligent ability of the neural network approach to process complex time series inputs have inspired the use of ANN methods in renewable energy forecasting. Thus, this study aims to study the different data driven models of ANN approaches that can provide accurate predictions of renewable energy, like solar, wind, or hydro-power generation. Various refinement architectures of neural networks, such as “multi-layer perception” (MLP), “recurrent-neural network” (RNN), and “convolutional-neural network” (CNN), as well as “long-short-term memory” (LSTM) models, have been offered in the applications of renewable energy forecasting. These models are able to perform short-term time-series prediction in renewable energy sources and to use prior information that influences its value in future prediction. Full article

Due to the scarcity of water, raw sewage effluents are often used to irrigate arable suburban soils in developing countries, which causes soil contamination with toxic metals. Soil microorganisms involved in biochemical transformations are sensitive to heavy metals contamination. The study was designed to investigate the effect of organic amendments on the microbial activity of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) fractions and their bioavailability in soils contaminated with wastewater irrigation. Three metal contaminated soils under wastewater irrigation were collected, ground, sieved and added to incubation jars. Two organic amendments: wheat straw and chickpea straw, were applied (1% w/w) to the soil before incubation for 84 days at 25 °C. The CO₂-C evolution after 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days was measured and thereafter was also measured weekly. Soil samples collected at 0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70 and 84 days after incubation were analyzed for microbial biomass carbon (MBC). Sequential extraction for metal fractionation of samples was carried out collected at 0, 28, 56 and 84 days. Three soils differed significantly in evolved MBC and ∑CO₂-C. Chickpea straw addition significantly increased soil MBC as compared to the wheat straw. Organic amendments significantly increased ∑CO₂-C evolution from the soils, which was higher from chickpea straw. The addition of crop residues did not affect total Pb, Cd and Zn contents in soils. The concentration of exchangeable, carbonate bound and residual fractions of Pb, Cd and Zn decreased (6–27%), while the organic matter bound fraction increased (4–75%) with straw addition. Overall, the organic amendments improved microbial activity and reduce the bioavailability of toxic metals in wastewater irrigated soils. Furthermore, organic amendments not only reduce economic losses as they are cheap to produce but also minimize human health risks from heavy metals by hindering their entry into the food chain. Full article

The study’s motivation is to gauge the impact of financial innovation on economic growth from 2004M1 to 2018M12 in India and Pakistan’s economy with the mediating role of economic policy uncertainty. For instituting the possible association between financial innovations, economic policy uncertainty, and economic growth study considered both symmetric and asymmetric frameworks following autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) and nonlinear ARDL (NARDL). Furthermore, asymmetric causal relationships were evaluated by performing non-granger causality tests with asymmetric shocks of financial innovation and economic policy uncertainty (EPU). The results of Fpss, Wpss, and tBDM under symmetry framework established the long-run link between EPU, financial innovation, and economic growth in both countries. The results of standard Wald tests demonstrated the asymmetry effects furring from EPU to economic growth and financial innovation to economic growth both in the long-run and short-run. The asymmetry effects of positive and negative shocks in financial innovation revealed a positive linkage with economic growth and a negative tie between asymmetric shocks in EPU and economic growth in the long-run, but short-run magnitudes negligible. Refers to directional causality estimation, the study revealed evidence supporting the feedback hypothesis between EPU and financial innovation in all sample countries. Full article

A vast theoretical and empirical literature has been devoted to exploring the relationship between environmental regulation and total factor productivity (TFP), but no consensus has been reached and the reason may be attributed to the fact that the resource reallocation effect of environmental regulation is ignored. In this paper, we introduce resource misallocation in the process of discussing the impact of environmental regulation on TFP, taking China’s provincial industrial panel data from 1997 to 2017 as a sample, and the spatial econometric method is employed to investigate whether environmental regulation has a resource reallocation effect and affects TFP. The results indicate that there is a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and industrial TFP and a negative spatial spillover effect of environmental regulation on industrial TFP at the provincial level in China. Both capital misallocation and labor misallocation will lead to the loss of industrial TFP. Capital misallocation has a negative spatial spillover effect on industrial TFP, while labor misallocation is just the opposite. Environmental regulation can produce a positive resource reallocation effect, which in turn promotes the industrial TFP in the range of 28% to 33%, while capital misallocation and labor misallocation are only partial mediator. Full article

The indoor air of a hospital is always full of bacteria and viruses due to patients with different diseases. These bacteria and viruses could be highly infectious to the people in the hospital irrespective of their health conditions, and could be hazardous to the patients, their care takers, and hospital staff. Thus, keeping a good hospital air quality is very essential to the operation of the hospital. This study aims at enhancing ventilation of the interior lighting of hospitals with germicidal capabilities. Air disinfection is accomplished by adding the specially designed disinfecting filters and fans to existing embedded lamps in the hospitals. The embedded lamp has a square shape of 601 mm in width and 112 mm in thickness. In the design stage, the air flow inside the embedded lamp with the added filters and fans was investigated by numerical simulation using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool. Three designs, referred to as Types 1, 2, and 3, were evaluated using steady-state CFD flow simulations. The ventilation rate of the Type 1 design was about 251.9 CMH, and 348.3 CMH for the Type 2 design by increasing the fan outlet area. However, even though the ventilation was increased by 34%, the flow field of the Type 2 design was not uniform, resulting in flows being circulated around the side locations. Thus, the Type 3 design further treats this aspect by streamlining the outlet geometry and adding flow guiding vanes to reduce flow resistance and flow unsteadiness; the corresponding air ventilation rate reached 376.3 CMH. Hence, the Type 3 design was fabricated and tested. The test results confirm that the design not only has a higher ventilation rate but also operates under a smaller pressure drop, thus accomplishing the goal of providing good air quality in the hospital environment efficiently. Moreover, the associated flow noise is reduced by about 8 dBA. Hence, both an increase in the air ventilation rate and a reduction of noise are achieved simultaneously by the present method. Full article