Search Results (13)

The increasing digitalization of smart circular economy (CE) systems intensifies reliance on interconnected cyber-physical infrastructures, thereby increasing exposure to cybersecurity risks that may affect operational continuity and regulatory compliance. This study proposes a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP)-based framework to systematically assess cybersecurity readiness in alignment with the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standard. The framework adopts a structured three-level hierarchy consisting of seven main criteria and 39 sub-criteria, derived from ISO/IEC 27001:2022 clause-based requirements and Annex A control families, and expanded with an additional regulatory criterion based on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Requirements Standards Mapping. Expert judgments from ten specialists in cybersecurity and digital systems were elicited using linguistic assessments and converted into triangular fuzzy numbers to compute priority weights under uncertainty. The results indicate that ISMS governance and organizational context are the most influential determinants of cybersecurity readiness, followed by regulatory and compliance alignment, operational oversight, and technological controls, while organizational, human, and physical controls play supportive roles. Consistency and sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness and stability of the weighting structure. Overall, the framework provides a standards-aligned decision-support tool for prioritizing cybersecurity readiness in digitally intensive CE environments. Full article

Although sustainability has become a central concern in project management research, its integration into enterprise risk practices in construction remains limited. This study investigates the complex set of barriers preventing effective implementation of Sustainable Enterprise Risk Management (SERM) within the construction industry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). SERM focuses on maintaining the system’s long-term effectiveness, adaptability, and resilience. As projects across the region expand in scale and complexity, the need for resilient and sustainability-aligned risk practices has become increasingly urgent. To address this gap, a structured four-stage methodology was adopted. A Systematic Literature Review identified 28 potential barriers, which were refined through a Delphi process to 16 validated barriers. Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis were then used to explore their hierarchical relationships and mutual influence. The ISM–MICMAC results showed that weak governance and limited organizational awareness reinforce communication and procedural challenges, while technology-related constraints remain highly dependent within the hierarchy. The sixteen barriers were categorized under four dimensions: leadership, culture, resources, and technology to clarify their structural relationships and dominant influence levels. Among these, the lack of senior management commitment (C01) emerged as the most influential barrier, exerting the strongest driving power (16) and lowest dependence (1), positioning it as the root cause affecting the rest. These findings highlight the need for leadership-driven strategies to embed long-term sustainability within organizational risk governance. The study offers practical direction for policymakers, contractors, and project leaders seeking to strengthen resilience and sustainable risk practices in the UAE construction sector. Full article

In low-detectability application scenarios such as covert reconnaissance, wildlife behavior observation, and battlefield detection, antennas not only need to have wideband performance but also require good biomimetic camouflage characteristics. To address this issue, this article proposes a leaf-shaped biomimetic flexible wideband antenna. The design concept of the antenna is inspired by the symmetrical vein structure of aquifoliaceae leaves, incorporating vein-like slots into the radiation patch to form multiple inter-slot capacitances, which improves the high-frequency resonance behavior and expands the antenna’s operating bandwidth. In addition, the traditional rectangular grounding plane is replaced with a semi-elliptical shape, optimizing the electric field distribution between the feed line and the radiation part, thereby improving impedance matching. The measured results show that the leaf-shaped antenna achieves a relative bandwidth of 100% (2.4 GHz–7.1 GHz), with its operating frequency bands covering several common communication bands such as n41, n78, n79, and ISM 5.8 GHz, with a maximum gain of 5.4 dBi. Additionally, the leaf-shaped antenna has a good resemblance to the shape of aquifoliaceae leaves. The antenna’s performance remains relatively stable with bending radii of 40 mm, 50 mm, and 60 mm, demonstrating an important role in camouflage application scenarios. Full article

Prefabricated construction (PC) is increasingly promoted in the construction sector for its potential benefits, including reduced resource assumption and improved quality. Accordingly, Lean methods are popularly applied to PC projects for optimizing operational processes and enhancing their performance in line with strategic objectives. A key factor in effectively implementing Lean to improve strategic control is developing specific strategies and planning that consider their complex interactions. Thus, this paper aims to propose a quantitative network-based model by integrating Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Matrix Impact Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) under complex network theory to develop a Lean implementation framework for effective strategy formulation. Specifically, 17 Lean implementation strategies for PC in the context of the Chinese prefabrication industry were identified via an extensive literature review and expert interviews. Then, ISM-MICMAC quantitatively identifies the direct and indirect relationships among strategies, while subsequent analysis of Topological Structure Weight (TSW) and Structural Degree Weight (SDW), as complex network parameters, is used to evaluate the importance of each strategy. The findings show that the strategic planning for Lean implementation in PC consists of four levels, i.e., foundation, organizational, technical, and control. Selecting appropriate Lean tools and technologies is crucial for PC implementation, which must be built on a top-level management team and foster a Lean culture. Moreover, it involves building a standardized system of processes and activities, enhancing both internal and external collaboration, and continuously improving processes in response to changes. On one hand, this in-depth network-based analysis offers practical insights for PC stakeholders, particularly in China, on Lean implementation in line with PC performance and strategic control and objectives. On the other hand, the network-based model can be future-implemented globally. Additionally, this study expands the current body of knowledge on Lean in PC by exploring the interrelationships of Lean implementation strategies. Full article

The formation of nitrogen-containing organic interstellar molecules is of great importance to reveal chemical processes and the origin of life on Earth. Benzonitrile (BN) is one of the simplest nitrogen-containing aromatic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) that has been detected in recent years. Methanol (CH₃OH) exists widely in interstellar space with high reactivity. Herein, we measured the infrared (IR) spectra of neutral and cationic BN–CH₃OH clusters by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Combining IR spectra with the density functional theory calculations, we reveal that the BN–CH₃OH intends to form a cyclic H-bonded structure in neutral clusters. However, after the ionization of BN–CH₃OH clusters, proton-shared N···H···O and N···H···C structures are confirmed to form between BN and CH₃OH, with the minor coexistence of H-bond and O-π structures. The formation of the proton-shared structure expands our knowledge of the evolution of the life-related nitrogen-containing molecules in the universe and provides a possible pathway to the further study of biorelevant aromatic organic macromolecules. Full article

A compact and planar imaging system was developed using a flexible polymer substrate that can distinguish subcutaneous tissue abnormalities, such as breast tumors, based on electromagnetic-wave interactions in materials where permittivity variations affect wave reflection. The sensing element is a tuned loop resonator operating in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band at 2.423 GHz, providing a localized high-intensity electric field that penetrates into tissues with sufficient spatial and spectral resolutions. The resonant frequency shifts and magnitudes of the reflection coefficients indicate the boundaries of abnormal tissues under the skin due to their high contrasts to normal tissues. The sensor was tuned to the desired resonant frequency with a reflection coefficient of −68.8 dB for a radius of 5.7 mm, with a tuning pad. Quality factors of 173.1 and 34.4 were achieved in simulations and measurements in phantoms. An image-processing method was introduced to fuse raster-scanned 9 × 9 images of resonant frequencies and reflection coefficients for image-contrast enhancement. The results showed a clear indication of the tumor’s location at a depth of 15 mm and the capability to identify two tumors both at the depth of 10 mm. The sensing element can be expanded to a four-element phased array for deeper field penetration. Field analysis showed the depths of −20 dB attenuation were improved from 19 to 42 mm, giving wider coverage in tissues at resonance. Results showed that a quality factor of 152.5 was achieved and a tumor could be identified at a depth of up to 50 mm. In this work, simulations and measurements were conducted to validate the concept, showing great potential for subcutaneous imaging in medical applications in a noninvasive, efficient, and lower-cost way. Full article

The implementation of integrated flood risk management (IFRM) is still in its infancy in both developed and developing countries, yet some countries have already encountered barriers to IFRM adaptation. The interrelationships between these barriers need to be determined and analyzed systematically, as such an analysis is the groundwork for decision-making when devising solutions to overcome the barriers. Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is a popular and systematic method for analyzing the interrelationship between variables in broad study areas. This study applies the proposed expanded ISM (Ex-ISM) approach to comprehensively analyze the interrelationships between the barriers to IFRM in Metro Manila. Ex-ISM enhances conventional ISM in that the symbolism is modified to explicitly show the contextual interrelationships, the step for hierarchy assignment is simplified, and the diagram shows all of the interrelationships that allow a comprehensive analysis. The results obtained using the Ex-ISM method do not deviate from those yielded by the conventional ISM method, but the Ex-ISM method allows an easy assignment of hierarchy, and it shows not only the direct but also the indirect interrelationships to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationships between the barriers. Full article

We present an overview of the results obtained from the study of the resolved distribution of molecular gas around eight young ($\lesssim {10}^6\mathrm{yr}$), peaked-spectrum radio galaxies. Tracing the distribution and kinematics of the gas around these radio sources allows us to trace the interplay between the jets and the surrounding medium. For three of these sources, we present new CO(1-0) observations, obtained with the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) with arcsecond resolution. In two of these targets, we also detected CN lines, both in emission and absorption. Combining the new observations with already published data, we discuss the main results obtained. Although we found that a large fraction of the cold molecular gas was distributed in disc-like rotating structures, in the vast majority of the sources, high turbulence and deviations from purely quiescent gas (including outflows) were observed in the region co-spatial with the radio continuum emission. This suggests the presence of an interaction between radio plasma and cold molecular gas. In particular, we found that newly born and young radio jets, even those with low power i.e., P_jet < 10⁴⁵ erg s⁻¹), are able to drive massive outflows of cold, molecular gas. The outflows are, however, limited to the sub-kpc regions and likely short lived. On larger scales (a few kpc), we observed cases where the molecular gas appears to avoid the radio lobes and, instead, wraps around them. The results suggest the presence of an evolutionary sequence, which is consistent with previous simulations, where the type of impact of the radio plasma changes as the jet expands, going from a direct jet-cloud interaction able to drive gas outflows on sub-kpc scales to a more gentle pushing aside of the gas, increasing its turbulence and likely limiting its cooling on kpc scales. This effect can be mediated by the cocoon of shocked gas inflated by the jet–cloud interactions. Building larger samples of young and evolved radio sources for observation at a similar depth and spatial resolution to test this scenario is now needed and may be possible thanks to more data becoming available in the growing public archives. Full article

Agricultural productive services can increase grain output and farmers’ incomes, promote agricultural production efficiency and break the constraints of agricultural environmental resources. In practice, China’s agricultural productive services are developing, and the use of agricultural machinery in rice planting is not sufficient. The employment rate of machinery in farming and harvesting is high, but the employment rate of machinery in seedling raising, planting, fertilization, and pesticide spraying is very low. This paper takes rice farmers in Jiangxi Province of China as the research object, uses 647 survey data of farmers in nine counties of Jiangxi Province, constructs a logistic-ISM model, first identifies the influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, and then analyzes the hierarchical structure of each influencing factor. The results indicate that: (1) among the seven significant influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, agricultural income rate and rice planting area are the deep-rooted factors; (2) the social identity of the household head, the risk preference of the household head and the understanding degree of the social service subsidy of agricultural machinery are intermediate level factors; and (3) the age of the household head and the number of agricultural laborers in the family are the direct factors. Based on the significance analysis of the influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, this paper puts forward policy suggestions to strengthen policy publicity, enhance the level of farmer policy cognition; encourage the transfer of labor force and reasonable allocation of family agricultural labor force; encourage land transfer and expand the scale operation of rice; we should guide farmers reasonably and give full play to their professional advantages. Full article

Along with the increasing prominence of environmental risks such as soil surface source pollution and declining quality grade of arable land, the issues of how to address irrational fertilizer application and enhance the safety of agricultural products have attracted widespread attention. In this context, clarifying the main factors affecting farmers’ use of soil testing and formulated fertilization technology (STFFT) can further improve the technology adoption rate and fertilizer utilization efficiency, promote standardized agricultural production and maintain the health and stability of soil ecology in black soil areas. This is of great significance to the construction of green agriculture, national dietary health and national food security. This study builds an “external environmental stimuli-perceived characteristics-adoption behavior” theoretical framework to investigate the decision-making and the dynamic influence mechanisms of farmers’ adoption behavior of STFFT. Based on farmer survey data, the logistic-ISM model has been applied. The main findings are as follows. First, five types of influencing factors, namely individual characteristics, family characteristics, business characteristics, cognitive characteristics and external environmental characteristics, had significant “push” effects on farmers’ STFFT adoption behavior. Among them, planting scale and technical training are the key factors influencing farmers’ adoption of scientific fertilizer application technology. Second, both farmers’ perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness play a significant role in farmers’ decision-making process, and the easier farmers perceive STFFT to be to master and the greater the benefits it brings, the more pronounced the tendency to adopt the technology, all other influencing conditions being equal. Third, the main influencing factors of farmers’ STFFT adoption behavior are intrinsically related and divided into four categories based on the magnitude of influence: deep-rooted, medium indirect, shallow indirect and superficial direct. In order to reduce further degradation of black soil caused by farmers’ irrational production habits and to improve resource utilization efficiency, this study recommends the government to further regulate the land transfer market, strengthen the propagation of soil-conservation-type technologies in black soil areas, expand the breadth of agricultural technology training and enhance farmers’ understanding and trust in STFFT. Thus, the maintenance of soil ecosystem in black soil areas, effective guarantee of food security and sustainable development of agriculture can be achieved. Full article

Background: Our day-to-day commodities truly depend on the industrial sector, which is expanding at a rapid rate along with the growing population. The production of goods needs to be accurate and rapid. Thus, for the present research, we have incorporated machine-learning (ML) technology in the manufacturing sector (MS). Methods: Through an inclusive study, we identify 11 factors within the research background that could be seen as holding significance for machine learning in the manufacturing sector. An interpretive structural modeling (ISM) method is used, and inputs from experts are applied to establish the relationships. Results: The findings from the ISM model show the ‘order fulfillment factor as the long-term focus and the ‘market demand’ factor as the short-term focus. The results indicate the critical factors that impact the development of machine learning in the manufacturing sector. Conclusions: Our research contributes to the manufacturing sector which aims to incorporate machine learning. Using the ISM model, industries can directly point out their oddities and improve on them for better performance. Full article

The violent vibration of truss structures may cause fatigue, faults, or even an accident. Aiming to analyze the vibration power flow and transfer path of two-dimensional truss structures in the mid and high-frequency domain, this paper proposed a fast dynamic calculation method—the impedance synthesis method (ISM)—which is based on an analytical equation with litter elements. Firstly, the global coordination vibration impedance of a Timoshenko beam truss is derived; Secondly, a dynamic model of a two-dimensional truss structure is built up with a single truss beam by force balance and geometric continuity; then, real and imaginary parts of dynamic responses and force in simple and periodically truss structures are verified by compared with FEM results, respectively; finally, the transfer path analysis (TPA) method is applied to separate the contribution of different transfer paths of power flow in periodical truss structures. The results show that the TPA method can easily find the line spectrum frequency of power flow, which should be considered in vibration control. This method can also be expanded to three-dimensional, honeycomb, and other truss beam structures. Full article

Organizations need to consider the triple bottom line (3BL) model of sustainability to maintain competitiveness in global markets. Of 3BL, environmental and economic sustainability pillars are more often discussed, as they are most directly related to a firm’s bottom line and regulatory compliance. Unfortunately, social sustainability receives relatively little attention even though it remains a significant threat to organizational sustainment, particularly in emerging economies. This study builds upon a social sustainability evaluation framework to investigate the interrelationships among social sustainability criteria in an effort to better understand how to improve social sustainability performance. A unique hybrid of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and hesitant fuzzy matrix of cross impact multiplications applied to classification (HF-MICMAC) methodology is introduced and employed to determine the interrelationships (drivers and dependences) among social sustainability criteria. Then, a manufacturing company is used as the backdrop to test the efficacy of the expanded framework. The findings can aid industry decision-makers, especially in developing countries, to better understand and manage social issues, improve social dimension of sustainability, enhance the sustainability in operations and shift towards sustainable development. Full article