Hasil untuk "Economic geography of the oceans (General)"

Łukasz Hadaś, Zuzanna Sikorska, Marta Broda

Last-mile delivery is the most complex and costly stage of the supply chain, where sustainability considerations are gaining strategic importance. Eco-friendly logistics solutions are increasingly valued, especially by Generation Z, digital natives actively engaged in online purchasing and highly sensitive to environmental issues. Artificial Intelligence (AI) supports this process by analysing consumer behaviour and message performance, enabling personalised communication. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of credible and persuasive eco-friendly delivery messages in the context of sustainable development for Gen Z. The findings indicate that two message types are most influential: Eco Signals (symbols, colours, emotional language) and Sustainability Indicators (carbon footprint data, CO₂ reduction rates). The most effective messages combine both elements. A model message structure and the scope of AI-based analysis are proposed. The study confirms the importance of personalised sustainability communication for Gen Z and the need for further empirical research.

Justyna Godawska

The aim of the paper is to examine how the degree of achieving environmentally sustainable revenues and incurring environmentally sustainable expenditures impacts the profitability of Polish listed companies. The research method used is multiple regression analysis. The research results do not confirm the hypothesised positive impact of environmental responsibility on the financial results of companies. The greater the percentage of operating expenditures allocated to environmentally sustainable economic activities, the lower the profitability of companies measured by return on assets, return on equity and return on sales. Moreover, the percentage of revenues obtained from products or services related to environmentally sustainable economic activities is irrelevant to the level of profitability of companies. This study adds to the literature on the linkage between corporate environmental performance and financial performance, and its novelty lies in measuring the level of commitment to environmental responsibility using financial metrics based on the recently implemented EU Taxonomy Regulation.

Igor Britchenko

The study aims to conceptualise a model for managing natural resource potential that fosters both sustainable economic development and national security, using Ukraine as a primary case study. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the paper integrates national and international data on GDP, extraction and consumption of natural resources, resource rents, and security threat indices. Correlation analysis was conducted across 22 countries, alongside an in-depth examination of Ukraine’s energy and mineral resource dynamics from 2017 to 2023. The study identifies a strong positive relationship between economic growth and the share of resource rent in GDP across most countries, while also revealing Ukraine’s inefficient use of coal and energy resources, and a shifting correlation between security threats and economic performance pre- and post-war. Based on these findings, a conceptual model is proposed that emphasises the need for program-targeted and project-based governance, resource capitalisation, and institutional reform to enhance resilience and economic sovereignty.

Brygida Klemens, Przemysław Misiurski, Brygida Solga

The purpose of the article is to diagnose challenges related to the needs of seniors having to do with climate change. Selected challenges are addressed in detail, i.e., seniors' greater exposure to the effects of climate change, and seniors' limited digital competence and financial resources, which are important barriers to minimising the negative effects of climate change. The practical goal is to develop recommendations for improving the situation of seniors in the face of climate change. The issue of ageing in the context of climate change can be considered original. There is a clear gap in the literature in this area, although it is indicated that this is one of the most important challenges of this century globally. Research is conducted in theoretical and empirical dimensions. The theoretical parts present an analysis of literature on the subject, legal acts and source materials of EU institutions. In the empirical part, the first step was to define the data necessary for the empirical analysis and to define the geographic area to which the data were to apply (the EU). The analysis was carried out using descriptive statistical methods. This part also includes a comparative analysis of issues related to the ageing of the population in individual EU member states, causes of death in older people broken down by the most common diseases (for the EU), digital competence of EU residents broken down by age group, and income of older people in the EU. The empirical part is based on an analysis of data from the Eurostat database. Some limitation in rearranging the data was their limited availability, i.e. not all the most up-to-date data applied to all countries. The article presents only those data for which values were obtained from all countries and then aggregated to EU values. Three hypotheses were put forward, which are addressed in the final part of the article. Our analysis shows that the elderly are already more severely affected by climate change, as they are overwhelmingly at risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, as well as pandemic illnesses and mental disorders. Added to this is a health and social care system that is inadequately prepared for these challenges Cognitive barriers quite prevalent in the elderly group, along with language and technological barriers, which can effectively limit the ability to minimise the negative effects of climate change. Our analysis shows that seniors are a marginal group of Internet users worldwide, which, among other things, may make it more difficult to access hazard warnings and information on how to respond and more vulnerable to mortality in the wake of extreme weather events. We assume that a lack of digital competence significantly impairs seniors' quality of life. Our analysis shows that the financial resources of the elderly are already limited, and many seniors are not coping financially. Certainly, this situation will make it much more difficult or even impossible to adapt, at least in terms of the housing conditions of seniors, to the needs of the changing climate. The end result of the article is a list of recommendations for public authorities to improve the situation of the elderly in the face of climate change, broken down into the following categories: greater vulnerability of the elderly to the effects of climate change; relatively low digital competence of the elderly in the face of climate change; limited financial resources of the elderly in the face of climate change.

Marta Nalewajko

Green concrete refers to concrete incorporating waste materials to reduce environmental impact and consumption of natural resources. This study investigated a novel ultra-lightweight green concrete in which 100% of the aggregate skeleton was composed of sintered fly ash aggregate (Certyd) and wood waste (sawdust and wood chips), partially replacing natural fine and coarse aggregates. The research aimed to evaluate how varying proportions of these waste materials affect key properties and to identify mixtures that balance low density, strength and water absorption. An experimental programme with a fixed CEM I 42.5R Portland cement content (400 kg/m³) and a constant total water content was designed using a two-factor central composite design (fine fraction balance X; coarse fraction balance Y) and second-order response surface regression. Fine aggregate was partially or fully replaced by fine Certyd (0–2 mm) and sawdust (0–2 mm), while coarse aggregate was replaced by coarse Certyd (4–16 mm) and wood chips (2–20 mm). Wood aggregates were pre-treated (mineralised) with aluminium sulfate and hydrated lime to improve compatibility with cement. After ambient air-dry curing, 28-day compressive strength, oven-dry bulk density and 24 h water absorption were measured and analysed. The composites achieved densities of 651–1031 kg/m³, compressive strengths of 1.8–7.3 MPa and water absorption of 25.6–39.8%. The best-performing mixture reached 7.26 MPa at a density of 1031 kg/m³ and 25.6% absorption, corresponding to a high share of mineralised sawdust and a low share of coarse wood chips. Quadratic response surface models for strength, density and absorption showed good statistical adequacy (R² ≈ 0.63–0.64; p < 0.001), confirming the dominant influence of the coarse-phase factor (Y) and the mainly curvature-type effect of the fine-phase factor (X). These model-based findings define a quantitative performance window for dual-waste, ultra-lightweight concretes and provide a tool for preliminary mix optimisation. The results indicate that, although strength remains below that of purely mineral lightweight concretes, the proposed material is competitive within the family of wood-modified lightweight composites and is suitable for non-structural or semi-structural insulating elements that prioritise low density and high waste utilisation.

Yang He, Artan Sheshmani

We study the behavior of toric Landau-Ginzburg models under extremal contraction and minimal model program. We also establish a relation between the moduli space of toric Landau-Ginzburg models and the geography of central models. We conjecture that there is a correspondence between extremal contractions and minimal model program on Fano varieties, and degenerations of their associated toric Landau-Ginzburg models written explicitly. We prove the conjectures for smooth toric varieties, as well as general smooth Fano varieties in dimensions 2 and 3. As an application, we compute the elementary syzygies for smooth Fano threefolds.

Urszula Kobylińska, Manuel Garcia Goñi, Ewa Rollnik-Sadowska et al.

Measuring university sustainability is an important tool for assessing and monitoring progress towards more sustainable practices and outcomes at Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This article contributes to the development of research based on stakeholders theory in universities (Miller et al., 2014), taking into account the perception of the main group of university stakeholders, i.e. students, towards sustainable university. The research objective is to empirically verify perceptions and compare the level of implementation of the sustainable university concept among students of Bialystok University of Technology. In the theoretical part, a systematic literature review was conducted. The most frequent keywords related to the topic of sustainable university were also extracted as a part of the bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software. In the empirical part, descriptive statistics and difference tests (U-Man Whitney) were used to identify statistically significant differences between different groups of students in terms of perception of the sustainable university concept. In light of the research conducted, it can be concluded that Bialystok University of Technology is making efforts in various areas of sustainable development. However, there are specific areas where improvements can be made, such as enhancing awareness among students about the university's sustainable development strategy, promoting critical thinking, and addressing uncertainties about certain campus activities and management policies. In the article, a new scale was developed to examine students' perceptions of a sustainable university. It includes 30 items, is based on the areas of sustainable development of universities discussed in previous studies, and takes into account new criteria, in particular, those related to ESG factors.

Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli, Daniele Iudicone

Revealing the ongoing changes in ocean dynamics and their impact on marine ecosystems requires the joint analysis of multiple variables. Yet, global observational records only cover a few decades, posing a challenge in the separation of climatic trends from internal dynamical modes. Here, we apply an empirical stochastic model to identify the emergent patterns of trends in six fundamental components of upper ocean physics. We analyze a data-driven reconstruction of the ocean state covering the 1993-2018 period. We found that including temporal derivatives into the state vector enhances the description of the ocean's dynamical system. Once Pacific oscillations are properly accounted for, averaged surface warming appears >60% faster, and a deep reshaping of the seascape is revealed. A clustering of the trend patterns identifies the main factors that drive observed trends in chlorophyll-a concentration. This data-driven approach opens new perspectives in empirical climate modelling.

Yuxuan Li, Xiang Yi, Xinyue Tao et al.

In this paper, we derive a general and exact closed-form expression of scintillation index (SI) for a Gaussian beam propagating through weak oceanic turbulence, based on the general oceanic turbulence optical power spectrum (OTOPS) and the Rytov theory. Our universal expression not only includes existing Rytov variances but also accounts for actual cases where the Kolmogorov microscale is non-zero. The correctness and accuracy of our derivation are verified through comparison with the published work under identical conditions. By utilizing our derived expressions, we analyze the impact of various beam, propagation and oceanic turbulence parameters on both SI and bit error rate (BER) performance of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) systems. Numerical results demonstrate that the relationship between the Kolmogorov microscale and SI is nonlinear. Additionally, considering that certain oceanic turbulence parameters are related to depth, we use temperature and salinity data from Argo buoy deployed in real oceans to investigate the dependence of SI on depth. Our findings will contribute to the design and optimization of UWOC systems.

Bartosz Naskręcki, Piotr Pokora

This survey focuses on the geometric problem of log-surfaces, which are pairs consisting of a smooth projective surface and a reduced non-empty boundary divisor. In the first part, we focus on the geography problem for complex log-surfaces associated with pairs of the form $(\mathbb{P}^{2}, C)$, where $C$ is an arrangement of smooth plane curves admitting ordinary singularities. Specifically, we focus on the case in which $C$ is an arrangement consisting of smooth rational curves as its irreducible components. In the second part, containing original new results, we study log-surfaces constructed as pairs consisting of a complex projective $K3$ surface and a rational curve arrangement. In particular, we provide some combinatorial conditions for such pairs to have the log-Chern slope equal to $3$. Our survey is illustrated with many explicit examples of log-surfaces.

Enric García i Domingo

F. Gittins, T. Celora, A. Beri et al.

We re-visit the calculation of mode oscillations in the ocean of a rotating neutron star, which may be excited during thermonuclear X-ray bursts. Our present theoretical understanding of ocean modes relies heavily on the traditional approximation, commonly employed in geophysics. The approximation elegantly decouples the radial and angular sectors of the perturbation problem by neglecting the vertical contribution from the Coriolis force. However, as the implicit assumptions underlying it are not as well understood as they ought to be, we examine the traditional approximation and discuss the associated mode solutions. The results demonstrate that, while the approximation may be appropriate in certain contexts, it may not be accurate for rapidly rotating neutron stars. In addition, using the shallow-water approximation, we show analytically how the solutions that resemble r-modes change their nature in neutron-star oceans to behave like gravity waves. We also outline a simple prescription for lifting Newtonian results in a shallow ocean to general relativity, making the result more realistic.

Anna Brzozowska, Justyna Łukomska-Szarek, Justyna Imiołczyk-Sepczuk

In an age of climate change and increasing negative environmental effects of the development of urban agglomeration, it is becoming more and more important to implement sustainable development principles in governing urban municipalities (Polish: gminy). The three areas of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental, have been extensively explored in scientific research over recent years. These studies have mostly covered international or regional areas and, to a lesser extent, local ones. Six environmental, economic and social indicators of sustainable development were examined for 14 urban municipalities located in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Only a selected group of indicators from these areas was assessed due to limited data availability. Social and economic measures showed a strong Spearman's rank correlation. Based on the collected research material, benchmarking was developed for the units under evaluation, indicating that over the period between the year 2014 and 2019, the city of Krakow occupied the highest position, on average, among urban municipalities of Lesser Poland Voivodeship, considering the measures analysed.

Les Drassanes Burell de Barcelona van ser fundades el 1895 per Josep Burell Magro, al 1910, van ampliar les instal·lacions i es van instal·lar a la platja de Can Tunis de Barcelona, al peu de Montjuïc. Les Drassanes Burell van tenir una producció molt variada: llanxes, falues, remolcadors, petits mercants, càbries, dragues, pesquers, iots, etc., així com tot tipus de maquinària i calderes marines. Cal destacar dues embarcacions que van assolir un alt nivell tecnològic: els remolcadors Besòs i Llobregat, encarregats per la Junta d’Obres del Port de Barcelona. L’any 2018 el senyor Francesc Cabana Vancells va donar a l’MMB  tres àlbums de fotografies i una col·lecció de fotografies d’embarcacions i maquinària construïdes en les Drassanes Burell. L’adquisició té gran valor doncs documenta una manera de treballar i n’és exemple de la iniciativa empresarial en la construcció naval a Catalunya. Aquests àlbums són un mostrari de diversos projectes de l’empresa, possiblement una carta de presentació per a futurs clients, o una memòria de la seva trajectòria.

Vicente Lorenzo

In this note the geography of minimal surfaces of general type admitting $\mathbb{Z}_2^2$-actions is studied. More precisely, it is shown that Gieseker's moduli space $\mathfrak{M}_{K^2,χ}$ contains surfaces admitting a $\mathbb{Z}_2^2$-action for every admissible pair $(K^2, χ)$ such that $2χ-6\leq K^2\leq 8χ-8$ or $K^2=8χ$. The examples considered allow to prove that the locus of Gorenstein stable surfaces is not closed in the KSBA-compactification $\overline{\mathfrak{M}}_{K^2,χ}$ of Gieseker's moduli space $\mathfrak{M}_{K^2,χ}$ for every admissible pair $(K^2, χ)$ such that $2χ-6\leq K^2\leq 8χ-8$.

Bin Jiang

The third (or organismic) view of space states that space is neither lifeless nor neutral, but a living structure capable of being more living or less living, thus different fundamentally from the first two mechanistic views of space: Newtonian absolute space and Leibnizian relational space. The living structure is defined as a physical and mathematical structure or simply characterized by the recurring notion (or inherent hierarchy) of far more small substructures than large ones. This paper seeks to lay out a new geography as a science of the Earth's surface founded on the third view of space. The new geography aims not only to better understand geographic forms and processes but also - maybe more importantly - to make geographic space or the Earth's surface to be living or more living. After introducing two fundamental laws of geography: Tobler's law on spatial dependence (or homogeneity) and scaling law on spatial heterogeneity, we argue that these two laws are fundamental laws of living structure that favor statistics over exactitude, because the former (or statistics) tends to make a structure more living than the latter (or exactitute). We present the concept of living structure through some working examples and make it clear how a living structure differs from a non-living structure, under the organismic worldview that was first conceived by the British philosopher Alfred Whitehead (1861-1947). In order to make a structure or space living or more living, we introduce two design principles - differentiation and adaptation - using two paintings and two city plans. The new geography is a science of living structure, dealing with a wide range of scales, from the smallest scale of ornaments on walls to the scale of the entire Earth's surface. Keywords: Scaling law, Tobler's law, differentiation, adaptation, head/tail breaks, natural streets, the third view of space

J. Takahashi, Y. Itoh, T. Matsuo et al.

Context. The discovery of an extrasolar planet with an ocean has crucial importance in the search for life beyond Earth. The polarimetric detection of specularly reflected light from a smooth liquid surface is anticipated theoretically, though the polarimetric signature of Earth's oceans has not yet been conclusively detected in disk-integrated planetary light. Aims. We aim to detect and measure the polarimetric signature of the Earth's oceans. Methods. We conducted near-infrared polarimetry for lunar Earthshine and collected data on 32 nights with a variety of ocean fractions in the Earthshine-contributing region. Results. A clear positive correlation was revealed between the polarization degree and ocean fraction. We found hourly variations in polarization in accordance with rotational transition of the ocean fraction. The ratios of the variation to the typical polarization degree were as large as ~0.2-1.4. Conclusions. Our observations provide plausible evidence of the polarimetric signature attributed to Earth's oceans. Near-infrared polarimetry may be considered a prospective technique in the search for exoplanetary oceans.

Cesar R Salas-Guerra

At present, the economic measurement of the national statistical offices has not defined or captured the benefits of the digital economy activity due to the low quality or inexistence of methodologies. Currently, there is a relevant debate on the capacity of the digital economy activity to generate productivity, economic growth, and well-being through innovation and knowledge. For this reason, this research identified and studied specialized knowledge, human settlement, and digital economic activity as the factors that influence regional economic growth. As a result, the impact generated by a new business operating models based on information technology was measured. Furthermore, this research used an empirical measurement model that made it possible to identify certain phenomena such as regional poles of regional economic development (PRDE) that surround economically flourishing regions. In addition, it showed that municipalities with high degrees of economic growth were impacted by digital economic activity and specialized knowledge. This finding is consistent with economic growth theories that point to technological evolution as the main factor of modern economic growth. Consequently, this study contributed beneficial results to the local government to develop strategies framed in solving industrial cooperation of economically flourishing regions with their neighbors, facing the problem of agglomeration of resources and capital reflected in human settlement promote an imbalance in economic growth and social development.

C. J. Cochrane, S. D. Vance, T. A. Nordheim et al.

The Galileo mission to Jupiter discovered magnetic signatures associated with hidden sub-surface oceans at the moons Europa and Callisto using the phenomenon of magnetic induction. These induced magnetic fields originate from electrically conductive layers within the moons and are driven by Jupiter's strong time-varying magnetic field. The ice giants and their moons are also ideal laboratories for magnetic induction studies. Both Uranus and Neptune have a strongly tilted magnetic axis with respect to their spin axis, creating a dynamic and strongly variable magnetic field environment at the orbits of their major moons. Although Voyager 2 visited the ice giants in the 1980s, it did not pass close enough to any of the moons to detect magnetic induction signatures. However, Voyager 2 revealed that some of these moons exhibit surface features that hint at recent geologically activity, possibly associated with sub-surface oceans. Future missions to the ice giants may therefore be capable of discovering sub-surface oceans, thereby adding to the family of known ocean worlds in our solar system. Here, we assess magnetic induction as a technique for investigating sub-surface oceans within the major moons of Uranus. Furthermore, we establish the ability to distinguish induction responses created by different interior characteristics that tie into the induction response: ocean thickness, conductivity, and depth, and ionospheric conductance. The results reported here demonstrate the possibility of single-pass ocean detection and constrained characterization within the moons of Miranda, Ariel, and Umbriel, and provide guidance for magnetometer selection and trajectory design for future missions to Uranus.

Aurelio Patelli, Andrea Zaccaria, Luciano Pietronero

We present an integrated database suitable for the investigations of the Economic development of countries by using the Economic Fitness and Complexity framework. Firstly, we implement machine learning techniques to reconstruct the database of Trade of Services and we integrate it with the database of the Trade of the physical Goods, generating a complete view of the International Trade and denoted the Universal database. Using this data, we derive a statistically significant network of interaction of the Economic activities, where preferred paths of development and clusters of High-Tech industries naturally emerge. Finally, we compute the Economic Fitness, an algorithmic assessment of the competitiveness of countries, removing the unexpected misbehaviour of Economies under-represented by the sole consideration of the Trade of the physical Goods.