Ekundayo A. ADESINA, Oluibukun G. AJAYI, Joseph O. ODUMOSU
et al.
Traditional urban growth models often decouple land-use change from its climatic consequences, creating planning blind spots. This study introduces a globally transferable Dynamic Suitability-Weighted CA-Markov (DSW-CA-Markov) framework that, for the first time, integrates Land Surface Temperature (LST) trends as dynamic suitability factors within Cellular Automata transition rules, enabling bidirectional urban-thermal feedback simulation. We develop and validate this framework using multi-temporal Landsat data (2010, 2015, 2020) from Abuja, Nigeria, then project integrated urban-thermal patterns to 2030. Our primary innovation is a dynamic feedback mechanism where pixel-level LST change rates are embedded as evolving suitability factors within CA transition rules, moving beyond static suitability mapping or post-hoc thermal correlation. Results reveal a 157.29% built-up increase (2010-2020) with LST rises of 3.6 °C, and projected continued expansion with amplified UHI effects. The DSW-CA-Markov framework demonstrates superior capability in simulating coupled urban-thermal dynamics compared to conventional CA-Markov approaches (Kappa improvement: 0.08; thermal : 0.73 vs. 0.65). This study provides both a novel methodological template for climate-responsive urban modelling and crucial insights for sustainable planning in fast-growing cities globally.
Ting Miao, Pathairat Pastpipatkul, Xinhua Liu
et al.
This study employs the stochastic frontier model (SFM) to analyze trade potential and efficiency in wheat and maize among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 2002 to 2021, encompassing 45 countries for wheat trade and 55 for maize trade. The empirical findings reveal that economic development level, population growth, government efficiency, political stability, and regulatory quality are critical determinants of trade efficiency. Notably, World Trade Organization (WTO) membership exhibits a negative correlation with trade efficiency, potentially reflecting challenges in rule implementation and opportunity utilization among member states. In the context of maize trade, increased arable land area is inversely associated with efficiency, suggesting potential issues in managing large-scale agricultural regions or optimizing land use. The BRI’s impact on trade efficiency varies across countries, with Turkey and Hungary showing improved wheat trade efficiency, while Ethiopia and Georgia experienced declines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, effective disease management strategies and diversified trade mechanisms significantly influenced trade efficiency. Furthermore, the study reveals that larger economies do not necessarily outperform small and medium-sized economies in terms of trade potential. These findings contribute significantly to the literature on agricultural trade and offer valuable insights for policymakers, emphasizing the importance of enhancing government efficiency, political stability, and regulatory quality in the context of regional economic development initiatives such as the BRI. This research underscores the need for tailored approaches to trade policy and agricultural management, considering the unique characteristics and challenges faced by different economies along BRI.
Nutrition. Foods and food supply, Food processing and manufacture
Marek Tiits, Tarmo Kalvet, Chahinez Ounoughi
et al.
Researchers have long used gravity models to analyze international trade patterns, identify export opportunities, and negotiate trade agreements. Recent research has emphasized the significance of relatedness and product complexity research in developing robust economic development strategies. This paper presents a novel approach, incorporating relatedness and product complexity as integral elements for interpreting export potential within gravity models powered by machine learning. Our approach stands out for its proficiency in accurately predicting bilateral trade values at a detailed product group level, providing valuable insights for policymakers and other stakeholders. The research leverages random forest machine learning models for predictions and incorporates relatedness and complexity to reveal new dimensions in international trade analysis.
Hassan Al Garni, Arunachalam Sundaram, Anjali Awasthi
et al.
A major design challenge for a grid-integrated photovoltaic power plant is to generate maximum power under varying loads, irradiance, and outdoor climatic conditions using competitive algorithm-based controllers. The objective of this study is to review experimentally validated advanced maximum power point tracking algorithms for enhancing power generation. A comprehensive analysis of 14 of the most advanced metaheuristics and 17 hybrid homogeneous and heterogeneous metaheuristic techniques is carried out, along with a comparison of algorithm complexity, maximum power point tracking capability, tracking frequency, accuracy, and maximum power extracted from PV systems. The results show that maximum power point tracking controllers mostly use conventional algorithms; however, metaheuristic algorithms and their hybrid variants are found to be superior to conventional techniques under varying environmental conditions. The Grey Wolf Optimization, in combination with Perturb & Observe, and Jaya-Differential Evolution, is found to be the most competitive technique. The study shows that standard testing and evaluation procedures can be further developed for comparing metaheuristic algorithms and their hybrid variants for developing advanced maximum power point tracking controllers. The identified algorithms are found to enhance power generation by grid-integrated commercial solar power plants. The results are of importance to the solar industry and researchers worldwide.
Mayra del C. Fragoso-Medina, Armando Navarrete-Segueda, Eliane Ceccon
et al.
Tropical rainforests offer a diverse array of real or potential forest products (FP). However, the ongoing conversion of these forests to agriculture raises concerns about the future availability and sustainability of FP. In this study, we examined the changes in availability (tree density and above-ground biomass) and species richness of native trees, recognized by local communities as sources of FP, with the forest-to-agriculture conversion in a Mesoamerican tropical rainforest region. Specifically, we tested hypotheses on whether species with FP had a higher, equal, or lower reduction in the availability, diversity, and probability of persistence than species without FP with the forest conversion. We interviewed landowners to identify tree species with FP and documented management practices and regulations for using these species. In fourteen 1 km2 landscapes, encompassing the entire range of forest-to-agriculture conversion (from 0 % to ∼100 % old-growth forest cover), we analyzed changes in the availability and richness of species with and without FP. In each landscape, we randomly established 30 plots (each 706.8 m2, totaling 420 plots and 29.7 ha sampling area) covered by old-growth forest, secondary forest, or agricultural fields (mostly cattle pastures). Over four years, we surveyed all trees with a diameter at breast height ≥ 10 cm in these plots. With the forest conversion, assemblages of tree species with FP exhibited a higher reduction in aboveground biomass than species without FP. However, assemblages of species with FP exhibited a significantly lower reduction in abundance, species richness, and a higher probability of persistence than assemblages of species without FP. Furthermore, we found evidence of implementing forest management practices favoring the preservation of species with FP in agricultural lands. Thus, we conclude that people intentionally foster the persistence of valuable species in their agricultural fields, which could have important implications for the structure and composition of future regenerating forests on abandoned agricultural lands. In the long term, this might lead to an overabundance of locally valuable species, as observed in old-growth tropical rainforests that native people ancestrally managed.
Stabilnost na male poremećaje, koja se još naziva statička stabilnost ili modalna analiza, se bavi stabilnošću sistema u slučaju malih poremećaja kao što su promene u potrošnji ili proizvodnji na satnom i dnevnom nivou. Prednost ove vrste analize je njeg globalni karakter jer daje sve sopstvene vrednosti matrice stanja sistema, odnosno polove, u okviru jednog sistemskog proračuna. Postojanje samo jednog pola sistema sa pozitivnim realnim delom ukazuje na nestabilan sistem. Mera relativnog učešća određene promenljive stanja, vezane za određeni generator, i određenog pola sistema dobija se računanjem faktora učešća. Sortiranjem faktora učešća za sve polove sistema u opadajući redosled i uspostavljanje korelacije sa tačno određenom promenljivom stanja nekog generatora dobija se povratna sprega do generatora koji su dominantni uzročnici postojanja polova sistema sa pozitivnim realnim delom. U radu se prikazuje izračunavanje sopstvenih vrednosti sistema i uspostavljanje korisničke povratne sprege do generatora uzročnika pojave nestabilnog pola. Uspostavljanje ove povratne sprege i eliminacija nestabilnog pola sistema promenom parametara generatora je demonstrirana na primeru realnog distributivnog sistema ogranka Leskovac sa preko 2500 čvorova i priključenih više od 40 sinhronih generatora.
Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade, Economics as a science
N. N. Shelomentseva, O. V. Grushina, T. A. Krasnoshtanova
In the present paper, the consequences of the introduction of project financing against the backdrop of crises in 2020 and 2022 are analyzed. The subject interactions in the course of housing construction under the conditions of project financing are considered. A multi-criteria economic-mathematical model for the interest coordination of economic subjects in housing construction has been proposed. The model permits to understand and evaluate the economic consequences of choosing the possible options from the standpoint of each of the economic subjectss. The numerical calculations of choosing two (in pairs), and all three (developer, bank and consumer) economic subjects were performed using the proposed multi-criteria model with the stated limitations. The MATLAB software was employed to solve optimization problems and plotting. The solutions acceptable to the subjects were chosen from a set of Pareto-optimal alternatives. Despite the fact that all subjects of housing construction are involved in the interaction, this interaction does not occur simultaneously, but in a complex subordinate manner: the bank took the dictating position in project financing, and the consumer pays for everything. The state should play a role of the subject, which should coordinate the interests of the developer, the bank and the population. The task of the state is to create such conditions in the housing construction market so that economic subjects are interested in coordination of their interests to find a compromise. This opens routes for further research.
We examine the effect of macroeconomic stability, transparent government policies, and anti-monopoly policies on financial market development using extensive panel data of 113 countries over the period 2007 to 2017. By applying ARDL-PMG and controlling for GDP, trade openness, and market size, our findings reveal that macroeconomic stability fosters financial market development in both developing and developed countries. Effective transparency policies facilitate the link between macroeconomic stability and financial market development in the long-run. Furthermore, we find that anti-monopoly policies curb corruption and bureaucratic power to improve financial markets in the short-run. Still, a higher level of competition is more vulnerable to information asymmetry and adverse selection in the long-run.
Economic growth, development, planning, Economic history and conditions
The article deals with the issues of the legal “irregularity” of criminal and material responsibility of the “black diggers” for the illegal production of natural resources in the territory of the Kuzbass. The schemes of production and selling the coal are very different. That is why it is rather difficult to consider them in terms of criminal, arbitration, and administrative processes, especially by considering the issues of reclaiming the lands broken by such illegal activity. This is evidenced by the limited judicial practice of arbitration courts and courts of law of the Kuzbass. There is also no similar practice in other territorial subjects of the Russian Federation. Thus, there is a necessity in urgent developing of the methodical recommendations for the law enforcement officials on the calculation and compensation for the damage, considering the escalating statistical data on the illegal activity of the “black diggers”. Since the production and land reclamation caused by the coal mining are technologically interconnected, there must be an assigned surveillance of the use of a fund and the order of land reclamation to the prosecutor’s office on the surveillance of respecting the lawfulness in the coal-mining industry. These actions are provided for the coal-mining enterprises. For a long time, the “black diggers” have been producing the natural minerals which are the property of the state and they have also been able to escape the attention of the Russian legislation.
The present paper studies the importance of social servicescape factors to customer satisfaction in middle-priced restaurant services. This paper fills the existing literature gap on the importance of social servicescape factors onto customers’ satisfaction in middle-priced services. A survey of 514 respondents from three capitals of the Baltic States was conducted for the purpose of the present study. Descriptive statistics together with an independent samples <i>t</i>-test and partial least squares path analysis were employed for data processing. The results obtained confirmed the hypothesis about the importance of social servicescape attributes to customer satisfaction. The study also highlighted the difference in gender attitudes towards intangible aspects of service delivery. The research confirmed the existence of a relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions, although to a lesser extent than could have been anticipated from the literature review. The findings of the study covered by the present paper allow us to position middle-priced restaurants closer to luxury ones compared to casual restaurants
Propomo-nos analisar a formação da rede federal de educação profissional industrial no Brasil. A análise das fontes apoia-se nos referenciais propostos por Magalhães (2004), Nosella e Buffa (2007), segundo os quais compreender a genealogia de uma instituição educativa pressupõe relacionar a sua função social com o contexto no qual está inserida. Criada em 1909, a rede escolar analisada objetivou, sob a crença no industrialismo, a formação profissional para desvalidos da sorte. Em síntese, a investigação evidenciou os limites dessa proposta em uma sociedade de incipiente industrialização.
Special aspects of education, Labor market. Labor supply. Labor demand
Gelmar García-Vidal, Laritza Guzmán-Vilar, Alexander Sánchez-Rodríguez
et al.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to face the time post COVID-19. The pandemic impacted the SMEs with great force worsening the well-known situation of lack of resources and its tendency to disappear in the very early years of existence. This systemic crisis jeopardizes SMEs in many ways and it is necessary to find ways to emerge and survive from this crisis. This manuscript conducts a literature study on more than 100 manuscripts that present recommendations from McKinsey & Company for SMEs to face post-pandemic time. Through the application of the entropy-weight coefficient method this paper finds priorities from Ecuadorian SMEs out of essential elements proposed at the literature review, to introducing at the managing process to face post COVID-19 era.
Effective land transport management in a controlled and unmanned mode is impossible without its accurate and continuous positioning. The paper discusses the possibility of increasing this accuracy in the absence or uncertain reception of signals from satellites of the global navigation system. Moreover, the use of an additional self-navigation inertial system to solve this problem in this case is not justified for reasons of accuracy and cost. Therefore, as an alternative autonomous navigation system, a solution based on radar Doppler sensors of modular type is proposed. The methods of measuring the velocity vector and the algorithm of direct continuous measurement of displacements are considered. It is shown that the latter measurement option can significantly reduce the cumulative error when positioning vehicles.