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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 August 2021

Weiwei Zhu, Jinglin Wu, Ting Fu, Junhua Wang, Jie Zhang and Qiangqiang Shangguan

Efficient traffic incident management is needed to alleviate the negative impact of traffic incidents. Accurate and reliable estimation of traffic incident duration is of great…

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Abstract

Purpose

Efficient traffic incident management is needed to alleviate the negative impact of traffic incidents. Accurate and reliable estimation of traffic incident duration is of great importance for traffic incident management. Previous studies have proposed models for traffic incident duration prediction; however, most of these studies focus on the total duration and could not update prediction results in real-time. From a traveler’s perspective, the relevant factor is the residual duration of the impact of the traffic incident. Besides, few (if any) studies have used dynamic traffic flow parameters in the prediction models. This paper aims to propose a framework to fill these gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a framework based on the multi-layer perception (MLP) and long short-term memory (LSTM) model. The proposed methodology integrates traffic incident-related factors and real-time traffic flow parameters to predict the residual traffic incident duration. To validate the effectiveness of the framework, traffic incident data and traffic flow data from Shanghai Zhonghuan Expressway are used for modeling training and testing.

Findings

Results show that the model with 30-min time window and taking both traffic volume and speed as inputs performed best. The area under the curve values exceed 0.85 and the prediction accuracies exceed 0.75. These indicators demonstrated that the model is appropriate for this study context. The model provides new insights into traffic incident duration prediction.

Research limitations/implications

The incident samples applied by this study might not be enough and the variables are not abundant. The number of injuries and casualties, more detailed description of the incident location and other variables are expected to be used to characterize the traffic incident comprehensively. The framework needs to be further validated through a sufficiently large number of variables and locations.

Practical implications

The framework can help reduce the impacts of incidents on the safety of efficiency of road traffic once implemented in intelligent transport system and traffic management systems in future practical applications.

Originality/value

This study uses two artificial neural network methods, MLP and LSTM, to establish a framework aiming at providing accurate and time-efficient information on traffic incident duration in the future for transportation operators and travelers. This study will contribute to the deployment of emergency management and urban traffic navigation planning.

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2018

Anna-Mara Schön, Shahad Al-Saadi, Jakob Grubmueller and Dorit Schumann-Bölsche

The purpose of this paper is to present the initial results of the Camp Performance Indicator (CPI) system to illustrate the importance of self-reliance of refugee camp dwellers…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the initial results of the Camp Performance Indicator (CPI) system to illustrate the importance of self-reliance of refugee camp dwellers with regard to infrastructure and service investments.

Design/methodology/approach

Data, derived from a field trip to Zaatari in autumn 2016 and thorough literature research, were taken to develop a new CPI system. The findings from the literature research were merged with available camp data to validate each other.

Findings

Self-reliance is a fundamental human right and anchored in the UN sustainable development goals. Yet, presented findings reveal that even in one of the most modern refugee camps in the world – Zaatari – the level of self-reliance is rather low. However, organisations and humanitarian logisticians can influence self-reliance by identifying clearly where challenges are.

Research limitations/implications

Data from a diverse range of reports were extracted. As most of these reports lack reliable and comparative quantitative data, the limitation of the study must be taken into account. So far data were only validated on one case study. To develop the tool further, more data need to be taken into account.

Originality/value

To this point, there is no performance measurement tool available focusing on self-reliance of encamped refugees. In addition, no academic research has measured the interrelation between the level of investments in infrastructure and services and the improvement of the lives of camp residents, especially regarding the level of self-reliance.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 May 2021

Rachida El Morabet, Roohul Abad Khan, Soufiane Bouhafa and Larbi Barhazi

Air quality and its assessment in urban areas has become a necessity. This is attributed to the increasing air pollution in urban landscape from anthropogenic activities necessary…

Abstract

Purpose

Air quality and its assessment in urban areas has become a necessity. This is attributed to the increasing air pollution in urban landscape from anthropogenic activities necessary for economic growth and development. This study investigates air quality and potential health risk posed from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to the residents of low town of Mohammedia city, Morocco.

Design/methodology/approach

The NO2 concentration was measured on an hourly basis for the winter season of the year 2014, 2015 and 2016. The air quality was assessed in terms of Air Quality Index (AQI). Noncarcinogenic risk assessment was done to evaluate possible health risk to the inhabitant of low town from NO2 exposure.

Findings

The maximum concentration reached 85–96 µg/m3 (at 6 p.m., 2014), 96–104 µg/m3 (7–9 p.m., 2015) and 102–117 (8–11 p.m., 2016). The AQI during maximum NO2 levels (peak hours) ranged between 0–50 µg/m3 (good) to 51–100 µg/m3 (unhealthy for sensitive group). The risk quotient (RQ) was calculated for average daily intake and average hourly intake of NO2. RQ was found to be less than 1 (no potential health risk, lifetime and hourly) for all three years. However, increase in RQ value from 0.84 (2014) to 0.98 (2016) indicates increase in potential health risk. Hence, policy and measures should be adopted to reduce the potential health risk.

Originality/value

This study is very first of its kind for the area and hence can serve as reference study for future works. Further studies are required to assess air pollution in other seasons (summer, spring, autumn), impact of climatic condition and parameters on air quality. Also, for direct impact assessment number of cases attributed to air pollution needs to be investigated.

Details

Frontiers in Engineering and Built Environment, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-2499

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 July 2023

Kaisa Aro, Kati Suomi and Richard Gyrd-Jones

This study aims to add to the understanding of the interactive nature of brand love by using a multilayer perspective that incorporates individual, group and societal contexts.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to add to the understanding of the interactive nature of brand love by using a multilayer perspective that incorporates individual, group and societal contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative empirical study uses abductive reasoning. Its theories and conclusions are grounded in naturally occurring data from an online brand community. The approach revealed new interactive processes of brand love.

Findings

This study extends our understanding of the interactive nature of brand love by adopting a layered perspective incorporating micro- (individual), meso- (in-group), macro- (in-group vs out-group) and mega-layer (societal) social dynamics that complements the predominant focus on individual psychological processes. It challenges the linear, monodirectional trajectory approach to brand love, suggesting that brand love is in constant flux as individuals move across the layers in their identification with the brand.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides data from one destination brand in Finland. Future studies could consider other types of brands and contexts in other countries and cultures.

Practical implications

This study shows brand managers that brand lovers can be divided into subgroups with distinct drivers of their love to which brand managers should attend.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to describe the interactive nature of brand love through interactions between and within four layers of brand love. Furthermore, this study enhances our understanding of the contradictory aspects of brand love.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 57 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 October 2017

Han Shen, Qiucheng Wang, Chuou Ye and Jessica Shihchi Liu

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reforms in the public-holiday-policy system and their influence on the domestic tourism in China. The major reforms in the Chinese…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reforms in the public-holiday-policy system and their influence on the domestic tourism in China. The major reforms in the Chinese holiday system in the last 20 years and the overall changes in the demand for domestic tourism are analyzed in this paper to provide a better understanding of China’s holiday-system reform for policy makers in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper summarizes the development and reform of the holiday system in China. Policy review and domestic tourism statistics were applied to study the intrinsic relationship between the holiday system and the domestic tourism. The statistics of domestic tourism are cited, including the growth rates of both urban and rural tourists, the domestic tourism expenditure per capita, etc. Finally, this research explains the trends of these rates in a comprehensive background.

Findings

The increasing length of holidays positively affects the domestic tourism demand by increasing the leisure time. Yet, the holiday-tourism activities lead to a series of problems, such as a huge pressure on transportation, overloaded tourist attractions, and threats to safety precautions. Paid leave, price leverage, and more reasonable tourist-attraction arrangements will be effective in easing China’s holiday rush.

Originality/value

Through studying the intrinsic relationship between the holiday system and the domestic tourism, this paper points out the problems of excessive concentration of domestic tourism demand in a particular time, caused by the holiday system. Solutions and suggestions are provided on the basis of the analysis.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 September 2019

Shunsuke Managi, Jingyu Wang and Lulu Zhang

The purpose of this paper is to provide the extensive review on dynamic monitoring of forestry area in China.

1991

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide the extensive review on dynamic monitoring of forestry area in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Countermeasure and suggestions were proposed for three aspects including the establishment of data sets with unified standards, top-level design of monitoring and assessment and analysis models, and establishment of the decision support platform with multiple scenario simulation.

Findings

Finally, the authors proposed key research area in this field, i.e., improving the systematic and optimal forest management through integrating and improving the data, models and simulation platforms and coupling the data integration system, assessment system and decision support system.

Originality/value

The authors explored the limitation of dynamic monitoring and state of the art research on data accumulation, professional model development and the analytical platform.

Details

Forestry Economics Review, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3030

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Dorothy Ai-wan Yen, Benedetta Cappellini, Jane Denise Hendy and Ming-Yao Jen

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe challenges to ethnic minorities in the UK. While the experiences of migrants are both complex and varied depending on individuals' social…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe challenges to ethnic minorities in the UK. While the experiences of migrants are both complex and varied depending on individuals' social class, race, cultural proximity to the host country and acculturation levels, more in-depth studies are necessary to fully understand how COVID-19 affects specific migrant groups and their health. Taiwanese migrants were selected because they are an understudied group. Also, there were widespread differences in pandemic management between the UK and Taiwan, making this group an ideal case for understanding how their acculturation journey can be disrupted by a crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data were collected at two different time points, at the start of the UK pandemic (March/April 2020) and six months on (October/November 2020), to explore migrant coping experiences over time. Theoretically, the authors apply acculturation theory through the lens of coping, while discussing health-consumption practices, as empirical evidence.

Findings

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, participants worked hard to achieve high levels of integration in the UK. The pandemic changed this; participants faced unexpected changes in the UK’s sociocultural structures. They were forced to exercise the layered and complex “coping with coping” in a hostile host environment that signalled their new marginalised status. They faced impossible choices, from catching a life-threatening disease to being seen as overly cautious. Such experience, over time, challenged their integration to the host country, resulting in a loss of faith in the UK’s health system, consequently increasing separation from the host culture and society.

Research limitations/implications

It is important to note that the Taiwanese sample recruited through Facebook community groups is biased and has a high level of homogeneity. These participants were well-integrated, middle-class migrants who were highly educated, relatively resourceful and active on social media. More studies are needed to fully understand the impact on well-being and acculturation of migrants from different cultural, contextual and social backgrounds. This being the case, the authors can speculate that migrants with less resource are likely to have found the pandemic experience even more challenging. More studies are needed to fully understand migrant experience from different backgrounds.

Practical implications

Public health policymakers are advised to dedicate more resources to understand migrants' experiences in the host country. In particular, this paper has shown how separation, especially if embraced temporarily, is not necessarily a negative outcome to be corrected with specific policies. It can be strategically adopted by migrants as a way of defending their health and well-being from an increasingly hostile environment. Migrants' home country experience provides vicarious learning opportunities to acquire good practices. Their voices should be encouraged rather than in favour of a surprising orthodox and rather singular approach in the discussion of public health management.

Social implications

The paper has clear public health policy implications. Firstly, public health policymakers are advised to dedicate more resources to understand migrants' experiences in the host country. Acknowledging migrants' voice is a critical first step to contribute to the development of a fair and inclusive society. Secondly, to retain skilful migrants and avoid a future brain-drain, policymakers are advised to advance existing infrastructure to provide more incentives to support and retain migrant talents in the post-pandemic recovery phase.

Originality/value

This paper reveals how a group of previously well-integrated migrants had to exercise “coping with coping” during the COVID crisis. This experience, over time, challenged their integration to the host country, resulting in a loss of faith in the UK’s health system, consequently increasing separation from the host culture and society. It contributes to the understanding of acculturation by showing how a such crisis can significantly disrupt migrants' acculturation journey, challenging them to re-acculturate and reconsider their identity stance. It shows how separation was indeed a good option for migrants for protecting their well-being from a newly hostile host environment.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 41 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 November 2022

Claudia Cozzio and Andrea Furlan

This study aims to investigate the impact of the innovative ritual-based redesign of a routine in the challenging context of the dining-out sector, characterized by low employee…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of the innovative ritual-based redesign of a routine in the challenging context of the dining-out sector, characterized by low employee commitment and high turnover.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a mixed methods experimental design. This study focuses on a field experiment in a real restaurant centered on the restaurant’s welcome entrée routine. The routine is first observed as it happens, after which it is redesigned as a ritual.

Findings

The ritual-based redesign of the routine enhances employee sharing of the purpose of the routine and reduces the variability of the execution time of the routine, which increases group cohesion among the restaurant staff. Besides the positive impact on the routine’s participants, the ritual-based redesign has a beneficial effect on the performance of the routine by increasing the enjoyment of the end-consumers at the restaurant.

Research limitations/implications

The ritual-based redesign of routines is a powerful managerial tool that bonds workers into a solidary community characterized by strong and shared values. This allows guidance of the behavior of new and existing employees in a more efficient and less time-consuming way.

Originality/value

Rituals have been traditionally analyzed from the customer perspective as marketing tools. This research investigates the employees’ perspective, leveraging ritual-based redesign as a managerial tool for increasing cohesion among workers.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 February 2020

Federico Caviggioli, Lucio Lamberti, Paolo Landoni and Paolo Meola

Evidence from previous literature indicates that adopting a new innovative technology has a positive impact on a company’s business performance. Much less work has been carried…

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Abstract

Purpose

Evidence from previous literature indicates that adopting a new innovative technology has a positive impact on a company’s business performance. Much less work has been carried out into examining whether a technology adoption has impact on corporate reputation. This paper aims to examine the latter topic in a context where social media is the channel used to share news about the introduction of a new technology. The empirical setting of the study consists of five retail companies located in the USA that decided to include Bitcoin as a payment platform.

Design/methodology/approach

Twitter data were used to measure how sharing news about the adoption of new technology could affect the reputation of the companies selected, keeping a clear distinction between the volume of data relating to social media responses and the sentiment expressed in the tweets. A panel vector autoregression model was used to incorporate series of data relating to news items, volume and sentiment.

Findings

The results show that the news about the adoption of a new technology has a positive impact on both the volume of tech-related tweets and the sentiment expressed in the tweets themselves, although the patterns of these two effects are different. The resulting impact decreases after a few days, both in volume and in sentiment.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis has limitations that future research could address by extending and diversifying the examined companies and the social media used as data sources. The research suggests that managers in medium-sized companies can leverage on the introduction of new technologies that have a direct impact on their customers and gain reputational benefits in terms of immediate visibility.

Originality/value

The research introduces an additional dimension of analysis to the current stream of corporate reputation. Although the literature has already covered the dynamics of response to events on Twitter, by focusing on the adoption of the new Bitcoin technology, the paper provides novel insights.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 June 2019

Yang Li, Zhixiang Xie, Yaochen Qin and Zhicheng Zheng

This paper aims to study the temporal and spatial variation of vegetation and the influence of climate change on vegetation coverage in the Yellow River basin, China. The current…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the temporal and spatial variation of vegetation and the influence of climate change on vegetation coverage in the Yellow River basin, China. The current study aimed to evaluate the role of a series of government-led environmental control projects in restoring the ecological environment of the Yellow River basin.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses unary linear regression, Mann–Kendall and wavelet analyses to study the spatial–temporal variations of vegetation and the response to climate changes in the Yellow River, China.

Findings

The results showed that for the past 17 years, not only the mean annual increase rate of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was 0.0059/a, but the spatial heterogeneity also yields significant results. The vegetation growth in the southeastern region was significantly better than that in the northwestern region. The variation period of the NDVI in the study area significantly shortened, and the most obvious oscillation period was half a year, with two peaks in one year. In addition, there are positive and negative effects of human activities on the change of vegetation cover of the Loess Plateau. The project of transforming cultivated land to forest and grassland promotes the increase of vegetation cover of the Loess plateau. Unfortunately, the regional urbanization and industrialization proliferated, and the overloading of grazing, deforestation, over-reclamation, and the exploitation and development of the energy area in the grassland region led to the reduction of the NDVI. Fortunately, the positive effects outweigh the negative ones.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive insight to analysis of the vegetation change and the responses of vegetation to climate change, with special reference to make the planning policy of ecological restoration. This paper argues that ecological restoration should be strengthened in areas with annual precipitation less than 450 mm.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

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