Search results
1 – 10 of 10Yang 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…
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
Keywords
Meng Zhang, Allan David Walker and Haiyan Qian
This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the twenty-first century in China – the Master Teacher Studio (MTS).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper drew from policy documents, published Chinese literature relating to MTSs and personal fieldwork experience in Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang province.
Findings
The article first outlines the context framing the system change, including its policy background and evolution, and then the MTS's purpose, formative process and structure. It finally examines major teacher learning activities and the leadership roles of the MTS hosts (leaders).
Research limitations/implications
This study contributed to the knowledge base of system teacher leaders and how they lead cross-school leading.
Practical implications
The MTS initiative described in this article shows the power of central system leadership to spread and embed effective teacher learning practices at schools.
Originality/value
This article provides implications for understanding and practicing teacher system leadership to support teacher professional learning in different societies.
Details
Keywords
Geraldina Silveyra, Lucía Rodríguez-Aceves, Humberto Charles-Leija and José Manuel Saiz-Álvarez
This study aims to propose a causal relationship between the level of students’ human flourishing (HF) and their entrepreneurial intention (EI) and the mediation role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a causal relationship between the level of students’ human flourishing (HF) and their entrepreneurial intention (EI) and the mediation role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE).
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a sample of 5,035 first-year university students who graduated from 950 different upper secondary schools in Mexico and abroad. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results reveal that HF increases EI and ESE; ESE positively impacts EI; and the student’s ESE partially mediates the HF-EI relationship.
Practical implications
These findings may improve educational strategies in upper secondary schools and higher education institutions’ management programmes to impact graduates’ HF and EI. To the knowledge, the authors are the first to measure how HF in upper secondary school graduates contributes to increasing their EI.
Social implications
Recommendations are made to increase Latin American students’ HF and EI.
Originality/value
The authors propose an inverse relationship between HF and EI, as HF can be enhanced in upper secondary education to boost EI later in students’ lives.
Details
Keywords
Shufeng Tang, Renjie Huang, Guoqing Zhao and Guoqing Wang
The purpose of this paper is that the modular mobile robots reformed the multimachine joint mode to achieve obstacle-crossing, climbing and other multifunctional inspection in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is that the modular mobile robots reformed the multimachine joint mode to achieve obstacle-crossing, climbing and other multifunctional inspection in unstructured environment under the connection of the cone–hole docking mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
An arc-shaped docking cone head with a posture-maintaining spring and two arc-shaped connecting rods that formed a ring round hole were designed to achieve large tolerance docking. Before active locking, the coordination between structures was used to achieve passive locking, which mitigated the docking impact of modular robots in unstructured environment. Using the locking ring composed of the two arc-shaped connecting rods, open-loop and closed-loop motion characteristics were obtained through the mutual motion of the connecting rod and the sliding block to achieve active locking, which not only ensured high precision docking, but also achieved super docking stability.
Findings
The cone–hole docking mechanism had the docking tolerance performance of position deviation of 6mm and pitch deviation of 8° to achieve docking of six degrees of freedom (6-DOF), which had a load capacity of 230 N to achieve super docking stability. Under the connection of the cone–hole docking mechanism, the modular mobile robots reformed the multimachine joint mode to achieve obstacle-crossing, climbing and other multifunctional inspection in unstructured environment.
Originality/value
Based on mechanical analysis of universal models, a cone–hole docking mechanism combining active and passive functions, six-dimensional constraints could be implemented, was proposed in this paper. The characteristics of the posture-maintaining spring in the cone docking head and the compression spring at the two ends of two arc-shaped connecting rods were used to achieve docking with large tolerance. Passive locking and active locking modules were designed, mitigating impact load and the locking did not require power to maintain, which not only ensured high precision docking, but also achieved super docking stability.
Details
Keywords
By modelling China’s property price changes and their effect on GDP, this study aims to develop a more general model of the costs and benefits driving price bubbles.
Abstract
Purpose
By modelling China’s property price changes and their effect on GDP, this study aims to develop a more general model of the costs and benefits driving price bubbles.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a five-sector dynamic model (using data from China and seven other comparator jurisdictions), resulting in a bubble risk factor. The authors then correlate this risk factor with changes in property prices and resulting changes in GDP.
Findings
The authors find that economic structures (the way GDP, property prices and other variables change relative to each other) can change during/after a financial crisis. The authors also find that price disequilibria can help predict the risk of a property price fall – which thus reverberates into GDP change.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no dynamic models of price bubbles exist (though many exist of financial bubbles). The authors provide both theoretical novelties (such as providing a model of risk using non-linear differential equations) and practical ones (showing when we can expect Chinese GDP to fall).
Details
Keywords
Psychological ownership has been a topic of intense debate for several decades, especially in the digital era. In addition, as part of the digital public domain, virtual…
Abstract
Purpose
Psychological ownership has been a topic of intense debate for several decades, especially in the digital era. In addition, as part of the digital public domain, virtual communities shape our digital lives. Unfortunately, few studies have examined the communication process in virtual communities from the perspective of psychological ownership. Moreover, information and organization are key aspects of virtual communities. This research aimed to explore the impact of psychological ownership on communication satisfaction from these two perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
I collected 471 responses using a questionnaire. In terms of empirical methods, I developed a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the relationship between psychological ownership and communication satisfaction as well as the mechanism underlying this relationship – namely, information behavior. Specifically, I first examined the relationship between psychological ownership and information behavior. I then developed a comprehensive framework for the double-edged impact of psychological ownership in virtual communities on communication satisfaction.
Findings
I found that psychological ownership has a double-edged effect on communication satisfaction based on two types of information behavior in virtual communities. Specifically, organization-based psychological ownership (OPO) positively influences communication satisfaction through information exchange. In contrast, information-based psychological ownership (IPO) negatively impacts communication satisfaction through information-hiding.
Originality/value
The findings of this research demonstrate that psychological ownership has a double-edged effect on communication satisfaction. First, the findings of this study reveal the downsides of psychological ownership, which are not consistent with its beneficial role. Second, the negative effect of psychological ownership with regard to communication in virtual communities also helps explain communication failure in virtual communities. Finally, despite the downsides of psychological ownership in the context of a virtual community revealed by this study, this factor has an overall beneficial effect.
Details
Keywords
Ji Li, Pradeep Thaker, Deshou Jiang, Qingrong Huang and Chi-Tang Ho
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the functionalities, safety regulations and product applications of herb Stevia rebaudiana extract. This plant material is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the functionalities, safety regulations and product applications of herb Stevia rebaudiana extract. This plant material is embedded with multiple functionalities such as antioxidant, antidiabetics, anti-inflammation and antimicrobial. The regulations released from global authorities are covered to ensure the safety premise of stevia. Besides, the product applications of the extract of aerial parts of the herb S. rebaudiana helps us to recognize its value from commercial side.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant literatures are selected and obtained from main scientific databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed and trade magazines published between 2000 and 2023. The keywords and their possible combinations such as sweetening, antioxidant, antidiabetics, anti-inflammation, safety and product development were used to ensure the preciseness and completeness of literature searching. Major data such as sweetness, total phenolic content and dose together with latter critical conclusions from searched publications were appropriately used and discussed. In this review, approximately 150 scientific literatures were meticulously ordered and analyzed. In applications, it is the first time that sentiment analysis was used to obtain a market assessment of the stevia-containing products.
Findings
This review paper helps rearrange the scientific affairs of those stevia extract’s functions like sweetening, antioxidant, antidiabetics and inflammation. Sweetness indexes of steviol glycosides were summarized together for comparison while various in vitro and in vivo approaches were reviewed to quantify those functions’ capacities and to depict the related mechanism. The regulation of steviol glycoside compounds such as rebaudioside A was established by global authorities such as US Food and Drug Administration and Joint FAO/World Health Organization Expert Committee to ensure the safety endorsement before commercialization. Then, this study discussed about the market performance of stevia ingredients or products with the self-developed data analytics. This study also investigated the product development progress of stevia-containing food products in the categories of beverage, bakery, dairy and confectionery. Those stevia-containing food consumer goods can be acceptable by certain consumers.
Originality/value
This review paper precisely presents the evidential information about the stevia’s multiple functionalities with mechanisms and global regulation milestones. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is then the first time to probe the stevia-containing products’ market performance through data analytics.
Details
Keywords
Shahriar Kibriya and Gordon Jones
This study aims to evaluate the effect of school safety on standardized learning outcomes for primary-age students in Tanzania, identifying causal direction and magnitudes.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the effect of school safety on standardized learning outcomes for primary-age students in Tanzania, identifying causal direction and magnitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
Key dependent variables include standardized learning outcomes in English, reading fluency and math addition problems; while independent variables are the perception of school safety from head teachers. An ordinary least squares estimation explored the determinants of student performance when controlled for school and family specific characteristics. These results were then verified through the quasi-experimental method of propensity score matching, estimating the effect of school safety on learning outcomes and accounting for any misspecifications in the treatment or outcome models.
Findings
Results show statistically significant and negative effects of an unsafe school environment on learning outcomes for both reading and math.
Research limitations/implications
As head teachers reported students’ perceptions of school safety, it may be underreported.
Originality/value
Donors, policymakers and other stakeholders need to consider school safety issues as a barrier to learning in policy design and program implementation.
Details