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Found 6383 publications
Quantifying the Effect of Frame Stiffness – The Substitution Inertia of Meier's Calculation
Publication Name: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 1258 LNNS
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: 46-57
Description:
The internationally accepted method for assessing track stability is the calculation based on Meier's theory. A critical point is the inclusion of the equivalent track bending stiffness. Practical measurements have often given contradictory results in determining this, so the authors present a purely theoretical determination in this article. For this purpose, the Nemesdy theory, which is used in Hungarian practice, is invoked. By applying this theory, the paper introduces an auxiliary factor that allows us to calculate the value of the inertia of the two rails on the vertical axis. Stopping at this point in the theoretical derivation and recognizing the possibility, an iterative solution is proposed by which the magnitude of the substitute inertia can be considered in Meier's calculation without performing the necessary calculations using Nemesdy's theory.
Open Access: Yes
STUDY OF THE TOURIST AND RECREATIONAL LOAD IN THE “KOLSAI LAKES” STATE NATIONAL NATURE PARK, KAZAKHSTAN
Publication Name: Geojournal of Tourism and Geosites
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 58
Issue: 1
Page Range: 9-17
Description:
The growing popularity of ecological tourism has led to a significant increase in tourist flows and, consequently, a rise in anthropogenic impacts on the ecosystems of natural areas. This phenomenon poses challenges to the delicate balance of these ecosystems, requiring detailed study and intervention. Studying the dynamics of this process is essential to assess its impact and develop effective measures to prevent critical stress that could lead to irreversible negative changes in the natural environment. The transition to circular tourism is also a major challenge. Using the example of the State National Natural Park “Kolsai Lakes,” located in the southeast of the Almaty region of Kazakhstan, the authors proposed a comprehensive approach to determining the maximum permissible tourist and recreational load. This approach includes expert assessments, calculation methods, and systematic monitoring observations to evaluate the capacity of the park's ecological routes and paths. The research focused on ensuring that these natural areas can sustain their ecological integrity while accommodating visitors. The practical outcomes of the research included the development of recommendations aimed at reducing anthropogenic impacts on the park's routes and paths. These recommendations encompass a combination of technical solutions, organizational strategies, and managerial measures designed to balance tourism with environmental preservation. The measures proposed align with global principles of sustainable tourism and reflect the need for integrated approaches to managing natural resources. The main results emphasize the critical importance of sustainable management methods in maintaining the ecological integrity of the “Kolsai Lakes” State National Nature Park. These findings were derived from field research, where the authors conducted on-site evaluations to gather data and analyze the environmental conditions. The insights gained were systematically organized and presented in tabular form within the article. The study underlines the necessity of ongoing monitoring and adaptive management to address the evolving challenges posed by ecological tourism. By implementing the recommended measures, the park authorities can mitigate potential environmental risks while fostering a harmonious relationship between tourism and nature conservation. This research contributes valuable knowledge to the field of sustainable tourism, offering practical strategies that can be applied to other natural areas facing similar challenges.
Open Access: Yes
A literature outlook on the impacts of corporate social responsibility on sustainable banking operation
Publication Name: International Journal of Green Economics
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 19
Issue: 4
Page Range: 429-447
Description:
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become essential in banking as stakeholders demand greater sustainability, transparency, and ethical governance. This paper provides a structured review of studies from 2014–2024, examining the relationship between CSR initiatives and banks’ financial performance. The review highlights that CSR practices such as green banking, responsible lending, ethical investment strategies, and sustainability reporting can enhance profitability, reputation, and stakeholder trust though results vary across contexts. While many studies find a positive relationship between CSR and financial performance, others report negative or neutral effects, depending on bank size, institutional stability, cultural context, and the specific CSR dimensions pursued. Guided by stakeholder, legitimacy, resource-based, and reputation theories, the review develops an integrated conceptual framework and offers policy insights for banks and regulators. It also identifies research gaps, particularly the potential of emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence to strengthen ESG risk assessment and financial inclusion. Overall, CSR remains a key but context-dependent driver of sustainable banking.
Open Access: Yes
Spatiotemporal prediction of soil moisture content at various depths in three soil types using machine learning algorithms
Publication Name: Frontiers in Soil Science
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 5
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
Introduction: Accurate prediction of soil moisture content (SMC) is crucial for agricultural systems as it affects hydrological cycles, crop growth, and resource management. Considering the challenges with prediction accuracy and determining the effect of soil texture, depth, and meteorological data on SMC variation and prediction capability of the used models, this research has been conducted. Methods: Three machine learning (ML) models—random forest regression (RFR), eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and long short-term memory (LSTM)—were developed to predict SMC in three soil types (loam, sandy loam, and silt loam) at five depths of 5, 20, 40, 60, and 80 cm. The dataset was collected during the maize season in 2023, encompassing meteorological parameters collected using Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensors and SMC data calculated using the gravimetric method. Results: The results showed variations in SMC in all studied soil types and depths, with silt loam exhibiting the highest variation in SMC. RFR demonstrated high accuracy at different depths and soil types, particularly in loam soil, at a depth of 80 with a root mean square error (RMSE) value of 0.89 and a mean absolute error (MAE) value of 0.74, and in silt loam at 40 cm depth with an RMSE value of 0.498 and an MAE of 0.416. LSTM performed effectively at shallower and moderate depths (60 and 20 cm) with RMSE values of 0.391 and 0.804 and MAE values of 0.335 and 0.793, respectively. In sandy loam soil at 5 cm depth, XGBoost displayed minimal errors and robust performance at the same depths with higher accuracy, achieving an RMSE of 0.025 and an MAE of 0.159. Analysis of training and validation loss revealed that the LSTM model stabilized and improved with more epochs, showing a more consistent decrease in MSE, while RFR and XGBoost exhibited higher performance with increased model complexity, shown in low MSE and RMSE values. Comparisons between measured and predicted SMC% values demonstrated the models’ effectiveness in capturing soil moisture dynamics. Furthermore, feature importance analysis revealed that solar radiation and precipitation were the most influential predictors across all models, offering critical insights into dominant environmental drivers of soil moisture variability. Discussion: By providing precise SMC predictions across different spatial and temporal scales, this study underscores the value of ML models for SMC prediction, which could have implications for improving irrigation scheduling, reducing water wastages, and enhancing sustainability.
Open Access: Yes
Virtual and Real World Assessment of Pedestrian Confidence in LED Interface
Publication Name: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 1258 LNNS
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: 69-76
Description:
The number of road accidents is decreasing slightly in developed countries, mainly due to technological advancements and government actions. However, accidents involving vulnerable users, such as pedestrians, remain high. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to benefit pedestrians, though their interaction with pedestrians raises questions. Common driver behaviors like gestures, eye contact, and flashing lights indicate a willingness to yield, which AVs must replicate. Our research compares two experiments: a virtual reality (VR) pedestrian crossing with an LED display on a virtual AV and a real traffic scenario using the same LED display on an actual car. We investigated how much pedestrians rely on LED communication and whether there are differences between VR and real-world settings. A questionnaire gathered demographic data and trust levels in LEDs. The VR experiment had 51 participants, while the real traffic experiment involved 136 pedestrians. Overall, 82% responded positively to the LED display, with gender and age being insignificant factors. A rapid learning process indicated that explicit communication patterns were self-explanatory. In the VR experiment, 75% moderately trusted the LED display, while 18% fully trusted it. In real traffic, 44% fully trusted the display after familiarization, but skepticism was higher compared to the VR setting.
Open Access: Yes
Microstructural Analysis of High-Strength Steel Post Gleeble Modelling
Publication Name: Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: Part F136
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: 433-443
Description:
High-strength steel alloys are widely used in critical engineering applications due to their exceptional mechanical properties. To ensure their reliability and performance under extreme conditions comprehensive understanding of their microstructural changes during testing and processing is crucial. This study investigates the microstructural evolution of high-strength steel samples subjected to Gleeble modelling, a thermomechanical simulation technique that replicates real-world conditions. The research was conducted on a series of high-strength steel specimens, where varying combinations temperature, strain rate, and applied stress were employed to simulate a range of operational scenarios. The microstructural analysis was carried out using advanced microscopy techniques, including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our findings reveal intriguing insights into the dynamic changes occurring within the steel microstructure during Gleeble modelling. At elevated temperatures, grain growth was observed, affecting both the grainsize and distribution. The effect transformation and recrystallization were also examined. This research not only contributes to a deeper strain rate variations on phase comprehension of the microstructural alterations in high-strength steel during Gleeble modelling but also offers valuable information for the optimization of steel processing and heat treatment strategies. Such insights are paramount for engineers and metallurgists working in fields requiring high-strength steel. Such as aerospace, automotive, and structural engineering.
Open Access: Yes
New data on terrestrial gastropods (Gastropoda: Cyclophoroidea) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, with descriptions of two new species in the genus Euthema (Diplommatinidae)
Publication Name: Zoosystematica Rossica
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 34
Issue: 2
Page Range: 336-353
Description:
Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber preserves an exceptionally diverse assemblage of operculate land snails. Here, two new diplommatinid species are described: Euthema convexispira Bichain et Páll-Gergely, sp. nov. and Eu. torokzselenszkyi Páll-Gergely et Szabó, sp. nov. Newly found specimens of two previously known species, Hirsuticyclus canaliculatus Yu, 2022 and Cretadiostoma caperatum Yu, Zhuo et Páll-Gergely, 2023, are described and illustrated; the specimen of the former is characterised by a distinctive spiral operculum, while that of the latter provides additional data on the morphology of the aperture and the proportions of the shell whorls. Furthermore, the article reports three specimens that are tentatively attributed here to the species Euthema cf. annae Balashov, 2021 and to the genera Euthema Yu, Wang et Pan, 2018 and Pulchraspira Yu, Salvador et Jarzembowski, 2021.
Open Access: Yes
The Role of Economic Growth and FDI in Ecological Footprint and the Load Capacity Factor: Evidence From Türkiye
Publication Name: Acta Montanistica Slovaca
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 30
Issue: 1
Page Range: 193-208
Description:
Proposed sustainable economic development and growth have been among the leading and desired objectives of policymakers. Thus, various investigations have been conducted, considering different social, political, and economic factors to lessen environmental degradation and improve biocapacity. Within this context, Türkiye is one of the most essential cases because of its location and role in the global supply chain, emerging countries' members, and the severity of the environmental situation. Thus, the study employs the Fourier ARDL, FADL co-integration tests, FMOLS estimations with Fourier Terms, and Fourier Toda-Yamamoto analysis to investigate the role of economic growth and FDI in ecological footprint and the load capacity factor along with considering some control variables over the period between 1982 to 2021. As a result of the investigations, it is concluded that the economic growth, the FDI, and the remaining variables do not promote impact the load capacity factor. However, the considered variables pressure the environment when the ecological footprint is regarded as the environmental indicator, and the pollution haven hypothesis holds for Türkiye. To reverse and mitigate the harmful effects of economic activities, efforts, and policies should be made toward environmentally friendly forms of production, trade, FDI, and renewable energy sources.
Open Access: Yes
The structure–function relationships and techno-functions of β-conglycinin
Publication Name: Food Chemistry
Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Volume: 462
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
β-conglycinin (β-CG) is a prominent storage protein belonging to the globulin family in soybean (Glycine max) seeds. Along with other soybean proteins, it serves as an important source of essential amino acids and high-quality nutrition. However, the digestibility and nutritional value of β-CG are key factors affecting the nutritional profile of soy-based foods. The heterotrimeric, secondary, and quaternary structures of β-CG, particularly the spatial arrangement of its α, α’, and β subunits, influence its functional properties. Considering these aspects, β-CG emerges as a significant protein with diverse applications in the food and health sectors. Therefore, this review explores β-CG's composition, structure, function, health implications, and industrial uses. Salient discussions are presented on its molecular structure, nutrition, digestibility, allergenicity, and techno-functions including emulsification, solubility, gelling, and structure–function complexities. Overall, the multifaceted potential of β-CG in the healthcare sector and the food industry is evident.
Open Access: Yes
