River Health and Ecology: Perspective View and Approach

The importance of international markets is constantly emphasized for small and medium enterprises(SMEs). In previous studies, technological innovation capabilities were emphasized as a factor that enables SMEs to compete in the international market. To this end, SMEs need to cooperate with external partners to strengthen their technological innovation capabilities to thus improve their international performance. With the perspective view of open innovation, this research explores the effects of relational capital and technological innovation capability on international performance, with a particular focus on the moderating effect of alliance proactiveness. Building on previous literature regarding internationalization, technological innovation, and alliance proactiveness, research hypotheses were developed and tested using data collected from 175 SMEs. A hierarchical regression analysis was applied. The analysis showed that, first, relational capital had a significant effect on the technological innovation capability. Second, technological innovation capability has a significant influence on the international performance. Third, technological innovation capability mediated the relationship between relational capital and international performance. Finally, alliance proactiveness was found to moderate the relationship between technological innovation capability and international performance. The key research findings imply that relational capital and alliance proactiveness are the key factors of international performance, as they improved the development of the technological innovation capability.

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Population Characteristics of Brachionus calyciflorus and Their Potential Application for Evaluating River Health in the Pearl River Delta, China

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060749 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 749

Author(s):

Yuan Gao ◽

Zini Lai ◽

Chao Wang ◽

Haiyan Li ◽

Yongzhan Mai

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Pearl River Delta ◽

Significant Positive Correlation ◽

River Delta ◽

Population Characteristics ◽

Pearl River ◽

River Health ◽

The Pearl River Delta ◽

The Pearl River

Water pollution can be monitored through the use of indicator species, including Brachionus calyciflorus. To do this, it is necessary to understand the species’ population ecology. Four surveys of zooplankton were conducted in May, August, and December 2018 and February 2019 in the Pearl River Delta, China, to examine the population characteristics of B. calyciflorus. The temporal and spatial distribution of abundance, biomass, dominance, and occurrence frequency were compared with those from 2012 to investigate the relationship between changes in the population of B. calyciflorus and environmental factors. The average abundance, dominance, and occurrence of B. calyciflorus in this survey were significantly higher than those of 2012 in all seasons. Principal component analysis showed that environmental factors such as the temperature, transparency, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus of water had a major impact on the abundance of B. calyciflorus. There was a significant positive correlation with transparency, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus of water, and a very significant positive correlation with water temperature. Overall, these results demonstrated that the distribution characteristics of B. calyciflorus can reflect pollution in water bodies and can be used to evaluate water quality. These research results provide a reference for evaluating China’s river health and can help to manage water quality in the Pearl River Delta.

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Socioeconomic Risks and Their Impacts on Ecological River Health in South Korea: An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116287 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6287

Author(s):

Suyeon Kim ◽

Sang-Woo Lee ◽

Se-Rin Park ◽

Yeeun Shin ◽

Kyungjin An

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Socioeconomic Factors ◽

Ecosystem Health ◽

Relative Importance ◽

River Ecosystem ◽

River Health ◽

Analytic Hierarchy ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Hierarchy Process

It is imperative to develop a methodology to identify river impairment sources, particularly the relative impact of socioeconomic sources, to enhance the efficiency of various river restoration schemes and policies and to have an internal diagnosis system in place. This study, therefore, aims to identify and analyze the relative importance of the socioeconomic factors affecting river ecosystem impairment in South Korea. To achieve this goal, we applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate expert judgement of the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors influencing river ecosystem impairment. Based on a list of socioeconomic factors influencing stream health, an AHP questionnaire was prepared and administered to experts in aquatic ecology. Our analysis reveals that secondary industries form the most significant source of stream ecosystem impairment. Moreover, the most critical socioeconomic factors affecting stream impairment are direct inflow pollution, policy implementation, and industrial wastewater. The results also suggest that the AHP is a rapid and robust approach to assessing the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors that affect river ecosystem health. The results can be used to assist decision makers in focusing on actions to improve river ecosystem health.

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