Data Analytics for Air Travel Data: A Survey and New Perspectives

From the start, the airline industry has remarkably connected countries all over the world through rapid long-distance transportation, helping people overcome geographic barriers. Consequently, this has ushered in substantial economic growth, both nationally and internationally. The airline industry produces vast amounts of data, capturing a diverse set of information about their operations, including data related to passengers, freight, flights, and much more. Analyzing air travel data can advance the understanding of airline market dynamics, allowing companies to provide customized, efficient, and safe transportation services. Due to big data challenges in such a complex environment, the benefits of drawing insights from the air travel data in the airline industry have not yet been fully explored. This article aims to survey various components and corresponding proposed data analysis methodologies that have been identified as essential to the inner workings of the airline industry. We introduce existing data sources commonly used in the papers surveyed and summarize their availability. Finally, we discuss several potential research directions to better harness airline data in the future. We anticipate this study to be used as a comprehensive reference for both members of the airline industry and academic scholars with an interest in airline research.

The influences of cultural values on the cultural product trade: evidence from China, Japan and Korea

Purpose International trade flows of cultural goods have grown noticeably in the past few decades and the development of cultural products trade has been an important issue in the international business field. Therefore, this study aims to explore how per capita gross domestic product, distance, culture, Internet penetration and other factors affect the trade of cultural products. Design/methodology/approach The paper focuses on the international trade in cultural goods of China, Japan and Korea with other countries. To analyze the essential reason, the study has applied the classical gravity model along with variables, which mainly represent global connectedness to investigate which variables have the most impact on trade in cultural products. Findings The result shows that in terms of China, cultural similarity boosts the volume of trade volume with other countries, however, for South Korea and Japan, cultural similarity does not have a significant impact. On top of cultural similarity, individual cultural value dimension differences between countries show mixed results for each country and their directions of trade. Global connectedness, on the other hand, is not congruent with the general expectations of previous studies. Research limitations implications Due to the limited time for data collection, the research was done with a relatively small country list with a limited number of cultural good items. Second, the Kogut and Singh index is one of the most popular measures based on cultural dimension deviation. It is based on the Euclidean calculation method used by most scholars but some scholars believe that the Euclidean method has some shortcomings. Third, the authors do not actively promote robust testing after regression analysis this work would be carried out in the future. Finally, using the four basic cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede in 1980 may be another limitation. Practical implications First, the authors should further promote the establishment of the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Area. The three countries should formulate special policies to favor the trade of cultural products and support the development of the cultural industry. Additionally, the three sides should also set up a joint research center to explore the issue of improving the international competitiveness of cultural products trade and find common solutions. And the three countries should further open their doors within the reasonable range, relax the restrictions on tourism and trade visas. Originality/value The analysis provides some different results as the previous papers. Distance variables show positive effect on trade which defines that long distance between countries do no matter on trade in cultural goods. Moreover, the variables of tourism receipt shows that global connectedness positively effects on trade. The cultural variables of the KS composite index show opposite result with the conventional logic which advocates that cultural dissimilarity enhances trade in cultural goods.

Non-Chemical Approaches to Control Postharvest Gray Mold Disease in Bell Peppers

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a widely grown vegetable crop that is nutritious and flavorful and economically important for growers worldwide. A significant limiting factor in the postharvest storage and long-distance transport of peppers is gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea. The pathogen is widespread in nature, highly aggressive, and able to cause disease at cool refrigerated temperatures during transport and storage. Fungicides have been relied on in the past to reduce bell pepper rots in storage; however, concern over residues on the fruit and environmental degradation have heightened the importance of natural and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) solutions that effectively limit disease. Essential oils, plant extracts, inorganic chemicals, biocontrols, defense activators, hot water treatments, and modified storage conditions have been tested to reduce losses from gray mold. Despite significant amounts of research on natural methods of control of B. cinerea postharvest, research specific to gray mold in peppers is limited. The objective of this review is to summarize the research conducted with environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical fungicides to control this important pathogen of peppers postharvest. To ensure a steady supply of healthy and nutritious produce, more research is needed on the development, use, and application of non-hazardous Botrytis control methods. Until an effective solution is found, using a combined approach including environmental controls, sanitation, and GRAS products remain paramount to limit Botrytis fruit rot of peppers postharvest.

Understanding Electric Bicycle Users’ Mode Choice Preference under Uncertainty: A Case Study of Shanghai

The electric bicycle is considered as an environmentally friendly mode, the market share of which is growing fast worldwide. Even in metropolitan areas which have a well-developed public transportation system, the usage of electric bicycles continues to grow. Compared with bicycles, the power transferred from the battery enables users to ride faster and have long-distance trips. However, research on electric bicycle travel behavior is inadequate. This paper proposes a cumulative prospect theory (CPT) framework to describe electric bicycle users’ mode choice behavior. Different from the long-standing use of utility theory, CPT considers travelers’ inconsistent risk attitudes. Six socioeconomic characteristics are chosen to discriminate conservative and adventurous electric bicycle users. Then, a CPT model is established which includes two parts: travel time and travel cost. We calculate the comprehensive cumulative prospect value (CPV) for four transportation modes (electric bicycle, bus, subway and private car) to predict electric bicycle users’ mode choice preference under different travel distance ranges. The model is further validated via survey data.

Development and Application of Fiber-Optic Sensing Technology for Monitoring Soil Moisture Field

Accurate acquisition of the moisture field distribution in in situ soil is of great significance to prevent geological disasters and protect the soil ecological environment. In recent years, rapidly developed fiber-optic sensing technology has shown outstanding advantages, such as distributed measurement, long-distance monitoring, and good durability, which provides a new technical means for soil moisture field monitoring. After several years of technical research, the authors’ group has made a number of new achievements in the development of fiber-optic sensing technology for the soil moisture field, that is, two new fiber-optic sensing technologies for soil moisture content, including the actively heated fiber Bragg grating (AH-FBG) technology and the actively heated distributed temperature sensing (AH-DTS) technology, and a new fiber-optic sensing technology for soil pore gas humidity are developed. This paper systematically summarizes the three fiber-optic sensing technologies for soil moisture field, including sensing principle, sensor development and calibration test. Moreover, the practical application cases of three fiber-optic sensing technologies are introduced. Finally, the development trend of fiber-optic sensing technology for soil moisture field in the future is summarized and prospected.