Research on the Industrial Upgrade of Vegetable Growers in Shaanxi: A Cross-Regional Comparative Analysis of Experience Reference

The prime goals of this article are to classify farmers’ production structures in different regions through comparative analysis and propose a structural framework that can quantify the transformation and upgrade of the vegetable industry in Shaanxi. The study utilized New Structural Economics (NSE) theory to construct the theoretical model, and the empirical data set has been crafted from 1992 vegetable growers in the Shaanxi, Hebei, and Shandong provinces. We qualitatively evaluated the potentiality of the Shaanxi vegetable industry, facilitating an industrial upgrade by drawing on the development experience of other regions. More specifically, we utilized the tomato growers to construct a five-step analysis method to transform and upgrade the vegetable industries. This article found that the chosen three provinces have structural differences and similarities in their production sides, and, compared with Hebei and Shandong, the vegetable industry in Shaanxi is still in the catching-up stage. Hebei has similar planting characteristics to Shaanxi, but the production characteristics of growers in Shaanxi are quite different from those in Shandong. Therefore, tomato growers in Hebei are the desired learning object for growers in Shaanxi. By learning planting experience from Hebei growers, tomato growers in the Shaanxi Province can improve their yield and product quality. We found that Shaanxi farmers have 15.57 percent improvement potential in improving crop management and rational allocation of production materials. Proper information-sharing platforms should be implemented to grasp consumption trends on the demand side and guide industrial upgrading.

Comparing Voice Assistant Risks and Potential with Technology-Based Users: A Study from Germany and Spain

Currently, voice assistants (VAs) are trendy and highly available. The VA adoption rate of internet users differs among European countries and also in the global view. Due to speech intelligibility and privacy concerns, using VAs is challenging. Additionally, user experience (UX) assessment methods and VA improvement possibilities are still missing, but are urgently needed to overcome users’ concerns and increase the adoption rate. Therefore, we conducted an intercultural study of technology-based users from Germany and Spain, expecting that higher improvement potential would outweigh concerns about VAs. We investigated VA use in terms of availability versus actual use, usage patterns, concerns, and improvement proposals. Comparing Germany and Spain, our findings show that nearly the same amount of intensive VA use is found in both technology-based user groups. Despite cultural differences, further results show very similar tendencies, e.g., frequency of use, privacy concerns, and demand for VA improvements.

Stroke care networks and the impact on quality of care

Lack of rapidly available neurological expertise, especially in rural areas, is one of the key obstacles in stroke care. Stroke care networks attempt to address this challenge by connecting hospitals with specialized stroke centers, stroke units, and hospitals of lower levels of care. While the benefits of stroke care networks are well-documented, travel distances are likely to increase when patients are transferred almost exclusively between members of the same network. This is particularly important for patients who require mechanical thrombectomy, an increasingly employed treatment method that requires equipment and expertise available in specialized stroke centers. This study aims to analyze the performance of the current design of stroke care networks in Bavaria, Germany, and to evaluate the improvement potential when the networks are redesigned to minimize travel distances. To this end, we define three fundamental criteria for assessing network design performance: 1) average travel distances, 2) the populace in the catchment area relative to the number of stroke units, and 3) the ratio of stroke units to lower-care hospitals. We generate several alternative stroke network designs using an analytical approach based on mathematical programming and clustering. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the existing networks in Bavaria via simulation. The results show that the current network design could be significantly improved concerning the average travel distances. Moreover, the existing networks are unnecessarily imbalanced when it comes to their number of stroke units per capita and the ratio of stroke units to lower-care hospitals.

Exergy and Energy Analyses of Microwave Dryer for Cantaloupe Slice and Prediction of Thermodynamic Parameters Using ANN and ANFIS Algorithms

The study targeted towards drying of cantaloupe slices with various thicknesses in a microwave dryer. The experiments were carried out at three microwave powers of 180, 360, and 540 W and three thicknesses of 2, 4, and 6 mm for cantaloupe drying, and the weight variations were determined. Artificial neural networks (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) were exploited to investigate energy and exergy indices of cantaloupe drying using various afore-mentioned input parameters. The results indicated that a rise in microwave power and a decline in sample thickness can significantly decrease the specific energy consumption (SEC), energy loss, exergy loss, and improvement potential (probability level of 5%). The mean SEC, energy efficiency, energy loss, thermal efficiency, dryer efficiency, exergy efficiency, exergy loss, improvement potential, and sustainability index ranged in 10.48–25.92 MJ/kg water, 16.11–47.24%, 2.65–11.24 MJ/kg water, 7.02–36.46%, 12.36–42.70%, 11.25–38.89%, 3–12.2 MJ/kg water, 1.88–10.83 MJ/kg water, and 1.12–1.63, respectively. Based on the results, the use of higher microwave powers for drying thinner samples can improve the thermodynamic performance of the process. The ANFIS model offers a more accurate forecast of energy and exergy indices of cantaloupe drying compare to ANN model.

Assessment of the sustainability of the traditional and mechanized cultivation process with an exergy-based approach

Regarding the high consumption of allium vegetables such as onion and green onion in the daily food basket of families, it is important to study the sustainability of their agricultural system. Thus, a thermodynamic analysis was carried out to assess the sustainability of the cultivation method management using an exergy-based approach. Onions and green onions were evaluated for mechanized cultivation and for traditional cultivation, respectively. The use of renewable energy in the cultivation system was proposed in the numerical method. The sustainability index and exergetic improvement potential were calculated. Moreover, and the improvement of CDP and RI factors was investigated based on the CExC approach. The results indicated energy consumption of 1 ton of onion production was 2.5 times that of green onion production. The human labor and electricity as energy-intensive inputs in the process of green onion and onion production, respectively. The GHG emission of 1 ton of onion production was obtained 3 times that of green onion production. The results showed that the impact of using the new strategy in the agricultural system of green onions is less than onions, due to the high human labor requirement in green onion production, which made the production of green onions even more unsustainable than the production of onions, despite less consumption energy in green onion production.

Adapting the ESSENZ Method to Assess Company-Specific Criticality Aspects

In times of increasing awareness of limited resources, companies are becoming especially interested in criticality assessments. Based on the existing approaches of ESSENZ (integrated method to assess resource efficiency) and SCARCE (approach is to enhance the assessment of critical resource use at the country level), a method called CS-ESSENZ (company-specific ESSENZ) has been developed to measure the company-specific aspects of criticality and social impact in supply chains for abiotic resources. These comprise 20 categories and corresponding indicators, based on 19 ESSENZ and 25 SCARCE categories. Eleven of these indicators were modified, four were newly developed (e.g., economic importance), and the last five were applied as they are in ESSENZ or SCARCE. CS-ESSENZ was tested using the case study of a smartphone, demonstrating the method’s applicability as well as generating additional information on company-specific improvement potential. The results for supply risk showed that 29 out of 58 ESSENZ hotspots showed high, and 12 showed medium, improvement potential from the company perspective. CS-ESSENZ enables companies to obtain specific information on criticality and social aspects in their supply chains and points out areas for improvement, e.g., with respect to purchasing strategies for cobalt.

Effects of Bypass Ratio Change Trend on Performance in a Military Aircraft Turbofan Engine with Comparative Assessment

In this study, it is aimed to observe the bypass effects on energetic and exergetic performance in a JT3D-3B Military Aircraft Turbofan Engine and its components. For this aim, the comprehensive energy and exergy analyses are performed separately at the various bypass ratios: BPR: 1.30 (Case A), BPR: 1.34 (Case B), BPR: 1.38 (Case C), BPR: 1.40 (Case D), BPR: 1.42 (Case E), BPR: 1.45 (Case F), and BPR: 1.36 (original design). As per the performance results, while the energetic efficiency of the engine is found to be 27.93% for Case F, 27.85% for Case E, 27.72% for Case D, 27.60% for Case C, 27.17% for Case B, 26.97% for Case A, the exergetic efficiency of the engine is found to be 26.23% for Case F, 26.23% for Case E, 26.11% for Case D, 26.00% for Case C, 25.59% for Case B, 25.39% for Case A, Furthermore, with the increase of bypass ratio step-by-step from 1.30 to 1.45; while the energetic efficiency, the exergetic efficiency, the relative exergy consumption value tends to increase, the fuel exergy waste ratio value, the productivity lack ratio, and exergetic improvement potential value of the overall engine tends to decrease. This study can be helpful for turbofan engine users, owners, and designers.