Analyzing Individual, Institutional, and Regional Contributions to E-tourism: The Case of ENTER Proceedings (1996–2021)

ENTER conference is an annual international event organized by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel and Tourism (IFITT). Since 1994, this conference has been providing a platform for academics, industry practitioners, governments, and other organizations to share their research about information and communication technologies application in tourism. In the conference, the IFITT community mainly focuses on three streams, namely, research, destinations, and industry. The studies presented at the ENTER conference were published in the content of ENTER proceedings. The current study analyzes the proceedings published from 1996 to 2021 (i.e., 26 issues) to understand the individual, institutional, and regional contributions to e-tourism within these 26 years.

Ohlédnutí za Mezinárodním kongresem psychologie ICP 2020+

In July 2021, one of the most important professional events took place, organized by the Czech psychological community, respectively the Czech-Moravian Psychological Society, together with other partners, especially Computer System Group a.s. as the PCO, and with universities and research institutes in the Czech Republic. The International Congress of Psychology under the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, even in 2021, the situation did not allow organizing such a large international event in the usual way. ICP 2020+ was therefore held online with a virtually seamless implementation, for which the CSG technology team is truly grateful. [Congress report].

Indonesian Media Framing of Reportage on the Crimean Peninsula Crisis

This research investigates how one of the mainstream media in Indonesia frames Russia in its reportage. One of the selected cases is the 2014 Crimean Peninsula crisis. The Crimean Peninsula Crisis was a major international event that reported comprehensively by Kompas. This research will reveal Kompas’ bias in its reportage on Crimea and the factors that underlie the bias. In investigating the issue, this research uses Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis. It follows Fairclough method of critical discourse analysis by using text as a discourse. It is found that as one of the mainstream media in Indonesia, Kompas reportage is not neutral as it depicts Russia through a negative frame. Analysis on semiotic factors, intertextuality, and how the media bias could be handled are the focuses of this research.

The World Expo as a means of global cross-cultural communication (on the example of participation of Ural and the Chelyabinsk regions)

This article is a historical foray into participation of the Ural and the Chelyabinsk regions in the World Expos in the context of cross-cultural communication, in which the interaction between the exhibiting countries on the global questions of modernity takes place through the dialogue of cultures. In the broad sense, exhibition first and foremost is a significant attribute of culture and cultural life of a particular environment, and form of distribution of culture. The scientific literature features the following definition: “…exhibitions are the key presentation instrument of cultural policy of the country”. The real scientific achievements are concentrated in a single space. Each exhibition promotes different cultural traditions and contributes to the enrichment of cultures. As pertains to the participation of Ural, it is too early to speak of the full-fledged participation in the dialogue of cultures at World Expos; however, the region has made decent steps towards it. There is no doubt that the World Expo is an remarkable international event. Each host country makes every effort to ensure an immense scale of the event, attract wide audience of visitors and exhibitors. Therefore, the exhibition should be viewed from the global perspective.

PREFACE

The 2nd International Conference on Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering is an international event that has been successfully held in a hybrid mode (online and onsite) organized by the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. ICECAE is a privileged space to discuss current issues related to Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering. This international event aims to explore emerging technologies and concepts in a collaborative way, bringing together scientists, researchers, engineers, students and professionals from different areas. ICECAE 2021 proceedings collected the latest research and results in the field of energetics, civil and agricultural engineering. All manuscripts published in the proceeding have been through rigorous review and process to meet the requirements of international publication standard. In the honorable and keynote speeches sessions, honorable speakers were each allocated 40 minutes and keynote speakers were each allocated 20-25 minutes to hold their speeches. We were honored to invite 3 honorable speakers (Professor Josep M. Guerrero, Professor Saifur Rahman, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour) and 10 distinguished experts as keynote speakers to present their insightful speeches. As honorable speakers, Professor Josep M. Guerrero (from Aalborg University – Denmark) talked about Space Microgrids – NanoSats, Lunar Bases and Closed Ecosystems, Professor Saifur Rahman (from Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute - USA) delivered a speech on Global Electric Power Sector: Engaging with Environmental Issues, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour (from Illinois Institute of Technology - USA) held a speech on Blockchain for Transactive Energy Management in Renewable Energy Systems. As keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Jan Wincenty Dobrowolski (AGH University of Science and Technology - Poland) shared his experiences related to his 50 years contribution to global cooperation on Sustainable Development 1971-2021 and innovative proposals for adaptation to climate change, COVID-19 and outer-space missions; Professor emeritus Dr. Davidas Belsare (from Bhopal University - India) made a speech about the effect of laser diode on oranges to other fruit crops like guava and papaya; Professor Justyna Kobylarczyk and Professor Michal Krupa (from Cracow University of Technology – Poland) held a speech on the topic of high quality of residential environment; Professor Jose Osvaldo B. Carioca (from Federal University of Ceara - Brazil) expressed his keynote address about synthesis of chitosan membranes to be used in dual system of dark fermentation and MEC-electrolyzers to produce high quality hydrogen; Professor Dominika Kusnierz-Krupa and Dr. Malgorzata Hryniewicz (from Cracow University of Technology -Poland) made their talk about a new functions in a historic buildings; Professor Alirza Mamedov (from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture - Ukraine) delivered his talk about historical city analysis; Professor Manoj Stephen Paul and Dr. Ritu Chaturvedi (from St. Johns College - India) made their speech on human health risk assessment associated with consumption of food containing heavy metals; Associate professor Pavel Navitski (from Oral Roberts University – USA) delivered his talk about drift control during field spraying; and Dr. Ulrich Berk (president of the German Association of Homatherapy - Germany) made his keynote speech about agnihotra and homa farming -tools for a sustainable development on planet Earth. List of ICECAE 2021 Committee are available in this pdf.

SUSTAINABILITY BONDS. AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT STUDY

Sustainability bonds enable capital-raising and investment for those projects that have both a positive impact on the environment and a positive social outcome. This study examines the stock market reaction to the announcement of sustainability bonds issuance. The present research is designed as follows: first, an event study that examines the market reaction and second, a highlight of drivers influencing this market reaction via a linear regression with cluster-robust standard errors. Overall, small and negative sample-wide reactions to sustainability bond issue announcements were found. Additionally, the study finds significant negative abnormal returns before the publication in June 2018 of The Sustainability Bond Guidelines by the International Capital Market Association. Specifically, the size of the bond issue, whether the bond is callable or not, the announcement of the issue as a single event in a day, the company’s Return on Assets, the firm’s social disclosure score, and the issuance of the bond prior or after June 2018 are statistically significant factors that influence the stock returns of issuers.

Global Connectivity and Ethnic Fractionalization: New Frontiers of Global Trade Agenda

International trade is an exchange that involves goods and services between countries or international territories, and it signifies a significant share of gross domestic product. Global trading provides opportunities for the country to show its products and services through imports and exports. While this international event gives rise to a world economy, global connectivity and ethnic heterogeneity play a significant role. This paper aims to determine whether the ruggedness of a country supports international trade and global connectivity and whether the ruggedness of ethnic heterogeneity supports global trading. This paper uses the non-experimental quantitative inferential design utilizing Fractal Analysis to determine the self-similarity of countries engaging in international trade in terms of their global connectivity index and ethnic fractionalization. The International Trade data provided by the World Integrated Trade Solutions and the Global Connectivity Index (GCI) data through Huawei Technologies are plotted in a histogram through Minitab Software to determine the fractality and further apply exponential logarithm. Study shows that global connectivity and ethnic fractionalization induce the fractal characteristics of the countries’ international trade ruggedness. Specific to the behavior is that countries with very high international trade also behave similarly with high global connectivity and very low ethnicity fractionalization. As countries sustain a progressive economic stance, their societies maintain very few ethnic groups to promote social cohesion, much less conflict created by many ethnic groups that vary in their concerns. This paper further explains that only countries with digital economic competitiveness and cultural homogeneity survive robust international trade.

Preface

It is our great pleasure to introduce the Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Renewable Energy and Materials Technology (ICOREMT 2021), held at Erbil, Iraq, from the 2nd to the 3rd of August 2021. The core aim of ICOREMT-2021 has always been to bring together early-career researchers, scientists, academics, engineers, and postgraduate students to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of science, technology, and engineering. Accordingly, the professional keynote speakers and researchers have presented various perspectives on research. All submitted papers were have gone through an initial assessment by the editors of ICOREMT-2021 before sending them for reviewers. The latter were carefully selected from many countries to ensure reliable outcomes. The committee of STEPS-2020 followed an accurate and professional double-blind peer-reviewing process that involved 223 reviewers from all over the world. In total, 272 papers were submitted to ICOREMT-2021; 22 were rejected during the initial assessment process, and 56 papers were accepted (acceptance rate of 20.59%). The accepted papers demonstrated novel ideas and impressive effort in engineering science and technology. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all individuals, authors, editors, reviewers, and committees of ICOREMT-2021 who have contributed to ICOREMT-2021. Without their support, it would not have been possible to make ICOREMT-2021 a successful event in this challenging time. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our partner, Tikrit University, Iraq. Without their support, it would not have been possible to host such a successful international event. Warmest regards, STEPS Team List of Editors and Scientific Committee are available in this pdf.

Railway Science: Results of the I International Scientific and Practical Conference “Research 1520 VNIIZHT: Look Beyond the Horizons”

In a constantly changing world, any production activity, including transport, requires scientific support, which, in turn, involves the active participation of scientists, as well as the possibility of exchanging views between theorists and practitioners. One of the most effective formats for this is a scientific conference, which allows discussing long-term trends in the development of the industry and ways of early adaptation to them. In the railway sector, scientific conferences have become a regular and effective tool for discussing promising trends in the industry.President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin declared 2021 the Year of Science and Technology. In this regard, it is symbolic that on August 26–27, 2021, the 1st International Scientific and Practical Conference “Science 1520 VNIIZHT: Look Beyond the Horizons” was held on the territory of Test Loop of the JSC “VNIIZHT”. The JSC Railway Research Institute, a leader in the development, creation, testing and implementation of railway equipment and technologies in the 1520 mm track space organized the conference. At the conference, reports were presented both by practitioners and acting managers, and by theoretical scientists. The conference was organized in the form of parallel working sections, the main results of which were discussed at a panel discussion. According to the presentation of the heads of the thematic sections, the best speakers were awarded with diplomas, including many young scientists. According to the assessments of managers and employees of railway enterprises and suppliers, the conference was a useful and longawaited international event in railway science and practice.

A Preliminary Investigation into Ridden Water Submersion Training as an Adjunct to Current Condition Training Protocols in Performance Horses

This observational study aimed to elucidate the effects of RWST on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems of horses and concurrently determine whether RWST limits distal limb temperature increases previously reported during gallop training on land. A group of 15 clinically sound international event horses were recruited, and heart rate (HR), speed (km/h) and thermal images of the distal limb were analysed at set intervals during RWST training. Intervals of RWST produced a total mean HRmax value of 65.18 ± 3.76%, which is within the parameters for increased aerobic stamina. Mean HR increased significantly (p < 0.01) while mean distal limb temperature decreased significantly (p < 0.01) between warm-up and RWST, which contrasts with positive correlations previously reported during gallop training on land. These preliminary results suggest that RWST can be classed as a moderate submaximal intensity exercise in elite international event horses whilst restricting an increase in temperature of the distal limb that is commonly associated with tendon rupture. Horses competing at very elite levels of eventing only represent a small percentage of the total performance population; therefore, further research is needed to ascertain the physiological effects of RWST in non-elite performance horses, as well as horses competing across various equestrian disciplines.