Reduction Efforts Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Word Prediction Assistive Features on Smartphone Keyboards for Blind Users

Assistive technologies have been developed to enhance blind users’ typing performance, focusing on speed, accuracy, and effort reduction. One such technology is word prediction software, designed to minimize keystrokes required for text input. This study investigates the impact of word prediction on typing performance among blind users using an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. We conducted a comparative study involving eleven blind participants, evaluating both standard QWERTY input and word prediction-assisted typing. Our findings reveal that while word prediction slightly improves typing speed, it does not enhance typing accuracy and increases both physical and temporal workload compared to the default keyboard. We conclude with recommendations for improving word prediction systems, including more efficient editing methods and the integration of voice pitch variations to aid error recognition.

Edukasi Bahaya Formalin, Cara Identifikasi dan Upaya Penurunan Risiko pada Produk Pangan di MAN 3 Pontianak

The use of formalin as a food additive is prohibited according to Indonesian Minister of Health Regulation No. 033 of 2012 concerning Food Additives (BTP). Due to its easy availability and its ability to extend shelf life, formalin is often misused as a food preservative. Given its carcinogenic properties, the use of formalin in food poses health risks. The purpose of this community service is to provide education on the dangers of formalin, identification techniques for formalin, and de-formalization efforts in food products. The community service was conducted on July 25, 2024, with 30 students from MAN 3 Pontianak participating. The service was carried out using an outreach method at MAN 3 Pontianak, including pre-tests, material delivery, demonstrations, and post-tests. The results from the pre-test and post-test show an average knowledge increase of 19% regarding formalin risks and reduction efforts. Following the education through material presentation and demonstrations, the number of students with good knowledge increased to 26 (86.7%), while those with insufficient knowledge decreased to 4 (13.3%). The attitude assessment revealed that all students at MAN 3 Pontianak had a positive attitude towards the dangers of formalin and efforts to reduce formalin risks in food (100%).

Integrated Modeling of Flow, Soil Erosion, and Nutrient Dynamics in a Regional Watershed: Assessing Natural and Human‐Induced Impacts

AbstractCurrent integrated modeling frameworks for simulating nutrient sources and dynamics are inadequate for large regional watersheds dominated by groundwater‐surface water interactions due to their simplistic representations of groundwater. In this study, we develop a coupled model that integrates comprehensive surface water, 3‐D groundwater, soil erosion, and nutrient processes. The model is intended to enhance the understanding of nutrient dynamics and sources in the Pearl River Basin (PRB). The model exhibits satisfactory performance in simulating streamflow and sediment transport patterns, capturing essential seasonal variations in water quality indicators. Hydrological budget assessments from 2002 to 2020 in the PRB reveal that 54% of precipitation drains into the South China Sea as surface water, while groundwater discharge as baseflow accounts for 18% of the streamflow. The nutrient budget for the PRB indicates that non‐point sources are the dominant contributors to both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), ranging between 64% and 90%. Improved sewage collection and treatment have reduced point source nutrient contributions over the evaluation period. Groundwater remains a significant and consistent source of N, contributing between 11% and 19%. Natural disturbances and fertilization have led to an upward trend in river N inputs, while afforestation and sewage reduction efforts have resulted in a downward trend in river P inputs. Increased fertilization emerges as a central concern for the PRB, suggesting cost‐effective mitigation of fertilizer usage a pragmatic solution. The coupled simulation model developed in this study offers a novel systems approach for basin‐wide nutrient analysis and pollution control strategies, considering both natural and human‐induced disturbances.

Fall into the pseudo-decoupling trap: Type identification, trend characterization and solution path of carbon decoupling trap in urban agglomerations of China

This study investigates the stability and sustainability of carbon decoupling in urban agglomerations across China, where the strong coupling between economic growth and carbon emissions poses significant challenges. Despite efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction, urban agglomerations have seen unsatisfactory results. By analyzing the real-pseudo decoupling states in 19 urban agglomerations from 2007 to 2020, the objective of this study is to identify the type and trend characteristics of carbon decoupling traps and to propose solution paths for maintaining decoupling stability. Major Findings: (1) The decoupling state exhibits volatility and instability in urban agglomerations, making them susceptible to decoupling traps. (2) Most urban agglomerations remain un-decoupled, with a few cities achieving real decoupling and gradually shifted from northeast to southeast, while pseudo-decoupling and un-decoupled cities consistently cluster in the southwest and northwest regions. (3) Real-pseudo decoupling is driven by a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors, with energy structure, population density, and environmental regulation intensity emerging as pivotal influencers. (4) Geographical factors exhibit both commonalities and variations in their impact on real-pseudo decoupling. By identifying real-pseudo decoupling states and their driving factors, this study proposes strategic solution paths to overcome carbon constraints and achieve stable decoupling in urban agglomerations, contributing to the broader goals of sustainable economic and environmental development.

Identifying the multiple nexus between geopolitical risk, energy resilience, and carbon emissions: Evidence from global data

Under the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events and the increasingly complex geopolitical situation in recent years, how to balance the nexus between energy security, economic stability, and the achievement of sustainable development goals has gradually become the forefront of international attention. In light of this context, this paper examines the multiple nexus between geopolitical risks (GR), energy resilience (ER), and carbon emissions (PCO2) using annual panel data from 31 countries between 2000 and 2019. The second-generation unit root, cointegration tests, wavelet quantile correlation analysis, and other advanced statistical techniques are adopted to address methodological challenges effectively and avoid spurious regression. The findings consistently indicate the inhibitory effects of geopolitical risks and energy resilience on PCO2 across all quantiles and periods. And the restraining effect exhibits significant heterogeneity and asymmetry, particularly in non-emerging economies. Besides, the bidirectional causality among the three variables has been confirmed. Further, we confirm that the combined effects of energy resilience and geopolitical risks are particularly noteworthy for future carbon reduction efforts, especially in scenarios with low-ER and high-GR. In a short, the findings provide novel insights for global emissions reduction and offer specific policy recommendation to attain sustainable development goals.

Selected Physical and Mechanical Properties of Particleboards Manufactured from Plantation Willow and Poplar Wood.

This research focuses on producing particleboards from the biomass of plantation willow (Salix viminalis L.) and poplar (Populus spp.), aiming to explore their feasibility as sustainable materials for various applications. Fast-growing willow and poplar are known for their rapid growth and suitability for energy production. They present an intriguing alternative as raw materials with added value for particleboard manufacturing. This study investigates the selected mechanical and physical properties of the produced particleboards, considering parameters such as density profile, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, internal bond, water absorption, thickness swelling, and screw withdrawal resistance. The research results were also compared between different mass shares of willow and poplar particles in the particleboards. The results show that the panels produced entirely from the tested alternative raw materials had a modulus of rupture of 21.7 N mm-2 compared to 14.6 N mm-2 for the reference panels, with an internal bond of about 2.02 N mm-2 compared to 0.65 N mm-2 for the reference panels. The thickness swelling after 24 h of soaking was about 24.2% compared to 42.2% for reference panels. The findings underscore the promising potential of willow and poplar-based particleboards as eco-friendly alternatives in the construction and furniture industries, contributing to resource efficiency and carbon emission reduction efforts.

Spatial network analysis and driving forces of urban carbon emission performance: Insights from Guangdong Province

As the primary contributor to carbon emissions, how cities enhance their carbon emission performance and mitigate emissions is crucial for achieving low-carbon urban environments in China. However, existing research often overlooks the spatial interconnectedness of carbon emission performance, neglecting reciprocal influences among cities. This study examines the network structure of carbon emission performance among Guangdong's cities from 1997 to 2019, using a super-efficient SBM model and social network analysis, and measures spatial impacts of network factors with the spatial Durbin model. Findings reveal that: (1) The overall network of carbon emission performance is relatively loose with minimal changes in connectivity and efficiency but shows significant local clustering. (2) Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai have high centrality, dominating carbon emission performance resources and acting as key transmission nodes, while most other regions have low centrality, indicating network polarization and potential vulnerabilities. (3) Enhancing a region's centrality, economic development, industrial structure, openness, and attraction of talent and technology can boost local carbon emission performance, but may also lead to the displacement of emissions to neighboring areas and outflow of low-carbon and innovative elements, negatively affecting surrounding regions through spatial spillover effects. This research advances regional carbon emission reduction strategies by highlighting the interplay between spatial networks and carbon emission performance, fostering synergies in reduction efforts.

Discarded vehicle tires and their association with mosquito vector abundance across socioenvironmental gradients in New Orleans, LA.

Discarded vehicle tires serve as habitat for mosquito vectors. In New Orleans, Louisiana, discarded tires are an increasingly important public concern, especially considering that the city is home to many medically important mosquito species. Discarded tires are known to be associated with mosquito abundance, but how their presence interacts with other socioenvironmental gradients to influence mosquito ecology is poorly understood. Here, we ask whether discarded tire distribution could be explained by social factors, particularly median income, home vacancy and human population density, and whether these factors interact with urban heat islands (UHI) to drive mosquito vector assemblages. We surveyed tire piles across the city and adult mosquitoes in 12 sites, between May and October of 2020. We compared this data with the social indicators selected and UHI estimates. Our results show that median income and human population density were inversely related to tire abundance. Tire abundance was positively associated with Aedes albopictus abundance in places of low heat (LS) severity. Heat was the only predictor for the other monitored species, where high heat corresponded to higher abundance of Aedes aegypti, and LS to higher abundance of Culex quinquefasciatus. Our results suggest that low-income, sparsely populated neighborhoods of New Orleans may be hotspots for discarded vehicle tires, and are associated with higher abundances of at least one medically important mosquito (Ae. albopictus). These findings suggest potential locations for prioritizing source reduction efforts to control mosquito vectors and highlight discarded tires as a potential exposure pathway to unequal disease risk for low-income residents.

Chinese-style carbon emission reduction: Micro mechanisms of state-owned enterprises

This article investigates whether state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exhibit a positive response to regional pressure for carbon emission reduction. By collecting and analyzing firm-level carbon emissions data in China from 2008 to 2021, we find that when faced with increased pressure to reduce emissions in a specific region, SOEs exhibit a substantial reduction in their carbon emissions compared to non-SOEs. Furthermore, this relationship is more remarkable among enterprises operating in high-emission industries and located in regions characterized by low economic growth objectives, but there is no heterogeneity in the executive environmental background. The mechanisms of political promotion incentives for SOE executives play a significant role in mitigating emissions through the combined effects of promoting green innovation and reducing output. Additionally, SOEs demonstrating stronger efforts in carbon emissions reduction are more likely to receive the compensations from governments, including green subsidies and lower bank credit costs and they have exhibited superior economic performance in subsequent years. These findings reveal the micro mechanisms behind China's regional carbon reduction and highlight the crucial role played by SOEs.

Reduction of Reactive Power Compensation Efforts for Fusion Magnet Power Supplies Using Variable Series Capacitors

Reduction of Reactive Power Compensation Efforts for Fusion Magnet Power Supplies Using Variable Series Capacitors

Evaluating the Efficacy of Psycho-Behavioral Interventions for Cardiovascular Risk among People Living with HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

People with HIV (PWH) are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease (CVD). Psycho-behavioral therapies are capable of targeting the pathophysiology underlying HIV-CVD comorbidity. This study synthesized findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psycho-behavioral therapies for reducing CVD risk among PWH following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria were: (1) utilized an RCT design, (2) evaluated a cognitive-behavioral or mindfulness-based therapy, (3) sampled adults (age ≥18 years) with HIV, (4) measured a behavioral (e.g., diet) or biological (e.g., immune functioning) CVD risk factor, and (5) published in an English-language peer-reviewed journal. Electronic searches were conducted in six databases (e.g., MEDLINE) using controlled vocabulary and free-text synonyms for HIV, psycho-behavioral therapy, and CVD risk. Data were independently extracted with consensus reached. Outcomes were immune activation, tobacco-smoking, stress, inflammation, and physical activity from 33 studies. There were stronger effects for psycho-behavioral interventions compared to controls on CD4 (Hedge's g=0.262, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=0.127, 0.396) and tobacco-smoking abstinence (Hedge's g=0.537, 95% CI=0.215, 0.86). There were no differences or insufficient data for stress, inflammation, or physical activity. No eligible studies examined psycho-behavioral interventions on blood pressure, lipids, or weight in PWH. There is increasing importance to further invest in broader CVD risk reduction effort for PWH that include psycho-behavioral intervention strategies.

Improving the identification of pollution source areas with catchment-resolution sensitivity analysis

The significant impacts of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) on riverine ecosystems underscores the critical need to identify the primary nutrient source areas in watersheds. This study aims to unravel the influences of terrain and land use types on mean monthly TN (TNM) and mean monthly TP (TPM) export across varying catchment resolutions in the Qiantang River Watershed of China. The findings of this study illuminated the critical role of topography in understanding nutrient dynamics, wielding a profound influence over water flow patterns and nutrient dispersion. Both land slope and Stream Power Index (SPI) displayed substantial negative correlations (r < −0.6) with TNM and TPM concentrations, whereas the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) showed positive correlations with the nutrient indexes. In addition to terrain characteristics, impervious land surfaces had a positive correlation with nutrient concentrations, while grassland and forest areas exhibited negative correlations. Results further underscored the substantial influence of catchment resolution on correlations between watershed properties and riverine nutrient concentrations. It was imperative to choose an effective catchment resolution in watershed delineation – not too coarse, nor too fine – to accurately capture the topographic and land use impacts on nutrient dynamics. With the most appropriate catchment size (Catchment 700 km2), the critical pollution source areas for TN and TP pollution were identified, and thus could be used to guide future pollution reduction efforts. The study not only highlights the importance of identifying an appropriate catchment size for water pollution, but also emphasizes the necessity of effectively extracting critical pollution source areas to mitigate water nutrient pollution and increase the ecological integrity of the Qiantang River Watershed.

Long-term changes of methane emissions from rice cultivation during 2000 – 2060 in China: Trends, driving factors, predictions and policy implications

Regional budget assessments of methane (CH4) are critical for future climate and environmental management. CH4 emissions from rice cultivation (CH4-rice) constitute one of the most significant sources. However, previous studies mainly focus on historical emission estimates and lack consideration of future changes in CH4-rice under climate change or anthropogenic policy intervention, which hampers our understanding of long-term trends and the implementation of targeted emission reduction efforts. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of CH4-rice over the past two decades, using an integrated method to identify the major drivers and predict future emissions under climate change scenarios and policy perspectives. Results indicate that the CH4-rice emissions in China ranged between 6.21 and 6.57 Tg yr−1 over the past two decades, with a spatial distribution characterized by decreases in the south and increases in the north, associated with economic development, dietary shifts, technological advancements, and climate change. Factors such as the rate of straw added (RSA), fertilization, soil texture, temperature, and precipitation significantly influence CH4 emissions per unit rice production (CH4-urp), with RSA identified as the most significant tillage management factor, explaining 32 % of the variance. Lowering RSA to 8 % is beneficial for reducing CH4-urp. Scenario analysis indicates that under policies focusing on production or demand, CH4-rice is expected to increase by 0.3 % to 5.6 %, while adjusting RSA can reduce CH4-rice by 9.4 % to 10.0 %. Structural adjustments and regional cooperation serve as beneficial starting points for controlling and reducing CH4-rice in China, while optimizing industrial layouts contributes to regional development and CH4-rice control. Implementing policies related to maintaining field and crop yields can achieve a balance between rice supply and demand ahead of schedule. Dynamic adjustment of rice cultivation based on supply–demand balance can effectively reduce CH4-rice from excess rice production. By 2060, the reduction effect could reach 8.95 %–12.01 %. Introducing policy-driven tillage management measures as reference indicators facilitates the reduction of CH4-rice.

Carbon tax for energy-intensive enterprises: A study on carbon emission reduction strategies

With the implementation of the carbon tax policy, the carbon emission reduction (CER) actions taken by leading enterprises in energy-intensive industries will significantly influence the CER decisions of their following firms. To delve into the boundary conditions of leading and following enterprises’ CER strategies, this paper constructs three tailored CER decision-making game models, specifically targeting leading and following enterprises in these industries. These models are designed to compare and analyze the impact of carbon tax on various CER decision modes. The study mainly derives: (1) Carbon tax is not always conducive to boosting the carbon reduction efforts of both corporations. Only when the carbon tax is smaller than a certain threshold will the carbon abatement efforts of leading and following corporations be proportional to the tax. Moreover, only when the lead firm abates its carbon emission does it contribute to the degree of carbon abatement effort. (2) The overall profitability of the supply chain (SC) is optimized when only the lead company reduces its carbon emissions. In this scenario, not only does the lead corporation’s carbon reduction efforts increase, but the lead corporation and the followers also realize a win–win profit. (3) The model with the highest carbon abatement effort is not necessarily conducive to the environment. When the unit product carbon abatement emissions of the two corporations are within a certain threshold interval, the ambient impact of carbon abatement by only the leading firm is greater than that of no abatement by both corporations. The effect on the environment is minimized when both corporations make CER.

Exploring the Linkage Effects between Coking Coal Futures and Carbon Emission Rights Prices under the Dual-Carbon Framework

Coking coal is a vital energy resource for economic development, with fluctuations in coking coal futures prices significantly guiding spot prices. Additionally, variations in carbon emission rights prices directly affect China&amp;#39;s energy conservation and emission reduction efforts. This paper examines the daily trading prices of carbon emission rights and coking coal futures. It utilizes various tests, including the ADF test and cointegration test, and constructs a two-dimensional vector autoregression (VAR) model with a two-period lag. The paper also performs an impulse response function analysis and variance decomposition. Empirical results reveal: First, the daily trading prices of coking coal futures have exhibited a fluctuating upward trend over the past six years; Second, there is a long-term cointegration relationship between coking coal futures prices and carbon emission rights prices; Third, there is no Granger causality between the two; Fourth, fluctuations in carbon emission rights prices have a stronger guiding effect on coking coal futures prices than vice versa. Recommendations include: (1) Strengthening oversight of the coking coal futures market and leveraging policy guidance to prevent extreme prices; (2) Systematically including more participants in the carbon market, optimizing the trading structure, and promoting healthy market development; (3) When developing policies for carbon emission rights, the government should mitigate the impact of price fluctuations on other sectors.

Persuasive strategies for encouraging food waste reduction: A study of temporal focus, message framing, and the role of perceived trustworthiness in restaurant

Restaurant and foodservice industry contributes a substantial amount of food waste each year, which makes it a concern to the society. Reducing food waste requires active involvement from consumers, and advertising messages could possibly encourage consumer involvement by increasing their awareness of the food waste issue. To promote restaurant consumers' positive intentions to reduce food waste, this study proposes effective communication strategies by analyzing the relative persuasiveness of two advertising elements: temporal focuses (past versus future) and message framings (attribute versus benefit). By incorporating consumers' perceived trustworthiness toward restaurants' food waste reduction practices, this paper further investigates how these proposed communication tactics can be operationalized. Results reveal that advertisements emphasizing future promises and social benefits of food waste reduction efforts can effectively promote consumers’ intentions, specifically by triggering a higher perceived trust in both ability and integrity. The moderated mediation effects of perceived trustworthiness were confirmed.

Research on the Current State of Global Poverty and Directions for Improvement

In today's increasingly complex global poverty landscape, effectively reducing poverty remains one of the core issues for global sustainable development. The current state of poverty has transitioned from relatively simple single factors such as natural disasters, extreme weather, and conflicts to multidimensional poverty caused by the interaction of multiple factors. Due to the complexity and diversity of contributing factors, multidimensional poverty varies in severity, making it challenging to reduce effectively and resulting in a prolonged global poverty problem. Compounded by limited global resources and funds, as well as slowing economic growth, addressing multidimensional poverty requires sustained long-term efforts, posing challenges in resource allocation. This leads to a cyclical pattern of multidimensional poverty, wasting resources and affecting people's confidence and attention to poverty reduction efforts, thus hindering progress. This paper analyzes the current state, challenge and existing problems of global poverty, and explores effective and sustainable approaches for poverty reduction considering the methods currently employed and their shortcomings. Through analysis, it is found that effective poverty reduction could focus on coordinating resources, adopting a combination of natural and artificial approaches, updating technologies, strengthening local improvements, and analyzing cross-regional impacts to prevent factors leading to poverty and mitigate present and future poverty issues.

Assessing the impact of carbon quota allocation in enhancing supply chain members emission reduction and advertising efforts

Carbon quota allocation, a precise implementation approach within the cap-and-trade policy, exerts an enduring impact on the production and economic activities of supply chain members. Recognizing the dynamic fluctuations in product goodwill, this study formulates differential game models involving both the manufacturer and retailer within the supply chain. Subsequently, differences in carbon emission reduction efforts, advertising expenditures, product goodwill, and profitability among supply chain members within each contractual framework are comprehensively compared and analyzed. Numerical illustrations are then utilized to validate the theoretical findings and strengthen the subsequent key insights. First, the implementation of carbon quotas allocation, especially those grounded in the benchmarking-based contract, enhances carbon reduction and advertising efforts by supply chain members. Second, both grandfathering-based and benchmarking-based regulations improve the product goodwill, with the latter yielding more substantial improvements. Third, the escalation in unit emission permit price positively impacts the dedication and profitability of supply chain members, although variations in profit enhancements between the manufacturer and retailer hinge on the specific carbon quota allocation methods employed. Lastly, the grandfathering-based total carbon quotas exclusively benefit the manufacturer's profitability, whereas the per-unit carbon quotas under benchmarking-based contract fosters enhanced individual efforts and profitability for all supply chain members.

Exploring motivational drivers for English language learning in Greek prisons

In adult education, understanding the dynamics of motivation among incarcerated individuals to attend English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes is crucial for effective educational programming, successful rehabilitation, and recidivism reduction efforts. The present study, focusing on Greek prisons, investigates two key aspects: a) the influence of sociodemographic factors (marital status, age, gender, and occupation previous to sentence) on inmates’ motivation to attend EFL classes and b) the relative prevalence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors driving inmates to attend EFL classes. Grounded in theories of foreign language learning motivation, the study employed quantitative methods with a large sample of 400 adult inmates enrolled in English classes at Second Chance Schools across all Greek prisons. The findings reveal that marital status, age, gender, and previous occupation are factors that significantly impact inmates’ motivation to attend EFL classes, with female inmates demonstrating higher motivation than their male counterparts. Notably, the study highlights the predominance of extrinsic motivation among inmates, with the desire to make their families proud being the most highly rated motivational driver.

Role of primary care in opioid prescribing for older head and neck cancer survivors.

Older head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors have concerning rates of potentially unsafe opioid prescribing. Identifying the specialties of opioid prescribers for HNC survivors is critical for targeting the settings for opioid safety interventions. This study hypothesized that oncology and surgery providers are primarily responsible for opioid prescriptions in the year after treatment but that primary care providers (PCPs) are increasingly involved in prescribing over time. Using linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data, a retrospective analysis was conducted of adults aged >65 years diagnosed between 2014 and 2017 with stage I-III HNC and who had ≥6 months of treatment-free follow-up through 2019. Starting at treatment completion, opioid fills were assigned to a prescriber specialty: oncology, surgery, primary care, pain management, or other. Prescriber patterns were summarized for each year of follow-up. Multinomial logistic regression models captured the likelihood of opioids being prescribed by each specialty. Among 5135 HNC survivors, 2547 (50%) had ≥1 opioid fill (median, 2.1-year follow-up). PCPs prescribed 47% of all fills (42%-55% each year). PCPs prescribed opioids to 45% of survivors with ≥1 opioid fill, which was a greater share than other specialties. PCPs prescribed longer supplies of opioids (median, 20 days/fill; median, 30 days/year) than oncologists or surgeons. The likelihood of an opioid being prescribed by an oncology provider was four times lower than that of it being prescribed by a PCP. PCP involvement in opioid prescribing remains high throughout HNC survivorship. Interventions to improve the safety of opioid prescribing should target primary care, as is typical for opioid reduction efforts in the noncancer population.