Resource Flows Research Articles

Universities as cities of flows: decoding cross-regional university partnerships for sustainable development in China

PurposeThe study conceptualises universities as “cities of flows” to examine the East-West University Partnership (EWUP) in China, which is a pioneering initiative of cross-regional university collaboration linking over 220 institutions across China since 2001. The study explores the strategic enhancement of connective and collaborative capacity of universities to facilitate diverse flows of talent, knowledge and other resources within the broader context of China's sustainable development in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a qualitative single-case study design to investigate the EWUP within its real-life context using participant observation and documentary research. As an analogical inquiry, the study merges the insider and outsider perspectives of the researchers to identify patterns between theoretical constructs and empirical evidence.FindingsThe EWUP as a policy entrepreneurship has significantly contributes to coordinated, inclusive and sustainable development. Its spatial dynamics consists of structural, temporal and collaborative dynamics. They are characterised by centrality, connectivity and adaptability which are generated through the interplay among the nodes, linkages and fields of influence within the EWUP network. These dynamics showcase EWUP as a novel approach to managing long-term university partnerships between more and less developed regions.Originality/valueThe study reimagines universities and higher education systems through vivid analogies of cities and transportation networks and elucidates connectivity as a pivotal dimension of sustainability. It advocates for reexamining spatial theories in higher education, deepens insights into the dynamics of cross-regional university partnerships in coordinating educational and territorial development, and enriches discussions on Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD).

Trading in Turbulent Times: Unravelling the Interplay between Trade Policy Uncertainty and Geopolitics in Russian Mineral Resource Supply

Trade policy plays a pivotal role in shaping import and export volumes within the global economy. However, the escalation of geopolitical tensions has posed significant challenges to the smooth flow of mineral resource trade. This study aims to analyse the consequences of global trade policy uncertainty (TPU) and various measures of geopolitical risk (GPR), including terror threats, war threats and nuclear threats (NCT), on Russian mineral exports (MEX). The analysis covers the period from January 2013 to December 2021. By employing sophisticated quantile regression methodologies, such as the cross-quantilogram (CQ) and cross-spectral quantile coherency (CQC) techniques, this study uncovers a compelling interaction between TPU and Russian MEX across different market conditions. Interestingly, TPU exerts a significantly positive impact on the export volumes of Russian mineral resources. In contrast, the presence of GPRs, particularly warfare and terrorism, proves to be detrimental to MEX during bullish market phases across various memory horizons. Surprisingly, NCT stimulates mineral trade during bearish market conditions, both in monthly and annual timeframes. These findings remain robust and consistent even when the CQC technique is employed. In light of these pressing geopolitical challenges, this study underscores the importance of developing sustainable mineral trade policies that foster enhanced global cohesion. It is crucial to address these challenges effectively to ensure the smooth and efficient flow of mineral resources in the international trade landscape. JEL Codes: C22, F13, F14, P28, Q21, Q27

Agility and Resilience in Supply Chains: Investigating Their Roles in Enhancing Financial Performance

Business sectors face disruptive challenges such as cash flow problems in finance and material flow problems in supply chain and logistics processes in today’s rapidly evolving and uncertain environment. Given these challenges, effective management of resource and material flows by managers has become increasingly complex. Supply chain management is crucial for businesses to sustain competitive market positioning. This study distinctively explores the interplay between supply chain management and the financial performance of manufacturing companies, highlighting the increasingly dynamic and competitive global markets. It scrutinizes the moderating roles of supply chain agility and flexibility in this relationship, offering diverse analytical perspectives. The research methodology involved surveying white-collar employees within these companies. Factor analysis was employed to affirm the scale’s validity, and the Hayes model 3 method was utilized to test hypotheses. Our research uncovered intricate interactions between supply chain management, agility, and resilience, underscoring their collective impact on financial performance. The thesis that supply chain management has a substantial impact on financial performance was corroborated by the study’s results. The study also emphasizes the moderating impact of supply chain agility in the relationship between financial performance and supply chain management. The results of the study that supply chain resilience moderates the moderating effect of supply chain agility indicate that the interaction between supply chain resilience and supply chain agility may affect the relationship between supply chain management and financial performance if supply chain resilience enhances the resilience of organizations to external challenges. These insights suggest organizations must integrate agility, management, and resilience considerations in their supply chains to optimize performance. This study contributes a novel viewpoint to the literature, providing strategic guidance for managerial decision making.

The Main Factors Impacting on The Success of Higher Education Internationalisation in Modern China

Higher education internationalisation has become a widespread phenomenon, but the route choice constitutes an important issue. This research intends to evaluate how higher education internalisation is influenced by several factors: the leveraging of globalisation and localisation, inflow and outflow of education resources. After reviewing the theories on the patterns of internationalisation and education flows, telephone interview is conducted with six participants from several universities of Xi'an China, include Xi’an University, Northwest University, Xi’an Jiaotong University. Indicated by interview data, universities show strong inclinations of globalising, because the education shall be oriented towards the future career of the students in a globalised business world. However, the globalisation level is not satisfactory for some students. For example, the international branch campuses could be built to a higher level. This means that the campuses could be funded by the local and foreign universities. In addition, the challenges of leveraging globalisation and localisation include vague standards for leveraging the extents of being localised and globalised, cultural barriers and the conflicting ideas among relevant stakeholders such as the education ministry officials, the principal, professors and students. Demonstrated by interview data, outward flows are exemplified by exchange learning. In order to facilitate inward resource flows, universities in modern China tend to attract international students in various ways: travels to some foreign countries to capture the attention of the audiences there; hire some dealers in foreign countries to seek international students; deliver the most recent documents to some foreign agencies that help students apply for studying abroad.

Riparian forests shape trophic interactions in detrital stream food webs

Abstract Freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity are linked through spatial resource flows. Key examples are detrital subsidies from the riparian vegetation that form the base of food webs in small streams. Despite the central role of detritivores in these food webs, the consequences of altered riparian vegetation type and resource availability on their trophic strategies are less known. Therefore, we experimentally tested direct and indirect effects of riparian vegetation type (i.e. riparian forests present vs. absent) on trophic interactions and dietary imbalances of aquatic detritivores. To characterise trophic strategies, we used stoichiometric and isotopic differences between consumers and resources as functional measures of trophic link strength in leaf litter bags naturally colonised by stream decomposers and detritivores. Our results show that an absence of riparian forests affected stoichiometric and isotopic properties in stream detrital food webs. Where local riparian forests were absent, leaf litter showed lower C:N ratios, which only trichopteran detritivores mirrored, whereas plecopteran and crustacean detritivores showed differences in their isotopic signatures. Diverging patterns between resources and consumers could lead to a rewiring of energy flow paths and weaken the coupling between aquatic detritivores and terrestrial detritus. Consequently, our findings demonstrate that riparian forests are essential for aquatic food webs by not only influencing organisms themselves but also their trophic interactions and energy flow paths. Aquatic detritivores depending on terrestrial subsidies can be highly sensitive to local changes in their resource environment. Therefore, functionally divergent patterns between resources and consumers in recipient systems highlight how habitat properties of the donor system can affect food webs connected across ecosystem boundaries. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Plant functional types and tissue stoichiometry explain nutrient transfer in common arbuscular mycorrhizal networks of temperate grasslands

Abstract Plants and mycorrhizal fungi form mutualistic relationships that affect how resources flow between organisms and within ecosystems. Common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) could facilitate preferential transfer of carbon and limiting nutrients, but this remains difficult to predict. Do CMNs favour fungal resource acquisition at the expense of plant resource demands (a fungi‐centric view), or are they passive channels through which plants regulate resource fluxes (a plant‐centric view)? We used stable isotope tracers (13CO2 and 15NH3), plant traits, and mycorrhizal DNA to quantify above‐ and below‐ground carbon and nitrogen transfer between 18 plant species along a 520‐km latitudinal gradient in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Plant functional type and tissue stoichiometry were the most important predictors of interspecific resource transfer. Of ‘donor’ plants, 98% were 13C‐enriched, but we detected transfer in only 2% of ‘receiver’ plants. However, all donors were 15N‐enriched and we detected transfer in 81% of receivers. Nitrogen was preferentially transferred to annuals (0.26 ± 0.50 mg N per g leaf mass) compared with perennials (0.13 ± 0.30 mg N per g leaf mass). This corresponded with tissue stoichiometry differences. Synthesis Our findings suggest that plants and fungi that are located closer together in space and with stronger demand for resources over time are more likely to receive larger amounts of those limiting resources. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

On the stability of a single-species model with a generic delay distribution kernel

The delayed logistic equation, also known as Hutchinson’s equation, is a simple and elegant model commonly used to capture critical features of complex phenomena in biology, medicine, and economics. This paper studies the stability of a single-species logistic model with a general delay distribution and a constant inflow of nutritional resources. We provide conditions for the linear stability of the positive equilibrium and the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation. The findings complement existing literature and are applied to specific delay distributions: Uniform, Dirac-delta, and gamma distributions. Without resource inflow, we find that the positive equilibrium is stable for short delays but loses stability through Hopf bifurcation as the mean delay increases. The model’s dynamics vary with resource inflow based on the delay distribution: in uniform and Dirac-delta distributions, the dynamics are similar to the no-inflow case, whereas for the gamma distribution, stability depends on the delay order p=1,2,3.

Mapping ecological resource use and supply-consumption difference in China from 2000 to 2020

Net primary production (NPP) is a vital ecological resource essential for ecosystem services and economic development. Human appropriation of NPP (HANPP) measures the aggregate impact of human activities on the biomass produced annually in ecosystems. However, the coarse mapping of HANPP hinders the identification of the spatial dynamics in ecological resources use and the high-pressure areas. Using machine learning, our study annually mapped China’s HANPP at 1 km resolution due to grain, wood and animal production as well as land use changes from 2000 to 2020. High-pressure ecological resource zones expanded, primarily due to livestock farming. The pressure of ecological resources varied along the longitudinal axis. Ecological resource use is generally low in poverty areas. The spatial patterns of the supply-consumption difference of the ecological resources were also mapped, reflecting the spatial flows of ecological resources from poverty areas to non-poverty areas. This promotes the sustainable development in both areas.

Cooperation in the management of charitable resource flows

Charitable resources, as a special type of public good, need effective management to harness public charitable energy, ensure the smooth flow of resources, and promote efficient use of charitable assets. This paper uses systematic management theory and evolutionary game theory to analyze how to manage the flow of charitable resources. The study focuses on the behaviors and cost-benefit dynamics of different groups involved in the charitable resource flow, aiming to find the best management methods to support public welfare charities and maximize benefits. The research assumes three key groups in the charitable resource system: managers, users, and suppliers. It then examines the basic elements of their interactions. By exploring how these groups optimize their strategies and affect each other’s decisions and benefits, the study establishes replicator dynamic equations. Through theoretical analysis using Lyapunov stability theory, it identifies the system’s evolutionary stable strategies, assessing if a stable equilibrium can be achieved among charitable organizations. The numerical simulations verify the theoretical findings and demonstrate the impact of different management methods on the strategies of the three stakeholders. The results provide valuable insights for managers to optimize the flow and management of charitable resources.

Government Intervention, Internationalization Model and Higher Education Resource Flow: An Analysis of Higher Education in Late Qing Dynasty and Modern China

With the purpose of saving the country, the Qing Dynasty built new institutions of higher learning to impart western knowledge, which played a role in promoting the development of modern higher education in China. In order to explore the development context of China's higher education under different backgrounds in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times, this study reviews the relevant theoretical basis in recent years. This paper summarizes the formation of the education system in the late Qing Dynasty and modern China, the specific intervention of the government in higher education, and the flow of higher education resources in recent years, and analyzes its internal flow and external flow. Through the analysis of higher education in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times, it can be seen that the innovation and development of the internationalization mode of higher education is the inevitable requirement to realize the transformation of the internationalization power of higher education into the internationalization power of higher education. In addition to the classic model, co-construction model, satellite model and education cluster model, we should also actively explore and develop other new international education models, further expand the vision of running schools, enhance international awareness, accelerate the internationalization process of higher education, and achieve beyond the traditional higher education power. In order to provide reference for the future development of China's higher education internationalization under the background of "double first-class" construction.

Municipal circular economy indicators: Do they measure the cities' environmental ambitions?

Circular economy (CE) is gaining traction in cities as an approach to reducing local and global environmental impacts. Yet, how effective are these strategies in terms of their environmental impacts? To find out, we took a deep dive into 30 CE policies from cities in high-income countries across Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. We assessed the relevance of their indicator sets with regards to their major environmental concerns. To do so, we conducted a qualitative analysis of policy documents published in eight languages, examining common environmental goals, concerns, and progress indicators of various cities. The review reveals a broad spectrum of municipal CE policies, from waste management to climate action. Key concerns include climate mitigation and securing local resource availability, but overall, very diverse environmental targets could be identified. Some of these targets aim at local impacts such as air quality and public health, while others envision global impacts such as biodiversity conservation and intergenerational justice. While greenhouse gas emissions of territorial scope are frequently monitored, the indicator sets mostly ignore that climate mitigation involves a footprint scope. Moreover, the sets mostly lack indicators to monitor other environmental pressures and impacts. To better monitor these, we provide a set of recommendations for research and policy to bridge the gap between environmental concerns and indicator needs. We suggest complementing current resource flow dominated indicator sets with measures of the local environmental state and the application of urban footprint models to help cities monitor the desired global environmental impact of their measures.

Improving the Carbon Balance of Cattle Grazing Systems in Madagascar

Climate change is a global issue having significant effects on the grazing systems in Madagascar. In the Boeny region, extensive cattle farming based on natural grazing is at risk of forage shortages. Working with stakeholders across the system, this research assessed the vulnerability and adaptive potential of farms by studying farmers’ preferences, carbon (C) sources and C-stock positions, resource flows, and system management methods.

Labor market outcomes during opposite resource shocks: the 2009 and 2012 earthquakes in Italy

The 2009 and 2012 earthquakes in Italy occurred in a close-knit region and time horizon but differed substantially on both the initial shock to the stock and the subsequent flow of resources. This paper considers the short run impact on the dynamic response of labor market outcomes. Both earthquakes lowered employment and labor force participation by more than 0.5%. With its negative effect on the resources available, the 2009 shock led to a drop in real wages of 1.3% and a sharp—but short-lived—widening of the wage gap generated by the skill premium. The 2012 earthquake, which led firms to upgrade their technology, increased wages by 2.2% and led to a more balanced—but persistent—widening of the wage gap. The predictions of a model developed in this paper are consistent with these results.

EGRA Teaching and Learning Resources on Reading Abilities of Early-Grade Learners in Public Primary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Early Grade Reading Activities (EGRA) is a programme aimed at improving reading in grades one to three. This programme entails various interventions, including the development and distribution of teaching and learning resources. This study sought to investigate the influence of EGRA teaching and learning resources on the reading abilities of early-grade learners in public primary schools in Kiambu County. The study made use of the descriptive survey research design. The target population was 26,156 individuals from the 576 public primary schools in Kiambu County. This population comprised 1,408 grade one to three teachers and 24,748 grade 3 learners in the public primary schools in Kiambu County. A sample of 1066 individuals comprising 57 lower grade teachers and 1009 grade 3 learners were selected using the clustered sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the teachers, while an achievement test was used to collect data from learners. Data was analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation, while the linear regression method was used to test the relationships between variables. Results showed that EGRA teaching and learning resources (β= 0.209, t= 2.263, p= .028) had a positive and statistically significant influence on learners reading abilities. Based on the findings, the study concludes that interventions that seek to improve teaching and learning resources are effective in improving early-grade reading abilities. This information could be of great significance in designing future programmes that reflect good practices and implementation. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should sustain the flow of teaching and learning resources at the end of the EGRA programme because there is evidence that these resources are effective in promoting reading.

Dynamic Cost Allocation Allows Network-Forming Forager to Switch Between Search Strategies

Network-forming organisms, like fungi and slime molds, dynamically reorganize their networks during foraging. The resulting rerouting of resource flows within the organism's network can significantly impact local ecosystems. In current analysis limitations stem from a focus on single-time-point morphology, hindering understanding of continuous dynamics and underlying constraints. Here we study ongoing network reorganization in the foraging slime mold , identifying three distinct states with varying morphology and migration velocity. We estimate the energetic cost of each state and find a trade-off between building and transport costs within the morphological variability, facilitating different search strategies. Adaptation of state population to the environment suggests that diverse network morphologies support varied foraging strategies, though constrained by associated costs. Our findings provide insights for evaluating the impact of resource flow rerouting in changing ecosystems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

A scalable index for quantifying circularity of bioeconomy systems

Increasing resource demands and efforts to mitigate anthropogenic impacts have thrust circular bioeconomy into the spotlight. However, there currently lacks a metric to provide singular quantification of circularity. This study showed development of a Circularity Index (CI) with value between 0 (completely linear) and 1 (completely circular) to quantify circularity of resource flows at different system scales, identify weak links in value-chains, and determine tradeoffs in the system. This study describes 1) CI for systems containing consumable, renewable, and recovered resources; 2) CI application for two examples: nitrogen in a corn-soybean farm and energy in the U.S. food and agricultural system. CI showed that nitrogen circularity increased from 0.687 to 0.860 through implementation of renewable fertilizer from manure compared to synthetic fertilizer. CI also demonstrated improved energy circularity in the U.S. food and agricultural system, increasing from 0.179 to 0.843 when integrating food-energy-water systems via hydrothermal liquefaction and nutrient recycling.

Patterns of Internationalising Higher Education and the Flows of Education Resources during the Late Qing Dynasty of China

During late Qing, neocolonialism was a serious phenomenon situated in the higher education, forcing universities to globalise and adopt foreign education patterns. Furthermore, there are also some outward flows of education resources, although there were more tints of inward flows of education resources. This paper aims to address two research questions: What are the patterns of internationalization in higher education institutions during the Late Qing Dynasty? To what extent, the higher education resources flow inbound and outbound during the Late Qing Dynasty? Based on the telephone interview with six professors of education history in China, it is found that as impacted by Western colonialism, Chinese universities showed a strong signal of globalisation in the late Qing. Meanwhile, some traditional teaching patterns and textbooks with Chinese characteristics were also used to stir the learning enthusiasm of local students. In the late Qing, inward/inbound flows of education resources were more evidenced than outward/outbound flows. This could be exemplified by some major sources of the textbooks used at universities. Specifically, the first source was the western teachers, who bought textbooks from the mother countries. The second source was many Chinese ambassadors to France and Britain, who sent back to China the original western textbooks. It is hoped that future study will focus on the patterns of internationalizing higher education and flows of education resources during Modern China.

ANALYSIS OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OF LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION

The article delves into the critical role of logistics management in the construction industry, emphasizing the need for efficient material resource management and optimized supply chains. It aims to explore the principles of logistics management in construction organizations for supply chain management, with a specific focus on minimizing costs and optimizing resource utilization. The proposed strategic approach involves the transformation of classical concepts into logistics-oriented organizational activities, integrating advanced technologies and innovative resource management systems to unlock the full potential of material assets and streamline operations. The article underscores the potential impact of these strategies on the nation's economic landscape, emphasizing their contribution to economic stability and resilience. Additionally, the integration of logistics management into construction practices is highlighted as a catalyst for scientific advancements within the field. Serving as a roadmap for construction companies, the article urges the adoption of forward-thinking strategies aligned with the demands of the contemporary construction landscape. By embracing innovative approaches and leveraging advanced technologies, construction organizations can drive economic revitalization and contribute to broader urban development initiatives. Additionally, the article emphasizes the importance of collaboration and integration among stakeholders in the construction industry, leveraging digital platforms and collaborative tools to enhance communication, share real-time data, and streamline coordination among suppliers, logistics providers, and project teams. Integrated logistics networks will enable seamless flow of information and resources.

Meta-ecosystem Frameworks Can Enhance Control of the Biotic Transport of Microplastics.

The lack of systematic approaches and analyses to identify, quantify, and manage the biotic transport of microplastics (MPs) along cross-ecosystem landscapes prevents the current goals of sustainable environmental development from being met. This Perspective proposes a meta-ecosystem framework, which considers organismal and resource flows among ecosystems to shed light on the research and management challenges related to both abiotic and biotic MP transport at landscape levels. We discuss MP transport pathways through species movements and trophic transfers among ecosystems and sub-ecosystems, and highlight these pathways in the mitigation of MP pollution. The integration of biotic pathways across landscapes prioritizes management actions for MP transport using diverse approaches such as wastewater treatment and plastic removal policies to mitigate contamination. In addition, our framework emphasizes the potential sink enhancement of MPs through habitat conservation and enhancement of riparian vegetation. By considering the mechanisms of meta-ecosystem dynamics through the processes of biotic dispersal, accumulation, and the ultimate fate of MPs, advances in the environmental impact assessment and management of MP production can proceed more effectively.

Ice cover loss and debris cover evolution in the Afghanistan Hindu Kush Himalaya between 2000 and 2020

ABSTRACT Glaciers in Afghanistan are crucial elements for water resource and summer river flows. They are also threatened by rapid climate warming. This study presents an up-to-date assessment of ice cover loss for the entire country over two periods, 2000–2008 and 2008–2020, using newly developed remote sensing indices that include a more reliable determination of changing debris cover. The results suggest an estimated ice-covered area of 2,684 ± 101 km2 in 2020, that was 75 ± 0.7% clean ice and 25 ± 3.0 percent debris-covered ice. Total ice-covered area retreated by −0.15 ± 0.01 percent yr−1 between 2000 and 2008 and −0.43 ± 0.05 percent yr−1 between 2008 and 2020. Notably, 60 percent of ice cover loss (2000–2020) related to ice cover extents with a size ≤ 2.5 km2, comprising 60 percent of the total ice-covered area in 2000. Higher altitude accumulation zones also exhibited mass loss. However, there was also substantial spatial variation in these rates of loss based on geographical region, glacier size, and climate zones. In the north-eastern regions that are geographically close to or part of the north-west Karakoram ice cover was declining at a substantially lower rate, stable, or even increasing slightly, as compared with the northern and central regions of Afghanistan.