Survey Target Research Articles

How Green Innovation and Green Corporate Social Responsibility Transform Green Transformational Leadership Into Sustainable Performance? Evidence From an Emerging Economy

ABSTRACTIn light of the rapidly evolving technology nowadays, a green business model is now required for sustainability and long‐term survival, especially for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and general businesses. This study aims to investigate how green transformational leadership and sustainable corporate performance for SMEs interact by examining the coordinating functions of green innovation and green corporate social responsibility in a developing nation. The current study followed the quantitative methodology along with a questionnaire for data collection. The survey's target sample consisted of senior and middle‐level executives from Vietnam's printing and FMCG manufacturing industries. Following the survey, 449 valid responses were gathered, and SmartPLS (version 4.1.0.6) structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data. This analysis contributes to the body of knowledge by using the natural resource‐based view Theory and Stakeholder Theory to provide a “three‐green‐model” that includes green transformational leadership, green innovation, and green corporate social responsibility, as well as their combined impact on sustainable corporate performance in a developing nation. The study findings confirm that green transformational leadership has a positive impact on sustainable corporate performance, both directly and indirectly, through green innovation and green corporate social responsibility, leading to better financial and environmental results. This study provides useful insights into how green leadership promotes sustainable growth, giving SMEs a method to balance between social and environmental responsibility and economic success.

영유아교사의 자아존중감 전문성 인식이, 놀이교수효능감에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact on play teaching efficacy of early childhood teach-ers’ self-esteem and expertise awareness. Methods The survey target was one hundred twenty-nine early childhood teachers in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Cronbach Coefficient was calculated to test reliability of the survey questionnaires for the collected data, and Pearson’s Ratio Correlation Analysis was applied to perceive the relationship among early childhood teachers’ self-esteem, expertise awareness, and play teaching efficacy. Multiple Regression Analysis implemented to see the impact on play teaching efficacy of early childhood teachers’ self-esteem and expertise awareness. Results First, there was significant static correlation in between early childhood teachers’ self-esteem and ex-pertise awareness. Second, only the teachers’ expertise awareness showed as the meaningful static predictor in the impact on play teaching efficacy of early childhood teachers’ self-esteem and expertise awareness. These re-sults mean that the play teaching efficacy is proportional to the level of expertise awareness. Upon analyzing sub-factors, the self-esteem and expertise awareness, and the only expertise awareness are presented as the significant predictors of the play teaching efficacy and the expectation about play teaching result respectively. Conclusions This study would provide a basic data to develop the program for enhancing early childhood teachers’ play teaching efficacy.

Co-designed study with the Traveller Community in Ireland to determine cancer awareness & attitudes

Abstract Background Irish Travellers are a distinct ethnic minority group (formal recognition March 2017). They experience higher mortality than the general population at all ages for all causes of death. Study Aim To determine cancer awareness and attitudes among the Traveller Community in Ireland, and to identify barriers/enablers to cancer risk reduction behaviours and early diagnosis of cancer. Methods A co-designed multi-method study was developed in collaboration with Pavee Point, a national NGO for Travellers, the National Social Inclusion Office (NSIO) and the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) including: 1. Consultation with Pavee Point and NSIO representatives to inform the study proposal and methodology. 2. Co-design of methodology for ethics applications and subsequent data collection plan including interview topic guides and the development of a culturally appropriate version of the NCCP’s 2022 National Survey on Cancer Awareness, adding questions on social determinants of health and screening participation. 3. Collaboration with 12 peer-led Primary Health Care for Travellers Projects (PHCTPs), to provide in-person training for Traveller Community Health Workers to undertake a cross-sectional survey of 380 adult Travellers. 4. Collaboration with PHCTPs to undertake 20 semi-structured interviews with Travellers. 5. Conduct of semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals to explore perceptions of barriers/enablers for Travellers engaging with the health system. Lessons Learned Working closely and collaboratively with our study partners, we gained valuable insights which enabled effective and efficient data collection across 8 counties, while exceeding our survey target sample size. Implications for Research: Collaborative, trusting, and respectful relationships are critical for all studies, but particularly when working with minority groups. Conclusions The study findings will inform policy for improved cancer outcomes among Travellers in Ireland. Key messages • Formation of a collaborative and respectful relationship with the Traveller community has facilitated successful research. • Traveller Community Health Workers (peer researchers) were key to the success of data collection.

Developing a Modular Survey App Using Co-design Principles

The objective of our project was to develop a smartphone app for administering shorter (“modular”) surveys. Given the paucity of research on this topic, we decided to use “co-design” techniques to generate design solutions. To implement these techniques, we recruited respondents in the survey target population to work in small groups and provide design ideas for the app. In this article, we present their input and examine whether we were successful in engaging them to contribute useful ideas. Although participation levels were uneven across the different groups, we found no evidence that group engagement was low overall or declined over the course of the sessions. In addition, the groups generated a diverse set of ideas, some of which informed the final app design. These findings underscore the feasibility of applying co-design principles to survey research, though further investigation is needed with different samples and design topics.

Statistical assessment of reliability of anthropometric measurements in the multi-site South African National Dietary Intake Survey 2022.

Anthropometric data quality in large multicentre nutrition surveys is seldom adequately assessed. In preparation for the South African National Dietary Intake Survey (NDIS-2022), this study assessed site leads' and fieldworkers' intra- and inter-rater reliability for measuring weight, length/height, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), waist circumference (WC) and calf circumference (CC). Standardised training materials and measurement protocols were developed, and new anthropometric equipment was procured. Following two training rounds (12 site lead teams, 46 fieldworker teams), measurement reliability was assessed for both groups, using repeated measurements of volunteers similar to the survey target population. Reliability was statistically assessed using the technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM (%TEM), intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of reliability (R). Agreement was visualised with Bland-Altman analysis. By %TEM, the best reliability was achieved for weight (%TEM = 0.260-0.923) and length/height (%TEM = 0.434-0.855), and the poorest for MUAC by fieldworkers (%TEM = 2.592-3.199) and WC (%TEM = 2.353-2.945). Whole-sample ICC and R were excellent ( > 0.90) for all parameters except site leads' CC inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.896, R = 0.889) and fieldworkers' inter-rater reliability for MUAC in children under two (ICC = 0.851, R = 0.881). Bland-Altman analysis revealed no significant bias except in fieldworkers' intra-rater reliability of length/height measurement in adolescents/adults ( + 0.220 (0.042, 0.400) cm). Reliability was higher for site leads vs. fieldworkers, for intra-rater vs. inter-rater assessment, and for weight and length/height vs. circumference measurements. NDIS-2022 site leads and fieldworkers displayed acceptable reliability in performing anthropometric measurements, highlighting the importance of intensive training and standardised measurement protocols. Ongoing reliability assessment during data collection is recommended.

Academic Library as Workplace

This study seeks to explore the academic library as a workplace and understand indicators of successful performance and areas that indicate a need for improvement. A survey containing the Knowledge Intensive Work Environment Survey Target (KIWEST) was sent to academic library listservs and received 351 complete responses eligible for analysis. Respondents were library workers employed in an academic library in the United States at the time of taking the survey. Academic libraries performed best in the areas of job autonomy, task completion clarity, competency demands, and meaning of work. Academic libraries indicated less positively in the areas of perceived investment in employee development, engagement (dedication), social support from supervisors, and role conflicts. Findings were consistent with previous studies about the individual factors in the library workplace, and this study demonstrates consistency with academic library strengths and areas of growth in the rapidly changing post-COVID workplace environment.

예비유아교사의 자아존중감이 유아코딩교육 인식에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purposes of this study were to examine the mediated effect of expertise awareness in the impact on awareness of children coding education of preparing young children teachers’ self-esteem.
 Methods The survey target were one hundred eighty-two university students in Jeollanam-do. Cronbach Coefficient was calculated to test reliability of the survey questionnaires for the collected data, and Pearson's Ratio Correlation Analysis was applied to perceive the relationship between preparing young children teachers’ self-esteem, expertise awareness, and awareness of children coding education. The third state of mediating effect analysis from Baron and Kenny (1986) was implemented to examine the mediated effect of expertise awareness in the impact on awareness of children coding education of preparing young children teachers.
 Results First, there was significant correlation in between preparing young children teachers’ self-esteem and awareness of children coding education. Second, there was a significant correlation between their expertise awareness and awareness of children coding education. Third, the mediated effect of expertise awareness is showed in the impact on awareness of children coding education of preparing young chkldren teachers’ self-esteem. As the results of analysis by sub-factor, a complete mediated effect of expertise awareness was appeared in necessity recognition and class operation recognition. Self-estem was not significantly predicted for study content recognition, and self-esteem and expertise awareness made static perception in the educational environment recognition while the mediated effect was not significant.
 Conclusions This study would be used as basic data for expanding awareness of children coding education for preparing young children teachers and developing early childhood education curriculum for theoretical learning.

대학생의 다문화 인식, 자아존중감이 결혼 인식에 미치는 영향

The purposes of this study was to analyze the impact on marriage awareness of university students’ multicultural perception and self-esteem. The survey target was one hundred fourteen university students in Jeollanam-do. Cronbach Coefficient was calculated to test reliability of the survey questionnaires for the collected data, and Pearson’s Ratio Correlation Analysis was applied to perceive the relationship between university students’ multicultural perception, self-esteem, and marriage awareness. Multiple regression analysis implemented to see the impact on marriage awareness of university students’ multicultural perception and self-esteem. First, the relationship between multicultural perception and marriage awareness of university students did not show any significant correlation betwiin overal multicultural perception and marriage awareness. Second, university students’ multicultural perception was found to have no significant effect on marriage awareness. Third, their self-esteem affects marriage awareness more than the sub-factors of multicultural. This study would be provided as the base line data to develop multicultural policies and multicultural family support program of Korean society.

Evaluating Consumer’s Behaviour Towards Investing in Sustainable Luxury Real Estate

This study aimed to explore consumer's investment intentions toward sustainable luxury real estate by examining the impact of their environmental concerns, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and perception of buying/investing in sustainable luxury real estate. The study also looked at how customer gender and age affected the difference between purchase intentions for luxury real estate that is sustainable and luxury real estate that is not sustainable. This study employs a conceptual framework that expands the Theory of Planned Behavior by adding a new dimension (environmental concern), which previous research has shown to be extremely important in influencing customer purchase intentions for sustainable goods. 282 respondents were surveyed online and provided with a questionnaire, which was utilized to gather data. People in the age range of 18 to 40 who live in various parts of the world were the survey's target respondents since environmental concerns are not exclusive to any one nation or geographic area. The Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet was used to code and enter the data, and IBM SPSS version 26 was used for the analysis. The results of the overall modelling testing show a high influence of environmental concern, subjective norm, attitude and consumer perception on consumers’ purchase intention for environmentally sustainable luxury real estate. A considerable disparity between women and men customers as well as between various age groups was found in the research on gender variations in consumer's perceptions of sustainable luxury real estate.

Evaluation of Mobile Risk Perception Training System for Improving the Safety Awareness of Construction Workers

Toolbox Meeting (TBM) activities conducted before work at construction sites are representative activities with characteristics such as work sharing and improving safety awareness. However, there is a limitation to the conventional TBM approach as it proceeds only formally and is not systematic because it proceeds without the manager’s prior preparation. Therefore, in this study, TBM was conducted using a mobile app by supplementing the limitation of conventional TBMs, and we examined whether mobile TBM is more effective in improving the safety awareness of construction site workers. A survey of 400 people was conducted at two sites implementing existing TBM or mobile TBM. This study included survey development, survey target selection, and statistical analysis. The analysis revealed three main results. First, mobile TBM was more efficient. Second, workers at mobile TBM application sites (M = 4.24) were more positive and satisfied with daily safety activities than those using existing TBMs (M = 3.95). Finally, the impact of TBM education and worker safety awareness was higher in sites using mobile TBM (M = 4.14) than those using existing TBM (M = 3.94). This study provides valuable evidence for construction site safety management decision-makers considering the adoption of smart safety management tools such as mobile TBMs.

A Study on the Factors Influencing NRC Student Perception to Study Abroad

Studying abroad has become an increasingly popular choice for many students, but the factors influencing their interest in pursuing overseas education have not been extensively studied. This research aims to explore the perception of Norbuling Rigter College (NRC) Students on what social and economic factors mostly influence undergraduates’ decisions abroad and the study investigates socio-economic factors that shape their decision-making process. An online survey target sample of 252 was selected for the study. The 19-item questionnaire consists of items measuring student awareness of study abroad offerings factors that influence students to study abroad, financial ability, and socio-economic status. The analysis includes person correlation tests, descriptive statistics, and crosstab analysis. The result revealed that student’s study to prefer abroad in European countries and in countries that speak English, Result revealed a high awareness of study abroad offered at the university, Economic factors were the most important factor influencing student decision to study abroad at NRC. Economic factors such as part-time job opportunities and career prospects play a crucial role in the study decision-making process.

Identifying and preventing fraudulent responses in online public health surveys: Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Web-based survey data collection has become increasingly popular, and limitations on in-person data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled this growth. However, the anonymity of the online environment increases the risk of fraudulent responses provided by bots or those who complete surveys to receive incentives, a major risk to data integrity. As part of a study of COVID-19 and the return to in-person school, we implemented a web-based survey of parents in Maryland between December 2021 and July 2022. Recruitment relied, in part, on social media advertisements. Despite implementing many existing best practices, we found the survey challenged by sophisticated fraudsters. In response, we iteratively improved survey security. In this paper, we describe efforts to identify and prevent fraudulent online survey responses. Informed by this experience, we provide specific, actionable recommendations for identifying and preventing online survey fraud in future research. Some strategies can be deployed within the data collection platform such as careful crafting of survey links, Internet Protocol address logging to identify duplicate responses, and comparison of client-side and server-side time stamps to identify responses that may have been completed by respondents outside of the survey's target geography. Other strategies can be implemented during the survey design phase. These approaches include the use of a 2-stage design in which respondents must be eligible on a preliminary screener before receiving a personalized link. Other design-based strategies include within-survey and cross-survey validation questions, the addition of "speed bump" questions to thwart careless or computerized responders, and the use of optional open-ended survey questions to identify fraudsters. We describe best practices for ongoing monitoring and post-completion survey data review and verification, including algorithms to expedite some aspects of data review and quality assurance. Such strategies are increasingly critical to safeguarding survey-based public health research.

Designing the Revisit Intention of the Tourism Model on Visiting the Borobudur Temple

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze how the perception of the destination and the visitor experience affected tourists' satisfaction when they visited Central Java Province (Borobudur Temple); how these factors also affected tourists' intention to return to Central Java Province; and how tourist satisfaction affected tourists' intention to return to Central Java Province (Borobudur Temple).Methodology: Data was collected from tourists who visited Indonesia's Borobudur temple as the survey's target population. In this study, surveys were conducted during a two-month period from June to August 2021 using the convenience sampling methodology. Through the use of an online survey and questionnaire, data was gathered. The SPSS for Windows 26 application was utilized for the linear regression analysis step in the data analysis process. Validity tests, reliability tests, and coefficient of determination tests were the analysis methods applied.Finding: The perception of a destination has a significant impact on visitor satisfaction, visitor perception also has a significant impact on visitor revisit intention, visitor experience also has a significant impact on visitor satisfaction, and visitor experience also has a significant impact on visitor revisit intention.Conclusion: More tourists will visit Borobudur Temple, the most beautiful temple in the world if the location has a positive and attractive image. Also, the experience of tourists has a big impact on how happy they are after seeing Borobudur Temple. If visitors to Borobudur Temple have an extraordinary experience, their satisfaction with their visit will increase. In addition, the experience of visitors has a huge impact on their plans to return; more and more people will visit Borobudur Temple if their happiness with the experience is fulfilled.

Developing a Questionnaire Evaluating Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors on Audit & Feedback among General Practitioners: A Mixed Methods Study.

Audit and Feedback (A&F) is one of the most common strategies used to improve quality in healthcare. However, there is still lack of awareness regarding the enabling factors and barriers that could influence its effectiveness. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to measure the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of general practitioners (GPs) regarding A&F. The study was performed in the context of the EASY-NET program (project code NET-2016-02364191). The survey was developed according to two steps. Firstly, a scoping review was performed in order to map the literature on the existing similar instruments with the aim of identifying the sub-domains and possible items to include in a preliminary version of the questionnaire. In the second phase, the questionnaire was reviewed by a multidisciplinary group of experts and administrated to a convenience sample in a pilot survey. Ten papers were included in the scoping review. The survey target and development methodology were heterogenous among the studies. The knowledge, attitudes and behaviors domains were assessed in six, nine and seven studies, respectively. In the first step, 126 pertinent items were extracted and categorized as follows: 8 investigated knowledge, 93 investigated attitudes, and 25 investigated behaviors. Then, 2 sub-domains were identified for knowledge, 14 for attitudes and 7 for behavior. Based on these results, a first version of the survey was developed via consensus among two authors and then revised by the multidisciplinary group of experts in the field of A&F. The final version of the survey included 36 items: 8 in the knowledge domain, 19 in the attitudes domain and 9 in the behaviors domain. The results of the pilot study among 15 GPs suggested a good acceptability and item relevance and accuracy, with positive answers totaling 100% and 93.3% in the proposed questions. The methodology used has shown to be a good strategy for the development of the survey. The survey will be administrated before and after the implementation of an A&F intervention to assess both baseline characteristics and changes after the intervention.

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs

Context. The CARMENES instrument, installed at the 3.5 m telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería, Spain, was conceived to deliver high-accuracy radial velocity (RV) measurements with long-term stability to search for temperate rocky planets around a sample of nearby cool stars. Moreover, the broad wavelength coverage was designed to provide a range of stellar activity indicators to assess the nature of potential RV signals and to provide valuable spectral information to help characterise the stellar targets. Aims. We describe the CARMENES guaranteed time observations (GTO), spanning from 2016 to 2020, during which 19 633 spectra for a sample of 362 targets were collected. We present the CARMENES Data Release 1 (DR1), which makes public all observations obtained during the GTO of the CARMENES survey. Methods. The CARMENES survey target selection was aimed at minimising biases, and about 70% of all known M dwarfs within 10 pc and accessible from Calar Alto were included. The data were pipeline-processed, and high-level data products, including 18 642 precise RVs for 345 targets, were derived. Time series data of spectroscopic activity indicators were also obtained. Results. We discuss the characteristics of the CARMENES data, the statistical properties of the stellar sample, and the spectroscopic measurements. We show examples of the use of CARMENES data and provide a contextual view of the exoplanet population revealed by the survey, including 33 new planets, 17 re-analysed planets, and 26 confirmed planets from transiting candidate follow-up. A subsample of 238 targets was used to derive updated planet occurrence rates, yielding an overall average of 1.44 ± 0.20 planets with 1 M⊕ < Mpl sin i < 1000 M⊕ and 1 day < Porb < 1000 days per star, and indicating that nearly every M dwarf hosts at least one planet. All the DR1 raw data, pipeline-processed data, and high-level data products are publicly available online. Conclusions. CARMENES data have proven very useful for identifying and measuring planetary companions. They are also suitable for a variety of additional applications, such as the determination of stellar fundamental and atmospheric properties, the characterisation of stellar activity, and the study of exoplanet atmospheres.

The influence of information sources on intention changes to receive COVID-19 vaccination: A prospective cohort study in Japan

Before the COVID-19 vaccine became available, many Japanese people were undecided about whether or not to receive them. Their decisions were keys to achieving herd immunity. The impact of the type of information source on the COVID-19 vaccine uptake decision-making process remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between information source usage on COVID-19 and subsequent vaccine uptake status among those who have yet to decide whether to receive vaccines from non-prioritized people for vaccination. Prospective cohort online self-administered surveys were conducted in February 2021 (T1), before the start of the mass vaccination program, and September-October 2021 (T2), when the vaccines were available to all citizens. The survey's target population was registered monitors of an Internet research company. Participants who answered "I want to get vaccinated after waiting to see how it goes." at T1 were eligible for analysis. The outcome variable was the COVID-19 vaccine uptake status in T2, and the predictors were 20 types of information sources, categorized based on people (family members, etc.), institutions (governments, etc.), or media (TV news, etc.). Adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using logistic regression adjusted for possible confounders. The 5,139 respondents, mean age and standard deviation was 42.8 ± 12.5, 55.7% female, were eligible for analysis. 85.7% completed vaccination (including reserved/intended people) in T2. In the multivariate logistic analysis, odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for vaccine uptake were 1.49 (1.18-1.89) for workplaces/schools, 1.81 (1.33-2.47) for LINE, 0.69 (0.55-0.86) for Internet news and 0.62 (0.48-0.82) for video sharing sites. The type of information source usage played an important role in the decision to vaccinate against COVID-19. Although caution is needed in interpreting the results, obtaining information from workplaces/schools and LINE was influential in promoting immunization.

The DESI Survey Validation: Results from Visual Inspection of Bright Galaxies, Luminous Red Galaxies, and Emission-line Galaxies

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Survey has obtained a set of spectroscopic measurements of galaxies to validate the final survey design and target selections. To assist in these tasks, we visually inspect DESI spectra of approximately 2500 bright galaxies, 3500 luminous red galaxies (LRGs), and 10,000 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) to obtain robust redshift identifications. We then utilize the visually inspected redshift information to characterize the performance of the DESI operation. Based on the visual inspection (VI) catalogs, our results show that the final survey design yields samples of bright galaxies, LRGs, and ELGs with purity greater than 99%. Moreover, we demonstrate that the precision of the redshift measurements is approximately 10 km s−1 for bright galaxies and ELGs and approximately 40 km s−1 for LRGs. The average redshift accuracy is within 10 km s−1 for the three types of galaxies. The VI process also helps improve the quality of the DESI data by identifying spurious spectral features introduced by the pipeline. Finally, we show examples of unexpected real astronomical objects, such as Lyα emitters and strong lensing candidates, identified by VI. These results demonstrate the importance and utility of visually inspecting data from incoming and upcoming surveys, especially during their early operation phases.

A Survey Study of Young Orthodontists’ Perceptions of Practice Environment in Korea

Objective: This survey study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of young orthodontists to the policies of Korean Association of Orthodontists (KAO). Methods: The survey target group was 233 orthodontists, who were regular (full) members of KAO and completed the orthodontic resident program at domestic training institutions between 6 and 10 years ago. The survey consisted of 21 questions including (1) characteristics of the survey group, (2) difficulties encountered when opening and running of practice, and (3) evaluation of the policies of KAO. Results: The response rate was 87.1% (n=204/233). 36-45 year-old group was a majority one (87.2%). 47.5% of respondents were working as private practitioner and treating orthodontic patients exclusively. The rate of five-day work per week was 52.9%. The new city area of Gyeonggi-do Province (35.3%) and the apartment complex or densely housing area (54.4%) were considered as the most preferred clinic opening places. The most difficult issues encountered when opening and running of practice were the selection of location and the recruitment of hospital personnel, respectively. The biggest benefits received from the KAO were various certificates of Accredited Orthodontist or paragon specialist. 42.6% of respondents were not fully aware of the KAO’s public relation activities. The membership rate of the Korean Association of Orthodontic Foundation (KAOF) was only 9.7%, and its education and public promotion projects were considered the most needed activity. Conclusion: It is necessary to repeat this survey with a five-year interval for providing the references of policy-making and checking the business progress of KAO. In addition, a more sophisticated survey with face-to-face interview is necessary to obtain detailed information.

걷기여행길에서의 걷기경험에 대한 미학적 고찰

The purpose of this study is to essentially look at the aesthetics experiences of natural beauty in the walking experience of walking participants on a walking tour from an aesthetics point of view, and to explore the aesthetics experiences and participation motives of walking travelers. This study targeted walking participants who had a lot of experience in walking tours, and the geographic space of the survey target was Namsan Dullegil. To this end, the aesthetics experiences of the participants were interpreted as meta-languages of aesthetics. The purpose of this study is to expand the concept of aesthetics and aesthetics perspective on the walking experience on the walking tour path, and to help foster the participation motivation of walking travelers. In addition, it intends to provide academic contributions to continuous research on walking trails and to increase and revitalize values.

Time Series Prediction of Dam Deformation Using a Hybrid STL–CNN–GRU Model Based on Sparrow Search Algorithm Optimization

During its long service life, an arch dam affected by a combination of factors exhibits a typical time-varying characteristic in terms of its structure and material properties, and the deformation in the dam structure can directly and reliably reflect the health and service status of dams. Therefore, an accurate deformation prediction is an important part of dam safety monitoring. However, due to multiple factors, dam deformation data often tend to be highly volatile, and most existing deformation estimation techniques employ a single algorithm, which may not effectively capture the potential change process. A hybrid model for dam deformation prediction has been proposed to overcome this problem. First, dam deformation data are decomposed into three components by seasonal and trend decomposition using loess. Second, a convolutional neural network–gated recurrent unit (GRU) hybrid model, which optimizes hyperparameters using the sparrow search algorithm, is used to capture the nonlinear relationships that exist in each component. Finally, the final prediction result of dam deformation is the comprehensive output of multiple submodules. The deformation monitoring data (period: 2009–2019) of a parabolic variable-thickness double-curved arch dam located in China are considered as the survey target. The test results indicate that the proposed model is suitable for short-term and long-term prediction and outperforms other models in terms of higher robustness to abnormal sequences than other conventional models (R² differs by 5.50% and 7.87%, respectively, in short-term and long-term predictions for different measurement points, while other models differ by 9.78% to reach 15.71%, respectively). Among the models studied, the GRU shows better robustness to abnormal series than the LSTM with good prediction accuracy, fewer parameters, and a simpler structure. Hence, the GRU can be employed for dam deformation prediction in practical engineering.