Mobility Trends Research Articles

Developing counterurbanisation: Making sense of rural mobility and governance in Japan

Urbanisation has been a dominant trend in Japan over the last fifty years. However, in the context of rapidly ageing and depopulating rural areas, recent research has begun to examine the lives, motivations and difficulties of an apparently increasing number of counter-urban migrants in Japan. Despite this, the extent and policy drivers of counterurbanisation and, wider, rural in-migration remains underexamined. In this paper we examine shifts in the governance and representation of the rural, particularly in relation to rural mobilities, that have occurred in Japan in the last few decades. We subsequently draw on secondary migration data to shed light on rural mobility trends in Japan. In doing so, we highlight the way in which counterurbanisation in Japan represents a development strategy pursued by central government and underpinned by an idealisation of the countryside rather than a significant pattern on the ground. As such, we argue that Japan is characterised by two forms of counterurbanisation, an idealised form which renders counter-urban mobilities as a means to tackle rural pathologies, and a more limited material counterurbanisation observed on the ground. Finally, we suggest a need for convergence between these two forms.

Demonstration of Acceptor-Like Traps at Positive Polarization Interfaces in Ga-Polar P-type (AlGaN/AlN)/GaN Superlattices

The shortcomings with acceptors in p-type III-nitride semiconductors have resulted in not many efforts being presented on III-nitride based p-channel electronic devices (here, field effect transistors (FETs)). The polarization effects in III-nitride superlattices (SLs) lead to the periodic oscillation of the energy bands, exhibiting enhanced ionization of the deep acceptors (Mg in this study), and hence their use in III-nitride semiconductor-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and p-channel FETs is beneficial. This study experimentally demonstrates the presence of acceptor-like traps at the positive polarization interfaces acting as the primary source of holes in Ga-polar p-type uniformly doped (AlGaN/AlN)/GaN SLs with limited Mg doping. The observed concentration of holes exceeding that of the dopants incorporated into the samples during growth can be attributed to the ionization of acceptor-like traps, located at 0.8 eV above the valence band of GaN, at positive polarization interfaces. All samples were grown using the metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) technique, and the materials’ characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction and Hall effect measurements. The hole concentrations experimentally measured are juxtaposed with the calculated value of hole concentrations from FETIS®, and the measured trends in mobility are explained using the amplitude of separation of the two-dimensional hole gas in the systems from the positive polarization interfaces.

Youth agency in public diplomacy: Australian youth participation in outbound mobility and connection building between Australia and the Indo-Pacific region

ABSTRACT The Australian government has considered youth mobility to the Indo-Pacific to be crucial in building Australia’s connection with the region. Despite a growing trend of Australian student mobility to the Indo-Pacific, there has been a dearth of research on mobility youth’s agency in public diplomacy. This article makes an original contribution to the literature by elucidating the four main forms of youth agency in public diplomacy in which Australian students have engaged: fostering regional understandings, people-to-people connections, people-to-opportunity connections and country-to-country connections with the Indo-Pacific. It shows that these understandings and connections were created not only during the students’ in-country experiences but also upon their return, and the youth-led connections are not limited within the host and home countries. The article suggests a critical need to have a systemic approach to supporting mobility youth’s capacity for regional engagement, beyond the traditional student experience in learning abroad, which is concerned largely with academic outcomes, cultural enhancement and employability development.

In vitro DNA plasmid condensation and transfection through pH-responsive nanohydrogel.

Nanohydrogels (NHs) with the benefits of both nanomaterials and hydrogels unlock novel opportunities and applications in biomedicine. Nowadays, cationic NHs have attracted attention in the delivery of genetic materials into cells. Herein, by using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer method, an NH-based poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) and cross-linked by poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate with pH responsiveness character was developed. Several techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography confirmed the success in the synthesis. The pH responsiveness of the developed NH was shown by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering technique. The average sizes of NHs in the normal (7.4) and acidic pH (5.5) were 180 and 390nm, respectively. The ability of the developed NH to condense genetic materials was checked using gel retardation assay with different ratios of NH and pCMV6-IRES-AcGFP, as a plasmid encoding green fluorescence protein. Results of gel retardation assay showed a decreasing trend in plasmid electrophoretic mobility with the increase in the NH concentration. The NH/plasmid complexes were stopped completely at the ratio of 5 and the plasmid band vanished at the ratio of 10. The quantitative and qualitative results of the cell transfection experiment using different ratios of NH/plasmid showed the ability of NH to carry plasmid molecules into the cancerous cells. The best transfection efficiency was observed by nanohydrogel/plasmid weight ratio of 10, while other ratios including 2, 5 and 20 showed 0.8, 10 and 12% of transfection efficiency, respectively. All the assessed factors showed that NH has the potential to be considered as an efficient gene delivery vehicle.

Integrated electric logistics vehicle recharging station location–routing problem with mixed backhauls and recharging strategies

The widespread application of electric vehicles for city last-mile logistics has been enhanced by the emerging trend of urban sustainable mobility, which intends to reduce vehicle emissions and the dependence on fossil fuels. The recharging facility location is critical for electric logistics network planning, because it significantly affects future operation costs and efficiency. This study proposes an integrated electric logistics vehicle recharging station location–routing problem with mixed backhauls and recharging strategies, which is formulated as a time-discretized multicommodity network flow optimization model based on a space–time–state–energy representation network. This study aims to optimize the selection of the recharging station location considering route planning with complicated constraints of recharging capacity, facility construction budget, vehicle loading capacity, battery remaining capacity, spatial structure of real road networks, mixed pickup and delivery requests, and service time windows. A hybrid Lagrangian relaxation and alternating direction method of multipliers (LR-ADMM) decomposition solution framework is constructed to decouple the proposed integrated problem into a recharging station location problem for strategic planning and an electric vehicle routing problem with mixed backhauls, time windows, and recharging strategies for operational decisions. These two subproblems are solved alternately by time-dependent forward dynamic programming algorithms embedded into the LR-ADMM framework. The solution quality is guaranteed by calculating the optimality gap between the best lower and upper bounds for each iteration. The experimental results based on the Sioux-Falls network and real-world West Jordan network prove the computational effectiveness and optimization quality of the proposed solution approach.

The Effect of Time and Departure on Entry into Ghana for Citizens from Five ECOWAS Member States from 1997 to 2019

Migration among West Africans has both historical and contemporary relevance. The implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol was aimed at improving current mobility and migration trends in the sub-region. However, the majority of the existing literature on mobility, migration, and protocol evaluation focused on implementation and operationalization challenges. The current study assesses the effect of time and departure of citizens of member states such as Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Togo, on entry into Ghana from 1997 to 2019, using regression analysis. Results from the regression analysis reveal that both time (measured in years) and departure influence the entry of citizens from ECOWAS member states into Ghana. Specifically, it was shown that time influenced the entry of citizens from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigerian, and Burkina Faso into Ghana. Additionally, departure influenced the entry of citizens from Liberia and Togo into Ghana. Overall, the present results suggest that the time and departure of citizens from ECOWAS member states influence entry and hence affect the successful implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol and its success.

Accurate Modeling of Cryogenic Temperature Effects in 10-nm Bulk CMOS FinFETs Using the BSIM-CMG Model

In this letter, we have proposed modifications to the existing BSIM-CMG compact model to enhance its ability to model the behavior of short channel bulk FinFETs (both n and p-type) from room temperature down to cryogenic temperatures (10K). The proposed model is highly accurate in capturing the subthreshold swing, threshold voltage, and effective mobility trends observed in FinFET cryogenic operation. For efficient optimization of the proposed model parameters, we have proposed an adequate modeling strategy. We have compared convergence time between the existing BSIM-CMG model and the proposed model by simulating a reasonably large circuit using pseudo-inverters.

The decline in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S.: Evidence from survey-linked administrative data

The growth in cross-sectional inequality has sparked concern about its consequences for long-run economic outcomes. We use survey-linked administrative data to estimate trends in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S. since 1980 focusing on differential trends by gender, education, and race-ethnicity. We find that long-term earnings mobility has declined since the 1980s. Declines in upward mobility have occurred for both men and women, reversing a trend prior to 1980 of increasing long-run mobility for women. The largest declines in mobility are for women and college-educated workers, which is driven both by increases in the rank of earnings early in prime earning years and growing persistence in ranks across the earnings distribution.

Research Structure and Trends of Smart Urban Mobility

Mobility is a subject of increasing importance in a time when cities have gained prominence, as they are home to over 56% of the world’s population and generate over 80% of global GDP. Urban planning principles have traditionally been developed to promote urban efficiency and enhance productivity. The emergence of ‘Smart Mobility’ has provided researchers and policy practitioners new ways to understand and plan cities. With rapid urbanization growth and the sustained mobility challenges faced in most global cities, this paper sets forth to understand and map the evolution of the concept of ‘Smart Urban Mobility’ through a bibliometric analysis and science mapping techniques using VOSviewer. In total, 6079 articles were retrieved from the Web of Science database over 5 decades, from 1968 to 2021, and divided into four sub-periods, namely 1968 to 2010, 2011 to 2015, 2016 to 2019, and 2020 to 2021. The paper provides a better understanding of the thematic focus and associated trends of smart mobility beyond technical issues related to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), where due to diverse dynamics, such as unprecedented growth and advancement in technologies, attention has extended to incorporating the impacts of the application of different technologies in urban mobility as well as associated fields. This paper further identifies major sources, authors, publications, and countries that have made more contributions to the development of this field. The findings of this study can help researchers better understand the evolution of the subject, and help policymakers make better-informed decisions on investable infrastructures for better mobility outcomes in urban regeneration pursuits and future cities.

Modelling epidemic spread in cities using public transportation as a proxy for generalized mobility trends

We study how public transportation data can inform the modeling of the spread of infectious diseases based on SIR dynamics. We present a model where public transportation data is used as an indicator of broader mobility patterns within a city, including the use of private transportation, walking etc. The mobility parameter derived from this data is used to model the infection rate. As a test case, we study the impact of the usage of the New York City subway on the spread of COVID-19 within the city during 2020. We show that utilizing subway transport data as an indicator of the general mobility trends within the city, and therefore as an indicator of the effective infection rate, improves the quality of forecasting COVID-19 spread in New York City. Our model predicts the two peaks in the spread of COVID-19 cases in NYC in 2020, unlike a standard SIR model that misses the second peak entirely.

COVID-19 effects on urban driving, walking, and transit usage trends: Evidence from Indian metropolitan cities

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all walks of life, including the transportation sector. Fear of the contagion coupled with government regulations to restrict mobility altered the travel behavior of the public. This study proposes integrating freely accessible aggregate mobility datasets published by tech giants Apple and Google, which opens a broader avenue for mobility research in the light of difficult data collection circumstances. A comparative analysis of the changes in usage of different mobility modes during the national lockdown and unlock policy periods across 6 Indian cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune) explain the spatio-temporal differences in mode usages. The study shows a preference for individual travel modes (walking and driving) over public transit. Comparisons with pre-pandemic mode shares present evidence of inertia in the choice of travel modes. Association investigations through generalized linear mixed-effects models identify income, vehicle registrations, and employment rates at the city level to significantly impact the community mobility trends. The methods and interpretations from this study benefit government, planners, and researchers to boost informed policymaking and implementation during a future emergency demanding mobility regulations in the high-density urban conglomerations.

Exploring the short-term and long-term linkages between carbon price and influence factors considering COVID-19 impact.

Because of global lock-downs caused by the unexpected COVID-19, the interactions between emission trading and related markets have changed significantly compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. Considering the pandemic effect, this paper established an integrated system to identify the relationship trajectories between carbon trading market and impact factors. A noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition (N-A MEMD) method was utilized to simultaneously decompose the original multi-dimensional time series into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), after which the Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity algorithm was applied to reconstruct the IMFs into high-frequency (HF), low-frequency (LF), and trend modules. Vector autoregression (VAR) and vector error correction (VEC) models were then used to systematically simulate the correlations. The time span was split into pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods for comparison, and the mobility trends data during the outbreak period released by the Apple company was chosen to reflect the pandemic effects. The empirical analysis results revealed the energy prices, macroeconomic index, and exchange rate are the main external impact factors of carbon price in the short term. Summarizing from the cointegration models over the long term, the market stability reserve (MSR) mechanism was found to have ability on stabilizing the carbon price under the epidemic shock. Furthermore, the COVID-19 was found to complicate the relationships between carbon price and influence factors, which resulted in fluctuating markets.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on surface passenger transport and related CO2 emissions during different waves

The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted our day-to-day activities and brought about significant change in all major sectors, especially surface passenger transport. Lockdowns and stay-at-home restrictions have significantly reduced energy demand and consequently CO2 emissions of surface passenger transport. The change in CO2 emissions is calculated from near-real-time activity change data as a function of 3 confinement levels. The activity change and related emission trends reflect changes in the mode of transport during different waves, this can be used to understand mobility trends and patterns when stringent measures are imposed. Consequently, constructive use of this data can help prepare and develop the transport sector in case of another epidemic outbreak or other unprecedented calamities and to build a resilient transport infrastructure post-COVID-19. This study estimates and analyzes the changes in CO2 emissions associated with the public (bus and rail) and private surface passenger transport from March 1st, 2020 to Jan 31st, 2021 in 21 countries. The research period covers the 1st and the 2nd waves of COVID-19 in these countries. A higher activity reduction and consequently CO2 emission reduction is displayed during the 1st wave compared to the 2nd for most countries despite implementing stringent measures during both waves. This is in line with countries adapting to the ‘new normal’ and restarting socio-economic activities. Similarly, public transport recovery is slower than private transport recovery, making it essential to focus on reinforcement and adaptation of public transport infrastructure for the future. The results show that a cumulative 510 Mt CO2 has been reduced over 11 months in 21 countries, compared to pre-pandemic levels. This reduction brings about a 6% drop in transport CO2 emissions and a 1.5% drop in global CO2 emissions. This analysis sheds light on mobility trends and travel behavior of surface passenger transport modes and related CO2 emissions in different countries which can be used to exemplify the path to recovery based on near-real-time data.

Tren COVID-19 dan pembatasan mobilitas penduduk

The Indonesian government has imposed policies of restricting population mobility to control COVID-19 transmission. Several population mobility regulations have been implemented, which were heavily affected by fluctuation in COVID-19 positive cases. This paper discusses trends in population mobility due to various policies related to population mobility restriction, nationally and locally. Analyses were based on secondary data, including population mobility restriction policies and trends in the number of COVID-19 cases since the government has formally declared the peak of the second wive at mid-2021. Data on the number of airplane passengers departing from and arriving at Soekarno-Hatta airport from March 2020 to August 2021 was also used. The results of the analysis show that the trend of passengers’ mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic was influenced by government policy on transportation, referring to the fluctuation of the daily number of positively confirmed COVID-19 cases. In the case of increasing of the positive cases, the government issued a policy on tightening aircraft passenger requirements which resulted in a decreasing number of passengers, and vice versa. Currently, the increase in COVID-19 cases shows the sloping trend, but efforts to control its transmission, including population mobility restriction, must still be carried out.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ ОСВІТНЬОГО ТУРИЗМУ УКРАЇНИ ТА КРАЇН РЕЦИПІЄНТІВ ЛЮДСЬКИХ РЕСУРСІВ

The article considers typical representatives of donor countries, including Ukraine, and recipient countries, which include Germany and Poland, which operate in the market of educational services. The main directions of human resources potential realization are highlighted, among which: increase of migration flows, creation of new jobs, growth of employment, international competitiveness and international mobility of students. The dependence of the foreign students' numbers dynamics on the growth of real GDP is studied. The growth in the number of foreign students in Poland over the past seven years is proportional to the growth of real gross domestic product. In Germany, the picture is similar, but the growth of real gross domestic product is delayed by one year. Ukraine demonstrates a significant rate of export of educational tourists, which in turn is quite negative for the international competitiveness of the economy. The nature and trends of international student mobility are analyzed. Against the global background, after 2018 there is a gradual decrease in the number of international mobile students studying in Ukraine. At the same time, the number of international mobile students studying in foreign countries is constantly growing. The main advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats facing donor and recipient countries have been identified. The advantages of the recipient countries are to increase the size of the economy, reduce the cost of doing business by reducing the average wage, increase innovation and intellectual potential, the ability to use labor without the obligation to provide pension services. The shortcomings are based on the additional costs of neutralizing increasing social tensions and criminalization (mainly in the case of illegal migration), the costs of combating illegal migration. Opportunities are focused on increasing labor resources in the economy, increasing production, domestic market (by increasing incomes), smoothing structural imbalances in the labor market, saving on training (in the case of skilled workers). The biggest threats are the increase in the budget burden due to "strong" and "local" unemployment traps, the growth of the shadow sector of the economy and rising social tensions. It was found that educational tourism for Ukraine is more negative than positive. The main disadvantages are the outflow of qualified personnel, resulting in technological backwardness, declining GDP, possible inflation in the event of a large advantage in external transfers. This poses a number of threats to Ukraine: a reduction in the number of labor resources in the long run, a reduction in the amount of tax and other revenues to the state budget as a result of the deficit.

Occupational Mobility in the Context of Climate Change in the Mekong River Delta

Abstract: This study aims to describe the scale and trends of occupational mobility in the context of climate and environmental changes in the Mekong River Delta and describe the factors that affect the flow of labor changes. The findings of the study show that: (1) changes in science and technology, as well as those in the environment and climate in recent years, have led to major changes in the structure of labor and employment, which causes more people in the Mekong River Delta to change their jobs and occupations; (2) the scale and trends of occupational mobility depends heavily on factors such as the type of employment, level of income, age, number of years at high school, professional qualifications, and the extent of damage caused by unusual weather and climate phenomena, etc

At the Convergence of the Mobility Trends: Eco-Friendly Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV) and the Energy Efficiency of their Perception System

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Increasing financial commitment to accelerating and expanding electrified autonomous vehicle deployment promises vast societal and environmental benefits. The positive effects of these technological breakthroughs will be attained and maximized not only because of the improved energy conversion and optimized driving strategies of autonomous vehicles, but also through manufacturers’ intentional selection of energy efficient componentry. After reviewing the energy conversion advantages of electrified vehicles and the potential to optimize autonomous vehicle operation by optimizing their driving strategies in accordance with advanced driver assistance system performance, this paper highlights the broad implications of selecting energy efficient lidar sensors as the central components in autonomous vehicle perception stacks. Energy efficient components have significant impact on electrified autonomous vehicles’ overall range, energy consumption, and required service and maintenance infrastructure. In evaluating the relative efficiency of various lidar sensors, this paper proposes a new metric: the ratio of sensor performance specifications (field of view, range, resolution) compared to sensor characteristics that directly impact electrified autonomous vehicle efficiency (power consumption, weight, volume).</div></div>

Stacking-Dependent Electrical Transport in a Colloidal CdSe Nanoplatelet Thin-Film Transistor.

Here, we report an exceptional feature of the one-dimensional threadlike assemblies of a four-monolayer colloidal CdSe nanoplatelet (NPL)-based thin-film transistor. A series of different lengths of threads (200-1200 nm) was used as an active n channel in thin-film transistors (TFTs) to understand the change in mobility with the length of the threads. The film with the longest threads shows the highest conductivity of ∼12 S/cm and electron mobility of ∼14.3 cm2 V-1 s-1 for an applied gate voltage of 2 V. The mobility trends with the length seem to be driven mostly by the lower defects in threads, where the loss of electron hopping is less. Furthermore, our results show the mobility trends in stacking-dependent CdSe NPL threads and provide a new insight into fabricating high-mobility TFTs with the use of colloidal CdSe NPLs.

Acceptor traps as the source of holes in p-type N-polar GaN/(AlN/AlGaN) superlattices

This study experimentally shows the existence of acceptor traps at positive polarization interfaces (PPIs) acting as the source of holes in N-polar p-type modulation doped GaN/(AlN/AlGaN) superlattices (SLs) with low Mg doping. The observation of measured hole concentration higher than the dopants (here, Mg) put in the samples during growth can be explained by the ionization of acceptor traps, which are placed 0.8 eV above the valence band of GaN at the PPI. All samples were epitaxially grown using metal organic chemical vapor deposition and were characterized using x-ray diffraction and room-temperature Hall measurements. The measured hole concentrations are compared against calculated values from STR FETIS®, and the measured mobility trends are explained using the separation of the positive polarization interfaces from the two-dimensional hole gas in the systems, strengthening the hypothesis. A second study is also presented where acceptor traps were ionized in a p-type modulation doped GaN/AlGaN SL without an AlN layer—by keeping the superlattice period thickness constant and increasing the AlGaN composition. Following the hypothesis of the existence of an acceptor trap, these experimental studies demonstrate the charge-balance in systems that show p-type behavior without sufficient doping.

“It's All for the Child”: The Discontents of Middle-class Chinese Parenting and Migration to Europe

AbstractMiddle-class parents in China are increasingly torn between the need to secure their child's future in an environment where competition starts in kindergarten and parenting ideologies focusing on the child's individuality, creativity and freedom. Our study, based on ethnographic fieldwork among middle-class Chinese migrants in Budapest, shows that one result of this tension is a new wave of emigration that is justified in terms of securing a relaxed, healthy and free environment for the child. These migrants consciously reject what they see as a materialistic and dehumanizing social environment in China and pursue a “European” lifestyle that they imagine as wholesome and human-centred; yet while they rejoice in the “happiness” of their children, they retain a deep-seated anxiety about their children's future. Thus, the search for a mentally and physically wholesome environment consonant with China's discourse of national revitalization becomes decoupled from its original agenda and triggers a new trend in international mobility. This study illustrates how the broader tensions in the relationship between China's middle class and the state are externalized to the global stage.