Unique Assets Research Articles

Sowing Seeds of Sovereignty: A Qualitative Exploration of Chapter Leader Experiences Who Belong to an African, Caribbean, and Black Women's Agriculture Advocacy Collective.

African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) populations are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity since the COVID-19 pandemic, with reports including limited access to healthy, affordable, and available food resulting in the exacerbation of existing health disparities and poorer living conditions and environments. Many interventions addressing food insecurity among ACB populations incorporate downstream models that emphasize consumer-level solutions (e.g., food donation or assistance programs). While useful for developing short-term solutions, these approaches do not meaningfully engage broader structures and root-causes-and, in many ways, reify existing inequities among these populations. Missing from mainstream dialogue is how food insecurity inequities at the individual level are often generated at higher structural levels and the unique assets of a targeted community or population to grow/distribute their own food and restore frayed transnational cultural foodways. This paper documents a case study of an international, Black women-led agriculture education collective headquartered in the South-Central region of the United States. Drawing on in-depth interviews with affiliate chapter leaders in the United States, US Virgin Islands, and Africa (n = 22), the research investigates how chapter leaders describe unique opportunities and barriers to farming and developing food insecurity solutions. Emergent themes from the data analysis were: (1) diasporically linked barriers, (a) infrastructural/political barriers and (b) patriarchal barriers; (2) mobilizing strategies; and (3) cultural and context-specific solutions. Findings from this study contribute important insights for food security development research centering community-based and grassroots organizing models addressing inequities in food production and health.

Addressing COVID-19 inequities using bidirectional crisis and emergency risk communication and vaccine clinic interventions: a descriptive study

BackgroundIm/migrants (immigrants and migrants, including refugees, asylum seekers, and individuals without legal documentation) experience unique assets and needs in relation to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is one way to engage im/migrant communities. Rochester Healthy Community Partnership (RHCP) is a CBPR partnership in Rochester, Minnesota. RHCP partners noted that credible COVID-19 information was not available to their communities. In response, RHCP formed a COVID-19 Task Force and adapted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) framework to create an intervention that prioritized im/migrant groups experiencing health disparities. In the CERC intervention, communication leaders delivered COVID-19 health messages to their social networks and documented related concerns. RHCP relayed these concerns to regional leaders to ensure that im/migrant experiences were included in decision making. Once vaccines were available, RHCP continued to deploy the CERC intervention to promote vaccination equity. The aims of this paper are to (1) describe the implementation of a bidirectional CERC intervention for vaccination equity, and (2) describe a community-engaged and community-based vaccine clinic intervention.MethodsFirst, we surveyed participants (n = 37) to assess COVID-19 experiences, acceptability of the CERC intervention, and motivation to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Second, we collaborated with community partners to hold vaccine clinics. We report descriptive statistics from each intervention.ResultsWhen asked about the acceptability of the CERC intervention for vaccine equity, most participants either reported that they ‘really liked it’ or ‘thought it was just ok’. Most participants stated that they would recommend the program to family or friends who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine. Almost all participants reported that they felt ‘much more’ or ‘somewhat more’ motivated to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after the intervention. We administered 1158 vaccines at the vaccination clinics.ConclusionsWe found that participants viewed the CERC intervention for vaccination equity as an acceptable way to disseminate COVID-19-related information. Nearly all participants reported that the intervention convinced them to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. In our experience, community-engaged and community-based clinics are a successful way to administer vaccines to im/migrant communities during a pandemic.

International Physician Migration: A Comparative Study of Healthcare in the US, UK, & India

Physician migration patterns are a phenomenon that affects the healthcare system within developing countries, but there is no strong evidence to show why doctors migrate to the West after getting an education from elite Indian medical institutions. This study aims to explain why physicians from India choose to leave given the different push and pull factors. Prior research shows that better opportunities for higher education, socioeconomic status, upward mobility, and equitable healthcare systems contribute to why physicians are attracted to the US and the UK. This leads to the next main question: which country do doctors prefer after moving away from India, the US or the UK? With further investigation through interviews, it becomes evident that there is no actual preference for one country. Each country has unique assets within the types of healthcare and lifestyles offered. Physicians note that social networks, support systems, and recruitment are all reasons for moving to the West. Female and lower caste/class doctors with adequate resources who left India discuss that they were able to feel more valued for their merit outside of the country. Some upper caste/class physicians were privileged enough to have more autonomy when deciding where to go; for them, the West was just another option. Upper-caste narratives also shed light on the politics they fled from, such as the medical education quota system for undergraduate and postgraduate institutions. To summarize: physicians didn’t worry too much about the destination. Rather, they just wanted to leave India.

Building resilient partnerships: How businesses and nonprofits create the capacity for responsiveness.

Increasingly, businesses are eager to partner with nonprofit organizations to benefit their communities. In spite of good intentions, differences between nonprofit and business organizations can limit the ability of potential partnerships to respond to a changing economic and public health landscape. Using a retrospective, multiple-case study, we sought to investigate the managerial behaviors that enabled businesses and nonprofits to be themselves together in sustainable partnerships. We recruited four nonprofit-business partnerships in the Boston area to serve as cases for our study. Each was designed to address social determinants of health. We thematically analyzed qualitative data from 113 semi-structured interviews, 9 focus groups and 29.5 h of direct observations to identify organizational capacities that build resilient partnerships. Although it is common to emphasize the similarities between partners, we found that it was the acknowledgement of difference that set partnerships up for success. This acknowledgement introduced substantial uncertainty that made managers uncomfortable. Organizations that built the internal capacity to be responsive to, but not control, one another were able to derive value from their unique assets.

Additive manufactured Triply Periodical Minimal Surface lattice structures with modulated hybrid topology

The fabrication freedom offered by additive manufacturing techniques is a unique asset to be exploited in the design of lightweight lattice structures. Adjusting topological and architectural features towards the design of multi-morphological lattice structures can offer a high potential towards obtaining fine-tuned mechanical response. Herein, to understand the role of unit cell topology and arrangement, various stacking and gradient strategies were implemented to modulate the overall mechanical response of the lattice structures under compression, using two Triply Periodical Minimal Surface (TPMS) unit cell designs. Experimental and numerical approaches were developed to reveal the deformation mechanism and failure modes and quantify stiffness, quasi-static uniaxial compressive strength, and energy absorption capacity of the structures. The topological arrangement of the selected unit cells was found to play a key role in defining the mechanical performance of the designed lattice structures. The obtained results demonstrated the high potential of various graded design elements for obtaining lattice structures with desired properties.

Risk Management Analysis of Commercial Banks in China under COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the G20 financial reforms were implemented in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic is the first significant test of the global financial system. In contrast to the 2008 financial crisis, the shock had an external origin. Indirect funding dominates China's financial system. For China's economy to grow and for many industries to recover, the banking system's capacity to efficiently handle the effects of the epidemic is essential. Each commercial bank is impacted by the epidemic in a different way due to its unique asset magnitude, debt structure, percentage of intermediate business income, and management style. This paper extracts the degree of commercial banks affected by different risks, and advances relevant suggestions for strengthening commercial banks' internal control and accelerating digital transformation, in order to cope with the adverse impact of the epidemic and to promote a rapid recovery of our economy.

A Model for Organizational Entrepreneurship with Entrepreneurial Personality Traits Approach of District 1 Iran Teaching Hospitals

Background: Having the individual characteristics of entrepreneurial employees in organizations is a unique asset that enables the organization to move towards entrepreneurship by using these capabilities more easily and with less investment and spending less time selecting and training employees. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurship in district 1 Iran teaching hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 946 staff of hospitals of medical sciences universities using census method in 2020. The instruments of measurement were standard enterprise entrepreneurship questionnaire and entrepreneurial personality traits questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling using Smart Pls2 software. Results: The results showed a significant direct relationship between risk–taking and organizational entrepreneurship (r = 0.62). Also, there was a relationship between the component of internal locus of control with organizational entrepreneurship (r = 0.71), between the achievement component with organizational entrepreneurship (r = 0.68), and between personality traits of entrepreneurs with organizational entrepreneurship (r = 0.68) (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Regarding the direct relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurship, it seems that entrepreneurship will be improved and vice versa if identified and supported by entrepreneurial personality traits. Thus, making decisions that affect both of these variables will improve organizational entrepreneurship and achieve a healthy and entrepreneurial organization.

Blockchain-Powered Land Ownership Management System

The project involves using Block chain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to manage assets such as residential, commercial, and agricultural lands. Traditional methods of tracking ownership of these assets require long and complex processes, including the need to obtain title deeds from government offices. The proposed system aims to simplify this process by providing a secure and verifiable way to represent ownership of assets through the use of NFTs and smart contracts on the Ethereum network. This system not only makes it easier to track ownership of assets, but also helps to ensure that assets are properly insured and that regular payments are made for insurance, taxes, and subscriptions like electricity, water, and natural gas. By using NFTs, the system can also represent rare and unique assets that cannot be replicated or replaced, which increases their value and collectability.

Landscapes of the Yazd-Ardakan Plain (Iran) and the Assessment of Geotourism—Contribution to the Promotion and Practice of Geotourism and Ecotourism

The attractions and capabilities of geomorphosites are among the unique assets of each country, and their identification, classification, and planning have great importance for the development of tourism. The purpose of this research was to identify, quantitatively analyse, and classify landforms treated as geosites and landscapes of Yazd Province, using the Pralong method. The present study is a descriptive analytical research based on library studies and field surveys. After determining the study area using satellite imagery, six geomorphosites were selected. Using the Pralong method, six geomorphosites were evaluated: Chak Chak, Mountain Eagle, Siahkooh, Shirkooh, Qanat, and Barfkhane Tezerjan. In this method, using the extraction of collected data from the questionnaires completed by 41 geotourism experts in the first stage, the four grades that were evaluated in terms of potential capability of geomorphosites include the appearance aesthetic, scientific, historical-cultural, and socio-economic variables, and in the next step, two variables of productivity value and quality of productivity were evaluated. The results of evaluations showed that the geomorphosites Chak Chak and Barfkhane Tezerjan had the highest score (0.62) and are the best geomorphosites for converting to geotourism and ecotourism applications, and they have high potential for attracting tourists. The second place was dedicated to the Shirkooh geomorphosite, which is considerable in terms of the average tourism grade. The best average productivity value belonged to the Chak Chak geomorphosite with 0.52, and the last one was Mountain Eagle with 0.32. All six attractions in this study had a medium grade in the qualitative scale index, meaning that they have good potential in geotouristic and ecotouristic points of view and could be improved by regional planning. Therefore, the results of this study can be used by local managers and planners to develop and promote geotourism and ecotourism.

Ice phonon spectra and Bayes inference: A gateway to a new understanding of terahertz sound propagation in water.

Understanding how molecules engage in collective motions in a liquid where a network of bonds exists has both fundamental and applied relevance. On the one hand, it can elucidate the "ordering" role of long-range correlations and inspire new avenues to control such order to implement sound manipulation. Water represents an ideal investigation case to unfold these general aspects, and, across the decades, it has been the focus of thorough scrutiny. Despite this investigative effort, the spectrum of terahertz density fluctuations of water largely remains a puzzle for condensed matter physicists. To unravel it, we compare previous scattering measurements of water spectra with new ones on ice. Owing to the unique asset of Bayesian inference, we draw a more detailed portrayal of the phonon response of ice. The comparison with the one of liquid water challenges the current understanding of density fluctuations in water, or more in general, of any networked liquid.

The role of sports events in developing tourism destinations: a systematized review and future research agenda

ABSTRACT The link between sports and tourism has been widely researched. In this context, many studies have focused on sports event (SEs), finding that SEs provide a multitude of opportunities but also face many challenges at a local level. Despite the academic interest in the sports event tourism field, there is still little synthesis and no overview of research directions. Therefore, we proposed answering three research questions (RQs): What do we know today about the tourism perspectives of sports events? (RQ1); What are the main tourism implications of a sports event? (RQ2); What are the most and least investigated streams of research in this specific field of study? (RQ3). To answer these questions we conducted a systematized literature analysis including worldwide literature published between June 2000 and October 2020. Based on the findings, we provided insights into six clusters and their characteristics and highlighted major avenues to describe how SEs provide unique assets for tourism host destinations. Finally, we drew attention to important implications for future research, particularly in the context of the role of events for tourism recovery in the post-COVID-19 time.

Non-fungible tokens (NFT): a safe and effective way to prevent plagiarism in scientific publishing

PurposeThere is a need for technology that can protect scientific findings as a unique asset but is this possible? Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one possible solution.Design/methodology/approachPlagiarism is an unethical act and a violation of acceptable practices in the field of scholarly research and writing. Over the years, effective tools have been created to prevent and minimize plagiarism, especially through the integration of artificial intelligence technology to identify copied text. However, there is still scientific plagiarism of contents (such as articles, inventions or other digital objects).FindingsNFTs are unique digital identifiers that use blockchain technology to ensure ownership rights of an object are maintained. NFT is a blockchain derivative that first entered the world of digital currencies and has now entered other areas, such as economy, fashion, music and computer games.Originality/valueIn this essay, how this technology may be useful to preventing acts of academic plagiarism is discussed.

Time and Frequency Connectedness Among Emerging Markets and QGREEN, FinTech and Artificial Intelligence-Based Index: Lessons from the Outbreak of COVID-19

The study is about contributing to the ongoing discussion on the diversification opportunities for emerging markets with non-conventional asset class. The limited literature in the era of fourth industrial revolution motivates us to gauge diversification opportunities. This study is focusing on identifying diversification opportunities with a set of unique asset classes that are the proxies for Green Funds, FinTech and Artificial Intelligence-based index funds. The method and model applied in the study are time and frequency connectedness in a Wavelet Coherence, and for the robustness check—Network analysis has been applied. The originality of the study lies in identifying the impact of the outbreak of COVID-19. The results captured that FinTech-based asset was the most resilient asset class during the pre- and post-outbreak of COVID-19, followed by AI-based fund and finally by Green fund. Henceforth, FinTech provides superior diversification opportunities among all with MSCI Emerging Market. AI and Green funds are captured to be invested in the long term for diversification, whereas FinTech is suitable for both long- and short-term assets. The results are relevant for investors in emerging markets and for policymakers as well.

Goodwill as an accounting and analytical category ensuring evaluation and management of corporate reputation

Introduction. The efficiency of enterprises relies on the accurate assessment and accounting representation of their assets. In the context of the modern society, significant attention is devoted to intangible resources, particularly goodwill, as a key element of corporate reputation. However, the existing accounting-analytical system requires modernization to encompass all aspects of value creation. Goodwill issues captivate the interest of accountants, financiers, and managers, as this unique asset allows companies to gain a competitive edge in their respective industries. Objective. The purpose of the work is to study ways to improve the efficiency and accuracy of accounting for intangible assets, which will allow enterprises to provide reliable financial reporting and take into account important components of goodwill in the internal and external environment; studying the role of goodwill in assessing the value of a business on an ongoing basis; search for ways to improve the accounting and analytical support for the assessment and management of the business reputation of the enterprise, specific changes in the plan of accounts are proposed to improve the accounting of intangible assets, in particular elements of goodwill. Method (methodology). Scientific methods and approaches were used in the work, in particular, a comparison to study the main provisions of IFRS and NP(S)BO, analysis of the difference in approaches to accounting for goodwill and intangible assets between these standards; formalization and generalization of the main technological tasks of the organization of accounting of intangible assets for the implementation of the principles of goodwill in the system of ensuring continuity of activity and maintaining a positive business reputation of the enterprise. Results. In the course of the study, an in-depth analysis of the existing methods of goodwill assessment was carried out and their limitations in taking into account all components of this important category of assets were revealed. In response to this limitation, we have developed our own method that takes into account intangible assets that are not reflected on the company's balance sheet. The proposed methodology calculates goodwill as the difference between the fair value of net assets and their book value, considering revalued asset values and off-balance-sheet intangible assets such as business relationships, peculiarities of activity, and personnel knowledge. A supplementary recommendation includes modifying the Chart of Accounts to account for intangible assets, detailing them at an analytical level. These changes can identify and reflect important goodwill elements previously unaccounted for in financial reporting. The outlined modifications address the need for meticulous intangible asset accounting and contribute to increased reliability of financial reporting, essential for informed managerial decisions and establishing trust among stakeholders.

Self-Localization of Ultra-Wideband Anchors: From Theory to Practice

Ultra-wideband (UWB) radios are increasingly exploited for localization in complex deployments with tens or even hundreds of anchor nodes, whose position must be measured accurately: a long and error-prone <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">manual</i> chore. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Self-localization</i> techniques can estimate anchor positions <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">automatically</i> , from relative distances acquired via UWB, but are often evaluated i) only with a handful of anchors all in range, a far cry from the large, multi-hop setups above, and ii) in simulation, therefore neglecting <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">system</i> aspects and undermining immediate use in real contexts. We tackle the problem from a different, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">practical</i> viewpoint. First, we exploit <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">three real-world, large-scale, multi-hop UWB testbeds</i> , a unique asset in the literature. Second, we build upon state-of-the-art multidimensional scaling (MDS) that, unlike recent UWB-based techniques, is not limited to a specific type of localization or infrastructure, is computationally lightweight, and does not require training. Third, we integrate MDS with in-field distance estimation, yielding a complete, immediately usable self-localization system. Our evaluation, both in simulation and in the testbeds above, analyzes extensively the parameter space (e.g., the impact of ranging errors or anchor connectivity) and shows that anchor positions are determined quickly and accurately, minimizing manual labor without significant detriment to the accuracy of the localization system relying on them.

Role of workforce agility in the digital era

Technology plays a significant role in influencing and changing the way businesses function. Human resources in the organization, a unique asset, is the competitive advantage an organization can bank on. In this digital era, the role of workforce agility is substantial. The agile workforce has adaptability, flexibility, positivity towards learning and development, speed, collaboration, competence, and innovation as its characteristics, enabling the organization's survival. Workforce agility plays a significant role in converting technology into a job resource, innovation, employee performance, employee well-being, digital transformation, and organizational performance. This paper brings out the role of workforce agility in the success of the organization in the long run and examines the meaning, significance, and role of workforce agility in the digital era through a comprehensive review of relevant literature. The paper also discusses the transformative impact of technology on the workforce and the need to harness it as a job resource. Technology can either enhance work meaningfulness and self-actualization or introduce high demands due to rapid technological changes.

Guided Unsupervised Learning by Subaperture Decomposition for Ocean SAR Image Retrieval

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide accurate images of the ocean surface roughness day-or-night in nearly all weather conditions, being an unique asset for many geophysical applications. Considering the huge amount of data daily acquired by satellites, automated techniques for physical features extraction are needed. Even if supervised deep learning methods attain state-of-the-art results, they require a great amount of labelled data, which are difficult and excessively expensive to acquire for ocean SAR imagery. To this end, we use the subaperture decomposition (SD) algorithm to enhance the unsupervised learning retrieval on the ocean surface, empowering ocean researchers to search into large ocean databases. We empirically prove that SD improves the retrieval precision with over 20% for an unsupervised transformer auto-encoder network. Moreover, we show that SD brings an important performance boost when Doppler centroid images are used as input data, leading the way to new unsupervised physics guided retrieval algorithms.

Using Composable NFTs for Trading and Managing Expensive Packaged Products in the Food Industry

The authenticity, traceability, and management of expensive food products require trusted, secure, and transparent end-to-end data provenance and transactions. In today’s systems, transactions and data related to managing and tracing the origins and history of food products are typically stored in segregated data repositories, and controlled and managed by centralized entities, with no access or visibility to the public or key stakeholders. This increases the risk of data loss, alteration, and tampering. Further it erodes trust among all stakeholders, and weakens consumer sentiment and confidence in the expensive food market, and raises concerns about the verifiability and authenticity of expensive food products. To overcome this problem, this paper addresses the lack of traceability and authenticity problems in expensive food products utilizing blockchain technology and NFTs. NFTs are blockchain-based tokens that can be utilized to represent ownership of unique assets. We propose an NFT-based solution for expensive food products trading management, where the ownership of a food product is maintained by using digital certification, and the trading process is facilitated by smart contracts. We utilize composable NFTs for food products, where interrelated products, such as raw materials, packaged products, and Lots, are represented as top-down and bottom-up composable NFTs in the form of parent-child relationship. Composable NFTs embed extra utility within NFTs, especially when subsets of NFTs are needed. We integrate the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) decentralized storage into our solution to avoid storing large files on the blockchain while maintaining their permanency and immutability. We present various diagrams to show the system elements and the interactions among them. We illustrate algorithms along with the solution implementation details. We evaluate our solution by conducting cost and security analyses. We make our smart contracts code publicly available on GitHub.

Reviewing the Relationship Between Blockchain and NFT With World Famous NFT Market Places

Blockchain and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are two closely related concepts that have gained significant attention in recent years, particularly in the realm of digital assets and decentralized technologies. Blockchain and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) share a symbiotic relationship, with blockchain serving as the underlying technology that empowers NFTs to function as unique digital assets. NFTs, on the other hand, leverage blockchain technology to address the longstanding challenge of proving ownership and authenticity in the digital realm. By representing unique assets on the blockchain, NFTs solve the problem of digital scarcity, enabling artists, musicians, game developers, and creators to tokenize and sell their digital creations as limited-edition, one-of-a-kind items. The indivisibility of NFTs ensures that each token represents a whole and unique piece of content, be it digital art, music, videos, or virtual real estate. This paper is reviewing the world famous NFT that are traded on popular Blockchain on world famous NFT market place such as Opensea and YoungParrot. Several international brands have their NFT listed on such NFT market places.

Protecting the intellectual property of built environment designs using blockchain technology

Abstract Digital design and modelling for construction assets was an important step towards improving the construction process overall by improving its efficiency and productivity, reducing the time needed for design editing and rework. However, digital forms of designs are prone to cyber threats and misuse by unauthorised authors. This is a common problem in different industries wherein digital asset management is inefficient due to its centralisation and depends on humans following a certain procedure. Blockchain is an emerging technology capable of transferring digitally produced information into a transferable digital value by storing the information or an identifying signature for the information on a blockchain ledger. Information on the blockchain ledger is immutable and stored in a decentralised system, making it a permanent record. This article investigates the possibility of protecting the intellectual property of built environment designs using blockchain technology. The article presents a solution for generating a double-fingerprint identity for the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), a common format for built environment design exchange, followed by deployment of a smart contract on the Ethereum public blockchain to store the design fingerprint along with design meta-data, such as information about the the owner and version, as a non-fungible token, a unique asset format stored on a blockchain ledger.