The intensification of urbanization worldwide, particularly in China, has led to significant challenges in maintaining sustainable urban environments, primarily due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This effect exacerbates urban thermal stress, leading to increased energy consumption, poor air quality, and heightened health risks. In response, urban green spaces are recognized for their role in ameliorating urban heat and enhancing environmental resilience. This paper has studied the microclimate regulation effects of three representative classical gardens in Suzhou—the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the Canglang Pavilion. It aims to explore the specific impacts of water bodies, vegetation and architectural features on the air temperature and relative humidity within the gardens. With the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) spatial interpolation method, this study has analyzed the microclimate regulation mechanisms in the designs of these traditional gardens. The results show that water bodies and lush vegetation have significant effects on reducing temperature and increasing humidity, while the architectural structures and rocks have affected the distribution and retention of heat to some extent. These findings not only enrich our understanding of the role of the design principles of classical gardens in climate adaptability but also provide important theoretical basis and practical guidance for the design of modern urban parks and the planning of sustainable urban environments. In addition, the study highlights GIS-based spatial interpolation as a valuable tool for visualizing and optimizing thermal comfort in urban landscapes, providing insights for developing resilient urban green spaces.
This study investigates the core competencies essential for product designers to excel in cross-cultural global markets, with particular emphasis on implications for human resource development and organizational leadership. As design practices increasingly transcend cultural and geographical boundaries, designers are required to integrate advanced technical proficiency, creative problem-solving, technological adaptability, and cultural intelligence to create inclusive, socially responsible, and market-relevant products. Employing a mixed-methods approach—including focus groups and surveys with design professionals, industry executives, and academic leaders—the research identifies key competencies such as flexibility, intercultural communication, ethical integrity, and systems thinking. The findings underscore the necessity of balancing technical expertise with emotional intelligence and transformational leadership capabilities to effectively lead diverse, cross-functional teams. These competencies contribute significantly to fostering innovation, enhancing employee well-being and job satisfaction, and strengthening organizational resilience, thereby supporting sustainable human resource strategies. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of continuous professional development and lifelong learning in cultivating culturally competent and ethically driven design talent. The insights offer strategic guidance for human resource professionals, organizational leaders, and educational institutions aiming to develop adaptive, inclusive, and future-ready design capabilities aligned with evolving global demands.
In order to understand the finishing effect of Waterborne Acrylic Paint under different painting methods and amount, bamboo-laminated lumber for furniture was coated with waterborne acrylic paint, then the effects of different painting methods and amount on the drying rate, smoothness, hardness, adhesion and wear resistance of the paint film were investigated. Further, the mechanism of film formation was described by thermal property analysis using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimeter. The results show that different painting methods have little effect on film properties, the drying time of primer and topcoat are not affected by them, which is 8/8.5 min for primer surface/solid and 6.5/7 min for topcoats. The film surface hardness and adhesion can reach B and 0 grade, the best wear resistance of the film is 51.24 mg·100 r−1 when using one-layer primer one-layer topcoat. Different coating amount has great influence on film properties, the drying speed of the film increases with the increase of the painting amount. The film properties reach the best when the painting amount is 80 g/m2, while too little painting amount leads to the decrease of hardness, and too much leads to the wear resistance weaken. Thermal analysis of the primer and topcoat show that water decomposition occurs at 100 ℃ and thermal decomposition of organic components occur at 350 ℃. Topcoats have better thermal stability than primers higher than that of topcoat, the topcoat displayed better thermal stability than the primer.
The management of Mediterranean mountains need to know whether or not the flora is adapted to respond to fire and, if so, through what mechanisms. Serpentine outcrops constitute particular ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin, and plants need to make an additional adaptive effort. The objective of this study is to know the response to fire of the main members of the group of serpentine plants, which habit the Spanish Mediterranean ultramafic mountain, to help in their management. For this purpose, monitoring plots were established on a burned ultramafic outcrop, which was affected by fire in August 2012.They were located in the Mediterranean south of the Iberian Peninsula, Andalusia region. The dominant vegetation of this serpentine ecosystem had been studied previously to fire; it was a shrubland composed of endemic serpentinophytes (small shrubs and perennial herbs) included in Digitali laciniatae-Halimietum atriplicifolii plant association (Cisto-Lavanduletea class) in an opened pine forest. The post-fire response of the plants was studied in the stablished burned plots by field works through permanent 200 x 10 m transect methods, consisting on checking whether they were resprouters, seeders, both of them or if they showed no survival response. Additional information about fire related functional traits is provided for the studied taxa from other studies. Of the total of plants studied (23 taxa), 74% acted as resprouters, 30% as seeders, some of which also had the capacity to resprout (13%), and only 9% of the plants did not show any survival strategy. The presence of a resprouting burl was not high (17%), although serpentine small shrubs such as Bupleurum acutifolium and the generalist Teucrium haenseleri had this kind of organ. The herbaceous taxa Sanguisorba verrucosa, Galium boissieranum and Linum carratracense were seen to be resprouters and seeders. The serpentine obligated Ni-accumulator, Alyssum serpyllifolium subsp. malacitanum, did not show any survival strategy in the face of fire and therefore their populations need monitoring after fires. In the studied ecosystems no species had traits that would protect the aerial part of the plant against fire, although most of the species are capable of post-fire generation by below ground buds. Our results show that the ecosystem studied, composed of taxa with a high degree of endemism and some of them threatened, is predominantly adapted to survival after a fire, although their response capacity may be decreased by environmental factors.
Arabic rhetoric has traditionally relied on ancient texts and human interpretation for teaching purposes. The study investigates ChatGPT’s ability to analyze and interpret Arabic rhetorical devices, specifically examining its capacity to handle cultural and contextual elements in rhetorical analysis. Drawing on institutional implementation frameworks and recent educational technology research, this study examines policy considerations for Arabic rhetoric education in an AI-driven environment, with a particular focus on sustainable digital infrastructure development and systematic reforms needed to support AI integration. The study employed the comparative approach to analyze eight rhetorical examples, including metaphors (“Zaid is a lion”), similes (“Someone is a sea”), and metonymy (“A person full of ash”), then compare ChatGPT’s interpretations with traditional explanations from classical Arabic rhetoric texts, particularly “Dala’il al-I’jaaz” by al-Jurjani. The results demonstrate that ChatGPT can provide basic interpretations of simple rhetorical devices, but it struggles with understanding cultural contexts and multiple layers of meaning inherent in Arabic rhetoric. The findings indicate that AI tools, despite their potential for modernizing rhetoric education, currently serve best as supplementary teaching aids rather than replacements for traditional interpretative methods in Arabic rhetoric instruction.
Indonesia has ratified United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982) through Law No. 17 of 1985 concerning the ratification of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, thus binding Indonesia to the rights and obligations to implement the provisions of the 1982 convention, including the establishment of the three Northern-Southern Indonesia’s Archipelagic Sea Lane (ALKI). The existence of the three ALKI routes, including ALKI II, has led to various potential threats. These violations not only cause material losses but, if left unchecked and unresolved, can also affect maritime security stability, both nationally and regionally. The maritime security and resilience challenges in ALKI II have increased with the relocation of the capital, which has become the center of gravity, to East Kalimantan. The research in this article aims to identify and analyze the factors influencing the success of maritime security and resilience strategies in ALKI II. The factors used in this research include conceptual components, physical components, moral components, command and control center capabilities, operational effectiveness, command and control effectiveness, and the moderating variables of resource multiplier management and risk management to achieve maritime security and resilience. This study employed a mixed-method research approach. The factors are modeled using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with WarpPLS 8.0 software. Qualitative data analysis used the Soft System Methodology (SSM). The results of the study indicate that the aforementioned factors significantly influence the success of achieving maritime security and resilience in ALKI II.
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