Managing water-land-food nexus towards resource efficiency improvement: A superedge-based analysis of China

Challenges at the intersection of water conservation, land protection, food security, and economic growth cross industrial boundaries, and also involve synergies with multiple policy domains. Despite this, little is known about how system heterogeneity affects water, land, and food (WLF) consumption performance at a sectoral level. This study integrates superedge analysis with a flow interaction network, elasticity theory, and utility analysis to detect the WLF nexus with regard to resource efficiency gains. Three indicators (intra-sector recycling efficiency, trans-sector allocation efficiency, and symbiosis of system structure) are proposed as mechanisms by which to quantitatively explore intra-sector and trans-sector nexus, and formulate improvement strategies for sectoral WLF savings. The results show synergies between recycling efficiency and water/food productivity. Manufacturing servitization and agricultural industrialization can drive more efficient WLF allocation by minimizing resource misallocation, whilst positive industrial ecology enhances WLF circulation and facilitates reducing resource undue competition. In addition, the ability of industries to save resources under the nexus is examined. Approximately 93% of sectors suffer from resource waste, misallocation, and undue competition. Therefore, strategic paths enhance resource synergy and, through so doing, enable WLF efficiency gains.

Unfolding the synergy and interaction of water-land-food nexus for sustainable resource management: A supernetwork analysis

Given the large amounts of water, land, and food embodied in the trade of goods and services, a key step in decoupling extensive resource consumption from the economic system is to understand the full impact of socioeconomic development on the water-land-food nexus. This study integrates input-output analysis, ecological network analysis, and Dempster-Shafer evidence theory into a supernetwork model to detect the water-land-food nexus among economic sectors with an aim to explore effective strategic paths for resource management and to facilitate the construction of a resource-saving society. Results show that most sectors of China are resource inefficient and that all resource systems are unsustainable as reflected in the low performance of their Finn's cycling index and system robustness. Meanwhile, results of flow networks analysis show an extremely uneven land resource allocation where more than 94% of the land used in China is classified as direct agricultural land. The water-land-food nexus can gain resource saving bonus via enhancing the robustness of economy. However, the co-benefits from the nexus are negligibly small for the resource utilization efficiency. The results also indicate that the relevant resource-saving policies on food and water are highly likely to gain resource co-benefits due to their similarities in sectoral importance. Correspondingly, a set of strategic measures, including adopting a tiered resource price, deepening industrial convergence of agriculture, enhancing agriculture-food nexus, and managing water or land use from the food consumer side, are designed to build a resource-saving society. The findings of this study can provide additional insights into the impacts of the economy on the water-land-food nexus, which is beneficial for achieving an efficient and coordinated management of resources.

- 1 - Analysis of the role of social support - cognitive psychology and emotional process approach

The eyes are extremely important for communication. The muscles around the eyes express emotional states, and the size of the pupil signals whether a person is aroused and alert or bored and fatigued. Pupil size is an overlooked social signal, yet is readily picked up by observers. Observers mirror their pupil sizes in response, which can influence social impressions. Pupil diameter is enhanced in a variety of emotional contexts, including viewing pictures, listening to sounds, and during the threat of shock. This study shows that people associate positive faces with large pupil sizes and negative faces with small pupil sizes. Although workplace social support has been described as a profoundly emotional activity, little is known about the emotional demands faced by employees or how these impacts on their well-being. This study examined relationships between ‘emotional labor,’ burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), and job satisfaction in a sample of an employee who works in the banking sector or manufacturing sector. Also examined was whether workplace social support moderated any relationships found between emotional labor and strain. The relationship between job experience and emotional labor was also investigated.

Analysis of the role of social support - cognitive psychology and emotional process approach

The eyes are extremely important for communication. The muscles around the eyes express emotional states, and the size of the pupil signals whether a person is aroused and alert or bored and fatigued. Pupil size is an overlooked social signal, yet is readily picked up by observers. Observers mirror their pupil sizes in response, which can influence social impressions. Pupil diameter is enhanced in a variety of emotional contexts, including viewing pictures, listening to sounds, and during the threat of shock. This study shows that people associate positive faces with large pupil sizes and negative faces with small pupil sizes. Although workplace social support has been described as a profoundly emotional activity, little is known about the emotional demands faced by employees or how these impacts on their well-being. This study examined relationships between ‘emotional labor,’ burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), and job satisfaction in a sample of an employee who works in the banking sector or manufacturing sector. Also examined was whether workplace social support moderated any relationships found between emotional labor and strain. The relationship between job experience and emotional labor was also investigated.