Digital Twins for Engineering Asset Management:Synthesis,Analytical Framework,and Future Directions

Effective engineering asset management(EAM)is critical to economic development and improving livability in society,but its complexity often impedes optimal asset functionalities.Digital twins(DTs)could revolutionize the EAM paradigm by bidirectionally linking the physical and digital worlds in real time.There is great industrial and academic interest in DTs for EAM.However,previous review studies have predominately focused on technical aspects using limited life-cycle perspectives,failing to holistically synthesize DTs for EAM from the managerial point of view.Based on a systematic literature review,we introduce an analytical framework for describing DTs for EAM,which encompasses three levels:DT 1.0 for technical EAM,DT 2.0 for technical-human EAM,and DT 3.0 for technical-environmental EAM.Using this framework,we identify what is known,what is unknown,and future directions at each level.DT 1.0 addresses issues of asset quality,progress,and cost management,generating technical value.It lacks multi-objective self-adaptive EAM,however,and suffers from high application cost.It is imperative to enable closed-loop EAM in order to provide various functional services with affordable DT 1.0.DT 2.0 accommodates issues of human-machine symbiosis,safety,and flexibility management,generating managerial value beyond the technical performance improvement of engineering assets.However,DT 2.0 currently lacks the automation and security of human-machine interactions and the managerial value related to humans is not prominent enough.Future research needs to align technical and managerial value with highly automated and secure DT 2.0.DT 3.0 covers issues of participatory governance,organization management,sustainable development,and resilience enhancement,generating macro social value.Yet it suffers from organizational fragmentation and can only address limited social governance issues.Numerous research opportunities exist to coordinate different stakeholders.Similarly,future research opportunities exist to develop DT 3.0 in a more open and complex system.

Reflections and Improvements on China’s Asset-Backed Securities Information Disclosure System

Asset-backed securities are developed through complex processes such as asset restructuring and credit enhancement.Therefore,the information asymmetry between issuers and investors is greater compared to traditional securities,which imposes higher requirements on information disclosure for asset-backed securities.Asset-backed securities have characteristics such as diversified disclosers,differentiated disclosure content,and specialized risk factors.China has already formulated a series of rules and regulations regarding information disclosure of asset-backed securities.It is imperative to develop specialized laws and regulations for asset-backed securities,encompass original equity holders and credit enhancement agencies as information disclosers,incorporate information such as underlying asset details,cash flow projections,and credit ratings and enhancements into the disclosure content,and improve the legal liability rules to effectively address false disclosures.

Employment and development levels in rural areas of the Russian Federation

The development of agro-industrial complex is important for ensuring national food security and national health.The development of rural areas is subject to the development of agriculture and local infrastructure,as well as the availability of various services.This study selected 15 indicators in 2021 to analyze the employment and development levels in rural areas of 71 regions of the Russian Federation using the analytical grouping method.The results indicated that 20 regions(Group 1)had the highest percentage of rural population(33.10%).The percentage of population engaged in agriculture had the highest value(12.40%)in 31 regions(Group 2).Moreover,20 regions(Group 3)had the highest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget(11.80 USD/person).Increasing the investments in fixed assets carried out from the budget of the municipality can improve the employment level in rural areas.Then,we used cluster analysis to divide 14 regions of the Volga Federal District in the Russian Federation into 3 clusters.Cluster 1 covered Kirov Region and Republic of Mari El;Cluster 2 included Ulyanovsk Region,Saratov Region,Nizhny Novgorod Region,Perm Territory,Orenburg Region,Chuvash Region,and Republic of Mordovia;and Cluster 3 contained Republic of Tatarstan,Samara Region,Udmurtian Republic,Penza Region,and Republic of Bashkortostan.Results indicated that the 2 regions of Cluster 1 need to increase the availability of resources and natural gas and improve the investment attractiveness of rural areas.The 7 regions of Cluster 2 needed to develop infrastructure,public services,and agricultural production.We found the highest employment level in rural areas,the largest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget,the largest residential building area per 10,000 persons,and the largest individual residential building area in the 5 regions of Cluster 3.This study makes it possible to draw up a comprehensive regional development program and proves the need for the development of rural areas,which is especially important for the sustainable development of the Russian Federation.

Construction of Value-Creation Oriented Carbon Assets Management System of Oil Companies

As climate change draws more attention globally,the development of low-carbon economy has become an inevitable choice for mankind to achieve sustainable development.The increasingly strict control of carbon emission is making carbon emission rights a scarce resource and endowing the rights with the attributes of assets and commodities.China has announced the goal of“carbon emission peaking before 2030 and carbon neutralization before 2060”.Responding to this goal,as major carbon emitters,oil companies play the role of a driving force for green and low-carbon development.Carbon assets management is a key path for oil companies to achieve emission reduction goals and low-carbon transformation.However,the carbon assets management of China’s oil companies is still in the initial stage,with the system and regulations not yet sound,and the management process not yet closed loop.First the modes and experiences of carbon assets management in major international oil companies is introduced.Then the objective logical relationship and linkage laws between carbon assets management and enterprise value creation are comprehensively analyzed by integrating the basic theories of economics and management.On this basis,a value-creation oriented carbon assets management system for oil companies is constructed,mainly covering aspects such as enterprise strategy,control mechanisms,carbon inventory,and management modes.

Call for Paper:2024 China Ecological Civilization Construction·Kunming Forum

On December 27,2023,the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the"Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China",in which propose to firmly establish and practice the concept that"lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets",and to maintain national ecological security,to advance the construction of eco-civilization system,to support high-quality development with high-quality eco-environment are key tasks for the formation of a beautiful China.

A World of Ice and Snow Being also Invaluable Asset:A Case Study of the"Snow Village"

Based on field visit and interview,the current situation of snow village in China is summarized from four aspects:core scenic spots in snow village,skiing industry in snow village,film and television industry in snow village,and ice and snow agritainment.The investigation found that there are still significant problems in homogenization,scenic area infrastructure,and government regulation in snow village.Targeted solutions are proposed from four aspects:tapping internal advantages,strengthening top-level design and infrastructure construction,promoting tourism industry upgrading,and collaborating to innovate the ice and snow tourism supply chain,in order to further promote the economic development of snow village.

Performance Evaluation of Low-Carbon and Clean Transformation of China’s Coal Economy

In China,the oversupply of coal occurred in 2009,and from that year onwards,China’s coal economy began a low-carbon and clean transformation.Evaluating transformation performance is the research goal of this paper.The data collection for this paper includes data on deep processing of Chinese coal products from 2009 to 2020,as well as data on asset structure evolution and financial performance of 34 listed companies in the Chinese coal mining.Entropy value method is used to calculate the entropy value of low-carbon transformation,and the regression analysis is used to study the performance of cleaner transformation,the conclusion is as follows:(1)From 2009 to 2020,in China’s total energy consumption,coal consumption accounted for 71.6%in 2009 and 56.8%in 2020,the goals set by the state have been achieved.(2)The national goal of reducing the proportion of coal consumption and reducing carbon emissions has forced the transformation of deep processing of coal products.The transformation of coal enterprises towards low-carbon and clean production has achieved remarkable results.(3)From 2009 to 2020,the non coal industry income of 34 listed companies in China’s coal mining industry increased by 8.21%annually.At the same time,the asset structure was adjusted,and nearly 80%of the asset structure evolution showed an orderly development trend.(4)The regression analysis results show that the entropy value of coal deep processing products and the entropy value of asset structure adjustment are significantly related to transformation performance.The paper proposes to summarize the successful experience of China’s coal energy economic transformation,lay a foundation for achieving the carbon peak and carbon neutral goals in the future,further increase the intensity of coal deep processing,increase the proportion of clean energy in total energy consumption,and strive to control asset operation towards the goal of increasing the proportion of non coal industry income.

From EBIT to SEBIT(Sustainable EBIT):Sustainable Performance Accounting(SPA)Using the Example of CO_(2) Accounting

Corporate sustainability reporting has become increasingly important in recent years.However,conventional approaches reach their limits when it comes to quantifying and measuring the actual sustainability performance of a company.This article presents a new approach:Sustainable Performance Accounting(SPA),which is based on an extension of bookkeeping by including ESG bookkeeping.SPA enables companies to systematically measure and manage their sustainability performance.The article provides an overview of the basics of SPA methodology and uses a comprehensive example showing how SPA can be implemented in practice.The article is aimed at interested readers from science and practice as well as decision-makers who are interested in future-oriented sustainability reporting.

Research on Audit Risks in the Recognition of Data Assets on Financial Statements

This paper explores the audit risks associated with the recognition of data assets on financial statements,focusing on the complexities arising from their replicability,unique valuation patterns,and contextual dependencies.It identifies major misstatement risks at both the financial statement and assertion levels,including the potential for management to exaggerate data asset values,uncertainties in valuation methods,and deficiencies in data governance and internal controls.Additionally,auditors’lack of professional knowledge and inappropriate audit methods can lead to inspection risks.The paper emphasizes the urgent need for enhanced accounting standards for data assets,effective guidelines for their recognition and measurement,and robust internal controls.Furthermore,it advocates for the exploration of effective valuation methods and the incorporation of advanced technologies,such as big data and AI,into auditing practices.By improving auditor training and methodologies,organizations can better manage the inherent risks associated with data asset auditing.

Blockchain and Digital Transformation of University Asset Management

As educational activities realize value transmission and value realization through a digital form, the Digital transformation of universities continues to advance. The quantity of asset data continues to grow, with internal value reflected in education, management, and services, while external value is reflected in policies, resources and reputation. Therefore, effective management of university assets is particularly important. Blockchain is an important infrastructure for Digital transformation, which provides a trusted environment for the occurrence of various collaborations and will reshape many collaboration mechanisms. This paper discusses the current situation and problems faced by universities in the process of Digital transformation. We analyze the development opportunities brought about by Digital transformation and the specific problems faced by physical asset management in detail. We discuss the data platform optimization, asset data application, digital asset security, planning strategy, and construction path of digital transformation involved in the physical asset management of universities.

Analysis of Historic Pavement and Bridge Conditions and Alternative Funding Levels for the Michigan Department of Transportation

In 1997 the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) established an ambitious set of condition targets for its pavements and bridges, and the Department received increased revenue from a 4-cent-per-gallon increase in the state motor fuels tax to help meet its targets. However, over time, actual revenue was less than both what was initially estimated as needed to meet the targets and what was projected from the tax increase. Consequently, actual conditions were projected to fall short of the target levels, so the department issued bonds to address the shortfall through 2012. To support deliberations on future funding, in 2013 MDOT performed an analysis of historic conditions to determine what additional fuel tax revenues would have been required beginning in 1997 to: replace bond revenues used to fund pavement and bridge projects from 1997 to 2012;and enable MDOT to meet its condition targets. The analysis was performed using data on actual pavement and bridge funding and conditions;as well as predicted funding and conditions for different hypothetical increases in fuel taxes. The analysis concluded that, in addition to the actual increase of 4 cents per gallon, a fuel tax increase of another 10 cents per gallon would have been required in 1997 to replace bond revenue used for pavement and bridges and allow MDOT to meet its condition targets. The analysis results were used to help inform the discussion of Michigan’s target asset conditions and funding, and demonstrate application of MDOT’s pavement and bridge management systems for performing historic analyses.

Track Bed Total Route Evaluation for Track Renewals&Asset Management“A Network Rail Perspective”

Over the last 10 years there have been significant developments and improvements in the understanding of railway track bed in the UK and its relationship and impact on track quality,ballast life and maintenance following track renewals.This paper aims to describe the process adopted by Network Rail for track bed investigation and design which offers Network Rail optimum design solutions and value for money from an investigation and construction perspective,balancing design with possession availability to maximise construction output.It also describes innovative investigation and construction techniques that have been developed over the last 5 years maximising the use of rail mounted asset condition data collection systems which run at line speed,allowing targeted investigations and in some case removing the requirements for physical site investigation.It also allows Network Rail to predict sections of track bed which may be affected by line speed increases which would cause the track bed to fail prematurely or,retain its ability to maintain good track geometry post line speed increase.These problems can manifest themselves as stiffness related problems such as critical velocity issues(surface wave velocity,Rayleigh Wave velocity)or,sub-grade erosion resulting in high rates of deterioration in the vertical track geometry.The paper also describes the development and installation process for Enhanced Axial Micropiles to address stiffness related track bed problems whilst leaving the track in-situ a technique which is new to the UK railways.

A Study on the Internal Control and Countermeasures of Fixed Assets in Private Universities:A Case Study of N College

Fixed assets in universities occupy an important position in university management due to their wide coverage and large amount of money.Due to insufficient funding supply,private universities mainly focus on the allocation and utilization of fixed assets,which reflects the overall characteristics of cautious allocation,maximum utilization,and delayed elimination in the actual management of fixed assets.This article aims to conduct research and analysis on the entire lifecycle process of the allocation,use,and disposal of fixed assets in private universities,summarize the problems existing in the internal control of fixed assets in private universities,and propose corresponding countermeasures and suggestions in a targeted manner.

Exploration of the Talent Cultivation Model for the Integration of Industry and Education in University Asset Evaluation

During the 14th Five Year Plan period,the main task of talent team construction in China’s asset appraisal industry was to develop innovative talent training models.Therefore,this article focuses on the talent cultivation model of integrating industry and education in asset evaluation in universities,systematically summarizes the theoretical and practical significance of research on asset evaluation talent cultivation models in universities,and explores the construction measures of asset evaluation talent cultivation models based on the integration of industry and education that meet social needs and the development of the times[1].At the same time,the strategy of constructing a deep integration talent training system was explored,guided by the integration of industry and education,to cultivate asset evaluation composite talents with strong practical skills.The aim is to provide a reference for improving the quality of asset evaluation professionals in China and promoting the development of asset evaluation talent training models.

Asset specificity and farmers' intergenerational succession willingness of apple management

Understanding the factors behind apple farmers’willingness to pass on the management of their farms to their descendants is crucial to the continuity of apple production.Due to the high specificity of the human capital,physical assets,land assets,and geographical location in apple production,this study used a binary logistic regression and a mediating effect model to explore the impact of asset specificity on farmers’intergenerational succession willingness of apple management(FISWAM)and to examine the mediating effects of loss aversion in the impact of asset specificity on the FISWAM.The results showed that about 18.68%of the respondents expressed willingness to transfer their apple business between generations,and the FISWAM was generally weak.In addition to the negative impact of geographical location specificity(GLS),human capital specificity(HCS),physical assets specificity(PAS),and land assets specificity(LAS)can enhance the FISWAM.Loss aversion plays a partial mediating role in the impact of PAS,LAS,and GLS on the FISWAM.

A Proposed Meta-Reality Immersive Development Pipeline: Generative AI Models and Extended Reality (XR) Content for the Metaverse

The realization of an interoperable and scalable virtual platform, currently known as the “metaverse,” is inevitable, but many technological challenges need to be overcome first. With the metaverse still in a nascent phase, research currently indicates that building a new 3D social environment capable of interoperable avatars and digital transactions will represent most of the initial investment in time and capital. The return on investment, however, is worth the financial risk for firms like Meta, Google, and Apple. While the current virtual space of the metaverse is worth $6.30 billion, that is expected to grow to $84.09 billion by the end of 2028. But the creation of an entire alternate virtual universe of 3D avatars, objects, and otherworldly cityscapes calls for a new development pipeline and workflow. Existing 3D modeling and digital twin processes, already well-established in industry and gaming, will be ported to support the need to architect and furnish this new digital world. The current development pipeline, however, is cumbersome, expensive and limited in output capacity. This paper proposes a new and innovative immersive development pipeline leveraging the recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) for 3D model creation and optimization. The previous reliance on 3D modeling software to create assets and then import into a game engine can be replaced with nearly instantaneous content creation with AI. While AI art generators like DALL-E 2 and DeepAI have been used for 2D asset creation, when combined with game engine technology, such as Unreal Engine 5 and virtualized geometry systems like Nanite, a new process for creating nearly unlimited content for immersive reality is possible. New processes and workflows, such as those proposed here, will revolutionize content creation and pave the way for Web 3.0, the metaverse and a truly 3D social environment.

Social interactions in periodic urban markets and their contributions to sustainable livelihoods:Evidence from Ghana

Periodic markets are an important aspect of local economies,providing a platform for farmers(producers),wholesalers,retailers,and consumers to interact face-to-face and exchange goods and services.These markets have been increasing in urban areas in Africa,Asia,and South America because of urbanization.The increase of periodic urban markets(PUMs)in urban areas is observed as an index of modernization,reflecting a response to transition process.However,there are limited studies on how social interactions in PUMs contribute to sustainable livelihoods.This study investigated the types of social interactions occurring in PUMs in Ghana,the benefits of social interactions for participants of PUMs,and how social interactions contribute to sustainable livelihoods.This research interviewed 162 participants,comprising 27 farmers(farmers were regarded as producers in this study),61 retailers,47 wholesalers from 9 selected PUMs across Ghana,and 27 officers from government institutions and non-governmental market associations to obtain their opinions.We analyzed the interview data using the NVivo software.The results showed that there are seven kinds of social interactions in PUMs,including(i)producer-wholesaler relationship,(ii)producer-consumer relationship,(iii)wholesaler-retailer relationship,(iv)retailer-consumer relationship,(v)trader-driver relationship,(vi)trader-institution relationship,and(vii)trader-international buyer relationship.We found that these social interactions in PUMs enhance sustainable livelihoods by supporting human,social,financial,natural,and physical assets of traders(traders refer to producers,wholesalers,and retailers in this study).Therefore,we concluded that the development of policies to improve PUMs could strengthen social interactions,enabling the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries.

Determination of Parameters Affecting the Estimation of Iceberg Draft

Recent offshore oil and gas loading facilities developed in the Arctic area have led to a considerable awareness of the iceberg draft approximation, where deep keel icebergs may gouge the ocean floor, and these submarine infrastructures would be damaged in the shallower waters. Developing reliable solutions to estimate the iceberg draft requires a profound understanding of the problem’s dominant parameters. As such, the dimensionless groups of the parameters affecting the iceberg draft estimation were determined for the first time in the present study. Using the dimensionless groups recognized and the linear regression(LR) analysis, nine LR models(i.e., LR 1 to LR 9) were developed and then validated using a comprehensive dataset, which has been constructed in this study. A sensitivity analysis distinguished the premium LR models and important dimensionless groups. The best LR model, as a function of all dimensionless parameters, was able to estimate the iceberg draft with the highest level of precision and correlation along with the lowest degree of complexity. The ratio of iceberg length to iceberg height as the “iceberg length ratio” and the ratio of iceberg width to iceberg height as the “iceberg width ratio” was detected as the important dimensionless groups in the estimation of the iceberg draft. An uncertainty analysis demonstrated that the best LR model was biased towards underestimating the iceberg drafts. The premium LR model outperformed the previous empirical models.Ultimately, a set of LR-based relationships were derived for estimating the iceberg drafts for practical engineering applications, e.g., the early stages of the iceberg management projects.

Dis-NDVW: Distributed Network Asset Detection and Vulnerability Warning Platform

With the rapid development of Internet technology,the issues of network asset detection and vulnerability warning have become hot topics of concern in the industry.However,most existing detection tools operate in a single-node mode and cannot parallelly process large-scale tasks,which cannot meet the current needs of the industry.To address the above issues,this paper proposes a distributed network asset detection and vulnerability warning platform(Dis-NDVW)based on distributed systems and multiple detection tools.Specifically,this paper proposes a distributed message sub-scription and publication system based on Zookeeper and Kafka,which endows Dis-NDVW with the ability to parallelly process large-scale tasks.Meanwhile,Dis-NDVW combines the RangeAssignor,RoundRobinAssignor,and StickyAssignor algorithms to achieve load balancing of task nodes in a distributed detection cluster.In terms of a large-scale task processing strategy,this paper proposes a task partitioning method based on First-In-First-Out(FIFO)queue.This method realizes the parallel operation of task producers and task consumers by dividing pending tasks into different queues according to task types.To ensure the data reliability of the task cluster,Dis-NDVW provides a redundant storage strategy for master-slave partition replicas.In terms of distributed storage,Dis-NDVW utilizes a distributed elastic storage service based on ElasticSearch to achieve distributed storage and efficient retrieval of big data.Experimental verification shows that Dis-NDVW can better meet the basic requirements of ultra-large-scale detection tasks.

An impact assessment of the COVID‑19 pandemic on Japanese and US hotel stocks

This study proposes two new regime-switching volatility models to empirically analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel stock prices in Japan compared with the US,taking into account the role of stock markets.The first model is a direct impact model of COVID-19 on hotel stock prices;the analysis finds that infection speed negatively affects Japanese hotel stock prices and shows that the regime continues to switch to high volatility in prices due to COVID-19 until September 2021,unlike US stock prices.The second model is a hybrid model with COVID-19 and stock market impacts on the hotel stock prices,which can remove the market impacts on regime-switching volatility;this analysis demonstrates that COVID-19 negatively affects hotel stock prices regardless of whether they are in Japan or the US.We also observe a transition to a high-volatility regime in hotel stock prices due to COVID-19 until around summer 2021 in both Japan and the US.These results suggest that COVID-19 is likely to affect hotel stock prices in general,except for the influence of the stock market.Considering the market influence,COVID-19 directly and/or indirectly affects Japanese hotel stocks through the Japanese stock market,and US hotel stocks have limited impacts from COVID-19 owing to the offset between the influence on hotel stocks and no effect on the stock market.Based on the results,investors and portfolio managers should be aware that the impact of COVID-19 on hotel stock returns depends on the balance between the direct and indirect effects,and varies from country to country and region to region.