Analysis of Influencing Factors in Purchasing Electric Vehicles Using a Structural Equation Model: Focused on Suwon City

The global automobile market is promoting the introduction of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles. However, disadvantages such as expensive prices and limited mileage compared to internal combustion engine vehicles have become obstacles to the expansion of eco-friendly vehicles. Therefore, in this study, a survey was conducted on the purchase of electric vehicles for citizens of Suwon. Using the survey data, a structural equation model was constructed to analyze the factors affecting the purchase of electric vehicles, which are eco-friendly vehicles. The results indicate that a lack of information and government policy on EV, the level of EV recognition and subsidy policy do not have an effect on EV purchase. However, charging infrastructure, battery performance and safety, operating conditions including ramps or use of heaters and air conditioners, subsidy effects and charging services demonstrate positive effects on EV purchase. Using direct and indirect effect analysis, the study shows that higher government subsidy and visiting charging services are the two most influential factors on EV purchase, followed by EV driving environment, charging infrastructure, battery performance and safety, and a lack of information and electric vehicle supply policy

Analysis of Influencing Factors in Purchasing Electric Vehicles Using a Structural Equation Model: Focused on Suwon City

The global automobile market is promoting the introduction of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles. However, disadvantages such as expensive prices and limited mileage compared to internal combustion engine vehicles have become obstacles to the expansion of eco-friendly vehicles. Therefore, in this study, a survey was conducted on the purchase of electric vehicles for citizens of Suwon. Using the survey data, a structural equation model was constructed to analyze the factors affecting the purchase of electric vehicles, which are eco-friendly vehicles. The results indicate that a lack of information and government policy on EV, the level of EV recognition and subsidy policy do not have an effect on EV purchase. However, charging infrastructure, battery performance and safety, operating conditions including ramps or use of heaters and air conditioners, subsidy effects and charging services demonstrate positive effects on EV purchase. Using direct and indirect effect analysis, the study shows that higher government subsidy and visiting charging services are the two most influential factors on EV purchase, followed by EV driving environment, charging infrastructure, battery performance and safety, and a lack of information and electric vehicle supply policy

Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Adzuki Beans (<i>Vigna angularis</i>): Insights into Environmental Adaptation and Early Breeding Strategies for Yield Improvement

Adzuki beans are widely cultivated in East Asia and are one of the earliest domesticated crops. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the genetic diversity and domestication history of adzuki beans, we conducted Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) analysis on 366 landraces originating from Korea, China, and Japan, resulting in 6586 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Population structure analysis divided these 366 landraces into three subpopulations. These three subpopulations exhibited distinctive distributions, suggesting that they underwent extended domestication processes in their respective regions of origin. Phenotypic variance analysis of the three subpopulations indicated that the Korean-domesticated subpopulation exhibited significantly higher 100-seed weights, the Japanese-domesticated subpopulation showed significantly higher numbers of grains per pod, and the Chinese-domesticated subpopulation displayed significantly higher numbers of pods per plant. We speculate that these differences in yield-related traits may be attributed to varying emphases placed by early breeders in these regions on the selection of traits related to yield. A large number of genes related to biotic/abiotic stress resistance and defense were found in most quantitative trait locus (QTL) for yield-related traits using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Genomic sliding window analysis of Tajima’s D and a genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) revealed distinct domestication selection signatures and genotype variations on these QTLs within each subpopulation. These findings indicate that each subpopulation would have been subjected to varied biotic/abiotic stress events in different origins, of which these stress events have caused balancing selection differences in the QTL of each subpopulation. In these balancing selections, plants tend to select genotypes with strong resistance under biotic/abiotic stress, but reduce the frequency of high-yield genotypes to varying degrees. These biotic/abiotic stressors impact crop yield and may even lead to selection purging, resulting in the loss of several high-yielding genotypes among landraces. However, this also fuels the flow of crop germplasms. Overall, balancing selection appears to have a more significant impact on the three yield-related traits compared to breeder-driven domestication selection. These findings are crucial for understanding the impact of domestication selection history on landraces and yield-related traits, aiding in the improvement of adzuki bean varieties

Agro-Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Korean Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Landraces

Sorghum landraces are essential for developing cultivars with improved properties, such as disease tolerance, yield and metabolite content. In this study, 139 genotypes (136 Korean sorghum landraces and 3 control cultivars) collected from various provinces were investigated using eleven agronomical and five biochemical traits. The landraces showed little variation in their qualitative agronomical traits. In contrast, quantitative agronomical and biochemical traits differed significantly among the landraces. It was discovered that 16 landraces matured ahead of all control cultivars. Furthermore, 26 landraces had significantly higher thousand seed weights (TSWs) than two of the control cultivars, including Nampungchal (30.63 g) and Sodamchal (30.53 g), whereas only 1 landrace had a significantly higher TSW than the other control cultivar, Wheatland (37.93 g) (p &lt; 0.05). The levels of total tannin content (TTC), total phenolic content (TPC), 2,2&prime;-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium (ABTS) radical cation scavenging activity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were in the ranges of 0.12&ndash;428.95 mg CE/g, 1.17&ndash;10.23 mg GAE/g, 1.64&ndash;67.60 mg TE/g, 0.48&ndash;31.99 mg AAE/g and 0.63&ndash;21.56 mg AAE/g, respectively, and were all affected by collection area, seed weight and seed color. Landraces from northern provinces were discovered to have higher metabolite contents. Furthermore, large seeds had higher TTC and TPC levels as well as DPPH, ABTS and FRAP activities than medium and small seeds, except for the TTC and FRAP, which were significantly different. In terms of seed color, white seeds had significantly lower metabolite contents and antioxidant activities and were notable in principal component analysis. Correlation analysis revealed positive and significant associations between biochemical traits, as well as between panicle-related agronomic traits. In general, the landraces with superior characteristics could be ideal candidates for sorghum breeding programs

Multivariate Analysis of Biochemical Properties Reveals Diversity among Yardlong Beans of Different Origins

This study analyzed the nutrient levels, secondary metabolite contents, and antioxidant activities of 35 yardlong bean accessions from China, Korea, Myanmar, and Thailand, along with their key agronomic traits. Significant variations were found in all the parameters analyzed (p • scavenging, ABTS•+ scavenging, and reducing power (RP) ranged between 1.63 and 9.95 mg AAE/g, 6.51 and 21.21 mg TE/g, and 2.02, and 15.58 mg AAE/g, respectively. Days to flowering, total fat, palmitic acid, oleic acid, and TPC were significantly influenced by origin and genotype differences, while seeds per pod, one-hundred seeds weight, CFC, DFC, vitamin C, RP, and TSC were not affected by these factors. Multivariate analysis categorized the accessions into four clusters showing significant variations in most of the analyzed parameters. Correlation analysis also revealed significant relationships between several noteworthy parameters. Overall, this comprehensive analysis of biochemical factors revealed diversity among the different yardlong bean varieties. These findings could have practical applications in industries, breeding programs, and conservation efforts

Nutrient Levels, Bioactive Metabolite Contents, and Antioxidant Capacities of Faba Beans as Affected by Dehulling

Legume dehulling often removes anti-nutrients while improving nutritional quality. However, the process may reduce the levels of other health-promoting metabolites. This study investigated the effect of dehulling on major nutrients, bioactive metabolites, and antioxidant activities using 22 faba bean cultivars typically grown in different parts of the world. The faba bean cultivars differed significantly in all the parameters assessed. Crude fiber (CFC), dietary fiber (DFC), crude protein, and crude fat contents were in the ranges of 5.24–10.56, 16.17–25.15, 19.83–30.90, and 0.79–1.94% in the whole seeds and 0.96–1.59, 4.14–9.50, 22.47–36.61, and 1.13–2.07% in the dehulled seeds, respectively. Moreover, fatty acids including palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid, bioactive metabolites including total phenol (TPC), total saponin (TSC), and total tannin (TTC) contents, and antioxidant activities including ABTS•+-scavenging activity, ferric antioxidant power (FRAP), and DPPH•-scavenging activity also showed significant variations. Dehulling significantly reduced DFC (55.09–79.30%), CFC (69.61–87.52%), and TTC (1.70–66.99%) in all the faba bean cultivars while increasing total protein content (9.31–17.69%). Dehulling also increased the total fat content (3.02–48.13%) in all the cultivars except Giant Three Seeded, a Japanese cultivar, which showed a 12.62% decrease. In contrast, dehulling exhibited varying results on fatty acids, TPC, TSC, and antioxidant activities among the faba bean cultivars. Accordingly, three cultivars: Primus from Hungary, Levens Marschbohne from Germany, and Ascott from France, exhibited simultaneous increases in nutritional levels after dehulling. Domasna-2 from Macedonia, Abawi# 1 from Peru, Seville from the United Kingdom, and Large Mazandran from Iran, on the other hand, exhibited marked reductions in nutritional levels, functional metabolites, and antioxidant activities. In general, our findings indicated that dehulling reduces crude fiber, dietary fiber, and tannin levels while increasing protein and fat contents in faba beans. However, fatty acids, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity may not be equally affected by dehulling and, therefore, specific genotypes should be inspected