bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Catholic Mediation in the Basque Peace Process: Questioning the Transnational Dimension
Authors: Itçaina Xabier
Published: April 2020

The Basque conflict was one of the last ethnonationalist violent struggles in Western Europe, until the self-dissolution in 2018 of ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Country and Freedom). The role played by some sectors of the Roman Catholic Church in the mediation efforts leading to this positive outcome has long been underestimated, as has the internal pluralism of the Church in this regard. This article specifically examines the transnational dimension of this mediation, including its symbolic aspect. The call to involve the Catholic institution transnationally was not limited to the tangible outcomes of mediation. The mere fact of involving transnational religious and non-religious actors represented a symbolic gain for the parties in the conflict struggling to impose their definitions of peace. Transnational mediation conveyed in itself explicit or implicit comparisons with other ethnonationalist conflicts, a comparison that constituted political resources for or, conversely, unacceptable constraints upon the actors involved.
Applying Infrared Thermography to Soil Surface Temperature Monitoring: Case Study of a High-Resolution 48 h Survey in a Vineyard (Anadia, Portugal)
Authors: Frodella William , Lazzeri Giacomo , Moretti Sandro , Keizer Jacob , Verheijen Frank G. A.
Published: April 2020

The soil surface albedo decreases with an increasing biochar application rate as a power decay function, but the net impact of biochar application on soil temperature dynamics remains to be clarified. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of infrared thermography (IRT) sensing by monitoring soil surface temperature (SST) with a high spatiotemporal and thermal resolution in a scalable agricultural application. We monitored soil surface temperature (SST) variations over a 48 h period for three treatments in a vineyard: bare soil (plot S), 100% biochar cover (plot B), and biochar-amended topsoil (plot SB). The SST of all plots was monitored at 30 min intervals with a tripod-mounted IR thermal camera. The soil temperature at 10 cm depth in the S and SB plots was monitored continuously with a 5 min resolution probe. Plot B had greater daily SST variations, reached a higher daily temperature peak relative to the other plots, and showed a faster rate of T increase during the day. However, on both days, the SST of plot B dipped below that of the control treatment (plot S) and biochar-amended soil (plot SB) from about 18:00 onward and throughout the night. The diurnal patterns/variations in the IRT-measured SSTs were closely related to those in the soil temperature at a 10 cm depth, confirming that biochar-amended soils showed lower thermal inertia than the unamended soil. The experiment provided interesting insights into SST variations at a local scale. The case study may be further developed using fully automated SST monitoring protocols at a larger scale for a range of environmental and agricultural applications.
Design of Multi-Mode Antenna Array for Use in Next-Generation Mobile Handsets
Authors: Ojaroudi Parchin Naser , Jahanbakhsh Basherlou Haleh , Abd-Alhameed Raed A.
Published: April 2020

In this study, a new design of a tri-band multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array is proposed for fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. Its structure is composed of eight identical planar-inverted F antenna (PIFA) elements placed at different edge corners of the handset mainboard with overall dimensions of 150 × 75 mm2. The PIFA elements and ground plane of the MIMO antenna system are arranged on the back layer of the platform, which makes the design easy to integrate with the handset circuit. For S11 ≤ −10 dB, the radiation elements of the MIMO design operate at the frequency ranges of 2.5–2.7 GHz, 3.4–3.75 GHz, and 5.6–6 GHz covering the long-term evolution (LTE) 41, 42/43, and 47 operation bands, respectively. The array achieves better than 15 dB return loss results across the three operating bands. The presented antenna array not only exhibits multi-band operation but also generates the polarization diversity characteristic, which makes it suitable for multi-mode operation. The proposed antenna array was simulated and experimentally tested. Fundamental characteristics of the proposed design are investigated. It offers three band S-parameters with acceptable isolation and dual-polarized radiation with quite good efficiency and gain results. Besides this, the total active reflection coefficient (TARC) and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) results of the PIFAs are very low over the bands. In addition, the radiation characteristics of the MIMO antenna in the presence of the user and handset components are studied. Moreover, a new and compact phased array millimeter-wave (MM-Wave) antenna with broad bandwidth and end-fire radiation is introduced which can be easily integrated into the smartphone antenna system. Due to its good performance and simple structures, the proposed smartphone antenna array design is a good candidate for future multi-mode 5G cellular applications.
Highly Sensitive, Breathable, and Flexible Pressure Sensor Based on Electrospun Membrane with Assistance of AgNW/TPU as Composite Dielectric Layer
Authors: Wang Jie , Lou Yaoyuan , Wang Bin , Sun Qing , Zhou Mingwei , Li Xiuyan
Published: April 2020

Pressure sensors have been widely used in electronic wearable devices and medical devices to detect tiny physical movements and mechanical deformation. However, it remains a challenge to fabricate desirable, comfortable wearing, and highly sensitive as well as fast responsive sensors to capture human body physiological signs. Here, a new capacitive flexible pressure sensor that is likely to solve this problem was constructed using thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber (TPU) electrospinning nanofiber membranes as a stretchable substrate with the incorporation of silver nanowires (AgNWs) to build a composite dielectric layer. In addition, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were painted on the TPU membranes as flexible electrodes by screen printing to maintain the flexibility and breathability of the sensors. The flexible pressure sensor could detect tiny body signs; fairly small physical presses and mechanical deformation based on the variation in capacitance due to the synergistic effects of microstructure and easily altered composite permittivity of AgNW/TPU composite dielectric layers. The resultant sensors exhibited high sensitivity (7.24 kPa−1 within the range of 9.0 × 10−3 ~ 0.98 kPa), low detection limit (9.24 Pa), and remarkable breathability as well as fast responsiveness (<55 ms). Moreover, both continuously pressing/releasing cycle over 1000 s and bending over 1000 times did not impair the sensitivity, stability, and durability of this flexible pressure sensor. This proposed strategy combining the elastomer nanofiber membrane and AgNW dopant demonstrates a cost-effective and scalable fabrication of capacitive pressure sensors as a promising application in electronic skins and wearable devices.
A Blockchain-Assisted Intelligent Transportation System Promoting Data Services with Privacy Protection
Authors: Li Yuhong , Ouyang Kun , Li Nanxuan , Rahmani Rahim , Yang Haojun , Pei Yiwei
Published: April 2020

Being able to obtain various environmental and driving data from vehicles is becoming more and more important for current and future intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) to operate efficiently and economically. However, the limitations of privacy protection and security of the current ITSs are hindering users and vehicles from providing data. In this paper, we propose a new ITS architecture by using blockchain technology solving the privacy protection and security problems, and promoting users and vehicles to provide data to ITSs. The proposed architecture uses blockchain as a trust infrastructure to protect users’ privacy and provide trustworthy services to users. It is also compatible with the legacy ITS infrastructure and services. In addition, the hierarchical organization of chains enables the scalability of the system, and the use of smart contracts provides a flexible way for introducing new services in the ITS. The proposed architecture is demonstrated by a proof of concept implementation based on Ethereum. The test results show that the proposed architecture is feasible.
Towards Clinical Translation of LED-Based Photoacoustic Imaging: A Review
Authors: Zhu Yunhao , Feng Ting , Cheng Qian , Wang Xueding , Du Sidan , Sato Naoto , Yuan Jie , Kuniyil Ajith Singh Mithun
Published: April 2020

Photoacoustic imaging, with the capability to provide simultaneous structural, functional, and molecular information, is one of the fastest growing biomedical imaging modalities of recent times. As a hybrid modality, it not only provides greater penetration depth than the purely optical imaging techniques, but also provides optical contrast of molecular components in the living tissue. Conventionally, photoacoustic imaging systems utilize bulky and expensive class IV lasers, which is one of the key factors hindering the clinical translation of this promising modality. Use of LEDs which are portable and affordable offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the clinical translation of photoacoustics. In this paper, we first review the development history of LED as an illumination source in biomedical photoacoustic imaging. Key developments in this area, from point-source measurements to development of high-power LED arrays, are briefly discussed. Finally, we thoroughly review multiple phantom, ex-vivo, animal in-vivo, human in-vivo, and clinical pilot studies and demonstrate the unprecedented preclinical and clinical potential of LED-based photoacoustic imaging.
Experimental Verification of Three-Degree-of-Freedom Electromagnetic Actuator for Image Stabilization
Authors: Heya Akira , Hirata Katsuhiro
Published: April 2020

Image deteriorations due to vibrations have become a problem in autonomous systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, robots, and autonomous cars. To suppress the vibration, a camera stabilizer using a gimbal mechanism is widely used. However, the size and weight of the system increase because the conventional image stabilization systems require some actuators and links to drive in multi-axes. In order to solve these problems, we proposed a novel three-degree-of-freedom (3DOF) electromagnetic actuator for image stabilization. The actuator can be driven by only three-phase and has a simple structure and control system. This paper describes the experimental verification of the proposed actuator. The torque characteristics are clarified, and the analysis and measured torque characteristics are compared to verify the analysis validity. For verifying the dynamic performance, the frequency characteristics are measured. The effectiveness of the proposed magnetic structure and operating principle are investigated.
Stress Evaluation in Simulated Autonomous and Manual Driving through the Analysis of Skin Potential Response and Electrocardiogram Signals
Authors: Zontone Pamela , Affanni Antonio , Bernardini Riccardo , Del Linz Leonida , Piras Alessandro , Rinaldo Roberto
Published: April 2020

The evaluation of car drivers’ stress condition is gaining interest as research on Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) progresses. The analysis of the stress response can be used to assess the acceptability of ADS and to compare the driving styles of different autonomous drive algorithms. In this contribution, we present a system based on the analysis of the Electrodermal Activity Skin Potential Response (SPR) signal, aimed to reveal the driver’s stress induced by different driving situations. We reduce motion artifacts by processing two SPR signals, recorded from the hands of the subjects, and outputting a single clean SPR signal. Statistical features of signal blocks are sent to a Supervised Learning Algorithm, which classifies between stress and normal driving (non-stress) conditions. We present the results obtained from an experiment using a professional driving simulator, where a group of people is asked to undergo manual and autonomous driving on a highway, facing some unexpected events meant to generate stress. The results of our experiment show that the subjects generally appear more stressed during manual driving, indicating that the autonomous drive can possibly be well received by the public. During autonomous driving, however, significant peaks of the SPR signal are evident during unexpected events. By examining the electrocardiogram signal, the average heart rate is generally higher in the manual case compared to the autonomous case. This further supports our previous findings, even if it may be due, in part, to the physical activity involved in manual driving.
Fiber-Optic Skew Ray Sensors
Authors: Chen George Y. , Wang Jinyu , Lancaster David G.
Published: April 2020

The evanescent fields along multimode fibers are usually relatively weak. To enhance the sensitivity of the resulting sensors, skew rays have been exploited for their larger number of total internal reflections and their more comprehensive spread over the fiber surface. The uniform distribution of light–matter interactions across the fiber surface facilitates high sensitivity through an increased interaction area, while mitigating the risk of laser-induced coating-material damage and photobleaching. Power-dependent measurements are less susceptible to temperature effects than interferometric techniques, and place loose requirements on the laser source. This review highlights the key developments in this area, while discussing the benefits, challenges as well as future development.
Effects of Government Payments on Agricultural Productivity: The Case of South Korea
Authors: Kim Youngjune , Lee Ji Yong
Published: April 2020

The South Korean government provides large amounts of its total agricultural budget on direct payments to increase farm productivity due to the importance of the agricultural sector in South Korea. Providing direct payments can positively influence farm productivity by liquidating farm credit in input markets, while it can negatively affect farm productivity by distorting farmers’ behaviors. Therefore, it is necessary to rigorously assess the effect of direct payments on productivity. This study investigated the impact of direct payments on farm productivity with a better estimation strategy, using a farm-level panel dataset from the Korean Farm Household Economy Survey. We first derived an individual farm-level productivity measure using a control function approach. We then estimated the effect of direct payments on farm productivity using the propensity score matching method. Our results showed that direct payments were associated with an increase in agricultural productivity by about 12 percent on average. The results imply that direct payments play an important role in farm production. Given that the South Korean government is currently revising the direct-payment system, our results have implications for the design of the new direct-payment system and deserve attention from policy makers.
A Broad-Based Decision-Making Procedure for Runway Friction Decay Analysis in Maintenance Operations
Authors: Biancardo Salvatore Antonio , Abbondati Francesco , Russo Francesca , Veropalumbo Rosa , Dell’Acqua Gianluca
Published: April 2020

The evaluation of friction is a key factor in monitoring and controlling runway surface characteristics. For this reason, specific airport management and maintenance are required to continuously monitor the performance characteristics needed to guarantee an adequate level of safety and functionality. In this regard, the authors conducted years of experimental surveys at airports including Lamezia Terme International Airport. The surveys aimed to monitor air traffic, features of geometric infrastructure, the typological and physical/mechanical characteristics of pavement layers, and runway maintenance planning. The main objective of this study was to calibrate specific models to examine the evolution of friction decay on runways in relation to traffic loads. The reliability of the models was demonstrated in the light of the significance of the friction measurement patterns by learning algorithms and considering the traffic data by varying the geometric and performance characteristics of the aircraft. The calibrated models can be implemented into pavement management systems to predict runway friction degradation, based on aircraft loads during the lifetime of the surface layers of the pavement. It is thus possible to schedule the maintenance activities necessary to ensure the safety of landing and takeoff maneuvers.
An Empirical Investigation of Men’s Views of Women’s Contribution to Farming in Northwest Bangladesh
Authors: Rahman Md. Wakilur , Palash Md. Salauddin , Jahan Hasneen , Jalilov Shokhrukh-Mirzo , Mainuddin Mohammed
Published: April 2020

This paper verifies the statement that “women contribute greatly to growing crops year-round, but their work is not recognized” through in-depth empirical investigation of their participation in rice and vegetable production and farm decision-making processes in Northwest Bangladesh. Interviews were held with 240 randomly selected couples (husband and wife interviewed separately) to document their views of the female’s participation in crop farming activities and farm and household decision-making. The findings reveal that women play a substantial role in farming and are increasingly involved in farm management, but they are generally overlooked or under-valued by their male counterparts. Looking at crop-specific participation, among 18 different activities of the rice production cycle, men recognized that their spouse had “high” participation in three activities, “strong” in one, “moderate” in five, and “weak” in nine. A similar result was found for activities in vegetable production. In both cases, men’s recognition differed from that reported by their spouses. Logistic regression modeling against eleven variables (selected from the intersectionality and patriarchy literature) revealed six statistically significant variables that influence men to consult with their wives regarding farm decisions. The dominant variables were spouse education (years of schooling), spouse Non-governmental organization (NGO) membership, and the number of hours per day that the spouse spent working on the farm. The article provides a new insight into family dynamics in household and farm decision-making processes. The collection and analysis of both counterparts’ (husband and wife) views provides empirical evidence that not only is women’s participation in agricultural activities and decision-making under-recognized, but that higher education and being involved in NGO activities have a positive influence on male perceptions of women’s contributions. While these findings may not be universally applicable, the framework (using intersectionality and patriarchy indicators together with logistic regression modeling) is highly adaptable. Application in other parts of Bangladesh would reveal perceptions in those regions, and would support a more comprehensive approach to future policy intervention towards gender integration into crop farming in line with promoting women’s education and NGO participation.
The Multiplier Effects of Food Relocalization: A Systematic Review
Authors: Benedek Zsófia , Fertő Imre , Szente Viktória
Published: April 2020

Background: The purchase of local food is often argued to stimulate local economies through multiplier effects; this argument is questioned in this paper. Methods: The ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, Taylor and Francis Online, SpringerLink, AgECON, and Emerald databases were searched systematically. A complementary search in Google Scholar was also carried out. Peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2019 were identified using multiple search terms. Data about four types of multipliers (output, employment, income, and value-added multipliers) were extracted. Results: Twenty-four papers fit the criteria, allowing for a qualitative assessment only. Sixteen papers found unambiguously that an increase in demand for local food had a directly positive impact on local economies in some way; one paper found no impact at all. The papers were classified into three groups based on their focal areas: marketing channel-focused, farm enterprise-focused, and scenario/impact analysis-focused studies. In terms of the methods of analysis, three major approaches were identified: input–output models, assessments of descriptive statistics, and econometric analyses. Considerations related to the potential overestimation of current approaches are presented. Conclusions: The existence of employment and income multipliers seems to be more evident, while the impacts of output- and value-added multipliers depend more on the actual context. Research gaps are also identified.
Optimization of Design Parameters for Office Buildings with Climatic Adaptability Based on Energy Demand and Thermal Comfort
Authors: Guo Yuang , Bart Dewancker
Published: April 2020

According to a Chinese building energy demand report of 2016, building consumption is accelerating at a spectacular rate, especially for urban public buildings. In this study, various design parameters that meet the principle of climate adaptation are proposed to achieve the unity of energy utilization and indoor thermal comfort level. According to the local energy conservation codes, five typical benchmark geometric models were established in Open Studio (Sketch-Up plug-in) for sites representative of various climates, meanwhile, adopting the engine of Energy Plus (EP-Launch) to calculate the instrument definition file (IDF), respectively, for assessing the coupling relationship between energy consumption as well as thermal comfort. Results implied that based on the time proportion (8760 h) that met the level 1 comfort range, total energy reductions of different Chinese climate regions were different. Among them, the severe cold zone (SCZ—Changchun) and hot summer and cold winter zone (HSCW—Shanghai) appeared to have the greatest energy saving potential with 18–24% and 16–19%, respectively, while the cold zone (CZ—Beijing) and mild zone (MZ—Kunming) approximately equaled 15% and 12–15%, and the saving space of the hot summer and warm winter zone (HSWW—Haikou) appeared relatively low, only around 5–7%. Although the simulation results may be limited by the number of parameter settings, the main ones are under consideration seriously, which is further indication that there is still much room for appropriate improvements in the local public building energy efficiency codes.
Unraveling the Bankruptcy Risk‒Return Paradox across the Corporate Life Cycle
Authors: Akbar Minhas , Akbar Ahsan , Maresova Petra , Yang Minghui , Arshad Hafiz Muhammad
Published: April 2020

Bankruptcy risk is a fundamental factor affecting the financial sustainability and smooth functioning of an enterprise. The corporate bankruptcy risk‒return association is well founded in the literature. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on how this association prevails at different stages of the corporate life cycle. The present study aims to investigate the bankruptcy‒risk relationship at different stages of corporate life cycle by employing Hierarchical Linear Mixed Model (HLMM) regression estimation on the data of listed non-financial Pakistani firms from 12 diverse industrial segments. We grouped the firms into introduction, growth, mature, shake-out, and decline stages of the life cycle using Dickinson’s model. Empirical results assert that corporate risk-taking at the introduction stage yields superior financial performance in the future, while risk at the growth stage positively contributes to a firm’s current performance. Moreover, because of risk-averse and non-diversified managerial behavior, bankruptcy risk at the mature stage is negatively associated with both current and future performance. Likewise, risk-taking at the decline stage has significant negative implications for firm performance as the managers of such firms undertake heavy investments in a turnaround attempt; however, owing to the risk-averse behavior, they may indulge in negative net present value (NPV) projects. The study findings imply that managers synchronize a firm’s risk exposure with the corresponding life cycle stage to avoid going bankrupt. Moreover, excessive risk-taking during the mature and decline stages can considerably harm the financial sustainability of an enterprise. Hence, investors should exercise a degree of caution when investing in highly indebted later-stage (mature and decline) firms. Overall, bankruptcy risk‒return resembles an inverted U-shaped relationship. Our results are robust and can apply to various econometric specifications.
Improved Model Parameter Transferability Method for Hydrological Simulation with SWAT in Ungauged Mountainous Catchments
Authors: Meng Fanhao , Sa Chula , Liu Tie , Luo Min , Liu Jiao , Tian Lin
Published: April 2020

The sustainability of water resources in mountainous areas has a significant contribution to the stabilization and persistence of the ecological and agriculture systems in arid and semi-arid areas. However, the insufficient understanding of hydrological processes in ungauged mountainous catchments (UMCs) is not able to scientifically support the sustainable management of water resources. The conventional parameter transferability method (transplanting the parameters of the donor catchment model with similar distances or attributes to the target catchment model) still has great potential for improving the accuracy of the hydrological simulation in UMC. In this study, 46 river catchments, with discharge survey stations and multi-type catchment characteristics in Xinjiang, are separated into the target catchments and donor catchments to promote an improved model parameter transferability method (IMPTM). This method synthetically processes the SWAT model parameters based on the distance approximation principle (DAP) and the attribute similarity principle (ASP). The performance of this method is tested in a random gauged catchment and compared with other traditional methods (DAP and ASP). The daily runoff simulation results in the target catchment have relatively low accuracy by both the DAP method ( N S = 0.27, R 2 = 0.55) and ASP method ( N S = 0.36, R 2 = 0.65), which implies the conventional approach is not capable of processing the parameters in the target regions. However, the simulation result by IMPTM is a significant improvement ( N S = 0.69, R 2 = 0.85). Moreover, the IMPTM can accurately catch the flow peak, appearance time, and recession curve. The current study provides a compatible method to overcome the difficulties of hydrological simulation in UMCs in the world and can benefit hydrological forecasting and water resource estimation in mountainous areas.
The Durability of One-Part Alkali-Activated Slag-Based Mortars in Different Environments
Authors: Coppola Luigi , Coffetti Denny , Crotti Elena , Gazzaniga Gabriele , Pastore Tommaso
Published: April 2020

The paper assesses the durability of one-part alkali-activated slag-based mortars (AAS) in different aggressive environments, such as calcium chloride- and magnesium sulphate-rich solutions, in comparison with traditional cementitious mortars at equal water to binder ratio. Moreover, the freezing and thawing resistance was evaluated on mortars manufactured with and without air entraining admixture (AEA). Experimental results indicate that the alkali content is a key parameter for durability of AAS: the higher the alkali content, the higher the resistance in severe conditions. In particular, high-alkali content AAS mortars are characterized by freeze–thaw resistances similar to that of blast furnace cement-based mixtures, but lower than that of Portland cement-mortars while AAS with low activators dosages evidence a very limited resistance in cold environment. The effectiveness of AEA in enhancement of freeze–thaw resistance is confirmed also for AAS mortars. Moreover, AAS mixtures are quasi-immune to expansive calcium oxychloride formation in presence of CaCl2-based deicing salts, but they are very vulnerable to magnesium sulphate attack due to decalcification of C-S-H gel and gypsum formation.
Overcoming Barriers to the Community Acceptance of Wind Energy: Lessons Learnt from a Comparative Analysis of Best Practice Cases across Europe
Authors: Maleki-Dizaji Pouyan , del Bufalo Nicoletta , Di Nucci Maria-Rosaria , Krug Michael
Published: April 2020

Empirical evidence has shown that local community opposition is one of the key obstacles for new wind energy development. Consequently, the community acceptance of renewables, such as wind energy, has become a crux for Europe in both achieving and going beyond its renewable energy targets. Significant academic literature has already been devoted to conceptualising the community acceptance of wind energy. This article builds on the existing research by showcasing how regions and municipalities across Europe have successfully and effectively been able to overcome barriers to community acceptance. In doing so, 10 best practice case studies across six European countries have been carefully identified and investigated. The results of individual assessment of these different cases, each of which employ different types of measures/approaches, are comparatively analysed in order to identify the key success factors (drivers) for achieving community acceptance of wind energy in Europe. The identification of the success factors serves to start paving the way for the transfer of these measures/approaches to other municipalities and regions across Europe, particularly those who may encounter similar barriers of community acceptance of wind energy. Thus, our findings deliver to policy makers and developers a number of lessons learnt on how to organise future actions by proposing ways their activities can enhance community acceptance.
Sustainable Additive Manufacturing: Mechanical Response of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene over Multiple Recycling Processes
Authors: Vidakis Nectarios , Petousis Markos , Maniadi Athena , Koudoumas Emmanuel , Vairis Achilles , Kechagias John
Published: April 2020

Sustainability in additive manufacturing refers mainly to the recycling rate of polymers and composites used in fused filament fabrication (FFF), which nowadays are rapidly increasing in volume and value. Recycling of such materials is mostly a thermomechanical process that modifies their overall mechanical behavior. The present research work focuses on the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer, which is the second most popular material used in FFF-3D printing. In order to investigate the effect of the recycling courses on the mechanical response of the ABS polymer, an experimental simulation of the recycling process that isolates the thermomechanical treatment from other parameters (i.e., contamination, ageing, etc.) has been performed. To quantify the effect of repeated recycling processes on the mechanic response of the ABS polymer, a wide variety of mechanical tests were conducted on FFF-printed specimens. Regarding this, standard tensile, compression, flexion, impact and micro-hardness tests were performed per recycle repetition. The findings prove that the mechanical response of the recycled ABS polymer is generally improved over the recycling repetitions for a certain number of repetitions. An optimum overall mechanical behavior is found between the third and the fifth repetition, indicating a significant positive impact of the ABS polymer recycling, besides the environmental one.
Reduction of Internal Phosphorus Load in New Lakes by Pretreatment of the Former Agricultural Soil—Methods, Ecological Results and Costs
Authors: Kolath Thor , Reuss Lotte , Egemose Sara , Reitzel Kasper
Published: April 2020

New lakes are established or reestablished to provide ecosystem services such as limiting floods and nutrient discharge and to improve biodiversity. New lakes are often established on fertilized land formerly used for agricultural purposes, thereby posing a risk of issues such as phosphorus (P) release when inundated. Release of P from agricultural soil affects both the developing ecosystem of the new lake and may increase downstream eutrophication. To decrease P release following inundation, three simple and cost-effective soil pretreatments were tested through laboratory soil–water fluxes from the test sites in the new Lake Roennebaek and the fluxes of P, nitrogen (N), and iron (Fe) were compared. The pretreatments compared were sand-capping, depth-plowing, and addition of the commercial iron product CFH-12® (Kemira). Untreated agricultural soil incubated under laboratory conditions released 687 ± 88 mg P·m−2 over 207 days and 85% was released within 60 days from inundation followed by low soil–water P exchange during the remaining incubation period. However, P was still released from the untreated soil 180 days after inundation within the lake. The cumulated P flux of the three pretreatment methods was in comparison negative, between −12 ± 3 and −17 ± 4 mg P·m−2 over 207 days incubation and showed negative P fluxes from cores collected within the lake 180 days after inundation. This study showed that the release of P when establishing new lakes on former agricultural land could be minimized using these simple and cost-effective methods, which may improve the ecological status of future lakes and enable the establishment of new lakes without threatening vulnerable downstream ecosystems.
Analysis of a Monitoring System for Bacterial Wilt Management by Seed Potato Cooperatives in Ethiopia: Challenges and Future Directions
Authors: Tafesse Shiferaw , Lie Rico , van Mierlo Barbara , Struik Paul C. , Lemaga Berga , Leeuwis Cees
Published: April 2020

Collective action is required to deal with various complex agricultural problems such as invasive weeds and plant diseases that pose a collective risk to farmers. Monitoring systems could help to stimulate collective action and avoid free-riding. The paper develops a novel framework consisting of essential elements of a monitoring system for managing a complex disease like bacterial wilt in potato crops. The framework is used to explore how seed potato cooperatives in Ethiopia operationalised the essential elements of a monitoring system and identifies which challenges remain to be overcome. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, reflective workshops, participant observation, and document analysis. We found that the cooperatives had organised a self-monitoring system to monitor disease occurrence and the disease management practices of their members. Monitoring committees were in charge of the data collection and enforcement of sanctions on farmers who did not adhere to the cooperatives’ bylaws. The main challenges included the dependency on visual observation, which does not disclose latent infections, limited financial incentives for the monitoring committee members, lack of trust, weak peer monitoring, and the social and ecological interdependency between producers of ware and seed potatoes. Suggestions are provided to strengthen the monitoring systems of farmers’ seed potato cooperatives in Ethiopia. In addition, we discuss the broader value of our novel framework for describing and analysing monitoring systems for future research and intervention.
Exploring Issues within Post-Olympic Games Legacy Governance: The Case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games
Authors: Byun Jinsu , Leopkey Becca
Published: April 2020

The purpose of this study was to explore issues in post-Olympic Games legacy governance by examining the case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Using a combination of the polity, politics, and policy governance dimensions and the issues management literature, a case was built using archival material and semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight 10 issues related to the three dimensions of post-Games legacy governance (legal, accountability, context, funding, conflicting values or interests, venue, coordination, participation, pre-event planning, and policy momentum). The relationships between the identified issues and perceived gaps among stakeholders are also presented. A model of post-sport event legacy governance that highlights the multidimensionality of the governance system is provided.
Repurposing Antiviral Protease Inhibitors Using Extracellular Vesicles for Potential Therapy of COVID-19
Authors: Kumar Santosh , Zhi Kaining , Mukherji Ahona , Gerth Kelli
Published: April 2020

In January 2020, Chinese health agencies reported an outbreak of a novel coronavirus-2 (CoV-2) which can lead to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The virus, which belongs to the coronavirus family (SARS-CoV-2), was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Full-length genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 showed 79.6% sequence identity to SARS-CoV, with 96% identity to a bat coronavirus at the whole-genome level. COVID-19 has caused over 133,000 deaths and there are over 2 million total confirmed cases as of 15 April 2020. Current treatment plans are still under investigation due to a lack of understanding of COVID-19. One potential mechanism to slow disease progression is the use of antiviral drugs to either block the entry of the virus or interfere with viral replication and maturation. Currently, antiviral drugs, including chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, and lopinavir/ritonavir, have shown effective inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Due to the high dose needed and narrow therapeutic window, many patients are experiencing severe side effects with the above drugs. Hence, repurposing these drugs with a proper formulation is needed to improve the safety and efficacy for COVID-19 treatment. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a family of natural carriers in the human body. They play a critical role in cell-to-cell communications. EVs can be used as unique drug carriers to deliver protease inhibitors to treat COVID-19. EVs may provide targeted delivery of protease inhibitors, with fewer systemic side effects. More importantly, EVs are eligible for major aseptic processing and can be upscaled for mass production. Currently, the FDA is facilitating applications to treat COVID-19, which provides a very good chance to use EVs to contribute in this combat.
Multifaceted Functions of Host Cell Caveolae/Caveolin-1 in Virus Infections
Authors: Xing Yifan , Wen Zeyu , Gao Wei , Lin Zhekai , Zhong Jin , Jiu Yaming
Published: April 2020

Virus infection has drawn extensive attention since it causes serious or even deadly diseases, consequently inducing a series of social and public health problems. Caveolin-1 is the most important structural protein of caveolae, a membrane invagination widely known for its role in endocytosis and subsequent cytoplasmic transportation. Caveolae/caveolin-1 is tightly associated with a wide range of biological processes, including cholesterol homeostasis, cell mechano-sensing, tumorigenesis, and signal transduction. Intriguingly, the versatile roles of caveolae/caveolin-1 in virus infections have increasingly been appreciated. Over the past few decades, more and more viruses have been identified to invade host cells via caveolae-mediated endocytosis, although other known pathways have been explored. The subsequent post-entry events, including trafficking, replication, assembly, and egress of a large number of viruses, are caveolae/caveolin-1-dependent. Deprivation of caveolae/caveolin-1 by drug application or gene editing leads to abnormalities in viral uptake, viral protein expression, or virion release, whereas the underlying mechanisms remain elusive and must be explored holistically to provide potential novel antiviral targets and strategies. This review recapitulates our current knowledge on how caveolae/caveolin-1 functions in every step of the viral infection cycle and various relevant signaling pathways, hoping to provide a new perspective for future viral cell biology research.
Distribution and Genetic Variability of Sapoviruses in Africa
Authors: Makhaola Kgomotso , Moyo Sikhulile , Kebaabetswe Lemme P.
Published: April 2020

In this review, we describe the distribution and genetic diversity of sapoviruses detected among humans, animals and the environment in African countries. Databases were searched for studies conducted in African countries and published between Jan 2005 and Mar 2019. Only studies where RT- PCR was used for initial detection were included in the systematic review. We identified 27 studies from 14 African countries with 18 focused on human sapoviruses, two on animal sapoviruses and seven on sapoviruses observed in the environment. Samples. The overall estimated pooled prevalence of human sapovirus infections among symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals was similar at 5.0% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.0–7.0) and 2.0% (95% CI: 1.0–3.0), respectively. In environmental samples sapovirus detection rates ranged from 0% to 90% while in animal studies it was 1.7% to 34.8%. Multiple causes of gastroenteritis, sensitivity of detection method used, diversity of sapovirus strains and rotavirus vaccine coverage rate are some of the factors that could have contributed to the wide range of sapovirus detection rates that were reported. The studies reported human genogroups GI, GII, and GIV, with genogroup GI being the most prevalent. Some potential novel strains were detected from animal samples. Most studies genotyped a small portion of either the capsid and/or polymerase region. However, this is a limitation as it does not allow for detection of recombinants that occur frequently in sapoviruses. More studies with harmonized genotyping protocols that cover longer ranges of the sapovirus genome are needed to provide more information on the genomic characterization of sapoviruses circulating in African countries. Further investigations on animal to human transmission for sapoviruses are needed as inter-species transmissions have been documented for other viruses.
Class Imbalance Learning
Authors: Santhiappan Sudarsun , Ravindran Balaraman
Published: April 2020

Data classiﬁcation task assigns labels to data points using a model that is learned from a collection of pre-labeled data points. The Class Imbalance Learning (CIL) problem is concerned with the performance of classiﬁcation algorithms in the presence of under-represented data and severe class distribution skews. Due to the inherent complex characteristics of imbalanced datasets, learning from such data requires new understandings, principles, algorithms, and tools to transform vast amounts of raw data effciently into information and knowledge representation. It is important to study CIL because it is rare to ﬁnd a classiﬁcation problem in real world scenarios that follows balanced class distributions. In this article, we have presented how machine learning has become the integral part of modern lifestyle and how some of the real world problems are modeled as CIL problems. We have also provided a detailed survey on the fundamentals and solutions to class imbalance learning. We conclude the survey by presenting some of the challenges and opportunities with class imbalance learning.
Paving the Way for Geovisual Analytics
Authors: Nair Prof. Jaya Sreevalsan
Published: April 2020

The human visual system can reliably identify trends in datasets using various channels of visualization. The success story of visualization in accomplishing core analytical tasks has made it a mainstay in various domains, including the Geographic Information Science (GIS). The core analytical tasks are data exploration, decision making, and predictive analysis. Geospatio-temporal data is ubiquitous, and as the data grows in complexity and size; analytical tasks become more complex too. In the times of geospatial big data, geovisual analytics has begun to gain traction. In this paper, we give a brief overview of geovisualizations, discuss geovisual analytics through a case study, and list out some of the persistent challenges in geovisual representation and analysis.
Geospatial Data Analysis: A Review of Theory and Methods
Authors: S Prof.  Rajagopalan , Jayabal Yogalakshmi
Published: April 2020

A vast amount of data is generated and collected every moment and often, data has a spatial and/or temporal aspect. This increasing data generation and collection is resulting in increasing volume and varying formats of data being collected and the geospatial data collection is no exception. This posses challenges in storing, processing, analyzing and visualizing the geospatial data. This paper discusses the big data paradigm of the geospatial data and presents a taxonomy for analysis of the geospatial data. The existing literature is studied and discussed based on the proposed taxonomy for analysis of geospatial data.
SHAKTI: An Open-Source Processor Ecosystem
Authors: Gala Neel , G. S. Madhusudan , George Paul , Sahoo Anmol , Menon Arjun , V Kamakoti
Published: April 2020

Processors have become ubiquitous in all the appliances and machines we use, in both consumer and industrial settings. These processors range from extremely small and low power micro-controllers (used in motor controls, home robots and appliances) to high-performance multi-core processors (used in servers and supercomputers). However, the growth of modern AI/ML environments (like Caffe[Jia et al. 2014], Tensorflow[Abadi et al. 2016]) and the need for features like enhanced security has forced the industry to look beyond general purpose solutions and towards domain-specific-customizations. While a large number of companies today can develop custom ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Chips) and license specific silicon blocks from chip-vendors to develop a customized SoCs (System on Chips), at the heart of every design is the processor and the associated hardware. To serve modern workloads better, these processors also need to be customized, upgraded, re-designed and augmented suitably. This requires that vendors/consumers have access to appropriate processor variants and the flexibility to make modifications and ship them at an affordable cost.
Erasure Coding for Big Data
Authors: Krishnan M. Nikhil
Published: April 2020

This article deals with the reliable and efficient storage of ‘Big Data’, by which is meant the vast quantities of data that are stored in data centers worldwide. Given that storage units are prone to failure, to protect against data loss, data pertaining to a data file is stored in distributed and redundant fashion across multiple storage units. While replication was and continues to be commonly employed, the explosive growth in amount of data that is generated on a daily basis, has forced the industry to increasingly turn to erasure codes such as the Reed-Solomon code. The reason for this is that erasure codes have the potential to keep to a minimum, the storage overhead required to ensure a given level of reliability. There is also need for storing data such that the system can recover efficiently from the failure of a single storage unit. Conventional erasure-coding techniques are inefficient in this respect. To address this situation, coding theorists have come up with two new classes of erasure codes known respectively as regenerating codes and locally recoverable codes. These codes have served both to address the needs of industry as well as enrich coding theory by adding two new branches to the discipline. This article provides an overview of these exciting new developments, from the (somewhat biased) perspective of the authors.