bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The transition from a cyanobacterial to algal world and the emergence of animals
Authors: Brocks Jochen J.
Published: June 2018

The Neoproterozoic, 1000–541 million years (Myr) ago, saw the transition from a largely bacterial world to the emergence of multicellular grazers, suspension feeders and predators. This article explores the hypothesis that the first appearance of large, multicellular heterotrophs was fueled by an elevated supply of nutrients and carbon from the bottom of the food chain to higher trophic levels. A refined record of molecular fossils of algal sterols reveals that the transition from dominantly bacterial to eukaryotic primary production in open marine habitat occurred between 659 and 645 Myr ago, in the hot interlude between two Snowball Earth glaciations. This bacterial–eukaryotic transition reveals three characteristics: it was rapid on geological timescales, it followed an extreme environmental catastrophe and it was permanent — hallmarks of an ecological hysteresis that shifted Earth's oceans between two self-stabilizing steady states. More than 50 million years of Snowball glaciations and their hot aftermath may have purged old-world bacterial phytoplankton, providing empty but nutrient-rich ecospace for recolonization by larger algae and transforming the base of the food web. Elevated average and maximum particle sizes at the base of the food chain may have provided more efficient energy and nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels, fueling an arms race toward larger grazers, predators and prey, and the development of increasingly complex feeding and defense strategies.
ILGNet: inception modules with connected local and global features for efficient image aesthetic quality classification using domain adaptation
Authors: Jin Xin , Wu Le , Li Xiaodong , Zhang Xiaokun , Chi Jingying , Peng Siwei , Ge Shiming , Zhao Geng , Li Shuying
Published: June 2018

In this study, the authors address a challenging problem of aesthetic image classification, which is to label an input image as high‐ or low‐aesthetic quality. We take both the local and global features of images into consideration. A novel deep convolutional neural network named ILGNet is proposed, which combines both the inception modules and a connected layer of both local and global features. The ILGnet is based on GoogLeNet. Thus, it is easy to use a pre‐trained GoogLeNet for large‐scale image classification problem and fine tune their connected layers on a large‐scale database of aesthetic‐related images: AVA, i.e. domain adaptation. The experiments reveal that their model achieves the state of the arts in AVA database. Both the training and testing speeds of their model are higher than those of the original GoogLeNet.
Optimising the public transport priority at road intersections
Authors: De Keyser Olivier , Hillewaere Menno , Audenaert Pieter , Maenhout Broos
Published: June 2018

A lot of effort is put into improving the efficiency of transportation and the optimisation of the current traffic situations. Nevertheless, this will not be sufficient to deal with the increasing number of road users. Public transportation is an appealing economical solution, although its quality is dependent on the efficiency of traffic lights and congestions. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of public transport (PT) priority on the performance of a single road intersection with two two‐way crossing streets and a dedicated tram line. In this perspective, the authors set up a microscopic simulation experiment to evaluate different PT priorities. The study is applied to a road intersection in Ghent (Belgium) and all relevant inputs are based on real‐life data. Overall, the total travel time of all actors advocate for traffic light control regulations that accommodate regular road users at the expense of PT and contradict the current priority settings of the signal control system. However, the passenger‐dependent travel times give a slightly nuanced view advocating a delayed priority or even no priority for PT vehicles only during the evening peak.
Real‐time traffic signal control for intersections based on dynamic O–D estimation and multi‐objective optimisation: combined model and algorithm
Authors: Jiao Pengpeng , Sun Tuo , Li Dongyue , Guo Han , Li Ruimin , Hou Zenghao
Published: June 2018

Detectors are challenged in providing stable and accurate information of the dynamic origin–destination (O–D) flows for real‐time adaptive traffic signal timing operation. However, the dynamic O–D estimation technique is capable of providing a short‐term turn‐flow data for the signal‐timing adjustment. Meanwhile, the real‐time signal timing variations will affect the dynamic O–D flows in an actual network. Therefore, the dynamic O–D estimation and the real‐time signal control closely interact with each. A combined model is proposed to dynamically calculate the signal adjustment answering the variation of the real‐time O–D flows by minimising the accumulative queues in entering approaches. A case study was conducted to validate the proposed model and algorithms, and the result showed the traffic efficiency of the case study intersection was improved.
Dual‐band high‐gain Fabry–Perot cavity antenna with a shared‐aperture FSS layer
Authors: Chen Jiaqing , Zhao Yongjiu , Ge Yue , Xing Lei
Published: June 2018

Here, a dual‐band high‐gain Fabry–Perot cavity antenna (FPCA) with a single superstrate layer is proposed. The design consists of a patch antenna and a double‐side frequency selective surface (FSS) superstrate. The unique feature of this design is to provide quasi‐optimal reflection phases with high reflectivity in two pre‐determined frequency ranges. To validate the design, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The experimental results indicate that peak gains of the FPCA achieve 10.1 and 15.2 dBi at 5.6 and 10 GHz, respectively. Moreover, compared with conventional dual‐band FPCAs, the proposed FPCA has a much smaller lateral size.
Multi‐fidelity EM simulations and constrained surrogate modelling for low‐cost multi‐objective design optimisation of antennas
Authors: Koziel Slawomir , Sigurðsson Ari T.
Published: June 2018

In this study, a technique for low‐cost multi‐objective design optimisation of antenna structures has been proposed. The proposed approach is an enhancement of a recently reported surrogate‐assisted technique exploiting variable‐fidelity electromagnetic (EM) simulations and auxiliary kriging interpolation surrogate, the latter utilised to produce the initial approximation of the Pareto set. A bottleneck of the procedure for higher‐dimensional design spaces is a large number of training data samples necessary to construct the surrogate. Here, the authors propose a procedure that allows us to confine the model domain to the subset spanned by the reference points, including the extreme Pareto‐optimal designs obtained by optimising the individual objectives as well as an additional design that determines the Pareto front curvature. Setting up the surrogate in the constrained domain leads to a dramatic reduction of the required number of data samples, which results in lowering the overall cost of the optimisation process. Furthermore, the model domain confinement is generic, i.e. applicable for any number of design goals considered. The proposed technique is demonstrated using an ultra‐wideband monopole antenna optimised with respect to three objectives. Significant reduction of the design cost is obtained as compared to the reference surrogate‐assisted algorithm.
Monopulse array and low side‐lobe level array with a novel feed network
Authors: Nie Xing‐He , Hong Wei , Fan Kui‐Kui
Published: June 2018

This study presents the methodology design and implementation of a novel feed network. This feed network consists of several ring couplers with miniaturised and wideband characteristics. The size of this coupler is significantly reduced by employing λ/6 sections and open stubs. Besides, wideband performance is achieved by introducing a phase inverter. Compared to traditional ring couplers, the size of the proposed coupler is reduced by nearly 90%, and the relative bandwidth (BW) of the demonstrated ring coupler can reach about 80%. Owing to the miniaturised size and wideband characteristics of this ring coupler, this kind of feed network is much smaller than traditional ones with similar BW. On the basis of this feed network, a monopulse array and a low side‐lobe level array is designed and fabricated. Good agreements are achieved between simulations and measurements.
Influence of birefringence fibre length on demodulation sensitivity based on a fibre loop mirror sensor
Authors: Jiang Ying , Yu Mingjin
Published: June 2018

The influence of birefringence fibre (BF) loop mirror (Bi‐FLM) length on the light intensity sensitivity to strain was analysed theoretically and investigated experimentally. The same type of BF but the different length was chosen as the sensing element to be glued to the test object. The relationship between the light intensity and strain was obtained for the Bi‐FLM with different BF length. Afterwards, the light intensity signals were converted into voltage signals. The influence of BF length on the average voltage sensitivity to strain was investigated experimentally. The experimental results indicate that the Bi‐FLM with a long BF has a high average voltage sensitivity to strain but a small strain measurement range, while the Bi‐FLM with a short BF has a low average voltage sensitivity to strain but a large strain measurement range. From the experiments carried out, it was seen that the average voltage sensitivity to strain can be improved by increasing the BF length. This method does not increase the system complexity.
Multi‐channel LED driver based on switched‐controlled capacitor with constant frequency control
Authors: Liu Junfeng , Tian Hanlei , Zeng Jun
Published: June 2018

Current sharing among light‐emitting diode (LED) strings is significant for reliability and long life. The capacitive balancing was widely used with low losses and small volume. However, the capacitive balancing scheme adopting the impedance matching causes large circulating current, and its precision of current sharing is restricted due to impedance tolerance. In addition, the high reactive power with pulse frequency control brings high power stress on the volt‐ampere rating (VAR) of the half‐bridge switches and arouses heavy electro‐magnetic interference. In this study, the interleaved structure of the upper and lower half‐bridge is proposed to alleviate the mismatching of capacitance impedance. Besides, the wide range of LED dimming capability is accomplished by using the switched‐controlled capacitor (SCC) unit with the constant frequency of power switches. The circuit analysis, SCC modulation, current sharing, LED dimming and performance comparisons are examined in detail. All the superior performance of the proposed LED driver is verified by simulation prototype and experimental platform with four‐channel LED strings and rated power of 23 W. The accordance of theoretical analysis, simulation waveforms and experiment results further confirms the feasibility of the proposed LED driver.
Robust waveform design for MIMO–OFDM‐based STAP in the presence of target uncertainty
Authors: Wang Hongyan
Published: June 2018

The issue of robust orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) radar waveform design is investigated here with target uncertainty to enhance the worst‐case space‐time adaptive processing (STAP) detection performance of MIMO–OFDM radar. Based on the max–min method, the robust waveform optimisation problem is constructed under the criterion of maximising the worst‐case output SINR, namely, signal–interference–noise ratio, with constraints of constant modulus and target estimation errors to enhance the robustness of STAP's detection performance to target uncertainty. To handle the obtained non‐linear and complicated issue, an approach based on diagonal loading (DL) is presented. By employing DL method, the optimisation issue can be relaxed to semidefinite programming one, and thus it can be tackled very efficiently. When compared with uncorrelated signals, the state‐of‐the‐art robust and non‐robust waveform design methods for MIMO–STAP, numerical simulations reveal that the developed approach can enhance the robustness of the detection performance of STAP significantly.
Distributed target tracking in sensor networks using multi‐step consensus
Authors: Ali Khaled Obaid Al , Ilić Nemanja , Stanković Miloš S. , Stanković Srdjan S.
Published: June 2018

The authors propose a new algorithm for distributed target tracking by sensor networks with sensors having limited sensing range (radars, sonars, cameras), using an adaptive multi‐step consensus scheme. The proposed distributed adaptation strategy represents the core element of the algorithm, providing: (i) asymptotic consensus gains giving the desired importance to the nodes observing the target, and (ii) fast convergence rate of the consensus scheme, enabling efficient implementation. Another contribution of this study is a theoretical study of the algorithm properties, including asymptotic stability and reduction of noise influence. The given simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing algorithms, preserving, at the same time, much lower communication and computation requirements.
Modelling and simulation of photosystem II chlorophyll fluorescence transition from dark‐adapted state to light‐adapted state
Authors: Feng Shaopeng , Fu Lijiang , Xia Qian , Tan Jinglu , Jiang Yongnian , Guo Ya
Published: June 2018

Green houses play a vital role in modern agriculture. Artificial light illumination is very important in a green house. While light is necessary for plant growth, excessive light in a green house may not bring more profit and even damages plants. Developing a plant‐physiology‐based light control strategy in a green house is important, which implies that a state‐space model on photosynthetic activities is very useful because modern control theories and techniques are usually developed according to model structures in the state space. In this work, a simplified model structure on photosystem II activities was developed with seven state variables and chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) as the observable variable. Experiments on ChlF were performed. The Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was used to estimate model parameters from experimental data. The model structure can fit experimental data with a small relative error (<2%). ChlF under different light intensities were simulated to show the effect of light intensity on ChlF emission. A simplified model structure with fewer state variables and model parameters will be more robust to perturbations and model parameter estimation. The model structure is thus expected useful in future green‐house light control strategy development.
Identifying cancer‐related microRNAs based on subpathways
Authors: Liu Wenbin , Cui Zhendong , Zan Xiangzhen
Published: June 2018

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small endogenous non‐coding genes that play important roles in post‐transcriptional regulation as well as other important biological processes. Accumulating evidence indicated that miRNAs were extensively involved in the pathology of cancer. However, determining which miRNAs are related to a specific cancer is problematic because one miRNA may target multiple genes and one gene may be targeted by multiple miRNAs. The authors proposed a new approach, named miR_SubPath, to identify cancer‐associated miRNAs by three steps. The targeted genes were determined based on differentially expressed genes in significant dysfunctional subpathways. Then the candidate miRNAs were determined according to miRNA–genes associations. Finally, these candidate miRNAs were ranked based on their relations with some seed miRNAs in a functional similarity network. Results on real‐world datasets showed that the proposed miR_SubPath method was more robust and could identify more cancer‐related miRNAs than a prior approach, miR_Path, miR_Clust and Zhang's method.
Study of cohabitation and interconnection effects on normal and leukaemic stem cells dynamics in acute myeloid leukaemia
Authors: Zenati Abdelhafid , Chakir Messaoud , Tadjine Mohamed
Published: June 2018

On the basis of recent studies, understanding the intimate relationship between normal and leukaemic stem cells is very important in leukaemia treatment. The authors’ aim in this work is to clarify and assess the effect of coexistence and interconnection phenomenon on the healthy and cancerous stem cell dynamics. To this end, they perform the analysis of two time‐delayed stem cell models in acute myeloid leukaemia. The first model is based on decoupled healthy and cancerous stem cell populations (i.e. there is no interaction between cell dynamics) and the second model includes interconnection between both population's dynamics. By using the positivity of both systems, they build new linear functions that permit to derive global stability conditions for each model. Moreover, knowing that most common types of haematological diseases are characterised by the existence of oscillations, they give conditions for the existence of a limit cycle (oscillations) in a particularly interesting healthy situation based on Poincare–Bendixson theorem. The obtained results are simulated and interpreted to be significant in understanding the effect of interconnection and would lead to an improvement in leukaemia treatment.
Polypeptide‐based amphiphilic brush copolymers as unimolecular micelles: synthesis, characterisation, and encapsulation study
Authors: Zheng Yukui , Pan Miao , Lu Chao , Liu Daojun
Published: June 2018

Polypeptide‐based amphiphilic brush copolymers PLL‐g ‐(PBLG‐b ‐PEG) and PLL‐g ‐(PZLL‐b ‐PEG) with a poly(L‐lysine) (PLL) backbone and amphiphilic oligo(γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate)‐b ‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PBLG‐b ‐PEG) or oligo(ε‐benzyloxycarbonyl‐L‐lysine)‐b ‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PZLL‐b ‐PEG) side chains were synthesised, characterised, and evaluated as unimolecular nanocontainers to encapsulate hydrophobic guest molecules. The structure of these brush polymers was modulated by tuning the length of the PLL, PBLG/PZLL, and PEG segments. The final products were characterised with 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography. The morphology and aggregation behaviours of brush copolymers were examined by using a transmission electron microscope and dynamic light scattering. It was revealed that these water‐soluble brush copolymers resembled unimolecular micelles in an aqueous solution. An encapsulation study was performed using pyrene and oil red O as the model compounds, and the results showed that hydrophobic molecules could be solubilised in these unimolecular micelles with high loading capacities. The synthesised polypeptide‐based amphiphilic brush copolymers could serve as promising unimolecular nanocarriers for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs.
Facile one‐step synthesis of SnS2 nanoscale hollow spheres for enhanced lithium‐ion storage performance as anode
Authors: Guo Yani , Wang Xiufeng , Shao Weizhi
Published: June 2018

The SnS2 hollow nanospheres are successfully fabricated using SnCl4 ·5H2 O, thiourea and urea as raw materials via a mild one‐step hydrothermal process. The size of SnS2 hollow nanosphere is about 400 nm, and the shell thickness of it is about 50 nm, consisting of nanoparticles with the size of 3 nm. The formation of such hollow structure could be mainly ascribed to the soft template effect of carbon‐dioxide and ammonia bubbles decomposed from urea. The obtained hollow nanospheres possess a higher specific surface area of 142 m2 g−1 compared with that of the SnS2 granular aggregate sample (34 m2 g−1), presenting better cycling stability and rate capability.
Label‐free immunosensor based on interdigitated electrodes with Ni–Co nanowires
Authors: Siao Fu‐Yuan , Chang Yaw‐Jen , Shih Hung‐Ju
Published: June 2018

This work presents a label‐free immunosensor consisting of interdigitated electrodes and Ni–Co nanowires (NWs) to determine the relative amount of analyte, using electroanalytical measurement. Interdigitated electrodes were fabricated by the conventional printed circuit board treatment and Ni–Co NWs were synthesised by the electrodeposition method using a porous anodic alumina oxide membrane as the template. The experimental results showed that Ni–Co NWs can provide specific binding with histidine‐tagged capture agent based on the method of immobilised metal affinity chromatography. Due to the large surface‐to‐volume ratio of NWs, this immunosensor had 2.6‐fold the immobilisation ability of flat Ni–Co film to absorb histidine‐tagged capture agent. Moreover, this immunosensor exhibited sensitivity in detecting low amounts of analyte. The electrical responses of the electroanalytical measurement of analyte, from 1000 to 625 ng/mL, could be discriminated; however, the fluorescence intensities became indiscriminative. This label‐free immunosensor has the potential to immobilise various capture agents through the use of histidine for different analyte analyses.
Height variation of the cutoff frequency in a sunspot umbra
Authors: Felipe T. , Kuckein C. , Thaler I.
Published: June 2018

Context. In the solar atmosphere, the acoustic cutoff frequency is a local quantity that depends on atmospheric height. It separates low-frequency evanescent waves from high-frequency propagating waves.

Aims. We measure the cutoff frequency of slow magnetoacoustic waves at various heights of a sunspot umbra and compare the results with the estimations from several analytical formulae.

Methods. We analyzed the oscillations in the umbra of a sunspot belonging to active region NOAA 12662 observed in the 10 830 Å spectral region with the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph and in the Fe I 5435 Å line with the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer. Both instruments are attached to the GREGOR telescope at the Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. We computed the phase and amplification spectra between the velocity measured from various pairs of lines that sample various heights of the solar atmosphere. The cutoff frequency and its height variation were estimated from the inspection of the spectra.

Results. At the deep umbral photosphere the cutoff frequency is around 5 mHz and it increases to 6 mHz at higher photospheric layers. At the chromosphere the cutoff is ~3.1 mHz. A comparison of the observationally determined cutoff with the theoretically predicted values reveals an agreement in the general trend and a reasonable match at the chromosphere, but also significant quantitative differences at the photosphere.

Conclusions. Our analyses show strong evidence of the variation of the cutoff frequency with height in a sunspot umbra, which is not fully accounted for by current analytical estimations. This result has implications for our understanding of wave propagation, the seismology of active regions, and the evaluation of heating mechanisms based on compressible waves.
The effects of aquaculture activities on species composition and diversity of native freshwater fish populations
Authors: Ertürk Gürkan Selin , Yalçin Özdilek Şükran
Published: June 2018

The rapid development of the aquaculture industry in recent years and the increase in the intensity of production has raised questions regarding potential environmental impacts. Understanding intra- and interspecific relationships between native and cultured species is important for sustainable use of natural resources. This study investigated the spatial and temporal effects of a fish farm constructed next to a river on the relative abundance and diversity of natural fish populations. Sampling was conducted at three stations, upstream and down stream from a trout farm and at a control site, on Kocabas stream in Çanakkale (Turkey) monthly between August 2015 and July 2016. There was no significant difference among the three stations in fish diversity. However, a remarkable seasonal and spatial variation in the composition and relative proportion of the indigenous fish assemblage were observed among the three stations. In conclusion, the fish farm might have influenced species composition and relative abundances particularly at the downstream station.
Numerical Study of a Thermosyphon Cooling System: film condensation
Authors: Arbiyani Filian
Published: June 2018

Studies of condensation in several cooling systems have been conducted. However, the mode of condensation in two-phase cooling systems to achieve a high rate of condensation in compact devices has not been explored. Condensation phenomena, indeed, is a key parameter in designing a thermosyphon water cooled condenser system. The analysis of this condensation phenomena has been done numerically by implementing the governing equations and boundary conditions in commercial MATLAB software. Steady-state laminar film condensation on the radial system is assumed as a condensation phenomenon between vapor and the outer surface of coolant coil. There is a good agreement between experimental and simulation results. Furthermore, for 0.3 LPM 10 °C, it is found the standard deviation of 0.3 %. This small standard deviation indicates the good accuracy of the simulation. At a constant mass flow rate of water, the higher inlet water temperature will result in a higher Nusselt number of water. Furthermore, at the same Nusselt number of water, the lower inlet water temperature obtained a higher film condensation rate. Nusselt number of film condensation increases as the Nusselt number of water decreases at the various constant of mass flow rate of water. Additionally, the lower inlet water temperature will result in a lower Nusselt number of water. The value of Reynold number film condensation increases as Reynold numbers and Nusselt number of water increase. At various constant mass flow rates of the water, at the same Nusselt number of water, the Reynold number of film condensation increases with lower inlet water temperature. The lower inlet water temperature increases the value of Reynold number of film condensation leading to more wavy and turbulent flow. The present study provides guidelines for thermal management engineers to design and fabricate compact cooling systems.
Fuel Loading Pattern Optimization with Constraint on Fuel Assembly Inventory Using Quantum-Inspired Evolutionary Algorithm
Authors: Rizki Oktavian M. , Agung Alexander , Widi Harto Andang
Published: June 2018

Nuclear fuel management was done by optimizing fuel loading pattern in a reactor core. Practically, performing fuel loading pattern optimization was difficult because of its combinatorial problem complexity which needed to be solved. Therefore, Quantum-inspired Evolutionary Algorithm (QEA) which could solve the combinatorial problem faster than conventional method was used. The main purpose of this research was to obtain an optimum fuel loading pattern of KSNP-1000 reactor core without altering fuel assembly inventories. KSNP-1000 core was modeled in SRAC code package using PIJ module for fuel pins and fuel assemblies’ lattices and CITATION module for fuel assemblies’ pattern in a quarter core symmetry. Optimization problem adaptation using QEA was made by presenting 52 fuel assemblies in Q-bit individuals with the length of 8 Q-bits. Q-bits were converted to corresponding bit values and then given weight which would be used as consideration to optimize the pattern. The optimization program was coupled with the SRAC neutronic code to obtain the values of effective multiplication factor (keff) and power peaking factor (PPF). The optimization was calculated based on fitness value which was a function of keff and PPF values with the particular weight factor. Using a rotation gate angle of Δθ=0.02π and a weight factor of w=0,041, fuel loading pattern optimization was done on 360 days burnup level. The optimization resulted in keff and PPF value of 1.11233 and 1.944 respectively. By calculating keff value on various burnup levels for the chosen core loading pattern, reactor cycle length obtained was 659 days with PPF at BOC was 2.19. Compared to the standard KSNP-1000 core which had 560 days of cycle length, the optimized core configuration increased 17.67% in cycle length.
Potential Analysis of Ex-Coal Mining Land As Pumped Storage Hydro Powerplant In Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan
Authors: Z. Devi Yollanda , Harto Andang W. , Budiarto Rachmawan , Trihastuti Novi
Published: June 2018

The growth of electricity demand will increase 56.8% in 10 years. Meanwhile, the fulfillment of electricity in Indonesia is dominated by coal. The amount of electricity growth has not balanced yet by the amount of electricity supply. It causes the electricity deficit in some areas, especially at the peak load period. One of the areas that often have electrical power deficit is East Kalimantan, although the province is one of the biggest coal mining areas in Indonesia. The mining activities give several impacts in environmental damages especially in the ex-coal mining land which has not been well managed. The impact includes an irreversible change of landscape and huge craters caused by open mining activities. In this study, an analysis is conducted for utilization of ex-coal mining land in Kutai Kartanegara as a reservoir of energy storage system type Pumped Hydroelectric Storage (PSH). The analysis provides a comparison of three variations of the piping line system. The study uses the spatial data in the form of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to calculate the time of starting operation system, expected generated energy, required energy for power plant operation and the efficiency of the system. This study compares some criteria based on three variations of the piping line system and the effect on the efficiency of the system.
Analysis of Palm-Oil-Based Biodiesel in Indonesia using Technological Innovation System Approach
Authors: Naimah Dintani , Morgunova Maria
Published: June 2018

Biodiesel blending mandate has been established in Indonesia since 2006. After 11 years of implementation, the level of biodiesel penetration on the market is still lower than the target. Technological Innovation System (TIS) approach allows to map factors that influence, either hinder or boost, the diffusion of biodiesel technology. The challenges that should be addressed are tax regulation; price fluctuation due to Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and fossil fuel price; lack of awareness from the society; inconsistency of policy; vulnerable financial funding from palm oil tax levy; lack of sustainability indicators for palm oil; and policy objection regarding palm oil tax levy. We suggest that an agreement, which contains commitment and willingness from all actors involved, should be created to reduce uncertainty towards implementation of biodiesel. Government should not only put incentive to the emerging technology but also reduce competition within the incumbent energy system to increase and stabilize biodiesel demand. Another way to increase biodiesel demand would be to raise awareness about negative consequences of increasing fossil fuel consumption and the benefits of biodiesel for the society.
Determination LMWL Wonosobo Area by Using Nuclear Technology, Case Study: Hydrogeology Study for Aqua Danone CSR Program
Authors: Budhie Wijatna Agus , Hendrayana Heru , Aliyah Fitrotun , Satriya Muhammad Azwar , Pratikno Bungkus
Published: June 2018

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program is one of the management concepts whereby the company integrates social and environmental aspect to support their business as the strategy to achieve the company goals for balancing between economic, social, and environmental imperatives. PT Tirta Investama Danone Aqua, which located in Wonosobo has a core business in supplying natural drinking water. To fulfil its responsibility in conserving nature and groundwater reserves, PT Tirta Investama Danone Aqua has a CSR program called Aqua Lestari. The determination of the receiving area of the CSR program should review and analyzed in order the CSR programs is not misplaced. PT Tirta Investama wants the CSR program to be given to the groundwater recharge areas for maintaining groundwater reserves sustainability. Therefore, a comprehensive study concluded to determine the groundwater recharge area studied from the aspects of geology, hydrogeology, and hydro isotope. The application of nuclear technology especially for stable isotope tracer can be used to know the groundwater recharge area, and modeling the flow of subsurface groundwater. Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL) is used for analysis of groundwater recharge area. The equation of LMWL Wonosobo is δD, ‰ = 8,102 * δ18O + 14,21‰.
Implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) Technique on Solar Tracking System Based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS)
Authors: Abadi Imam , Imron Choirul , Mardlijah  , Noriyati Ronny D.
Published: June 2018

Characteristic I-V of photovoltaic is depended on solar irradiation and operating temperature. Solar irradiation particularly affects the output current where the increasing solar irradiation will tend to increase the output current. Meanwhile, the operating temperature of photovoltaic module affects the output voltage where increasing temperature will reduce the output voltage. There is a point on the I-V curve where photovoltaic modules produce maximum possible output power that is called Maximum Power Point (MPP). A technique to track MPP on the I-V curve is known as Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). In this study, the MPPT has been successfully designed based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and integrated with solar tracking system to improve the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic modules. The designed ANFIS MPPT system consists of current and voltage sensors, buck-boost converter, and Arduino MEGA 2560 microcontroller as a controller. Varying amounts of lamp with 12V 10W rating arranged in series is used as load. Solar tracking system that is equipped with MPPT ANFIS able to increase the output power of photovoltaic modules by 46.198% relative to the fixed system when 3 lamps is used as load.
Performance Test of Solar-Powered Ice Maker: Case Study in South Lampung
Authors: Wullandari Putri , Rahman Hakim Arif , Sarwono Widiarto
Published: June 2018

The performance test of solar powered ice maker is being held at the fish auction spot of Kramat, South Lampung for 6 hours. The spesification of ice maker are: having the production capacity of 105 – 120 kg/ day, producing flakes ice with 2 x 3 x 3 mm dimension. The spesification of solar panel are: having maximum power of 200 W, 1,32 m length, 0,992 m width, and 1,3094 m2 area. In this test, we used 9 solar panel with the total area of 11,7846 m2. During the performance test, the intensity of sunlight, battery voltage, battery capacity, power input from solar panel, battery discharge current, maximum power consumption of ice maker, and total ice production are being measured. The sunlight-intensity value (lumen / m2) and the power input of the solar panel (watts) was plotted into a graph. Once the graph is created then add the trendline and create the equation. In a sunny-yet-cloudy weather conditions (at 24-33°C temperature and 65-95% humidity) in South Lampung, the relationship between the sunlight intensity with the power input of the solar panel is linear with the equation y = 0,008x + 143.6. Where the maximum intensity of sunlight is 121600 lm / m2 with the maximum power input of the solar panel (9 x 200Wp) is 1253 W. Total ice production for 6 hours is 28.42 kg or 4.74 kg per hour. This production resulted from a 760 W ice maker with a starting current of 4.6 A with a total power of 3.94 kWh.
Research and Development of a Power Monitoring System for the Sustainable Energy Management System Implementation at Green School, Bali, Indonesia
Authors: Anggraini Dita , Effendy Nazrul , Ihsan Al Hafiz Muhammad , Ojeda Luviano Daniel
Published: June 2018

Green School Bali, an international school which provides education for sustainability through entrepreneurial learning and natural environment won the Zayed Future Energy Prize for developing the new renewable energy projects. Currently, Green School is supported by 2 main power sources which come from Indonesian State Electricity Company (PLN) and Photovoltaics (PV) system electricity with power reach 23.1 kW and 21.6 kWp respectively. Both of the sources are distributed to the load based on the manual balancing and daily manual switching, which create the unbalanced load and high power loss. The key to achieving sustainable energy management is the availability of accurate measurement, recording, and analysis system of the power quality in the whole buildings. To meet the requirement of the sustainable energy management system at Green School, the monitoring system of the power and energy at Green School is developed. This system contains 2 data loggers and an Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The fixed data logger provides routine measurement and recording of power quality at the PLN meter, whereas the portable data logger provides the same function for each electricity panel. The monitoring system and human interface system integrate the intelligent humanmachine interface to an Ubidots platform and completed with online and offline data storage. This system is useful for supporting the sustainable energy management goal of Green School and the daily energy practitioner’s work with providing a proper advance power monitoring system that has low cost and compatible with Green School system’s demand. This project will also be used as a platform and teaching tool for students to develop similar projects and learn about IoT and cloud-based monitoring solutions with other measurements in the classroom.
Sustainable Innovation System Using Process Of Bagasse Become Sodium Lignosulfonate Surfactant For Enhanced Oil Recovery
Authors: Setiati Rini , Siregar Septoratno , Marhaendrajana Taufan , Wahyuningrum Deana
Published: June 2018

The purpose of this research is to get new product innovation process from bagasse, that is Sodium LignoSulfonate surfactant. Lignosulfonates surfactants in petroleum engineering are used as injection fluids into oil reservoirs to increase oil recovery, which is known as Enhanced Oil Recovery process. Lignosulfonates is made of lignin as raw material, which can be extracted from bagasse as one of its sources. Bagasse contains 24 - 25% lignin, so it is sufficient to be processed into lignosulfonates. Today, bagasse is one of the biomass resources widely used as a boiler fuel in sugar factory, source of animal feed, material for paper, cement and brick reinforcement .This study presents an innovation of bagasse utilization. This innovation involves two scientific application fields, firstly, chemistry in the processing of bagasse into sodium lignosulfonates surfactant and secondly, petroleum engineering in the effort of using sodium lignosulfonates surfactant to increase oil production from the reservoir. The last stage in this process is injection of the sodium lignosulfonates surfactant into a synthetic core in laboratory scale use water and surfactant injection.. The amount of oil that is produced from the injected core shows the increase in oil yield from the sodium lignosulfonates surfactant injection.
Cosmological Lithium Problems
Authors: Bertulani C.A. , chintak Shubh , Mukhamedzhanov A.M.
Published: June 2018

We briefly describe the cosmological lithium problems followed by a summary of our recent theoretical work on the magnitude of the effects of electron screening, thepossible existence of dark matter parallel universes and the use of non-extensive (Tsal-lis) statistics during big bang nucleosynthesis. Solutions within nuclear physics are also discussed and recent measurements of cross-sections based on indirect experimental techniques are summarized.
The LUNA experiment: past and future
Authors: Broggini Carlo
Published: June 2018

The essential ingredients of nuclear astrophysics are the thermonuclear reac-tions which shape the life and death of stars and which are responsible for the synthesis of the chemical elements in the Universe. Deep underground in the Gran Sasso Laboratory the cross sections of the key reactions responsible for the hydrogen burning in stars have been measured with two accelerators of 50 and 400 kV voltage right down to the energies of astrophysical interest. In particular, the main results obtained during the 'solar' phase of LUNA are here reviewed and their influence on our understanding of the properties of the neutrino and of the Sun is discussed. Then, the future of LUNA during the next decade is outlined. It will be mainly focused on the study of the nuclear burning stages after hydrogen burning: helium and carbon burning. All this will be accomplished thanks to a new 3.5 MV accelerator able to deliver high current beams of proton, helium and carbon which will start running under Gran Sasso in 2019.
The s-process in stellar sites
Authors: Cristallo Sergio
Published: June 2018

Stars are marvellous caldrons where all the elements of the Universe (apartfrom hydrogen and helium) have been synthesized. The solar system chemical distri-butionis the result of many pollution episodes from already extinct stellar generations, occurred at different epochs before the Sun formation. Main nucleosynthesis channels re-sponsiblefor the formation of heavy elements are the rapid neutron capture process (ther-process) and the slow neutron capture process (the s-process). Hereafter, I will describethe theory of the s-process and the stellar sites where it is active.
Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis
Authors: El Eid Mounib F.
Published: June 2018

This contribution deals with the important subject of the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements in the Galaxy. After an overview of several observational features, the physical processes responsible mainly for the formation of heavy elements will be described and linked to possible stellar sites and to galactic chemical evolution. In particular, we focus on the neutron-capture processes, namely the s-process (slow neutron capture) and the r-process (rapid neutron capture) and discuss some problems in connection with their sites and their outcome. The aim is to give a brief overview on the exciting subject of the heavy element nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy, emphasizing its importance to trace the galactic chemical evolution and illustrating the challenge of this subject.
Transfer reactions for nuclear astrophysics
Authors: Hammache Fairouz
Published: June 2018

Direct measurements of cross sections at stellar energies are very challenging - if at all possible. This is essentially due to the very low cross-sections of the reactions of interest (especially when it involves charged particles), and/or to the radioactive nature of many key nuclei. Direct measurements with charged particles are often performed at higher energies and then extrapolated down to stellar energies using R-matrix calculations. However, these extrapolations are delicate because of the possible existence of unobserved low-energy or sub-threshold resonances. In order to bypass the difficulties related to direct measurements, indirect methods such as transfer reactions are used. These experiments are usually performed at higher energies and their conditions are relatively less stringent than in direct measurements. However, these methods rely on theoretical models for which the input parameters may be an important source of systematic uncer-tainties and thus need to be determined carefully. In this manuscript, a short overview on the difficulties related to direct measurements will be given as well as a description of thetransfer reaction method and the theoretical concept behind. Finally, the method will be illustrated through two recent performed studies.
Direct measurements and detection techniques with low-energy RIBs
Authors: Yamaguchi H. , Hayakawa S. , Yang L. , Shimizu H. , Kahl D.
Published: June 2018

Astrophysical reactions involving radioactive isotopes (RI) are of importance for the stellar energy generation and nucleosynthesis especially in high-temperature astrophysical sites, such as X-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, and supermassive metalpoor stars. In spite of the essential diffculties in the experimental evaluation of those reaction rates, there are several successful approaches to study them, owing to the recent technical developments in the beam production, measurement method, and detectors. Among them, the measurements of α resonant scattering and (α, p) reactions using the thick-target method in inverse kinematics are discussed. The experiments at the low-energy RI beam separator CRIB, operated by Center for Nuclear Study (CNS), the University of Tokyo, are introduced as examples for such studies.
The 19F(α, p)22Ne and 23Na(p,α)20Ne reaction in AGB nucleosynthesis via THM
Authors: D’Agata G. , Pizzone R. G. , La Cognata M. , Indelicato I. , Spitaleri C. , Burjan V. , Cherubini S. , Di Pietro A. , Guardo G. L. , Gulino M. , La Commara M. , Lamia L. , Lattuada M. , Mazzocco M. , Mrazek J. , Milin M. , Palmerini S. , Parascandolo C. , Pierroutsakou D. , Rapisarda G.G. , Romano S. , Sergi M.L. , Soić N. , Spartá R. , Trippella O. , Tumino A.
Published: June 2018

In AGB environment, fluorine and sodium abundances are still matter of debate. About 19F (only stable isotope of fluorine), its abundance in the universe is strictly related to standard and extra-mixing processes taking place inside AGB-stars, that are considered to be the most important sites for its production. Nevertheless the way in which it is destroyed is far from being well understood. On the other hand, 23Na presence in Globular Clusters, along with is well-known anticorrelation with oxygen has made clear that this element must be produced in previous generations stars, and intermediatemass AGB stars are one of the possible candidates for its production. For this reason we studied the 19F(α,p)22Ne and 23Na(p,α)20Ne reactions in the energy range of relevance for astrophysics via the Trojan Horse Method (THM), using the three-body reactions 6Li(19F, p22Ne)d and 23Na(d, pn)20Ne.
Preparation of Activated Carbons from Waste External Thermal-Insulating Phenolic Foam Boards
Authors: Gao Lijuan , Zheng Xiaojun , Zhu Yaming , Zhao Xuefei , Cheng Junxia
Published: June 2018

Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared by steam physical activation or KOH chemical activation with the waste external thermal-insulating phenolic foam board as the raw material. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific area, pore-size distribution and iodine value were used to characterize the properties of ACs. AC-1(with the method of KOH chemical activation) has the iodine value of 2300mg/g, BET specific area of 1293 m2g-1, average pore-size of 2.4 nm, and mainly composed of micropore and relatively small mesopore. AC-2(with the method of steam physical activation) has the iodine value of 1665mg/g. Compared with AC-2, AC-1 had a pore-size distribution with more evenly and relative concentrated, it’s belonging to the high microporosity materials. Actually, chemical activation had more significant influence on destruction of the pore wall than physical activation.
Exploiting a Simple Method for the Determination of Manganese in Polyethylene Lined Tubing for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries
Authors: Shao Xiaodong , Shi Xin
Published: June 2018

The polyethylene lined tubing is the key to enabling the industry to meet some of the energy security challenges that nations face today. It is well known that manganese is an important element in polyethylene lined tubing. In this paper, a simple spectrophotometric method was described for the determination of manganese in polyethylene lined tubing. The method was based on the oxidation-reduction reaction between ammonium persulfate and manganese(II) producing manganese(VII) in the presence of silver nitrate as a catalyst. The characteristic wavelength of maximum absorption of manganese(VII) was obtained locating at 530 nm. Under the optimum reaction conditions the absorption value was proportional to the concentration of manganese in the range of 0.2%~1.9% (R2 = 0.9997), and the relative standard deviation was less than 3.0% (n=5). The proposed method was applied successfully to determine manganese in polyethylene lined tubing real samples.