bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identifying Phage Virion Proteins by Using Two-Step Feature Selection Methods
Authors: Tan Jiu-Xin , Dao Fu-Ying , Lv Hao , Feng Peng-Mian , Ding Hui
Published: August 2018

Accurate identification of phage virion protein is not only a key step for understanding the function of the phage virion protein but also helpful for further understanding the lysis mechanism of the bacterial cell. Since traditional experimental methods are time-consuming and costly for identifying phage virion proteins, it is extremely urgent to apply machine learning methods to accurately and efficiently identify phage virion proteins. In this work, a support vector machine (SVM) based method was proposed by mixing multiple sets of optimal g-gap dipeptide compositions. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance (mRMR) with an increment feature selection (IFS) were applied to single out the optimal feature set. In the five-fold cross-validation test, the proposed method achieved an overall accuracy of 87.95%. We believe that the proposed method will become an efficient and powerful method for scientists concerning phage virion proteins.
The Effect of Absorption-Enhancement and the Mechanism of the PAMAM Dendrimer on Poorly Absorbable Drugs
Authors: Lu Juan , Li Nannan , Gao Yaochun , Li Nan , Guo Yifei , Liu Haitao , Chen Xi , Zhu Chunyan , Dong Zhengqi , Yamamoto Akira
Published: August 2018

The polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer is a highly efficient absorption promoter. In the present study, we studied the absorption-enhancing effects and the mechanism of PAMAM dendrimers with generation 0 to generation 3 (G0–G3) and concentrations (0.1–1.0%) on the pulmonary absorption of macromolecules. The absorption-enhancing mechanisms were elucidated by microarray, western blotting analysis, and PCR. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextrans (FDs) with various molecular weights were used as model drugs of poorly absorbable drugs. The absorption-enhancing effects of PAMAM dendrimers on the pulmonary absorption of FDs were in a generation- and concentration-dependent manner. The G3 PAMAM dendrimer with high effectiveness was considered to the best absorption enhancer for improving the pulmonary absorption of FDs. G3 PAMAM dendrimers at three different concentrations were non-toxic to Calu-3 cells. Based on the consideration between efficacy and cost, the 0.1% G3 PAMAM dendrimer was selected for subsequent studies. The results showed that treatment with a 0.1% G3 PAMAM dendrimer could increase the secretion of organic cation transporters (OCTs), OCT1, OCT2, and OCT3, which might be related to the absorption-enhancing mechanisms of the pulmonary absorption of FDs. These findings suggested that PAMAM dendrimers might be potentially safe absorption enhancers for improving absorption of FDs by increasing the secretion of OCT1, OCT2, and OCT3.
Effects of Carbon Source on TiC Particles’ Distribution, Tensile, and Abrasive Wear Properties of In Situ TiC/Al-Cu Nanocomposites Prepared in the Al-Ti-C System
Authors: Gao Yu-Yang , Qiu Feng , Liu Tian-Shu , Chu Jian-Ge , Zhao Qing-Long , Jiang Qi-Chuan
Published: August 2018

The in situ TiC/Al-Cu nanocomposites were fabricated in the Al-Ti-C reaction systems with various carbon sources by the combined method of combustion synthesis, hot pressing, and hot extrusion. The carbon sources used in this paper were the pure C black, hybrid carbon source (50 wt.% C black + 50 wt.% CNTs) and pure CNTs. The average sizes of nano-TiC particles range from 67 nm to 239 nm. The TiC/Al-Cu nanocomposites fabricated by the hybrid carbon source showed more homogenously distributed nano-TiC particles, higher tensile strength and hardness, and better abrasive wear resistance than those of the nanocomposites fabricated by pure C black and pure CNTs. As the nano-TiC particles content increased, the tensile strength, hardness, and the abrasive wear resistance of the nanocomposites increased. The 30 vol.% TiC/Al-Cu nanocomposite fabricated by the hybrid carbon source showed the highest yield strength (531 MPa), tensile strength (656 MPa), hardness (331.2 HV), and the best abrasive wear resistance.
The Experience of Victimisation among Muslim Adolescents in the UK: The Effect of Psychological and Religious Factors
Authors: Francis Leslie J. , McKenna Ursula
Published: August 2018

This study set out to explore the levels of victimisation experienced by Muslim adolescents in the UK, the extent to which victimisation is conceptualised in religious terms, and the extent to which individual differences in the experience of victimisation is related to personal factors, psychological factors and religious factors. Data provided by 335 13- to 15-year-old Muslim students from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales demonstrated that one in four Muslim students (25%) reported being bullied because of their religion. These students saw their religious identity as being a more important cause of their victimisation than their ethnicity, their colour, or their name. Male and female Muslim students were equally vulnerable to victimisation. Psychological and religious variables predicted individual differences in vulnerability to victimisation among Muslim students.
Women, Water Resource Management, and Sustainable Development: The Turkey-North Cyprus Water Pipeline Project
Authors: Eminel Sülün Emine
Published: August 2018

Women’s role in water resource management is recognized, yet the implementation of methods and strategies to get beyond gender-based obstacles to women’s equal participation in water resource management related projects remain vague. Mainstream considerations on the gender aspects of development and environment focus on women as having an intrinsic relationship with the environment. Women are perceived as a natural reflection of their responsibilities for the household and the comfort and security of future generations. Contrary to mainstream environmental and political ecology research, this paper sees gender as relevant within policy and practice across multiple levels, and within institutions related to natural resource governance. Based on this, the paper looks at the sustainable development and water governance issues with the help of a specific case: the Turkey-North Cyprus Water Pipeline Project. Through broad reviews of project documentation, interviews with people who were directly involved with the project and with women’s organizations the paper draws insights on the gender aspect of the decision-making mechanisms related to water governance. The results indicate that participation by women in resource management is marginal in North Cyprus. The paper discusses that this is a reflection of a broader problem, which is gender inequality. In conclusion, one can argue that future water projects need to realize more sustainable outcomes and greater effects on gender equality in North Cyprus.
Integrating Drone Imagery into High Resolution Satellite Remote Sensing Assessments of Estuarine Environments
Authors: Gray Patrick C. , Ridge Justin T. , Poulin Sarah K. , Seymour Alexander C. , Schwantes Amanda M. , Swenson Jennifer J. , Johnston David W.
Published: August 2018

Very high-resolution satellite imagery (≤5 m resolution) has become available on a spatial and temporal scale appropriate for dynamic wetland management and conservation across large areas. Estuarine wetlands have the potential to be mapped at a detailed habitat scale with a frequency that allows immediate monitoring after storms, in response to human disturbances, and in the face of sea-level rise. Yet mapping requires significant fieldwork to run modern classification algorithms and estuarine environments can be difficult to access and are environmentally sensitive. Recent advances in unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS, or drones), coupled with their increased availability, present a solution. UAS can cover a study site with ultra-high resolution (<5 cm) imagery allowing visual validation. In this study we used UAS imagery to assist training a Support Vector Machine to classify WorldView-3 and RapidEye satellite imagery of the Rachel Carson Reserve in North Carolina, USA. UAS and field-based accuracy assessments were employed for comparison across validation methods. We created and examined an array of indices and layers including texture, NDVI, and a LiDAR DEM. Our results demonstrate classification accuracy on par with previous extensive fieldwork campaigns (93% UAS and 93% field for WorldView-3; 92% UAS and 87% field for RapidEye). Examining change between 2004 and 2017, we found drastic shoreline change but general stability of emergent wetlands. Both WorldView-3 and RapidEye were found to be valuable sources of imagery for habitat classification with the main tradeoff being WorldView’s fine spatial resolution versus RapidEye’s temporal frequency. We conclude that UAS can be highly effective in training and validating satellite imagery.
Measurement of Planetary Boundary Layer Winds with Scanning Doppler Lidar
Authors: Park Soojin , Kim Sang-Woo , Park Moon-Soo , Song Chang-Keun
Published: August 2018

The accurate measurement of wind profiles in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is important not only for numerical weather prediction, but also for air quality modeling. Two wind retrieval methods using scanning Doppler light detection and ranging (lidar) measurements were compared and validated with simultaneous radiosonde soundings. A comparison with 17 radiosonde sounding profiles showed that the sine-fitting method was able to retrieve a larger number of data points, but the singular value decomposition method showed significantly smaller bias (0.57 m s−1) and root-mean-square error (1.75 m s−1) with radiosonde soundings. Increasing the averaging time interval of radial velocity for obtaining velocity azimuth display scans to 15 min resulted in better agreement with radiosonde soundings due to the signal averaging effect on noise. Simultaneous measurements from collocated wind Doppler lidar and aerosol Mie-scattering lidar revealed the temporal evolution of PBL winds and the vertical distribution of aerosols within the PBL.
Land Surface Albedo Derived on a Ten Daily Basis from Meteosat Second Generation Observations: The NRT and Climate Data Record Collections from the EUMETSAT LSA SAF
Authors: Carrer Dominique , Moparthy Suman , Lellouch Gabriel , Ceamanos Xavier , Pinault Florian , Freitas Sandra C. , Trigo Isabel F.
Published: August 2018

Land surface albedo determines the splitting of downwelling solar radiation into components which are either reflected back to the atmosphere or absorbed by the surface. Land surface albedo is an important variable for the climate community, and therefore was defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV). Within the scope of the Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) of EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), a near-real time (NRT) daily albedo product was developed in the last decade from observations provided by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument on board the geostationary satellites of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series. In this study we present a new collection of albedo satellite products based on the same satellite data. The MSG Ten-day Albedo (MTAL) product incorporates MSG observations over 31 days with a frequency of NRT production of 10 days. The MTAL collection is more dedicated to climate analysis studies compared to the daily albedo that was initially designed for the weather prediction community. For this reason, a homogeneous reprocessing of MTAL was done in 2018 to generate a climate data record (CDR). The resulting product is called MTAL-R and has been made available to the community in addition to the NRT version of the MTAL product which has been available for several years. The retrieval algorithm behind the MTAL products comprises three distinct modules: One for atmospheric correction, one for daily inversion of a semi-empirical model of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function, and one for monthly composition, that also determines surface albedo values. In this study the MTAL-R CDR is compared to ground surface measurements and concomitant albedo products collected by sensors on-board polar-orbiting satellites (SPOT-VGT and MODIS). We show that MTAL-R meets the quality requirements if MODIS or SPOT-VGT are considered as reference. This work leads to 14 years of production of geostationary land surface albedo products with a guaranteed continuity in the LSA SAF for the future years with the forthcoming third generation of European geostationary satellites.
Energy Efficient Management of Pipelines in Buildings Using Linear Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Varshney Sudeep , Kumar Chiranjeev , Swaroop Abhishek , Khanna Ashish , Gupta Deepak , Rodrigues Joel J. P. C. , Pinheiro Plácido R. , De Albuquerque Victor Hugo C.
Published: August 2018

The efficient and safe management of air conditioner (AC), Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and water pipelines in large buildings is a major challenge for the safety of these buildings. In recent years, Linear Wireless Sensor Networks (LWSN) are being used extensively for monitoring of long natural gas, water, and oil pipelines. LWSNs can also be used for efficient and safe management of AC, PNG and water pipelines in large buildings. In this paper, a scheme for optimal placement of sensors and base stations in a linear fashion to monitor the various pipelines used in large buildings has been proposed. The proposed scheme utilizes the Lion Optimization Algorithm (LOA) and has been compared with three strategies, namely Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Greedy Approach with respect to throughput, lifetime and end-to-end delay. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme exhibits better performance in comparison to the other three considered techniques for all the three parameters. The most striking feature of the proposed approach is that optimization is more effective when the length of the pipeline is more as far as end-to-end delay is concerned. The lifetime of the network is significantly improved using the proposed approach, especially when the length of the pipeline is of medium size, which makes the proposed scheme suitable for energy efficient buildings.
Design and Implementation of a Novel Polarimetric Active Radar Calibrator for Gaofen-3 SAR
Authors: Li Liang , Zhu Yongtao , Hong Jun , Ming Feng , Wang Yu
Published: August 2018

The Chinese first fully polarimetric space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-Gaofen-3 (GF-3) was launched in August 2016, which operates at the C-band and the resolution can reach 1 m. Polarimetric SAR calibration is a procedure that corrects the polarization distortion of a measured scattering matrix by referring to the scattering matrix of a known target. The present paper describes the principle, design, manufacture, and measurement results of a novel polarimetric active radar calibrator (PARC) designed for GF-3. A new design method for PARC was presented and two dual-polarized antennas with very high polarization purity were used. The internal calibration technique was introduced to ensure balance in the amplitude and phase, which ensures the precision of the PARC’s scattering matrices. The results we obtained through measurement in the microwave anechoic chamber and experiments in in-orbit calibration agree well with the theoretical predictions, and the novel PARC presented is proved to be well suited for polarization and radiometric calibration of GF-3.
Future Trend Forecast by Empirical Wavelet Transform and Autoregressive Moving Average
Authors: Wang Qiusheng , Li Haipeng , Lin Jinyong , Zhang Chunxia
Published: August 2018

In engineering and technical fields, a large number of sensors are applied to monitor a complex system. A special class of signals are often captured by those sensors. Although they often have indirect or indistinct relationships among them, they simultaneously reflect the operating states of the whole system. Using these signals, the field engineers can evaluate the operational states, even predict future behaviors of the monitored system. A novel method of future operational trend forecast of a complex system is proposed in this paper. It is based on empirical wavelet transform (EWT) and autoregressive moving average (ARMA) techniques. Firstly, empirical wavelet transform is used to extract the significant mode from each recorded signal, which reflects one aspect of the operating system. Secondly, the system states are represented by the indicator function which are obtained from those normalized and weighted significant modes. Finally, the future trend is forecast by the parametric model of ARMA. The effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method are verified by a set of numerical experiments.
An Accurate Measurement Method for Azimuth Pointing of Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Antenna Beams Based on Ground Receiver
Authors: Liang Weibin , Jia Zengzeng , Kang Lihong , Hong Jun , Lei Bin , Zhang Qingjun , Chen Qi
Published: August 2018

The paper proposes a new method for measuring the azimuth pointing of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) antenna beams based on the ground receiver, which can receive and record complex sampling data of the pulse signals transmitted from the spaceborne SAR. The center of the antenna pattern is extracted from the complex sampling data amplitude envelope to obtain the time when the beam main lobe center irradiates the ground receiver, and the range migration information is extracted from the complex sampling data to obtain the time when the satellite is over the top of the ground receiver. The results of Chinese civilian remote sensing GaoFen-3 SAR satellite experiment data processing show that the measurement accuracy of this method is better than 0.002°, which can be applied to the accurate measurement of azimuth pointing of various low Earth orbit (LEO) SAR antenna beams.
Cooperative Data Collection Mechanism Using Multiple Mobile Sinks in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Wen Weimin , Chang Chih-Yung , Zhao Shenghui , Shang Cuijuan
Published: August 2018

Data collection problems have received much attention in recent years. Many data collection algorithms that constructed a path and adopted one or more mobile sinks to collect data along the paths have been proposed in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, the efficiency of the established paths still can be improved. This paper proposes a cooperative data collection algorithm (CDCA), which aims to prolong the network lifetime of the given WSNs. The CDCA initially partitions the n sensor nodes into k groups and assigns each mobile sink acting as the local mobile sink to collect data generated by the sensors of each group. Then the CDCA selects an appropriate set of data collection points in each group and establishes a separate path passing through all the data collection points in each group. Finally, a global path is constructed and the rendezvous time points and the speed of each mobile sink are arranged for collecting data from k local mobile sinks to the global mobile sink. Performance evaluations reveal that the proposed CDCA outperforms the related works in terms of rendezvous time, network lifetime, fairness index as well as efficiency index.
The Socio-Political Debate of Dying Today in the United Kingdom and New Zealand: ‘Letting Go’ of the Biomedical Model of Care in Order to Develop a Contemporary Ars Moriendi
Authors: Winnington Rhona , Holroyd Eleanor , Zambas Shelaine
Published: August 2018

Death is a reality of life. Despite this inevitability, death today remains unwelcome and has been sequestered into the enclaves of medical practice as a means of quelling the rising tide of fear it provokes. Medical practice currently maintains power over the dying individual, actualised through the selective collaboration between medicine and law as a means of subverting the individual who attempts to disrupt the contemporary accepted norms of dying. There is, however, a shift on the horizon as to whether we can make the notion of a true choice become a reality in New Zealand. This serves to offer a compelling movement towards individuals seeking control of their dying trajectory to actualise the notion of individual choice. With this shifting landscape there is an opportunity to be grasped to change how we manage our dying trajectory away from the biomedical patterns of behaviour when dying, in order to balance life decisions. To achieve this prospect, we need to engage with a framework upon which to pin the changes. This paper offers a re-framing and re-presenting approach, using illustrative examples that draw upon British and New Zealand literature, together with over 50 years of professional nursing, and the Ars Moriendi to reflect upon the self-centricity of the contemporary Western individual to access a ‘good death’ of choice.
A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information
Authors: Richter Isabel , Thøgersen John , Klöckner Christian A.
Published: August 2018

A large body of research supports the idea of social norms communication promoting pro-social and pro-environmental behaviour. This paper investigates social norms communication in the field. Signs prompting consumers about sustainable seafood labels and informing them about other consumers’ sustainable choices were displayed in supermarkets in Norway and Germany. Seafood sales (sustainably labelled versus unlabelled products) were observed before, during, and after the implementation of the signs. The expected change towards more sustainable choices was generally not found. In Norway, the choice of sustainable seafood increased in the prompt-only condition, but the effect was neutralised when social norms information was added. In Germany, social norm messages lead to a decline in sustainable choices compared to baseline, a boomerang effect. Overall, an increase in the purchase of seafood (both sustainably labelled and unlabelled) was noted during the intervention. A second study was carried out to further explore the finding that consumers were mainly primed with “seafood” as a food group. In a laboratory setting, participants were confronted with stereotypical food pictures, combined with short sentences encouraging different consumption patterns. Subsequently, they were asked to choose food products in a virtual shop. Confirming the findings of Study 1, participants chose more of the groceries belonging to the food group they were primed with. These studies suggest that social norms interventions—recently often perceived as “the Holy Grail” for behaviour change—are not as universally applicable as suggested in the literature. According to this study, even descriptive norm messages can produce boomerang effects.
A Multi-Level Privacy-Preserving Approach to Hierarchical Data Based on Fuzzy Set Theory
Authors: Wang Jinyan , Cai Guoqing , Liu Chen , Wu Jingli , Li Xianxian
Published: August 2018

Nowadays, more and more applications are dependent on storage and management of semi-structured information. For scientific research and knowledge-based decision-making, such data often needs to be published, e.g., medical data is released to implement a computer-assisted clinical decision support system. Since this data contains individuals’ privacy, they must be appropriately anonymized before to be released. However, the existing anonymization method based on l-diversity for hierarchical data may cause serious similarity attacks, and cannot protect data privacy very well. In this paper, we utilize fuzzy sets to divide levels for sensitive numerical and categorical attribute values uniformly (a categorical attribute value can be converted into a numerical attribute value according to its frequency of occurrences), and then transform the value levels to sensitivity levels. The privacy model ( α l e v h , k)-anonymity for hierarchical data with multi-level sensitivity is proposed. Furthermore, we design a privacy-preserving approach to achieve this privacy model. Experiment results demonstrate that our approach is obviously superior to existing anonymous approach in hierarchical data in terms of utility and security.
Quantification Assessment of Extraneous Water Infiltration and Inflow by Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of the Sewer Network
Authors: Beheshti Maryam , Sægrov Sveinung
Published: August 2018

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) of unwanted water in separate urban sewer networks are critical issues for sustainable urban water management. Accurate quantification of unwanted water I/I from individual sources into a sewer system is an essential task for assessing the status of the sewer network and conducting rehabilitation measures. The study aim was to quantify extraneous water I/I into a sanitary sewer network by a temperature-based method, i.e., fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS), which was applied for the first time in a separate sewer network of a catchment in Trondheim, Norway. The DTS technology is a relatively new technology for sewer monitoring, developed over the past decade. It is based on continual temperature measurement along a fiber-optic cable installed in the sewer network. The feasibility of this method has been tested in both experimental discharges and for the rainfall-derived I/I. The results achieved from the monitoring campaign established the promising applicability of the DTS technique in the quantification analysis. Furthermore, the application of this method in quantifying real-life, rainfall-derived I/I into the sewer system was demonstrated and verified during wet weather conditions.
Magnetic Waves Excited by Newborn Interstellar Pickup Ions Measured by the Voyager Spacecraft from 1 to 45 au. II. Instability and Turbulence Analyses
Authors: Hollick Sophia J. , Smith Charles W. , Pine Zackary B. , Argall Matthew R. , Joyce Colin J. , Isenberg Philip A. , Vasquez Bernard J. , Schwadron Nathan A. , Sokół Justyna M. , Bzowski Maciej , Kubiak Marzena A.
Published: August 2018

In this companion paper, we describe low-frequency magnetic waves observed in 637 intervals of Voyager 1 and 2 data from launch late in 1977 through 1990. By the end of 1990 the Voyager 1 spacecraft reached 43.5 au, while the Voyager 2 spacecraft reaches 33.6 au. The waves are attributed to newborn interstellar pickup He+ and H+. In this analysis we follow the idea put forward by Cannon et al. and followed by Fisher et al. and Aggarwal et al. wherein the necessary condition for the observation of the waves is that the wave growth rate exceeds the background turbulence rate. We explore this idea and build on the conclusion in our companion paper that the waves are typically observed in rarefaction regions where the turbulence level is low and noise-dominated signals sometimes distort the computed background turbulence spectra.
A Parsec-scale Bipolar H2 Outflow in the Massive Star-forming Infrared Dark Cloud Core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1*

†
Authors: Kim Hyun-Jeong , Koo Bon-Chul , Pyo Tae-Soo , Davis Christopher J.
Published: August 2018

We present a parsec-scale molecular hydrogen (H2 1–0 S(1) at 2.12 μm) outflow discovered from the UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H2. The outflow is located in the infrared dark cloud core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1 at 1.7 kpc and is likely associated with two young stellar objects (YSOs) at the center. Although the overall morphology of the outflow is bipolar along the NE–SW direction with a brighter lobe to the southwest, the detailed structure consists of several flows and knots. With a total length of ∼1 pc, the outflow luminosity is fairly high with

, implying a massive outflow-driving YSO if the entire outflow is driven by a single source. The two putative driving sources that are located at the outflow center show photometric variability of ≳1 mag in H- and K-bands. Together with their early evolutionary stage from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, this indicates that both are capable of ejecting outflows and may be eruptive variable YSOs. The YSO masses inferred from SED fitting are ∼10 M
⊙ and ∼5 M
⊙, which suggests the association of the outflow with massive YSOs. The geometrical morphology of the outflow is well-explained by the lower-mass YSO by assuming a single-source origin; however, without kinematic information, the contribution from the higher mass YSO cannot be ruled out. Considering star formation process by fragmentation of a high-mass core into several lower-mass stars, we also suggest the possible presence of another, yet-undetected driving source that is deeply embedded in the core.
MAJOR FACTORS IMPEDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Authors: Udawatta Nilupa , Zuo Jian , Chiveralls Keri , Yuan Hongping , George Zillante , Elmualim Abbas
Published: August 2018

This article aims to identify barriers to implementing waste management practices in construction projects and their interrelationship, based on the particular context of Australia. Interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted as the primary data collection methods supported by the findings of a charrette. The findings reveal twenty critical barriers to implementing waste management practices in Australian construction projects. Four underlying factors that impede waste management practices are extracted based on results of an exploratory factor analysis. These include rigidity of construction practices, construction project characteristics, awareness, experience and commitment, and the nascent nature of waste management. The study also finds that while both human factors and technical factors act as barriers to implementing waste management practices in Australian construction projects, human factors are more dominant. Thus, it is essential to address all these barriers in the early stage of construction projects for reducing waste generation.
TRANSITION TOWARDS GREEN FACILITY MANAGEMENT: BRIDGING THE KNOWLEDGE GAPS OF FACILITIES MANAGERS
Authors: Lu Yujie , Chang Ruidong , Chong Dan , Ngiam Min Li Joyce
Published: August 2018

The building industry has experienced a widespread transition towards green buildings and consequently a growing need for green facilities professionals to maximize green building potential in terms of energy efficiency, water conservation and waste reduction in their operational stage. Green buildings have unique technological systems that require facility managers to have relevant knowledge and skills to conduct proper facilities management and maintenance planning to maximize the potential of green buildings. It is important, then, to investigate whether knowledge gaps for facility managers exist with respect to green buildings, and if so, how these knowledge gaps could be bridged. Though several studies have investigated the operation and maintenance processes of green buildings, few studies considered facility managers' knowledge and skills regarding green facility management (GFM). Set in the context of Singapore, this study aims to holistically investigate the knowledge and skills of managing green buildings in the community of facility managers, including their perceived differences between green and conventional buildings, the difficulty of GFM, the knowledge gaps of GFM and the underlying reasons, as well as how the gaps could be bridged. A total of 90 survey responses were collected and eight interviews with key stakeholders were conducted, which indicate facility managers believe green buildings do have special features that require unique knowledge and skills, and currently knowledge gaps do exist hindering the transition towards GFM. Therefore, this paper derives plausible solutions to bridge the knowledge gaps, such as establishing holistic subsidies for those facility managers participating in training programs of GFM. This study provides references for researchers and relevant governmental departments to better understand industry professionals' knowledge gaps in the transitioning process towards a green built environment, and to make better policy decisions bridging the knowledge gaps and thereby facilitating the green transition process.
The Chironomidae of the Western Carpathian helocrenes: Metacommunity structuring and its drivers in unique habitats
Authors: Šorfová Vanda , Syrovátka Vít
Published: August 2018

Springs are unique and vulnerable habitats, which have always been rather out of focus of the scientist interest. Nevertheless, they frequently host very diverse and species-rich assemblages with high proportion of species more or less adapted to their unique environment and can act as biodiversity hotspots in some areas. The Western Carpathian springs are helocrene springs and represent wide variety of different habitat types, from mineral rich sparsely-vegetated or bryophytes-rich covered helocrenes to acidic peaty sites. Such diversification allows the creation of highly diverse assemblages, in which Chironomidae usually dominate in both species richness and abundance. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of chironomid assemblages inhabiting the unique environment of spring fens and factors driving the metacommunity structuring and populations of individual taxa. We examined chironomid assemblages of 62 small, treeless helocrenes sites, which are highly isolated from each other by the terrestrial environment constituting dispersal barriers such as the east-west oriented mountain ridges and valleys. The sampling was performed to cover mesohabitat heterogeneity of study sites. Two main mesohabitats were sampled, the plot with flowing water and coarser substratum near water source (the lotic mesohabitat), and water-logged soil with standing water (the lentic mesohabitat). Study sites hosted nearly 100 chironomid taxa, both mesohabitats were inhabited by chironomid assemblages similar in number of species and abundances and the local environment was proved to be the main driver of compositional changes in chironomid assemblages as expected. Moreover, the significant spatial structure of assemblages was found at the lentic mesohabitat, while biotic interactions described by the abundance of Gammarus fossarum and taxa richness and abundances of predators did not significantly contribute to compositional changes in assemblages at any mesohabitat. Nevertheless, taxa-specific responses revealed populations of many taxa significantly affected by biotic interactions, especially at the more stable lotic mesohabitat, which is in concordance with suggested greater importance of biotic interactions at stable environment. Our results emphasized the importance of multilevel approach in community ecology for proper distinction between different mechanisms of metacommunity structuring. Biotic interaction such as competition can result into the same community patterns as environmental filtering, thus the involvement of detailed analyses of species requirements and interactions is necessary.
Mechanisms regulating CO2 and CH4 dynamics in the Azorean volcanic lakes (São Miguel Island, Portugal)
Authors: Tassi Franco , Cabassi Jacopo , Andrade Cesar , Callieri Cristiana , Silva Catarina , Viveiros Fatima , Corno Gianluca , Vaselli Orlando , Selmo Enrico , Gallorini Andrea , Ricci Andrea , Giannini Luciano , Cruz Josè V.
Published: August 2018

Chemical and isotopic vertical profiles from the volcanic lakes of Sete Cidades, Santiago, Fogo, Congro and Furnas (Island of São Miguel, Azores Archipelago, Portugal) were studied to investigate the biogeochemical processes acting at different depths, with a focus on the CO2 and CH4 dynamics. These lakes are fed by meteoric water affected by seawater spray and interacting with volcanic rocks at a relatively low extent. In addition to volcanogenic gas inputs, the biogeochemical processes are influenced by microbial activities since the lakes offer specialized ecological niches for oxic and anoxic metabolism. The lakes were sampled in two extreme conditions of (partial) mixing (winter) and stratification (summer), respectively. The seasonal thermal stratification favored the development of anaerobic hypolimnia, showing relatively high concentrations of NH4+, NO3-, P and other minor species (Fe, Mn, Zn, As) controlled by microbial activity and minerogenetic processes occurring within the lake sediments. The strongly negative d13C-TDIC values measured in almost all the studied lakes suggest dominant contribution of organic carbon. Dissolved gases were mostly consisting of atmospheric compounds with significant concentrations of CO2 and CH4. The d13C-CO2 values were intermediate between those measured in the hydrothermal fluids and those typical of biogenic CO2. Dissolved CH4, which was the most abundant extra-atmospheric gas in the anoxic waters, was measured at significant concentrations even in the aerobic layers, especially in the winter season. This unexpected feature may tentatively be explained by admitting i) convective mixing of shallow and deep waters, and/or ii) aerobic CH4 production. Further investigations, focusing on the recognition of microbial populations able to produce CH4 at different redox conditions, may be useful to corroborate these intriguing hypotheses.
Critique of Auguste Comte’s ideology on the death of religion
Authors: Okoli Anuli B. , Uroko Favour C.
Published: August 2018

Secularism dealt with the known, whereas religion dealt with the unknown. The rise of secularism threatened the survival of religion. This was the thesis of Auguste Comte. He said there would be a time when the irrelevant nature and death of religion would be recorded. At this point, man would have been able to unravel most of the unknown around him, hence no need for religion. The article has as its aim to examine the flaws in Auguste Comte’s ideology on the existence of religion and secularism together. Using the descriptive phenomenological method of research, which allows for an objective analysis of the problem, it was discovered that, notwithstanding Comte’s theory, religion and secularism have continued to exist side by side since the 20th century to the contemporary 21st century because they are complementary. It was also discovered that religion exerts a force that cannot be silenced by an industrial revolution of the world. Religion provides the solution to man’s innermost needs which cannot be threatened with the rise of secularism.
Scriptural reasoning: An expression of what it means to be a Faculty of Theology and Religion
Authors: Beyers Jaco
Published: August 2018

During 2017, the year of its centenary celebration, the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria finalised the process to change its name to the Faculty of Theology and Religion. This indicates an inclusivity and accommodative policy for all to study at the faculty. However, what does it mean to become a faculty of theology and religion at a public university in 21st century South Africa? The consequences and implications have not been thought through completely. This article does not pretend to identify all consequences of a name change but wants to contribute to the conversation by suggesting that the concept of scriptural reasoning might be one practice to be implemented as a consequence. Scriptural reasoning at a faculty of Theology and Religion, which is part of a public university in the South African context, attests to the way in which the faculty perceives its own identity. The relation between theology, religion and a public university is discussed, indicating the possibilities of implementing scriptural reasoning.
Deterioration of non-print materials in university libraries: the case of North Central
Authors: Tsegba Jacob F. , Agbo Amaoge D. , Angereke Felicia
Published: August 2018

This study analyzed the deterioration of non-print materials in University libraries in North Central Nigeria. It sought to examine the types of non-print materials available in university libraries, causes of deterioration of non-print materials, extent of deterioration of non-print materials in university libraries and the measures for preventing deterioration of non-print materials in the university libraries. Descriptive survey design was used for the study with a population of 467 library staff. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire, interview and observation checklist. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Percentages, weighted mean scores and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The study found that the type of non print materials available in university libraries in North Central Nigeria were, computers, servers, discs, flash, CD, VCD, DVDs, Digital video camera, CD-ROMs, plasma televisions, tape recorders, cassettes, slides, multi-media projectors. The study equally found that major causes of deterioration of non-print materials in the university libraries under study were poor ventilation, manhandling, exposure to dust, ultraviolet radiation, water, light, lack of proper maintenance, loss of data as a result of system crash and technology obsolescence. Conclusion and recommendations were made based on the research findings.Keywords: Deterioration, Non-print Materials, University Library
Electronic information resources and the legal profession: the case of Oyo State High Courts, Nigeria
Authors: Moruf Hawwau A. , Adeleke Lateef A.
Published: August 2018

Electronic information resources as a product of technological development plays a vital role in providing a veritable platform for networking among legal practitioners as well as guarantee timely access to legal information. This study examined the role played by digital/electronic resources in legal profession taking Oyo state as a case study. Descriptive survey design was used for the study and questionnaire as a research instrument was administered to judges, lawyers and law library personnel. The studies found that majority of respondents were aware of the available electronic resources essential to legal practice and research. Though, some of the online legal information resources were not available, email discussion list and online journal were the most used. It was observed that most court libraries are still operating manually as e-legal resources like law reference materials, laws of other countries, human right needs, law reports, judged cases and court proceedings were poorly accessible. However, findings indicate that the use of electronic legal information resources leads to faster and timely execution of cases and also provide platform for comparative jurisprudence.Keywords: Legal profession, electronic resources, technology, court, legal information
Public servants’ use and evaluation of public library resources and services in Ogun State, Nigeria
Authors: Diyaolu Basirat Olubukola , Joda Michael Duro , Amusa Oyintola Isiaka
Published: August 2018

Public library is meant to serve the needs of all and sundry in the society without any bias. This study examined the use of public library by public servants in Ogun State. The main objective of this study was to find out the level at which the public servants use the public library in Ogun State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and simple random sampling techniques was used to select two thousand one hundred (2100) respondents (Public servants) in Ogun State. The state has nineteen (19) ministries with staff strength of twenty one thousand (21000). Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study, and Statistical Package in Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to compute the data gathered. Descriptive statistics with tables of frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that most of the public servants did not register with public library in the state. It was further revealed that the little percentage of the public servants that make use of the library are satisfied with most of their services, with the exception of internet access, computer and printing which services are relatively poor. It was recommended that orientation programme such as seminars and workshops on the usefulness of public library services should be organized to enlighten the public servants.Keywords: Public libraries, Public Servants, Library Services, Use, Evaluation
ICT skills, use and task performance among library personnel in public university libraries
Authors: Oyedipe Janet W. , Popoola Sunday O.
Published: August 2018

The study investigated ICT skills, use and task performance among library personnel in university libraries in the South-west, Nigeria. The study adopts descriptive survey research design where a structured and validated questionnaire was employed for data collection. Total enumeration technique was used to cover 330 library personnel in public university libraries in the South-west Nigeria. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) as well as OLS (Ordinary Least Square Method) at 0.05 level of significance. Test of norm revealed that tasks performance, ICT skills of respondents were high while ICT use was moderate. Further findings indicated that there was significant relative contribution of ICT skill and use on task performance of library personnel in the South-west, Nigeria. The result also revealed that ICT skills and ICT use had significant relationships with task performance of the respondents. Other finding revealed that there is joint effect of ICT skills and use on task performance (F=2.247) adjRsq=11.2%. The study recommended among others the need for library personnel to acquire adequate ICT skills in database management, trouble shooting and web 2.0 for effective task performance.Keywords: ICT skills, ICT use, task performance, library personnel, university
La salud mental escolar desde la perspectiva de los profesionales chilenos
Authors: Rojas-Andrade Rodrigo M. , Leiva Loreto
Published: August 2018

El estudio científico de las intervenciones efectivas de salud mental en el contexto escolar se fortalece con la emergencia de espacios académicos, políticos y profesionales que promueven la articulación entre los servicios educativos y los servicios de salud mental. Esta investigación indaga en el campo de la salud mental escolar a través de la descripción de los problemas de salud mental presentes en las escuelas, las condiciones contextuales de implementación y las intervenciones necesarias de realizar desde la perspectiva de profesionales chilenos. Participaron 197 ejecutores del programa Habilidades para la Vida, contestando una encuesta on-line. Las respuestas fueron analizadas mediante análisis de contenido cuantitativo. Se encontró que la mayor dificultad de salud mental que enfrentan los profesionales son las conductas externalizantes de los estudiantes. Entre las condiciones contextuales que obstaculizan la implementación, se destaca el modelo educacional y la falta de espacios en la agenda escolar. Por otra parte, los profesionales sugieren que es necesario intervenir en los padres y profesores, fortaleciendo acciones auxiliares, como la articulación de redes dentro y fuera de la escuela. Se discuten los resultados a la luz de la evidencia internacional destacando la necesidad de profundizar las investigaciones nacionales.