bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Role of Recycling Towards a Sustainable Business Model: A Perspective on Industrial Assets
Authors: Wörner Daniel , Friedli Thomas
Published: April 2023

Equipment manufacturers (EMs) exhibit unsustainable operating patterns in linear production models by depleting finite materials. In this context, future business environments in industrial markets shift fundamentally and form a new sustainability paradigm stimulated by key drivers, e.g., end customer behavior. Considering the market shift, this research explores an overview of prerequisites in the transition toward a sustainable business model in industrial markets. Prior research exhibited product life cycle extensions for industrial assets facilitated by the most common R-principles “reuse”, “remanufacture”, and “recycle”. Leaning on previous research, recycling is instrumentalized for some materials, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET). For industrial assets, manufactured products, such implementation efforts for EMs fall short. Investigating the shortage, this study (1) scrutinizes the role of recycling in the transition towards a sustainable business model, (2) identifies appropriate characteristics of industrial assets facilitating recycling, and (3) evaluates parameters to operationalize a recycling value chain (RVC). In a practice-based project, involving a Swiss-based equipment manufacturing company, mixed methods are applied. The results propose key drivers and characteristics facilitating recycling efforts of industrial assets and parameters fostering an RVC. Future research should increase the number of sample EMs and scrutinize the role of various RVC actors to exceed present limitations.
Sustainability Impacts of Global Used Clothing Trade and Its Supply Chain
Authors: Dissanayake Kanchana , Pal Rudrajeet
Published: April 2023

Global trade of used clothing, which comprises a series of activities that connect the Global North to the Global South, has grown substantially over the years. This paper analyses the trade data of the export/import trade of used clothing to provide an overview of global trade statistics and explores the sustainability impact of the used clothing trade. Both qualitative and quantitative secondary data were employed in the study. Analysis of export data revealed a declining trend, which may be attributed to the import bans of used clothing and new cheap imports from Asia. While the United States is constantly being the top exporter, and Pakistan is the top importer, the value of exports grew the fastest in China during the last decade. Analysis of sustainability impacts revealed both positive and negative facts. Used clothing markets support thousands of livelihoods and provide affordable clothing for those who live in poverty; however, the fast fashion phenomenon is threatening this important trade. Therefore, this study urges an investigation of alternative business models to reutilize clothing waste. Remanufacturing and recycling-based business models, when implemented in the Global South, could provide viable solutions to reutilize excess clothing while enhancing the sustainability benefits. Developing collaborative relationships among the stakeholders of the used clothing supply chain is immensely necessary to implement such disruptive business models and to capture values along the supply chain.
Combining Research-, Project-, and Case-Based Learning in Higher Manufacturing Engineering Education
Authors: van Erp Tim
Published: April 2023

Research in higher manufacturing engineering education must continuously adapt to current and future challenges manufacturing companies are facing. Young engineering students must learn how to design, manage, and implement complex innovation projects. For this purpose, a teaching framework for combining research-, project-, and case-based learning is presented. A proof-of-concept discusses the design, implementation, and evaluation of a master’s course at the University of Southern Denmark while following the teaching framework. The evaluation of the students’ learning outcomes demonstrates the basic efficacy of the framework. A self-assessment by the students showed a sufficient increase in skills and competencies. The proposed teaching framework can contribute to realizing the Humboldtian idea of integrating research and teaching at universities.
New Insights into the Polymer Coating of Mild Steel Using Activated Orange Juice Functionalized Rice Husk Nanoparticles
Authors: Aigbodion V. S. , Ozor P. A.
Published: April 2023

Novel insights in the development of polymer coating of mild steel using functionalization of rice husk ash nanoparticles by activated orange juice were investigated. For the potentiostat/galvanostat corrosion performance of the coated materials, 5 wt% potassium sulfate (K2SO4(aq), 5 wt% sodium chloride (NaCl(aq), and 1 M sulfuric acid (H2SO4(aq) were used. 78.81, 71.86, and 55.11% corrosion resistance of the samples of K2SO4, H2SO4, and NaCl. It was concluded that orange juice was able to enhance the dispersion of RHnp in the epoxy coating. The presence of citrate ions in the orange juice acts as a stabilizer and reducing agent, which was attributed to the fine grain size and good corrosion resistance of the composite coating. The work has established that rice husk ash nanoparticles by activated orange juice can be used in the development of composites coating mild steel.
Design of a Sustainable Rescue and First Aid Drone-Based System for Passenger Car Occupants
Authors: Moyo Marvellous , Mushiri Tawanda , Noorbhai Habib
Published: April 2023

Medical emergencies transpire in passenger cars where most victims fail to access immediate medical assistance bringing about worsening of their health or death. Incorporation of rescue and first aid drone-based systems in Emergency Medical Services has been proposed. The objectives being improving response time of Emergency Medical Services, assessing the victim’s health, assisting in administration of first aid, real time live feed of victim’s vitals to the responders and mainly to outline how sustainability in healthcare can be achieved through adaptation of the proposed system. The key features of the first aid drone-based system include: a compact, architecture, aerodynamically optimized architecture and high strength to weight ratio. Solid Works has been used for modelling and simulation of the proposed system. Results showed that the maximum stress (295MPa) experienced in the link is less than the yield strength of carbon fiber (1000MPa), therefore, the design is safe. Findings also showed that, the proposed system can help to further bridge the gap between technology and healthcare, hence making the current healthcare system more relevant in future. Recommendations have been made on improving the software design of the system. Further studies on the design of quadcopters with high range, payload, endurance and speed has been proposed. Overall, the research focused on how robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet of Things (Industry 4.0) can been used to improve Emergency Medical Services response to health emergencies.
Requirements for the Development of a Performance Management System with Consideration of Unforeseeable Business Process Variants
Authors: Teng Yu-Min , Ay Sila , Iyer Rishabh , Scholz Julia-Anne
Published: April 2023

Supply chain issues arising from market turbulences force companies to find new solutions in the short term. Hence, deviations from the ideally designed business processes are inevitable, especially during production planning and control. These deviations result in unforeseen process variants. In addition, process steps of those process variants are often not completely conducted with IT systems and are therefore difficult to trace. Another underlying problem lies in the bias of performance measurement of process variants because each variant aligns with different goals and framework conditions. For these and other reasons, the performance management of process variants presents a challenge. To overcome this challenge, a serious game is being further developed in a research project. The goal is to provide trainings for performance management in a turbulent business environment with the serious game. It simulates the business processes and supply chain issues of a drilling machine manufacturer and serves as a use case for the research presented in this paper. The challenges associated with the performance management of unforeseeable business process variants are derived from the use case. A gap analysis is conducted between the challenges and existing requirements for the development of performance management systems. Based on this, adjustments are proposed to existing requirements and new requirements are being developed.
Influence of Additivation of Bio-Based Lubricants on Sprayability and Solubility for Cryogenic Minimum Quantity Lubrication
Authors: Meier Trixi , Lermer Michael , Gross Daniel , Hanenkamp Nico
Published: April 2023

The development of innovative cooling lubrication strategies is significantly driven by the need to machine materials resistant to high temperatures while taking into account both ecological and economic aspects. Cryogenic minimum quantity lubrication (CMQL) represents a compromise satisfying both efficiency and sustainability in the manufacturing process. A minimal amount of oil is added to the cryogenic medium carbon dioxide (CO2) to ensure both cooling and lubrication during tool engagement. In this context, vegetable oils, so-called triglycerides, can be used with respect to the cooling lubrication concept. The aim of this paper is to analyze various bio-based oils with regard to their solubility, spraying and flow behavior and to investigate the influence of additives on the performance. During the lubrication tests, the additives have shown no influence on the lubricating effects. Thus the chemical properties of the base oils primarily influence the properties with regard to solubility and spray behavior. Finally, the collected results were correlated with machining tests showing only a limited correlation with the aforementioned lubrication tests.
5S Implementation to Minimize Waste in Bread Production Process (Case Study: Madani Bakery)
Authors: Putri Nilda Tri , Fatrias Dicky , Simbolon Santa Rosa Roberta
Published: April 2023

This paper aimed to implement the 5S concept at Madani Bakery by using PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, and Action) to reduce waste. The problems found in the bread industry have not implemented 5S so that there is waste during production activities. The method that can be used to overcome these problems is to apply 5S and PDCA so that they can make continuous improvements. The initial data used is the result of observing the initial conditions before implementing 5S and then determining Plan, Do, Check, and Action (PDCA). Based on observations at Madani bakery, two types of waste were found, namely unnecessary motion and transportation. Madani Bakery has not yet fully implemented 5S, there is still dust, items are in random condition, and there are still unused items at the work station. 5S deployments are designed to improve workstations and reduce unnecessary waste movement and transportation. The limitation of this research is that the application of 5S is carried out according to the conditions of the production area at Madani Bakery. This research can be useful for Madani Bakery to create a comfortable work environment and reduce working time caused by waste during production activities. This research is expected to help Madani Bakery to implement 5S so that it becomes a work culture to reduce waste. Repairs to work stations at Madani Bakery can be used in other industries in implementing 5S and creating a work culture. Working time was cut to 784.34 min, and waste was cut to 11.773 min.
A Model to Balance Production Workload Distribution in a Trailer Manufacturing Organisation Under Fluctuating Customer Ordering Condition
Authors: van der Walt Gerhard , Makinde Olasumbo , Mpofu Khumbulani
Published: April 2023

Trailer manufacturing organisation considered in this study is currently experiencing a high volume of backlog orders due to its poor balancing of production workload distribution during capacity planning and scheduling. This issue has resulted in loss of sales orders experienced by the trailer manufacturing organisation. In light of this, this research study developed a model that could be used to balance production workload distribution that could be used to timeously meet varying customer orders as well as drastically minimise the backlog cost experienced in a trailer manufacturing organisation. To achieve this, on the one hand, a system model of the current production workload distribution used at this trailer manufacturing organisation was developed using AnyLogic software and parametrized using the manufacturing system operation operating conditions obtained via system observation for a period of three (3) months, in order to identify the bottleneck stations and inefficiencies present within this organisation. On the other hand, design of experiments, equipped with feasible workload control strategies were conducted on the model. The result of the simulated model revealed that the usage of an additional two bending machines and two primer paint workers, usage of additional three laser machines and three treatment workers, Heijunka order dispatching principle and Constant Work-In-Process (ConWIP) will increase the service level and mean machine capacity utilisation of the organisation, as well as reduce the backlog cost, opportunity cost and average order lead time.
Resource-Efficient Process Chains for the Production of High-Performance Powertrain Components in the Automotive Industry
Authors: Denkena Berend , Bergmann Benjamin , Wichmann Marcel , Handrup Miriam , Katzsch Daniel , Pillkahn Philipp , Reuter Leon , Schmidt Christopher , Stelljes Frederik
Published: April 2023

This paper focuses on process chains for power train components of passenger cars and heavy duty vehicles. In the project “Powertrain 2025” particular attention is being paid to increase the resource efficiency of the manufacturing process chains and reduce energy demand during service life. In detail cylinder liners are equipped with an adapted geometry and topography which reduces friction losses. Process chains for chassis components are investigated and optimized in order to increase the resource efficiency during manufacturing, service life and maintenance. In addition, process chains for the manufacturing of drive shafts are adjusted. By eliminating hard machining, energy is saved and friction losses are reduced by laser machining of microstructures. Furthermore, micro dimples are applied in vane pumps, which leads to a tribological improvement and thus enhances their friction behaviour. Moreover, a system architecture for process planning is developed and ecologically optimized process parameters are calculated. For a final consideration, a calculation software is developed which enables to calculate the main energy consumption of the manufacturing processes and the carbon footprint for the expected service life. A weight reduction of the powertrain components of 4.5 kg per vehicle and a potential annual energy saving of 13,073 MWh is obtained.
The Costs of More Sustainable Castings Can we Afford the Change?
Authors: Pelchen Lucas , Müller Sebastian
Published: April 2023

Rising costs for fossil fuels and the need to reduce emissions in the production of castings are subjecting foundries worldwide to increasing pressure to act and innovate. Due to fierce global competition in this sector and high investment costs for alternative technologies, foundries are therefore under high pressure to transform, while at the same time having limited financial resources. This article examines the economic and environmental differences between a conventional industrial foundry process chain, a process chain based on a hydrogen (H2)-fired melting furnace and an all-electric approach using conversion of H2 to electricity within a solid oxide fuel cell. To ensure an unbiased comparison of the process chains introduced, the respective mass efficiencies are first determined using an absorbing Markov chain before calculating the mass-specific costs and emissions of each approach using a literature-based process model. The comparison of the setups shows negligible differences in terms of material loss and cost in the respective best case. However, significantly higher emission minimums are found for both H2 approaches compared to the biogas-based conventional approach, especially for the use of green H2. In summary, no significant economic disadvantages of the H2-based approaches can be identified. Even considering that the economic comparison is biased in favor of biogas due to accounting measures, the environmental difference is comparatively small. The results indicate that the conversion of the foundry industry towards more sustainable H2-based foundry process chains is in principle reasonable as well as affordable and should therefore be achieved in the medium term.
Increasing Energy Efficiency and Flexibility by Forecasting Production Energy Demand Based on Machine Learning
Authors: Trenz André , Hoffmann Christoph , Lange Christopher , Öchsner Richard
Published: April 2023

The ability of manufacturing companies to compete depends strongly on the efficient use of production resources and the flexibility to adapt to changing production conditions. Essential requirements for the energetic infrastructure (EGI) result from the production itself, e.g., security of supply, efficiency and peak shaving. Since production always takes priority and must not be disturbed, the flexibility potential in terms of energy efficiency lies primarily in the EGI. Based on this, strategies will be developed that support companies in increasing their efficiency and flexibility by optimizing the configuration and operation of the EGI, while production processes are reliably supplied and not adapted. This is reached with intelligent operation strategies for the heating and cooling network based on forecasts, the use of energy storage systems, and the coupling of energy sectors. This paper presents an approach for energy forecasts used for the optimization of operation strategies. Hence, an energy-forecast-tool was developed, which is used for the prediction of electrical and thermal loads depending on the expected production. Therefore, machine learning models are trained with past weather, energy, and production data. Using production planning data and weather forecasts, the model can predict energy demands as input for an EGI optimization.
Load Profile Optimization Using Electricity Wholesale Market Price Data for Discrete Manufacturing
Authors: Schwaiger Clemens , Trautner Thomas , Bleicher Friedrich
Published: April 2023

Several strategies for reducing energy costs can be derived from the energy procurement cost function for Austrian end users of electrical energy. Based on short-term energy procurement on the day-ahead trading floor an optimization problem for cost-optimal scheduling of the load curve of a single plant has been formulated. A preliminary study for an annealing furnace is presented and it is found that the approach can lead to significant savings during periods of volatile prices. Furthermore, the strategy is applicable to any production process that provides sufficient flexibility, and therefore, if the trade-off between peak energy costs is included, can be applied to entire production systems.
Pharma 4.0: Revealing Drivers of the Digital Transformation in the Pharma Sector
Authors: Tetteh Michelle Grace , Jagtap Sandeep , Salonitis Konstantinos
Published: April 2023

The primary goal of this paper was to uncover the drivers of digital transformation (DT) in the pharmaceutical industry. The Covid-19 pandemic and tightening regulatory standards in the global pharma industry necessitated pharma executives need to understand the most critical drivers of digitalizing the sector and charting a new path that improves production processes and streamlines these companies’ overall supply chain. This research aims to identify the drivers for DT in the pharmaceutical industry. The Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus gathered relevant data for the research study. The research employs objective analysis to ensure that more reliable conclusions were drawn following the study. The study also proposed that external and internal factors, such as supply chain difficulties and data silos, impact DT adoption in the pharmaceutical sector.
Key Enablers of Industry 5.0 - Transition from 4.0 to the New Digital and Sustainable System
Authors: Trstenjak Maja , Hegedić Miro , Tošanović Nataša , Opetuk Tihomir , Đukić Goran , Cajner Hrvoje
Published: April 2023

As Industry 4.0 has reached its first decade the new concept has appeared in the literature - Industry 5.0. With an emphasis on human role with the digital system, Industry 5.0 emphasizes the aspects of environmental awareness and sustainability in focus which serves as an upgrade to the previously presented concept. Although Industry 4.0 hasn’t yet been implemented at the expected level in manufacturing companies all around the globe, this paper studies the current trends in Industry 5.0, the transition from 4.0 to 5.0 or directly to 5.0 by current evidence from the literature.

Based on the given extensive literature review, this paper provides a list of key enablers of Industry 5.0, possible directions of its development, influential transitional criteria, its advantages, and barriers.
A Hybrid Structural Interaction Matrix Approach to Prioritise Process Wastes Generated in a Manufacturing Organisation
Authors: Makinde Olasumbo , Munyai Thomas , Nesamvuni Edgar
Published: April 2023

The productivity of a manufacturing organisation is limited by myriads of process wastes generated in this organisation. In light of this, the aim of this study is to prioritise various process wastes generated in a manufacturing organisation. In order to achieve this, on the one hand, a Hybrid Structural Interaction Matrix (HSIM), which is premised on the theory of subordination via systems thinking was deployed to carry out the process wastes pairwise ranking and weighting analysis. On the other hand, the Pareto Chart, was thereafter deployed to ascertain the vital few process wastes contributing to productivity loss experienced in a manufacturing organisation. A case study of the process wastes generated in an Electronic-Product Manufacturing organisation was used to validate the process wastes prioritisation model developed in this study. The result of the HSIM prioritisation analysis revealed that the intensity rating scores of the process wastes; overproduction, excess inventory, defect, motion, transport, waiting and over-processing limiting the productivity of an organisation are 7.53, 4.59, 6.06, 1.65, 3.12, 0.18 and 9 respectively. The result of the validation exercise revealed that transport, excess inventory and defects are the core process wastes that limit the productivity of an Electronic-Product Manufacturing organisation considered in this study. With this approach, operations managers of a manufacturing organisation would obviously reduce errors in the rating of process wastes, which is vital towards achieving continuous productivity improvement and sustainable manufacturing.
Identification of Product Specifications Based on KANO Model and Application to Ecodesign
Authors: Mishimar Nozomu
Published: April 2023

It is said that KANO model is one of the key findings in analyzing and categorizing various product qualities. The model says qualities are not only one dimensional in terms of the relations between quality fulfilment and customer satisfaction. If a designer could find a delighter which can increase customer satisfaction greatly without enhancing specification too much may contribute to increase product eco-efficiency, since higher specifications usually lead to larger environmental burden. The study extracts some design specifications of smartphones and carries out an online survey to smartphone users in order to identify the relations between the specification levels and customer satisfaction levels. As the result of the survey, a true exciter could not be found in the case study products. However, regression coefficients estimated by applying conjoint analysis to the selected specifications showed there were specifications which can effectively increase customer satisfaction such as battery capacity or display size, and also there was a specification having little effect in increasing it. The survey results suggested that there are optimum values of product specifications. Identifying the optimum values and avoiding over-specification is significant in finding appropriate design solutions which may decouple the customer satisfaction and the environmental burden increase. The study concluded that the approach is helpful in enhancing product sustainability by Ecodesign.
Salvage Esophagectomy After Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Squamous Cell Esophageal Cancer: A Propensity Score Matching Study in a High‐Volume Center
Authors: Pan Jie , Liu Zhichao , Yang Yang , Li Bin , Hua Rong , Guo Xufeng , Sun Yifeng , Li Chunguang , Li Zhigang
Published: April 2023

Background

Salvage esophagectomy, indicated for some patients with locally recurrent/persistent disease after definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT), reportedly has high postoperative complications. This study aims to compare the safety and efficacy of dCRT followed by salvage esophagectomy (DCRE) with planned esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRE) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed all locally advanced ESCC patients treated with DCRE or NCRE at Shanghai Chest Hospital from 2018 to 2021. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance baseline differences. DCRE is defined as esophagectomy for recurrent/persistent disease after dCRT.

Results

A total of 302 patients (41 for DCRE and 261 for NCRE) were included. The median interval of chemoradiotherapy‐to‐surgery was 47d in NCRE, 43d and 440d in DCRE of persistent disease (n = 24) and recurrence (n = 17), respectively. DCRE was observed with advanced ypT stage (63% vs 38%), poorer differentiation (32% vs 15%) and more lymphovascular invasion (29% vs 11%) compared with NCRE (all p < 0.05). The above factors were comparable between the two groups after PSM (all p > 0.05). There were no significant differences before and after PSM in postoperative complications over Clavien‐Dindo grade III (e.g., respiratory failure and anastomotic leak), 30/90‐day postoperative mortality, and survival.

Conclusion

Through a standardized surgical procedure in a high‐volume center, DCRE exhibited comparable postoperative complications and prognosis with NCRE.
Enhanced skeletal muscle contractile function and corticospinal excitability precede strength and architectural adaptations during lower-limb resistance training
Authors: Wilson Matthew T. , Hunter Angus M. , Fairweather Malcolm , Kerr Stewart , Hamilton D. Lee , Macgregor Lewis J.
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Evolving investigative techniques are providing greater understanding about the early neuromuscular responses to resistance training among novice exercisers. The aim of this study was to investigate the time-course of changes in muscle contractile mechanics, architecture, neuromuscular, and strength adaptation during the first 6-weeks of lower-limb resistance training.

Methods

Forty participants: 22 intervention (10 males/12 females; 173.48 ± 5.20 cm; 74.01 ± 13.13 kg) completed 6-week resistance training, and 18 control (10 males/8 females; 175.52 ± 7.64 cm; 70.92 ± 12.73 kg) performed no resistance training and maintained their habitual activity. Radial muscle displacement (Dm) assessed via tensiomyography, knee extension maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), voluntary activation (VA), corticospinal excitability and inhibition via transcranial magnetic stimulation, motor unit (MU) firing rate, and muscle thickness and pennation angle via ultrasonography were assessed before and after 2, 4, and 6-weeks of dynamic lower-limb resistance training or control.

Results

After 2-weeks training, Dm reduced by 19–25% in the intervention group; this was before any changes in neural or morphological measures. After 4-weeks training, MVC increased by 15% along with corticospinal excitability by 16%; however, there was no change in VA, corticospinal inhibition, or MU firing rate. After 6-weeks training there was further MVC increase by 6% along with muscle thickness by 13–16% and pennation angle by 13–14%.

Conclusion

Enhanced contractile properties and corticospinal excitability occurred before any muscle architecture, neural, and strength adaptation. Later increases in muscular strength can be accounted for by architectural adaptation.
Uncertainty estimation-based adversarial attacks: a viable approach for graph neural networks
Authors: Alarab Ismail , Prakoonwit Simant
Published: April 2023

Uncertainty estimation has received momentous consideration in applied machine learning to capture model uncertainty. For instance, the Monte-Carlo dropout method (MC-dropout), an approximated Bayesian approach, has gained intensive attention in producing model uncertainty due to its simplicity and efficiency. However, MC-dropout has revealed shortcomings in capturing erroneous predictions lying in the overlapping classes. Such predictions underlie noisy data points that can neither be reduced by more training data nor detected by model uncertainty. On the other hand, Monte-Carlo based on adversarial attacks (MC-AA), an outstanding method, performs perturbations on the inputs using the adversarial attack idea to capture model uncertainty. This method admittedly mitigates the shortcomings of the previous methods by capturing wrong labels in overlapping regions. Motivated by this method that was only validated with neural networks, we sought to apply MC-AA on various graph neural network models to obtain uncertainties using two public real-world graph datasets known as Elliptic and GitHub. First, we perform binary node classifications, then we apply MC-AA and other recent uncertainty estimation methods to capture the uncertainty of the models. Uncertainty evaluation metrics are computed to evaluate and compare the performance of the uncertainty of the model. We highlight the efficacy of MC-AA in capturing uncertainties in graph neural networks wherein MC-AA outperforms other given methods.
Switching network for mixing experts with application to traffic sign recognition
Authors: Ahangi Amir , Möckel Rico
Published: April 2023

The correct and robust recognition of traffic signs is indispensable to self-driving vehicles and driver-assistant systems. In this work, we propose and evaluate two network architectures for multi-expert decision systems that we test on a challenging Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark dataset. The decision systems implement individual experts in the form of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). A gating network CNN acts as final decision unit and learns which individual expert CNNs are likely to contribute to an overall meaningful classification of a traffic sign. The gating network then selects the outputs of those individual expert CNNs to be fused to form the final decision. In this work we study the advantages and challenges of the proposed multi-expert architectures that in comparison to other network architectures allow for parallel training of individual experts with reduced datasets. Under the challenging conditions introduced by the benchmark dataset, the demonstrated multi-expert decision systems achieve a recognition performance that is superior to those of humans: with an accuracy of 99.10%, when training experts with the complete dataset and 98.94%, when individual experts are only trained with 36% of the training samples. Overall, our approach ranked fourth on the list of the applied approaches proposed for the German traffic sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) dataset.
Multifunctional Ti3AlC2-Based Composites via Fused Filament Fabrication and 3D Printing Technology
Authors: Liu Dongyan , Hentschel Lukas , Lin Guoming , Kukla Christian , Schuschnigg Stephan , Ma Na , Wallis Christopher , Momeni Vahid , Kitzmantel Michael , Sui Guoxin
Published: April 2023

MAX phase, as a group of layered ternary carbides and nitrides exhibiting combined properties of metallic and ceramic materials, attracts increasing interest because they own exceptionally chemical, physical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. In the present paper, a novel Ti3AlC2-based green part was manufactured by extrusion-based fused filament fabrication (FFF) and 3D printing technologies. The morphology, thermal/electrical conductivity, thermal stability, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE), and mechanical properties of Ti3AlC2/binder with the volume ratio of 1:1 were investigated. The tensile and compressive strengths and elongation are measured to be 8.29 MPa and 18.20%, 44.90 MPa and 33.76%, respectively. The morphology of the filament reveals that Ti3AlC2 powders are well bonded by the thermoplastic binder. More importantly, the composite shows good thermal and electrical conductivities together with the excellent EMI shielding effectiveness, which is of great potential in the practical applications as conductor, heat dissipating, anti-static, and EMI shielding materials. The successful fabrication of Ti3AlC2-based composites via FFF-based 3D printing technology is beneficial to develop other MAX phase products with complex geometries and additional functionalities.
Lithofacies and Depositional Environments of the Garubathan Alluvial Fan, North Bengal, India
Authors: Sasmal Ramapada , Bhattacharya Soma
Published: April 2023

The sedimentology of the Garubathan alluvial fan of north Bengal foothills is a product of Himalayan neotectonics and monsoon climate. The active neo-tectonics of the Main Central Thrust (MCT), Ramgarh Thrust (RT) and Ghis Transverse Fault (GTF) produce a huge amount of angular clasts in the upper reaches of the river Chel and Mal. During the wet season, either sediment flow by gravity or turbulent stream flow or both, move the clasts to the downhill. The tectonic zone of Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) are relative passive thrusts than the MCT, RT and GTF in the study area. A very low angle slope is observed in the area of MBT and MFT of the study area. So, the downhill deposition occurred in MBT and MFT zones of the study area. The river Chel and Mal are perinial rivers. During dry periods (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon), in the absence of sediment flow by gravity or turbulent stream flow, the low stream competency deposit the fine sediments. To identify the depositional environments three, seven and six lithofacies varieties were identified in the upper, middle and lower fan surfaces, respectively. The non-cohesive sediment flows by gravity deposited large angular boulders, cobbles and pebbles in the upper fan area. These deposits are either chaotic, unsorted, un-imbricated or graded and imbricated. Deposition of sand is scanty. Both, sediment flow by gravity and fluvial processes deposited angular to round clasts with matrix in the middle fan area. In this area the deposits are reverse graded, reverse to normally graded, laminated and cross-bedded. The high facies diversity of this area indicates highly variable nature of the depositional environments. In the lower fan area, presence of both clast-supported chaotic and matrix-supported laminated or cross-bedded layers suggests a complex nature of the depositional environment of sediment flow by gravity and fluvial processes.
Ichnofabric Analysis of the Jumara Formation, Jara Dome, Western Kachchh, India
Authors: Choudhary Anjali , Desai Bhawanisingh G. , Chauhan Suruchi
Published: April 2023

The Jara dome in the western part of the Kachchh basin is the distal-most exposure of the Callovian to Aptian age sediments of the Kachchh stratigraphy. These outcrops are represented by three formations, namely, the Jumara, Jhuran, and Bhuj formations. The central part of this dome is represented by the entire succession of the Jumara Formation (Member-I to IV). This paper aims to document ichnofabric changes in the distal part of the basin during a basinal-scale transgression. The Jumara succession at the Jara dome is represented by finer sediments compared with the other coeval sediments across the basin. Ichnofabric analysis of the Jumara Formation at the Jara dome implies 21 ichnospecies from 12 ichnogenera with the reconstruction of ichnofabric constituent analysis for all four members. Member-I implies low diversity-low density trace fossils with a simple tiering profile. Member II is two thick bands of marls rich with high diversity and density occurrence of Zoophycos. Ichnofabric analysis suggests slow sedimentation in the shelf environment below the Storm wave base under dysoxic conditions. Ichnofabric analysis of overlying Member III suggests deposition below the fairweather wave base with well-oxygenated, shifting substrate-type environments. Ichnological analysis of Member IV (Dhosa oolite Member) suggests that a transgression event was inferred at Jumara Dome. Thus, the ichnofabric analysis of the Jumara Formation suggests an increase in ichnodiversity steadily from member-I to III and then a decline. A comparison of the Jara dome ichnology data with other coeval sediments of the Kachchh basin suggests high diversity in the Jara dome area.
Study of Spatio-temporal Variability of Groundwater Table in Semi-arid Agrarian District of Haryana
Authors: Sitender  , Chaudhary B. S. , Singh Abhishek , Salita  , Himani
Published: April 2023

The increase in the number of tubewells and associated irrigated area is increasing pressure on the groundwater resource. Therefore, present study focuses on detailed elaboration on spatio-temporal variations in groundwater level and its relation with rainfall and other corresponding factors in Jind district of Haryana. Study area contributes nearly 10% of food grain production to the state. Present study utilizes secondary data acquired from various departments of state government of Haryana. The temporal variability is studied by calculating minimum, maximum, average depth and yearly rise/fall of groundwater table from 1987 to 2017. The non-parametric tests like Mann-Kendall, Sen’s slope and parametric tests like linear regression are used to understand the behavior of groundwater table. The rate of depletion is 19 cm per year in pre-monsoon season and 24 cm per year during post-monsoon season. The central, north and north-western part of the study area is facing sharp decline in groundwater table. This decline of groundwater table is found to be correlated with the cultivation of rice crop and increase in tubewell irrigated areas. Contrary to this, the southern and south-western part of the study area is becoming more vulnerable to waterlogging.
A GIS-based DRASTIC Model for Assessing Groundwater Quality Vulnerability: Case Study of Surat and its Surroundings
Authors: Patel Priyank , Mehta Darshan J. , Sharma Neeraj D.
Published: April 2023

Groundwater is one of the most important water resources, with varying quality and quantity. It is extremely difficult to recycle contaminated groundwater. As a result, protecting groundwater from contamination is critical. Industrial and municipal wastes, agricultural contamination owing to pesticides and chemical hazards, seawater intrusion in coastal areas, and other factors damage groundwater. The objective of the study is to assess the groundwater quality vulnerability using the DRASTIC model with a geoinformatics approach in Surat and its surroundings. Depth of water, Net recharge, Aquifer, Soil, Topography, Impact of the vadose zone, and Hydraulic conductivity are the parameters to be considered for assessing the vulnerability using the DRASTIC model. In this study, all parameters are weighted by conventional weights. The study shows that almost 53.46% of the total study area is under moderate vulnerability, and 46.54% of the area is under high vulnerability. Olpad, Kamrej, chorasi, Surat city, and the lower part of Bardoli talukas are coming under high vulnerability, whereas other parts are coming under moderate vulnerability. It is observed that the parameters like net recharge, impact of the vadose zone, depth to the water table, and aquifer media are largely affected by high vulnerability. The study delineates groundwater vulnerability in the study area, which can help land-use policies and norms for activities connected to recharge and seepage concerning the current status of groundwater vulnerability and quality. This study helps policymakers and local authorities in taking protective measures for groundwater quality.
Nebulizers effectiveness on pulmonary delivery of alpha-1 antitrypsin
Authors: Bianchera Annalisa , Vilardo Viviana , Giaccari Roberta , Michielon Annalisa , Bazzoli Gianluca , Buttini Francesca , Aiello Marina , Chetta Alfredo , Bruno Stefano , Bettini Ruggero
Published: April 2023

The nebulization of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) for its administration to the lung could be an interesting alternative to parenteral infusion for patients suffering from AAT genetic deficiency (AATD). In the case of protein therapeutics, the effect of the nebulization mode and rate on protein conformation and activity must be carefully considered. In this paper two types of nebulizers, i.e., a jet and a mesh vibrating system, were used to nebulize a commercial preparation of AAT for infusion and compared. The aerosolization performance, in terms of mass distribution, respirable fraction, and drug delivery efficiency, as well as the activity and aggregation state of AAT upon in vitro nebulization were investigated. The two nebulizers demonstrated equivalent aerosolization performances, but the mesh nebulizer provided a higher efficiency in the delivery of the dose. The activity of the protein was acceptably preserved by both nebulizers and no aggregation or changes in its conformation were identified. This suggests that nebulization of AAT represents a suitable administration strategy ready to be translated to the clinical practice for delivering the protein directly to the lungs in AATD patients, either as a support therapy to parenteral administration or for subjects with a precocious diagnosis, to prevent the onset of pulmonary symptoms.

Graphical Abstract
The Aztec Economy
Authors: Berdan Frances F.
Published: April 2023

The Aztec Economy provides a synthesis and updated examination of the Aztec economy (1325–1521 AD). It is organized around seven components that recur with other Elements in this series: historic and geographic background, domestic economy, institutional economy, specialization, forms of distribution and commercialization, economic development, and future directions. The Aztec world was complex, hierarchical, and multifaceted, and was in a constant state of demographic growth, recoveries from natural disasters, political alignments and realignments, and aggressive military engagements. The economy was likewise complex and dynamic, and characterized by intensive agriculture, exploitation of non-agricultural resources, utilitarian and luxury manufacturing, wide-scale specialization, merchants, markets, commodity monies, and tribute systems.
Thurston’s fragmentation and c-principles
Authors: Nariman Sam
Published: April 2023

In this paper, we generalize the original idea of Thurston for the so-called Mather-Thurston’s theorem for foliated bundles to prove new variants of this theorem for PL homeomorphisms and contactormorphisms. These versions answer questions posed by Gelfand-Fuks ([GF73, Section 5]) and Greenberg ([Gre92]) on PL foliations and Rybicki ([Ryb10, Section 11]) on contactomorphisms. The interesting point about the original Thurston’s technique compared to the better-known Segal-McDuff’s proof of the Mather-Thurston theorem is that it gives a compactly supported c-principle theorem without knowing the relevant local statement on open balls. In the appendix, we show that Thurston’s fragmentation implies the non-abelian Poincare duality theorem and its generalization using blob complexes ([MW12, Theorem 7.3.1]).

To the memory of John Mather.
The Ethics of Choosing Deterrence
Authors: Weiner Sharon K.
Published: April 2023

Any threat to use nuclear weapons inherently carries the possibility of escalation to a level such that both parties in a conflict, and likely many others, would be destroyed. Yet nuclear weapons are also seen as necessary for securing the very things that would be destroyed if the weapons were ever used. The fix for this nuclear dilemma relies on the strategy of deterrence. Deterrence provides a rationale for why nuclear weapons are necessary, even though they may seem dangerous. But the practice of deterrence involves less intentionality and agency than is usually assumed. The success of deterrence relies partially on luck as well as unrealistic assumptions about human behavior. Rather than a strategic necessity, deterrence may be an institutionalized behavior, accepted because it has always been practiced rather than because it makes sense. Assessing the ethics of deterrence and nuclear weapons requires engaging with these issues.
Can Technology Democratize Finance?
Authors: Bernards Nick
Published: April 2023

This essay reviews two recent books—Marion Laboure and Nicolas Deffrennes's Democratizing Finance and Eswar S. Prasad's The Future of Money—on financial technology (fintech) and the future of money. Both books present overviews of recent developments in fintech and assess the prospects of technological change to deliver a more accessible, equitable financial system—described in both cases as the “democratization of finance.” I raise two key concerns about the limits of the “democratization” implied here. First, the vision of democratized finance implicit in both books rests on claims about widening access to financial services for individuals, households, and businesses. This contrasts with more substantive visions of democratized finance that entail the exercise of accountable, deliberative decision-making on monetary and financial questions. Second, “fintech democracy” rests on a very thin account of how finance might be democratized, stressing exogenous technological change, with little consideration of relations of power, institutional reforms, or mobilization. Both books provide eloquent and comprehensive overviews of emerging fintech debates, but in so doing ultimately reveal important limitations to achieving financial democracy through fintech.