bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of non-equilibrium plasma kinetic effect on GCH4/GOX rocket engine combustion performance
Authors: Chen Qingya , Ge Jiaying , Zheng Tikai , Che Xueke , Nie Wansheng
Published: December 2020

Non-equilibrium plasma has significant chemical kinetic effect and aerodynamic effect, both of which play an important role in the plasma-assisted combustion. In this paper, the numerical study on plasma-assisted combustion in gaseous methane rocket engine is carried out to investigate the impact of kinetic effect on its combustion performance. There are three schemes of plasma excitation via oxygen, methane and both of them in the numerical simulation model. The variations of combustion chamber temperature, pressure, species concentration and special impulse with different dissociation degrees are analysed in three discharge schemes. The results show that non-equilibrium plasma can effectively increase methane burning rate, shorten unburnt area upstream of combustion chamber, and increase the width of combustion zone in shear layer upstream of combustion chamber. And this phenomenon becomes more obvious with the increase of excitation intensity. In addition, more methane and oxygen are added to the combustion process under plasma actuation, and the mole fraction of water is increased in combustion products. The specific impulse of engine is also increased under plasma actuation. At the same degree of dissociation, the combustion-supporting effect of simultaneous discharge of oxygen and methane is significantly greater than that of any component discharge. And in the condition of single component discharge, the combustion-supporting effect of methane is better than that of oxygen.
A new prediction method of reservoir porosity based on improved Kriging interpolation
Authors: Hao Tongchun , Zhong Liguo , Zhu Tianyin , Zhang Xiaocheng , Wang Xiaopeng , Zhang Lei
Published: December 2020

In the process of oil and gas field development, the pore characteristics of reservoir are the main factors that affect the reservoir capacity and production efficiency. The physical property parameters and pressure distribution of layers have changed greatly, and the pressure system of multi-pressure layer is formed underground of multi-layer reservoir and heterogeneous sandstone oil reservoir after water injection and chemical injection. Accurate prediction of reservoir physical properties and formation pressure distribution after changes is significance for efficient production and safe operation of reservoirs. In this paper, based on geostatistics theory and percolation mechanics theory, combined with reservoir geology, drilling, development and testing data of Bohai Oilfield, the prediction method of reservoir porosity based on improved Kriging interpolation and effective thickness has been established. This prediction method can provide certain guidance for the formulation of oilfield injection and production distribution plans at the oilfield and the shut-in and adjustment plans for injection-production wells during drilling and completion operations.
Research on teaching mode of Introduction to Mechanical Engineering course
Authors: Zhang Jian , Lin Zekun , Tang Wenxian , Wang Xin
Published: December 2020

This article is aimed at the teaching status of domestic universities. A set of teaching mode and syllabus based on the improvement of the traditional Introduction to Mechanical Engineering course is proposed. It mainly introduces the nature and tasks of the course, the design of the syllabus content and the grading standard of the course. It also explains the specific implementation plan of the teaching mode. Introduction to Mechanical Engineering is intended for students who are in the first year of a typical university program in mechanical engineering. The main tasks of this course include increasing students’ interest in mechanical engineering, enabling them to understand the role and skills of mechanical engineers in our society, deepening their understanding of the connotation of mechanical engineering and learning about modern tools for solving complex engineering problems and the development of typical marine structures. Course grades are evaluated based on the number of attendance and the completion of homework. While introducing online teaching, it also provides video lesson resources for students to learn after class because of the current impact of the “COVID-19”. Considering about the teacher’s own scientific research direction, the theoretical research and engineering practice content are combined. Through the study of the teaching cases proposed, it is concluded that the teaching mode has the advantages of not being restricted by the teaching location, enhancing students’ enthusiasm for learning and guiding students to plan their future careers and make contributions to the society. The feasibility and effectiveness of the new model are verified.
Solving a source distribution in heat conduction equation by homotopy analysis method
Authors: Wang Bingxian , Xu Mei , Bai Chuanzhi
Published: December 2020

The diffusion process from internal source is governed by the diffusion equation. The reconstruction of source distribution in heat conduction equation has been considered from final measurement data. The major difficulty in establishing any numerical algorithm for approximating the solution is the ill-posedness of the problem. Regularization procedures and recursive estimation algorithms should be developed. A homotopy-based iterative regularizing scheme has been proposed. The advantage of the proposed scheme is that under general assumptions on the exact initial distribution, the convergence of the homotopy sequence with any function inDφas initial guess can always be guaranteed.
A cluster-based technique for solving the GAVE
Authors: Guo Wenxiu
Published: December 2020

Generalized absolute value equation (abbreviated as GAVE) has wide applications in scientific computing and engineering. In this paper, we propose a cluster-based technique for solving the GAVE. First, the GAVE is shown to be equivalent to a linear equation which is related to the signs of the solution. In order to avoid the disadvantage of the existence of the sign index sets which is problem depended, by the framework of a fixed-point iteration, the analysis of the signs of the iteration vectors is given. Some necessary conditions of the nonzero and zero entries of the iteration vector are presented. Then, the signs of the solution of the GAVE can be partitioned by a clustering process. Numerical examples show that the proposed technique can work and significantly accelerate the computational efficiency comparing to some existing methods.
Matching technology of reducer bearing based on genetic algorithm
Authors: Wang Yanzhong , Liu Peng , Ma Tao , Hao Huihui
Published: December 2020

This paper presents a method of bearing selection for heavy reducer based on genetic algorithm. A mathematical model for the selection of key parts of bearing cap and adjusting ring is established, the coding mode of bearing cap and adjusting ring components is determined, the initial population is constructed, the fitness function is established, and the genetic calculations of selection, crossover and variation are carried out. Finally, through repeated experiments and 500 iterations, the value of the optimal objective function tends to be stable, and a good convergence effect is obtained. The assembly rate of the gearing cap-adjustment ring assembly is increased from the original 50% to over 70%, which greatly improves the assembly efficiency of heavy-duty reducer bearing, and thus the assembly cost is reduced, which is significant to the actual assembly of heavy-duty reducer.
Image detail extraction via dark region approximation
Authors: Min Chaobo
Published: December 2020

In this paper, we propose a simple but effective approximation—dark region approximation (DRA) to extract details from gray-scale images. The DRA is based on an assumption: there is little illumination in the dark regions of visible images. The Retinex model using the DRA is developed to improve the performance of preserving details from the dark regions in gray-scale images during reflectance estimation. Then, Gaussian field criterion is introduced to construct the objective function which could be solved by quasi-Newton method, in order to estimate the reflectance via the DRA-based Retinex model. The reflectance is considered as the final result of image detail extraction. Experiments on a variety of gray-scale images demonstrate the power of the DRA and the superiority of our method.
Preparation, characterization and wound healing effect of alginate/chitosan microcapsules loaded with polysaccharides from Nostoc Commune Vaucher
Authors: Yang Mingjun , Li Run , Wang Xinjian , Liu Xiaofeng , Zhang Baigang , Wang Yonggang
Published: December 2020

Biologically active coating materials could promote the growth of granulation tissue as auxiliary materials, while natural polysaccharides could promote vascular regeneration and wound healing. Therefore, in this study, ultrasound-assisted extract of Nostoc commune Vaucher polysaccharides (UAP) yield after the process optimization was 12.89 ± 0.24%, which was used to prepare microcapsules by emulsification and cross-linking. The effect of alginate/chitosan-UAP composite materials on wound healing in an experimental rat model for 14 d and its physical properties were evaluated. In vitro experiments indicated that the UAP microcapsule material had a porous and loose three-dimensional network structure, and had good biocompatibility and swelling properties as a wound healing material. Animal experiments indicated that UAP microcapsules could extremely significantly promote wound healing (P < 0.01), and wound closure rate reached 79.16 ± 3.91% on 14th day. Meanwhile UAP microcapsules might promote angiogenesis and granulation growth by enhancing immunity and increasing the expression of VEGF and miR-21. Therefore, the composites of UAP microcapsules have shown encouraging results as a potential dressing for wound healing.
From legacy effects of acid deposition in boreal streams to future environmental threats
Authors: Laudon Hjalmar , Sponseller Ryan A , Bishop Kevin
Published: December 2020

Few environmental issues have resulted in such a heated policy-science controversy in Sweden as the 1990s acidification debate in the north of the country. The belief that exceptionally high stream acidity levels during hydrological events was caused by anthropogenic deposition resulted in a governmentally funded, multi-million dollar surface-water liming program. This program was heavily criticized by a large part of the scientific community arguing that the acidity of northern streams was primarily caused by naturally occurring organic acids. Here, we revisit the acid deposition legacy in northern Sweden two decades after the culmination of the controversy by examining the long-term water chemistry trends in the Svartberget/Krycklan research catchment that became a nexus for the Swedish debate. In this reference stream, trends in acidic episodes do show a modest recovery that matches declines in acid deposition to pre-industrial levels, although stream acidity continues to be overwhelmingly driven by organic acidity. Yet there are legacies of acid deposition related to calcium losses from soils, which are more pronounced than anticipated. Finally, assessment of these trends are becoming increasingly complicated by new changes and threats to water resources that must be recognized to avoid unnecessary, expensive, and potentially counterproductive measures to adapt and mitigate human influences. Here we make the argument that while the acidification era is ending, climate change, land-use transitions, and long-range transport of other contaminants warrant close monitoring in the decades to come.
From Paris to Makkah: heat stress risks for Muslim pilgrims at 1.5 °C and 2 °C
Authors: Saeed Fahad , Schleussner Carl-Friedrich , Almazroui Mansour
Published: December 2020

The pilgrimages of Muslims to Makkah (Hajj and Umrah) is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world which draws millions of people from around 180 countries each year. Heat stress during summer has led to health impacts including morbidity and mortality in the past, which is likely to worsen due to global warming. Here we investigate the impacts of increasing heat stress during the peak summer months over Makkah at present levels of warming as well as under Paris Agreement’s targets of 1.5 °C and 2 °C global mean temperature increase above pre-industrial levels. This is achieved by using multi member ensemble projections from the half a degree additional warming, prognosis and projected impacts project. We find a substantial increase in the exceedance probabilities of dangerous thresholds (wet-bulb temperature >24.6 °C) in 1.5 °C and 2 °C warmer worlds over the summer months. For the 3 hottest months, August, September and October, even thresholds of extremely dangerous (wet-bulb temperature >29.1 °C) health risks may be surpassed. An increase in exceedance probability of dangerous threshold is projected by two and three times in 1.5 °C and 2 °C warmer worlds respectively for May as compared to the reference climate. September shows the highest increase in the exceedance probability of extremely dangerous threshold which is increased to 4 and 13 times in 1.5 °C and 2 °C warmer worlds respectively. Based on the indicators of hazard, exposure and vulnerability, we carried out probabilistic risk analysis of life-threatening heat stroke over Makkah. A ten time increase in the heat stroke risk at higher wet-bulb temperatures for each month is projected in 2 °C warmer world. If warming was limited to 1.5 °C world, the risk would only increase by about five times, or half the risk of 2 °C. Our results indicate that substantial heat related risks during Hajj and Umrah happening over peak summer months, as it is the case for Hajj during this decade, will require substantial adaptation measures and would negatively affect the performance of the rite. Stringent mitigation actions to keep the global temperature to 1.5 °C can reduce the risks of heat related illnesses and thereby reduce the non-economic loss and damage related to one of the central pillars of a world religion.
From Painlevé to Zakharov–Shabat and beyond: Fredholm determinants and integro-differential hierarchies
Authors: Krajenbrink Alexandre
Published: December 2020

As Fredholm determinants are more and more frequent in the context of stochastic integrability, we unveil the existence of a common framework in many integrable systems where they appear. This consists in a quasi-universal hierarchy of equations, partly unifying an integro-differential generalization of the Painlevé II hierarchy, the finite-time solutions of the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation, multi-critical fermions at finite temperature and a notable solution to the Zakharov–Shabat system associated to the largest real eigenvalue in the real Ginibre ensemble. As a byproduct, we obtain the explicit unique solution to the inverse scattering transform of the Zakharov–Shabat system in terms of a Fredholm determinant.
Effect of Basicity on Cu Based Catalyst for CO2 Hydrogenation
Authors: Sukkathanyawat H , Wichianwat K , Tungkamani S , Bampenrat A
Published: December 2020

The purpose of this research is to study the effect of the MgO loading (0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 Molar) on the Cu/AC catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation. The optimum condition of reaction temperature and ratio of H2:CO2 for CO2 hydrogenation were also investigated. Copper based catalysts were characterized by BET, CO2-TPD, H2-TPR and CO2-TPSR. The catalytic performance of catalysts were carried out in the fixed bed reactor at a reaction temperature of 250 °C pressure of 1 atm with mixture gas of 2:1 molar ratio of H2:CO2. The result shows that MgO increases the surface basicity of catalyst which enhances the bond strength between CO adsorbed on Cu loading to inhibition the reverse water-gas shift reaction, which can well promote the methane selectivity. The optimum conditions for CO2 hydrogenation is temperature of reaction at 300 °C and ratio of H2:CO2 as 2:1.
The Effect of Shading Factor for Single and Double Glazing According to Solar Heat Gain / Window Heat Loss Ratio in Turkey for Residential Buildings
Authors: Kon Okan , Caner İsmail
Published: December 2020

In this study, solar heat gains due to solar radiation and heat losses due to air temperature difference between outdoor and indoor from single and double glazed windows for the heating period in residential buildings were determined and their ratios were calculated. For five climate zones in Turkey determined by Turkish Building Insulation Standard (TS 825); the heating months were identified for the south, north, and east-west directions. The reference indoor temperature value for heating is 19°C. It is accepted that heating will be performed in the months when the outdoor air temperatures are below this temperature. The warmest climate zone is the first zone and the coldest climate zone is the fifth zone. July has the highest air temperature month for all climate zones and January has the lowest. The highest value of solar radiation occurs in June and the lowest in December. The effects of the shading factor and the number of layers for the windows were found in the calculations. In order to find the effect of shading factor, the shading factor for discrete and adjacent buildings and heat transfer coefficients for single and double glazing were determined from TS 825. Then, the solar heat gains, window heat losses and their ratios were determined by using the shading factor for discrete and adjacent buildings and without shading factor for single and double glazing. It was calculated that the solar heat gain/window heat loss ratio was higher in double glazed windows. It means that benefit from solar energy for double layer glazing is much more than single layer glazing for heating period.
The Mathematical Model of Autonomous System on Renewable Sources for Recreation and Relaxation of the Big Cities’
Authors: Zicmane I , Berzina K , Lomane T , Zicmane I , Berzina-Novikova N
Published: December 2020

Urbanization is a worldwide historical process that is related to the deep transformation of the existing cities and settlements. This process is based on the development of the industry, transport, housing, construction, as well as the spread of the urban way of living. Among the negative factors of urbanization, the following ones can be outlined: an active increase in environmental pollution by means of industrial emissions and waste, the lag of technological and sanitary welfare, as well as engineering communications, utilities and services from the housing stock growth, increase in level of city noise. Apart from the ever-increasing pollution levels of air, water and soil, an increased sociability aspect common for the urban community takes place. On the one hand, this characteristic brings positive influence and facilitates into the formation of a more balanced and stable nervous system of a younger generation, an improved mental fitness and the support of a professional and constructive tone. On the other hand, however, when processing an increased amount of information, a nervous system of a person is not able to recreate the previous operating state, when the level of adaptability was higher. This causes for a new dynamic stereotype to be formed, which in certain cases can lead to a disruption that can be found in neurosis and neurotic states. Despite the constantly accelerating pace of life, observed among urban residents, however paradoxical, a presence of hypodynamy can be distinguished, which influences the formation of cardiovascular disease.

The purpose of this publication is to develop a mathematical model of a new hybrid technology in the form of a modular autonomous house “Urbanrelax”, which serves for the removal of an emotional overload and stress of urban residents. The aim, therefore, is to develop a system that would be supplied solely by renewable energy sources. Design of engineering communication and supply systems (including lighting, ventilation, light and music background, etc.) will be taken into account. As an outcome, a model of a complex system is planned based on the synergy of various science sectors such as energy, medicine, music, economy, etc., as well as smart grid technologies.
The Study of Urban Energy Balance and Water Balance in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka
Authors: Rana Golam Morsalin Choudhury
Published: December 2020

Dhaka is a densely populated megacity. Many parts of this city are overcrowded. The city is now expanding on all sides, but on the eastern front, there are some major developments by public and private organizations. Bashundhara residential area is one of them which is being developed by the Bashundhara group on eastern the side of Dhaka city since the 1980s. There are some urban microclimatic challenges in this area, such as poor water drainage system, waterlogging, natural canals are blocked by the new development, no parks, playfield within the studied area, set back rule violation by landowners, little vegetation contributed to an imbalance in Energy and Water cycle. This study focused on the study of the current situation and possible development through altering and adding surface pavement, vegetation, and trees, reducing building footprint, enlarging water surface by remote sensing technology using qGIS software. Though there are some limitations of this study, the results show strong scope for the development of the existing microclimatic situation in Bashundhara residential area as well as knowledge from this exercise can be applied to other parts of Dhaka.
Possible Consequences of Global Climate Change in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation
Authors: Konovalov Alexey , Baturova Galina , Gavrilenko Tatyana , Grigorenko Olga
Published: December 2020

On December 25, 2019, by an order of the Government of the Russian Federation, the National Plan of Measures for the first stage of adaptation to the climate change for the period until 2022 was approved. This plan pays considerable attention to the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. In 2020-2021, it is planned to develop and approve a separate sectoral plan for adaptation to the climate change in the macroregion. In general, among the key problems of the socio-economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, the unpreparedness of all types of infrastructure for the possible consequences of the global climate change is particularly notable. Climate change occurring in the macroregion is superimposed by additional anthropogenic factors, including chemical pollution, excess catch of aquatic biological resources, changes in land use, population growth, and changes in the structure of the economy. The problem of the impact of climate processes on socio-economic development is fundamental and has its positive or negative manifestations in all spheres of life. The negative manifestations of the climate change primarily include consequences for ecosystems, the environment, infrastructure, especially coastal areas, public health and traditional local lifestyles. The positive effects of climate change include reducing heating costs, expanding opportunities for agriculture and forestry, developing shipping along routes in the Northern Sea, as well as expanding access and increasing the extraction of mineral and marine biological resources.
City Information Modeling – an expedient tool for developing sustainable, responsive and resilient cities?
Authors: Schaufler C , Schwimmer E
Published: December 2020

When initiating a property development project, an extensive amount of information has to be collected and evaluated to derive a development concept that can meet the needs, requirements and demands prevailing in the given urban context. This data is commonly gathered via desktop research and is usually not comprehensive enough to depict the whole picture. The same is true for information on development restrictions, design principles to encourage sustainable behavior of city dwellers, and information on the surrounding built environment to foster local synergies. On the building level, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has proven to be a useful tool to overcome these problems of incomplete and disjointed information and requirements. In recent years, an effort has been made to apply the principles of BIM to the city level and establish City Information Modeling (CIM) as a crucial analysis and planning tool for the sustainable cities of tomorrow. The research questions are thus: Which data sets should be included for CIM to become an expedient tool for urban development? What requirements must CIM meet? And what added value can CIM offer to all involved parties? First results indicate that CIM can contribute to the development of responsive and resilient cities, covering numerous sustainability goals.
Regional Energy Demand Analysis Portal (REDAP) Digitalisation: enabling better government decision-making in the building & transport sectors
Authors: Conway N , Hainoun Ali
Published: December 2020

Worldwide, there is an increasing awareness and sense of urgency about the need to transition towards efficient, sustainable and low-carbon energy systems. This process, however, involves the complex task of performing integrated energy-demand analysis which helps to formulate the necessary clean and optimised energy supply strategies. For this reason, today’s governments are supporting collaborative research initiatives that will enable better-informed government decision-making on the rollout of smart energy systems. This ERA-Net-backed Regional Energy Demand Analysis Portal (REDAP) project [1] is one such initiative. REDAP aspires to become a globally-recognised digital methodology for estimating regional energy demand within the built environment. Informed by the recommendations of the UN’s Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), the REDAP consortium will improve, automate, standardise and replicate an existing and proven building sector energy demand analysis technique and incorporate into it a new methodology for analysing transport energy demand. The resulting ‘spatio-temporal’ model will provide governments with regional-specific insights into the integrated and ever-changing socio-economic and technological drivers behind this demand. By enabling governments to monitor and report on regional energy performance, REDAP is expected to address the targets of multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including: 7. Affordable and Clean Energy, 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities, and 12. Responsible Consumption and Production.
Embodied GHG emissions of buildings – Critical reflection of benchmark comparison and in-depth analysis of drivers
Authors: Röck Martin , Balouktsi Maria , Mendes Saade Marcella Ruschi , Rasmussen Freja Nygaard , Hoxha Endrit , Birgisdottir Harpa , Frischknecht Rolf , Habert Guillaume , Passer Alexander , Lützkendorf Thomas
Published: December 2020

In the face of the unfolding climate crisis, the role and importance of reducing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector is increasing. This study investigates the global trends of GHG emissions occurring across the life cycle of buildings by systematically compiling life cycle assessment (LCA) studies and analysing more than 650 building cases. Based on the data extracted from these LCA studies, the influence of features related to LCA methodology and building design is analysed. Results show that embodied GHG emissions, which mainly arise from manufacturing and processing of building materials, are dominating life cycle emissions of new, advanced buildings. Analysis of GHG emissions at the time of occurrence, shows the upfront ‘carbon spike’ and emphasises the need to address and reduce the GHG ‘investment’ for new buildings. Comparing the results with existing life cycle-related benchmarks, we find only a small number of cases meeting the benchmark. Critically reflecting on the benchmark comparison, an in-depth analysis reveals different reasons for cases achieving the benchmark. While one would expect that different building design strategies and material choices lead to high or low embodied GHG emissions, the results mainly correlate with decisions related to LCA methodology, i.e. the scope of the assessments. The results emphasize the strong need for transparency in the reporting of LCA studies as well as need for consistency when applying environmental benchmarks. Furthermore, the paper opens up the discussion on the potential of utilizing big data and machine learning for analysis and prediction of environmental performance of buildings.
Infrastructure development compromises creation of low-carbon cities
Authors: Heinonen Jukka
Published: December 2020

Of the UN SDGs, the role of infrastructure in enabling or compromising the development of future low-carbon settlements falls under the goal #11 “Sustainable cities and communities”. However, when it comes to the specific content of the SDG #11, only the subgoals 11.6 and 11.B-C loosely include these development-phase emissions. If it was shown that infrastructure development compromises creation of low-carbon cities, it would also mean that the SDG #11 might fail to guide the development to sustainable cities and communities. In this study the role of infrastructure and capital development emissions are analyzed from different perspectives by synthesizing the suggested emissions levels from previous studies. Iceland is looked at separately as a case country and the capital Reykjavik as a case city. Previous studies on Iceland are utilized to discuss the infrastructure and capital development related emissions and to compare them to the overall carbon footprints suggested for these locations and their residents. The results suggest that climate-sustainable built environment cannot be built with the currently dominant materials of concrete, steel and asphalt. The issue should quickly receive more attention before we run out of the remaining carbon quota.
Monitoring and environmental features of development of Yahsu gold deposit (Yakhsu depression, Tajikistan)
Authors: Odinaev Sh A , Malakhov F A , Yatimov U A
Published: December 2020

On the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, almost the entire spectrum of dangerous geological and natural-climatic phenomena is observed, and the solution of the issues of risk reduction from them is of paramount importance. The paper describes the geo-ecological problems associated with the change in landscape and geological environment in the area of gold deposits Yakhsu. It offers a rational development mechanism described conservation measures necessary to restore the landscape of the area and offers the potential use of terrikons-waste mining activities. The amplitude of the erosion cut varies widely - from the first meters in the accumulation zones to hundreds of meters in the upper valleys.
Batch Adsorption Studies on Treatment of Textile Industry Effluent using Bamboo and Green Coconut shell Activated Carbon
Authors: Bokil Shantini A. , Topare Niraj S. , Khedkar Satish V.
Published: December 2020

The use of activated carbon (AC) as a strong adsorbent was commonly used. This work deals with the study of textile industry wastewater (dye) adsorption on AC produced from Bamboo and Green coconut shell through chemical activation method. The effect of various process parameters such as the amount of adsorbents, initial concentration of dye, pH, contact time, temperature and agitation speed on percentage removal of dye on the activated carbon i.e. Bamboo activated carbon (BAC) and Green Coconut Shell Activated carbon (GCSAC) batch adsorption tests were investigated. Testing was performed for quantitative description of Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium adsorption isotherms. Based on the experimental findings, the equilibrium was observed in 6 hours. Langmuir isotherm was the best suited for the adsorption of dye, with a maximal adsorption capacity of 142.86 mg / gm. The removal of dye by the use of BAC has been found to be greater than GCSAC.
Comparison of bond strength analysis on the interfacial layer of old and new concrete using latex, epoxy and glycoluril
Authors: Pothinathan SKM. , Muthukannan M. , Selvapalam Narayanan
Published: December 2020

Though other methods were updated for repairing a concrete structure, improving the bond strength of the interfacial layer with effective additives is still the remarkably outstanding technique since it highly improves the structure without any compromise with the quality and strength parameters. The primary reason for the investigation is to compare the market available materials like epoxy and latex with polymer based binding material named glycoluril by slant shear test in both compression and tension. In this comparative study, epoxy bonding depicts higher bond strength in compression than the latex bonding, whereas 3% of glycoluril bonding in the interfacial layer provided for 1cm thick in the interfacial layer were noted to improve the tensile bond strength between the old and new concrete layers which turns to be effective in the repair works of bottom of the slab/beam where tension is more.
Land use Land cover studies and its effects on Valuation using GIS Techniques in Madurai Town Planning Area, Tamilnadu, India
Authors: Balaji L , Muthukannan M
Published: December 2020

Land use land cover mapping practices over period in Madurai district varies due to increase of urban and rural migration. Valuation of land in urban areas is very important tool towards economic impact on human communities. Madurai is a temple city located on Vagai river bank which attract most tourists and also increase the urban areas due to various factors such as rural migration, Population increase. With the evidence from Government Land Register (GLR) and Present Market Rate (PMR )Values the Population is directly proportional to the value of land. Population increase last 12 years and built-up areas also increased. This paper studies the urban sprawl using land use land cover changes over the period of 2007 to 2019 between GLR and PMR values as per real estate practices in India. Using GIS techniques the analysis of urban sprawl of the city as well GLR, PMR values relationship by interpolation method to assess the land valuation practices which followed by Government of India.
Segmentation of cervix using minimum spanning superpixel tree detector
Authors: Sheela Shiney TS , Albert Jerome S , Rose Jemila
Published: December 2020

Cervical cancer occurs in cervix region of women which is life threatening and is a key research in the field of medical diagnosis. Cervical cancer can be prevented if precancerous changes is diagnosed earlier and cured properly. But finding cancer at the earlier stage is a tedious process. Cervical cancer screening is crucial since utmost of the screening procedures are invasive in nature. The objective is to automatically extract the area where in the cervical cancer starts to occur. In order to diagnose cervical cancer and distinguish the malignant and benign tissues, a cytology image obtained by cervicographic or colposcopy device is used. A robust segmentation algorithm is proposed that uses superpixel for the image segmentation method. This method is regularized by the combination of structural properties such as color, texture, and spatial data present in the superpixel graph.
Synthesis of Biodiesel from Waste Cooking Oil and Emission Characteristics of Its blends
Authors: Topare Niraj S. , Patil Kiran D. , Khedkar Satish V.
Published: December 2020

In converting different vegetable oils for the respective esters, at a minimum reaction temperature and faster rate of the fatty acids, the catalyst plays a very important role which can be changed into fatty acid esters (FAME), also known as biodiesel by transesterification reaction with methanol. Homogenous and heterogeneous catalysts have been identified as catalysts and among these catalysts. Homogeneous catalysts were chosen because it was possible to generate more biodiesel at a comparatively faster rate. As a feedstock, soybean waste cooking oil (SWCO) was used in this research work. With the help of a conventional mechanical stirrer reactor, SWCO with methanol was heated at various temperatures. As a catalyst, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) is used. It evaluated the effect of various parameters such as reaction temperature (60°C, 70°C, and 80°C), the reaction time of 2 hours, and loading of the catalyst (0.5 wt. %, 0.7 wt. %, and 1 wt. % KOH and NaOH). Results show that biodiesel produced from soybean waste cooking oil was within the recommended standards of biodiesel fuel. The transesterification reaction using KOH catalyst was more effective than the NaOH catalyst. The yield and conversion of biodiesel produced from SWCO by using 0.5 wt. % KOH catalysts at 60°C are 93.2 % and 96.16 % respectively while; the yield and conversion of biodiesel produced from SWCO by using 0.5 wt. % NaOH catalysts at 60°C are 91.35 % and 94.5 % respectively. Blends of 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100% by volume of biodiesel derived from soybean waste cooking oil and diesel fuel were prepared as B10, B20, B30, B50 and B100. Biodiesel blends have ASTM standards that are similar to diesel fuel, and the ORSAT apparatus has used to exhaust gas.
Production, structural and corrosion protection study of electroactive polyamide/alumina nanocomposites
Authors: Chavhan Jitendra , Rathod Ramesh , Malav Jeetendra Kumar , Umare Suresh
Published: December 2020

Electroactive polyamide/alumina nanocomposite of various compositions has been been synthesized by in situ oxidative coupling polymerization followed by thermal imidization. X-ray diffraction confirmed pattern of all nanocomposite shows peak corresponding to both alpha-alumina and polyamide. Fourier Transform Infrared and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were indicated the presence of amide group and alumina nanoparticles in the nanocomposites respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscope and Transmission electron microscopy showed continuous phase of EPA with Al2O3 particles of 8–18 nm size in the composite. The average roughness values amongst the nanocomposite coating indicated no significant variation. The water contact angle of pure electroactive polyamide and nanocomposite coating showed hydrophilic and hydrophobic property respectively and the slightly hydrophobic nanocomposite coatings posses a superior corrosion resistance than the electroactive polyamide coated and bare 201 stainless steel.
The Effectiveness of Skeletal Reconstruction in Severe Post-Rhinoplasty Nasal Deformity
Authors: Sazgar Amir A , Hajialipour Shabnam , Razfar Ali , Rahavi-Ezabadi Sara
Published: December 2020

Background

Revision rhinoplasty in patients with multiple prior surgeries is among the most challenging procedures in facial plastic surgery. Evaluating patient satisfaction in this unique patient population is important in determining which technique is effective.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of total nasal skeletal reconstruction in patients with severe post-rhinoplasty deformity due to multiple previous revision surgeries.

Methods

A retrospective medical record analysis of ambulatory surgery and hospital databases was performed relating to rhinoplasty patients between April 2014 and December 2018. Patient demographics, surgical technique, and functional and aesthetic outcome assessment data were retrieved. Patients’ functional satisfaction was measured with the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) instrument, and the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation (ROE) instrument was used to evaluate cosmetic results.

Results

A total of 253 revision rhinoplasties were extracted. Of these, 25 patients were revision cases with total skeletal reconstruction. The patients had undergone a mean of 3.2 previous rhinoplasties. Mean [standard deviation] preoperative ROE and NOSE scores were 6.36 [3.69] and 80.33 [12.02], respectively. Septum, tip, dorsum, and side walls were reconstructed in all cases. The mean postoperative ROE and NOSE scores after 1 year were 17.27 [4.67] and 53.33 [19.80], respectively, which represented a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Having the knowledge and experience to perform total nasal skeletal reconstruction by rebuilding an unsalvageable nose leads to long-standing satisfactory functional and aesthetic results.

Level of Evidence: 4
Deep forest ensemble learning for classification of alignments of non-coding RNA sequences based on multi-view structure representations
Authors: Li Ying , Zhang Qi , Liu Zhaoqian , Wang Cankun , Han Siyu , Ma Qin , Du Wei
Published: December 2020

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play crucial roles in multiple biological processes. However, only a few ncRNAs’ functions have been well studied. Given the significance of ncRNAs classification for understanding ncRNAs’ functions, more and more computational methods have been introduced to improve the classification automatically and accurately. In this paper, based on a convolutional neural network and a deep forest algorithm, multi-grained cascade forest (GcForest), we propose a novel deep fusion learning framework, GcForest fusion method (GCFM), to classify alignments of ncRNA sequences for accurate clustering of ncRNAs. GCFM integrates a multi-view structure feature representation including sequence-structure alignment encoding, structure image representation and shape alignment encoding of structural subunits, enabling us to capture the potential specificity between ncRNAs. For the classification of pairwise alignment of two ncRNA sequences, the F-value of GCFM improves 6% than an existing alignment-based method. Furthermore, the clustering of ncRNA families is carried out based on the classification matrix generated from GCFM. Results suggest better performance (with 20% accuracy improved) than existing ncRNA clustering methods (RNAclust, Ensembleclust and CNNclust). Additionally, we apply GCFM to construct a phylogenetic tree of ncRNA and predict the probability of interactions between RNAs. Most ncRNAs are located correctly in the phylogenetic tree, and the prediction accuracy of RNA interaction is 90.63%. A web server (http://bmbl.sdstate.edu/gcfm/) is developed to maximize its availability, and the source code and related data are available at the same URL.
NCBRPred: predicting nucleic acid binding residues in proteins based on multilabel learning
Authors: Zhang Jun , Chen Qingcai , Liu Bin
Published: December 2020

The interactions between proteins and nucleic acid sequences play many important roles in gene expression and some cellular activities. Accurate prediction of the nucleic acid binding residues in proteins will facilitate the research of the protein functions, gene expression, drug design, etc. In this regard, several computational methods have been proposed to predict the nucleic acid binding residues in proteins. However, these methods cannot satisfactorily measure the global interactions among the residues along protein. Furthermore, these methods are suffering cross-prediction problem, new strategies should be explored to solve this problem. In this study, a new computational method called NCBRPred was proposed to predict the nucleic acid binding residues based on the multilabel sequence labeling model. NCBRPred used the bidirectional Gated Recurrent Units (BiGRUs) to capture the global interactions among the residues, and treats this task as a multilabel learning task. Experimental results on three widely used benchmark datasets and an independent dataset showed that NCBRPred achieved higher predictive results with lower cross-prediction, outperforming 10 existing state-of-the-art predictors. The web-server and a stand-alone package of NCBRPred are freely available at http://bliulab.net/NCBRPred. It is anticipated that NCBRPred will become a very useful tool for identifying nucleic acid binding residues.
Detecting the number of clusters in a network
Authors: Budel Gabriel , Van Mieghem Piet
Published: December 2020

Many clustering algorithms for complex networks depend on the choice for the number of clusters and it is often unclear how to make this choice. The number of eigenvalues located outside a circle in the spectrum of the non-backtracking matrix was conjectured to be an estimator of the number of clusters in a graph. We compare the estimate of the number of clusters obtained from the spectrum of the non-backtracking matrix with three estimators based on the concept of modularity and evaluate the methods on several benchmark graphs. We find that the non-backtracking method detects the number of clusters better than the modularity-based methods for the graphs in our simulation study, especially when the clusters have slightly different sizes. The estimates of the non-backtracking method are narrowly distributed around the true number of clusters for all benchmark graphs considered. Additionally, for graphs without a clustering structure, the non-backtracking method detects exactly one cluster, which is a convenient property of an estimator of the number of clusters. However, the lack of a well-defined concept of a cluster prevents sharp conclusions.
Seasonal changes and the unexpected impact of environmental disturbance on skin bacteria of individual amphibians in a natural habitat
Authors: Walke Jenifer B , Becker Matthew H , Krinos Arianna , Chang Elizabeth A B , Santiago Celina , Umile Thomas P , Minbiole Kevin P C , Belden Lisa K
Published: December 2020

Amphibians host diverse skin bacteria that have a role in pathogen defense, but these skin communities could change over time and impact this function. Here, we monitored individual Eastern red-spotted newts (Notophthalmus viridescens; N = 17) for 2 years in a field pond enclosure and assessed the effects of season and disturbance on skin bacterial community dynamics. We created disturbances by adding additional pond substrate to the enclosure at two timepoints. We planned to sample the skin bacterial community and metabolite profiles of each newt every 6 weeks; we ultimately sampled eight individuals at least six times. We used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to characterize the bacterial communities and HPLC-MS for metabolite profiling. We found that disturbance had a dramatic effect on skin bacterial communities and metabolite profiles, while season had an effect only using select metrics. There were seven core bacterial taxa (97% OTUs) that were found on all newts in all seasons, pre- and post-disturbance. Lastly, there was a correlation between bacterial and metabolite profiles post-disturbance, which was not observed pre-disturbance. This longitudinal study suggests that environmental disturbances can have lasting effects on skin bacterial communities that overwhelm seasonal changes, although the core bacteria remain relatively consistent over time.
The Spectre of Abnormality: Deaf Education and the Poetics of Contestation at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Arnaud Sabine
Published: December 2020

When, during the Revolution, the French government committed to supporting the education of Deaf people, they left it to teachers to determine the methods and contents of this education. Less than a century later, the Ministry of the Interior of the third Republic reformed the teaching in use in most institutions in the direction of methods of pure speech. This moment coincided with the development of new categories to classify children in relation to the educational project, especially ‘backward’ and ‘abnormal’ at the turn of the twentieth-century. While Deaf writers did not oppose the teaching of speech, they soon questioned the legitimacy of this reform, and exposed the threats it posed for the development of Deaf pupils. In addition to examining the stakes and the impacts of the political decision, this paper will analyze the development of a poetics of contestation throughout Deaf writing, as manifested in the adoption of a variety of rhetorical strategies, ranging from irony to critical analysis, in the rewriting of the category of abnormality. This article will show how these years of struggle were also years of emancipation, insofar as the acquisition of language became a poetical and political act.