bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prediction Method and Application of Hydrocarbon Fluid Migration through Faulted Cap Rocks
Authors: Zhang Bowei , Fu Guang
Published: December 2022

Hydrocarbon fluid migration through faulted cap rocks was determined by comparing the maximum connected thickness of cap rocks required for hydrocarbon fluid migration and the actual values, since cap rocks are important in the study of hydrocarbon fluid distribution in petroliferous basins based on its migration mechanism(s). The maximum connected thickness required was identified by comparing the cap rocks, fault displacement, and oil/gas distribution. The hydrocarbon fluid at the Putaohua reservoir migrated to the overlying Saertu and Heidimiao reservoirs in the Bayan Chagan Area, northern Songliao Basin. This was predicted to demonstrate the validity of the method. The results show that the adjusted Putaohua oil reservoir was distributed near the Talahai fault and Bayanchagan fault, rather than the Gulong sag in the southwest of the study area, where oil migrated vertically through the Sapu cap rocks to the overlying Saertu reservoir. Thick mudstone cap rocks in the second member of the Nenjiang Formation made it difficult for hydrocarbon fluid to migrate to the Heidimiao reservoir. This agrees well with hydrocarbon fluid distribution at the Putaohua, Saertu, and Heidimiao reservoirs in the Bayan Chagan Area, indicating that this method is feasible for predicting hydrocarbon fluid migration through faulted cap rocks.
Current Electromagnetic Compatibility Problems of High-Power Industrial Electric Drives with Active Front-End Rectifiers Connected to a 6–35 kV Power Grid: A Comprehensive Overview
Authors: Nikolaev Aleksandr , Maklakov Aleksandr , Bulanov Mikhail , Gilemov Ildar , Denisevich Aleksandr , Afanasev Maksim
Published: December 2022

Today, electric drive systems based on frequency converters with active front-end rectifiers (FC-AFEs) are widespread across industries. In the course of the upgrade of production facilities, such systems replace the conventional converters with thyristor- and diode-based rectifiers. FC-AFEs have the following advantages: the capacity to regenerate the power to the grid and the capacity to operate at the set power factor. The manufacturers of FC-AFEs also claim that their products have the best electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) with the power grid. The best EMC shall be achieved via a multilevel FC-AFE topology and specialized pulse-width modulation (PWM) algorithms for AFE rectifiers. However, the experience of operating mid-voltage high-power electric drives with an FC-AFE in 6–35 kV factory distribution grids with non-linear frequency response due to resonant phenomena refutes the claims of the FC-AFE manufacturers. Resonant phenomena in 6–35 kV grids are caused by the interaction of the inductance of grid components (transformers, reactors) and the capacitance of output cable lines. If the resonance frequency at a sufficient amplitude corresponds to the harmonic frequency of the current consumed by the FC-AFE, the distribution grid will feature high-frequency voltage distortions. This may lead to failures in voltage quality-sensitive electrical consumers. This problem recurred at various metallurgical companies. The purpose of this research is to make a comprehensive overview of the EMC problems during the operation of FC-AFEs at active production facilities, as well as the analysis of the technical solutions aimed at the improvement of the EMC of high-power FC-AFEs with the power grid.
Experimental and Computational Analysis of Aluminum-Coated Dimple and Plain Tubes in Solar Water Heater System
Authors: Barik Debabrata , M. Arun , Saeed Muhammad , Ramachandran Tholkappiyan
Published: December 2022

Solar power is often regarded as one of the most promising forms of alternative energy since it is both sustainable and renewable. It is difficult to utilize and benefit from solar energy in residential and industrial applications because of the intermittent nature of its supply. A solar-based water heating system is efficient for using solar thermal conversion, the simplest and most successful method of turning solar energy into thermal energy. In this research, the performance analysis of Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors (PTSCs) with aluminum-coated copper dimple tubes was computationally and experimentally analyzed. For computational analysis, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool was used. For experimental analysis, aluminum-coated dimple tubes were used to pass the base fluid (water) in it while varying the mass flow rate from 1.0 to 3.0 kg/min at steps of 0.5 kg/min to examine the effect of dimple texturing and aluminum coating on the performance of the solar water heater. The parameters, such as thermal efficiency, friction factor, convective heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, and effectiveness of the PTSC, were analyzed, and we found remarkable improvement towards high conversion efficiency. At a flow rate of 2.5 kg/min, the thermal efficiency was improved by about 36%, the friction factor increased by about 0.32%, the convective heat transfer coefficient was improved by 1150 W/m2K, Nusselt number was improved by about 53.8 and the effectiveness was enhanced by 0.4. The simulation results were compared with the experimental results, and the deviation was about ±3.8%, which may be due to an error in the instrument as well as environmental conditions during the analysis. The outcome of results can be used for real-life applications in industrial water heating and domestic water heating especially, the places exposed to low solar radiation intensity throughout the year.
The Bearing Faults Detection Methods for Electrical Machines—The State of the Art
Authors: Khan Muhammad Amir , Asad Bilal , Kudelina Karolina , Vaimann Toomas , Kallaste Ants
Published: December 2022

Electrical machines are prone to faults and failures and demand incessant monitoring for their confined and reliable operations. A failure in electrical machines may cause unexpected interruptions and require a timely inspection of abnormal conditions in rotating electric machines. This article aims to summarize an up-to-date overview of all types of bearing faults diagnostic techniques by subdividing them into different categories. Different fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) techniques are discussed briefly for prognosis of numerous bearing faults that frequently occur in rotating machines. Conventional approaches, statistical approaches, and artificial intelligence-based architectures such as machine learning and deep learning are discussed summarily for the diagnosis of bearing faults that frequently arise in revolving electrical machines. The most advanced trends for diagnoses of frequent bearing faults based on intelligence and novel applications are reviewed. Future research directions that are helpful to enhance the performance of conventional, statistical, and artificial intelligence (machine learning, deep learning) and novel approaches are well addressed and provide hints for future work.
The Impact of Competitive Strategies on Performance of Banking Sector; The Mediating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility and Operational Excellence
Authors: Ivascu Larisa , Ali Waqas , Khalid Rimsha , Raza Mohsin
Published: December 2022

This study examined the mediating role of corporate social responsibility practices and the nexus between the operational excellence of competitive strategies, and performance, for Islamic banks operating in Pakistan. Particularly, two competitive strategies, namely, the cost-sensitive strategy and the differentiation strategy were considered. This study employed a structured questionnaire to collect the data from 512 respondents (361 from fully-fledged Islamic banks, FFIBs, and 151 from Islamic window banks, IWBs). A partial least square–structural equation modeling approach was employed to test the hierarchal component model. As a robustness check, the Gaussian copula approach was used to address the endogeneity issue, and the Partial least square prediction-oriented segmentation approach was adopted to explore the unobserved heterogeneity. The findings showed evidence of complementary partial mediation between competitive strategies and bank performance, channeled through operational excellence. However, corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices partially mediated the relationship between cost-sensitive strategy and bank performance. This study is worthwhile for managers, policy makers and regulatory authorities concerned with religiously conscious corporations.
Gel Fuels: Preparing, Rheology, Atomization, Combustion
Authors: Glushkov Dmitrii , Paushkina Kristina , Pleshko Andrei
Published: December 2022

The review presents the results of experimental and theoretical studies obtained in recent years within the framework of the main areas of research of gel fuels: choice of component composition and substantiation of fuel preparation technologies and their rheological characteristics; fuel transportation and atomization processes; and the processes of their ignition and combustion. The main advantages of gel fuels in comparison with widely used liquid and solid fuels are considered. The advantages and disadvantages of known experimental approaches to the study of the combustion processes of gel fuels are analyzed. The well-known physical and mathematical models of gel fuels ignition are given, including those under conditions of melt droplets dispersion. The tendencies of further development of gel fuels within the framework of the combustion theory are formulated.
Effects of Different Hydrolysis Methods on the Hydrolysate Characteristics and Photo-Fermentative Hydrogen Production Performance of Corn and Sorghum Straw
Authors: Li Qing , Jiang Youmin , Ren Changpeng , Jiang Qiushi , Feng Jiali , Wang Minmin , Gao Zixuan , Cao Wen
Published: December 2022

The effects of hydrolysis methods (hydrothermal, acid, alkali, hydrothermal-enzyme, acid-enzyme, and alkali-enzyme) on hydrolysate characteristics and photo fermentative hydrogen production (PFHP) of corn straw (CS) and sorghum straw (SS) were investigated. The optimum production of reducing the sugar of straw in different solvent environments was studied by one-step hydrolysis and co-enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment through a 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid method. The hydrogen production process by photolytic fermentation of hydrolysates of Rhodobacter sphaeroides HY01 was further analyzed through a gas chromatograph, including the differences in accumulated PFHP yield, chemical oxygen consumption (COD), and volatile fatty acid (VFA) composition. The results showed that the highest reducing sugar yield was obtained by the acid method among one-step hydrolysis. In contrast, acid-enzyme hydrolysis can further increase the reducing sugar yield, which reached 0.42 g·g−1-straw of both straws. Both CS and SS had the highest hydrogen yield from acid-enzyme hydrolysate, 122.72 ± 3.34 mL·g−1-total solid of straw (TS) and 170.04 ± 4.12 mL·g−1-TS, respectively, compared with their acid hydrolysates with 40.46% and 10.53% higher hydrogen yields, respectively. The use of enzymatic hydrolysis showed a significantly higher hydrogen yield for CS compared to SS, indicating that acid hydrolysis was more suitable for SS and acid-enzyme hydrolysis was more suitable for CS.
Comparative Economic Analysis of Solar PV and Reused EV Batteries in the Residential Sector of Three Emerging Countries—The Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam
Authors: Moon Hong Eun , Ha Yoon Hee , Kim Kyung Nam
Published: December 2022

An emerging problem associated with the increased global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is the post-use of lithium-ion batteries installed in them. Discarded batteries maintain 70–80% of their performance; thus, they are highly valuable recycling resources. Accordingly, technologies that complement the intermittency of renewable energy by integrating discarded EV batteries into battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are receiving attention. Here, the economic feasibility of a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) + reused BESS (RBESS) integrated system in three emerging countries (Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam) was analyzed by comparing its performance with that of diesel power generation and central grid-supplied power. The proposed system had a higher economic feasibility than diesel power generation (55.9% lower LCOE) but a lower economic feasibility than the central grid-supplied power (282.7% higher LCOE) in all three countries. Additionally, we conducted a sensitivity analysis by incorporating the investment cost, government subsidy, and social cost of greenhouse gas emissions. In conclusion, the Philippines is the best country for grid parity with the integrated system, following Indonesia and Vietnam. This study examined both the economic and social benefits of the proposed system as a countermeasure to climate change and the virtuous resource cycle.
Remaining Useful Life Prediction for Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Improved Variational Mode Decomposition and Machine Learning Algorithm
Authors: Sun Chuang , Qu An , Zhang Jun , Shi Qiyang , Jia Zhenhong
Published: December 2022

Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of batteries is important for the health management and safety evaluation of lithium-ion batteries. Because lithium-ion batteries have capacity recovery and noise interference during actual use, direct use of measured capacity data to predict their RUL generalization ability is not efficient. Aimed at the above problems, this paper proposes an integrated life prediction method for lithium-ion batteries by combining improved variational mode decomposition (VMD) with a long short-term memory network (LSTM) and Gaussian process regression algorithm (GPR). First, the VMD algorithm decomposed the measured capacity dataset of the lithium-ion battery into a residual component and capacity regeneration component, in which the penalty factor α and mode number K in the VMD algorithm were optimized by the whale optimization algorithm (WOA). Second, the LSTM and GPR models were established to predict the residual component and capacity regeneration components, respectively. Last, the predicted components are integrated to obtain the final predicted lithium-ion battery capacity. The experimental results show that the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the proposed lithium-ion battery capacity prediction model are less than 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, and the method outperforms the five compared algorithms and several recently proposed hybrid algorithms in terms of prediction accuracy.
Experimental Study on Conformance Control Using Acidic Nanoparticles in a Heterogeneous Reservoir by Flue Gas Flooding
Authors: Ji Zemin , Zhang Qun , Gao Yang , Wang Jing , He Chang , Han Lu , Zhao Wenjing
Published: December 2022

Flue gas flooding has been applied in many oilfields for its accessibility and low cost. However, the problem of gas channeling during flue gas flooding is significantly more serious due to reservoir heterogeneity and gravity override, and the traditional profile control agent is inapplicable because of flue gas acidity. In order to solve this challenge, a novel acidic nanoparticle was presented first; then, the profile control performance of both water slugs and this novel nanoparticle for flue gas flooding in heterogeneous reservoirs was studied using core samples with different rhythms. The results show that the stability of the acidic nanoparticles is good, and the viscosity of the nanoparticle solution increases as the pH decreases, which is suitable for acidic flue gas flooding. The oil recovery of flue gas flooding in a positive rhythm core is 5–10% greater than that in a reverse rhythm core. The water slug can improve oil recovery by 5% in the reverse rhythm core, and oil recovery was less than 2% in the positive rhythm core. The effect of a nanoparticle slug is much better than the water slug. It improved the oil recovery by 10% in the positive rhythm core by continuing flue gas flooding after nanoparticle slug treatment, which was more than the 20% in the reverse rhythm core. The ultimate oil recovery of both positive and reverse-rhythm cores by acidic nanoparticle slug treatment was around 50%, which was 10% greater than the water slug treatment. The conformance control using acidic nanoparticles is more suitable for reverse rhythm formation due to its plugging capacity, deformation characteristic, and viscosity increment in an acidic environment. This research demonstrated that these novel acidic nanoparticles could be effectively applied to conformance control during flue gas flooding in heterogeneous reservoirs.
Selective Absorbing Surface Based on CrO3: Evaluation of Substrates Treatment Influence on the Films Optical Properties
Authors: Pereira Gustavo Furtado , Oliveira Aline da Silva , Gomes Kelly Cristiane , Silva Neto José Félix , Simões Thiago Araújo , Leal Antônio Farias , Torres Sandro Marden , Lima Filho Marçal Rosas Florentino
Published: December 2022

Solar energy presents the greatest potential by which to produce heat energy with reduced carbon emissions for power generation. To increase its harvesting and conversion, it is necessary to understand fundamental concepts and develop new materials. Although many processes can obtain selective absorbing surfaces (SAS) for application in solar energy exploitation, including electroplating methods, those processes have not sufficiently investigated the substrate’s treatment impact. The present work investigates 304 stainless steel (SS304) substrates treatment influence on the film’s (coatings) optical properties of SAS based on CrO3 electroplating. For this purpose, three main steps featured in the methodology: substrates treatment, coatings deposition, and physical-chemical characterization. The former was performed by detergent cleaning (DC), acid treatment (AT), and electropolishing (EP). Then, coatings were electroplated towards chromium deposition on the substrates with different deposition times. Finally, films were characterized by Profilometry, UV-Vis-NIR, and IR regions Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that, in terms of surface treatments on the substrate, the electropolished (EP) substrates presented average roughness values of 35 nm, reflectivity of 5.09%, and clear morphological difference (SEM) when compared to other treatments in this study (DC and AT). A SAS was successfully obtained, and the electropolished substrates (EP) presented coatings with better optical performance than other samples (DC and AT), with absorptivity values around 98% and emissivity of approximately 7%. A relationship between substrate treatment, its roughness, and the impacts on the optical selectivity of SASs was observed. Therefore, electropolishing is presented as a promising treatment for the SASs substrates.
A Comprehensive Review of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies, Architecture, and Its Applications to Improved Efficiency
Authors: Vodapally Sai Nikhil , Ali Mohd Hasan
Published: December 2022

Since the discovery of Photovoltaic (PV) effect, numerous ways of utilizing the energy that can be generated by the free everlasting solar radiation using solar panels were put forward by many researchers. However, the major disadvantage of solar panel to date is its low efficiency, which is affected by the panel temperature, cell type, panel orientation, irradiance level, etc. Though there are certain multi-junction solar panels that offer higher efficiencies, their application is very minimal due to high manufacturing cost. With the growing demand for the reduction of carbon footprint, there is a need to use and manufacture these panels in the most effective way to harness the maximum power and increase their efficiency. Another major concern is the availability of land/space for the installation of these panels. Several authors have focused on discussing the different technologies that have evolved in the manufacturing of the PV cells along with their architectures. However, there exists a gap that needs to be addressed by combining the latest PV technologies and architectures with a focus on PV applications for increasing the efficiency. Due to the technical limitations on the efficiency of PV panels, applications are to be designed that can extract the maximum power from the PV systems by minimizing the technical difficulties. Considering all these factors, this paper presents an overview of the types of silicon based solar cell architectures with efficiencies of at least 25%, and different integration methods like Building integrated PVs (BIPV), floating PVs, which can increase the efficiency by harnessing more power from a limited space. An extensive bibliography on the PV cell structures and methods of maintaining the efficiencies in real world installations are presented. The challenges with the integration of solar panels and the future work are also discussed. This work benefits the readers and researchers and serves as a basis to understand the solar panel efficiency structure and ways to improve the efficiency and associated challenges to come over in the successful implementation of these systems.
Implementation of an ADALINE-Based Adaptive Control Strategy for an LCLC-PV-DSTATCOM in Distribution System for Power Quality Improvement
Authors: Mishra Soumya , Rajashekaran Sreejith , Mohan Pavan Kalyan , Lokesh Spoorthi Mathad , Ganiga Hemalatha Jyothinagaravaishya , Dash Santanu Kumar , Roccotelli Michele
Published: December 2022

This study investigated the problem of controlling a three-phase three-wire photovoltaic (PV)-type distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM). In order to model, simulate, and control the system, the MATLAB/SIMULINK tool was used. Different controllers were applied to create switching pulses for the IGBT-based voltage source converter (VSC) for the mitigation of various power quality issues in the PV-DSTATCOM. Traditional control algorithms guarantee faultless execution or outcomes only for a restricted range of operating situations due to their present design. Alternative regulators depend on more resilient neural network and fuzzy logic algorithms that may be programmed to operate in a variety of settings. In this study, an adaptive linear neural network (ADALINE) was proposed to solve the control problem more efficiently than the existing methods. The ADALINE method was simulated and the results were compared with the results of the synchronous reference frame theory (SRFT), improved linear sinusoidal tracer (ILST), and backpropagation (BP) algorithms. The simulation results showed that the proposed ADALINE method outperformed the compared algorithms. In addition, the total harmonic distortions (THDs) of the source current were estimated under ideal grid voltage conditions based on IEEE-929 and IEEE-519 guidelines.
Techno-Economic Analysis towards Full-Scale Pressure Retarded Osmosis Plants
Authors: Obode Elizabeth I. , Badreldin Ahmed , Adham Samer , Castier Marcelo , Abdel-Wahab Ahmed
Published: December 2022

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a power generation process that harnesses the salinity gradient between two water bodies of different salinities. Using high salinity water as a draw solution, this work assesses the techno-economic feasibility of the technology to generate electricity using single and multistage systems. This work utilizes a simulator built on the rigorous Q-Electrolattice equation of state and a mass transfer model that accounts for concentration polarization, combined with the Dakota optimization tool to perform sensitivity analysis and optimization studies. The economic indicator of interest is the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), which serves to compare PRO with other sources of renewable energy. An LCOE value of USD 0.1255/kWh was obtained from the use of commercial membranes at an efficiency of 100% for the mechanical components of the PRO system. This LCOE drops to USD 0.0704/kWh when an ideal membrane is used—thus showing the improvements to economics possible with improved membrane properties. With currently obtainable membrane properties and mechanical equipment, the LCOE of a single-stage process increases to USD 0.352/kWh, which is not cost-competitive with other renewable energy sources. Setting up multistage PRO systems towards minimizing the LCOE was found to be detrimental to the net power production by the plant.
Pore Structure and Fractal Characteristics of Continental Low Maturity Organic-Rich Shale in the Sha-4 Member of the Liaohe Western Depression
Authors: Liu Yinglin , Zhang Lei , Zhang Xuejuan , He Xin , Li Jinpeng , Xing Yabing , Jin Fuxin , Wang Yiran
Published: December 2022

The research on pore structure and heterogeneity of shale reservoirs has always been a hotspot in the study of unconventional reservoir characteristics. China is a country dominated by continental shale. Compared with marine shale, continental shale has lower maturity and stronger reservoir heterogeneity. In this study, Sha-4 shale in the Liaohe Western Depression was selected for low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy and other experiments revealing the pore structure and fractal characteristics of continental low mature organic-rich shale. The fractal dimension was calculated by the FHH model and the effects of TOC and mineral composition on pore structure and fractal characteristics were discussed. The results show that the Sha-4 shale in the study area is mainly mesoporous and the main pore types are inorganic pores with relatively large pore diameters, such as intergranular pores and inter-crystalline pores. The pore morphology is very complex, mainly narrow slit and flat pore, and the pore is often filled with organic matter. The fractal dimensions D1 range from 2.58 to 2.87 and D2 range from 2.18 to 2.55, and the pore structure shows obvious dual fractal characteristics. The pore structure and fractal characteristics of shale are mainly affected by TOC and quartz due to the low degree of the thermal evolution of shale and their effects are different from those of marine shale reservoirs. The increase in TOC reduces the heterogeneity of the shale reservoir. In addition, mineral particles with strong weathering resistance and stability such as quartz can protect the pore structure of shale, improve the pore structure and reduce the reservoir heterogeneity. This study can provide support for the study of low maturity continental shale reservoir heterogeneity in the Sha-4 member of the Liaohe Western Depression.
The Relationship between Fluid Evolution and Hydrocarbon Accumulation and Metallization in the Nanpanjiang-Youjiang Basin: Evidence from Calcite Petrography and Fluid Inclusions
Authors: He Peng , Ge Xiang , Shen Chuanbo , Li Shuaiping , Chen Youzhi
Published: December 2022

In the process of diagenesis and burial of sedimentary basins, basin fluid activities participate in the process of hydrocarbon accumulation and metal mineralization. Understanding the evolution of basin fluid is of great significance in revealing the related hydrocarbon accumulation and mineralization. Paleo-reservoirs are closely associated with Carlin-type gold deposits in the Nanpanjiang-Youjiang Basin, South China. Calcite, the fluid activity product, is closely related to bitumen and gold-bearing pyrite. By integrating petrographic, cathode luminescence, and fluid inclusion analysis, as well as the relevant chronological results of predecessors, this paper attempts to establish the relationship between fluid evolution, hydrocarbon accumulation, and gold mineralization. Two types of calcite (black/gray and white) developed in the Banqi-Yata-Laizishan area, the Nanpanjiang-Youjiang Basin. Black/gray calcite is symbiotic with bitumen and features dark red colors in cathode luminescence. Many hydrocarbon inclusions developed along with fluid inclusion analysis at low homogenization temperatures (65.7~173.1 °C). Combining the previously reported U-Pb ages (~250–230 Ma) of this kind of calcite with some geochemistry data on the associated reservoir and gold deposit, this calcite records the consecutive hydrocarbon accumulation and Carlin-type gold mineralization from the Late Permian to the Late Triassic periods controlled by Indosinian tectonic movement. The white calcite featuring bright red in cathodoluminescence is symbiotic with gold-bearing pyrite and realgar, and the associated fluid inclusions have high homogenization temperatures (128.2~299.9 °C). Combined with regional tectonic background and isotopic chronology (~140–106 Ma), it seems to record the early Cretaceous Carlin-type gold mineralization controlled by the subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate in the late Yanshanian period.
A Cross-Platform Personalized Recommender System for Connecting E-Commerce and Social Network
Authors: Zhao Jiaxu , Su Binting , Rao Xuli , Chen Zhide
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we build a recommender system for a new study area: social commerce, which combines rich information about social network users and products on an e-commerce platform. The idea behind this recommender system is that a social network contains abundant information about its users which could be exploited to create profiles of the users. For social commerce, the quality of the profiles of potential consumers determines whether the recommender system is a success or a failure. In our work, not only the user’s textual information but also the tags and the relationships between users have been considered in the process of building user profiling model. A topic model has been adopted in our system, and a feedback mechanism also been design in this paper. Then, we apply a collative filtering method and a clustering algorithm in order to obtain a high recommendation accuracy. We do an empirical analysis based on real data collected on a social network and an e-commerce platform. We find that the social network has an impact on e-commerce, so social commerce could be realized. Simulations show that our topic model has a better performance in topic finding, meaning that our profile-building model is suitable for a social commerce recommender system.
BART-IT: An Efficient Sequence-to-Sequence Model for Italian Text Summarization
Authors: La Quatra Moreno , Cagliero Luca
Published: December 2022

The emergence of attention-based architectures has led to significant improvements in the performance of neural sequence-to-sequence models for text summarization. Although these models have proved to be effective in summarizing English-written documents, their portability to other languages is limited thus leaving plenty of room for improvement. In this paper, we present BART-IT, a sequence-to-sequence model, based on the BART architecture that is specifically tailored to the Italian language. The model is pre-trained on a large corpus of Italian-written pieces of text to learn language-specific features and then fine-tuned on several benchmark datasets established for abstractive summarization. The experimental results show that BART-IT outperforms other state-of-the-art models in terms of ROUGE scores in spite of a significantly smaller number of parameters. The use of BART-IT can foster the development of interesting NLP applications for the Italian language. Beyond releasing the model to the research community to foster further research and applications, we also discuss the ethical implications behind the use of abstractive summarization models.
Factors Affecting Fintech Adoption: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Firmansyah Egi Arvian , Masri Masairol , Anshari Muhammad , Besar Mohd Hairul Azrin
Published: December 2022

The rise of financial technology (fintech) has been one of the substantial changes in the financial landscape driven by technological advancements and the global financial crisis. This paper employs the systematic literature review (SLR) technique to review recent literature on fintech adoption or acceptance employing the Scopus database (2019–2022). The final reviewed documents are sixteen journal articles published by various journals from different country contexts and theoretical backgrounds. Several inclusion criteria were used to filter those selected documents. One crucial criterion is the journal continuity in the Scopus index, which assures the quality of the published scholarly works. This criterion selection is expected to represent this paper’s novelty. The study reveals various determinants derived from the theories used by the fintech researchers. However, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) are the most used theoretical foundations. Additionally, trust, financial literacy, and safety are other factors developed by previous researchers and are significant determinants of fintech adoption. Besides, these results suggest that future studies on fintech adoption develop a genuine construct since fintech keeps progressing, and so does the customers’ behavior.
Wall-Modeled and Hybrid Large-Eddy Simulations of the Flow over Roughness Strips
Authors: Salomone Teresa , Piomelli Ugo , De Stefano Giuliano
Published: December 2022

The flow over alternating roughness strips oriented normally to the mean stream is studied using wall-modeled large-eddy simulations (WMLES) and improved delayed detached-eddy simulations (IDDES) (a hybrid method solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations near the wall and switching to large-eddy simulations (LES) in the core of the flow). The calculations are performed in an open-channel configuration. Various approaches are used to account for roughness by either modifying the wall boundary condition for WMLES or the model itself for IDDES or by adding a drag forcing term to the momentum equations. By comparing the numerical results with the experimental data, both methods with both roughness modifications are shown to reproduce the non-equilibrium effects, but noticeable differences are observed. The WMLES, although affected by the underlying equilibrium assumption, predicts the return to equilibrium of the skin friction in good agreement with the experiments. The velocity predicted by the IDDES does not have memory of the upstream conditions and recovers to the equilibrium conditions faster. Memory of the upstream conditions appears to be a critical factor for the accurate computational modeling of this flow.
Bioactive Properties of Instant Chicory Melanoidins and Their Relevance as Health Promoting Food Ingredients
Authors: Petronilho Sílvia , Navega Joana , Pereira Carla , Almeida Adelaide , Siopa João , Nunes Fernando M. , Coimbra Manuel A. , Passos Cláudia P.
Published: December 2022

Instant chicory is a caffeine-free brew worldwide consumed as a coffee substitute. Like coffee grounds processing, chicory roots suffer a roasting process, which may lead to the formation of high-molecular weight nitrogen-brown compounds, the melanoidins. It is hypothesized that similarly to coffee, chicory melanoidins have health promoting potential. In this work, the chemical composition and biological activity of chicory high molecular weight material (HMWM) was evaluated. The chicory HMWM is composed by 28.9% (w/w) of carbohydrates, mainly fructose-rich polysaccharides (18.7% w/w) and 5.7% (w/w) of protein, distinct from coffee. The phenolic compounds constituent of the HMWM were mainly present in glycosidically linked and condensed structures (0.9 g/100 g and 5.8 g/100 g), showing in vitro ABTS•+ scavenging (IC50 = 0.28 mg/mL) and ferric ion reducing capacity (ca. 11 µg Fe2+ eq/mg). Chicory HMWM revealed to be effective against Gram-positive bacteria, mainly Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus, although not so efficient as coffee. It also showed potential to inhibit α-glucosidase activity (15% of inhibition), higher than coffee HMWM, approaching acarbose activity that is used in type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. Thus, chicory melanoidins, when used as a food ingredient, may contribute to an antioxidant diet and to prevent diabetes, while increasing the protective effects against pathogenic bacteria.
How Chemometrics Can Fight Milk Adulteration
Authors: Grassi Silvia , Tarapoulouzi Maria , D’Alessandro Alessandro , Agriopoulou Sofia , Strani Lorenzo , Varzakas Theodoros
Published: December 2022

Adulteration and fraud are amongst the wrong practices followed nowadays due to the attitude of some people to gain more money or their tendency to mislead consumers. Obviously, the industry follows stringent controls and methodologies in order to protect consumers as well as the origin of the food products, and investment in these technologies is highly critical. In this context, chemometric techniques proved to be very efficient in detecting and even quantifying the number of substances used as adulterants. The extraction of relevant information from different kinds of data is a crucial feature to achieve this aim. However, these techniques are not always used properly. In fact, training is important along with investment in these technologies in order to cope effectively and not only reduce fraud but also advertise the geographical origin of the various food and drink products. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the different chemometric techniques (from clustering to classification and regression applied to several analytical data) along with spectroscopy, chromatography, electrochemical sensors, and other on-site detection devices in the battle against milk adulteration. Moreover, the steps which should be followed to develop a chemometric model to face adulteration issues are carefully presented with the required critical discussion.
Impact of Pasture-Based Diets on the Untargeted Metabolomics Profile of Sarda Sheep Milk
Authors: Rocchetti Gabriele , Becchi Pier Paolo , Salis Lorenzo , Lucini Luigi , Cabiddu Andrea
Published: December 2022

In this work, untargeted metabolomics was used to shed light on the impact of different pasture-based diets on the chemical profile of Sarda sheep milk. The study considered 11 dairy sheep farms located in Sardinia, and milk samples were collected in 4 different periods, namely January, March, May, and July 2019, when all sheep had 58, 98, 138, and 178 days in milk, respectively. The animal diet composition was based on the intake of grazed herbage in natural pasture, hay, and concentrate. Overall, the combination of two comprehensive databases on food, namely the Milk Composition Database and Phenol-Explorer, allowed the putative identification of 406 metabolites, with a significant (p < 0.01) enrichment of several metabolite classes, namely amino acids and peptides, monosaccharides, fatty acids, phenylacetic acids, benzoic acids, cinnamic acids, and flavonoids. The multivariate statistical approach based on supervised orthogonal projections to latent structures (OPLS-DA) allowed us to predict the chemical profile of sheep milk samples as a function of the high vs no fresh herbage intake, while the prediction model was not significant when considering both hay and concentrate intake. Among the discriminant markers of the herbage intake, we found five phenolic metabolites (such as hippuric and coumaric acids), together with lutein and cresol (belonging to carotenoids and their metabolites). Additionally, a high discriminant power was outlined for lipid derivatives followed by sugars, amino acids, and peptides. Finally, a pathway analysis revealed that the herbage intake affected mainly five biochemical pathways in milk, namely galactose metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, and aromatic amino acids involved in protein synthesis (namely tyrosine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan).
Monitoring Changes in the Volatile Compounds of Tea Made from Summer Tea Leaves by GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS
Authors: Xu Jiyuan , Zhang Ying , Yan Fei , Tang Yu , Yu Bo , Chen Bin , Lu Lirong , Yuan Liren , Wu Zhihua , Chen Hongbing
Published: December 2022

Compared with spring tea, summer tea has the advantages of economy and quantity. However, research on the aroma characteristics of summer tea is currently limited. In this study, summer fresh tea leaves (castanopsis. sinensis, cv. Fuliangzhong) (FTLs) were processed intoblack tea (BT) and green tea (GT). The changes in the volatile compounds during the tea processing were quantified using gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and head space-solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), and then analyzed on the basis of relative odor activity value (ROAV). Results showed low amounts of flavor compounds, such as linalool oxides, geraniol, and sulcatone, were found in FTLs, but after processing, high amounts of the same in BT and GT. Summer BT and GT contained characteristic compounds similar to spring tea, including linalool, geraniol, (E,E)-2,4-decdienal, β-ionone, methyl salicylate, geranyl acetone, and decanal. All these compounds have high content and ROAV values, which give the same flavor to summer teas as spring tea. This study confirmed that summer fresh tea leaves were suitable to produce black and green tea with good flavor. Monitoring changes in aroma compounds by GC-IMS coupled with GC-MS, the quality of summer tea is expected to be promoted towards the quality of spring tea by improving processing methods for valuable-tea production.
Rapid and Simultaneous Measurement of Fat and Moisture Contents in Pork by Low-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Tang Shuyue , Zhang Yuhui , Li Wusun , Tang Xiaoyan , Huang Xinyuan
Published: December 2022

In order to improve the efficiency of Soxhlet extraction and oven drying, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) technology was used to detect fat and moisture contents in pork. The transverse relaxation time (T2) distribution curves were constructed by Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) experiments. In addition, the optimal conditions of adding MnCl2 aqueous solution was explored to separate water and fat signal peaks. Finally, the reliability of this method for the determination of fat and moisture contents in pork was verified. The present study showed that adding 1.5 mL of 20% MnCl2 aqueous solution solution at 50 °C can isolate and obtain a stable peak of fat. The lard and 0.85% MnCl2 aqueous solution were used as the standards for fat and moisture measurements, respectively, and calibration curves with R2 = 0.9999 were obtained. In addition, the repeatability and reproducibility of this method were 1.71~3.10%. There was a significant correlation (p < 0.05) between the LF-NMR method and the conventional methods (Soxhlet extraction and oven drying), and the R2 was 0.9987 and 0.9207 for fat and moisture, respectively. All the results proved that LF-NMR could determine fat and moisture contents in pork rapidly and simultaneously.
Improved Stabilization and In Vitro Digestibility of Mulberry Anthocyanins by Double Emulsion with Pea Protein Isolate and Xanthan Gum
Authors: Aniya  , Cao Yan , Liu Chenxing , Lu Shengming , Fujii Yoshiharu , Jin Jiaxiu , Xia Qile
Published: December 2022

There is significant evidence that double emulsion has great potential for successfully encapsulating anthocyanins. However, few research studies are currently using a protein-polysaccharide mixture as a stable emulsifier for double emulsion. This study aimed to improve the stability and in vitro digestibility of mulberry anthocyanins (MAs) by employing a double emulsion composed of pea protein isolate (PPI) and xanthan gum (XG). The influence of various XG concentrations (0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0%) and different temperatures (5 °C, 25 °C, 45 °C, 65 °C) on the physical stability and the thermal degradation of MAs from double emulsions were investigated. In addition, the physicochemical properties of double emulsions and the release performance of MAs during in vitro simulated digestion were evaluated. It was determined that the double emulsion possessed the most stable physical characteristics with the 1% XG addition. The PPI-1% XG double emulsion, when compared to the PPI-only double emulsion, expressed higher thermal stability with a retention rate of 83.19 ± 0.67% and a half-life of 78.07 ± 4.72 days. Furthermore, the results of in vitro simulated digestion demonstrated that the MAs in the PPI-1% XG double emulsion were well-protected at oral and gastric with ample release found in the intestine, which was dissimilar to findings for the PPI-only double emulsion. Ultimately, it was concluded that the double emulsion constructed by the protein-polysaccharide system is a quality alternative for improving stability and absorption with applicability to a variety of food and beverage systems.
Techno-Economic Analysis of the Multiple-Pass Ultrasonication with Mechanical Homogenization (MPUMH) Processing of Processed Carrot Discards to Puree
Authors: Kaur Gagan Jyot , Kumar Deepak , Orsat Valerie , Singh Ashutosh
Published: December 2022

A sustainable valorization process for puree processing from processed carrot discards (PDCs) was proposed by using multiple-pass ultrasonication with mechanical homogenization (MPUMH), optimized at 9 min ultrasonication followed by mechanical homogenization for 1 min, subjected to three passes. Techno-economic analysis of the puree processing plant was studied for two process models using SuperPro Designer for a plant with a capacity of 17.4 MT/day, operational for 26 weeks, with a 20-year lifetime. The two scenarios were (i) base case (PDCs processed without peels and crowns) and (ii) case 2 (PDCs and carrots (50:50, w/w) processed with peels and crowns). Both scenarios were economically feasible with an internal rate of return (IRR) and return on investment (ROI) at 24.71% and 31.04% (base case) and 86.11% and 119.87% (case 2), respectively. Case 2 had a higher total capital investment (Can$13.7 million) but a lower annual operating cost (Can$8.9 million), resulting in greater revenue generation (Can$29.7 million), thus offering a higher ROI. Sensitivity analysis related to the number of passes on puree quality and price is suggested to lower the capital investment. For the base case, a lower ROI was due to the high labor cost incurred for manual peeling of PDCs, indicating the critical need for developing a commercial peeler equipped to cut labor costs and increase profitability. The study casts insights into the techno-economic performance of a sustainable process for the valorization of PDCs.
Comparison of Workflows for Milk Lipid Analysis: Phospholipids
Authors: Li Cheng , Liu Zhiqian , Marett Leah , Pryce Jennie , Rochfort Simone
Published: December 2022

Milk is a rich source of lipids, with the major components being triglycerides (TAG) and phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylcholine (PC), sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol (PI)). Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is the predominant technique for lipid identification and quantification across all biological samples. While fatty acid (FA) composition of the major lipid classes of milk can be readily determined using tandem MS, elucidating the regio-distribution and double bond position of the FA remains difficult. Various workflows have been reported on the quantification of lipid species in biological samples in the past 20 years, but no standard or consensus methods are currently available for the quantification of milk phospholipids. This study will examine the influence of several common factors in lipid analysis workflow (including lipid extraction protocols, LC stationary phases, mobile phase buffers, gradient elution programmes, mass analyser resolution and isotope correction) on the quantification outcome of bovine milk phospholipids. The pros and cons of the current LC-MS methods as well as the critical problems to be solved will also be discussed.