bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Different Doses of Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the Composition of Mice Fecal Microbiota, Especially the Bifidobacterium Composition
Authors: Mao Bingyong , Gu Jiayu , Li Dongyao , Cui Shumao , Zhao Jianxin , Zhang Hao , Chen Wei
Published: August 2018

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are a well-known class of prebiotic and are considered to selectively stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria in the gut. Previous studies focused on the growth stimulation of Bifidobacterium, but they did not further investigate the bifidobacterial composition and the specific species that were stimulated. In this study, mice were fed with FOS in different doses for four weeks and the composition of fecal microbiota, in particular Bifidobacterium, was analyzed by sequencing the V3–V4 region and the groEL gene on the MiSeq platform, respectively. In the high-dose group, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was significantly increased, which was mainly contributed by Bifidobacterium. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Blautia and Coprococcus were also significantly increased. Through the groEL sequencing, 14 species of Bifidobacterium were identified, among which B. pseudolongum was most abundant. After FOS treatment, B. pseudolongum became almost the sole bifidobacterial species (>95%). B. pseudolongum strains were isolated and demonstrated their ability to metabolize FOS by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Therefore, we inferred that FOS significantly stimulated the growth of B. pseudolongum in mice. Further investigations are needed to reveal the mechanism of selectiveness between FOS and B. pseudolongum, which would aid our understanding of the basic principles between dietary carbohydrates and host health.
Comparison of a Novel Miniaturized Screening Device with Büchi B290 Mini Spray-Dryer for the Development of Spray-Dried Solid Dispersions (SDSDs)
Authors: Ousset Aymeric , Meeus Joke , Robin Florent , Schubert Martin Alexander , Somville Pascal , Dodou Kalliopi
Published: August 2018

Spray-drying is an increasingly popular technology for the production of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) in the pharmaceutical industry that is used in the early evaluation and industrial production of formulations. Efficient screening of ASD in the earliest phase of drug development is therefore critical. A novel miniaturized atomization equipment for screening spray-dried solid dispersions (SDSDs) in early formulation and process development was developed. An in-depth comparison between the equipment/process parameters and performance of our novel screening device and a laboratory Büchi B290 mini spray-dryer was performed. Equipment qualification was conducted by comparing the particle/powder attributes, i.e., miscibility/solid state, residual solvent, and morphological properties of binary SDSDs of itraconazole prepared at both screening and laboratory scales. The operating mode of the miniaturized device was able to reproduce similar process conditions/parameters (e.g., outlet temperature (Tout)) and to provide particles with similar drug–polymer miscibility and morphology as laboratory-scale SDSDs. These findings confirm that the design and operation of this novel screening equipment mimic the microscale evaporation mechanism of a larger spray-dryer. The miniaturized spray-dryer was therefore able to provide a rational prediction of adequate polymer and drug loading (DL) for SDSD development while reducing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) consumption by a factor of 120 and cycle time by a factor of 4.
Choosing the Optimal Multi-Point Iterative Method for the Colebrook Flow Friction Equation
Authors: Praks Pavel , Brkić Dejan
Published: August 2018

The Colebrook equation is implicitly given in respect to the unknown flow friction factor λ; λ = ζ ( R e , ε * , λ ) which cannot be expressed explicitly in exact way without simplifications and use of approximate calculus. A common approach to solve it is through the Newton–Raphson iterative procedure or through the fixed-point iterative procedure. Both require in some cases, up to seven iterations. On the other hand, numerous more powerful iterative methods such as three- or two-point methods, etc. are available. The purpose is to choose optimal iterative method in order to solve the implicit Colebrook equation for flow friction accurately using the least possible number of iterations. The methods are thoroughly tested and those which require the least possible number of iterations to reach the accurate solution are identified. The most powerful three-point methods require, in the worst case, only two iterations to reach the final solution. The recommended representatives are Sharma–Guha–Gupta, Sharma–Sharma, Sharma–Arora, Džunić–Petković–Petković; Bi–Ren–Wu, Chun–Neta based on Kung–Traub, Neta, and the Jain method based on the Steffensen scheme. The recommended iterative methods can reach the final accurate solution with the least possible number of iterations. The approach is hybrid between the iterative procedure and one-step explicit approximations and can be used in engineering design for initial rough, but also for final fine calculations.
Predictors of Recycling Intentions among the Youth: A Developing Country Perspective
Authors: Halder Pradipta , Singh Harminder
Published: August 2018

India is currently facing a mounting challenge related to municipal waste management, due to an increasing urban population, and their high consumption lifestyles. India also has the world’s highest number of young people in the 10–24 years age group. The study applied the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model to predict school students’ recycling intentions in Delhi, the capital of India and one of the highest producers of municipal solid wastes in the country. Data were collected from a school in New Delhi and the sample size consisted of 272 students from 9th and 10th grades. The TPB model explained 56% of the variance in the students’ intentions to recycling. The predictor ‘subjective norm’ appeared to have the strongest impact on the students’ recycling intentions, followed by ‘attitude’ and ‘perceived behavioural control’. It indicated that social factors are driving the Indian youth’s recycling intentions. It is important that the policymakers promote recycling as a social trend in India and provide adequate facilities to the public so that they can participate in recycling activities without facing difficulties. Schools also have a role in increasing students’ awareness of recycling and motivating them to participate in household waste management practices.
Securing Security in Education: The Role of Public Theology and a Case Study in Global Jihadism
Authors: Lovat Terence
Published: August 2018

The article mounts an argument for public theology as an appropriate if not vital adjunct to contemporary education’s addressing of security issues in light of current world events with indisputable religious and arguably quasi-theological foundations. It will briefly expound on the history of thought that has marginalized theology as a public discipline and then move to justify the counter view that the discipline, at least in the form of public theology, has potential to address matters of such public concern in a unique and helpful way. The article will culminate with an exploration of Global Jihadism as a case study that illustrates the usefulness of public theology in understanding it better and so allowing for a response with potential to be more informed and security-assured than is commonly effected.
It’s Like Growing Roots inside Something Deeply Familiar: An Explorative Qualitative Study of Anthroposophic Mantra Practice and the Subsidiary Exercises
Authors: Sparby Terje
Published: August 2018

Anthroposophic meditation is unique in that it arises within a European context and emphasizes cognition, self-development, and sociocultural renewal. This article presents the perceived effects of two of the most common Anthroposophic meditation practices within the current sample (N = 30). The first, Anthroposophic mantra practice, seeks to connect the practitioner to a spiritual reality. The second, the so-called subsidiary exercises, focuses on developing clear thinking, willpower, and certain virtues that support meditative development, while also deepening the connection between the meditative and daily life of the practitioner. Additionally, the subsidiary exercises may represent a way of reducing negative effects or handling potential challenges arising from meditation. Some themes overlap with the findings of previous studies on meditation. Other themes, such as cognitive insights, the development of virtues through meditative or spiritual practice, and the potential for beneficial impact on one’s sociocultural environment, open up new avenues of study.
Stigmatisation and Ritual: An Analysis of the Stigmatisation of Pentecostalism in Chile
Authors: Muñoz Wilson , Fernández-Mostaza M. Esther
Published: August 2018

Pentecostalism has been one of the most successful religious movements in Chile due to both its historical growth and its ascendancy in different spheres of society. Nevertheless, from its origins to the present day, it has also been the most stigmatised religious movement in the country. Studies have explained this phenomenon by referring to variables of social class or religious rivalry. However, they have forgotten a factor that is key to this problem and to Pentecostalism: its ritual dimension. The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between the stigmatisation of the movement and its unusual ritual life. It is concluded from the analysis of documentary sources that the principal contexts in which Pentecostalism is stigmatised are those that feature the staging of ritual, and that the stigmatisation mainly attacks and disparages the most distinctive ritual practices of the movement.
Media Coverage of Muslim Devotion: A Four-Country Analysis of Newspaper Articles, 1996–2016
Authors: Bleich Erik , Souffrant Julien , Stabler Emily , Van der Veen A. Maurits
Published: August 2018

Scholars have identified Muslims’ religiosity and faith practices, often believed to be more intense than those of other religious groups, as a point of friction in liberal democracies. We use computer-assisted methods of lexical sentiment analysis and collocation analysis to assess more than 800,000 articles between 1996 and 2016 in a range of British, American, Canadian, and Australian newspapers. We couple this approach with human coding of 100 randomly selected articles to investigate the tone of devotion-related themes when linked to Islam and Muslims. We show that articles touching on devotion are not as negative as articles about other aspects of Islam—and indeed that they are not negative at all, on average, when focused on a key subset of devotion-related articles. We thus offer a new perspective on the perception of Islamic religiosity in Western societies. Our findings also suggest that if newspapers strive to provide a more balanced portrayal of Muslims and Islam within their pages, they may seek opportunities to include more frequent mentions of Muslim devotion.
A Review of Visual-Inertial Simultaneous Localization and Mapping from Filtering-Based and Optimization-Based Perspectives
Authors: Chen Chang , Zhu Hua , Li Menggang , You Shaoze
Published: August 2018

Visual-inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (VI-SLAM) is popular research topic in robotics. Because of its advantages in terms of robustness, VI-SLAM enjoys wide applications in the field of localization and mapping, including in mobile robotics, self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and autonomous underwater vehicles. This study provides a comprehensive survey on VI-SLAM. Following a short introduction, this study is the first to review VI-SLAM techniques from filtering-based and optimization-based perspectives. It summarizes state-of-the-art studies over the last 10 years based on the back-end approach, camera type, and sensor fusion type. Key VI-SLAM technologies are also introduced such as feature extraction and tracking, core theory, and loop closure. The performance of representative VI-SLAM methods and famous VI-SLAM datasets are also surveyed. Finally, this study contributes to the comparison of filtering-based and optimization-based methods through experiments. A comparative study of VI-SLAM methods helps understand the differences in their operating principles. Optimization-based methods achieve excellent localization accuracy and lower memory utilization, while filtering-based methods have advantages in terms of computing resources. Furthermore, this study proposes future development trends and research directions for VI-SLAM. It provides a detailed survey of VI-SLAM techniques and can serve as a brief guide to newcomers in the field of SLAM and experienced researchers looking for possible directions for future work.
Using Near-Infrared-Enabled Digital Repeat Photography to Track Structural and Physiological Phenology in Mediterranean Tree–Grass Ecosystems
Authors: Luo Yunpeng , El-Madany Tarek S. , Filippa Gianluca , Ma Xuanlong , Ahrens Bernhard , Carrara Arnaud , Gonzalez-Cascon Rosario , Cremonese Edoardo , Galvagno Marta , Hammer Tiana W. , Pacheco-Labrador Javier , Martín M. Pilar , Moreno Gerardo , Perez-Priego Oscar , Reichstein Markus , Richardson Andrew D. , Römermann Christine , Migliavacca Mirco
Published: August 2018

Tree–grass ecosystems are widely distributed. However, their phenology has not yet been fully characterized. The technique of repeated digital photographs for plant phenology monitoring (hereafter referred as PhenoCam) provide opportunities for long-term monitoring of plant phenology, and extracting phenological transition dates (PTDs, e.g., start of the growing season). Here, we aim to evaluate the utility of near-infrared-enabled PhenoCam for monitoring the phenology of structure (i.e., greenness) and physiology (i.e., gross primary productivity—GPP) at four tree–grass Mediterranean sites. We computed four vegetation indexes (VIs) from PhenoCams: (1) green chromatic coordinates (GCC), (2) normalized difference vegetation index (CamNDVI), (3) near-infrared reflectance of vegetation index (CamNIRv), and (4) ratio vegetation index (CamRVI). GPP is derived from eddy covariance flux tower measurement. Then, we extracted PTDs and their uncertainty from different VIs and GPP. The consistency between structural (VIs) and physiological (GPP) phenology was then evaluated. CamNIRv is best at representing the PTDs of GPP during the Green-up period, while CamNDVI is best during the Dry-down period. Moreover, CamNIRv outperforms the other VIs in tracking growing season length of GPP. In summary, the results show it is promising to track structural and physiology phenology of seasonally dry Mediterranean ecosystem using near-infrared-enabled PhenoCam. We suggest using multiple VIs to better represent the variation of GPP.
Comparison of Seven Inversion Models for Estimating Plant and Woody Area Indices of Leaf-on and Leaf-off Forest Canopy Using Explicit 3D Forest Scenes
Authors: Zou Jie , Zhuang Yinguo , Chianucci Francesco , Mai Chunna , Lin Weimu , Leng Peng , Luo Shezhou , Yan Bojie
Published: August 2018

Optical methods require model inversion to infer plant area index (PAI) and woody area index (WAI) of leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopy from gap fraction or radiation attenuation measurements. Several inversion models have been developed previously, however, a thorough comparison of those inversion models in obtaining the PAI and WAI of leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopy has not been conducted so far. In the present study, an explicit 3D forest scene series with different PAI, WAI, phenological periods, stand density, tree species composition, plant functional types, canopy element clumping index, and woody component clumping index was generated using 50 detailed 3D tree models. The explicit 3D forest scene series was then used to assess the performance of seven commonly used inversion models to estimate the PAI and WAI of the leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopy. The PAI and WAI estimated from the seven inversion models and simulated digital hemispherical photography images were compared with the true PAI and WAI of leaf-on and leaf-off forest scenes. Factors that contributed to the differences between the estimates of the seven inversion models were analyzed. Results show that both the factors of inversion model, canopy element and woody component projection functions, canopy element and woody component estimation algorithms, and segment size are contributed to the differences between the PAI and WAI estimated from the seven inversion models. There is no universally valid combination of inversion model, needle-to-shoot area ratio, canopy element and woody component clumping index estimation algorithm, and segment size that can accurately measure the PAI and WAI of all leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopies. The performance of the combinations of inversion model, needle-to-shoot area ratio, canopy element and woody component clumping index estimation algorithm, and segment size to estimate the PAI and WAI of leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopies is the function of the inversion model as well as the canopy element and woody component clumping index estimation algorithm, segment size, PAI, WAI, tree species composition, and plant functional types. The impact of canopy element and woody component projection function measurements on the PAI and WAI estimation of the leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopy can be reduced to a low level (<4%) by adopting appropriate inversion models.
Extrinsic Parameters Calibration Method of Cameras with Non-Overlapping Fields of View in Airborne Remote Sensing
Authors: Yin Lei , Wang Xiangjun , Ni Yubo , Zhou Kai , Zhang Jilong
Published: August 2018

Multi-camera systems are widely used in the fields of airborne remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicle imaging. The measurement precision of these systems depends on the accuracy of the extrinsic parameters. Therefore, it is important to accurately calibrate the extrinsic parameters between the onboard cameras. Unlike conventional multi-camera calibration methods with a common field of view (FOV), multi-camera calibration without overlapping FOVs has certain difficulties. In this paper, we propose a calibration method for a multi-camera system without common FOVs, which is used on aero photogrammetry. First, the extrinsic parameters of any two cameras in a multi-camera system is calibrated, and the extrinsic matrix is optimized by the re-projection error. Then, the extrinsic parameters of each camera are unified to the system reference coordinate system by using the global optimization method. A simulation experiment and a physical verification experiment are designed for the theoretical arithmetic. The experimental results show that this method is operable. The rotation error angle of the camera’s extrinsic parameters is less than 0.001rad and the translation error is less than 0.08 mm.
An Associative Memory Approach to Healthcare Monitoring and Decision Making
Authors: Aldape-Pérez Mario , Alarcón-Paredes Antonio , Yáñez-Márquez Cornelio , López-Yáñez Itzamá , Camacho-Nieto Oscar
Published: August 2018

The rapid proliferation of connectivity, availability of ubiquitous computing, miniaturization of sensors and communication technology, have changed healthcare in all its areas, creating the well-known healthcare paradigm of e-Health. In this paper, an embedded system capable of monitoring, learning and classifying biometric signals is presented. The machine learning model is based on associative memories to predict the presence or absence of coronary artery disease in patients. Classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity results show that the performance of our proposal exceeds the performance achieved by each of the fifty widely known algorithms against which it was compared.
A Bio-inspired Motivational Decision Making System for Social Robots Based on the Perception of the User
Authors: Maroto-Gómez Marcos , Castro-González Álvaro , Castillo José Carlos , Malfaz María , Salichs Miguel A.
Published: August 2018

Nowadays, many robotic applications require robots making their own decisions and adapting to different conditions and users. This work presents a biologically inspired decision making system, based on drives, motivations, wellbeing, and self-learning, that governs the behavior of the robot considering both internal and external circumstances. In this paper we state the biological foundations that drove the design of the system, as well as how it has been implemented in a real robot. Following a homeostatic approach, the ultimate goal of the robot is to keep its wellbeing as high as possible. In order to achieve this goal, our decision making system uses learning mechanisms to assess the best action to execute at any moment. Considering that the proposed system has been implemented in a real social robot, human-robot interaction is of paramount importance and the learned behaviors of the robot are oriented to foster the interactions with the user. The operation of the system is shown in a scenario where the robot Mini plays games with a user. In this context, we have included a robust user detection mechanism tailored for short distance interactions. After the learning phase, the robot has learned how to lead the user to interact with it in a natural way.
Centralized Fusion Approach to the Estimation Problem with Multi-Packet Processing under Uncertainty in Outputs and Transmissions
Authors: Caballero-Águila Raquel , Hermoso-Carazo Aurora , Linares-Pérez Josefa
Published: August 2018

This paper is concerned with the least-squares linear centralized estimation problem in multi-sensor network systems from measured outputs with uncertainties modeled by random parameter matrices. These measurements are transmitted to a central processor over different communication channels, and owing to the unreliability of the network, random one-step delays and packet dropouts are assumed to occur during the transmissions. In order to avoid network congestion, at each sampling time, each sensor’s data packet is transmitted just once, but due to the uncertainty of the transmissions, the processing center may receive either one packet, two packets, or nothing. Different white sequences of Bernoulli random variables are introduced to describe the observations used to update the estimators at each sampling time. To address the centralized estimation problem, augmented observation vectors are defined by accumulating the raw measurements from the different sensors, and when the current measurement of a sensor does not arrive on time, the corresponding component of the augmented measured output predictor is used as compensation in the estimator design. Through an innovation approach, centralized fusion estimators, including predictors, filters, and smoothers are obtained by recursive algorithms without requiring the signal evolution model. A numerical example is presented to show how uncertain systems with state-dependent multiplicative noise can be covered by the proposed model and how the estimation accuracy is influenced by both sensor uncertainties and transmission failures.
Functionalized Silver Nano-Sensor for Colorimetric Detection of Hg2+ Ions: Facile Synthesis and Docking Studies
Authors: Shiva Prasad Kollur , Shruthi Govindaraju , Shivamallu Chandan
Published: August 2018

In the present study, we describe the facile synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their nanostructures functionalized with 2-aminopyrimidine-4,6-diol (APD-AgNPs) for Hg2+ ion detection. The promising colorimetric response of APD-AgNPs to detect Hg2+ ions was visible with naked eyes and spectroscopic changes were examined by using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The aggregation of APD-AgNPs upon addition of Hg2+ ions was due to the chelation effect of the functionalized nanostructures and results in a color change from pale brown to deep yellow color. The probing sensitivity was observed within five minutes with a detection limit of about 0.35 µM/L. The TEM images of APD-AgNPs showed polydispersed morphologies with hexagonal, heptagonal and spherical nanostructures with an average size between 10 to 40 nm. Furthermore, the sensing behavior of APD-AgNPs towards Hg2+ ions detection was investigated using docking and interaction studies.
Empirical Evidence from EU-28 Countries on Resilient Transport Infrastructure Systems and Sustainable Economic Growth
Authors: Gherghina Ştefan Cristian , Onofrei Mihaela , Vintilă Georgeta , Armeanu Daniel Ştefan
Published: August 2018

This paper examines the nexus between the main forms of transport, related investments, specific air pollutants, and sustainable economic growth. The research is important since transport may act as a facilitator of social, economic, and environmental development. Based on data retrieved from Eurostat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and World Bank, the output of fixed-effects regressions for EU-28 countries over 1990–2016 reveals that road, inland waterways, maritime, and air transport infrastructure positively influence gross domestic product per capita (GDPC), though a negative link occurred in the case of railway transport. As concerning investments in transport infrastructure, the empirical results exhibit a positive impact on economic growth for every type of transport, except inland waterways. Besides, emissions of CO2 from all kind of transport, alongside other specific air pollutants, negatively influence GDPC. The fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares panel estimation results reinforce the findings. Further, in the short-run, Granger causality based on panel vector error correction model pointed out a unidirectional causal link running from sustainable economic growth to inland waterways and maritime transport of goods, albeit a one-way causal link running from the volume of goods transported by air to GDPC. As well, the empirical results provide support one-way short-run links running from GDPC to investments in road and inland waterway transport infrastructure. In addition, a bidirectional short-run link occurred between carbon dioxide emissions from railway transport and GDPC, whereas unidirectional relations with economic growth were identified in the case of carbon dioxide emissions from road and domestic aviation. In the long-run, a bidirectional causal relation was noticed between the length of the railways lines, investments in railway transport infrastructure, and GDPC, as well as a two-way causal link between the gross weight of seaborne goods handled in ports and GDPC.
A Variance Maximization Based Weight Optimization Method for Railway Transportation Safety Performance Measurement
Authors: Sun Dongye , Jia Yuanhua , Qin Lingqiao , Yang Yang , Zhang Juyong
Published: August 2018

Based on the idea of maximizing variances, a weight optimization method is proposed in this research to improve railway transportation safety evaluation. Firstly, the main evaluation indicators that can reflect the safety of railway transportation are selected as the independent variables. Secondly, in order to avoid the influence of experts’ empowerment on the evaluation results of railway transport safety, fuzzy set theory is introduced to generate the variation range of the weights of each evaluation index, which is used as the constraint of weight optimization model. Then, the weight optimization model for railway transportation safety performance measurement is established based on the principle of maximum variance. The structure of the optimization model shows the characteristics of the quadratic programming model. Therefore, the optimal weight is calculated by using the branch bounded algorithm, which is one of the quadratic programming model solution algorithms. Finally, the empirical analysis of the safety performance measurement for 18 railway bureaus shows that using the optimized index weight for safety performance measurement can not only make full use of prior information but also ensure that 18 railway bureaus can be distinguished to the maximum extent.
Unintended Consequences and Risk(y) Thinking: The Shaping of Consequences and Responsibilities in Relation to Environmental Disasters
Authors: Lidskog Rolf , Sjödin Daniel
Published: August 2018

Unintended consequences have long been central for the social sciences. But, the development of risk analysis and the adoption of risk language have substantial implications for how to understand and evaluate unintended consequences. Claims can now be raised that unintended consequences should have been foreseen and other options chosen. This situation constitutes the starting point for this paper, which develops an understanding of unintended consequences, in particular, in relation to environmental disasters. It draws on Robert Merton’s classic work on unanticipated consequences, but refines and further develops it by fertilizing it with findings from risk sociology and framing theory. A particular case of a human-caused disaster, a severe wildfire, is analyzed to illustrate and expand the understanding of unintended consequences. The empirical material consists of a postal survey to everyone directly affected by the wildfire (N = 960 individuals). The empirical results of this analysis are then explained and used to improve the understanding of unintended consequences, by showing how the context and framing of the disaster heavily affected the evaluation of its consequences, including unintended ones.
A Novel Dynamic Insulation System for Windows
Authors: Gruner Michael , Matusiak Barbara Szybinska
Published: August 2018

One of the measures to reduce energy consumption in buildings in Nordic countries is limiting the window area, as windows contribute to significantly higher heat loss than walls during a long hot season. This conflicts with user needs for daylight and views out, especially in buildings situated in dense urban areas. The purpose of the project was to test if dynamic insulation can be used to reduce heat loss through windows during periods when view out is not needed. The paper presents a new dynamic insulation system for windows in a form of an exterior sliding shutter. The development of the system started from an existing poorly insulating sliding door system that has been equipped with vacuum insulation panels and re-designed according to the new purpose. The new system was both numerically simulated using THERM and tested in full-scale in a Hot-box apparatus at the laboratory of SINTEF Building and Infrastructure. The results are promising and encourage further development towards a commercial product.
Carbon Footprint Analyses and Potential Carbon Emission Reduction in China’s Major Peach Orchards
Authors: Guo Chaoyi , Wang Xiaozhong , Li Yujia , He Xinhua , Zhang Wushuai , Wang Jie , Shi Xiaojun , Chen Xinping , Zhang Yueqiang
Published: August 2018

An excess of material input in fruit orchards has brought serious environmental problems, particularly in China. However, studies on the estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in peach orchards are limited. In this study, based on questionnaire surveys in major peach-producing regions, including the North China Plain (n = 214), as well as northwest (n = 22) and southwest (n = 33) China, the carbon footprints (CFs) of these orchards were calculated by the life cycle assessment. The potential emission reduction in each region was estimated by combining the GHG emissions and CFs with plantation areas and fruit yields. The results showed that the average GHG emissions in the North China Plain, northwest, and southwest regions were 15,668 kg CO2-eq ha−1, 10,386 kg CO2-eq ha−1, and 5580 kg CO2-eq ha−1, with corresponding CFs of 0.48 kg CO2-eq ha−1, 0.27 kg CO2-eq ha−1, and 0.20 kg CO2-eq kg−1, respectively. The main contribution source of GHG emissions in these three regions was fertilizer (77–95%), followed by electricity, pesticides, and diesel. By adopting advanced farming practices with high yield and a high partial factor productivity of fertilizer, the GHG emissions could be reduced by ~13–35%, with the highest potential reduction in the North China Plain. In conclusion, the GHG emissions and their CFs were impressively high in China’s major peach-producing regions, but these GHG emissions could be substantially decreased by optimizing nutrients and irrigation management, including the rational selection of fertilizer rates and types with water-saving irrigation systems or practices (e.g., mulching) for increasing fertilizer and water use efficiency, and maintaining a sustainable peach production in China or similar countries.
Foodservice in a UNESCO Site: The Restaurateurs’ Perception on Communication and Promotion Tools
Authors: Peira Giovanni , Beltramo Riccardo , Pairotti Maria Beatrice , Bonadonna Alessandro
Published: August 2018

The foodservice sector plays an important economical role in the “Langa del Barolo”, in Northwest Italy. It is now on the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List and is in first place in Italy in the Vineyard Landscape field, along with the Roero and Monferrato territories. The tourists who visit this area are constantly increasing and its inscription in UNESCO World Heritage List seems to have increased its international appeal even more. This study aimed at obtaining feedback from the “Langa del Barolo” restaurateurs as to their perception of the communication and promotion tools implemented to enhance the territory. A semi-structured interview, that adopted a questionnaire based on the PAPI technique, was used to survey all the 78 restaurateurs in this area. This technique was chosen to stimulate the individual propensity of the restaurant owner to share information freely. It was observed that the UNESCO status provides new stimuli for the restaurateurs when carrying out their activities, increases tourist’s interest in the “Langa del Barolo” and disseminates the local brands at an international level. Other tools, such as TripAdvisor, word-of-mouth, Slow Food and gastronomic guides, were also presented and discussed with the participants. The feedback and results demonstrate that having a UNESCO status improves and enhances the territory, making it an extremely useful promotion tool.
An Empirical Study on Internet Startup Financing From a Green Financial Perspective
Authors: Yan Zichun , Wang Kai , Tsai Sang-Bing , Zhou Lili
Published: August 2018

In the context of worldwide internationalization, a new entrepreneurial financing mode has emerged and gained popularity, which has been improved and modified significantly in terms of both form and content. This study selects crowdfunding as its breakthrough point to explore and study the relationships between the backgrounds of initiators, experiences, and financing effects. Through data mining technology, this article introduces a database including 423 entrepreneurial financing projects and entrepreneurs’ information, and entrepreneurs’ locations covering 10 countries and regions. By using the multivariate least square model, we conclude that the entrepreneurs’ technical educational backgrounds, offline entrepreneurial experiences, and online entrepreneurial experiences all have positive effects on internet financing. The weaker the value that the uncertainty avoidance in the entrepreneurs’ host countries has, the stronger the facilitation and promotion from offline and online entrepreneurial experiences on internet financing. Furthermore, the level of uncertainty avoidance in the entrepreneurs’ countries has a moderating effect as well.
Assessing Livelihood Reconstruction in Resettlement Program for Disaster Prevention at Baihe County of China: Extension of the Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction (IRR) Model
Authors: Xiao Qunying , Liu Huijun , Feldman Marcus
Published: August 2018

The paper develops a tool for livelihood recovery assessment in disaster-preventive resettlement. A new conceptual framework is built based on the impoverishment risks and reconstruction (IRR) model. This framework leads to a quantitative model that was designed and tested using the disaster resettlement preventive engineering (DRPE) project in Baihe county of China. The new model evaluates the qualities of livelihood recovery in terms of three components: Life reconstruction, development reconstruction, and safety reconstruction, which consider features specific to the Chinese society, and introduce a new insecurity factor. The model showed good reliability, validity, and sensitivity for the evaluation of livelihood reconstruction in disaster-preventive resettlement. Its application will help to target interventions to improve public services in resettlement areas by identifying cases with inadequately sustainable livelihoods.
Impact of Climate Change: Environmental Assessment of Passive Solutions in a Single-Family Home in Southern Spain
Authors: Suárez Rafael , Escandón Rocío , López-Pérez Ramón , León-Rodríguez Ángel Luis , Klein Tillmann , Silvester Sacha
Published: August 2018

According to the IPCC Climate Change projections by 2050 temperatures in southern Spain will have increased noticeably during the summer. Housing—in its current form—will not be able to provide a suitable response to this new climate scenario, and will in turn prompt an increase in cooling energy consumption and a series of problems relating to health and comfort. The Design Builder simulation tool was used to quantify the impact of this future climate scenario on energy demand, as well as its effect under free-running conditions on indoor temperature. Different passive conditioning strategies were evaluated to establish their influence on the indoor comfort conditions. The case study examined a theoretical single-family residential unit model in order to establish guidelines for the pre-selection of the most suitable passive solutions. The results show that passive conditioning strategies analysed (envelope treatment, solar gain protection and night-time natural ventilation) reduce energy demand and indoor temperatures, thus increasing energy efficiency and improving indoor comfort conditions. Therefore, these passive conditioning strategies reduce the cooling energy consumption.
Perception of 3D Symmetrical and Nearly Symmetrical Shapes
Authors: Jayadevan Vijai , Sawada Tadamasa , Delp Edward , Pizlo Zygmunt
Published: August 2018

The human visual system uses priors to convert an ill-posed inverse problem of 3D shape recovery into a well-posed one. In previous studies, we have demonstrated the use of priors like symmetry, compactness and minimal surface in the perception of 3D symmetric shapes. We also showed that binocular perception of symmetric shapes can be well modeled by the above-mentioned priors and binocular depth order information. In this study, which used a shape-matching task, we show that these priors can also be used to model perception of near-symmetrical shapes. Our near-symmetrical shapes are asymmetrical shapes obtained from affine distortions of symmetrical shapes. We found that the perception of symmetrical shapes is closer to veridical than the perception of asymmetrical shapes. We introduce a metric to measure asymmetry of abstract polyhedral shapes, and a similar metric to measure shape dissimilarity between two polyhedral shapes. We report some key observations obtained by analyzing the data from the experiment. A website was developed with all the shapes used in the experiment, along with the shapes recovered by the subject and the shapes recovered by the model. This website provides a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of the model and also helps demonstrate the goodness of the shape metric.
Molecular Characterization and Geographic Distribution of a Mymonavirus in the Population of Botrytis cinerea
Authors: Hao Fangmin , Wu Mingde , Li Guoqing
Published: August 2018

Here, we characterized a negative single-stranded (−ss)RNA mycovirus, Botrytis cinerea mymonavirus 1 (BcMyV1), isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea. The genome of BcMyV1 is 7863 nt in length, possessing three open reading frames (ORF1–3). The ORF1 encodes a large polypeptide containing a conserved mononegaviral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domain showing homology to the protein L of mymonaviruses, whereas the possible functions of the remaining two ORFs are still unknown. The internal cDNA sequence (10-7829) of BcMyV1 was 97.9% identical to the full-length cDNA sequence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum negative stranded RNA virus 7 (SsNSRV7), a virus-like contig obtained from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum metatranscriptomes, indicating BcMyV1 should be a strain of SsNSRV7. Phylogenetic analysis based on RdRp domains showed that BcMyV1 was clustered with the viruses in the family Mymonaviridae, suggesting it is a member of Mymonaviridae. BcMyV1 may be widely distributed in regions where B. cinerea occurs in China and even over the world, although it infected only 0.8% of tested B. cinerea strains.
Estimating Evapotranspiration of Processing Tomato under Plastic Mulch Using the SIMDualKc Model
Authors: Zhang Huimeng , Huang Guanhua , Xu Xu , Xiong Yunwu , Huang Quanzhong
Published: August 2018

Accurate estimation of crop evapotranspiration (ET) is critical for agricultural water resource management and proper irrigation scheduling. The 2-year field experimental data of processing tomato under plastic-mulched drip and basin irrigation in the Hetao Irrigation District (Hetao), located in the upper reaches of the Yellow river, were used to calibrate and validate the SIMDualKc model. The model adopted the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dual Kc method for partitioning ET into plant transpiration and soil evaporation. The results showed a good agreement between soil water observations and simulations throughout the growing seasons with a low error estimate and high model efficiency. The calibrated basal potential crop coefficients for the initial stage, mid-season stage, and late stage were 0.30, 0.92, and 0.60, respectively. ET during the two growing seasons was in the range of 284–331 mm for basin irrigation and 266–310 mm for drip irrigation. The average soil evaporation accounted for 5% of ET in 2015 and 14% of ET in 2016 for drip irrigation treatments, while it accounted for 4% and 13% of ET for basin irrigation treatments in the two experimental years, indicating that transpiration was the dominant component of ET of processing tomato under plastic mulch in Hetao. The highest water productivity was obtained from the drip irrigation treatment. The SIMDualKc model is an appropriate tool to estimate crop ET and may be further used to improve local irrigation scheduling for processing tomato in the upper reaches of the Yellow river.
Filling nanopipettes with apertures smaller than 50 nm: dynamic microdistillation
Authors: Salançon Evelyne , Tinland Bernard
Published: August 2018

Using nanopipettes with very small apertures (<10 nm) is a good way to improve the spatial resolution in scanning conductance experiments, to monitor single-molecule delivery and to strain long molecules stretching during translocation. However, such nanopipettes can be difficult to fill. Here we describe a dynamic microdistillation technique that successfully fills all nanopipettes, whatever their shape or tip radius. Even elongated or bent nanopipettes with a small-angle tip are completely filled using this new technique. The nanopipettes are first filled with pure water, which is later replaced with the desired electrolyte via electromigration. Electrical measurements are used to check that filling is complete.
MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY OF BANKS: THE BOOTSTRAPPED I-DISTANCE GAR DEA APPROACH
Authors: Radojicic Milan , Savic Gordana , Jeremic Veljko
Published: August 2018

The efficiency of the banking sector, particularly in developing countries, has captivated the attention of various researchers. Contributing to this issue, we present the results of in-depth analysis of the efficiency of Serbian banks during the period 2005–2016. Unlike previous papers evaluating the efficiency of South-Eastern European banks, we emphasize the importance of applying weight restrictions in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The aim is to incorporate every aspect of a decision-making unit’s performance to avoid misevaluation of a bank’s efficiency. As a possible remedy to the issue, a bootstrapped I-distance is suggested as a statistically sound framework for determining weight bounds in the Global Assurance Region (GAR) DEA model. In terms of average efficiency, the banking sector of Serbia exhibits an improving trend over the period analyzed. The results show how banks can be evaluated when the impact of all the operating inputs and outputs are properly factored into the study.
The Imprint of Cosmic Reionization on the Luminosity Function of Galaxies
Authors: Bose Sownak , Deason Alis J. , Frenk Carlos S.
Published: August 2018

The (re)ionization of hydrogen in the early universe has a profound effect on the formation of the first galaxies: by raising the gas temperature and pressure, it prevents gas from cooling into small halos, thus affecting the abundance of present-day small galaxies. Using the Galform semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, we show that two key aspects of the reionization process—when reionization takes place and the characteristic scale below which it suppresses galaxy formation—are imprinted in the luminosity function of dwarf galaxies. We focus on the luminosity function of satellites of galaxies like the Milky Way and the LMC, which is easier to measure than the luminosity function of the dwarf population as a whole. Our results show that the details of these two characteristic properties of reionization determine the shape of the luminosity distribution of satellites in a unique way, and are largely independent of the other details of the galaxy formation model. Our models generically predict a bimodality in the distribution of satellites as a function of luminosity: a population of faint satellites and population of bright satellites separated by a “valley” forged by reionization. We show that this bimodal distribution is present at high statistical significance in the combined satellite luminosity function of the Milky Way and M31. We make predictions for the expected number of satellites around LMC-mass dwarfs where the bimodality may also be measurable in future observational programs. Our preferred model predicts a total of 26 ± 10 (68% confidence) satellites brighter than M

V
 = 0 in LMC-mass systems.
Studies on Cosmic-Ray Nuclei with Voyager, ACE, and AMS-02. I. Local Interstellar Spectra and Solar Modulation
Authors: Zhu Cheng-Rui , Yuan Qiang , Wei Da-Ming
Published: August 2018

The acceleration of cosmic-ray particles and their propagation in the Milky Way and the heliosphere tangle with each other, leading to complexity and degeneracy of the modeling of Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). The recent measurements of the GCR spectra by Voyager-1 from outside of the heliosphere gave the first direct observation of GCRs in the local interstellar (LIS) environment. Together with the high-precision data near the Earth taken by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and AMS-02, we derive the LIS spectra of helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, and oxygen nuclei from a few MeV n−1 to TeV n−1, using a non-parameterization method. These LIS spectra are helpful in further studying the injection and propagation parameters of GCRs. The nearly 20 years of data recorded by ACE are used to determine the solar modulation parameters over solar cycles 23 and 24, based on the force-field approximation. We find general agreements of the modulation potential with the results inferred from neutron monitors and other cosmic-ray data.