bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determination of the Key Comparison Reference Value from Multiple Field Calibration of Sentinel-2B/MSI over the Baotou Site
Authors: Gao Caixia , Liu Yaokai , Liu Jinru , Ma Lingling , Wu Zhifeng , Qiu Shi , Li Chuanrong , Zhao Yongguang , Han Qijin , Zhao Enyu , Qian Yonggang , Wang Ning
Published: July 2020

Field calibration is a feasible way to evaluate space-borne optical sensor observations via natural or artificial sites on Earth’s surface with the aid of synchronous surface and atmospheric characteristic data. Since field calibration is affected by the coupled effects of surface and atmospheric characteristics, the single calibration results acquired under different surface and atmospheric conditions have different biases and different uncertainties, making it difficult to determine the consistency of these multiple calibration results. In view of this, by assuming that the radiometric performance is invariant during field calibration and the calibration samples are independent of each other, the surface–atmosphere invariant Key Comparison Reference Value (KCRV) is essentially derived from various calibration results. As the number of calibration samples increases, the uncertainty in the KCRV should decrease, and the KCRV should approach the “true” value. This paper addresses a novel method for estimating a weighted average value from multiple calibration results that can be used to compare each calibration result, and this value is accepted as the KCRV. Furthermore, this method is preliminarily applied to the field calibration of the Multispectral Instrument (MSI) onboard the Sentinel-2B satellite via the desert target at the Baotou site, China. After employing a chi-squared test to verify that 12 calibration samples are independent from each other, the KCRV of the 12 calibration samples at the Baotou site is derived, which exhibits much lower uncertainty than a single sample. The results show that the KCRVs of the relative differences between the simulated and observed at-sensor reflectance are 3.75%, 5.11%, 6.09%, and 5.03% for the four bands of Sentinel-2B/MSI, respectively, and the corresponding uncertainties are 1.84%, 1.87%, 1.90%, and 1.93%. It is noted that the KCRV uncertainty obtained with only 12 calibration samples is reduced significantly, and in the future, more samples in other instrumented sites will be used to validate this method thoroughly.
Quantitative Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Variation of Soil Salinization Risk Using GIS-Based Geostatistical Method
Authors: Wang Zheng , Zhang Fei , Zhang Xianlong , Chan Ngai Weng , Kung Hsiang-te , Zhou Xiaohong , Wang Yishan
Published: July 2020

Soil salinization is one of the environmental threats affecting the sustainable development of arid oases in the northwest of China. Thus, it is necessary to assess the risk of soil salinity and analyze spatial and temporal changes. The objective of this paper is to develop a temporal and spatial soil salinity risk assessment method based on an integrated scoring method by combining the advantages of remote sensing and GIS technology. Based on correlation coefficient analysis to determine the weights of risk evaluation factors, a comprehensive scoring system for the risk of salinity in the dry and wet seasons was constructed for the Ebinur Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve (ELWNNR), and the risk of spatial variation of soil salinity in the study area was analyzed in the dry and wet seasons. The results show the following: (1) The risk of soil salinity during the wet season is mainly influenced by the plant senescence reflectance index (PSRI), deep soil water content (D_wat), and the effect of shallow soil salinity (SH_sal). The risk of soil salinity during the dry season is mainly influenced by shallow soil salinity (SH_sal), land use and land cover change (LUCC), and deep soil moisture content (D_wat). (2) The wet season was found to have a high risk of salinization, which is mainly characterized by moderate, high, and very high risks. However, in the dry season, the risk of salinity is mainly characterized by low and moderate risk of salinity. (3) In the ELWNNR, as the wet season changes to dry season (from May to August), moderate-risk area in the wet season easily shifts to low risk and risk-free, and the area of high risk in the wet season easily shifts to moderate risk. In general, the overall change in salinity risk of the ELWNNR showed a significant relationship with changes in lake water volume, indicating that changes in water volume play an important role in the risk of soil salinity occurrence. Ideally, the quantitative analysis of salinity risk proposed in this study, which takes into account temporal and spatial variations, can help decision makers to propose more targeted soil management options.
Individual Tree Detection from UAV Imagery Using Hölder Exponent
Authors: Belcore Elena , Wawrzaszek Anna , Wozniak Edyta , Grasso Nives , Piras Marco
Published: July 2020

This article explores the application of Hölder exponent analysis for the identification and delineation of single tree crowns from very high-resolution (VHR) imagery captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Most of the present individual tree crown detection (ITD) methods are based on canopy height models (CHM) and are very effective as far as an accurate digital terrain model (DTM) is available. This prerequisite is hard to accomplish in some environments, such as alpine forests, because of the high tree density and the irregular topography. Indeed, in such conditions, the photogrammetrically derived DTM can be inaccurate. A novel image processing method supports the segmentation of crowns based only on the parameter related to the multifractality description of the image. In particular, the multifractality is related to the deviation from a strict self-similarity and can be treated as the information about the level of inhomogeneity of considered data. The multifractals, even if well established in image processing and recognized by the scientific community, represent a relatively new application in VHR aerial imagery. In this work, the Hölder exponent (one of the parameters related to multifractal description) is applied to the study of a coniferous forest in the Western Alps. The infrared dataset with 10 cm pixels is captured by a UAV-mounted optical sensor. Then, the tree crowns are detected by a basic workflow. This consists of the thresholding of the image on the basis of the Hölder exponent. Then, the single crowns are segmented through a multiresolution segmentation approach. The ITD segmentation was validated through a two-level validation analysis that included a visual evaluation and the computing of quantitative measures based on 200 reference crowns. The results were checked against the ITD performed in the same area but using only spectral, textural, and elevation information. Specifically, the visual assessment included the estimation of the producer’s and user’s accuracies and the F1 score. The quantitative measures considered are the root mean square error (RMSE) (for the area, the perimeter, and the distance between centroids) and the over-segmentation and under-segmentation indices, the Jaccard index, and the completeness index. The F1 score indicates positive results (over 73%) as well as the completeness index that does not exceed 0.23 on a scale of 0 to 1, taking 0 as the best result possible. The RMSE of the extension of crowns is 3 m2, which represents only 14% of the average extension of reference crowns. The performance of the segmentation based on the Hölder exponent outclasses those based on spectral, textural, and elevation information. Despite the good results of the segmentation, the method tends to under-segment rather than over-segment, especially in areas with sloping. This study lays the groundwork for future research into ITD from VHR optical imagery using multifractals.
Land Cover Classification using Google Earth Engine and Random Forest Classifier—The Role of Image Composition
Authors: Phan Thanh Noi , Kuch Verena , Lehnert Lukas W.
Published: July 2020

Land cover information plays a vital role in many aspects of life, from scientific and economic to political. Accurate information about land cover affects the accuracy of all subsequent applications, therefore accurate and timely land cover information is in high demand. In land cover classification studies over the past decade, higher accuracies were produced when using time series satellite images than when using single date images. Recently, the availability of the Google Earth Engine (GEE), a cloud-based computing platform, has gained the attention of remote sensing based applications where temporal aggregation methods derived from time series images are widely applied (i.e., the use the metrics such as mean or median), instead of time series images. In GEE, many studies simply select as many images as possible to fill gaps without concerning how different year/season images might affect the classification accuracy. This study aims to analyze the effect of different composition methods, as well as different input images, on the classification results. We use Landsat 8 surface reflectance (L8sr) data with eight different combination strategies to produce and evaluate land cover maps for a study area in Mongolia. We implemented the experiment on the GEE platform with a widely applied algorithm, the Random Forest (RF) classifier. Our results show that all the eight datasets produced moderately to highly accurate land cover maps, with overall accuracy over 84.31%. Among the eight datasets, two time series datasets of summer scenes (images from 1 June to 30 September) produced the highest accuracy (89.80% and 89.70%), followed by the median composite of the same input images (88.74%). The difference between these three classifications was not significant based on the McNemar test (p > 0.05). However, significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed for all other pairs involving one of these three datasets. The results indicate that temporal aggregation (e.g., median) is a promising method, which not only significantly reduces data volume (resulting in an easier and faster analysis) but also produces an equally high accuracy as time series data. The spatial consistency among the classification results was relatively low compared to the general high accuracy, showing that the selection of the dataset used in any classification on GEE is an important and crucial step, because the input images for the composition play an essential role in land cover classification, particularly with snowy, cloudy and expansive areas like Mongolia.
Spatio-Temporal Variability of Phytoplankton Primary Production in Baltic Lakes Using Sentinel-3 OLCI Data
Authors: Soomets Tuuli , Uudeberg Kristi , Kangro Kersti , Jakovels Dainis , Brauns Agris , Toming Kaire , Zagars Matiss , Kutser Tiit
Published: July 2020

Phytoplankton primary production (PP) in lakes play an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, monitoring the PP in lakes with traditional complicated and costly in situ sampling methods are impossible due to the large number of lakes worldwide (estimated to be 117 million lakes). In this study, bio-optical modelling and remote sensing data (Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument) was combined to investigate the spatial and temporal variation of PP in four Baltic lakes during 2018. The model used has three input parameters: concentration of chlorophyll-a, the diffuse attenuation coefficient, and incident downwelling irradiance. The largest of our studied lakes, Võrtsjärv (270 km2), had the highest total yearly estimated production (61 Gg C y−1) compared to the smaller lakes Lubans (18 Gg C y−1) and Razna (7 Gg C y−1). However, the most productive was the smallest studied, Lake Burtnieks (40.2 km2); although the total yearly production was 13 Gg C y−1, the daily average areal production was 910 mg C m−2 d−1 in 2018. Even if lake size plays a significant role in the total PP of the lake, the abundance of small and medium-sized lakes would sum up to a significant contribution of carbon fixation. Our method is applicable to larger regions to monitor the spatial and temporal variability of lake PP.
Generating Anchor Boxes Based on Attention Mechanism for Object Detection in Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Tian Zhuangzhuang , Zhan Ronghui , Hu Jiemin , Wang Wei , He Zhiqiang , Zhuang Zhaowen
Published: July 2020

Nowadays, object detection methods based on deep learning are applied more and more to the interpretation of optical remote sensing images. However, the complex background and the wide range of object sizes in remote sensing images increase the difficulty of object detection. In this paper, we improve the detection performance by combining the attention information, and generate adaptive anchor boxes based on the attention map. Specifically, the attention mechanism is introduced into the proposed method to enhance the features of the object regions while reducing the influence of the background. The generated attention map is then used to obtain diverse and adaptable anchor boxes using the guided anchoring method. The generated anchor boxes can match better with the scene and the objects, compared with the traditional proposal boxes. Finally, the modulated feature adaptation module is applied to transform the feature maps to adapt to the diverse anchor boxes. Comprehensive evaluations on the DIOR dataset demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods, such as RetinaNet, FCOS and CornerNet. The mean average precision of the proposed method is 4.5% higher than the feature pyramid network. In addition, the ablation experiments are also implemented to further analyze the respective influence of different blocks on the performance improvement.
Satellite Constellation Reveals Crop Growth Patterns and Improves Mapping Accuracy of Cropping Practices for Subtropical Small-Scale Fields in Japan
Authors: Sakuma Asahi , Yamano Hiroya
Published: July 2020

Mapping of agricultural crop types and practices is important for setting up agricultural production plans and environmental conservation measures. Sugarcane is a major tropical and subtropical crop; in general, it is grown in small fields with large spatio-temporal variations due to various crop management practices, and satellite observations of sugarcane cultivation areas are often obscured by clouds. Surface information with high spatio-temporal resolution obtained through the use of emerging satellite constellation technology can be used to track crop growth patterns with high resolution. In this study, we used Planet Dove imagery to reveal crop growth patterns and to map crop types and practices on subtropical Kumejima Island, Japan (lat. 26°21′01.1″ N, long. 126°46′16.0″ E). We eliminated misregistration between the red-green-blue (RGB) and near-infrared band imagery, and generated a time series of seven vegetation indices to track crop growth patterns. Using the Random Forest algorithm, we classified eight crop types and practices in the sugarcane. All the vegetation indices tested showed high classification accuracy, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) had an overall accuracy of 0.93 and Kappa of 0.92 range of accuracy for different crop types and practices in the study area. The results for the user’s and producer’s accuracy of each class were good. Analysis of the importance of variables indicated that five image sets are most important for achieving high classification accuracy: Two image sets of the spring and summer sugarcane plantings in each year of a two-year observation period, and one just before harvesting in the second year. We conclude that high-temporal-resolution time series images obtained by a satellite constellation are very effective in small-scale agricultural mapping with large spatio-temporal variations.
Development of Solid-Phase RPA on a Lateral Flow Device for the Detection of Pathogens Related to Sepsis
Authors: Heeroma Alice Jane , Gwenin Christopher
Published: July 2020

Population extended life expectancy has significantly increased the risk of septic shock in an ageing population. Sepsis affects roughly 20 million people every year, resulting in over 11 million deaths. The need for faster more accurate diagnostics and better management is therefore paramount in the fight to prevent these avoidable deaths. Here we report the development of a POC device with the ability to identify a broad range of pathogens on a lateral flow platform. Namely Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The simple to use laboratory device has the potential to be automated, thus enabling an operator to carry out solid-phase lysis and room temperature RPA in situ, providing accurate results in hours rather than days. Results show there is a potential for a fully automated device in which concepts described in this paper can be integrated into a lateral flow device.
Vital Sign Detection during Large-Scale and Fast Body Movements Based on an Adaptive Noise Cancellation Algorithm Using a Single Doppler Radar Sensor
Authors: Yang Zi-Kai , Shi Heping , Zhao Sheng , Huang Xiang-Dong
Published: July 2020

The non-contact detection of human vital signs (i.e., respiration rate (RR) and heartbeat rate (HR)) using a continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radar sensor has great potential for intensive care monitoring, home healthcare, etc. However, large-scale and fast random body movement (RBM) has been a bottleneck for vital sign detection using a single CW Doppler radar. To break this dilemma, this study proposed a scheme combining adaptive noise cancellation (ANC) with polynomial fitting, which could retrieve the weak components of both respiration and heartbeat signals that were submerged under serious RBM interference. In addition, the new-type discrete cosine transform (N-DCT) was introduced to improve the detection accuracy. This scheme was first verified using a numerical simulation. Then, experiments utilizing a 10-GHz Doppler radar sensor that was built from general-purpose radio frequency (RF) and communication instruments were also carried out. No extra RF/microwave components and modules were needed, and neither was a printed circuit board nor an integrated-chip design required. The experimental results showed that both the RR and HR could still be extracted during large-scale and fast body movements using only a single Doppler radar sensor because the RBM noises could be greatly eliminated by utilizing the proposed ANC algorithm.
Numerical Investigation of Auxetic Textured Soft Strain Gauge for Monitoring Animal Skin
Authors: Liu Han , Kollosche Matthias , Yan Jin , Zellner Eric M. , Bentil Sarah A. , Rivero Iris V. , Wiersema Colin , Laflamme Simon
Published: July 2020

Recent advances in hyperelastic materials and self-sensing sensor designs have enabled the creation of dense compliant sensor networks for the cost-effective monitoring of structures. The authors have proposed a sensing skin based on soft polymer composites by developing soft elastomeric capacitor (SEC) technology that transduces geometric variations into a measurable change in capacitance. A limitation of the technology is in its low gauge factor and lack of sensing directionality. In this paper, we propose a corrugated SEC through surface texture, which provides improvements in its performance by significantly decreasing its transverse Poisson’s ratio, and thus improving its sensing directionality and gauge factor. We investigate patterns inspired by auxetic structures for enhanced unidirectional strain monitoring. Numerical models are constructed and validated to evaluate the performance of textured SECs, and to study their performance at monitoring strain on animal skin. Results show that the auxetic patterns can yield a significant increase in the overall gauge factor and decrease the stress experienced by the animal skin, with the re-entrant hexagonal honeycomb pattern outperforming all of the other patterns.
Seeking Sustainable Development in Teams: Towards Improving Team Commitment through Person-Group Fit
Authors: Sung Sang Hun , Seong Jee Young , Kim Yong Geun
Published: July 2020

This study explores the sustainability of work groups in the industry by enhancing team commitment via person-group fit and its boundary conditions. Specifically, we examine the relationship between person-group (PG fit) and team commitment, introducing person-organization (PO) fit and person-supervisor (PS) fit as moderators. Using data collected from a Korean company, this study reports that a three-way interaction between PG fit, PS fit, and PO fit predicts an employee’s commitment to their team. The results highlight that PS fit can compensate for PG fit when the level of PG fit is low by stimulating team members to commit to the work team. Likewise, PG fit also plays a compensatory role for inducing team commitment when confronting poor PS fit. The results reveal that as long as PG fit is high, PO fit is more important than PS fit in enhancing team commitment. However, when PG fit is low, high PS fit with low PO fit produces a higher level of commitment to the team than low PS fit with high PO fit.
Measurement-Based Current-Harmonics Modeling of Aggregated Electric-Vehicle Loads Using Power-Exponential Functions
Authors: Foskolos Georgios
Published: July 2020

This paper presents an aggregate current-harmonic load model using power exponential functions and built from actual measurement data during the individual charging of four different fully electric vehicles. The model is based on individual emitted current harmonics as a function of state of charge (SOC), and was used to deterministically simulate the simultaneous charging of six vehicles fed from the same bus. The aggregation of current harmonics up to the 11th was simulated in order to find the circumstances when maximal current-harmonic magnitude occurs, and the phase-angle location. The number of possible identical vehicles was set to four, while battery SOC, the start of charging, and the kind of vehicle were randomized. The results are presented in tables, graphs, and polar plots. Even though simulations did not consider the surrounding harmonics, supply-voltage variation, or network impedance, this paper presents an innovative modeling approach that gives valuable information on the individual current-harmonic contribution of aggregated electric-vehicle loads. With the future implementation of vehicle-to-grid technology, this way of modeling presents new opportunities to predict the harmonic outcome of multiple electric vehicles charging.
Long-term prospective assessment of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide in addition to topical therapy in the management of chronic superficial keratitis
Authors: BETEG Florin , LELESCU Cristina , URDĂ-CÎMPEAN Andrada , TAULESCU Marian , MURESAN Cosmin
Published: July 2020

Chronic superficial keratitis (CSK) is a progressive inflammatory disease in adult dogs, associated with corneal vascular proliferation, edema and melanic pigment deposition. In the absence of a curative therapy, the current approach for the management of CSK aims to control disease progression and eventually decrease the severity of corneal lesions. Subconjunctival injections of corticosteroids may be effective in severe cases, where topical therapy alone is inadequate. The aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injection in addition to topical steroid treatment for the long-term management of CSK, in dogs unresponsive to conventional topical steroids. Treatment efficacy was assessed in 11 dogs with bilateral CSK by periodic evaluation of the cornea in terms of vascularization, edema and pigmentation for up to 120 weeks. Clinically significant reductions in corneal pigmentation (P<0.0001), vascularization (P<0.0001) and edema scores (P<0.0001) were achieved during therapy. The greatest reduction was exhibited by corneal edema, closely followed by vascularization. Corneal pigmentation was less responsive and complete regression has not been achieved in any of the dogs. Severely affected corneas exhibited greater improvements in terms of pigmentation, whereas moderately affected corneas showed a slight decrease. Corneal edema and vascularization were adequately controlled, whereas corneal pigmentation exhibited a lower decrease in severity and was more difficult to manage on a long-term basis. This study suggests that subconjunctival injection of TA in addition to topical steroids could represent an effective option for long-term management of CSK in dogs unresponsive to topical steroids alone
Tutankhamon em Portugal. Relatos na imprensa portuguesa (1922-1939)
Authors: Sales José das Candeias , Mota Susana
Published: July 2020

Em qualquer ciência ou área do saber, a definição conceptual, nocional e terminológica é essencial para o entendimento das problemáticas em estudo e para a comunicação dos respectivos resultados de investigação. Tal é também, obviamente, válido para a área da Recepção do antigo Egipto. O objectivo principal deste texto é analisar, definir e organizar o conjunto de conceitos, nocões e termos existentes no âmbito dos estudos de Recepção do antigo Egipto, designadamente Egiptomania, Egiptofilia, Renascimento Egípcio, Tutmania, Mumiamania e Amarniamania. Paralelamente, a partir do nosso Projecto de Investigação Tutankhamon em Portugal. Relatos na imprensa portuguesa (1922-1939), pretendemos demonstrar como a imprensa, neste caso do início do século XX, constitui uma manifestação e um agente de recepção do antigo Egipto em Portugal.
O éthos de Otávio na série Rome (HBO)
Authors: Ferreira Paulino da Silva Camilla
Published: July 2020

O presente trabalho compõe o quadro conhecido dentro dos Estudos Clássicos como uma análise de recepção, ou seja, um estudo que, como Martindale (2006, p. 1-2) apresenta, interliga o mundo antigo e outros períodos históricos, mostrando que os discursos antigos não ficam circunscritos em seu próprio tempo, havendo uma cadeia complexa de conexões entre eles e os mais diversos meios de difusão, entre eles a televisão, como é o nosso caso. Nesse processo, salienta-se que as relações entre os enunciados antigos e suas apropriações posteriores são produzidas no ponto de recepção, sendo o leitor essencial no processo interpretativo. Nesse artigo, analiso a personagem Otávio, da série Rome, da HBO, buscando evidenciar a aplicação do éthos proposto para a personagem, o de um garoto inteligente, prodígio, demonstrando que este se trata de um elemento já utilizado na tradição literária da Antiguidade para compor a imagem do futuro princeps. Para tal, utilizo o conceito de capital cultural, de Bourdieu, para argumentar sobre o processo de criação da série, e também lançaremos mão de alguns textos antigos, como as Filípicas, de Cícero, e a Vida de Augusto, de Suetônio.
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Quality of Life Improvement Training on Distress Tolerance and Self-Destructive Behaviors in Substance Abusers
Authors: Ghanbari Hamidreza , Toozandehjani Hassan , Nejat Hamid
Published: July 2020

Introduction: Drug addiction is one of the most serious psychological, social, economic, and health hazards that needs prevention and treatment considering its serious consequences for the individual and human society. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and quality of life improvement training (QOLT) on distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in substance abusers. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population included men over 20 years old referred to addiction treatment centers in Mashhad. The sample consisted of 45 volunteers who were selected by purposive sampling method and were divided into 3 groups (two experimental and one control group). Experimental groups received ACT and skills training based on the quality of life, while the control group did not receive any experimental intervention. The Distress Tolerance Scale (Simons and Gaher) and Self-destructive Behavior Questionnaire (Owens) were used as research tools in the study. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance using SPSS version 24.0 software. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance showed that the therapeutic methods used in this study were effective in improving distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in men with substance abuse (P<0.001). Moreover, according to the Bonferroni follow-up test, there was no significant difference between the two treatments. Conclusion: ACT and QOLT significantly improved distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in substance abusers.
Online activism and street harassment
Authors: Fileborn Bianca
Published: July 2020

Social media and activist sites have provided an avenue to contest the dominant framing of street harassment as ‘trivial’ and have sought to make street harassment and its harms visible. To date, digital activism has been analysed and conceptualised in relation to its potential as a counter-public forum that enables collective action and resistance, political mobilisation, ‘speaking out’ and consciousness raising, and as a site of informal or innovative justice. I aim to build on this literature by examining the potential for the activist sites Hollaback!, @catcallsofnyc and @dearcatcallers to function as a form of ‘counter-mapping’, contributing towards broader social justice efforts to disrupt and transform dominant productions of space/place. I examine the tensions created by these digital practices, particularly with regards to whether they disrupt the production of space/place or, rather, reinforce urban space as a gendered ‘threatscape’.
Could traditional dispute resolution mechanisms be the solution in post-colonial developing countries – particularly in Africa?
Authors: McQuoid-Mason David
Published: July 2020

This paper deals with the possible role that traditional dispute resolution mechanisms can play in reducing the burden of too much litigation in post-colonial countries – particularly in Africa. The importance of such mechanisms has been recognized by the United Nations and by the constitutions and laws of many African countries. The paper addresses the issue of the effect a paucity of lawyers in African countries might have on the litigation in such countries. The approach and methods of traditional dispute resolution in Africa are discussed and the question raised whether such traditional dispute resolution mechanisms can be integrated into the Western approach to dispute resolution in order to reduce litigation. The challenges facing such integration are also addressed. The article concludes that traditional methods of dispute resolution are already reducing the burden of too much litigation, but further research using statistical and empirical data should be undertaken to substantiate this.
Reconstitución política del sujeto comunitario en Tila, Chiapas
Authors: Martínez-Mendizábal David , Gómez-Alonso Jorge Armando
Published: July 2020

El artículo ofrece los resultados de una investigación relacionada con el proceso de autodeterminación de la comunidad indígena chol en Tila, Chiapas, México. Con base en un proceso de colaboración comunitaria que abarca diez años y por medio de la recuperación de las reflexiones colectivas con campesinos y campesinas choles se da cuenta de la transición de una organización política elitista a un entramado social de reconstitución colectiva desde la tradición indígena, revisitada y afectada por los problemas contemporáneos.
Tres tristes relatos de un alegre pueblo
Authors: Monroy-González Ernesto
Published: July 2020

El presente artículo, procura abrir un espacio de reflexión sobre diferentes situaciones vividas en él departamento del Tolima, municipio de Chaparral, en el cual la violencia sin control, la muerte de campesinos inocentes y la amargura de un pueblo, marcó diferentes momentos en la vida de esas ingenuas personas.
Se apoya metodológicamente, en la descripción narrativa de diferentes actores que vivieron dichos amargos tiempos, tomando de ellos el relato sin modificación alguna, enmarcado dentro de la línea temática de investigación popular, comunitaria, militante y participativa.
Se espera que, de alguna u otra forma, logre revelar las atrocidades de la guerra y la violencia, las consecuencias de vivir en una agonía permanente, por existir en la cordillera, él plan o entre las dos partes, por su creencia o por ser objetivo de las cuotas de efectividad de los que dicen defender la ley.
Estrategias socioeducativas en el ámbito familiar y comunitario. Una alternativa desde la creatividad social para la construcción de paz desde la primera infancia
Authors: Arboleda-Cárdenas Daniela , Toro-Ocampo Syndi Johana
Published: July 2020

Las estrategias socioeducativas se desarrollan con familias y comunidades para el logro de objetivos referidos al cambio autónomo, mediante la construcción colectiva y la reflexión, para garantizar la atención integral y la garantía de derechos en la primera infancia. Se buscó fundamentar estas estrategias, desarrolladas mediante la propuesta pedagógica de una institución en alianza con actores del territorio, para atender integralmente a poblaciones en condición de vulnerabilidad, desigualdad y exclusión social, a fin de mejorar sus condiciones de vida. La investigación fue posible mediante una metodología dialógico-interactiva que facilitó la interacción con los sujetos, permitiendo dar cuenta de: la relación existente entre las condiciones y características del contexto en el cual se inscriben las estrategias; los elementos constitutivos de las estrategias; la relación entre la fundamentación existente de las estrategias y su aplicación en la realidad práctica; los límites y alcances de las estrategias para el fortalecimiento de la práctica.
THE HYGIENIC PROBLEMS
OF USAGE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY BY SCHOOLCHILDREN
AND STUDENTS
Authors: Skoblina N.A. , Milushkina O.Yu. , Tatarinchik A.A. , Fedotov D.M.
Published: July 2020

The usage of information and communications technology by 493 schoolchildren and students from
Moscow and Arkhangelsk was studied. The differences in combinations of gadgets and their usage time
were determined. Also nonobservance of hygiene recommendations about day regimen was noticed.
STAGES
OF FORMATION OF SANITARY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SERVISE OF NIZHNY
NOVGOROD REGION
Authors: Kucherenko N.S. , Knyagina O.N. , Osipova T.V. , Komissarova K.V. , Kudryashova T.P.
Published: July 2020

The stages of formation and development of sanitary epidemiological service on the territory of Nizhny
Novgorod region are described. Nizhny Novgorod region celebrates double anniversary: 130 years ago,
in October 1887, Nizhny Novgorod State Duma introduced Sanitary commission under provincial
authority that gave the start to establishment of future sanitary and epidemiological service of Nizhny
Novgorod region.
Investigation of nonlinear behavior of high ductility reinforced concrete shear walls
Authors: FOROUGHİ Saeid , YÜKSEL Bahadır
Published: July 2020

In this study, the nonlinear behavior of ductile reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls having different parameters was analytically investigated. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of axial load, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and transverse reinforcement ratios on the moment-curvature and lateral force-lateral peak displacement relationships of RC shear walls. RC shear walls that have various parameters were designed by taking into account the regulation of the Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC, 2018). By considering the nonlinear behavior of the materials, behaviors of the RC shear walls were examined within the framework of the moment-curvature relation. The moment-curvature relations of RC shear walls with different parameters were obtained with the Mander model which takes into consideration the lateral confined concrete strength for different parameters. The effects of the analyzed parameters on the nonlinear behavior of the RC shear walls were evaluated in terms of curvature ductility, moment capacity, peak displacement, the angular displacement and displacement ductility values. It was seen that changes in the transverse reinforcement, longitudinal reinforcement, and axial load levels had important influence on the moment-curvature and lateral force-lateral peak displacement behavior of the RC shear walls.
Una risposta per esordienti (o esordenti)?
Authors: Setti Raffaella
Published: July 2020

Alcuni lettori ci chiedono se i participi presenti della coniugazione in -ire presentino sistematicamente la -i- prima della terminazione in -ente oppure no, chiedendo, in particolare se siano corrette forme come esordiente, dormiente oppure come esordente, dormente.
Utilizzo della comunicazione social e web degli enti delle professioni sanitarie. Stato dell’arte degli ordini dei tecnici sanitari di radiologia medica e delle professioni sanitarie tecniche, della riabilitazione e della prevenzione
Authors: Di Lascio Antonio , Nichetti Elena , Brazzo Oscar
Published: July 2020

La comunicazione digitale, tra siti web e social, offre l’opportunità alle pubbliche amministrazioni, Ordini professionali compresi, di affrontare una sfida legata alla trasparenza, all’efficacia dei servizi, allo snellimento amministrativo, a un nuovo modo di comunicare con i professionisti e con i cittadini. Lo studio si propone di presentare lo stato dell’arte dell’utilizzo della comunicazione digitale da parte degli Ordini dei Tecnici Sanitari di Radiologia Medica e delle Professioni Sanitarie Tecniche, della Riabilitazione e della Prevenzione, attraverso un’analisi dei siti web e delle pagine Facebook. I risultati dimostrano come sia possibile un ampio margine di miglioramento sia in termini quantitativi (creazione di pagine Facebook per tutti gli Ordini TSRM PSTRP), sia in termini qualitativi (tipologia dei contenuti, attenzione ai destinatari, modalità di comunicazione…)
L’inaffidabilità delle bollette di energia elettrica in Italia
Authors: Recca Maurizio
Published: July 2020

Le bollette di energia elettrica devono essere pagate mensilmente dai cittadini quali il corrispettivo di energia consumata per i propri bisogni. La tematica, dunque, affronta la responsabilità del fornitore di un servizio di pubblica utilità che, direttamente o indirettamente, incide sulla vita quotidiana dei cittadini: in concreto grava nella struttura dei costi fissi delle famiglie ed utenti. A tale scopo il legislatore europeo con la Direttiva MID (Direttiva 2004/22/CE del Parlamento Europeo e del Consiglio del 31 marzo 2004 e s.m.i.) ha legiferato in merito ai requisiti e controlli metrologici degli strumenti per la misura legale dell’energia elettrica attiva, consumata per il soddisfacimento dei propri bisogni. Lo strumento di misura utilizzato per la misura dell’energia consumata è il “contatore” presente in ogni abitazione deve essere di tipo legale. Dunque il corrispettivo di energia da pagare dipende dalla quantità di energia consumata che è visualizzata dal contatore a mezzo del display e contabilizzata nella bolletta/fattura con la dicitura “Consumi in kWh”. L’importo dell’energia da corrispondere nella “bolletta energetica” deve essere assolutamente preciso, privo di errori e tutto il sistema di fatturazione deve essere affidabile, in caso contrario si lede il concetto di fede pubblica. Lo sviluppo della tecnologia della comunicazione, però, crea non pochi problemi legali, concernenti la quantificazione dell’energia da corrispondere attestato nelle bollette. Il presente studio, affronta la problematica delle bollette energetiche scaturenti dal sistema di misurazione dell’energia elettrica in ITALIA sia dal punto di vista tecnico che legale.
Experimental tutoring project: from guidelines to clinical practice
Authors: Calabrese Mariaconsiglia , Palumbo Roberta , Garofano Marina , Lauro Maria Chiara , De Simone Eros , Alfano Antonia , Vecchione Carmine
Published: July 2020

Promote interdisciplinary tutoring activities in order to teach students how to work in team developing trans-skill competences. Actively involve patients in the construction and management of the assistential and rehabilitative activities to improve adherence and compliance. At Salerno University an experimental pedagogy project involved third-year students attending the Degree Course in Physiotherapy, Nursing, and the fifth year of Medicine, who performed a professionalized clinical internship at the Complex Operative Unit (UOC) of Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR), University Hospital “San Giovanni di Dio Ruggi d’Aragona” in Salerno. We divided students (60) and patients (100) in two groups, experimental and control one, each of them composed by 30 students and 50 cardio-operated patients. Patients are entrusted to an interdisciplinary team of tutors and students, guided by a team-leader chosen in rotation between students. After defining the patient’s need for care and rehabilitation, customized programs were designed, encouraging an active participation of the patient. We gave a self-assessment questionnaire to students for learned skill assessment and a rating scale for adherence and compliance evaluation to patients. Clinical internship has favoured the construction of relationship between students of the various disciplines who learned to dialogue together about the centrality of the patient. This experience has favoured a real change in the lifestyle of patients. We hope that this modality can be used also in other UOC involving a raising number of students, tutors, and patients since the modern literature has also concluded that integrated didactic is an inescapable necessity.
Analytical Prediction of Steel Grid-Shell Stability and Dynamic Behaviors Using Neural Networks – Part 1
Authors: Abambres Miguel , A Cabello
Published: July 2020

Artificial Intelligence is a
cutting-edge technology expanding very quickly into every industry. It has made
its way into structural engineering and it has shown its benefits in predicting
structural performance as well as saving modelling and experimenting time. This
paper is the first one (out of three) of a broader research where artificial
intelligence was applied to the stability and dynamic analyzes of steel
grid-shells. In that study, three Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) with 8
inputs were independently designed for the prediction of a single target
variable, namely: (i) the critical buckling factor for uniform loading (i.e. over
the entire roof), (ii) the critical buckling factor for uniform loading over
half of the roof, and (iii) the fundamental frequency of the structure. This
paper addresses target variable (i). The ANN simulations were based on
1098-point datasets obtained via thorough finite element analyzes.

The proposed ANN for the prediction of the critical buckling factor in steel grid-shells
under uniform loading yields mean and maximum errors of 1.1% and 16.3%,
respectively, for all 1098 data points. Only in 10.6% of those examples
(points), the prediction error exceeds 3%.
Software-defined Networking Based DDoS Defense Mechanisms
Authors: Swami Rochak , Dave Mayank , Ranga Virender
Published: July 2020

Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS) is recognized to be one of the catastrophic attacks against various digital communication entities. Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging technology for computer networks that uses open protocols for controlling switches and routers placed at the network edges by using specialized open programmable interfaces. In this paper, a detailed study on DDoS threats prevalent in SDN is presented. Firstly, SDN features are examined from the perspective of security, and then, a discussion on assessment of SDN security features is done. Further, two viewpoints towards protecting the networks against DDoS attacks are elaborated. In the first view, SDN utilizes its abilities to secure the conventional networks. In the second view, SDN may become a victim of the threats itself because of the centralized control mechanism. The main focus of this research work is towards discovering critical security implications in SDN while reviewing the current ongoing research studies. By emphasizing the available state of the art techniques, an extensive review towards the advancement of the SDN security is provided to the researchers and IT communities.
Fast Sequential Clustering in Riemannian Manifolds for Dynamic and Time-Series-Annotated Multilayer Networks
Authors: Ye Cong , Slavakis Konstantinos , Nakuci Johan , Muldoon Sarah F. , Medaglia John
Published: July 2020

This work exploits Riemannian manifolds to build a sequential-clustering framework able to address a wide variety of clustering tasks in dynamic multilayer (brain) networks via the information extracted from their nodal time-series. The discussion follows a bottom-up path, starting from feature extraction from time-series and reaching up to Riemannian manifolds (feature spaces) to address clustering tasks such as state clustering, community detection (a.k.a. network-topology identification), and subnetwork-sequence tracking. Kernel autoregressive-moving-average modeling and kernel (partial) correlations serve as case studies of generating features in the Riemannian manifolds of Grassmann and positive-(semi)definite matrices, respectively. Feature point-clouds form clusters which are viewed as submanifolds according to Riemannian multi-manifold modeling. A novel sequential-clustering scheme of Riemannian features is also established: feature points are first sampled in a non-random way to reveal the underlying geometric information, and, then, a fast sequential-clustering scheme is brought forth that takes advantage of Riemannian distances and the angular information on tangent spaces. By virtue of the landmark points and the sequential processing of the Riemannian features, the computational complexity of the framework is rendered free from the length of the available time-series data. The effectiveness and computational efficiency of the proposed framework is validated by extensive numerical tests against several state-of-the-art manifold-learning and brain-network-clustering schemes on synthetic as well as real functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging (fMRI) and electro-encephalogram
 (EEG) data.
Corporate Governance, Corporate Environmental Disclosure Dan Firm Value
Authors: Kamilla Puteri
Published: July 2020

Upaya global untuk mencapai hal yang lebih berkelanjutan tidak dapat dicapai tanpa keterlibatan aktif dari komunitas bisnis. Tantangan bagi bisnis adalah untuk secara strategis melibatkan environmental disclosure dalam tata kelola perusahaan mereka yang lebih luas, sehingga menciptakan nilai perusahaan yang baik dengan corporate governance yang efektif dan environmental disclosure yang lebih tinggi. Penelitian ini menguji pengaruh corporate governance terhadap firm value dengan corporate environmental disclosure sebagai variabel intervening. Indeks GRI digunakan untuk mendapatkan nilai corporate environmental disclosure dan penilaian firm value menggunakan rasio Tobins Q. Analisis data berdasarkan annual report dan sustainability report perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada tahun 2018. Penelitian ini menggunakan teknik Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) dengan aplikasi software WarpPLS 5.0 untuk menganalisis data. Corporate environmental disclosure yang lebih tinggi memberikan firm value yang lebih baik. Hasil penelitian menyatakan bahwa ukuran dewan direksi, proporsi gender dewan direksi, latar belakang etnis direktur utama dan frekuensi jumlah rapat dewan direksi memiliki pengaruh terhadap corporate environmental disclosure ataupun firm value. Selain itu, ukuran dewan direksi dan frekuensi jumlah rapat dewan direksi memiliki hubungan positif terhadap firm value melalui corporate environmental disclosure. Sebaliknya, variabel lain dari corporate governance memberikan hasil yang berbeda atau tidak berpengaruh terhadap corporate environmental disclosure dan firm value. Hasil tersebut membantu perusahaan dalam mengevaluasi implementasi dari corporate governance dan environmental disclosure untuk dapat meningkatkan firm value.