bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Activated Carbon Microsphere from Sodium Lignosulfonate for Cr(VI) Adsorption Evaluation in Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Yang Keyan , Xing Jingchen , Xu Pingping , Chang Jianmin , Zhang Qingfa , Usman Khan Muhammad
Published: January 2020

In this study, activated carbon microsphere (SLACM) was prepared from powdered sodium lignosulfonate (SL) and polystyrene by the Mannich reaction and ZnCl2 activation, which can be used to remove Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution without adding any binder. The SLACM was characterized and the batch experiments were conducted under different initial pH values, initial concentrations, contact time durations and temperatures to investigate the adsorption performance of Cr(VI) onto SLACM. The results indicated that the SLACM surface area and average pore size were 769.37 m2/g and 2.46 nm (the mesoporous material), respectively. It was found that the reduced initial pH value, the increased temperature and initial Cr(VI) concentration were beneficial to Cr(VI) adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) on SLACM was 227.7 mg/g at an initial pH value of 2 and the temperature of 40 °C. The adsorption of SLACM for Cr(VI) mainly occurred during the initial stages of the adsorption process. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm experimental data were thoroughly described by Elovich and Langmuir models, respectively. SL could be considered as a potential raw material for the production of activated carbon, which had a considerable potential for the Cr(VI) removal from wastewater.
A Robust, Tough and Multifunctional Polyurethane/Tannic Acid Hydrogel Fabricated by Physical-Chemical Dual Crosslinking
Authors: Wen Jie , Zhang Xiaopeng , Pan Mingwang , Yuan Jinfeng , Jia Zhanyu , Zhu Lei
Published: January 2020

Commonly synthetic polyethylene glycol polyurethane (PEG–PU) hydrogels possess poor mechanical properties, such as robustness and toughness, which limits their load-bearing application. Hence, it remains a challenge to prepare PEG–PU hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties. Herein, a novel double-crosslinked (DC) PEG–PU hydrogel was fabricated by combining chemical with physical crosslinking, where trimethylolpropane (TMP) was used as the first chemical crosslinker and polyphenol compound tannic acid (TA) was introduced into the single crosslinked PU network by simple immersion process. The second physical crosslinking was formed by numerous hydrogen bonds between urethane groups of PU and phenol hydroxyl groups in TA, which can endow PEG–PU hydrogel with good mechanical properties, self-recovery and a self-healing capability. The research results indicated that as little as a 30 mg·mL−1 TA solution enhanced the tensile strength and fracture energy of PEG–PU hydrogel from 0.27 to 2.2 MPa, 2.0 to 9.6 KJ·m−2, respectively. Moreover, the DC PEG–PU hydrogel possessed good adhesiveness to diverse substrates because of TA abundant catechol groups. This work shows a simple and versatile method to prepare a multifunctional DC single network PEG–PU hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties, and is expected to facilitate developments in the biomedical field.
Core/Sheath-Structured Composite Nanofibers Containing Cinnamon Oil: Their Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties and Acaricidal Effect against House Dust Mites
Authors: Jung Yoonwon , Yang Hyukjoo , Lee In-Yong , Yong Tai-Soon , Lee Seungsin
Published: January 2020

This study aimed to fabricate core/sheath-structured composite nanofibers containing cinnamon oil by emulsion electrospinning and to investigate their acaricidal effect on house dust mites as well as their antibacterial and antifungal properties in relation to cinnamon oil concentration in the nanofibers. An oil-in-water emulsion, which comprised cinnamon oil and poly(vinyl alcohol) solution as oil and water phases, respectively, was used to prepare core/sheath-structured nanofibers. The morphology and the inner structure of the electrospun nanofibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Core/sheath-structured nanofibers containing cinnamon oil were successfully prepared by emulsion electrospinning. The composite nanofibers prepared from an emulsion containing 20 wt% of cinnamon oil exhibited a strong acaricidal effect against house dust mites (Dermatophagoides farinae). The composite nanofibers fabricated from an emulsion containing 4.29 wt% of cinnamon oil showed excellent antimicrobial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and a series of fungi that can trigger respiratory- and skin-related diseases. The release profile of cinnamon oil from the core/sheath-structured nanofibers showed a continuous release of functional ingredients over 28 days. Our findings demonstrate that the use of such fibrous structures could be a promising approach for delivering naturally derived bioactive agents in a controlled way.
Mechanical Characterization of the Plastic Material GF-PA6 Manufactured Using FDM Technology for a Compression Uniaxial Stress Field via an Experimental and Numerical Analysis
Authors: Mercado-Colmenero Jorge Manuel , Martin-Doñate Cristina , Moramarco Vincenzo , Attolico Michele Angelo , Renna Gilda , Rodriguez-Santiago Moises , Casavola Caterina
Published: January 2020

This manuscript presents an experimental and numerical analysis of the mechanical structural behavior of Nylstrong GF-PA6, a plastic material manufactured using FDM (fused deposition modeling) technology for a compression uniaxial stress field. Firstly, an experimental test using several test specimens fabricated in the Z and X-axis allows characterizing the elastic behavior of the reinforced GF-PA6 according to the ISO 604 standard for uniaxial compression stress environments in both Z and X manufacturing orientations. In a second stage, an experimental test analyzes the structural behavior of an industrial part manufactured under the same conditions as the test specimens. The experimental results for the test specimens manufactured in the Z and X-axis present differences in the stress-strain curve. Z-axis printed elements present a purely linear elastic behavior and lower structural integrity, while X-axis printed elements present a nonlinear elastic behavior typical of plastic and foam materials. In order to validate the experimental results, numerical analysis for an industrial part is carried out, defining the material GF-PA6 as elastic and isotropic with constant Young’s compression modulus according to ISO standard 604. Simulations and experimental tests show good accuracy, obtaining errors of 0.91% on the Z axis and 0.56% on the X-axis between virtual and physical models.
Screening of Amino Acids and Surfactant as Hydrate Promoter for CO2 Capture from Flue Gas
Authors: Pandey Jyoti Shanker , Daas Yousef Jouljamal , Solms Nicolas von
Published: January 2020

In this study, the kinetics of flue gas hydrate formation in bulk water in the presence of selected amino acids and surfactants are investigated. Four amino acids (3000 ppm) are selected based on different hydropathy index. Constant-ramping and isothermal experiments at 120 bar pressure and 1 °C temperature are carried out to compare their hydrate promotion capabilities with surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) (500–3000 ppm) and water. Based on experimental results, we report the correlation between hydrate promotion capability of amino acids and their hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic amino acids show stronger flue gas hydrate promotion capability than water and hydrophilic amino acids. We discuss the controlling mechanisms to differentiate between promoters and inhibitors’ roles among the amino acids. Between 2000–3000 ppm concentrations, hydrophobic amino acids have near similar promotion capabilities as SDS. This research highlights the potential use of amino acids as promoters or inhibitors for various applications.
How Many Papers Should Scientists Be Reviewing? An Analysis Using Verified Peer Review Reports
Authors: Raoult Vincent
Published: January 2020

The current peer review system is under stress from ever increasing numbers of publications, the proliferation of open-access journals and an apparent difficulty in obtaining high-quality reviews in due time. At its core, this issue may be caused by scientists insufficiently prioritising reviewing. Perhaps this low prioritisation is due to a lack of understanding on how many reviews need to be conducted by researchers to balance the peer review process. I obtained verified peer review data from 142 journals across 12 research fields, for a total of over 300,000 reviews and over 100,000 publications, to determine an estimate of the numbers of reviews required per publication per field. I then used this value in relation to the mean numbers of authors per publication per field to highlight a ‘review ratio’: the expected minimum number of publications an author in their field should review to balance their input (publications) into the peer review process. On average, 3.49 ± 1.45 (SD) reviews were required for each scientific publication, and the estimated review ratio across all fields was 0.74 ± 0.46 (SD) reviews per paper published per author. Since these are conservative estimates, I recommend scientists aim to conduct at least one review per publication they produce. This should ensure that the peer review system continues to function as intended.
Tree Cover Estimation in Global Drylands from Space Using Deep Learning
Authors: Guirado Emilio , Alcaraz-Segura Domingo , Cabello Javier , Puertas-Ruíz Sergio , Herrera Francisco , Tabik Siham
Published: January 2020

Accurate tree cover mapping is of paramount importance in many fields, from biodiversity conservation to carbon stock estimation, ecohydrology, erosion control, or Earth system modelling. Despite this importance, there is still uncertainty about global forest cover, particularly in drylands. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a costly global assessment of dryland forest cover through the visual interpretation of orthoimages using the Collect Earth software, involving hundreds of operators from around the world. Our study proposes a new automatic method for estimating tree cover using artificial intelligence and free orthoimages. Our results show that our tree cover classification model, based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), is 23% more accurate than the manual visual interpretation used by FAO, reaching up to 79% overall accuracy. The smallest differences between the two methods occurred in the driest regions, but disagreement increased with the percentage of tree cover. The application of CNNs could be used to improve and reduce the cost of tree cover maps from the local to the global scale, with broad implications for research and management.
A Detail-Preserving Cross-Scale Learning Strategy for CNN-Based Pansharpening
Authors: Vitale Sergio , Scarpa Giuseppe
Published: January 2020

The fusion of a single panchromatic (PAN) band with a lower resolution multispectral (MS) image to raise the MS resolution to that of the PAN is known as pansharpening. In the last years a paradigm shift from model-based to data-driven approaches, in particular making use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), has been observed. Motivated by this research trend, in this work we introduce a cross-scale learning strategy for CNN pansharpening models. Early CNN approaches resort to a resolution downgrading process to produce suitable training samples. As a consequence, the actual performance at the target resolution of the models trained at a reduced scale is an open issue. To cope with this shortcoming we propose a more complex loss computation that involves simultaneously reduced and full resolution training samples. Our experiments show a clear image enhancement in the full-resolution framework, with a negligible loss in the reduced-resolution space.
A Comparative Assessment of Ensemble-Based Machine Learning and Maximum Likelihood Methods for Mapping Seagrass Using Sentinel-2 Imagery in Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand
Authors: Ha Nam Thang , Manley-Harris Merilyn , Pham Tien Dat , Hawes Ian
Published: January 2020

Seagrass has been acknowledged as a productive blue carbon ecosystem that is in significant decline across much of the world. A first step toward conservation is the mapping and monitoring of extant seagrass meadows. Several methods are currently in use, but mapping the resource from satellite images using machine learning is not widely applied, despite its successful use in various comparable applications. This research aimed to develop a novel approach for seagrass monitoring using state-of-the-art machine learning with data from Sentinel–2 imagery. We used Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand as a validation site for which extensive ground truth data are available to compare ensemble machine learning methods involving random forests (RF), rotation forests (RoF), and canonical correlation forests (CCF) with the more traditional maximum likelihood classifier (MLC) technique. Using a group of validation metrics including F1, precision, recall, accuracy, and the McNemar test, our results indicated that machine learning techniques outperformed the MLC with RoF as the best performer (F1 scores ranging from 0.75–0.91 for sparse and dense seagrass meadows, respectively). Our study is the first comparison of various ensemble-based methods for seagrass mapping of which we are aware, and promises to be an effective approach to enhance the accuracy of seagrass monitoring.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Sci in 2019
Authors:   Sci Editorial Office
Published: January 2020

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not [...]
Identify a Spoofing Attack on an In-Vehicle CAN Bus Based on the Deep Features of an ECU Fingerprint Signal
Authors: Yang Yun , Duan Zongtao , Tehranipoor Mark
Published: January 2020

An in-vehicle controller area network (CAN) bus is vulnerable because of increased sharing among modern autonomous vehicles and the weak protocol design principle. Spoofing attacks on a CAN bus can be difficult to detect and have the potential to enable devastating attacks. To effectively identify spoofing attacks, we propose the authentication of sender identities using a recurrent neural network with long short-term memory units (RNN-LSTM) based on the features of a fingerprint signal. We also present a way to generate the analog fingerprint signals of electronic control units (ECUs) to train the proposed RNN-LSTM classifier. The proposed RNN-LSTM model is accelerated on embedded Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) to allow for real-time detection despite high computational complexity. A comparison of experimental results with the latest studies demonstrates the capability of the proposed RNN-LSTM model and its potential as a solution to in-vehicle CAN bus security.
Bacterial Concrete as a Sustainable Building Material?
Authors: Stanaszek-Tomal Elżbieta
Published: January 2020

The right selection of building materials plays an important role when designing a building to fall within the definition of sustainable development. One of the most commonly used construction materials is concrete. Its production causes a high energy burden on the environment. Concrete is susceptible to external factors. As a result, cracks occur in the material. Achieving its durability along with the assumptions of sustainable construction means there is a need to use an environmentally friendly and effective technique of alternative crack removal in the damaged material. Bacterial self-healing concrete reduces costs in terms of detection of damage and maintenance of concrete structures, thus ensuring a safe lifetime of the structure. Bacterial concrete can improve its durability. However, it is not currently used on an industrial scale. The high cost of the substrates used means that they are not used on an industrial scale. Many research units try to reduce production costs through various methods; however, bacterial concrete can be an effective response to sustainability.
Uncover Cost-Benefit Disparity of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration in Chinese Provinces
Authors: Yu Shitong , Dong Huijuan
Published: January 2020

Incineration has been regarded as a promising method to respond to municipal solid waste (MSW) challenges. However, its high cost and health impacts are the main barriers to the development of incineration. This study aims to investigate the cost-benefit of MSW incineration in 31 Chinese provinces to identify the regional disparity of incineration policy in China. Life cycle environmental impacts and costs were analyzed using the life cycle assessment software Gabi 8.0 and method CML-2001. Results show that MSW disposal costs, Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) will decline significantly with the increase in incineration rate for all Chinese provinces, while the environmental impacts of Human Toxicity Potential (HTP), Ozone Layer Depletion Potential (OLDP) and Terrestric Ecotoxicity Potential (TETP) increase the trend. Economically developed and populated provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong have both a higher incineration volume and incineration potential. As for the cost-benefit analysis, developed provinces such as Guangdong, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin exhibit the highest cost-benefit in toxic impacts of HTP, TETP and ODP. Northern provinces such as Jilin, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang and Hebei have the lowest cost-benefit in toxic impacts but have the highest cost-benefit in GWP and EP. Finally, policy remarks on incineration cost, priority provinces, integration of sorting and incineration are also discussed.
Energy and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Pavement Materials and Technologies for Urban Roads
Authors: Praticò Filippo G. , Giunta Marinella , Mistretta Marina , Gulotta Teresa Maria
Published: January 2020

Recycled and low-temperature materials are promising solutions to reduce the environmental burden deriving from hot mix asphalts. Despite this, there is lack of studies focusing on the assessment of the life-cycle impacts of these promising technologies. Consequently, this study deals with the life cycle assessment (LCA) of different classes of pavement technologies, based on the use of bituminous mixes (hot mix asphalt and warm mix asphalt) with recycled materials (reclaimed asphalt pavements, crumb rubber, and waste plastics), in the pursuit of assessing energy and environmental impacts. Analysis is developed based on the ISO 14040 series. Different scenarios of pavement production, construction, and maintenance are assessed and compared to a reference case involving the use of common paving materials. For all the considered scenarios, the influence of each life-cycle phase on the overall impacts is assessed to the purpose of identifying the phases and processes which produce the greatest impacts. Results show that material production involves the highest contribution (about 60–70%) in all the examined impact categories. Further, the combined use of warm mix asphalts and recycled materials in bituminous mixtures entails lower energy consumption and environmental impacts due to a reduction of virgin bitumen and aggregate consumption, which involves a decrease in the consumption of primary energy and raw materials, and reduced impacts for disposal. LCA results demonstrate that this methodology is able to help set up strategies for eco-design in the pavement sector.
Visualization for Citizen Participation: User Perceptions on a Mainstreamed Online Participatory Tool and Its Usefulness for Climate Change Planning
Authors: Glaas Erik , Hjerpe Mattias , Karlson Martin , Neset Tina-Simone
Published: January 2020

Citizen participation is obligated in municipal planning but is often criticized because of its inadequate implementation. To increase the usefulness of citizen participation and the involvement of underrepresented groups, online participatory tools (OPTs) have attracted attention, in particular, on topics related to climate change. Although many OPTs have been developed and are becoming more widely used, assessments of their usefulness in real-world planning remain scarce. This study aimed to disentangle prospects and pitfalls of this still novel way of practicing citizen dialogue. Specifically, we apply criteria derived from related literatures to assess a mainstreamed OPT in Norrköping, Sweden. The CityPlanner™ tool was discussed with citizens and planners using focus group methodology and semi-structured individual interviews. Moreover, citizen contributions in four applications of the OPT were analyzed. The results reveal that the biggest challenges for citizen dialogues on planning in general and on climate change, in particular, appear not mainly rooted in the technical functions of the OPT. Rather, problems lie in (i) the lack of municipal strategy for citizen participation and in applying OPTs, (ii) a disparagement in citizens’ abilities to contribute to forming robust and sustainable cities, and (iii) in diverging views about the role of citizen contributions. This is reflected in how the OPT is used. While the examined OPT shows potential, the results indicate that visualized contexts for planning might be too scant to be entirely meaningful, and it lacks mechanisms for feedback. Not using the full potential of the OPT makes citizens less engaged and risks to adversely affect learning and citizens’ contributions to solving complex issues.
Text Mining National Commitments towards Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Use
Authors: Juventia Stella , Jones Sarah , Laporte Marie-Angélique , Remans Roseline , Villani Chiara , Estrada-Carmona Natalia
Published: January 2020

Capturing countries’ commitments for measuring and monitoring progress towards certain goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), remains underexplored. The Agrobiodiversity Index bridges this gap by using text mining techniques to quantify countries’ commitments towards safeguarding and using agrobiodiversity for healthy diets, sustainable agriculture, and effective genetic resource management. The Index extracts potentially relevant sections of official documents, followed by manual sifting and scoring to identify agrobiodiversity-related commitments and assign scores. Our aim is to present the text mining methodology used in the Agrobiodiversity Index and the calculated commitments scores for nine countries while identifying methodological improvements to strengthen it. Our results reveal that levels of commitment towards using and protecting agrobiodiversity vary between countries, with most showing the strongest commitments to enhancing agrobiodiversity for genetic resource management followed by healthy diets. No commitments were found in any country related to some specific themes including varietal diversity, seed diversity, and functional diversity. The revised text mining methodology can be used for benchmarking, learning, and improving policies to enable conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity. This low-cost, rapid, remotely applicable approach to capture and analyse policy commitments can be readily applied for tracking progress towards meeting other sustainability objectives.
Antecedents and Consequences of Frontline Employee’s Trust-in-Supervisor and Trust-in-Coworker
Authors: Ji Seonggoo , Jan Ihsan Ullah
Published: January 2020

Based on social exchange theory, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of a frontline employee’s trust-in-supervisor and a frontline employee’s trust-in-coworker in a single framework. A personally administered survey was conducted to collect data from 203 frontline employees of coffee shops in the Republic of Korea. Covariance-based structural equation modeling was applied using AMOS 21.0 to explore the proposed relationships. The results show that abusive supervision is negatively related to frontline employee’s trust-in-supervisor, whereas supervisor support and communication quality have significant positive effects on frontline employee’s trust-in-supervisor. Similarly, coworker ostracism has a significant negative effect on frontline employee’s trust-in-coworker, whereas coworker harmony and communication quality have significant positive effect on frontline employee’s trust-in-coworker. Finally, the results show that a frontline employee’s trust-in-supervisor predicts a frontline employee’s supervisor cooperation, and a frontline employee’s trust-in-coworker leads to a frontline employee’s coworker cooperation.
Organized Framework of Main Possible Applications of Sheep Wool Fibers in Building Components
Authors: Parlato Monica C.M. , Porto Simona M.C.
Published: January 2020

Greasy sheep wool is currently considered a special waste for its high bacterial load, with expensive disposal costs for sheep breeders. For this reason, wool is often burned or buried, with serious consequences for the environment. On the other hand, sheep wool is well regarded as one of the most performative insulating natural fibers due to its thermo-hygrometric and acoustic properties. In the building sector, sheep wool meets the requirements of green building components because it is an eco-friendly material, there is a surplus of it, it is annually renewable, and totally recyclable. If used instead of common insulation materials (e.g., fiberglass, rock wool, polyurethane foam, polystyrene), sheep wool offers significant benefits for sustainability such as a reduction in the production costs for new insulating materials and in environmental pollution. Mechanical and physical properties of sheep wool investigated in previous studies were assessed and discussed with the aim of providing an organized framework of possible applications of wool fibers in building components. This paper highlights in detail aspects that have not yet been investigated enough to detect new potential uses of sheep wool fibers in rural buildings and the reuse of traditional ones.
Caught in a Deadlock: Small Ruminant Farming on the Greek Island of Samothrace. The Importance of Regional Contexts for Effective EU Agricultural Policies
Authors: Noll Dominik , Lauk Christian , Gaube Veronika , Wiedenhofer Dominik
Published: January 2020

Sedentary extensive small ruminant farming systems are highly important for the preservation of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland. Both the abandonment of grazing and overgrazing have led to environmental degradation in many Mediterranean regions. On the Greek island of Samothrace, decades of overgrazing by sheep and goats has caused severe degradation of local ecosystems. The present study highlights the importance of regional contexts for national and EU agricultural policies in regard to sustainable development of sedentary extensive livestock systems. By utilizing the conceptual framework of socio-ecological systems research, we analyze the interdependencies of environmental, economic and social factors on a local island level. Results show that between 1929 and 2016, the livestock and land-use system of Samothrace transformed from a diverse system towards a simplified system, solely used for small ruminant production. Total livestock units increased from 2200 in 1929 to 7850 in 2002, declining to 5100 thereafter. The metabolic analysis conducted for the years 1993–2016 shows that 80–90% of the feed demand of small ruminants was covered by grazing, exceeding available grazing resources for at least a decade. The regional implementation of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) continues to support excessively high animal numbers, while farmers are highly dependent on subsidies and find themselves in an economic deadlock.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation: Simple Control Schemes with a Holistic Perspective
Authors: Revollar S. , Vilanova R. , Vega P. , Francisco M. , Meneses M.
Published: January 2020

In this paper, a control approach for improving the overall efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is presented. It consists of a cascaded control system that uses a global performance indicator as the controlled variable to drive the plant to operating conditions that satisfies trade-offs involved in the WWTP operation, improving the global performance of the plant. The selected global performance indicator is the N/E index that measures the ratio between the amount of nitrogenated compounds eliminated (kgN) and the energy (kWh) required to achieve that goal. This index links the variables of the activated sludge process with the energy consumed in the whole plant, thus the control strategy takes actions based on plantwide considerations. An external Proportional Integral (PI) controller changes the DO set point according to the N/E index and the basic dissolved oxygen (DO) control scheme in the activated sludge process follows this reference changes varying the aeration intensity. An outer loop with an event-based controller is used to compute the index values when the DO concentration is driven to excessively low limits, preventing long operation periods in this undesirable condition. Simple proportional integral controllers (PI) are used to adapt the strategy to the automation systems available in WWTPs. The implementation in the Benchmark Simulation Model 2 (BSM2) demonstrates the potential of the proposed approach. The results show the possibilities of the N/E index to be used as an indicator of global performance of WWTPs. It provides a link between water line objectives and energy consumption in the whole plant that can be exploited to introduce plantwide considerations in alternative control strategies formulated to drive the plant to operating conditions that optimize the overall process efficiency.
A Novel Surface Inset Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Electric Vehicles
Authors: Qu Baojun , Yang Qingxin , Li Yongjian , Sotelo Miguel Angel , Ma Shilun , Li Zhixiong
Published: January 2020

Aiming to successfully meet the requirements of a large output torque and a wide range of flux weakening speed expansion in permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) for electric vehicles, a novel surface insert permanent magnet synchronous motor (SIPMSM) is developed. The method of notching auxiliary slots between the magnetic poles in the rotor and unequal thickness magnetic poles is proposed to improve the performance of the motor. By analyzing the magnetic circuit characteristics of the novel SIPMSM, the notching auxiliary slots between the adjacent magnetic poles can affect the q-axis inductance, and the shape of magnetic pole effects the d-axis inductance of the motor. The combined action of the two factors not only weakens the cogging torque, but also improves the flux weakening capability of the motor. In this paper, the response surface methodology (RSM) is used to establish a mathematical model of the relationship between the structural parameters of the motor and the optimization objectives, and the optimal design of the motor is completed by solving the mathematical model. Experimental validation has been conducted to show the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed SIPMSM.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Toxins in 2019
Authors:   Toxins Editorial Office
Published: January 2020

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not [...]
Centering Patient Expectations of a Novel Home-Based Oral Drug Treatment among T. b. rhodesiense Human African Trypanosomiasis Patients in Uganda
Authors: Lee Shona J , Apio Renah J , Palmer Jennifer J
Published: January 2020

The recent approval of fexinidazole for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) caused by T. b. gambiense enables improved patient management that is pivotal to elimination. Effective in both the early and late stages of the disease, it obviates the need for invasive lumbar punctures which guide therapy, in some patients. Unlike existing injectable treatments requiring systematic hospitalisation, fexinidazole’s oral administration will allow many patients to be treated in an outpatient or home-based setting. Drawing on interviews with 25 T. b. rhodesiense HAT patients managed under existing protocols in Uganda where trials of fexinidazole will begin shortly, this article explores patient expectations of the new protocol to help HAT programmes anticipate patient concerns. Alongside frightening symptoms of this life-threatening illness, the pain and anxiety associated with lumbar punctures and intravenous injections of melarsoprol contributed to a perception of HAT as a serious illness requiring expert medical care. While preferring a new protocol that would avoid these uncomfortable procedures, patients’ trust in the care they received meant that nearly half were hesitant towards shifting care out of the hospital setting. Clinical observation is an important aspect of existing HAT care for patients. Programmes may need to offer extensive counselling and monitoring support before patients are comfortable accepting care outside of hospitals.
Editorial for the Special Issue “Progress in Group Field Theory and Related Quantum Gravity Formalisms”
Authors: Carrozza Sylvain , Gielen Steffen , Oriti Daniele
Published: January 2020

This editorial introduces the Special Issue “Progress in Group Field Theory and Related Quantum Gravity Formalisms” which includes a number of research and review articles covering results in the group field theory (GFT) formalism for quantum gravity and in various neighbouring areas of quantum gravity research. We give a brief overview of the basic ideas of the GFT formalism, list some of its connections to other fields, and then summarise all contributions to the Special Issue.
The Impact of Cellular Proliferation on the HIV-1 Reservoir
Authors: Virgilio Maria C. , Collins Kathleen L.
Published: January 2020

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a chronic infection that destroys the immune system in infected individuals. Although antiretroviral therapy is effective at preventing infection of new cells, it is not curative. The inability to clear infection is due to the presence of a rare, but long-lasting latent cellular reservoir. These cells harboring silent integrated proviral genomes have the potential to become activated at any moment, making therapy necessary for life. Latently-infected cells can also proliferate and expand the viral reservoir through several methods including homeostatic proliferation and differentiation. The chromosomal location of HIV proviruses within cells influences the survival and proliferative potential of host cells. Proliferating, latently-infected cells can harbor proviruses that are both replication-competent and defective. Replication-competent proviral genomes contribute to viral rebound in an infected individual. The majority of available techniques can only assess the integration site or the proviral genome, but not both, preventing reliable evaluation of HIV reservoirs.
Vaccination Programs for Adults in Europe, 2019
Authors: Cassimos Dimitrios C. , Effraimidou Evgnosia , Medic Snezana , Konstantinidis Theoharis , Theodoridou Maria , Maltezou Helena C.
Published: January 2020

Background: While all European countries implement vaccination programs for children, there are gaps in terms of vaccination programs for adults. Methods: We studied the 2019 vaccination policies for adults in 42 European countries. Results: Vaccination programs for adults were in place in all countries. However, there were considerable differences between countries in terms of number of vaccinations, target populations and frame of implementation (recommended or mandatory vaccinations). In particular the following vaccination policies were in place: influenza (42 countries), tetanus (31), diphtheria (30), pneumococcus (29), hepatitis B (20), pertussis (18), measles (14), human papilloma virus (14), meningococcus tetravalent A,C,W,Y (14), rubella (13), hepatitis A (11), mumps (11), poliomyelitis (10), herpes zoster (9), varicella (8), tick-born encephalitis (8), meningococcus B (6), rabies (6), Haemophilus influenzae type b (5), tuberculosis (3), typhoid fever (3), meningococcus C (2), and yellow fever (1). Seventeen countries implement mandatory vaccinations, mainly against diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B. Conclusions: There are significant differences in vaccination programs for adults in Europe. Routine vaccination programs for adults need to be strengthened. A consensus-based vaccination program is needed.
How Can Sustainable Materials in Road Construction Contribute to Vehicles’ Braking?
Authors: Pomoni Maria , Plati Christina , Loizos Andreas
Published: January 2020

Vehicles’ braking is a key factor towards safer driving. In particular, tyre–pavement friction is connected with both industry and infrastructure requirements in terms of tyre characteristics and frictional properties of pavement surfaces respectively that both contribute to safe braking. For this reason, tyre–pavement friction is considered as one of the most pressing emergencies in roadway assets in order to reduce skidding related accidents. At the same time, sustainability aspects have been raised in modern infrastructure engineering. Hence, an issue is introduced on how sustainable materials used for pavement construction may contribute to tyre–pavement and consequently vehicles’ braking. For this reason, a laboratory process is developed to investigate the frictional properties of several utilized in pavement wearing courses including both traditional and sustainable materials (reacted activated rubber—RAR and reclaimed asphalt pavement—RAP). Environmental conditions (seasonal temperature changes, rainfall effect and contamination caused by dust formation) are simulated in the laboratory and vehicles’ braking is investigated using the British Pendulum Tester (BPT). Results provide a good explanation for the vehicles’ braking ability under the investigated conditions for both traditional and sustainable materials. Ultimately, it is proved that asphalt mixture types with RAR modifier or RAP material exhibit a satisfactory performance towards providing a safe road surface for the moving vehicles.
Application of NEXRAD Radar-Based Quantitative Precipitation Estimations for Hydrologic Simulation Using ArcPy and HEC Software
Authors: Cho Younghyun
Published: January 2020

Recent availability of various spatial data, especially for gridded rainfall amounts, provide a great opportunity in hydrological modeling of spatially distributed rainfall–runoff analysis. In order to support this advantage using gridded precipitation in hydrological application, (1) two main Python script programs for the following three steps of radar-based rainfall data processing were developed for Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Stage III products: conversion of the XMRG format (binary to ASCII) files, geo-referencing (re-projection) with ASCII file in ArcGIS, and DSS file generation using HEC-GridUtil (existing program); (2) eight Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) models of ModClark and SCS Unit Hydrograph transform methods for rainfall–runoff flow simulations using both spatially distributed radar-based and basin-averaged lumped gauged rainfall were respectively developed; and (3) three storm event simulations including a model performance test, calibration, and validation were conducted. For the results, both models have relatively high statistical evaluation values (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency—ENS 0.55–0.98 for ModClark and 0.65–0.93 for SCS UH), but it was found that the spatially distributed rainfall data-based model (ModClark) gives a better fit regarding observed streamflow for the two study basins (Cedar Creek and South Fork) in the USA, showing less requirements to calibrate the model with initial parameter values. Thus, the programs and methods developed in this research possibly reduce the difficulties of radar-based rainfall data processing (not only NEXRAD but also other gridded precipitation datasets—i.e., satellite-based data, etc.) and provide efficiency for HEC-HMS hydrologic process application in spatially distributed rainfall–runoff simulations.
Regional Response to Global Warming: Water Temperature Trends in Semi-Natural Mountain River Systems
Authors: Kędra Mariola
Published: January 2020

River water temperature (TW) is a key environmental factor that determines the quality of the fluvial environment and its suitability for aquatic organisms. Atmospheric warming, accompanied by more frequent extreme weather phenomena, especially heat waves and prolonged drought, may pose a serious threat to the river environment and native river ecosystems. Therefore, reliable and up-to-date information on current and anticipated changes in river flow and thermal conditions is necessary for adaptive water resource management and planning. This study focuses on semi-natural mountain river systems to reliably assess the magnitude of water temperature change in the Polish Carpathians in response to climatic warming. The Mann–Kendall test was used to detect trends in water temperature series covering the last 35 years (1984–2018). Significant, rising trends in annual water temperature were found for all studied sites, with differences in intensity (0.33–0.92 °C per decade). Trends in TW were strongest in summer and autumn (0.75–1.17 and 0.51–1.08 °C per decade), strong trends were found in spring (0.82–0.95 °C per decade), and weaker in winter (0.25–0.29 °C per decade). Simultaneous air temperature trends were broadly consistent with water temperature trends. This indicates the urgent need for adaptive management strategies to counteract thermal degradation of the fluvial environment under study.
The Use of Multisource Optical Sensors to Study Phytoplankton Spatio-Temporal Variation in a Shallow Turbid Lake
Authors: Bresciani Mariano , Pinardi Monica , Free Gary , Luciani Giulia , Ghebrehiwot Semhar , Laanen Marnix , Peters Steef , Della Bella Valentina , Padula Rosalba , Giardino Claudia
Published: January 2020

Lake water quality monitoring has the potential to be improved through integrating detailed spatial information from new generation remote sensing satellites with high frequency observations from in situ optical sensors (WISPstation). We applied this approach for Lake Trasimeno with the aim of increasing knowledge of phytoplankton dynamics at different temporal and spatial scales. High frequency chlorophyll-a data from the WISPstation was modeled using non-parametric multiplicative regression. The ‘day of year’ was the most important factor, reflecting the seasonal progression of a phytoplankton bloom from July to September. In addition, weather factors such as the east–west wind component were also significant in predicting phytoplankton seasonal and diurnal patterns. Sentinel 3-OLCI and Sentinel 2-MSI satellites delivered 42 images in 2018 that successfully mapped the spatial and seasonal change in chlorophyll-a. The potential influence of localized inflows in contributing to increased chlorophyll-a in mid-summer was visualized. The satellite data also allowed an estimation of quality status at a much finer scale than traditional manual methods. Good correspondence was found with manually collected field data but more significantly, the greatly increased spatial and temporal resolution provided by satellite and WISPstation sensors clearly offers an unprecedented resource in the research and management of aquatic resources.
Effect of Land Use/Cover Change on the Hydrological Response of a Southern Center Basin of Chile
Authors: Martínez-Retureta Rebeca , Aguayo Mauricio , Stehr Alejandra , Sauvage Sabine , Echeverría Cristian , Sánchez-Pérez José-Miguel
Published: January 2020

Several impacts over ecosystem services have been produced by land use/cover changes, placing it as one of the main factors driving global environmental change. In the present study, the SWAT model was used to assess the effect of land use/cover changes on the hydrology response in the Andalien river basin from the south-central zone of Chile. Three land use/cover scenarios (LU_1986, LU_2001, and LU_2011) were compared over a period of 30 years (1984–2013) to remove the effect of climate variability on hydrology. The results show a significant decrease in total annual flows among the three LU scenarios. The greater differences in the annual flows of 25.05 m3/s were observed between LU_1986 and LU_2011 scenarios. The hydrological cycle dynamics in the basin show an increasing trend of evapotranspiration and surface flows with a significant decrease in percolation and lateral flow on a monthly and seasonal scale. This behavior can be explained by the increasing percentage of the basin area covered by exotic plantations, from 35.22% to 63.93% during the period. The evidence of these changes and the evaluation of their effects are particularly relevant for the long-term sustainable management of water resources.
Responses of Baseflow to Ecological Construction and Climate Change in Different Geomorphological Types in The Middle Yellow River, China
Authors: Yang Qiannan , Li Zhanbin , Han Yong , Gao Haidong
Published: January 2020

Baseflow is a critical component of streamflow in arid areas. Determining variations in baseflow and the factors affecting it have positive roles for water resource utilization in arid watersheds. Two watersheds, the Hailiutu River watershed (HLTR) and the Dali River watershed (DLR), located in two different geomorphological regions of the middle Yellow River, were selected for this study. By using the Eckhardt segment method (fourth digital filtering method, DF4), baseflow was separated from streamflow based on its daily data. Mann-Kendall trend test analysis (M-K trend test) was used to test the trends in baseflow change at different times. Complex Morlet wavelet analysis was used to judge baseflow periodicity. Heuristic segmentation and sequential cluster analysis were used to identify the potential change points in the baseflow series for the two regions together with Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed: (1) the annual baseflow of the HLTR and the DLR showed significantly decreasing trends (P < 0.01), more significantly for the HLTR (0.33 × 108 m3) than the DLR (0.20 × 108 m3). The annual base flow index (BFI, baseflow/total streamflow) in the wind-sand region (0.75) was larger than for the loess region (0.55), and the BFI in the wind-sand region was more stable in different periods. (2) The annual baseflow of the HLTR and the DLR both exhibited a complete main cycle of 42 years and 38 years, respectively. The change points of the annual baseflow in the HLTR were 1967 and 1986, and 1971 and 1996 in the DLR. (3) There was no significant change in annual precipitation in the two watersheds, while annual reference evapotranspiration (ET0) in the DLR showed a significant increasing trend (P < 0.01). The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on the DLR (0.40) was higher than on the HLTR (0.26). (4) Baseflow in the wind-sand region, where vegetation improvement was the only ecological activity, decreased faster than in the loess region where there had been numerous ecological measures such as vegetation improvement, check dams and terraces. This implied that comprehensive measures such as these were helpful in slowing the rate at which the baseflow decreases. Therefore, the effect of ecological construction should be considered in future baseflow studies in other geomorphological types within the Middle Yellow River Basin.