bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynamic-State Analysis of Inverter Based on Cascode GaN HEMTs for PV Application
Authors: Zhang Yajing , Li Jianguo , Wang Jiuhe , Zheng Trillion Q. , Jia Pengyu
Published: October 2022

With the increase in renewable energy generation, microgrid has put forward higher requirements on the power density and performance of the photovoltaic inverter. In this paper, the dynamic process of inverter based on the cascode Gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) for the photovoltaic (PV) application is analyzed in detail. The parasitic inductors and capacitors have been considered in our proposed equivalent model, which can explain the phenomenon that the crossover time of the voltage and current is prolonged by the parasitic parameters. The influence of the parasitic parameters is identified through theoretical analysis. By analyzing the influence of parasitic parameters, the design process of high-frequency inverter can be optimized. A 500 W inverter based on the cascode GaN HEMT is built, and the correctness of theoretical and simulation analysis is verified by the experimental results.
Characterization of Rotational Magnetic Properties of Amorphous Metal Materials for Advanced Electrical Machine Design and Analysis
Authors: Guo Youguang , Liu Lin , Ba Xin , Lu Haiyan , Lei Gang , Sarker Pejush , Zhu Jianguo
Published: October 2022

Amorphous metal (AM), specifically amorphous ferromagnetic metal, is considered as a satisfactory magnetic material for exploring electromagnetic devices with high-efficiency and high-power density, such as electrical machines and transformers, benefits from its various advantages, such as reasonably low power loss and very high permeability in medium to high frequency. However, the characteristics of these materials have not been investigated comprehensively, which limits its application prospects to good-performance electrical machines that have the magnetic flux density with generally rotational and non-sinusoidal features. The appropriate characterization of AMs under different magnetizations is among the fundamentals for utilizing these materials in electrical machines. This paper aims to extensively overview AM property measurement techniques in the presence of various magnetization patterns, particularly rotational magnetizations, and AM property modeling methods for advanced electrical machine design and analysis. Possible future research tasks are also discussed for further improving AM applications.
Detection of Load-Altering Cyberattacks Targeting Peak Shaving Using Residential Electric Water Heaters
Authors: Youssef El-Nasser S. , Labeau Fabrice , Kassouf Marthe
Published: October 2022

The rapid adoption of the smart grid’s nascent load-management capabilities, such as demand-side management and smart home systems, and the emergence of new classes of controllable high-wattage loads, such as energy storage systems and electric vehicles, magnify the smart grid’s exposure to load-altering cyberattacks. These attacks aim at disrupting power grid services by staging a synchronized activation/deactivation of numerous customers’ high-wattage appliances. A proper defense plan is needed to respond to such attacks and maintain the stability of the grid, and would include prevention, detection, mitigation, incident response, and/or recovery strategies. In this paper, we propose a solution to detect load-altering cyberattacks using a time-delay neural network that monitors the grid’s load profile. As a case study, we consider a cyberattack scenario against demand-side management programs that control the loads of residential electrical water heaters in order to perform peak shaving. The proposed solution can be adapted to other load-altering attacks involving different demand-side management programs or other classes of loads. Experiments verify the proposed solution’s efficacy in detecting load-altering attacks with high precision and low false alarm and latency.
A Current Sensorless Control of Buck-Boost Converter for Maximum Power Point Tracking in Photovoltaic Applications
Authors: Obeidi Nabil , Kermadi Mostefa , Belmadani Bachir , Allag Abdelkarim , Achour Lazhar , Mekhilef Saad
Published: October 2022

In the present paper, a current sensorless (CSL) method for buck-boost converter control is proposed for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) photovoltaic applications. The proposed control scheme uses the mathematical model of the buck-boost converter to derive a predefined objective function for the MPPT control. The proposed scheme does not require any current sensor and relies only on the input voltage signal, which decreases the implementation cost. The proposed method is successfully implemented using a Matlab/Simulink/Stateflow environment, and its effectiveness is compared over the perturb and observe (P&O) method. An experimental rig, that includes a buck-boost converter, a PV simulator, and a resistive load, is used for the experimental validation. A rapid Arduino prototyping platform is used for the digital implementation, where the SAM3X8E microcontroller of the Arduino DUE board, which integrates an ARM Cortex-M3 MCU, is used as a target hardware for the proposed model-based controller developed under the Stateflow environment. Furthermore, the integrated pulse width modulation (PWM) macrocell is used to generate accurate PWM gate-drive signals for the buck-boost converter. Compared to the P&O, the presented simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method has reduced the computation burden and the sensor cost of implementation by 24.3%, and 27.95%, respectively.
Last Mile Logistics Life Cycle Assessment: A Comparative Analysis from Diesel Van to E-Cargo Bike
Authors: Temporelli Andrea , Brambilla Paola Cristina , Brivio Elisabetta , Girardi Pierpaolo
Published: October 2022

With the proliferation of e-commerce, the field of last-mile logistics has grown increasingly, highlighting the need to manage the environmental consequences of this phenomenon, especially to achieve decarbonization targets for cities and to improve citizens’ quality of life. Within this framework, the authors carried out a last-mile logistics life cycle assessment, to analyse and compare different logistics vehicle options performing the same service in an urban context: an electric four-wheel cargo bike, an electric van, a plug-in hybrid van, and a diesel van. The assessment shows that the e-cargo bike performs better for all the impact categories considered. The second-best option is the e-van, while the diesel van shows the worst environmental results. Focusing on decarbonization, the replacement of a diesel van with an electric one or with an e-cargo bike allows a reduction of 173 g CO2 eq/km and 250 g CO2 eq/km, respectively. Similar results are obtained for Photochemical Ozone Formation with associated emissions of 0.18, 0.31, 0.45 and 0.49 g NMVOC eq/km for the e-cargo bike, e-van, plug in hybrid van and diesel van, respectively. The only exceptions are Human Health impact categories, Acidification and Respiratory inorganics, for which the plug-in hybrid van performs worst, and Resource use, Mineral and Metals, for which the electric van performs worst.
Biodiesel Synthesis from Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.) Seed Oil using ZnO Nanoparticles as a Catalyst
Authors: Jan Hammad Ahmad , Šurina Igor , Al-Fatesh Ahmed S. , Almutlaq Abdulaziz M. , Wali Sher , Lisý Anton
Published: October 2022

Biodiesel is considered valuable to reduce dependency on petrofuels. This work aimed to synthesize biodiesel from Silybum marianum using synthesized ZnO nanoparticles as a catalyst. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction for confirmation. The synthesized biodiesel was confirmed by ASTM D-6751, H and C-NMR, GC-MS, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The optimum biodiesel yield of 91% was obtained with an oil-to-methanol ratio of 1:24, 15 mg of catalyst concentration, 60 °C temperature, and 45 min of reaction time. Fuel properties were determined according to the ASTM-defined methods and found within the defined limits of ASTM D-6751. 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR showed characteristic peaks at 3.667 ppm, 2.000–2.060 ppm, 0.858–0.918 ppm, 5.288–5.407 ppm, 24.93–34.22 ppm, 172.71, 173.12, 130.16 ppm, and 128.14 ppm, respectively, which confirm biodiesel synthesis. The FAMEs composition of biodiesel was determined by GC-MS, which recognized 19 peaks for different types of FAMEs. FT-IR spectroscopy showed two main peaks, first in the range of 1725–1750 cm−1 and second in the range of 1000–1300 cm−1, which confirmed that the transesterification process had completed successfully. The physicochemical characteristics of Silybum marianum confirm that it is a suitable source to produce biodiesel on an industrial scale.
Energy Security of Hydropower Producing Countries—The Cases of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
Authors: Kosowska Katarzyna , Kosowski Piotr
Published: October 2022

Energy security, as one of the most important components of state security, is a permanent element of academic debates and political discussions. Owing to the multidimensional and multifaceted nature of energy security, defining it is a complex process, requiring the consideration of a wide range of factors straddling economics, geology, ecology and geopolitics which decide whether we are dealing with the state of energy security or the lack of it. Energy security is usually equated with the security of supply. Another group of definitions of energy security focuses on the concept of security of services. A different approach to energy security issues is presented by energy exporting countries, whose objective is to ensure sufficiently high and stable income from sales of energy resource exports (security of demand). The subject of this paper is an analysis of the energy security of hydropower-producing countries—Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Energy security has been analyzed in the context of security of supply, services, and demand on the basis of the approach proposed by Llamosas and Sovacool. So far, no work has been carried out to analyse the hydropower sectors of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the context of the energy security comparison of both countries. It is worth emphasising that their energy security and mutual relations are important from the point of view of the stability of the entire Central Asian region. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have large hydropower potential, which, if properly used, could cover their domestic electricity demand and the surplus can be exported to neighbouring countries. Unfortunately, both countries are not utilising this potential for the time being. The main difficulty in the area of security of supply and services is the seasonality and low reliability of electricity supplies. Among the reasons for this are the poor technical and economic conditions of energy companies as a result of maintaining low tariffs, the irrecoverability of consumers’ energy bills, electricity theft, significant transmission loses and a high level of corruption. Although both countries aspire to the role of an energy exporters, they are themselves forced to import electricity from neighboring countries.
Image Processing and Measurement of the Bubble Properties in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor
Authors: Jaiswal Rajan , Moldestad Britt. M. E. , Eikeland Marianne S. , Nielsen Henrik K. , Thapa Rajan Kumar
Published: October 2022

The efficiency of a fluidized bed reactor depends on the bed fluid dynamic behavior, which is significantly influenced by the bubble properties. This work investigates the bubble properties of a bubbling fluidized bed reactor using computational particle fluid dynamic (CPFD) simulations and electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) measurements. The two-dimensional images (along the reactor horizontal and vertical planes) of the fluidized bed are obtained from the CPFD simulations at different operating conditions. The CPFD model was developed in a commercial CPFD software Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.0.1. The bubble behavior and bed fluidization behavior are characterized form the bubble properties: average bubble diameter, bubble rise velocity, and bubble frequency. The bubble properties were determined by processing the extracted images with script developed in MATLAB. The CPFD simulation results are compared with experimental data (obtained from the ECT sensors) and correlations in the literature. The results from the CPFD model and experimental measurement depicted that the average bubble diameter increased with an increase in superficial gas velocities up to 4.2 Umf and decreased with a further increase in gas velocities due to the onset of large bubbles (potential slugging regime). The bubble rise velocity increased as it moved from the lower region to the bed surface. The Fourier transform of the transient solid volume fraction illustrated that multiple bubbles pass the plane with varying amplitude and frequency in the range of 1–6 Hz. Further, the bubble frequency increased with an increase in superficial gas velocity up to 2.5Umf and decreased with a further increase in gas velocity. The CPFD model and method employed in this work can be useful for studying the influence of bubble properties on conversion efficiency of a gasification reactor operating at high temperatures.
Dynamic Economic Dispatching Considering Time-Coupling Spinning Reserve Response Risk with High Penetration of Wind Power
Authors: Pei Younan , Han Xueshan , Ye Pingfeng , Zhang Yumin , Zhang Lihong
Published: October 2022

Aiming at the problem that the current dynamic economic dispatch (DED) fails to consider the response risk of spinning reserve caused by the fluctuation and uncertainty of wind power, we work out a DED problem considering time-coupling spinning reserve response risk while the stochasticity and variability arising from RESs are taken into consideration. The developed framwork unified the response risk of reserve caused by forced shutdown of the unit into the response risk caused by time coupling. The expected customer interruption cost (ECOST) and the expected abandoned wind cost considering this reserve response risk are added to the objective function. While seeking the minimum objective function, the system is automatically configured with suitable reserve to ensure the consistency of the system’s response risk in each period. An improved multi-universe parallel quantum genetic algorithm was used to solve the model. Numerical examples and analysis prove the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.
Thermodynamic Analysis and Working Fluid Selection of a Novel Cogeneration System Based on a Regenerative Organic Flash Cycle
Authors: Chen Haojie , Kim Man-Hoe
Published: October 2022

Recently proposed organic flash cycles maintain lower irreversibility in the evaporator than traditional organic Rankine cycles. This study presented a novel combined heat and power system that was based on a regenerative organic flash cycle, in order to improve thermal efficiency. Parametric analyses for the proposed combined heat and power system were carried out, using six working fluids, and performed with heat source temperatures and heat sink temperatures that ranged from 130 °C to 170 °C, and from 20 °C to 40 °C, respectively. The results showed that the preferable working fluid was altered, with a change in the operating condition. Isopentane, R1234ze(Z), R1233zd(E), and R245fa performed better at a cooling water temperature of 20 °C. The system that used R245fa showed more promising performance when the heat source temperatures were set to 150 °C and 160 °C. R365mfc was determined to be the best working fluid at a heat source temperature of 150 °C, and at cooling water temperatures of 30–40 °C. Finally, the analyses evaluated the year-round system performance on the basis of monthly ambient and water temperatures in Daegu, Korea, as the system’s parameters. Compared to the single regenerative organic flash cycle, the thermal efficiency of the novel system improved significantly, from 8.37 % to 32.80% in August, and to 74.34% in February.
Planning Sustainable Energy Systems in the Southern African Development Community: A Review of Power Systems Planning Approaches
Authors: Justo Constantino Dário , Tafula José Eduardo , Moura Pedro
Published: October 2022

Southern Africa has a huge potential for renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal. However, electricity access remains a key policy issue for most member states, with a global average access to electricity of only 54% in 2019. This low electrification rate is a strong motivation for member states to increase renewable energy use and improve access to electricity for all. The goal of this paper was to present a literature review of methodologies, energy plans, and government programs that have been implemented by the Southern African Development Community member states to address the region’s low average electrification rate and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The study presents the most commonly used methodologies for the integration of renewable energies into electrical systems, considering the main grid and distributed generation systems. LCOE minimization methodologies and software options, such as GIS, HOMER, LEAP, and EnergyPLAN, are the most common among the identified studies. The traditional method of electrifying by expanding the grid has not contributed to the eradication of energy poverty in rural areas. Therefore, to improve electricity access in Southern Africa, it is essential to consider off-grid solutions based on renewable energy sources.
Hydrogen and Methane Production by Single- and Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion of Second Cheese Whey: Economic Performances and GHG Emissions Evaluation
Authors: Lembo Giuseppe , Signorini Antonella , Marone Antonella , Carbone Claudio , Agostini Alessandro
Published: October 2022

This study aimed at evaluating the economic performances of and carbon footprint associated with innovative systems for the energetic valorization of second cheese whey (SCW), a by-product of whey cheese manufacture, through anaerobic digestion processes. Three systems were modeled: a conventional single-stage anaerobic digester (FAD), located at about 50 km from the dairy factory; an on-site conventional single-stage anaerobic digester (CAD), located at the dairy industry; and an on-site two-stage anaerobic digester (TAD). The TAD technology enables the simultaneous production of hydrogen and methane on site. The biogases produced were combusted in combined heat and power plants (CHP), but only the onsite systems provided process heat to the dairy factory. In the specific conditions assumed, TAD configuration exhibited a higher energy output, which led to a GHG emission reduction of about 60% compared to FAD, mostly thanks to the additional hydrogen (H2) production and the improved engine performances. A detailed cost analysis confirmed the results of the environmental analysis, pointing to the TAD solution as the most economically viable, with a payback period of 9 years, while the CAD had a payback time of 12 years. The results here presented aim at providing the dairy industry with a robust economic analysis on the opportunity of building an innovative system for SCW valorization, as well as providing policymakers with environmental reliable data to support the promotion of this technology.
Experimental Investigation of Biodiesel Blends with High-Speed Diesels—A Comprehensive Study
Authors: Lamba Bhawna Yadav , Chen Wei-Hsin
Published: October 2022

Biodiesel is a clean-burning, alternative diesel replacement fuel that may be used in existing diesel engines in either pure or blended form without or with modest modifications. In some countries, biodiesel is recommended as a potential alternative to diesel fuel since it is a renewable energy source that is environmentally benign. The main problems with the widespread commercialization of biodiesel are its high viscosity and its limited feedstock, due to which complete replacement of diesel fuel is not possible and the use of blends of biodiesel and petrodiesel are being used increasingly worldwide. The paper presents a behavioral study of the petro-based diesel, and their blend (B20, B40, B60, B80) with Pongamia and Jatropha biodiesel. The results reveal a considerable viscosity lowering due to the dilution effect of increasing diesel concentration in both the cases. In addition, improvements in oxidation stability in both cases have also been observed. The research shows that as the biodiesel concentration increases, the stability of blends decreases. In blending Jatropha curcus methyl ester with EURO-III and EURO-IV HSD, the ester’s viscosity decreased as the diesel level in the blends increased, and blends comprised up to 80 percent biodiesel remained below the viscosity limit. Pongamia pinnata blends with both fuels above 60% diesel; however, exceeds the stipulated viscosity limit of 4.50 cSt at 40 °C.
Parallel Scheme for Multi-Layer Refinement Non-Uniform Grid Lattice Boltzmann Method Based on Load Balancing
Authors: Liu Zhixiang , Ruan Jun , Song Wei , Zhou Liping , Guo Weiqi , Xu Jingxiang
Published: October 2022

The large-scale numerical simulation of complex flows has been an important research area in scientific and engineering computing. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) as a mesoscopic method for solving flow field problems has become a relatively new research direction in computational fluid dynamics. The multi-layer grid-refinement strategy deals with different-level of computing complexity through multi-scale grids, which can be used to solve the complex flow field of the non-uniform grid LBM without destroying the parallelism of the standard LBM. It also avoids the inefficiencies and waste of computational resources associated with standard LBMs using uniform and homogeneous Cartesian grids. This paper proposed a multi-layer grid-refinement strategy for LBM and implemented the corresponding parallel algorithm with load balancing. Taking a parallel scheme for two-dimensional non-uniform meshes as an example, this method presented the implementation details of the proposed parallel algorithm, including a partitioning scheme for evaluating the load in a one-dimensional direction and an interpolation scheme based on buffer optimization. Simply by expanding the necessary data transfer of distribution functions and macroscopic quantities for non-uniform grids in different parallel domains, our method could be used to conduct numerical simulations of the flow field problems with complex geometry and achieved good load-balancing results. Among them, the weak scalability performance could be as high as 88.90% in a 16-threaded environment, while the numerical simulation with a specific grid structure still had a parallel efficiency of 77.4% when the parallel domain was expanded to 16 threads.
Impact of Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Primary Energy Consumption on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Czech Republic
Authors: Altouma Ahmed , Krepl Vladimir , Bashir Bashar , Bachir Hussein
Published: October 2022

One of the primary difficulties we have recently is environmental degradation. The deterioration of the environment was visible in the rise in carbon dioxide emissions, which has a detrimental impact on various life matters. A variety of factors caused this growth. Inappropriate human behaviors caused the majority of them. This study aimed to ascertain how energy consumption and economic growth with its components in the Czech Republic, affected CO2 emissions. The relationship between CO2 emissions, economic growth, agriculture, and energy consumption was studied using econometric analysis, specifically the Johansen, Vector Error Correction (VEC) Model, and granger causality. The findings revealed that all variables are cointegrated. Economic growth, agricultural, and energy consumption output are all positively correlated with CO2 emissions. There is a unidirectional Granger Causality between economic growth, and Agriculture towards carbon dioxide emissions. A unidirectional Granger Causality agriculture towards economic growth, and energy consumption. In addition, there is no Granger Causality between energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and economic growth. This is the first study to use the most recent data to empirically evaluate the environmental impact of economic growth and energy use in the Czech Republic. This study includes pertinent advice for reducing emission ns and supporting the environment by increasing renewable energy sources and adhering to the Czech Ministry of Environment’s strategy.
Literature Review of Hybrid CO2 Low Salinity Water-Alternating-Gas Injection and Investigation on Hysteresis Effect
Authors: Ma Shijia , James Lesley
Published: October 2022

Low salinity water injection (LSWI) is considered to be more cost-effective and has less environmental impacts over conventional chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods. CO2 Water-Alternating-Gas (WAG) injection is also a leading EOR flooding process. The hybrid EOR method, CO2 low salinity (LS) WAG injection, which incorporates low salinity water into CO2 WAG injection, is potentially beneficial in terms of optimizing oil recovery and decreasing operational costs. Experimental and simulation studies reveal that CO2 LSWAG injection is influenced by CO2 solubility in brine, brine salinity and composition, rock composition, WAG parameters, and wettability. However, the mechanism for increased recovery using this hybrid method is still debatable and the conditions under which CO2 LSWAG injection is effective are still uncertain. Hence, a comprehensive review of the existing literature investigating LSWI and CO2 WAG injection, and laboratory and simulation studies of CO2 LSWAG injection is essential to understand current research progress, highlight knowledge gaps and identify future research directions. With the identified research gap, a core-scale simulation study on hysteresis effect in CO2 LSWAG injection is carried out. The results indicate different changing trend in oil recovery due to the impact of salinity on hysteresis and excluding of hysteresis effect in CO2 LSWAG injection simulation and optimization might lead to significant errors.
Analysis and Modeling of a Single-Power-Source T-Type 7-Level Single-Phase DC-AC Inverter with Voltage Gain of 3
Authors: Shieh Jenn-Jong , Hwu Kuo-Ing , Li You-Yang
Published: October 2022

This paper proposes a novel T-type 7-level single-phase DC-AC inverter having a single input power source, self-balancing, and voltage gain of 3 along with low total harmonic distortion (THD). Since the structure of the proposed 7-level DC-AC inverter is symmetrical, the interchangeability of mass production can be easily achieved. In addition, because only one switch works for all time, the switch has quite low switching loss and voltage stress as well as the control being very easy. Furthermore, not only the proposed 7-level DC-AC inverter is analyzed in detail by the operating principle, but also the mathematical model for the adopted level-shift sinusoidal pulse width modulation (LS-SPWM) for this multilevel DC-AC inverter is successfully developed by using the well-known state averaging technique widely employed in the DC-DC converter. As a result, the required proportional-integral (PI) controller, used in the closed loop, can be designed systematically and easily. Eventually, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed inverter are verified by simulated and experimental results.
Associations of Dietary-Lifestyle Patterns with Obesity and Metabolic Health: Two-Year Changes in MeDiSH® Study Cohort
Authors: Lonnie Marta , Wadolowska Lidia , Morze Jakub , Bandurska-Stankiewicz Elzbieta
Published: October 2022

This study aimed to evaluate changes in diet, adiposity, and metabolic outcomes after two years. In all, 358 Polish men aged 19–40 years old participated in the study. Data regarding dietary and lifestyle characteristics as well as family, socio-economic, and demographic status were collected using the food frequency questionnaire KomPAN®. Dietary lifestyle patterns were previously derived from data for 358 men by principal component analysis (PCA). Changes over time were examined in 95 men who returned after two years by calculating relative differences (RD, %) in mean values and markers distribution. Diet quality was described with two predefined scores: pro-Healthy-Diet-Index (pHDI) and non-Healthy-Diet-Index (nHDI). After two years, changes were observed in diet quality and metabolic health markers. No significant changes were observed in family, socio-economic, and demographic status, as well as other lifestyle factors. In the “sandwiches and convenience foods” pattern, an nHDI decrease (RD = −25.3%) was associated with a fasting blood glucose decrease (RD = −6.1%). In the “protein food, fried-food and recreational physical activity” and the “healthy diet, activity at work, former smoking” patterns, pHDI decreases (RD = −13.6% and −14.6%, respectively,) were associated with an adiposity increase. In the “fast foods and stimulants” pattern, no changes in pHDI and nHDI were observed, while adiposity markers and systolic blood pressure worsened. Conclusion: in the two-year perspective, dietary improvement was associated with improved glycemic control, despite no changes in body weight, while worsening of the diet quality or maintenance of unhealthy dietary behaviours were associated with the deterioration of metabolic health.
Children’s Usage of Inclusive Playgrounds: A Naturalistic Observation Study of Play
Authors: James Maeghan E. , Jianopoulos Emma , Ross Timothy , Buliung Ron , Arbour-Nicitopoulos Kelly P.
Published: October 2022

Inclusive playgrounds that are designed to be physically accessible and welcoming to children with disabilities may provide equal and equitable access to play for all children. Using a naturalistic observational design, this study examines children’s use of a playground designed to be accessible and inclusive for all ages and abilities. A modified version of the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities was used to collect child data on observed gender, age, play behaviour types, social interactions, and activity levels. A relatively equal number of female (52%) and male (48%) observations was made, and the majority (96%) of children observed appeared to be under 12 years of age. Most children (71%) were observed to be engaging in active play. Functional play (e.g., climbing, swinging, running) was the predominant play behaviour observed on the playground (88%), and the majority of social interactions were with peers (48%) or an adult (26%). These findings provide information on how children use a playground designed to be inclusive for children of all ages and abilities. This information can be used to help inform the design of inclusive play spaces as well as types of programming that may occur within such settings.
Emotional Temperament and Character Dimensions and State Anger as Predictors of Preference for Rap Music in Italian Population
Authors: Infortuna Carmenrita , Battaglia Fortunato , Freedberg David , Mento Carmela , Iannuzzo Fiammetta , De Stefano Rosa , Lombardo Clara , Muscatello Maria Rosaria Anna , Bruno Antonio
Published: October 2022

The objective of the current work was to examine the relationships between affective temperaments dimensions, trait anger, and the preference for rap music in a sample of Italian adults. An online survey was administered to 662 subjects. We assessed preference for rap music using a Likert scale. Ina addition, we investigated the sample’ affective temperament traits using the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego (TEMPS-A) short scale and the trait anger by using the Trait Anger component of the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2 (STAXI-2). Multiple linear regression indicated that cyclothymic temperament score, hyperthymic temperament score, and trait anger scores were positive predictors while older age, and depressive temperament and higher education score were negative predictors of preference for rap music. The results expand previous literature on personality and music preference indicating the association of high energy/high activity temperaments and trait anger to preference for rap music.
Mediterranean Diet and Cardiovascular Prevention: Why Analytical Observational Designs Do Support Causality and Not Only Associations
Authors: Martínez-González Miguel Ángel , Martín-Calvo Nerea , Bretos-Azcona Telmo , Carlos Silvia , Delgado-Rodríguez Miguel
Published: October 2022

Causal reductions in cardiovascular disease (CVD) with the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) are supported by randomized trials, but the ability of nonrandomized studies to provide causal inferences in nutritional epidemiology is questioned. The “Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra” (SUN) project, conducted during 1999–2019 with 18,419 participants, was used to try to refute non-causal explanations for the inverse association found between adherence to the MedDiet and reduced CVD risk. A framework of different analytical strategies is proposed: alternative definitions of the exposure, exploration of residual confounding, resampling methods, depiction of absolute risks across the follow-up period, trial emulation, and negative controls. Additionally, we calculated the rate advancement period (RAP). We found that one standard deviation increase in the most frequently used MedDiet score was associated with a 29% relative reduction in CVD risk (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 14–41%), which is almost identical to that found in 2 randomized trials. The RAP of CVD would be postponed by an average of 7.9 years (95% CI: 1.6 to 14.2 years) by switching from low (MDS = 0 to2) to high (MDS = 7 to 9) adherence to the MedDiet in the fully adjusted model. Sensitivity analyses, graphical representations of absolute risks, trial emulation, and negative controls also supported causality. In conclusion, a framework of analytical approaches supported the causal effect of the MedDiet on CVD prevention using observational data. Similar methodology could be applied for causal inferences regarding other hypotheses.
Emotion Dynamics and Emotion Regulation in Anorexia Nervosa: A Systematic Review of Ecological Momentary Assessment Studies
Authors: Wayda-Zalewska Magdalena , Grzegorzewski Piotr , Kot Emilia , Skimina Ewa , Santangelo Philip S. , Kucharska Katarzyna
Published: October 2022

Altered emotion dynamics and emotion regulation (ER) have been indicated in theoretical descriptions of abnormal emotional functioning, which contributes to the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa (AN). Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has recently become popular in research on eating disorders. It is a source of new insights into the psychopathology of AN as it enables intensive long-term tracking of everyday experiences and behaviours of individuals through repeated self-reports. The following systematic review aims to synthesize research on the use of EMA when evaluating emotion dynamics and ER in AN. Specific studies were identified with the use of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases. A supplemental search was performed in reference lists of the relevant publications. As a result, 27 publications were identified and included in the systematic review. The findings from the reviewed studies point to various disturbed components of emotion dynamics as well as to unique associations of maladaptive ER strategies with specific abnormalities in emotion dynamics in AN. Limitations of the studies were discussed as well. An outlook for further research in the field was provided in the last section of the paper.
Preparation of Alkali Activated Cementitious Material by Upgraded Fly Ash from MSW Incineration
Authors: Chen Hongwei , Zhao Runbo , Zuo Wu , Dong Guanghui , He Dongyang , Zheng Tengfei , Liu Changqi , Xie Hao , Wang Xinye
Published: October 2022

Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI-FA) can avoid land occupation and environmental risks of landfill. In this paper, MSWI-FA was used to prepare alkali activated cementitious materials (AACMs) after two-step pretreatment. The ash calcination at 450 °C removed 93% of dioxins. The alkali washing with 0.2 g NaOH/g ash removed 89% of chlorine and retained almost 100% of calcium. The initial setting time of AACMs was too short to detect for 20% of MSWI-FA addition, and the prepared block had extensive cracks and expansion for CaClOH and CaSO4 inside. Alkaline washing pretreatment increased the initial setting time by longer than 3 min with 30% ash addition and eliminated the cracks and expansion. The significance of the factors for compressive strength followed the modulus of alkali activator > silica fume amount > alkaline washing MSWI fly ash (AW-MSWI-FA) amount. When the activator modulus was 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6, the blocks with 30% of AW-MSWI-FA had a compressive strength of up to 36.73, 32.61 and 16.06 MPa, meeting MU15 grade. The leaching test shows that these AACM blocks were not hazardous waste and almost no Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Ba, Ni, Be and Ag were released in the leaching solution.
How Psychosocial Safety Climate Helped Alleviate Work Intensification Effects on Presenteeism during the COVID-19 Crisis? A Moderated Mediation Model
Authors: Mansour Sari , Faisal Azeem Malik , Dollard Maureen , Potter Rachael
Published: October 2022

Healthcare sector organizations have long been facing the issue of productivity loss due to presenteeism which is affected by psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and work intensification. Presenteeism has visibly increased among nurses during COVID-19 pandemic period. Grounded in COR theory and sensemaking theory, the current study aimed to examine the role PSC plays as driver or moderator to reduce presenteeism by lessening work intensification over time and the impact of work intensification over time on presenteeism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adopting a time-lagged research design, this study gathered data from randomly selected registered nurses, practicing in Québec, Canada in two phases, i.e., 800 at Time 1 and 344 at Time 2 through email surveys. The study results showed that (1) PSC reduces presenteeism over time by reducing work intensification at time 1; (2) PSC moderates the relationship between work intensification at time 1 and work intensification at time 2; and (3) PSC as moderator also lessens the detrimental effect of work intensification at time 2 on presenteeism at time 2. Presenteeism among nurses affects their health and psychological well-being. We find that PSC is likely an effective organizational tool particularly in crises situations, by providing an organizational mechanism to assist nurses cope (through a resource caravan, management support) with managing intensified work.
Changing Employment and Work Schedule Patterns over the 30 Working Years—A Sequential Cluster Analysis
Authors: Han Wen-Jui , Wang Julia Shu-Huah
Published: October 2022

Objective. As labor markets have become increasingly volatile and precarious since 1980s, more workers are susceptible to working conditions such as unpredictable and unstable hours, threatening their economic security. However, our understanding of employment patterns regarding the changes in work schedules over our working lives has yet been established. This study builds our knowledge in this area by paying attention to how social positions may shape the specific work schedule patterns over our working lives. Methods. We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (NLSY79) to examine our research questions. NLSY79 follows a nationally representative sample of United States men and women between the ages of 14 and 22 when first interviewed in 1979. The participants were then interviewed annually until 1994 and then biennially thereafter. We first conducted a sequence analysis to examine work schedule patterns between ages 22 and 53 (n = 7987). We then used a multinomial logit regression to examine the factors contributing to specific work schedule patterns, with attention to social position. Results. Our sequence analysis results suggest five work schedule patterns during 31 years of adult life: working only standard hours (25%), mainly standard hours with some portions of nonstandard hours (38%), standard hours during early working years but transitioning to either largely variable or mainly evening or night hours (14% and 13%), and mostly not working (10%). Our multinomial logit analysis indicates that being non-Hispanic Black, having a high school degree or below, or having ever experienced poverty or welfare by age 23 were more likely to have a nonstandard work schedule pattern than their counterparts. Conclusions. Our analysis underscores the dynamic employment patterns over our working lives, with some groups more likely than others to be engaged in nonstandard or volatile work schedules. Importantly, the groups likely to be subject to nonstandard work schedules also tend to have relatively disadvantaged social positions, thus worsening their vulnerability in securing work characterized by stability and economic security.
Correction: Mucci et al. WORKbiota: A Systematic Review about the Effects of Occupational Exposure on Microbiota and Workers’ Health. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 1043
Authors: Mucci Nicola , Tommasi Eleonora , Chiarelli Annarita , Lulli Lucrezia Ginevra , Traversini Veronica , Galea Raymond Paul , Arcangeli Giulio
Published: October 2022

Eleonora Tommasi was not included as an author in the original publication [...]
How Thermal Perceptual Schema Mediates Landscape Quality Evaluation and Activity Willingness
Authors: Li Wenbo , Wu Jiaqi , Xu Wenting , Zhong Ye , Wang Zhihao
Published: October 2022

The use of outdoor space is closely related to local microclimate conditions. Some studies have shown that people form perceptual schemata based on their perceptual experience of microclimate conditions, which leads to perceptual bias, so it is necessary to further investigate how the thermal schemata formed by the accumulation of thermal experience affect the willingness to engage in activities, which will be beneficial to improve the use of urban space. Studies have not explored the relationship between the thermal perceptual schema (TPS), landscape quality evaluation (LQE), and activity willingness. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate how thermal schemas formed by the accumulation of thermal experience affect activity willingness. A total of 3435 volunteers were surveyed online and divided into two groups, the first group for comfortable weather (N = 1773) and the second group for hot weather (N = 1662), and voted for each of the four dimensions of the five scenarios according to the TPS. This study found that socioeconomic status (SES) and age were the main factors contributing to TPS bias when perceiving the same destination according to TPS, and this difference was consistent in both groups, which affects the willingness to be active at the destination. The study also found that LQE may be a major factor in residents’ willingness to be active in more pleasant weather, while TPS plays a more important role in hot weather conditions. In addition, we investigated the relationship between TPS and residents’ activity willingness mediated by different landscape features and parameter configurations. These results indicate that the TPS formed by thermal experience accumulation affects people’s LQE and activity willingness, and that landscape configuration parameters play an important role.
Robust Operating Room Scheduling Model with Violation Probability Consideration under Uncertain Surgery Duration
Authors: Ma Yanbo , Liu Kaiyue , Li Zheng , Chen Xiang
Published: October 2022

This paper proposes an operating room (OR) scheduling model to assign a group of next-day patients to ORs while adhering to OR availability, priorities, and OR overtime constraints. Existing studies usually consider OR scheduling problems by ignoring the influence of uncertainties in surgery durations on the OR assignment. In this paper, we address this issue by formulating accurate patient waiting times as the cumulative sum of uncertain surgery durations from the robust discrete approach point of view. Specifically, by considering the patients’ uncertain surgery duration, we formulate the robust OR scheduling model to minimize the sum of the fixed OR opening cost, the patient waiting penalty cost, and the OR overtime cost. Then, we adopt the box uncertainty set to specify the uncertain surgery duration, and a robustness coefficient is introduced to control the robustness of the model. This resulting robust model is essentially intractable in its original form because there are uncertain variables in both the objective function and constraint. To make this model solvable, we then transform it into a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model by employing the robust discrete optimization theory and the strong dual theory. Moreover, to evaluate the reliability of the robust OR scheduling model under different robustness coefficients, we theoretically analyze the constraint violation probability associated with overtime constraints. Finally, an in-depth numerical analysis is conducted to verify the proposed model’s effectiveness and to evaluate the robustness coefficient’s impact on the model performance. Our analytical results indicate the following: (1) With the robustness coefficient, we obtain the tradeoff relationship between the total management cost and the constraint violation probability, i.e., a smaller robustness coefficient yields remarkably lower total management cost at the expense of a noticeably higher constraint violation probability and vice versa. (2) The obtained total management cost is sensitive to small robustness coefficient values, but it hardly changes as the robustness coefficient increases to a specific value. (3) The obtained total management cost becomes increasingly sensitive to the perturbation factor with the decrease in constraint violation probability.
Aspects of Wellbeing for Indigenous Youth in CANZUS Countries: A Systematic Review
Authors: Anderson Kate , Elder-Robinson Elaina , Gall Alana , Ngampromwongse Khwanruethai , Connolly Michele , Letendre Angeline , Willing Esther , Akuhata-Huntington Zaine , Howard Kirsten , Dickson Michelle , Garvey Gail
Published: October 2022

Indigenous children and young people (hereafter youth) across CANZUS nations embody a rich diversity of cultures and traditions. Despite the immense challenges facing these youth, many harness cultural and personal strengths to protect and promote their wellbeing. To support this for all youth, it is critical to understand what contributes to their wellbeing. This review aims to identify components contributing to wellbeing for Indigenous youth in CANZUS nations. Five databases were searched from inception to August 2022. Papers were eligible if they: focused on Indigenous youth in CANZUS nations; included views of youth or proxies; and focused on at least one aspect of wellbeing. We identified 105 articles for inclusion (Canada n = 42, Australia n = 27, Aotearoa New Zealand n = 8, USA n = 28) and our analysis revealed a range of thematic areas within each nation that impact wellbeing for Indigenous youth. Findings highlight the unique challenges facing Indigenous youth, as well as their immense capacity to harness cultural and personal strengths to navigate into an uncertain future. The commonalities of Indigenous youth wellbeing across these nations provide valuable insights into how information and approaches can be shared across borders to the benefit of all Indigenous youth and future generations.