bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immersion Therapy with Head-Mounted Display for Rehabilitation of the Upper Limb after Stroke—Review
Authors: Marek Klaudia , Zubrycki Igor , Miller Elżbieta
Published: December 2022

Immersive virtual therapy technology is a new method that uses head-mounted displays for rehabilitation purposes. It offers a realistic experience that puts the user in a virtual reality. This new type of therapy is used in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Many patients after this disease have complications related to the upper extremities that limit independence in their everyday life, which affects the functioning of society. Conventional neurological rehabilitation can be supplemented by the use of immersive virtual therapy. The system allows patients with upper limb dysfunction to perform a motor and task-oriented training in virtual reality that is individually tailored to their performance. The complete immersion therapy itself is researched and evaluated by medical teams to determine the suitability for rehabilitation of the upper limb after a stroke. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the latest research (2019–2022) on immersive virtual reality with head-mounted displays using in rehabilitation of the upper extremities of stroke patients.
Transmission Power Control in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Fuzzy Adaptive Data Rate
Authors: Hung Chung-Wen , Zhuang Yi-Da , Lee Ching-Hung , Wang Chun-Chieh , Yang Hsi-Hsun
Published: December 2022

As the technology of Internet of Things (IoT) becomes popular, the number of sensor nodes also increases. The network coverage, extensibility, and reliability are also the key points of technical development. To address the challenge of environmental restriction and deployment cost, most sensor nodes are powered by batteries. Therefore, the low-power consumption becomes an important issue because of the finite value of battery capacity. In addition, significant interference occurs in the environment, thereby complicating reliable wireless communication. This study proposes a fuzzy-based adaptive data rate for the transmission power control in wireless sensor networks to balance the communication quality and power consumption. The error count and error interval perform the inputs of a fuzzy system and the corresponding fuzzy system output is guard that is utilized for limiting the upper bounds of data rate and transmission power. The long-term experimental results are introduced to demonstrate that the control algorithm can overcome environmental interference and obtain low-power performance. The sensor nodes have reliable communication under an ultra-low-power consumption. The experimental results show that the total power consumption of the proposed approach has been improved 73% compared with the system without executing the algorithm and also indicate the Packet Error Rate (PER) is close to 1%. Therefore, the proposed method is suitable for the battery supply IoT system.
Learning to Sense for Coded Diffraction Imaging
Authors: Hyder Rakib , Cai Zikui , Asif M. Salman
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we present a framework to learn illumination patterns to improve the quality of signal recovery for coded diffraction imaging. We use an alternating minimization-based phase retrieval method with a fixed number of iterations as the iterative method. We represent the iterative phase retrieval method as an unrolled network with a fixed number of layers where each layer of the network corresponds to a single step of iteration, and we minimize the recovery error by optimizing over the illumination patterns. Since the number of iterations/layers is fixed, the recovery has a fixed computational cost. Extensive experimental results on a variety of datasets demonstrate that our proposed method significantly improves the quality of image reconstruction at a fixed computational cost with illumination patterns learned only using a small number of training images.
Transfer Learning Strategy in Neural Network Application for Underwater Visible Light Communication System
Authors: Xu Zengyi , Shi Jianyang , Niu Wenqing , Qin Guojin , Jin Ruizhe , He Zhixue , Chi Nan
Published: December 2022

Post-equalization using neural network (NN) is a promising technique that models and offsets the nonlinear distortion in visible light communication (VLC) channels, which is recognized as an essential component in the incoming 6G era. NN post-equalizer is good at modeling complex channel effects without previously knowing the law of physics during the transmission. However, the trained NN might be weak in generalization, and thus consumes considerable computation in retraining new models for different channel conditions. In this paper, we studied transfer learning strategy, growing DNN models from a well-trained ‘stem model’ instead of exhaustively training multiple models from randomly initialized states. It extracts the main feature of the channel first whose signal power balances the signal-to-noise ratio and the nonlinearity, and later focuses on the detailed difference in other channel conditions. Compared with the exhaustive training strategy, stem-originated DNN models achieve 64% of the working range with five times the training efficiency at most or more than 95% of the working range with 150% higher efficiency. This finding is beneficial to improving the feasibility of DNN application in real-world UVLC systems.
An Online Rail Track Fastener Classification System Based on YOLO Models
Authors: Hsieh Chen-Chiung , Hsu Ti-Yun , Huang Wei-Hsin
Published: December 2022

In order to save manpower on rail track inspection, computer vision-based methodologies are developed. We propose utilizing the YOLOv4-Tiny neural network to identify track defects in real time. There are ten defects covering fasteners, rail surfaces, and sleepers from the upward and six defects about the rail waist from the sideward. The proposed real-time inspection system includes a high-performance notebook, two sports cameras, and three parallel processes. The hardware is mounted on a flat cart running at 30 km/h. The inspection results about the abnormal track components could be queried by defective type, time, and the rail hectometer stake. In the experiments, data augmentation by a Cycle Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is used to increase the dataset. The number of images is 3800 on the upward and 967 on the sideward. Five object detection neural network models—YOLOv4, YOLOv4-Tiny, YOLOX-Tiny, SSD512, and SSD300—were tested. The YOLOv4-Tiny model with 150 FPS is selected as the recognition kernel, as it achieved 91.7%, 92%, and 91% for the mAP, precision, and recall of the defective track components from the upward, respectively. The mAP, precision, and recall of the defective track components from the sideward are 99.16%, 96%, and 94%, respectively.
Evaluation of Several Satellite-Based Soil Moisture Products in the Continental US
Authors: Feng Shouming , Huang Xinyi , Zhao Shuaishuai , Qin Zhihao , Fan Jinlong , Zhao Shuhe
Published: December 2022

Satellite-based soil moisture products are suitable for large-scale regional monitoring due to the accessibility. Five soil moisture products including SMAP, ESA CCI, and AMSR2 (ascending, descending, and average) were selected in the continental United States (US) from 2016 to 2021. To evaluate the performance of the products and assess their applicability, ISMN (International Soil Moisture Network) data were used as the in situ measurement. PBIAS (Percentage of BIAS), R (Pearson correlation coefficient), RMSE (Root Mean Square Error), ubRMSE (unbiased RMSE), MAE (Mean Absolute Error), and MBE (Mean Bias Error) were selected for evaluation. The performance of five products over six observation networks and various land cover types was compared, and the differences were analyzed at monthly, seasonal, and annual scales. The results show that SMAP had the smallest deviation with the ISMN data because PBIAS was around −0.13, and MBE was around −0.02 m3/m3. ESA CCI performed the best in almost all aspects; its R reached around 0.7, and RMSE was only around 0.07 m3/m3 at the three time scales. The performance of the AMSR2 products varied greatly across the time scales, and increasing errors and deviations showed from 2016 to 2020. The PBO_H2O and USCRN networks could reflect soil moisture characteristics in the continental US, while iRON performed poorly. The evaluation of the networks was closely related to spatial distributions. All products performed better over grasslands and shrublands with R, which was greater than 0.52, and ubRMSE was around 0.1 m3/m3, while products performed worse over forests, where PBIAS was less than −0.62, and RMSE was greater than 0.2 m3/m3, except for ESA CCI. From the boxplot, SMAP was close to the ISMN data with differences less than 0.004 m3/m3 between the median and lower quartiles.
Design and Fabrication of a Novel Wheel-Ring Triaxial Gyroscope
Authors: Guo Tianqi , Wei Wenqiang , Cai Qi , Cui Rang , Shen Chong , Cao Huiliang
Published: December 2022

This paper presents a new type of three-axis gyroscope. The gyroscope comprises two independent parts, which are nested to further reduce the structure volume. The capacitive drive was adopted. The motion equation, capacitance design, and spring design of a three-axis gyroscope were introduced, and the corresponding formulas were derived. Furthermore, the X/Y driving frequency of the gyroscope was 5954.8 Hz, the Y-axis detection frequency was 5774.5 Hz, and the X-axis detection frequency was 6030.5 Hz, as determined by the finite element simulation method. The Z-axis driving frequency was 10,728 Hz, and the Z-axis sensing frequency was 10,725 Hz. The MEMS gyroscope’s Z-axis driving mode and the sensing mode’s frequency were slightly mismatched, so the gyroscope demonstrated a larger bandwidth and higher Z-axis mechanical sensitivity. In addition, the structure also has good Z-axis impact resistance. The transient impact simulation of the gyroscope structure showed that the maximum stress of the sensitive structure under the impact of 10,000 g@5 ms was 300.18 Mpa. The gyroscope was produced by etching silicon wafers in DRIE mode to obtain a high aspect ratio structure, tightly connected to the glass substrate by silicon/glass anode bonding technology.
High-Precision Semiconductor Laser Current Drive and Temperature Control System Design
Authors: Zhao Yitao , Tian Zengguo , Feng Xiangyu , Feng Zhengyuan , Zhu Xuguang , Zhou Yiqun
Published: December 2022

To solve the problem in which the output power and wavelength of semiconductor lasers in fiber optic sensing systems are easily affected by the drive current and temperature, a high-precision current drive and temperature control system was developed in this study. The embedded system was used to provide a stable drive current for the semiconductor laser through closed-loop negative feedback control; moreover, some measures, such as linear slow-start, current-limiting protection, and electrostatic protection, were adopted to ensure the stability and safety of the laser’s operation. A mathematical model of the temperature control system was constructed using mechanism analysis, and model identification was completed using the M sequence and differential evolution (DE) algorithms. Finally, the control rules of the fuzzy proportional integral differentiation (PID) algorithm were optimized through system simulation to make it more suitable for the temperature control system designed in this research, and the accurate control of the working temperature of the semiconductor laser was realized. Experimental results showed that the system could achieve a linearly adjustable drive current in the range of 0–100 mA, with an output current accuracy of 0.01 mA and a temperature control accuracy of up to 0.005 °C.
High Value-Added Utilization of Waste Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts: Low-Cost Synthesis of Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries
Authors: Zhou Junbo , Qiu Lang , Li Yao , Deng Yuting , Zhao Qing , Hu Yang , Guo Fuqiren , Zhu Chaoqiong , Zhong Benhe , Song Yang , Guo Xiaodong
Published: December 2022

This work introduces a one-step method for the preparation of layered oxide cathode materials utilizing pure Ni and Co mixed solution obtained from the waste hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst. An efficient non-separation strategy with pyrometallurgical-hydrometallurgical (pyro-hydrometallurgical) process consisting of roasting and leaching is proposed. Most of the impurity metal elements such as Mo and V were removed by simple water leaching after the waste HDS catalyst was roasted with Na2CO3 at 650 °C for 2.5 h. Additionally, 93.9% Ni and 100.0% Co were recovered by H2SO4 leaching at 90 °C for 2.5 h. Then, LiNi0.533Co0.193Mn0.260V0.003Fe0.007Al0.004O2 (C–NCM) was successfully synthesized by hydroxide co-precipitation and high temperature solid phase methods using the above Ni and Co mixed solution. The final C–NCM material exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with a discharge specific capacity of 199.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and a cycle retention rate of 79.7% after 200 cycles at 1 C. This novel process for the synthesis of cathode material can significantly improve production efficiency and realize the high added-value utilization of metal resources in a waste catalyst.
Study on the Spatial Differentiation Characteristics and Influencing Factors of China’s Economic Resilience under Different Shocks
Authors: Zhao Tao , Huo Jinwei , Yang Degang , Zhang Xinhuan , Lu Danni , Cui Mingjie , Lu Rongqian , Chen Yaning
Published: December 2022

Recognizing regional economic resilience and its influencing factors under different shocks is necessary to promote stable regional economic development. The article analyzes the regional economic resilience of 31 Chinese provinces under three kinds of shocks, namely, financial crisis, economic downturn, and COVID-19, in terms of the resistance of regional economies to shocks, and examines spatial distribution and main influencing factors. The results of the study found that: (1) The characteristics of regional economic resilience under different shocks are different. During the financial crisis, the strong resilient provinces are distributed in the central and western and northern regions; during the economic downturn, the strong resilient provinces are mainly distributed in the western and central regions; during COVID-19, the strong resilient provinces are mainly distributed in the western and eastern coastal regions. The economic resilience of each province shows significant “high-high” and “low-low” spatial clustering characteristics during the economic downturn and the COVID-19. (2) The main influencing factors of economic resilience in different shocks are different. In the financial crisis, the magnitude of the contribution of the influencing factor is leading industry (0.283) > related diversity (0.197) > foreign trade dependence (0.190); during the economic downturn, the magnitude of the contribution of the influencing factor is population density (0.464) > leading industry (0.427) > related diversity (0.285); the magnitude of the contribution of the impact factor during the COVID-19 was related diversity (0.282) > unrelated diversity (0.274) > leading industry (0.272). (3) In the interaction of impact factors, the strongest explanatory power is found in related diversity, unrelated diversity, and leading industries, which represent the industrial structure. Therefore, there is a need to adjust the industrial structure and improve the regional economic resilience from the shock itself.
Frontal Vehicular Crash Energy Management Using Analytical Model in Multiple Conditions
Authors: Wang Danqi , Zhang Junyuan , Wang Shihang , Hu Lin
Published: December 2022

When it comes to frontal vehicular crash development, matching the stiffness of the front-end structures reasonably, i.e., impact energy management, can effectively improve the safety of the vehicle. A multi-condition analytical model for a frontal vehicular crash is constructed by a three-dimensional decomposition theory. In the analytical model, the spring is used to express the equivalent stiffness of the local energy absorption space at the front-end structure. Then based on the analytical model, the dynamic responses and evaluation indexes of the vehicle in MPDB and SOB conditions are derived with the input of the crash pulse decomposition scheme. Comparing the actual vehicle crash data and the calculation results of the proposed solution method, the error is less than 15%, which verifies validity of the modeling and the accuracy of the solution. Finally, based on the solution method in the MPDB and the SOB conditions, the sensitivities of the crash pulse decomposition scheme to evaluation indexes are analyzed to obtain qualitative rules which guide crash energy management. This research reveals the energy absorption principle of the front-end structure during the frontal impact process, and provides an effective optimization method to manage the multiple conditions of the vehicle crash energy such as the FRB (frontal rigid barrier), the MPDB (mobile progressive deformable barrier), and the SOB (small overlap barrier).
Negative Perception of Bats, Exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, May Hinder Bat Conservation in Northern Uganda
Authors: Ejotre Imran , Reeder DeeAnn M , Matuschewski Kai , Kityo Robert , Schaer Juliane
Published: December 2022

Bats face diverse challenges that cause global bat population declines, including habitat loss and roost disturbance. Additionally, negative perceptions of bats and their potential role in several zoonotic diseases have led to actions against bats. We documented existing knowledge and perception of bats through interviews with 151 participants of fifteen tribes in Northern Uganda in 2020 and conducted a sensitization campaign that prevented planned actions against bats. The interviews revealed distinct firm beliefs, negative perceptions, limited knowledge on bats, and the influence of media in shaping actions against bats. In addition, modified landscapes and habitat loss increased encounters and subsequent deterioration of relations between humans and bats. Targeted threats towards bats were exacerbated by public misinformation during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. No deliberate conservation efforts exist, and negative perception largely hampers the implementation of bat conservation in Northern Uganda. Importantly, the study also demonstrates that sensitization campaigns can be effective tools to protect bats in the short term. Regular sensitizations and education are recommended for sustainable changes in attitudes to and coexistence with bats.
The Determinants of Adoption and Intensity of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices among Smallholder Maize Farmers
Authors: Mthethwa Khethiwe Naledi , Ngidi Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas , Ojo Temitope Oluwaseun , Hlatshwayo Simphiwe Innocentia
Published: December 2022

Smallholder farmers’ maize production is highly susceptible to climate change. Higher temperatures may result in reduced yields while encouraging weed, pest, and disease infestation. The impacts of climate change on agriculture are projected to be negative, threatening global food security; therefore, this is an important area of empirical research. This study sought to identify the factors affecting the adoption and intensity of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adoption among smallholder maize farmers in the uMshwathi and uKhahlamba Municipal areas of KwaZulu Natal. The study used the primary data collected from 99 respondents who were selected through simple random sampling. The descriptive results indicated that farmers had experienced severe climatic conditions such as drought, pests, diseases, hailstorms, heavy rains (floods), soil infertility, and frost in their farming system. The first hurdle of the probit model results showed that drought, on-farm income, and household size significantly influenced the adoption of CSA practices. In contrast, the main source of income and educational level had a significant negative influence. The results from the second hurdle showed that drought had a significant positive impact on the intensity of CSA adoption, while marital status had a significant negative effect. Several factors influence the adoption of an intensification of CSA practices. The study recommends that policymakers and climate change champions consider smallholder farmers’ socioeconomic factors when developing climate change adaptation programs. Local climate change organizations must scale up climate change awareness and adaptation programs collaboratively. Investments in public climate and adaptation education or training are needed, as well as localized meteorological observations and early warning systems. Mass media dissemination of climate change and adaptation information in locally understood languages is urgently required.
Review on Recent Developments in Bioinspired-Materials for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Applications
Authors: Kapoor Riti Thapar , Rafatullah Mohd , Qamar Mohammad , Qutob Mohammad , Alosaimi Abeer M. , Alorfi Hajer S. , Hussein Mahmoud A.
Published: December 2022

Nature has always inspired innovative minds for development of new designs. Animals and plants provide various structures with lower density, more strength and high energy sorption abilities that can incite the development of new designs with significant properties. By observing the important functions of biological structures found in nature, scientists have fabricated structures by bio-inspiration that have been proved to exhibit a significant improvement over traditional structures for their applications in the environmental and energy sector. Bio-fabricated materials have shown many advantages due to their easy synthesis, flexible nature, high performance and multiple functions as these can be used in light harvesting systems, batteries, biofuels, catalysis, purification of water, air and environmental monitoring. However, there is an urgent need for sensitive fabrication instruments that can synthesize bio-inspired structures and convert laboratory scale synthesis into large scale production. The present review highlights recent advances in synthesis of bio-inspired materials and use of hierarchical nanomaterials generated through biomolecular self-assembly for their use in removal of environmental contaminants and sustainable development.
Pochonia chlamydosporia Is the Most Prevalent Fungal Species Responsible for Meloidogyne Suppression in Sustainable Vegetable Production Systems
Authors: Ghahremani Zahra , Escudero Nuria , Marín Ismael , Sanz Anna , García Sergi , Expósito Alejandro , Giné Ariadna , Sorribas Francisco Javier
Published: December 2022

The fluctuations in Meloidogyne densities and fungal egg parasitism were determined from February 2015 to July 2016 in four vegetable production sites conducted under organic production and two sides conducted under integrated standards. At each site, the soil nematode densities at transplanting and at the end of the crops, the galling index, the number of eggs in roots, and the percentage of fungal egg parasitism were determined, and the fungal species were identified. In addition, two pot experiments were conducted with soil taken from each site in February 2015 and 2016 to assess the fungal egg parasitism comparing non-sterile and sterile soil from each site. In field conditions, the nematode population densities in the soil decreased along the crop rotations. The maximum number of eggs per plant was recorded in the spring–summer crops. Egg parasitism ranged from 11.2 to 55% in the organic sites and from 0.8 to 16.5% in the integrated production sites. Pochonia chlamydosporia was the only fungal species isolated in five of the six sites. In both pot experiments, the number of eggs per plant was lower in non-sterile than in sterile soils, except for the M10.45 site, where fungal egg parasites were not recovered. P. chlamydosporia was the only fungal species isolated, ranging between 11 and 74%. Therefore, P. chlamidosporia was the most prevalent fungal species related to Meloidogyne suppression.
Application of Long-Range Cross-Hole Acoustic Wave Detection Technology in Geotechnical Engineering Detection: Case Studies of Tunnel-Surrounding Rock, Foundation and Subgrade
Authors: Dong Lihu , Chen Jundong , Song Danqing , Wang Chengwen , Liu Xiaoli , Liu Mengxin , Wang Enzhi
Published: December 2022

The adverse geological conditions of soil cave, karst cave and goaf in deep foundation directly affect the safety and economy of geotechnical engineering construction. It is a difficult problem in geotechnical engineering detection to detect the distribution of bad geological conditions efficiently and accurately. Aiming at the problems of short penetrating distance and low resolution of cross-hole acoustic wave detection in rock-soil mass, based on the characteristics of acoustic wave propagation in rock and soil layers and comprehensively utilizing the spark source and data acquisition device, a long-distance cross-hole acoustic wave detection technology is proposed. According to the indoor concrete model test and field tests of geotechnical engineering, the applicability of the long-distance cross-hole acoustic wave detection technology in the detection of geotechnical structure and adverse geological phenomena under complex geological conditions is verified. The results show that acoustic wave CT imaging can accurately detect the cavities in the indoor concrete model test. In addition, the field tests of the grouting effect of tunnel-surrounding rock, high-rise building foundation and subgrade further verify the rapidity, accuracy and intuitiveness of the long-distance cross-hole acoustic wave detection technology. This work provides a reference for eliminating the potential safety problems caused by adverse geological conditions and similar geotechnical engineering investigation.
The Importance of Implementing SDGs by Small and Medium Size Enterprises: Evidence from Germany and Poland
Authors: Sonntag Ralph , Lewis Gerard J. , Raszkowski Andrzej
Published: December 2022

This study addresses the problems attributed to the implementation process of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to the SME sector in Germany and Poland. The initial part of this study discusses the theoretical aspects of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including 17 SDGs. The importance of the contribution made by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to the development of today’s economies, based on the example of OECD countries, was also highlighted. Regarding methodology, to answer the research questions, empirical data were obtained using a simplified online questionnaire based on a pre-established questionnaire. The target group consisted of experts on SMEs, not the SMEs themselves, in order to obtain an external view of the SME sector. As part of the general conclusions, it can be stated that the current contribution of SMEs to the implementation of the SDGs presents, on average, an upward tendency. Certainly, a greater involvement of entrepreneurs and a better understanding of the specificity of sustainable development processes would be advisable. In addition, it is noticeable that the national context is significant in the implementation of the SDGs. For example, German enterprises pay more attention to the environmental dimension of sustainable development, whereas Polish enterprises pay more attention to supply chain management. Overall, most of the respondents stated that the absence of financial resources remains the primary obstacle to the implementation of sustainable development goals in enterprises, while motivation results from cost reduction and increase in turnover.
Durability Performance of PVA Fiber Cement-Stabilized Macadam
Authors: Tan Songyuan , Wang Chaohui , Zheng Qi , Chen Feng , Huang Yunjie
Published: December 2022

To further improve the durability of cement-stabilized macadam and guarantee the use quality and sustainability of a semi-rigid base, the current study was carried out. With the help of a dry shrinkage test, temperature shrinkage test, freeze–thaw bending test, and fatigue test, the effect of incorporating PVA fiber on the deformation characteristics of cement-stabilized macadam was analyzed, and the changes in low-temperature residual toughness of the mixture before and after modification were compared. The low-temperature toughness of PVA fiber cement-stabilized macadam was evaluated with the help of the standard toughness evaluation method. The fatigue life prediction equation of PVA fiber cement-stabilized macadam was established based on the Weibull distribution. The results showed that PVA fiber can effectively improve the deformation characteristics, low-temperature toughness, and fatigue performance of cement-stabilized macadam. The low-temperature residual flexural tensile strength and low-temperature bearing capacity were increased by 10.3% and 55.3%, respectively. The residual toughness indices were increased by 58.6%, 88.1%, and 98.3% and the residual strength index was increased by more than 100%. The fatigue life was improved by 178~368% under different stress intensity ratios. The fatigue life values obeyed the two-parameter Weibull distribution, and the correlation between the fatigue life prediction equation and the measured data was significant. The fatigue life prediction error was between 0.03 and 4.9% under different stress intensity ratios.
A Systematic Review: How Does Organisational Learning Enable ESG Performance (from 2001 to 2021)?
Authors: Xia Jingwen
Published: December 2022

This paper aims to examine the relationship between organisational learning and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance. The PRISMA protocol was followed by full-text reading 57 peer-reviewed academic journal articles published in different international journals from 2001 to 2021. After investigating and synthesising the empirical papers, the author found that organisational learning is instrumental to derive the fundamental factors and mechanisms to drive ESG performance. The findings of this research provide the first comprehensive assessment of the relationship between organisational learning and ESG, as well as highlight that organisational learning related to ESG is significantly important to ESG performance, which lies in the overlooked and hidden extant studies. The major contribution of this study is to connect organisational learning with ESG performance from a holistic perspective through different learning loops and put stress on the importance of two learning loops to better facilitate ESG strategy through ‘2P’ (people and process). Specifically, the conceptual framework of two learning loops was developed, which could lay the foundation for scholars’ future research on organisational learning related to ESG performance, such as single-loop learning about the process (i.e., control system, decision-making, ethics, gender balance, human resource management, knowledge management, risk management, and training), and double-loop learning about the roles of people (i.e., practitioners, professionals, managers, and the top management team). The ‘PPT’ (people, process, and technology) approach is also designed for future testing and validation to transform single-loop learning into double-loop learning.
Effect of Using ECC Layer on the Flexural Performance of RC Beams Previously Strengthened with EB CFRP Laminates
Authors: Emara Mohamed , El-Zohairy Ayman , Fekry Mahmoud , Husain Mohamed
Published: December 2022

This paper studies the efficiency of applying an engineered cementitious composite (ECC) layer to the tensile surface of (RC) beams that were previously strengthened using externally bonded (EB) carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. One control and ten strengthened RC beams were produced and tested utilizing a four-point loading regime. For strengthened beams, two beams were kept strengthened using only CFRP, and additional ECC layers were added to the rest of the strengthened beams. The CFRP width and overlap length and position were among the test factors. Experimental results revealed that strengthening RC beams with CFRP laminates enhanced both the stiffness and flexural capacity of beams. Additional enhancements were obtained through the application of the additional ECC layers. The existence of the ECC layer alongside the CFRP laminate improved the flexural capacity by 102% and 125% when using CFRP widths of 50 mm and 100 mm, respectively, and the stiffness was improved by an average value of 318%. Three-dimensional (3D) finite element models (FEMs) were developed using ABAQUS software and verified against the experimental results to model the response of the tested beams. The verified model was used to conduct a parametric study to consider the effect of the ECC layer thickness and the reinforcement ratio on the strengthened beam behavior. The numerical results revealed that the effect of the reinforcement ratio was more significant than the ECC layer thickness in enhancing the load-displacement response, especially after the cracking stage.
Error Management Climate and Job Stress in Project-Based Organizations: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistani Aircraft Manufacturing Industry
Authors: Ashraf Hassan , Maqsoom Ahsen , Jajja Tayyab Tahir , Tufail Rana Faisal , Farooq Rashid , Tariq Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman
Published: December 2022

Drawing on the JD-R model, this study examines the influence of error management climate (EMC) on the job stress of frontline aeronautical employees. It also analyzes the moderating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) dimensions (i.e., hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience) for the relationship between error management climate and job stress. The data was collected from 208 individuals through a questionnaire survey and was analyzed using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The results revealed that employees’ perceptions of error management climate have a significant negative impact on job stress. PsyCap optimism and PsyCap self-efficacy were found to have a negative moderating influence on the relationship between EMC and job stress. The other two dimensions of hope and resilience were found to have a moderating influence in the same direction as expected, but not at statistically significant levels. The findings of this study provide a unique perspective in realizing the part national and organizational cultures could play in either enhancing or attenuating the influence of an individual’s psychological resources such as psychological capital.
On the Constant-Roll Tachyon Inflation with Large and Small ηH
Authors: Fei Qin , Ahmed Waqas , Wang Zhen-Lai
Published: December 2022

We study the constant-roll tachyon inflation with large and small η. In previous studies, only the constant-roll tachyon inflation with small η is consistent with the observations. We find that the duality between the constant-roll tachyon inflation with large and small η may exist. The apparent duality suggests that the constant-roll tachyon inflationary model with large η may also be consistent with the observations. By fitting the spectral tilde ns and tensor to scalar ratio r, which is a measure of primordial gravitational waves with the observations, we get small and large η in this range −0.01629≤ηH≤−0.00079 and 3.00081≤ηH≤3.01621 at the 2σ C.L for N=60 efolds.
Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells in Aging: Asymmetric/Symmetric Division Switching
Authors: Manole Emilia , Gaina Gisela , Ceafalan Laura Cristina , Hinescu Mihail Eugen
Published: December 2022

In aged muscle, satellite cells’ symmetric and asymmetric divisions are impaired, and intrinsic and extrinsic complex mechanisms govern these processes. This review presents many updated aspects regarding muscle stem cells’ fate in normal and aging conditions. The balance between self-renewal and commitment divisions contributes to muscle regeneration, muscle homeostasis, aging, and disease. Stimulating muscle regeneration in aging could be a therapeutic target, but there is still a need to understand the many mechanisms that influence each other in satellite cells and their niche. We highlight here the general outlines regarding satellite cell divisions, the primary markers present in muscle stem cells, the aging aspects concerning signaling pathways involved in symmetric/asymmetric divisions, the regenerative capacity of satellite cells and their niche alteration in senescent muscle, genetics and epigenetics mechanisms implied in satellite cells aging and exercise effect on muscle regeneration in the elderly.
Convective Heat Transfer of a Pseudoplastic Nanosuspension within a Chamber with Two Heated Wall Sections of Various Heat Fluxes
Authors: Loenko Darya S. , Sheremet Mikhail A.
Published: December 2022

Cooling of heat-generating elements in different engineering fields is a very important and crucial topic. The present research is devoted to numerical analysis of thermogravitational convection of a pseudoplastic nanosuspension in a chamber with two heated bottom wall sections of various heat fluxes and isothermally cooling vertical walls. A mathematical model formulated employing the time-dependent Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations with non-primitive variables has been worked out by the finite difference technique. It has been revealed that a mixture of 1% carboxymethylcellulose with water can be the most effective medium to cool the heat-generating elements. At the same time, aluminum oxide nano-sized solid particles have a more essential cooling impact on the heated sections.
A Method to Design Profiled Cutting Tools for Inner Turning
Authors: Dragoi Mircea-Viorel , Parv Luminita , Mija Adrian , Oancea Gheorghe
Published: December 2022

Designing the profile of cutting tools is a specific problem in manufacturing engineering. The profile of the cutting tool has a direct influence on the dimensional and shape precision of the machined parts. When it comes to cutting tools for internal turning, the problem of profile design becomes even more complex, because of the added restrictions the profile and the cutting tool itself are subjected to. Despite its importance and complexity, this problem has been rather poorly considered in the literature. Some side aspects, such as measuring the profile, its wear, and its influence on the part’s geometrical precision have been studied, but not the design process of the profiled shape of cutting edges. This research fills a gap in the literature. It considers profiled cutting tools, in general; and, in particular, investigates tilted cutting edges. The novelty of the present article lies in a method to determine the profile of cutting tools for turning inner-profiled surfaces. The method is CAD-based and provides accurate results. It considers the part’s inner profile, its inner diameter, and the tilting angle of the cutting edge. In addition, possible undercuts are taken into account. The method was validated using two relevant case studies. Despite profiled cutting tools having a certain drawback, which is emphasized in the article, this is balanced by the advantages that their use offers manufacturing.
Toxic Habits: An Analysis of General Trends and Biases in Snake Venom Research
Authors: Avella Ignazio , Wüster Wolfgang , Luiselli Luca , Martínez-Freiría Fernando
Published: December 2022

Biases in snake venom research have been partially identified but seldomly quantified. Using the Google Scholar web search engine, we collected a total of 267 articles published between 1964 and 2021, and reviewed them to assess the main trends in this field of study. We developed a 4-category classification of the harmful potential of each of the 298 snake species retrieved from the analysed publications, and tested whether taxonomy, realm of origin, and/or assigned hazard category could affect how often each of them appeared in the articles considered. Overall, viperids were significantly more represented than any other snake taxon retrieved. The Neotropics were the most represented biogeographic realm for number of studied species, whereas information about the country of origin of the analysed specimens was often incomplete. The vast majority of the publications focused on snake venom characterisation, whereas more ecology-related topics were rarely considered. Hazard category and biogeographic realm of origin of each species had a significant effect on the number of articles dedicated to it, suggesting that a snake’s harmful potential and place of origin influence its popularity in venom studies. Our analysis showed an overall positive trend in the number of snake venom studies published yearly, but also underlined severe neglect of snake families of supposedly minor medical relevance (e.g., Atractaspididae), underrepresentation of some of the areas most impacted by snakebite (i.e., Indomalayan and Afrotropic realms), and limited interest in the ecological and functional context of snake venom.
Substance P and Glucagon-like Peptide-17-36 Amide Mediate Anorexic Responses to Trichothecene Deoxynivalenol and Its Congeners
Authors: Jia Hui , Qin Zihui , Wei Ben , Guo Xinyi , Xiao Huiping , Zhang Huayue , Li Zelin , Wu Qinghua , Zheng Ruibo , Wu Wenda
Published: December 2022

Type B trichothecenes commonly contaminate cereal grains and include five structurally related congeners: deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON), fusarenon X (FX), and nivalenol (NIV). These toxins are known to have negative effects on human and animal health, particularly affecting food intake. However, the pathophysiological basis for anorexic effect is not fully clarified. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential roles of the brain-gut peptides substance P (SP) and glucagon-like peptide-17-36 amide (GLP-1) in anorexic responses induced by type B trichothecenes following both intraperitoneal (IP) and oral administration. SP and GLP-1 were elevated at 1 or 2 h and returned to basal levels at 6 h following exposure to DON and both ADONs. FX induced the production of both brain gut peptides with initial time at 1 or 2 h and duration > 6 h. Similar to FX, exposing IP to NIV caused elevations of SP and GLP-1 at 1 h and lasted more than 6 h, whereas oral exposure to NIV only increased both brain gut peptides at 2 h. The neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist Emend® dose-dependently attenuated both SP- and DON-induced anorexic responses. Pretreatment with the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) antagonist Exending9-39 induced a dose-dependent attenuation of both GLP-1- and DON-induced anorexic responses. To summarize, the results suggest that both SP and GLP-1 play important roles in anorexia induction by type B trichothecenes.
Targeted Proteomics Analysis of Staphylococcal Superantigenic Toxins in Menstrual Fluid from Women with Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome (mTSS)
Authors: Courçon Marie , Badiou Cédric , Louwagie Mathilde , Etievant Sibyle , Jaquinod Michel , Lina Gérard , Brun Virginie
Published: December 2022

Menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS) is a rare life-threatening febrile illness that occurs in women using intravaginal menstrual protection. It is caused by toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) produced by Staphylococcus aureus, triggering a sudden onset of rash and hypotension, subsequently leading to multiple organ failure. Detecting TSST-1 and S. aureus virulence factors in menstrual fluid could accelerate the diagnosis and improve therapeutic management of mTSS. However, menstrual fluid is a highly complex matrix, making detection of bacterial toxins challenging. Here, we present a mass-spectrometry-based proteomics workflow for the targeted, quantitative analysis of four S. aureus superantigenic toxins in menstrual fluids (TSST-1, SEA, SEC, and SED). This method was applied to characterize toxin levels in menstrual fluids collected from patients with mTSS and healthy women. Toxins were detectable in samples from patients with mTSS and one healthy donor at concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.46 µg/mL for TSST-1, and 0 to 1.07 µg/mL for SEC. SEA and SED were never detected in clinical specimens, even though many S. aureus strains were positive for the corresponding genes. The method presented here could be used to explore toxin production in vivo in users of intravaginal devices to improve the diagnosis, understanding, and prevention of mTSS.
Structure and Dynamics of the Unassembled Nucleoprotein of Rabies Virus in Complex with Its Phosphoprotein Chaperone Module
Authors: Gérard Francine C. A. , Bourhis Jean-Marie , Mas Caroline , Branchard Anaïs , Vu Duc Duy , Varhoshkova Sylvia , Leyrat Cédric , Jamin Marc
Published: December 2022

As for all non-segmented negative RNA viruses, rabies virus has its genome packaged in a linear assembly of nucleoprotein (N), named nucleocapsid. The formation of new nucleocapsids during virus replication in cells requires the production of soluble N protein in complex with its phosphoprotein (P) chaperone. In this study, we reconstituted a soluble heterodimeric complex between an armless N protein of rabies virus (RABV), lacking its N-terminal subdomain (NNT-ARM), and a peptide encompassing the N0 chaperon module of the P protein. We showed that the chaperone module undergoes a disordered−order transition when it assembles with N0 and measured an affinity in the low nanomolar range using a competition assay. We solved the crystal structure of the complex at a resolution of 2.3 Å, unveiling the details of the conserved interfaces. MD simulations showed that both the chaperon module of P and RNA-mediated polymerization reduced the ability of the RNA binding cavity to open and close. Finally, by reconstituting a complex with full-length P protein, we demonstrated that each P dimer could independently chaperon two N0 molecules.
Defective RNA Particles of Plant Viruses—Origin, Structure and Role in Pathogenesis
Authors: Budzyńska Daria , Zwart Mark P. , Hasiów-Jaroszewska Beata
Published: December 2022

The genomes of RNA viruses may be monopartite or multipartite, and sub-genomic particles such as defective RNAs (D RNAs) or satellite RNAs (satRNAs) can be associated with some of them. D RNAs are small, deletion mutants of a virus that have lost essential functions for independent replication, encapsidation and/or movement. D RNAs are common elements associated with human and animal viruses, and they have been described for numerous plant viruses so far. Over 30 years of studies on D RNAs allow for some general conclusions to be drawn. First, the essential condition for D RNA formation is prolonged passaging of the virus at a high cellular multiplicity of infection (MOI) in one host. Second, recombination plays crucial roles in D RNA formation. Moreover, during virus propagation, D RNAs evolve, and the composition of the particle depends on, e.g., host plant, virus isolate or number of passages. Defective RNAs are often engaged in transient interactions with full-length viruses—they can modulate accumulation, infection dynamics and virulence, and are widely used, i.e., as a tool for research on cis-acting elements crucial for viral replication. Nevertheless, many questions regarding the generation and role of D RNAs in pathogenesis remain open. In this review, we summarise the knowledge about D RNAs of plant viruses obtained so far.