bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fuel & Lubricant Effects on Stochastic Preignition
Authors: Costanzo Vincent S. , Yu Xin , Chapman Elana , Davis Richard , Haenel Patrick
Published: January 2019

In this multi-phase study, fuel and lubricant effects on stochastic preignition (SPI) were examined. First, the behavior of fuels for which SPI data had previously been collected were characterized in terms of their combustion and emissions behavior, and correlations between these characteristics and their SPI behavior were examined. Second, new SPI data was collected for a matrix of fuels that was constructed to test and confirm hypotheses that resulted from interpretation of the earlier data in the study and from data in open literature. Specifically, the extent to which the presence of heavy components in the fuel affected SPI propensity, and the extent to which flame initiation propensity affected SPI propensity, were examined. Finally, the interaction of fuels with lubricants expected to exhibit a range of SPI propensities was examined. Although this final dataset did not yield conclusive results, it suggests that additional factors such as engine condition can have a very significant effect on SPI propensity.

The main findings of the study are that lower volatility fuel components appear to affect the propensity of the fuel to create initiation events (which could be fuel-oil droplets or deposit breakoff) that can lead to SPI, and further that the ease by which a flame can be established in the bulk mixture correlates to SPI tendency when the initiation event tendency is fixed. The study also showed that neither soot-forming tendency of a fuel nor the fuel’s antiknock quality necessarily correlate to SPI tendency.
Simulation and Measurement of Transient Fluid Phenomena within Diesel Injection
Authors: Gold Martin , Pearson Richard , Turner Jack , Sykes Dan , Stetsyuk Viacheslav , de Sercey Guillaume , Crua Cyril , Murali-Girija Mithun , Koukouvinis Foivos , Gavaises Manolis
Published: January 2019

Rail pressures of modern diesel fuel injection systems have increased significantly over recent years, greatly improving atomisation of the main fuel injection event and air utilisation of the combustion process. Continued improvement in controlling the process of introducing fuel into the cylinder has led to focussing on fluid phenomena related to transient response. High-speed microscopy has been employed to visualise the detailed fluid dynamics around the near nozzle region of an automotive diesel fuel injector, during the opening, closing and post injection events. Complementary computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations have been undertaken to elucidate the interaction of the liquid and gas phases during these highly transient events, including an assessment of close-coupled injections.

Microscopic imaging shows the development of a plug flow in the initial stages of injection, with rapid transition into a primary breakup regime, transitioning to a finely atomised spray and subsequent vaporisation of the fuel. During closuring of the injector the spray collapses, with evidence of swirling breakup structures together with unstable ligaments of fuel breaking into large slow-moving droplets. This leads to sub-optimal combustion in the developing flame fronts established by the earlier, more fully-developed spray. The simulation results predict these observed phenomena, including injector surface wetting as a result of large slow-moving droplets and post-injection discharge of liquid fuel. This work suggests that post-injection discharges of fuel play a part in the mechanism of the initial formation, and subsequent accumulation of deposits on the exterior surface of the injector. For multiple injections, opening events are influenced by the dynamics of the previous injection closure; these phenomena have been investigated within the simulations.
Impacts of Regional-transported Biomass Burning Emissions on Chemical and Optical Properties of Carbonaceous Aerosols in Nanjing, East China
Authors: Liu Xiaoyan , Zhang Yan-Lin , Peng Yiran , Xu Lulu , Zhu Chunmao , Cao Fang , Zhai Xiaoyao , Haque Mozammel , Yang Chi , Chang Yunhua , Huang Tong , Xu Zufei , Bao Mengying , Zhang Wenqi , Fan Meiyi , Lee Xuhui
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Biomass burning can significantly impact the chemical and optical properties of carbonaceous aerosols. Here, the impacts of biomass burning emissions on chemical and optical properties of carbonaceous aerosols were studied during wintertime in a megacity of Nanjing, East China. The high abundance of biomass burning tracers such as levoglucosan (lev), mannosan (man), galactosan (gal) and non-sea-salt potassium (nss-K+) was found during the studied period with the concentration ranges of 22.4–1476 ng m−3, 2.1–56.2 ng m−3, 1.4–32.2 ng m−3, and 0.2–3.8 μg m−3, respectively. Backward air mass origin analysis, potential emission sensitivity of element carbon (EC), and MODIS fire spot information indicated that the elevations of the carbonaceous aerosols were due to the transported biomass-burning aerosols from Southeast China. The characteristic mass ratio maps of lev/man and lev/nss-K+ suggested that the biomass fuels were mainly crop residuals. Furthermore, the strong correlation (p
Observations of the atmospheric boundary layer structure
over Beijing urban area during air pollution episodes
Authors: Wang Linlin , Liu Junkai , Gao Zhiqiu , Li Yubin , Huang Meng , Fan Sihui , Zhang Xiaoye , Yang Yuanjian , Miao Shiguang , Zou Han , Sun Yele , Chen Yong , Yang Ting
Published: January 2019

Abstract. We investigated the interactions between the air pollutants and the structure of urban boundary layer (UBL) over Beijing by using the data mainly obtained from the 325-m meteorological tower and a Doppler wind lidar during 1–4 December, 2016. Results showed that the pollution episodes in this period could be characterized by low surface pressure, high relative humidity, weak wind, and temperature inversion. Compared with a clean daytime episode that took place on 1 December, results also showed that the attenuation ratio of downward shortwave radiation was about 4 %, 23 % and 78 % at 1200 local standard time (LST) on 2–4 December respectively, while for the net radiation (Rn) attenuation ratio at the 140-m level of the 325-m tower was 2 %, 24 %, and 86 %. The large reduction in Rn on 4 December was not only the result of the aerosols, but also clouds. Based on analysis of the surface energy balance at the 140-m level, we found that the sensible heat flux was remarkably diminished during daytimes on polluted days, and even negative after sunrise (about 0720 LST) till 1400 LST on 4 December. We also found that heat storage in the urban surface layer played an important role in the exchange of the sensible heat flux. Owing to the advantages of the wind lidar having superior spatial and temporal resolution, the vertical velocity variance could capture the evolution of the UBL well. It clearly showed that weak vertical mixing caused the concentrating of pollutants, and that vertical mixing would also be weakened by a certain quantity of pollutants, and then in turn worsened the pollution further. Compared to the clean daytime on 1 December, the maximums of the boundary layer height (BLH) reduced about 44 % and 56 % on 2–3 December, when the average PM2.5 (PM1) concentrations in afternoon hours (from 1200 to 1400 LST) were 44 (48) µg m−3 and 150 (120) µg m−3 . Part of these reductions of the BLH was also contributed by the effect of the heat storage in the urban canopy.
Impact of Atmospheric and Aerosol Optical Depth Observations on Aerosol Initial Conditions in a strongly-coupled data assimilation
system
Authors: Zupanski Milija , Kliewer Anton , Wu Ting-Chi , Apodaca Karina , Bian Qijing , Atwood Sam , Wang Yi , Wang Jun , Miller Steven D.
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Strongly coupled data assimilation frameworks provide a mechanism for including additional information about aerosols through the coupling between aerosol and atmospheric variables, effectively utilizing atmospheric observations to change the aerosol analysis. Here, we investigate the impact of these observations on aerosol using the Maximum Likelihood Ensemble Filter (MLEF) algorithm with Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) which includes the Godard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) module. We apply this methodology to a dust storm event over the Arabian Peninsula and examine in detail the error covariance and in particular the impact of atmospheric observations on improving the aerosol initial conditions. The assimilated observations include conventional atmospheric observations and Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrievals. Results indicate a positive impact of using strongly coupled data assimilation and atmospheric observations on the aerosol initial conditions, quantified using Degrees of Freedom for Signal.
Freezing from the inside. Ice nucleation in Escherichia coli and
Escherichia coli ghosts by inner membrane bound ice
nucleation protein InaZ
Authors: Kassmannhuber Johannes , Mauri Sergio , Rauscher Mascha , Brait Nadja , Schöner Lea , Witte Angela , Weidner Tobias , Lubitz Werner
Published: January 2019

Abstract. An N-terminal truncated form of the ice nucleation protein (INP) of Pseudomonas syringae lacking the transport sequence for the localization of InaZ in the outer membrane was fused to N- and C- terminal inner membrane (IM) anchors and expressed in Escherichia coli C41. The ice nucleation (IN) activity of the corresponding living recombinant E. coli catalyzing heterogeneous ice formation of super-cooled water at high subzero temperatures was tested by droplet freezing assay. Median freezing temperature (T50) of the parental living E. coli C41 cells without INP was detected at −20.1 °C and with inner membrane anchored INPs at T50 value between −7 °C and −9 °C demonstrating that IM anchored INPs facing the luminal IM site are able to induce IN from the inside of the bacterium almost similar to bacterial INPs located at the outer membrane. Bacterial Ghosts (BGs) derived from the different constructs showed first droplet freezing values between −6 °C and −8 °C whereas C41 BGs alone without carrying IM anchored INPs exhibit a T50 of −18.9 °C. The more efficient IN of INP-BGs compared to their living parental strains can be explained by the free access of IM anchored INP constructs to ultrapure water filling the inner space of the BGs. The cell killing rate of -NINP carrying E. coli at subzero temperatures is higher when compared to survival rates of the parental C41 strain.
A Multi-Objective Ensemble Approach to Hydrological Modelling in
the UK: An Application to Historic Drought Reconstruction
Authors: Smith Katie A. , Barker Lucy J. , Tanguy Maliko , Parry Simon , Harrigan Shaun , Legg Tim P. , Prudhomme Christel , Hannaford Jamie
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Hydrological models can provide estimates of streamflow pre- and post- observations, which enable greater understanding of past hydrological behaviour, and potential futures. In this paper, a new multi-objective calibration method was derived and tested for 303 catchments in the UK, and the calibrations were used to reconstruct river flows back to 1891, in order to provide a much longer view of past hydrological variability, given the brevity of most UK river flow records which began post-1960. A Latin Hypercube sample of 500,000 parameterisations for the GR4J model for each catchment were evaluated against six evaluation metrics covering all aspects of the flow regime from high, median and low flows. The results of the top ranking model parameterisation (LHS1), and also the top 500 (LHS500), for each catchment were used to provide a deterministic result whilst also accounting for parameter uncertainty. The calibrations are generally good at capturing observed flows, with some exceptions in heavily groundwater dominated catchments, and snowmelt and artificially influenced catchments across the country. Reconstructed flows were appraised over 30 year moving windows, and were shown to provide good simulations of flow in the early parts of the record, in cases where observations were available. To consider the utility of the reconstructions for drought simulation, flow data for the 1975/76 drought event were explored in detail in nine case study catchments. The model's performance in reproducing the drought events was found to vary by catchment, as did the level of uncertainty in the LHS500. The Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI) was used to assess the model simulations’ ability to simulate extreme events. The peaks and troughs of the SSI timeseries were well represented despite slight over or underestimations of past drought event magnitudes, while the accumulated deficits of the drought events extracted from the SSI timeseries verified that the model simulations were overall very good at simulating drought events. This work provides an exemplar framework for calibrating catchment models for use in multiple applications. The ~ 125 year spatially and temporally consistent reconstructed flow dataset derived for this study will also allow comprehensive quantitative assessments of past UK drought events, as well as long term analyses of hydrological variability that have not been previously possible. This will allow water resource managers to better plan for extreme events, and build more resilient systems for the future.
Chilling accumulation in temperate fruit trees in Spain under climate change
Authors: Rodríguez Alfredo , Pérez-López David , Sánchez Enrique , Centeno Ana , Gómara Iñigo , Dosio Alessandro , Ruiz-Ramos Margarita
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Temperate fruit trees account for almost half of the worldwide fruit production, with Spain one of the largest world producers. Growing trees are quite vulnerable to cold temperatures. To minimise the effect of these cold temperatures, they stop their growth over the coldest months of the year, a state called dormancy. In particular, endodormancy, i.e. a dormancy related to the plant's inner physiological factors, requires accumulating cool temperatures to finish dormancy (be broken). The accumulation of cool temperatures according to specific rules is called chilling accumulation, and the chilling accumulation required to break dormancy is different for each tree crop and variety. There are several methods to calculate the chilling accumulation, all of them based on temperature only. Under global warming, it is expected that the fulfilment of the chilling requirements to break dormancy in temperate fruit trees could be compromised. In this study, the impact of climate change on the chilling accumulation over Peninsular Spain and the Balearic Islands was assessed. For this, bias-adjusted results of 10 Regional Climate Models (RCMs) under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were used as inputs of four different methods for calculating chilling accumulation, and the results were compared for the near and far future under both RCPs. These results project a generalised reduction in chilling accumulation regardless of the RCP, future period or chilling calculation method used, with higher reductions for the far future and the RCP8.5 scenario. The projected winter chill decrease may threaten the viability of some tree crops and varieties in some areas, but also shows scope for varieties with lower chilling requirements. The results are relevant for planning future tree plantations under climate change, supporting adaptation of spatial distribution of tree crops and varieties in Spain.
From rapid visual survey to multi-hazard risk prioritisation and numerical fragility of school buildings in Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Authors: Gentile Roberto , Galasso Carmine
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Regional seismic risk assessment is paramount in earthquake-prone areas, for instance to define and implement prioritisation schemes for earthquake risk mitigation. As part of the INdonesia School Programme to Increase Resilience (INSPIRE), this paper introduces the INSPIRE index, which is an empirical proxy for the relative seismic risk of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings within a given building portfolio. The index combines a baseline score, calibrated based on the fragility curves in HAZUS MH4, and a performance modifier, calibrated through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to minimise subjectivity. An ad-hoc rapid visual survey form is proposed, which allows to (1) calculate the proposed INSPIRE seismic risk prioritisation index; (2) calculate the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability Assessment (PTVA) index; (3) define one or more archetype buildings representative of the analysed portfolio; (4) derive detailed numerical models of the archetype building, provided that simulated design is used to cross-check the model assumptions. Such framework is demonstrated for 85 RC school buildings in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the mostly affected city by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake-tsunami sequence. A multi-hazard prioritisation scheme is defined combining the INSPIRE and PTVA indices. Moreover, an archetype building representative of the entire portfolio is defined based on the collected data. Its seismic performance is analysed by means of non-linear static analyses, using both the analytical Simple Lateral Mechanism Analysis (SLaMA) method and numerical finite element pushover analyses to investigate the predicted plastic mechanisms and derive displacement/drift thresholds to define appropriate damage states. Finally, non-linear dynamic analyses using 150 unscaled natural ground motions (cloud analysis) are adopted to derive fragility curves for the archetype building. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the INSPIRE data collection form and proposed index in providing a rational method to derive prioritisation schemes and in allowing the definition of archetype buildings for more detailed evaluations/analyses.
ER3D: a structural and geophysical 3D model of central Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) for numerical simulation of earthquake ground motion
Authors: Klin Peter , Laurenzano Giovanna , Romano M. Adelaide , Priolo Enrico , Martelli Luca
Published: January 2019

Abstract. During the 2012 seismic sequence of Emilia region (Northern Italy), the earthquake ground motion in the epicentral area featured longer duration and higher velocity than those estimated by empirical-based prediction equations typically adopted in Italy. In order to explain these anomalies, we (1) build up a structural and geophysical 3D digital model of the crustal sector involved in the sequence, (2) reproduce the earthquake ground motion at some seismological stations through physics-based numerical simulations and (3) compare the observed recordings with the simulated ones. In this way we investigate how the earthquake ground motion in the epicentral area is influenced by local stratigraphy and geological structure buried under the Po Plain alluvium. Our study area covers approximately 5000 km2 and extends from the Po river right bank to the Northern Apennines morphological margin in N-S direction, and between the two chief towns of Reggio Emilia and Ferrara in W-E direction, involving a crustal volume with 20 km of thickness. We set up the 3D model by using already published geological and geophysical data, with a detail corresponding to a map at scale 1:250 000. The model depicts the stratigraphic and tectonic relationships of the main geological formations, the known faults and the spatial pattern of the seismic properties. Being a digital vector structure, the 3D model can be easily modified or refined locally for future improvements or applications. We exploited high performance computing to perform numerical simulations of the seismic wave propagation in the frequency range up to 2 Hz. In order to get rid of the finite source effects and validate the model response, we choose to reproduce the ground motion related to two moderate-size aftershocks of the 2012 Emilia sequence that were recorded by a large number of stations. The obtained solutions compare very well to the recordings available at about 30 stations, in terms of peak ground velocity and signal duration. Snapshots of the simulated wavefield allow us to explain the exceptional length of the observed ground motion as due to surface waves overtones that are excited in the alluvial basin by the buried ridge of the Mirandola anticline. Physics-based simulations using realistic 3D geo-models show eventually to be effective for assessing the local seismic response and the seismic hazard in geologically complex areas.
Bayesian geological and geophysical data fusion for the construction and uncertainty quantification of 3D geological models
Authors: Olierook Hugo K. H. , Scalzo Richard , Kohn David , Chandra Rohitash , Farahbakhsh Ehsan , Houseman Gregory , Clark Chris , Reddy Steven M. , Müller R. Dietmar
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Traditional approaches to develop 3D geological models employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative scientific techniques, which do not fully provide quantification of uncertainty in the constructed models and fail to optimally weight geological field observations against constraints from geophysical data. Here, we demonstrate a Bayesian methodology to fuse geological field observations with aeromagnetic and gravity data to build robust 3D models in a 13.5 × 13.5 km region of the Gascoyne Province, Western Australia. Our approach is validated by comparing model results to independently-constrained geological maps and cross-sections produced by the Geological Survey of Western Australia. By fusing geological field data with magnetics and gravity surveys, we show that at 89 % of the modelled region has > 95 % certainty. The boundaries between geological units are characterized by narrow regions with
Scaling of instability time-scales of Antarctic outlet glaciers based on
one-dimensional similitude analysis
Authors: Levermann Anders , Feldmann Johannes
Published: January 2019

Abstract. Recent observations and ice-dynamic modeling suggest that a marine ice sheet instability (MISI) might have been triggered in West Antarctica. The corresponding outlet glaciers, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and Thwaites Glacier (TG), showed significant retreat during at least the last two decades. While other regions in Antarctica have the topographic predisposition for the same kind of instability it is so far unclear how fast these instabilities would unfold if they were initiated. Here we employ the concept of similitude to estimate the characteristic time scales of several potentially MISI-prone outlet glaciers around the Antarctic coast. The proposed one-dimensional scaling approach combines observational and model data with a scaling analysis of the governing equations for fast ice flow. Evaluating outlet-characteristic ice and bed geometry, surface mass balance and basal friction in the relevant region near the grounding line, we assume that the inferred time scales correspond to the outlet-specific initial responses time to potential destabilization. Our results suggest that TG and PIG have the fastest responses time of all investigated outlets, with TG responding about 1.25 to 2 times as fast as PIG, while other outlets around Antarctica would be up to ten times slower if destabilized. These results have to be viewed in light of the strong assumptions made in their derivation. These include the absence of ice-shelf buttressing, the one-dimensionality of the approach and the uncertainty of the available data, meaning strong caveats of the approach. We argue however that the current topographic situation and the physical conditions of the MISI-prone outlet glaciers carry the information of their respective time scale and that this information can be partially extracted through a similitude analysis. The one-dimensional analysis is only a first step. Whether a two-dimensional analysis is possible is beyond the scope of this study.
Numerical modelling of vertical borehole heat exchangers performance under Lithuanian Quaternary conditions
Authors: Indriulionis Audrius , Palaitis Žygimantas , Šinkūnas Petras , Mokrik Robert
Published: January 2019

The vertical borehole heat exchangers were surrounded by the heterogeneous multilayered geological environment and groundwater flow that affected the performance of borehole plants. In this paper, the field investigation of vertical borehole ground heat exchangers in capital city Vilnius (Visoriai), Lithuania is presented. The numerical heat transfer model considering seven different geological strata was developed using the cylindrical heat sink model for vertical borehole inside by solving the soil mass and heat transfer equations with groundwater flow. The numerical multilayered ground vertical borehole heat transfer model was calculated and validated by in-situ thermal response test data. The numerical model results were also compared with the homogeneous finite difference model expressed by the temperature response functions (well known as “g-functions”). The practical realization of g-functions was designed in the Earth Energy Designer as a practical tool for geoengineers designing the vertical borehole plants. The temperature profiles at borehole wall at different heating times were presented and explored together with relative errors. The numerical model will be used as a practical tool for the Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of Environment to estimate the underground conditions for the consumption of shallow geothermal energy.
Mineral and geochemical composition of the Onega Ice Lake sediments
Authors: Strakhovenko Vera , Subetto Dmitry , Hang Tiit , Ovdina Ekaterina , Danilenko Irina , Belkina Natalia , Potakhin Maksim , Zobkov Mikhail , Gurbich Victor
Published: January 2019

An analysis of the mineral-geochemical composition and structure of the Holocene–Pleistocene bottom sediments was performed on Lake Polevskoye, a small lake in the northern Lake Onega area in Russian Karelia, which is considered representative to describe the Late Weichselian Onega Ice Lake sediments. The analysis was accomplished using modern analytical methods, including scanning electron microscopy and ICP-MS, which allowed us to interpret their genesis in a new light. It is assumed that the distribution of rare earth elements (REE) in the bottom sediments of the recent Lake Onega and in the sediments of Onega Ice Lake will improve our understanding of the history of sedimentogenesis. It is apparent in the distribution of REE, their composition and data on the geochemical and mineral composition of the Holocene bottom sediments of Lake Onega and Lake Polevskoye (varved clays) that in their composition of terrigenous matter the material introduced from the north-western part of the catchment area is mainly composed of Archaean and Early Proterozoic crystalline complexes. However, the values of several indicator ratios of elements in the lower part of the of varved clays with shungite interlayers indicate the presence of mixing of clastic material from two sources of different geochemical origin: the north-western part of the catchment area (source of shungite rocks) and the south-eastern part of the catchment area (Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks of the Russian Platform).
A2CDC: Area Coverage, Connectivity and Data Collection in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Bomgni Alain Bertrand , Jagho Mdemaya Garrik Brel
Published: January 2019

Wireless sensor networks are increasingly being deployed in areas where several types of information need to be harvested. Monitoring a given area is one of the main goals of this technology. This consists in deploying sensor nodes in the Area of Interest (AoI) in order to detect any event occurring in this area, collect information and send them to the base station. However, in this type of configuration, the quantity and the quality of data collected are important factors in making better decisions by the end user. It therefore becomes crucial to deploy sensors in the AoI so that the latters can cover as much as possible the AoI, and propose mechanism to collect and send data to the base station while minimizing the energy consumption of the sensors. In this paper, we bring into focus a solution (A2CDC) to resolve this problem which performs in two main stages: in the first stage, we propose an algorithm that guarantees a maximal coverage of the AoI after a random deployment of static sensors and mobile sensors; and in the second stage, we propose a node activity scheduling that minimizes energy consumption of both static and mobile nodes while sending collected data to the base station. Compared to many other algorithms in the literature, our solution is better in term of coverage percentage of the AoI, data received by the base station and in term of energy minimization.
Performance Analysis of Quality of Service in Software-Defined Networking
Authors: Moravejosharieh Amir Hossein , Lloret Jaime
Published: January 2019

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a new networking strategy designed to overcome issues experienced in traditional IP network e.g. high level of complexity and inability to adaptively respond to newly arisen Quality of Service (QoS) requirements in a timely fashion. In SDN, control plane and data plane are decoupled which justifies the need to have a central controller to receive the application requirements (e.g. Quality of Service requirements) and implements a set of network policies on the data plane to eventually satisfy the requirements of the application. Implementing a proper set of policies on data plane can be quite a challenging task. In many cases implementing a set of policies in order to satisfy the requirements of an application negates requirements of other applications. In this paper, a simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of a QoS policy (i.e. reserving bandwidth) on a specific type of multimedia traffic (e.g. video, audio and data) and its influences on other types of multimedia traffic. The outcome of the simulation study has motivated the authors to conduct a mathematical analysis on the sensitivity of network applications over all possible combination of network policies to eventually implement a proper set of policies that imposes minimum destructive impact on other network applications or services.
Practical Design of a WSN to Monitor the Crop and its Irrigation System
Authors: García Laura , Parra Lorena , Jimenez Jose M. , Lloret Jaime , Lorenz Pascal
Published: January 2019

Due to environmental problems, such as the lack of water for irrigation, each day it becomes more necessary to control crops. Therefore, the use of precision agriculture becomes more evident. When it comes to making decisions on crops, it is evident the need to apply the concept of Smart Agriculture, that focuses on utilizing different sensors and actuators. As the number of IoT devices used in agriculture grows exponentially, it is necessary to design the implemented network so that the data is transmitted without problems. The present work shows a wireless network design, in which we use the information collected by the sensors of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), and a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) formed by Access Points (AP) to transmit the data to a network that monitors agriculture for smart irrigation. In addition, through simulations we have presented a proposal of the maximum number of nodes that must be connected to an AP so that the network is efficient.
Sensor Network Proposal for Greenhouse Automation placed at the South of Algeria
Authors: Achouak Touhami , Khelifa Benahmed , García Laura , Parra Lorena , Lloret Jaime , Fateh Bounaaman
Published: January 2019

The south of Algeria has a very hard climate. In summer, it is very hot and dry with a very violent sand wind and in winter very cold and dry, from where several plants cannot be cultivated in an open field. With rapid population growth, the production of fruits and vegetables cannot be sufficient. To solve these two major problems, we propose in this paper a new mechanism for the control of the climate inside a greenhouse. The objective of this work is to propose a new design for the greenhouse that can be managed and controlled automatically. The management and the control of this greenhouse are done because of our new proposed algorithms, and the use of new technologies such as sensors, actuators, microcontrollers, and the Internet of things to facilitate the tasks of farmers in the south of Algeria, and to improve the productiveness of the agriculture. We present the results of applying our proposal in a greenhouse during a short period of time and the changes on the environmental parameters inside the greenhouse.
Oil Prices and the U.S. Dollar Exchange Rate: Evidence from the Monetary Model
Authors: Al Rasasi Moayad H.
Published: January 2019

This paper analyzes how changes in global oil prices affect the US dollar (USD) exchange rate based on the monetary model of exchange rate. We find evidence indicating a negative relationship between oil prices and the USD exchange rate against 12 currencies. Specifically, the analysis of the impulse response function shows that the depreciation rate of the USD exchange rate ranges between 0.002 and 0.018 percentage points as a result of a one-standard deviation positive shock to the real price of crude oil. In the same vein, the forecast error variance decomposition analysis reveals that variation in the USD exchange rate is largely attributable to changes in the price of oil rather than monetary fundamentals. In last, the out-of-sample forecast exercise indicates that oil prices enhance the predictability power of the monetary model of exchange rate.
Measuring the Direct Cost Burden of Illness in Burkina Faso
Authors: Traoré Ousmane
Published: January 2019

In this article, we evaluate the direct cost burden of illness in Burkina Faso. The methodological approach predicts the normative health expenditure based on the population’s health risk factors and adjusts the income based on people’s asset portfolios, which are supposed to influence their ability to manage shocks, or their vulnerability to shocks like illness. Thus, using the National Institute for Statistics and Demography’s priority surveys database of 1996, our methodology leads to a better information on the distributions of income and health care spending across a subsample of 1022 treated individuals. Subsequently, the average of the direct cost burden of illness is 11.17%, and 50% of the population spend more than 10.52% of their adjusted income on normative health care. Otherwise, there is a difference of 66.84 of percentage points between the highest and lowest cost burdens. Overall, women face higher direct costs burden compared to men. Given the “catastrophic health expenditure” threshold conventionally set at 10% of income, to decrease these financial vulnerabilities and inequalities in Burkina Faso, one solution would be to achieve universal health coverage.
Candidate Sites for Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage System in Jordan
Authors: Akour Salih N. , Al-Garalleh Anas Aref
Published: January 2019

Renewable energy sources particularly wind energy is becoming immensely popular throughout the world. Jordan is one of the countries that are interested in increasing the integration level of the wind energy on the national electrical grid. The main drawback of wind power is its inherent variability and uncertainty of source making wind energy a difficult resource to dispatch. A Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage (PHES) system is considered to be an attractive alternative solution for load balancing and energy storage mainly with wind farms. The current research utilizes the existing dams in Jordan as lower basin and provides candidate locations for upper pumped storage basins in the vicinity of these dams without affecting their functionality. These upper basin are semi-natural basins with least amount of construction, i.e. relatively least construction cost.

A location survey of the candidate sites in Jordan is conducted where the PHES can be implemented and operated in an efficient manner. Ten locations have been analyzed deeply in the location survey. The results show that six of them are successful candidates and appropriate locations to implement PHES system since they pass all PHES design requirements.
Teaching Competencies and Job Satisfaction among Basic Education Teachers
Authors: AlTobi Abdullah Saif , Al-Shboul Muhannad , Aldoulat Adnan , Al-Halalsheh Nabeelah , Aldoulat Hadeel
Published: January 2019

This study aimed to identify the teaching competencies and job satisfaction among basic education teachers.To achieve the objectives of the study, two study tools, teaching competencies questionnaire and job satisfaction scale, were applied. The study followed a descriptive methodology; its sample consisted of (65) male and female teachers from public schools at Al-jam'a directorate of education in Amman, for the spring semester of the academic year 2014/2015; the participants were chosen randomly. For the purpose of statistical analysis, means and standard deviations were computed. However, the validity and reliability tests were conducted for the study tools. Thus, Cronbach alpha coefficient were applied to measure the reliability of first tool and second tool of the study, which were (0.869 and 0.857) respectively.

The results of the study revealed that the level of the teaching competencies possessed by physical education teachers on the total score was high, and the level of job satisfaction possessioned by physical education teachers on the total score was moderate. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) in the three domains of teaching competencies (planning competencies, implementation competencies, and evaluation competencies).

In the light of the results of the study, the study concluded a number of recommendations including: inclusion the teaching competencies to be met by physical education teachers in preparation and teacher training programs; and pay attention to the moral, economic, and social aspects of physical education teachers.
Over leven, dood en bewustzijn
Authors: De Waele J.W.
Published: January 2019

Over leven, dood en bewustzijn. Een medisch-filosofische bespiegeling

Beslissen of iemand nog in leven is dan wel dood, is altijd een courante uitdaging binnen de geneeskunde geweest. Sinds de verbeterde reanimatietechnieken en IC-faciliteiten (met mechanische ventilatie) uit de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw is het mogelijk geworden het leven langer aan te houden, niet tegenstaande het bewustzijn uitblijft. Wat is nu die relatie tussen leven en bewustzijn en hoe kan die ontkoppeld zijn? Wanneer is men hersendood? Wanneer spreekt men van coma, vegetatieve status of minimaal bewuste toestand en wat houdt dat fysiologisch en humaan in? Wat is de prognose in die gevallen? Welke juridische en ethische vraagtekens (denk aan orgaandonatie) brengt dit met zich mee?
Cuidado resolutivo de paracoccidioidomicose em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde: Relato de caso
Authors: Souza Maria Cristina Almeida de , Souza Edsneider Rocha Pires de , Côrtes Paula Pitta de Resende , Côrtes Júnior João Carlos de Souza , Vilagra Sandra Maria Barroso Werneck , Costa Elisa Maria Amorim da
Published: January 2019

A paracoccidioidomicose é uma micose sistêmica endêmica nas regiões tropicais da América do Sul, sendo comum no Brasil. É causada pelo fungo Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, que infecta o homem pela via respiratória por meio de inalação. Após a sintomatologia pulmonar, por disseminação hematogênica, pode acometer vários órgãos e sistemas.  Uma das dificuldades no diagnóstico dessa doença se deve à sua semelhança clínica com a tuberculose. Clinicamente, a doença pode apresentar-se nas formas crônica e aguda/subaguda. Constitui-se em um importante problema de saúde pública, pois é uma doença incapacitante, podendo levar o portador ao óbito. Descreve-se, neste artigo, um caso de paracoccidioidomicose em indivíduo do sexo masculino, cuja resolutividade do cuidado pela equipe da Unidade Básica de Saúde (UBS) foi fundamental para o sucesso do tratamento e para o bom prognóstico.
Exploring Distinct Features for Automatic Short Answer Grading
Authors: Galhardi Lucas B. , Senefonte Helen C. de Mattos , De Souza Rodrigo C. Thom , Brancher Jacques D.
Published: January 2019

Automatic short answer grading is the study field that addresses the assessment of students’ answers to questions in natural language. The grading of the answers is generally seen as a typical classification supervised learning. To stimulate research in the field, two datasets were publicly released in the SemEval 2013 competition task “Student Response Analysis”. Since then, some works have been developed to improve the results. In this context, the goal of this work is to tackle such task by implementing lessons learned from the literature in an effective way and report results for both datasets and all of its scenarios. The proposed method obtained better results in most scenarios of the competition task and, therefore, higher overall scores when compared to recent works.
A Topical Word Embeddings for Text Classification
Authors: Lima João Marcos Carvalho , Maia José Everardo Bessa
Published: January 2019

This paper presents an approach that uses topic models based on LDA to represent documents in text categorization problems. The document representation is achieved through the cosine similarity between document embeddings and embeddings of topic words, creating a Bag-of-Topics (BoT) variant. The performance of this approach is compared against those of two other representations: BoW (Bag-of-Words) and Topic Model, both based on standard tf-idf. Also, to reveal the effect of the classifier, we compared the performance of the nonlinear classifier SVM against that of the linear classifier Naive Bayes, taken as baseline. To evaluate the approach we use two bases, one multi-label (RCV-1) and another single-label (20 Newsgroup). The model presents significant results with low dimensionality when compared to the state of the art.
Plan Existence Verification as Symbolic Model Checking
Authors: Ferreira Macilio da Silva , Menezes Maria Viviane , De Barros Leliane Nunes
Published: January 2019

Automated Planning is the subarea of AI concerned with the generation of a plan of actions for an agent to achieve its goals. State-of-the-art planning algorithms are based on heuristic search. However, the inexistence of a plan can be a challenge for such planners, since they are not always able to discern the difficulty of finding a solution from its inexistence. The problem of plan existence verification, called planex, is computationally hard. Thus, in 2016, the planning community held for the first time the Unsolvability International Planning Competition (UIPC), which aims to evaluate algorithms on the task of verifying plan existence. The aim of this paper is to propose a new algorithm to solve the planex problem that is based on symbolic model checking approach. The proposed algorithm differs from others based on model checking in two points: (i) it is able to reason about the actions represented in PDDL (Planning Domain Description Language) and; (ii) it is based on the α-CTL logic, whose semantics takes into account the actions responsable for the state transitions. We also evaluate the proposed alorithm over the UIPC planning benchmark problems.
Automatic Identification of Equivalence of Concepts in Different Languages for Never-Ending Learning
Authors: Marino Silvio C. , Hruschka Junior Estevam R.
Published: January 2019

This paper describes the process of automatic identification of concepts in different languages using a base that relies on simple semantic and morphosyntactic characteristics like string similarity, difference in words amount and translation position on dictionary (when exists) and a neural network that has been used as a model of machine learning. All experiments use data that was obtained from a few categories of Read The Web (RTW) project and an endless learning computation system called NELL: Never-Ending Language Learning. The results were compared with dictionary and showed that the introduction of neural network brought a significant gain in the process of equivalence of concepts.
Food Recognition System for Nutrition Monitoring
Authors: Freitass Charles N. C. , Cordeiro Filipe R. , Da Silva Adenilton J.
Published: January 2019

This research consists of the analysis of the methods of image recognition, focusing on the problem of food classification, aiming to use the methods in a mobile application for the assistance in food monitoring and control. Thus, the development of the work contemplates the use of the deep learning method, focused on the recognition of food in images, with the use of neural convolution networks (CNN). For this purpose, a data set consisting of more than 1000 images and 5 food classes was constructed in order to simulate the SimpleNet, MiniVGGNet and Small Xception models, and thus define a learning model for food classification.
Facial Expression Analysis in Brazilian Sign Language for Sign Recognition
Authors: Guerra Rúbia Reis , Rezende Tamires Martins , Guimarães Frederico Gadelha , Almeida Sílvia Grasiella Moreira
Published: January 2019

Sign language is one of the main forms of communication used by the deaf community. The language’s smallest unit, a “sign”, comprises a series of intricate manual and facial gestures. As opposed to speech recognition, sign language recognition (SLR) lags behind, presenting a multitude of open challenges because this language is visual-motor. This paper aims to explore two novel approaches in feature extraction of facial expressions in SLR, and to propose the use of Random Forest (RF) in Brazilian SLR as a scalable alternative to Support Vector Machines (SVM) and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN). Results show that RF’s performance is at least comparable to SVM’s and k-NN’s, and validate non-manual parameter recognition as a consistent step towards SLR.
Improvement of Vehicle Stability Using Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Amaral Janaína R. , Göllinger Harald , Fiorentin Thiago A.
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a preliminary study on the use of reinforcement learning to control the torque vectoring of a small rear wheel driven electric race car in order to improve vehicle handling and vehicle stability. The reinforcement learning algorithm used is Neural Fitted Q Iteration and the sampling of experiences is based on simulations of the vehicle behavior using the software CarMaker. The cost function is based on the position of the states on the phase-plane of sideslip angle and sideslip angular velocity. The resulting controller is able to improve the vehicle handling and stability with a significant reduction in vehicle sideslip angle.
Applying Recurrent Neural Networks with Long Short- Term Memory in Clustered Stocks
Authors: Affonso Felipe , Dias Thiago Magela Rodrigues
Published: January 2019

Predicting the stock market is a widely studied field, either due to the curiosity in finding an explanation for the behavior of financial assets or for financial purposes. Among these studies the best techniques use neural networks as a prediction tool. More specifically, the best networks for this purpose are called recurrent neural networks (RNN), and provide an extra option when dealing with a sequence of values. However, a great part of the studies is intended to predict the result of few stocks, therefore, this work aims to predict the behavior of a large number of stocks. For this, similar stocks were grouped based on their correlation and later the algorithm K-means was applied so that similar groups were clustered. After this process, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) - a type of RNN - was used in order to predict the price of a certain group of assets. Results showed that clustering stocks did not influence the effectiveness of the network and that investors and portfolio managers can use it to simply their daily tasks.