bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Physical, Mechanical, Biopharmaceutical Properties of Emulgels and Bigel Containing Ciclopirox Olamine
Authors: Mazurkevičiūtė Agnė , Matulytė Inga , Ivaškienė Marija , Žilius Modestas
Published: July 2022

Emulsions are thermodynamically unstable systems and it is difficult to produce biphasic formulations with large amounts of oil. The aim of our study was to prepare biphasic formulations containing 1% ciclopirox olamine and to determine the influence of the method of oil incorporation (without and with emulsifier and gelifier) on the physical (pH, particle size, rheological properties), mechanical, and biopharmaceutical properties of the formulations. It was found that the use of a poloxamer 407 gel as the hydrophase could result in a stable formulation when an oil with (EPG) or without an emulsifier (APG) or oleogel (OPG) was used as the oily phase. The results of the studies showed that the addition of an emulsifier (polysorbate 80) led to a decrease in the sol-gel temperature, a slower release of ciclopirox olamine, and a higher stability in the freeze–thaw test. However, regardless of the way the oil is incorporated, the particles are distributed in the same range and the antifungal activity against T. rubrum is the same. It is possible to create a biphasic formulation with a large amount of oil and poloxamer gel, but for greater stability, it is recommended to include an emulsifier in the composition.
Daptomycin-Biomineralized Silver Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photothermal Therapy with Anti-Tumor Effect
Authors: Zhang Jie , Wang Jing , Fan Guixiu , Zhang Bingjie , Ma Guanglong , Xiao Haiyan , Wang Longgang
Published: July 2022

Silver nanoparticles as photothermal agents have the problems of low stability and low photothermal conversion efficiency. Amphiphilic daptomycin can improve the stability of silver nanoparticles, thereby improving their photothermal conversion efficiency. Herein, daptomycin-biomineralized silver nanoparticles (Dap-AgNPs) were prepared by reducing silver nitrate with sodium borohydride in the presence of daptomycin as a stabilizer and biomineralizer. The Dap-AgNPs had good solution stability and peroxidase-like activity. Furthermore, the photothermal conversion efficiency of the Dap-AgNPs was as high as 36.8%. The Dap-AgNPs displayed good photothermal stability under irradiation. More importantly, the Dap-AgNPs showed good cell compatibility with HeLa cells and HT-29 cells without irradiation by 808-nanometer near-infrared light at a concentration of 0.5 mM, and the cell viability was greater than 85.0%. However, the Dap-AgNPs displayed significant anti-tumor ability with irradiation by 808-nanometer near-infrared light, which was due to the increasing temperature of the culture medium caused by the Dap-AgNPs. In conclusion, Dap-AgNPs have potential applications as photothermal agents in the treatment of tumors.
A Comparison of Asian Law Journals Published in Asian and Western Countries
Authors: Kim Eun Sil , Kim Eungi
Published: July 2022

The purpose of this study was to compare Asian law journals published in Asia with those published in Western countries to determine the characteristics of the journals in relation to the geographic region in which they are published. In this study, Western countries refer to the Anglo-Saxon English-speaking countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Using the Scimago Journal and Country Rank (SJR), 12 Asian law journals published in Asia and 8 Asian law journals published in Western countries were analyzed for performance, authorship, and topical research areas. Human rights issues affecting Asian countries were more prevalent in journals published in Western countries. In terms of journal performance, Asian law journals published in Western countries had a higher h-index, SJR, and citation rate than those published in Asia. Journals published in Western countries are published by reputable commercial publishers or university presses, and journals published in Western countries have longer coverage years. These reasons likely contributed to better visibility, which resulted in better performance.
Robust Extraction of 3D Line Segment Features from Unorganized Building Point Clouds
Authors: Tian Pengju , Hua Xianghong , Tao Wuyong , Zhang Miao
Published: July 2022

As one of the most common features, 3D line segments provide visual information in scene surfaces and play an important role in many applications. However, due to the huge, unstructured, and non-uniform characteristics of building point clouds, 3D line segment extraction is a complicated task. This paper presents a novel method for extraction of 3D line segment features from an unorganized building point cloud. Given the input point cloud, three steps were performed to extract 3D line segment features. Firstly, we performed data pre-processing, including subsampling, filtering and projection. Secondly, a projection-based method was proposed to divide the input point cloud into vertical and horizontal planes. Finally, for each 3D plane, all points belonging to it were projected onto the fitting plane, and the α-shape algorithm was exploited to extract the boundary points of each plane. The 3D line segment structures were extracted from the boundary points, followed by a 3D line segment merging procedure. Corresponding experiments demonstrate that the proposed method works well in both high-quality TLS and low-quality RGB-D point clouds. Moreover, the robustness in the presence of a high degree of noise is also demonstrated. A comparison with state-of-the-art techniques demonstrates that our method is considerably faster and scales significantly better than previous ones. To further verify the effectiveness of the line segments extracted by the proposed method, we also present a line-based registration framework, which employs the extracted 2D-projected line segments for coarse registration of building point clouds.
Quantifying the Influences of Driving Factors on Land Surface Temperature during 2003–2018 in China Using Convergent Cross Mapping Method
Authors: Yu Yanru , Shang Guofei , Duan Sibo , Yu Wenping , Labed Jélila , Li Zhaoliang
Published: July 2022

The relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and environmental factors is complex and nonlinear. To determine these relationships for China, this study analyzed the driving effects of air temperature, vegetation index, soil moisture, net surface radiation, precipitation, aerosols, evapotranspiration, and water vapor on LST based on remote-sensing and reanalysis data from 2003–2018, using a convergent cross-mapping method. During the study period, air temperature and net surface radiation were the dominant drivers of LST with a cross-mapping skill above 0.9. Vegetation index and evapotranspiration were the secondary drivers of LST with a cross-mapping skill that was higher than 0.5. Except for air temperature and net surface radiation, the direction and strength of the effects of the driving factors on LST were related to the climate type. The effects of air temperature and net radiation on LST diminished from north to south, indicating that LST was more sensitive to air temperature and net radiation in energy-limited regions. However, the effects of vegetation index and evapotranspiration on LST varied significantly across climate zones; that is, positive effects were mostly in non-monsoonal zones and negative effects were primarily in monsoonal zones. Our results quantified the driving role of environmental factors on LST and provided a comprehensive understanding of LST dynamics.
An Efficient LiDAR Point Cloud Map Coding Scheme Based on Segmentation and Frame-Inserting Network
Authors: Wang Qiang , Jiang Liuyang , Sun Xuebin , Zhao Jingbo , Deng Zhaopeng , Yang Shizhong
Published: July 2022

In this article, we present an efficient coding scheme for LiDAR point cloud maps. As a point cloud map consists of numerous single scans spliced together, by recording the time stamp and quaternion matrix of each scan during map building, we cast the point cloud map compression into the point cloud sequence compression problem. The coding architecture includes two techniques: intra-coding and inter-coding. For intra-frames, a segmentation-based intra-prediction technique is developed. For inter-frames, an interpolation-based inter-frame coding network is explored to remove temporal redundancy by generating virtual point clouds based on the decoded frames. We only need to code the difference between the original LiDAR data and the intra/inter-predicted point cloud data. The point cloud map can be reconstructed according to the decoded point cloud sequence and quaternion matrices. Experiments on the KITTI dataset show that the proposed coding scheme can largely eliminate the temporal and spatial redundancies. The point cloud map can be encoded to 1/24 of its original size with 2 mm-level precision. Our algorithm also obtains better coding performance compared with the octree and Google Draco algorithms.
Electric Field Detection System Based on Denoising Algorithm and High-Speed Motion Platform
Authors: Liu Qi , Sun Zhaolong , Jiang Runxiang , Zhang Jiawei , Zhu Kui
Published: July 2022

Effective denoising can ensure fast and accurate target detection. This paper presents an electric field measurement system based on a high-speed motion platform, which was built to analyze the characteristics of low frequency electric field noise. An offshore test has shown that it is possible to detect a low-frequency electric field using a high-speed motion platform. Low frequency electric field noise was then collected to analyze its characteristics in terms of time and frequency domains. Based on the noise characteristics, complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (ICEEMDAN) was improved and combined with an adaptive threshold algorithm for denoising and reconstructing target containing noise signals. As revealed in the results, the proposed algorithm achieved highly effective denoising to overcome the line spectrum detection failure resulting from a high-speed motion platform. The detection range had also been improved from the original 853 m to 1306 m, a 53.1% increase.
Performance Analysis of Localization Algorithms for Inspections in 2D and 3D Unstructured Environments Using 3D Laser Sensors and UAVs
Authors: Espinosa Peralta Paul , Luna Marco Andrés , de la Puente Paloma , Campoy Pascual , Bavle Hriday , Carrio Adrián , Cruz Ulloa Christyan
Published: July 2022

One of the most relevant problems related to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’s (UAV) autonomous navigation for industrial inspection is localization or pose estimation relative to significant elements of the environment. This paper analyzes two different approaches in this regard, focusing on its application to unstructured scenarios where objects of considerable size are present, such as a truck, a wind tower, an airplane, a building, etc. The presented methods require a previously developed Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model of the main object to be inspected. The first approach is based on an occupancy map built from a horizontal projection of this CAD model and the Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL) algorithm to reach convergence by considering the likelihood field observation model between the 2D projection of 3D sensor data and the created map. The second approach uses a point cloud prior map of the 3D CAD model and a scan-matching algorithm based on the Iterative Closest Point Algorithm (ICP) and the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). The presented approaches have been extensively evaluated using simulated as well as previously recorded real flight data. We focus on aircraft inspection as a test example, but our results and conclusions can be directly extended to other applications. To support this assertion, a truck inspection has been performed. Our tests reflected that creating a 2D or 3D map from a standard CAD model and using a 3D laser scan on the created maps can optimize the processing time, resources and improve robustness. The techniques used to segment unexpected objects in 2D maps improved the performance of AMCL. In addition, we showed that moving around locations with relevant geometry after take-off when running AMCL enabled faster convergence and high accuracy. Hence, it could be used as an initial position estimation method for other localization algorithms. The ICP-NL method works well in environments with elements other than the object to inspect, but it can provide better results if some techniques to segment the new objects are applied. Furthermore, the proposed ICP-NL scan-matching method together with UKF performed faster, in a more robust manner, than NDT. Moreover, it is not affected by flight height. However, ICP-NL error may still be too high for applications requiring increased accuracy.
Childcare Issues and the Pandemic: Working Women’s Experiences in the Face of COVID-19
Authors: Obeng Cecilia , Slaughter Mary , Obeng-Gyasi Emmanuel
Published: July 2022

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted everyday life. Not only has it assailed the world’s populations with millions of deaths and cases, but COVID-19 has also ravaged global economies and affected the lives of women and their children. The purpose of this study was to detail women’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the solutions they came up with to deal with the problems they encountered. Method: Data collection occurred in the midwestern United States, in the State of Indiana, from August 2020 to August 2021. Sixty-six women participated in the study. The study used open-ended survey questions. The data results were combined, analyzed, and constructed into themes based on their similarity in their subject matter. The researchers identified four main themes. Findings and Conclusion: Results indicated that, for some of the mothers, it was a struggle to be at home with their children at all times. Unique experiences faced by some expectant mothers who were already mothers, and thus had the experience of prenatal care pre-COVID-19, had to grapple with the fact that they were not allowed to come to their prenatal appointments with anyone. Participants complained about cooking all the time, with some needing to use the internet to look for new recipes. Poor eating habits by some children during the pandemic led to some parents needing to come up with a schedule for family members regarding breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to curtail the COVID-19-related acquired poor eating habits. A shared experience from the study revolved around childcare policies and schedules. The results suggested that enacting a paid childcare leave, developing flexible working hours, and changing how employers conduct work reviews are critical to alleviating some of the burdens working women face during school closures during the pandemic. Finally, participants suggested identifying better ways to provide and prioritize childcare to lessen gender inequalities within the workforce.
“IS Drew This Dream Picture—Like Floating on a Pink Cloud”: Danish Returnees’ Entry into and Exit from Salafi-Jihadism through Nurtured and Fractured Fantasies
Authors: Jørgensen Kathrine Elmose
Published: July 2022

Since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, an increasing number of European youth have joined Salafi-jihadist milieus in their home countries and/or in the Syrian/Iraqi conflict zone. Some are ardent believers in ending their days as—what they perceive to be—martyrs. Others renege on their commitment, return, and resocialize into conventional society. While engagement, disengagement, and resocialization have each been explored as phases separately within the existing literature, a coherent, criminological study of how those sequences are interconnected has still not been explored in a Danish context from an empirical angle. On the basis of qualitative interviews with three Danish Salafi-jihadist defectors (for example, from the Islamic State), this article unravels the connection and disconnection between engagement, disengagement, and resocialization. The analysis is theoretically informed by David Matza’s theory of drift (1964). However, the theory does have its limitations. As the commitment to Salafi-jihadism entails more than simply an “episodic release from moral constraint”, which defines drift, the informants are only part-time drifters, and here it is argued that the informants are rather entering and exiting a spiraling vortex of Salafi-jihadism. These entries and exits are fueled by the returnees’ nurtured and fractured fantasies.
Resilient Inner Cities: Conditions and Examples for the Transformation of Former Department Stores in Germany
Authors: Hangebruch Nina , Othengrafen Frank
Published: July 2022

Digitalisation is leading to fundamental changes in the German retail sector and the city centres as places of trade. Traditional forms of business such as department stores have significantly reduced their branch networks. Their conversion poses major questions not only for the property owners but also for the municipalities concerned. As key properties, the buildings are of particular relevance for the reorientation of the inner-city use structure. In view of the reduced importance of retail in inner cities, it is discussed how the transformation of these properties can increase the resilience of city centres. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature analysis on urban and retail resilience and derived ten dimensions for resilient city centres. We applied the ten dimensions and related criteria in the analysis of five selected case studies in Germany and assessed that new, innovative and flexible re-uses could be realised in the former department stores, increasing the multifunctionality and robustness of the city centres. The conversion of the buildings is not only sustainable from the perspective of climate and resource efficiency, but also contributes to the preservation of the local building culture and the identification of the citizens with the inner city.
Assessment of Marine Debris on Hard-to-Reach Places Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Segmentation Models Based on a Deep Learning Approach
Authors: Song Kyounghwan , Jung Jung-Yeul , Lee Seung Hyun , Park Sanghyun , Yang Yunjung
Published: July 2022

It is difficult to assess the characteristics of marine debris, especially on hard-to-reach places such as uninhabited islands, rocky coasts, and seashore cliffs. In this study, to overcome the difficulties, we developed a method for marine debris assessment using a segmentation model and images obtained by UAVs. The method was tested and verified on an uninhabited island in Korea with a rocky coast and a seashore cliff. Most of the debris was stacked on beaches with low slopes and/or concave shapes. The number of debris items on the whole coast estimated by the mapping was 1295, which was considered to be the actual number of coastal debris items. However, the number of coastal debris items estimated by conventional monitoring method-based statistical estimation was 6741 (±1960.0), which was severely overestimated compared with the mapping method. The segmentation model shows a relatively high F1-score of ~0.74 when estimating a covered area of ~177.4 m2. The developed method could provide reliable estimates of the class of debris density and the covered area, which is crucial information for coastal pollution assessment and management on hard-to-reach places in Korea.
Integrating Vulnerable Road User Safety Criteria into Transportation Asset Management to Prioritize Budget Allocation at the Network Level
Authors: Chang Carlos M. , Vavrova Marketa , Mahnaz Syeda Lamiya
Published: July 2022

Safety is a major worldwide concern due to the increasing number of fatalities of vulnerable road users (VRUs). VRUs are pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, and their safety is a priority when making infrastructure management decisions. Traditionally, transportation agencies have adopted transportation asset management (TAM) practices based on performance measures to assess the physical condition of transport infrastructure. This paper describes a framework to incorporate VRU’s safety into the TAM decision-making process. The main objective of the VRU-TAM framework is to mitigate pedestrian fatalities by improving the decision-making process at the strategic and operational management level. The VRU-TAM framework is composed of four phases: assessment, prioritization, scenario analysis, and results. It includes a prioritization methodology using a safety-weighted effectiveness ratio (SWER) to consider pedestrian safety factors and costs in the decision-making process. In a broader perspective, pedestrian safety is affected by driver, demographic, pedestrian, infrastructure, and policy related factors. The decision-making criteria reflected in SWER considers the asset importance, location, pedestrian safety risk, costs, and remaining life in the budget allocation process, and adopts the dynamic bubble up (DBU) technique for budget prioritization at the network level. An example is presented for crosswalks to demonstrate the applicability of the methodology to evaluate different budget-driven scenarios for funding allocation. As a conclusion, it is demonstrated that the outcomes of the budget-driven scenarios following the method that incorporates safety criteria, with tangible metrics, offer a deeper understanding of the effects of budgetary constraints on backlog costs and the remaining life of infrastructure assets.
Adaptation to Climate Change Across Local Policies: An Investigation in Six Italian Cities
Authors: Serra Vittorio , Ledda Antonio , Ruiu Maria Grazia Gavina , Calia Giovanna , Mereu Valentina , Bacciu Valentina , Marras Serena , Spano Donatella , De Montis Andrea
Published: July 2022

Climate change is a concerning phenomenon worldwide. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is the core of the mitigation strategies that are effective countermeasures to address a changing climate in the long term. Nevertheless, the need for short-term solutions regarding adaptation to climate change (ACC) has gained growing interest in the scientific community and in European institutions. European and national ACC principles are being integrated in strategies and plans. In Italy, some regions have adopted ACC principles in strategic plans, which influence the whole local planning system and persuade local communities to become more climate-resilient. This study focuses on the mainstreaming of ACC into strategies, plans, programs, and projects (SPPPs) adopted by the following Italian cities: Bologna, Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin, and Venice. We scrutinize the contents of SPPPs with respect to four criteria: (i) references to strategies or plans for ACC; (ii) inclusion of ACC objectives and (iii) measures; and (iv) references to—or the inclusion of—climatic analysis on historical series and/or future projections. We found out that most SPPPs adopted by the cities have considered ACC in a promising way, i.e., all the cities are inclined to promote ACC, despite three of them lacking a municipal ACC strategy or plan and a National Adaptation Plan not being in force.
Challenges of Electric Vehicles and Their Prospects in Malaysia: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Muzir Nur Ayeesha Qisteena , Mojumder Md. Rayid Hasan , Hasanuzzaman Md. , Selvaraj Jeyraj
Published: July 2022

Electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia are gaining more attention and interest from the public. However, the electric vehicle’s exposure, awareness, and sales are still low compared to other countries. In this review, the challenges associated with implementing the electric vehicle culture in Malaysia are thoroughly reviewed, including the obstacles that the Malaysian government, policymakers, EV manufacturers, and EV users face in terms of EV cost, travel demand, charging station availability, impact on the power grid, and battery capacity. Then, all the identified challenges have been addressed by considering the user behavior, travel demand, socio-economical culture of Malaysia, current policies taken by the government of Malaysia, and the psychological outlook of Malaysians towards EV adoption. Moreover, potential suggestions have been proposed that the government of Malaysia may adopt during policy planning and when seeking to provide incentives to the users. Finally, a concrete conclusion has been drawn by disseminating the vision about the future of EVs in Malaysia. The proposed review of the technologies, challenges, prospects, and potential solutions associated with EV adoption in Malaysia can provide a base for proper strategic policy and help policymakers frame strategies to achieve the targets. This review could help achieve sustainable EV transport, and the successful implementation of Malaysian National Automotive Plan 2020, with the goal of adopting next-generation green vehicles.
Plant Nutrition for Human Health: A Pictorial Review on Plant Bioactive Compounds for Sustainable Agriculture
Authors: El-Ramady Hassan , Hajdú Peter , Törős Gréta , Badgar Khandsuren , Llanaj Xhensila , Kiss Attila , Abdalla Neama , Omara Alaa El-Dein , Elsakhawy Tamer , Elbasiouny Heba , Elbehiry Fathy , Amer Megahed , El-Mahrouk Mohammed E. , Prokisch József
Published: July 2022

Is there any relationship between plant nutrition and human health? The overall response to this question is very positive, and a strong relationship between the nutrition of plants and humans has been reported in the literature. The nutritional status of edible plants consumed by humans can have a negative or positive impact on human health. This review was designed to assess the importance of plant bioactive compounds for human health under the umbrella of sustainable agriculture. With respect to the first research question, it was found that plant bioactives (e.g., alkaloids, carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, and terpenoids) have a crucial role in human health due to their therapeutic benefits, and their potentiality depends on several factors, including botanical, environmental, and clinical attributes. Plant bioactives could be produced using plant tissue culture tools (as a kind of agro-biotechnological method), especially in cases of underexploited or endangered plants. Bioactive production of plants depends on many factors, especially climate change (heat stress, drought, UV radiation, ozone, and elevated CO2), environmental pollution, and problematic soils (degraded, saline/alkaline, waterlogged, etc.). Under the previously mentioned stresses, in reviewing the literature, a positive or negative association was found depending on the kinds of stress or bioactives and their attributes. The observed correlation between plant bioactives and stress (or growth factors) might explain the importance of these bioactives for human health. Their accumulation in stressed plants can increase their tolerance to stress and their therapeutic roles. The results of this study are in keeping with previous observational studies, which confirmed that the human nutrition might start from edible plants and their bioactive contents, which are consumed by humans. This review is the first report that analyzes this previously observed relationship using pictorial presentation.
Evaluating the Inequality of Medical Resource Allocation Based on Spatial and Non-Spatial Accessibility: A Case Study of Wenzhou, China
Authors: Du Miao , Zhao Yuhua , Fang Tao , Fan Linyu , Zhang Minghua , Huang Hong , Mei Kun
Published: July 2022

Environmental and social factors influencing resource allocation in rural, developing regions are critical social determinants of health that necessitate cross-sector collaboration to improve health opportunities. Thus, we sought to evaluate the spatial distribution and accessibility of medical resources to assess existing disparities, identify best practices for resource allocation, and inform regional health planning policies. In this study, inequality in the frequency distribution of medical resources in Wenzhou, China, was measured using the Gini coefficient and agglomeration degree. We evaluated the spatial accessibility of medical institutions throughout the city using the modified hierarchical two-step floating catchment area (H2SFCA) method. Using the Spearman correlation analysis, we investigated the factors influencing accessibility differences. The results indicate that Wenzhou’s spatial distribution of medical resources is unbalanced and unequal. According to the population and geographic distribution, the distribution of medical resources in Wenzhou is unequal. Wenzhou’s overall spatial accessibility is poor. The east region is more accessible than the west region, and the accessibility of medical institutions at different levels varies greatly. The correlation between accessibility and the number of institutions, doctors, population density, road density, and GDP is positive. There is a need for policies and initiatives to enhance the geographical distribution of resources, construct interconnected road networks, and improve residents’ access to medical resources.
Black-Spot Analysis in Hungary Based on Kernel Density Estimation
Authors: Baranyai Dávid , Sipos Tibor
Published: July 2022

Between 2010 and 2020 in the European Union, 30% of road accidents resulted in the death of a pedestrian or a cyclist. Accidents of unprotected pedestrians and cyclists are the reason why it is essential to introduce road safety measures. In our paper, we identify and rank black spots using an innovative reactive approach based on statistics. We elaborate on the mathematical methodological considerations through the processing of real-life empirical data in a Matlab environment. The applied black-spot analysis is based on a Kernel density estimate method, and the importance of the kernel functions and bandwidth are elaborated. Besides, special attention is devoted to the distorting effect of annual average daily traffic. The result of our research is a new methodology by which the real locations of the examined black spots can be determined. Furthermore, the boundaries of the critical sections and the extent of the formation of black spots can be determined by the introduced mathematical methods. With our innovative model, the black spots can be ranked, and the locations having the highest potential for improvement can be identified. Accordingly, optimal measures can be determined considering social-economic and sustainability aspects.
Engaging Environmental Sciences Students in Statistics through an Inclusive Experience in a Spanish University
Authors: Aquino-Llinares Nieves , Moreno-Navarro Pilar
Published: July 2022

In Spain, the issue of people with disability’s access to adapted educational material is still unresolved in the university context. Other insufficiently addressed issues comprise actions to include students with intellectual disability in university classrooms, and the awareness-raising and sensitisation of undergraduate students regarding disability. These deficiencies persist despite the known benefits of these types of initiatives for all the agents involved. For this reason, we carried out an inclusive experience at the Pablo de Olavide University, specifically in the statistics subject. Educational resources were adapted, inclusion activities were conducted with students with intellectual disability, and we were in charge of awareness-raising and sensitisation of undergraduate students. The present paper describes the experience as well as its evaluation, which was performed using a survey. Furthermore, the work compares the achievement of students with a more engaging system that incorporates inclusive teaching versus one that does not. The results, which were statistically analysed, report high levels of satisfaction for all the involved agents, as well as improvements in the academic performance of the students. Recommendations directed towards both teaching staff and educational authorities are also provided on how to promote inclusion in universities and more specifically inclusion in science. These suggested educational policies aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, based on the Sustainable Development Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A Differential Evolutionary Influence Maximization Algorithm Based on Network Discreteness
Authors: Fu Baojun , Zhang Jianpei , Li Wenjing , Zhang Meijing , He Yu , Mao Qiujin
Published: July 2022

The influence maximization problem is designed to seek a set of nodes in a social network so that the set has the maximum information propagation capacity on the network. In response to the inefficiency of existing greedy algorithms and the low accuracy of centrality-based heuristics, we propose an improved differential evolution algorithm (IDDE) based on the network discretization in this paper. The algorithm improves the variance rule of the differential evolution algorithm, takes the discrete number and discrete granularity of the remaining network after the removal of the target node as the index to evaluate the importance of the node, and proposes a fitness function based on the robustness of the network. The method embodies symmetry in two aspects. Firstly, the global connectivity among nodes in the network decreases as the number of target nodes removed in the social network increases. Secondly, the gain of global influence range gradually becomes smaller as the number of target nodes screened by the proposed method increases. We conducted comparison experiments on four real datasets of different sizes, and the results show that the IDDE algorithm outperforms the comparison algorithm.
A Multi-Cavity Iterative Modeling Method for the Exhaust Systems of Altitude Ground Test Facilities
Authors: Miao Keqiang , Wang Xi , Zhu Meiyin , Zhang Song , Dan Zhihong , Liu Jiashuai , Yang Shubo , Pei Xitong , Wang Xin , Zhang Louyue
Published: July 2022

To solve the modeling problem of altitude ground test facility (AGTF) exhaust systems, which is caused by nonlinearity along the gas path and the difficulty of ejection factor calculation, a multi-cavity iterative modeling method is presented. The components of exhaust systems, such as the exhaust diffuser and cooler, are built with a series of volumes. It overcomes the disadvantage that traditional lumped-parameter models have, whereby they cannot calculate the dynamic parameters along the gas path. The exhaust system model is built with an iterative method based on multi-cavity components, and simulations are carried out under experimental conditions. The simulation results show that the maximum error of pressure is 2 kPa in the steady state and less than 6 kPa in the transient process compared with experimental data. Closed-loop simulations are also carried out to further verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the multi-cavity iterative exhaust system modeling method.
Antenna Selection Based on Matching Theory for Uplink Cell-Free Millimetre Wave Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems
Authors: Al Ayidh Abdulrahman , Sambo Yusuf , Olaosebikan Sofiat , Ansari Shuja , Imran Muhammad Ali
Published: July 2022

In this paper, we propose a hybrid beamforming architecture with constant phase shifters (CPSs) for uplink cell-free millimetre-wave (mm-Wave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems based on exploiting antenna selection to reduce power consumption. However, current antenna selection techniques are applied for conventional massive MIMO, not cell-free massive MIMO systems. Therefore, the enormous computational complexity of these techniques to optimally select antennas for cell-free massive MIMO networks is caused by numerous randomly distributed access points (APs) in the service area and their large antennas. The architecture proposed in this work solves this issue by employing a low-complexity matching technique to obtain the optimal number of antennas, chosen based on channel magnitude and by switching off antennas that contribute more to interference power than to desired signal power for each radio frequency (RF) chain at each AP, instead of assuming all RF chains at each AP have the same number of selected antennas. Therefore, an assignment optimization problem based on a bipartite graph is formulated for cell-free mm-Wave massive MIMO system uplinks. Then, the Hungarian method is proposed to solve this problem due to its ability to solve this assignment problem in a polynomial time. Simulated results show that, despite several APs and antennas, the proposed matching approach is more energy-efficient and has lower computational complexity than state-of-the-art schemes.
Occurrence, Distribution, and Risk Assessment of Organophosphorus Pesticides in the Aquatic Environment of the Sele River Estuary, Southern Italy
Authors: Montuori Paolo , De Rosa Elvira , Di Duca Fabiana , De Simone Bruna , Scippa Stefano , Russo Immacolata , Sorrentino Michele , Sarnacchiaro Pasquale , Triassi Maria
Published: July 2022

The intensive use of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) causes concern among authorities in different countries, as many of them, remaining unchanged for a long time, pose a threat to environmental sustainability. This study assessed the spatio-temporal trends of nine OPPs in the water dissolved phase (WDP), suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment samples from the Sele River estuary, Southern Italy. Samples were collected in 10 sampling sites during four seasons. The highest levels were found at the mouth (mean value 28.25 ng L−1 as WDP + SPM) and then decreased moving southwards to the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, highest concentrations were detected in the warm season (July) with a mean value of 27.52 ng L−1. The load contribution to the Mediterranean Sea was evaluated in about 61.5 kg year−1, showing that the river was an important source of OPPs through discharge into the sea. The risk assessment revealed that no high-risk indices for the general-case scenario were observed, but for the worst-case scenario, potential risks were associated with chlorpyrifos, pyrimifos-methyl, and parathion, suggesting that OPP contamination should not be neglected. This study makes up the first record of OPPs in the surface waters of the Sele River and provides helpful data as a starting point for future studies.
Prevalence of Fascioliasis in Livestock and Humans in Pakistan: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Rizwan Muhammad , Khan Mobushir Riaz , Afzal Muhammad Sohail , Manahil Hajra , Yasmeen Sobia , Jabbar Muhammad , Irum Shumaila , Simsek Sami , Wasif Samia , Mahmood Tahir , Ahmed Haroon , Cao Jianping
Published: July 2022

Fascioliasis is a parasitic infection that affects both livestock and humans. Understanding the distribution of Fasciola spp. can help the development of preventive measures to control fascioliasis. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the status of fascioliasis among livestock and humans in Pakistan between 2000 and 2020. Based on the selection criteria, 25 articles were selected from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. This review included 76,099 animals, including 13,738 that were positive for fascioliasis. The overall prevalence was 18.1%; it was 0.3% in humans and 20.1% in livestock. Among animal hosts, the prevalence was highest in sheep (53.5%), followed by the goats (44.9%), cows (21.3%), buffaloes (16.8%), cattle (12.7%), and humans (0.3%). Sindh had the highest prevalence at 42.7%, followed by Baluchistan (25.2%), Punjab (17.7%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (10.7%), and Islamabad capital territory (1.5%). In the Punjab province, sheep had the highest prevalence (65.7%); in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it was buffalo (15.9%); and in Baluchistan, it was cows (28.5%). The prevalence of Fasciola spp. was higher in Sindh and Baluchistan than in the other provinces. The presented results are essential for developing preventive approaches for the management of human health and minimizing economic loss in the livestock industry in Pakistan. Preventive-curative treatments two times a year followed by a prophylactic treatment at the end of the dry season are crucial throughout the areas of Pakistan that serve as hotspots for infection by Fasciola sp. For humans, regular, prioritized surveys must be performed for high-risk populations so that the real situation can be assessed and addressed in a timely manner.
Overview and Status of the International Celestial Reference Frame as Realized by VLBI
Authors: de Witt Aletha , Charlot Patrick , Gordon David , Jacobs Christopher S.
Published: July 2022

Accurate measurement of angular positions on the sky requires a well-defined system of reference that is realized with accessible objects. The purpose of this study is to review the international standard realization of such a system, the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). The ICRF uses the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique as it has the highest resolution of any current astrometric technique for reference frames in order to observe Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) which are at such great distances (typical redshift ∼1) that there is currently no observed parallax or proper motion of these objects thus giving the frame excellent stability. We briefly review the history of the transition from the Fundamental Katalog 5 (FK5) optical frame to VLBI-based frames with attention to each of the three generations: ICRF-1, ICRF-2, and ICRF-3. We present some of the more prominent applications of the ICRF and outline the methods used to construct the ICRF. Next we discuss in more detail the current standard ICRF-3—which is the first frame to be realized at multiple wavelengths (S/X, K, X/Ka-bands)—including an estimate of its accuracy and limiting errors. We conclude with an overview of future plans for improving the ICRF.
Assessment of Anti m-RNA SARS-CoV-2 (BNT162b2) Antibody Titres in Mother and Child Pairs of Breastfeeding Women Vaccinated Post-Delivery
Authors: Kociszewska-Najman Bożena , Jaskólska Magdalena , Taradaj Karol , Sibanda Elopy , Ginda Tomasz
Published: July 2022

The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been successfully driven by efforts to ramp up access to vaccines. Pregnant or breastfeeding women and their children have not benefited from the vaccines despite their susceptibility to the virus. We investigated whether women who were offered vaccination after delivery passively transferred protective antibodies to their infants via breast milk. Serum was collected from breast feeding mother–infant pairs and analysed for levels of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using the CLIA chemiluminescence technique. Data were analysed for the significance of the differences using the Mann–Whitney U test and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to determine the strength of the correlation. A total of 13 mothers, mean age 34.86 (95%CI = 33.21–36.48) years and their infants, mean age 15.77 (95%CI = 11.24–20.29) months were enrolled. The mothers had completed their courses of the mRNA BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine during breastfeeding, 8.3 (95%CI = 7.24–9.36) months before the study. All 13 mothers had detectable antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, mean 1252, (95%CI = 736–1769) BAU/mL. Antibodies were detected in 3/13 (23%) breast-fed infants mean 322, (95%CI = 252–897) BAU/mL. There was no correlation between the maternal and infant IgG antibody titres. The time-lag since full vaccination did not correlate to the presence of antibodies in infant sera. Maternal or infant ages did not correlate to the presence of antibodies. Although some children (23%) had anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, there was no association between vaccine-induced COVID-19 spike protein specific maternal IgG antibody titres and the presence of antibodies in the breastfed infants. The data show that the transfer of passive immunity to infants following post-partum vaccination with the mRNA BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may be infrequent in this population.
Healthy cheese for a quick snack
Authors:   Department of Technology of Milk, Probiotic Dairy Products and Cheese Making, Moscow State University of Food Production, Medvedeva K.A. , Guchok Zh.L. ,   Department of Technology of Milk, Probiotic Dairy Products and Cheese Making, Moscow State University of Food Production
Published: July 2022

The acceleration of the social development of society requires transformations in the structure and quality of the population's nutrition and involves the inclusion of foods enriched with vitamins and other biologically active substances in the diet of the population. These substances may also be present in products belonging to the category “food on the go”. In this regard, it is necessary to develop and implement new technologies, to obtain physiologically complete and balanced products with useful properties. One of the directions in the creation of products of increased nutritional value of the Altai cheese-making is the production of cheeses with the addition of fruit and berry raw materials. For the new product, it is proposed to use sublimated sea buckthorn berries, lingonberries and black currants. The developed product will serve as an excellent source of energy for the human body. The protein contained in cheese is used in almost all processes that ensure human life; in addition, it contains all the essential amino acids that are not produced by the body and must be supplied from outside. The article discusses the technology of cheese enriched with berries from the Siberian region. The main goal of the study is to expand the range of cheeses with fortified fruits and to create a product for a quick snack (food on the go). Due to the uniqueness of taste indicators and the possibility of long-term storage without deterioration of organoleptic properties, this cheese will be competitive both in Altai and in other regions of Russia.
On objectivity of the definition of crunch in flour
Authors:   All-Russian Research Institute of the Confectionery Industry — Branch of the V.M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems, Beletskiy S.L.
Published: July 2022

The article presents two methods for determining the mineral impurity in flour and pasta, as more accurate with respect to organoleptic qualities.
Problematic aspects of terminology and classification of bran and fiber for customs purposes
Authors:   Department of Commodity Science and Customs Expert Examination, Russian Customs Academy, Krishtafovich D.V. , Ponomareva A.O. ,   Russian Customs Academy
Published: July 2022

The article examines the problematic aspects of the terminology and classification of bran and fiber, which make it difficult to carry out customs control over the reliability of the declared code according to the EAEU Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity by customs officials, based on an analysis of judicial practice materials. Possible ways of solving the identified problematic aspects are proposed.
Analysis of the trade assortment of the subcategory “Cereals” sold in chain stores in Moscow
Authors:   Department of International Commerce, Graduate School of Corporate Governance, Nikolaeva M.A. , Kashkina A. ,   Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation
Published: July 2022

The article presents the results of a survey of the range of cereals sold in stores in Moscow. The following indicators of the assortment are calculated: completeness, depth, stability, real novelty, basic novelty and their coefficients, as well as rationality, harmony and their coefficients. The main directions of the assortment policy of the examined shops are revealed.