bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lignin oxidation products in soil, dripwater and speleothems from
four different sites in New Zealand
Authors: Heidke Inken , Hartland Adam , Scholz Denis , Pearson Andrew , Hellstrom John , Breitenbach Sebastian F. M. , Hoffmann Thorsten
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Lignin oxidation products (LOPs) are widely used as vegetation proxies in climate archives, such as sediment and peat cores. The total LOP concentration, Σ8, provides information on the abundance of vegetation, while the ratios C / V and S / V of the different LOP groups also provide information on the type of vegetation. Recently, LOP analysis has been successfully applied to speleothem archives. However, there are many open questions concerning the transport and microbial degradation of LOPs on their way from the soil into the cave system. These processes could potentially alter the original source-dependent LOP signals, in particular the C / V and S / V ratios, and thus complicate their interpretation in terms of past vegetation changes. We analyzed LOPs in leaf litter and different soil horizons as well as dripwater and flowstone samples from four different cave sites from different vegetation zones in New Zealand using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry. We test whether the original source-dependent LOP signal of the overlying vegetation is preserved and can be recovered from flowstone samples and investigate how the signal is altered by the transport from the soil to the cave. The LOP concentrations range from mg/g in the soil to ng/g in the flowstones. Our results demonstrate that, from the soil to the flowstone, the C / V and S / V ratios both increase, while the total lignin content, Σ8, strongly decreases. This shows that the LOP signal is strongly influenced by both transport and degradation processes. Nevertheless, the relative LOP signal from the overlying soil at the different cave sites is preserved in the flowstone. We emphasize that for the interpretation of C / V and S / V ratios in terms of past vegetation changes, it is important to compare only samples of the same type (e.g., speleothem, dripwater or soil) and to evaluate only relative variations.
Semi-equilibrated global sea-level change projections for the next 10 000 years
Authors: Van Breedam Jonas , Goelzer Heiko , Huybrechts Philippe
Published: November 2020

Abstract. The emphasis for informing policy makers on future
sea-level rise has been on projections by the end of the 21st century.
However, due to the long lifetime of atmospheric CO2, the thermal
inertia of the climate system and the slow equilibration of the ice sheets,
global sea level will continue to rise on a multi-millennial timescale even
when anthropogenic CO2 emissions cease completely during the coming
decades to centuries. Here we present global sea-level change projections
due to the melting of land ice combined with steric sea effects during the next
10 000 years calculated in a fully interactive way with the Earth system
model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIMv1.3. The greenhouse forcing is
based on the Extended Concentration Pathways defined until 2300 CE with no
carbon dioxide emissions thereafter, equivalent to a cumulative CO2
release of between 460 and 5300 GtC. We performed one additional experiment
for the highest-forcing scenario with the inclusion of a methane emission
feedback where methane is slowly released due to a strong increase in
surface and oceanic temperatures. After 10 000 years, the sea-level change
rate drops below 0.05 m per century and a semi-equilibrated state is
reached. The Greenland ice sheet is found to nearly disappear for all
forcing scenarios. The Antarctic ice sheet contributes only about 1.6 m to
sea level for the lowest forcing scenario with a limited retreat of the
grounding line in West Antarctica. For the higher-forcing scenarios, the
marine basins of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet also become ice free,
resulting in a sea-level rise of up to 27 m. The global mean sea-level
change after 10 000 years ranges from 9.2 to more than 37 m. For the
highest-forcing scenario, the model uncertainty does not exclude the complete
melting of the Antarctic ice sheet during the next 10 000 years.
Tropical cyclones vertical structure from GNSS radio occultation: an archive covering the period 2001–2018
Authors: Lasota Elżbieta , Steiner Andrea K. , Kirchengast Gottfried , Biondi Riccardo
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Tropical cyclones (TC) are natural destructive phenomena,
which affect wide tropical and subtropical areas every year. Although the
correct prediction of their tracks and intensity has improved over recent
years, the knowledge about their structure and development is still
insufficient. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio
occultation (RO) technique can provide a better understanding of the TC
because it enables us to probe the atmospheric vertical structure with high
accuracy, high vertical resolution and global coverage in any weather
conditions. In this work, we create an archive of co-located TC best tracks
and RO profiles covering the period 2001–2018 and providing a complete view
of the storms since the pre-cyclone status to the cyclone disappearance. We
collected 1822 TC best tracks from the International Best Track Archive for
Climate Stewardship and co-located them with 48 313 RO profiles from seven
satellite missions processed by the Wegener Center for Climate and Global
Change. We provide information about location and intensity of the TC, RO
vertical profiles co-located within 3 h and 500 km from the TC eye
centre, and exact information about temporal and spatial distance between
the TC centre and the RO mean tangent point. A statistical analysis shows
how the archive covers all the ocean basins and all the intensity
categories well. We finally demonstrate the application of this dataset to
investigate the vertical structure for one TC example case. All the data
files, separately for each TC, are publicly available in NetCDF format at
https://doi.org/10.25364/WEGC/TC-RO1.0:2020.1 (Lasota et al.,
2020).
Design and evaluation of a hybrid passive–active knee prosthesis on energy consumption
Authors: Wang Xiaoming , Meng Qiaoling , Zhang Zhewen , Sun Jinyue , Yang Jie , Yu Hongliu
Published: November 2020

Abstract. The existing lower limb prostheses with passive knees have disadvantages, causing an asymmetric gait and higher metabolic cost during level walking which is in contrast with a normal gait. However, most existing active knee prostheses need a significant amount of energy. In this paper, a novel hybrid passive–active knee prosthesis (HPAK) that allows passive and active operating modes is proposed, which contains an active motor unit and a novel hydraulic damper with an electrically controlled valve that adjusts the damping torque dynamically during each gait cycle. An energy consumption model was built to evaluate the energy consumption when walking on level ground in three different simulation conditions to, respectively, simulate the complete HPAK, an ordinary active prosthesis (AKP) and an ordinary passive prosthesis (PKP). The results show that, in a cycle, the HPAK consumes only 16.19 J, which is 3.6 times lower than the AKP (58.95 J), and the PKP consumes only 1.24 J due to the novel spring–hydraulic damper structure designed and presented in
this paper. These results indicate that the proposed novel hybrid
passive–active knee prosthesis can have a positive effect on reducing
energy consumption and improving the approximation of healthy gait
characteristics when walking on level ground, contrasting with active or passive knee prostheses.
Measuring the seismic risk along the Nazca–South American subduction front: Shannon entropy and mutability
Authors: Vogel Eugenio E. , Brevis Felipe G. , Pastén Denisse , Muñoz Víctor , Miranda Rodrigo A. , Chian Abraham C.-L.
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Four geographical zones are defined along the trench that is formed
due to the subduction of the Nazca plate underneath the South American
plate; they are denoted A, B, C and D from north to south; zones A, B
and D had a major earthquake after 2010 (magnitude over 8.0), while
zone C has not, thus offering a contrast for comparison. For each zone,
a sequence of intervals between consecutive seisms with magnitudes
greater than or equal to 3.0 is set up and then characterized by Shannon entropy and
mutability. These methods show a correlation after a major earthquake in
what is known as the aftershock regime but show independence
otherwise. Exponential adjustments to these parameters reveal that
mutability offers a wider range for the parameters to characterize the
recovery compared to the values of the parameters defining the
background activity for each zone before a large earthquake. It is
found that the background activity is particularly high for zone A,
still recovering for zone B, reaching values similar to those of zone A in the case of zone C (without recent major earthquake) and
oscillating around moderate values for zone D. It is discussed how
this can be an indication of more risk of an important future seism
in the cases of zones A and C. The similarities and differences
between Shannon entropy and mutability are discussed and explained.
Non-stationary extreme value analysis of ground snow loads in the French Alps: a comparison with building standards
Authors: Le Roux Erwan , Evin Guillaume , Eckert Nicolas , Blanchet Juliette , Morin Samuel
Published: November 2020

Abstract. In a context of climate change, trends in extreme snow loads need to be determined to minimize the risk of structure collapse.
We study trends in 50-year return levels of ground snow load (GSL) using non-stationary extreme value models. These trends are assessed at a mountain massif scale from GSL data, provided for the French Alps from 1959 to 2019 by a meteorological reanalysis and a snowpack model.
Our results indicate a temporal decrease in 50-year return levels from 900 to 4200 m, significant in the northwest of the French Alps up to 2100 m.
We detect the most important decrease at 900 m with an average of −30 % for return levels between 1960 and 2010.
Despite these decreases, in 2019 return levels still exceed return levels designed for French building standards under a stationary assumption.
At worst (i.e. at 1800 m), return levels exceed standards by 15 % on average, and half of the massifs exceed standards.
We believe that these exceedances are due to questionable assumptions concerning the computation of standards. For example, these were devised with GSL, estimated from snow depth maxima and constant snow density set to 150 kg m−3, which underestimate typical GSL values for the snowpack.
Simultaneous estimation of wintertime sea ice thickness and snow depth from space-borne freeboard measurements
Authors: Shi Hoyeon , Sohn Byung-Ju , Dybkjær Gorm , Tonboe Rasmus Tage , Lee Sang-Moo
Published: November 2020

Abstract. A method of simultaneously estimating snow depth and sea
ice thickness using satellite-based freeboard measurements over the Arctic
Ocean during winter was proposed. The ratio of snow depth to ice thickness
(referred to as α) was defined and used in constraining the
conversion from the freeboard to ice thickness in satellite altimetry
without prior knowledge of snow depth. Then α was empirically
determined using the ratio of temperature difference of the snow layer to
the difference of the ice layer to allow the determination of α
from satellite-derived snow surface temperature and snow–ice interface
temperature. The proposed method was evaluated against NASA's Operation
IceBridge measurements, and results indicated that the algorithm adequately
retrieves snow depth and ice thickness simultaneously; retrieved ice
thickness was found to be better than the methods relying on the use of snow
depth climatology as input in terms of mean bias. The application of the
proposed method to CryoSat-2 radar freeboard measurements yields similar
results. In conclusion, the developed α-based method has the
capacity to derive ice thickness and snow depth without relying on the snow
depth information as input for the buoyancy equation or the radar penetration
correction for converting freeboard to ice thickness.
Assessing the Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction at a Specialised Boutique Restaurant in Bangkok
Authors: Zhang Chun , James Paul
Published: November 2020

This paper evaluates the effects of associated factors (Quality, Service, and Environmental) that influence customer satisfaction at a single, stand-alone boutique restaurant. It uses ACSI as a research model to study customer satisfaction.This research uses a defined population of 4800 restaurant visitors over, for 60 days representing a previous, specific, and focused marketing exercise. The calculated sample size was 369, where respondents were chosen using systematic random sampling.Data analysis is conducted using appropriate tests that are applied to 4 variables determined as Customer Expectation, Perceived Quality, Perceived Value, and customer satisfaction extracted from the ACSI index.The study result shows that females are the target purchase group. Environmental factors respond primarily to Customer expectation and Perceived Quality; Quality and Environmental factors respond mostly to Perceived Value, Perceived Quality, Service factors that influence Customer Satisfaction. From this study, Perceived Quality and Perceived Value are significantly positive for customer satisfaction， but Customer expectation does not positively affect customer satisfaction.The results further indicate that customers focus on the experience, the authentic experience achieved expectation, and overall feeling after product and service experience. The results support the ACSI theory. The assessment revealed that Quality and Service factors relating to Customer Expectation and Perceived Quality factors relating to Perceived Value need to facilitate, as it can improve overall customer satisfaction for small restaurants.
Time Series Analysis and Forecasting of Rainfall for Agricultural Crops in India: An Application of Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Mithiya Debasis , Mandal Kumarjit , Bandyopadhyay Simanti
Published: November 2020

Indian agriculture depends heavily on rainfall. It not only influences agricultural production but also affects the prices of all agricultural commodities. Rainfall is an exogenous variable which is beyond farmers’ control. The outcome of rainfall fluctuation is quite natural. It has been observed that fluctuation in rainfall brings about fluctuation in output leading to price changes. Considering the importance of rainfall in determining agricultural production and prices, the study has attempted to forecast monthly rainfall in India with the help of time series analysis using monthly rainfall data. Both linear and non-linear models have been used. The value of diagnostic checking parameters (MAE, MSE, RMSE) is lower in a non-linear model compared to a linear one. The non-linear model - Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been chosen instead of linear models, namely, simple seasonal exponential smoothing and Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average to forecast rainfall. This will help to identify the proper cropping pattern.
On the syntax of addressee in imperatives: insights from allocutivity
Authors: Kaur Gurmeet
Published: November 2020

Zanuttini (2008), and Zanuttini et al. (2012) claim that all imperatives host the Jussive head, an imperative-specific 2nd person projection which agrees with the subject to restrict it to the addressee. This paper argues against the proposed link between clause type and addressee encoding by examining imperatives with allocutivity in Punjabi which exhibit two unique properties: first, these imperatives lack 2nd person imperative agreement and appear instead with allocutivity, which is available across clause-types. Secondly, they can only be used in contexts with a specific addressee, whose (non)-honorific status vis-à-vis the speaker is well-defined. I argue that allocutivity in Punjabi does not underlie an additional person probe distinct from the subject agreement probe. Instead, there is a unique person probe in the C-T domain, labeled Pers0, which agrees with the addressee/Adr upon failing to agree with the subject. Extending this syntax of allocutivity to imperatives, the presence of obligatory allocutivity in the imperative underlies a unique Pers0, which in the absence of a co-occurring person probe, i.e. the Jussive head, mediates an agreement relation between the Adr and the minimally specified pro subject to restrict the latter to the addressee. Furthermore, I show that the allocutive head/Pers0 is distinct from the Jussive head in that it not only hosts a 2nd person feature, but also a [status] feature which encodes the speaker-addressee relation. Valuation of both these features by the Adr restricts allocutive imperatives to specific addressee contexts.
Palestinian American Women and Marital Choices Across Generations
Authors: Othman Enaya Hammad
Published: November 2020

This paper examines Palestinian women’s marriage preferences and the ways they incorporate national/cultural elements into their self-initiated marriage process in order to mitigate the reactions of their families and local community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Marriage decisions among Palestinians in diaspora are a complex affair defined by notions of nationalism, kin relations, and religion, with their inherent gendered aspects. These notions reveal an array of actions and choices that testify to the ways in which women build strategies to deal with their realities and increase their agency. Their access to higher education, careers, and residences in multi-cultural locations allow them to redefine gender roles and control their marriage choices. Intermarriage outside their ethnic and national groups, increase in marriage age, and marriage processes that are self-initiated yet devised and presented in the form of customary marriage patterns emerge as visible phenomena among second-generation Palestinian Muslims. The decreasing number of suitable potential spouses drives a considerable number of Palestinian American women to look outside their national and ethnic group for marriage partners, thereby prioritizing their universal, religious identity as Muslims over Palestinian ethnic identity. This study uses oral interviews and community observation to examine how Palestinian Muslim women maintained some symbolic customary practices and challenged others by conceptualizing, utilizing, and modifying their group cultural and religious values in order to expand the boundaries of their gender roles and increase their power in negotiating marriage choices.
NPO Funding in Italy: The Role and the Contribution of Corporate Governance
Authors: Gazzola Patrizia , Amelio Stefano , Grechi Daniele , Papagiannis Fragkoulis
Published: November 2020

By adopting mainly the “principal-agent theory”, the study analyses how non-profit organizations (NPOs) corporate governance structure could increase the trust of the donors and therefore affect their ability to receive donations from taxpayers. Starting from a literature review we concentrated our attention on the non-profit sector where NGOs represent the largest category. In Italy, starting from 2006, all NPOs could receive funding deriving from taxes paid by citizens when making tax returns with the so called ‘5 per thousand’ of the personal income tax. We analyzed the corporate governance disclosure practices of the first Italian 100 NPOs that received the highest donations from 5 per thousand. In particular, we elaborated a CGI index that includes governance and informativeness. This paper shows how an efficient and transparent corporate governance structure motivates the donors to donate 5 per thousand to NPOs that demonstrate good corporate governance. The findings suggest that taxpayers are inclined to allocate 5 per thousand to organizations where the information level, from a governance point of view, is high, easily available and clear about the purpose in the specified field of research.
EVALUATION OF MG-25 FUSE QUALITY AT LIFE CYCLE AND IDENTIFICATION OF OCCURRING FAULTS
Authors: Terenowski Henryk , Krysiński Bogdan
Published: November 2020

The paper presents an analysis of faults of MG-25 fuse which affect the efficiency of this article in the life cycle and were detected at testing its technical status. The analysis was made on the grounds of test results [1] received for production lots of MG-25 fuses from years 1970-2000. The quantitative contribution of particular faults affecting the quality of this article was illustrated by Pareto-Lorenz method.
Survey Based Evaluation of Indoor Environment in an Administrative Military Facility
Authors: Prozuments Aleksejs , Borodinecs Anatolijs , Zemitis Jurgis
Published: November 2020

Military facilities feature distinctive requirements with regards to building technical and structural design, material use and indoor environmental conditions (IEC), as these buildings serve specific purpose and the personnel occupying the premises may wear uniform or protective clothing (administrative staff, special forces, training personnel etc.), that can greatly affect their satisfaction level with thermal comfort and productivity.

In order to acquire data on the actual indoor environment conditions and obtain a feedback from the occupying personnel on their satisfaction level with the IEC in an administrative military building situated in a special purpose military compound, a series of IAQ measurements (temperature, humidity, CO2 level) and a survey on indoor air quality and thermal comfort was conducted in different premises of the administrative office building. A total of 73 respondents occupying the building participated in the survey.

The results of the conducted survey revealed that there is a high degree of dissatisfaction with the IEC in military buildings, that is attributed to inadequate ventilation and overtemperature. That matched the collected indoor environmental quality (IEQ) data, forming a direct relationship between the poor energy efficiency and low satisfaction rate with IEC.

The study reiterates the need to address the poor current technical state of unclassified building stock, emphasizes the call for developing clear regulatory requirements for newly-constructed unclassified buildings and thorough feasibility assessment for renovation projects.
Resolution Enhancement of Hyperspectral Data Exploiting Real Multi-Platform Data
Authors: Restaino Rocco , Vivone Gemine , Addesso Paolo , Picone Daniele , Chanussot Jocelyn
Published: November 2020

Multi-platform data introduce new possibilities in the context of data fusion, as they allow to exploit several remotely sensed images acquired by different combinations of sensors. This scenario is particularly interesting for the sharpening of hyperspectral (HS) images, due to the limited availability of high-resolution (HR) sensors mounted onboard of the same platform as that of the HS device. However, the differences in the acquisition geometry and the nonsimultaneity of this kind of observations introduce further difficulties whose effects have to be taken into account in the design of data fusion algorithms. In this study, we present the most widespread HS image sharpening techniques and assess their performances by testing them over real acquisitions taken by the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) and the WorldView-3 (WV3) satellites. We also highlight the difficulties arising from the use of multi-platform data and, at the same time, the benefits achievable through this approach.
3D Reconstruction through Fusion of Cross-View Images
Authors: Qin Rongjun , Song Shuang , Ling Xiao , Elhashash Mostafa
Published: November 2020

3D recovery from multi-stereo and stereo images, as an important application of the image-based perspective geometry, serves many applications in computer vision, remote sensing, and Geomatics. In this chapter, the authors utilize the imaging geometry and present approaches that perform 3D reconstruction from cross-view images that are drastically different in their viewpoints. We introduce our project work that takes ground-view images and satellite images for full 3D recovery, which includes necessary methods in satellite and ground-based point cloud generation from images, 3D data co-registration, fusion, and mesh generation. We demonstrate our proposed framework on a dataset consisting of twelve satellite images and 150 k video frames acquired through a vehicle-mounted Go-pro camera and demonstrate the reconstruction results. We have also compared our results with results generated from an intuitive processing pipeline that involves typical geo-registration and meshing methods.
Spatiotemporal Fusion in Remote Sensing
Authors: Albanwan Hessah , Qin Rongjun
Published: November 2020

Remote sensing images and techniques are powerful tools to investigate earth’s surface. Data quality is the key to enhance remote sensing applications and obtaining clear and noise-free set of data is very difficult in most situations due to the varying acquisition (e.g., atmosphere and season), sensor and platform (e.g., satellite angles and sensor characteristics) conditions. With the increasing development of satellites, nowadays Terabytes of remote sensing images can be acquired every day. Therefore, information and data fusion can be particularly important in the remote sensing community. The fusion integrates data from various sources acquired asynchronously for information extraction, analysis, and quality improvement. In this chapter, we aim to discuss the theory of spatiotemporal fusion by investigating previous works, in addition to describing the basic concepts and some of its applications by summarizing our prior and ongoing works.
The Influence of Career Adaptability on Career Calling and Health of Teachers
Authors: Shava Herring , Tafadzwa Chinyamurindi Willie
Published: November 2020

The challenge of work often imposes a range of physical and mental health challenges to teachers. There is a need not only to find strategies that promote the health of teachers but also to assist teachers in their profession, albeit challenges that may exist. The chapter explains whether the presence of a career calling predicts employee mental and physical health. Focusing on a sample of teachers in rural high schools, the moderating effect of career adaptability on the relationship between the presence of a career calling and employee mental and physical health was investigated. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of 214 teachers through a self-administered questionnaire. Simple linear regression and hierarchical regression analysis were the statistical techniques performed to make meaning of the data. Simple linear regression results indicated that the presence of a career calling significantly influenced mental health but had no statistical significant influence on physical health. The hierarchical regression results revealed that career adaptability negatively influenced the relationship between the presence of a career calling and both aspects of health (mental and physical). Based on the findings, strategies are put in place that are three fold aimed at improving career development and health of teachers.
Linear Programming Optimization Techniques for Addis Ababa Public Bus Transport
Authors: Berhan Eshetie , Kitaw Daniel
Published: November 2020

Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE) is the only public enterprise that provides transport services in the city of Addis Ababa. The enterprise uses a fixed bus schedule system to serve passengers in more than 125 routes. However, the current bus assignment and scheduling system are becoming a challenge in the company’s operational performances. The objective of this paper is to develop an optimum bus assignment method using linear programming (LP). After a thorough analysis of the existing bus scheduling system, the LP model is developed and used to determine the optimal number of busses for each route in four shifts. The output of the LP-model is then validated with the performances of the existing systems. The findings of the study showed that the new model reveals better performances on the operating costs, bus utilization, and trips and distance covered compared with the existing scheduling system. The bus utilization is improved by the new system and cut costs on the one hand and improves the service quality to passengers on the other hand. The authors recommended the enterprise to adopt the new bus assignment system so that busses can be assigned based on the demand distribution of passengers for each route at a given shift.
A Macroscopic Perspective on Lithic Technology and Human Behavior during Pleistocene in Zhejiang Province, Southeastern China
Authors: Chen Hong , Liu Jiying , Xu Xinmin , Lian Huiru
Published: November 2020

Paleolithic archeological remains were not reported from Zhejiang until 2002. Up to now, over 70 Paleolithic sites and/or localities have been recovered through a series of surveys mainly in the north part of Zhejiang. An overview of the Paleolithic record and archeological sequence in this region during the Early to Late Pleistocene are present from a macroscopic perspective in this article, as well as the brief introduction of lithic technology and human adaptation in south China. In general, the lithic assemblages in Zhejiang represent the features of Pebble Industry in south China and show a trend of reduction on the size of stone artifacts since the Late Paleolithic. It is presumed that prehistoric humankind has shown the behavioral strategies as followed: a) exploited local raw material; b) the utilization of core and the degree of proficiency in knapping have been improved gradually; c) the retouching focused on the areas of edges; and d) preferred to use sharp edges of tools.
Quilombo Communities and Opportunities for Market-Driven Mechanisms for the Protection of the Amazon Forest
Authors: Kanele Anna , Pablo Cardoso Castro Pedro
Published: November 2020

Quilombos are communities created since colonial times by emancipated African-descendants who located their free communities in the deep forest north of the Amazon in Brazil. These vulnerable communities are still oppressed and neglected. Paradoxically, their actual economic activities based on Amazon products’ extraction are becoming key for protecting the rainforest in the north of Brazil (state of Para). In this chapter, the analysis of Honey production illustrates their socio-economical context, organizational capabilities, and the potential of their economic activities to preserve the rainforest’s integrity. It also illustrates the challenges and limitations that they face to access markets where the value of their products’ attributes is appreciated based on the profile of blue businesses (e.g., fair trade, organic, rainforest friendly).
Impact of Oil Price Fluctuation on the Economy of Nigeria, the Core Analysis for Energy Producing Countries
Authors: Gylych Jelilov , Ahmad Jibrin Abdullahi , Celik Bilal , Isik Abdurrahman
Published: November 2020

The study aims to find the short-run empirical analyses of the impact of oil price fluctuation on the monetary instrument (Exchange rate, Inflation, Interest rate) in Nigeria. We explored the frequently used Toda–Yamamoto model (TY) model, by adopting the TY Modified Wald (MWALD) test approach to causality, Forecast Error Variance Decomposition (FEVD) and Impulse Response Functions (IRFs).The study covered the period 1995 to 2018 (monthly basis), and our findings from MWALD test indicated that there is a uni-directional causality of the log of oil price (lnoilpr) to log of the exchange rate (lnexchr) at 10% level of significance, also there is a contemporaneous response of log of consumer price index (lncpi) to log of exchange rate (lnexchr) and log of interest rate (lnintr), and jointly (lnoilpr, lncpi and lnintr) granger cause lncpi. Also at 5% level of significance lnintr responded due to positive change in lnoilpr and lnexchr, and jointly causes lnintr at 5% level of significance. This is complimented with our findings in FEVDs, and IRFs. The empirical analyses shows that oil price is a strong determining factor of exchange rate, cost of borrowing and directly influences inflationary or deflationary tendencies in Nigeria.
Estimation of the Efficiency Indices for Operating the Vertical Transportation Systems
Authors: K. Belyaev Yury , H. Hajiyev Asaf
Published: November 2020

Various lifts’ systems with different control rules are considered. It is suggested to use the efficiency indexes: customer’s average waiting in lift cabin time and average total time, including the time of delivering the customer to the desired floor. Various control rules are introduced: Odd-Even, where one lift serves only customers in Odd floors and other lift only does that in Even floors Up-Down control rule where one lift serves only customers who are going from the first floor to the destination floor 2, 3,…, k; another lift serves customers from the first floor to the upper floor k + 1, k + 2, …, n. The results of simulation, allowing to compare various control rules relatively to the efficiency indexes, are given. It is introduced an optimal number of lifts, which minimizes number of lifts, minimizing a customer’s average waiting time. For some systems, the method of finding the optimal number of lifts, is suggested. Necessary figures demonstrating the operation of the lifts’ systems and the results of the simulation allow to estimate the efficiency indexes.
Transfer Learning and Deep Domain Adaptation
Authors: Xu Wen , He Jing , Shu Yanfeng
Published: November 2020

Transfer learning is an emerging technique in machine learning, by which we can solve a new task with the knowledge obtained from an old task in order to address the lack of labeled data. In particular deep domain adaptation (a branch of transfer learning) gets the most attention in recently published articles. The intuition behind this is that deep neural networks usually have a large capacity to learn representation from one dataset and part of the information can be further used for a new task. In this research, we firstly present the complete scenarios of transfer learning according to the domains and tasks. Secondly, we conduct a comprehensive survey related to deep domain adaptation and categorize the recent advances into three types based on implementing approaches: fine-tuning networks, adversarial domain adaptation, and sample-reconstruction approaches. Thirdly, we discuss the details of these methods and introduce some typical real-world applications. Finally, we conclude our work and explore some potential issues to be further addressed.
Basic Volcanic Elements of the Arxan-Chaihe Volcanic Field, Inner Mongolia, NE China
Authors: Li Boxin , Németh Károly , Palmer Julie , Palmer Alan , Wu Jing , Procter Jonathan , Liu Jiaqi
Published: November 2020

The Arxan-Chaihe Volcanic Field, Inner Mongolia, NE China is a Pleistocene to Recent volcanic field still considered to be active. In this chapter we provide an update of current volcanological research conducted in the last four years to describe the volcanic architecture of the identified vents, their eruptive history and potential volcanic hazards. Here we provide an evidence-based summary of the most common volcanic eruption styles and types the field experienced in its evolution. The volcanic field is strongly controlled by older structural elements of the region. Hence most of the volcanoes of the field are fissure-controlled, fissure-aligned and erupted in Hawaiian to Strombolian-style creating lava spatter and scoria cone cone chains. One of the largest and most complex volcano of the field (Tongxin) experienced a violent phreatomagmatic explosive phase creating a maar in an intra-mountain basin, while the youngest known eruptions formed a triple vent set (Yanshan) that reached violent Strombolian phases and created an extensive ash and lapilli plains in the surrounding areas. This complex vent system also emitted voluminous lava flows that change the landscape by damming fluival networks, providing a volcanological paradise for the recently established Arxan UNESCO GLobal Geopark.
Basic Electroencephalogram and Its Common Clinical Applications in Children
Authors: Hammad Seroor Jadah Raafat
Published: November 2020

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive neurophysiological study that monitors electrical activity of the brain. EEG is an essential investigational tool to analyze and record electrical impulses of the brain and considered to be the gold standard electrophysiological test which can be used to help diagnose epilepsy. EEG can also be used to diagnose and evaluate other conditions such as sleep disorders, neurometabolic diseases with encephalopathy and neuropsychiatric disorders. It is also an essential ancillary test in other conditions such as brain death assessment. However, it is essential not to entirely rely on EEG for an absolute diagnosis of epilepsy as the main indication of EEG in general and in Pediatric age group in particular is to categorize different types of seizure and epilepsy syndromes for further evaluation and management.
Mineral Deficiencies: A Root Cause for Reduced Longevity in Mammals
Authors: S.N. Chaitanya Nyshadham , Sahu Sibani
Published: November 2020

Metals, inorganic compounds and their elements that act as cofactors for enzymes that play an essential role in various biological processes constitute mineral nutrients. Their primary source is soil and enters the climax consumers in food chain through plants as they contain most minerals that are essential for humans. They are required in small and precise amounts according to their requirement they were classified as Major (phosphorous (P), potassium (K)), Secondary (calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S)), Minor/trace/rare (Boron (B), chlorine (Cl), chromium (Cr), fluoride(F), iodine (I), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), sodium (Na), vanadium (V) and zinc (Zn)). The daily requirement of minerals for individuals for effective biological function inside the cell is known as recommended dietary allowance (RDA) that varies for element. The daily requirement of major element is up to 10 g/d, whereas secondary and micro minerals was 400 - 1500 mg/d and 45 μg/d - 11 mg/d, respectively. Meats, vegetables, fruits, grains contains high amount of minerals that protect humans from mineral deficiencies. Some of the mineral deficiencies include ageing, cancer, hair loss etc. The key for these root problems include supplementation of healthy foods rich in minerals and understanding the importance of food by nutrition education, practice of physical activity, and about food habits. A detailed understanding of each mineral and their biological importance through mechanism of action studied in detail to overcome their deficiencies.
Multilevel Management System for Coastal Areas by Network Governance
Authors: Hidaka Takeshi
Published: November 2020

Coastal areas are a critical space for humans and other living things and must be properly managed. Coastal management is complicated by the diverse use of coastal areas by diverse individuals. The proposed method is integrated coastal area management that integrates various sectors. Satoumi has been proposed and practiced in Japan and is one of the voluntary coastal zone managements of shallow water. The author proposed a multilevel management system with Satoumi as a basic element. The multilevel management system manages the waters under the jurisdiction of prefectures through multistep efforts such as providing Satoumi, Satoumi networks, and administrative coastal infrastructure. The author also proposed that multistep efforts be bundled with network governance. In this report, after introducing the multistep management system, the efforts of coastal zone management in Shizugawa Bay and the coast of Kagawa Prefecture in Japan were evaluated as a multistep management system and network governance, and the characteristics and issues of each approach were extracted. Furthermore, the effectiveness of multilevel management systems and network governance were examined.
Immobilization of Powdered Coal Fly Ashes (CFAs) into CFA Beads and Column Studies on Color Removal from Pulp Mill Effluents Using These CFA Beads
Authors: Salahin Musfiques , Yuzhu Fu George
Published: November 2020

In this study, immobilization process of the three (3) powder CFAs was studied. The major results on immobilization process were briefly presented. A total number of fifteen (15) column studies from the combination of the five (5) types of CFAs beads and the three (3) PMEs samples were performed. In each column study, a set of aggregate parameters of flow rate, empty bed contract time, operational time, and throughput volume was studied, and the data was fitted to existing modeling of breakthrough curves. The overall operational time was 12–24-hour, color removal efficiencies were 40–90%, and throughput volume of treated PMEs was 10–14 bed volume. For the column study, the correlation coefficient R2 value for each combination indicated that the Thomas model had a better fit with the observed data than the Adams-Bohart model, and the color adsorption capacities of CFA beads varied in a wide range of 0.31–28.23 mg/g.
Neuromorphic Photonics
Authors: Haidar Shahine Mike
Published: November 2020

Neuromorphic photonic applies concepts extracted from neuroscience to develop photonic devices behaving like neural systems and achieve brain-like information processing capacity and efficiency. This new field combines the advantages of photonics and neuromorphic architectures to build systems with high efficiency, high interconnectivity and paves the way to ultrafast, power efficient and low cost and complex signal processing. We explore the use of semiconductor lasers with optoelectronic feedback operating in self-pulsating mode as photonic neuron that can deliver flexible control schemes with narrow optical pulses of less than 30 ps pulse width, with adjustable pulse intervals of −2 ps/mA to accommodate specific Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) coding of events to trigger photonic neuron firing as required. The analyses cover in addition to self-pulsation performance and controls, the phase noise and jitter characteristics of such solution.
The Light Penetrates Silence: Kolok Dance Study in Bengkala Village, Buleleng, Bali
Authors: Ayu Trisnawati Ida
Published: November 2020

Art is an expression of the pure soul of humans that is not limited by physical. Therefore, everyone can express their art in various forms of art acts such as dancing, singing, painting, and others. This occurs to the Kolok (mute) community in Bengkala village where they express their artistic spirit by dancing. The Kolok community in this village dances Janger Kolok Dance, Baris Bebek Bingar Bengkala (Bebila) Dance or Baris Bebila Dance, and Jalak Anguci Starling Dance. This dance illustrates the joy and excitement of the mute people in Bengkala village who are able to surpass their limitations into an opportunity to fill themselves up. The creation of this dance is motivated by esthetic, economic and religious reasons. Structurally, all Kolok dances in Bengkala follow the same pattern of general dance but there are adjustments to the conditions of the dancers. This dance has the meaning of struggle, discipline, hard work, cooperation, entertainment based on excitement through the limitations of those who are deaf Kolok.
Soil Genesis of Histosols and Gelisols with a Emphasis on Soil Processes Supporting Carbon Sequestration
Authors: T. Aide Michael , Aide Christine , Braden Indi
Published: November 2020

Based on the U.S. Soil Taxonomy Histosols are soils that have a histic epipedon, which is a surface horizon that exhibits a sufficient abundance of soil organic matter to be distinctively different than other soil orders predominantly composed of clastic materials. Gelisols are soils that have permafrost, with histels being a suborder that is dominated by organic materials. Collectively, these soil orders are abundant in peatland ecosystems. The abundance of soil organic material is primarily a consequence of climate, topography, hydrology, vegetation. Peatland ecosystems have been a major research arena; however, added research attention is being directed to the potential release of carbon because of accelerated climate change. This review focuses of the structure and dynamics of organic soils and an understanding of their creation, evolution and ultimate fate. Attention is focused on degraded peatland net primary productivity because of potential forthcoming differences attributed to rainfall, temperature, vegetation, hydrology and permafrost disappearance.
The Scramble for Cyberspace: Internet-Based Reporting of Genocide in the Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia Crisis
Authors: Billa Robert Nanche
Published: November 2020

The post-truth politics has been ascendant in Cameroon since the beginning of the Anglophone crisis. Consequently, the country’s political culture has been influenced by appeals to emotion, usually ignoring factual rebuttals. We collected original data using Facebook accounts which are a preserved archive of the way hundreds of millions of Southern Cameroonians and other relate to one another and share genocidal information. The data indicate that the government’s stance on bearing genocidal responsibility changes continuously when internal and external actors pressurize it to investigate crimes committed against humanity as it was the case in the 2020 Ngarbuh massacre and it either remains stagnant or the blames are shifted to the separatists when no serious pressure is exerted on it. The more the truth about crimes against humanity is hidden, the more tension increases, the more trust is destroyed and the more the war will prolong and widen the divide between Ambazonians and La Republique du Cameroon. Martial and cosmetic solutions only help to radicalize the population and instigate them to defy state institutions. Ambazonians’ responses indicate that they did not have to rely on an international community but themselves and it prompted them to take arms and fight the more.
Combined Application Therapies of Stem Cells and Drugs in the Neurological Disorder Attenuation
Authors: Chen Chia-Chi , Hung Ying-Ching , Lin Chia-Yu , Chen Hsiao-Yun , Huang Ping-Min , Hung Shao-Wen
Published: November 2020

Neurological disorders (NDs) are diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system that affected the hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common NDs with hallucinations and disturbance of consciousness that cause the abnormal neurological activity in any part of brain. Neuroinflammation (NI) has been identified in epilepsy-related tissue from both experimental and clinical evidence and suspected to participate in the formation of neuronal cell death, reactive gliosis and neuroplastic changes in the hippocampus, may contribute to epileptogenesis. The NI is tightly regulated by microglia, but it is thought that excessive or chronic microglial activation can contribute to neurodegenerative processes. Therefore, the modulation of microglia responses may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of severe or chronic NI conditions. Although the condition responds well to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), there are still unresponsive to AEDs in about 1/3 of cases. Neural stem cells are the origin of various types of neural cells during embryonic development. Currently, many results of stem cell therapies in the animal experiments and clinical trials were demonstrated the efficacious therapeutic effects in the attenuated symptoms of ND. Therefore, the combined application therapies of stem cells and drugs may be a promising candidate for the therapeutic strategies of NDs, especially TLE.