bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Categorization of Failures in Polymer Rapid Tools Used for Injection Molding
Authors: Bagalkot Anurag , Pons Dirk , Symons Digby , Clucas Don
Published: January 2019

Background—Polymer rapid tooling (PRT) inserts for injection molding (IM) are a cost-effective method for prototyping and low-volume manufacturing. However, PRT inserts lack the robustness of steel inserts, leading to progressive deterioration and failure. This causes quality issues and reduced part numbers. Approach—Case studies were performed on PRT inserts, and different failures were observed over the life of the tool. Parts molded from the tool were examined to further understand the failures, and root causes were identified. Findings—Critical parameters affecting the tool life, and the effect of these parameters on different areas of tool are identified. A categorization of the different failure modes and the underlying mechanisms are presented. The main failure modes are: surface deterioration; surface scalding; avulsion; shear failure; bending failure; edge failure. The failure modes influence each other, and they may be connected in cascade sequences. Originality—The original contributions of this work are the identification of the failure modes and their relationships with the root causes. Suggestions are given for prolonging tool life via design practices and molding parameters.
New Technical Parameters and Operational Improvements of the Metal Oxide Varistors Manufacturing Process
Authors: Frigura-Iliasa Flaviu Mihai , Musuroi Sorin , Sorandaru Ciprian , Vatau Doru
Published: January 2019

At the beginning, this article details the manufacturing procedures for varistor materials. Starting from the initial composition of two large series of varistors (those with two additive oxides and those with five additive oxides), there is a major overview of the main stages of the technological process and the equipment used for the production, emphasizing the technological changes that were made. The article continues with the study of the influence of the sintering pressure and the sintering temperature on the electrical properties of the varistor materials made before. There were two experimental series of 7 varistors, one series based on 2 additive oxides and one based on 5 additive oxides. Each varistor of these series was sintered at another temperature, the fundamental purpose being to determine an optimal sintering temperature for each chemical composition. A second activity consisted of manufacturing two more series of varistors with the same chemical composition (2 oxides and 5 additive oxides), which were sintered at two different pressures, for having a set of conclusions on the influence of sintering pressure on the electric performances. All conclusions are underlying a new process for manufacturing metal oxide based varistors.
Sanctifying Security: Jewish Approaches to Religious Education in Jerusalem
Authors: Calvert Isaac
Published: January 2019

While Schmitt’s Political Theology paints modern theories of the state as secularized theological concepts, prominent threads of Jewish religious education in 20th century Jerusalem have moved in a different direction, that is, toward the re-sacralization of such secularized theological concepts. Orthodox Jewish schools in Jerusalem, or yeshivot, take an orthopractic approach to religious education as informing all aspects of life, rather than a delimited set of doctrines or beliefs. As such, questions of security fall within the purview Jewish religious education. To look more closely at the relationship between orthodox Jewish religious education, sanctity and security, I spent seven months enrolled as a student-observer in three Jerusalem yeshivot taking daily field notes, conducting interviews, attending classes, and studying related sacred texts. By examining both Jewish sacred texts and ethnographic data from contemporary Jerusalem yeshivot, this article highlights how geo-political ideals of security in modern Jerusalem are being re-sacralized by contemporizing ancient sacred texts and approaching religious education itself as a means of eliciting divine aid in the securitization process for Jewish Jerusalem.
Improving the Hydro-Morpho Dynamics of A River Confluence by Using Vanes
Authors: Ali Hydar Lafta , Yusuf Badronnisa , Mohammed Thamer Ahamed , Shimizu Yasuyuki , Ab Razak Mohd Shahrizal , Rehan Balqis Mohamed
Published: January 2019

Controlling the flow and bed morphology in a river confluence is important in training and navigation works. The flow in river confluence is highly complex due to crucial and rapid changes associated with flow dynamics, sediment transport, and geomorphology. The flow in Malaysia’s rivers has many confluence junctions in natural drains of catchment areas. The confluence between Kurau and Ara Rivers, in Perak, Malaysia, is selected to investigate the scour hole that usually forms in the erosion zone and the bar that forms in the deposition zone. A 2D numerical model is used in simulating hydro-morpho dynamics in the rivers confluence to mitigate the erosion and deposition zones by adopting vanes as control structures. Simulation results suggest that the most effective location, dimension, and angle of vanes can be decided based on their performance in scouring and deposition zones. The distribution velocity and flow vectors can help in deciding the location of the vanes.
Detergent Plants of Northern Thailand: Potential Sources of Natural Saponins
Authors: Wisetkomolmat Jiratchaya , Suppakittpaisarn Pongsakorn , Sommano Sarana Rose
Published: January 2019

The natural forests of Northern Thailand are the mother source of many utilisable natural products because of their diverse flora and fauna. Northern Thai people have learned to utilise plants, in particular those of plants with cleansing properties, since the beginning of time. Several local species of detergent plants in Thailand are traditionally used by the locals and indigenous people. However, these plants may become extinct because their habitats have been replaced by industrial agriculture, and their uses have been replaced by chemically synthesised detergents. Researchers need to study and communicate the biology, phytochemistry, and the importance of these plants to conserve natural biodiversity of Northern Thailand. Of many utilisable detergent phytochemicals, natural saponins are known as bio-based surfactant and foaming agents. Their physiochemical and biological properties feature structural diversity, which leads to many industrial applications. In this review, we explained the term “detergent” from the physiological mechanism perspective and the detergent effects of saponins. We also compiled a list of Thai local plants with cleansing properties focusing on the saponin-containing plants. Future studies should investigate information relative to plant environment, ethnobotanical data, and the bioactive compound content of these plants. The knowledge acquired from this study will promote the maintenance of the local biodiversity and the conservation of the detergent plant species found in Thailand.
Improvement of Hourly Surface Solar Irradiance Estimation Using MSG Rapid Scanning Service
Authors: Gallucci Donatello , Romano Filomena , Cimini Domenico , Di Paola Francesco , Gentile Sabrina , Larosa Salvatore , Nilo Saverio T. , Ricciardelli Elisabetta , Ripepi Ermann , Viggiano Mariassunta , Geraldi Edoardo
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this work is to explore the effect of temporal sampling on the accuracy of the hourly mean Surface Solar Irradiance (SSI) estimation. An upgraded version of the Advanced Model for the Estimation of Surface Solar Irradiance from Satellite (AMESIS), exploiting data from the Meteosat Second Generation Rapid Scanning Service (MSG-RSS), has been used to evaluate the SSI. The assessment of the new version of AMESIS has been carried out against data from two pyranometers located in Southern (Tito) and Northern (Ispra) Italy at an altitude of 760 m and 220 m, respectively. The statistical analysis of the comparison between hourly mean SSI estimates based on temporal sampling every five minutes shows a quantitative improvement compared to those based on 15-minute sampling. In particular, for the whole dataset in Tito, the correlation increases from 0.979 to 0.998, the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) decreases from 45.16 W/m2 to 13.19 W/m2 and the Mean Bias Error (MBE) is reduced from −0.67 W/m2 to −0.02 W/m2. For the whole dataset in Ispra, the correlation increases from 0.995 to 0.998, the RMSE decreases from 24.85 W/m2 to 15.59 W/m2, whereas the MBE increases from 3.84 W/m2 to 4.58 W/m2. This preliminary assessment shows that higher temporal sampling can improve SSI monitoring over areas featuring frequent and rapid solar irradiance variation.
Development of Stereo Visual Odometry Based on Photogrammetric Feature Optimization
Authors: Yoon Sung-Joo , Kim Taejung
Published: January 2019

One of the important image processing technologies is visual odometry (VO) technology. VO estimates platform motion through a sequence of images. VO is of interest in the virtual reality (VR) industry as well as the automobile industry because the construction cost is low. In this study, we developed stereo visual odometry (SVO) based on photogrammetric geometric interpretation. The proposed method performed feature optimization and pose estimation through photogrammetric bundle adjustment. After corresponding the point extraction step, the feature optimization was carried out with photogrammetry-based and vision-based optimization. Then, absolute orientation was performed for pose estimation through bundle adjustment. We used ten sequences provided by the Karlsruhe institute of technology and Toyota technological institute (KITTI) community. Through a two-step optimization process, we confirmed that the outliers, which were not removed by conventional outlier filters, were removed. We also were able to confirm the applicability of photogrammetric techniques to stereo visual odometry technology.
A Comprehensive Survey on Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks: Recent Advances, New Challenges, and Future Research Directions
Authors: Arjoune Youness , Kaabouch Naima
Published: January 2019

Cognitive radio technology has the potential to address the shortage of available radio spectrum by enabling dynamic spectrum access. Since its introduction, researchers have been working on enabling this innovative technology in managing the radio spectrum. As a result, this research field has been progressing at a rapid pace and significant advances have been made. To help researchers stay abreast of these advances, surveys and tutorial papers are strongly needed. Therefore, in this paper, we aimed to provide an in-depth survey on the most recent advances in spectrum sensing, covering its development from its inception to its current state and beyond. In addition, we highlight the efficiency and limitations of both narrowband and wideband spectrum sensing techniques as well as the challenges involved in their implementation. TV white spaces are also discussed in this paper as the first real application of cognitive radio. Last but by no means least, we discuss future research directions. This survey paper was designed in a way to help new researchers in the field to become familiar with the concepts of spectrum sensing, compressive sensing, and machine learning, all of which are the enabling technologies of the future networks, yet to help researchers further improve the efficiently of spectrum sensing.
Two-Factor-Based Public Data Protection Scheme in Smart Ocean Management
Authors: Shen Jian , Jiang Xinzhao , Cho Youngju , Liu Dengzhi , Zhou Tianqi
Published: January 2019

Nowadays, two-factor data security protection has become a research hotspot in smart ocean management. With the increasing popularity of smart ocean management, how to achieve the two-factor protection of public data resources in smart ocean management is a serious problem to be tackled. Furthermore, how to achieve both security and revocation is also a challenge for two-factor protection. In this paper, we propose a two-factor-based protection scheme with factor revocation in smart ocean management. The proposed scheme allows data owners (DOs) to send encrypted messages to users through a shipboard server (SS). The DOs are required to formulate access policy and perform attribute-based encryption on messages. In order to decrypt, the users need to possess two factors. The first factor is the user’s secret key. The second factor is security equipment, which is a sensor card in smart ocean system. The ciphertext can be decrypted if and only if the user gathers the key and the security equipment at the same time. What is more, once the security equipment is lost, the equipment can be revoked and a new one is redistributed to the users. The theoretical analysis and experiment results indeed indicate the security, efficiency, and practicality of our scheme.
Design and Implementation of a Walking Stick Aid for Visually Challenged People
Authors: Sahoo Nilima , Lin Hung-Wei , Chang Yeong-Hwa
Published: January 2019

Visually challenged people (VCPs) face many difficulties in their routine life. Usually, in many cases, they need to depend upon others, which makes them unconfident in an unfamiliar environment. Thus, in this paper, we present an aid that helps in detecting obstacles and water puddles in their way. This system comprises a walking stick and Android-based applications (APPs). The walking stick is embedded with Raspberry Pi and programmable interface controller (PIC) as a control kernel, sensors, a global position system (GPS) module, and alert-providing components. Sensors help to detect obstacles, and the VCP is informed through vibrations or a buzzer according to the obstacle detected. The GPS module receives the coordinates of the VCP’s location, and the location can be tracked by parents using an APP. Another important APP is used, called an emergency APP, by which the VCP can communicate with parents or friends immediately by just shaking his/her cell phone or pushing the power button four times in 5 s in panic situations. We used fewer components to make the device simple, lighter, and cozy with very good features. This device will help VCPs to live an independent life up to some extent (with security), which ultimately will increase their confidence level in an unknown environment.
Correction: Yan, Y.; et al. Building Extraction Based on an Optimized Stacked Sparse Autoencoder of Structure and Training Samples Using LIDAR DSM and Optical Images. Sensors 2017, 17, 1957
Authors: Yan Yiming , Tan Zhichao , Su Nan , Zhao Chunhui
Published: January 2019

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]
PPSDT: A Novel Privacy-Preserving Single Decision Tree Algorithm for Clinical Decision-Support Systems Using IoT Devices
Authors: Alabdulkarim Alia , Al-Rodhaan Mznah , Ma Tinghuai , Tian Yuan
Published: January 2019

Medical service providers offer their patients high quality services in return for their trust and satisfaction. The Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare provides different solutions to enhance the patient-physician experience. Clinical Decision-Support Systems are used to improve the quality of health services by increasing the diagnosis pace and accuracy. Based on data mining techniques and historical medical records, a classification model is built to classify patients’ symptoms. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving clinical decision-support system based on our novel privacy-preserving single decision tree algorithm for diagnosing new symptoms without exposing patients’ data to different network attacks. A homomorphic encryption cipher is used to protect users’ data. In addition, the algorithm uses nonces to avoid one party from decrypting other parties’ data since they all will be using the same key pair. Our simulation results have shown that our novel algorithm have outperformed the Naïve Bayes algorithm by 46.46%; in addition to the effects of the key value and size on the run time. Furthermore, our model is validated by proves, which meet the privacy requirements of the hospitals’ datasets, frequency of attribute values, and diagnosed symptoms.
Optimal Design of RF Energy-Harvesting Network: Throughput and Delay Perspective
Authors: Bae Yun Han , Baek Jung Woo
Published: January 2019

We consider a wireless network comprising two types of nodes: Type I node and Type II node. The Type I node has unlimited energy supply and the Type II node is powered by radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting where the RF transmissions by the Type I node are the opportunities for the Type II node to replenish its battery. The Type I node has a data queue for storing data packets generated intermittently and the Type II node has a backlogged data queue. Our objective in this paper is to investigate system throughput and packet delay in an RF energy-harvesting network. Specifically, we find the optimal transmission probabilities of the two nodes which minimize the packet delay of the Type I node while maximizing the system throughput subject to the stability condition of the data queue of the Type I node. The whole system of the two interacting nodes can be exactly modeled by a two-dimensional Markov chain. Instead of following such an approach, we resort to another approximate approach so that our optimization problem can be solved more easily and closed-form solutions are available. The accuracy of the approximate model is validated by extensive simulations.
Students’ Emotional Experience in Physical Education—A Qualitative Study for New Theoretical Insights
Authors: Leisterer Sascha , Jekauc Darko
Published: January 2019

Physical education (PE) can be the starting point for many students to be physically active throughout their lives. Positive emotional experiences in PE are discussed as beneficial for long-term physical activity, however, triggers of students’ emotions are still unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore, from a student’s perspective, emotions and their triggers, which occur in PE classes. N = 12 students (male: six, female: six, ø-age: 15.6 ± 1.2 years) have been interviewed using a focused semi-structured interview to identify their emotions in PE and to explore the situations in which they occurred. An inductive approach with elements of the Grounded Theory Method was implemented to analyze the data. Students reported a wide range of positive and negative emotions. Furthermore, four crucial triggers were identified: (I) Attractiveness of the task, (II) social belonging, (III) competence and (IV) autonomy. Parallels to existing theories, especially the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), will be discussed. These results can be used to improve teachers’ knowledge about students’ emotions in PE in order to build a basis for lifelong physical activity.
Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China
Authors: Zhang Hanbing , Gao Yang , Sun Danfeng , Liu Lulu , Cui Yanzhi , Zhu Wenjie
Published: January 2019

Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in drylands. Identifying the dominant natural factors of wind erosion and using targeted treatment measures are the key steps in wind erosion control. Using Horqin Left Back Banner in China as a case study, we applied the revised wind erosion equation to simulate the spatial distribution of wind erosion in the semi-arid sandy area. Contribution assessment and constraint line analysis were used to investigate the contributions of driving forces to wind erosion changes. The results showed that the wind erosion in the whole area was reduced by 0.35 t/hm2·a from 2005 to 2016. The wind factor and vegetation coverage factor had dominant contributions to the wind erosion modulus and accounted for the erosion in 49.87% and 50.13% of the total area, respectively. In addition, the average wind speed exceeding the threshold and the number of occurrences exhibited significant correlations with the wind erosion severity. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of vegetation coverage on wind erosion decreased with the increase in wind speed. The temporal mismatch between the wind speed and vegetation coverage was the main reason for the frequent severe wind erosion in spring. Reducing the spring wind speed through adding windbreaks would be an effective method for decreasing wind erosion in semi-arid areas.
Assessing the Environmental Potential of Collaborative Consumption: Peer-to-Peer Product Sharing in Hammarby Sjöstad, Sweden
Authors: Martin Michael , Lazarevic David , Gullström Charlie
Published: January 2019

Collaborative consumption—through sharing services—has been promoted as an important step in transforming current consumption patterns toward more sustainable practices. Whilst there are high expectations for sharing services, there are few studies on the potential environmental benefits and impacts of sharing services. This study aims to analyze the potential environmental impacts of a peer-to-peer (P2P) product sharing platform and potential integration with a package drop-off/pick-up service in the urban district of Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden. A life cycle approach is adopted, taking into account product lifetime and use, the potential replacement of conventional products and services, impacts from digital infrastructure and their impacts on the environment. The results indicate that there is significant potential for these sharing services to reduce environmental impacts associated with production and consumption; primarily through avoiding production and reducing the production impacts of new product purchases. The results also illustrate potential synergies to integrate with the package drop-off/pick up service; where the impacts from shared products are further reduced by reducing transportation impacts through improved logistics. However, the results are dependent upon, and sensitive to, a number of methodological choices and assumptions; highlighting the need for greater knowledge on the use environmental assessments of sharing services.
Nonlinear Dynamics in the Finance-Inequality Nexus in China-CHNS Data
Authors: Rahman Mohammad Masudur , Fuquan Guan , Ara Laila Arjuman
Published: January 2019

This paper empirically investigates the effects of financial development on incomes of Chinese residents particularly within various income groups using data from six provinces by applying the Quantile Regression model. The Greenwood and Jovanovich hypothesis that illustrates the inverted U shaped relationship between financial development and income inequality is tested. This empirical study demonstrates that financial development has a positive but non-linear effect on the annual income of individuals from various income groups at different quantiles. The effect is an inverted U or Kuznets effect indicating an increase at first and then a drop. As for the distribution of the impact on various income groups, the low-income group is under the most dominant influence followed by the high-income group with the middle-income groups receiving relatively smaller influence. Findings indicate that promoting balanced financial development would help to ease the income gap between Chinese residents.
A Journey of Self-Reflection in Students’ Perception of Practice and Roles in the Profession
Authors: Bubnys Remigijus
Published: January 2019

The basis of the study is the findings of scientific research dealing with experiential reflections of university students studying in the special education Bachelor degree study program in Lithuania. The special educator is a teacher of children with special educational needs, an educational assistance specialist who is able to recognize, assess, and meet children’s special educational needs arising due to disabilities, disorders, or learning difficulties, and to professionally provide special pedagogical assistance in the conditions of inclusive and special education. In order to analyze the experience of prospective special educators who study at the university for four years, first year students were chosen. At the start of their studies at the university, in the first month of their studies, students do their practice in the institutions of the educational system: Pre-school, general, and/or special education institutions. The aim of the practice is to get familiar with the subtleties of the future professional activity. It is maintained that students’ initial experience outlived at the start of studies is important and significant for further studies at the university. The article deals with the results of written reflections of students who have returned from practice. The phenomenological hermeneutics method enabled to disclose students’ experiences in their practical activities during their observational practice, providing deeper understanding of the study area, as a precondition for reflective learning in further university studies, and by interacting with participants of the (self) education process, the article presents future special educators’ practical experiences and perceptions of their roles in the profession. The results disclosed that self-reflection provides students with deeper perception of themselves as people with special educators’ needs and problems, personal strengths and competence limitations that enable them to identify sources and means for solving existing and future professional activity problems. It further reveals that cooperation with family members, university teachers, social pedagogues, teachers, children with special educational needs, sharing experiences with student colleagues could lead to greater self-confidence in oneself as a future specialist. Curiosity and personal initiative enabled students to identify positive and difficult moments of the professional activity and future professional role while learning from experience.
SocialTERM-Extractor: Identifying and Predicting Social-Problem-Specific Key Noun Terms from a Large Number of Online News Articles Using Text Mining and Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Suh Jong Hwan
Published: January 2019

In the digital age, the abundant unstructured data on the Internet, particularly online news articles, provide opportunities for identifying social problems and understanding social systems for sustainability. However, the previous works have not paid attention to the social-problem-specific perspectives of such big data, and it is currently unclear how information technologies can use the big data to identify and manage the ongoing social problems. In this context, this paper introduces and focuses on social-problem-specific key noun terms, namely SocialTERMs, which can be used not only to search the Internet for social-problem-related data, but also to monitor the ongoing and future events of social problems. Moreover, to alleviate time-consuming human efforts in identifying the SocialTERMs, this paper designs and examines the SocialTERM-Extractor, which is an automatic approach for identifying the key noun terms of social-problem-related topics, namely SPRTs, in a large number of online news articles and predicting the SocialTERMs among the identified key noun terms. This paper has its novelty as the first trial to identify and predict the SocialTERMs from a large number of online news articles, and it contributes to literature by proposing three types of text-mining-based features, namely temporal weight, sentiment, and complex network structural features, and by comparing the performances of such features with various machine learning techniques including deep learning. Particularly, when applied to a large number of online news articles that had been published in South Korea over a 12-month period and mostly written in Korean, the experimental results showed that Boosting Decision Tree gave the best performances with the full feature sets. They showed that the SocialTERMs can be predicted with high performances by the proposed SocialTERM-Extractor. Eventually, this paper can be beneficial for individuals or organizations who want to explore and use social-problem-related data in a systematical manner for understanding and managing social problems even though they are unfamiliar with ongoing social problems.
Temporal-Spatial Evolution of the Urban Ecological Footprint Based on Net Primary Productivity: A Case Study of Xuzhou Central Area, China
Authors: Lu Yao , Li Xiaoshun , Ni Heng , Chen Xin , Xia Chuyu , Jiang Dongmei , Fan Huiping
Published: January 2019

The urbanization process all over the world has caused serious ecological and environmental problems which have recently become a focus for study. Ecological footprint analysis, which is widely used to assess the sustainability of regional development, can quantitatively measure the human occupation of natural capital. In this study, the ecological footprint based on net primary production (EF-NPP) and MODIS data were used to measure the ecological footprint in Xuzhou central area from 2005 to 2014. The results showed that from 2005 to 2014, the per capita ecological footprint increased from 1.06 to 1.17 hm2/person; the per capita ecological capacity decreased from 0.10 to 0.09 hm2/person; the per capita ecological deficit increased from −0.96 to −1.09 hm2/person; and the ecological pressure index increased from 6.87 to 11.97. The composition of the ecological footprint showed that grassland contributed most to the ecological footprint and deficit, and cultivated land contributed most to the ecological capacity. The spatial distribution of the ecological footprint changed significantly, especially in the expansion of the area of lower value. The ecological capacity and deficit changed little. The ecological situation in Xuzhou central area was unbalanced. Based on this study, Xuzhou city was recommended to control the increase of the ecological footprint, improve the ecological capacity and balance the ecological pattern for sustainable development.
Tunnel Fire Dynamics as a Function of Longitudinal Ventilation Air Oxygen Content
Authors: Khattri Sanjay Kumar , Log Torgrim , Kraaijeveld Arjen
Published: January 2019

Longitudinal ambient air ventilation is the most common methodology for maintaining an amicable environment in tunnels during normal operations while providing an evacuation path during tunnel fire emergencies. The present work investigates the influence of forced ventilation air oxygen concentrations on tunnel fire dynamics. Mixing inert gasses such as nitrogen, argon, or carbon dioxide with ambient air changes the ventilation air oxygen concentration. In order to quantify the influence of the oxygen content on the critical tunnel safety parameters, multiple computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were done on a reduced-size tunnel while preserving the system Froude number. Analytical expressions were developed to describe the importance of oxygen content on the tunnel fire dynamics. By employing Froude scaling, the resulting relations were extrapolated to real scale tunnels. For the ambient air ventilation, the extrapolated expressions displayed good agreement with experimental literature data. By adjusting the oxygen concentration, parameters such as maximum tunnel ceiling temperature, fire growth rate, maximum heat flux to the tunnel floor, maximum flux on the tunnel ceiling, and maximum heat release rate can be controlled. This is the case also for oxygen levels where people can survive. This may increase the possibility for evacuation and improve the conditions for firefighting, significantly improving tunnel fire safety.
Towards the Design of a Formal Verification and Evaluation Tool of Real-Time Tasks Scheduling of IoT Applications
Authors: Ahmad Shabir , Malik Sehrish , Ullah Israr , Park Dong-Hwan , Kim Kwangsoo , Kim DoHyeun
Published: January 2019

Real-Time Internet of Things (RT-IoT) is a newer technology paradigm envisioned as a global inter-networking of devices and physical things enabling real-time communication over the Internet. The research in Edge Computing and 5G technology is making way for the realisation of future IoT applications. In RT-IoT tasks will be performed in real-time for the remotely controlling and automating of various jobs and therefore, missing their deadline may lead to hazardous situations in many cases. For instance, in the case of safety-critical and mission-critical IoT systems, a missed task could lead to a human loss. Consequently, these systems must be simulated, as a result, and tasks should only be deployed in a real scenario if the deadline is guaranteed to be met. Numerous simulation tools are proposed for traditional real-time systems using desktop technologies, but these relatively older tools do not adapt to the new constraints imposed by the IoT paradigm. In this paper, we design and implement a cloud-based novel architecture for the formal verification of IoT jobs and provide a simulation environment for a typical RT-IoT application where the feasibility of real-time remote tasks is perceived. The proposed tool, to the best of our knowledge, is the first of its kind effort to support not only the feasibility analysis of real-time tasks but also to provide a real environment in which it formally monitors and evaluates different IoT tasks from anywhere. Furthermore, it will also act as a centralised server for evaluating and tracking the real-time scheduled jobs in a smart space. The novelty of the platform is purported by a comparative analysis with the state-of-art solutions against attributes which is vital for any open-source tools in general and IoT in specifics.
Factors Influencing Organic Food Purchase Intention in Developing Countries and the Moderating Role of Knowledge
Authors: Wang Xuhui , Pacho Frida , Liu Jia , Kajungiro Redempta
Published: January 2019

The current study focuses on understanding the factors (subjective norms (SNs), personal attitude, and perceived behaviour control (PBC)) that influence consumer purchase intention regarding organic food from the theory of planned behaviour and health consciousness as an additional factor in Tanzania and Kenya. It further explains the role of knowledge as a moderating variable in organic food purchase intention. A total of 331 responses from Tanzania and 350 responses from Kenya were obtained. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied for validation, and results were analysed using structural equation modeling. SNs, personal attitudes, and health consciousness were found to be significant predictors of organic purchase intention in both countries. Furthermore, findings show that knowledge positively moderates the relationship among SNs, personal attitude, health consciousness, and organic food purchase intention. However, PBC was found to be a weak influencer on consumer purchase intention in Kenya, and no knowledge interaction between PBC and consumer purchase intention in Tanzania was found. The current study theoretically contributes to the literature by introducing the moderating role of knowledge in the relationship. The results show that knowledge interaction increases the effects of the majority of predictors after being introduced in the relationship. Finally, this study provides an understanding of consumers’ perspective regarding their intention to purchase organic foods, which will help stakeholders, such as marketers, retailers, and producers, to achieve marketing strategies for the development of these products.
Perception of Urban Trees by Polish Tree Professionals vs. Nonprofessionals
Authors: Suchocka Marzena , Jankowski Paweł , Błaszczyk Magdalena
Published: January 2019

Sustainable urban forests require tree acceptance and support. Two groups of respondents, professionals (working in urban green areas) and individuals (with no professional connection with trees) revealed their attitudes towards trees by assessing statements in a survey questionnaire. Similar general attitude from professionals and nonprofessionals towards the examined benefits and harms related to urban trees was observed. Tree benefits were perceived as much more important than the annoyance they might cause. However, 6% of nonprofessionals found only negative aspects in trees, proving to be arboriphobes. No arboriphobes and no “Tree sceptics” were among the professionals. Around 40% of the respondents in the two groups found the number of trees in the surrounding areas too low. The nuisance caused by trees was seen as more disturbing by younger and lower-educated professionals. Women tended to assess trees as more attractive and as having a stronger influence on socioeconomic contributions than men. Men dominated the “Tree indifferent” group. The attractiveness of trees and their impact on socioeconomic contributions were related to the place of residence and the level of education among the nonprofessionals. The level of education of the nonprofessionals was also connected to being clustered into one of the four abovementioned groups of respondents. A majority of medium and big city dwellers as well as a minority of villagers were in the “Tree liking” cluster.
Electrochemical Behavior of Pt–Ru Catalysts Supported on Graphitized Ordered Mesoporous Carbons toward CO and Methanol Oxidation
Authors: Calderón Gómez Juan Carlos , Celorrio Verónica , Calvillo Laura , Sebastián David , Moliner Rafael , Lázaro Elorri María Jesús
Published: January 2019

In this work, graphitized ordered mesoporous carbons (gCMK-3) were employed as support for Pt and Pt–Ru nanoparticles synthesized by different reduction methods. The catalysts displayed metal contents and Pt:Ru atomic ratios close to 20 wt % and 1:1, respectively. A comparison of the physical parameters of Pt and Pt–Ru catalysts demonstrated that Ru enters into the Pt crystal structure, with well-dispersed nanoparticles on the carbon support. The Pt catalysts exhibited similar surface oxide composition, whereas a variable content of surface Pt and Ru oxides was found for the Pt–Ru catalysts. As expected, the Pt–Ru catalysts showed low CO oxidation onset and peak potentials, which were attributed to the high relative abundances of both metallic Pt and Ru oxides. All the studied catalysts exhibited higher maximum current densities than those observed for the commercial Pt and Pt–Ru catalysts, although the current–time curves at 0.6 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) demonstrated a slightly higher stationary current density in the case of the Pt/C commercial catalyst compared with Pt nanoparticles supported on gCMK-3s. However, the stationary currents obtained from the Pt–Ru/gCMK-3 catalysts surpassed those of the commercial Pt–Ru material, suggesting the suitability of the prepared catalysts as anodes for these devices.
Applying Graph Centrality Metrics in Visual Analytics of Scientific Standard Datasets
Authors: Hua Jie , Huang Mao Lin , Huang Weidong , Zhao Chenglin
Published: January 2019

Graphs are often used to model data with a relational structure and graphs are usually visualised into node-link diagrams for a better understanding of the underlying data. Node-link diagrams represent not only data entries in a graph, but also the relations among the data entries. Further, many graph drawing algorithms and graph centrality metrics have been successfully applied in visual analytics of various graph datasets, yet little attention has been paid to analytics of scientific standard data. This study attempts to adopt graph drawing methods (force-directed algorithms) to visualise scientific standard data and provide information with importance ‘ranking’ based on graph centrality metrics such as Weighted Degree, PageRank, Eigenvector, Betweenness and Closeness factors. The outcomes show that our method can produce clear graph layouts of scientific standard for visual analytics, along with the importance ‘ranking’ factors (represent via node colour, size etc.). Our method may assist users with tracking various relationships while understanding scientific standards with fewer relation issues (missing/wrong connection etc.) through focusing on higher priority standards.
A Method of Multiple Attribute Group Decision Making Based on 2-Tuple Linguistic Dependent Maclaurin Symmetric Mean Operators
Authors: Feng Min , Liu Peide , Geng Yushui
Published: January 2019

Aiming at multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems, especially the attribute values of 2-tuple linguistic numbers and the interrelationships between each attribute needing to be considered, this paper proposes a new method of analysis. Firstly, we developed a few new aggregation operators, like the 2-tuple linguistic dependent weighted Maclaurin symmetric mean (2TLDWMSM) operator, the 2-tuple linguistic dependent weighted generalized Maclaurin symmetric mean (2TLDWGMSM) operator, and the 2-tuple linguistic dependent weighted geometric Maclaurin symmetric mean (2TLDWGeoMSM) operator. In the above operators, Maclaurin symmetric mean (MSM) operators can take the relationships between each attribute into account and dependent operators can mitigate the unfair parameters’ impact on the overall outcome, in which those ‘‘incorrect’’ and ‘‘prejudiced’’ parameters are distributed with low weights. Next, a method used by the 2TLDWMSM, 2TLDWGMSM, and 2TLDWGeoMSM operators for MAGDM is introduced. Finally, there is an explanative example to confirm the proposed approach and explain its availability and usefulness.
Massive Spin Zero Fields in Cosmology and the Tail-Free Property
Authors: Faraoni Valerio
Published: January 2019

Fields of spin s ≥ 1 / 2 satisfying wave equations in a curved space obey the Huygens principle under certain conditions clarified by a known theorem. Here, this theorem is generalized to spin zero and applied to an inflaton field in de Sitter-like space, showing that tails of scalar radiation are an unavoidable physical feature. Requiring the absence of tails, on the contrary, necessarily implies an unnatural tuning between cosmological constant, scalar field mass, and coupling constant to the curvature.
Energy Optimization in Cluster-Based Routing Protocols for Large-Area Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Kang Sang H.
Published: January 2019

In large-area wireless sensor networks with hierarchical cluster-based routing protocols, the average number of clusters, k, and the transmission range for the control messages, R, significantly affect the network lifespan. We analyze energy consumption in depth as a function of ( k , R ) , taking into account the energy dissipation of cluster head nodes and the member nodes, separately. To achieve joint optimization of ( k o p t , R o p t ) , we adopt derivative-free Nelder–Mead Simplex method. Computer simulations have shown that our approach effectively reduces energy consumption of sensor nodes in the process of clustering and data transmission in large-area sensor fields. Our optimization can be applied to existing cluster-based routing schemes to maximize their energy efficiency.
Statistical Damage Model of Altered Granite under Dry-Wet Cycles
Authors: Chen Xuxin , He Ping , Qin Zhe , Li Jianye , Gong Yanping
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a new statistical damage constitutive model using symmetric normal distribution. The broken rock microbody obeyed symmetric normal distribution and the equivalent strain principle in damage mechanics. The uniaxial compression tests of samples subjected to dry-wet cycles were performed. The damage model was established using the equivalent strain principle and symmetric normal distribution. The damage variable was defined by the elastic modulus under various dry-wet cycles. Parameters of the damage constitutive model were identified using MATLAB software, and the proposed model is verified to be in good agreement with uniaxial compression test results. Fracturing of the rock microbody is well described by symmetric normal distribution, and the proposed statistical damage constitutive model has good adaptability to the uniaxial compression stress-strain curve.
Combining Polynomial Chaos Expansions and the Random Variable Transformation Technique to Approximate the Density Function of Stochastic Problems, Including Some Epidemiological Models
Authors: Calatayud Gregori Julia , Chen-Charpentier Benito M. , Cortés López Juan Carlos , Jornet Sanz Marc
Published: January 2019

In this paper, we deal with computational uncertainty quantification for stochastic models with one random input parameter. The goal of the paper is twofold: First, to approximate the set of probability density functions of the solution stochastic process, and second, to show the capability of our theoretical findings to deal with some important epidemiological models. The approximations are constructed in terms of a polynomial evaluated at the random input parameter, by means of generalized polynomial chaos expansions and the stochastic Galerkin projection technique. The probability density function of the aforementioned univariate polynomial is computed via the random variable transformation method, by taking into account the domains where the polynomial is strictly monotone. The algebraic/exponential convergence of the Galerkin projections gives rapid convergence of these density functions. The examples are based on fundamental epidemiological models formulated via linear and nonlinear differential and difference equations, where one of the input parameters is assumed to be a random variable.
m-Polar

(
α
,
β
)

-Fuzzy Ideals in BCK/BCI-Algebras
Authors: Al-Masarwah Anas , Ahmad Abd Ghafur
Published: January 2019

Multi-polar vagueness in data plays a prominent role in several areas of the sciences. In recent years, the thought of m-polar fuzzy sets has captured the attention of numerous analysts, and research in this area has escalated in the past four years. Hybrid models of fuzzy sets have already been applied to many algebraic structures, such as B C K / B C I -algebras, lie algebras, groups, and symmetric groups. A symmetry of the algebraic structure, mathematically an automorphism, is a mapping of the algebraic structure onto itself that preserves the structure. This paper focuses on combining the concepts of m-polar fuzzy sets and m-polar fuzzy points to introduce a new notion called m-polar ( α , β ) -fuzzy ideals in B C K / B C I -algebras. The defined notion is a generalization of fuzzy ideals, bipolar fuzzy ideals, ( α , β ) -fuzzy ideals, and bipolar ( α , β ) -fuzzy ideals in B C K / B C I -algebras. We describe the characterization of m-polar ( ∈ , ∈ ∨ q ) -fuzzy ideals in B C K / B C I -algebras by level cut subsets. Moreover, we define m-polar ( ∈ , ∈ ∨ q ) -fuzzy commutative ideals and explore some pertinent properties.
Geometric Properties of Normalized Mittag–Leffler Functions
Authors: Noreen Saddaf , Raza Mohsan , Liu Jin-Lin , Arif Muhammad
Published: January 2019

The aim of this paper is to investigate certain properties such as convexity of order μ , close-to-convexity of order 1 + μ /2 and starlikeness of normalized Mittag–Leffler function. We use some inequalities to prove our results. We also discuss the close-to-convexity of Mittag–Leffler functions with respect to certain starlike functions. Furthermore, we find the conditions for the above-mentioned function to belong to the Hardy space H p . Some of our results improve the results in the literature.