bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Extended Tissue-like P System Based on Membrane Systems and Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization for Image Segmentation
Authors: Wang Lin , Liu Xiyu , Qu Jianhua , Zhao Yuzhen , Jiang Zhenni , Wang Ning
Published: February 2022

An extended membrane system using a tissue-like P system with evolutional symport/antiport rules and a promoter/inhibitor, which is based on the evolutionary mechanism of quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) and improved QPSO, named CQPSO-ETP, is designed and developed in this paper. The purpose of CQPSO-ETP is to enhance the optimization performance of statistical network structure-based membrane-inspired evolutionary algorithms (SNS-based MIEAs) and the QPSO technique. In CQPSO-ETP, evolution rules with a promoter based on a standard QPSO mechanism are introduced to evolve objects, and evolution rules with an inhibitor based on an improved QPSO mechanism using self-adaptive selection, and cooperative evolutionary and logistic chaotic mapping methods, are adopted to avoid prematurity. The communication rules with a promoter/inhibitor for objects are introduced to achieve the exchange and sharing of information between different membranes. Under the control of the evolution and communication mechanism, the CQPSO-ETP can effectively improve the performance with the help of a distributed parallel computing model. The proposed CQPSO-ETP is compared with PSO, QPSO and two existing improved QPSO approaches which are conducted on eight classic numerical benchmark functions to verify the effectiveness. Furthermore, computational experiments which are made on eight tested images with three comparative clustering approaches are adopted, and the experimental results demonstrate the clustering validity of the proposed CQPSO-ETP.
The Use of Geothermal Energy for Heating Buildings as an Option for Sustainable Urban Development in Slovakia
Authors: Senova Andrea , Skvarekova Erika , Wittenberger Gabriel , Rybarova Jana
Published: February 2022

The use of geothermal energy (GE) and the green economy in the environment of Slovak municipalities and towns is significant, due to the reduction in the negative influences and impacts of human society’s constant consumer lifestyle. The authors highlight the use of modern scientific knowledge, practical experience, and ever-improving technologies in the field of renewable energy sources RES. The aim of this contribution is to draw attention to the under-utilization of GE’s potential in Slovakia. Given the country’s commitment to meeting emission limits under EU carbon neutrality agreements by 2050, the use of this resource is very pertinent. Slovakia has significant geothermal resources that are not currently sufficiently utilized. The article suggests using GE to heat housing units of the housing estate near the geothermal source. Three scenarios (60 °C (pessimistic), 65 °C (conservative), and 70 °C (optimistic)) were considered in our energy balance and economic advantage calculations. The green economy offers a sustainable way of using the earth’s resources. The financial calculations regarding the amount of investment, the expected financial return and the possible values of the saved emissions confirm the possibility of the further use of GE technology. The information under consideration can be used in other significant territories, which may be a theme for further research in this field.
A Population Balance Methodology Incorporating Semi-Mechanistic Residence Time Metrics for Twin Screw Granulation
Authors: Muddu Shashank Venkat , Ramachandran Rohit
Published: February 2022

This work is concerned with the incorporation of semi-mechanistic residence time metrics into population balance equations for twin screw granulation processes to predict key properties. From the historical residence time and particle size data sourced, process parameters and equipment configuration information were fed into the system of equations where the input flow rates and model compartmentalization varied upon the parameters. Semi-mechanistic relations for the residence time metrics were employed to predict the particle velocities and dispersion coefficients in the axial flow direction of the twin screw granulation. The developed model was then calibrated for several experimental run points in each data-set. The predictions were evaluated quantitatively through the parity plots. The root mean square error (RMSE) was used as a metric to compare the degree of goodness of fit for different data-sets using the developed semi-mechanistic relations. In summary, this paper presents a more mechanistic but simplified approach of feeding residence time metrics into the population balance equations for twin screw granulation processes.
Drone-Based Characterization of Seagrass Habitats in the Tropical Waters of Zanzibar
Authors: Hamad Idrissa Yussuf , Staehr Peter Anton Upadhyay , Rasmussen Michael Bo , Sheikh Mohammed
Published: February 2022

Unmanned automatic systems (UAS) are increasingly being applied as an alternative to more costly time-consuming traditional methods for mapping and monitoring marine shallow-water ecosystems. Here, we demonstrate the utility of combining aerial drones with in situ imagery to characterize the habitat conditions of nine shallow-water seagrass-dominated areas on Unguja Island, Zanzibar. We applied object-based image analysis and a maximum likelihood algorithm on the drone images to derive habitat cover maps and important seagrass habitat parameters: the habitat composition; the seagrass species; the horizontal- and depth-percent covers, and the seascape fragmentation. We mapped nine sites covering 724 ha, categorized into seagrasses (55%), bare sediment (31%), corals (9%), and macroalgae (5%). An average of six seagrass species were found, and 20% of the nine sites were categorized as “dense cover” (40–70%). We achieved high map accuracy for the habitat types (87%), seagrass (80%), and seagrass species (76%). In all nine sites, we observed clear decreases in the seagrass covers with depths ranging from 30% at 1–2 m, to 1.6% at a 4–5 m depth. The depth dependency varied significantly among the seagrass species. Areas associated with low seagrass cover also had a more fragmented distribution pattern, with scattered seagrass populations. The seagrass cover was correlated negatively (r2 = 0.9, p < 0.01) with sea urchins. A multivariate analysis of the similarity (ANOSIM) of the biotic features, derived from the drone and in situ data, suggested that the nine sites could be organized into three significantly different coastal habitat types. This study demonstrates the high robustness of drones for characterizing complex seagrass habitat conditions in tropical waters. We recommend adopting drones, combined with in situ photos, for establishing a suite of important data relevant for marine ecosystem monitoring in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO).
Influence of Energy and Water Cycle Key Parameters on Drought in Mongolian Plateau during 1979–2020
Authors: He Jie , Letu Husi , Lei Yonghui , Guo Enliang , Bao Shanhu , Zhang Yongqiang , Tana Gegen , Bao Yuhai
Published: February 2022

Drought in the Mongolian Plateau (MP) has gradually intensified in recent decades. The energy and water cycles are key factors affecting drought. However, there are few quantitative studies on the mechanism of aridity change in this region. This study uses the ERA5, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Himawari 8 datasets and investigated the mechanism of drought change over the MP. The aridity index (the ratio of potential evaporation and total precipitation) is employed to detect drought changes. The results showed that the annual mean of aridity index increased by 0.73% per year (increased significantly since 1999) during the period 1979–2020. Moreover, the drought was most severe in the January to April of 2016–2020, mainly concentrated in the central and western parts of the MP. The potential evaporation increased (0.72% per year) and total precipitation decreased (0.16% per year) from 1979 to 2020. However, the surface temperature continued increasing from August to December in the period 2016–2020 (1.67% per year). This may result in an increase in potential evaporation and a decrease in volumetric soil water from August to December last year. The decrease of volumetric soil water resulted in the decrease of total cloud cover (0.25% per year) and total precipitation from January to April. The surface net radiation (increased by 0.42% per year) and the potential evaporation increased, which may aggravate the drought from January to April. The evaporation paradox is studied over the MP. The results show that the variation in evaporation is consistent with that of total precipitation, and the surface temperature will promote an increase in evaporation and potential evaporation. This study reveals that global warming, desertification and increased surface net radiation contribute to the increase in potential evaporation and reduced volumetric soil water, which together contribute to drought.
Understanding the Present-Day Spatiotemporal Variability of Precipitable Water Vapor over Ethiopia: A Comparative Study between ERA5 and GPS
Authors: Koji Abdisa Kawo , Van Malderen Roeland , Pottiaux Eric , Van Schaeybroeck Bert
Published: February 2022

Atmospheric water vapor plays a crucial role in atmospheric, climate change, meteorological, and hydrological processes. In a country like Ethiopia, with its complex topography and synoptic-scale spatiotemporal circulation patterns, the analysis of the spatiotemporal variability of precipitable water vapor (PWV) is very challenging, and is hampered by the lack of long observational datasets. In this study, we process the PWV over eight Ethiopian global positioning system (GPS) sites and one close to the Ethiopian eastern border, for the available common period 2013–2020, and compare with the PWV retrieved from the state-of-the-art ERA5 reanalysis. Both PWV datasets agree very well at our sample, with correlation coefficients between 0.96 and 0.99, GPS-PWV show a moderate wet bias compared to ERA5-PWV for the majority of the sites, and an overall root mean square error of 3.4 mm. Seasonal and diurnal cycles are also well captured by these datasets. The seasonal variations of PWV and precipitation at the sites agree very well. Maximum diurnal PWV amplitudes are observed for stations near water bodies or dense vegetation, such as Arbaminch (ARMI) and Bahir Dar (BDMT). At those stations, the PWV behavior at heavy rainfall events has been investigated and an average 25% increase (resp. decrease) from 12 h before (resp. 12 h after) the start of the rainfall event, when the PWV peaks, has been observed.
Simultaneous Quantification of Vitamin A and Derivatives in Cosmetic Products by Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet Detection
Authors: Vállez-Gomis Víctor , Carchano-Olcina Sonia , Azorín Cristian , Benedé Juan L. , Chisvert Alberto , Salvador Amparo
Published: February 2022

Vitamin A (retinol) and some of its derivatives are a group of fat-soluble compounds used in cosmetic products as bioactive ingredients. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the quality control of final product to ensure their efficacy and safety. A simple and rapid method to determine retinol, retinal, retinyl acetate, retinyl propionate and retinyl palmitate in cosmetics is presented here. The method is based on vortex and/or ultrasound-assisted leaching of the analytes in ethanol followed by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The analytical performance of the method was evaluated. It has shown high levels of linearity, at least up to 100 µg mL−1; high precision with RSD values below 14% and high sensitivity with low MLODs ranging between 0.3 × 10−4 and 5.9 × 10−4 % w/w, which are enough to monitor these compounds in cosmetic products. The proposed method was successfully applied to seven commercial cosmetic samples to detect and quantify the target analytes, showing the method is suitable for its employment for quality control in cosmetic industries. Cosmetic samples were spiked at two levels of concentration and recovery values around 100% were obtained, showing no significant matrix effects and, therefore, external calibration was adequate for this determination.
Consumer Perception and Understanding of European Union Quality Schemes: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Glogovețan Alexandra-Ioana , Dabija Dan-Cristian , Fiore Mariantonietta , Pocol Cristina Bianca
Published: February 2022

Food, agriculture, and labeling, affecting the environment are well connected concepts, the balance between them being determined not only by pedological and climatic factors or the development level of agricultural techniques, but also by national governments and international organizations’ food processing, trade policies and regulations. In this context, the European Union (EU) encourages the use of different food quality schemes: “Protected Designation of Origin” (PDO), “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI), and “Traditional Specialty Guaranteed” (TSG) to protect producers of special-quality foods and assist consumers in their purchasing decisions. This review examines existing studies on the impact of these labels on customers behavior. A total of 32 studies were found and systematized. The papers were selected if they featured unique empirical research on consumer perceptions of any of PDO, PGI and TSG labels. Using the search strategy, a literature analysis was performed based on papers extracted from Web of Science, Springer Link, Emerald Insights, and Science Direct. Although these papers highlight quite diversified findings, the internationally used labels play an increasing role in contemporary society and pandemic conditions caused by COVID-19, thus making the quality schemes relevant in consumer decision-making processes.
Do Satellite Data Correlate with In Situ Rainfall and Smallholder Crop Yields? Implications for Crop Insurance
Authors: Masiza Wonga , Chirima Johannes George , Hamandawana Hamisai , Kalumba Ahmed Mukalazi , Magagula Hezekiel Bheki
Published: February 2022

Adverse weather is one of the most prevalent sources of risk in agriculture. Its impacts are aggravated by the lack of effective risk management mechanisms. That is why resource-poor farmers tend to respond to weather risks by adopting low-capital investment, low-return, and low-risk agricultural practices. This challenge needs to be addressed with innovative risk management strategies. One of the tools that is gaining traction, especially in the developing countries, is weather-index-based insurance (WII). However, WII uptake is still low because of several constraints, one of which is basis risk. This study attempts to address this problem by evaluating the suitability of TAMSAT, CHIRPS, MODIS, and Sentinel-2 data for WII. We evaluated the first three datasets against in situ rainfall measurements at different spatial and temporal scales over the maize-growing season in a smallholder farming area in South Africa. CHIRPS had higher correlations with in situ measured rainfall data than TAMSAT and MODIS NDVI. CHIRPS performed equally well at 10 km and 25 km spatial scales, and better at monthly than daily and 16-day time steps (maximum R = 0.78, mean R = 0.72). Due to the lack of reliable historical yield data, we conducted yield surveys over three consecutive seasons using an objective crop cut method. We then assessed how well rainfall and NDVI related with maize yield. There was a poor relationship between these variables and maize yield (R2 ≤ 0.14). The study concludes by pointing out that crop yield does not always have a linear relationship with weather and vegetation indices, and that water is not always the main yield-limiting factor in smallholder farming systems. To minimize basis risk, the process of designing WII must include identification of main yield-limiting factors for specific localities. Alternatively, insurers could use crop water requirement methods to design WII.
Sustained Change: Design Speculations on the Performance of Fallow-Scapes in Time along the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, (ECNHC), New York
Authors: Goula Maria , Vanucchi Jamie
Published: February 2022

The paper explores the potential for adaptive mitigation at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, Seneca Falls, NY, USA, and surrounds, focusing on landscapes along the historic Erie Canal that inadvertently lowered the water table and shrunk adjacent wetlands. Now the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor (ECNHC), Montezuma, NY, USA, the canal, and surrounds lack a clear identity but have the potential to be repurposed as green infrastructure to support climate mitigation through the application of natural climate solutions, namely reforestation. Reforestation has been shown to produce the highest potential performance for carbon sequestration, along with a multitude of co-benefits. However, most studies assessing capacity for climate mitigation using nature-based approaches operate at a high level via remote data and do not test hypotheses at smaller scales that require groundtruthing data, parcel-by parcel approaches, and an understanding of landowner values. The initial research question is: can landscape architecture design research contribute to a higher performance of secondary forests and non-productive farmland (fallow lands) for carbon sequestration, while at the same time activating economic territories and improving their landscape qualities? Comparative cartographies are developed to assess secondary forests, including past and future projections. Fallow lands are examined through mapping at various scales, fieldwork, and informal interviews. We find that farmland along the canal has been abandoned over time due to conditions that make farming difficult, such as periodic flooding, ponding of water due to poorly drained soils, and steep drumlin slopes. These same conditions have contributed to a landscape armature—an assemblage of landscapes including the old canal, barge canal and associated heritage landscapes, abandoned farmlands, and existing forests and wetlands. Secondary forests already existing in the area are high performing in relation to carbon sequestration but may lack climate resilience due to threats such as the emerald ash borer (EAB). Design intervention can help support enhanced sequestration, resilience, and adaptation by introducing unique tree plantings in the form of groves and hedgerows. Sustainability is approached by integrating quantifiable performances of secondary forests with projections of spatial, ecological, and cultural values and the continuing monitoring and management of forests over time. The aim is to build a method to test these lands with designs for tree plantings that reveal their potential for increased carbon sequestration, habitat connectivity, and enriched landscape identity.
Identifying Key Elements for Establishing Sustainable Conventions and Exhibitions: Use of the Delphi and AHP Approaches
Authors: Kim Insin , Kim Soojung , Choi Sooyoung , Kim Dongjin , Choi Yeol , Kim Donghyun , Ni Yensen , Yin Jie
Published: February 2022

The purpose of this study was to explore, by employing the Delphi method, key indicators and factors for establishing sustainable conventions and exhibitions (C&E) events in a destination in lieu of holding one-off events. In addition, the identified factors for establishing sustainable C&E events were assessed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with a multi-group approach. First, internal and external factors that impact continuous hosting of C&E events in a destination were identified in previous research and reviewed. Second, three stages of Delphi surveys were conducted with three groups of experts in the C&E industry (academic scholars, industry experts, and government agencies in Korea). Third, data were analyzed from 35 and 29 participants in the first and second Delphi rounds, respectively, as well as from 17 panelists in the subsequent AHP analysis. A total of 33 indicators were developed and categorized into five factors for continuity of regional C&E efforts: event contents and capabilities, organizers and support/sponsorship, impacts, facilities in venues and destinations, and the local event environment. Furthermore, all three participant groups reached agreement in rating event contents and capabilities as the most important factor, with the local event environment as the second most important factor in achieving sustainable regional C&E. However, the opinion of government agencies for the third and fourth most important factors differed from that of the other two groups. The current study contributes to the understanding of the under-investigated area of sustainable C&E. Based on these findings, host destinations can establish innovative strategies for sustaining C&E as a long-lasting legacy.
SMEs Performance in Malaysia: The Role of Contextual Ambidexterity in Innovation Culture and Performance
Authors: Ramdan Mohamad Rohieszan , Abd Aziz Nurul Ashykin , Abdullah Nor Liza , Samsudin Norsamsinar , Singh Gurcharanjit Singh Veer , Zakaria Thuraiya , Fuzi Nursyazwani Mohd , Ong Sharon Yong Yee
Published: February 2022

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both the industrial and service sectors have been identified as the drivers of Malaysia’s fast economic growth. However, SMEs are faced with an inherent issue of lack of resources and capabilities which constrains the ability of SMEs to improve performance. Due to this, it is critical for SMEs to understand and develop an important capability that supports them in facing a dynamic and competitive business environment. This study examines the mediating role of contextual ambidexterity as a dynamic capability in the relationship between innovation culture and SME performance. The online surveys were carried out starting from 5th July until 25th July 2021. A total of 277 SMEs in Selangor, Malaysia participated in this study and Covariance-Based Structural Equation modeling analysis was utilized to test the hypotheses. The findings show that in terms of direct relationships, innovation culture has a significant positive relationship with contextual ambidexterity, while innovation culture and contextual ambidexterity have a significant positive relationship with SME performance. The findings showed that contextual ambidexterity is significant as a mediator in the relationship between innovation culture and SME performance. This study makes an important contribution to the management field by highlighting the role of contextual ambidexterity, which is often the focus of large companies. These findings support the notion of dynamic capability that accentuates the importance of developing capabilities in dealing with dynamic and challenging situations.
Exploring, Diversifying and Debating Sustainable Health (Care) Approaches
Authors: Hoop Evelien de , Loeber Anne , Essink Dirk
Published: February 2022

Today’s sustainability challenges have major implications for human health and health care. At the same time, the way health care is organized and conducted has major sustainability implications. Sustainable health and sustainable health care approaches in research, which engage with health and sustainability as intertwined phenomena, feature increasingly prominently in various literatures, i.e., (i) literature based on the premise of ‘(un)healthy environments result in (un)healthy people’ (e.g., planetary health); (ii) literature on the implications of ecological change for the sustainability of healthcare systems; and (iii) literature on healthcare systems’ sustainability in view of a range of socio-economic factors. However, an integrative elaboration of the manifold relationships between health and sustainability challenges in these literatures is currently lacking. This review paper therefore maps how these three literatures represent intertwinements between health and sustainability challenges, as well as their suggestions to address these challenges. In addition, we explore which themes and questions are pertinent, meaning they have remained largely unaddressed. By performing a qualitative mapping review, we find that calls for structural attention to inequality, to in-and exclusion, and to stakeholder needs and perspectives cut across these three literatures. Furthermore, we identify three cross-cutting key questions that require future research attention. First, how do divergent ideas on what is and divergent ideas on how can that be known give rise to different health- and sustainability visions and pathways? Second, what do abstract problem statements and solutions presented in agenda-setting work look like in practice in specific and diverse empirical contexts across the globe? And third, how are diverse health and sustainability dynamics historically and spatially interconnected? Moreover, we observe that some voices have so far remained largely silent in scientific debates on health and sustainability intertwinements, namely non-expert voices such as patients and citizens, voices from a variety of social scientific and humanities disciplines, voices from relevant domains beyond (environmental) health, and voices from the global South (from non-experts, social scientific and humanities researchers and domains beyond health). We conclude that a focus on inclusive and equitable engagement with intertwined health- and sustainability challenges is imperative. This requires moving away from developing universal knowledge to address generic problems, to foregrounding plurality in terms of problem statements, knowledge, solutions, and the values embedded therein.
Workers’ Satisfaction vis-à-vis Environmental and Socio-Morphological Aspects for Sustainability and Decent Work
Authors: Elshater Abeer , Abusaada Hisham , Alfiky Abdulmoneim , El-Bardisy Nardine , Elmarakby Esraa , Grant Sandy
Published: February 2022

This study examines worker satisfaction vis-à-vis outdoor places in terms of their environmental and socio-morphological aspects. Numerous studies have considered decent work as the eighth goal of sustainable development. However, it is worth investigating outdoor workers’ satisfaction with a view to the practical design of the surrounding context that supports their work in outdoor places. Using bibliometric analysis, this study investigates possible approaches toward providing decent work in a public place in Cairo as a case study, focusing on outdoor workers’ satisfaction. In the bibliometric analysis, this study used query settings in the Scimago database to search for manuscripts published in the previous five years. The result yielded 195 manuscripts that were filtered down to 50 manuscripts and then grouped using VOSviewr Software. Environmental noise and heat assessment analyses were performed using noise level measurements, remote sensing, and the Grasshopper platform. Further, we conducted an ethnographic study employing 77 participant observations. The results show that work hours and time affect worker satisfaction, as do environmental conditions, particularly noise and heat. However, unexpected findings from participant observation in this study do not accord with findings in other scholarly sources, where other observers find workers neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the spatial morphology in the case study. Per this study, the alignment of worker satisfaction with convenient socio-morphological tangible elements of the workplace and with other environmental aspects should be attained in both specified replicable methods to engender decent work for outdoor workers.
Analysis of Construction Cost and Investment Planning Using Time Series Data
Authors: Jiang Fengchang , Awaitey John , Xie Haiyan
Published: February 2022

Construction costs and investment planning are the decisions made by construction managers and financial managers. Investment in construction materials, labor, and other miscellaneous should consider their huge costs. For these reasons, this research focused on analyzing construction costs from the point of adopting multivariate cost prediction models in predicting construction cost index (CCI) and other independent variables from September 2021 to December 2022. The United States was selected as the focal country for the study because of its size and influence. Specifically, we used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and R-programming applications to forecast the elected variables based on the literature review. These forecasted values were compared to the CCI using Pearson correlations to assess influencing factors. The results indicated that the ARIMA model is the best forecasting model since it has the highest model-fit correlation. Additionally, the number of building permits issued, the consumer price index, the amount of money supply in the country, the producer price index, and the import price index are the influencing factors of investments decisions in short to medium ranges. This result provides insights to managers and cost planners in determining the best model to adopt. The improved accuracies of the influencing factors will help to enhance the control, competitiveness, and capability of futuristic decision-making of the cost of materials and labor in the construction industry.
Characterization of Mechanochemical Modification of Porous Silicon with Arginine
Authors: DiPietro Jacklyn A. , Kolasinski Kurt W.
Published: February 2022

Mechanochemistry initiated the reaction of hydrogen-terminated porous silicon (H/por-Si) powder with arginine. Samples were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Arginine, which was physisorbed onto the surface of por-Si, blue-shifted the peak PL intensity from ~630 nm for the H/por-Si to ~565 nm for arginine-coated por-Si. Grinding for 4 h reduced >80% of the initially 2–45 µm particles to <500 nm, but was observed to quench the PL. With appropriate rinsing and centrifugation, particles in the 100 nm range were isolated. Rinsing ground powder with water was required to remove the unreacted arginine. Without rinsing, excess arginine induced the aggregation of passivated particles. However, water reacted with the freshly ground por-Si powder producing H2. A zeta potential of +42 mV was measured for arginine-terminated por-Si particles dispersed in deionized water. This positive value was consistent with termination such that NH2 groups extended away from the surface. Furthermore, this result was confirmed by FTIR spectra, which suggested that arginine was bound to silicon through the formation of a covalent Si–O bond.
Symmetrically Stacked Long Short-Term Memory Networks for Fall Event Recognition Using Compact Convolutional Neural Networks-Based Tracker
Authors: Mohamed Nur Ayuni , Zulkifley Mohd Asyraf , Kamari Nor Azwan Mohamed , Kadim Zulaikha
Published: February 2022

In recent years, the advancement of pattern recognition algorithms, specifically the deep learning-related techniques, have propelled a tremendous amount of researches in fall event recognition systems. It is important to detect a fall incident as early as possible, whereby a slight delay in providing immediate assistance can cause severe unrecoverable injuries. One of the main challenges in fall event recognition is the imbalanced training data between fall and no-fall events, where a real-life fall incident is a sporadic event that occurs infrequently. Most of the recent techniques produce a lot of false alarms, as it is hard to train them to cover a wide range of fall situations. Hence, this paper aims to detect the exact fall frame in a video sequence, as such it will not be dependent on the whole clip of the video sequence. Our proposed approach consists of a two-stage module where the first stage employs a compact convolutional neural network tracker to generate the object trajectory information. Features of interest will be sampled from the generated trajectory paths, which will be fed as the input to the second stage. The next stage network then models the temporal dependencies of the trajectory information using symmetrical Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) architecture. This two-stage module is a novel approach as most of the techniques rely on the detection module rather than the tracking module. The simulation experiments were tested using Fall Detection Dataset (FDD). The proposed approach obtains an expected average overlap of 0.167, which is the best performance compared to Multi-Domain Network (MDNET) and Tree-structured Convolutional Neural Network (TCNN) trackers. Furthermore, the proposed 3-layers of stacked LSTM architecture also performs the best compared to the vanilla recurrent neural network and single-layer LSTM. This approach can be further improved if the tracker model is firstly pre-tuned in offline mode with respect to a specific type of object of interest, rather than a general object.
Multi-Condition PMSM Fault Diagnosis Based on Convolutional Neural Network Phase Tracker
Authors: Chen Zhiwen , Liang Ketian , Peng Tao , Wang Yang
Published: February 2022

In many industrial systems, symmetry is the key to ensuring efficiency and reliability. For example, in electric vehicles, the driving system often requires high symmetry. As widely used motors, permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) are often used in highly symmetrical structures as the driving devices. Consequently, maintaining the symmetry of the system relies on the normal and stable operation of the PMSM, and it is necessary to diagnose faults in the PMSM in a timely manner. In PMSM fault diagnosis methods, frequency domain features of the stator current are extensively used. However, these features change with the switching of motor operating conditions, leading to difficulty of diagnosis in multiple operating conditions. Therefore, a fault diagnosis method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) phase tracker is proposed in this paper. Through phase tracking and angular domain resampling, the fundamental frequency of stator currents in different operating conditions are aligned, so as to fix the distribution of frequency domain features and solve the problem of features changing with operating conditions. Experimental results show that the proposed method can resample the stator current signals with a small error, detect faults in a relatively short time with high accuracy, and diagnose fault type and severity level under multiple operating conditions.
Dancing with Azulene
Authors: Razus Alexandru C.
Published: February 2022

It seems interesting to adopt the idea of dance in the context of the arrangement of molecular blocks in the building of molecular systems. Just as various dances can create various feelings, the nature and arrangement of molecular blocks in the generated molecular system can induce different properties. We consider obtaining such “dancing” systems in which the still little-known azulene moieties are involved. The dark blue nonbenzenoid aromatic azulene has one less axis of symmetry relative to the two axes of its isomer, i.e., the fully benzenoid naphthalene, acquiring valuable properties as a result that can be used successfully in technical applications. In a dancing system, the azulene moieties can be connected directly, or a more or less complex spacer can be inserted between them. Several azulene moieties can form a linear oligomer or a polymer and the involvement of azulene moieties in nonlinear molecules, such as crown ethers, calixarenes, azuliporphyrins, or azulenophane, is a relatively new and intensely studied topic. Some aspects are covered in this review, which are mainly related to obtaining the mentioned azulene compounds and less to their characterization or physico-chemical properties.
Increase in Hepatitis A Cases Linked to Imported Strains to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Mello Vinicius M. , Bianchi Lucas M. , Sousa Paulo Sergio F. , Tavares Pedro S. , Di Salvo Daniel R. G. , Ginuino Cleber F. , Almeida Nathalia A. A. , Fernandes Carlos A. S. , Mello Francisco C. A. , Villar Livia M. , Lewis-Ximenez Lia L. , Lago Barbara V.
Published: February 2022

This study aims to evaluate the epidemiological and molecular features associated with HAV transmission in adults in Rio de Janeiro during a period of increased registered cases of HAV (2017–2018). Socio-epidemiological data and serum samples from anti-HAV IgM+ individuals were obtained. HAV RNA was RT-PCR amplified and sequenced for further phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses. From fifty-two HAV IgM+ individuals, most were men (78.85%; p = 0.024), aged 20–30 years old (84.61%; p < 0.001), resided in the Rio de Janeiro north zone (31/52; 59.62%; p = 0.001), and are men who have sex with men (MSM) (57.69%; p = 0.002). Sexual practices were more frequent (96%) than others risk factors (food-borne (44%), water-borne (42.31%), and parenteral (34.62%)). Individuals who traveled to endemic regions had a 7.19-fold (1.93–36.04; p < 0.01) increased risk of HAV. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four distinct clades of subgenotype IA, three of them comprised sequences from European/Asian MSM outbreaks and one from Brazilian endemic strains. Bayesian Inference showed that the imported strains were introduced to Brazil during large mass sportive events. Sexual orientation and sexual practices may play a role in acquiring HAV infection. Public policies targeting key populations must be implemented to prevent further dissemination of HAV and other STIs.
Influence of Temperature on Denitrification and Microbial Community Structure and Diversity: A Laboratory Study on Nitrate Removal from Groundwater
Authors: Qu Wanlong , Suo Litao , Liu Ruinan , Liu Manxi , Zhao Yanli , Xia Lu , Fan Yali , Zhang Qiufeng , Gao Zongjun
Published: February 2022

Temperature is an extremely important environmental condition in the application of microbial denitrification for nitrate removal from groundwater. Understanding the nitrate removal efficiency of groundwater and the diversity, composition, and structure of microbial communities under different temperature conditions is of great significance for effective mitigation of groundwater nitrate pollution. This study investigated the effects of temperature on denitrification at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C. Moreover, the characteristics of microbial community structure and diversity were analyzed by combining high-throughput sequencing and polymerase chain reaction methods in order to fully clarify the denitrification efficiency under different temperature conditions. According to laboratory batch experiments and the findings of previous research, glucose was set as the carbon source and changes in “three nitrogen” indicators of the four temperature systems were mainly tested to clarify the effectiveness of nitrate removal. The maximum removal rates of nitrate nitrogen at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C were 44.05%, 87.03%, 99.26%, and 92.79%, respectively. Therefore, the most efficient nitrate removal can be achieved at 40℃. The Chao abundance indexes in the denitrification systems at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C were 1873, 352, 466, and 640, respectively. Therefore, the highest species richness was observed at 15 °C, but there were only a few dominant bacteria species. The composition of the bacterial community and the most dominant phylum varied at different temperatures. Among them, Gammaproteobacteria in Proteobacteria phylum plays an important role in the degradation of nitrate nitrogen. The relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C were 25.32%, 66.56%, 72.83%, and 3.47%. Tolumonas belongs to Gammaproteobacteria. The relative abundance of Tolumonas at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C were 9.41%, 65.47%, 62.49%, and 0.03%, respectively. The results of this study show that different temperature conditions affect the diversity, composition, and structure of the microbial community, thereby affecting the efficiency of denitrification for nitrate removal from groundwater.
An Evaluation of the Khubelu Wetland and Receiving Stream Water Quality for Community Use
Authors: George Maeti , Ngole-Jeme Veronica M.
Published: February 2022

Wetlands in Lesotho are at the headwaters of some shared river basins like the Orange-Senqu River basin. These wetlands are threatened by various anthropogenic activities which are compromising their water quality. This study assessed the water quality status of the Khubelu wetland and stream using various water quality parameters to determine its suitability for domestic use, irrigation, and livestock watering. This was a preliminary research study on the suitability of the stream water for various uses in the study area. Calcium was the most concentrated cation in the stream (8.20 mg/L to 16.8 mg/L), followed by magnesium (7.29 mg/L to 12.51 mg/L), with sodium and potassium showing minimum values. The chemical oxygen demand values were in the range of 48 to 160 mg/L. All parameters were within the EU and WHO ranges for drinking water, except EC, DO, BOD, COD, and PO4 levels. The Khubelu wetland water quality index (WQI) had a value of 93, whereas the stream WQI value was 107. The sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) values for the wetland and stream were 3.83 and 1.04, respectively, whereas the Soluble Sodium Percentage (SSP) ranged from 18.19 to 39.25%. The stream water quality was acceptable for animal watering and crop irrigation, whereas wetland water would be acceptable for animal watering and would present some challenges for crop irrigation purposes due to the magnesium hazard it poses. The implications for the management of the wetland are discussed.
Has Technological Progress Contributed to the Bias of Green Output in China’s Marine Economy?
Authors: Ji Jianyue , Zhou Jinglin , Yin Xingmin
Published: February 2022

At present, the destruction of the marine ecological environment and the imbalance of economic structure have put forward urgent requirements for the green development of the marine economy. Based on the input and output data of China’s coastal provinces from 2006 to 2018, the RDM (range directional model) direction distance function was used to measure the output bias technology progress (OBTC) index of each region, and its influence on China’s marine economy green total factor productivity (GTFP) was judged accordingly. Furthermore, the rationality of the current OBTC index was studied. The results show that there is obvious output-biased technological progress in China’s marine economy, and it has led to the improvement of the GTFP. Although most coastal areas still tend to pursue the improvement of the total output value of the marine economy at the expense of environmental damage, the green bias of China’s marine economy has improved significantly since 2015, driven by relevant marine environmental protection policies. From the perspective of different areas, the imbalance of regional development in the process of China’s marine economic development is significant. The green bias of the marine economy is highest in the East China Sea area and lowest in the Bohai rim area. However, the coordination between the development of the green marine economy and environmental protection in the South China Sea area needs to be improved.
Impact of the Finite Element Mesh Structure on the Solution Accuracy of a Two-Dimensional Kinematic Wave Equation
Authors: Gąsiorowski Dariusz
Published: February 2022

This paper presents the influence of the finite element mesh structure on the accuracy of the numerical solution of a two-dimensional linear kinematic wave equation. This equation was solved using a two-level scheme for time integration and a modified finite element method with triangular elements for space discretization. The accuracy analysis of the applied scheme was performed using a modified equation method for three different uniform triangular meshes with the same resolution, but with a different structure. The modified equation approach based on the Taylor series truncation allowed the numerical diffusivity and dispersivity tensors to be derived, which are directly associated with numerical errors. The derived tensors depend on parameters such as the space and time interval, flow velocity, and weighting coefficients. A detailed analysis carried out for the particular values of these parameters enabled an assessment of the numerical errors that may be generated in the solution for the assumed mesh structure. The theoretical analysis was confirmed by using numerical simulations carried out for an arbitrary domain and auxiliary conditions. According to the obtained results, it appears that it is possible to improve the accuracy of the numerical solution by choosing the proper mesh structure and numerical parameters for the applied algorithm.
Dynamic modeling of central bevel gear transmission system in aero-engine
Authors: Liu Jiayin , Zhang Hao , Zhai Jingyu , Han Qingkai
Published: February 2022

Aero-engine is the most critical part of an aircraft. As its key component, the central bevel gear transmission system is always designed only considering the meshing vibration and ignoring structural characteristics of shafts and bearings, and comprehensive vibration characteristics
is not well addressed. The transmission system may suffer severe vibration. To accurately study the dynamic characteristics of the system, a model of a central bevel gear transmission system is developed considering the effects of bevel gear mesh stiffness, shaft stiffness, bearing stiffness,
and unbalance excitation in this paper. It has been validated by finite element software ANSYS. On this basis, the influence of variation of bearing stiffness and mesh stiffness on the natural characteristics of the central bevel gear transmission system is investigated. The influence of unbalance
on the radial vibration and gear meshing force is studied by the analytical calculation method. A case study is carried out. The results show that variation of stiffness within a certain range will cause dramatic changes in the natural characteristics of the system. The unbalance of the driven
bevel gear shaft has an effect on the radial vibration and meshing force of the system. The proposed model can reflect radial vibration characteristics, axial vibration characteristics, torsional vibration characteristics, and some coupled natural characteristics of the system. This research
provides a theoretical basis to optimize dynamic performance and reduce the vibration of the system and will be helpful in designing the central bevel gear transmission system.
Determination of blood heavy metal concentrations and oxidant-antioxidant capacities in Angora cats at different age and gender
Authors: KABAKÇI Ruhi , YİĞİT Ayşe Arzu , EKİCİ Hüsamettin , ALUÇ Yaşar , KARA Erdal
Published: February 2022

This study was conducted to investigate heavy metal concentrations and oxidative status of plasma and erythrocytes in Angora cats at different ages and gender. Sixteen young (less than 1 year old) and 14 adult (1–6 years old) cats were also grouped according to gender as male (n = 17) and female (n = 13). The separated plasma samples from cat’s blood were analyzed for selected heavy metals and total oxidant and antioxidant capacities (TOC and TAC) and calculated for oxidative stress index (OSI). The erythrocyte hemolysates were also evaluated for malondialdehyde (MDA), and super oxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX). Results of the study showed that most of the measured metals were not varied statistically according to age or gender. However, adult cats had significantly (P<0.01) higher Cu and lower Fe levels compared to young cats. Plasma levels of TOC, TAC and OSI, and erythrocyte MDA concentrations in young cats were significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of adults. While the SOD activity was decreased by the age, GPX activity was increased (P<0.05). However, the activity of CAT was changed by only gender, which was higher in males (P<0.01). In conclusion, metals, especially trace elements, are required for many kinds of physiological processes and the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes. Therefore, it can be suggested that the periodic measurement of metals and the addition of common antioxidant supplements to the diet of adult Angora cats will support weakening antioxidant mechanisms by age.