bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of CO2 Emissions by Replacing an Ordinary Reinforced Concrete Slab with the Void Slab System in a High-Rise Commercial Residential Complex Building in South Korea
Authors: Paik Inkwan , Na Seunguk , Yoon Seongho
Published: December 2018

The purpose of this study is to verify the environmental performance of the novel Void Deck Slab (VDS) system developed by the authors. The proposed VDS is a void slab system with enhanced design features that improve the constructability of the system through the elimination of additional works required to connect the void formers with the anchoring devices. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique was adopted to assess the carbon dioxide emissions of the void slab system with reference to the ordinary reinforced concrete slab. The system boundary of this study ranged from raw materials to pre-operation phase, in accordance with ISO 14044. The total CO2 emissions of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab and the void slab system were 204,433.06 and 151,754.75 kg CO2-eq, respectively, which equated to about 34% less emissions for the void slab system. In the case of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab, moulds accounted for approximately 62% of CO2 emission, followed by concrete (~34%). The main source of CO2 emissions for the void slab system was concrete that accounted for ~50%, followed by moulds and deck plates that accounted for roughly 27% and 19%, respectively. In the case of the void slab system, void formers would enable a lower amount of concrete, as well as the self-weight of the slab. Besides, although the void formers filled a significant volume of the slab, the contribution to CO2 emissions was less than 1%.
Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study
Authors: Gan Zuoxian , Feng Tao , Yang Min
Published: December 2018

How and to what extent household car ownership and commuting behavior affect individual subjective well-being (SWB) is of great interest for urban and transportation planning. Increasing attention has been paid to the associations between car ownership, commuting and SWB. However, only a limited number of studies examined the effects of travel-related factors on both cognitive and affective SWB aspects. This research empirically investigated the relationships from the two SWB aspects. Furthermore, we extend the modeling of generic cognitive SWB to several specific measures (e.g., satisfaction with life compared to a specific group of people, degree of free choice, social position, and social equality) to explore how car ownership and commuting behavior contribute to individual SWB. Drawing on the data derived from the 2014 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, a set of ordered probit models based on Bayesian inference are estimated. The findings point out that household car ownership has a significant effect on cognitive SWB but a limited influence on affective SWB. It appears that commuting time is significantly and negatively associated with individuals’ cognitive and affective well-being, whereas a positive correlation is found between the commuting by bicycle and affective SWB. The effects of commuting time and transportation modes on different measured satisfactions with life have no big differences. Finally, results of the Wald tests indicate that incorporating household car ownership and commuting behavior into the modeling framework can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of individual SWB.
Sustainable Urban Liveability: A Practical Proposal Based on a Composite Indicator
Authors: Valcárcel-Aguiar Beatriz , Murias Pilar , Rodríguez-González David
Published: December 2018

This article presents a proposal for a composite index to assess the degree of sustainable urban liveability. It makes two key contributions to this field of study. The first is a proposal for the concept of sustainable urban liveability that includes the need to meet a minimum number of environmental conditions in terms of resource consumption and the deterioration of the environment. The second contribution is the use of a non-compensatory aggregation technique in order to construct the composite index. This kind of aggregation technique does not allow trade-offs between partial indicators. In the particular context of sustainable urban liveability, it prevents poor performance by the natural environment indicators from being compensated by positive results in the remaining indicators. The proposed composite index for sustainable urban liveability is applied to the case of 58 Spanish cities. The results reveal significant differences in the degree of sustainable urban liveability for this group of cities, but more importantly, they highlight the potential of this proposal for urban management.
Achieving Sustainable E-Commerce in Environmental, Social and Economic Dimensions by Taking Possible Trade-Offs
Authors: Oláh Judit , Kitukutha Nicodemus , Haddad Hossam , Pakurár Miklós , Máté Domicián , Popp József
Published: December 2018

The Internet revolution has led to the advancement of online business all over the world. The environmental, social, and economic aspects are significant to the e-commerce sector, on both the retailer and consumer sides. It cannot be over-emphasized how important the sustainability of e-commerce in all three dimensions is. E-commerce will allow consumers to shop online easily, at any hour of the day, using secure payment systems; furthermore, trust in retailers’ websites is of paramount importance to consumers. This calls our attention to the gap in previous studies, and consequently, the purpose of this study is to fill the gap, to ensure sustainable e-commerce in three dimensions; environmental, social, and economic. The question and aim under investigation are: How to integrate three dimensions into e-commerce to ensure that sustainability is achieved now and for future generations, while thriving as an industry? Collaboration is required, and all stakeholders in the virtual market must take appropriate responsibility. The methodology adopted is a review of previous studies done on each individual dimension of sustainability, since no joint studies have been carried out and integrated into the same literature framework. Furthermore, a case study involving companies in Kenya and Jordan is used in order to collect empirical data. The findings of the study show that: First, integration is essential for the sustainability of e-commerce in its three dimensions; second, trade-offs must be taken in the various dimensions in order for companies to realize sustainable e-commerce. This will go in hand with the realization of the maximum benefits of integrating the three dimensions in e-commerce to make it more sustainable. In conclusion, by applying these aspects of sustainability in e-commerce, it is clear that everyone wins. This is achieved by improving and safeguarding the quality of life by protecting the environment, preserving natural resources, and maintaining and sustaining the economy. The implications of the study are that, in order to make e-commerce more sustainable, to make decisions and take action, social/environmental/economic aspects must be considered as a fundamental element, and must be treated as a group and not separately as in previous studies. In this way, we can realize greater benefits, not only in online business sustainability, but also in policy-making and environmental protection, while companies will create economic value as well as avoiding labor unrest.
Research on Resource Curse Effect of Resource-Dependent Cities: Case Study of Qingyang, Jinchang and Baiyin in China
Authors: Lu Chenyu , Wang Dai , Meng Peng , Yang Jiaqi , Pang Min , Wang Li
Published: December 2018

For a specific small-scale region with abundant resources, its copious resources tend to dictate the basic direction of its development, and may subsequently give rise to an industrial structure centered on the advantageous resources. This can give rise to an economic structure that lacks diversity, causing the economic development in the entire local region to fall into the dilemma of the resource curse. The present study conducts a case study from the perspective of small-scale regions, incorporating various types of resource-dependent cities in China, including Qingyang, Jinchang, and Baiyin, to interpret and analyze the resource curse effect by calculating a resource curse coefficient. Moreover, based on the regression model, the present study further discusses the empirical relations associated with the resource curse phenomenon. The results show that, regardless of whether a resource-dependent city is in the early, intermediate or late stage of its resource development, economic development is always plagued by the resource curse effect to a certain degree. Resource development cannot promote economic development, rather, it inhibits economic growth to some extent, resulting in an array of effects that are unfavorable to economic development, rendering the development unsustainable. For different types of resource-dependent cities, resource curse effect exhibits distinct characteristics. The resource curse effect is strongest for a resource-dependent city during an economic recession, is less severe during a development period, and is weakest during maturation. Resource development not only has a direct adverse impact on economic growth, but also often affects economic growth in multiple ways and on various levels through the Dutch disease effect, the crowding out effect, and the institution weakening effect. Until now, most results show that there is no obvious resource curse effect at the national and provincial level. The verification results of small-scale regions show that the resource curse effect at the city level still exists. In addition, the resource curse effect differs across different types of resource-dependent cities.
What Determinants Influence Students to Start Their Own Business? Empirical Evidence from United Arab Emirates Universities
Authors: Pauceanu Alexandrina , Alpenidze Onise , Edu Tudor , Zaharia Rodica
Published: December 2018

What factors influence students to start their own business? What are the implications at the university level? This paper aims to answer to these questions and investigates, at a micro level (university), the motivation for entrepreneurial intentions among students in 10 universities from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An online inquiry has been conducted among 500 students between April and June 2018, and 157 fully completed questionnaires were retained. Factor Analysis with Varimax (with Kaizer Normalization) rotation and logistic regression were used to identify what factors motivate students to start their own business and, from those factors, which one is determinant in this decision. Also, age and parental self-employment status were used to determine the influence of these factors. Four factors have been identified as determinants for students to start their own business: entrepreneurial confidence, entrepreneurial orientation, university support for entrepreneurship, and cultural support for entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, the only factor significantly correlated with the intention in starting a business is entrepreneurial confidence. This factor becomes even stronger when it is associated with age (20–25 years old) and parents’ self-employment status. These conclusions involve specific challenges on the university level, related to the role of entrepreneurial education and on country level, in link with the effectiveness of governmental programs to enhance entrepreneurial endeavours. Further research can explore and test these findings on a representative sample for the UAE, and for other countries.
Coastal Vulnerability to Erosion Using a Multi-Criteria Index: A Case Study of the Xiamen Coast
Authors: Zhu Zheng-Tao , Cai Feng , Chen Shen-Liang , Gu Dong-Qi , Feng Ai-Ping , Cao Chao , Qi Hong-Shuai , Lei Gang
Published: December 2018

The assessment of coastal vulnerability to erosion is urgently needed due to increasing coastal erosion globally. Based on the coastal characteristics of the Xiamen artificial coastline, which accounts for more than 80% of the coastline in this area, this study provides an integrated approach based on a multi-criteria index. The evaluation index system of the local coastal vulnerability to the erosion of Xiamen includes 12 indexes based on natural (coastal characteristics, coastal forcing), and socio-economic factors (coastal infrastructure, disaster reduction). The spatial differentiation characteristics of the coastal vulnerability to erosion along the Xiamen coast (2018) have been quantitatively assessed with the aid of GIS (Geographic Information System) and RS (Remote Sensing) technology. The results show that the very high vulnerability, high vulnerability, medium vulnerability, low vulnerability and very low vulnerability areas of coastal erosion accounted for 4.6%, 30.5%, 51.6%, 12.5% and 0.8% of the Xiamen coast, respectively. The coastal vulnerability to erosion classes of artificial coasts is significantly higher than those of natural coasts. This difference is mainly controlled by the coastal slope and coastal buffer ability. The results of the evaluation are basically consistent with the present situation. The rationality of the index system and the applicability of the theoretical method are well explained. The evaluation model constructed in this study can be extended to other areas with high ratios of artificial coasts.
Methodology of Temperature Monitoring in the Process of CNC Machining of Solid Wood
Authors: Igaz Rastislav , Kminiak Richard , Krišťák Ľuboš , Němec Miroslav , Gergeľ Tomáš
Published: December 2018

The issue of the change in tool temperature as a result of the machining process is presented in this paper. The aim of the paper is to put forward a proposal and subsequently to verify the methodology of temperature monitoring in the process of computer numerical control (CNC) machining in real time. Subsequently, the data can be used in the process of adaptive machine-tool control. Experiments were used to determine whether the research method is appropriate. Oak, beech and spruce wood turning blanks with the thickness of 20 mm were machined using a 5-axis CNC machining centre. A temperature change observation resulting from the changes in parameters of the removed layer was used to test whether the research method is relevant. Parameters of the removed layer were affected by the changes in feed rate in the range from 1 ÷ 5 m·min−1 in the removed layer (1–5 mm) or in wood species used in the experiment. As emerges from the proposed methodology, it is possible to monitor the changes in tool temperature responding to minimal changes in technological parameters on a relatively small size of a milled surface quite accurately. Sensitivity to given changes in technological parameters as well as the importance of the methodology was proven.
Natural Gas Security in China: A Simulation of Evolutionary Trajectory and Obstacle Degree Analysis
Authors: Guo Mingjing , Bu Yan , Cheng Jinhua , Jiang Ziyu
Published: December 2018

Studying the security status of China’s natural gas supply and proposing a feasible coping strategy for enhancing that security is of great significance. We use a pressure-state-response (PSR) analysis framework and the exponential weighting method to make a systematic evaluation of China’s natural gas security, predict the evolution of natural gas security combined with the GM(1,1) model, and use the obstacle degree model to diagnose the obstacles standing in the way of China’s optimum natural gas security. China’s natural gas comprehensive security index from 2006 to 2015 was between 0.627 and 0.740, and it is predicted to land between 0.669 and 0.759 from 2016 to 2025. The barriers affecting China’s natural gas security moving forward will be focused on urban development pressure, natural gas consumption growth pressure, supply-demand ratio, storage-production ratio, import price volatility for liquefied natural gas, and import dependence. We predict China’s natural gas security will be characterized by a wave of advancement, and has certain periodicity. The main internal factors affecting China’s natural gas security will shift from the rudimentary natural gas pipeline construction and gas storage facilities construction to the low availability of natural gas and urbanization, which will increase the pressure on natural gas supply and demand.
Exploring the Sustainability Correlation of Value Co-Creation and Customer Loyalty-A Case Study of Fitness Clubs
Authors: Lee Yu-Lung , Pan Lee-Yun , Hsu Chin-Hsien , Lee De-Chih
Published: December 2018

Fitness gyms have been gaining popularity among Taiwanese people, which means growing competitiveness for fitness gym operators and the necessity for an examination on how to maintain customer loyalty. Since workouts may require more coaching and interactions than other types of exercise, this study focuses on whether the increased customer interactions and involvement, which may be achieved when the operator works on developing customer value co-creation behavior, can generate increased customer loyalty toward fitness gyms. On the other hand, customers’regular behavior may influence customers’perceived necessity of interactions and involvement; this may in turn influence the correlation of value co-creation behavior and customer loyalty. Accordingly, regular behavior was employed as the moderating variable in this study. The study used SPSS software version 22.0 and AMOS software version 22.0 to evaluate the data collected. By convenience sampling, it distributed questionnaires to 470 subjects, and collected 470 copies, with a return rate of 100%. After eliminating the invalid samples, there were 453 valid samples, with a valid return rate of 96.3%. We distributed questionnaires at outside the fitness clubs in Taichung City from May 20th to June 13th, 2016. The study’s results indicate that value co-creation attitude, value co-creation subjective norm, and price affordability have positive effects on value co-creation behavior; value co-creation behavior has a positive effect on customer loyalty, and regular behavior has a negative moderating effect on the influence of value co-creation behavior on customer loyalty.
Defining Deforestation Patterns Using Satellite Images from 2000 and 2017: Assessment of Forest Management in Miombo Forests—A Case Study of Huambo Province in Angola
Authors: Chiteculo Vasco , Abdollahnejad Azadeh , Panagiotidis Dimitrios , Surový Peter , Sharma Ram P.
Published: December 2018

A few studies have recently been published on changes in land use/land cover (LU/LC) of Angolan Miombo forests, however, none have attempted to offer forest management solutions for degraded Miombo forests. Landscapes are witness to past and present natural and social processes influencing the environment, where each period in the past leaves footprints on the landscape’s development, which can be described by a continual decrease in forest area over time. The expansion of degraded areas from 2000 to 20017 began near urban areas where many Miombo forests have been eliminated or highly degraded, particularly in the southwest and northeast of the Huambo province. Large areas of degraded forests were observed along the Benguela railway (Caminho de ferro de Benguela). Our detailed analysis of the landcover map suggests that the impact has been devastating and there is no form of forest protection, which leads to unregulated exploitation. Descriptions of the Miombo forest dynamics are explained using height–diameter curves developed for different vegetation types that provide important insights about forest structures in the management zones. The height–diameter models differed for all vegetation types, and four management zones (MZ) were created based on a set of particular attributes. The vegetation types differed in each management zone, which included agricultural land and bare soil (MZ–E), grassland or savanna (MZ–C), open Miombo forests (MZ–B), and closed Miombo forests (Miombo forests). The four management zones were easily identified on the available maps and the height–diameter models developed represent a fundamental tool for future studies on forest planning.
Effects of Cobalt Loading, Particle Size, and Calcination Condition on Co/CNT Catalyst Performance in Fischer–Tropsch Reactions
Authors: Akbarzadeh Omid , Mohd Zabidi Noor Asmawati , Abdul Wahab Yasmin , Hamizi Nor Aliya , Chowdhury Zaira Zaman , Aljunid Merican Zulkifli Merican , Ab Rahman Marlinda , Akhter Shamima , Shalauddin Md , Johan Mohd Rafie
Published: December 2018

The strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) method was applied to the synthesis of a cobalt (Co) catalyst on a multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) support. In order to uptake more of the cobalt cluster with higher dispersion, the CNT was functionalized via acid and thermal treatment. The Co/CNT catalyst samples were characterized by a range of methods including the Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) surface area analyzer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), and H2-temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR) analysis. The data from the TEM images revealed that the catalyst was highly dispersed over the external and internal walls of the CNT and that it demonstrated a narrow particle size of 6–8 nm. In addition, the data from the H2-TPR studies showed a lower reduction temperature (420 °C) for the pre-treated catalyst samples. Furthermore, a Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reaction was chosen to evaluate the Co/CNT catalyst performance by using a fixed-bed microreactor at different parameters. Finally finding the optimum value of the cobalt loading percentage, particle size, and calcination conditions of Co/CNT catalyst resulted in a CO conversion and C5+ selectivity of 58.7% and 83.2%, respectively.
On Interpolative Hardy-Rogers Type Contractions
Authors: Karapınar Erdal , Alqahtani Obaid , Aydi Hassen
Published: December 2018

By using an interpolative approach, we recognize the Hardy-Rogers fixed point theorem in the class of metric spaces. The obtained result is supported by some examples. We also give the partial metric case, according to our result.
On the Analysis and Computation of Topological Fuzzy Measure in Distributed Monoid Spaces
Authors: Bagchi Susmit
Published: December 2018

The computational applications of fuzzy sets are pervasive in systems with inherent uncertainties and multivalued logic-based approximations. The existing fuzzy analytic measures are based on regularity variations and the construction of fuzzy topological spaces. This paper proposes an analysis of the general fuzzy measures in n-dimensional topological spaces with monoid embeddings. The embedded monoids are topologically distributed in the measure space. The analytic properties of compactness and homeomorphic, as well as isomorphic maps between spaces, are presented. The computational evaluations are carried out with n = 1, considering a set of translation functions with different symmetry profiles. The results illustrate the dynamics of finite fuzzy measure in a monoid topological subspace.
On the Evolutionary Form of the Constraints in Electrodynamics
Authors: Rácz István
Published: December 2018

The constraint equations in Maxwell theory are investigated. In analogy with some recent results on the constraints of general relativity, it is shown, regardless of the signature and dimension of the ambient space, that the “divergence of a vector field”-type constraint can always be put into linear first order hyperbolic form for which the global existence and uniqueness of solutions to an initial-boundary value problem are guaranteed.
Risk Level Evaluation on Construction Project Lifecycle Using Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation and TOPSIS
Authors: Gebrehiwet Tsegay , Luo Hanbin
Published: December 2018

A risk is a predominant problem in the developing countries construction projects. Although numerous studies have been concerned on risk, there is a limited study on a mechanism to identify the typical risks and effects level. This paper presents an approach for evaluating the risks in case of schedule delays at the various lifecycles of construction projects. The methodology applied is an integrated model of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). In this study, common criteria, sub-criteria, and attributes are constructed to make a decision concerning the influence level of risk of delay at the construction project lifecycle. The results showed that the construction stage (44%) is highly influenced, the second highly influenced stage is post construction (37%), and the least risked stage is pre-construction (35%). The construction projects in Ethiopia have faced an average delay risk of 38% at a high and very high-risk level. This work is expected to serve as a tool to assist managers in the management and control of schedule delays to mitigate their risks.
Modified Born–Infeld-Dilaton-Axion Coupling in Supersymmetry
Authors: Aldabergenov Yermek , Ketov Sergei V.
Published: December 2018

We propose the supersymmetric extension of the modified Born–Infeld-axion-dilaton non-linear electrodynamics that has confined static abelian solutions used for describing the electromagnetic confinement in the presence of axion and dilaton fields, as well as charged matter. The supersymmetric extension also has the non-trivial scalar potential that implies the upper bounds on the matter fields.
Improved Parallel Legalization Schemes for Standard Cell Placement with Obstacles
Authors: Oikonomou Panagiotis , Dadaliaris Antonios , Kolomvatsos Kostas , Loukopoulos Thanasis , Kakarountas Athanasios , Stamoulis Georgios
Published: December 2018

In standard cell placement, a circuit is given consisting of cells with a standard height, (different widths) and the problem is to place the cells in the standard rows of a chip area so that no overlaps occur and some target function is optimized. The process is usually split into at least two phases. In a first pass, a global placement algorithm distributes the cells across the circuit area, while in the second step, a legalization algorithm aligns the cells to the standard rows of the power grid and alleviates any overlaps. While a few legalization schemes have been proposed in the past for the basic problem formulation, few obstacle-aware extensions exist. Furthermore, they usually provide extreme trade-offs between time performance and optimization efficiency. In this paper, we focus on the legalization step, in the presence of pre-allocated modules acting as obstacles. We extend two known algorithmic approaches, namely Tetris and Abacus, so that they become obstacle-aware. Furthermore, we propose a parallelization scheme to tackle the computational complexity. The experiments illustrate that the proposed parallelization method achieves a good scalability, while it also efficiently prunes the search space resulting in a superlinear speedup. Furthermore, this time performance comes at only a small cost (sometimes even improvement) concerning the typical optimization metrics.
A High-Level Synthesis Implementation and Evaluation of an Image Processing Accelerator
Authors: Tsiktsiris Dimitris , Ziouzios Dimitris , Dasygenis Minas
Published: December 2018

Most frequently, an FPGA is used as an implementation platform in applications of graphics processing, as its structure can effectively exploit both spatial and temporal parallelism. Such parallelization techniques involve fundamental restrictions, namely being their dependence on both the processing model and the system’s hardware constraints, that can force the designer to restructure the architecture and the implementation. Predesigned accelerators can significantly assist the designer to solve this problem and meet his deadlines. In this paper, we present our accelerators for Grayscale and Sobel Edge Detection, two of the most fundamental algorithms used in digital image processing projects. We have implemented those algorithms with a “bare-metal” VHDL design, written purely by hand, as a portable USB accelerator device, as well as an HLS-based overlay of a similar implementation designed to be used by a Python interface. The comparisons of the two architectures showcase that the HLS generated design can perform equally to or even better than the handwritten HDL equivalent, especially when the correct compiler directives are provided.
Toxins in Fermented Foods: Prevalence and Preventions—A Mini Review
Authors: Sivamaruthi Bhagavathi Sundaram , Kesika Periyanaina , Chaiyasut Chaiyavat
Published: December 2018

Fermented foods (FF) are widely consumed around the world, and FF are one of the prime sources of toxins and pathogenic microbes that are associated with several foodborne outbreaks. Mycotoxins (aflatoxins, fumonisins, sterigmatocystin, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, ochratoxin, and alternariol), bacterial toxins (shiga toxin and botulinum), biogenic amines, and cyanogenic glycosides are the common toxins found in FF in addition to the pathogenic microbes. Fermented milk products and meat sausages are extremely vulnerable to contamination. Cumulative updated information about a specific topic such as toxins in FF is essential for the improvement of safer preparation and consumption of fermented foods. Accordingly, the current manuscript summarizes the reported mycotoxins, bacterial toxins, and/or toxins from other sources; detection methods and prevention of toxins in FF (use of specific starter culture, optimized fermentation process, and pre- and post-processing treatments); and major clinical outbreaks. This literature survey was made in Scopus, Web of Science, NCBI-PubMed, and Google Scholar using the search terms “Toxins” and “Fermented Foods” as keywords. The appropriate scientific documents were screened for relevant information and they were selected without any chronological restrictions.
Global Availability of Antivenoms: The Relevance of Public Manufacturing Laboratories
Authors: Gutiérrez José María
Published: December 2018

Snakebite envenoming is a serious global public health problem, and international initiatives, under the coordination of the World Health Organization and its regional offices, are being developed to reduce the impact of this neglected tropical disease. The global availability of safe and effective antivenoms is one of the key aspects in this global strategy. This review discusses the role of public antivenom manufacturing laboratories for ensuring the supply of antivenoms. The difficulties faced by public laboratories are discussed, together with some tasks that need to be implemented for strengthening them. In addition, the concept of ‘redundancy’ in the supply of antivenoms is emphasized, as a way to cope with the risks associated with the provision of antivenoms by few manufacturers. In general, the public sector should play a leading role, in antivenom availability and other aspects as well, within the global struggle to reduce the mortality and morbidity caused by snakebite envenoming.
Survey of Deoxynivalenol Contamination in Agricultural Products in the Chinese Market Using An ELISA Kit
Authors: Li Ming , Sun Mingna , Hong Xia , Duan Jinsheng , Du Daolin
Published: December 2018

A total of 328 agricultural product samples highly suspected to be contaminated, from flour companies, feed companies, and livestock farms throughout China, were surveyed for deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination using a self-assembly enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. An ELISA kit for DON was developed with a 4.9 ng mL−1 limit of detection (LOD) in working buffer and a 200 ng g−1 LOD in authentic samples. The DON contamination detection rate was 88.7%, concentrations ranged from 200.9 to 6480.6 ng g−1, and the highest DON contamination was found in distillers’ dried grains with solubles with an average of 3204.5 ng g−1. Wheat bran and wheat were found to be the most commonly contaminated samples, and the corn meal samples had the lowest average DON level. This ELISA kit is a powerful alternative method for the rapid, sensitive, specific, accurate, and high-throughput determination of DON and can meet the maximum requirement levels. This survey suggests that DON contamination in the Chinese market is serious, and the contamination risk deserves attention. Essential preventive measures should be implemented to ensure food safety and human health.
Evolution of Tuberculosis/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Services among Different Integrated Models in Myanmar: A Health Services Review
Authors: Kyi Myo Su , Aung Si Thu , McNeil Edward , Chongsuvivatwong Virasakdi
Published: December 2018

Myanmar is one of the highly affected countries by tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection. We aimed to review the coverage of TB/HIV integrated services as well as to document the performance of this integrated services. A retrospective program review was conducted using the aggregated data of the National TB Programme (NTP) from 2005 to 2016. In Myanmar, TB/HIV services were initiated in seven townships in 2005. Townships were slowly expanded until 2013. After that, the momentum was increased by increasing the government budget allocation for NTP. In 2016, the whole country was eventually covered by TB/HIV services in different types of integration. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage among HIV-positive TB patients remained low and it was the only significant difference among the three types of integration. Barriers of low ART coverage need to be investigated to reduce the burden of TB/HIV.
Action towards Universal Health Coverage and Social Protection for Tuberculosis Care and Prevention: Workshop on the End TB Strategy Pillar 2 in the Western Pacific Region 2017
Authors: Oh Kyung , Rahevar Kalpeshsinh , Nishikiori Nobuyuki , Viney Kerri , Choi Hongjo , Biermann Olivia , Kim Hee , Nou Chanly , Kim Samoeun , Zhu Ge , Zhang Hui , Xu Caihong , Bounmala Soth , Senchanthixay Maytry , Purevdorj Enkhtamir , Khaltar Ulzii-orshikh , Paguirigan Ronald , Amoguis Hansel , Xuan Phu Vu , Khang Dang
Published: December 2018

Although the End TB Strategy highlights that major global progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) and social protection are fundamental to achieving the global targets for reductions in tuberculosis (TB) incidence and deaths, there is still a long way to go to achieve them in low- and middle-income countries. A workshop on the End TB Strategy Pillar 2 in the Western Pacific Region focusing on action towards UHC and social protection was held between 27 and 29 November in 2017 at the Korean Institute of Tuberculosis in Cheonju, Republic of Korea. The workshop brought together key personnel from national TB programmes and other stakeholders or researchers with experience in this topic from six countries with a high burden of TB in the region. During the workshop, participants shared country experiences, best practices, and challenges in achieving UHC and enhancing social protection in the context of TB service delivery, and also explored policy options to address the challenges, to be applied in their respective countries. This report describes the content of the meeting and the conclusions and recommendations arising from the meeting.
Hellenic Lyceum Cosmic Observatories Network: Status Report and Outreach Activities
Authors: Leisos Antonios , Tsirigotis Apostolos , Bourlis George , Petropoulos Michael , Xiros Leonidas , Manthos Ioannis , Tzamarias Spyros
Published: December 2018

The HELYCON project aims at the installation of cosmic air-shower detectors on the roofs of high-school buildings in western Greece. During the last four years, the HELYCON project made a substantial progress. Three HELYCON stations were installed and are still in operation at the Hellenic Open University (HOU) campus, while a small-scale air-shower detector ( μ Cosmics detector), suitable for in classroom operation, was developed. During the construction and operation of these detectors, many experimental tests and calibration procedures were established, offering the framework for the educational activities of the HELYCON project. In this work, we present the recent developments of the HELYCON project and describe the main aspects of the methodology we use in a five-day training program that introduces the Greek education community to the experimental procedures of HELYCON.
Coworking Spaces and New Social Relations: A Focus on the Social Streets in Italy
Authors: Akhavan Mina , Mariotti Ilaria , Astolfi Lisa , Canevari Annapaola
Published: December 2018

The late 2000s witnessed a wide diffusion of innovative workplaces, named coworking spaces, designed to host creative people and entrepreneurs: the coworkers. Sharing the same space may provide a collaborative community to those kinds of workers who otherwise would not enjoy the relational component associated with a traditional corporate office. Coworking spaces can bring several benefits to freelancers and independent workers, such as knowledge transfer, informal exchange, cooperation, and forms of horizontal interaction with others, as well as business opportunities. Moreover, additional effects may concern the urban context: from community building, with the subsequent creation of social streets, and the improvement of the surrounding public space, to a wider urban revitalization, both from an economic and spatial point of view. These “indirect” effects are neglected by the literature, which mainly focuses on the positive impact on the workers’ performance. The present paper aimed to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the effects of coworking spaces in Italy on the local context, devoting particular attention to the relation with social streets. To reach this goal, the answers (236) to an on-line questionnaire addressed to coworkers were analysed. The results showed that three quarters of the coworkers reported a positive impact of coworking on the urban and local context, where 10 out of 100 coworking spaces developed and/or participated in social streets located in Italian cities, but also in the suburban and peripheral areas.
A Cryptic Non-Inducible Prophage Confers Phage-Immunity on the Streptococcus thermophilus M17PTZA496
Authors: Da Silva Duarte Vinícius , Giaretta Sabrina , Campanaro Stefano , Treu Laura , Armani Andrea , Tarrah Armin , Oliveira de Paula Sérgio , Giacomini Alessio , Corich Viviana
Published: December 2018

Streptococcus thermophilus is considered one of the most important species for the dairy industry. Due to their diffusion in dairy environments, bacteriophages can represent a threat to this widely used bacterial species. Despite the presence of a CRISPR-Cas system in the S. thermophilus genome, some lysogenic strains harbor cryptic prophages that can increase the phage-host resistance defense. This characteristic was identified in the dairy strain S. thermophilus M17PTZA496, which contains two integrated prophages 51.8 and 28.3 Kb long, respectively. In the present study, defense mechanisms, such as a lipoprotein-encoding gene and Siphovirus Gp157, the last associated to the presence of a noncoding viral DNA element, were identified in the prophage M17PTZA496 genome. The ability to overexpress genes involved in these defense mechanisms under specific stressful conditions, such as phage attack, has been demonstrated. Despite the addition of increasing amounts of Mitomycin C, M17PTZA496 was found to be non-inducible. However, the transcriptional activity of the phage terminase large subunit was detected in the presence of the antagonist phage vB_SthS-VA460 and of Mitomycin C. The discovery of an additional immune mechanism, associated with bacteriophage-insensitive strains, is of utmost importance, for technological applications and industrial processes. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the capability of a prophage integrated into the S. thermophilus genome expressing different phage defense mechanisms. Bacteriophages are widespread entities that constantly threaten starter cultures in the dairy industry. In cheese and yogurt manufacturing, the lysis of Streptococcus thermophilus cultures by viral attacks can lead to huge economic losses. Nowadays S. thermophilus is considered a well-stablished model organism for the study of natural adaptive immunity (CRISPR-Cas) against phage and plasmids, however, the identification of novel bacteriophage-resistance mechanisms, in this species, is strongly desirable. Here, we demonstrated that the presence of a non-inducible prophage confers phage-immunity to an S. thermophilus strain, by the presence of ltp and a viral noncoding region. S. thermophilus M17PTZA496 arises as an unconventional model to study phage resistance and potentially represents an alternative starter strain for dairy productions.
Cytotoxic Drugs Activate KSHV Lytic Cycle in Latently Infected PEL Cells by Inducing a Moderate ROS Increase Controlled by HSF1, NRF2 and p62/SQSTM1
Authors: Granato Marisa , Gilardini Montani Maria Saveria , Angiolillo Camilla , D’Orazi Gabriella , Faggioni Alberto , Cirone Mara
Published: December 2018

Previous studies have indicated that cytotoxic treatments may induce or not activate viral lytic cycle activation in cancer cells latently infected by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). To investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for such an effect, we compared two cytotoxic treatments able to induce the viral lytic cycle, named 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) (T) in combination with sodium butyrate (B) and bortezomib (BZ), with two cytotoxic treatments that did not activate this process, named metformin (MET) and quercetin (Q). Our results indicated that TB and bortezomib increased levels of oxygen reactive species (ROS) while metformin and quercetin reduced them. The finding that N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a reactive oxigen species (ROS) scavenger, counteracted K-bZIP expression induced by TB or bortezomib, confirmed that an ROS increase played a role in KSHV lytic cycle activation. Moreover, we found that TB and bortezomib up-regulated p62/Sequestosome1(p62/SQSTM1) protein, while metformin and quercetin down-regulated it. p62/SQSTM1 silencing or the inhibition of NF-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) or Heat Shock Factor 1 (HSF1), that mediate p62/SQSTM1 transcription, also reduced KSHV lytic antigen expression induced by TB or bortezomib. Interestingly, such combination treatments further increased intracellular ROS and cytotoxicity induced by the single TB or bortezomib treatment, suggesting that NRF2, HSF1 and p62/SQSTM1 keep the ROS level under control, allowing primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cells to continue to survive and KSHV to replicate.
Attenuation and Stability of CHIKV-NoLS, a Live-Attenuated Chikungunya Virus Vaccine Candidate
Authors: Abeyratne Eranga , Freitas Joseph R. , Zaid Ali , Mahalingam Suresh , Taylor Adam
Published: December 2018

Our previous investigation of the nucleolar localisation sequence (NoLS) of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) capsid protein demonstrated the role of capsid in CHIKV virulence. Mutating the NoLS of capsid in CHIKV led to the development of a unique live-attenuated CHIKV vaccine candidate, termed CHIKV-NoLS. CHIKV-NoLS-immunised mice developed long-term immunity from CHIKV infection after a single dose. To further evaluate CHIKV-NoLS attenuation and suitability as a vaccine, we examined the footpad of inoculated mice for underlying CHIKV-NoLS-induced immunopathology by histological and flow cytometric analysis. In comparison to CHIKV-WT-infected mice, CHIKV-NoLS-inoculated mice exhibited minimal inflammation and tissue damage. To examine the stability of attenuation, the plaque phenotype and replication kinetics of CHIKV-NoLS were determined following extended in vitro passage. The average plaque size of CHIKV-NoLS remained notably smaller than CHIKV-WT after extended passage and attenuated replication was maintained. To examine thermostability, CHIKV-NoLS was stored at 21 °C, 4 °C, −20 °C and −80 °C and infectious CHIKV-NoLS quantified up to 84 days. The infectious titre of CHIKV-NoLS remains stable after 56 days when stored at either −20 °C or −80 °C. Interestingly, unlike CHIKV-WT, the infectious titre of CHIKV-NoLS is not sensitive to freeze thaw cycles. These data further demonstrate preclinical safety and stability of CHIKV-NoLS.
Sensitivity Analysis of a Wall Boundary Condition for the Turbulent Pipe Flow of Herschel–Bulkley Fluids
Authors: Mehta Dhruv , Thota Radhakrishnan Adithya Krishnan , Van Lier Jules , Clemens Francois
Published: December 2018

This article follows from a previous study by the authors on the computational fluid dynamics-based analysis of Herschel–Bulkley fluids in a pipe-bounded turbulent flow. The study aims to propose a numerical method that could support engineering processes involving the design and implementation of a waste water transport system, for concentrated domestic slurry. Concentrated domestic slurry results from the reduction in the amount of water used in domestic activities (and also the separation of black and grey water). This primarily saves water and also increases the concentration of nutrients and biomass in the slurry, facilitating efficient recovery. Experiments revealed that upon concentration, domestic slurry flows as a non-Newtonian fluid of the Herschel–Bulkley type. An analytical solution for the laminar transport of such a fluid is available in literature. However, a similar solution for the turbulent transport of a Herschel–Bulkley fluid is unavailable, which prompted the development of an appropriate wall function to aid the analysis of such flows. The wall function (called ψ 1 hereafter) was developed using Launder and Spalding’s standard wall function as a guide and was validated against a range of experimental test-cases, with positive results. ψ 1 is assessed for its sensitivity to rheological parameters, namely the yield stress, the fluid consistency index and the behaviour index and their impact on the accuracy with which ψ 1 can correctly quantify the pressure loss through a pipe. This is done while simulating the flow of concentrated domestic slurry using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach for turbulent flows. This serves to establish an operational envelope in terms of the rheological parameters and the average flow velocity within which ψ 1 is a must for accuracy. One observes that, regardless of the fluid behaviour index, ψ 1 is necessary to ensure accuracy with RANS models only in flow regimes where the wall shear stress is comparable to the yield stress within an order of magnitude. This is also the regime within which the concentrated slurry analysed as part of this research flows, making ψ 1 a requirement. In addition, when the wall shear stress exceeds the yield stress by more than one order (either due to an inherent lower yield stress or a high flow velocity), the regular Newtonian wall function proposed by Launder and Spalding is sufficient for an accurate estimate of the pressure loss, owing to the relative reduction in non-Newtonian viscosity as compared to the turbulent viscosity.