bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultrasonic Measurement of Axial Preload in High-Frequency Nickel-Based Superalloy Smart Bolt
Authors: Liu Shuang , Sun Zhongrui , Ren Guanpin , Liao Cheng , He Xulin , Luo Kun , Li Ru , Jiang Wei , Zhan Huan
Published: December 2022

A high-frequency, piezoelectric thin-film sensor was successfully deposited on a nickel-based superalloy bolt by radio frequency magnetron sputtering to develop a smart, nickel-based superalloy bolt. Ultrasonic response characterization, high accuracy, and repeatability of ultrasonic measurement of axial preload in nickel-based superalloy smart bolts are reported here and were fully demonstrated. The axial preload in the nickel-based superalloy smart bolt was directly measured by the bi-wave method (TOF ratio between transverse and longitudinal-mode waves) without using the traditional integration of a longitudinal and shear transducer. A model concerning the bolt before and after tensioning was established to demonstrate the propagation and displacement distribution of the ultrasonic waves inside a nickel-based superalloy smart bolt. The measured A-scan signal presented significantly favorable features including a mixture of transverse and longitudinal mode waves, a pure and broad frequency spectrum which peaked at 17.14 MHz, and high measurement accuracy below 3% for tension of 4 kN–20 kN. For the temporal ultrasonic signal, the measurement envelopes were narrower than for the counterpart of the simulation, justifying the ‘filtration’ advantage of the high-frequency sensor. Both the TOF change of the single longitudinal-mode wave and the TOF ratio between transverse- and longitudinal-mode waves increased linearly with preload force in the range of 0 kN to 20 kN. Compared with the commercial piezoelectric probe, the proposed probe, based on the combination of a high-frequency, piezoelectric thin-film sensor and a magnetically mounted transducer connector, exhibited high tolerance to temperatures as high as 320 °C and high repeatability free from some interference factors such as bolt detection position change and couplant layer thickness. The results indicate that this system is a promising axial preload measurement system for high-temperature fasteners and connectors, and the proposed sensor is a practical, high-frequency ultrasonic sensor for non-destructive testing.
Semantic Segmentation of Terrestrial Laser Scans of Railway Catenary Arches: A Use Case Perspective
Authors: Ton Bram , Ahmed Faizan , Linssen Jeroen
Published: December 2022

Having access to accurate and recent digital twins of infrastructure assets benefits the renovation, maintenance, condition monitoring, and construction planning of infrastructural projects. There are many cases where such a digital twin does not yet exist, such as for legacy structures. In order to create such a digital twin, a mobile laser scanner can be used to capture the geometric representation of the structure. With the aid of semantic segmentation, the scene can be decomposed into different object classes. This decomposition can then be used to retrieve cad models from a cad library to create an accurate digital twin. This study explores three deep-learning-based models for semantic segmentation of point clouds in a practical real-world setting: PointNet++, SuperPoint Graph, and Point Transformer. This study focuses on the use case of catenary arches of the Dutch railway system in collaboration with Strukton Rail, a major contractor for rail projects. A challenging, varied, high-resolution, and annotated dataset for evaluating point cloud segmentation models in railway settings is presented. The dataset contains 14 individually labelled classes and is the first of its kind to be made publicly available. A modified PointNet++ model achieved the best mean class Intersection over Union (IoU) of 71% for the semantic segmentation task on this new, diverse, and challenging dataset.
Fluctuation of Plasmonically Induced Transparency Peaks within Multi-Rectangle Resonators
Authors: Pei Ruoyu , Liu Dongdong , Zhang Qun , Shi Zhe , Sun Yan , Liu Xi , Wang Jicheng
Published: December 2022

Numerical investigations were conducted of the plasmonically induced transparency (PIT) effect observed in a metal–insulator–metal waveguide coupled to asymmetric three-rectangle resonators, wherein, of the two PIT peaks that were generated, one PIT peak fell while the other PIT peak rose. PIT has been widely studied due to its sensing, slow light, and nonlinear effects, and it has a high potential for use in optical communication systems. To gain a better understanding of the PIT effect in multi-rectangle resonators, its corresponding properties, effects, and performance were numerically investigated based on PIT peak fluctuations. By modifying geometric parameters and filling dielectrics, we not only realized the off-to-on PIT optical response within single or double peaks but also obtained the peak fluctuation. Furthermore, our findings were found to be consistent with those of finite element simulations. These proposed structures have wide potential for use in sensing applications.
Multi-Objective Association Detection of Farmland Obstacles Based on Information Fusion of Millimeter Wave Radar and Camera
Authors: Lv Pengfei , Wang Bingqing , Cheng Feng , Xue Jinlin
Published: December 2022

In order to remedy the defects of single sensor in robustness, accuracy, and redundancy of target detection, this paper proposed a method for detecting obstacles in farmland based on the information fusion of a millimeter wave (mmWave) radar and a camera. Combining the advantages of the mmWave radar in range and speed measurement and the camera in type identification and lateral localization, a decision-level fusion algorithm was designed for the mmWave radar and camera information, and the global nearest neighbor method was used for data association. Then, the effective target sequences of the mmWave radar and the camera with successful data association were weighted to output, and the output included more accurate target orientation, longitudinal speed, and category. For the unassociated sequences, they were tracked as new targets by using the extended Kalman filter algorithm and were processed and output during the effective life cycle. Lastly, an experimental platform based on a tractor was built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed association detection method. The obstacle detection test was conducted under the ROS environment after solving the external parameters of the mmWave radar and the internal and external parameters of the camera. The test results show that the correct detection rate of obstacles reaches 86.18%, which is higher than that of a single camera with 62.47%. Furthermore, through the contrast experiment of the sensor fusion algorithms, the detection accuracy of the decision level fusion algorithm was 95.19%, which was higher than 4.38% and 6.63% compared with feature level and data level fusion, respectively.
Dual Cluster Head Optimization of Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Zheng Aiyun , Zhang Zhen , Liu Weimin , Liu Jiaxin , Xiao Yao , Li Chen
Published: December 2022

Energy conservation is one of the main problems in a wireless sensor network (WSN). Compared with a single cluster head (CH), a dual CH optimization was proposed for less energy consumption by the WSN and an acquisition delay by the mobile sink (MS). Firstly, a fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm and a multi-objective particle swarm optimization were utilized for the determinations of the first and second CHs. Following that, the ideal trajectory of MS was assessed using the improved ant colony algorithm. Finally, the lifetimes, the death rounds of the first node and the 50% node, and the number of packets received at the base station were compared among the proposed approach. Moreover, five algorithms were compared to validate the optimization, and the improved trajectory was compared with the original one as well. It was found that, for 100 nodes, the number of dead rounds from the proposal increased by 7.9%, 22.9%, 25.1%, 61%, and 74.4% for the first node, and that of the 50% nodes increased by 27.8%, 34.2%, 98.3%, 213.1%, and 211.2%, respectively. The base station packet reception increased by about 19.3%, 53.5%, 27%, 86.8%, and 181.2%, respectively. The trajectory of MS could also decrease by about 10%.
Real-Time Scheduling in IoT Applications: A Systematic Review
Authors: Abolhassani Khajeh Sima , Saberikamarposhti Morteza , Rahmani Amir Masoud
Published: December 2022

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a telecommunication network in the next generation of applications with the rapid progress of wireless sensor network techniques that have touched many spheres of life today. Hardware, telephony, communications, storage, secure platforms, software and services, and data processing platforms are all part of the IoT environment. IoT sensors collect data from their environment and share it by connecting to the Internet gateway. These sensors often perform tasks without human intervention. This article aims to review real-time scheduling in the IoT to fully understand the issues raised in this area published from 2018 to 2022. A classification for IoT applications based on practical application is provided for selected studies. Selected studies include healthcare, infrastructure, industrial applications, smart city, commercial applications, environmental protection, and general IoT applications. Studies are sorted into groups based on related applications and compared based on indicators such as performance time, energy consumption, makespan, and assessment environments depending on the provided classification. Finally, this paper discusses all reviewed studies’ main concepts, disadvantages, advantages, and future work.
Hybrid Target Selections by ”Hand Gestures + Facial Expression” for a Rehabilitation Robot
Authors: Han Yi , Zhang Xiangliang , Zhang Ning , Meng Shuguang , Liu Tao , Wang Shuoyu , Pan Min , Zhang Xiufeng , Yi Jingang
Published: December 2022

In this study we propose a “hand gesture + face expression” human machine interaction technique, and apply this technique to bedridden rehabilitation robot. “Hand gesture + Facial expression” interactive technology combines the input mode of gesture and facial expression perception. It involves seven basic facial expressions that can be used to determine a target selecting task, while hand gestures are used to control a cursor’s location. A controlled experiment was designed and conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid technology. A series of target selecting tasks with different target widths and layouts were designed to examine the recognition accuracy of hybrid control gestures. An interactive experiment applied to a rehabilitation robot is designed to verify the feasibility of this interactive technology applied to rehabilitation robots. The experimental results show that the “hand + facial expression” interactive gesture has strong robustness, which can provide a novel guideline for designing applications in VR interfaces, and it can be applied to the rehabilitation robots.
Joint Intra/Inter-Slot Code Design for Unsourced Multiple Access in 6G Internet of Things
Authors: Li Yuanjie , Niu Kai , Dong Chao , Suo Shiqiang , Lin Jiaru
Published: December 2022

Unsourced multiple access (UMA) is the technology for massive, low-power, and uncoordinated Internet-of-Things in the 6G wireless system, improving connectivity and energy efficiency on guaranteed reliability. The multi-user coding scheme design is a critical problem for UMA. This paper proposes a UMA coding scheme based on the T-Fold IRSA (irregular repetition slotted Aloha) paradigm by using joint Intra/inter-slot code design and optimization. Our scheme adopts interleave-division multiple access (IDMA) to enhance the intra-slot coding gain and the low-complexity joint intra/inter-slot SIC (successive interference cancellation) decoder structure to recover multi-user payloads. Based on the error event decomposition and density evolution analysis, we build a joint intra/inter-slot coding parameter optimization algorithm to minimize the SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) requirement at an expected system packet loss rate. Numerical results indicate that the proposed scheme achieves energy efficiency gain by balancing the intra/inter-slot coding gain while maintaining relatively low implementation complexity.
ISO26262-Compliant Inductive Long-Stroke Linear-Position Sensors as an Alternative to Hall-Based Sensors for Automotive Applications
Authors: Lim Hyung-Sok , Kim Choul-Young
Published: December 2022

To ensure safety, vehicle companies require position sensors that maintain accuracy and avoid target loss even in harsh automotive environments. Most vehicle position sensors are Hall-based, but even improved gradiometric 3D Hall sensors using the arctangent operation are vulnerable to external magnetic fields (EXMFs) and encounter difficulty at long-stroke (LS) positions. An ISO26262-compliant inductive position sensor (IPS) employing a 3.5 MHz-induced magnetic field source (much higher in frequency than vehicle–environment EXMFs) is proposed in this study as an alternative. To meet the safety goal, a threshold LS distance of 12 mm was set. Then the IPS was compared to existing Hall-based sensors. The B field of the existing 3D sensor was weak at LS and the airgap between sensor face and magnet target caused a large error in accuracy, whereas the IPS was not affected by LS. Because of its high excitation frequency, the IPS was also largely unaffected by EXMFs, as was demonstrated by ISO11452-8 and 0.1 T immunity tests. The proposed IPS outperformed existing 3D Hall sensors, achieving stable accuracy within ±0.85% for different airgaps (1.5–2.5 mm) and proving robust to magnetic and LS effects.
Digital Twins for Managing Railway Bridge Maintenance, Resilience, and Climate Change Adaptation
Authors: Kaewunruen Sakdirat , AbdelHadi Mohannad , Kongpuang Manwika , Pansuk Withit , Remennikov Alex M.
Published: December 2022

Innovative digital twins (DTs) that allow engineers to visualise, share information, and monitor the condition during operation is necessary to optimise railway construction and maintenance. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an approach for creating and managing an inventive 3D model simulating digital information that is useful to project management, monitoring and operation of a specific asset during the whole life cycle assessment (LCA). BIM application can help to provide an efficient cost management and time schedule and reduce the project delivery time throughout the whole life cycle of the project. In this study, an innovative DT has been developed using BIM integration through a life cycle analysis. Minnamurra Railway Bridge (MRB), Australia, has been chosen as a real-world use case to demonstrate the extended application of BIM (i.e., the DT) to enhance the operation, maintenance and asset management to improve the sustainability and resilience of the railway bridge. Moreover, the DT has been exploited to determine GHG emissions and cost consumption through the integration of BIM. This study demonstrates the feasibility of DT technology for railway maintenance and resilience optimisation. It also generates a virtual collaboration for co-simulations and co-creation of values across stakeholders participating in construction, operation and maintenance, and enhancing a reduction in costs and GHG emission.
Research on Root Strain Response Characteristics of Inner Ring of Planetary Gear Transmission System with Crack Fault
Authors: Chen Lan , Zhang Xiangfeng , Wang Lizhong
Published: December 2022

This paper established the system dynamics model for two kinds of tooth cracks of different depths of the sun gear and inner gear ring to study the influence mechanism of crack failure on the tooth root strain of the planetary gear transmission system. Combined with the finite element model of the inner gear ring, the tooth root strain of the ring was solved. Experiments verified the correctness of the solution method. The root strain under the crack fault of the sun gear and the tooth crack fault of the inner gear ring is analyzed, and the following conclusions are drawn: Periodic fault impact occurs in the strain signal of the tooth root of the inner gear ring during the crack fault of the sun gear root. The fault can be extracted by the fast spectral kurtosis method (FSK), and the fault components are used to determine whether the sun gear cracks. The Lempel–Ziv index showed a tendency to increase gradually during the process of solar wheel crack deepening, which could be used as the damage index of crack depth. The results can provide a basis and reference for fault diagnosis.
Dynamics of Research into Modeling the Power Consumption of Virtual Entities Used in the Telco Cloud
Authors: Depasquale Etienne-Victor , Davoli Franco , Rajput Humaira
Published: December 2022

This article is a graphical, analytical survey of the literature, over the period 2010–2020, on the measurement of power consumption and relevant power models of virtual entities as they apply to the telco cloud. We present a novel review method, that summarizes the dynamics as well as the results of the research. Our method lends insight into trends, research gaps, fallacies and pitfalls. Notably, we identify limitations of the widely used linear models and the progression towards Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning techniques as a means of dealing with the seven major dimensions of variability: workload type; computer virtualization agents; system architecture and resources; concurrent, co-hosted virtualized entities; approaches towards the attribution of power consumption to virtual entities; frequency; and temperature.
Impact of Soil-Based Insulation on Ultrahigh-Resolution Fiber-Optic Interferometry
Authors: Hoque Nabil Md Rakinul , Duan Lingze
Published: December 2022

High resolution optical interferometry often requires thermal and acoustic insultation to reduce and remove environment-induced fluctuations. Broader applications of interferometric optical sensors in the future call for low-cost materials with both low thermal diffusivity and good soundproofing capability. In this paper, we explore the feasibility and effectiveness of natural soil as an insulation material for ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic interferometry. An insulation chamber surrounded by soil is constructed, and its impact on the noise reduction of a Mach-Zehnder Fabry-Perot hybrid fiber interferometer is evaluated. Our results indicate that soil can effectively reduce ambient noise across a broad frequency range. Moreover, compared to conventional insulation materials such as polyurethane foam, soil shows superior insulation performance at low frequencies and thereby affords better long-term stability. This work demonstrates the practicability of soil as a legitimate option of insulation material for precision optical experiments.
Baroreflex Sensitivity Assessment Using the Sequence Method with Delayed Signals in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients
Authors: Martinez-Alanis Marisol , Calderón-Juárez Martín , Martínez-García Paola , González Gómez Gertrudis Hortensia , Infante Oscar , Pérez-Grovas Héctor , Lerma Claudia
Published: December 2022

Impaired baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is partially responsible for erratic blood pressure fluctuations in End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD), which is related to autonomic nervous dysfunction. The sequence method with delayed signals allows for the measurement of BRS in a non-invasive fashion and the investigation of alterations in this physiological feedback system that maintains BP within healthy limits. Our objective was to evaluate the modified delayed signals in the sequence method for BRS assessment in ESRD patients without pharmacological antihypertensive treatment and compare them with those of healthy subjects. We recruited 22 healthy volunteers and 18 patients with ESRD. We recorded continuous BP to obtain a 15-min time series of systolic blood pressure and interbeat intervals during the supine position (SP) and active standing (AS) position. The time series with delays from 0 to 5 heartbeats were used to calculate the BRS, number of data points, number of sequences, and estimation error. The BRS from the ESRD patients was smaller than in healthy subjects (p < 0.05). The BRS estimation with the delayed sequences also increased the number of data points and sequences and decreased the estimation error compared to the original time series. The modified sequence method with delayed signals may be useful for the measurement of baroreflex sensitivity in ESRD patients with a shorter recording time and maintaining an estimation error below 0.01 in both the supine and active standing positions. With this framework, it was corroborated that baroreflex sensitivity in ESRD is decreased when compared with healthy subjects.
Actuation Strategies for a Wearable Cable-Driven Exosuit Based on Synergies in Younger and Older Adults
Authors: Bermejo-García Javier , Rodríguez Jorge Daniel , Romero-Sánchez Francisco , Jayakumar Ashwin , Alonso-Sánchez Francisco J.
Published: December 2022

Older adults (aged 55 years and above) have greater difficulty carrying out activities of daily living than younger adults (aged 25–55 years). Although age-related changes in human gait kinetics are well documented in qualitative terms in the scientific literature, these differences may be quantified and analyzed using the analysis of motor control strategies through kinetic synergies. The gaits of two groups of people (older and younger adults), each with ten members, were analyzed on a treadmill at a constant controlled speed and their gait kinetics were recorded. The decomposition of the kinetics into synergies was applied to the joint torques at the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Principal components determined the similarity of the kinetic torques in the three joints analyzed and the effect of the walking speed on the coordination pattern. A total of three principal components were required to describe enough information with minimal loss. The results suggest that the older group showed a change in coordination strategy compared to that of the younger group. The main changes were related to the ankle and hip torques, both showing significant differences (p-value <0.05) between the two groups. The findings suggest that the differences between the gait patterns of the two groups were closely related to a reduction in ankle torque and an increase in hip torque. This change in gait pattern may affect the rehabilitation strategy used when designing general-purpose rehabilitation devices or rehabilitation/training programs for the elderly.
Machine Learning Estimation of the Phase at the Fading Points of an OFDR-Based Distributed Sensor
Authors: Aitkulov Arman , Marcon Leonardo , Chiuso Alessandro , Palmieri Luca , Galtarossa Andrea
Published: December 2022

The paper reports a machine learning approach for estimating the phase in a distributed acoustic sensor implemented using optical frequency domain reflectometry, with enhanced robustness at the fading points. A neural network configuration was trained using a simulated set of optical signals that were modeled after the Rayleigh scattering pattern of a perturbed fiber. Firstly, the performance of the network was verified using another set of numerically generated scattering profiles to compare the achieved accuracy levels with the standard homodyne detection method. Then, the proposed method was tested on real experimental measurements, which indicated a detection improvement of at least 5.1 dB with respect to the standard approach.
Development and Experimental Research of VFTO Measuring Sensor
Authors: Teng Zihan , Zhao Jun , Wang Qi , Lu Haonan , Zhang Jiangong
Published: December 2022

Very fast transient overvoltage (VFTO) generated by an operating disconnector is one of the main reasons for electromagnetic disturbance in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substations. Generally, the amplitude of VFTO can be used as one of the references for the insulation design of GIS primary electric power equipment, so it is necessary to obtain its accurate amplitude. In this study, a new VFTO measuring sensor is developed and its measurement performance is demonstrated through hundreds of operations by a disconnector in a 220 kV GIS test circuit. The validation shows that the low cut-off frequency of the new VFTO measuring sensor has been greatly expanded to 0.01 mHz, which is improved by about 50% compared with the old sensor. The measurement accuracy of amplitude of VFTO micro-pulse improves greatly by about 80% compared with the old one. Thus, the new VFTO measuring sensor can fully meet the measurement needs of trapped charge voltage, power frequency voltage, and high-frequency transient voltage in VFTO waveform. It can be used to provide more accurate data support for insulation design of GIS primary power electric equipment in extra-high voltage (EHV) and ultra-high voltage (UHV) GIS substations.
An Improved Shape from Focus Method for Measurement of Three-Dimensional Features of Fuel Nozzles
Authors: Hou Liang , Zou Jiahao , Zhang Wei , Chen Yun , Shao Wen , Li Yuan , Chen Shuyuan
Published: December 2022

The precise three-dimensional measurement of fuel nozzles is of great significance to assess the manufacturing accuracy and improve the spray and atomization performance. This paper proposes an improved fast shape from focus (SFF) method for three-dimensional measurement of key features of fuel nozzles. In order to ensure the measurement accuracy and efficiency of the SFF, the dispersion of the measured points from a standard flat plane was used to select the optimal combination of the focus measure operator, window size and sampling step size. In addition, an approximate method for the focus measure interval is proposed to improve the measurement efficiency, which uses the peak region of the central pixel to replace the peak region of other pixels. The results show that the proposed method decreased the average computation time of the focus measure by 79.19% for the cone section and by 38.30% for the swirl slot. Compared with a reference laser scanning microscope, the measurement error in length is within 10 μm and the error in angle is within a maximum 0.15°.
Improving Fingerprint-Based Positioning by Using IEEE 802.11mc FTM/RTT Observables
Authors: Martin-Escalona Israel , Zola Enrica
Published: December 2022

Received signal strength (RSS) has been one of the most used observables for location purposes due to its availability at almost every wireless device. However, the volatile nature of RSS tends to yield to non-reliable location solutions. IEEE 802.11mc enabled the use of the round trip time (RTT) for positioning, which is expected to be a more consistent observable for location purposes. This approach has been gaining support from several companies such as Google, which introduced that feature in the Android O.S. As a result, RTT estimation is now available in several recent off-the-shelf devices, opening a wide range of new approaches for computing location. However, RTT has been traditionally addressed to multilateration solutions. Few works exist that assess the feasibility of the RTT as an accurate feature in positioning methods based on classification algorithms. An attempt is made in this paper to fill this gap by investigating the performance of several classification models in terms of accuracy and positioning errors. The performance is assessed using different AP layouts, distinct AP vendors, and different frequency bands. The accuracy and precision of the RTT-based position estimation is always better than the one obtained with RSS in all the studied scenarios, and especially when few APs are available. In addition, all the considered ML algorithms perform pretty well. As a result, it is not necessary to use more complex solutions (e.g., SVM) when simpler ones (e.g., nearest neighbor classifiers) achieve similar results both in terms of accuracy and location error.
Improvement in Quality of Life with Use of Ambient-Assisted Living: Clinical Trial with Older Persons in the Chilean Population
Authors: Taramasco Carla , Rimassa Carla , Martinez Felipe
Published: December 2022

In Chile, 18% of the population is over 60 years old and is projected to reach 31% in three decades. An aging population demands the development of strategies to improve quality of life (QoL). In this randomized trial, we present the implementation and evaluation of the Quida platform, which consists of a network of unintrusive sensors installed in the houses of elderly participants to monitor their activities and provide assistance. Sixty-nine elderly participants were included. A significant increase in overall QoL was observed amongst participants allocated to the interventional arm (p < 0.02). While some studies point out difficulties monitoring users at home, Quida demonstrates that it is possible to detect presence and movement to identify patterns of behavior in the sample studied, allowing us to visualize the behavior of older adults at different time intervals to support their medical evaluation.
Secondary Metabolites of Endophytes Associated with the Zingiberaceae Family and Their Pharmacological Activities
Authors: Nurjannah Laita , Azhari Azmi , Supratman Unang
Published: December 2022

Zingiberaceae is commonly known as the ginger family and has been extensively studied in the last decades for its pharmacological purposes. The study of ginger includes microorganisms known as endophytes, which raise interest for the research community because they can produce a wide range of secondary metabolites. This review discusses the secondary metabolites of endophytes from the Zingiberaceae family and their pharmacological activities. We detail the group of secondary metabolites, updated for its absolute structures, source and part origins, and, especially, pharmacological divided properties. Zingiberaceae endophytes have 106 volatile compounds and 52 isolated constituents, including 17 polyketides, five nonribosomal peptides, five aromatic compounds, three alkaloids, and 21 terpene-alkaloids. They have antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Secondary metabolites from plant endophytes of the Zingiberaceae family have the potential to be therapeutic drugs in the future. Research on endophytic bacteria or fungi has been little performed. Therefore, this study supports a new drug discovery from Zingiberaceae endophytes and compares them for future drug development.
ICO as Crypto-Assets Manufacturing within a Smart City
Authors: Cernisevs Olegs , Popova Yelena
Published: December 2022

The digitalization of the economy provokes the rethinking of manufacturing processes. Despite numerous publications related to Industry 4.0 as a manufacturing approach, the production of fully digital and crypto-asset products was poorly researched. Besides having a supplementary role, crypto-assets may form an entire smart city product. The authors assess the manufacturing of smart city products, fully or partially formed by crypto-assets. The initial issuance of the crypto assets was usually addressed as an Initial Coin Offer, or through the process of increasing the issuer’s capital. The authors assess the Initial Coin Offer, and address it, like manufacturing to produce products for sale. The authors classify all milestones related to the crypto-assets’ issuance, distribution, and revaluation, and assign incomes and expenses to each milestone. Additionally, the ICO-based production costs and revenues were classified according to crypto-asset types, as defined by European Economic Area legislative acts.
Are Companies Committed to Preventing Gender Violence against Women? The Role of the Manager’s Implicit Resistance
Authors: Vara-Horna Arístides A. , Asencios-Gonzalez Zaida B. , Quipuzco-Chicata Liliana , Díaz-Rosillo Alberto
Published: December 2022

This study aims to provide evidence that managers’ commitment towards preventing gender violence against women is affected by implicit resistance from the patriarchal culture. A structured questionnaire was given to 673 managers of 243 small, medium, and large private companies in Metropolitan Lima, Peru. We design and test a conceptual model using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Even though 90.3% of managers report being committed to and in favor of preventing gender violence in companies, 48.6% have intense implicit resistance against it. In general, 3 out of 4 managers do not believe in violence against women because they consider it “biased”, and think that policies should only talk about family or partner violence. In addition, 2 out of 4 believe that equality policies have “hidden interests” that generate mistrust. The structural equations show that implicit resistance, directly and indirectly, decreases managers’ commitment and actions towards preventing gender violence in organizations. Gender biases, irrational beliefs about sexual violence, and a lack of appreciation of gender equality strongly predict these resistances. Business involvement in the prevention of gender violence is a more complex process than expected, requiring a reinforced strategy aimed at overcoming managers’ implicit resistance.
Predicting the Sustainability-Oriented Entrepreneurship Intentions of Business School Students: The Role of Individualistic Values
Authors: Ndofirepi Takawira Munyaradzi
Published: December 2022

This study sought to determine whether Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour could be used to predict the intention of selected Zimbabwean business school students towards sustainable entrepreneurship. The study also examined whether the relationships between the predictor variables of the theory of planned behaviour and sustainable entrepreneurial intention were moderated by the respondents’ individualistic value orientations. A positivist worldview and a quantitative cross-sectional survey were used to collect data from 210 business school students who had completed postgraduate entrepreneurship courses at two public universities in the western region of Zimbabwe. The predictors of the hypothetical model explained 49 percent of the variance in respondents’ intentions to pursue sustainable entrepreneurship. Only the attitude toward the behaviour variable had a statistically significant direct impact on sustainable entrepreneurial intention. Subjective norms had an indirect effect on sustainable entrepreneurial intention, which was entirely mediated by attitude toward behaviour. Individualistic values had no statistically significant moderating effect on the relationships between the predictors of intention and the intention to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship. The study’s findings have implications for business schools’ efforts to contribute to the goal of sustainable development. The study contributes to the development of the literature by evaluating the relevance of the theory of planned behaviour to sustainable entrepreneurship.
Prominent Effects of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Roots of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Grown under Salinity Stress
Authors: Singh Abhishek , Sengar Rakesh Singh , Shahi Uday Pratap , Rajput Vishnu D. , Minkina Tatiana , Ghazaryan Karen A.
Published: December 2022

The morphological plasticity of plant roots is a key factor in their ability to tolerate a wide range of edaphic stresses. There are many unanswered questions relating to nanotechnology and its potential uses for sustainable agriculture. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of salinity-induced morphogenic responses and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on root characteristics, growth, MDA content, antioxidant enzymatic activity, and root ion accumulation in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The experiment was conducted in a hydroponic culture containing 50 mg/L of ZnO-NPs and different concentrations (60, 80, and 100 mM) of NaCl for 14 days. The results indicated a decrease in rice root growth due to exposure to salinity (length, fresh, and root dry weight). The results showed that salinity caused a reduction in rice root growth (length, fresh, and root dry weight). Higher root sodium (Na+) accumulation, MDA content, and potassium level decreased with increasing salinity. Root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root K+ content, and root antioxidant enzymatic activity were all enhanced by applying 50 mg/L ZnO-NPs often in salinity. SEM analysis revealed that ZnO-NPs treatments significantly improved root morphology. There was a notable decrease in root Na+ content as a result, which improved the K+/Na+ ratio in the rice’s root system. These findings suggest that O. sativa, when treated with ZnO-NPs, can thrive under salt-stress conditions, opening up the possibility of cultivating the plant in extreme climates.
Antioxidant Enzyme and Cytochrome P450 Activities Are Involved in Horseweed (Conyza Sumatrensis) Resistance to Glyphosate
Authors: Kubis Gabrielly Cristina , Marques Raizza Zorman , Kitamura Rafael Shinji Akiyama , Barroso Arthur Arrobas Martins , Juneau Philippe , Gomes Marcelo Pedrosa
Published: December 2022

The intensive global use of glyphosate has led to the evolution of glyphosate resistant (GR) weed species, including the economically damaging horseweed (Conyza sumatrensis). We evaluated the glyphosate resistance mechanisms of C. sumatrensis. While 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase activity was similar between the glyphosate resistant (GR) and nonresistant biotypes, plants from the GR population accumulated lower shikimate levels than susceptible ones, suggesting the absence of target-site resistance mechanisms. Decreases over time in glyphosate concentrations in GR leaves were not accompanied by increases in glyphosate concentrations in their stem and roots, indicating lower glyphosate distribution rates in GR plants. The early appearance of aminomethylphosphonic acid (the main glyphosate metabolite) in leaves, as well as its presence only in the stems and roots of GR plants, suggests faster glyphosate metabolism in GR plants than in susceptible ones. GR plants treated with glyphosate also showed greater antioxidant (ascorbate peroxidase [APX] and catalase [CAT]) and cytochrome P450-enzyme activities, indicating their great capacity to avoid glyphosate-induced oxidative stress. Three non-target mechanisms (reduced glyphosate translocation, increased metabolism, and increased antioxidant activity) therefore confer glyphosate resistance in C. sumatrensis plants. This is the first time that APX, CAT and P450-enzyme activities are related to GR in C. sumatrensis.
Communication and Transparency of Innovation: The Case of the Valencian Community (Spain)
Authors: Vilaplana-Aparicio María J. , Martín-Llaguno Marta , Iglesias-García Mar
Published: December 2022

Receiving public support for the development of research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) projects means assuming the obligation to comply with the communication and transparency requirements established by state and European regulations. This study presents the assessment of the required measures and their impact made by beneficiary companies based on a questionnaire to 56 institutions that have received a grant through the Valencian Institute for Business Competitiveness (IVACE). Although the companies are inclined towards transparency and value positively the dissemination actions requested, the information they publish is limited and superficial, the improvement that the innovation will bring to society is not disseminated, and hardly any use is made of social networks. It would be very useful for the managing bodies to increase their support to companies that do not have specialised communication staff in order to multiply their impact. In general, communicating the importance of investing in innovation, in addition to a demand for social responsibility and transparency, is also an opportunity for both communication professionals and scholars.
Potential Application of Discarded Natural Coal Gangue for the Removal of Tetracycline Hydrochloride (TC) from an Aqueous Solution
Authors: Wan Hongyou , Wang Chen , Gong Lin , Zhu Xinfeng , Yan Jingwei , Lu Jiajia , Zhang Wei
Published: December 2022

The generation and accumulation of discarded coal gangue (CG) have severe environmental impacts. CG can adsorb other pollutants in the aquatic environment. However, previous studies have not assessed whether CG can adsorb the emerging contaminant tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). Here, discarded CG taken from a mine was pretreated by crushing, cleaning, and sieving and subsequently applied to the adsorption of TC. The adsorption studies were carried out by batch equilibrium adsorption experiments. Our findings indicated that the adsorption behavior could be accurately described using the quasi-first order kinetic and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models, indicating that monolayer adsorption was the main mechanism mediating the interaction between CG and TC. The adsorption process was classified as a thermodynamic endothermic and spontaneous reaction, which was controlled by chemical and physical adsorption, including electrostatic interaction and cation exchange. The pH of the solution had a great influence on the TC adsorption capacity of GC, with higher adsorption occurring in acidic environments compared to alkaline environments. This was attributed to the changes in CG Zeta potential and TC pKa at different pH conditions. Collectively, our findings demonstrated the potential applicability of discarded CG for the adsorption of TC and provided insights into the adsorption mechanisms.
Black Hole Information Paradox without Hawking Radiation
Authors: Nikolić Hrvoje
Published: December 2022

By entangling soft massless particles, one can create an arbitrarily large amount of entanglement entropy that carries an arbitrarily small amount of energy. By dropping this entropy into the black hole (b.h.), one can increase the b.h. entropy by an amount that violates the Bekenstein bound or any other reasonable bound, leading to a version of the b.h. information paradox that does not involve Hawking radiation. Among the many proposed solutions for the standard b.h. information paradox with Hawking radiation, only a few can also resolve this version without Hawking radiation. The assumption that both versions should be resolved in the same way significantly helps to reduce the number of possible resolutions.
H0 Tension on the Light of Supermassive Black Hole Shadows Data
Authors: Escamilla-Rivera Celia , Torres Castillejos Rubén
Published: December 2022

Cosmological tensions in current times have opened a wide door to study new probes to constrain cosmological parameters, specifically, to determine the value of the Hubble constant H0 through independent techniques. The two standard methods to measure/infer H0 rely on: (i) anchored observables for the distance ladder, and (ii) establishing the relationship of the H0 to the angular size of the sound horizon in the recombination era assuming a standard Cosmological Constant Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. However, the former requires a calibration with observables at nearby distances, while the latter is not a direct measurement and is model-dependent. The physics behind these aspects restrains our possibilities in selecting a calibration method that can help minimise the systematic effects or in considering a fixed cosmological model background. Anticipating the possibility of deeply exploring the physics of new nearby observables such as the recently detected black hole shadows, in this paper we propose standard rules to extend the studies related to these observables. Supermassive black hole shadows can be characterised by two parameters: the angular size of the shadow and the black hole mass. We found that it is possible to break the degeneracy between these parameters by forecasting and fixing certain conditions at high(er) redshifts, i.e., instead of considering the ≈10% precision from the EHT array, our results reach a ≈4%, a precision that could be achievable in experiments in the near future. Furthermore, we found that our estimations provide a value of H0=72.89±0.12 km/s/Mpc and, for the baryonic mass density, Ωm=0.275±0.002, showing an improvement in the values reported so far in the literature. We anticipate that our results can be a starting point for more serious treatments of the physics behind the SMBH shadow data as cosmological probes to relax tension issues.
Vaccination Strategies against Seasonal Influenza in Long Term Care Setting: Lessons from a Mathematical Modelling Study
Authors: Ratti Matteo , Concina Diego , Rinaldi Maurizio , Salinelli Ernesto , Di Brisco Agnese Maria , Ferrante Daniela , Volpe Alessandro , Panella Massimiliano
Published: December 2022

Background: seasonal influenza in nursing homes is a major public health concern, since in EU 43,000 long term care (LTC) facilities host an estimated 2.9 million elderly residents. Despite specific vaccination campaigns, many outbreaks in such institutions are occasionally reported. We explored the dynamics of seasonal influenza starting from real data collected from a nursing home located in Italy and a mathematical model. Our aim was to identify the best vaccination strategy to minimize cases (and subsequent complications) among the guests. Materials and methods: after producing the contact matrices with surveys of both the health care workers (HCW) and the guests, we developed a mathematical model of the disease. The model consists of a classical SEIR part describing the spreading of the influenza in the general population and a stochastic agent based model that formalizes the dynamics of the disease inside the institution. After a model fit of a baseline scenario, we explored the impact of varying the HCW and guests parameters (vaccine uptake and vaccine efficacy) on the guest attack rates (AR) of the nursing home. Results: the aggregate AR of influenza like illness in the nursing home was 36.4% (ward1 = 56%, ward2 = 33.3%, ward3 = 31.7%, ward4 = 34.5%). The model fit to data returned a probability of infection of the causal contact of 0.3 and of the shift change contact of 0.2. We noticed no decreasing or increasing AR trend when varying the HCW vaccine uptake and efficacy parameters, whereas the increase in both guests vaccine efficacy and uptake parameter was accompanied by a slight decrease in AR of all the wards of the LTC facility. Conclusion: from our findings we can conclude that a nursing home is still an environment at high risk of influenza transmission but the shift change room and the handover situation carry no higher relative risk. Therefore, additional preventive measures in this circumstance may be unnecessary. In a closed environment such as a LTC facility, the vaccination of guests, rather than HCWs, may still represent the cornerstone of an effective preventive strategy. Finally, we think that the extensive inclusion of real life data into mathematical models is promising and may represent a starting point for further applications of this methodology.