bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Wetsuit Use on Swimming Performance, Physiology and Biomechanics: A Systematic Review
Authors: Gay Ana , Ruiz-Navarro Jesús J. , Cuenca-Fernández Francisco , López-Belmonte Óscar , Abraldes J. Arturo , Fernandes Ricardo J. , Arellano Raúl
Published: December 2022

This systematic review aims to summarize the effects of wearing different types of wetsuits and swimsuits in front crawl swimming performance and physiological- and biomechanical-related variables. The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming databases were searched from inception to 25th March 2022. From the 1398 studies initially found, 26 studies were included in the review. The quality assessment and inter-rater reliability between researchers were conducted. The full body was the most studied wetsuit, with its use allowing 3.2–12.9% velocity increments in distances ranging from 25 to 1500 m, in incremental tests, in 5 and 30 min continuous swimming and in open water events. The sleeveless long vs. the full-body wetsuit led to a 400–800 m performance enhancement. Higher stroke rate, stroke length and stroke index were observed while using three different covered body part wetsuits vs. a regular swimsuit, with a lower energy cost being observed when swimming with the full-body wetsuit compared to a swimsuit. These findings provide useful information for coaches, swimmers and triathletes about the full-body and sleeveless long/short wetsuit use, since these three wetsuits allow improving swimming performance in different distances in diverse aquatic environments.
A Review of the Literature on the Environmental and Health Impact of Plastic Waste Pollutants in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Adeniran Adeleye Ayo , Ayesu-Koranteng Emma , Shakantu Winston
Published: December 2022

The discovery of plastic by humankind is fast becoming a challenge as the end-of-life disposal of plastic continues to be a discourse on the global platform. This discussion results from several findings that the additives in plastic distress both land and marine life by contributing to organic pollutants when the plastic waste is disposed of improperly. With a growing population in sub-Saharan Africa, managing waste generally, and plastic waste, in particular, represents a continuous challenge. With only between 15–25% of its plastic waste recycled, the larger proportion of waste is either burnt openly or disposed of in open spaces or landfills, where the additives pollute the environment. Moreover, some of the waste finds its way into waterways through estuaries into global water networks and continues to cause harm to man through the food chain. This article examines the literature to highlight the environmental and health impact of plastic waste pollution in sub-Saharan Africa, and it proposes mitigation strategies to reduce the critical consequences of plastic waste pollution.
Dependence of Incidence Angle and Flux Density in the Damage Effect of Atomic Oxygen on Kapton Film
Authors: Zhao Wang , Wei Qiang , Huang Chuanjin , Zhu Yaoshun , Hu Ning
Published: December 2022

Kapton film is a polymeric material widely used on low-Earth-orbit (LEO) spacecraft surfaces. In the LEO environment, atomic oxygen (AO) is spaceflight materials’ most destructive environmental factor. The erosion mechanism of AO on Kapton films has long been an important issue, where the parameter dependence of the AO effect has received increasing attention. Studies of AO energy and cumulative flux have been extensively carried out, while the influence mechanism of the incidence angle and flux density is not fully understood. The AO incidence angle and flux density in space are diverse, which may cause different damage effects on aerospace materials. In this paper, the dependence of the incidence angle and flux density in the damaging effect of AO on Kapton films was investigated using ground-based AO test technology and the reactive molecular dynamics (ReaxFF MD) simulation technique. Firstly, the ground-based experiment obtained the mass loss data of Kapton films under the action of AO with a variable incidence angle and flux density. Then, the mass loss, temperature rise, product, and erosion yield of Kapton during AO impact with different incidence angles and dose rates were calculated using the ReaxFF MD method. The influences of the incidence angle and flux density on the damage mechanism of the AO effect were discussed by comparing the simulation and test results. The results show that the AO effect in the lower incidence angle range (0–60°) is independent of the incidence angle and depends only on the amount of impacted atomic oxygen. AO in the higher incidence angle range (60–90°) has a surface stripping effect, which causes more significant mass loss and a temperature rise while stripping raised macromolecules from rough surfaces, and the erosion effect increases with the increasing incidence angle and amount of impacted atomic oxygen. There is a critical value for the influence of flux density on the AO effect. Above this critical value, AO has a reduced erosive capacity due to a lower chance of participating in the reaction. The amount of each main product from the AO effect varies with the incidence angle and flux density. Nonetheless, the total content of the main products is essentially constant, around 70%. This work will contribute to our understanding of the incidence angle and flux density dependence of the AO effect and provide valuable information for the development of standards for ground simulation tests.
Analysis of Factors Influencing the Efficiency of Catalysts Used in Waste PU Degradation
Authors: Gu Xiaohua , Wang Xiaoyao , Wang Tong , Zhu Yanwei , Guo Xinyu , Liu Siwen , Zhu Shangwen , Liu Yan
Published: December 2022

Polyurethane (PU) is an indispensable part of people’s lives. With the development of polyurethane, the disposal of polyurethane waste has become a significant issue around the world. Conventional degradation catalysts have poor dispersion and low degradation efficiency when used in the process of solid degradation into liquid. Therefore, this paper innovatively adopts self-made core–shell nanoscale titanium catalysis, traditional alkali metal catalyst (KOH), and polyol to carry out the glycolysis of waste polyurethane (PU) pipeline foam. The homogenized nanoscale titanium catalyst coated with alcohol gel has an obvious core–shell structure. The alcohol gel not only protects the catalyst but also dissolves with the alcoholysis agent in the process of glycolysis and disperses more evenly into the alcoholysis agent to avoid the phenomenon of nanocatalyst agglomeration, so as to facilitate catalytic cracking without reducing catalyst activity. In this study, investigated and compared the production of renewable polyurethane foam via a one-step method based on use of a homogeneous core–shell nanostructured titanium catalyst vs. a traditional alkaline catalyst in terms of the properties of regenerated polyether polyols as well as of the foams produced from these polyols. The physicochemical properties of regenerated polyether polyols that were analyzed included viscosity, hydroxyl value, and average molecular weight. The regenerated polyurethane foams were characterized based on water absorption, TG, SEM, and thermal conductivity analyses. The results show that, when the addition of homogeneous titanium catalyst was T2 0.050 wt.%, the viscosity of regenerated polyether polyols was the lowest, at 5356.7 mPa·s, which was reduced by 9.97% compared with those obtained using the alkali metal catalyst (KOH). When the amount of titanium catalyst was T3 0.075 wt.%, the hard foam made of regenerated polyurethane prepared by the catalyst showed the best properties, with a compressive strength of 0.168 MPa, which is 4.76% higher than that of the foam prepared using KOH catalyst.
Quantum Work from a Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian
Authors: Reboiro Marta , Tielas Diego
Published: December 2022

In this work, we study the thermodynamics of a hybrid system based on the Da Providencia–Schütte Hamiltonian. The model consists of bosons, i.e., photons in a cavity, interacting with an ensemble of spins through a pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian. We compute the exact partition function of the system, and from it, we derive the statistical properties of the system. Finally, we evaluate the work that can be extracted from the system by performing an Otto cycle and discuss the advantages of the proposed pseudo-Hermitian interaction.
Integrated UAV-Based Multi-Source Data for Predicting Maize Grain Yield Using Machine Learning Approaches
Authors: Guo Yahui , Zhang Xuan , Chen Shouzhi , Wang Hanxi , Jayavelu Senthilnath , Cammarano Davide , Fu Yongshuo
Published: December 2022

Increases in temperature have potentially influenced crop growth and reduced agricultural yields. Commonly, more fertilizers have been applied to improve grain yield. There is a need to optimize fertilizers, to reduce environmental pollution, and to increase agricultural production. Maize is the main crop in China, and its ample production is of vital importance to guarantee regional food security. In this study, the RGB and multispectral images, and maize grain yields were collected from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. To confirm the optimal indices, RGB-based vegetation indices and textural indices, multispectral-based vegetation indices, and crop height were independently applied to build linear regression relationships with maize grain yields. A stepwise regression model (SRM) was applied to select optimal indices. Three machine learning methods including: backpropagation network (BP), random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM) and the SRM were separately applied for predicting maize grain yields based on optimal indices. RF achieved the highest accuracy with a coefficient of determination of 0.963 and root mean square error of 0.489 (g/hundred-grain weight). Through the grey relation analysis, the N was the most correlated indicator, and the optimal ratio of fertilizers N/P/K was 2:1:1. Our research highlighted the integration of spectral, textural indices, and maize height for predicting maize grain yields.
Unsupervised Adversarial Domain Adaptation for Agricultural Land Extraction of Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Zhang Junbo , Xu Shifeng , Sun Jun , Ou Dinghua , Wu Xiaobo , Wang Mantao
Published: December 2022

Agricultural land extraction is an essential technical means to promote sustainable agricultural development and modernization research. Existing supervised algorithms rely on many finely annotated remote-sensing images, which is both time-consuming and expensive. One way to reduce the annotation cost approach is to migrate models trained on existing annotated data (source domain) to unannotated data (target domain). However, model generalization capability is often unsatisfactory due to the limit of the domain gap. In this work, we use an unsupervised adversarial domain adaptation method to train a neural network to close the gap between the source and target domains for unsupervised agricultural land extraction. The overall approach consists of two phases: inter-domain and intra-domain adaptation. In the inter-domain adaptation, we use a generative adversarial network (GAN) to reduce the inter-domain gap between the source domain (labeled dataset) and the target domain (unlabeled dataset). The transformer with robust long-range dependency modeling acts as the backbone of the generator. In addition, the multi-scale feature fusion (MSFF) module is designed in the generator to accommodate remote sensing datasets with different spatial resolutions. Further, we use an entropy-based approach to divide the target domain. The target domain is divided into two subdomains, easy split images and hard split images. By training against each other between the two subdomains, we reduce the intra-domain gap. Experiments results on the “DeepGlobe → LoveDA”, “GID → LoveDA” and “DeepGlobe → GID” unsupervised agricultural land extraction tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of our method and its superiority to other unsupervised domain adaptation techniques.
Study on Excavation Damage Characteristics of Surrounding Rock in Deeply Buried Tunnels by Particle Flow Code Simulation
Authors: Zhang Yanbin , Yu Huazhong , Zhu Huanchun , Zhu Yongsheng
Published: December 2022

This study is aimed at investigating the excavation damage characteristics of surrounding rock in Jinping deeply buried marble tunnels, China. According to the acoustic detection results of tunnel cross-sections under the condition of tunnel boring machine (TBM) obtained on site, the PFC microscopic parameters of Types II/III tunnel marble were simulated and calibrated through the PFC2D program. In doing so, the excavation damage characteristics of surrounding rock of deeply-buried sections in Jinping diversion tunnels were simulated. The results reveal that the excavation damage zones (EDZ) of surrounding rock of Types II/III marble sections in Jinping tunnels are unevenly distributed around the tunnels; the largest zone is located from the top arch to the north arch shoulder. The EDZ depth and damage degree of surrounding rock rise with the increase in buried depth, and they also increase with the decrease in rock quality. Generally, the maximum damage depth of Type III surrounding rock is about 1.0 m larger than that of Type II surrounding rock under the same buried depth, which is basically consistent with the detection results of the relaxation depth of surrounding rock. The simulation well discloses the excavation damage characteristics of surrounding rock in Jinping deeply buried tunnels.
Influence of a Multifunctional Epoxy Additive on the Performance of Polyamide 6 and PET Post-Consumed Blends during Processing
Authors: Costa Anna Raffaela de Matos , Henrique Mariana Alves , Luna Carlos Bruno Barreto , Carvalho Laura Hecker de , Almeida Yêda Medeiros Bastos de
Published: December 2022

In this study, a commercial chain extender (Polyad PR 002) in concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% w/w was used as a compatibilizer in post-consumed PET/PA6 blends (25/75, 50/50 e 75/25) processed in a laboratory mixer. The degradation rate, phase miscibility, chemical interaction, crystallization, and melting behavior, as well as the thermal stability of the mixtures, were analyzed by torque rheometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetry (TGA), respectively. The results showed that the addition of 1% chain extender was sufficient to increase the melt viscosity of the PET-rich mixtures and 1.5% for the PA6-rich samples. Clearly, adding Polyad PR 002 to PET/PA6 blends improves polymer compatibility; for the 25%PET/75%PA6 blend with 1.5% PR 002, complete miscibility was observed, indicating a new compatible blend formation, revealing a chemical reaction between the systems, and proving the synergism between them. This chain extender did not affect the thermal stability of the blends, and the low contents employed reduced the crystallization rate of the blends investigated.
Sustainable Brand Management: The Role of Internal Brand Management and Intrinsic Motivation in Building Employee’s Brand Relationship Quality towards Organization’s Brand
Authors: Ahmed Urooj , Hashim Sharizal
Published: December 2022

The current discussion about the brand is how to sustain it, and previous sustainable brand management studies consisting of an outside-in approach have been carried out. However, an inside-out approach that may help sustain the brand internally also plays a significant role towards brand sustainability, but limited studies explore it. Hence, underpinned by Social Exchange Theory, this study proposes a comprehensive model of sustainable brand management from an internal perspective, which depicts that internal brand management activities (i.e., communication, training, and leadership) and intrinsic motivation factors (i.e., job autonomy, competence, and relatedness) affect employee brand relationship quality of the organization’s brand. Data is collected from 499 staff from various Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan and assessed from structural equation modelling of Smart-PLS. The findings show that communication, training, competence, and relatedness positively affect employee brand relationship quality. At the same time, leadership and job autonomy do not affect employee brand relationship quality. Therefore, focusing on Knowledge Capital, Social Capital, and Emotional Capital is crucial in sustaining the brand from inside the organization via employees as the brand ambassador. This research also expands the Social Exchange theory by including an internal perspective on sustainable brand management.
Effects of Road Components and Roadside Vegetation on Temperature Reduction in Seoul Considering Air, Wet-Bulb Globe, and Surface Temperatures
Authors: Cho Hyejin
Published: December 2022

Urbanization has resulted in high temperatures in cities, which are exacerbated by an increase in urban impervious surfaces (road space). This study investigated the effect of urban road characteristics on roadside temperature. Different temperature indices were measured at four sites in Seoul with different road designs by using weather measuring devices and infrared thermal cameras. The differences between air and roadside air temperatures decreased from site 1 (no vegetation) to site 4 (roadside trees and vegetated medians). The analysis results showed that roadside wet-bulb globe and surface thermal temperatures sensitively changed according to road characteristics, unlike air temperature. The lowest temperatures were consistently observed at site 4. This cooling tendency was the strongest in the afternoon, which indicates the effectiveness of vegetation for preventing the commonly observed temperature rise in the afternoon. That is, roadside trees and vegetation in the median strip can prevent temperature rise and contribute to urban temperature reduction. Therefore, more roadside trees and median planting, as well as taller trees and denser vegetation along roads, can be used to provide a greater reduction of roadside temperatures and to improve urban climates.
CHECKHI: A Checklist for Evaluating the Customer Experience of Tourism in the Hotel Industry
Authors: Quiñones Daniela , Rojas Luis
Published: December 2022

Evaluating the customer experience (CX) when guests interact with different products or services helps to understand their perceptions and responses during their journey. Nevertheless, most evaluation methods/instruments used in the hotel sector only focus on individual touchpoints of a customer’s journey, not the whole CX. This article presents CHECKHI: a novel checklist for evaluating the CX of the tourism area, specifically in the hotel industry. CHECKHI is composed of 102 items divided into seven touchpoints that cover the entire guest journey (before, during, and after the stay). We adapted and applied an eight-stage methodology to develop, validate, and refine CHECKHI, within two iterations. We performed several experiments to verify the content validity of CHECKHI using the Delphi method and interviews. The results obtained in the validations of CHECKHI items demonstrate its representativeness, clarity, and usefulness; this makes it possible to evaluate the CX at the touchpoints identified, regardless of the hotel type. CHECKHI could be useful for companies and/or organizations that offer hotel services and require evaluations of the CX; academics who need to create new evaluation instruments and can use CHECKHI as a reference; and professionals who need to learn about CX evaluation in the hotel sector.
Research on Energy Saving and Economy of Old Buildings Based on Parametric Design: A Case Study of a Hospital in Linyi City, Shandong Province
Authors: Guo Shengyuan , Wang Wanjiang , Zhou Yihuan
Published: December 2022

With the need for a green economy and the introduction of low-carbon policies, more and more old buildings are being transformed to improve the thermal performance of buildings and reduce energy consumption. However, people ignore the village buildings and the old public buildings. Based on the investigation of a typical health center in Linyi City, this paper proposed improvement measures using EnergyPlus simulation software and JePlus parameter chemical tools. The various factors analyze the various parts of the enclosure, and the energy-saving effect of the roof is better than that of the exterior wall: When the thickness of the insulation layer gradually increases from 0 cm to 30 cm, the unit energy consumption of the building gradually decreases from 57 kW·h/m2 to 42.8 kW·h/m2, while that of the roof is gradually reduced to 24.41 kW·h/m2. Double exterior windows effectively reduce the energy consumption of the building in all renovation schemes. The optimal scheme is selected through the parameterized design of all the overall enclosure reconstruction schemes and the initial investments. The results showed that the investment recovery of the selected scheme was between 1.36–5.28 years. Plan 5 (12 cm XPS is used as insulation material for the exterior wall and roof, and the exterior window is replaced with 6 mm medium transmittance Low-e + 12 mm air + 6 mm clear) had the highest energy efficiency (91.11%). Plan 2 (6 cm XPS is used as insulation material for the exterior wall and roof, and the exterior window is replaced with 12 mm single medium transmittance heat-reflecting glass) had the shortest investment recovery period (2.04 years).
Using LCA and Circularity Indicators to Measure the Sustainability of Textiles—Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Fibres
Authors: Wiedemann Stephen G. , Nguyen Quan V. , Clarke Simon J.
Published: December 2022

Reducing environmental impacts by increasing circularity is highly relevant to the textiles sector. Here, we examine results from life cycle assessment (LCA) and circularity indicators applied to renewable and non-renewable fibres to evaluate the synergies between the two approaches for improving sustainability assessment of textiles. Using LCA, impacts were quantified for sweaters made from fossil feedstock-derived and bio-based PET. These same sweaters were scored using four circularity indicators. Both sweaters showed similar fossil energy footprints, but the bio-PET raw material acquisition stage greenhouse gas, water and land occupation impacts were 1.9 to 60 times higher, leading to higher full life cycle impacts. These contrasts were principally determined by what raw material acquisition processes were considered outside the system boundary of the alternative feedstocks. Using circularity indicators, fossil-feedstock PET scored lowest (worst) because the feedstock was from a non-renewable source. These examples highlight the limitations of LCA: the renewability or non-renewability of raw materials is not fully considered, and contrasts in processes included within system boundaries can preclude equitable comparisons. For LCA to be suitable for quantifying sustainability, it should be complemented by circularity indicators capable of demonstrating the contrast between renewable and non-renewable raw materials, particularly in the case of textiles.
Crystal Structure of Mixed Np(V)-Ammonium Carbonate
Authors: Nevolin Iurii M. , Petrov Vladimir G. , Grigoriev Mikhail S. , Averin Alexei A. , Shiryaev Andrey A. , Krot Anna D. , Maslakov Konstantin I. , Teterin Yury A. , Fedoseev Alexander M.
Published: December 2022

This work presents details of the synthesis, properties and structure of a novel neptunium carbonate (NH4)[NpO2CO3], a member of the M[AnO2CO3] (M = K, (NH4), Rb, Cs) class of compounds. Carbonates play an important role in the migration of actinides in the environment, and thus are relevant for handling and disposal of radioactive wastes, including spent nuclear fuel and vitrified raffinates. Knowledge of the crystallographic structure of these compounds is important for models of the environmental migration behavior based on thermodynamic descriptions of such chemical processes. (NH4)[NpO2CO3] crystals were obtained during long-term hydrothermal treatment of Np(VI) in aqueous ammonia at 250 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) show that a single-phase sample containing only Np(V) was obtained. Structural features of (NH4)[NpO2CO3] were elucidated from single crystal X-ray diffraction and confirmed by vibrational spectroscopy. The results obtained are of interest both for fundamental radiochemistry and for applied problems of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Fatal Case of Imported Tick-Borne Encephalitis in South Serbia
Authors: Popović Dragonjić Lidija , Vrbić Miodrag , Tasić Aleksandar , Simin Verica , Bogdan Ivana , Mijatović Dragana , Cabezas-Cruz Alejandro , Banović Pavle
Published: December 2022

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is vaccine-preventable neglected zoonotic neuroinvasive disease, caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Many of the Central and Eastern European countries are affected by TBE, which is often poorly perceived by tourists visiting endemic territories. Here we are reporting a fatal case of imported TBE in Serbian resident who was exposed to a tick bite during a visit to Switzerland.
COVID-19-Related Awareness and Behaviors of Non-Saudi Travelers and Their Satisfaction with Preventive Measures at Saudi Airports
Authors: AlSaeed Aseel Ali , Rabbani Unaib , Aldukhayel Abdulrhman , Alzuhairy Sultan
Published: December 2022

Airports could serve as hotspots for the spread of the COVID-19 infection. We aimed to assess the awareness, attitude, and behaviors of non-Saudi travelers about COVID-19 and their satisfaction with preventive measures at Saudi airports. A cross-sectional study was conducted among non-Saudi travelers arriving in Saudi Arabia at two international airports. Data were collected using a questionnaire in Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu languages. Awareness, attitude, behavior scores, and satisfaction levels were calculated. Linear regression analyses were done to assess the predictors of awareness, attitude, and behaviors. A total of 633 participants were included in the study. The mean awareness, attitude, and behavior scores were 16.3/22, 18.3/24, and 3.2/5, respectively. Nationality, education, and income were significant predictors of awareness. Nationality was the only significant predictor of attitude, while gender and nationality were predictors of behaviors. Overall satisfaction with preventive measures was: transportation (94%), lounges and corridors (96%), counters (98%), and airport staff (97%). There was overall good awareness and attitude among travelers. Behavior scores were relatively low, which needs to change as air travel poses a threat to the spread of infectious diseases. Airport authorities need to manage passengers properly to ensure adequate distancing to prevent the potential transmission of infections.
Novel 6-Aminoquinazolinone Derivatives as Potential Cross GT1-4 HCV NS5B Inhibitors
Authors: Nasr Tamer , Aboshanab Ahmed , Mpekoulis George , Drakopoulos Antonios , Vassilaki Niki , Zoidis Grigoris , Abouzid Khaled , Zaghary Wafaa
Published: December 2022

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are a worldwide medical problem responsible for diverse types of liver diseases. The NS5B polymerase enzyme has become a very interesting target for the development of anti-HCV drugs owing to its fundamental role in viral replication. Here we report the synthesis of a novel series of 1-substituted phenyl-4(1H)-quinazolinone and 2-methyl-1-substituted phenyl-4(1H)-quinazolinone derivatives and evaluate their activity against HCV in HCV subgenomic replicon assays. The biological data revealed that compound 11a showed the highest activity against HCV GT1b at a micromolar concentration (EC50 = 0.984 µM) followed by compound 11b (EC50 = 1.38 µM). Both compounds 11a and 11b had high selectivity indices (SI = CC50/EC50), 160.71 and 71.75, respectively, which make them very interesting candidates for further development of more potent and selective anti-HCV agents.
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) Infection of Wild White-Tailed Deer in New York City
Authors: Vandegrift Kurt J. , Yon Michele , Surendran Nair Meera , Gontu Abhinay , Ramasamy Santhamani , Amirthalingam Saranya , Neerukonda Sabarinath , Nissly Ruth H. , Chothe Shubhada K. , Jakka Padmaja , LaBella Lindsey , Levine Nicole , Rodriguez Sophie , Chen Chen , Sheersh Boorla Veda , Stuber Tod , Boulanger Jason R. , Kotschwar Nathan , Aucoin Sarah Grimké , Simon Richard , Toal Katrina L. , Olsen Randall J. , Davis James J. , Bold Dashzeveg , Gaudreault Natasha N. , Dinali Perera Krishani , Kim Yunjeong , Chang Kyeong-Ok , Maranas Costas D. , Richt Juergen A. , Musser James M. , Hudson Peter J. , Kapur Vivek , Kuchipudi Suresh V.
Published: December 2022

There is mounting evidence of SARS-CoV-2 spillover from humans into many domestic, companion, and wild animal species. Research indicates that humans have infected white-tailed deer, and that deer-to-deer transmission has occurred, indicating that deer could be a wildlife reservoir and a source of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants. We examined the hypothesis that the Omicron variant is actively and asymptomatically infecting the free-ranging deer of New York City. Between December 2021 and February 2022, 155 deer on Staten Island, New York, were anesthetized and examined for gross abnormalities and illnesses. Paired nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies. Of 135 serum samples, 19 (14.1%) indicated SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and 11 reacted most strongly to the wild-type B.1 lineage. Of the 71 swabs, 8 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA (4 Omicron and 4 Delta). Two of the animals had active infections and robust neutralizing antibodies, revealing evidence of reinfection or early seroconversion in deer. Variants of concern continue to circulate among and may reinfect US deer populations, and establish enzootic transmission cycles in the wild: this warrants a coordinated One Health response, to proactively surveil, identify, and curtail variants of concern before they can spill back into humans.
The Effect of Preventive Measures and Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 on the Infection Risk, Treatment, and Hospitalization: A Cross-Sectional Study of Algeria
Authors: Hamimes Ahmed , Aouissi Hani Amir , Ababsa Mostefa , Lounis Mohamed , Jayarajah Umesh , Napoli Christian , Kasemy Zaineb A.
Published: December 2022

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to afflict many countries around the world. The resurgence of COVID-19 cases and deaths in many countries shows a complacency in adhering to preventive guidelines. Consequently, vaccination continues to be a crucial intervention to reduce the effects of this pandemic. This study investigated the impact of preventive measures and COVID-19 vaccination on the infection, medication, and hospitalization. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 23 December 2021 and 12 March 2022 in Algeria. To evaluate the effectiveness of strategies aimed at avoiding and minimizing SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity, a questionnaire was created and validated. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were computed to identify associations between dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p-value of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Our results indicated that out of 2294 answers received, only 16% of our sample was vaccinated, and more than 60% did not apply preventive guidelines. As a result, 45% were infected with SARS-CoV-2, 75% took treatment (even preventive), and 9% were hospitalized. The logistic regression showed that the impact of preventive measures on the unvaccinated is statistically not significant (OR: 0.764, 95% CI = 0. 555–1.052; p = 0.09). However, this relationship changes significantly for people who are vaccinated (OR: 0.108, 95% CI = 0.047–0.248; p < 0.0001). Our results also demonstrated that the impact of protective measures on non-vaccinated individuals is statistically significant in reducing the need to receive anti-COVID-19 treatments (OR: 0.447, 95% CI = 0.321–0.623; p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the results showed that the impact of preventive measures on the non-vaccinated population is also statistically significant in reducing the risk of hospitalization (OR: 0.211, 95% CI = 0.081–0.548; p < 0.0001). Moreover, vaccinated individuals who neglect preventive measures must take the COVID-19 medication at a rate of 3.77 times (OR: 3.77) higher than those who follow preventive measures and are vaccinated. In short, our findings demonstrate the importance of combining preventive measures and vaccination in order to fight against the pandemic. Therefore, we advise the Ministry of Health and relevant authorities to put more effort into enhancing public knowledge about the COVID-19 infection and vaccination through education and awareness initiatives. Parallel to implementing vaccination as additional preventive strategy, behavioral change initiatives must be improved to encourage adherence to COVID-19 prevention recommendations.
Characteristics and Mechanism of Local Scour Reduction around Pier Using Permeable Sacrificial Pile in Clear Water
Authors: Qi Hongliang , Chen Guishan , Zou Wen , Yuan Tiangang , Tian Weiping , Li Jiachun
Published: December 2022

To improve the local scour protection of the pier using solid sacrificial piles, a kind of permeable sacrificial pile filled with stones is put forward in this study. Four influencing factors, including the size of the filling gravel of the permeable sacrificial pile, the distance between the pile and pier, the diameter ratio D1/D (D is the diameter of the pier and D1 is the diameter of the pile.), and the submergence rate of the pile, are studied in clear water condition with indoor tests and numerical simulations. The test results show that it has the best reduction effect on the local scour of the pier when the filled gravel size is 0.2–0.25 D, the distance between the pile and pier is 3.0 D, the diameter ratio is 1.0, and the submergence rate is 0.8. Results of the numerical simulation show that the permeable sacrificial pile has a significant weakening effect on the downflow in front of the pile and the flow velocity around the pile. In the same conditions, the reduction effects of the permeable sacrificial pile and the solid sacrificial pile on the pier are similar, but the local scour around the permeable sacrificial pile is less than that around the solid one. The pressure difference outside and inside the permeable pile causes the water to flow in the direction perpendicular to the isobars. This significantly impacts the flow velocity, the vortex system, and the shear stress around the permeable sacrificial pile and pier, which leads to a huge decrease in the local scour depths. The maximum shear stress on both sides of the permeable sacrificial pile and the pier is about 1/2 and 1/4 of those around the solid sacrificial pile respectively. And the area with lower velocity and shear stress behind the permeable sacrificial pile is larger than the area behind the solid ones.
Intricate Realities: Mental Health among Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Diverse College Students
Authors: Gross E. B. , Kattari Shanna K. , Wilcox Rachelle , Ernst Susan , Steel Monique , Parrish Diana
Published: December 2022

The rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation have all increased among U.S. college students. The utilization of mental health services has also risen. Transgender/gender diverse (TGD) young people experience high rates of mental health concerns. Little is known regarding TGD students needing mental health services, if they are accessing them, and the differences in who accesses these services. This pilot study (N = 121), conducted online from 2021 to 2022, explores the mental health of the TGD students and the mental health services at a Midwest public university. Of the total sample, 68.1% described their mental health as being fair or poor. Disabled students were significantly more likely to self-report a negative mental health status (76.7%) than their non-disabled peers (58.9%). Nonbinary individuals were also significantly more likely to indicate negative mental health (79.5%) than their binary counterparts (47.6%). Notably, 6.6% of students with current depression diagnoses, 7.1% with current anxiety diagnoses, 11.8% with recent thoughts of NSSI, and 3.3% with recent suicide attempts had not accessed mental health services. This study indicates the need for more accessible TGD affirming mental health care for TGD students, and opportunities for innovation with interventions to better support TGD college and university students.
Dificuldades de pronúncia de estudantes brasileiros aprendendo armênio oriental e sugestões de estratégias para superá-las
Authors: Yeghiazaryan Lusine , Chagas de Souza Paulo
Published: December 2022

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de apresentar um levantamento das maiores dificuldades de pronúncia de estudantes brasileiros aprendendo armênio oriental e propor estratégias para tentar superar essas dificuldades. A abordagem se baseia no conceito de consciência fonológica (LIBERMAN 1973), buscando explorar principalmente características de pronúncia do próprio português brasileiro que têm um caráter alofônico ou ocorrem apenas em variação mas que no armênio apresentam caráter fonêmico. Em alguns casos se recorre nas soluções a detalhes da ortografia do português ou à fonologia de línguas mais conhecidas no Brasil.
acento gráfico no Ensino Fundamental II: reflexões sobre os textos dos alunos e práticas possíveis
Authors: De Souza Couto Ana Luiza , Mara Lima Oliveira Guimarães Daniela
Published: December 2022

Este artigo busca compreender o uso do acento gráfico, agudo e circunflexo, no Ensino Fundamental II (EFII) e refletir sobre práticas pedagógicas que possam levar o aluno à compreensão e ao uso reflexivo do acento gráfico. Como aporte teórico, nos baseamos em Mattoso Camara (1970), Collischonn (2005), Ferreira Neto (2007), Graham e Santangelo (2014), Graham et. al (2002), Treimam e Kessler (2014), Ney e Miranda (2019). O corpus é constituído de produções de textos do EFII de uma escola pública de Belo Horizonte. A análise quantitativa (PAIVA, 2019) foi realizada por meio Software R (2020). Como resultados, vimos que: (1) de um modo geral, há um progresso no uso correto do acento gráfico ao longo do EFII; (2) a maior dificuldade dos alunos é em relação à acentuação de proparoxítonas; (3) o erro mais recorrente é a omissão do acento gráfico.
Socialização da linguagem e construção de conhecimento em PLH: a prática pedagógica com quadrinhos no contexto universitário
Authors: Caldeira Brízzida , Gastão Saliés Tânia Mara
Published: December 2022

A crescente imigração de brasileiros para países no exterior vem acarretando interesse em escala pelo português como língua de herança (PLH).  Neste artigo, o desenvolvimento do PLH de um graduando da Universidade de Rennes 2 é analisado sob o enquadramento teórico-analítico da Linguística Cognitiva e da Socialização da Linguagem. O propósito foi verificar que processos cognitivos são propiciados na prática pedagógica de leitura mediada por quadrinhos  e que relação têm com a narrativa produzida pelo aluno na fase de pós-leitura.  Para tal, a prática pedagógica e a narrativa são examinadas.  A análise sublinha ter o aluno recuperado categorias evocadas durante a pré-leitura e a leitura e gerado ideias inéditas em sua narrativa, por mesclagem.
Os atos de fala diretivos em livros de PLE: formulações indiretas e desatualizadores
Authors: Pinheiro-Correa Paulo , Mariano Marcos Patrícia
Published: December 2022

Neste trabalho é analisado um tipo pragmático específico de estratégia de atenuação de solicitações nos diálogos de dois livros didáticos de português para estrangeiros, os procedimentos substitutivos: formulações indiretas e desatualizadores, tal como classificados por Kerbrat-Orecchioni (2005, 2006). O trabalho se fundamenta na Teoria dos atos de fala (Austin, 1990; Searle, 2002), nos conceitos de face de Goffman (1980) e de polidez positiva e negativa, de Brown e Levinson (1987). Os resultados mostraram que as estratégias de atenuação incluíram formulações assertivas mais que interrogativas. Os resultados assinalam ainda deficiências no tratamento pragmático da questão nos livros analisados.
O museu: um espaço para aprender a falar sobre as obras de arte
Authors: Dias-Chiaruttini Ana
Published: December 2022

Este artigo mostra como o museu pode ser um parceiro da escola e prologar as aprendizagens escolares, particularmente em termos de discurso sobre obras de arte, mas também desenvolver o aprendizado sobre o funcionamento do museu e os códigos culturais a fim de treinar os visitantes. Ao analisar uma visita escolar com alunos de 3 e 4 anos podemos compreender como o gênero de mediação escolar do museu se adapta a um público jovem. O padrão não muda muito em comparação com outras visitas com um público escolar mais idoso, mas o mediador é muito cuidadoso para fornecer as palavras para descrever as obras. Desta forma, as crianças aprendem a visitar o museu e a expandir seu repertório linguístico e seu repertório d’experiencias culturais. Um grande desafio social.
Oralidade: Produção e interação no ensino de Português Europeu como Língua Estrangeira a adultos
Authors: Boléo Ana , Dourado Rita
Published: December 2022

Apesar da importância da expressão oral na interação em sociedade, nem sempre esta componente é merecedora de um lugar de destaque no ensino/aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras (LE). Se nos debruçarmos sobre alguns dos métodos de ensino de Português LE mais vendidos, apercebemo-nos de que esta competência é menos valorizada do que as restantes. De forma a alargar o leque de ferramentas à disposição dos professores, foi elaborado um manual, por Falar Nisso, totalmente dedicado à dinamização da competência comunicativa, apresentando-se como uma ferramenta complementar de propostas de exercícios de expressão oral, do nível A1 ao C2, tendo em conta três domínios principais, pessoal, público e profissional.
A Genetic Algorithm based Domain Adaptation Framework for Classification of Disaster Topic Text Tweets
Authors: Dwarakanath Lokabhiram , Kamsin Amirrudin , Shuib Liyana
Published: December 2022

The ability to post short text and media messages on Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc., plays a huge role in the exchange of information following a mass emergency event like hurricane, earthquake, tsunami etc. Disaster victims, families, and other relief operation teams utilize social media to help and support one another. Despite the benefits offered by these communication media, the disaster topic related posts (posts that indicate conversations about the disaster event in the aftermath of the disaster) gets lost in the deluge of posts since there would be a surge in the amount of data that gets exchanged following a mass emergency event. This hampers the emergency relief effort, which in turn affects the delivery of useful information to the disaster victims. Research in emergency coordination via social media has received growing interest in recent years, mainly focusing on developing machine learning-based models that can separate disaster-related topic posts from non-disaster related topic posts. Of these, supervised machine learning approaches performed well when the machine learning model trained using source disaster dataset and target disaster dataset are similar. However, in the real world, it may not be feasible as different disasters have different characteristics. So, models developed using supervised machine learning approaches do not perform well in unseen disaster datasets. Therefore, domain adaptation approaches, which address the above limitation by learning classifiers from unlabeled target data in addition to source labelled data, represent a promising direction for social media crisis data classification tasks. The existing domain adaptation techniques for the classification of disaster tweets are experimented with using single disaster event dataset pairs; then, self-training is performed on the source target dataset pairs by considering the highly confident instances in subsequent iterations of training. This could be improved with better feature engineering. Thus, this research proposes a Genetic Algorithm based Domain Adaptation Framework (GADA) for the classification of disaster tweets. The proposed GADA combines the power of 1) Hybrid Feature Selection component using the Genetic Algorithm and Chi-Square Feature Evaluator for feature selection and 2) the Classifier component using Random Forest to classify disaster-related posts from noise on Twitter. The proposed framework addresses the challenge of the lack of labeled data in the target disaster event by proposing a Genetic Algorithm based approach. Experimental results on Twitter datasets corresponding to four disaster domain pair shows that the proposed framework improves the overall performance of the previous supervised approaches and significantly reduces the training time over the previous domain adaptation techniques that do not use the Genetic Algorithm (GA) for feature selection.
Diferenças entre migrantes e refugiados: uma análise do regime de proteção do direito internacional aplicado no Brasil
Authors: De Menezes Beatriz Miro Rouce Pradines
Published: December 2022

Este artigo propõe demonstrar as diferenças existentes entre migrantes e refugiados, bem como a atuação do direito internacional no direito brasileiro. Ressaltando os problemas que a autonomia do estado em conceder ou não o status refugiados pode trazer a sociedade. Para tanto, este artigo está dividido em seis tópicos. A primeira parte é a introdução a pesquisa. Logo em seguida falou-se da atuação do direito internacional e as diferenças que ele estipula ao migrante e refugiado, o tópico seguinte tratou sobre as normas internacionais no Brasil, o tópico cinco explicou a autonomia dos estados no recebimento dos sujeitos estrangeiros, por fim, a pesquisadora demonstrou os resultados alcançados e seus considerações finais sobre o estudo.
Pengembangan Website Sebagai Sarana Peningkatan Promosi Pasar Tradisi Lembah Merapi Di Desa Wisata Banyubiru Kabupaten Magelang
Authors: Ustyannie Windyaning , Sambuari Meychel Danius Fedrix , Almuntaha Eska , Susanti Erma
Published: December 2022

Banyubiru Tourism Village has a market potential that is able to attract tourists to come to the Merapi Valley Tradition Market. The market sells a variety of traditional specialties, traditional souvenirs, traditional utensils, and so on. However, in the promotional activities of this tourist village, it is still conventional and has not been touched by digital promotions, either in the form of websites or social media. This is the background for the community service program to create a website for the Merapi Valley Tradition Market in Banyubiru Tourism Village, Dukun District, Magelang Regency. The activity of making this website began with observations of the Head of RW, Head of RT and local residents to collect information about the Merapi Valley Traditional Market. After the website content components have been sufficient, proceed with the design and content of the Merapi Valley Traditional Market website. Furthermore, the implementation of website creation begins with the preparation of hosting and domains as well as the addition of SSL for website security. These components are needed so that the website can be accessed online by anyone who needs information. Hosting is a service for storing data, images, and files on a website. Domain is the website address. Additional security features SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is required to provide encryption security on the website. The process after implementation, namely uploading the website to the hosting that has been provided. The last is the handover of the website to the Management of the Merapi Valley Traditional Market. Making this website aims to make it easier for the wider community, both domestic and foreign tourists to get information about the cultural diversity in the Banyubiru Tourism Village, especially the culture in the Merapi Valley Tradition Market.