bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Precipitable water vapour monitoring using ground based GPS system
Authors: PUVIARASAN N. , GIRI R. K. , RANALKAR MANISH
Published: November 2021

The sensing of near real time Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV) using Global Positioning System (GPS) over Indian region were analyzed.  GPS data collected from five stations at hourly interval were utilized to determine near real time PWV using GAMIT software. Sliding window technique was used to derive near real time PWV. The PWV determined from GPS observations of each site were compared with respective radiosonde measurements. The results shows that the derived GPS precipitable water well agree for some stations with the independent radiosonde measurements.  We have also examined the variation of hourly GPS-PWV with hourly rainfall observation and found that PWV increases significantly before the event take place and decreases after the event.
Evaluation of Indian summer monsoon rainfall features using TRMM and KALPANA-1 satellite derived precipitation and rain gauge observation
Authors: DURAI V. R. , BHOWMIK S. K. ROY , MUKHOPADHYAY B.
Published: November 2021

The study provides a concise and synthesized documentation of the current level of skill of the satellite (3B42RT, 3B42V-6, KALPANA-1) products over Indian regions based on the data gathered during the summer monsoon seasons of 2006, 2007 and 2008. The inter-comparison of satellite products with the rain gauge observations suggests that the TRMM 3B42V6 product could distinctly capture characteristic features of the summer monsoon, such as north–south oriented belt of heavy rainfall along the Western Ghats with sharp gradient of rainfall between the west coast heavy rain region and the rain shadow region to the east, pockets of heavy rainfall along the location of monsoon trough, over the east central parts of the country, over north-east India, along the foothills of Himalayas and over the north Bay of Bengal. The KALPANA-1 and 3B42RT products reproduce only the broadest features of mean monsoon seasonal rainfall. The near real-time products 3B42RT and KALPANA-1 underestimate the orographic heavy rainfall along the Western Ghats of India. The precipitation estimates from TRMM 3B42V6 product, when accumulated over the whole season, could reproduce the observed pattern. However, the TRMM 3B42RT and KALPANA-1 estimates are comparatively lower than the observed rainfall over most parts of the country during the season. Inter comparison reveals that the TRMM 3B42V6 product showed better skill in estimating the daily and seasonal mean rainfall over all India and also over four homogeneous regions of India.
Signatures of northeast monsoon activity and passage of tropical cyclones in the integrated precipitable water vapour estimated through GPS technique
Authors: BALACHANDRAN S. , GEETHA B.
Published: November 2021

Water vapour represents a key variable in the atmospheric processes. The importance of assessing water vapour availability in the atmosphere is indicated by the currently prevalent use of vast number of observing systems, both of in-situ and remote sensing types, designed to measure its distribution accurately over wide ranges of space and time scales. One of the widely used techniques world over is use of ground based GPS receivers for measurement of total precipitable water vapour in the atmosphere over the station. One such system is being operated at Chennai since 2007.  An analysis of hourly Integrated Precipitable Water Vapour (IWV) data received from this system during Northeast Monsoon (NEM) season of 2008 shows the signatures of NEM activity and the passage of tropical disturbances like cyclonic storms and depressions in the vicinity of the GPS observation site. The GPS based IWV values are found to agree fairly well with radiosonde based IWV values and a good correlation exists between them. The IWV values obtained from GPS based system are found to be consistent with activity of Northeast monsoon with increase (decrease) of IWV during active (weak) phase of NEM 2008. The general expected trend of increase in IWV with approach of tropical systems in the vicinity of GPS station, reaching maximum during closest approach and again its decrease with increase of distance from the station is noticed. The diurnal variation of GPS based IWV estimates during NEM 2008 does not appear to be significant.
An indigenous state-of-the-art High Wind Speed Recording (HWSR) system for coastal meteorological observatories
Authors: VASHISTHA R. D. , MOHAN K. N. , BIJU P. S.
Published: November 2021

The continuous and accurate monitoring of wind speed and direction is of utmost importance to weatherman, particularly during the cyclonic storms.  Wind monitoring also helps the meteorologists in tracking the cyclone accurately and estimating their devastating potential.  One major disadvantage of all the existing wind monitoring and storing systems is their huge consumption of power, and hence are not suitable during cyclonic storms due to mains power supply failure.  So an attempt has been made by the authors to design and develop a low cost, low power, more accurate and maintenance free High Wind Speed Recording (HWSR) System for the coastal meteorological observatories along the East and West Coasts of India. One such system after successful field trials have been installed at Meteorological Office, Puri in the Orissa coast, and 19 more stations are proposed along East and West Coasts of India. The system meets the operational accuracy requirements and vector averaging of wind data as recommended by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO, 1992). The system design aspects and scope for expansion have been presented in this paper.
Recent trends in meteorological parameters over Jammu and Kashmir
Authors: JASWAL A. K. , RAO G. S. PRAKASA
Published: November 2021

Annual trends of meteorological parameters temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and clouds for ten stations in Jammu and Kashmir during the period 1976-2007 were studied. Trend analysis shows that temperatures are increasing over the state with significant increase in maximum temperature in the Kashmir region (+0.04 to                +  0.05° C/year) and minimum temperature in the Jammu region (+0.03 to + 0.08° C/year). The diurnal temperature range (DTR) is increasing over Kashmir region due to higher increasing trends in the maximum temperature while the strong increasing trends in the minimum temperature are contributing more towards the decrease in DTR over the Jammu region. Annual rainfall and rainy days trends are decreasing in both the regions of the state except at Jammu where rainfall trend is significantly increasing (+12.05 mm/year). Day-time relative humidity trends are mixed while total cloud amount trends are decreasing over Kashmir region and increasing over Jammu region. The effects of urbanization in the last two decades are more pronounced in Jammu region and this is strongly expressed in minimum temperature over the region. The warming trends observed over Jammu and Kashmir state during the period of study need further investigation in relation to variability of atmospheric circulation over North India.
Climatological and synoptic aspect of hailstorm and squall over Guwahati Airport during pre-monsoon season
Authors: DAS G. K. , BISWAS H. R. , SAMUI R. P. , KORE P. A. , SIDDIQUE L. A. , BARMAN B.
Published: November 2021

Premonsoon season in north-east India is known for thunderstorm activity with moderate to heavy rain, gusty wind, squall and sometimes with the occurrences of hail fall. In this paper an attempt has been made to find out the climatological and synoptical aspects of hailstorms as well as squall over Guwahati Airport (26.18° N, 91.75° E) during Premonsoon season. 20 years data from 1987 to 2006 have been analyzed. The frequency of hail and squall during premonsoon season is observed to be 1.35 and 3.65 respectively. The most favourable time of occurrence of hail is during afternoon to late evening and that for the occurrence of squall is during evening to early morning over Guwahati Airport. The significant synoptic situations associated with occurrence of hail are Sea level trough from East Uttar Pradesh/Bihar to North-East India and low level cycir over Bihar and neighbourhood.
Changes in total cloud cover over India based upon 1961-2007 surface observations
Authors: JASWAL A. K.
Published: November 2021

Based upon 172 well distributed surface meteorological stations over India, annual and seasonal trends in total cloud cover and associated climatic variables diurnal temperature range and rainy days are investigated for 1961-2007. The data analysis indicates a general decrease in total cloud cover over most parts of India during winter, summer and monsoon. On monthly scale, statistically significant decrease in total cloud cover has occurred during April (3% per decade), June to September (2% per decade) and December (5% per decade). Seasonally, the declining trends in total cloud cover are significant for summer and monsoon (2% per decade). Spatial analysis of trends suggests coherent decrease in total cloud cover over central India (all seasons) and south peninsula (except post monsoon).
 
All India averaged monthly, annual and seasonal trends in diurnal temperature range and rainy days are mixed and weak. Spatially, trends in diurnal temperature range are decreasing over north and increasing over south peninsula while trends in rainy days are decreasing over large number of stations during winter and monsoon and increasing in summer and post monsoon seasons. However, the sizes of the same trend regions show considerable variability between seasons. Monsoon season total cloud cover and Nino3.4 sea surface temperature anomalies are significantly negatively correlated over all regions of the country except northeast indicating a strong relationship between them.
Seasonal prediction of cyclonic disturbances over the Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon season : Identification of potential predictors
Authors: MOHAPATRA M. , ADHIKARY S.
Published: November 2021

The cyclonic disturbances (CD) over the Bay of Bengal during monsoon season have significant impact on rainfall over India. On many occasions, they cause flood leading to loss of lives and properties. Hence, any early information about the frequency of occurrence of such disturbances will help immensely the disaster managers and planners. However, the studies are limited on the seasonal prediction of CD over the Bay of Bengal unlike other Ocean basins of the world. Hence, a study has been undertaken to find out the potential predictors during the months of April and May for prediction of frequency of cyclonic disturbances over the Bay of Bengal during monsoon season (June – September). For this purpose, best track data of India Meteorological Department and large scale field parameters based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data have been analyzed for the period of 1948 – 2007.  The linear correlation analysis has been applied between frequency of CD and large scale field parameters based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to find out the potential predictors.
 
The large scale field parameters over the equatorial Indian Ocean, especially over west equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining Arabian Sea (up to 15° N) should be favourable in April and May with lower mean sea level pressure (MSLP), lower geopotential heights and stronger southerlies in lower and middle levels, along with stronger northerly components at upper level for higher frequency of CD during subsequent monsoon season. Consequently, there should be increase in relative humidity (RH) and precipitable water content and decrease in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and temperature at lower levels over this region during April and May for higher frequency of CD during subsequent monsoon  season. Comparing the area of significant correlation between frequency of CD and large scale field parameters and its stability from April to September, MSLP and geopotential heights are most influencing parameters followed by OLR, sea surface temperature, air temperature and RH at 850 hPa level.
Weather – based crop protection stewardship at Pattambi, Kerala
Authors: SAMUI R. P. , SABALE J. P. , KARTHIKEYAN K.
Published: November 2021

Kerala, a bowl of rice is continuously facing problem of using maximum pesticide for controlling outbreak of major rice pests. Weather data, synoptic conditions have been used to predict outbreaks of certain important tropical rice pests. Weather influences on the bionomics of pests is examined the context of forecasting outbreaks.  The synoptic situations as well as weather based indices are considered to forewarn the outbreaks of stem borer and leaf folder at and around Pattambi, Kerala. An attempt is made to work out optimal time of pesticide application using weather based forewarning system approach with an aim to reduce the pesticide consumption and environmental pollution.
Operationalizing Sustainable Development, Stakeholder Theory, Corporate Social Responsibility to Improve Community Engagement Outcomes
Authors: Ring Jerold Edson
Published: November 2021

Businesses fail in the absence of an engagement strategy with stakeholders who influence and are influenced by a company’s business activity in communities where the company has a presence. A lack of understanding of the interdependency implicit in the company/community relationship, and the absence of new frameworks to encourage collaboration, has led increasingly to an inability to resolve conflicting views. An evolving approach is business participation in multisector collaborative watershed initiative partnerships. This qualitative multiple case study examines the perspectives of 22 participants of two watershed partnerships relating to corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Triple Bottom Line of sustainable development (TBL), and shared value. The study’s theoretical framework focuses on stakeholder theory integrated with the corporate imperatives of CSR, the TBL, and shared value. The research question is how these constructs might define an unexplored community engagement framework between the company, the community, and watershed initiatives. The research data suggests these factors are interrelated, and, when integrated into a strategy, define a Sustainable Community Engagement Framework that redefines the business case for engaging stakeholders to help resolve often conflicting views relating to the company’s business activity. The study outcomes are particularly relevant to academics, practitioners, business managers, and consultants engaged with high profile organizations such as chemical, petroleum and utility businesses whose presence may generate community concerns about their business activities, especially their environmental footprint.
Verdwenen alleenstaande minderjarige vluchtelingen: voer voor mensenhandelaren?
Authors: Smit M. , van Os E.C.C.
Published: November 2021

Verdwenen alleenstaande minderjarige vluchtelingen: voer voor mensenhandelaren?

Volgens het internationale onderzoeksjournalistiekcollectief Lost in Europe zouden er in 2017 7.024 alleenstaande vluchtelingenkinderen zijn verdwenen uit asielzoekerscentra in Europa. Dit aantal is niet wetenschappelijk onderbouwd, maar dat dergelijke verontrustende verdwijningen geregeld voorkomen, is zeker. Wat wordt er tegen het verdwijnen van alleenstaande minderjarige vluchtelingen gedaan en wat is er bekend over het lot van verdwenen jongeren? Vaak worden zorgen geuit dat deze kinderen slachtoffer zijn of worden van mensenhandel. In hoeverre zijn daar aanwijzingen voor? In deze bijdrage gaan we op deze vragen in. Na een korte introductie over alleenstaande minderjarige vluchtelingen en mensenhandel besteden we aandacht aan verdwijningen buiten en binnen Nederland. Vervolgens doen we verslag van de bevindingen uit een aantal onderzoeken en van in Nederland getroffen maatregelen tegen verdwijningen. We ronden af met een conclusie en enkele aanzetten voor preventie van verdwijningen.
General comment No. 25: kinderrechten en digitale technologie
Authors: van der Hof S.
Published: November 2021

General comment No. 25: Kinderrechten en digitale technologie

In maart 2021 publiceerde het VN Comité voor de Rechten van het Kind General Comment No. 25 over kinderrechten in relatie tot de digitale omgeving (‘GC25’). Het doel van GC25 is om uit te leggen hoe de rechten van kinderen, zoals deze zijn neergelegd in het VN Verdrag voor de Rechten van het Kind (‘IVRK’) moeten worden geïmplementeerd in relatie tot digitale technologie. GC25 richt zich vanzelfsprekend tot de verdragsstaten, maar terecht ook tot andere relevante partijen, waaronder de tech-industrie.
Stoic Logic Allows Understanding a Priori Falsity in the Conditional
Authors: López-Astorga Miguel
Published: November 2021

An issue to explain in cognitive science is nowadays the case of certain conditionals that people seem to deem as a priori false. Those conditionals appear to be false by virtue of semantics: the meanings of their antecedents and their consequents seem not to admit any link between them. This is a problem because, from the point of view of classical logic, they are not always false; there can be situations in which they are true (as classical logic provides, whenever their antecedents are false, those conditionals in entirety are true). There are contemporary frameworks explaining this phenomenon (e.g., the theory of mental models). However, this paper tries to make the point that the solution might be already in ancient philosophy: in particular, in Chrysippus’ logic. Thus, the paper describes in details (1) why those conditionals are controversial in classical logic and (2) the account that can be given for them from Chrysippus’ philosophy. That account is based mainly on the Stoic idea that the negation of the second clause of a conditional should not be compatible with its first clause.
Trois langues d’Asie du Sud-Est et leur première grammaire (vietnamien, thaï, cambodgien)
Authors: Bidaud Samuel
Published: November 2021

Cet article a pour but d’analyser et comparer les premières grammaires de trois langues d’Asie du Sud-Est : le vietnamien, le thaï et le cambodgien, qui furent publiées à des époques différentes, en 1651, 1828 et 1915 respectivement. Les auteurs de ces grammaires sont confrontés à l’analyse d’un certain nombre de phénomènes linguistiques radicalement « exotiques » par rapport aux langues européennes, tels que l’absence de flexion, le monosyllabisme, la présence de tons ou encore des systèmes de « pronoms » très complexes. Chacune des grammaires développe sa propre approche de ces points et propose une classification des mots singulière, dont il convient d’interroger le lien à la grammaire latine et au concept de « partie du discours ». Les trois textes qui nous occupent ont par ailleurs des buts qui ne sont pas identiques, puisque les deux premiers ont une visée didactique alors que le troisième est avant tout scientifique. Enfin, ces grammaires diffèrent dans leur rapport à la linguistique générale et à la comparaison typologique et historique.
Context, Contextualisation and (Multimodal) Text
Authors: Gambier Yves
Published: November 2021

Context and genres are relevant concepts in Translation Studies, but paradoxically there is no consensus about their definition and how they challenge text, especially after the 1990s when technology began to impact on translation practices. It is surprising since new writings and textualisation of the interactions have developed concomitant with the dematerialisation of the context. In this study, we will trace the conceptual polysemy of “context”, first in linguistics (taken in a broad meaning) and then in Translation Studies. We will consider to what extent context and contextualisation are related, when translation is defined as a context-dependent meaning-making process. What does re-contextualisation imply, and how does context apply to (multimodal) text in a digital environment?
Methodological Framework for the Development of an English-Lithuanian Cybersecurity Termbase
Authors: Rackevičienė Sigita , Mockienė Liudmila , Utka Andrius , Rokas Aivaras
Published: November 2021

The aim of the paper is to present a methodological framework for the development of an English-Lithuanian bilingual termbase in the cybersecurity domain, which can be applied as a model for other language pairs and other specialised domains. It is argued that the presented methodological approach can ensure creation of high-quality bilingual termbases even with limited available resources. The paper touches upon the methods and problems of dataset (corpora) compilation, terminology annotation, automatic bilingual term extraction (BiTE) and alignment, knowledge-rich context extraction, and linguistic linked open data (LLOD) technologies. The paper presents theoretical considerations as well as the arguments on the effectiveness of the described methods. The theoretical analysis and a pilot study allow arguing that: 1) a combination of parallel and comparable corpora enable to considerably expand the amount and variety of data sources that can be used for terminology extraction; this methodology is especially important for less-resourced languages which often lack parallel data; 2) deep learning systems trained by using manually annotated data (gold standard corpora) allow effective automatization of extraction of terminological data and metadata, which enables to regularly update termbases with minimised manual input; 3) LLOD technologies enable to integrate the terminological data into the global linguistic data ecosystem and make it reusable, searchable and discoverable across the Web.
Sintaksinio sudėtingumo analizė anotuotame lietuvių kalbos tekstyne priklausomybių nuotolio metodu
Authors: Ožeraitis Vytautas
Published: November 2021

Sintaksinis sudėtingumas yra visoms kalboms būdinga ypatybė, labai bendrai apibūdinama kaip sakinio (ar teksto) ir jo elementų įmantrumą, detalumą, sąrangą bei jungimosi modelius sudėtingumo aspektu pateikiantis įvertis. Lietuvių kalboje sintaksinis sudėtingumas nėra plačiai analizuotas. Sintaksinio sudėtingumo tyrimus apsunkina nenusistovėjusi termino apibrėžtis ir skirtingų jo apskaičiavimo metodų gausa. Šiame straipsnyje pristatomas sintaksinio sudėtingumo tyrimas sintaksiškai anotuotame lietuvių kalbos tekstyne ALKSNIS, naudojant sintaksinės priklausomybės nuotolio metodą, paremtą Dependency Locality teorija. Straipsnyje aprašoma sintaksinio sudėtingumo samprata, pristatomi sintaksinio sudėtingumo tyrimų principai, jų aktualumas ir pritaikomumas, pristatomi ir aptariami sintaksinio sudėtingumo rezultatai tekstyne, analizuojami pasirinkto metodo privalumai ir trūkumai. Šiuo tyrimu siekiama papildyti lietuvių kalbos sintaksinio sudėtingumo analizės lauką.
Sintaksinio sudėtingumo analizei naudojami du rodmenys – vidutinis priklausomybės nuotolis ir modifikuotas vidutinis priklausomybės nuotolis, sintaksiškai anotuotame tekstyne apskaičiuojant sintaksinių sakinio priklausomybės ryšių distanciją. Tyrime analizuojami visi tekstyno sakiniai, nustatomas atskirų tekstų ir tekstyno dalių sintaksinis sudėtingumas. Detaliau analizuojant paskirus sakinius, išryškėja tiek šių metodų trūkumai sintaksinio sudėtingumo analizei, tiek jų priklausomybė nuo tikslios ir nuoseklios anotavimo schemos. Analizuojant duomenis išryškėja poreikis į sintaksinio sudėtingumo sampratą bei formulę įtraukti sakinių tarpusavio sąsajų svertus. Nustatyta, kad modifikuoto vidutinio priklausomybės nuotolio formulėje įtraukta sakinio viršūnės pozicija galimai iškreipia rezultatus, todėl šią formulę reikėtų toliau tikslinti. Tyrimo metu nustatytos sakinių ir tekstų sudėtingumo ribos laikomos tik orientacinėmis, tiksliau joms apibrėžti siūlomi papildomi kokybiniai tyrimai ir eksperimentai.
“Space race” in the strategic triangle of the United States – Russian Federation – People’s Republic of China: comparative analysis
Authors: Kostyuchek Svetlana Vladimirovna , Vlasov Stepan , Vasin Andrei Alekseevich , Fokina Anna Andreevna
Published: November 2021

This article is explores the balance of powers in the strategic triangle United States – Russian Federation – People’s Republic of China in space. The key goal lies in assessment of the capacity of space industry in the listed countries. The relevance of the selected topic is substantiated by the strategic importance of the configuration of leadership in the new political space. Space race may bring to achieving technological superiority over the opponent by amplifying the influence in space using the latest and more powerful military and scientific developments. In the course of analysis, the author reveals the essential criteria for comparing the potential of the three countries. Through the prism of neo-realistic paradigm, interpretation is given to the quantitative indicators of the three powers. The article determines the leading countries in “space race”, and answers the question – which country has superiority to establish the rules of conduct in space. The “space race” actors have a sufficient level of power and are somewhat inferior in order to dictate the rules in outer space, or hinder the opponents in development of their space programs using political or economic leverage. China's aspiration to strengthen space capabilities for neutralizing any potential threats alongside commitment of China and Russia to challenge the dominance of the United States, paves the way for shifting the strategic competition between the US and China to space, which affects the military-strategic and technological spheres.
Conflict between an individual and the state in the concept of Max Stirner
Authors: Nadtochii Igor' Olegovich , Nikishin Sergei Vyacheslavovich
Published: November 2021

The subject of this research is the views of the German classical philosopher Max Stirner on the individual, society, and the state reflected in his flagship work “The Ego and Its Own”. The object of this research is the anarchism as a unique trend in the world political and philosophical thought. On the one hand, the author emphasize the determinedness of the ideas of German philosopher by the historical atmosphere of his time, while on the other – view anarchism as the doctrine with the equally long history in the world thought and practical implementation of the anarchist concepts. The focus of M. Stirner's ideas lies in the conflict between an individual and the state. The scientific novelty of this article consists in the analysis of the essential conceptual conflict, immanent to the history of mankind, which is the foundation for M. Stirner’s original concept of the relationship between an individual, the state, and surrounding world. The trueness of being in the concept of German philosopher is determined by the embodiment of the anthropocentric, or according to M. Stirner, the “egoistic” ontological ideal. The authors' special contribution consists in the analysis of views of M. Stirner, as well as in tracing correlation between the  anarchist concepts and realization of the ideas of anarchism in one or another form. The authors show no reference to any value judgments related to this ideological phenomenon.
Falcon Optimization Algorithm for Bayesian Networks Structure Learning
Authors: Kareem Shahab Wahhab , Okur Mehmet Cudi
Published: November 2021

In machine-learning, one of the useful scientific models for producing the structure of knowledge is Bayesian network, which can draw probabilistic dependency relationships between variables. The score and search is a method used for learning the structure of a Bayesian network. The authors apply the Falcon Optimization Algorithm (FOA) as a new approach to learning the structure of Bayesian networks. This paper uses the Reversing, Deleting, Moving and Inserting operations to adopt the FOA for approaching the optimal solution of Bayesian network structure. Essentially, the falcon prey search strategy is used in the FOA algorithm. The result of the proposed technique is compared with Pigeon Inspired optimization, Greedy Search, and Simulated Annealing using the BDeu score function. The authors have also examined the performances of the confusion matrix of these techniques utilizing several benchmark data sets. As shown by the evaluations, the proposed method has more reliable performance than the other algorithms including producing better scores and accuracy values.
Optimized jk-nearest neighbor based online signature verification and evaluation of the main parameters
Authors: Saleem Mohammad , Kovari Bence
Published: November 2021

In this paper, we propose an enhanced jk-nearest neighbor (jk-NN) classifier for online signature verification. After studying the algorithm's main parameters, we use four separate databases to present and evaluate each algorithm parameter. The results show that the proposed method can increase the verification accuracy by 0.73-10% compared to a traditional one class k-NN classifier. The algorithm has achieved reasonable accuracy for different databases, a 3.93% error rate when using the SVC2004 database, 2.6% for MCYT-100 database, 1.75% for the SigComp'11 database, and 6% for the SigComp'15 database.The proposed algorithm uses specifically chosen parameters and a procedure to pick the optimal value for K using only the signer's reference signatures, to build a practical verification system for real-life scenarios where only these signatures are available. By applying the proposed algorithm, the average error achieved was 8% for SVC2004, 3.26% for MCYT-100, 13% for SigComp'15, and 2.22% for SigComp'11.
A Meta-Heuristic Approach Based on the Genetic and Greedy Algorithms to Solving Flexible Job-Shop Scheduling Problem
Authors: Rezaeipanah Amin , Sarhangnia Fariba , Abdollahi MohammadJavad
Published: November 2021

In today’s competitive business world, manufacturers need to accommodate customer demands with appropriate scheduling. This requires efficient manufacturing chain scheduling. One of the most important problems that has always been considered in the manufacturing and job-shop industries is offering various products according to the needs of customers in different periods of time, within the shortest possible time and with rock-bottom cost. Job-Shop Scheduling systems are one of the applications of group technology in industry, the purpose of which is to take advantage of the physical or operational similarities of products in various aspects of construction and design. In addition, these systems are identified as Cellular Manufacturing Systems (CMS). Today, applying CMS and the use of its benefits have been very important as a possible way to increase the speed of the organization’s response to rapid market changes. In this paper, a meta-heuristic method based on combining genetic and greedy algorithms has been used in order to optimize and evaluate the performance criteria of flexible job-shop scheduling problem. In order to improve the efficiency of the genetic algorithm, the initial population is generated in a greedy algorithm and several elitist operators are used to improve the solutions. The greedy algorithm which is used to improve the generation of the initial population prioritizes the cells and the job in each cell, and thus offers quality solutions. The proposed algorithm is tested over P-FJSP dataset and compared with the state-of-the-art techniques of this literature. To evaluate the performance of the diversity, spacing, quality and run-time criteria were used in a multi-objective function. The results of simulation indicate better performance of the proposed method compared to NRGA and NSGA-II methods.
Efficient Simulations of Large Scale Convective Heat Transfer Problems
Authors: Goik Damian , Banaś Krzysztof , Bielański Jan , Chłoń Kazimierz
Published: November 2021

We describe an approach for efficient solution of large scale convective heat transfer problems, formulated as coupled unsteady heat conduction and incompressible fluid flow equations. The original problem is discretized in time using classical implicit methods, while stabilized finite elements are used for space discretization. The algorithm employed for the discretization of the fluid flow problem uses Picard's iterations to solve the arising nonlinear equations. Both problems, heat transfer and Navier-Stokes quations, give rise to large sparse systems of linear equations. The systems are solved using iterative GMRES solver with suitable preconditioning. For the incompressible flow equations we employ a special preconditioner based on algebraic multigrid (AMG) technique. The paper presents algorithmic and implementation details of the solution procedure, which is suitably tuned, especially for ill conditioned systems arising from discretizations of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. We describe parallel implementation of the solver using MPI and elements of PETSC library. The scalability of the solver is favourably compared with other methods such as direct solvers and standard GMRES method with ILU preconditioning.
Overview of Adaptive and Low-Rank Approximation Algorithms for Modeling of The Influence of Electromagnetic Waves Generated by The Cell Phone Antenna on The Human Head
Authors: Paszynski Maciej
Published: November 2021

This paper presents an overview of formulations and algorithms dedicated to modeling the influence of electromagnetic waves on the human head. We start from the three-dimensional MRI scan of the human head. We approximate the MRI scan by the continuous approximation span over three-dimensional h adaptive mesh with quadratic polynomials. Next, we introduce time-harmonic Maxwell equations with a 1.8 GHz cell-phone antenna. We solve the problem of the propagation of electromagnetic waves on the human head. We compute the specific absorption rate used as the heat source for the Pennes bioheat equation. Finally, we introduce the Pennes bio-heat equation modeling the heat generated by the electromagnetic waves propagating through the skull, tissue, and air layers in the human head. We discuss the discretization and time-stepping algorithm for the Pennes equation’s solution over the human head. Namely, we focus on the Crank-Nicolson time integration scheme, to solve the bioheat transfer equations. We employ the hp finite elements with hierarchical shape functions and hp adaptive algorithm in three-dimensions. We propose an adaptive algorithm mixed with time-stepping iterations, where we simultaneously adapt the computational mesh, solve the Maxwell and Pennes equations, and we iterative with time steps. We employ the sparse Gaussian elimination algorithm with low-rank compression of the off-diagonal matrix blocks for the factorization of matrices. We conclude with the statement that 15 minutes of talk with a 1.8 GHz antenna of 1 Wat power results in increased brain tissue temperature up to 38.4 Celsius degree.
The use of a long-acting tranquilizer (zuclopenthixol acetate) and live video monitoring for successful long-distance transport of caribou (Rangifer tarandus)
Authors: Slater Owen , Backwell Amber , Cook John , Cook Rachel
Published: November 2021

Long-distance transport of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) can result in morbidities and mortalities. This case report describes the use of a long-acting tranquilizer, zuclopenthixol acetate (ZA) and live video monitoring (LVM) to transport caribou over 2300 kilometers. Two groups of captive caribou were transported from Fort St. John, British Columbia to Dryden, Ontario (n=14; 28.5 h transport) and Anchorage, Alaska (n=11; 32 h transport).  The day prior to transport, caribou were administered ZA at 1 mg/kg via deep intramuscular (IM) injection.  Digital video cameras allowed for live observation of caribou during transport.  Still images of videos from each compartment in the Ontario transport were analyzed for percentage (%) lying versus standing over three time periods (Day 1, Night, and Day 2).  Overall, caribou spent 57% of the transport lying down, with the highest percentage occurring at night (73%).  As group size and animal density decreased there was a trend for caribou to spend more time lying down.  Three animals developed extrapyramidal effects to the ZA and were effectively treated with midazolam at 0.2 mg/kg IM. There were no significant visible injuries or mortalities during or up to 6 weeks post-transport. Zuclopenthixol acetate and LVM were used to successfully transport  caribou over long distances and should be considered in future translocations to improve animal welfare during transport.
Holographic Dark Energy and Dark Matter Interaction in Anisotropic Bianchi Type-V Universe
Authors: Gemici-Deveci D. , Aydiner E.
Published: November 2021

In this study, we consider an holographic dark energy and dark matter interacting model in the Bianchi Type-V universe with a stretched exponential scale factor. We obtain the Hubble, shear, deceleration, and equation of state parameters based on the presented model and give the numerical solutions. We show that the anisotropy in the early universe plays an important role in the time evolution of the universe. Furthermore, we show that an interacting anisotropic model with stretched exponential scale factors can explain all epochs of the universe.
Inventory of Animal Contamination by Cyanotoxins in Africa
Authors: Yao K. E. , Coulibaly K. J. , Yao D. R. , Koffi A. M. , Koné M. , Vakou N. S. , Dosso M. , Douba V. N’
Published: November 2021

This study reviews work on the accumulation of cyanotoxins in fish and various animals in Africa. Microcystins (MC-LR, MC-RR, and MC-YR) appear to be the main contaminating toxin in fish and other animals. In fish, the highest concentration (1917 μg.kg-1) was detected in the whole body of a small species of fish (Rastrineobola argenta) consumed whole by the populations around Lake Victoria. In large species, the intestine (followed by the liver) is the organ that accumulates the most cyanotoxins; up to 3059 ng.g-1 in Algerian common carp. Fish muscle accumulates little or no cyanotoxins in most publications and Oreochromis niloticus, a phytoplanktonophagous species widely consumed by the African populations, remains the most studied species. In other animal species, cases of cyanotoxin mortality were reported in most publications in southern and central Africa and only one publication in North Africa. No study on this subject has been referenced in other parts of Africa.
Design, Synthesis and Biological Activities of Some phthalimides Derivatives
Authors: Taiwo F. O. , Obafemi C. A. , Obuotor E. M. , Olawuni I. J.
Published: November 2021

Aims: To synthesize some phthalimides derivatives and evaluate the compounds for their possible biological properties.

Methods: The substituted phenylisoindoline-1,3-dione were synthesized from the reactions of N-phenyl phthalimide with different substituted aromatic aldehyde. The synthesized compounds were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis. The Nitric oxide and Ferric reducing antioxidant properties (FRAP) were determined by spectrophochemical method.

Results: The IC50 values for all the synthesized compounds were lower than standard, eserine (IC50 = 15 ± 2 µg/mL) against Nitric oxide inhibition. Compounds 3 (FRAP = 205±8 µg/ML) and 6 (FRAP = 118±1 µg/ML) were found to exhibit higher FRAP analysis results which were comparable to the results obtained for serine. (FRAP = 202±7 µg/ML).

Conclusion: The considerable activity of the compounds shown by its Nitric oxide and Ferric reducing antioxidant properties (FRAP) makes them good candidates for the development of selective acetylcholinesterase and butyryl cholinesterase inhibitors.
Plant Therapeutic Proteases: Chemical Aspects, Applications and Pharmaceutical Formulations
Authors: Ferreira P. F. , Silva-López R. E.
Published: November 2021

Background: Plants are important sources of therapeutic proteases with expressive activity, stability, specificity, and efficiency. These proteases are employed at low concentrations and produce lesser side effects. They have complex tridimensional structures whose maintenance is a challenge, requiring specific conditions to guarantee the biological and pharmacological activities of these compounds.

Aims: To conduct a literature review about plant therapeutic proteases, their principal biochemical aspects, potentials and clinical applications, and main pharmaceutical formulations.

Materials and Methods: The present study consisted of a bibliographic survey of the major plant therapeutic proteases. An investigation was performed in the PUBMED, SciELO, ScienceDirect and Academic Google databases using the keywords plant enzymes, therapeutic protease, immobilization, formulation.

Results: Some plant therapeutic proteases, such as papain and bromelain, are employed to treat many diseases and conditions, but the complexity of their structures is an important limitation of their uses. Thus, the structure and activities of their formulations need to be stabilized and protected against degradation, with improved pharmacokinetics, a prolonged time of action, reduced toxic effects, and proper direction towards their therapeutic target. Nanotechnology has made it possible to manufacture drug carriers such as polymeric nano- and microparticles, hydrogels, dendrimers and liposomes which are able to increase their efficacy and clinical applicability, as well as patient compliance. Sustainability initiatives that use Green Chemistry together with nanobiotechnology have managed to reduce the risks of toxicity to organisms and the environment. Green synthesis uses lower concentrations of metal ions, water-soluble, biocompatible and non-toxic compounds, as well as seeking energy efficiency and using renewable sources of raw materials.

Conclusions: Investigations about new formulations of plant therapeutic proteases using biodegradable and biocompatible polymers is of great biomedical interest because they generate less toxic new biopharmaceuticals, in addition to protecting and stabilizing the enzymatic structure.
Influence of Plant Growth Regulators to Improve the Colour and Sugar Content of Grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). cv. Red Globe
Authors: Nanthakumar S. , Manju V. , Kumar V. Ashok
Published: November 2021

Studies on Effect of plant growth regulators to improve the colour and sugar content of Grapes” (Vitis vinifera L.).cv. Red Globe was conducted in the field of a progressive grape grower at Kaalampalyam (10 O 58’49.17” N and 76 O 55’ 15. 81”E   and elevation of 1352 ft from MSL) near Perur area of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. The experiment was laid out in a randomized Block design with 7 treatments and each treatment was replicated four times. The data recorded on various parameters viz., vegetative growth, flowering, fruit yield, Quality etc., were statistically analysed. Significant differences were observed among the growth regulators on various vegetative growth parameters in Grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). cv. Red Globe. Among all the treatments, number of bunches per vine was significantly higher when sprayed with ethephon 200ppm (T4) compared to other treatments. (6.53 cm), the berry size and berry weight of the grapes were found to be maximum in the bunches treated with CCC 500ppm (T2) (6.57 g), There was no impact on the number of seeds by the treatments. The ethephon 200ppm (T4) treatment exhibited superior quality in terms of juice content, total sugars and colour value.
Rapid Screening of Small Millet Varieties for Seedling Stage Drought Stress Tolerance
Authors: Francis Neethu , Ravikesavan R. , Iyanar K. , Raveendran M. , Chitdeshwari T. , Senthil A.
Published: November 2021

Aim: Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses that affect the yield of crops globally. The present investigation was conducted to identify small millet genotypes tolerant to seedling stage drought stress.

Study Design: The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications with genotypes and stress treatments as factors.

Place and Duration of Study: It was carried out at Department of millets, Centre for plant breeding and genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during 2019.

Methodology: Ten varieties of various small millets, CO 7 (foxtail millet), CO 4 and ATL 1 (little millet), CO 15 and CO 9 (finger millet), ATL 1 and CO (PV) 5 (proso millet), MDU 1 and CO 2 (barnyard millet) and CO 3 (kodo millet), were used for the study. In vitro screening of the seedlings in Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)-induced water stress at four levels (0, -3, -5 and -7 bars) were carried out based on germination percent, shoot and root length, plant height stress tolerance index (PHSI), root length stress tolerance index (RLSI) and seedling vigour index (SVI).

Results: Analysis of variance of the genotypes and PEG treatments revealed significant variation for genotypes, treatments and genotype x treatment interactions at P< 0.001. A declining trend for germination percent, shoot length and root length was observed as the stress levels were increased. However, at mild and moderate stress root length was slightly increased. Under mild (-3 bars) and high stress (-7 bars), CO 7 (foxtail millet) recorded the highest SVI percent over control values (165% and 65% respectively). Under moderate stress CO 4 (little millet) recorded the highest SVI (191%). The lowest SVI values under high stress, 4% and 8%, were recorded for ATL 1 (little millet) and CO 3 (kodo millet) respectively.

Conclusion: Based on invitro screening of small millet varieties for seedling stage water stress, foxtail millet variety CO 7 and kodo millet variety CO 3 can be concluded as the tolerant and susceptible varieties respectively. Further a controlled field experiment may be carried out to understand the field level tolerance of the varieties and their growth stages to drought.
Assessment of Fungal Concentrations Associated with Relative Humidity and Temperature Variations in the Indoor Environment
Authors: Obi Chioma Maureen , Enweani-Nwokelo Ifeoma Bessie , Oshim Ifeanyi Onyema , Okeke Monique Ugochinyere
Published: November 2021

Background: Indoor environmental factors and human activities influence the presence and concentration of fungal propagules which may lead to the risk of developing respiratory infections and allergic reactions.

Aim/Objectives: This study aimed to identify the factors that influence indoor fungal composition and determine its association with the development of respiratory and allergic reactions.

Methodology: A total of 549 air samples and 226 nasal swabs of occupants were examined using health base questionnaire, malt extract agar and A6 single stage microbial air sampler. House dampness, mould growth on indoor materials, temperature, relative humidity, type of ventilation, type of human activity, and location of building were found to affect the prevalence and diversity of indoor fungi.

Results: A total of 55, 46 and 50 species of fungi were isolated from homes, offices and hospitals respectively. High fungal count, were recorded in homes with moisture problems, low temperature and high relative humidity and homes located in high density areas. High cases of respiratory health problems were reported by occupants of these homes.

Conclusion: Improvement in housing and establishment of awareness programmes can be used to lower fungal load and health problems associated with dampness in homes.It is necessary to maintain and prevent the housekeeping activities that can predispose fungal concentration in indoor environment.