bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mass Flow Monitoring by Distributed Fiber Optical Temperature Sensing
Authors: Jderu Alin , Enachescu Marius , Ziegler Dominik
Published: September 2019

We developed a novel method to monitor mass flow based on distributed fiber optical temperature sensing. Examination of the temporal and spatial temperature distribution along the entire length of a locally heated fluidic conduit reveals heat flow under forced convection. Our experimental results are in good agreement with two-dimensional finite element analysis that couples fluid dynamic and heat transfer equations. Through analysis of the temperature distribution bidirectional flow rates can be measured over three orders of magnitude. The technique is not flow intrusive, works in harsh conditions, including high-temperatures, high pressures, corrosive media, and strong electromagnetic environments. We demonstrate a first experimental implementation on a short fluidic system with a length of one meter. This range covers many applications such as low volume drug delivery, diagnostics, as well as process and automation technology. Yet, the technique can, without restrictions, be applied to long range installations. Existing fiber optics infrastructures, for instance on oil pipelines or down hole installations, would only require the addition of a heat source to enable reliable flow monitoring capability.
Advanced Sensors Technology in Education
Authors: González Crespo Rubén , Burgos Daniel
Published: September 2019

The topic presented will show how different kinds of sensors can help to improve our skills in learning environments. When we open the mind and let it take the control to be creative, we can think how a martial art would be improved with registered sensors, or how a person may dance with machines to improve their technique, or how you may improve your soccer kick for a penalties round. The use of sensors seems easy to imagine in these examples, but their use is not limited to these types of learning environments. Using depth cameras to detect patterns in oral presentations, or improving the assessment of agility through low cost-sensors with multimodal learning analytics, or using computing devices as sensors to measure their impact on primary and secondary students’ performances are the focus of this study as well. We hope readers will find original ideas that allow them to improve and advance in their own researches.
Design and Analysis of Handshake-Based MAC with Delay Variations in Underwater Acoustic Networks
Authors: Dong Chao , Chen Yankun , Guan Quansheng , Ji Fei , Yu Hua , Chen Fangjiong
Published: September 2019

The long propagation delay in underwater acoustic channels has attracted tremendous attentions in designing Medium Access Control (MAC). The low acoustic propagation speed and wide area of the acoustic communication range led to a wide range of variations in the propagation delay. This paper identifies an important characteristic of two-scale delay variations by field test results. We carry out simulations to study the impact of delay variations on MAC, and the results suggest a slot length adaptation scheme for the handshake and slotting based MAC. We further model an absorbing Markov chain to derive the closed-form equation for the throughput of MAC with adaptive slot length. Both the analytical and simulation results show that our proposed slot length adaptation improves significantly the throughput of MAC in underwater acoustic networks. Particularly, the Slotted-FAMA with an adaptive slot length achieves more than double the throughput than the Slotted-FAMA with a fixed slot length in a network with six nodes.
About the Accuracy and Problems of Consumer Devices in the Assessment of Sleep
Authors: Ameen Mohamed S. , Cheung Lok Man , Hauser Theresa , Hahn Michael A. , Schabus Manuel
Published: September 2019

Commercial sleep devices and mobile-phone applications for scoring sleep are gaining ground. In order to provide reliable information about the quantity and/or quality of sleep, their performance needs to be assessed against the current gold standard, i.e., polysomnography (PSG; measuring brain, eye, and muscle activity). Here, we assessed some commercially available sleep trackers, namely an activity tracker; Mi band (Xiaomi, Beijing, China), a scientific actigraph: Motionwatch 8 (CamNTech, Cambridge, UK), and a much-used mobile phone application: Sleep Cycle (Northcube, Gothenburg, Sweden). We recorded 27 nights in healthy sleepers using PSG and these devices and compared the results. Surprisingly, all devices had poor agreement with the PSG gold standard. Sleep parameter comparisons revealed that, specifically, the Mi band and the Sleep Cycle application had difficulties in detecting wake periods which negatively affected their total sleep time and sleep-efficiency estimations. However, all 3 devices were good in detecting the most basic parameter, the actual time in bed. In summary, our results suggest that, to date, the available sleep trackers do not provide meaningful sleep analysis but may be interesting for simply tracking time in bed. A much closer interaction with the scientific field seems necessary if reliable information shall be derived from such devices in the future.
MCSM-Wri: A Small-Scale Motion Recognition Method Using WiFi Based on Multi-Scale Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Ma Shiyuan , Huang Tingpei , Li Shibao , Huang Junwei , Ma Tiantian , Liu Jianhang
Published: September 2019

Small-scale motion recognition has received wide attention recently with the development of environmental perception technology based on WiFi, and some state-of-the-art techniques have emerged. The wide application of small-scale motion recognition has aroused people’s concern. Handwritten letter is a kind of small scale motion, and the recognition for small-scale motion based on WiFi has two characteristics. Small-scale action has little impact on WiFi signals changes in the environment. The writing trajectories of certain uppercase letters are the same as the writing trajectories of their corresponding lowercase letters, but they are different in size. These characteristics bring challenges to small-scale motion recognition. The system for recognizing small-scale motion in multiple classes with high accuracy urgently needs to be studied. Therefore, we propose MCSM-Wri, a device-free handwritten letter recognition system using WiFi, which leverages channel state information (CSI) values extracted from WiFi packets to recognize handwritten letters, including uppercase letters and lowercase letters. Firstly, we conducted data preproccessing to provide more abundant information for recognition. Secondly, we proposed a ten-layers convolutional neural network (CNN) to solve the problem of the poor recognition due to small impact of small-scale actions on environmental changes, and it also can solve the problem of identifying actions with the same trajectory and different sizes by virtue of its multi-scale characteristics. Finally, we collected 6240 instances for 52 kinds of handwritten letters from 6 volunteers. There are 3120 instances from the lab and 3120 instances are from the utility room. Using 10-fold cross-validation, the accuracy of MCSM-Wri is 95.31%, 96.68%, and 97.70% for the lab, the utility room, and the lab+utility room, respectively. Compared with Wi-Wri and SignFi, we increased the accuracy from 8.96% to 18.13% for recognizing handwritten letters.
Emergency Response Using Volunteered Passenger Aircraft Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study on Flood Damage Mapping
Authors: Wang Chisheng , Ke Junzhuo , Xiu Wenqun , Ye Kai , Li Qingquan
Published: September 2019

Current satellite remote sensing data still have some inevitable defects, such as a low observing frequency, high cost and dense cloud cover, which limit the rapid response to ground changes and many potential applications. However, passenger aircraft may be an alternative remote sensing platform in emergency response due to the high revisit rate, dense coverage and low cost. This paper introduces a volunteered passenger aircraft remote sensing method (VPARS) for emergency response. It uses the images captured by the passenger volunteers during flight. Based on computer vision algorithms and geocoding procedures, these images can be processed into a mosaic orthoimage for rapid ground disaster mapping. Notable, due to the relatively low flight latitude, small clouds can be easily removed by stacking multi-angle tilt images in the VPARS method. A case study on the 2019 Guangdong flood monitoring validates these advantages. The frequent aircraft revisit time, intensive flight coverage, multi-angle images and low cost of the VPARS make it a potential way to complement traditional remote sensing methods in emergency response.
Determination of Hydrophilic UV Filters in Real Matrices Using New-Generation Bar Adsorptive Microextraction Devices
Authors: Ide Alessandra Honjo , Nogueira José Manuel Florêncio
Published: September 2019

In the present contribution, new-generation bar adsorptive microextraction devices combined with microliquid desorption, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection (BAµE-µLD/HPLC–DAD) are proposed for the determination of two very polar ultraviolet (UV) filters (2-phenylbenzimidazole-5-sulfonic acid (PBS) and 5-benzoyl-4-hydroxy-2-methoxybenzenesulfonic acid (BZ4)) in aqueous media. Different sorbents were evaluated as BAµE coating phases, in which polystyrene–divinylbenzene polymer showed the best selectivity for the analysis of both UV filters, with average extraction efficiency of 61.8 ± 9.1% for PBS and 69.5 ± 4.8% for BZ4. The validated method showed great reproducibility for the analysis of PBS and BZ4 UV filters, providing suitable limits of detection (0.04 µg L−1 and 0.20 µg L−1), as well as good linear dynamic ranges (0.16–16.0 and 0.8–80.0 µg L−1), respectively. The proposed methodology was applied for monitoring the target analytes in several real matrices, including tap, sea, and estuarine waters, as well as wastewater samples. Despite some matrix effects being observed for some real samples, good selectivity and linearity were obtained. The present contribution showed an innovative analytical cycle that includes the use of disposable devices, which make BAµE much more user-friendly and suitable for the routine work, being a remarkable analytical alternative for trace analysis of priority compounds in real matrices.
A Bottom-Up Approach for Data Mining in Bioaromatization of Beers Using Flow-Modulated Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Paiva Andre Cunha , Simões Oliveira Daniel , Hantao Leandro Wang
Published: September 2019

In this study, we report the combination of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) with multivariate pattern recognition through template matching for the assignment of the contribution of Brazilian Ale 02 yeast strain to the aroma profile of beer compared with the traditional Nottingham yeast. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) from two beer samples, which were fermented with these yeast strains were sampled using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The aroma profiles from both beer samples were obtained using GC×GC coupled to a fast scanning quadrupole mass spectrometer. Data processing performed through multiway principal components analysis succeeded in separating both beer samples based on yeast strain. The execution of a simple and reliable procedure succeeded and identified 46 compounds as relevant for sample classification. Furthermore, the bottom-up approach spotted compounds found exclusively in the beer sample fermented with the Brazilian yeast, highlighting the bioaromatization properties introduced to the aroma profile by this yeast strain.
Imperatives of Sustainable University Excellence: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Hussain Tajammal , Eskildsen Jacob , Edgeman Rick , Ismail Muhammad , Shoukry Alaa Mohamd , Gani Showkat
Published: September 2019

This study envisions the architecture of a modern era university with sustainable standards of excellence. Sustainable University Excellence is herein defined as the ability of a university to excel in the core areas of knowledge creation and dissemination via the mobilization of human, social, intellectual, and financial capital to serve on socioeconomic and environmental fronts ethically, efficiently, and effectively to secure a sustainable future. Seven core performance domains of a university are explored: Teaching quality, research culture, technological capability building, accessibility, community engagement, internationalization, and environment, which should be prioritize in order to continuously advance along a sustainable excellence continuum. This study provides a self-assessment methodology that universities can employ to compare their performance relative to the aforementioned domains, thus enabling the identification of performance gaps, the knowledge of which is crucial to the formulation of more targeted strategy. This approach allows decision makers to form a more coherent vision for sustainability within institutional and broader contexts. The approach proposed herein incorporates the three aspects of sustainability that form the so-called Triple Bottom Line (TBL).
Future Skills of Design for Sustainability: An Awareness-Based Co-Creation Approach
Authors: Hakio Kirsi , Mattelmäki Tuuli
Published: September 2019

Our inner, invisible dimension consisting of our values, mental models and worldviews, has been identified as a significant leverage point for transformational change, as it brings to life our actions. Accordingly, the inner dimension of sustainability has a major role in transitioning towards desirable and sustainable futures. This paper focuses on exploring what kind of methods and competences are needed to access and work with the inner dimension as part of collaborative design practices aiming for sustainable and deep change. Thus, a lesser researched, alternative perspective to design discourse, the awareness-based co-creation approach is highlighted as a potential and emerging direction for design for sustainability. By thinking across: (1) literature findings of the concept of inner dimension of sustainability; (2) existing knowledge of awareness-based transformation approaches and (3) results of an experimental case study done in the context of nature tourism, it was recognized that more examples are needed on how to enable, promote and capture participants’ transformative experiences. Finally, the argument is made that awareness-based competencies should be considered as essential future skills and competences of design for sustainability.
Travel Behavior of Elderly in George Town and Malacca, Malaysia
Authors: Mohd Saidatulakmal , Abdul Latiff Abdul Rais , Senadjki Abdelhak
Published: September 2019

We investigated the travel behavior of the elderly in two United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO Heritage Cities in Malaysia, George Town and Malacca, to assess the commonalities and differences in the mobility of the elderly and to analyze the factors influencing the mobility of the elderly. We relied upon a one-day travel diary where the elderly recorded their trip information including trip category, mode of travel, and distance travelled. A total of 455 travel diaries were completed and analyzed using descriptive analysis and Poisson estimation with the number of trips as the dependent variable. We found that the elderly in both cities recorded no more than five trips per day, travelled mostly within a distance of five kilometers, and chose private transportation as their preferred mode of transportation. Factors statistically significantly influencing the elderly’s trip frequency included location (city), education level, private vehicle ownership, health condition, and engagement in exercise. Findings from this study suggest that authorities need to strategize transportation planning to encourage mobility among the elderly without compromising the heritage status of both cities.
Predicting the Helpfulness of Online Restaurant Reviews Using Different Machine Learning Algorithms: A Case Study of Yelp
Authors: Luo Yi , Xu Xiaowei
Published: September 2019

Helpful online reviews could be utilized to create sustainable marketing strategies in the restaurant industry, which contributes to national sustainable economic development. This study, the main aspects (including food/taste, experience, location, and value) from 294,034 reviews on Yelp.com were extracted empirically using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and positive and negative sentiment were assigned to each extracted aspect. Positive sentiments were associated with food/taste, while negative sentiments were associated with value. This study further proves a robust classification algorithm based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a Fuzzy Domain Ontology (FDO) algorithm outperforms other traditional classification algorithms such as Naïve Bayes (MB) and SVM ontology in predicting the helpfulness of online reviews. This study enriches the literature on managerial aspects of sustainability by analyzing a large amount of plain text data that customers generated. The results of this study could be used as sustainable marketing strategy for review website developers to design sophisticated, intelligence review systems by enabling customers to sort and filter helpful reviews based on their preferences. The extracted aspects and their assigned sentiment could also help restaurateurs better understand how to meet diverse customers’ needs and maintain sustainable competitive advantages.
Happiness, Generativity and Social Preferences in a Developing Country: A Possibility of Future Design
Authors: Shahen Mostafa E. , Shahrier Shibly , Kotani Koji
Published: September 2019

Happiness, generativity and social preferences are pivotal factors for the betterment and sustainability of societies. However, little is known about the relationships among happiness, generativity and social preferences, along with sociodemographic factors, within a single analytical framework. We hypothesize that generativity and social preferences are the determinants of happiness, posing a research question “Are people happier by being prosocial and/or generative for sustainability?” We conduct a survey experiment, collecting data from five subjective happiness scales, generativity, social value orientation and sociodemographic variables in one urban area (Dhaka) and two rural areas (Bogra and Gaibandha) in Bangladesh. With the data, we empirically characterize determinants of subjective happiness with a focus on generativity and social value orientation, controlling for sociodemographic factors. The statistical analysis consistently shows a positive association between subjective happiness and generativity, irrespective of the type of happiness scale, while social value orientation does not exhibit any significance. Rural residents have lower peer relative happiness than urban residents, and household income has a positive relationship with general subjective happiness, leading each of these factors to be significant in overall subjective happiness. In summary, generativity, income and residence area are main determinants of happiness, implying that further urbanization, which is expected to occur in the future, will positively affect people’s happiness if it can bring about an increase in generativity. These results also suggest a possibility that people are happier by being more generative for sustainability, and some new institutional framework such as future design shall be recommended to enhance generativity.
Education, Communication and Decision-Making on Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Authors: Ioannou Konstantinos
Published: September 2019

This editorial aims to introduce the themes and approaches covered in this special issue on education, communication, and decision-making on renewable and sustainable energy. At first, I discuss the themes and topics that have informed the creation of this special issue. Then, I provide an overview of the content of each paper that is included on the special issue. Additionally, this editorial provides a solid background on the relationships between the factors affecting decision-making on renewable energy sources as well as on the degree of influence education and communication takes part in the attitudes of the public towards renewable energy sources.
The Study of Tourist Movements in Tourist Historic Cities: A Comparative Analysis of the Applicability of Four Different Tools
Authors: Muñoz-Mazón Ana , Fuentes-Moraleda Laura , Chantre-Astaiza Angela , Burbano-Fernandez Marlon-Felipe
Published: September 2019

This paper presents the results of the application of four different tools (tourist card, questionarie, GPS and NFC) with the objective to study the movement of tourists in a tourist historic city (Popayán, Colombia). Given the need for these types of cities to manage tourism in a sustainable way, and considering that the management of tourist flows is a key aspect to achieve this, the aim was to find out which of the tools applied provides more precise data on the movement of tourists in the destination. For this, information was collected on the movement of tourists with four different tools, applying each tool in four different years (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015) during the same time period (Holy Week). For the analysis of tourist movements, the Markov chain was obtained for each period. In order to study the generation of routes geo-location was used in each case. The results show that even though GPS technology provided more information on the visited places, NFC technology facilitates more extensive information. In addition, NFC technology allowed the extraction of important information about the places visited, showing a wide number of sites visited and, therefore, providing greater value for the study. Finally, the results of the study provide a better understanding of how destination management organizations could develop more suitable alternatives of the customer services systems, the delivery of tourist information and the identification of sites with heavy use. Conclusively, this study helps to identify how to take better advantage of the marketing strategies through different tools that analyses tourism movements.
A New Approach to High-Resolution Urban Land Use Classification Using Open Access Software and True Color Satellite Images
Authors: Chapa Fernando , Hariharan Srividya , Hack Jochen
Published: September 2019

Urbanization nowadays results in the most dynamic and drastic changes in land use/land cover, with a significant impact on the environment. A detailed analysis and assessment of this process is necessary to take informed actions to reduce its impact on the environment and human well-being. In most parts of the world, detailed information on the composition, structure, extent, and temporal changes of urban areas is lacking. The purpose of this study is to present a methodology to produce high-resolution land use/land cover maps by the use of free software and satellite imagery. These maps can help to understand dynamic urbanizations processes to plan, design, and coordinate sustainable urban development plans, especially in areas with limited resources and advancing environmental degradation. A series of high-resolution true color images provided by Google Earth Pro were used to do initial classifications with the Semi-Automatic Classification Plug-in in QGIS. Afterwards, a new methodology to improve the classification by the elimination of shadows and clouds, and a reduction of misclassifications through superimposition was applied. The classification was carried out for three urban areas in León, Nicaragua, with different degrees of urbanization for the years 2009, 2015, and 2018. Finally, the accuracy of the classification was analyzed using randomly defined validation polygons. The results are three sets of high-resolution land use/land cover maps of the initial and the improved classification, showing the detailed structures and temporal dynamics of urbanization. The average accuracy of classification reaches 74%, but up to 85% for the best classification. The results clearly identify advancing urbanization, the loss of vegetation and riparian zones, and threats to urban ecosystems. In general, the level of detail and simplicity of our methodology is a valuable tool to support sustainable urban management, although its application is not limited to these areas and can also be employed to track changes over time, providing therefore, relevant information to a wide range of decision-makers.
Internal Fission Strategies in Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Case Study in China
Authors: Zhao Wu , Liu Wei , Chen Yun
Published: September 2019

Although the research of corporate entrepreneurship has continued to advance, few studies investigate corporate entrepreneurial activities within existing organizations in emerging market firms based on a case study approach. Building on a case study of PHNIX, a Chinese manufacturing firm, we draw on the literature on corporate entrepreneurship to develop a framework for understanding the occurrence, development and management of corporate entrepreneurial activities in organizational settings, and present a typology of some of the strategies that can be used in the process of corporate entrepreneurship. The findings considered the elements of entrepreneurial insight, pro-entrepreneurial organizational antecedents, knowledge sharing activities and internal incubation represent the core work in the fission process of corporate entrepreneurship. As such, we conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications for further understanding the essence of corporate entrepreneurship in a complex organizational context. In addition, managers seeking to corporate entrepreneurship could benefit from the findings enabling them to understand and even adopt some of the principles and fission strategies used by PHNIX.
A Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Model to Predict the Elastic Behavior of Sandstone Rocks
Authors: Gowida Ahmed , Moussa Tamer , Elkatatny Salaheldin , Ali Abdulwahab
Published: September 2019

Rock mechanical properties play a key role in the optimization process of engineering practices in the oil and gas industry so that better field development decisions can be made. Estimation of these properties is central in well placement, drilling programs, and well completion design. The elastic behavior of rocks can be studied by determining two main parameters: Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Accurate determination of the Poisson’s ratio helps to estimate the in-situ horizontal stresses and in turn, avoid many critical problems which interrupt drilling operations, such as pipe sticking and wellbore instability issues. Accurate Poisson’s ratio values can be experimentally determined using retrieved core samples under simulated in-situ downhole conditions. However, this technique is time-consuming and economically ineffective, requiring the development of a more effective technique. This study has developed a new generalized model to estimate static Poisson’s ratio values of sandstone rocks using a supervised artificial neural network (ANN). The developed ANN model uses well log data such as bulk density and sonic log as the input parameters to target static Poisson’s ratio values as outputs. Subsequently, the developed ANN model was transformed into a more practical and easier to use white-box mode using an ANN-based empirical equation. Core data (692 data points) and their corresponding petrophysical data were used to train and test the ANN model. The self-adaptive differential evolution (SADE) algorithm was used to fine-tune the parameters of the ANN model to obtain the most accurate results in terms of the highest correlation coefficient (R) and the lowest mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The results obtained from the optimized ANN model show an excellent agreement with the laboratory measured static Poisson’s ratio, confirming the high accuracy of the developed model. A comparison of the developed ANN-based empirical correlation with the previously developed approaches demonstrates the superiority of the developed correlation in predicting static Poisson’s ratio values with the highest R and the lowest MAPE. The developed correlation performs in a manner far superior to other approaches when validated against unseen field data. The developed ANN-based mathematical model can be used as a robust tool to estimate static Poisson’s ratio without the need to run the ANN model.
The Role of Renewable Energy Prosumers in Implementing Energy Justice Theory
Authors: Milčiuvienė Saulė , Kiršienė Julija , Doheijo Enrique , Urbonas Rolandas , Milčius Darius
Published: September 2019

In recent years, the use of photovoltaic-based distributed electricity generation has played a key role in achieving climate and energy policy goals. The energy market is changing rapidly from centralized generation towards unbundling generation, transmission, distribution, and supply activities. As energy consumers also become producers, a new energy market player—the prosumer—is emerging. The role of the prosumer as a market player can be analyzed in terms of implemented technological solutions, economic assessment, environmental impact, and legal regulation requirements. The aim of this article is to investigate the importance and compatibility of energy prosumers with energy justice theory in the context of European Union (EU) law. The authors concluded first that an energy prosumer will help to meet energy justice goals only if government ensures support for generation facilities for low-income consumers, as only then can intrageneration equity be achieved. Second, seeking to ensure equality among places with different energy sources, the government should promote the development of generation facilities using different renewable energy sources. Third, the short-term electricity market, which may allow energy prosumers to participate, should be developed.
Assessment Methods and Factors Determining Positive Indoor Soundscapes in Residential Buildings: A Systematic Review
Authors: Torresin Simone , Albatici Rossano , Aletta Francesco , Babich Francesco , Kang Jian
Published: September 2019

The design of an indoor acoustic environment positively perceived by building occupants requires a perceptual approach to be adopted in order to define what makes it sound good. Soundscape standards ISO 12913 have been introduced to assess how the acoustic environment is perceived, in context, by people. According to the standards, a straightforward characterization of a soundscape as positive is currently possible only through measurements by persons, because of a current gap in linking perceptual metrics to acoustic or psychoacoustic measurements. In addition, despite applying also to indoor contexts, methods and perceptual metrics described by the standards have been mainly derived from studies related to outdoor urban environments and it is not clear whether they could be directly applied indoor. For this reason, a systematic review was performed to investigate: (i) Data collection methods used in the literature for indoor residential soundscapes and (ii) factors, output of such methods, that characterize them positively. For this purpose, a systematic review has been conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) guidelines. The Scopus database was searched for peer-reviewed journal papers published in English, between 1 January 2009 and 24 June 2019, including: (1) field or laboratory studies relevant to residential buildings and (2) studies assessing factors that influence the perception by building users of indoor acoustic environments. The search excluded studies related to: (a) Speech perception issues; (b) noise-induced sleep disturbance; (c) acoustic perception by hearing impaired building users; (d) perception of vibrations or impact sounds. The search returned 1087 results. After the screening process, 37 articles were finally included. Given the differences in methodologic approaches, a quantitative meta-analysis could not be performed, and a qualitative approach was adopted instead. A large part of the selected literature reflected a general effort of minimizing noise annoyance by reducing noise exposure and, in particular, noise levels. Questionnaires and guided interviews were used to capture people’s perception, while the adoption of soundwalks and non-participatory behavioral studies did not emerge in the review literature and need further investigation. The evaluation of a variety of auditory sensations both in their positive and negative dimensions, beyond annoyance, would be required to explore the positive perceptual potential of sounds. Besides sound level, a variety of factors related and unrelated to the acoustic environment were found to affect perceptual outcomes and a framework of evaluation has been proposed as a reference for future assessments. Results encourage the integration of soundscape methodologies into IEQ research, in order to enhance user health and well-being.
Kinematics Modeling and Analysis of Mid-Low Speed Maglev Vehicle with Screw and Product of Exponential Theory
Authors: Leng Peng , Li Jie , Jin Yuxin
Published: September 2019

Maglev transportation is a new type of rail transit, whose vehicle is different from the two-bogie structure of the wheel-rail train. Generally, it consists of four to five suspension frames supporting a car body in parallel. The moving mechanism of a vehicle often consists of hundreds of moving parts, showing a multi-rigid body system in serial-parallel structure. At present, there is no theoretical framework for systematically and accurately describing the kinematics and dynamics of the Maglev train. The design work is at the level of simple equivalent estimation or measurement from the CAD drawing, which makes the system performance analysis and optimization work unable to be carried out scientifically. Based on the theoretical framework of screw theory and exponential mapping, the forward kinematics modeling, inverse kinematics solution, transition curve modeling and computational analysis methods for the Maglev train are proposed in this paper. A systematic and accurate theoretical framework is constructed for the modeling and analysis of the motion mechanism of the Maglev train, which makes the design and analysis of the Maglev train at the scientific level.
gH-Symmetrically Derivative of Interval-Valued Functions and Applications in Interval-Valued Optimization
Authors: Guo Yating , Ye Guoju , Zhao Dafang , Liu Wei
Published: September 2019

In this paper, we present the gH-symmetrical derivative of interval-valued functions and its properties. In application, we apply this new derivative to investigate the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions of interval-valued optimization problems. Meanwhile, some examples are worked out to illuminate the obtained results.
Identification and Functional Characterization of a Novel Insecticidal Decapeptide from the Myrmicine Ant Manica rubida
Authors: Heep John , Skaljac Marisa , Grotmann Jens , Kessel Tobias , Seip Maximilian , Schmidtberg Henrike , Vilcinskas Andreas
Published: September 2019

Ant venoms contain many small, linear peptides, an untapped source of bioactive peptide toxins. The control of agricultural insect pests currently depends primarily on chemical insecticides, but their intensive use damages the environment and human health, and encourages the emergence of resistant pest populations. This has promoted interest in animal venoms as a source of alternative, environmentally-friendly bio-insecticides. We tested the crude venom of the predatory ant, Manica rubida, and observed severe fitness costs in the parthenogenetic pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), a common agricultural pest. Therefore, we explored the M. rubida venom peptidome and identified a novel decapeptide U-MYRTX-MANr1 (NH2-IDPKVLESLV-CONH2) using a combination of Edman degradation and de novo peptide sequencing. Although this myrmicitoxin was inactive against bacteria and fungi, it reduced aphid survival and reproduction. Furthermore, both crude venom and U-MYRTX-MANr1 reversibly paralyzed injected aphids and induced a loss of body fluids. Components of M. rubida venom may act on various biological targets including ion channels and hemolymph coagulation proteins, as previously shown for other ant venom toxins. The remarkable insecticidal activity of M. rubida venom suggests it may be a promising source of additional bio-insecticide leads.
Snake Venoms in Drug Discovery: Valuable Therapeutic Tools for Life Saving
Authors: Mohamed Abd El-Aziz Tarek , Soares Antonio Garcia , Stockand James D.
Published: September 2019

Animal venoms are used as defense mechanisms or to immobilize and digest prey. In fact, venoms are complex mixtures of enzymatic and non-enzymatic components with specific pathophysiological functions. Peptide toxins isolated from animal venoms target mainly ion channels, membrane receptors and components of the hemostatic system with high selectivity and affinity. The present review shows an up-to-date survey on the pharmacology of snake-venom bioactive components and evaluates their therapeutic perspectives against a wide range of pathophysiological conditions. Snake venoms have also been used as medical tools for thousands of years especially in tradition Chinese medicine. Consequently, snake venoms can be considered as mini-drug libraries in which each drug is pharmacologically active. However, less than 0.01% of these toxins have been identified and characterized. For instance, Captopril® (Enalapril), Integrilin® (Eptifibatide) and Aggrastat® (Tirofiban) are drugs based on snake venoms, which have been approved by the FDA. In addition to these approved drugs, many other snake venom components are now involved in preclinical or clinical trials for a variety of therapeutic applications. These examples show that snake venoms can be a valuable source of new principle components in drug discovery.
The Canine Morbillivirus Strain Associated with An Epizootic in Caspian Seals Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of this Virus
Authors: Jo Wendy K. , Peters Martin , Kydyrmanov Aidyn , van de Bildt Marco W. G. , Kuiken Thijs , Osterhaus Albert , Ludlow Martin
Published: September 2019

Canine morbillivirus (canine distemper virus; CDV) is a worldwide distributed morbillivirus that causes sporadic cases and recurrent epizootics among an increasing number of wild, feral, and domestic animal species. We investigated the evolutionary history of CDV strains involved in the 1988 Lake Baikal (CDVPS88) and the 2000 Caspian Sea (CDVPC00) seal die-offs by recovery of full-length sequences from archived material using next-generation sequencing. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses indicated that CDVPC00 constitutes a novel strain in a separate clade (tentatively termed “Caspian”) from the America-1 clade, which is comprised of older vaccine strains. The America-1/Caspian monophyletic group is positioned most basally with respect to other clades and is estimated to have separated from other CDV clades around 1832. Our results indicate that CDVPC00 recovered from the epizootic in the Caspian Sea in 2000 belongs to a previously undetected novel clade and constitutes the most ancestral wild-type CDV clade.
Assessment of Rainfall Kinetic-Energy–Intensity Relationships
Authors: Mineo Claudio , Ridolfi Elena , Moccia Benedetta , Russo Fabio , Napolitano Francesco
Published: September 2019

Raindrop-impact-induced erosion starts when detachment of soil particles from the surface results from an expenditure of raindrop energy. Hence, rain kinetic energy is a widely used indicator of the potential ability of rain to detach soil. Although it is widely recognized that knowledge of rain kinetic energy plays a fundamental role in soil erosion studies, its direct evaluation is not straightforward. Commonly, this issue is overcome through indirect estimation using another widely measured hydrological variable, namely, rainfall intensity. However, it has been challenging to establish the best expression to relate kinetic energy to rainfall intensity. In this study, first, kinetic energy values were determined from measurements of an optical disdrometer. Measured kinetic energy values were then used to assess the applicability of the rainfall intensity relationship proposed for central Italy and those used in the major equations employed to estimate the mean annual soil loss, that is, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its two revised versions (RUSLE and RUSLE2). Then, a new theoretical relationship was developed and its performance was compared with equations found in the literature.
Development of a Heterogeneity Analysis Framework for Collaborative Sponge City Management
Authors: Li Bing , Dong Shou , Huang Yue , Wang Guang
Published: September 2019

Rapid urbanization, inappropriate urban planning and the changing climate in many countries have resulted in flooding, water shortage and water pollution around the world. Although the sponge city concept has been applied in both macro-scales and micro-scales to address those challenges, research on the heterogeneity of different cities for sponge city construction and the collaborative management between cities is insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposes a multivariate cluster analysis framework and conducts an empirical study using 96 Chinese cities. By considering the local infrastructure, economic development, water resource distribution, water quality and precipitation characteristics in each city, and integrating the principal component analysis and a self-organizing feature mapping network, this paper shows the potential of regional and interregional sponge city collaborative management. This will provide an opportunity for developing a new sponge city management mechanism and will promote the establishment of multi-functional departments for urban flood control and water quality improvement.
Investigating Homeowners’ Preferences for Smart Irrigation Technology Features
Authors: Zhang Xumin , Khachatryan Hayk
Published: September 2019

Smart irrigation systems are relatively new technologies that optimize irrigation schedules in residential landscapes, thus leading to reduced irrigation water use and potential contamination. To promote the use of such technologies, the landscape services industry has introduced innovative features such as the integration of local weather data into irrigation controller systems or mobile phone control and alert notifications that help to facilitate usability and prevent over-irrigation. Very few studies have addressed homeowners’ preferences for outdoor irrigation technologies. This study investigates homeowners’ preferences for smart irrigation systems for residential landscapes. We utilized online survey data to examine how homeowners’ knowledge and perceptions influence their preferences for specific features such as automatic failure alert and notifications, mobile control, integration with weather-based and soil-moisture sensor-based irrigation, home automation, and touchscreen displays. Results estimated by the rank-ordered logit model revealed that knowledge and perceptions of smart irrigation controllers are significantly correlated with homeowners’ preferences for water efficiency features. The results offer practical implications for policymakers and the residential irrigation industry as they develop and promote smart irrigation technologies to conserve water resources.
Scouring of Replenished Sediment through Reservoir Flood Discharge Affects Suspended Sediment Concentrations at Downstream River Water Intake
Authors: Lee Fong-Zuo , Lai Jihn-Sung , Guo Wen-Dar , Sumi Tetsuya
Published: September 2019

Dredging is a commonly used sedimentation management strategy to remove mechanically deposited sediment from reservoirs. However, dredged sediment disposal is costly. Dredged sediment can be considered a beneficial resource and used for riverbed replenishment to prevent downstream riverbed degradation and improve aquatic habitats. This study investigated the feasibility of using dredged deposits with cohesive sediment for replenishment at the Shihmen Reservoir. Using the criterion of critical scour velocity, we conducted hydraulic assessments and identified the feasible replenishment area as the experimental domain. A physical model was developed to mimic the scouring process in the replenishment area. By applying dynamic similarity for scouring fine replenished sediment, we derived the regression relationship between flow-critical velocity and sediment-dry density, and used it for model ratio scaling of the grain size, dry density, and concentration in the physical model. Scoured sediment concentrations were measured to study the scour ratio at various flood discharges. Experimental results indicated that the scour ratio was related to factors such as flood discharge, flood duration, and water content of the replenished sediment. The reduction ratio of the concentration of sediment scoured from the replenishment area to the concentration of sediment at the downstream water intake was approximately 90% in the present study.
Міграційна політика України в контексті безпеки та збалансованості економічного і соціального розвитку держави
Authors: Сидорчук О. Г. , Панькова О. В.
Published: September 2019

Розглянуто основні тенденції, які існують у міграційній сфері України. Доведено, що ефективна міграційна політика має прямий вплив на забезпечення збалансованого економічного та соціального розвитку держави. Визначено основні напрями удосконалення державної міграційної політики України з врахуванням впливу загроз національній і соціальній безпеці на сучасному етапі.
Застосування в Україні успішого досвіду країн Європейського Союзу в реформуванні адміністративно-територіального устрою та кар’єрної служби
Authors: Василюк О. Д.
Published: September 2019

Проаналізовано шляхи проведення реформ адміністративно-територіального устрою в країнах ЄС (Німеччині, Румунії, Данії, Австрії, Естонії, Грузії, Латвії) у площині застосування в Україні успішного досвіду. Досліджено аспекти співпраці з проектами міжнародної технічної допомоги і міжнародними організаціями. Проаналізовано кар’єрну службу в органах місцевого самоврядування у ФРН.
Особливості публічно-правових спорів у контексті формування повноважень органів публічної влади
Authors: Колесник В. А.
Published: September 2019

Розглянуто сутність публічно-правового спору як одного із можливих способів формування повноважень органів публічної влади. Виявлено особливості публічно-правових спорів, які впливають на сутність формування та реалізації повноважень органів публічної влади. Розглянуто суб’єктність публічно-правових спорів, владну ознаку суб’єкта владних повноважень, публічний інтерес як предмет публічно-правових спорів. Запропоновано рекомендації щодо вдосконалення вимог законодавства України у частині набуття та реалізації повноважень органів публічної влади з позиції застосування публічно-правових спорів.
Аналіз та шляхи імплементації закордонного досвіду надання екстреної медичної та домедичної допомоги постраждалим в умовах надзвичайних ситуацій мирного часу
Authors: Макаренко А. М.
Published: September 2019

Розглянуто організацію надання екстреної медичної допомоги та домедичної допомоги постраждалим в умовах надзвичайних ситуацій техногенного, природного та соціального спрямування, що залишається однією з найголовніших проблем сьогодення в Україні. Доведено існування потреби у вивченні досвіду розвинених країн із метою удосконалення системи надання домедичної допомоги в Україні, що полягає, зокрема, у формуванні нового виду ментальності рятівників, для якого головною метою було і є не тільки ліквідувати наслідки надзвичайних ситуацій, а й врятувати і зберегти життя постраждалого. Визначено шляхи імплементації закордонного досвіду надання екстреної медичної та домедичної допомоги постраждалим в умовах надзвичайних ситуацій мирного часу.