bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rendimiento de la lixiviación con líquidos iónicos basados en imidazolio en presencia de peróxido de hidrógeno para la recuperación de metales a partir de residuos de latón
Authors: Kilicarslan Ayfer , Saridede Muhlis N.
Published: March 2016

Este trabajo investiga el uso de líquidos iónicos (LIs), hidrogenosulfato de 1-metillimidazolio (HmimHSO4), hidrogenosulfato de 1-etil-3- metilimidazolio (EmimHSO4) y cloruro de 1-butil-1-metilimidazolio (BmimCl), como agentes de lixiviación de cobre y zinc a partir de residuos de latón en presencia de un oxidante, peróxido de hidrógeno (H2O2). Se estudiaron distintos factores que afectan a la velocidad de disolución del cobre y el zinc, como la concentración del líquido iónico, el tiempo y la temperatura. Los resultados indican que el zinc se disuelve completamente en las disoluciones que contienen EmimHSO4 y HmimHSO4. La temperatura no tiene un efecto significativo en la velocidad de disolución del cobre, mientras que dicha velocidad aumenta al disminuir la concentración del líquido iónico. En los sistemas que contienen EmimHSO4, los mejores resultados de recuperación del cobre se obtuvieron con concentraciones del 20% y el 80% de LI, a una temperatura de lixiviación de 40 °C. Sin embargo, la velocidad de disolución del cobre disminuye con la concentración de EmimHSO4 en los sistemas a 60 °C y 80 °C en el siguiente orden: 40% > 20% > 60% > 80%. Por otro lado, el sistema de lixiviación con BmimCl generalmente dio como resultado extracciones pobres tanto de cobre como de zinc.
A proposal to establish epistemological foundations for the study of specialised languages
Authors: Van der Yeught Michel
Published: March 2016

L’objectif de cet article est de proposer des fondements épistémologiques pour l’étude des langues spécialisées (LS) qui gagnent en importance dans le monde depuis soixante ans. Malgré des avancées notables dans le domaine, l’article suggère que leurs fondements théoriques restent insatisfaisants et que du savoir objectif sur les LS ne peut être correctement construit, accumulé et transmis aux futurs enseignants. Il propose de fonder le domaine non sur le langage, mais sur la notion de spécialisation qu’il interprète comme une forme d’intentionnalité philosophique. De ces prémisses, des développements successifs traitent des domaines, des communautés et des langues spécialisés et utilisent les avancées de la linguistique pragmatique pour rendre compte de la fonctionnalité des LS. Sur ces fondements, il est espéré que des descriptions méthodiques des LS pourront être construites et le savoir disciplinaire structuré.
Swarm Intelligence for Multiobjective Optimization of Extraction Process
Authors: Ganesan T. , Elamvazuthi I. , Vasant P.
Published: March 2016

Multi objective (MO) optimization is an emerging field which is increasingly being implemented in many industries globally. In this work, the MO optimization of the extraction process of bioactive compounds from the Gardenia Jasminoides Ellis fruit was solved. Three swarm-based algorithms have been applied in conjunction with normal-boundary intersection (NBI) method to solve this MO problem. The gravitational search algorithm (GSA) and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique were implemented in this work. In addition, a novel Hopfield-enhanced particle swarm optimization was developed and applied to the extraction problem. By measuring the levels of dominance, the optimality of the approximate Pareto frontiers produced by all the algorithms were gauged and compared. Besides, by measuring the levels of convergence of the frontier, some understanding regarding the structure of the objective space in terms of its relation to the level of frontier dominance is uncovered. Detail comparative studies were conducted on all the algorithms employed and developed in this work.
Innovative Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic for Modelling Using Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Mohammadian M. , Stonier R. J.
Published: March 2016

This paper considers issues in the design and construction of a fuzzy logic system to model complex (nonlinear) systems. Several important applications are considered and methods for the decomposition of complex systems into hierarchical and multi-layered fuzzy logic sub-systems are proposed. The learning of fuzzy rules and internal parameters is performed using evolutionary computing. The proposed method using decomposition and conversion of systems into hierarchical and multi-layered fuzzy logic sub-systems reduces greatly the number of fuzzy rules to be defined and improves the learning speed for such systems. However such decomposition is not unique and may give rise to variables with no physical significance. This can raise then major difficulties in obtaining a complete class of rules from experts even when the number of variables is small. Application areas considered are: the prediction of interest rate, hierarchical control of the inverted pendulum, robot control, feedback boundary control for a distributed optimal control system and image processing.
Modeling and Monitoring of Chemical System
Authors: Mansouri Majdi , Nounou Hazem Numan , Nounou Mohamed Numan
Published: March 2016

This chapter addresses the problem of time-varying nonlinear modeling and monitoring of a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) process using state estimation techniques. These techniques include the extended Kalman filter (EKF), particle filter (PF), and the more recently the variational Bayesian filter (VBF). The objectives of this chapter are threefold. The first objective is to use the variational Bayesian filter with better proposal distribution for nonlinear states and parameters estimation. The second objective is to extend the state and parameter estimation techniques to better handle nonlinear and non-Gaussian processes without a priori state information, by utilizing a time-varying assumption of statistical parameters. The third objective is to apply the state estimation techniques EKF, PF and VBF for time-varying nonlinear modeling and monitoring of CSTR process. The estimation performance is evaluated on a synthetic example in terms of estimation accuracy, root mean square error and execution times.
Economic and Political Implications of IFRS Adoption in the Czech Republic
Authors: Jindrichovska Irena , Kubickova Dana
Published: March 2016

This chapter analyses the political and economic impact of IFRS adoption in the Czech Republic. It contributes to the current understanding of IFRS adoption from the perspective of a small European transitional market, where local accounting standards were previously well developed and still play a major role in financial reporting mainly, however for local taxation purposes. Although there has been an observable increase in the country's exports, FDI and international trade since the beginning of the 1990s, the direct impact of IFRS is difficult to discern, because of many political and institutional changes that have taken place concurrently. However, it is clear that adoption of IFRS has contributed to greater cultivation of the economic environment and facilitated international operations. IFRS adoption is not highly prevalent but is gradually increasing. This is apparent mainly in Czech companies with foreign parents that are in any event required to report in IFRS.
Rational Asymmetric Development
Authors: Asongu Simplice A.
Published: March 2016

A recent publication by the World Bank on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has established that extreme poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in spite of over two decades of growth resurgence. This chapter explores the role of transfer mispricing in SSA's extreme poverty tragedy. The analytical structure entails: (1) emphasis of rational asymmetric development as the dark side of transfer pricing; (2) linkages between financial reporting, international financial reporting standards (IFRS), transfer pricing and poverty; (3) evidence that the recent growth resurgence in African countries has been driven substantially by resource-rich countries which are experiencing high levels of exclusive growth and extreme poverty; (4) the practice of transfer mispricing by multinationals operating in resource-rich countries of SSA and (5) a Zambian case study of extreme poverty and transfer mispricing schemes by Glencore in the copper industry. While transfer mispricing is contributing to diminishing African growth, available evidence shows that the component of growth that is not captured by transfer mispricing does not trickle down to the poor because the African elite is also animated by practices of rational asymmetric development. Policy implications for the fight against extreme poverty are discussed.
Analyzing the Roles of Human Capital and Competency in Global Business
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: March 2016

This chapter aims to analyze the roles of human capital and competency in global business, thus explaining the theoretical and practical overviews of human capital and competency; the significance of human capital in global business; and the significance of competency in global business. The accomplishment of human capital and competency is vital for modern organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, reinforce competitiveness, and acquire regular success in global business. Thus, it is necessary for modern organizations to analyze their human capital and competency applications, create a strategic plan to constantly explore their functional advancements, and immediately respond to human capital and competency needs of customers. The chapter argues that applying human capital and competency has the potential to enhance organizational performance and achieve strategic goals in the information age.
Financial Inclusion in India
Authors: Bhattacharya Rohit
Published: March 2016

The concept of Financial Inclusion is not a new one. It has become a catchphrase now and has attracted the global attention in the recent past. Lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate financial services has always been a global problem. It is estimated that about 2.9 billion people around the world do not have access to formal sources of banking and financial services. India is said to live in its villages, a convincing statement, considering that nearly 72% of our population lives there. However, a significant proportion of our 650,000 odd villages does not have a single bank branch to boast of, leaving swathes of the rural population in financial exclusion. RBI has reported that the financial exclusion in India leads to the loss of GDP to the extent of one per cent (RBI, Working Paper Series (DEPR): 8/2011). Financially excluded people, consistently, depend on money lenders even for their day to day needs, borrowing at excessive rates to finally get caught in a debt trap. In addition, people in far-off villages are completely unaware of financial products like insurance, which could protect them in adverse situation. Therefore, financial inclusion is a big necessity for our country as a large chunk of the world's poor resides here. Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. Present paper is an attempt to highlight the present efforts of financial inclusion in India its future road map, its challenges etc.
Perception of Residents on Ecotourism in Uttarakhand
Authors: Singh Shalini
Published: March 2016

Uttarakhand has immense tourism potential for growth of tourist traffic. With the adverse effect of mass tourism and a growing environmental awareness, ecotourism now represents the fastest growing sub sector of the tourism industry, generating billions of dollars annually. Ecotourism plays an important role in economic, socio- cultural and environmental development of the society. Therefore the present research answers the question as to how does ecotourism affect the local community, economy, culture and the environment. According to the collected data the results of the study indicated that when residents in the community were asked to reveal ecotourism impacts, they assessed the perception of impacts in both negative and positive ways.
Women's Empowerment and Socio-Economic Development in MENA Region
Authors: Jihene Malek
Published: March 2016

Women plays a vital role in business and they are a major resource potential in entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, women entrepreneurs tend to face greater obstacles in access to credit, market knowledge, business needs and by the limits of trade agreements and the constraints of trade policies. Thus, there is a need for more efficient policies for the development of female entrepreneurship. The chapter offer analysis of state of the empowerment of women in the globalization. Then, the analysis of the theoretical foundations is for justifying the role of women as entrepreneur and promoter of gender equality and constraints that they are facing. Then, it is an opportunity to offer a brief overview about women in the socio-economic development in MENA region. Finally, the question is how to create policies for the business sector to promote their empowerment. A SWOT analysis is done to explore challenges and limits and offer some recommendations .This chapter is an opportunity to explore new area about the degree of adaptation of women's entrepreneur to the trade policies rules.
Green Marketing in India
Authors: Shukla Ajit Kumar
Published: March 2016

Green marketing is the study of all efforts to consumer, produce, distribute, promote, package and reclaim products in a manner that is sensitive or responsive to ecological concerns. As consumers, we simply don't think about it on a day-to-day basis because the message does not surround us. Most of us did not grow up in a resource starved environment and so the implications of wastefulness have had no direct repercussions on our daily lives. We acknowledge the issue is out there and demonstrate concern for what is being done to improve our collective condition but beyond recycling or an interest in non-toxic HH cleaning products, we simply don't have access to green products or services, let alone do we have an understanding for how to evaluate their functionality or benefit- to us or the environment. In the present study narrows down on one specific area and that is to measure the awareness level of the customers with reference to the green marketing.
Computational Investing
Authors: Vidal-García Javier , Vidal Marta , Barros Rafael Hernandez
Published: March 2016

Investing means using funds to start a venture or acquire part of an existing one in hopes that in time the business will accrue profits for the entrepreneur. Often, entrepreneurs opt to purchase companies' stocks. To be able to select the right – profitable – stocks to buy, one requires knowledge of modern portfolio theory, computational investing, stock brokerage, mutual funds, bonds, value investing, how capital gains are taxed, how to trade stocks and options online, and how to use diversification to allocate online investments.
The Brown Cloud Project
Authors: Michaloudis Ioannis , Green Miik
Published: March 2016

The Brown Cloud Project is a study that uses an immaterial material aerogel, a material that sits between the virtual and the physical world to ask new questions regarding the environment. It is through this cross-collaborative process that the medium of silica aerogel was manufactured, a product that fused scientific research with artistic vision, enabling ethereal physicality. This paper presents a fundamental issue that rests on an individual culture's perception, historical experience and associations. The chapter ‘light' investigates the importance of light and its role in the enlightenment. Finally, sky addresses the ether, the invisible yet present atmosphere that surrounds us as humans, viewed as something intangible that has the possibility of being made tangible, and investigated through the medium of art.
Perception of Relationship between Art and Science in Contemporary African Arts and Technology
Authors: Oladumiye Bankole E.
Published: March 2016

The contemporary African art and science is a product of human works of conception and perception worthy aesthetic values. Anthropologically and archaeologically speaking art and science was the first physical weapon of survival through the production of shape tools that allowed man an effective control over survival in his untamed environment, through which art and science researchers concluded that art is science and science is art it is logical, systematic and rational. The two implies a systematic principles and methods employing in performing a set of activities as a result many and varied are the usage of art and science and together they reveal the basic urges and aspiration of Africans which is evolutionary and revolutionary, scientifically and artistically. Art and science in the contemporary African undergoes a process of industrial art and industrial science. It is however pertinent to state this point that the various stand-points from which science and art have been viewed by professionals and researchers, are the similarity and relationship between the two. The paper discussed the perception of art and science. The conceptualization and the classification of the two, the perception of arts and science in the contemporary Africa, are therefore analyzed in the paper and this will bring into closer contact arts and science and popularizing the benefits of interaction, as being of concern to the artist and the scientific community in recent years. The paper drawn a conclusion that art and science are of the same culture.
Assessing the Utilization of Automata in Representing Players' Behaviors in Game Theory
Authors: Suwais Khaled
Published: March 2016

Representing players' strategies in game theory has a direct impact on the players' performance. The state of art shows that automata are one of the primary techniques used for representing players' strategies and behaviors. In this paper, the author will identify different types of automata and assess their utilization in the field of game theory. Is has been found that finite automata, adaptive automata, and cellular automata are widely adopted in game theory. The utilization of finite automata is found to be limited to represent simpler players' behavior. On the other hand, adaptive automata and cellular automata are intensively applied in complex environments, where the number of interacted players is large and therefore, representing complex behaviors are needed.
Assistive Technology
Authors: Tran Ben
Published: March 2016

The international workforce must understand and utilize knowledge and competencies in order to achieve and sustain longevity. Such knowledge and competencies are derived from human capital because human capital is an organization's most important asset. Hence, organizations need to be able to capitalize on human capital a source of competitive advantage. Organizations must first, focus on human capitals based on their ability, thereafter, provide modifications and accommodations, if necessary for (mobility) (dis)abled human capitals who may, upon request, require assistive technologies. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is to analyze assistive technology. Assistive technology will be defined, assistive technology laws will briefly be covered, and negative connotations will be addressed in relations to disabilities. The utilization of assistive technology, in the disabled community, in relations to the independence of the (motor) disabled in the workforce in the United States.
The Drivers, Practices and Outcomes of Green Supply Chain Management
Authors: Savita K.S. , Dominic P.D.D. , Ramayah T.
Published: March 2016

The global shift in ecological movement has significant impacts on business operation of manufacturing firms that are located in developing countries. The intense pressure of being environmentally sustainable has caused Green Supply Chain Management (Green SCM) concept to emerge as an important corporate environmental strategy for manufacturing companies. Information technologies and systems have permeated in most business activities, in which, they extend important opportunities to resolve environmental issues. However, many researchers, including manufacturers and government bodies often disregard the green concept of information technologies and systems in minimizing environmental issues. A comprehensive review on Green SCM, Green IT and Green IS for sustainable environmental performance in manufacturing companies is presented using Input-Process-Output (IPO) Theory and Technological-Organizational-Environmental (TOE) theory. In bridging the research gap, a model is constructed to link the aforementioned constructs. Next, the paper reports on the development of survey questionnaire using cognitive interviewing strategies, followed up with semi-structured interview to investigate and obtain preliminary findings on the influential factors, green activities and performance outcomes from implementing Green SCM. Lastly, the finalized survey questionnaire was distributed to 60 ISO14001 certified manufacturing companies located in the region of Perak and Kulim. Out of 60 manufacturing companies, only 32 responses received as the dataset in analyzing for improvements in reliability, measurement error, and validity of measured items. The findings from this pilot study explain that internal and external factors have stronger influence over the implementation of green initiatives in supply chain with substantial outcome on environmental performance. The information technologies and systems being the physical resource, capability and backbone to run a business seamlessly are significantly recognized. But, the green component of IT and IS were poorly attended and disregarded to an extent in the process of greening the processes, operations or entire business. Therefore, further investigations are required in the main study to validate the findings obtained here and other possible association between the factors, practices and outcomes in realizing ecological improvements in the supply chain and firm itself.
Influence of Transactional and Moral Orientations on Innovation Performance in Supply Chains
Authors: Cheng Jao-Hong , Chen Mu-Chung
Published: March 2016

Innovation performance for inter-organizational effect is one way to enhance strategic competitiveness. It is generally agreed that the development of innovation performance facilitates such sustainable management among inter-organization in supply chains. This paper presents a research model comprises five research hypotheses with four constructs, including transactional orientation, moral orientation, dynamic capability and innovation performance. The constructs are measured by well-supported measures in the literature. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze survey data collected from 260 manufacturing firms that were among the top 1,000 Taiwanese manufacturing firms of 2012 listed by Business Weekly. The results of the empirical study suggest that transactional and moral orientation is critical in ensuring the inter-organizational innovation performance as it promotes the dynamic capability in the process.
Gene Set- and Pathway- Centered Knowledge Discovery Assigns Transcriptional Activation Patterns in Brain, Blood, and Colon Cancer
Authors: Nersisyan Lilit , Löffler-Wirth Henry , Arakelyan Arsen , Binder Hans
Published: March 2016

Genome-wide ‘omics'-assays provide a comprehensive view on the molecular landscapes of healthy and diseased cells. Bioinformatics traditionally pursues a ‘gene-centered' view by extracting lists of genes differentially expressed or methylated between healthy and diseased states. Biological knowledge mining is then performed by applying gene set techniques using libraries of functional gene sets obtained from independent studies. This analysis strategy neglects two facts: (i) that different disease states can be characterized by a series of functional modules of co-regulated genes and (ii) that the topology of the underlying regulatory networks can induce complex expression patterns that require analysis methods beyond traditional genes set techniques. The authors here provide a knowledge discovery method that overcomes these shortcomings. It combines machine learning using self-organizing maps with pathway flow analysis. It extracts and visualizes regulatory modes from molecular omics data, maps them onto selected pathways and estimates the impact of pathway-activity changes. The authors illustrate the performance of the gene set and pathway signal flow methods using expression data of oncogenic pathway activation experiments and of patient data on glioma, B-cell lymphoma and colorectal cancer.
Developing Engineering Students' Communication and Information Retrieval Skills Utilizing Capstone Projects
Authors: Blicblau Aaron S. , Naser Jamal
Published: March 2016

The pedagogy of engineering requires a better understanding of the requirements of students' abilities to learning the skills necessary for working in the engineering community. In many engineering courses around the world, one of the key aspects required of the students is that they complete an independent project in their final year of studies incorporating information retrieval and subsequent communication skills. The current work provides details teaching and learning approaches to enhance student abilities and expertise involving research skills, communication skills, and information retrieval integrated within capstone projects. Findings from this the work indicated that both domestic and international students benefited from the intensive tutorial activities involving computer based information retrieval skills. The implementation of active tutorial sessions resulted in increased grades for the majority of students, highlighting the importance of intensive active learning events for final year capstone engineering students.
Strategies to Remove Barriers and Increase Motivation to Use the Tablet PC in Formative Assessment
Authors: Dekkers Antony , Howard Prue , Adams Nadine , Martin Fae
Published: March 2016

This paper investigates how engineering academics can be encouraged to integrate the use of the Tablet PC to improve student understanding of course content through formative assessment feedback. In particular, it looks at the barriers and motivators for using the Tablet PC. Based on the results obtained from studies conducted on the utilisation of Tablet PCs in preparatory mathematics courses, incorporation of the technology into engineering undergraduate courses would appear to benefit students. The Tablet PC is both an innovative and adaptive form of technology which is able to support the teaching and learning process. Through the recognition of the observed positives and negatives of Tablet PC application in other courses strategies will be implemented that remove the recognised barriers and provide benefits thus encouraging engineering academics to use the Tablet PC to provide feedback on formative assessment.
Semester-Long Team Project Integrating Materials and Mechanics Concepts
Authors: Gipson Kyle G. , Prins Robert J.
Published: March 2016

The Madison Engineering Department is an undergraduate non-discipline specific engineering program. The program maintains the university-wide liberal arts core and blends engineering science fundamentals with sustainable design to integrate environmental, social, economic, and technical contexts plus systems thinking within the academic experience. Madison Engineering is dedicated to the development of engineering versatilists who can readily integrate knowledge from historically different fields of engineering. In support of this development, several courses within the curriculum integrate topics to provide space for future engineers to not be constrained by disciplinary boundaries but demonstrate the ability to adapt and work across disciplines within team atmospheres. The focus of this paper is on a course project that integrates concepts from the traditional content of stand-alone courses (materials science and mechanics of materials) via a semester long design project in which students must incorporate knowledge of both sets of content.
ATP-Induced Inflammation Drives Tissue-Resident Th17 Cells in Metabolically Unhealthy Obesity
Authors: Pandolfi Julieta B. , Ferraro Ariel A. , Sananez Inés , Gancedo Maria C. , Baz Plácida , Billordo Luis A. , Fainboim Leonardo , Arruvito Lourdes
Published: March 2016

Obesity-induced inflammation is conducted by a metabolic pathway, which eventually causes activation of specialized immune cells and leads to an unresolved inflammatory response within the tissue. For this reason, it is critically important to determine how hypertrophic fat tissue alters T cell balance to drive inflammation. In this study, we identify the purinergic signaling as a novel mechanism driving the adaptive Th17 response in human visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of metabolically unhealthy obese patients. We demonstrate that ATP acting via the P2X7 receptor pathway promotes a Th17 polarizing microenvironment with high levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 in VAT explants from lean donors. Moreover, in vitro blockade of the P2X7 receptor abrogates the levels of these cytokines. These findings are consistent with a greater frequency of Th17 cells in tissue from metabolically unhealthy obese donors, revealed not only by the presence of a baseline Th17-promoting milieu, but also by the higher expression of steadily recognized Th17 markers, such as RORC, IL-17 cytokine, and IL-23R, in comparison with metabolically healthy obese and lean donors. In addition, we demonstrate that CD39 expression on CD4+ effector T cells represents a novel Th17 marker in the inflamed VAT, which also confers protection against ATP-induced cell death. The manipulation of the purinergic signaling might represent a new therapeutic target to shift the CD4+ T cell balance under inflammatory conditions.
A new tool for life cycle inventories of agricultural machinery operations
Authors: Lovarelli Daniela , Bacenetti Jacopo , Fiala Marco
Published: March 2016

The interest in environmental assessments about agricultural processes is fast growing and asking for new tools for accurate impact evaluations. The methodology commonly used to go through these studies is the life cycle assessment, of which the inventory phase (life cycle inventory, LCI) is an essential step. For studies focusing on agricultural productions, the completion of LCI is particularly complex: taking into account the pedo-climatic and mechanical operative variability is evidently difficult. However, the prediction of the environmental impact of mechanical operations caused by the agricultural sector is essential to quantify the impact categories for which it is responsible. A new tool, ENVIAM, was developed to complete LCI to guarantee the availability of local data that describe the mechanical and pedo-climatic conditions occurring in the Po Valley area and widely applicable as well. It calculates mechanical power requests, directly consumed inputs (i.e., fuel, lubricant) and material consumption of a productive system by taking into account soil texture, specific machinery operations and coupling solutions as defined by the user. A subdivision of working time and defined engine load have been considered to calculate fuel consumption; with regard to outputs, exhaust gases emissions from internal combustion engines have been assessed by evaluating the emissive stages of belonging as stated by the EU Directive. A case study was also performed to highlight the differences that occur when an analysis is fulfilled in a context with features different from the average, and resulted in significant variations for the inventory. In more details, a comparison was carried out both with Ecoinvent database and within ENVIAM. With regard to fuel consumption, by changing the soil texture, the analysis showed a range between 64%-184% for sandy and clay soils, respectively, if compared with medium texture ones. With this tool, local contexts defined either as real or as optimised coupling solutions can be investigated to assess their environmental impact.
Solar radiation distribution inside a monospan greenhouse with the roof entirely covered by photovoltaic panels
Authors: Castellano Sergio , Santamaria Pietro , Serio Francesco
Published: March 2016

In the present work the variation over space and time of the amount of the photosynthetic photons flux density, inside a greenhouse entirely covered with photovoltaic panels was investigated experimentally and numerically. The greenhouse had 10.00 m spam width, 50.00 m length, 3.00 m height of the gutter, 6.60 m height of the edge. Data were acquired in the period 18th April-8th June 2014 by one sensor outside and one inside the experimental greenhouse built in Southern Italy. Numeric simulations were performed by means of commercial software Autodesk® Ecotect®. For the investigated greenhouse model, the exposed percentage - the ratio of the calculated insolation at a particular point within an enclosure to the simultaneous unobstructed outdoor insolation under the same sky conditions - was calculated over a three dimensional grid formed by 50x10x15 cells each with 1.00x1.00x0.20 m size. The long-term analysis demonstrated a good capability of the numerical model to predict the shading effect inside a photovoltaic greenhouse combining the daily calculated exposed percentage with measurements of solar radiation. The model was able also to predict the qualitative behaviour of the variation of photons flux during the day even if the measured values showed a higher fluctuation of values.
Evaluation of the characteristics of vineyard pruning residues for energy applications: effect of different copper-based treatments
Authors: Duca Daniele , Toscano Giuseppe , Pizzi Andrea , Rossini Giorgio , Fabrizi Sara , Lucesoli Giulia , Servili Andrea , Mancini Valeria , Romanazzi Gianfranco , Mengarelli Chiara
Published: March 2016

The role of biomass for increasing renewable energy sources mix is considered fundamental, despite some negative environmental impact of first-generation biofuels. The use of biomass obtained in a more sustainable way, as represented by agricultural wastes, should be favoured. The Mediterranean area and Italy in particular offer a large amount of vineyard pruning residues that can be converted into bioenergy. Since vineyards are exposed to treatments based on copper (Cu) and zinc, these metals last in wood residues during pruning and accumulate in the soil. In this study an evaluation of the concentrations of copper and other heavy metals in grapevine pruning wastes, when treated with common plant protection products, was carried out. The study was also extended to the soil, being potentially mixed to the biomass in the case of mechanical collection of pruning residues. The grapevine residues free of impurities that were collected during this study have typical values of copper in pruning wood, varying from 8.5 mg kg–1 when treated with low Cu product, to 19.2 mg kg–1 when treated with high Cu product. It was observed that contaminations during pruning with soil could increase the amount of copper in the residues. More in detail, every percentage point of soil that winds up on pruning residues involves an increase of 1 mg of Cu every kg of biomass. For this reason, we recommend the use of appropriate systems for the harvest of grapevine residues, particularly mechanical systems that avoid soil lifting. Moreover, we suggest the use of pruning residues preferably in large-scale power plants with appropriate emission filters instead of small-scale domestic boilers.
Monitoring feeding behaviour of dairy cows using accelerometers
Authors: Mattachini Gabriele , Riva Elisabetta , Perazzolo Francesca , Naldi Ezio , Provolo Giorgio
Published: March 2016

Monitoring cow behaviour has become increasingly important in understanding the nutrition, production, management of the well being, and overall health of dairy cows. Methods of assessing behavioural activity have changed in recent years, favouring automatic recording techniques. Traditional methods to measure behaviour, such as direct observation or time-lapse video, are labour-intensive and time-consuming. Automated recording devices have become increasingly common to measure behaviour accurately. Thus, the development of automated monitoring systems that can continuously and accurately quantify feeding behaviour are required for efficient monitoring and control of modern and automated dairy farms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible use of a 3D accelerometer to record feeding behaviour of dairy cows. Feeding behaviour (feeding time and number of visits to the manger) of 12 lactating dairy cows was recorded for approximately 3 h with 3D-accelerometer data loggers (HOBO Pendant G logger). The sensors were positioned in the high part of the neck to monitor head movements. Behaviour was simultaneously recorded using visual observation as a reference. Linear regression analysis between the measurement methods showed that the recorded feeding time (R2=0.90, n=12, P<0.001) was closely related to visual observations. In contrast, the number of visits was inadequately recorded by the 3D-accelerometer, showing a poor relationship with visual observations (R2=0.31, n=12, P<0.06). Results suggest that the use of accelerometer sensors can be a reliable and suitable technology for monitoring feeding behaviour of individual dairy cows in free stall housing. However, further research is necessary to develop an appropriate device able to detect and recognise the movements connected with the head movement during feeding. Such a device could be part of an automatic livestock management tool for the efficient monitoring and control of comfort and welfare of dairy cows under the intensive conditions of modern automated dairy farms.
Fine scales of decay of operator semigroups
Authors: Batty Charles J.K. , Chill Ralph , Tomilov Yuri
Published: March 2016

Motivated by potential applications to partial differential equations, we develop a theory of fine scales of decay rates for operator semigroups. The theory contains, unifies, and extends several notable results in the literature on decay of operator semigroups and yields a number of new ones. Its core is a new operator-theoretical method of deriving rates of decay combining ingredients from functional calculus and complex, real and harmonic analysis. It also leads to several results of independent interest.
Degradation of Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies Under Tropical Conditions
Authors: Hall Zoe , Allan Elizabeth Louise , van Schalkwyk Donelly Andrew , van Wyk Albert , Kaur Harparkash
Published: March 2016

Poor quality antimalarials, including falsified, substandard, and degraded drugs, are a serious health concern in malaria-endemic countries. Guidelines are lacking on how to distinguish between substandard and degraded drugs. “Forced degradation” in an oven was carried out on three common artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) brands to detect products of degradation using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and help facilitate classification of degraded drugs. “Natural aging” of 2,880 tablets each of ACTs artemether/lumefantrine and artesunate/amodiaquine was undertaken to evaluate their long-term stability in tropical climates. Samples were aged in the presence and absence of light on-site in Ghana and in a stability chamber (London), removed at regular intervals, and analyzed to determine loss of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) over time and detect products of degradation. Loss of APIs in naturally aged tablets (both in Ghana and the pharmaceutical stability chamber) was 0–7% over 3 years (∼12 months beyond expiry) with low levels of degradation products detected. Using this developed methodology, it was found that a quarter of ACTs purchased in Enugu, Nigeria (concurrent study), that would have been classified as substandard, were in fact degraded. Presence of degradation products together with evidence of insufficient APIs can be used to classify drugs as degraded.
Sensitivity of modeled atmospheric nitrogen species and nitrogen deposition to variations in sea salt emissions in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions
Authors: Neumann Daniel , Matthias Volker , Bieser Johannes , Aulinger Armin , Quante Markus
Published: March 2016

Abstract. Coarse sea salt particles are emitted ubiquitously from the ocean surface by wave-breaking and bubble-bursting processes. These particles impact the atmospheric chemistry by affecting the condensation of gas-phase species and, thus, indirectly the nucleation of new fine particles, particularly in regions with significant air pollution. In this study, atmospheric particle concentrations are modeled for the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions in northwestern Europe using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system and are compared to European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) measurement data. The sea salt emission module is extended by a salinity-dependent scaling of the sea salt emissions because the salinity in large parts of the Baltic Sea is very low, which leads to considerably lower sea salt mass emissions compared to other oceanic regions. The resulting improvement in predicted sea salt concentrations is assessed. The contribution of surf zone emissions is considered separately. Additionally, the impacts of sea salt particles on atmospheric nitrate and ammonium concentrations and on nitrogen deposition are evaluated. The comparisons with observational data show that sea salt concentrations are commonly overestimated at coastal stations and partly underestimated farther inland. The introduced salinity scaling improves the predicted Baltic Sea sea salt concentrations considerably. The dates of measured peak concentrations are appropriately reproduced by the model. The impact of surf zone emissions is negligible in both seas. Nevertheless, they might be relevant because surf zone emissions were cut at an upper threshold in this study. Deactivating sea salt leads to minor increases in NH3 +  NH4+ and HNO3 +  NO3− and a decrease in NO3− concentrations. However, the overall effect on NH3 +  NH4+ and HNO3 +  NO3− concentrations is smaller than the deviation from the measurements. Nitrogen wet deposition is underestimated by the model at most stations. In coastal regions, the total nitrogen deposition (wet and dry) is considerably affected by sea salt particles. Approximately 3–7 % of atmospheric nitrogen deposition into the North Sea is caused by sea salt particles. The contribution is lower in the Baltic Sea region. The stations in the EMEP network provide a solid basis for model evaluation and validation. However, for a more detailed analysis of the impact of sea salt particles on atmospheric nitrogen species, size-resolved measurements of Na+, NH4+, and NO3− are needed.
Sensitivity of instrumental line shape with respect to different optical attenuators and resulting error propagation into atmospheric trace gas retrievals
Authors: Sun Y. W. , Palm M. , Weinzierl C. , Petri C. , Notholt J. , Wang Y. T. , Liu C.
Published: March 2016

Abstract. The TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network) and most NDACC (Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) assume an ideal ILS (Instrumental line shape) in spectra retrieval and insert an attenuator or select a smaller entrance aperture to take some intensities away if incident radiation is too strong. These processes may alter the alignment of a high resolution FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer and may result in biases due to ILS drift. In this paper, we first investigated the sensitivity of ILS monitoring with respect to various typical optical attenuators for ground-based high resolution FTIR spectrometers within the TCCON and NDACC networks. Both lamp and sun cell measurements were conducted in this analysis via the insertion of five different attenuators before and behind the interferometer. We compared the HCl profile retrievals using an ideal ILS with those using an actual measured ILS. The results showed that the total column amounts were under-estimated by about 0.4 % if the ME (modulation efficiency) amplitude deviates by about –3.5 %. Furthermore, the retrieval errors increased and the obvious profile deviations are shown in a height range with a high retrieval sensitivity. ILSs deduced from all scenarios of lamp cell measurements were compared, and were further used to derive the HCl profile from the same spectrum. As a result, the disturbances to the ILS of a high resolution FTIR spectrometer with respect to inserting different attenuators before and behind the interferometer are quantified. The resulting ILS errors propagation into gas retrievals were also analyzed. In conclusion, the alignment of the optical parts before the interferometer is more critical than those behind the interferometer, and the entrance aperture (the focus of the entrance parabolic/spherical mirror) exhibited the most critical influence. An optimum method to adapt the incident intensity of a detector was finally deduced.
Application of Oxygen A-band Equivalent Width for Cloud Optical Depth Measurement
Authors: Niple Edward R. , Scott Herman E. , Conant John A. , Jones Stephen H. , Iannarilli Frank J. , Pereira Wellesley E.
Published: March 2016

Abstract. This paper presents a new technique for measuring Cloud Optical Depth (COD). It is based on ground-based visible band zenith spectral radiances much like the AERONET Cloud-Mode sensors. What is novel in our approach is that we employ absorption in the oxygen A-band as a means of resolving the COD Ambiguity inherent in using up-looking spectral radiances. We describe the algorithm and a sensor that implements it, and compare its performance to AERONET Cloud-Mode measurements collected during the Two Column Aerosol Project (TCAP). Spectral radiance agreement was excellent (better than 1 %) while COD agreement was good.