bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Precision Irrigation Scheduling Using ECH2O Moisture Sensors for Lettuce Cultivated in a Soilless Substrate Culture
Authors: Liu Zhigang , Xu Qinchao
Published: April 2018

Soilless culture has become an effective technique to avoid continuous cropping obstacles in protected horticulture. The reliable measurement of substrate moisture and a rational irrigation are difficult tasks because of the low water-holding capacity of the substrate. Our objectives were to study the irrigation scheduling based on the ECH2O moisture sensor(EC-5), using a matched model of wetting pattern and lettuce root zone in the substrate under drip irrigation. The EC-5 sensor was designed to connect to a controller, and a threshold value of 0.14 cm3/cm3 was set for irrigation scheduling. The controller turned on the irrigation system via communication with a solenoid valve on the irrigation line and with the EC-5 sensor in response to a threshold value and stopped when the overlap area of the wetting pattern and crop root zone was more than 90%. The EC-5 sensors were installed at a horizontal distance from each plant and depth of 3 and 4 cm, respectively, under the substrate surface to the check substrate moisture for lettuce cultivation, and at (3,15) cm or (6,15) cm to monitor leakage. These parameters were determined by simultaneously considering the distance from the plants, the depths of effective root water extraction, and the region of substrate wetted volume under drip irrigation. Leakage occurred during each irrigation process, but the leakage ratewas15.7% lower than that of conventional irrigation, as a result of irrigation scheduling in the presence of the EC-5 sensors.
Waves and Currents at a River Mouth: The Role of Macrovortices, Sub-Grid Turbulence and Seabed Friction
Authors: Melito Lorenzo , Postacchini Matteo , Darvini Giovanna , Brocchini Maurizio
Published: April 2018

Numerical experiments of wave-current interaction have been performed to investigate the evolution and dissipation of horizontal large-scale vortical structures generated by differential wave breaking and current shearing at river mouths. Specific focus is on the role played by turbulence of scales smaller than the water depth and by seabed friction on the dissipation of the mentioned macrovortices. The analysis reveals two regions of turbulence generation: at the river mouth, and along the curved seaward boundary of the shoal. In the latter zone, macrovortices are formed due to differential wave breaking induced by the sudden variation in water depth and enhanced by opposing currents which favour wave steepening. Such vortices are then advected towards the shore. Among the dissipative mechanisms, dissipation induced by seabed friction is deemed dominant, in particular in the most shallow waters of the shoal. Sub-grid turbulence dissipation, conversely, is more efficient offshore, although exerting some effect also over the shoal when supported by the continuous action of waves.
Development of novel cyclic NGR peptide–daunomycin conjugates with dual targeting property
Authors: Tripodi Andrea Angelo Pierluigi , Tóth Szilárd , Enyedi Kata Nóra , Schlosser Gitta , Szakács Gergely , Mező Gábor
Published: April 2018

Cyclic NGR peptides as homing devices are good candidates for the development of drug conjugates for targeted tumor therapy. In our previous study we reported that the Dau=Aoa-GFLGK(c[KNGRE]-GG-)-NH2 conjugate has a significant antitumor activity against both CD13+ HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma and CD13− but integrin positive HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells. However, it seems that the free ε-amino group of Lys in the cycle is not necessary for the biological activity. Therefore, we developed novel cyclic NGR peptide–daunomycin conjugates in which Lys was replaced by different amino acids (Ala, Leu, Nle, Pro, Ser). The exchange of the Lys residue in the cycle simplified the cyclization step and resulted in a higher yield. The new conjugates showed lower chemostability against deamidation of Asn than the control compound, thus they had lower selectivity to CD13+ cells. However, the cellular uptake and cytotoxic effect of Dau=Aoa-GFLGK(c[NleNGRE]-GG-)-NH2 was higher in comparison to the control especially on HT-29 cells. Therefore, this conjugate is more suitable for drug targeting with dual targeting property.
Areas of endemism of hummingbirds (Aves: Apodiformes: Trochilidae) in the Andean and Neotropical regions
Authors: Ouvernay Daiane , Ferreira Ildemar , Morrone Juan
Published: April 2018

Using track analysis and cladistic biogeography, we identified areas of endemism of hummingbirds in the Andean and Neotropical regions. Our results point out that the current areas of endemism of hummingbirds occur in the Andes, Guiana Shield, the Lesser Antilles, western Central and North America and the Chiapas Highlands. The cladistic biogeographic analysis suggests a hummingbird distribution shaped mainly by dispersal events.
Les compétences des designers en question : quelle alchimie ?
Authors: Chouki Mourad , Borja de Mozota Brigitte , Persson Sybille
Published: April 2018

À l’écoute d’un groupe de designers professionnels aidés de leurs clients, nous mettons en relief la pluralité des ressources mobilisées et transformées à travers des boucles de construction de compétences. Pour autant, c’est surtout une combinaison quasi alchimique qui émerge des résultats. Le designer active des compétences qui lui sont propres, à la fois contraint et porté par la situation dans laquelle il intervient et interagit.
History of the USSR and CIS
Authors: Puffer Sheila M. , McCarthy Daniel J.
Published: April 2018

This chapter provides an overview of the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, from the time of its creation as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, to its dissolution in 1991. The major emphasis is on economic conditions, with political and social conditions as background. The chapter then discusses The Commonwealth of Independent States, the alliance that included most of the 15 former Soviet republics that became independent countries. Developments in Russia, the largest both geographically and demographically, as well as the most powerful of the CIS countries, are the major focus from 1991 to 2017.
The Importance of Geopolitical Factors in International Location Decisions
Authors: Dias Mariana Gonçalves , Teixeira Aurora Amélia Castro
Published: April 2018

Despite connections and common traits between geopolitics and international business based on geography and location, literature on this matter is somewhat scarce. This chapter aims to contribute to this literature gap. Using the Russian Federation as a case study and by framing its geopolitical situation, it seeks to answer the following question: What is the importance of geopolitical factors in international location decisions? Applying a hybrid methodology which combines qualitative and quantitative analyses, the chapter concludes though Russia has an innately favorable geopolitical situation, its full potential is not being exploited, remaining latent and underutilized. Additionally, the pragmatic standing of Russia's foreign policy, the permanence of some structures recalling the USSR and the persistence of corruption, and an unsteady business environment place constraints on improving the open market and raises obstacles to FDI.
Corruption in the CIS and Eurasia
Authors: Windsor Duane
Published: April 2018

The research question is whether there is a sufficiently homogeneous pattern of corruption among 15 countries of Eurasia stemming from the Soviet communist heritage and USSR disintegration that a reasonably common set of anti-corruption reform policy recommendations will be effective. The proposed findings draw on a literature review and a comparative analysis of 2016 Transparency International (TI)'s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) information for countries in the region. The methodology is an analysis of the literature and the TI 2016 CPI information. There is explicitly no original field research or theory development. Perceived corruption in the region appears to be a heterogeneous phenomenon. There is a wide range in the TI perceived corruption of these countries. Political will and popular support for anti-corruption efforts likely vary greatly across the fifteen countries of CIS and Eurasia. Anti-corruption effectiveness thus likely varies markedly by country. An assessment requires country-by-country detailed investigation.
Turkey's Higher Education Potential for Human Capital of Eurasian Region
Authors: Durnalı Mehmet , Orakcı Şenol , Özkan Orhan
Published: April 2018

The main aim of this chapter is not only to examine and discuss Turkey's recent higher education potential, and its framework for human capital in the context of economic and geopolitical standpoints of Eurasia, but also to provide a clear picture and lasting impact on a significant scale of this potential in a systematic and holistic way at a glance. This main aim includes the following sub-goals, which outline the framework of the research, examine the internationalization process of higher education system of Turkey, provide a specific picture about the general situation of higher education not only in Turkey but also the world by using basic current higher education indicators in numbers, graphs, and tables, provide a basic information on the concept of internationalization of higher education as well as the reasons behind. Qualitative method is conducted so as to accomplish these goals. The data of certain official institutions were used, the charts created based on these numbers in order to visualize the concept of the study and to make it more comprehensible and concrete.
The Importance of Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: April 2018

This chapter explains the overview of knowledge creation; the applications of knowledge creation; the overview of knowledge sharing; knowledge sharing and social media; and the advanced issues of knowledge sharing. Knowledge creation and knowledge sharing are the essential components of knowledge management (KM) for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. With the support of advanced technologies, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing can be productively utilized in various organizations. When knowledge is created and shared, executives and management must distribute that knowledge to their employees toward organizational success in a timely and effective manner. To gain the effective organizational learning, creating and sharing knowledge should be added in the organizational policy, and should be executed through workplace communication among organizational employees.
Knowledge Management and the Competitiveness of Learning Organizations
Authors: Louati Faten
Published: April 2018

Knowledge management is becoming a source of discriminative value in the competitive positioning of companies and is becoming a lever for the development and emergence of new forms of organization. In fact, knowledge is the result of a cooperative process in collective action. The next step is to promote the creation of this knowledge and its sharing by managing the cooperative work of a community of people: we no longer manage the knowledge itself, but the collective that creates it, where the notion of “cooperative management of knowledge” applies. The author reflects on the organizational factor: Can it influence the practice of knowledge management within the companies willing to improve their innovation processes in order to achieve competitiveness? This reflection falls within the field of management sciences through studying the organizational solutions to ensure a better capitalization, sharing and new knowledge creation, and a better comprehension of the success conditions of the knowledge management approach, which consists of adaptation to the environment.
Subjectivism of Information
Authors: Penalver Antonio Juan Briones
Published: April 2018

Objectivism has given the domain, rationality, definition, and purpose that are commonly attributed to information and knowledge management, as well as the definitions of the concepts of information, knowledge, communication, and learning. Objectivism does not provide a theoretical foundation to information management; the question that arises is whether subjectivism may or may not offer a compelling alternative. Finally, the answer is no because the subjectivist rarely pays attention to what the fundamental lines of private organizations are and pays attention increasingly to the public sector, in the realization of economic value. Thus, there is no other way but to combine objectivism with subjectivism in a comprehensive approach of integrated information management. However, this chapter illustrates the differences between the philosophical principles of thought.
Free and Open Source Tools for Volunteer Geographic Information and Geo-Crowdsourcing
Authors: Brovelli Maria Antonia , Delipetrev Blagoj , Zamboni Giorgio
Published: April 2018

The availability of new mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) equipped with many sensors is changing or, better, enriching the way we monitor and sense the world that surrounds us. The internet has permeated completely not only our scientific and technological development, but also our life. Only some years ago, we used geospatial data and GIS software installed within our computers. Nowadays, data and operators are provided via the net by means of distributed and shared geo-services and a simple and powerless mobile device is enough to connect them. The possibility of interaction has become not only faster and more user friendly but also active, being individuals and communities free of adding, deleting, and changing contents in real time in the new GeoWeb2.0. This chapter explores GeoWeb2.0.
Spatial Data Mining, Spatial Data Warehousing, and Spatial OLAP
Authors: Idrees Amira M. , Khaled Mostafa Lamlom Ahmed , Talkhan Amal Hassan Ali
Published: April 2018

Data mining is one of the current vital fields for all types of data including spatial data. An example of useful extracted patterns from spatial data is to describe changes in metropolitan poverty rates based on city distances from major highways. Geospatial is a term that has recently been gaining in popularity; moreover, many applications on geospatial have different uses in different fields such as geo-tagging, geospatial technology, and geo-fencing. Analyzing spatial data is considered a complex task due to its details as it is related to locations with a special representation such as longitude and latitude. Other attributes are involved in the description of objects which can be analyzed using different data mining techniques. In this chapter, a demonstration of the basic information is performed considering spatial data and spatial data mining including all aspects such as the different type of data, different methods of analysis, different mining techniques, and other related topics.
Investigating the Impacts of DEM Type, Resolution, and Noise on Extracted Hydro-Geomorphologic Parameters of Watersheds via GIS
Authors: Nourani Vahid , Asl Safa Mokhtarian , Sorkhkolaee Maryam Khosravi , Baghanam Aida Hosseini , Mehrvand Masoud
Published: April 2018

Water resources management is dependent on knowledge and understanding of water quantity and quality information with the latest developments in information technology such as geographic information system (GIS) to develop effective hydrological modeling within the water-based systems. The efficiency of such hydrological modeling relies on the accuracy of applied data. In this way, the application of low-quality data in developing models for integrated management of water resources can impose irreparable financial and human resources and environmental costs in the catchment area. Thus, in regions that shortage of data is the issue, semi-distributed modeling is a useful tool. In this chapter, three aims are followed: (1) effect of digital elevation model (DEM) type and resolution on extracted hydro-geomorphologic parameters, (2) effect of wavelet-based de-noising method on extracted hydro-geomorphologic parameters, (3) determination of the optimal cell size to extract topographic attributes with good agreement to the real features.
The Collaborative Use of Patients' Health-Related Information
Authors: Alhaddadin Fadi , Gutiérrez Jairo A. , Liu William
Published: April 2018

The advancement in the field of information and communication technology has generated a great deal of information that was not possible to access earlier. Healthcare systems are one of the most beneficial applications using wireless medical sensor technologies, which can facilitate patient care within homes, hospitals, clinics, disaster sites, and the open environment. The integration and sharing of such information can contribute significantly to a better understanding of patients' health conditions and therefore to improving the quality of healthcare provided to them. However, in order to achieve sufficient levels of collaborative use of information among healthcare-related practitioners, there is a need to overcome a number of issues such as privacy and interoperability, among others. This chapter discusses two of the main challenges encountered before healthcare information systems can collaboratively share patients' records, namely privacy and interoperability.
Algorithm Enhancements for Improvement of Localized Classification of Uterine Cervical Cancer Digital Histology Images
Authors: Almubarak Haidar , Guo Peng , Stanley R. Joe , Long Rodney , Antani Sameer , Thoma George , Zuna Rosemary , Frazier Shelliane R. , Moss Randy H , Stoecker William V. , Hagerty Jason
Published: April 2018

In prior research, the authors introduced an automated, localized, fusion-based approach for classifying squamous epithelium into Normal, CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3 grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) from digitized histology image analysis. The image analysis approach partitioned the epithelium along the medial axis into ten vertical segments. Texture, cellularity, nuclear characterization and distribution, and acellular features were computed from each vertical segment. The individual vertical segments were CIN classified, and the individual classifications were fused to generate an image-based CIN assessment. In this chapter, image analysis techniques are investigated to improve the execution time of the algorithms and the CIN classification accuracy of the baseline algorithms. For an experimental data set of 117 digitized histology images, execution time for exact grade CIN classification accuracy was improved by 32.32 seconds without loss of exact grade CIN classification accuracy (80.34% vs. 79.49% previously reported) for this same data set.
Medical Tourism for Cosmetic Procedures
Authors: Nakayama Makoto , Chen Charlie C. , Ractham Peter
Published: April 2018

Medical tourism, especially cosmetic surgery in South Korea, is popular amongst Thai youths. Like their counterparts around the world, they rely on web resources—in particular, online health discussion forums typically offering many features—to research cosmetic surgery providers. However, these forums are not without challenges. This chapter conducted lab experiments with 207 business school students to assess the impact of these forums along with their 16 features on credibility assessment of service providers. The results show that the reliability of web information is critical in enhancing the credibility of both doctors and hospitals, and social influence is important for doctor credibility but not hospital credibility. In addition, only certain types of forum features impact the credibility assessment of cosmetic surgery providers.
More Cost-Effective but Confusing Advertising Options
Authors: Harvey Kenneth E.
Published: April 2018

Since 2006, American newspapers have lost nearly two-thirds of their advertising revenue, and a similar tipping point has now hit broadcast and cable television. In 2016, digital advertising expenditures in the U.S. surpassed TV advertising for the first time, and by 2021, digital is expected to surpass all traditional forms of advertising combined. Traditional advertising is dying, and the battle between the digital competitors is heating up, leading to diverse and rapidly changing advertising opportunities. And yet, marketing executives say they are confused and frustrated by all the changes. This chapter documents the new and continuing trends that are reshaping the advertising landscape.
Digital Demands Convergence of Strategies, Media, and Messages
Authors: Harvey Kenneth E. , Sanchez Luis Manuel Pazos
Published: April 2018

Even before the world wide web, integrated marketing communications (IMC) was gaining acceptance across all fields of business and industry. However, the explosion of online and mobile marketing has caused a convergence of marketing strategies at the same time that all forms of media are converging onto digital platforms. This has become more than just a “Digital Age.” For marketers it is the age of multimedia, the age of coordinated omnichannel communications with an increasing emphasis on mobile, the age of personalization, and an age that blends free and friendly inbound marketing with paid advertising that looks more and more like the organic content that surrounds it. This chapter explores the ongoing impact of the convergence of media, strategies and technologies on the 4 P's of the traditional marketing mix.
The Comparison Between Traditional vs. Advanced Means of Marketing Communications
Authors: Waheed Abdul , Yang Jianhua , Khan Ikram Ullah , Khan Safeer Ullah , Farrukh Muhammad
Published: April 2018

The selection of an effective advertising campaign is remarkably essential for organizations to get consumers' attention where diverse conventional mediums were already operational over the past decades (i.e., outdoor media advertising). However, the trend has been transformed toward revolutionary means of marketing communications owing to widespread penetration of the technology. Therefore, electronic marketing is a challenging and growing trend to attain consumers' attention using internet in the present era. The core aim of this chapter is to investigate the significance of e-marketing (eM) and outdoor media advertising on consumer buying behavior within the electronic products of Pakistan. It is empirically revealed that e-marketing and outdoor advertising are factors of exploratory consumer buying behavior. In comparison, electronic marketing may have a higher positive influence than outdoor media advertising in the current digital age to reach a particular market. This chapter proposes several managerial implications and future studies for academics and practitioners.
Improving Customer Relationship Management Through Social Listening
Authors: Stewart Margaret C. , Atilano Maria , Arnold Christa L.
Published: April 2018

In the dynamic world of social media strategy, developing an effective approach to customer relationship management (CRM) online is challenging. With best practices for CRM on social media still being uncovered, the value of social listening is becoming recognizable in contemporary social CRM. This chapter presents a case study that shares the actions, insights, and experiences of using social media for CRM at the academic library at a mid-size American university located in northeast Florida. Using specific examples of how social media is used to engage in social listening and to enhance CRM, the social listening practices and social media strategy of this library are highlighted in relation to how they influence and potentially improve CRM. By examining the practices of this individual institution's library, a better understanding of how academic libraries engage with customers using social media as a CRM platform comes to light. In addition, ideas for future research on the intersection of social listening, CRM, and social media strategy are discussed.
Maximizing Social Presence to Improve Website Loyalty
Authors: Jih Wen-Jang (Kenny)
Published: April 2018

Technology plays a crucial role in the development of customer brand loyalty. However, technological user interface often falls short on major important aspects of business interaction, such as context-based exchange of information and opinions. Adding social networking features to the corporate website is an attempt to mitigate this weakness. This chapter investigates the driving forces of website loyalty, an issue of interest to the businesses deploying social networks as a new technological tool for business promotion. Using Facebook as the target of observation, this study evaluates the effects of social presence and social capital on website loyalty. The analysis reveals a positive influence of social presence on all three (structural, relational, and cognitive) dimensions of social capital. Further, both the relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital show positive influence on the website loyalty. These findings have practical implications for company seeking to cultivate brand loyalty via website design and management.
Public Relation Professionalism
Authors: Al-Jenaibi Badreya
Published: April 2018

This chapter draws from extensive research conducted in various public relations firms in the United Arab Emirates and describes contemporary research practices on which these firms are building. Their inclination is toward incorporation of permanent research in their organizational framework and in-depth analyses regarding how public relations firms evolve and meet clients' future expectations. In-depth analyses were conducted in national, international, small, average, and high-scale public relations firms to determine how research is helping, at various levels, to excel and impress clients. Mixed research methods were used; 350 questionnaires were distributed and 17 face-to-face interviews were conducted over 7 months. Results suggest that the economic, social, and institutional characteristics of public relations firms in the United Arab Emirates are dissimilar to other countries, so extensive research is required to determine the significance of research concerning improving public relations practices in the country.
Embodiment and Gameplay
Authors: Hansson Karin , Ekenberg Love
Published: April 2018

Distributed decision making with several stakeholders has various facets. On one hand, it enables significant opportunities for fast and efficient information provision, in particular when various structuring frameworks are provided. On the other hand, there are several problems regarding the reliability and consistency of the data produced in social media contexts as well as with the frameworks themselves. Online collaborative data production systems where crowd feedbacks are aggregated and mediated are easily affected by group biases. There are also several credibility and verification issues as the representativeness of the participants normally is difficult or impossible to determine. This chapter discusses the handling of user data in tools for crowd sourced data production and suggests a framework for describing the socio-technical setting for the production of data, and thereby the detectability of bias patterns in collaborative information production.
An Enterprise Complexity Model
Authors: Espejo Raul
Published: April 2018

In this chapter, the author proposes an enterprise complexity model (ECM), which is visualized as a methodology to achieve the distributed governance of an ecology of evolving enterprises. Governance is understood as guiding the enterprises self-organization towards policies creating, regulating, and producing products and services for society. Self-organization is grounded in the communications and interactions of stakeholders. The purpose of an ECM model is not institutional development but guiding, enabling and facilitating interactions of all kinds with the support of current and disruptive technologies to increase society's requisite variety to deal with social, ecological, and economic challenges. An enabling context helps the branching of the enterprises' creativity into all kinds of innovations, forms of coordination, and operational alignment of their interests. Quality of life, fairness, and social justice are the values driving this ecology of enterprises towards a deeper and wider appreciation of issues of social concern.
Factors Influencing Knowledge as Practice in the Knowledge Workplace
Authors: Hart Penny
Published: April 2018

This chapter examines issues around sharing subjective knowledge as practice in an organization, exploring what knowledge means to those working with it, how knowledge sharing happens in practice, and what influences its effectiveness. It is suggested that knowledge as practice as internalized by individuals can be difficult to communicate for a range of reasons, many relating to the effects of organizational subcultures on employee self-efficacy. A case study is used to illustrate this, based on fieldwork carried out in a research organization using the appreciative inquiry method to look at influences on the individual practice of knowledge sharing. An environment that promotes cognitive and affective trust amongst an organization's employees may go some way to address these issues.
Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Graphene/MnO2 Nanocomposites for Supercapacitors
Authors: Sun Hai Bo , Gu Hua Zhi , Chen Yao
Published: April 2018

In the present work, we demonstrated a facile process to prepare graphene/MnO2composites via a simple hydrothermal method at 120 °C using KMnO4and graphene oxide as raw materials followed by reduction with or without hydrazine. The electrochemical performance of the graphene/MnO2composites were investigated in a neutral electrolyte of Na2SO4. Among these samples, the sample rGM3prepared without hydrazine show uniform morphology and the best electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance of rGM3is 169 F g-1at a specific current of 0.2 A g-1. It exhibits a maintenance of 75.5 % of the initial capacitance after 1000 cycles. The results manifest that the graphene/MnO2composites can be potentially applied in supercapacitors.
Preparation of a Hydroxyapatite Ceramic with Comblike Tubules Structure and its Permeablity
Authors: Zhao Xin Yi , Li Xiao Peng , Zhao Kang , Tang Yu Fei
Published: April 2018

The objectives of this study are to prepare a porous hydroxyapatite ceramic which has dentin tubule-like structure and determine its permeability. Slurry of hydroxyapatite powder, deionized water and a binder was poured into a ring which was placed on a freezing plate.The hydroxyapatite slurry was freezed in a certain rate (by controlling the temperature of the freeze plate at −15°C, −30°C and −45°C) for a certain period of time, then the freezed sample was freezing dried to remove the frozen vehicle, followed by being sintered at 1250 °C for 2 h. After that，the morphology of the cross section and longitudinal section of the sintered porous hydroxyapatite ceramic was observed by SEM and the hydraulic conductance of cross section discs of the sintered porous hydroxyapatite were determined using a self-made micro-flowing permeability tester. Results showed that the prepared hydroxyapatite ceramics having bottom-up unidirectional comblike tubule structure and the tubule diameters associated with the temperature of freezing plate.The ceramic discs prepared on the freezing plate of −45°C exhibited similarity to nature dentin tubule, with a diameter of 9.72±3.41mm and a hydraulic conductance of 0.16±0.09 ml×min-1×cm-2×cm×H2O-1.
On the Test Method for Determining Residual Stress on the Surface of Tempered Glass
Authors: Ai Fu Qiang , Nie Guang Lin , Bao Yi Wang , Qiu Yan
Published: April 2018

The residual stress on the surface of tempered glass is very important for its safe service and the quality control. In this study, the sphere indentation and grazing angle surface polarimetry are compared to evaluate the surface residual stress of tempered glass. The test results showed that the measured results are similar, but the data dispersion of the sphere indentation method is little larger. The main reason is stemmed from the different tested area, of which residual stress is a mean value measured by the grazing angle polarization method. Yet for the indentation method, the residual stress in the micro region of glass is more susceptible to the inhomogeneity of material itself. However, it is difficult to select the right multiple optical path difference for the grazing angle polarization method, and it is only applicable when inspecting the tin surface of tempered glass, as well as the tin surface examination instrument. Thus, as a nondestructive testing method, indentation method can be widely used to measure the surface residual stress of glass without being influenced by other factors.
Preparation and Characterization of Hierarchically Porous SiO2@C@MnO2 Monoliths
Authors: Feng Dao Yan , Li Yu Xiao , Yang Hui , Guo Xing Zhong
Published: April 2018

Hierarchical porous SiO2@C@MnO2monoliths have been fabricated by two step approaches: Elemental carbon was covered the internal surface of porous silica monoliths with impregnation and carbonized in inert atmosphere, and MnO2was directly grown on the skeleton of SiO2@C accompanied by redox reaction between C and KMnO4. The effects of glucose and KMnO4concentrations, and hydrothermal reaction on the morphology of MnO2particles on the surface of SiO2monoliths were investigated in detail. The results showed that the optimal factors of reaction condition involved 0.08 mol·L-1glucose solution, 0.03 mol·L-1KMnO4solution and the reaction time of 5 h. SEM images and BET results indicated that the macroporous structure of the as-prepared material was preserved after modification, while the specific surface area and pore volume decreased with increasing amount of MnO2to some degree. The XPS spectra of SiO2@C@MnO2is in good agreement with reported data in MnO2. The crystal phase of MnO2was α-MnO2after thermal treatment at the temperature of 600 °C from the XRD patterns. Three-dimensional porous well-defined morphological SiO2@C@MnO2be promising materials for the catalytic elimination of air pollutants since large quantities can be obtained from porous structure combined with α-MnO2equipped with high active performance.
Z-Scan Study on a Silver Nanoparticles Embedded TeO2-SiO2 Glass Prepared by Sol-Gel Method
Authors: Li Qiang , Liu Wei Ying , Sun Guo Yin
Published: April 2018

An inserted type Ag/TeO2-SiO2composite gel glass was prepared through silver nanoparticles embedded in TeO2-SiO2composite gel. The silver nanoparticles were prepared previously by ascorbic acid deoxygenates AgNO3solution and mixed into TeO2-SiO2composite sol which was prepared in aqueous system using TeO2and tetraethoxysilane as precursors, and then the inserted type Ag/TeO2-SiO2composite gel glass was produced through sol aging and molding. The silver nanoparticles which dispersed in the TeO2-SiO2gel substrate made the composite glass having excellent nonlinear optical properties. The nonlinear optical parameters was tested by Z-scan technique using 15 ps laser pulses at the wavelength of 532 nm. The surface morphology was characterized by SEM. The results identified that spherical Ag nanoparticles with the size about 50-100 nm dispersed in the TeO2-SiO2gel. In the Ag/TeO2-SiO2material, the doped structure and the trigonal bipyramid structure of TeO2was the important factor for the excellent nonlinear optical performance.
Dynamic Analysis of Head-Form Test on Actual Automotive Windscreen
Authors: Min Yan , Kun Pang
Published: April 2018

The head-form test on actual automotive windscreen with the analytic method of explicit dynamics is researched in this paper. Based on the experiment specification, the geometric models of head-form weight and laminated glass for actual automotive windscreen are built, and the loading conditions of the head-form test are also acquired. According to the analysis results, the process of crack initiation & propagation and the failure mechanism in laminated glass are studied, which is of great significance for the evaluation on laminated glass for actual automotive windscreen.
Effect of Artificial Graphite and Nickel Nitrate on the Microstructure and Properties of Carbon Blocks for Blast Furnace
Authors: Wang Tong Sheng , Sang Shao Bai , Li Ya Wei
Published: April 2018

Improving thermal conductivity of carbon blocks is one of the most important developing trends for carbon blocks. In this work, artificial graphite and nickel nitrate catalyst were introduced into carbon blocks with an attempt to improve thermal conductivity of carbon blocks and their effect on microstructure and properties of carbon blocks were systematically studied by means of X ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser thermal conductivity meter. The results revealed that artificial graphite possessed lower oxidation activation energy than electrically calcined anthracite, and thus, higher reactivity, which could accelerate the formation of SiC whiskers in carbon blocks and have a positive effect on thermal conductivity of carbon blocks. Moreover, it was interestingly noted that one dimensional nano-carbon was catalytically formed at 1000 °C and lots of Sialon phases were formed at 1400 °C when nickel nitrate catalyst was further added in carbon blocks containing artificial graphite. These in-situ ceramic phases formed in carbon blocks constructed high thermal conductive network and reduced the interface thermal resistance, thus improving the thermal conductivity of carbon blocks significantly.
Characterization of Hydrolysis Process of a Silane Coupling Agent KH-570
Authors: Wu Cheng Zhu , Liang Yong He , Yin Yu Cheng , Cai Man Fei , Nie Jian Hua , Shen Sen Cai
Published: April 2018

The hydrolysis process of a silane coupling agent KH-570 in deionized water, ethanol, and their mixed medium was characterized by continuous online conductivity testing, respectively. In addition, hydration products of KH-570 in different mediums were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to correlate with its hydration process. Results indicate that the KH-570 hydrates fast and to a large degree in deionized water, but at the same time, its hydrolysis products condensate together with increasing rate during the hydration process. However, the introduction of ethanol could significantly reduce the degree of the condensation. The hydrolysis degree of KH-570 was relatively large in a mix medium of deionized water and ethanol with the mass ratio of 5:1, and condensation degree of hydrolysis products was also small. KH-570 would hydrate quickly in a hydration medium of colloidal silica, and subsequently, its hydration products would directly react with colloidal silica, which could accelerate the formation of Si-O-Si three-dimensional network structure, and thus promoting the setting of colloidal silica. The hydration of 0.9wt% KH-570 in colloidal silica could be sufficient, and correspondingly, its effect on the coagulation of colloidal silica was better.
Study on Carbon Emission Calculation Method of Concrete
Authors: Zhao Chun Zhi , Liu Yi , Ren Shi Wei , Quan Jiang
Published: April 2018

along with the rapid development of commercial concrete industry and the continuous growth of concrete demand, the commercial concrete production has brought large energy consumption and mineral resource consumption; cement calcination and direct/indirect energy consumption within the boundary of ready-mixed concrete system have become the main source of concrete greenhouse gas. This paper mainly settles key problems such as boundary definition, data collection, calculation model, data acceptance/rejection and data calculation method concerned with concrete carbon emission calculation, establishes the national uniform concrete carbon emission calculation method and emission factor within the same cultural boundary, and provides theoretical and data calculation basis for determining the reference value and grade of concrete carbon emission. As for other products, the carbon emission of unit product may also be calculated by reference to this paper; therefore, inherent carbon emission data of buildings are accumulated, providing quantized data support for taking measures to reduce the carbon emission intensity.
Testing and Green Assessment Technology for Ready-Mixed Concrete
Authors: Zhao Chun Zhi , Liu Yi , Ren Shi Wei , Quan Jiang
Published: April 2018

Concrete is the most extensively used material in building and civil project structure. With the rapid development of economic construction, urban construction and infrastructure construction increase year by year, so there is a greater demand for concrete, which brings the rapid development of ready-mixed concrete industry. During the rapid development, structural safety and durability problems caused by concrete quality appear frequently. Meanwhile, to implement the fundamental national policies of resource conservation and environment protection, according to Green Building Action Plan (GUOBANFA [2013] No.1) approved by CPC Central Committee and the State Council, besides meeting the quality requirements, ready-mixed concrete must also meet the green products requirements of "energy conservation, emission reduction, safety, convenience and recyclability" for the vigorous development of green building material and supporting the requirements for building energy conservation, green building and new-type urbanization construction. By quality testing, this paper elaborates the green assessment technology for ready-mixed concrete in combination with raw material quality control, design of mix ratio, production process quality control, construction process quality control, residual concrete treatment, hardened concrete quality control, and control of dust, noise and wastewater. The greening of ready-mixed concrete brings the production and application of green building material, promotes the transformation and upgrading of building material industry and drives the development of green building.
Effects of Nano-SiO2 on Properties of Spinel-Containing High Alumina Cement
Authors: Wang Jing Ran , Ke Chang Ming , Zhang Jin Hua , Liu Xue Xin
Published: April 2018

This research was studied the effect of 15 nm SiO2 on the hydration behavior, hydration process and microstructure of spinel-containing high alumina cement (HAC), which is from high titanium blast furnace slag via smelting reduction method of Ti-Si-Fe making process. The results showed that with the increase of nano-SiO2, the heat released rate of hydration and the maximum peak were decreased and advanced. Accumulation of hydration heat to release was considerably improved before 16h. Nano-SiO2 can promote the formation of hydration products or promote the hexagonal phases CaAl2O4·10H2O and Ca2Al2O5·8H2O change into cubic phase Ca3Al2O6·6H2O, which has the pozzolanic and filler effects, which The pore size distribution of the hydration products was enhanced by nano-SiO2. At the same time, the flexural and compressive strength was increased gradually.
Study on the Damage Risk of Dam Concrete Suffering Alkali-Silicareaction Based on 7 Years Outdoor Field Exposure Testing, Part I: The Influence of Maximum Size of Aggregate
Authors: Bai Yin , Cai Yue Bo , Ding Jian Tong , Guo Xi Ning
Published: April 2018

Alkali-aggregate reaction is one of the most serious concrete durability problems threating the safety of dam. Some accelerated test methods with high temperature and high alkalinity are usually used in laboratory to evaluate the reactivity of aggregates or the effectiveness of suppression measures. In this paper, an outdoor field exposure station was built to objectively assess the damage risk of real dam concrete suffering alkali-silica reaction. 25 concrete blocks measuring 450 by 450 by 450 mm in size were tested at first stage, all immersed into water to simulate the environment of dam concrete. The influences of the size of aggregate and the amount of cementing materials were tested at the same time. After 7 years field exposure testing, the results showed that: the crack risk of blocks was not proportional to the expansion rates, but influenced by the maximum diameter of aggregate. The block with bigger aggregate had smaller expansion rate, but cracked more easily. If the sizes of aggregate were the same, less cementing materials would cause bigger expansion. The constraint effect is bigger than the effect of alkali content increasing caused by increasing the amount of cementing materials.
Analysis of Electron Channeling Contrast Imaging in Scanning Electron Microscopes
Authors: Liu Zi Wei , Lin Chu Сheng , Jiang Cai Fen , Hua Jia Jie , Zhang Ji Mei , Zeng Yi
Published: April 2018

In the paper, the influence factors of electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) on crystalline material microstructure characterization by scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) were analyzed, such as electric current, accelerating voltage and sample material’s surface conditions. It was found that high current, appropriate accelerating voltage and smooth sample surface were more beneficial to obtaining an ideal channel effect pattern. In addition, the difference between the channel effect contrast and the EBSD technology was also investigated. And the results showed that the channel effect contrast image could qualitatively characterize grains with different orientations. However, it was far less sensitive than EBSD in characterizing small angle grain boundaries.
Review on Seaport and Airport Adaptation to Climate Change: A Case on Sea Level Rise and Flooding
Authors: Poo Mark Ching-Pong , Yang Zaili , Dimitriu Delia , Qu Zhuohua
Published: April 2018

AbstractSeaports and airports are the critical nodes of international supply chains and thus stand on the edge of social and economic disasters. They are often affected by extreme and rough weather. Comparing all climate threats, sea level rise (SLR) and storming and flooding
currently present, according to the relevant literature, the most severe impact in ports and airports. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of seaport and airport adaptation to climate change with a focus on SLR and flooding. We have summarized all related research papers and
divided them into different types and described the trend of studies. After that, the study involves a comparison to analyze the synergy between previous studies in seaports and airports and provides insights for further studies to emphasize the needs and opportunities for the collaborative
work that can complement the adaptation planning of and ensure the resilience of seaports and airports.
Integrated Ocean, Earth, and Atmospheric Observations for Resilience Planning in Hampton Roads, Virginia
Authors: Loftis Jon Derek , Mitchell Molly , Atkinson Larry , Hamlington Ben , Allen Thomas R. , Forrest David , Updyke Teresa , Tahvildari Navid , Bekaert David , Bushnell Mark
Published: April 2018

AbstractBuilding flood resilience in coastal communities requires a precise understanding of the temporal and spatial scales of inundation and the ability to detect and predict changes in flooding. In Hampton Roads, the Intergovernmental Pilot Project's Scientific Advisory Committee recommended an integrated network of ocean, earth, and atmospheric data collection from both private and public sector organizations that engage in active scientific monitoring and observing. Since its establishment, the network has grown to include monitoring of water levels, land subsidence, wave measurements, current measurements, and atmospheric conditions. High-resolution land elevation and land cover data sets have also been developed. These products have been incorporated into a number of portals and integrated tools to help support resilience planning. Significant challenges to building the network included establishing consistent data standards across organizations to allow for the integration of the data into multiple, unique products and funding the expansion of the network components. Recommendations to the network development in Hampton Roads include the need to continue to support and expand the publicly available network of sensors; enhance integration between ocean, earth, and atmospheric networks; and improve shallow water bathymetry data used in spatial flooding models.