bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigating the Maturity of Incident Investigations of the Ghanaian Mining Industry and Its Effect on Safety Performance
Authors: Stemn Eric , Bofinger Carmel , Cliff David , Hassall Maureen E.
Published: January 2019

Effective incident investigations have been recognised as a vital means of improving safety. Nevertheless, there has been little attempt to link incident investigations to actual safety performance. In this study, a framework for assessing the maturity of incident investigations and identifying areas for improvements is described. The framework was developed based on a literature review and interviews with 41 investigators across five large-scale Ghanaian gold mines. The framework consists of 20 elements across four dimensions and five maturity levels. The dimensions (investigator competencies, system of investigation, stages of investigation and post-investigation findings) consider the most relevant aspects of practical investigation and for each dimension, elements that are more specific were defined across five maturity levels. Mapping the interview data collected from five mines into a maturity framework highlighted that the mines occupied different positions on the framework. Some occupied the advanced levels consistently and others consistently occupied the lower levels. Applying the interview data to the framework also identified priority areas for improvement. Finally, the maturity scores derived from mapping interview data onto the framework were correlated with the incidence rates of the mines to determine if any relationship existed between the two variables. The low incidence rate mines had higher maturity scores and the high incidence rate mines had lower maturity scores. It was found that the method was effective in practice, giving clear indications of areas where improvements are needed.
Does Chinese Financial Market Information Promote Listed Manufacturing Firms’ Productivity?
Authors: Lai Fujun , Wang Qian , Feng Qingxiang
Published: January 2019

There have been many research studies that have examined the impact of financial development on economic growth, but few of them have explored this problem from the perspective of financial market information. In this paper, we investigate whether the stock price informativeness affect the listed firms’ sustainable growth by using the Chinese manufacturing listed companies’ data from 2007 to 2017. Specifically, we use the stock price nonsynchronicity and turnover rate to measure stock price informativeness, and the economic growth sustainability is proxied by the listed companies’ total factor productivity, which is the driving force of firms’ sustainable and steady growth. We find that higher stock price informativeness is associated with higher total factor productivity, no matter whether the stock price informativeness is proxied by the stock price nonsynchronicity or turnover rate. This finding is robust when we mitigate for endogeneity issues, and when we use the return on assets (ROA) as an alternative proxy for economic growth. Our results show that the stock price informativeness can significantly improve the total factor productivity of the listed companies, and play an important role in the sustainable development of listed manufacturing enterprises.
Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Case Study of Lis Valley Irrigation District, Portugal
Authors: Oliveira Maria de Fátima , Gomes da Silva Francisco , Ferreira Susana , Teixeira Margarida , Damásio Henrique , Dinis Ferreira António , Gonçalves José Manuel
Published: January 2019

The innovation of agricultural systems management is a determinant factor that guarantees adaptation to a new paradigm of global economy, environmental protection, and social requirements. The conventional concepts of innovation, applicable to new products and processes, do not consider many characteristics of the agricultural sector, such as social innovation and innovation resulting from new or renewed processes. Nevertheless, the overall impact of innovation on yields, competitiveness, and value can be hampered by the limited understanding or misinterpretation of Agriculture Innovation paradigms. For instance, the Rural Development Program (RDP) applies a restrict concept of innovation, being unable to embrace the full range of activities intended to implement new practices within the framework of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Stimulating innovation in agriculture demands a change in policy innovation of RDP in order to preserve natural resources and combine agricultural priorities and the rural environment with the concepts of innovation. This paper focuses on the different views of the concept of innovation within the Program of Operational Groups (OGs) of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI), analyzing the Portuguese case study of the Lis Valley Irrigation District whose main innovation objective was to achieve and implement new processes of water management aiming at the conservation of natural resources as well as sustainable social and economic agricultural development. The Portuguese experience highlights why the application of innovation in agriculture may not reach the desirable outcomes.
Towards a Smart and Sustainable City with the Involvement of Public Participation—The Case of Wroclaw
Authors: Bednarska-Olejniczak Dorota , Olejniczak Jarosław , Svobodová Libuše
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this article is to identify the directions and scope of inclusion of the residents’ participation into the concept of city’s sustainable development and the smart city concept, taking into account national and international conditions, on the basis of Wroclaw’s practices in 1998–2018. Many researchers have emphasized the necessity of including residents’ participation in both the smart city concept and the sustainable city development concept, but they do not focus on a coherent linking of these activities during evolution toward a sustainable smart city (SSC). The in-depth case study analysis considered, i.e., three subsequent Wroclaw development strategies (1998–2018) and implementation of the smart city concept in Wroclaw (2015–2018) with particular emphasis on the issue of public participation and sustainable development of the city. The results of study show that in the case of the developments in the activities of smart city and sustainable city development carried out by Wroclaw, it is possible to identify two different approaches to residents’ participation in city activities. In Wroclaw, ‘residents’ participation’ in the framework of the sustainable city development activities currently covers all theoretical levels of participation, while within the smart city activities it focuses mainly on the participatory budget and the limited use of ICT. The conducted research indicates that for the implementation of the SSC concept it would be important to integrate these approaches in order to ensure the full range of residents’ participation in accordance with theoretical postulates. The conducted analysis therefore covers mostly unexplored area of research, which is important from the point of view of a city’s evolution toward becoming a sustainable smart city. The conclusions from the research are also an empirical contribution to the analysis of the changes of cities towards SSC and indicate the need for further, extended research on the undertaken problem.
Investigation for the Decomposition of Carbon Emissions in the USA with C-D Function and LMDI Methods
Authors: Jiang Rui , Li Rongrong , Wu Qiuhong
Published: January 2019

Residual problems are one of the greatest challenges in developing new decomposition techniques, especially when combined with the Cobb–Douglas (C-D) production function and the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method. Although this combination technique can quantify more effects than LMDI alone, its decomposition result has residual value. We propose a new approach that can achieve non-residual decomposition by calculating the actual values of three key parameters. To test the proposed approach, we decomposed the carbon emissions in the United States to six driving factors: the labor input effect, the investment effect, the carbon coefficient effect, the energy structure effect, the energy intensity effect, and the technology state effect. The results illustrate that the sum of these factors is equivalent to the CO2 emissions changes from t to t-1, thereby proving non-residual decomposition. Given that the proposed approach can achieve perfect decomposition, the proposed approach can be used more widely to investigate the effects of labor input, investment, and technology state on changes in energy and emission.
Role of Civil Society in Sustainable Urban Renewal (Machizukuri) after the Kobe Earthquake
Authors: Mavrodieva Aleksandrina V. , Daramita Ratu Intan F. , Arsono Arki Y. , Yawen Luo , Shaw Rajib
Published: January 2019

‘Machizukuri’ is translated by most commentators as ‘place or city making’ and mainly refers to the direct participation of citizens into urban planning and construction. The present paper discusses the concept and evolution of machizukuri from a social movement to ‘soft-infrastructure’ at city level, focused on serving community needs in post-disaster settings. The 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe is chosen as the main case study, in order to review the role and process of machizukuri in disaster management in the context of urban renewal. This is followed by a discussion on the possibility of replicating this model in other contexts and the challenges which machizukuri and similar bottom-up groups are faced with in ensuring their sustainability. The paper argues that the culture and personal engagement of the citizens, and the commitment of national and local governments to cooperate with civil society groups, are essential in this process. Finally, the study suggests that the utilization of this concept has proved that there are undeniable benefits in engaging civil society in decision-making processes and initiatives, with the ultimate aim to create communities capable of overcoming the catastrophic consequences of disasters.
The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field
Authors: Corsini Filippo , Laurenti Rafael , Meinherz Franziska , Appio Francesco Paolo , Mora Luca
Published: January 2019

The application of practice theories in the domain of sustainability research in consumer studies is increasingly advocated based on the premise that this allows to analyse consumption as a social phenomenon. Consequently, the applications of social practice theories to this field are expanding geometrically and to date, little retrospective work on this evolution has been made. We conduct a bibliometric analysis of applications of practice theories in the domain of sustainability research in consumer studies. Our results show a temporal succession of research trends: ‘consumer identity’ dominated the field between 2009 and 2012, ‘business and governance’ between 2012 and 2014, ‘sustainable consumption and production’ between 2013 and 2014, ‘urban living and policy’ between 2014 and 2015 and ‘household energy’ from 2015 until the present. We see a high potential of future applications of practice theories in the fields of the sharing and circular economy, as well as in research on smart cities. We provide new insights into the evolution and future trends of applications of social practice theory to domains that are relevant for research on sustainability and consumer studies.
Drivers and Outcomes of Business Model Innovation—Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perspective
Authors: Pucihar Andreja , Lenart Gregor , Kljajić Borštnar Mirjana , Vidmar Doroteja , Marolt Marjeta
Published: January 2019

Business model innovation (BMI) is one of the key activities, which has to be continuously undertaken in every enterprise to sustain competitiveness in today’s digital economy. Although the interest in business models (BM) has risen significantly since the late 1990s, little is known about BMI practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), representing a majority of enterprises in the European market. Our study addresses this research gap and focuses on the investigation of drivers and outcomes of BMI in SMEs. A partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) method was used to empirically test the model using data collected in 2017 from 71 SMEs in Slovenia. Results have shown that the innovativeness of enterprises and their business environment has a positive impact on the level of BMI activities in the enterprises. However, this is not the case of fast developing and rapidly changing information technology. In addition, the results show that the level of BMI has a positive impact on BMI outcomes and further on overall business performance. The results contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of BMI activities in SMEs and offer useful insights to SMEs that intend to innovate their business model(s) and government to create a supportive environment.
A Vulnerability Assessment of Urban Emergency in Schools of Shanghai
Authors: Yin Jie , Jing Yameng , Yu Dapeng , Ye Mingwu , Yang Yuhan , Liao Banggu
Published: January 2019

Schools and students are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards, especially pluvial flooding in cities. This paper presents a scenario-based study that assesses the school vulnerability of emergency services (i.e., Emergency Medical Service and Fire & Rescue Service) to urban pluvial flooding in the city center of Shanghai, China through the combination of flood hazard analysis and GIS-based accessibility mapping. Emergency coverages and response times in various traffic conditions are quantified to generate school vulnerability under normal no-flood and 100-y pluvial flood scenarios. The findings indicate that severe pluvial flooding could lead to proportionate and linear impacts on emergency response provision to schools in the city. Only 11% of all the schools is predicted to be completely unreachable (very high vulnerability) during flood emergency but the majority of the schools would experience significant delay in the travel times of emergency responses. In this case, appropriate adaptations need to be particularly targeted for specific hot-spot areas (e.g., new urbanized zones) and crunch times (e.g., rush hours).
Equity Return Dispersion and Stock Market Volatility: Evidence from Multivariate Linear and Nonlinear Causality Tests
Authors: Demirer Riza , Gupta Rangan , Lv Zhihui , Wong Wing-Keung
Published: January 2019

We employ bivariate and multivariate nonlinear causality tests to document causality from equity return dispersion to stock market volatility and excess returns, even after controlling for the state of the economy. Expansionary (contractionary) market states are associated with a low (high) level of equity return dispersion, indicating asymmetries in the relationship between return dispersion and economic conditions. Our findings indicate that both return dispersion and business conditions are valid joint forecasters of stock market volatility and excess returns and that return dispersion possesses incremental information regarding future stock return dynamics beyond that which can be explained by the state of the economy.
Doing Well by Doing Good: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda for Sustainable Investment
Authors: Talan Gaurav , Sharma Gagan Deep
Published: January 2019

This paper conducts a systematic review of the research work in the field of sustainable investment for identifying research gaps and laying down research agenda for the future. Articles on sustainable investment published in journals indexed at the Web of Science during 1989 and 2018 (so far) are reviewed for the purpose of this research. A total of 225 papers were found through the search criteria, out of which 213 papers were selected for review. The paper identifies gaps in the literature that can be considered as opportunities for future study. The analysis of these articles led us to note the need for an agenda that can present a holistic framework of sustainable investment with lesser variations and increased acceptability. The research agenda proposed by the paper may help researchers in framing their research problems around the gaps identified. Sustainable investment is a potential solution to social and ecological issues by transforming the financial markets to have more accountability for their impacts. Therefore, it is important to carry out extensive research in this field so as to develop it as an applied field of investment. There has so far been no attempt to perform a systematic review in the field of sustainable investment for a period of 20 years, as has been made in this paper.
Understanding Stakeholder Perceptions of Acceptability and Feasibility of Formal and Informal Planting in Sheffield’s District Parks
Authors: Nam Jinvo , Dempsey Nicola
Published: January 2019

Parks are well-visited sites of an urban nature in our cities where users can gain positive social and ecological benefits from vegetation including trees, grass, flowering plants and shrubs. However, ongoing financial public sector budget pressure is adversely affecting the management and quality of parks in the UK, resulting in changing vegetation and planting practices. It is not clear how such changes might affect park users, indicating scope for better understanding of how planting in urban parks is perceived. This paper addresses this gap in knowledge by exploring perceptions held by users who experience vegetation in parks and those involved in the decision-making about planting therein. It examines the feasibility and acceptability of three different planting practices according to different stakeholders in Sheffield, UK. This paper calls on empirical data collected via questionnaire surveys with residents around six district parks, and interviews and focus groups with community groups and professionals to gain an understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions. The paper illustrates different attitudes towards formal and naturalistic (informal) planting, exploring a prevalent shift towards low-maintenance practices in green space management. The findings suggest a range of influences on feasibility and acceptability of planting practices, including the local park context and stakeholder perceptions of public opinion.
On a Generalization of the Initial-Boundary Problem for the Vibrating String Equation
Authors: Amanov Djumaklich , Ibragimov Gafurjan , Kılıçman Adem
Published: January 2019

In the present paper, we study a generalization of the initial-boundary problem for the inhomogeneous vibrating string equation. The initial conditions include the higher order derivatives of the unknown function. The problem is studied under homogeneous boundary conditions of the first kind. The uniqueness and existence of a regular solution of the problem are proved. To prove the main result we use the spectral decomposition method.
The Order of Strongly Starlikeness of the Generalized α-Convex Functions
Authors: Yuan Yuan , Srivastava Rekha , Liu Jin-Lin
Published: January 2019

We consider the order of the strongly-starlikeness of the generalized α -convex functions. Some sufficient conditions for functions to be p-valently strongly-starlike are given.
Design of Variable Sampling Plan for Pareto Distribution Using Neutrosophic Statistical Interval Method
Authors: Aslam Muhammad , Khan Nasrullah , AL-Marshadi Ali Hussein
Published: January 2019

The sampling plans have been widely used for the inspection of a lot of the product. In practice, the measurement data may be imprecise, uncertain, unclear or fuzzy. When there is uncertainty in the observations, the sampling plans designed using classical statistics cannot be applied for the inspection of a lot of the product. The neutrosophic statistic, which is the generalization of the classical statistics, can be used when data is not precise, uncertain, unclear or fuzzy. In this paper, we will design the variable sampling plan under the Pareto distribution using the neutrosophic statistics. We used the symmetry property of the normal distribution. We assume uncertainty in measurement data and sample size required for the inspection of a lot of the product. We will determine the neutrosophic plan parameters using the neutrosophic optimization problem. Some tables are given for practical use and are discussed with the help of an example.
Why Are Botulinum Neurotoxin-Producing Bacteria So Diverse and Botulinum Neurotoxins So Toxic?
Authors: Poulain Bernard , Popoff Michel R.
Published: January 2019

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are the most lethal toxins among all bacterial, animal, plant and chemical poisonous compounds. Although a great effort has been made to understand their mode of action, some questions are still open. Why, and for what benefit, have environmental bacteria that accidentally interact with their host engineered so diverse and so specific toxins targeting one of the most specialized physiological processes, the neuroexocytosis of higher organisms? The extreme potency of BoNT does not result from only one hyperactive step, but in contrast to other potent lethal toxins, from multi-step activity. The cumulative effects of the different steps, each having a limited effect, make BoNTs the most potent lethal toxins. This is a unique mode of evolution of a toxic compound, the high potency of which results from multiple steps driven by unknown selection pressure, targeting one of the most critical physiological process of higher organisms.
μCosmics: A Low-Cost Educational Cosmic Ray Telescope
Authors: Tsirigotis Apostolos G. , Leisos Antonios
Published: January 2019

The design and construction of a small-area, low-cost educational cosmic ray telescope is presented. It can be operated in high-school classrooms or university laboratories. The telescope consists of three small-area scintillation detectors with all the necessary electronics for powering, control, monitoring, and data acquisition. The calibration procedures and the performance of the telescope in reconstructing Extensive Air Showers are also presented.
Upgrade of the NA61/SHINE Facility beyond 2020 for an Expanded Physics Programme
Authors: Larsen Dag ,   on behalf of the NA61/SHINE collaboration
Published: January 2019

The NA61/SHINE experiment studies hadron production in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions. The physics programme includes the study of the onset of deconfinement and search for the critical point as well as reference measurements for neutrino and cosmic ray experiments. For strong interactions, future plans are to extend the programme of study of the onset of deconfinement by measurements of open-charm and possibly other short-lived, exotic particle production in nucleus-nucleus collisions. This new programme is planned to start after 2020 and requires upgrades to the present NA61/SHINE detector setup. Besides the construction of a large acceptance silicon detector, a 10-fold increase of the event recording rate is foreseen, which will necessitate a general upgrade of most detectors.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Universe in 2018
Authors:   Universe Editorial Office
Published: January 2019

Rigorous peer-review is the corner-stone of high-quality academic publishing [...]
Friend or Foe: The Role of the Cytoskeleton in Influenza A Virus Assembly
Authors: Bedi Sukhmani , Ono Akira
Published: January 2019

Influenza A Virus (IAV) is a respiratory virus that causes seasonal outbreaks annually and pandemics occasionally. The main targets of the virus are epithelial cells in the respiratory tract. Like many other viruses, IAV employs the host cell’s machinery to enter cells, synthesize new genomes and viral proteins, and assemble new virus particles. The cytoskeletal system is a major cellular machinery, which IAV exploits for its entry to and exit from the cell. However, in some cases, the cytoskeleton has a negative impact on efficient IAV growth. In this review, we highlight the role of cytoskeletal elements in cellular processes that are utilized by IAV in the host cell. We further provide an in-depth summary of the current literature on the roles the cytoskeleton plays in regulating specific steps during the assembly of progeny IAV particles.
Natural Products Isolated from Oriental Medicinal Herbs Inactivate Zika Virus
Authors: Batista Mariana N. , Braga Ana Cláudia S. , Campos Guilherme Rodrigues Fernandes , Souza Marcos Michel , Matos Renata Prandini Adum de , Lopes Tairine Zara , Candido Natalia Maria , Lima Maria Leticia Duarte , Machado Francielly Cristina , Andrade Stephane Tereza Queiroz de , Bittar Cíntia , Nogueira Maurício L. , Carneiro Bruno M. , Mariutti Ricardo B. , Arni Raghuvir Krishnaswamy , Calmon Marilia Freitas , Rahal Paula
Published: January 2019

Zika virus (ZIKV) has been associated with serious health conditions, and an intense search to discover different ways to prevent and treat ZIKV infection is underway. Berberine and emodin possess several pharmacological properties and have been shown to be particularly effective against the entry and replication of several viruses. We show that emodin and berberine trigger a virucidal effect on ZIKV. When the virus was exposed to 160 µM of berberine, a reduction of 77.6% in the infectivity was observed; when emodin was used (40 µM), this reduction was approximately 83.3%. Dynamic light scattering data showed that both compounds significantly reduce the hydrodynamic radius of virus particle in solution. We report here that berberine and emodin, two natural compounds, have strong virucidal effect in Zika virus.
The Robust Self-Assembling Tubular Nanostructures Formed by gp053 from Phage vB_EcoM_FV3
Authors: Šimoliūnas Eugenijus , Truncaitė Lidija , Rutkienė Rasa , Povilonienė Simona , Goda Karolis , Kaupinis Algirdas , Valius Mindaugas , Meškys Rolandas
Published: January 2019

The recombinant phage tail sheath protein, gp053, from Escherichia coli infecting myovirus vB_EcoM_FV3 (FV3) was able to self-assemble into long, ordered and extremely stable tubular structures (polysheaths) in the absence of other viral proteins. TEM observations revealed that those protein nanotubes varied in length (~10–1000 nm). Meanwhile, the width of the polysheaths (~28 nm) corresponded to the width of the contracted tail sheath of phage FV3. The formed protein nanotubes could withstand various extreme treatments including heating up to 100 °C and high concentrations of urea. To determine the shortest variant of gp053 capable of forming protein nanotubes, a set of N- or/and C-truncated as well as poly-His-tagged variants of gp053 were constructed. The TEM analysis of these mutants showed that up to 25 and 100 amino acid residues could be removed from the N and C termini, respectively, without disturbing the process of self-assembly. In addition, two to six copies of the gp053 encoding gene were fused into one open reading frame. All the constructed oligomers of gp053 self-assembled in vitro forming structures of different regularity. By using the modification of cysteines with biotin, the polysheaths were tested for exposed thiol groups. Polysheaths formed by the wild-type gp053 or its mutants possess physicochemical properties, which are very attractive for the construction of self-assembling nanostructures with potential applications in different fields of nanosciences.
Bovine Lactoferrin Prevents Influenza A Virus Infection by Interfering with the Fusogenic Function of Viral Hemagglutinin
Authors: Superti Fabiana , Agamennone Mariangela , Pietrantoni Agostina , Ammendolia Maria Grazia
Published: January 2019

Bovine lactoferrin (bLf) is an iron-binding glycoprotein folded in two symmetric globular lobes (N- and C-lobes) with potent antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. Recently, we have shown that bLf, and in particular its C-lobe, interacts with influenza A virus hemagglutinin and prevents infection by different H1 and H3 viral subtypes. Influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA), and in particular its highly conserved fusion peptide involved in the low-pH-mediated fusion process, plays a significant role in the early steps of viral infection and represents an attractive target for the development of anti-influenza drugs. In the present research, we further investigated the influence of low pH on the interactions between bLf and influenza A H1N1 virus by different techniques, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, electron microscopy, hemolysis inhibition assay, and time course assay. Our results demonstrate that lactoferrin interaction with influenza hemagglutinin at low pH induces alterations that stabilize the conformation of the hemagglutinin, resulting in the inhibition of the fusion peptide activity. Taken together, our data allowed to better characterize the HA-specific inhibiting activity of bLf and to confirm HA as a good target for drug development.
Survey of Pain Knowledge and Analgesia in Dogs and Cats by Colombian Veterinarians
Authors: Morales-Vallecilla Carlos , Ramírez Nicolas , Villar David , Díaz Maria Camila , Bustamante Sandra , Ferguson Duncan
Published: January 2019

A questionnaire study was conducted among 131 veterinarians practicing in the city of Medellin, Colombia, to assess views on pain evaluation and management in dogs and cats. When pain recognition and quantification abilities were used as a perceived competence of proper pain assessment, only 83/131 (63.4%, confidence interval (CI) 0.55–0.72) were deemed to have satisfactory skills, with the rest considered to be deficient. There were 49/131 (37.4) veterinarians who had participated in continuing education programs and were more confident assessing pain, with an odds ratio (±standard error) of 2.84 ± 1.15 (p = 0.01; CI 1.27–6.32). In addition, the odds of using pain scales was 4.28 ± 2.17 (p < 0.01, CI 1.58–11.55) greater if they had also participated in continuing education programs. The term multimodal analgesia was familiar to 77 (58.7%) veterinarians who also claimed to use more than one approach to pain control. Nevertheless, homeopathy was the preferred alternative approach in 71/77 (92%). There were major misconceptions on side effects and/or contraindications for use of opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by most veterinarians. In addition, the lack of multimodal analgesia by at least 40% of the practitioners, combined with heavy reliance on weak analgesics (i.e., tramadol) or those with no proven record of efficacy (homeopathic remedies), denotes major deficits in education at the undergraduate level and a need for additional continuing education designed to fulfill the gaps in knowledge identified in this study, and overcome ideological convictions not supported by scientific evidence.
Effect of Mimic Vegetation with Different Stiffness on Regular Wave Propagation and Turbulence
Authors: Tan Chao , Huang Bensheng , Liu Da , Qiu Jing , Chen Hui , Li Yulong , Hu Zhan
Published: January 2019

Flume experiments were performed to test four plant mimics with different stiffness to reveal the effect of plant stiffness on the wave dissipation and turbulence process. The mimics were built of silica gel rod groups, and their bending elastic modulus was measured as a proxy for stiffness. The regular wave velocity distribution, turbulence characteristics, and wave dissipation effect of different groups were studied in a flume experiment. Results show that, when a wave ran through the flexible rod groups, the velocity period changed gradually from unimodal to bimodal, and the secondary wave peak was more apparent in the more flexible mimics. The change in the turbulence intensity in the different rod groups showed that the higher the rod stiffness, the greater the turbulence intensity. With an increase in the bending elastic modulus of a rod group, the wave dissipation coefficient increased. The increase in the wave dissipation coefficient was not linearly correlated with the bending elastic modulus, but it was sensitive within a certain range of the elastic modulus.
Five-Year Experimental Study on Effectiveness and Sustainability of a Dry Drainage System for Controlling Soil Salinity
Authors: Wang Changshu , Wu Jingwei , Zeng Wenzhi , Zhu Yan , Huang Jiesheng
Published: January 2019

The dry drainage system (DDS) is an alternative technique for controlling salinization. To quantify its role in soil salinity control, a five-year field observation from 2007 to 2011 was completed in a 2900 ha experimental plot in Yonglian Experimental Station, Hetao Irrigation District, China. Results showed that the groundwater table depth in the fallow areas quickly responded to the lateral recharge from the surrounding croplands during irrigation events. The groundwater electrical conductivity (GEC) of fallow areas increased from 5 mS·cm−1 to 15 mS·cm−1, whereas the GEC below croplands produced small fluctuations. The analysis of water and salt balance showed that the excess water that moved to fallow was roughly four times that moved by an artificial drainage system and with 7.7 times the corresponding salt. The fallow areas act as a drainage repository to receive excess water and salt from surrounding irrigated croplands. Slight salt accumulation occurred in irrigated croplands and salts accumulated, with an accelerating trend over the final two years. The evaporation capability weakened, partly due to the salt crust in the topsoil, and the decrease in soil permeability in the soil column, which was almost impermeable to water. Using halophytes may be an effective method to remove salts that have accumulated in fallow areas, having great economic and ecological value. A DDS may be effective and sustainable in situations where the fallow areas can sustain an upward capillary flux from planted halophytes.
Coupling Riverbank Filtration with Reverse Osmosis May Favor Short Distances between Wells and Riverbanks at RBF Sites on the River Danube in Hungary
Authors: Salamon Endre , Goda Zoltán
Published: January 2019

Bank filtration and other managed aquifer recharge techniques have extensive application in drinking water production throughout the world. Although the quality of surface water improves during these natural processes, residence time in the aquifer and length of the flow paths are critical factors. A wide range of data is available on the physical–chemical processes and hydraulic conditions, but there is limited knowledge about the top layer of the porous media. An investigation was conducted on the hydraulic behavior and on the change of microbiological indicator parameters in the filter cake. The purpose of the experiment was to: (1) investigate if the reverse osmosis is sustainable when fed with only slow filtered water, and (2) show that a short travel distance can provide extensive pathogen removal and beneficial conditions for the reverse osmosis. A slow sand filter was operated over a one-year long period while changes in head loss and microbiological parameters were being monitored. Head loss and membrane permeability were monitored between 3 November 2016 and 24 October 2018 and microbiological sampling was performed from 19 July 2017 to 6 November 2018. The filtered water was fed to a reverse osmosis (RO) filter as the water above the sand filter had been spiked with dissolved iron. Results show that even a thin biofilm cake of 1–3 mm thickness can result in a significant (10–100%) reduction in microbiological activity in the infiltrate, while favorable short retention times and oxic conditions are maintained. Avoiding anoxic conditions, subsequent iron and manganese dissolution and precipitation is beneficial for membrane processes. Building on these results, it can be stated that when reverse osmosis is directly fed with slow filtered or bank filtered water, (1) a short distance from the surface water body is required to avoid dissolved iron and manganese from entering the groundwater and (2) proper pathogen rejection can be achieved even over short distances.
Long-Term Ecological Health Assessment of a Restored Urban Stream Based on Chemical Water Quality, Physical Habitat Conditions and Biological Integrity
Authors: Kim Jung-Jae , Atique Usman , An Kwang-Guk
Published: January 2019

We studied the chemical water quality, physical habitat and biotic integrity of an urban stream subjected to restoration measures in South Korea. We used the water pollution index (WPI), qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI) and index of biotic integrity (IBI) on the water quality, physical habitat and fish assemblage data respectively, during 2007–2016 in Gap Stream to evaluate the ecological health before and after restoration measures. The results revealed annual mean total phosphorus (TP) dramatically decreased by 13-fold for 10 years and the values of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) also decreased by >50% over the time, indicating decrease in nutrient enrichment and organic matter pollution after restoration measures. In the meantime, biological health analyses using IBI indicated no major transformation in fish assemblages under restoration impact. However, the proportion of sensitive species increased, and tolerant species decreased after restoration. Gap stream is home to 50 distinct fish species. QHEI proposed that the physical habitat health was in ‘good’ condition during the study period. WPI showed the chemical water quality status remained ‘poor’ during and before restoration but improved to ‘fair-good’ condition in the ensuing years after restoration. The IBI results, however, indicated ‘very poor-poor’ biotic integrity irrespective of restoration measures. CHL-a and TP showed strong (r < 0.7) to moderately strong (r = 0.5–0.7) correlation with significantly important water quality factors. Spatially significant pattern change in TN and TP was obvious as measured levels were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in downstream than upstream. Principal component analysis successfully indicated the placement of water quality factors and indices used as in three distinct stream compartments. The higher pollutant levels in the downstream mainly linked to the nutrient-rich effluents from emerging from the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and industrial complexes operative in the stream catchment. Overall, restoration measures indicated minor impact on fish assemblages and physical habitat due to slow and steady improvement, however, water quality improved due to a decline of nutrients and chemicals downstream. This indicated a positive tendency of improvements in physical habitat and richness of fish assemblages in Gap Stream.
Sediment Grain-Size Characteristics and its Sources of Ten Wind-Water Coupled Erosion Tributaries (the Ten Kongduis) in the Upper Yellow River
Authors: Yang Hui , Shi Changxing
Published: January 2019

Understanding the composition and sources of deposited sediments in watersheds has great significance on exploring the processes of sediment erosion and deposition, and controlling soil losses in rivers. In this paper, we investigate the grain-size composition parameters and their reflections on sediment erosion, transport and deposition processes in the Ten Kongduis, which are large arroyos carrying a large volume of coarse sediment into the upper Yellow River. The sediments delivered by the Ten Kongduis come from three kinds of sources, including the clasolite (mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate) and loess in the upstream reaches and the aeolian sand in the middle stream reaches. A portion of the sediments is carried to the Yellow River and another portion is deposited in the alluvial fans in the lower reaches of the kongduis. We found two types of deposits in the drilling cores on the alluvial fans and in the sediment profiles, i.e., the sediments deposited by hyperconcentrated flows and those by non-hyperconcentrated or ordinary sediment-laden flows. The deposits of hyperconcentrated flows were only found in some natural sediment profiles exposed on the riverbank slopes. They have a mean size in a narrow range of 0.016-0.063 mm but are very or extremely poorly sorted according to nine samples collected from four kongduis. Most of the sediments carried by the non-hyperconcentrated flows have a mean grain size in the range of 0.05–0.25 mm. We calculated the contributions of sediment from the sources using the grain-size fingerprint method based on grain-size data of the sediment sources and deposits in the alluvial fans for both the hyperconcentrated flows and non-hyperconcentrated flows. It was found that a proportion of 69% or above of sediment carried by the hyperconcentrated flows mainly comes from the clasolite and loess strata in the upper reaches, and 8%–31% from the desert in the middle reaches. The clasolite and loess strata contribute 64%, on average, of the particles above 0.05 mm carried by the hyperconcentrated flows, and the desert in the middle reaches contributes the other 36% or so. The sediments carried by non-hyperconcentrated flows down to the alluvial fans come from the clasolite, loess and dune sand in different proportions in different kongduis with the contributions of both clasolite and dune sand being related roughly to the ratio of upper drainage area to the width of desert in the middle reaches of kongduis. Over 90% of the sediments carried by the non-hyperconcentrated flows into the Yellow River are below 0.05 mm.
Catchment Hydrological Modeling with Soil Thermal Dynamics during Seasonal Freeze-Thaw Cycles
Authors: Pradhan Nawa Raj , Downer Charles W. , Marchenko Sergei
Published: January 2019

To account for the seasonal changes in the soil thermal and hydrological dynamics, the soil moisture state physical process defined by the Richards Equation is integrated with the soil thermal state defined by the numerical model of phase change based on the quasi-linear heat conductive equation. The numerical model of phase change is used to compute a vertical soil temperature profile using the soil moisture information from the Richards solver; the soil moisture numerical model, in turn, uses this temperature and phase, information to update hydraulic conductivities in the vertical soil moisture profile. Long-term simulation results from the test case, a head water sub-catchment at the peak of the Caribou Poker Creek Research Watershed, representing the Alaskan permafrost active region, indicated that freezing temperatures decreases infiltration, increases overland flow and peak discharges by increasing the soil ice content and decaying the soil hydraulic conductivity exponentially. Available observed and the simulated soil temperature comparison analysis showed that the root mean square error for the daily maximum soil temperature at 10-cm depth was 4.7 °C, and that for the hourly soil temperature at 90-cm and 300-cm was 0.17 °C and 0.14 °C, respectively.
The Dynamics of Water Wells Efficiency Reduction and Ageing Process Compensation
Authors: Polak Krzysztof , Górecki Kamil , Kaznowska-Opala Karolina
Published: January 2019

Water wells play an increasingly important role in providing water for the civilian population all over the world. Like other engineering structures, wells are subject to ageing processes resulting in degradation, which is observed as a reduction in hydraulic efficiency throughout their lifespan. To date, it has been found that the ageing process of a well is determined by a number of factors. The mathematical description of this process can be simplified. Drawing on Jacob’s equation, this paper presents the course of the degradation process as a variable depending on operation time, well loss and flow rate. To apply the determined relationships in practice, simplifying assumptions were adopted, which make it possible to determine the moment of ageing compensations of the degradation processes. It was also demonstrated that the degradation process may be slowed down by the appropriate selection of initial operating parameters. The presented discussion highlights the significance of parameters α, δ and exponent β. The relation between hydraulic resistances in an aquifer and in the engineering structure is closely connected with these values. The presented arguments indicate that step drawdown tests provide the necessary information which allows tracking changes in the ageing processes occurring in the engineering structure. The analysis of the drawdown test results makes it possible to determine the moment when the necessary adjustments in the operating parameters of a water well should be performed. Eventually, it allows maintaining the high hydraulic efficiency of the intake and extending the lifespan of the well in accordance with the principle of sustainability.
Determination of Tile Drain Discharge under Variable Hydraulic Conditions
Authors: Szejba Daniel , Bajkowski Sławomir
Published: January 2019

The aim of this study was an investigation of tile drain flow velocity under variable hydraulic conditions and of tile drain discharge using an ultrasonic flow meter. There is an essential variance between velocity values measured by an ultrasonic flow meter and reference values determined by a laboratory method. Differences result from specific measurement conditions, which appear in drainage pipe systems. The values of velocity measured by ultrasonic flow meters were higher than the reference values for three examined flow phases: Free, transient, and pressured flow. The discharge from a tile drain working on a partially filled up pipe in no-pressure conditions should be calculated by an adapted equation based on the California pipe method, whereas the discharge from a completely filled up drain pipe working over pressure should be calculated as a ratio between 0.428 times the measured velocity and the pipe cross-section area.
Combination of River Bank Filtration and Solar-driven Electro-Chlorination Assuring Safe Drinking Water Supply for River Bound Communities in India
Authors: Otter Philipp , Malakar Pradyut , Sandhu Cornelius , Grischek Thomas , Sharma Sudhir Kumar , Kimothi Prakash Chandra , Nüske Gabriele , Wagner Martin , Goldmaier Alexander , Benz Florian
Published: January 2019

The supply of safe drinking water in rural developing areas is still a matter of concern, especially if surface water, shallow wells, and wells with non-watertight headworks are sources for drinking water. Continuously changing raw water conditions, flood and extreme rainfall events, anthropogenic pollution, and lacking electricity supply in developing regions require new and adapted solutions to treat and render water safe for distribution. This paper presents the findings of a pilot test conducted in Uttarakhand, India, where a river bank filtration (RBF) well was combined with a solar-driven and online-monitored electro-chlorination system, treating fecal-contaminated Ganga River water. While the RBF well provided nearly turbidity- and pathogen-free water as well as buffered fluctuations in source water qualities, the electro-chlorination system provided disinfection based on the inline conversion of chloride to hypochlorous acid. The conducted sampling campaigns provided complete disinfection (>6.7 log) and the adequate supply of residual disinfectant (0.27 ± 0.17 mg/L). The system could be further optimized to local conditions and allows the supply of microbial-safe water for river bound communities, even during monsoon periods and under the low natural chloride regimes typical for this region.