bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus: The Azerbaijan Perspective
Authors: Alieva Leila
Published: February 2025

This paper analyses the evolution of Azerbaijan's position on regional cooperation since its independence. It argues that unresolved conflict regarding Nagorno Karabagh has been constantly defining Azerbaijan's view on regional cooperation. Facing the necessity to resolve its major security issue, while at the same time sustain its independence and build strategic alliances, Azerbaijan developed a multilayered foreign policy. Rich with natural resources, Azerbaijan has skillfully used this asset to become a key actor in shaping regional cooperation, creating alliances with the states with similar foreign policy orientations and security concerns. This cooperation was strongly securitized. As there was little progress in terms of resolution of the conflict, Azerbaijan remained devoted to the alliances and strategic direction of its integration. However, the substance of this cooperation was changing depending on security in the region, the political backgrounds of leaders and economic growth caused by the inflow of oil revenues, affecting the degree and nature of participation in regional organizations and energy policy. Geopolitical changes, which started to be observed after the Russia-Georgia war, such as Turkish-Armenia rapprochement, will have little effect on the nature of regional cooperation, if and while the major conflict preventing the states from comprehensive economic cooperation is separated from the process of reconciliation.
Rural Conditions in the Caucasus and Labour Migration
Authors: Göksel Nigar
Published: February 2025

Economic growth particularly between 2003 and 2008 in the Caucasus has generally reduced poverty and improved life conditions significantly compared to the 90s. However, this growth has impacted the opportunities of the rural populations only to a limited extent. All three Caucasus countries have a high rural/urban ratio as well as higher rates of poverty among their rural populations. Drawing upon field research, this essay describes the socioeconomic conditions in the South Caucasus republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) that motivate labour migration. In the first section, the trends of post-Soviet transition which brought about common challenges to inhabitants of the rural areas are described. Consequently, the general economic trends of each country is elaborated on, shedding light on how national policies have impacted rural opportunities. Given the Soviet legacy of guaranteed employment regardless of commercial viability and the linking of markets though a command economy, the employment rates of that era may not be expected however there is room, and need for more attention from state institutions and more targeted policies towards the countryside. The focus in the case of Armenia is on the structural distortions of the economy that lead to strong dependence on contributions from abroad to sustain the livelihood of rural families. In Azerbaijan, the effect of recent years' striking economic development on rural conditions is zoomed into. And in Georgia, how the policy experiments of the Rose Revolution influenced the opportunities and challenges of rural residents, and the political consequences thereof is examined.
Prospects for Liberal State in the South Caucasus (Interplay of Principles and Security Considerations)
Authors: Darchiashvili David
Published: February 2025

The South Caucasus states are not consolidated liberal-democracies, but liberalization attempts and prospects are rather visible there. The Georgian case is particularly interesting in this respect. At the same time, the interdependence of these states, stemming from historical complexities of amity/enmity, as well as modern economic or other imperatives, will make success in one of them positively resonate within others. But to speculate about the foreseeable prospects or think of relevant policies, one has to analyze different external and internal factors. The main challenge for the liberalization agenda of Georgia, which might also be of relevance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, arises from the complex political and ideological reality: 1) Pre-modern indigenous forces resist modernization from within; 2) Russia, which challenges the sovereignty and freedom of choice of its “Near Abroad,” exploits possibilities to ally with those forces. It is also dictated by ideological and social sympathies, since the Russian model of today has some feudal overtones; 3) Postmodern conditions, namely the ability of media-technologies to “create” reality, are exploited by local pre-modern or foreign revisionist actors in a destabilizing manner; 4) Post-national, postmodern imperatives limit the state's discretion to act according to security requirements.
Psychological Aspects of Terrorism
Authors: Ruggiero Giovanni Maria  , Sassaroli Sandra
Published: February 2025

This work illustrates the social and psychological factors underlying the ideological sympathy for terrorism, in order to create an intense exchange of views between hypotheses coming from the field of anthropology, sociology, social psychology and cognitive psychology. The authors attempt to identify social, cultural and psychological factors of ideological opposition against western societies, opposition which could increase moral support to and even inclination towards terrorism. The most influential identified factors are perceived injustice, need for identity, need for belonging, cultural clash, and difficult integration. A specific population at risk is the particular social and psychological condition of the children of immigrants.
Radicalisation as a Constructive Choice: Possible Research Directions
Authors: Winter David
Published: February 2025

This chapter will consider radicalisation from the perspective of George Kelly's (1955/1991) personal construct theory. The theory asserts that people are primarily concerned with anticipating their worlds, which they do by developing hierarchically organised systems of personal constructs. Difficulty in anticipating the world is associated with feelings of anxiety and alienation. Radicalisation is more likely in individuals who have difficulty in predicting their worlds, perhaps because their construing is inconsistent with a culture's shared meanings, and/or have a less stable self-construction. Radicalisation is associated with an extreme negative construction of a hated group. The construction of the hated group provides radicalised individuals with a construct system that offers greater structure and predictive power and, therefore, provides more meaning to life than would exist if this construction were absent.
Defining Objectives for Future Research into Radicalization and Terrorism among European Muslims
Authors: Sedgwick Mark
Published: February 2025

Two problems need to be addressed in the field of contemporary phenomena of radicalization and Islamist terrorism in Europe. One problem for the researcher is that actual terrorist activity by Europeans with immigration backgrounds is rare. The second problem is that both “terrorism” and “radicalization” are terms the meaning of which is contested. This paper discusses these problems, and propose a distinction between two varieties of phenomena. On the one hand, there are direct security threats posed by a small number of individual Europeans with immigration backgrounds. On the other hand, there is the much larger milieu from which such individuals emerge. This distinction makes possible the identification of two sets of factors and processes: those producing the milieu and those producing the direct security threats, which do not benefit from this law.
Choc of Civilisations and New Muslim Migrants
Authors: Campani Giovanna
Published: February 2025

The aim of the paper is to overcome the culturalist approach and the dichotomy “tradition-modernity” in the study of Muslim minorities in Europe and, in particular, in the diagnostic of predictors for the shift of a tiny minority towards jihadist terrorism through violent salafism. The paper presents a series of biographical interviews of “new” Muslim migrants, mainly from Maghrebian countries –both potential migrants from Muslim countries (persons who are about to migrate) and immigrants in France, Italy and Spain that have arrived in the last ten to fifteen years. Fifty interviews with Maghrebian migrants or potential migrants have been collected in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Belgium, Italy and Spain by a research group of the University of Paris VIII. 25 interviews with immigrants from Africa in Italy have been collected by the University of Florence team in the project PRIMTS. Far from expressing rejection in face of the West and Western values, far from expressing any form of nostalgia for the “tradition”, the eighty-five biographical interviews reveal a largely positive image of Europe.
Situational Influences on Sympathy for Radical Beliefs: The Contributions of Anger and Socioeconomic Status
Authors: Suchday Sonia  , Latzer Yael
Published: February 2025

This study explores many potential predictors of terrorist behavior. These can be categorized into a) Context, which includes difficulties that derive from life circumstances such as poverty and inaccessibility to even basic resources such as food, clothing, and shelter and more complex resources like health care and education. Another important contextual factor includes immigration, which is a complex process of adapting to a new country, creating a new life and identity, finding a source of livelihood, creating a support network, identifying systemic supports; b) Situation: This refers to specific incidents that are peculiar to individuals' lives. These include events that might provoke a coping response that is not healthy or helpful; c) Developmental Factors, which includes difficulties with school including academic and social difficulties. It also includes difficulties with work and having trouble either finding a job that is satisfying, having unrealistic assessment of skills, and not finding the job adequate to expectations, etc; and d) Personality: An important personality characteristic associated with terrorist behavior may be hostility or a suspicious, cynical world view that experiences the world as a hostile place where circumstances and people are stacked against the individual.
How to study the structure and dynamics of protein-RNA complexes by NMR spectroscopy
Authors: Schubert Mario  , Dominguez Cyril  , Duss Olivier  , Ravindranathan Sapna  , Allain Frédéric H.-T.
Published: February 2025

The role of protein-RNA recognition is fundamental to many biological processes, protein-RNA interaction being at the heart of every molecular mechanisms controlling post-transcriptional gene expression. Deciphering the 3D structures of protein-RNA complexes is therefore of high significance. RNA binding proteins are very abundant in all kingdoms of life and often embed one to several small RNA binding domains. Since these domains often act as independent units, NMR spectroscopy is ideally suited to study the structure and dynamics of such domains in complex with their RNA targets. We review here how NMR spectroscopy has been used to solve the structure of more than fifty protein-RNA complexes and to understand for a few their dynamics.
From Concurrency Models to Numbers
Authors: Hermanns Holger  , Zhang Lijun
Published: February 2025

Discrete-state Markov processes are very common models used for performance and dependability evaluation of, for example, distributed information and communication systems. Over the last fifteen years, compositional model construction and model checking algorithms have been studied for these processes, and variations thereof, especially processes incorporating nondeterministic choices. In this paper we give a survey of model checking and compositional model construction for such processes in discrete and continuous time.
Model-Based Verification and Analysis for Real-Time Systems
Authors: Fahrenberg Uli  , Larsen Kim G.  , Thrane Claus
Published: February 2025

This article aims at providing a concise and precise Traveler's Guide, Phrase Book or Reference Manual to the timed automata modeling formalism introduced by Alur and Dill [7, 8]. The paper gives comprehensive definitions of timed automata, priced (or weighted) timed automata, and timed games and highlights a number of results on associated decision problems related to model checking, equivalence checking, optimal scheduling, and the existence of winning strategies.
Engineering Evolving and Self-Adaptive Systems: An Overview
Authors: Ghezzi Carlo
Published: February 2025

This paper focuses on software systems that are subject to continuous evolution, because of changes in the environment in which they are embedded and because of changes in the requirements. Evolution traditionally requires human-intensive re-design and re-deployment of (parts of) an existing system. Increasingly, however, systems are expected to be able to continue to operate as changes occur, and to self-adapt their behavior to continue to provide service. Furthermore, systems are expected to achieve this flexibility without compromising the required level of dependability of the service offered.
Branching on Split Disjunctions
Authors: Nannicini Giacomo  , Cornuéjols Gérard  , Karamanov Miroslav  , Liberti Leo
Published: February 2025

Branch-and-Cut is the most commonly used algorithm for solving Integer and Mixed-Integer Linear Programs. In order to reduce the number of nodes that have to be enumerated before optimality of a solution can be proven, branching on general disjunctions (i.e., split disjunctions involving more than one variable, as opposed to branching on simple disjunctions defined on one variable only) was shown to be very effective on particular classes of instances, but not much work has been done to study general purpose methods of this kind. In this paper, we survey known results related to this line of research, and we study the relationship between branching and cutting from a split disjunction.
Facility Location: Discrete Models and Local Search Methods
Authors: Kochetov Yury
Published: February 2025

Discrete location theory is one of the most dynamic areas of operations research. We present the basic mathematical models used in this field, as well as their properties and relationship with pseudo-Boolean functions. We also investigate the theory of PLS-complete problems, average and worst case computational complexity of the local search algorithms, and approximate local search. Finally, we discuss computationally difficult test instances and promising directions for further research.
Human Smuggling in and Through Bulgaria
Authors: Veltchev Boris
Published: February 2025

Channels for illegal people trafficking cross Bulgaria mainly due to its geographical location. Bulgaria appears to be one of the important points of entry for illegal immigration through Turkey from Asian countries to the countries of the EU. It should not be forgotten that illegal immigration includes the transaction of large amounts of money in the hands of criminal groups which control the people trafficking organizations and encourage corruption, frauds and exploitation of immigrants' labor. Alarming is the fact that people trafficking is supposed to take the second place of profitableness among illegal businesses after firearm sales. There is a clear will in Bulgaria to investigate this type of criminality so that, in the quickest and most effective way, the organizers of illegal people trafficking, with a properly prepared indictment, will be surrendered to the court. But only with joint and purposeful efforts, we could hope to overcome the phenomenon.
Mafia Export
Authors: Forgione Francesco
Published: February 2025

For democracies such as in the European Union, the word “union” loses its meaning if it is not underpinned by common public ethical values. The fight against organised crime is a major battle of democracy and citizenship, which pass through a new set of ethics in the field of public service. Obviously, we are referring to criminal phenomena which call into question a system of cover-ups and collusion with corrupt political bodies, institutions and border control bodies. Criminal gangs from Eastern Europe have similar characteristics to the Italian mafia. The bonds between members, the law of silence, the collusion and relationships maintained with the political sphere and with some police force institutions are all points in common. This is why there is a need for the construction of a minimum levels of common legislation, shared common principles concerning legal citizenship and knowledge of criminal phenomena, and forms of investigative coordination. But the use of law and order measures alone does not go far enough. We need to use the right kind of social, political and economic cooperation to tackle the so-called “expulsion factors” which force people to leave their homeland, enhance victim's protection. In putting the market and the business sector before all else, globalisation have led to a reduction in scope for legal action and a scaling down of the mechanism for oversight the international economy. There is an urgent need to develop transparency in the economy and the financial sector. The concept of a kind of “social peril” associated with assets and wealth in order to achieve a procedural separation between personal prevention measures and asset prevention measures would speed up the process of seizure and confiscation of assets, by separating it from legal proceedings and the times required for criminal trials. Besides, we need to have mutual recognition of confiscation at European level.
Italian Mafia's in Belgium. Past and Present
Authors: Lottefier Jean-Luc
Published: February 2025

Any strategy aimed at the visible threat of terrorism which does not consider the elusive threat of criminal organizations is bound to fail. The presence of members of the Italian mafia in Belgium has a long history. Belgium plays a pivotal role for criminal organizations. As crossroad in the middle of Western Europe, it provides easy access to many other countries. Antwerp and its harbor is another asset for overseas connections. Italian mafia organizations have their representatives in Belgium, and in some other European countries Even though the collaboration between Italian mafias and Russian criminal organizations in Belgium seem less visible than with the Albanians and Kosovars one's, there are many signs that they truly do exist.
Cost/Benefit Analysis of an Adherence Support Framework for Chronic Disease Management
Authors: Wickramasinghe Kumari  , Georgeff Michael  , Guttmann Christian  , Thomas Ian  , Schmidt Heinz
Published: February 2025

Chronic disease is identified as one of the main causes of all deaths worldwide and adversely affects the economy through huge healthcare costs and human capital losses. These outcomes can be ameliorated if patients and their healthcare providers adhere to the care plans developed for the patients' chronic condition. This paper proposes a framework for adherence support based on (1) continuous monitoring and recognition of possible deviations from plan; (2) determination of the cause of the possible deviation; and (3) generation of an appropriate to assist patients and their healthcare providers avoid plan failure. The framework and findings are generalised to include agents in any domain that adopts similar behaviour monitoring and intervention mechanisms. A cost/benefit analysis is performed under different settings using a number of theoretical and simulation studies. The theoretical analysis serves to: (1) establish the general principles of intervention; and (2) provide a basis for validating the simulation results. The agents are modelled as Belief Desire Intention (BDI) agents and different modes of failure (“deficits”) and interventions are characterised in these terms. The simulation code was shown to produce results compatible with the theoretical analysis and has the potential to be used for other settings and domains for which a theoretical analysis is difficult.
Towards Adaptive and User-Centric Smart Home Applications
Authors: Khalili Amir Hossein  , Wu Chen  , Aghajan Hamid
Published: February 2025

In this chapter we discuss the system requirements and components of an adaptive smart-home service system. To achieve adaptivity in providing services to the user, the system needs to 1) sense the activity and state of the user and 2) customize service to the user's profile. To achieve this, three functional parts are developed and described. In the first part, we present behavior analysis of the user in a home environment based on multi-camera vision processing. In the second part, the concept of user profile is introduced and hierarchical reinforcement learning is employed as a technique to learn the user profile dynamically. The third part of the chapter discusses how to employ the user profile to control services to maximize user comfort and utility. Future work is discussed in conclusion.
Well-Being in Physical Information Spacetime: Philosophical Observations on the Use of Pervasive Computing for Supporting Good Life
Authors: Artmann Stefan
Published: February 2025

The paper discusses, from a philosophical perspective, the use of Pervasive Computing for supporting the well-being of humans. Philosophy can help computer scientists who are working in this area, to resolve conceptual problems, to take up a considered position concerning ethical issues, and to define clear technological principles. Drawing on the philosophical tradition of pragmatism, questions addressed in the paper are: How is the technological research programme of Pervasive Computing to be defined? How are humans and systems of Pervasive Computing to be modelled as intelligent agents? How do we understand the behaviour of agents as intentional? How is the interaction of humans and systems of Pervasive Computing to be analyzed? How can we define the well-being of intelligent agents? How should systems of Pervasive Computing be designed if they ought to support the well-being of humans?
KopAL – An Orientation System For Patients With Dementia
Authors: Fudickar Sebastian  , Schnor Bettina  , Felber Juliane  , Neyer Franz J.  , Lenz Mathias  , Stede Manfred
Published: February 2025

As a result of the aging societies in the western world, the impact of dementia, with its characteristics like disorientation and obliviousness is becoming a significant problem to an increasing amount of persons and the health system. To enable such dementia patients to regain a self determined life, we have developed a mobile orientation system called KopAL that assists dementia patients in every day problems, like remembering appointments, keeping track within their familiar surroundings as well as informing caretakers in critical situations, with a focus on minimal operational costs and a speech based human computer interface.
Estrogen, Progesterone and Hippocampal Plasticity in Rodent Models
Authors: Foy Michael R.  , Baudry Michel  , Brinton Roberta Diaz  , Thompson Richard F.
Published: February 2025

Accumulating evidence indicates that ovarian hormones regulate a wide variety of non-reproductive functions in the central nervous system by interacting with several molecular and cellular processes. A growing animal literature using both adult and aged rodent models indicates that 17β-estradiol (E2), the most potent of the biologically relevant estrogens, and progesterone (P4), a major naturally occurring progestogen, facilitate some forms of learning and memory, in particular those that involve hippocampal-dependent tasks. A recently developed triple-transgenic mouse (3xTg-AD) has been widely used as an animal model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as this mouse exhibits an age-related and progressive neuropathological phenotype that includes both plaque and tangle pathology mainly restricted to hippocampus, amygdala and cerebral cortex. In this report, we examine recent studies that compare the effects of ovarian hormones on synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity in adult and aged rodents. A better understanding of the non-reproductive functions of ovarian hormones has farreaching implications for hormone therapy to maintain health and function within the nervous system throughout aging.
The Cholesterol-Fed Rabbit as a Model System for Cholesterol-Alzheimer's Disease Studies
Authors: Prasanthi R.P. Jaya  , Marwarha Gurdeep  , Ghribi Othman
Published: February 2025

Epidemiological, animal, and cellular studies suggest that abnormalities in cholesterol metabolism are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), potentially by increasing amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide levels. Accumulation of Aβ in the brain is suggested to play a key role in the neurodegenerative processes by triggering the hyperphosphorylation of tau and the neuronal death that develop in the course of AD. However, the mechanisms by which cholesterol increases Aβ levels are still ill-defined. Work from our laboratory using the cholesterol-fed rabbit model system indicates that hypercholesterolemia increases Aβ through multiple mechanisms that affect production, degradation and clearance of this peptide. We also have found that the oxidized cholesterol metabolite, 27-hydroxycholesterol, also increases Aβ levels in organotypic slices from rabbit hippocampus. Our results suggest that multiple signaling pathways are involved in hypercholesterolemia-induced AD pathology and suggest 27-hydroxycholesterol as the link between circulating cholesterol and AD-like pathology in the brain.
Managing Risks to Water Resources in Mountain Regions from Natural and Man-made Disasters
Authors: Valyaev A.N.  , Nikoliski D.V.  , Valyaeva A.A.  , Erochin S.A.  , Tusova T.V.  , Aleksanyan G.A.  , Petrov V.A.
Published: February 2025

Mountain water objects (MWO) are very dangerous complex objects, where local and global natural and man-made catastrophes can result in huge negative and irreversible damage to the environment and the population. The main processes, initiation and evolution of critical phenomena at MWO are under consideration, including a model for its risk and damage assessments, MWO classification on their dangerous degrees, risk management, development of counter measures for prediction/prevention of the catastrophes and reducing of negative effects.
Geoscientific Assessment of Floods Prior to the Event
Authors: Rudolph Tobias  , Melchers Christian  , Coldewey W.G.
Published: February 2025

Flooding events annually cause high economic losses. To reduce these losses it is important to assess flooding exposure incorporating also geoscientific knowledge prior to the event. Based on this assessment, emergency preparation and response plans can be developed which help reduce the loss scenarios even further. This paper shows how such a workflow of a geoscientific assessment of flood events could be run.
Risk Management of Natural and Man-made Processes as a Basis for Population and Territory Protection in Armenia
Authors: Avagyan Arman Artashes
Published: February 2025

The estimation of natural and man-made processes that occur in Armenia, as well as the planning measures of risk reduction in the case of emergencies within the structure of the Armenian Rescue Service of the Ministry of Territorial Administration of RA, is presented.
Mudflow Protection of the City of Yerevan
Authors: Ter-Minasyan R.  , Karamyan A.
Published: February 2025

The river Getar, and its tributaries Dzhrvez and Vikhchaberd, are the mudflow sources that have often created heavy losses for Yerevan. During a catastrophic mudflow on May, 25th, 1946, the river Getar caused the death of 200 persons and value of the material damage was 53 million roubles. After an analysis of the environmental conditions for that mudflow formation, the struggle against such events was supported by the help of hydraulic engineering and forest reclamation methods. As a result of actual anti-mudflow actions the mudflow risks from the Getar and Dzhrvez rivers were decreased. The analysis of implemented mudflow protection arrangements on the Getar and Dzhrvez river basins shows that the streamlining of a drain, and changes of land tenure conditions, have lowered the risk from mudflows by 90%. For Yerevan the highest risks were still from the Vokhchaberd and Dzhrashen rivers.
Estimation of Mitigation Measure Effects on Air Pollution in Industrial Cities
Authors: Rudakov Dmytro V.
Published: February 2025

Air pollution is a factor that greatly affects human health in areas with developed metallurgical and chemical industries. Induced environmental risks can be significantly minimized by changing not only volumes but also the composition and form of gas and dust emissions. Increasing the effectiveness of dust cleaners as a preventive measure requires prediction of their long-term impacts with regard to local climate and mobility of contaminants. These aspects can be properly estimated by modelling of particulate dispersion in air taking into account time-dependent wind characteristics. Better cleaning of dust emitted by the Dniprodzerzhinsk metallurgical plant (Ukraine) using advanced cyclones was shown to result in essential reductions in the areas where on-land particulate concentrations may exceed health limits.
Peculiarities of Responses to Alarm Calls in the Armenian Rescue Service: Prospects for Future Development
Authors: Khangeldyan Hovhannes
Published: February 2025

No matter how different emergency situations, accidents and incidents are, they engender a common problem of organization and fulfilment of rapid response to avoid losses and mitigate possible consequences. Of primary importance is the unhampered functioning of the service in responding to alarm calls, the purposefulness and effectiveness of which is conditioned by the harmonic and functional efficiency of tasks carried out with equipment and infrastructure in the field.
Studying Some Features of Evacuation in Highlands
Authors: Kolozyan G.  , Sahakyan K.
Published: February 2025

During recent years man-made and natural disasters have become frequent and more devastating in scale. A study of this problem is now more important particularly in terms of population evacuation, for the implementation of which, transport communication means are of significant importance. The problem is of special importance for Armenia since the whole country is situated in mountainous and sub-mountainous zones, and there are no alternative ways to cover new areas for construction of new roads.
Seismic Risk Assessments Related to Early Warning Systems: a Case Study in NE Bulgaria
Authors: Paskaleva Ivanka
Published: February 2025

As urbanization progresses worldwide, earthquakes pose serious risks to lives and properties for urban areas near major active land-based seismic sources. Earthquake early warning (EEW) can be a useful tool for reducing earthquake risks, if the spatial relationship between cities and earthquake sources is favourable for such warnings, and the citizens and decision-makers are properly trained to respond to earthquake warning messages.
NATO's Response to the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism
Authors: Roberts Guy B.
Published: February 2025

In today’s world terrorism has become a constant feature of daily life in almost every corner of the world. Terrorist attacks regularly take hundreds of lives and often times dominate the daily news. These attacks, however, pale in comparison to the devastation of a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon. There are generally two types of nuclear devices accessible to a terrorist group: a radiological dispersal device (RDD) or an improvised nuclear device (IND).
Strategic Response to Nuclear/Radiological Terrorist Attacks
Authors: Jaspal Zafar Nawaz
Published: February 2025

The nuclear/radiological terrorist attack probability seems a serious brainteaser in the contemporary security discourse, and transnational terrorist groups have been employing modern scientific know-how to accomplish their nefarious objectives. Since 1995, there have been several cases, which underscore the fact that the terrorist groups could have access to–and no scruples about using–weapon of mass destruction materials. Nuclear materials range from highly enriched uranium in nuclear power reactors and military stockpiles to plutonium in a nuclear reactor's spent fuels, to radiological sources in local hospitals and agriculture research centers. If nuclear materials or radioactive sources fall into the hands of terrorist groups, it engenders enormous harm to human life and property. As a consequence, to counter radiological/nuclear terrorist attacks effectively standards for securing weapons and materials should be so high that terrorists will not be able to exploit any compromises or gaps in the defenses. That's why all countries with nuclear material holdings have to apply the most up-to-date IAEA guidelines on nuclear security.
Assessment of Radiological Risks and Possible Ecological and Economic Damage from Large-Scale Natural and Man-Induced Catastrophes in Ecology-Hazard Regions of Central Asia and Caucasus
Authors: Valyaev A.N.  , Kazakov S.V.  , Passell H.D.  , Solodukhin V.P.  , Stepanets O.V.  , Aleksanyan G.M.  , Petrov V.A.  , Chkhartishvili M.S.  , Aitmatova D.I.  , Mamedov R.F.
Published: February 2025

Various threats to civilization have been recently observed to increase in number. They include natural and man-induced catastrophes, international terrorism, ecological imbalance, global climate change and many other hazards. The situation is aggravated by the fact that a number of catastrophes may be caused by deliberate attacks of terrorists. Therefore, it is necessary to develop intensively and implement new special methodologies, techniques and approaches aimed at elaborating methods to forecast large natural and man-induced catastrophes as well as to prevent and eliminate their consequences. For several years IBRAE RAS has been running systematic research on ecological risks associated with environmental contamination and its health effects (http://ibrae.ac.ru). The methodology created is recommended by international organizations, such as WHO, UNEP, Russian Health Ministry and used presently in Europe and the USA. Models have been developed for the migration of contaminants into the environment and their entering a human body, as well as methods for estimating risk factors, including comparative analysis for radiation and chemical risks. The obtained results in the article on Central Asia and Caucasian regions may be used for analysis of the similar objects and situations in other countries.
Parallelization of Crack Signal Calculation Using CUDA
Authors: Kiss Imre  , Pávó József  , Gyimóthy Szabolcs
Published: February 2025

A calculation method for the simulation of the Eddy Current Testing (ECT) signal of multiple cracks is implemented on a general purpose video card. NVIDIA's parallel computing solution, the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) was used as a shell for the implementation on both hardware and software sides. Possibilities inherent in this technology are shown through an example and a detailed implementation focusing on data parallel execution is discussed. Different realizations of the same algorithm are inspected and a comparison from the view of efficiency is given.
Imperialist Competitive Algorithm Applied to Eddy Current Nondestructive Evaluation
Authors: Hamel Ammar  , Mohellebi Hassane  , Feliachi Mouloud
Published: February 2025

The imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) is a new global search strategy inspired by the socio-political process of Imperialistic competition. ICA has higher performances such as faster convergence and better global minimum achievement [1]. Considering its undeniable effectiveness, its limitations and applicability in various fields, ICA is currently explored. In this paper we adopt ICA to deal with the inverse problem applied in eddy current non-destructive evaluation. We present test results and a comparison between ICA and the particle swarm optimisation algorithm (PSO).
Developing ECT System with AMR Sensor for Combustion Chamber
Authors: He Dongfeng  , Shiwa Mitsuhara  , Jia Jianping  , Yamawaki Hisashi  , Uetake Ichizo  , Takatsubo Junji  , Moriya Shinichi  , Okita Koichi
Published: February 2025

An eddy current testing (ECT) system with a high sensitive AMR sensor was developed. In our experiments, a specimen of cooper plate with grooves and slits was used to simulate the cooling grooves of the combustion chamber of liquid rocket and the defect in it. Three defects, with the width of 0.2 mm, the length of 4 mm and the depth of 0.2 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm respectively, were made in the bottom of the grooves. Using a Φ 4.5 mm and 30 turn circular excitation coil, ECT experiments were done for the AMR sensor with Z, X and Y directions at the frequency of 2 kHz. The results show that the variance of lift off had big influence on the ECT result with the Z direction AMR sensor and smaller influence on that with the X, Y direction AMR sensor. The defects with the depth of 0.8 mm and 0.5mm, 0.2 mm were clearly observed, but the signal of the defect with the depth of 0.2 mm was very small.
PLL Based Eddy Current Measuring System for Inspection of Outer Flaw in Titanium Alloy Plate
Authors: Chady Tomasz  , Kowalczyk Jacek  , Nawos-Wysocki Leon  , Psuj Grzegorz  , Spychalski Ireneusz
Published: February 2025

In this paper a new nondestructive eddy current system will be presented. The system was design for detection of shallow outer flaws in thick titanium alloy specimens (e.g. plates, discs). A Lock-in amplifier was used in a measuring subsystem in order to increase the efficiency of inspections of minor defects. The verification of a performance of the system was done using 6.9 mm titanium plate with artificial EDM (Electrical Discharged Machinated) notches.
Multi-frequency eddy current NDE of the distance between parts in aeronautical assemblies
Authors: Cung Thanh Long  , Joubert Pierre Yves  , Vourc'h Eric
Published: February 2025

This paper deals with the eddy current nondestructive evaluation of the distance between parts in metallic assemblies. An experimental study of the coupling of a magnetic cup core coil sensor with a metallic layered structure is carried out and confirmed by finite element modeling simulations. This study allows behavioral models of the sensor/structure interactions to be built, and two estimation methods to be proposed. The first one is based on the inversion of a polynomial forward model, and the second one on an inverse model. Both techniques are implemented, characterized and compared. The second one is proved to be more accurate when the signal to noise ratio of the eddy current data decreases.
Artificial Heart Valve Testing Using Electromagnetic Method
Authors: Strapacova Tatiana  , Capova Klara  , Janousek Ladislav  , Smetana Milan
Published: February 2025

The paper focuses on non-destructive inspection of Björk-Shiley Convexo Concave artificial mechanical heart valves. A new approach for the inspection based on sweep frequency eddy current testing is proposed. The standard self inductance pancake probe positioned in proximity of the valve drives the eddy currents and pick-ups the response signal. The frequency of exciting current is changed in a wide range. Numerical simulations are carried out to verify the usefulness of the proposed technique. The gained results presented in the paper show that there is a clear difference in the amplitude frequency spectrum of the response signal between the intact valve and the other with a single leg fracture of the outlet strut.
Magnetic Characterization of Material Degradation Using Dynamical Minor Loops
Authors: Kobayashi Satoru  , Tsukidate Shinichi  , Okazaki Hiroyuki  , Kamada Yasuhiro  , Kikuchi Hiroaki  , Ohtani Toshihiro
Published: February 2025

We have examined scaling laws in dynamical magnetic minor hysteresis loops of Cr-Mo-V steel subjected to creep and cold-rolled low carbon steel in order to investigate the applicability to online evaluation of materials degradation in ferromagnetic steels. Although scaling laws in the medium magnetization range found previously fail in the high magnetization frequency regime owing to a significant contribution of eddy currents, a scaling power law of the relation between remanence and remanence work of minor loops holds true in a very low magnetization regime, irrespective of magnetization frequency as well as investigated materials. The coefficient of the law exhibits a good correlation with creep damage and rolling reduction and is proportionally related to Vickers hardness. These observations clearly demonstrate that the analysis of dynamical minor loops enables us to evaluate materials degradation in a short measurement time with low measurement field and high sensitivity to defect density.
GPR for UXO recognition
Authors: Grimberg Raimond  , Savin Adriana  , Iftimie Nicoleta  , Leitoiu Sorin  , Andreescu Aurel
Published: February 2025

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has become at present an instrument widely used in different domains. This paper is based on the using of GPR for detection and characterization of unexploded ordnances (UXO). The obtained experimental data and some signal and image processing procedures are presented in order to make a correct evaluation of type of UXOs, caliber, dimensions and their location in the horizontally plan as well in depth.
Detection of Concealed, Graphite Containing Frescos, Using Microwave Enhanced Infrared Thermography
Authors: Lesiecki Paweł  , Szymanik Barbara
Published: February 2025

Active infrared thermography is one of the most popular NDT techniques. In this method an external energy source is used to produce the temperature difference between the feature of interest in examined specimen and the background. Thermovision cameras are used do observe obtained temperature differences. The variety of external energy sources can be used in IR thermography. Conventional sources (such as powerful halogen lamps or infrared heaters), apply heat externally to the surface of the material. The microwave irradiation, unlike to mentioned previously sources, penetrates and simultaneously heat the bulk of the specimen. For that reason, microwave heating can effectively minimize the heating times. This paper presents the method of detection of concealed graphite containing frescoes, using active infrared thermography with microwave irradiation as a heat source. It has be determined, that most of mural paintings, like frescoes, consist some amount of coal (in the form of carbon black - used as a paint or charcoal used by the artist for sketching). Analysis of dielectric properties of coal shows that generally it can be considered as a good microwave absorber, therefore the high temperature difference between coal containing frescoes and the background is produced during the microwave heating of painting.
Studies on Analysis Technique of Commutation Phenomena for Cleaner's Universal Motor Using the State Variable Method
Authors: Akiyama Yuji  , Niwa Yuta
Published: February 2025

This paper focuses on the restraint method of the 3rd harmonics current, which close attention has been paid to the iron core shape of the universal motor for power vacuum cleaners. In this paper, the air gap permeance, magnetic saturation of an iron core, and the influence a slot ripple has on the harmonic current were verified using FEM electromagnetism analysis. As the result, stator core shape proved quantitatively that a restraint of harmonic current has effect. The authors assert that a design manual should be adapted to create international standard about a restraint of the harmonic current of a universal motor.
Laboratory Tests of an Adjustable Toilet System with Integrated Sensors for Enhancing Autonomy and Safety
Authors: Panek Paul  , Edelmayer Georg  , Mayer Peter  , Zagler Wolfgang L.
Published: February 2025

This chapter describes the five different generations of toilet prototypes which have been installed and tested in a laboratory environment in Vienna during FRR (Friendly Rest Room) project. It outlines the data measured during tests with older and disabled persons and their care persons. The FRR prototypes have been equipped with a PC based control unit, voice input and output, contactless smart card technology and several sensors for estimating the user's intention and for recognizing potential falls of the user in the toilet area. The toilet components have shown to be very useful for disabled and older persons during extensive tests in a laboratory setting.
Fall Prevention in the Toilet Environment
Authors: Buzink Sonja N.  , De Bruin Renate  , Groothuizen Theo J.J.  , Haagsman Eva M.  , Molenbroek Johan F.M.
Published: February 2025

This study was carried out to determine the need for more appropriate fall preventive measures and create a knowledge base for design criteria to be implemented in the Friendly Rest Room project. Literature research and interviews with users and caretakers were used to create the FRiTA Model, which was used to identify ‘basic toilet activities’ with an increased fall risk within the ‘Dutch’ toilet ritual. Next, a new toilet support was developed which provides a fine-tuned all-in-one support solution with an inviting appeal, representing luxury, serenity and hygiene. Several elementary aspects have been implemented in FRR prototypes. The results of usability tests with these functional FRR prototypes look affirmative and promising.
Alla Turca: Squatting for Health and Hygiene
Authors: Demirbilek Oya
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the traditional alla turca Turkish toilet, or squat toilet, as well as its more modern sitting version, and the hygiene etiquette in using the toilet, including the pros and cons of the squatting posture and the squat toilet. This is complemented with modern design solutions for these two types of toilets.
Design for All: Not Excluded by Design
Authors: Molenbroek Johan F.M.  , Groothuizen Theo J.J.  , De Bruin R.
Published: February 2025

Inclusive Design or Design for All refers to the design philosophy of including as many users groups as possible in the target population of a to-be-designed product and to be aware of the ones that are excluded. This paper explains about the history, current status and possibilities of Inclusive Design as strategy. Within the FRR-project this strategy was leading when design decisions had to be taken. The outcome is a truly Friendly Rest Room, fulfilling the needs of disabled and elderly in a non-stigmatizing manner, and thus favoured by us all.
Assist Systems for Traveling and Planning for the Visually Impaired
Authors: Maeda Yoshinobu  , Konishi Takashi
Published: February 2025

This paper describes a series of trials based on mathematical information engineering that were designed to enable assistive technologies to help with the travel and mobility of the visually impaired. In order for technology to be of assistance to travel, two different concepts are necessary, i.e., to assist travel performance and to assist travel planning. In the former case, we developed a GPS-based “travel assist” system (TAS) so that an adaptive fuzzy inference neural network could be employed to stabilize positional guidance. In many cities and towns in Japan it is often the case that an area of buildings surrounding a particular street rather than the street itself assumes the identity of a recognized landmark. Therefore, GPS measurements acquired by a pedestrian walking on such a street are likely to randomly output landmarks on both sides of the street. The adaptive fuzzy inference neural network enabled the TAS to guide the user to just the landmark that was required by the pedestrian. In the latter case, we developed an AHP-based “plan assist” system (PAS), whereby the system assists in the self-determination of the route selection. These concepts are of special importance to visually impaired persons, even those with guide helpers, because such self-determination might enhance their efficacy when traveling, and, as a result, might add to the self-sufficiency of the visually impaired.