bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microstructural Evolution of Poly(ε-Caprolactone), Its Immiscible Blend, and In Situ Generated Nanocomposites
Authors: Vozniak Iurii , Hosseinnezhad Ramin , Morawiec Jerzy , Galeski Andrzej
Published: November 2020

Polymer–polymer systems with special phase morphology were prepared, leading to an exceptional combination of strength, modulus, and ductility. Two immiscible polymers: poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) were used as components for manufacturing a nanoblend and a nanocomposite characterized by nanodroplet-matrix and nanofibril-matrix morphologies, respectively. Nanofibrils were formed by high shear of nanodroplets at sufficiently low temperature to stabilize their fibrillar shape by shear-induced crystallization. The effects of nanodroplet vs. nanofiber morphology on the tensile mechanical behavior of the nanocomposites were elucidated with the help of in situ 2D small-angle X-ray scattering, microcalorimetry and 2D wide-angle X-ray diffraction. For neat PCL and a PCL/PHA blend, the evolution of the structure under uniaxial tension was accompanied by extensive fragmentation of crystalline lamellae with the onset at strain e = 0.1. Limited lamellae fragmentation in the PCL/PHA composite occurred continuously over a wide range of deformations (e = 0.1–1.1) and facilitated plastic flow of the composite and was associated with the presence of a PHA nanofiber network that transferred local stress to the PCL lamellae, enforcing their local deformation. The PHA nanofibers acted as crystallization nuclei for PCL during their strain-induced melting–recrystallization.
Hyperbranched Polyglycerols as Robust Up-Conversion Nanoparticle Coating Layer for Feasible Cell Imaging
Authors: Hao Mingcong , Wu Tongtong , Chen Qunzhi , Lian Xueyan , Wu Haigang , Shi Bingyang
Published: November 2020

Owing to the wide spectrum of excitation wavelengths of up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) by precisely regulating the percentage of doping elements, UCNPs have been emerging as bioimaging agents. The key drawback of UCNPs is their poor dispersibility in aqueous solution and it is hard to introduce the chemical versatility of function groups. In our study, we present a robust and feasible UCNP modification approach by introducing hyperbranched polyglycerols (hbPGs) as a coating layer. When grafted by hbPGs, the solubility and biocompatibility of UCNPs are significantly improved. Moreover, we also systematically investigated and optimized the chemical modification approach of amino acids or green fluorescence protein (GFP), respectively, grafting onto hbPGs and hbPGs-g-UCNP by oxidizing the vicinal diol to be an aldehyde group, which reacts more feasibly with amino-containing functional molecules. Then, we investigated the drug-encapsulating properties of hbPGs-Arg with DOX and cell imaging of GFP-grafted hbPGs-g-UCNP, respectively. The excellent cell imaging in tumor cells indicated that hbPG-modification of UCNPs displayed potential for applications in drug delivery and disease diagnosis.
Magnetoelectric Membrane Filters of Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Cobalt Ferrite Oxide for Effective Capturing of Particulate Matter
Authors: Ko Kyujin , Yang Su-Chul
Published: November 2020

In the last decade, particulate matter (PM) has gradually become a serious public health issue due to its harmful impact on the human body. In this study, we report a novel filtration system for high PM capturing, based on the magnetoelectric (ME) effect that induces an effective surface charge in membrane filters. To elucidate the ME effect on PM capturing, we prepared electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)/CoFe2O4(CFO) membranes and investigated their PM capturing efficiency. After electrical poling under a high electric field of 10 kV/mm, PM-capturing efficiencies of the poled-PVDF/CFO membrane filters were improved with carbon/fluorine(C/F) molar ratios of C/F = 4.81 under Hdc = 0 and C/F = 7.01 under Hdc = 700 Oe, respectively. The result illustrates that electrical poling and a dc magnetic field could, respectively, enhance the surface charge of the membrane filters through (i) a strong beta-phase alignment in PVDF (poling effect) and (ii) an efficient shape change of PVDF/CFO membranes (magnetostriction effect). The diffusion rate of a water droplet on the PVDF/CFO membrane surface is reduced from 0.23 to 0.05 cm2/s by covering the membrane surface with PM. Consequently, the PM capturing efficiency is dramatically improved up to 175% from ME membranes with the poling process and applying a magnetic field. Furthermore, the PM was successfully captured on the prototype real mask derived from the magnetoelectric effect induced by a permanent magnet with a diameter of 2 cm without any external power.
Impact of Gas Control Policy on the Gas Accidents in Coal Mine
Authors: Ke Wei , Wang Kai
Published: November 2020

Coal mine gas accidents pose a serious threat to the safety of coal mines in China. To prevent such accidents, the Chinese government and relevant agencies have issued a number of related control policies, though the effect of these policies on gas accidents is still lacking. In this study, the relevant data of coal mine gas accidents in China from 2003 to 2018 are sorted and analyzed. The analysis results show that the number of coal mine accidents and deaths has decreased significantly. However, gas accidents account for the highest proportion of deaths and pose the largest threat, compared with other types of accidents. Subsequently, the developmental stages of China’s gas control policies are summarized; they are the independent development stage, the promotion stage and the consolidation stage. A method of calculating the intervention degree of the gas control policies is proposed. The results show that the policy intervention degree is the highest, and the number of accidents is the fastest in the stage of promotion. It is concluded that gas control policies have obvious inhibitory effects on the occurrence of gas accidents, and these policies are fundamental in preventing coal mine gas accidents.
Study of a Method to Effectively Remove Char Byproduct Generated from Fast Pyrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor
Authors: Ha Jong Hyeon , Lee In-Gu
Published: November 2020

A critical issue in the design of bubbling fluidized bed reactors for biomass fast pyrolysis is to maintain the bed at a constant level to ensure stable operation. In this work, a bubbling fluidized bed reactor was investigated to deal with this issue. The reactor consists of inner and outer tubes and enables in situ control of the fluidized-bed level in the inner-tube reactor with a mechanical method during biomass fast pyrolysis. The significant fraction of biochar produced from the fast pyrolysis in the inner-tube reactor was automatically removed through the annulus between the inner and outer tubes. The effect of pyrolysis temperature (426–528 °C) and feeding rate (0.8–1.8 kg/h) on the yield and characteristics of bio-oil, biochar, and gaseous products were examined at a 15 L/min nitrogen carrier gas flow rate for wood sawdust with a 0.5–1.0 mm particle size range as a feed. The bio-oil reached a maximum yield of 62.4 wt% on a dry basis at 440 °C, and then slowly decreased with increasing temperature. At least 79 wt% of bio-char byproduct was removed through the annulus and was found in the reactor bottom collector. The GC-MS analysis found phenolics to be more than 40% of the bio-oil products.
Combining SfM Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Assess Event-Scale Sediment Budgets along a Gravel-Bed Ephemeral Stream
Authors: Conesa-García Carmelo , Puig-Mengual Carlos , Riquelme Adrián , Tomás Roberto , Martínez-Capel Francisco , García-Lorenzo Rafael , Pastor José L. , Pérez-Cutillas Pedro , Cano Gonzalez Miguel
Published: November 2020

Stream power represents the rate of energy expenditure along a stream reach and can be calculated using topographic data acquired via structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). This study sought to quantitatively relate morphological adjustments in the Azohía Rambla, a gravel-bed ephemeral stream in southeastern Spain, to stream power (ω), critical power (ωc), and energy gradients (∂ω/∂s), along different reference channel reaches of 200 to 300 m in length. High-resolution digital terrain models (HRDTMs), combined with ortophotographs and point clouds from 2018, 2019, and 2020, and ground-based surveys, were used to estimate the spatial variability of morphological sediment budgets and to assess channel bed mobility during the study period at different spatial scales: reference channel reaches (RCRs), pilot bed survey areas (PBSAs), and representative geomorphic units (RGUs). The optimized complementary role of the SfM technique and terrestrial laser scanning allowed the generation of accurate and reliable HRDTMs, upon which a 1-D hydrodynamic model was calibrated and sediment budgets calculated. The resulting high-resolution maps allowed a spatially explicit analysis of stream power and transport efficiency in relation to volumes of erosion and deposition in the RCR and PBSA. In addition, net incision or downcutting and vertical sedimentary accretion were monitored for each flood event in relation to bedforms and hydraulic variables. Sediment sources and sinks and bed armoring processes showed different trends according to the critical energy and stream power gradient, which were verified from field observations. During flows exceeding bankfull discharges (between 18 and 24 m3 s−1 according to channel reach), significant variations in ∂ω/∂s values and ω/ωc ratios (e.g., −15 < ∂ω/∂s < 15 Wm−3; ω/ωc > 2 for a peak discharge of 31 m3 s−1) were associated with a large amount of bedload mobilized upstream and vertical accretion along the middle reach (average rise height of 0.20 to 0.35 m for the same event). By contrast, more moderate peak flows (≤10 m3 s−1) only produced minor changes resulting in surface washing, selective transport, and local bed scouring.
High-Quality UAV-Based Orthophotos for Cadastral Mapping: Guidance for Optimal Flight Configurations
Authors: Stöcker Claudia , Nex Francesco , Koeva Mila , Gerke Markus
Published: November 2020

During the past years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) gained importance as a tool to quickly collect high-resolution imagery as base data for cadastral mapping. However, the fact that UAV-derived geospatial information supports decision-making processes involving people’s land rights ultimately raises questions about data quality and accuracy. In this vein, this paper investigates different flight configurations to give guidance for efficient and reliable UAV data acquisition. Imagery from six study areas across Europe and Africa provide the basis for an integrated quality assessment including three main aspects: (1) the impact of land cover on the number of tie-points as an indication on how well bundle block adjustment can be performed, (2) the impact of the number of ground control points (GCPs) on the final geometric accuracy, and (3) the impact of different flight plans on the extractability of cadastral features. The results suggest that scene context, flight configuration, and GCP setup significantly impact the final data quality and subsequent automatic delineation of visual cadastral boundaries. Moreover, even though the root mean square error of checkpoint residuals as a commonly accepted error measure is within a range of few centimeters in all datasets, this study reveals large discrepancies of the accuracy and the completeness of automatically detected cadastral features for orthophotos generated from different flight plans. With its unique combination of methods and integration of various study sites, the results and recommendations presented in this paper can help land professionals and bottom-up initiatives alike to optimize existing and future UAV data collection workflows.
EFN: Field-Based Object Detection for Aerial Images
Authors: Liu Jin , Zheng Haokun
Published: November 2020

Object detection and recognition in aerial and remote sensing images has become a hot topic in the field of computer vision in recent years. As these images are usually taken from a bird’s-eye view, the targets often have different shapes and are densely arranged. Therefore, using an oriented bounding box to mark the target is a mainstream choice. However, this general method is designed based on horizontal box annotation, while the improved method for detecting an oriented bounding box has a high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose a method called ellipse field network (EFN) to organically integrate semantic segmentation and object detection. It predicts the probability distribution of the target and obtains accurate oriented bounding boxes through a post-processing step. We tested our method on the HRSC2016 and DOTA data sets, achieving mAP values of 0.863 and 0.701, respectively. At the same time, we also tested the performance of EFN on natural images and obtained a mAP of 84.7 in the VOC2012 data set. These extensive experiments demonstrate that EFN can achieve state-of-the-art results in aerial image tests and can obtain a good score when considering natural images.
A Full-Spectrum Registration Method for Zhuhai-1 Satellite Hyperspectral Imagery
Authors: Meng Jinjun , Wu Jiaqi , Lu Linlin , Li Qingting , Zhang Qiang , Feng Suyun , Yan Jun
Published: November 2020

Accurate registration is an essential prerequisite for analysis and applications involving remote sensing imagery. It is usually difficult to extract enough matching points for inter-band registration in hyperspectral imagery due to the different spectral responses for land features in different image bands. This is especially true for non-adjacent bands. The inconsistency in geometric distortion caused by topographic relief also makes it inappropriate to use a single affine transformation relationship for the geometric transformation of the entire image. Currently, accurate registration between spectral bands of Zhuhai-1 satellite hyperspectral imagery remains challenging. In this paper, a full-spectrum registration method was proposed to address this problem. The method combines the transfer strategy based on the affine transformation relationship between adjacent spectrums with the differential correction from dense Delaunay triangulation. Firstly, the scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) extraction method was used to extract and match feature points of adjacent bands. The RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm and the least square method is then used to eliminate mismatching point pairs to obtain fine matching point pairs. Secondly, a dense Delaunay triangulation was constructed based on fine matching point pairs. The affine transformation relation for non-adjacent bands was established for each triangle using the affine transformation relation transfer strategy. Finally, the affine transformation relation was used to perform differential correction for each triangle. Three Zhuhai-1 satellite hyperspectral images covering different terrains were used as experiment data. The evaluation results showed that the adjacent band registration accuracy ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 pixels. The structural similarity measure and cosine similarity measure between non-adjacent bands were both greater than 0.80. Moreover, the full-spectrum registration accuracy was less than 1 pixel. These registration results can meet the needs of Zhuhai-1 hyperspectral imagery applications in various fields.
Gated Dehazing Network via Least Square Adversarial Learning
Authors: Ha Eunjae , Shin Joongchol , Paik Joonki
Published: November 2020

In a hazy environment, visibility is reduced and objects are difficult to identify. For this reason, many dehazing techniques have been proposed to remove the haze. Especially, in the case of the atmospheric scattering model estimation-based method, there is a problem of distortion when inaccurate models are estimated. We present a novel residual-based dehazing network model to overcome the performance limitation in an atmospheric scattering model-based method. More specifically, the proposed model adopted the gate fusion network that generates the dehazed results using a residual operator. To further reduce the divergence between the clean and dehazed images, the proposed discriminator distinguishes dehazed results and clean images, and then reduces the statistical difference via adversarial learning. To verify each element of the proposed model, we hierarchically performed the haze removal process in an ablation study. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperformed state-of-the-art approaches in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index measure (SSIM), international commission on illumination cie delta e 2000 (CIEDE2000), and mean squared error (MSE). It also gives subjectively high-quality images without color distortion or undesired artifacts for both synthetic and real-world hazy images.
(In)Sustainability of the Territory of Chapada Do Apodi-Rn (Brazil): The Expansion of Agribusiness versus the Impacts of Traditional Farmers and Local Rural Communities
Authors: Pinto Filho Jorge Luís de Oliveira , Rêgo Alana Ticiane Alves do , Lunes Anderson Rodrigo da Silva , Cunha Lucio
Published: November 2020

The objective of this study is to investigate the conditions of family agriculture and the respective environmental impacts of agribusiness. The research methodology is grounded on a theoretical survey of study descriptions of the area, a characterization of rural communities and local population through interviews, an identification of medium and large agricultural enterprises through documentary research on environmental licensing processes, and determination of the environmental impacts of agribusiness via an interaction matrix. Based on the data generated, it was found that the majority of the population has an incomplete elementary education; is involved in agricultural activity, livestock farming, and honey production, which provide a family income of up to one minimum wage; and is located in rural communities with environmental sanitation restrictions. Moreover, it was found that irrigated agriculture has positive impacts, such as the generation of employment and income. It was also evidenced that this activity causes adverse socioeconomic impacts and adverse impacts on the traditional activities of local rural communities through plant removal, water scarcity, and pesticide use. Thus, to mitigate the problems, it is necessary to apply the principles of Brazilian Environmental Law as correlated with the instruments of the National Environment Policy through environmental management guidelines.
Physical and Hydro-Physical Characteristics of Soil in the Context of Climate Change. A Case Study in Danube River Basin, SE Romania
Authors: Moraru Sorina-Simona , Ene Antoaneta , Badila Alina
Published: November 2020

The intensification of climate change has led to the degradation of thousands of arable lands through desertification and extreme weather events. The Danube River basin in the Galati-Braila region, SE Romania, is a transboundary area of community and international importance, increasingly affected by drought, water, and wind erosion. Consequently, the aim of this study is to evaluate the main physical and hydro-physical parameters of soils, implied in water storage and with a defining role in erosion intensity, nutrients and toxicants cycle and availability, and crops yield. Soil samples were collected both in the disturbed and undisturbed state, from Smardan, Sendreni, and Vadeni agricultural lands and riparian areas of semiaquatic ecosystems, located in the vicinity of the steel platform of the Galati industrial area. Specific laboratory methods of investigation and formulas were used. Chernozems (CZ), Fluvisols (AS), and Gleysols (GS) of different subtypes and various physico-chemical parameters were identified. The results suggested that CZ are of coarse and medium texture, while AS and GS are medium–fine and fine textured. In correlation with this, bulk density values range from extremely low–low to low–high classes. In relation to soil physical parameters and the content of organic matter, hydro-physical indices show water supply imbalances. Through the approached theme, the study is of practical importance for sustainable management of the soil, agricultural projects, and landscaping. This study provides government authorities and non-governmental organizations an overview of the local and regional soil conditions, so that new measures can be regulated to protect it against irrational use.
An Overview of Environmental Policies for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change and Application of Multilevel Regression Analysis to Investigate the CO2 Emissions over the Years of 1970 to 2018 in All Brazilian States
Authors: de Souza Mendonça Anny Key , Silva Silvio Aparecido da , Pereira Luísa Zeredo , Bornia Antonio Cezar , Andrade Dalton Francisco de
Published: November 2020

Background: Brazil, one of the largest greenhouse gas emitting countries in the world, emitted approximately 2 billion gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2018. This data is practically the same recorded in the previous year, suggesting that the country’s trajectory of CO2 emissions is stabilized. Methods: This study presents an overview of environmental protection and climate change mitigation policies adopted in Brazil, as well as makes use the multilevel regression modeling technique to investigate the relationship between economic activities variables in relation to CO2 emissions over the years of 1970 to 2018 in all Brazilian states. Results: The results show that the CO2 emissions in the states have the same behavior as the timeline of the change in land use. Conclusions: The public policies and actions by society and the private sector were fundamental to the reduction verified from the year of 2004 that followed until 2010, both in CO2 emissions and in the change in land use and forests. As of this year, there has been a trend towards stability in CO2 emissions. Another important characteristic is that even with a drop in the number of deforestation, the production variables continued to grow, which shows that there may be an increase in production activities, while there is a reduction in deforestation and in CO2 emissions.
Touristic SME’s Competitiveness in the Light of Present Challenges—A Qualitative Approach
Authors: Gârdan Daniel Adrian , Dumitru Ionel , Gârdan Iuliana Petronela , Paștiu Carmen Adina
Published: November 2020

Competitiveness of SMEs (Small or Medium Enterprise) within the tourism field has been of a great interest for many scholars over time. Due to the crisis conditions specific to the present time, the issue of competitiveness becomes a very sensitive one, giving rise to sometimes contradictory points of view. Our research aims to analyze the opinions and perceptions of SME managers in the field of tourism in terms of the concept of competitiveness, how to measure it and sources of competitiveness still viable within the context of the current crisis or specific to it, etc. In order to be able to properly analyze the above, qualitative research was initiated and conducted in the form of an in-depth interview with 42 Romanian SME managers in the tourism field. The results of the study reflect a mature approach of managers in terms of possible new sources of competitiveness—the emphasis on technical solutions capable of managing the socio-medical dimensions of tourism consumer behavior, a prevalence for an organic growth strategy and for additional investments in qualified personnel, as well as online management of most aspects related to services and openness to collaboration within tourism clusters.
LCA-Based Investigation of Environmental Impacts for Novel Double-Beam Floor System Subjected to High Gravity Loads
Authors: Choi Insub , Kim JunHee , Kim DongWon
Published: November 2020

In populated downtown areas, a floor system with secured environmental performance is needed to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and global warming problems related to buildings. This study aims to assess environmental impacts on a novel double-beam floor system subjected to high gravity loads. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to investigate the environmental impacts on the reduction in construction materials by calculating global warming potential (GWP) in the structural design phase. For different structural systems, the environmental performance was compared based on the GWP, and the contributions of structural elements to the GWP in each structural system were analyzed. The rotational constraints induced by the beam-end concrete panel can significantly reduce the GWP of the double-beam floor system by up to 13.8% compared to the conventional beam-girder system. Thus, the double-beam floor system reinforced with the concrete panel can be a candidate for eco-friendly structural systems in underground structures requiring high gravity loads. This result provides valuable findings that the structural effect on the rotational constraint of the concrete panel was quantitatively evaluated by converting it into an environmental impact.
Safety and Nonoptimal Usage of a Protected Intersection for Bicycling and Walking: A Before-and-After Case Study in Salt Lake City, Utah
Authors: Lyons Torrey , Choi Dong-ah , Park Keunhyun , Ameli S. Hassan
Published: November 2020

This paper describes a before-and-after case study of a protected intersection in Salt Lake City, Utah. The intersection was completed in late 2015 and represented one of the first examples of a protected intersection design in North America. We analyzed bird’s-eye view video data that was recorded before the intersection was implemented and compared it against video data recorded from the exact same location after implementation. In order to examine changes in intersection usage and behavior, we operationalized safety in terms of the frequency of nonoptimal behaviors demonstrated by active transportation modes. We found that active transportation usage of the intersection has increased since the new configuration, with most of that growth attributable to e-scooter users. There was minimal change in the rates of nonoptimal behaviors by pedestrians. Bicyclists showed mostly decreased rates of nonoptimal behaviors, suggesting improved safety for this mode. E-scooter users, however, demonstrated nonoptimal behaviors at very high rates as compared with other active modes. This case study gives evidence that a protected intersection can have positive effects on active transportation volume and safety in a U.S. context.
Exploring the Process Toward Corporate Sustainability at a Thai SME
Authors: Kantabutra Sooksan , Punnakitikashem Prattana
Published: November 2020

Given that corporate leaders seek to ensure the long-term sustainability of their organization, this study explores how a business adopting a Thai Sufficiency Economy philosophy improves its sustainability performance. Adopting the Sufficiency Thinking model as the research framework, this study uses a qualitative research approach with a set of different data collection techniques to explore a sample Small–Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) called Plan Creation. Collected data are identified as themes, according to the Sufficiency Thinking model. Our findings reveal that there is a close fit between the collected data and the Sufficiency Thinking model. Virtuous attributes, individual and shared knowledge and the decision-making framework of Sufficiency Mindset are observed through the sustainable leadership actions, leading to, among other things, social and environmental innovation. Implications for practicing managers and directions for future research are also discussed.
A Study on the Behavioral Change of Passengers on Sustainable Air Transport after COVID-19
Authors: Song Ki-Han , Choi Solsaem
Published: November 2020

From the perspective of the sustainability of aviation demand, we investigated passenger perceptions with regards to whether or not Korean people will resume the use of air transport after COVID-19. Based on five factors—the prevalence of COVID-19, requirements for self-isolation, circumstances at the destination, social atmosphere with regards to overseas travel, and level of preventative measures employed in the aviation service sector—a structured questionnaire was developed using confirmatory factor analysis. Based on these, the main levels of determination per factor were derived and a structured path for the recovery of aviation demand via structural equation analysis between factors was analyzed. The five factors established above were found to have a significant impact on passenger perceptions with regards to the restart of using air transport. It was found that people may consider resuming overseas travel with air transport, prior to the development of a COVID-19 cure or vaccine, corresponding to relaxed requirements for self-isolation if there is a fall in the number of confirmed cases. In addition, it was determined that the unconditional lifting of self-isolation requirements without considerations for the hygienic conditions of the destination has limitations in how much it will lead to the resumption of air travel. We hope that this study will serve as a starting point for other studies monitoring passenger behavior in the future and that it will lead to the development of sustainable strategies for recovering aviation demand.
Fixed Circle and Fixed Disc Results for New Types of Θc-Contractive Mappings in Metric Spaces
Authors: Saleh Hayel N. , Sessa Salvatore , Alfaqih Waleed M. , Imdad Mohammad , Mlaiki Nabil
Published: November 2020

In this manuscript, we introduce the notions of various types of Θc-contractions for which we establish some fixed circle and fixed disc theorems in the setting of metric spaces. Some illustrative examples are also provided to support our results. Moreover, we present some fixed circle and fixed disc results of integral type contractive self-mappings, which generalize many results of invariance and transformations in the literature.
Superinfection Exclusion in Mosquitoes and Its Potential as an Arbovirus Control Strategy
Authors: Laureti Mathilde , Paradkar Prasad N. , Fazakerley John K. , Rodriguez-Andres Julio
Published: November 2020

The continuing emergence of arbovirus disease outbreaks around the world, despite the use of vector control strategies, warrants the development of new strategies to reduce arbovirus transmission. Superinfection exclusion, a phenomenon whereby a primary virus infection prevents the replication of a second closely related virus, has potential to control arbovirus disease emergence and outbreaks. This phenomenon has been observed for many years in plants, insects and mammalian cells. In this review, we discuss the significance of identifying novel vector control strategies, summarize studies exploring arbovirus superinfection exclusion and consider the potential for this phenomenon to be the basis for novel arbovirus control strategies.
Long-Term Modelling of an Agricultural and Urban River Catchment with SWMM Upgraded by the Evapotranspiration Model UrbanEVA
Authors: Kachholz Frauke , Tränckner Jens
Published: November 2020

Evapotranspiration (ET) has a decisive effect on groundwater recharge and thus also affects the base flow of the receiving water. This applies above all to low-lying areas with a low depth to groundwater (GW), as is often the case in the north German lowlands. In order to analyze this relation, a coupled rainfall-runoff and hydraulic stream model was set up using the software SWMM-UrbanEVA, a version of the software SWMM that was upgraded by a detailed ET module. A corresponding model was set up for the same site but with the conventional software SWMM to compare the water balance and hydrographs. The total amount of ET calculated with the SWMM software is 7% higher than that computed with the upgraded version in the period considered. Therefore, less water is available for soil infiltration and lateral groundwater flow to the stream. This generally leads to a slight underestimation of base flows, with the exception of a notably wet summer month when the base flows were highly overestimated. Nevertheless, the base flow hydrograph shows a good adaptation to observed values (MAE = 0.014 m3s−1, R = 0.88, NSE = 0.81) but gives worse results compared to SWMM-UrbanEVA. The latter is very well able to reflect the GW-fed base flow in the sample stream in average (MAE = 0.011 m3s−1) and in its dynamics (R = 0.93, NSE = 0.85). By applying the UrbanEVA upgrade, SWMM is applicable to model the seasonal dynamics of near-natural river basins.
Transferrable Principles to Revolutionize Drinking Water Governance in First Nation Communities in Canada
Authors: Irvine Alison , Schuster-Wallace Corinne , Dickson-Anderson Sarah , Bharadwaj Lalita
Published: November 2020

There are analogous challenges when it comes to the management and provision of health services and drinking water in First Nations reserves in Canada; both represent human rights and both involve complex and multijurisdictional management. The purpose of this study is to translate the tenets of Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle regarding health service provision, within the broader context of First Nation drinking water governance in order to identify avenues for positive change. This project involved secondary analysis of data from 53 semi-structured, key informant (KI) interviews across eight First Nation communities in western Canada. Data were coded according to the three principles of: provision of culturally inclusive management, safeguarding health, and substantive equity. Failure to incorporate Traditional Knowledge, water worldviews, and holistic health as well as challenges to technical management were identified as areas currently restricting successful drinking water management. Recommendations include improved infrastructure, increased resources (both financial and non-financial), in-community capacity building, and relationship building. To redress the inequities currently experienced by First Nations when it comes to management of and access to safe drinking water, equitable governance structures developed from the ground up and embedded in genuine relationships between First Nations and Canadian federal government agencies are required.
Impact Evaluation of an SMS Campaign to Promote Household Chlorination in Rural Haiti
Authors: Ritter Michael , Camille Eveline , Velcine Christophe , Guillaume Rose-Kerline , Casimir Jean Marcel , Lantagne Daniele S.
Published: November 2020

Despite documented health benefits of household water treatment and storage (HWTS), achieving sustained use remains challenging. In prior evaluations of a long-term HWTS program in Haiti, multiple marketing interventions failed to increase use or had prohibitively high costs. Using mobile phones is a potentially cost-effective way to change HWTS behavior. We conducted a randomized experiment to evaluate the impact of sending short-message service (SMS) messages to promote household chlorination in this program in Haiti. Households (n = 1327) were randomly assigned to: One of four SMS frequencies; one of ten behavioral constructs; “cholera” or “disease” framing; and one or zero household visits from a sales agent. During the three-month campaign, there were no statistically significant relationships between the four outcomes related to chlorine purchases and any SMS frequency, any behavioral construct, or either “cholera” or “disease” framing. Receiving one visit increased the probability of purchasing a bottle of chlorine by 17.1 percentage points (p < 0.001) but did not affect subsequent purchase behavior. Costs of managing the SMS campaign were higher than expected. SMS campaigns may not be cost-effective behavior change interventions in certain contexts. If pursued, we recommend simple interventions, timed with the target behavior, and tailored to mobile phone usage patterns of the target population.
Distribution and ECo-Toxicological Risk Assessment of Legacy Persistent Organic Pollutants in Surface Water of Talar, Babolrood and Haraz Rivers
Authors: Dahmardeh Behrooz Reza , Esmaili-Sari Abbas , Chakraborty Paromita
Published: November 2020

In the outer Alborz Range in the Northern Province of Iran, the Haraz, Talar and Babolrood Rivers are the three largest rivers where most of the agricultural, aquacultural and industrial activities are found. Total indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (iPCBs) ranged ND–474, ND–273 and ND–559 ng/L in Haraz, Talar and Babolrood Rivers, respectively. Significantly lower (p < 0.05) concentrations of DDT, lindane and dieldrin were observed in the upstream stations than downstream stations of both Babolrood and Haraz Rivers. However, in Talar River, PCB residues in upstream was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than downstream. Furthermore, PCB-28 in Talar River and PCB-101 and PCB-153 in Bablrood and Haraz Rivers were high in water samples at all stations. A significant difference was observed among the stations. In October, November and December, there was negligible variations in total PCB concentration among the stations. Alarming levels of some of the legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may pose adverse effects on the aquatic species dwelling in the Talar, Babolrood and Haraz Rivers of Iran.
Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to Precipitation around Reclaimed Islands in the South China Sea
Authors: Yao Dongxu , Song Xianfang , Yang Lihu , Ma Ying
Published: November 2020

Tropical cyclones (TCs) play an important role in the precipitation of tropical oceans and islands. The temporal and spatial characteristics of precipitation have become more complex in recent years with climate change. Global warming tips the original water and energy balance in oceans and atmosphere, giving rise to extreme precipitation events. In this study, the monthly precipitation ratio method, spatial analysis, and correlation analysis were employed to detect variations in precipitation in the South China Sea (SCS). The results showed that the contribution of TCs was 5.9% to 10.1% in the rainy season and 7.9% to 16.8% in the dry season. The seven islands have the same annual variations in the precipitation contributed by TCs. An 800 km radius of interest was better for representing the contribution of TC-derived precipitation than a 500 km conventional radius around reclaimed islands in the SCS. Four track patterns of TCs were defined. The order according to the primary pattern of contribution was I (26–85.3%) > IV (12.8–29.8%) > III (4.3–29%) > II (11.5–24%). The average distance between islands and TCs was 1163 and 712 km in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. The average contribution was larger in La Niña than in El Niño periods. These results could be beneficial for managing rainwater resources, especially the TC-induced precipitation in the reclaimed islands.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULTURAL COMPETENCE OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING STAFF
Authors: Levchenko Viktoriia , Forostiuk Inna
Published: November 2020

Components of cultural awareness: linguistic; intercultural; socio-cultural; personal. Research of the state of the development of teachers’ cultural awareness (50 respondents) from ten institutions of higher education of Ukraine, which are the representatives of different directions and specialties. The study revealed a significant role of the subjectivepersonal component in the development of cultural competence. The conditions which promote development of cultural competence are defined as next: 1) orientation to preservation of sacred values; 2) eco-social and psychologically safe space; 3) support from higher education institutions; 4) presence of personal qualities, such as openness, communication, flexibility, tolerance, readiness for uncertainty, the desire for self-realization.
“EVANGELICAL TEXT” OF THE NOVEL “CRIME AND PUNISHMENT” IN VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION
Authors: Hoan Nguyen Thi , Yermilova Galina G.
Published: November 2020

The article for the first time explores the translation of the ‟evangelical text” of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel ‟Crime and Punishment” into Vietnamese. The ‟evangelical text” refers to the New Testament quotations, for the first time both in the writer’s work and in the Russian literature of the 19th century as a whole, widely used by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Threeauthoritative translations by Trương Định Cư (1972), Lý Quốc Sinh (1973), Cao Xuân Hạo (1982-1983) are involved. The translation of the Bible into Vietnamese used by translators and involved in the liturgical practice of the Vietnamese
Orthodox Church, has been revealed. On the basis of a continuous text sample of the «evangelical text» three translations were compared with the original and reverse translations, followed by an analytical commentary. The subject of the article is a monologue of «drunken» Semyon Marmeladov in the tavern (p. 1, ch. 2), saturated with New Testament quotations, and an evangelical scene about raised Lazarus (p. 4, ch. 4). It is concluded that when translating the «evangelical text» of the novel, the Vietnamese translators experienced serious difficulties due to ignorance of Russian Orthodoxy, which is still perceived in Vietnam to this day as a kind of exotic. Some specific refinements to existing translations are proposed.
SOURCE-HISTORIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE SECOND KOSTROMA KREMLIN (ARTICLE 3)
Authors: Kabatov Sergey A. , Kabatova Yelena A.
Published: November 2020

The question of dating an urban settlement, if its date has no clear or specific written confirmation, is always very problematic and complicated. Its solution re-quires the use of the widest possible range of data. This research is presented in a block of articles that attempt to cover the source-historiographical study of the ex-istence of the second Kostroma Kremlin, including the latest archaeological data from 2016-2017 in the territory of the Old city of the second Kostroma Kremlin. The study raises questions about the conditions, specifics and dating of the founda-tion of the first and second Kostroma Kremlins, their nature of development, the conditions for obtaining the icon Our Lady of Saint Theodore in Kostroma and its storage location in both Kremlins. The question of the place, time and conditions of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral is considered separately, since on-ly research on the conditions and dating of its construction can shed light on the date of the foundation of the Old city of the second Kostroma Kremlin. Article 3 continues this block of research, which refers us to the time and conditions of building the Dormition Cathedral.
CHILDREN OF SERVANTS IN RUSSIA IN THE MID-19TH – THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Authors: Semyonova Ol’ga A.
Published: November 2020

In this article, based on the historical and anthropological approach, we study the possibilities of implementing the maternal role of female servants in Russia at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. Based on a wide source base, represented by reports of various societies, court cases, reports of Zemstvo and public congresses, etc., the author analyses the extent to which servants had the «right to a family», which was the reason for the desire or unwillingness to have a child, the possibility of raising children. Using concrete examples, the study shows that most of the servants’ children were illegitimate and unwanted. Very often, because of the fear of dismissal and loss of means of subsistence, the servants had to get rid of the child. The author comes to the conclusion that the options for the development of the mother-child relationship were reduced to «getting rid» of the child by abortion, infanticide, dumping it in an orphanage; giving it to relatives or public organisations for upbringing; providing the child to itself. The example of servants’ children shows that they were forced to grow up early, and the resulting «freedom», in most cases, was realised in deviant behaviour. By the end of the 19th century the fate of street children had become a problem that caused serious concern not only for Russian pedagogues and hygienists, but also for the broad circles of Russian society.
ABOUT THE NAMES OF THE DNIEPER RAPIDS IN THE RUS’ LANGUAGE IN DE ADMINISTRANDO IMPERIO
Authors: Vinogradov Aleksey Ye.
Published: November 2020

None of the many etymologies of the names of the Dnieper rapids in the Rus’ people’s language from the De administrando imperio treatise have so far been completely convincing. Perhaps the researchers used the wrong language key in addition to
paying lesser attention to the possible connections of the The hydronyms of the Rus’ language with the rapids names which were in use in subsequent centuries. An analysis of these connections, as well as examples of the language of Old Rus’, suggests that the names used in the work of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus had Latin roots. The features of the geographical environment reflected in the hydronyms, the flora of the region quite confidently correlate with the indications of the Byzantine treatise and other sources. Some features of the Dnieper hydronyms may indicate Vulgar Latin forms, including those dating back to medieval Balkan dialects, rather than classic.
The New Geometric “State-Action” Space Representation for Q-Learning Algorithm for Protein Structure Folding Problem
Authors: Chornozhuk S.
Published: November 2020

Introduction. The spatial protein structure folding is an important and actual problem in computational biology. Considering the mathematical model of the task, it can be easily concluded that finding an optimal protein conformation in a three dimensional grid is a NP-hard problem. Therefore some reinforcement learning techniques such as Q-learning approach can be used to solve the problem. The article proposes a

new geometric “state-action” space representation which significantly differs from all alternative representations used for this problem.

The purpose of the article is to analyze existing approaches of different states and actions spaces representations for Q-learning algorithm for protein structure folding problem, reveal their advantages and disadvantages and propose the new geometric “state-space” representation. Afterwards the goal is to compare existing and the proposed approaches, make conclusions with also describing possible future steps of further research.

Result. The work of the proposed algorithm is compared with others on the basis of 10 known chains with a length of 48 first proposed in [16]. For each of the chains the Q-learning algorithm with the proposed “state-space” representation outperformed the same Q-learning algorithm with alternative existing “state-space” representations both in terms of average and minimal energy values of resulted conformations. Moreover, a plenty of existing representations are used for a 2D protein structure predictions. However, during the experiments both existing and proposed representations were slightly changed or developed to solve the problem in 3D, which is more computationally demanding task.

Conclusion. The quality of the Q-learning algorithm with the proposed geometric “state-action” space representation has been experimentally confirmed. Consequently, it’s proved that the further research is promising. Moreover, several steps of possible future research such as combining the proposed approach with deep learning techniques has been already suggested.

Keywords: Spatial protein structure, combinatorial optimization, relative coding, machine learning, Q-learning, Bellman equation, state space, action space, basis in 3D space.