bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evolution of Surge-Type Glaciers in the Yangtze River Headwater Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data
Authors: Yan Jin , Lv Mingyang , Ruan Zhixing , Yan Shiyong , Liu Guang
Published: December 2019

A surge-type glacier is a special and dangerous type of glacier, which can advance quickly in a short-time with cycles. Glaciers in the Yangtze River headwater are generally acknowledged to be in a stable state. However, not all of those glaciers are stable. In this paper, five glaciers from the Yangtze River headwater glacier were selected as the experimental subjects, and multi-source remote sensing images were used to study and analyze the surge behavior over the past 30 years. Based on the Landsat series data, ERS-2, and ENVISAT radar data, this paper extracts the glacier centerline information, glacial area information, and glacial flow velocity during different time periods from 1988 to 2018, which are used to monitor the active periods of glacier surges. We found three surge-type glaciers in the study area. The glacial characteristics of the three glaciers showed some drastic changes, they can advance quickly nearly 800 m in active periods, their area change can reach 2.0 × 106 m2, and their flow velocity can suddenly increase by dozens of times. Surging periods and the initiated time of the three glaciers are different, which are locked in 1997, 2003, and 1997–1998. All those surges ended within one to two years. We suggest that the surges in this paper are dominated by hydrological conditions.
An Innovative Virtual Simulation Teaching Platform on Digital Mapping with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Remote Sensing Education
Authors: He Xiaoxing , Hua Xianghong , Montillet Jean-Philippe , Yu Kegen , Zou Jingui , Xiang Dong , Zhu Huiping , Zhang Di , Huang Zhengkai , Zhao Bufan
Published: December 2019

This work mainly discusses an innovative teaching platform on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle digital mapping for Remote Sensing (RS) education at Wuhan University, underlining the fast development of RS technology. Firstly, we introduce and discuss the future development of the Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching Platform for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VSETP-UAV). It includes specific topics such as the Systems and function Design, teaching and learning strategies, and experimental methods. This study shows that VSETP-UAV expands the usual content and training methods related to RS education, and creates a good synergy between teaching and research. The results also show that the VSETP-UAV platform is of high teaching quality producing excellent engineers, with high international standards and innovative skills in the RS field. In particular, it develops students’ practical skills with technical manipulations of dedicated hardware and software equipment (e.g., UAV) in order to assimilate quickly this particular topic. Therefore, students report that this platform is more accessible from an educational point-of-view than theoretical programs, with a quick way of learning basic concepts of RS. Finally, the proposed VSETP-UAV platform achieves a high social influence, expanding the practical content and training methods of UAV based experiments, and providing a platform for producing high-quality national talents with internationally recognized topics related to emerging engineering education.
Efficient Execution of Complex Context Queries to Enable Near Real-Time Smart IoT Applications
Authors: Hassani Alireza , Medvedev Alexey , Zaslavsky Arkady , Delir Haghighi Pari , Jayaraman Prem Prakash , Ling Sea
Published: December 2019

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving at a fast pace, the need for contextual intelligence has become more crucial for delivering IoT intelligence, efficiency, effectiveness, performance, and sustainability. Contextual intelligence enables interactions between IoT devices such as sensors/actuators, smartphones and connected vehicles, to name but a few. Context management platforms (CMP) are emerging as a promising solution to deliver contextual intelligence for IoT. However, the development of a generic solution that allows IoT devices and services to publish, consume, monitor, and share context is still in its infancy. In this paper, we propose, validate and explain the details of a novel mechanism called Context Query Engine (CQE), which is an integral part of a pioneering CMP called Context-as-a-Service (CoaaS). CQE is responsible for efficient execution of context queries in near real-time. We present the architecture of CQE and illuminate its workflows. We also conduct extensive experimental performance and scalability evaluation of the proposed CQE. Results of experimental evaluation convincingly demonstrate that CoaaS outperforms its competitors in executing complex context queries. Moreover, the advanced functionality of the embedded query language makes CoaaS a decent candidate for real-life deployments.
Low-Cost 2D Index and Straightness Measurement System Based on a CMOS Image Sensor
Authors: Küng Alain , Bircher Benjamin A. , Meli Felix
Published: December 2019

Accurate traceable measurement systems often use laser interferometers for position measurements in one or more dimensions. Since interferometers provide only incremental information, they are often combined with index sensors to provide a stable reference starting point. Straightness measurements are important for machine axis correction and for systems having several degrees of freedom. In this paper, we investigate the accuracy of an optical two-dimensional (2D) index sensor, which can also be used in a straightness measurement system, based on a fiber-coupled, collimated laser beam pointing onto an image sensor. Additionally, the sensor can directly determine a 2D position over a range of a few millimeters. The device is based on a simple and low-cost complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor chip and provides sub-micrometer accuracy. The system is an interesting alternative to standard techniques and can even be implemented on machines for real-time corrections. This paper presents the developed sensor properties for various applications and introduces a novel error separation method for straightness measurements.
Adaptive Binarization of QR Code Images for Fast Automatic Sorting in Warehouse Systems
Authors: Chen Rongjun , Yu Yongxing , Xu Xiansheng , Wang Leijun , Zhao Huimin , Tan Hong-Zhou
Published: December 2019

As the fundamental element of the Internet of Things, the QR code has become increasingly crucial for connecting online and offline services. Concerning e-commerce and logistics, we mainly focus on how to identify QR codes quickly and accurately. An adaptive binarization approach is proposed to solve the problem of uneven illumination in warehouse automatic sorting systems. Guided by cognitive modeling, we adaptively select the block window of the QR code for robust binarization under uneven illumination. The proposed method can eliminate the impact of uneven illumination of QR codes effectively whilst meeting the real-time needs in the automatic warehouse sorting. Experimental results have demonstrated the superiority of the proposed approach when benchmarked with several state-of-the-art methods.
Cueing Paradigms to Improve Gait and Posture in Parkinson’s Disease: A Narrative Review
Authors: Muthukrishnan Niveditha , Abbas James J. , Shill Holly A. , Krishnamurthi Narayanan
Published: December 2019

Progressive gait dysfunction is one of the primary motor symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It is generally expressed as reduced step length and gait speed and as increased variability in step time and step length. People with PD also exhibit stooped posture which disrupts gait and impedes social interaction. The gait and posture impairments are usually resistant to the pharmacological treatment, worsen as the disease progresses, increase the likelihood of falls, and result in higher rates of hospitalization and mortality. These impairments may be caused by perceptual deficiencies (poor spatial awareness and loss of temporal rhythmicity) due to the disruptions in processing intrinsic information related to movement initiation and execution which can result in misperceptions of the actual effort required to perform a desired movement and maintain a stable posture. Consequently, people with PD often depend on external cues during execution of motor tasks. Numerous studies involving open-loop cues have shown improvements in gait and freezing of gait (FoG) in people with PD. However, the benefits of cueing may be limited, since cues are provided in a consistent/rhythmic manner irrespective of how well a person follows them. This limitation can be addressed by providing feedback in real-time to the user about performance (closed-loop cueing) which may help to improve movement patterns. Some studies that used closed-loop cueing observed improvements in gait and posture in PD, but the treadmill-based setup in a laboratory would not be accessible outside of a research setting, and the skills learned may not readily and completely transfer to overground locomotion in the community. Technologies suitable for cueing outside of laboratory environments could facilitate movement practice during daily activities at home or in the community and could strongly reinforce movement patterns and improve clinical outcomes. This narrative review presents an overview of cueing paradigms that have been utilized to improve gait and posture in people with PD and recommends development of closed-loop wearable systems that can be used at home or in the community to improve gait and posture in PD.
SDN Controller Placement in IoT Networks: An Optimized Submodularity-Based Approach
Authors: Tran Anh Khoa , Piran Md. Jalil , Pham Chuan
Published: December 2019

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has opened a promising and potential approach for future networks, which mostly requires the low-level configuration to implement different controls. With the high advantages of SDN by decomposing the network control plane from the data plane, SDN has become a crucial platform to implement Internet of Things (IoT) services. However, a static SDN controller placement cannot obtain an efficient solution in distributed and dynamic IoT networks. In this paper, we investigate an optimization framework under a well-known theory, namely submodularity optimization, to formulate and address different aspects of the controller placement problem in a distributed network, specifically in an IoT scenario. Concretely, we develop a framework that deals with a series of controller placement problems from basic to complicated use cases. Corresponding to each use case, we provide discussion and a heuristic algorithm based on the submodularity concept. Finally, we present extensive simulations conducted on our framework. The simulation results show that our proposed algorithms can outperform considered baseline methods in terms of execution time, the number of controllers, and network latency.
Foliar Moisture Content from the Spectral Signature for Wildfire Risk Assessments in Valparaíso-Chile
Authors: Villacrés Juan , Arevalo-Ramirez Tito , Fuentes Andrés , Reszka Pedro , Auat Cheein Fernando
Published: December 2019

Fuel moisture content (FMC) proved to be one of the most relevant parameters for controlling fire behavior and risk, particularly at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Data relating FMC to spectral indexes for different species are an important requirement identified by the wildfire safety community. In Valparaíso, the WUI is mainly composed of Eucalyptus Globulus and Pinus Radiata—commonly found in Mediterranean WUI areas—which represent the 97.51% of the forests plantation inventory. In this work we study the spectral signature of these species under different levels of FMC. In particular, we analyze the behavior of the spectral reflectance per each species at five dehydration stages, obtaining eighteen spectral indexes related to water content and, for Eucalyptus Globulus, the area of each leave—associated with the water content—is also computed. As the main outcome of this research, we provide a validated linear regression model associated with each spectral index and the fuel moisture content and moisture loss, per each species studied.
Analysis and Improvements in AprilTag Based State Estimation
Authors: Abbas Syed Muhammad , Aslam Salman , Berns Karsten , Muhammad Abubakr
Published: December 2019

In this paper, we analyzed the accuracy and precision of AprilTag as a visual fiducial marker in detail. We have analyzed error propagation along two horizontal axes along with the effect of angular rotation about the vertical axis. We have identified that the angular rotation of the camera (yaw angle) about its vertical axis is the primary source of error that decreases the precision to the point where the marker system is not potentially viable for sub-decimeter precise tasks. Other factors are the distance and viewing angle of the camera from the AprilTag. Based on these observations, three improvement steps have been proposed. One is the trigonometric correction of the yaw angle to point the camera towards the center of the tag. Second, the use of a custom-built yaw-axis gimbal, which tracks the center of the tag in real-time. Third, we have presented for the first time a pose-indexed probabilistic sensor error model of the AprilTag using a Gaussian Processes based regression of experimental data, validated by particle filter tracking. Our proposed approach, which can be deployed with all three improvement steps, increases the system’s overall accuracy and precision by manifolds with a slight trade-off with execution time over commonly available AprilTag library. These proposed improvements make AprilTag suitable to be used as precision localization systems for outdoor and indoor applications.
Self-Organized Proactive Routing Protocol for Non-Uniformly Deployed Underwater Networks
Authors: Hyder Waheeduddin , Luque-Nieto Miguel-Ángel , Poncela Javier , Otero Pablo
Published: December 2019

Electromagnetic (EM) waves cannot propagate more than few meters in sea water due to the high absorption rate. Acoustic waves are more suitable for underwater communication, but they travel very slowly compared to EM waves. The typical speed of acoustic waves in water is 1500 m/s, whereas speed of EM waves in air is approximately 3 × 108 m/s. Therefore, the terrestrial wireless sensor network (WSN) protocols assume that the propagation delay is negligible. Hence, reactive protocols are deemed acceptable for WSNs. Other important issues related to underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) are determining the position of the underwater nodes and keeping a time synchronization among the nodes. Underwater nodes can neither determine their position nor synchronize using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) because of the short penetration of EM waves in sea water. The limited mobility of UWSN nodes and variation in the propagation speed of acoustic waves make time synchronization a challenging task for underwater acoustic networks (UASNs). For all these reasons, WSN protocols cannot be readily used in UASNs. In this work, a protocol named SPRINT is designed to achieve high data throughput and low energy operation in the nodes. There is a tradeoff between the throughput and the energy consumption in the wireless networks. Longer links mean higher energy consumption. On the other hand, the number of relay nodes or hops between the source node and the final destination node is a key factor which affects the throughput. Each hop increases the delay in the packet forwarding and, as a result, decreases the throughput. Hence, energy consumption requires the nearest nodes to be chosen as forwarding nodes, whereas the throughput requires the farthest node to be selected to minimize the number of hops. SPRINT is a cross-layer, self-organized, proactive protocol which does not require positioning equipment to determine the location of the node. The routing path from the node to the gateway is formed based on the distance. The data sending node prefers to choose the neighbor node which is closest to it. The distance is measured by the signal strength between the two nodes.
Integration of Computer Vision and Wireless Networks to Provide Indoor Positioning
Authors: Duque Domingo Jaime , Gómez-García-Bermejo Jaime , Zalama Eduardo , Cerrada Carlos , Valero Enrique
Published: December 2019

This work presents an integrated Indoor Positioning System which makes use of WiFi signals and RGB cameras, such as surveillance cameras, to track and identify people navigating in complex indoor environments. Previous works have often been based on WiFi, but accuracy is limited. Other works use computer vision, but the problem of identifying concrete persons relies on such techniques as face recognition, which are not useful if there are many unknown people, or where the robustness decreases when individuals are seen from different points of view. The solution presented in this paper is based on an accurate combination of smartphones along with RGB cameras, such as those used in surveillance infrastructures. WiFi signals from smartphones allow the persons present in the environment to be identified uniquely, while the data coming from the cameras allow the precision of location to be improved. The system is nonintrusive, and biometric data about subjects is not required. In this paper, the proposed method is fully described and experiments performed to test the system are detailed along with the results obtained.
Stress Estimation Using Digital Image Correlation with Compensation of Camera Motion-Induced Error
Authors: Lee Junhwa , Jeong Seunghoo , Lee Young-Joo , Sim Sung-Han
Published: December 2019

Measurement of stress levels from an in-service structure can provide important and useful information regarding the current state of a structure. The stress relaxation method (SRM) is the most conventional and practical method, which has been widely accepted for measuring residual stresses in metallic materials. The SRM showed strong potential for stress estimation of civil engineering structures, when combined with digital image correlation (DIC). However, the SRM/DIC methods studied thus far have practical issues regarding camera vibration during hole drilling. To minimize the error induced by the camera motion, the imaging system is installed at a distance from the specimen resulting in the low pixel density and the large extent of the inflicted damage. This study proposes an SRM/DIC-based stress estimation method that allows the camera to be removed during hole drilling and relocated to take the after-drilling image. Since the imaging system can be placed as close to the specimen as possible, a high pixel density can be achieved such that subtle displacement perturbation introduced by a small damage can be acquired by DIC. This study provides a detailed mathematical formulation for removing the camera relocation-induced false displacement field in the DIC result. The proposed method is validated numerically and experimentally.
Productivity Change and Decomposition in Taiwan Bakery Enterprise―Evidence from 85 °C Company
Authors: Chang Chieh-Wen , Wu Kun-Shan , Chang Bao-Guang
Published: December 2019

In recent years, the bakery market has grown rapidly. Alongside its growth and fast change, it is very important to comprehend the productivity change of the bakery industry. Nowadays, effective management is more and more important to ensure the sustainable development of enterprises. Thus, productivity change of 22 self-owned stores of a famous bakery company (85 °C) from 2011 to 2016 was quantitatively analyzed and evaluated by adopting Malmquist index model in this study. Based on the Malmquist index model, the overall mean for total productivity change of 85 °C increased slightly from 2011 to 2016, and the productivity change was easily affected by technical progress. Moreover, the results also show that the north-district self-owned stores (which are located in subtropical climate) have the worst technical progress and total factor productivity change during 2011–2016 period by adopting the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn post-hoc test.
Renewable Energy Generation Assessment in Terms of Small-Signal Stability
Authors: Dastas Mark Brian , Song Hwachang
Published: December 2019

The popularity and role of renewable energy in the power grid are increasing nowadays as countries are shifting to cleaner forms of energy. This brings new challenges in maintaining a secure and stable power system, as renewable energy is known to be intermittent in nature and may introduce stability issues to the grid. In this paper, a screening framework of renewable energy generation scenarios is proposed to determine which power system conditions and scenarios will make the system unstable. The scenario screening framework is based on a sensitivity analysis of the system eigenvalues with respect to the renewable energy penetration to the system. The average scheduled renewable energy output, forecasting error standard deviation, average forecasting error, and bus location of the renewable energy source were used to define a renewable energy generation scenario. Depending on the amount and variability of renewable energy, there is a possibility for a critical eigenvalue to cross the imaginary axis. The estimated eigenvalue location resulting from the penetration of variable renewable energy is computed by adding the computed eigenvalue sensitivity to the initial operating point. If any of the estimated system eigenvalues cross the imaginary axis, the power system might be unstable in this scenario, so it requires more detailed simulations and countermeasures. Renewable energy forecasting was done using the long short-term memory model, and the proposed method was simulated using the IEEE 39-bus New England test system. The results of the proposed method were verified by comparing the simulation results to the eigenanalysis solution. The obtained results have shown that the proposed method can determine whether the renewable energy generation scenario is critical in power system operation.
Addendum: Li, S., et al. Risk Identification and Evaluation of the Long-term Supply of Manganese Mines in China Based on the VW-BGR Method. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2683
Authors: Li Shule , Yan Jingjing , Pei Qiuming , Sha Jinghua , Mou Siyu , Xiao Yong
Published: December 2019

The authors would like to make the following corrections about the published paper [...]
Measuring Urban Spatial Activity Structures: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Xu Lihua , Xu Huifeng , Wang Tianyu , Yue Wenze , Deng Jinyang , Mao Liwei
Published: December 2019

Human activity recognition has been of interest in the field of urban planning. This paper established a general framework by which expected human activity intensity (HAI) measured by the built environment and factual HAI measured by the Baidu thermal chart were estimated and comparatively analyzed so as to identify abnormal human activities in Hanghzou, China. Three elements of the built environment (i.e., residential density, road connectivity, and land-use mixing degree) from multi-source data with high precision are selected to assess the expected HAI. Results indicate Hangzhou has evolved into a polycentric city with three urban clusters. In addition, a significant positive correlation exists between the two types of HAIs. However, there are areas with spatial mismatches, particularly in the “urban village” and new towns, suggesting human activities are not equally distributed all over the city. Research implications, limitations, and future research needs are discussed.
Effects of Organic Wastes on Soil Organic Carbon and Surface Charge Properties in Primary Saline-alkali Soil
Authors: Chen Xiaodong , Wu Jinggui , Opoku-Kwanowaa Yaa
Published: December 2019

High salinity and low fertility have restricted crop production in primary saline-alkali soils. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and surface charge characteristics affect the soil fertility and soil colloid characteristics of primary saline-alkali soils, respectively. In this paper, the SOC and surface charge properties of primary saline-alkaline soil under organic wastes applications were assessed. Five treatments were involved in this experiment: chemical fertilizer combined with sheep manure (SM), corn straw (CS), fodder grass (FG), and granular corn straw (GS), while chemical fertilizer only was used as control (CK). The content of SOC was significantly different under different organic wastes application (p < 0.05). Treatment GS recorded the highest content of SOC compared with the other treatments. In addition, the content of each SOC density fraction increased after the application of organic wastes. Similarly, the application of organic wastes, increased the proportion of organic carbon in free light fraction (Fr-FLOC) and organic carbon in occluded fraction (Oc-FLOC) in the soil however the proportion of organic carbon in heavy fraction (HFOC) decreased. In this study, we found that treatment GS has a greater impact on soil surface charge properties than other treatments, and through redundancy analysis (RDA) the content of SOC and Fr-LFOC (F = 24.704, p = 0.004; F = 19.594, p = 0.002) were identified as the main factors affecting the surface charge properties of soil organic carbon. In conclusion, GS is the recommended organic waste for ameliorating primary saline-alkali soil, as compared to the other organic waste treatments.
Sustainable Personal Transport Modes in a Life Cycle Perspective—Public or Private?
Authors: Sinha Rajib , Olsson Lars E. , Frostell Björn
Published: December 2019

Life cycle-based studies endorse public transport to cause lower environmental pressures compared to a private car. However, a private car can cause lower environmental pressure when a public vehicle (bus or train) runs on a lower occupancy during an off-peak hour. This fact should be the basis for a more profound debate regarding public versus private transport. Many transport interventions are striving to reduce the number of car transports. To reach this goal, passengers need attractive alternatives to their reduced number of car travels (i.e., attractive public transport). This study aimed to develop a model allowing us to estimate potential environmental gains by changing travel behavior. A passenger travel model was developed based on life cycle inventories (LCI) of different travel modes to calculate environmental footprints. The model was applied in an intervention of public transport through temporary free public transport. The intervention was successful in significantly reducing the number of car transports (12%). However, total passenger kilometer travelled (PKT) increased substantially more, mainly by bus, but also train, bicycle and walking. The total energy, carbon and nitrogen oxide footprints were slightly increased after the intervention. If the commuters were assumed to travel during peak hours or the number of public transports were not affected by the increased number of commuters, the overall environmental footprints decreased. Our conclusions are that transport interventions are very complex. They may result in desired changes, but also in altered travel behavior, increasing overall impact. Thus, a very broad evaluation of all transport modes as well as potential positive social influences of the transport intervention will be necessary.
Senior Housing Universal Design as a Development Factor of Sustainable-Oriented Economy
Authors: Malik Krzysztof , Mikołajczak Ewa
Published: December 2019

Elderly and disabled individuals constitute over 25% of the population with a perspective of reaching 35% in 2040. This trend triggers the dynamic development of the silver economy, which aims to satisfy the needs specific to this social group. One of the cornerstones of that sector concerns appropriate housing, which—as for now—is often maladapted, making daily activities highly demanding. This problem should be addressed in a systematic and sustainable manner. A current solution is to adjust the existing flats, which is suboptimal, due to high costs and technical limitations that in many cases, cannot be overcome. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that a primary design of living spaces suitable for senior citizens (barrier-free flats) is more beneficial from the socio-economic perspective as compared to the adaptation of existing houses. We analyzed the economic and social costs/benefits of the contemporarily available flat adjustment strategies and the primary design of barrier-free houses. We found that the implementation of standardized design principles at the stage of architectural design can reduce yearly costs of the national economy by ~PLN 385 billion (> 19% of Poland’s GDP), making the universal design senior housing an efficient response to the arising requirements of our aging society.
Attitude Evaluation on Using the Neuromarketing Approach in Social Media: Matching Company’s Purposes and Consumer’s Benefits for Sustainable Business Growth
Authors: Constantinescu Mihaela , Orindaru Andreea , Pachitanu Andreea , Rosca Laura , Caescu Stefan-Claudiu , Orzan Mihai Cristian
Published: December 2019

The current era has brought about major changes in the way people connect to each other, and social media is a major pillar of this change. In this new communication and connecting environment, companies are under pressure to constantly adapt and become present on platforms where their customers are while being sustainable and profitable in the long run. On the other hand, traditional marketing research challenges have led to the expansion of new research approaches like neuromarketing as a means to gather the most accurate data ever from customers. When referring to how we can use neuromarketing research within the social media context, the current paper aims to fill a gap in the current literature: Using neuromarketing research in social media while taking into consideration both companies’ purposes and customers’ sought-after benefits. This aim is achieved through two pieces of research that shed light on a model where these purposes are matched with the corresponding benefits, showing the degree of acceptability of four major neuromarketing applications. This model is a stepping stone towards discovering how social media neuromarketing research can be a pillar of sustainable business communication as part of the broader perspective of sustainability in terms of business growth.
The Effect of Wheat Moisture and Hardness on the Parameters of the Peleg and Normand Model during Relaxation of Single Kernels at Variable Initial Loading
Authors: Al Aridhee Jawad Kadhim , Łysiak Grzegorz , Kulig Ryszard , Wójcik Monika , Panasiewicz Marian
Published: December 2019

The aim of the study was to examine the Peleg and Normand model to characterize the overall stress relaxation behavior of wheat kernel at varying load conditions. The relaxation experiments were made with the help of the universal testing machine, Zwick Z020, by subjecting the samples to compression at four distinct initial load levels, i.e., 20 N, 30 N, 40 N, and 50 N. The measurements were made for four wheat varieties (two soft and two hard-type endosperms) and seven levels of moisture content. Relaxation characteristics were approximated with the help of the Peleg and Normand equation. An interactive influence of the load level, moisture, and wheat hardness on the Peleg and Normand constants has been confirmed. For moist kernels, a higher amount of absorbed compression energy was released, since less energy was required to keep the deformation at a constant level. The constants differed depending on wheat hardness. Higher values of k1 revealed that the initial force decay was slower for hard varieties. This is more characteristic of elastic behavior. Similarly, higher values of k2 pointed to a larger amount of elastic (recoverable) energy at the end of the relaxation. The initial loading level had no or only a slight effect on the model coefficients (Y(t), k1, and k2). The parameters of the Peleg and Normand model decreased with an increase in the water content in the kernels.
Water Quality Responses during the Continuous Mixing Process and Informed Management of a Stratified Drinking Water Reservoir
Authors: Zhou Zizhen , Huang Tinglin , Gong Weijin , Li Yang , Liu Yue , Zhou Shilei , Cao Meiying
Published: December 2019

Aeration and mixing have been proven as effective in situ water quality improvement methods, particularly for deep drinking water reservoirs. While there is some research on the mechanism of water quality improvement during artificial mixing, the changes to water quality and the microbial community during the subsequent continuous mixing process is little understood. In this study, we investigate the mechanism of water quality improvement during the continuous mixing process in a drinking water reservoir. During this period, we found a reduction in total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and total organic carbon (TOC) of 12.5%–30.8%. We also measured reductions of 8.6% and 6.2% in TN and organic carbon (OC), respectively, in surface sediment. Microbial metabolic activity, abundance, and carbon source utilization were also improved. Redundancy analysis indicated that temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) were key factors affecting changes in the microbial community. With intervention, the water temperature during continuous mixing was 15 °C, and the mixing temperature in the reservoir increased by 5 °C compared with natural mixing. Our research shows that integrating and optimizing the artificial and continuous mixing processes influences energy savings. This research provides a theoretical basis for further advancing treatment optimizations for a drinking water supply.
Modelling the Food Availability and Environmental Impacts of a Shift Towards Consumption of Healthy Dietary Patterns in Australia
Authors: Candy Seona , Turner Graham , Larsen Kirsten , Wingrove Kate , Steenkamp Julia , Friel Sharon , Lawrence Mark
Published: December 2019

Dietary change has been suggested as a key strategy to maintain food security, improve health and reduce environmental impacts in the face of rising populations, resource scarcity and climate change impacts, particularly in developed countries. This paper presents findings from a quantitative modelling analysis of food availability and environmental implications of shifting the current average Australian dietary pattern to one of two alternative, healthy dietary patterns, the ‘healthy mixed diet’, with a mixture of animal and plant foods, and the ‘healthy plant-based diet’, with only plant foods. Both were constructed in accordance with the Australian Dietary Guideline recommendations, and four sustainability principles: Avoiding over-consumption, reducing intake of discretionary foods, reducing animal products, and reducing food waste. It was assumed that all food was provided domestically where possible, and export of foods only occurred when there was a surplus to domestic requirements. The authors compared the impacts of each dietary pattern on direct food availability, water use, land use, greenhouse gas emissions, fuel and energy use and fertiliser use. The plant-based diet had the best overall environmental and direct food availability outcomes, however had key vulnerabilities in terms of fertiliser and cropping land availability. For the agricultural sector overall, changes in diet had little effect on environmental impact due to the amount and nature of Australian exports, indicating that changes to production methods are also necessary. Likewise, changing diets had little effect on the existing environmentally intensive Australian economy, indicating that changes to other sectors are also necessary.
Sustainable Lighting-Retrofit Versus Dedicated Luminaires-Light Versus Power Quality
Authors: Ciugudeanu Calin , Buzdugan Mircea , Beu Dorin , Campianu Angel , Galatanu Catalin Daniel
Published: December 2019

For the next few years millions of fluorescent luminaires will become waste and will be replaced by light-emitting diodes—LED luminaires. According to the Cost European Cooperation in Science & Technology Program, the next step will be shifting from sustainability to regeneration (enabling social and ecological systems to maintain a healthy state and to evolve); to reach this point, a is circular economy becomes necessary. The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca’s Lighting Engineering Laboratory—LEL—is the main lighting independent consultant in Transylvania (the north-west region of Romania). For the Building Services Faculty, LEL adopted different energy efficient lighting solutions to replace existing fluorescent T8 luminaires. The best available techniques were evaluated over the last few years. Out of a range of different smart lighting control systems, LED were chosen and used for retrofitting the existing T8 luminaires or simply replacing them with new dedicated LED luminaires. The study analyzed five different lighting setups for upgrading the existing fluorescent T8 2*36W luminaires. One setup used T5 lamps and the others used retrofitted or dedicated LED lighting solutions. First the lighting quantities of each setup were evaluated under real and experimental conditions. Second, a programable power source was used for measuring power quality indicators corelated with the provided lighting outputs, under different voltage values and waveforms. For each lighting setup, an even and odd current harmonic limit check was performed in line with class C—lighting equipment, IEC 61000-3-2 requirements. A new energy efficiency and power quality indicator was proposed—the lighting apparent power density [VA/sq.m/100lx].
R&D Expenditure for New Technology in Livestock Farming: Impact on GHG Reduction in Developing Countries
Authors: Spada Alessia , Fiore Mariantonietta , Monarca Umberto , Faccilongo Nicola
Published: December 2019

The achievement of the objectives of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increasingly received attention and support from decision makers and research by scholars. The livestock sector has always been one of the major sources of GHG emissions, especially in developing countries that do not have green technologies to improve the management of livestock waste. In order to achieve an absolute reduction in emissions, developed countries have applied a wide range of mitigation options; however, there are few studies from the developing world, although greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries have registered a rapid growth. Therefore, this research aims to assess and understand whether public R&D investments can affect emissions deriving from the livestock sector in developing countries. We made use of the FAOSTAT data (FAO Statistical Databases United Nations) and ASTI data set (Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators), collecting data from 29 Africa countries, in 2014 (latest data available). The data were analyzed by means of a Generalized Propensity Scores (GPS) approach, an increasingly widespread technique that is more robust than regression models, especially in small datasets. Our analysis suggests that the livestock sector in these countries shows an improvement in its relationships with the environment and GHG emission levels when the level of public R&D (Research and Development) investment on agriculture is greater. Therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by investing in research and development can lead to more efficient and sustainable resource management for developing countries.
Potential of Novel Biochars Produced from Invasive Aquatic Species Outside Food Chain in Removing Ammonium Nitrogen: Comparison with Conventional Biochars and Clinoptilolite
Authors: Song Haihong , Wang Jianming , Garg Ankit , Lin Xuankai , Zheng Qian , Sharma Susmita
Published: December 2019

Previous studies for removal of ammonium from wastewater were mainly conducted using biochars produced from agricultural residue. Feedstock type (agricultural residue, wood, animal waste, and aquatic waste), as well as pyrolysis temperature, can significantly influence biochar properties and hence its adsorption capacity. Such studies are useful in decision making for selecting biochar depending on feedstock availability and pyrolysis temperature. This study aims to explore the effects of different types of biochar (laboratory prepared novel water hyacinth and algae biochar, conventional cedar wood, rice straw, and pig manure biochar) on the adsorption kinetics for ammonium removal from wastewater. The adsorption kinetics of biochars were compared to that of commercially available clinoptilolite and interpreted with their respective physicochemical properties (SEM, FTIR, XRD). Batch tests were performed to evaluate the effects of biochars on adsorption of ammonium nitrogen at different concentrations (10 mg/L and 100 mg/L). The tests reveal that clinoptilolite has the highest adsorption capacity. Among biochars, pig manure (animal based) biochar has a higher adsorption capacity in comparison to conventional agricultural residues based biochars. The capacity of pig manure biochar under highly concentrated ammonium solution (100 mg/L) is merely 20% lower than that of clinoptilolite. Both water hyacinth and algae biochar produced at higher temperature (600 °C) show higher sorption rate and capacity (depending on the initial concentration of ammonium) for ammonium in comparison to that produced at a lower temperature (300 °C). This is likely due to an increase in porosity at higher temperatures of pyrolysis.
Some Integral Inequalities for h-Godunova-Levin Preinvexity
Authors: Almutairi Ohud , Kılıçman Adem
Published: December 2019

In this study, we define new classes of convexity called h-Godunova–Levin and h-Godunova–Levin preinvexity, through which some new inequalities of Hermite–Hadamard type are established. These new classes are the generalization of several known convexities including the s-convex, P-function, and Godunova–Levin. Further, the properties of the h-Godunova–Levin function are also discussed. Meanwhile, the applications of h-Godunova–Levin Preinvex function are given.
Recent Advances in Organocatalyzed Asymmetric Synthesis of Benzopyran and Benzodihydropyran (Chromane) Nuclei
Authors: Dalpozzo Renato , Mancuso Raffaella
Published: December 2019

Benzopyran and benzodihydropyran (chromane) nuclei are the core structure of many natural products, in particular flavonoids. Many compounds possessing this structure are nutraceuticals, pharmaceutical nutrients. Therefore, benzopyran and chromane scaffolds are important building blocks in organic synthesis and many efforts have been made to set up efficient methods for their synthesis. In particular, asymmetric methods are of great importance, being natural products, and generally chiral substances. This review aims to cover literature in the range 2017–first half of 2019.
Ciguatoxin Occurrence in Food-Web Components of a Cuban Coral Reef Ecosystem: Risk-Assessment Implications
Authors: Díaz-Asencio Lisbet , Clausing Rachel J. , Vandersea Mark , Chamero-Lago Donaida , Gómez-Batista Miguel , Hernández-Albernas Joan I. , Chomérat Nicolas , Rojas-Abrahantes Gabriel , Litaker R. Wayne , Tester Patricia , Diogène Jorge , Alonso-Hernández Carlos M. , Dechraoui Bottein Marie-Yasmine
Published: December 2019

In Cuba, ciguatera poisoning associated with fish consumption is the most commonly occurring non-bacterial seafood-borne illness. Risk management through fish market regulation has existed in Cuba for decades and consists of bans on selected species above a certain weight; however, the actual occurrence of ciguatoxins (CTXs) in seafood has never been verified. From this food safety risk management perspective, a study site locally known to be at risk for ciguatera was selected. Analysis of the epiphytic dinoflagellate community identified the microalga Gambierdiscus. Gambierdiscus species included six of the seven species known to be present in Cuba (G. caribaeus, G. belizeanus, G. carpenteri, G. carolinianus, G. silvae, and F. ruetzleri). CTX-like activity in invertebrates, herbivorous and carnivorous fishes were analyzed with a radioligand receptor-binding assay and, for selected samples, with the N2A cell cytotoxicity assay. CTX activity was found in 80% of the organisms sampled, with toxin values ranging from 2 to 8 ng CTX3C equivalents g−1 tissue. Data analysis further confirmed CTXs trophic magnification. This study constitutes the first finding of CTX-like activity in marine organisms in Cuba and in herbivorous fish in the Caribbean. Elucidating the structure–activity relationship and toxicology of CTX from the Caribbean is needed before conclusions may be drawn about risk exposure in Cuba and the wider Caribbean.
Metabolome Variation between Strains of Microcystis aeruginosa by Untargeted Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Racine Marianne , Saleem Ammar , Pick Frances R.
Published: December 2019

Cyanobacteria are notorious for their potential to produce hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs), but other bioactive compounds synthesized in the cells could be as toxic, and thus present interest for characterization. Ultra performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) combined with untargeted analysis was used to compare the metabolomes of five different strains of the common bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa. Even in microcystin-producing strains, other classes of oligopeptides including cyanopeptolins, aeruginosins, and aerucyclamides, were often the more dominant compounds. The distinct and large variation between strains of the same widespread species highlights the need to characterize the metabolome of a larger number of cyanobacteria, especially as several metabolites other than microcystins can affect ecological and human health.
Reply to Comments by Yih et al. (Exposure to Hantavirus is a Risk Factor Associated with Kidney Diseases in Sri Lanka: A Cross-Sectional Study)
Authors: Sarathkumara Yomani D. , Gamage Chandika D. , Lokupathirage Sithumini , Muthusinghe Devinda S. , Nanayakkara Nishantha , Gunarathne Lishanthe , Shimizu Kenta , Tsuda Yoshimi , Arikawa Jiro , Yoshimatsu Kumiko
Published: December 2019

Dear Drs. W. Katherine Yih, Martin Kulldorff, Jessica H. Leibler, David J. Friedman, and Daniel R. Brooks [...]
Efficacy of FDA-Approved Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Infection
Authors: Risner Kenneth , Ahmed Aslaa , Bakovic Allison , Kortchak Stephanie , Bhalla Nishank , Narayanan Aarthi
Published: December 2019

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a category B select agent pathogen that can be aerosolized. Infections in murine models and humans can advance to an encephalitic phenotype which may result in long-term neurological complications or death. No specific FDA-approved treatments or vaccines are available for the treatment or prevention of VEEV infection. Neurotropic viral infections have two damaging components: neuronal death caused by viral replication, and damage from the subsequent inflammatory response. Reducing the level of inflammation may lessen neurological tissue damage that often arises following VEEV infection. In this study, three commercially available anti-inflammatory drugs, Celecoxib, Rolipram, and Tofacitinib, were evaluated for antiviral activity in an astrocyte and a microglial model of VEEV infection. The inhibitors were tested against the vaccine strain VEEV TC-83, as well as the wild-type VEEV Trinidad donkey strain. Celecoxib, Tofacitinib, and Rolipram significantly decreased viral titers both after pre-treatment and post-treatment of infected cells. VEEV Trinidad Donkey (TrD) titers were reduced 6.45-fold in cells treated with 50 µM of Celecoxib, 2.45-fold when treated with 50 µM of Tofacitinib, and 1.81-fold when treated with 50 µM of Rolipram. Celecoxib was also shown to decrease inflammatory gene expression in the context of TC-83 infection. Overall, Celecoxib demonstrated potency as a countermeasure strategy that slowed VEEV infection and infection-induced inflammation in an in vitro model.