bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Di-n-Butyl Phthalate Phytoremediation by Garden Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) through Kinetics and Proteome Analysis
Authors: Liao Chien-Sen , Nishikawa Yoshikazu , Shih Yu-Ting
Published: March 2019

Di-n-dutyl phthalate (DBP), an endocrine disruptor, is one of the most widely used phthalate esters (PAEs) in the world. It can be accumulated in seafood or agricultural products and represents a substantial risk to human health via the food chain. Thus, finding a plant which can remediate DBP but have no effects on growth is the main topic of the development of DBP phytoremediation. This study used garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia), which has a significant DBP absorption capability, as a test plant to measure phytoremediation kinetics and proteome changes after being exposed to DBP. The results show that DBP accumulated in different parts of the garden lettuce but the physiological status and morphology showed no significant changes following DBP phytoremediation. The optimal condition for the DBP phytoremediation of garden lettuce is one critical micelle concentration (CMC) of non-ionic surfactant Tween 80 and the half-life (t1/2, days), which calculated by first-order kinetics, was 2.686 days for 5 mg L−1 of DBP. This result indicated that the addition of 1 CMC of Tween 80 could enhance the efficiency of DBP phytoremediation. In addition, the results of biotoxicity showed that the median effective concentration (EC50) of DBP for Chlorella vulgaris is 4.9 mg L−1. In this case, the overall toxicity markedly decreased following phytoremediation. In the end, the result of proteome analysis showed six protein spots, revealing significant alterations. According to the information of these proteomes, DBP potentially causes osmotic and oxidative stress in garden lettuce. In addition, since DBP had no significant effects on the morphology and physiological status of garden lettuce, garden lettuce can be recommended for use in the plant anti-DBP toxicity test, and also as the candidate plant for DBP phytoremediation. We hope these findings could provide valuable information for DBP-contaminated water treatment in ecological engineering applications or constructed wetlands.
Sustainable Development for Small Economy and Diversification from a Dominant Industry: Evidence from Macao
Authors: Choi Fei , Hon Chi Tin , Mao Yan Hua , Lai Ivan Ka Wai
Published: March 2019

While the Macao gambling industry has developed prosperously, its rapid development raises a problem of economic dependence on gambling that restricts economic diversification and causes a sustainable issue of non-gambling industries. In recent years, regulating and controlling the appropriate scale of the gambling industry have been regarded as a solution for sustainable economic development. Consequently, it is quite important to give a quantitative scale to the future development of the gambling industry. This study aims to estimate the appropriate scale of the gambling industry under the expectation of the optimal development of moderate economic diversification in Macao. This study employs the method of Measuring Economic Diversification in Hawaii in 2011 to evaluate the levels of diversification of Macao’s economy. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) efficiency calculated by a bootstrapping model is applied to obtain the operational efficiency of Macao’s gambling industry. A transition probability matrix in three scenarios is predicted by expert interviews and industry interviews. The appropriate scale of Macao’s gambling industry until 2021 is forecasted by Markov chain. The predicted result shows that the growth rate of gambling will not exceed 3% in terms of achieving the goal of optimal developing moderate economic diversification in Macao.
On the Relationship between Economic Policy Uncertainty and the Implied Volatility Index
Authors: Shaikh Imlak
Published: March 2019

This article examines the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the implied volatility index. The implied volatility index of various markets has been analyzed in relation to scheduled macroeconomic announcements, such as EPU and equity market policy uncertainty (EMPU) indices. The study highlights that EPU contains important information to explain the diverse market effects of the U.S., which is gauged into the volatility index. Estimates obtained in an autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity framework indicate the persistence of volatility during spikes in the EPU. More importantly, the lagged values of the policy uncertainty index also contains market-related information to explain the markets’ future volatility. Major political and economic events have also contributed positively in that a presidential election contains information to explain various asset classes. Commodities, such as crude oil, gold, corn, and soybean, have been impacted significantly followed by EPU. Moreover, interest rate market volatility has also been moved adversely due to tight monetary policy. The Markov regime switching regression manifests that the implied volatility index (VIX) behaves abruptly in two different regimes followed by EPU.
Energy Security Pattern Spatiotemporal Evolution and Strategic Analysis of G20 Countries
Authors: Li Jinchao , Wang Lina , Li Tianzhi , Zhu Shaowen
Published: March 2019

With the consumption of energy, blackouts, and a series of social development problems, the discussion of energy security has become the focus of international attention. This paper aims to construct a universal multidimensional index system from four dimensions, and compare the energy security systems of different countries by measuring the Energy Security Index (ESI) of 19 countries of G20 and analyzing their evolution characteristics. The results of this paper show that the ESI of the G20 countries is increasing, the number of dangerous countries is decreasing, mainly concentrated in the Asian and African regions, and environmental sustainability and safety use are the main factors affecting their energy security. The security countries are mainly concentrated in the developed countries of the Americas and Europe. Since 1995, the ESI of China has continued to rise and now China is a generally safe country, which reflects China’s continuous optimization of energy structure and continuous improvement of the relationship of energy systems and economic, population, and environmental systems.
Assessment of City Sustainability Using MCDM with Interdependent Criteria Weight
Authors: Yi Pingtao , Li Weiwei , Zhang Danning
Published: March 2019

The Capital Economic Circle is an important planning project in China. Sustainability is a key factor for the long-term development of the Capital Economic Circle. In this paper, we investigated the sustainability of 13 cities in the Capital Economic Circle using three dimensions: economy, society, and environment. The induced ordered weighted averaging (IOWA) operator was used for the aggregation of criteria data. The order-inducing variable in the IOWA operator was measure by the correlation degree of a criterion and all the other criteria. Criteria with larger order-inducing values were given more weight as they provided more support for the development of other criteria. The assessment results indicate that the sustainable development of most of the cities, except for Beijing and Tianjin, is poor, with performance values below 0.5. By comparing the development using three dimensions, it was found that poor performances of economic sustainability were the main reason for this. Additionally, all of the cities showed a sound momentum of sustainable growth even though the sustainable levels of most of the cities were not high. In terms of sustainable development across the three dimensions, the cities had the highest levels of environmental sustainability. The social sustainability of the cities, except for Beijing and Tianjin, was better than their economic sustainability. However, more than half of the cities (accounting for 53.8%) showed a decline in social sustainability, especially for Zhangjiakou, which had the highest degree of decline of 4.00%. Some suggestions have been provided on the basis of the main assessment results. For example, Beijing should invest more in education as well as further easing transportation pressure. There is room for further improvement of the social and environmental sustainability of Tianjin. The other cities should focus on developing economic sustainability as well as preventing the decline of social sustainability.
The Moderating Effect of Innovation on the Relationship between Urbanization and CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Three Major Urban Agglomerations in China
Authors: Sheng Yanwen , Miao Yi , Song Jinping , Shen Hongyan
Published: March 2019

This study investigates the relationship between urbanization, innovation, and CO2 emissions, with particular attention paid to the issue of how innovation influences the effect of urbanization on CO2 emissions in urban agglomerations, considering the spatial spillover effect between cities. Therefore, based on panel data on 48 cities in the three major urban agglomerations in China from 2001–2015, a spatial econometric model is used to estimate the effect of urbanization and innovation on CO2 emissions. The empirical results indicate that the relationship between urbanization and CO2 emissions follows a U-shaped curve in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), an N-shaped curve in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and an inverted N-shaped pattern in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). Additionally, innovation shows a significantly positive effect on reducing CO2 emissions in the YRD, but does not exert a significantly direct effect on CO2 emissions in the BTH and the PRD. More importantly, innovation played an important moderating role between urbanization and CO2 emissions in the YRD and PRD, suggesting that reducing the positive impacts of urbanization on CO2 emissions depends on innovative development. In addition, urban CO2 emissions presented a clearly negative spatial spillover effect among the cities in the three urban agglomerations. These findings and the following policy implications will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.
The Optimal Emission Decisions of Sustainable Production with Innovative Baseline Credit Regulations
Authors: Choi SungYong , Park KyungBae , Shim Sang-Oh
Published: March 2019

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, the international community is striving to establish a coordinated system to prevent fatal climate change in a global sense. As a result of such changes in business environments, a new issue, sustainability, has recently presented a paradigm shift and new research opportunity in which the theories and practices in traditional production and operations management are being reinterpreted and reapplied in relation to this emerging issue. Under this research background, we consider an optimal emission-trading problem under a cap-and-trade (CAT) emission regulation when the customers’ demand is given as an arbitrary probability distribution. Such a CAT approach to reduce the amount of emissions is a normative system for the sustainable production of manufacturing firms, which is also closely related to a well-known open innovation in literature of inventory management. Then, we formulate two stochastic inventory optimization models, which can be applied immediately for two famous CAT policies that exist in reality. In particular, our objective is to draw theoretical and practical implications for baseline credit emission regulations, which are innovative and government-led emission regulation policies, with a well-known newsvendor analysis. For our analytical results, we first show that our objective functions are piecewise linear and (quasi)-concave. Thus, it is found that there exists a unique optimal solution to the problem. Second, we successfully obtain the closed-form optimal solutions for the two models considered. Finally, we conduct a sensitivity analysis through a comparative static analysis to examine how the model parameters can affect the optimal solution in each model. All these analytical results and implications are consistent with previous studies in the literature, as well as with our insights for the models.
The Contribution of Fish to Food and Nutrition Security in Eastern Africa: Emerging Trends and Future Outlooks
Authors: Obiero Kevin , Meulenbroek Paul , Drexler Silke , Dagne Adamneh , Akoll Peter , Odong Robinson , Kaunda-Arara Boaz , Waidbacher Herwig
Published: March 2019

：Approximately 200 million people in Africa derive high-quality and low-cost proteins from fish. However, the consumption of fish is not fully exploited to combat the “triple burden” of malnutrition—obesity, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies which are the leading causes of poor health in the region. There is still limited knowledge on quantitative information to guide policy makers in developing evidence-based actions that can improve the availability of and access to nutritious food for healthy and sustained diets among children and care givers. In this paper, we review the available literature with the aim of assessing and quantifying the extent to which fish contributes towards fighting food and nutrition insecurity in the Eastern Africa subregion. Key results reveal the region is characterized by fish supply deficits, and hence, low levels of fish consumed per person. Nonetheless, the increase in fish imports, and the growing supply of fish from aquaculture are likely to improve the per-capita fish intake. Fish trade is generally bidirectional, with exports exceeding imports in value terms, while significant challenges still hinder domestic and intra-regional fish trade. The Eastern Africa region is projected to realize increased fish consumption from 4.80 kg in 2013 to 5.49 kg by 2022. Rising population growth and income levels imply that the region will need 2.49 million tonnes of fish to fill the demand–supply gaps. We recommend that food security and nutritional programmes should recognize the potential of fish in providing essential micronutrients from the aspects of improved dietary quality, nutritional status, and general wellbeing of the region’s fast growing population.
How to Balance the Trade-off between Economic Development and Climate Change?
Authors: Ma Xuejiao , Jiang Qichuan
Published: March 2019

Climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a development problem. Maintaining rapid economic development while simultaneously mitigating climate change is a pivotal and challenging task. Previous studies mainly focused on testing the validity of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis but ignored the internal influencing mechanism. This paper extends the past work in three aspects. First, we theoretically discuss the interaction of the scale, structure and technology effects of economic development and their impact on carbon emissions based on a classic model and the general equilibrium theory. Second, the relationship between carbon emissions and these three effects are examined by considering the quadratic term, and the interactive mechanism among them is evaluated by applying multiple mediating analysis. Due to the important role of the technology effect, we further divide it into different sources to reveal its impact on carbon emissions and discuss the rebound effect. Finally, the policy effect is considered, and the results demonstrate that the implementation of effective environmental regulations can mitigate the adverse impact of economic development on carbon emissions. Our research is an initial attempt to thoroughly explore the pathways to balance the trade-off between development and environment from the perspective of internal influencing mechanisms. The empirical results can serve as an important reference for making policies about energy conservation and emission reduction.
An Integrative Approach to Assess Subjective Well-Being. A Case Study on Romanian University Students
Authors: Serban-Oprescu George-Laurentiu , Dedu Silvia , Serban-Oprescu Anca-Teodora
Published: March 2019

Subjective well-being (SWB) has presented long-lasting interest for researchers and the recent focus on the economic approach to SWB led to increased awareness of the topic. Despite the significant number of studies, conceptualizing and assessing SWB, along with finding predictors of SWB, need further empirical exploration. Following this rationale, using statistical and econometric methods (correlation analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR)) applied on data collected via a survey on students from Bucharest University of Economic Studies (363 respondents), this study explores and provides insights that support a better understanding of defining and measuring SWB. Additionally, the study offers valuable information on the main determinants of SWB for a particular group, in this case, Romanian business students. According to findings, we argue that: (1) when assessing perception of life satisfaction and happiness, Romanian students tend to make slight distinctions between these two concepts; (2) question order effect is not significant, whereas negative sentiments (such as pessimism) impact self-assessment of happiness, but not of life satisfaction; (3) the main predictors for SWB are satisfaction with current activities, level of optimism/pessimism, health, and safety of the neighborhood. This paper proposes a new approach to modeling SWB by MLR, which features expressing the dependent variable with respect to the principal factors obtained by PCA.
Locating Chromatic Number of Powers of Paths and Cycles
Authors: Ghanem Manal , Al-Ezeh Hasan , Dabbour Ala’a
Published: March 2019

Let c be a proper k-coloring of a graph G. Let π = { R 1 , R 2 , … , R k } be the partition of V ( G ) induced by c, where R i is the partition class receiving color i. The color code c π ( v ) of a vertex v of G is the ordered k-tuple ( d ( v , R 1 ) , d ( v , R 2 ) , … , d ( v , R k ) ) , where d ( v , R i ) is the minimum distance from v to each other vertex u ∈ R i for 1 ≤ i ≤ k . If all vertices of G have distinct color codes, then c is called a locating k-coloring of G. The locating-chromatic number of G, denoted by χ L ( G ) , is the smallest k such that G admits a locating coloring with k colors. In this paper, we give a characterization of the locating chromatic number of powers of paths. In addition, we find sharp upper and lower bounds for the locating chromatic number of powers of cycles.
Incremental Granular Model Improvement Using Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Yeom Chan-Uk , Kwak Keun-Chang
Published: March 2019

This paper proposes an incremental granular model (IGM) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. An IGM is a combination of linear regression (LR) and granular model (GM) where the global part calculates the error using LR. However, traditional CFCM clustering presents some problems because the number of clusters generated in each context is the same and a fixed value is used for fuzzification coefficient. In order to solve these problems, we optimize the number of clusters and their fuzzy numbers according to the characteristics of the data, and use natural imitative optimization PSO algorithm. We further evaluate the performance of the proposed method and the existing IGM by comparing the predicted performance using the Boston housing dataset. The Boston housing dataset contains housing price information in Boston, USA, and features 13 input variables and 1 output variable. As a result of the prediction, we can confirm that the proposed PSO-IGM shows better performance than the existing IGM.
Stereographic Visualization of 5-Dimensional Regular Polytopes
Authors: Wang Xingchang , Yu Tao , Chung Kwokwai , Gdawiec Krzysztof , Ouyang Peichang
Published: March 2019

Regular polytopes (RPs) are an extension of 2D (two-dimensional) regular polygons and 3D regular polyhedra in n-dimensional ( n ≥ 4 ) space. The high abstraction and perfect symmetry are their most prominent features. The traditional projections only show vertex and edge information. Although such projections can preserve the highest degree of symmetry of the RPs, they can not transmit their metric or topological information. Based on the generalized stereographic projection, this paper establishes visualization methods for 5D RPs, which can preserve symmetries and convey general metric and topological data. It is a general strategy that can be extended to visualize n-dimensional RPs ( n > 5 ).
An Extension of the CODAS Approach Using Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set for Sustainable Material Selection in Construction Projects with Incomplete Weight Information
Authors: Roy Jagannath , Das Sujit , Kar Samarjit , Pamučar Dragan
Published: March 2019

Optimal selection of sustainable materials in construction projects can benefit several stakeholders in their respective industries with the triple bottom line (TBL) framework in a broader perspective of greater business value. Multiple criteria of social, environmental, and economic aspects should be essentially accounted for the optimal selection of materials involving the significant group of experts to avoid project failures. This paper proposes an evaluation framework for solving multi criteria decision making (MCDM) problems with incomplete weight information by extending the combinative distance assessment (CODAS) method with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. To compute the unknown weights of the evaluation criteria, this paper presents an optimization model based on the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy distance measure. In this study, we emphasize the importance of individual decision makers. To illustrate the proposed approach, an example of material selection in automotive parts industry is presented followed by a real case study of brick selection in sustainable building construction projects. The comparative study indicates the advantages of the proposed approach in comparison with the some relevant approaches. A sensitivity analysis of the proposed IVIF-CODAS method has been performed by changing the criteria weights, where the results show a high degree of stability.
Numerical Simulation of PDEs by Local Meshless Differential Quadrature Collocation Method
Authors: Ahmad Imtiaz , Ahsan Muhammad , Hussain Iltaf , Kumam Poom , Kumam Wiyada
Published: March 2019

In this paper, a local meshless differential quadrature collocation method based on radial basis functions is proposed for the numerical simulation of one-dimensional Klein–Gordon, two-dimensional coupled Burgers’, and regularized long wave equations. Both local and global meshless collocation procedures are used for spatial discretization, which convert the mentioned partial differential equations into a system of ordinary differential equations. The obtained system has been solved by the forward Euler difference formula. An upwind technique is utilized in the case of the convection-dominated coupled Burgers’ model equation. Having no need for the mesh in the problem domain and being less sensitive to the variation of the shape parameter as compared to global meshless methods are the salient features of the local meshless method. Both rectangular and non-rectangular domains with uniform and scattered nodal points are considered. Accuracy, efficacy, and the ease of implementation of the proposed method are shown via test problems.
Study on Trichothecene and Zearalenone Presence in Romanian Wheat Relative to Weather Conditions
Authors: Stanciu Oana , Juan Cristina , Berrada Houda , Miere Doina , Loghin Felicia , Mañes Jordi
Published: March 2019

To evaluate the influence of weather conditions on mycotoxin presence in wheat, deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3AcDON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15AcDON), fusarenon-X (FUS-X), nivalenol (NIV), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), T-2 toxin (T-2), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), neosolaniol (NEO) and zearalenone (ZEN) were evaluated in 102 Romanian wheat samples coming from five wheat growing areas during 2015. Only six mycotoxins were detected, while FUS-X, DAS, NEO and NIV were not present in the wheat samples. Mycotoxin concentrations were correlated with precipitation and temperature values during anthesis and the preharvest period. Overall, the highest frequency was registered for DON, while the lowest frequency was registered for NIV. In the North Muntenia, DON and ZEN registered high frequencies (68% and 16%, respectively). This region was characterized in June and July by medium to high values of rainfall (41–100 mm/month) and normal temperatures (mean of 20.0 °C in June and 24.0 °C in July), suggesting that precipitation levels influence fungi and mycotoxin development to a greater extent compared to the influence of temperature.
How Can Operational Research Help to Eliminate Tuberculosis in the Asia Pacific Region?
Authors: Harries Anthony D. , Kumar Ajay M. V. , Satyanarayana Srinath , Thekkur Pruthu , Lin Yan , Dlodlo Riitta A. , Zachariah Rony
Published: March 2019

Broad multi-sectoral action is required to end the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic by 2030 and this includes National TB Programmes (NTPs) fully delivering on quality-assured diagnostic, treatment and preventive services. Large implementation gaps currently exist in the delivery of these services, which can be addressed and closed through the discipline of operational research. This paper outlines the TB disease burden and disease-control programme implementation gaps in the Asia-Pacific region; discusses the key priority areas in diagnosis, treatment and prevention where operational research can be used to make a difference; and finally provides guidance about how best to embed operational research within a TB programme setting. Achieving internationally agreed milestones and targets for case finding and treatment requires the NTP to be streamlined and efficient in the delivery of its services, and operational research provides the necessary evidence-based knowledge and support to allow this to happen.
Connectivity and Usership of Two Types of Multi-Modal Transportation Network: A Regional Trail and a Transit-Oriented Commercial Corridor
Authors: García Ivis , Crookston Jeni
Published: March 2019

This article explores concepts related to connectivity and usership of the Jordan River Parkway Trail (JRPT) and the North Temple corridor—two locations or nodes that link together in a larger transportation network along the west side of Salt Lake City, Utah, a low-income, racially and ethnically diverse area. The JRPT is a multi-use trail providing regional connectivity for bicycles and pedestrians. It intersects North Temple, a transit development corridor accommodating automobiles, light rail, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. Although the purposes of each corridor differ, one being recreational and one being commercial, the modes of transportation for each corridor overlap through active transportation—that is, biking and walking. The questions that drive this paper are: (1) How are these two neighborhood assets are connected and form a larger transportation network? and, (2) How can connectivity and usership be improved? The idea of increasing the utilization of the JRPT through increasing destinations along North Temple and vice versa is explored. Community feedback was gathered through a survey which was distributed to 299 residents who live less than a mile from each subnetwork. Extracted from the responses were key aspects of connectivity, accessibility, and the purposes of each corridor for the community as a whole to understand how they are connected and how they affect each other. More broadly, urban policy recommendations that increase active transportation connectivity and usership of two sets of links—that is, regional trails and transit-oriented corridors such as the JRPT and the North Temple corridor are described.
Early Multiphasic HBV Infection Initiation Kinetics Is Not Clone-Specific and Is Not Affected by Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) Infection
Authors: Tsuge Masataka , Uchida Takuro , Walsh Kevin , Ishida Yuji , Tateno Chise , Kumar Upendra , Glenn Jeffrey S. , Koh Christopher , Heller Theo , Uprichard Susan L. , Dahari Harel , Chayama Kazuaki
Published: March 2019

Backgrounds and Aims: We previously demonstrated that serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in HBV infected humanized mice exhibited a highly dynamic multiphasic kinetic pattern from infection initiation to steady-state. Here, we investigated whether this pattern is consistent across different HBV clones or in the presence of hepatitis D virus (HDV) co-infection. Methods: We analyzed early serum viral kinetics using 26 HBV genotype C (GtC) mono-infected mice [clones: PXB, Hiroshima GtC CL4 (CL4) and Hiroshima GtC CL5 (CL5)] and four HBV CL4/HDV genotype one co-infected mice. Results: The HBV kinetics observed with clones CL4 and CL5 were similar to that previously defined in HBV PXB infected mice. Additionally, no significant differences in HBV DNA levels were observed between HBV mono-infected and HBV/HDV co-infected mice through 4 weeks post-inoculation (p.i.). However, HBV DNA levels at 6 weeks p.i. in HBV/HDV co-infected mice were significantly lower than those in HBV mono-infected mice (P = 0.002), consistent with HDV suppression of chronic HBV. Conclusions: HBV infection initiation is multiphasic across multiple viral clones and is not altered by HDV co-infection. The latter suggests that higher HDV titers (>8 log IU/mL) and/or longer duration of HDV infection might be needed to trigger HDV-induced suppression on HBV.
Phage-Derived Antibacterials: Harnessing the Simplicity, Plasticity, and Diversity of Phages
Authors: Kim Bi-o , Kim Eun Sook , Yoo Yeon-Ji , Bae Hee-Won , Chung In-Young , Cho You-Hee
Published: March 2019

Despite the successful use of antibacterials, the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a serious threat to global healthcare. In this era of antibacterial crisis, bacteriophages (phages) are being explored as an antibacterial treatment option since they possess a number of advantages over conventional antibacterials, especially in terms of specificity and biosafety; phages specifically lyse target bacteria while not affecting normal and/or beneficial bacteria and display little or no toxicity in that they are mainly composed of proteins and nucleic acids, which consequently significantly reduces the time and cost involved in antibacterial development. However, these benefits also create potential issues regarding antibacterial spectra and host immunity; the antibacterial spectra being very narrow when compared to those of chemicals, with the phage materials making it possible to trigger host immune responses, which ultimately disarm antibacterial efficacy upon successive treatments. In addition, phages play a major role in horizontal gene transfer between bacterial populations, which poses serious concerns for the potential of disastrous consequences regarding antibiotic resistance. Fortunately, however, recent advancements in synthetic biology tools and the speedy development of phage genome resources have allowed for research on methods to circumvent the potentially disadvantageous aspects of phages. These novel developments empower research which goes far beyond traditional phage therapy approaches, opening up a new chapter for phage applications with new antibacterial platforms. Herein, we not only highlight the most recent synthetic phage engineering and phage product engineering studies, but also discuss a new proof-of-concept for phage-inspired antibacterial design based on the studies undertaken by our group.
Reply to “Comment on Effectiveness of a Group B Outer Membrane Vesicle Meningococcal Vaccine in Preventing Hospitalization from Gonorrhea in New Zealand: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Vaccines, 2019, 1, 5; doi:10.3390/vaccines7010005”
Authors: Paynter Janine , Goodyear-Smith Felicity , Morgan Jane , Saxton Peter , Black Steven , Petousis-Harris Helen
Published: March 2019

Kenyon (2019) is correct to suggest that there is limited evidence of longer term effectiveness [...]
Assessment of the Exposure of People to Questing Ticks Carrying Agents of Zoonoses in Aosta Valley, Italy
Authors: Millet Ilary , Ragionieri Marco , Tomassone Laura , Trentin Claudio , Mannelli Alessandro
Published: March 2019

We estimated the probability of exposure of people to questing ticks, infected with bacterial agents of the tick—borne zoonoses—in Aosta Valley, western Alps, Italy. We collected ticks by dragging, and from collectors’ clothes in three hiking trails, which were divided into an internal path, with short vegetation, and an external part with taller grass. Dragging yielded 285 Ixodes ricinus nymphs and 31 adults, and two Dermacentor marginatus adults. Eleven I. ricinus nymphs and 9 adults were collected from collectors’ clothes. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. was identified by PCR in 12 out of 30 I. ricinus nymphs (prevalence = 40.0%, 95% confidence interval = 22.5, 57.5). The prevalence of infection by Rickettsia spp. was 13.3% (95% CI = 1.2, 25.5). The probability of encountering at least one questing I. ricinus infected by each bacterial agent (probability of exposure, E) in 100 m2 was obtained by combining the number of collected nymphs, the prevalence of infection by each bacterial agent, the frequency of passage by visitors, and the probability of tick attachment to people. The mean number of nymphs collected by dragging was greatest in the internal part of hiking trails (mean = 7.9). Conversely, E was greater in the external part (up to 0.14 for B. burgdorferi s.l., and 0.07 for Rickettsia spp.), due to a greater probability of tick attachment to people in relatively tall vegetation.
Contributions of Organizational Levels in Community Management Models of Water Supply in Rural Communities: Cases from Brazil and Ecuador
Authors: Machado Anna V. M. , dos Santos João A. N. , Alves Lucas M. C. , Quindeler Norbertho da S.
Published: March 2019

The community management model of water supply systems has reached a great number of rural settlements worldwide, especially in developing countries. Its functionality, however, has proven to be a major challenge once the stakeholders responsible for maintaining the service fail to provide the technical, financial, and social resources necessary to secure its sustainability. A number of fragilities are associated with a lack of political recognition of community organizations. In some cases, community organizations have been able to maintain strong recognition in decision-making processes through the establishment of associations involving several community organizations, representing a second organizational level. A third organizational level is achieved once these associations reach an extensive area of a territory. This article conducted four case-studies in Latin America. The study revealed that the emblematic examples according to scientific literature presented the second and, in one case, the third organizational level, while the others, where several weaknesses are noticed, only presented the first level. Although difficulties still exist in every scenario analyzed, our study supports that the presence of the second and third organizational levels are factors that positively contribute to better outcomes from the community management model.
Impact of Advanced Oxidation Products on Nanofiltration Efficiency
Authors: Żyłła Renata , Milala Rafał , Kamińska Irena , Kudzin Marcin , Gmurek Marta , Ledakowicz Stanisław
Published: March 2019

The aim of the work was to determine the influence of salicylic acid (SA) oxidation products on the effectiveness of their further removal in the membrane filtration process. Two commercial polyamide-based polymer membranes, HL (GE Osmonics) and TS80 (TriSepTM), were used and characterized by SEM microscopic analysis, contact angles, and free surface energy. The products of salicylic acid oxidation, 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and catechol, were determined and their impact on the removal of unreacted salicylic acid in the nanofiltration process was investigated. It was also checked to what extent and why they were retained or not by the membranes. The results of the research have shown that the main product of salicylic acid oxidation, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, has a negative impact on the retention of salicylic acid in the nanofiltration stage, while the other product, catechol, improves SA retention. The determined values of contact angles correlate well with solubility (S) of the tested compounds, which increases in the following order SSA < S2,3-DHBA < SCAT, while the contact angle of the membrane decreases. Nevertheless, it has been shown that some oxidation products can penetrate the environment due to poorer membrane separation properties of these products.
Comparative Analysis of High-Resolution Soil Moisture Simulations from the Soil, Vegetation, and Snow (SVS) Land Surface Model Using SAR Imagery Over Bare Soil
Authors: Dabboor Mohammed , Sun Leqiang , Carrera Marco L. , Friesen Matthew , Merzouki Amine , McNairn Heather , Powers Jarrett , Bélair Stéphane
Published: March 2019

Soil moisture is a key variable in Earth systems, controlling the exchange of water and energy between land and atmosphere. Thus, understanding its spatiotemporal distribution and variability is important. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has developed a new land surface parameterization, named the Soil, Vegetation, and Snow (SVS) scheme. The SVS land surface scheme features sophisticated parameterizations of hydrological processes, including water transport through the soil. It has been shown to provide more accurate simulations of the temporal and spatial distribution of soil moisture compared to the current operational land surface scheme. Simulation of high resolution soil moisture at the field scale remains a challenge. In this study, we simulate soil moisture maps at a spatial resolution of 100 m using the SVS land surface scheme over an experimental site located in Manitoba, Canada. Hourly high resolution soil moisture maps were produced between May and November 2015. Simulated soil moisture values were compared with estimated soil moisture values using a hybrid retrieval algorithm developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) for soil moisture estimation using RADARSAT-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. Statistical analysis of the results showed an overall promising performance of the SVS land surface scheme in simulating soil moisture values at high resolution scale. Investigation of the SVS output was conducted both independently of the soil texture, and as a function of the soil texture. The SVS model tends to perform slightly better over coarser textured soils (sandy loam, fine sand) than finer textured soils (clays). Correlation values of the simulated SVS soil moisture and the retrieved SAR soil moisture lie between 0.753–0.860 over sand and 0.676-0.865 over clay, with goodness of fit values between 0.567–0.739 and 0.457–0.748, respectively. The Root Mean Square Difference (RMSD) values range between 0.058–0.062 over sand and 0.055–0.113 over clay, with a maximum absolute bias of 0.049 and 0.094 over sand and clay, respectively. The unbiased RMSD values lie between 0.038–0.057 over sand and 0.039–0.064 over clay. Furthermore, results show an Index of Agreement (IA) between the simulated and the derived soil moisture always higher than 0.90.
Pollution and Sustainability Indices for Small and Medium Wastewater Treatment Plants in the Southwest of Spain
Authors: Fernández-Fernández M. I. , Martín de la Vega Pedro T. , Jaramillo-Morán Miguel A.
Published: March 2019

Two indices have been defined in this work to measure the pollution load that a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) receives and the efficiency of the process it carries out from the overall perspective of pollution removal and energy efficiency. The aim is to provide two performance parameters which could be used to characterize both the working conditions of a WWTP and how well it treats the pollution it receives. In this way, they may be used to compare the behavior of different plants in a certain geographical area. Forty-five WWTPs in the Southwest of Spain were studied to find out the most significant information that is to be used to identify and define both indices. Seven of the variables recorded were used to define each one. Their values were calculated for the whole set of plants studied. The results showed that most of the plants received a low pollution load. Only six of them suffered from a high pollution load, probably because of farms and food industries located in their surroundings. Only three plants showed a poor efficiency, while 23 of them presented a very good one.
The Buffer Capacity of Riparian Vegetation to Control Water Quality in Anthropogenic Catchments from a Legally Protected Area: A Critical View over the Brazilian New Forest Code
Authors: Valera Carlos Alberto , Pissarra Teresa Cristina Tarlé , Filho Marcílio Vieira Martins , Valle Júnior Renato Farias do , Oliveira Caroline Fávaro , Moura João Paulo , Sanches Fernandes Luís Filipe , Pacheco Fernando António Leal
Published: March 2019

The riparian buffer width on watersheds has been modified over the last decades. The human settlements heavily used and have significantly altered those areas, for farming, urbanization, recreation and other functions. In order to protect freshwater ecosystems, riparian areas have recently assumed world recognition and considered valuable areas for the conservation of nature and biodiversity, protected by forest laws and policies as permanent preservation areas. The objective of this work was to compare parameters from riparian areas related to a natural watercourse less than 10 m wide, for specific purposes in Law No. 4761/65, now revoked and replaced by Law No. 12651/12, known as the New Forest Code. The effects of 15, 30 and 50 m wide riparian forest in water and soil of three headwater catchments used for sugar cane production were analyzed. The catchments are located in the Environmental Protection Area of Uberaba River Basin (state of Minas Gerais, Brazil), legally protected for conservation of water resources and native vegetation. A field survey was carried out in the catchments for verification of land uses, while periodical campaigns were conducted for monthly water sampling and seasonal soil sampling within the studied riparian buffers. The physico-chemical parameters of water were handled by ANOVA (Tukey’s mean test) for recognition of differences among catchments, while thematic maps were elaborated in a geographic information system for illustration purposes. The results suggested that the 10, 30 or even 50 m wide riparian buffers are not able to fulfill the environmental function of preserving water resources, and therefore are incapable to ensure the well-being of human populations. Therefore, the limits imposed by the actual Brazilian Forest Code should be enlarged substantially.
Advanced Numerical Modeling of Sediment Transport in Gravel-Bed Rivers
Authors: Bui Van Hieu , Bui Minh Duc , Rutschmann Peter
Published: March 2019

Understanding the alterations of gravel bed structures, sediment transport, and the effects on aquatic habitat play an essential role in eco-hydraulic and sediment transport management. In recent years, the evaluation of changes of void in bed materials has attracted more concern. However, analyzing the morphological changes and grain size distribution that are associated with the porosity variations in gravel-bed rivers are still challenging. This study develops a new model using a multi-layer’s concept to simulate morphological changes and grain size distribution, taking into account the porosity variabilities in a gravel-bed river based on the mass conservation for each size fraction and the exchange of fine sediments between the surface and subsurface layers. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is applied to model infiltration processes and to confirm the effects of the relative size of fine sediment to gravel on the infiltration depth. Further, the exchange rate and the bed porosity are estimated while using empirical formulae. The new model was tested on three straight channels. Analyzing the calculated results and comparing with the observed data show that the new model can successfully simulate sediment transport, grain sorting processes, and bed change in gravel-bed rivers.
Perturbation Indicators for On-Demand Pressurized Irrigation Systems
Authors: Derardja Bilal , Lamaddalena Nicola , Fratino Umberto
Published: March 2019

The perturbation in hydraulic networks for irrigation systems is often created when sudden changes in flow rates occur in the pipes. This is essentially due to the manipulation of hydrants and depends mainly on the gate closure time. Such a perturbation may lead to a significant pressure variation that may cause a pipe breakage. In a recent study, computer code simulating unsteady flow in pressurized irrigation systems—generated by the farmers’ behavior—was developed and the obtained results led to the introduction of an indicator called the relative pressure variation (RPV) to evaluate the pressure variation occurring into the system, with respect to the steady-state pressure. In the present study, two indicators have been set up: The hydrant risk indicator (HRI), defined as the ratio between the participation of the hydrant in the riskiest configurations and its total number of participations; and the relative pressure exceedance (RPE), which provides the variation of the unsteady state pressure with respect to the nominal pressure. The two indicators could help managers better understand the network behavior with respect to the perturbation by defining the riskiest hydrants and the potentially affected pipes. The present study was applied to an on-demand pressurized irrigation system in Southern Italy.
Comparison of Actuator Line Method and Full Rotor Geometry Simulations of the Wake Field of a Tidal Stream Turbine
Authors: Lin Xiang-feng , Zhang Ji-sheng , Zhang Yu-quan , Zhang Jing , Liu Sheng
Published: March 2019

This study aims to investigate the wake characteristics of a horizontal axis tidal stream turbine supported by a monopile using a numerical approach. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations based on the open source software OpenFOAM have been performed to enhance understanding of a turbine’s wake. The numerical simulations adopt both the actuator line method and the full rotor geometry method. The numerical results are found to be consistent with experimental data, although some discrepancies are observed at a distance of one rotor diameter downstream. Comparison of numerical results from both methods is performed. The results show that both methods can obtain important flow features and provide similar simulation in the wake of the turbine model. The actuator line method is able to give a better prediction in stream-wise velocity distribution, although it underestimates the turbulence intensity, circumferential velocity and vorticity magnitude slightly, compared with the full rotor geometry method. It is also found that the wake of the monopile and the rotor interact strongly in the downstream field, especially in the region immediately behind the structure. A strong interaction occurs within approximately two rotor diameters downstream.
TRANSLATION MODEL OF ENGLISH COMPUTER TERMS INTO UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE
Authors: Kyvliuk Valentyna
Published: March 2019

During the development of model of translation was ordered sequence of processes through which the computer term passes from the original language to a foreign equivalent.
It was determined that the individuality of translator and his awareness of information and communication technologies affect the translation of the term. The translator will make a more accurate and adequate translation of not only the word, but also the text as a whole, if he will know this area well. The next point of the model is the context of the text (sentence). Because, due to the context, without knowing the words, the translator guesses its meaning on the intuitive level. The last point of this model is the translation method: transcription and transliteration, use of semantic equivalents, morpheme or lexical copying, explication or descriptive translation.