bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trend Analysis of Weather Variables and Reference Evapotranspiration of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) Crop for Haryana, India
Authors: Gill Sameer , Rawat Shraddha , Kulariya Sumer Singh
Published: August 2024

The agriculture sector is a major consumer of the water resource to fulfil the requirement of irrigation. It is important to understand the crop water requirement to prepare a sustainable management of water resources. The present study was conducted for estimation of water requirement of Mustard crop and temporal variability of crop evapotranspiration for different Agroclimatic zones of Haryana during time period (1992-2022). In this IMD Daily Gridded data (Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature and rainfall) is used and converted into weekly, monthly, seasonally and annually from weather cock for run in the CROPWAT model which estimates the reference evapotranspiration (ET0), Effective rainfall, crop water requirement and irrigation water requirement. After that we analysed the trend by using Mann-Kendall test. The result of the experiment revealed that the analysis that maximum temperature of Haryana state for the time period 1992-2022 was around 30.43 ± 1.71℃ and minimum temperature was around 17.27±1.12℃ and rainfall was around 726.46±295.72mm. The monthly analysis of maximum temperature for 30 years data revealed that the month of January has lowest Maximum temperature, while May month observes highest maximum temperature and the lowest minimum temperature was in month of January in all the Agroclimatic zones of Haryana. The monthly analysis of rainfall for time period (1992-2022) showed that for overall Haryana region July month receives the highest amount of rainfall, while November month receives lowest rainfall.
Elucidating the Role of Micronutrient Seed Treatment in the Physiological Performance of Wheat Seed
Authors: Kumari Alpana , Kumar Arun , Kumar Vishal , Kumar Sudhir
Published: August 2024

Seed treatment is one of the key techniques for improvement in physiological performance of seed lot in different crop plants. In the present study, the aim was to explore the technique in wheat, seed lot was treated with the different concentration of iron and zinc sulphate solution. Other method of micronutrient application was also adopted i.e., soil application and foliar spray at recommended dose. The micronutrient treatment with ZnSO4 (0.5, 2.0%) exhibit highest improvement in physiological parameters like root length, shoot length, seedling dry weight, standard germination, germination energy, germination rate, seed vigour index-I & II, dehydrogenase enzyme activity, membrane permeability i.e., EC and zinc & iron content in seed and plant in treated seed and harvested seed lot, respectively. Commonly seed treatment with ZnSO4 (0.5%) results in improvement of all the physiological parameters of treated seed as well as harvested seed.
Effect of Chemical, Organic and Biofertilizer on Growth and Yield of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.)
Authors: Yengkokpam Priyanka , Majumder Supriya , Kumari Purnima , Chaudhary Manthan
Published: August 2024

A field experiment was conducted at the Agriculture Research Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab during rabi season 2023-24. The experimental field was laid out in a randomized block design (RBD) with 8 treatments and replicated thrice. The treatment combinations are T1- control, T2- 100% Recommended Dose Nitrogen (RDN) and T3- 75% RDN + 5t Farm Yard Manure (FYM) ha-1, T4- 75% RDN + 5t FYM ha-1 + Azotobacter 20 ml ha-1, T5- 75% RDN+ Azotobacter 20 ml ha-1, T6-  50% RDN + 10t FYM ha-1, T7- 50% RDN + 10t FYM ha-1 + Azotobacter 20 ml ha-1, T8- 50% RDN + Azotobacter 20 ml ha-1. The result of present study revealed that the treatment T4 (75% RDN + 5t FYM ha-1+ Azotobacter 20 ml ha-1) has shown significant result on plant population m-2(at harvest) (14.5), plant height (153.2cm), number of branches plant-1 (20.5), chlorophyll content (µmol m-2) (SPAD) (45.10), no. of siliqua plant-1(300.10), no. of seeds siliqua-1 (18.0), siliqua length (cm) (5.90cm), test weight (g) (3.36g), seed yield q ha-1 (22.98 q ha-1), straw yield q ha-1 (56.07 q ha-1), biological yield q ha-1 (79.06 q ha-1) and harvest index (%) (28.80%) were observed.
Assessment of G × E Interactions and Stability Parameters for Quality Traits, Grain Yield and Its Components in Finger Millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.]
Authors: Ladumor V. L. , Patil Harshal E. , Kanjariya Ketan G.
Published: August 2024

The present study was conducted on G × E interactions and stability analysis in thirty-five finger millet genotypes under three environments i.e. Waghai, Vanarasi and Navsari locations in year kharif-2020-21. Observation were recorded for days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), productive tillers per plant, fingers per ear, finger width (cm), main ear head length (cm), finger length (cm), 1000 seed weight (g), grain yield per plant (g), fodder yield per plant (g), harvest index (%), leaf area (cm2), chlorophyll content (SPAD value), fiber content (%), calcium content (mg/100g), iron content (mg/100g) and zinc content (mg/100g).  The genotypes and environmental analysis of variance for stability revealed that, the differences among them were significant for all the characters when tested against pooled deviation and pooled error. The G x E interaction was significant for all the characters except fingers per ear and iron content. Mean squares due to environment (linear) were high and significant for all the characters except fiber content and iron content when tested against pooled deviation and/or pooled error. The stability parameters revealed that, the genotypes Dapoli-1, Dapoli-2, KOPN-235, VR-708, VR-847, GPU-67, KMR-340, KMR-204, KMR630, GN-5, GNN-6, GNN-7 and GN-8 were found to be average stable over environments for grain yield per plant with one or more yield contributing characters and quality parameters. So, these genotypes were used in future hybridization programme in finger millet.
Transabdominal Versus Transvaginal Sono-elastography, which is More Valuable in GI-RADS Classification of Different Adnexal Masses?
Authors: Shams Hadeer I. , Darwish Abd Elmonem N. , Sabri Nesreen Mohamed , Reda Alaa Mohamed
Published: August 2024

Background: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related death in women, accounting for a wide range of histological diagnoses. Ultrasound is frequently the first-line imaging modality for evaluating masses because it is widely available, inexpensive, and noninvasive, with no radiation hazards.
The Current Study Aimed: To assess the diagnostic performance of trans-vaginal versus trans-abdominal sono-elastography in Gynecologic Imaging Reporting and Data System (GIRADS) of adnexal masses and detect cut-off values for malignancy in both methods. The current study enrolled 40 females, during the period from October 2022 to the end of January 2023, after approval of ethical committee of our institution.
Results: Forty female patients were enrolled in this study, their ages ranged from 28 to 72 years old, with mean± SD (48.6 ± 12.96). Distribution of GI-RADS scores of the studied cases was as follows; GI-RADS III was in (12 patients; 75%) and, less commonly IV in (4 patients; 25%), while malignant masses were mainly of GI-RADS V that was noted in (20 patients; 83.2%) and less commonly IV in (4 patients; 16.8%). A statistically significant correlation was detected in the present study between the GI-RADS score and the transabdominal sono-elastography and transvaginal sono-elastography with, (p-value=0.002*), (p-value=0.001*) respectively.
Conclusions: Trans-vaginal elastography has higher diagnostic performance than trans-abdominal (TA) elastography in assessment of adnexal masses, with malignancy cut-off values were, strain ratio (SR) of trans-abdominal elastography were 3.85, and for trans-vaginal (TV) were 4.75.
Blanching and Vacuum Drying of Jamun Leaves: A Study on Nutritional Preservation and Quality Enhancement
Authors: Rathod J. P. , Seth Neeraj , Balas P. R. , Vala K.V , Sardar N. R. , Gandhi R.
Published: August 2024

This study investigates the effects of blanching and vacuum drying on the physico-chemical and nutritional properties of Paras variety jamun (Syzygium cumini L.) leaves. Blanching treatments, including hot water and steam blanching at various temperatures and durations, were evaluated for residual enzymatic activity. Optimal enzyme inactivation was achieved with hot water blanching at 70°C for 1 minute, effectively preserving enzymatic activity. The vacuum drying process was evaluated across temperatures (50-70°C) and pressures (300, 400 and 500 mm Hg). Vacuum drying at 70°C and 300 mm Hg for 245 minutes yielded leaves with 6.50 % moisture content, 0.363 water activity, 25.782 % carbohydrate content, 37.646 mg/100 g phenolic concentration, and 5.95 % antioxidant content. Higher drying temperatures reduced moisture content and increased color values, while phenolic content and antioxidant activity peaked at higher temperatures. These findings underscore the potential of vacuum-dried jamun leaves as a valuable ingredient in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.
Comparative Performance of Traditional and Improved Integrated Farming Systems in the Hills of Jammu & Kashmir in the Era of Climate Change
Authors: Mubarak Tasneem , Shergojry Shahid Ahmad , Khandey Ab Shakoor , Rehman Haseeb Ur
Published: August 2024

Higher agricultural production practices employing integrated farming methods remains the most profitable option for farmers and climatic change and market risks make it a good choice for far them. It is therefore vital to standardize and suggest location suitable IFS models through on farm testing programmes. With this aim a study was conducted to evaluate the performance of traditional and improved integrated farming systems in comparison to the existing conventional mono-cropping systems under three ecologies viz. lower plains, mid altitudes and high altitudes under Kashmir valley conditions, situated in the North western Himalayas. The impact analysis of these systems was carried out after five years of establishment of Improved Integrated Farming Systems (IIFS) at farmers’ field. Yields were higher in improved Integrated farming system in comparison to both conventional copping systems and traditional IFS. Horticulture based cropping systems were more profitable than agriculture based. Net profit ranged between ₹38312 to ₹271223 acre-1 in agriculture based cropping systems and between ₹184547 to ₹431722 acre-1 in horticulture based cropping systems. IIFS gave an additional income of ₹240043 acre-1 and ₹119725 acre-1 in comparison to the conventional farming and traditional IFS, respectively. Lower System Economic Efficiency (SEE) of ₹ 104.96 day-1 was recorded in agriculture based conventional farming system and highest SEE (₹1182.8 day-1) was registered in horticulture based Improved IFS. The present study shows that in hills integration of suitable animal component with fruit crops may help farmers to substantially improve their income.
Female Domestic Workers in Urban Informal Employment: The Case of Hossana City, Ethiopia
Authors: Lemma Tayech , Sharma Mala
Published: August 2024

Domestic work is a significant sector within the informal economy, predominantly employing women globally, yet remains largely unrecognized. This study examines the driving factors and sociodemographic characteristics of female domestic workers in Hossana City, focusing on the challenges they face. A random sample of 167 female domestic workers from three kebeles was selected using multi-stage sampling techniques. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and a one-way ANOVA to investigate wage disparities based on sociodemographic variables. A five-point Likert scale ranked the challenges faced by female domestic workers. The analysis revealed that the majority of domestic workers are young, single, illiterate, and migrants from rural areas due to economic hardships and limited job opportunities.  Key motivations for entering domestic work included supporting their families financially, rural-urban migration, and saving money for potential migration abroad. Wage analysis indicated significant disparities influenced by age, marital status, education, the employer’s family size, and working hours. The study found that low wages, unpaid extra workload, and long working hours are significant challenges. The findings highlight the need for policy interventions to improve working conditions and ensure fair wages, addressing the socioeconomic challenges faced by female domestic workers in urban settings.
Cracknie, Borgie and the souterrains of the northern mainland of Scotland
Authors: Cavers Graeme , Humble Jamie , Ritchie Matt , Humphreys Paul , Robertson Jackaline
Published: August 2024

The souterrains of the northern mainland comprise a distinctive group within the wider national distribution: they are stone-built, narrow with massive lintels and typically associated with hut-circle settlements. Most are known from antiquarian records or from the RCAHMS survey of Sutherland in 1911, and there has been very little investigation of them since; aside from the excavation of an example at Cyderhall Farm in south-east Sutherland and limited investigation at Upper Suisgill, virtually no new data have been contributed since that time. In 2012, Forestry and Land Scotland commissioned the 3D laser scan survey of one example at Cracknie, Borgie, for the purposes of informing conservation management. This led to the excavation of the entrance to the passage and consolidation of the opening in 2022, at which point samples suitable for radiocarbon dating were obtained. These indicate that activity was taking place around the Cracknie souterrain in the early Middle Iron Age, probably around the early 2nd century BC. This paper discusses the Cracknie souterrain in the context of the north mainland group, along with a note on the discovery of a new example at Borgie in 1997, recorded by the late Paul Humphreys, and suggests that the northern stone souterrains should be considered among the earliest such sites to be constructed, and that they probably originated towards the end of the third quarter of the 1st millennium BC.
Canmore ID 5765
Carbon dioxide and energy fluxes over a small boreal lake in Southern Finland
Authors: Mammarella Ivan , Nordbo Annika , Rannik Üllar , Haapanala Sami , Levula Janne , Laakso Heikki , Ojala Anne , Peltola Olli , Heiskanen Jouni , Pumpanen Jukka , Vesala Timo
Published: June 2015

Dynamics of carbon dioxide and energy exchange over a small boreal lake were investigated. Flux measurements have been carried out by the eddy covariance technique during two open‐water periods (June–October) at Lake Kuivajärvi in Finland. Sensible heat (H) flux peaked in the early morning, and upward sensible heat flux at night results in unstable stratification over the lake. Minimum H was measured in the late afternoon, often resulting in adiabatic conditions or slightly stable stratification over the lake. The latent heat flux (LE) showed a different pattern, peaking in the afternoon and having a minimum at night. High correlation (r2 = 0.75) between H and water‐air temperature difference multiplied by wind speed (U) was found, while LE strongly correlated with the water vapor pressure deficit multiplied by U (r2 = 0.78). Monthly average values of energy balance closure ranged between 70 and 99%. The lake acted as net source of carbon dioxide, and the measured flux (FCO2) averaged over the two open‐water periods (0.7 µmol m−2 s−1) was up to 3 times higher than those reported in other studies. Furthermore, it was found that during period of high wind speed (>3 m s−1) shear‐induced water turbulence controls the water‐air gas transfer efficiency. However, under calm nighttime conditions, FCO2 was poorly correlated with the difference between the water and the equilibrium CO2 concentrations multiplied by U. Nighttime cooling of surface water enhances the gas transfer efficiency through buoyancy‐driven turbulent mixing, and simple wind speed‐based transfer velocity models strongly underestimate FCO2.
Parametric behaviors of CLUBB in simulations of low clouds in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM)
Authors: Guo Zhun , Wang Minghuai , Qian Yun , Larson Vincent E. , Ghan Steven , Ovchinnikov Mikhail , A. Bogenschutz Peter , Gettelman Andrew , Zhou Tianjun
Published: June 2015

In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of simulated low clouds to 14 selected tunable parameters of Cloud Layers Unified By Binormals (CLUBB), a higher‐order closure (HOC) scheme, and four parameters of the Zhang‐McFarlane (ZM) deep convection scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). A Quasi‐Monte Carlo (QMC) sampling approach is adopted to effectively explore the high‐dimensional parameter space and a generalized linear model is applied to study the responses of simulated cloud fields to tunable parameters. Our results show that the variance in simulated low‐cloud properties (cloud fraction and liquid water path) can be explained by the selected tunable parameters in two different ways: macrophysics itself and its interaction with microphysics. First, the parameters related to dynamic and thermodynamic turbulent structure and double Gaussian closure are found to be the most influential parameters for simulating low clouds. The spatial distributions of the parameter contributions show clear cloud‐regime dependence. Second, because of the coupling between cloud macrophysics and cloud microphysics, the coefficient of the dissipation term in the total water variance equation is influential. This parameter affects the variance of in‐cloud cloud water, which further influences microphysical process rates, such as autoconversion, and eventually low‐cloud fraction. This study improves understanding of HOC behavior associated with parameter uncertainties and provides valuable insights for the interaction of macrophysics and microphysics.
Applicability of bed load transport models for mixed‐size sediments in steep streams considering macro‐roughness
Authors: Schneider Johannes M. , Rickenmann Dieter , Turowski Jens M. , Bunte Kristin , Kirchner James W.
Published: June 2015

In steep mountain streams, macro‐roughness elements typically increase both flow energy dissipation and the threshold of motion compared to lower‐gradient channels, reducing the part of the flow energy available for bed load transport. Bed load transport models typically take account of these effects either by reducing the acting bed shear stress or by increasing the critical parameters for particle entrainment. Here we evaluate bed load transport models for mixed‐size sediments and models based on a median grain size using a large field data set of fractional bed load transport rates. We derive reference shear stresses and bed load transport relations based on both the total boundary shear stress and a reduced (or “effective”) shear stress that accounts for flow resistance due to macro‐roughness. When reference shear stresses are derived from the total boundary shear stress, they are closely related to channel slope, but when they are derived from the effective shear stress, they are almost invariant with channel slope. The performance of bed load transport models is generally comparable when using the total shear stress and a channel slope‐related reference shear stress, or when using the effective shear stress and a constant reference shear stress. However, dimensionless bed load transport relations are significantly steeper for the total stress approach, whereas they are similar to the commonly used fractional Wilcock and Crowe (WC) transport model for the effective stress approach. This similarity in the relations allows the WC model, developed for lower‐gradient streams, to be used in combination with an effective shear stress approach, in steep mountain streams.
A simple and efficient unstructured finite volume scheme for solving the shallow water equations in overland flow applications
Authors: Cea L. , Bladé E.
Published: June 2015

This paper presents the decoupled hydrological discretization (DHD) scheme for solving the shallow water equations in hydrological applications involving surface runoff in rural and urban basins. The name of the scheme is motivated by the fact that the three equations which form the two‐dimensional shallow water system are discretized independently from each other and thus, the numerical scheme is decoupled in a mathematical sense. Its main advantages compared to other classic finite volume schemes for the shallow water equations are its simplicity to code and the lower computational cost per time step. The validation of the scheme is presented in five test cases involving overland flow and rainfall‐runoff transformation over topographies of different complexity. The scheme is compared to the finite volume scheme of Roe (1986), to the simple inertia formulation, and to the diffusive wave model. The test cases show that the DHD scheme is able to compute subcritical and supercritical flows in rural and urban environments, and that in overland flow applications it gives similar results to the second‐order scheme of Roe with a lower computational cost. The results obtained with the simple inertia and diffusive wave models are very similar to those obtained with the DHD scheme in rural basins in which the bed friction and topography dominate the flow hydrodynamics but they deteriorate in typical urban configurations in which the presence of supercritical flow conditions and small‐scale patterns boost the relevance of the inertial terms in the momentum equations.
Evaluating the potential for quantitative monitoring of in situ chemical oxidation of aqueous‐phase TCE using in‐phase and quadrature electrical conductivity
Authors: Hort R. D. , Revil A. , Munakata‐Marr J. , Mao D.
Published: June 2015

Electrical resistivity measurements can potentially be used to remotely monitor fate and transport of ionic oxidants such as permanganate (
) during in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) of contaminants like trichloroethene (TCE). Time‐lapse two‐dimensional bulk conductivity and induced polarization surveys conducted during a sand tank ISCO simulation demonstrated that
plume movement could be monitored in a qualitative manner using bulk conductivity tomograms, although chargeability was below sensitivity limits. We also examined changes to in‐phase and quadrature electrical conductivity resulting from ion injection, MnO2 and Cl− production, and pH change during TCE and humate oxidation by
in homogeneous aqueous solutions and saturated porous media samples. Data from the homogeneous samples demonstrated that inversion of the sand tank resistivity data using a common Tikhonov regularization approach was insufficient to recover an accurate conductivity distribution within the tank. While changes to in‐phase conductivity could be successfully modeled, quadrature conductivity values could not be directly related to TCE oxidation product or
concentrations at frequencies consistent with field induced polarization surveys, limiting the utility of quadrature conductivity for monitoring ISCO.
The 4 June 2011 neutron event at Mercury: A defense of the solar origin hypothesis
Authors: Lawrence David J. , Feldman William C. , Peplowski Patrick N. , Solomon Sean C.
Published: June 2015

We address the claim that an increase in the flux of neutrons detected by the Neutron Spectrometer (NS) on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft in orbit about Mercury at 15:45 UTC on 4 June 2011 was generated by the impact of energetic ions onto spacecraft. We find this claim to be unwarranted. The claim is grounded on the erroneous assumption that the NS singles count rate is triggered only by energetic ions. Rather, because any mix of energetic ions, electrons, photons, and neutrons can trigger NS singles, these data do not provide a reliable constraint on the presence of energetic ions. The absence of an enhancement in the count rate of 1635‐keV gamma rays, as monitored by the MESSENGER Gamma‐Ray Spectrometer, provides independent evidence that a fluence of energetic protons sufficiently high to generate the neutron enhancement was not present during the neutron event. The interpretation that currently best matches the available data is that the neutron enhancement on 4 June 2011 was the result of solar neutrons.
The enhancement of cosmic radio noise absorption due to hiss‐driven energetic electron precipitation during substorms
Authors: Li Haimeng , Yuan Zhigang , Yu Xiongdong , Huang Shiyong , Wang Dedong , Wang Zhenzhen , Qiao Zheng , Wygant John R.
Published: June 2015

The Van Allen probes, low‐altitude NOAA satellite, MetOp satellite, and riometer are used to analyze variations of precipitating energetic electron fluxes and cosmic radio noise absorption (CNA) driven by plasmaspheric hiss with respect to geomagnetic activities. The hiss‐driven energetic electron precipitations (at L ~ 4.7–5.3, magnetic local time (MLT) ~ 8–9) are observed during geomagnetic quiet condition and substorms, respectively. We find that the CNA detected by riometers increased very little in the hiss‐driven event during quiet condition on 6 September 2012. The hiss‐driven enhancement of riometer was still little during the first substorm on 30 September 2012. However, the absorption detected by the riometer largely increased, while the energies of the injected electrons became higher during the second substorm on 30 September 2012. The enhancement of CNA (ΔCNA) observed by the riometer and calculated with precipitating energetic electrons is in agreement during the second substorm, implying that the precipitating energetic electrons increase CNA to an obviously detectable level of the riometer during the second substorm on 30 September 2012. The conclusion is consistent with Rodger et al. (2012), which suggest that the higher level of ΔCNA prefers to occur in the substorms, because substorms may produce more intense energetic electron precipitation associated with electron injection. Furthermore, the combination of the observations and theory calculations also suggests that higher‐energy electron (>55 keV) precipitation contributes more to the ΔCNA than the lower energy electron precipitation. In this paper, the higher‐energy electron precipitation is related to lower frequency hiss.
Statistical characterization of the foremoon particle and wave morphology: ARTEMIS observations
Authors: Harada Y. , Halekas J. S. , Poppe A. R. , Tsugawa Y. , Kurita S. , McFadden J. P.
Published: June 2015

Although the zeroth‐order picture of the Moon‐solar wind interaction involves no upstream perturbation, the presence of the Moon does affect the upstream plasma in a variety of ways. In this paper, a large volume of data obtained by the dual‐probe Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) mission are used to characterize the large‐scale morphology of the “foremoon,” which is defined as the region upstream of the Moon and its wake that contains Moon‐related particles and waves. Solar wind ions reflected from the unshielded surface and by crustal magnetic fields, together with heavy ions of lunar surface/exospheric origin, are picked up by the solar wind magnetic and electric fields. Partially coinciding with populations of these Moon‐related ions, ∼0.01 Hz and ∼1 Hz magnetic field fluctuations are observed. The morphology of the Moon‐related ion and wave distributions is well organized by the upstream magnetic field direction. In addition, the low‐frequency wave distributions depend on the upstream Alfvén Mach numbers, suggesting that propagation effects also play a role in determining the wave foremoon morphology. Occurrence of modified electron velocity distributions and higher‐frequency, electromagnetic, and electrostatic waves is primarily controlled by magnetic connection to the Moon and its wake. These statistical results observationally demonstrate the large‐scale properties of the foremoon and upstream‐parameter control thereof.
Propagation and deposition of stony debris flows at channel confluences
Authors: Stancanelli L. M. , Lanzoni S. , Foti E.
Published: June 2015

The fluid dynamics of stony debris flows generated in two small tributaries adjacent to each other and flowing into a main receiving channel was analyzed experimentally at a laboratory scale. The analysis on the propagation along the tributaries and deposition in the main channel provide information about sediment‐water mobility, dangerous damming, and potential hazard. Debris flows were generated by releasing a preset water discharge over an erodible layer of saturated gravels material. As a consequence, the debris flow sediment concentration varied accordingly to the entrainment rate which, in turn, was strongly controlled by the tributary slope. The data collected by acoustic level sensors, pore fluid pressure transducers, and a load cell were used to characterize the evolution of bulk density and solid concentration of the sediment‐water mixture. These two parameters were relevant to assess the stony debris flow mobility which contributes to determine the shape of sediment deposits in the main channel. The detailed bed topography surveys carried out in the main channel at the end of each experiment provided information on the morphology of these deposits and on the interplay of adjacent confluences. The influences of confluence angle, tributary slopes, and triggering conditions have been investigated, for a total of 18 different configurations. Within the investigated range of parameters, the slope angle was the parameter that mainly influences the stony debris flow mobility while, for adjacent confluences, the degree of obstruction within the receiving channel was strongly influenced by the triggering scenario.
Mechanistic insights into the structure‐dependent selectivity of catalytic furfural conversion on platinum catalysts
Authors: Cai Qiu‐Xia , Wang Jian‐Guo , Wang Yang‐Gang , Mei Donghai
Published: June 2015

The effects of surface structures on the selectivity of catalytic furfural conversion over platinum (Pt) catalysts in the presence of hydrogen have been studied using first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations and microkinetic modeling. Three Pt model surface structures, that is, flat Pt(111), stepped Pt(211), and Pt55 cluster are chosen to represent the terrace, step, and corner sites of Pt nanoparticle. DFT results show that the dominant reaction route (hydrogenation or decarbonylation) in furfural conversion depends strongly on the structures (or reactive sites). Using the size‐dependent site distribution rule, our microkinetic modeling results indicate the decarbonylation route prevails over smaller Pt particles less than 1.4 nm while the hydrogenation is the dominant reaction route over larger Pt catalyst particles at T = 473 K and  = 93 kPa. This is in good agreement with the reported experimental observations. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3812–3824, 2015
Segmented polyurethane elastomers by nonisocyanate route
Authors: Nanclares Juliana , Petrović Zoran S. , Javni Ivan , Ionescu Mihail , Jaramillo Franklin
Published: June 2015

Novel segmented polyurethane elastomers were successfully synthesized by a nonisocyanate route using dicyclic carbonates as precursors for both soft and hard segments. The hard segment was prepared from the dicyclic carbonate of bisphenol A and m‐xylylenediamine as chain extender. The soft segment was poly(tetramethylene ether) glycol of molecular weight 1000. Three polyurethanes with different morphologies were made with soft segment concentration of 70, 50, and 30%. Method of synthesis consisted in preparation of dicyclic carbonate of bisphenol A from a commercial epoxy resin and carbon dioxide, while dicyclic carbonate of poly(tetramethylene ether) glycol (PTMEG) was made from previously prepared diglycidyl ether of PTMEG and carbon dioxide. Polymers were prepared by reacting dicyclic carbonates with m‐xylylenediamine by one‐pot process. The monomers and polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical measurements. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42492.
The chain extender content and NCO/OH ratio flexibly tune the properties of natural rubber‐based waterborne polyurethanes
Authors: Saetung Anuwat , Tsupphayakorn‐ake Phathanyaphon , Tulyapituk Tulyapong , Saetung Nitinart , Phinyocheep Pranee , Pilard Jean‐François
Published: June 2015

The effects of chain extender content (ethylene diamine, EDA) and NCO/OH ratio on the properties of natural rubber‐based waterborne polyurethanes (WPUs) were investigated experimentally. The particle size of WPU increased significantly with the NCO/OH ratio, in the presence of the EDA chain extender, while it was unaffected by the EDA content. The water uptake of WPU film increased with the EDA content, while the swelling in various solvents decreased. In a thermal analysis, the second decomposition stage of a WPU film increased with the EDA content and with the NCO/OH ratio that also positively affected the dynamic mechanical and mechanical properties. These factors in WPU films had no the effect on the Tg. The stress–strain curves clearly showed the change in WPU films from soft elastomeric materials to ductile and hard plastics. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42505.
Cognitive Mechanisms underlying visual perspective taking in typical and ASC children
Authors: Pearson Amy , Marsh Lauren , Ropar Danielle , Hamilton Antonia
Published: June 2015

Previous research has suggested that people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) may have difficulty with visual perspective taking (VPT) but it is not clear how this relates to different strategies that can be used in perspective taking tasks. The current study examined VPT in 30 children with autism and 30 verbal mental age matched typical children, in comparison to mental rotation (MR) abilities and body representation abilities. Using a similar paradigm to Hamilton, Brindley, and Frith [2009] all children completed three tasks: a VPT task in which children decided what a toy on a table would look like from a different points of view; a MR task in which the child decided what a toy would look like after it had been rotated; and a body posture matching task, in which children matched pictures of a body shown from different viewpoints. Results showed that children with ASC performed better than the typically developing children on the MR task, and at a similar level on the VPT task and body matching task. Importantly, in the typical children VPT performance was predicted by performance on the body matching task, whereas in the ASC children VPT performance was predicted by MR ability. These findings suggest that differences in VPT in ASC may be explained by the use of a spatial rotation strategy rather than the embodied egocentric transformation strategy used by typical children. Autism Res 2015. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The landscape of copy number variations in Finnish families with autism spectrum disorders
Authors: Kanduri Chakravarthi , Kantojärvi Katri , Salo Paula M , Vanhala Raija , Buck Gemma , Blancher Christine , Lähdesmäki Harri , Järvelä Irma
Published: June 2015

Rare de novo and inherited copy number variations (CNVs) have been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk. However, the genetic underpinnings of ASD remain unknown in more than 80% of cases. Therefore, identification of novel candidate genes and corroboration of known candidate genes may broaden the horizons of determining genetic risk alleles, and subsequent development of diagnostic testing. Here, using genotyping arrays, we characterized the genetic architecture of rare CNVs (<1% frequency) in a Finnish case–control dataset. Unsurprisingly, ASD cases harbored a significant excess of rare, large (>1 Mb) CNVs and rare, exonic CNVs. The exonic rare de novo CNV rate (∼22.5%) seemed higher compared to previous reports. We identified several CNVs in well‐known ASD regions including GSTM1‐5, DISC1, FHIT, RBFOX1, CHRNA7, 15q11.2, 15q13.2‐q13.3, 17q12, and 22q11.21. Additionally, several novel candidate genes (BDKRB1, BDKRB2, AP2M1, SPTA1, PTH1R, CYP2E1, PLCD3, F2RL1, UQCRC2, LILRB3, RPS9, and COL11A2) were identified through gene prioritization. The majority of these genes belong to neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathways, and calcium signaling pathways, thus suggesting that a subset of these novel candidate genes may contribute to ASD risk. Furthermore, several metabolic pathways like caffeine metabolism, drug metabolism, retinol metabolism, and calcium‐signaling pathway were found to be affected by the rare exonic ASD CNVs. Additionally, biological processes such as bradykinin receptor activity, endoderm formation and development, and oxidoreductase activity were enriched among the rare exonic ASD CNVs. Overall, our findings may add data about new genes and pathways that contribute to the genetic architecture of ASD. Autism Res 2015. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Novel Surfactant Delivery System for Controlling Surfactant Adsorption onto Solid Surfaces. Part III: Oil Displacement Tests
Authors: Alhassawi Hassan , Romero‐Zerón Laura
Published: June 2015

Surfactant adsorption onto porous media is a significant problem during surfactant flooding in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). As the surfactant solution flows through the oil formation, surfactant concentration in the solution decreases due to adsorption onto the rock surface before the solution reaches the target residual oil saturation zones, rendering the process uneconomical.

This paper validates an innovative technological solution to reduce surfactant adsorption onto the reservoir rock by using a surfactant delivery system based on surfactant complexations with β‐cyclodextrin, which releases the surfactant at the target areas within the formation. This study evaluates the performance of this surfactant carrier system in recovering oil through sandpack surfactant flooding displacement tests conducted at simulated reservoir conditions.

The experimental results demonstrate that the use of the surfactant delivery system consistently renders higher incremental oil recoveries (up to 73 %) when compared with the oil recovery obtained by conventional surfactant flooding. Therefore, this novel surfactant carrier system is highly effective at reducing surfactant adsorption onto rock formations, which facilitates the propagation and release of the surfactant at the oil saturation zones. This technology has great potential for EOR chemical flooding applications.
Hot Gas Clean‐Up with Dolomites: Effect of Gas Composition on Sulfur Removal Activity
Authors: Ay Şiringül , Atakül Hüsnü , Sarıoğlan Alper , Akgün Fehmi , Işık‐Gülsaç Işıl , Çetin Yeliz , Üresin Ersin , Orçun Er Ömer , Aksoy Parvana
Published: June 2015

In this study high temperature desulfurization performance of dolomite was investigated for coal‐derived gases. Experimental results indicated that dolomite was active and could be effectively used for gas desulfurization at temperatures greater than 1023 K. However, due to thermodynamic equilibrium restrictions, in the presence of water vapour the H2S concentration could not be reduced below 150–200 ppmv by dolomite. Thermodynamics predicts that water vapour can adversely affect the chemical equilibrium between H2S and calcium oxide. The presence of CO2 in the gas stream did not have a suppressing effect on the sulfidation reactions, whereas it tended to depress the calcination of CaCO3 to CaO. During the dolomite‐based sulfur removal process, both the water‐gas shift and reverse water‐gas shift reactions could also occur depending on the reacting gas compositions. The Boudouard reaction could take place and proceed at 1023 K depending on the CO/CO2 ratio in the feed stream. This was dictated by the thermodynamic characteristics of the reaction. COS formation was observed due to the reactions taking place between H2S and CO/CO2 during H2S removal by dolomite. Trace amounts of methyl mercaptan were also detected in the reactor effluent gases during H2S removal. Methyl mercaptan formation might be attributed to the reactions taking place between H2S, H2, and CO and/or CO2.
A secure biometric authentication based on PEKS
Authors: Zhang Yue , Qin Jing , Du Lihua
Published: June 2015

Biometrics refers to metrics related to human characteristics and traits such as finger prints. How to use biometric to replace an encryption key or an identity certificate efficiently and securely is a hot topic in this big data era. In this field, secure biometric authentication is an important application, which refers to automated authentication based on their encrypted biological and behavioral traits. Searchable encryption is a powerful technology supporting retrieval for encrypted data with specific encrypted keyword index. It also has a profound meaning in the big data field. In this paper, we propose a generic transformation from searchable encryption to secure biometric authentication and construct a specific secure biometric authentication scheme based on public key encryption with keyword search (PEKS). The security of this authentication relies on the distinguishability of trapdoors and indexes in PEKS. In our scheme, the user does not need to claim the target user to authenticate in authentication message, and we change the pattern of authenticating by one bit. Compared with some existing authentication scheme, the proposed scheme is more efficient in the practical application. Furthermore, searchable encryption is an earlier cryptographic system that has relatively mature methods. Our transformation from searchable encryption to secure biometric authentication presents a new direction of constructing authentication scheme. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Projecting the effects of climate change and water management on Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) survival
Authors: Hausner Mark B. , Wilson Kevin P. , Gaines D. Bailey , Suárez Francisco , Scoppettone G. Gary , Tyler Scott W.
Published: June 2015

Aquatic ecosystems of North American deserts are frequently very restricted in area and tend to harbour very specialized species endemic to their restricted habitats. Small changes in environmental conditions of these specialized forms may jeopardize their persistence. A notable example of endemic and specialized species that may have been influenced by slight changes in its habitat is the Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), which occurs only in a small pool ecosystem in the Mojave Desert of the Southwestern United States. In this study, we use a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model to examine the physical effects of climate change and local groundwater management on Devils Hole and combine those results with a conceptual ecological model to consider the impacts of those changes on annual recruitment of C. diabolis. The CFD model predicts water temperatures as a response to climate and water level, and the ecological model is used to determine the timing of tipping points that may encourage or suppress the annual recruitment of C. diabolis. The combination of interdisciplinary modelling approaches offers a method to quantify and compare the suitability of habitat under a range of management and climate scenarios. Our results show that the influence of water level on peak temperatures in Devils Hole (and on the ecosystem's suitability for C. diabolis) is an order of magnitude greater than the influence of climate change. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chemical modifications of ricinolein in castor oil and methyl ricinoleate for viscosity reduction to facilitate their use as biodiesels
Authors: Ba Sai , Zhang Hao , Lee Yiqin Jasmine , Ng Chee Wee , Li Tianhu
Published: June 2015

Castor beans contain large quantities of oil and can grow in harsh environments. Unlike soybean oil, castor oil cannot be directly used for biodiesel production due to its extremely high viscosity. Here, we report an alternative source of biodiesel which possesses an ideal viscosity like soybean oil, and this new biodiesel could be obtained through simple synthetic routes from castor oil. Moreover, the properties of our newly designed ketone‐containing triglycerides and its transesterified counterpart as biodiesel were systematically examined in our study, and their structures were characterized by using 1H NMR and 13C NMR.

Practical application: The product obtained has the potential to be utilized as an alternative biofuel.

Illustration of oxidation of castor oil and transesterification of oxidized castor oil to reduce viscosity.
International validation of the determination of saturated hydrocarbon mineral oil in vegetable oils
Authors: Lacoste Florence
Published: June 2015

An interlaboratory study was conducted in 2014 to evaluate a method for determining mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons in vegetable oils and fats. Samples were dissolved in an apolar solvent and subjected to a purification on silica gel impregnated with silver nitrate. The final extract was analyzed using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detection. Quantification was performed using internal standardization. Six samples were assayed for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons by 21 collaborating laboratories from nine countries. Sample matrices included olive, olive pomace, sunflower, soybean, and rapeseed oils. Comparing two types of integration of the unresolved complex mixture area, it was decided to recommend in the test method the integration of the natural hydrocarbons only considering the highest peaks of n‐alkanes. Repeatability (RSDr) ranged from 3.7 to 10.5% and reproducibility (RSDR) ranged from 10.3 to 25.7% for samples containing greater than 35 mg/kg of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons. The method provides acceptable results for quantification of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons in edible oils, from 50 to 1000 mg/kg.

Practical applications: Standardized methods for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbon determination in vegetable oils and fats, are not yet available. This paper describes the validation of a method for the quantification of the saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons and it provides the results from an international collaborative trial.

A method for the determination of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons in vegetable oils by GC/FID, after purification on AgNO3‐silica gel, was validated during an international collaborative study.