bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Estimating Bus Cross-Sectional Flow Based on Machine Learning Algorithm Combined with Wi-Fi Probe Technology
Authors: Chen Ting-Zhao , Chen Yan-Yan , Lai Jian-Hui
Published: January 2021

With expansion of city scale, the issue of public transport systems will become prominent. For single-swipe buses, the traditional method of obtaining section passenger flow is to rely on surveillance video identification or manual investigation. This paper adopts a new method: collecting wireless signals from mobile terminals inside and outside the bus by installing six Wi-Fi probes in the bus, and use machine learning algorithms to estimate passenger flow of the bus. Five features of signals were selected, and then the three machine learning algorithms of Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbor, and Support Vector Machines were used to learn the data laws of signal features. Because the signal strength was affected by the complexity of the environment, a strain function was proposed, which varied with the degree of congestion in the bus. Finally, the error between the average of estimation result and the manual survey was 0.1338. Therefore, the method proposed is suitable for the passenger flow identification of single-swiping buses in small and medium-sized cities, which improves the operational efficiency of buses and reduces the waiting pressure of passengers during the morning and evening rush hours in the future.
A Design of Adaptive Control and Communication Protocol for SWIPT System in 180 nm CMOS Process for Sensor Applications
Authors: Rehman Muhammad Riaz Ur , Ali Imran , Khan Danial , Asif Muhammad , Kumar Pervesh , Oh Seong Jin , Pu Young Gun , Yoo Sang-Sun , Hwang Keum Cheol , Yang Youngoo , Kim Dong In , Lee Kang-Yoon
Published: January 2021

This paper presents an adaptive control and communication protocol (ACCP) for the ultra-low power simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system for sensor applications. The SWIPT system-related operations depend on harvested radio frequency (RF) energy from the ambient environment. The necessary power for SWIPT system operation is not always available and it depends on the available RF energy in the ambient environment, transmitted RF power from the SWIPT transmitter, and the distance from the transmitter and channel conditions. Thus, an efficient control and communication protocol is required which can control the SWIPT system for sensor applications which mainly consists of a transmitter and a receiver. Multiple data frame structures are used to optimize the exchange of bits for the communication and control of the SWIPT system. Both SWIPT transmitter and receiver are capable of using multiple modulation schemes which can be switched depending on the channel condition and the available RF energy in the ambient environment. This provides support for automatic switching between the time switching scheme and power splitting scheme for the distribution of received RF power in the SWIPT receiver. It also adjusts the digital clock frequency at the SWIPT receiver according to the harvested power level to optimize the power consumption. The SWIPT receiver controller with ACCP is implemented in 180 nm CMOS technology. The RF frequency of the SWIPT operation is 5.8 GHz. Digital clock frequency at the SWIPT receiver can be adjusted between 32 kHz and 2 MHz which provides data rates from 8 to 500 kbps, respectively. The power consumption and area utilization are 12.3 µW and 0.81 mm².
A Novel Concentric Circular Coded Target, and Its Positioning and Identifying Method for Vision Measurement under Challenging Conditions
Authors: Liu Yan , Su Xin , Guo Xiang , Suo Tao , Yu Qifeng
Published: January 2021

Coded targets have been demarcated as control points in various vision measurement tasks such as camera calibration, 3D reconstruction, pose estimation, etc. By employing coded targets, matching corresponding image points in multi images can be automatically realized which greatly improves the efficiency and accuracy of the measurement. Although the coded targets are well applied, particularly in the industrial vision system, the design of coded targets and its detection algorithms have encountered difficulties, especially under the conditions of poor illumination and flat viewing angle. This paper presents a novel concentric circular coded target (CCCT), and its positioning and identifying algorithms. The eccentricity error has been corrected based on a practical error-compensation model. Adaptive brightness adjustment has been employed to address the problems of poor illumination such as overexposure and underexposure. The robust recognition is realized by perspective correction based on four vertices of the background area in the CCCT local image. The simulation results indicate that the eccentricity errors of the larger and smaller circles at a large viewing angle of 70° are reduced by 95% and 77% after correction by the proposed method. The result of the wing deformation experiment demonstrates that the error of the vision method based on the corrected center is reduced by up to 18.54% compared with the vision method based on only the ellipse center when the wing is loaded with a weight of 6 kg. The proposed design is highly applicable, and its detection algorithms can achieve accurate positioning and robust identification even in challenging environments.
Lamb Wave Scattering Analysis for Interface Damage Detection between a Surface-Mounted Block and Elastic Plate
Authors: Golub Mikhail V. , Shpak Alisa N. , Mueller Inka , Fomenko Sergey I. , Fritzen Claus-Peter
Published: January 2021

Since stringers are often applied in engineering constructions to improve thin-walled structures’ strength, methods for damage detection at the joints between the stringer and the thin-walled structure are necessary. A 2D mathematical model was employed to simulate Lamb wave excitation and sensing via rectangular piezoelectric-wafer active transducers mounted on the surface of an elastic plate with rectangular surface-bonded obstacles (stiffeners) with interface defects. The results of a 2D simulation using the finite element method and the semi-analytical hybrid approach were validated experimentally using laser Doppler vibrometry for fully bonded and semi-debonded rectangular obstacles. A numerical analysis of fundamental Lamb wave scattering via rectangular stiffeners in different bonding states is presented. Two kinds of interfacial defects between the stiffener and the plate are considered: the partial degradation of the adhesive at the interface and an open crack. Damage indices calculated using the data obtained from a sensor are analyzed numerically. The choice of an input impulse function applied at the piezoelectric actuator is discussed from the perspective of the development of guided-wave-based structural health monitoring techniques for damage detection.
Rapid Fluorescence Quenching Detection of Escherichia coli Using Natural Silica-Based Nanoparticles
Authors: Jenie S. N. Aisyiyah , Kusumastuti Yuni , Krismastuti Fransiska S. H. , Untoro Yovilianda M. , Dewi Rizna T. , Udin Linar Z. , Artanti Nina
Published: January 2021

The development of fluorescent silica nanoparticles (SNP-RB) from natural amorphous silica and its performance as an Escherichia coli (E. coli) biosensor is described in this paper. SNP-RB was derived from silica recovered from geothermal installation precipitation and modified with the dye, Rhodamine B. The Fourier Infrared (FTIR) confirms the incorporation of Rhodamine B in the silica matrix. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) micrographs show that the SNP-RB had an irregular structure with a particle diameter of about 20–30 nm. The maximum fluorescence spectrum of SNP-RB was recorded at 580 nm, which was further applied to observe the detection performance of the fluorescent nanoparticles towards E. coli. The sensing principle was based on the fluorescence-quenching mechanism of SNP-RB and this provided a wide linear E. coli concentration range of 10–105 CFU/mL with a limit detection of 8 CFU/mL. A rapid response time was observed after only 15 min of incubation of SNP-RB with E. coli. The selectivity of the biosensor was demonstrated and showed that the SNP-RB only gave quenching response only to live E. coli bacteria. The use of SNP-RB as a sensing platform reduced the response time significantly compared to conventional 3-day bacterial assays, as well having excellent analytical performance in terms of sensitivity and selectivity.
Personalized Human Activity Recognition Based on Integrated Wearable Sensor and Transfer Learning
Authors: Fu Zhongzheng , He Xinrun , Wang Enkai , Huo Jun , Huang Jian , Wu Dongrui
Published: January 2021

Human activity recognition (HAR) based on the wearable device has attracted more attention from researchers with sensor technology development in recent years. However, personalized HAR requires high accuracy of recognition, while maintaining the model’s generalization capability is a major challenge in this field. This paper designed a compact wireless wearable sensor node, which combines an air pressure sensor and inertial measurement unit (IMU) to provide multi-modal information for HAR model training. To solve personalized recognition of user activities, we propose a new transfer learning algorithm, which is a joint probability domain adaptive method with improved pseudo-labels (IPL-JPDA). This method adds the improved pseudo-label strategy to the JPDA algorithm to avoid cumulative errors due to inaccurate initial pseudo-labels. In order to verify our equipment and method, we use the newly designed sensor node to collect seven daily activities of 7 subjects. Nine different HAR models are trained by traditional machine learning and transfer learning methods. The experimental results show that the multi-modal data improve the accuracy of the HAR system. The IPL-JPDA algorithm proposed in this paper has the best performance among five HAR models, and the average recognition accuracy of different subjects is 93.2%.
Standards: A Scientific Journal of Standardization
Authors: Lin Shu-Kun
Published: January 2021

We first planned to launch the journal Standards in 2012 and obtained ISSN 2305-6703 for Standards (Basel) [...]
Application of Blockchain Hierarchical Model in the Realm of Rural Green Credit Investigation
Authors: Tan Haoyang , Zhang Qiang
Published: January 2021

In order to realize the application research of blockchain technology in the field of green credit investigation, the current paper adopts the method of a blockchain hierarchical model to study the rural green credit. With regard to the realm of rural green credit investigation, this paper sorts out the characteristics of credit data in China’s countryside by countryside credit investigation and determines the major problems and in rural green credit investigation of financial inclusion. Subsequently, the authors put forward a blockchain hierarchical model, which not only has reinforced the advantages in original blockchain dedicated to agriculture, rural areas and rural residents, such as traceability and immutability, but also has transformed the decentralization into disintermediation and changed the single-layered P2P network into a multilayered structure based on China’s rural financial environment. Finally, the authors collect and extract the proper credit investigation data on the rural internet to assess the application value of the model by investigating its practical applicability in reality and problems that may occur during the application of the model. Results show that private credit information has an important impact on the prediction accuracy, and the blockchain hierarchical model is helpful to ensure the reliability and security of rural green credit data.
Health-Based Approach to Determine Alert and Information Thresholds for Particulate Matter Air Pollution
Authors: Adamkiewicz Łukasz , Maciejewska Katarzyna , Skotak Krzysztof , Krzyzanowski Michal , Badyda Artur , Juda-Rezler Katarzyna , Dąbrowiecki Piotr
Published: January 2021

In this study Health Impact Assessment (HIA) methods were used to evaluate potential health benefits related to keeping air pollution levels in Poland under certain threshold concentrations. Impacts of daily mean particulate matter (PM)10 levels on hospital admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were considered. Relative risk coefficients were adopted from WHO HRAPIE project. The analyses covered period from 2015 to 2017, and were limited to the heating season (1st and 4th quarter of the year), when the highest PM10 concentrations occur. The national total number of hospital admissions attributed to PM10 concentration exceeding WHO daily Air Quality Guideline value of 50 µg/m3 was calculated for each of the 46 air quality zones established in Poland. We found that the reduction of the attributable hospital admissions by 75% or 50% of that expected for the “best case scenario”, with no days with PM10 concentration exceeding 50 µg/m3 would require avoidance of exceedance by the daily mean PM10 concentration of 64 µg/m3 and 83 µg/m3, respectively. These concentrations were proposed as the information and alert thresholds, respectively. The alert thresholds were exceeded on 2 and 38 days per year in the least and the most polluted zones, respectively. Exceedances of the information thresholds occurred on 6 and 66 days in these zones.
The Norwegian Vehicle Electrification Policy and Its Implicit Price of Carbon
Authors: Fridstrøm Lasse
Published: January 2021

The rapid market uptake of battery and hybrid electric cars in Norway is unparalleled. We examine the fiscal policy instruments behind this development. In essence, the Norwegian policy consists in taxing internal combustion engine vehicles rather than subsidizing electric ones. There are 14 different fiscal incentives in place bearing on vehicles, fuel, or road use. All of them are in some way CO2-differentiated. In the tradition of positive economics, we derive the price of carbon implicit in each policy instrument and in the total package of taxes and subsidies. The price of carbon characterizing the trade-off between conventional and battery electric cars in Norway as of 2019 exceeds €1370 per ton of CO2. For light and heavy-duty commercial vehicles the corresponding prices have been conservatively estimated at €640 and €200 per ton of CO2, respectively. In addition, the penalty incurred by automakers for not meeting their 2020/2021 target under EU Regulation 2019/631 corresponds to a carbon price of the order of €340 per ton of CO2. As compared to the price of emission allowances in the European cap-and-trade system, the price of carbon paid by automakers and Norwegian motorists is one or two orders of magnitude higher.
Development of a Self-Sustaining Wastewater Treatment with Phosphorus Recovery for Small Rural Settlements
Authors: Xiao Jingsi , Alewell Ulrike , Bruch Ingo , Steinmetz Heidrun
Published: January 2021

Global trends such as climate change and the scarcity of sustainable raw materials require adaptive, more flexible and resource-saving wastewater infrastructures for rural areas. Since 2018, in the community Reinighof, an isolated site in the countryside of Rhineland Palatinate (Germany), an autarkic, decentralized wastewater treatment and phosphorus recovery concept has been developed, implemented and tested. While feces are composted, an easy-to-operate system for producing struvite as a mineral fertilizer was developed and installed to recover phosphorus from urine. The nitrogen-containing supernatant of this process stage is treated in a special soil filter and afterwards discharged to a constructed wetland for grey water treatment, followed by an evaporation pond. To recover more than 90% of the phosphorus contained in the urine, the influence of the magnesium source, the dosing strategy, the molar ratio of Mg:P and the reaction and sedimentation time were investigated. The results show that, with a long reaction time of 1.5 h and a molar ratio of Mg:P above 1.3, constraints concerning magnesium source can be overcome and a stable process can be achieved even under varying boundary conditions. Within the special soil filter, the high ammonium nitrogen concentrations of over 3000 mg/L in the supernatant of the struvite reactor were considerably reduced. In the effluent of the following constructed wetland for grey water treatment, the ammonium-nitrogen concentrations were below 1 mg/L. This resource efficient decentralized wastewater treatment is self-sufficient, produces valuable fertilizer and does not need a centralized wastewater system as back up. It has high potential to be transferred to other rural communities.
Clay-Based Products Sustainable Development: Some Applications
Authors: La Noce Michele , Lo Faro Alessandro , Sciuto Gaetano
Published: January 2021

Clay has a low environmental impact and can develop into many different products. The research presents two different case studies. In the first, the clay is the binder of raw earth doughs in order to produce clay-bricks. We investigate the effects of natural fibrous reinforcements (rice straws and basalt fibers) in four different mixtures. From the comparison with a mix without reinforcements, it is possible to affirm that the 0.40% of basalt fibers reduce the shrinkage by about 25% and increase the compressive strength by about 30%. Future studies will focus on identifying the fibrous effects on tensile strength and elastic modulus, as well as the optimal percentage of fibers. In the second study, the clay, in form of brick powder (“cocciopesto”), gives high alkaline resistance and breathability performance, as well as rendering and color to the plaster. The latter does not have artificial additives. The plaster respects the cultural instance of the original building. The research underlines how the use of a local (and traditional) material such as clay can be a promoter of sustainability in the contemporary building sector. Future studies must investigate further possible uses of clay as well as a proper regulatory framework.
Transit-Oriented Development: Exploring Citizen Perceptions in a Booming City, Can Tho City, Vietnam
Authors: Chen Jieh-Haur , Nguyen Ha Thi Thu , Chou Chien-Cheng , Wang Jui-Pin , Wang Ting-Kwei
Published: January 2021

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a crucial method for sustainable urban development and encouraging the use of public transit, especially for large densely populated cities such as Can Tho City, one of the top five cities in Vietnam. This study is aimed at identifying the factors which have a significant effect on the citizens’ engagement of public transport in the TOD environment. Based on the literature review and expert knowledge, 3 hypotheses related to citizens’ perceptions and citizen’s engagement are developed. A questionnaire was accordingly established using structural equation modeling (SEM). As a result, a total of 8 factors with 31 stems were obtained. The survey questionnaires were distributed to citizens of Can Tho City with 749 responses collected for KMO test Chi-square of 0.905. The analysis shows that all three hypotheses stand: (1) the citizens’ perception of local government’s capacity plays an important role in the citizens’ willingness to engage on public transport; the citizens’ perception of the usefulness of (2) TOD and (3) public transport has a positive influence on the engagement on public transport system. The major contribution of this study is that it can help other cities in developing countries to apply TOD.
A Review of Eco-Innovations and Exports Interrelationship, with Special Reference to International Agrifood Supply Chains
Authors: Galera-Quiles María del Carmen , Piedra-Muñoz Laura , Galdeano-Gómez Emilio , Carreño-Ortega Angel
Published: January 2021

Growing environmental awareness in recent years has led to greater efforts by companies and governments to promote eco-innovation, which is becoming an increasingly competitive factor in international supply chains. However, the interrelationships between exports and eco-innovation have not yet been studied in sufficient depth. As such, the purpose of this work is to analyze the influence that exists between these two variables, both at a business or micro level and at a country/region or macro level, and the most influential factors, such as country of origin and sector of activity, among others. To this end, 60 publications have been reviewed from 1996 to 2019 from a global perspective, to analyze the characteristics that define them and both the existing relationship and impact generated by the two variables being studied within international supply chains. The results show that, in general, there is a positive bidirectional relationship, influenced by several factors, such as social performance, environmental regulation, cooperation strategies, employment level, or business size. Additionally, there is a growing interest in this issue within the agrifood sector, as the benefits of an appropriate environmental policy based on innovation to promote exports are of great importance. Finally, a series of recommendations are made for future research that is able to serve scholars, companies and also policy makers.
Advanced Flight Planning and the Benefit of In-Flight Aircraft Trajectory Optimization
Authors: Rosenow Judith , Lindner Martin , Scheiderer Joachim
Published: January 2021

The implementation of Trajectory-Based Operations, invented by the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research program SESAR, enables airlines to fly along optimized waypoint-less trajectories and accordingly to significantly increase the sustainability of the air transport system in a business with increasing environmental awareness. However, unsteady weather conditions and uncertain weather forecasts might induce the necessity to re-optimize the trajectory during the flight. By considering a re-optimization of the trajectory during the flight they further support air traffic control towards achieving precise air traffic flow management and, in consequence, an increase in airspace and airport capacity. However, the re-optimization leads to an increase in the operator and controller’s task loads which must be balanced with the benefit of the re-optimization. From this follows that operators need a decision support under which circumstances and how often a trajectory re-optimization should be carried out. Local numerical weather service providers issue hourly weather forecasts for the coming hour. Such weather data sets covering three months were used to re-optimize a daily A320 flight from Seattle to New York every hour and to calculate the effects of this re-optimization on fuel consumption and deviation from the filed path. Therefore, a simulation-based trajectory optimization tool was used. Fuel savings between 0.5% and 7% per flight were achieved despite minor differences in wind speed between two consecutive weather forecasts in the order of 0.5 m s−1. The calculated lateral deviations from the filed path within 1 nautical mile were always very small. Thus, the method could be easily implemented in current flight operations. The developed performance indicators could help operators to evaluate the re-optimization and to initiate its activation as a new flight plan accordingly.
Do Fair Trade Labels Bias Consumers’ Perceptions of Food Products? A Comparison between a Central Location Test and Home-Use Test
Authors: Schouteten Joachim J. , Gellynck Xavier , Slabbinck Hendrik
Published: January 2021

Consumers are paying more and more attention to ethical and social criteria during grocery shopping. As a result, Fair Trade products which are certified to address global supply chain issues (e.g., forced labor, working conditions, fair pay), are gaining popularity. However, it is unclear to which extent Fair Trade labels might influence how consumers perceive such labelled food products. The aim of this research was to examine the potential effect of Fair Trade labels on several measurements (overall liking, sensory profiling, emotions, willingness-to-pay and kCal estimations). Furthermore, tests were carried out at a sensory lab and at home to examine if the evaluation context might impact the label effect. In total, 179 consumers participated in this study of which 90 carried out the test in the sensory test facilities (central location test—CLT) and 89 at home (home-use-test—HUT). Participants evaluated three pairs of food products (nuts, juice and chocolate) of which one was labelled as conventional and the other one as Fair Trade. However, participants were each time evaluating the same Fair Trade product. Results showed that the Fair Trade label increased the overall liking. For the juice and chocolate, a higher willingness-to-pay was found when the product was labelled as ‘Fair Trade’ while no effect of the label was established for the nuts. The Fair Trade label did not affect the kcal estimation of the samples. The Fair Trade label had a rather limited influence on the sensory and emotional profiling of the food products. Furthermore, the results of the CLT and HUT were highly similar indicating that the evaluation context has little impact on the labelling effect.
Ionizing Radiation Mediates Dose Dependent Effects Affecting the Healing Kinetics of Wounds Created on Acute and Late Irradiated Skin
Authors: Diaz Candice , Hayward Cindy J. , Safoine Meryem , Paquette Caroline , Langevin Josée , Galarneau Josée , Théberge Valérie , Ruel Jean , Archambault Louis , Fradette Julie
Published: January 2021

Radiotherapy for cancer treatment is often associated with skin damage that can lead to incapacitating hard-to-heal wounds. No permanent curative treatment has been identified for radiodermatitis. This study provides a detailed characterization of the dose-dependent impact of ionizing radiation on skin cells (45, 60, or 80 grays). We evaluated both early and late effects on murine dorsal skin with a focus on the healing process after two types of surgical challenge. The irradiated skin showed moderate to severe damage increasing with the dose. Four weeks after irradiation, the epidermis featured increased proliferation status while the dermis was hypovascular with abundant α-SMA intracellular expression. Excisional wounds created on these tissues exhibited delayed global wound closure. To assess potential long-lasting side effects of irradiation, radiodermatitis features were followed until macroscopic healing was notable (over 8 to 22 weeks depending on the dose), at which time incisional wounds were made. Severity scores and biomechanical analyses of the scar tissues revealed that seemingly healed irradiated skin still displayed altered functionality. Our detailed investigation of both the acute and chronic repercussions of radiotherapy on skin healing provides a relevant new in vivo model that will instruct future studies evaluating the efficacy of new treatments for radiodermatitis.
An Improved Whale Algorithm for Support Vector Machine Prediction of Photovoltaic Power Generation
Authors: Liu Yu-Wei , Feng Huan , Li Heng-Yi , Li Ling-Ling
Published: January 2021

Accurate prediction of photovoltaic power is conducive to the application of clean energy and sustainable development. An improved whale algorithm is proposed to optimize the Support Vector Machine model. The characteristic of the model is that it needs less training data to symmetrically adapt to the prediction conditions of different weather, and has high prediction accuracy in different weather conditions. This study aims to (1) select light intensity, ambient temperature and relative humidity, which are strictly related to photovoltaic output power as the input data; (2) apply wavelet soft threshold denoising to preprocess input data to reduce the noise contained in input data to symmetrically enhance the adaptability of the prediction model in different weather conditions; (3) improve the whale algorithm by using tent chaotic mapping, nonlinear disturbance and differential evolution algorithm; (4) apply the improved whale algorithm to optimize the Support Vector Machine model in order to improve the prediction accuracy of the prediction model. The experiment proves that the short-term prediction model of photovoltaic power based on symmetry concept achieves ideal accuracy in different weather. The systematic method for output power prediction of renewable energy is conductive to reducing the workload of predicting the output power and to promoting the application of clean energy and sustainable development.
Radiation-Inactivated Acinetobacter baumannii Vaccine Candidates
Authors: Dollery Stephen J. , Zurawski Daniel V. , Gaidamakova Elena K. , Matrosova Vera Y. , Tobin John K. , Wiggins Taralyn J. , Bushnell Ruth V. , MacLeod David A. , Alamneh Yonas A. , Abu-Taleb Rania , Escatte Mariel G. , Meeks Heather N. , Daly Michael J. , Tobin Gregory J.
Published: January 2021

Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacterial pathogen that is often multidrug-resistant (MDR) and causes a range of life-threatening illnesses, including pneumonia, septicemia, and wound infections. Some antibiotic treatments can reduce mortality if dosed early enough before an infection progresses, but there are few other treatment options when it comes to MDR-infection. Although several prophylactic strategies have been assessed, no vaccine candidates have advanced to clinical trials or have been approved. Herein, we rapidly produced protective whole-cell immunogens from planktonic and biofilm-like cultures of A. baumannii, strain AB5075 grown using a variety of methods. After selecting a panel of five cultures based on distinct protein profiles, replicative activity was extinguished by exposure to 10 kGy gamma radiation in the presence of a Deinococcus antioxidant complex composed of manganous (Mn2+) ions, a decapeptide, and orthophosphate. Mn2+ antioxidants prevent hydroxylation and carbonylation of irradiated proteins, but do not protect nucleic acids, yielding replication-deficient immunogenic A. baumannii vaccine candidates. Mice were immunized and boosted twice with 1.0 × 107 irradiated bacterial cells and then challenged intranasally with AB5075 using two mouse models. Planktonic cultures grown for 16 h in rich media and biofilm cultures grown in static cultures underneath minimal (M9) media stimulated immunity that led to 80–100% protection.
Immunogenicity and Protective Activity of Pigeon Circovirus Recombinant Capsid Protein Virus-Like Particles (PiCV rCap-VLPs) in Pigeons (Columba livia) Experimentally Infected with PiCV
Authors: Huang Huai-Ying , Silva Benji Brayan I. , Tsai Shen-Pang , Tsai Ching-Yi , Tyan Yu-Chang , Lin Tzu-Che , Flores Ronilo Jose D. , Chuang Kuo-Pin
Published: January 2021

Pigeon circovirus (PiCV) is the most recurrent virus diagnosed in pigeons and is among the major causative agents of young pigeon disease syndrome (YPDS). Due to the lack of an established laboratory protocol for PiCV cultivation, development of prophylaxis is hampered. Alternatively, virus-like particles (VLPs), which closely resemble native viruses but lack the viral genetic material, can be generated using a wide range of expression systems and are shown to have strong immunogenicity. Therefore, the use of VLPs provides a promising prospect for vaccine development. In this study, transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells, a mammalian expression system, were used to express the PiCV capsid protein (Cap), which is a major component of PiCV and believed to contain antibody epitopes, to obtain self-assembled VLPs. The VLPs were observed to have a spherical morphology with diameters ranging from 12 to 26 nm. Subcutaneous immunization of pigeons with 100 µg PiCV rCap-VLPs supplemented with water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) adjuvant induced specific antibodies against PiCV. Observations of the cytokine expression and T-cell proliferation levels in spleen samples showed significantly higher T-cell proliferation and IFN- γ expression in pigeons immunized with VLPs compared to the controls (p < 0.05). Experimentally infected pigeons that were vaccinated with VLPs also showed no detectable viral titer. The results of the current study demonstrated the potential use of PiCV rCap-VLPs as an effective vaccine candidate against PiCV.
Hydrologic Analysis of an Intensively Irrigated Area in Southern Peru Using a Crop-Field Scale Framework
Authors: Wei Xiaolu , Garcia-Chevesich Pablo , Alejo Francisco , García Vilma , Martínez Gisella , Daneshvar Fariborz , Bowling Laura C. , Gonzáles Edgard , Krahenbuhl Richard , McCray John E.
Published: January 2021

Majes is one of the largest agricultural areas in the Arequipa region (southern Peru). Low seasonal precipitation and increasing water demands for agricultural irrigation, industry, and human consumption have made water supply projections a major concern. Agricultural development is becoming more extensive in this dry, sunny climate where crops can be grown year-round. However, because this type of project usually involves significant perturbations to the regional water cycle, understanding the effects of irrigation on local hydrology is crucial. Based on the watershed-scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), this investigation focuses on the impacts of intensive irrigation on hydrological responses in the Majes region. This study is unique because we allow for crop-field scale input within our regional-scale model to provide information at this smaller scale, which is important to inform local stakeholders and decision makers. Each hydrologic response unit (HRU) was generated to represent an individual crop field, so that management practices could be applied according to real-world scenarios. The management file of each HRU was modified to include different operation schedules for crop rotation, irrigation, harvest, and tillage. The model was calibrated and validated against monthly observed stream discharge during the 2009–2020 period. Additionally, evapotranspiration, irrigation water volume, and daily stream discharge downstream of the local river (Siguas) were used to verify the model performance. A total of 49 sub-basins and 4222 HRUs were created, with 3000 HRUs designated to represent individual crop fields. The simulation results revealed that infiltration from agricultural activities in Majes represents the majority of annual groundwater return flow, which makes a substantial contribution to streamflow downstream of the Siguas River. Simulations also suggested that groundwater flow processes and the interactions between surface and groundwater have a major impact on the water balance of the study area. Additionally, climate variability had a higher impact on surface runoff than on groundwater return flow, illustrating that the groundwater component in the study area is important for future water resources resiliency under expected climate change scenarios. Finally, there is a need to perform a follow-up implementation to provide a guideline for decision-makers to assess future sustainable water resources management under varying climatic conditions for this arid irrigated system.
Assessment of Full-Scale Indirect Potable Water Reuse in El Port de la Selva, Spain
Authors: Fajnorová Soňa , Sprenger Christoph , Hermes Nina , Ternes Thomas A. , Sala Lluís , Miehe Ulf , Drewes Jörg E. , Hübner Uwe
Published: January 2021

In 2015, the town of El Port de la Selva in Spain implemented soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) using tertiary treated wastewater effluents to replenish the local potable aquifer. This study evaluated the initial phase of this indirect potable water reuse system including a characterization of hydraulic conditions in the aquifer and monitoring of microbial contaminants and 151 chemicals of emerging concern (CECs). The combined treatment resulted in very low abundances of indicator bacteria, enteric viruses and phages in the monitoring wells after three days of infiltration and a reduction of antibiotic microbial resistance to background levels of local groundwater. After tertiary treatment, 94 CECs were detected in the infiltration basin of which 15 chemicals exceeded drinking water thresholds or health-based monitoring trigger levels. Although SAT provided an effective barrier for many chemicals, 5 CECs were detected above health-based threshold levels in monitoring wells after short hydraulic retention times. However, additional attenuation is expected due to dilution prior to abstraction via downstream drinking water wells and during granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, which was recently installed to mitigate residual CECs. Overall, the results demonstrate that indirect potable water reuse can be a reliable option for smaller communities, if related risks from microbial and chemical contaminants are adequately addressed by tertiary treatment and subsequent SAT, providing sufficient hydraulic retention times for pathogen decay and CEC removal.
Oferta exportable de la algarrobina y sus derivados al mercado de Estados Unidos
Authors: Gardi Melgarejo Victoria , Robles Tamayo Rosa Luz , Moreno Rodriguez Rosa Ysabel
Published: January 2021

Se presentó el estudio Oferta exportable de algarrobina y sus derivados al mercado de Estados Unidos. La nación norteamericana es uno de los principales compradores de algarrobo y bienes derivados del mismo. Por ello, el objetivo general de la investigación fue impulsar el envío de algarrobina a las empresas estadounidenses.
La metodología del estudio se efectuó con el sintagma holístico cuya indagación estuvo encaminada a proponer alternativas transformadoras, la investigación fue de tipo proyectivo, de nivel compresivo aplicando el método deductivo en la investigación, la población estuvo compuesta por los habitantes de la provincia de Piura cuya muestra estaba conformada por 30 comercializadores y/o productores de algarrobina a quienes se les hizo una encuesta. Así mismo, las unidades informadoras fueron personal de una compañía comerciante de algarrobina a quienes se les hizo una entrevista, los instrumentos se examinaron a través de la triangulación de datos, la preparación de gráficos y tablas en el software estadístico SPSS.
Se concluyó que la algarrobina tiene figura en los mercados americanos, los niveles de fabricación de la materia prima son insuficientes así mismo se hizo un plan de exportación para promover su comercialización en el exterior contemplando los procedimientos de exportación, su grado de solicitud, acogida, partidas de calidad y costo de comercialización competitiva.
TECHNICAL DIAGNOSTICS-GUARANTEE OF HIGH-QUALITY AND EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE OF TIMBER ROLLING STOCK
Authors: Yakovlev Konstantin , Legostaev Sergey
Published: January 2021

A logging vehicle is a source of increased danger, and its serviceability affects road safety. Diagnostics of the technical condition of the car allows you to timely identify serious defects in components, mechanisms and aggregates without removing them and disassembling them, to have time to eliminate malfunctions in time and bring the technical characteristics to the standard. Analysis of the literature data has shown that diagnostics of the technical condition of a logging vehicle plays an important role in preventing accidents. Our task was to improve the reliability of the car and reduce the complexity of work during the next maintenance. In the article, we justify the criteria necessary for the organization of safe operation of logging vehicles when transporting timber on public roads. The age and technical condition of the timber rolling stock fleet is analyzed. The most frequent failures of forest transport vehicles on the example of cars of the KAMAZ family, affecting the organization of traffic safety, are determined. The necessity of pre-trip control inspections and Express diagnostics of vehicles is revealed. Taking into account the identified shortcomings, the scheme of post-trip removal of parameters from the built-in diagnostics system of a logging vehicle and subsequent remote transmission of data to the server of the control room of a motor transport enterprise has been developed. The conducted scientific research allowed us to find a solution to the problem, which is to allocate technical diagnostics in an independent type of technical impact. This measure will reduce the costs of premature technical impacts on the systems, components and aggregates of timber rolling stock without reducing the requirements for traffic safety
OUTSTANDING SCIENTISTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AUTOMOTIVE FACULTY, MAKING A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO ITS FORMATION
Authors: Dorokhin Sergey , Nikonov Vadim
Published: January 2021

The article describes a brief historical background of the opening of a new specialty at Voronezh Forestry Institute, related to cars and the automotive industry. The description of the departments included in the structure of the automotive faculty, as well as the year of its foundation at Voronezh State Academy of Forestry and Technologies is presented. The noteworthy outstanding scientists of the automotive faculty, who have made a significant contribution to its formation, have been considered. Among them, those that continue to work and are currently making a significant contribution to the development of both the educational process and the scientific potential of the automotive faculty, as well as those that have not been with us for many years, are highlighted. A brief description of the life path of each of them is given, including years of study at school, study at an institute, graduate school, as well as years of work at a university. In addition, a description of their labor activity in other organizations, significant dates in their lives associated with obtaining scientific degrees, academic titles, and taking the position of heads of departments are presented. The main areas of their research, important scientific achievements, the results of application of scientific research in the industry are described in more details
FOUNDERS OF THE FORESTRY ENGINEERING SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL
Authors: Ishchenko Tatyana , Platonov Aleksey , Kantieva Ekaterina , Belchinskaya Larisa , Storodubtseva Tamara , Maksimenkov Alexey
Published: January 2021

The article provides brief information from the life and scientific work of the founders of the Faculty of Forestry Engineering and the Faculty of Woodprocessing Technology (currently the Faculty of Forestry Industry). 2020 marks the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Voronezh University of Forestry and Technologies. Celebrating the 90th anniversary of the existence of the university, it would be fair to recall the names of the scientists who stood at the origins of the forest engineering faculty and the faculty of woodprocessing technology. Many generations of scientists have been involved in the organization and development of faculties, who have made a significant contribution to the development of the forest complex of Russia. They are widely known not only in our country, but also abroad. These are: V.K. Kuryanov, V.I. Kharchevnikov, F.V. Posharnikov, V.P. Zhukov, A.A. Filonov, P.N. Khukhryansky, T.K. Kuryanova, N.I. Popova, L.I. Belchinskaya. This publication provides information from the life of the scientists who stood at the origins of the creation and development of the scientific authority of Voronezh Forestry School. A number of information about the life and work of these outstanding researchers was borrowed by the authors from the sources cited, and some data were supplemented by personal memories of people with whom the authors communicated
Mahakavi and the Mahatma on the ideological basis - A Comparison
Authors: M Sankar
Published: January 2021

This is based on the assumption that Bharathiyar and Gandhiji are ideologically united in the liberation movement or in the political movement, in the radical movement and the moderate movement. Mahakavi Bharathiyar and Mahatma Gandhi lived in the same period. Particularly those who emerged during the fall of the Liberation Movement. Their ideas are the foundation of social progress and the development of the individual. Though both the writings of National Liberation are included in the writings of the people, the National Liberation Movement has pointed out many problems with the aim of liberating the people from them. In both writings, the notion that social liberation is the liberation of the nation. The purpose of this article is to identify and explain them.
Kongu Cultural Values in the Epic
Authors: P Sangeetha
Published: January 2021

Among the ancient Tamil literatures, which speaks of the pride of Tamilians, the epic, ‘Perunkadhai’ which originated from the land of Kongu excels in describing the traditional values of Kongu. They include abiding to justice, living with good deeds, speaking the truth, truth alone triumphs, forbidding adultery, sowing good deeds will bring you good things, as you sow so you reap, karma is a boomerang and other numerous moral quoting’s were implemented in the lives of the Tamilians. The educated women from the Kongu Velir were called as ‘Manakiyar’ in the Perunkadhai- as like the mother of the bride send her off with the valuables out of her love. This example is said to be a ‘natural aspect of mothers’ by Kongu people.
Creative Economy of College Student Gamification based on E-Commerce
Authors: Dliyanti Aulia
Published: January 2021

The application of Blockchain technology in the context of providing security for transactions in the digital era 4.0 to prevent manipulation of transaction recording reports by irresponsible parties. By using research methods 10 (ten) literature reviews and methods of formulating problems, designing research, collecting data, processing & presenting data, analysis & research reports are expected to solve security problems in transactions. At present security in transactions is still very minimal, therefore a blockchain technology is needed to secure transactions where data can still be manipulated. Specifically, there are 2 (two) benefits of this research that use blockchain technology, (1) transactions become safer in the presence of encryption codes, (2) transactions become more transparent with blockchain. This research implements the encryption code into the payment system using AI Coin, where payment is now cashless, to make it more secure and transparent in transactions.
Implementation of Tensorflow in the CCTV-Based People Counter Application at PT Matahari Department Store, Tbk
Authors: Prasetya Kusno , Aribowo Arnold , Satyaputra Alfa , Olivia Jocelyn
Published: January 2021

Counting the number of visitors (people counter) is an activity carried out in many retail stores. This information, although very simple and basic, can be used as one of the main bases for making decisions. In the past, PT Matahari Department Store, Tbk (MDS) has calculated the number of visitors manually with an accuracy of around 90%. The purpose of this research is to design an automated people counter system using the existing CCTV video networks in MDS stores. The research methodology used is data collection methods in the form of literature studies and interviews, and systems development methods in the form of prototyping. The system uses Tensorflow to recognize visitors who enter and leave the store. This system is a prototype and is used as a proof of concept for MDS to make decisions regarding the application of appropriate technology in carrying out the people counter process along with the things that need to be prepared if this system is to be implemented thoroughly in all MDS stores in Indonesia.