bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes in Demographic Factors’ Influence on Regional Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence from China, 2000–2010
Authors: Wang Xiaoxi , Zhang Yaojun , Yu Danlin , Wu Xiwei , Li Ding
Published: April 2022

Improving total factor productivity is an important way for China’s economy to avoid the middle income trap. Demographic changes are believed to have significant impacts on productivity growth. Using the census and socioeconomic data of 358 prefecture cities in mainland China, this paper analyzes the changes in the global and local spatial dependence of total factor productivity. We then employ spatial regression methods to investigate the role of changes in population factors in productivity growth in 2000 and 2010. We draw three observations from the analysis. First, population density plays an important role in both years. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between population density and productivity growth. Second, human capital stock has a significant positive impact while human capital inequality becomes insignificant in 2010. This is likely a result of China’s education equality policies. Third, the impact of the aging of workers and their migration status on productivity growth also changed over the decade. Different cohorts of workers and migrants have had different influences on productivity growth because of their different access to higher education. The study provides important insights over how demographic factors impact China’s productivity growth.
A Risk Assessment Framework of Hybrid Offshore Wind–Solar PV Power Plants under a Probabilistic Linguistic Environment
Authors: Mao Qinghua , Guo Mengxin , Lv Jian , Chen Jinjin , Xie Pengzhen , Li Meng
Published: April 2022

Hybrid offshore wind–solar PV power plants have attracted much attention in recent years due to its advantages of saving land resources, high energy efficiency, high power generation efficiency, and stable power output. However, due to the project still being in its infancy, investors will face a series of risks. Hence, a multi-criteria group decision-making framework for hybrid offshore wind–solar PV power plants risk assessment is constructed in this paper. Firstly, 19 risk indicators are identified and divided into five groups. Secondly, probabilistic linguistic term sets are then introduced to evaluate the criteria values to depict uncertainty and fuzziness. Thirdly, the expert weight determination model is built by combining subjective and objective weights based on expert information, the entropy and interaction-entropy measures of probabilistic linguistic term sets. Fourthly, the expert evaluation information is aggregated by transforming probabilistic linguistic term sets into triangular fuzzy numbers based on generalized weighted ordered weighted averaging operator. Additionally, the risk level is determined using the fuzzy synthetic evaluation method. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a case study and the risk level is slightly high with the similarity measure result of 0.938. Then, the risk indicator system and corresponding countermeasures can provide scientific reference for investment decisions and risk prevention.
Development of a Calculation Concept for Mapping Specific Heat Extraction for Very Shallow Geothermal Systems
Authors: Schwarz Hans , Jocic Nikola , Bertermann David
Published: April 2022

Horizontal shallow geothermal applications are easy to install, and their installation process is less liable to legislation than other geothermal systems. Due to a lack of planning guidance, the opportunity to implement such systems is often overlooked, although geothermal installations are urgently needed as a sustainable energy source. To give a foundation for including very shallow geothermal systems in local heat supply planning, potential maps are crucial. To enable their utilization in energy use plans or similar elaborations for municipalities, location-specific and system-specific heat extractions are required. Since applicable standards are not available, it is nearly impossible to provide aggregate propositions, which are essential for potential maps. In this study, a concept was evolved for deriving very shallow geothermal potential maps with location-specific and system-specific heat extraction values. As a basis, VDI 4640 Part 2 information regarding heat extraction and respective climate zone references was utilized. Furthermore, climate information and a soil map were needed to apply the concept to the study area. The application of the concept in an Austrian study area resulted in appropriate potential maps. Moreover, this concept is similarly applicable in other areas of interest.
Nature’s Contributions to People in Vulnerability Studies When Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Coastal Landscapes
Authors: Nájera González Areli , Carrillo González Fátima Maciel , Nájera González Oyolsi , Chávez-Dagostino Rosa María , Marceleño Flores Susana , Canales-Gómez Eréndira , Téllez López Jorge
Published: April 2022

The geographic landscape is a recurrent unit of analysis in vulnerability studies. Single descriptions are often used to show the elements exposed in these landscapes. However, the concept requires specifying the components of the landscape and its functioning as a unit. Thus, the purpose of this research was to use the analysis of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) to describe the global contribution of landscape elements to human activities, prioritizing the units in which the effects of climate change may imply greater impacts on the human population. For this, we analyzed six categories of nature’s contributions applied to the landscape units in a fragment of the Mexican Pacific coast. The units with mangrove cover had the highest nature contributions. It is expected that the application of this approach in the exposure component of vulnerability studies will allow a better understanding of the non-return relationship and the search for adaptive nature-based solutions.
A Sustainable, Interactive Elderly Healthcare System for Nursing Homes: An Interdisciplinary Design
Authors: Yang Cunwei , Wang Weiqing , Li Fengying , Yang Degang
Published: April 2022

Population ageing becomes a perplexing conundrum with social and economic development. Many senior citizens are now empty nesters because the younger generation prefer to stay in metropolises for a better life. Therefore, living in a nursing home is a popular choice for the aged. This objective-oriented paper proposes a sustainable elderly healthcare system for nursing homes. The main work is the design and implementation of a new rapid and interactive assistance service. Based on cost-effective fingerprint indoor-positioning technology, the alert message that a person is at risk will be immediately sent to nearby people before professionals arrive. Warning messages are available when nearing marked areas (e.g., slippery floors). The parallel path-finding algorithm plays a significant role in finding nearby people and alerting people who approach specific areas. Furthermore, this system provides application programming interfaces to connect to health devices, such as smart bracelets, watches, and glasses. In general, the system is designed to ensure the safety of the elderly and improve management efficiency, which corresponds to present smart elderly care proposals from governments.
Google Earth Engine for Large-Scale Flood Mapping Using SAR Data and Impact Assessment on Agriculture and Population of Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin
Authors: Pandey Arvind Chandra , Kaushik Kavita , Parida Bikash Ranjan
Published: April 2022

The Ganga-Brahmaputra basin is highly sensitive to the impacts of climate change and experiences recurrent flooding, which affects large agricultural areas and poses a high risk to the population. The present study is focused on the recent flood disaster in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin, which mainly affected the regions of Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam in India and neighboring Bangladesh during July, August, and September 2020. Using the Sentinel-1A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, the flood extent was derived in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The composite area under flood inundation for July–September was estimated to be 25,889.1 km2 for Bangladesh, followed by Bihar (20,837 km2), West Bengal (17,307.1 km2), and Assam (13,460.1 km2). The Copernicus Global Land Cover dataset was used to extract the affected agricultural area and flood-affected settlement. Floods have caused adverse impacts on agricultural lands and settlements, affecting 23.68–28.47% and 5.66–9.15% of these areas, respectively. The Gridded Population of the World (GPW) population density and Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) population dataset were also employed to evaluate flood impacts, which revealed that 23.29 million of the population was affected by floods in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. The highest impacts of floods can be seen from the Bihar state, as people reside in the lower valley and near to the riverbank due to their dependency on river water. Similarly, the highest impact was from Bangladesh because of the high population density as well as the settlement density. The study provided a holistic spatial assessment of flood inundation in the region due to the combined impact of the Ganga-Brahmaputra River basin. The identification of highly flood-prone areas with an estimated impact on cropland and build-up will provide necessary information to decision-makers for flood risk reduction, mitigation activities, and management.
Obstacle Indicators Diagnosis and Advantage Functions Zoning Optimization Based on “Production-Living-Ecological” Functions of National Territory Space in Jilin Province
Authors: Wei Lanyi , Zhang Yanjun , Wang Lingzhi , Cheng Zilang , Wu Xuying
Published: April 2022

Frequent human activities have led to different types of land use conflicts which seriously restricted the multi-functional land use and the optimal allocation of resources. Optimizing the development and utilization pattern of land space, carrying out strategic layout, taking all aspects into consideration, and promoting green production and lifestyle are important measures to alleviate the contradiction between human and land and realize the harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. Therefore, we constructed an evaluation index system of production-living-ecological (PLE) functions in Jilin Province, and analyzed the characteristics of PLE functions via evaluation models and a spatial concentration index. Obstacle degree model and normalized revealed comparative advantage index (NRCA) were used to identify regional dominant function and diagnose obstacle factors, and function zoning and optimization strategies were carried out. The results showed that the average score of ecological function was higher than production and living functions; the spatial agglomeration degree of the three functions was low and the distribution was scattered; the regional functions were affected and hindered by obstacle factors, including total book stock in public libraries, the proportion of nature reserve area, grassland coverage rate, and the proportion of industrial and mining storage land area. Jilin Province was divided into 14 types of advantage function areas and optimization strategies were put forward. The concept of functional regionalization was applied to measure regional multifunctionality at provincial scale, which enriched the theory and practice of territorial spatial pattern optimization, promoted the coordinated development of territorial space, and provided references for provincial territorial space planning and regional sustainable development.
Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of a Historic and a Modern School Building, Located in the City of Naoussa, Greece
Authors: Pachta Vasiliki , Giourou Vasiliki
Published: April 2022

Life Cycle Assessment is often applied as a methodological approach for evaluating the environmental performance and impact of the building sector, including building stock. In the present study, two school buildings, located in the city of Naoussa, N. Greece were analyzed, including a historic and a modern one. The survey concerned on-site inspection and documentation of the structures, data collection and analysis, Life Cycle Impact assessment, as well as comparative evaluation of the results. The objective was to indicate the constructional and performance characteristics of the buildings, as well as to comparatively evaluate their environmental performance and impact. Since historic school buildings still function as educational units, these aspects are crucial and may determine their future operation and use. For LCA, the expected life span of the buildings was taken into account (60 years for the modern school and 140 years for the historic one), as well as all life cycle stages (product, construction, use, end of life, beyond building life). Various indicators were assessed, such as Global Warming Potential (GWP), Fossil Fuel Consumption, Total Primary Energy, Non-Renewable Primary Energy. From the correlation of the results, it was asserted that although the two buildings present similar operational characteristics and needs, they have different environmental performances and impacts, mainly attributed to their different service life and structural characteristics. Although the operational GWP value of the historic building is higher (due to the extended life span), the embodied one is significantly lower (due to the natural materials used for its construction). Other indicators, such as fossil fuel consumption are also higher in the case of the modern school building, indicating that its environmental footprint is more intense.
Assortment of Airports’ Sustainability Strategy: A Comprehensiveness Analysis Framework
Authors: Dimitriou Dimitrios , Karagkouni Aristi
Published: April 2022

Global sustainability challenges are transforming 21st century business. Economic, social, and environmental sustainability impacts regulatory agencies and enterprises, particularly in the air transport industry, which facilitates access to productive services and market linkage. Stakeholders, shareholders, consumers, employees, and society are increasingly pressuring businesses to examine their socioeconomic consequences and manage them sustainably and resiliently. In this competitive and economically sensitive climate, good management is a primary responsibility for airport operators and authorities, as well as national and local economies. An assessment tool for airport strategic plans is developed in this research. Corporate activities can encourage responsible infrastructure development and company sustainability. The assessment methodology is based on a comparative analysis between airports and regulatory authorities’ threshold. The role of sustainability in the air transport business ecosystem is depicted using a systemic approach, demonstrating that its relationship to business performance is a significant barrier to business resilience and competition for planners, managers, and decision makers. The numerical application considers a group of European, U.S, and Asian airports serving international flights. Conventional wisdom is to provide the evaluation analysis framework for planning and managing capital-intensive transport hubs such as airports.
Design Optimization of Three-Layered Metamaterial Acoustic Absorbers Based on PVC Reused Membrane and Metal Washers
Authors: Ciaburro Giuseppe , Parente Rosaria , Iannace Gino , Puyana-Romero Virginia
Published: April 2022

Waste management represents a critical issue that industrialized countries must necessarily deal with. Sustainable architecture involves the reuse of materials with the aim of significantly reducing the amount of waste produced. In this study, a new layered membrane metamaterial was developed based on three layers of a reused PVC membrane and reused metal washers attached. The membranes were fixed to a rigid support, leaving a cavity between the stacked layers. The samples were used to measure the sound absorption coefficient with an impedance tube. Different configurations were analyzed, changing the number of masses attached to each layer and the geometry of their position. These measurements were subsequently used to train a model based on artificial neural networks for the prediction of the sound absorption coefficient. This model was then used to identify the metamaterial configuration that returns the best absorption performance. The designed metamaterial behaves like an acoustic absorber even at low frequencies.
Resource Management as Part of Sustainable Urban District Development
Authors: Koller Michaela , Eckert Karl , Ferber Uwe , Gräbe Gudrun , Verbücheln Maic , Wendler Katja
Published: April 2022

Rising urban populations, limited natural resources (following the German Federal Environmental Agency, natural resources are resources that are part of nature. They include renewable and non-renewable primary raw materials, physical spaces (surface areas), environmental media (water, soil, air), flowing resources (e.g., geothermal, wind, tidal and solar energy) and biodiversity. It is irrelevant here whether the resources serve as sources for producing products or as sinks for absorbing emissions (water, soil, air)) and climate change require a new approach to urban planning. Recently, international, European and national programmes, concepts and framework documents have been created to promote the implementation of measures for more sustainability, resource efficiency and climate resilience in urban districts. In the funding measure of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s “Resource-Efficient Urban Districts for the Future-RES:Z”, twelve funded research project networks are dedicated to understanding the impacts that urban districts have on the resources of land, water and material flows, as well as the resulting impacts on urban green spaces and energy issues. By considering the different resources involved, it is shown that the optimisation of their use cannot take place independently of each other. This may even lead to conflicting goals. Use conflicts can be recognised at an early stage and measures can be tailored to the specific neighbourhood context when applying an integrated approach that provides a common view on all of the aforementioned resources. Special attention is paid to solutions which create numerous benefits i.e., multifunctionality. The RES:Z funding measure utilises living labs for the research on and implementation of solutions. This lays the foundation for a sustainable transformation of urban districts and the basis for further research.
Cultural Sustainability of US Cities: The Scaling of Non-Profit Arts Footprint with Population
Authors: Kraemer George P.
Published: April 2022

The functional characteristics of urban systems vary predictably with Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population, with certain metrics increasing apace with population (e.g., housing stock), some increasing faster than population (e.g., wealth), and others increasing slower than population (infrastructure elements). Culture has been designated the fourth pillar of sustainability. The population-dependent scaling of operating revenue, work space, and number of employees was investigated for almost 3000 arts organizations in the US, both in aggregate and by arts discipline (music, theater, visual and design arts, dance, and museums). Unlike general measures of creativity, the three measures of economic footprint did not scale supra-linearly with the population of metropolitan areas. Rather, operating revenue scaled linearly (e.g., like amenities), and work space and employee number scaled sub-linearly (e.g., like infrastructure). The cost of living, proxied by housing costs, increased with MSA population, though not as rapidly as did arts organization operating revenue, indicating a degree of uncoupling. The generally higher educational attainment of adults in larger cities, coupled with the growth of the education-dependent arts patronage, suggest a funding focus on less populous (50,000–1,000,000), as well as on under-performing, cities.
Cultural, Creative, and Sustainable Cities: Assessing Progress and Measurement Perspectives
Authors: Montalto Valentina , Sacco Pier , Saisana Michaela
Published: April 2022

The link between culture and sustainable development has become a major research topic in the past few years. [...]
A Framework for Evaluating the Effects of Green Infrastructure in Mitigating Pollutant Transferal and Flood Events in Sunnyside, Houston, TX
Authors: Newman Galen , Sansom Garett T. , Yu Siyu , Kirsch Katie R. , Li Dongying , Kim Youjung , Horney Jennifer A. , Kim Gunwoo , Musharrat Saima
Published: April 2022

There is a growing and critical need to develop solutions for communities that are at particular risk of the impacts of the nexus of hazardous substances and natural disasters. In urban areas at high risk for flooding and lacking proper land-use controls, communities are vulnerable to environmental contamination from industrial land uses during flood events. This research uniquely applied a series of landscape pzerformance models to evaluate such associations including (1) the Green Values National Stormwater Calculator, (2) the Value of Green Infrastructure Tool, and (3) the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment Model. This paper presents a framework for combining landscape performance models, which are often only individually applied, to evaluate green infrastructure impacts on flood mitigation and pollutant transfer during flooding events using the Sunnyside neighborhood in Houston, Texas, USA, as a case site. The results showed that the plan reduced the risk of flooding, decreased stormwater runoff contaminants, and provided a possible direction to protect vulnerable communities.
Does Mindfulness Influence Academic Performance? The Role of Resilience in Education for Sustainable Development
Authors: Vidal-Meliá Lidia , Estrada Marta , Monferrer Diego , Rodríguez-Sánchez Alma
Published: April 2022

A mindful person is prone to be open to novelty, attentive to distinctions, sensitive to context, aware of multiple perspectives, and focused on the present. Therefore, the role of mindfulness in educational contexts is gaining ground given the great possibilities it offers in developing students’ competences in education for sustainable development (ESD). The main goal of this study is to explore how mindfulness plays a key role in the learning process in response to the need to develop students’ emotional competencies in ESD, and specifically how mindfulness has an impact on academic performance through resilience. We tested the research model with a questionnaire addressed to 497 students from three higher education institutions and one secondary school. The results of a structural equation analysis confirm the study hypotheses. We find mindfulness is positively related to resilience, which leads to better academic performance. Thus, being mindful is a key competence in ESD since it allows young people to face their education with the highest possibilities of training, experience, and personal growth. This exploratory study offers further evidence of the need to invest in mindfulness to foster resilience and academic performance and represents a first step for designing additional interventions on this line.
“You Need a Month’s Holiday Just to Get over It!” Exploring Young People’s Lived Experiences of the UN Climate Change Negotiations
Authors: Thew Harriet , Middlemiss Lucie , Paavola Jouni
Published: April 2022

Despite youth organisations having participated as a recognised constituency (YOUNGO) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for over a decade, few studies have explored their lived experiences of participation. Drawing upon deep ethnographic engagement with a member organisation of YOUNGO conducted between 2015 and 2018, this paper applies the “7P” model from the Youth Studies literature to explore youth participation in the UNFCCC from seven intersecting lenses: Purpose, Positioning, Perspectives, Power Relations, Protection, Place, and Process. This yields many insights into how youth participants negotiate sustainability in this context, including the Purposes or drivers motivating their participation, the ways in which youth are Positioned within the UNFCCC, the asymmetrical Power Relations they have to navigate, as well as the logistical challenges relating to their Protection, including their physical safety and psychological wellbeing. Based on rich empirical findings, we amend the 7P model of youth participation, replacing Process, which we argue is more of a methodological than an analytical concern, with Psychological Factors, which we propose is a key factor in shaping youth participation in negotiations of sustainability.
Degradation Risk Assessment: Understanding the Impacts of Climate Change on Geoheritage
Authors: Selmi Lidia , Canesin Thais S. , Gauci Ritienne , Pereira Paulo , Coratza Paola
Published: April 2022

Several factors and processes, both natural and anthropogenic, can threaten the integrity of any geosite, leading to their degradation. For this reason, geoheritage degradation risks should be considered a fundamental step in any geoconservation strategy, all the more when the aim is to tackle the effects of climate change. The present work proposes a quantitative methodology for the degradation risk assessment of geosites by considering the extrinsic factors that can damage the geoheritage. The methodology has been tested on the Maltese Islands, where considerable previous research has been undertaken in order to highlight the international significance of the Maltese landscapes. Three criteria to assess the degradation risk are proposed: natural vulnerability, anthropogenic vulnerability and public use. For each criterion, several parameters have been identified in order to propose a detailed numerical evaluation. The results show that the degradation risk of geosites is mainly related to negligence and lack of knowledge of its inherent geological heritage, and which leads to public misuse and mismanagement of the geosites. The results give an overview of the condition of the geosites and provide information for the design and management of suitable protection measures, especially in the light of future threats related to climate change.
Rapid Electromagnetic Modeling and Simulation of Eddy Current NDE by MLKD-ACA Algorithm with Integral Kernel Truncations
Authors: Bao Yang , Liu Zhiwei , Song Jiming
Published: April 2022

In this article, a novel hybrid method of multilevel kernel degeneration and adaptive cross approximation (MLKD-ACA) algorithm with integral kernel truncations is proposed to accelerate solving integral equations using method of moments (MoM), and to simulate the 3D eddy current nondestructive evaluation (NDE) problems efficiently. The MLKD-ACA algorithm with an integral kernel-truncations-based fast solver is symmetrical in the sense that: (1) the impedance matrix, which is generated by the MoM representing the interactions among the field and source basis functions, is symmetrical; (2) the factorized form of the integral kernel (Green’s function) resulted from degenerating it by the Lagrange polynomial interpolation is symmetrical; (3) the structure of the truncated integral kernel for the interactions among the blocks, which ignores the trivial ones of the far block pairs, is symmetrical using the integral kernel truncations technique. The impedance variations predicted by the proposed symmetrical eddy current NDE solver are compared with other methods in benchmarks to show the remarkable accuracy and efficiency.
Singularities of Non-Developable Ruled Surface with Space-like Ruling
Authors: Abdel-Baky Rashad Abdel-Satar , Saad Mohamed Khalifa
Published: April 2022

Singularity theory is a significant field of modern mathematical research. The main goal in most problems of singularity theory is to understand the dependence of some objects in analysis and geometry, or physics; or from some other science on parameters. In this paper, we study the singularities of the spherical indicatrix and evolute of space-like ruled surface with space-like ruling. The main method takes advantage of the classical unfolding theorem in singularity theory, which is a classical method to study singularity problems in Euclidean space and Minkowski space. Finally, we provide an example to illustrate our results.
Permissions-Based Detection of Android Malware Using Machine Learning
Authors: Akbar Fahad , Hussain Mehdi , Mumtaz Rafia , Riaz Qaiser , Wahab Ainuddin Wahid Abdul , Jung Ki-Hyun
Published: April 2022

Malware applications (Apps) targeting mobile devices are widespread, and compromise the sensitive and private information stored on the devices. This is due to the asymmetry between informative permissions and irrelevant and redundant permissions for benign Apps. It also depends on the characteristics of the Android platform, such as adopting an open-source policy, supporting unofficial App stores, and the great tolerance for App verification; therefore the Android platform is destined to face such malicious intrusions. In this paper, we propose a permissions-based malware detection system (PerDRaML) that determines the App’s maliciousness based on the usage of suspicious permissions. The system uses a multi-level based methodology; we first extract and identify the significant features such as permissions, smali sizes, and permission rates from a manually collected dataset of 10,000 applications. Further, we employ various machine learning models to categorize the Apps into their malicious or benign categories. Through extensive experimentations, the proposed method successfully identifies the 5× most significant features to predict malicious Apps. The proposed method outperformed the existing techniques by achieving high accuracies of malware detection i.e., 89.7% with Support Vector Machine, 89.96% with Random Forest, 86.25% with Rotation Forest, and 89.52% with Naïve Bayes models. Moreover, the proposed method optimized up to ~77% of the feature set as compared to the recent approaches, while improving the evaluation metrics such as precision, sensitivity, accuracy, and F-measure. The experimental results show that the proposed system provides a high level of symmetry between irrelevant permissions and malware Apps. Further, the proposed system is promising and may provide a low-cost alternative for Android malware detection for malicious or repackaged Apps.
Gaia, Fundamental Physics, and Dark Matter
Authors: Perryman Michael , Zioutas Konstantin
Published: April 2022

The Gaia space astrometry mission is measuring accurate distances and space motions of more than two billion stars throughout our galaxy and beyond. This is a first look at how Gaia is contributing to fundamental physics, and in particular to our understanding of dark matter, for which a few examples are given from the current literature. One of our goals is to illustrate how deep and often surprising insight into very diverse areas of fundamental physics can be extracted from this new and enormous high-accuracy stellar data set. In this spirit, we finish by suggesting a search for a connection between stellar activity, dark matter streams, and planetary configuration in nearby exoplanetary systems, as has been tentatively proposed in the case of the solar system. Dark matter candidates that could be probed by such a test include anti-quark nuggets, which have also been postulated as a possible explanation of the anomalous heating of the solar corona, and of the matter–antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
An Efficient Approach to Solve the Constrained OWA Aggregation Problem
Authors: Kim Eun-Young , Ahn Byeong-Seok
Published: April 2022

Constrained ordered weighted averaging (OWA) aggregation attempts to solve the OWA optimization problem subject to multiple constraints. The problem is nonlinear in nature due to the reordered variables of arguments in the objective function, and the solution approach via mixed integer linear programming is quite complex even in the problem with one restriction of which coefficients are all one. Recently, this has been relaxed to allow a constraint with variable coefficients but the solution approach is still abstruse. In this paper, we present a new intuitive method to constructing a problem with auxiliary symmetric constraints to convert it into linear programming problem. The side effect is that we encounter many small sub-problems to be solved. Interestingly, however, we discover that they share common symmetric features in the extreme points of the feasible region of each sub-problem. Consequently, we show that the structure of extreme points and the reordering process of input arguments peculiar to the OWA operator lead to a closed optimal solution to the constrained OWA optimization problem. Further, we extend our findings to the OWA optimization problem constrained by a range of order-preserving constraints and present the closed optimal solutions.
Robust Finite-Time Control of Discrete-Time Switched Positive Time-Varying Delay Systems with Exogenous Disturbance and Their Application
Authors: Mouktonglang Thanasak , Poochinapan Kanyuta , Yimnet Suriyon
Published: April 2022

Many practical systems can be modeled in terms of uncertainties, which refer to the differences or errors between actual data and mathematical simulations. However, systems including slight uncertainties and exogenous disturbances may lead to the instability of those systems. Besides, the behavior of systems is preferable to investigate within a prescribed bound over a fixed time interval. Therefore, in this paper, we study a robust finite-time control of discrete-time linear switched positive time-varying delay systems with interval uncertainties and exogenous disturbance. A distinctive feature of this research is that the considered systems consist of finite-time bounded subsystems and finite-time unbounded subsystems. A class of quasi-alternative switching signals is validly designed to analyze the mechanism and switching behaviors of the systems among their subsystems. By utilizing a copositive Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional method combined with the slow mode-dependent average dwell time and the fast mode-dependent average dwell time switching techniques, new sufficient conditions containing several symmetric negative-definite matrices are derived to guarantee robust finite-time control of the systems. These results are applied to a water-quality controllability model in streams to the standard level. Finally, the consistent results between the theoretical analysis and the corresponding numerical simulations are shown.
Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Cultured Shrimp and Aquaculture Sludge
Authors: Sultana Salma , Hossain Mohammad Belal , Choudhury Tasrina R. , Yu Jimmy , Rana Md. Sohel , Noman Mohammad Abu , Hosen M. Mozammal , Paray Bilal Ahamad , Arai Takaomi
Published: April 2022

Shrimp is one of the major export products in South Asian countries and also an eminent source of nutrition for humans. Hence, any negative effect of this industry may affect not only the country’s economy but also human health. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to assess heavy metal contamination and associated human health risks in cultured shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and aquaculture sludge collected from three shrimp farms of the Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh. The results showed that among the eight metals studied, Pb (17.75 ± 1.5 mg/kg) and Cu (9.43 ± 2.8 mg/kg) levels in all shrimp samples were higher than the recommended limit, whereas the concentrations of Cd (0.09 ± 0.03 mg/kg), Mn (4.83 ± 2.2 mg/kg), As (0.04 ± 0.02 mg/kg), Hg (0.02 ± 0.006 mg/kg), Zn (18.89 ± 2.9 mg/kg) and Cr (0.69 ± 0.6 mg/kg) were within the permissible level. The concentrations of Mn (1043.37 ± 59.8 mg/kg), Cr (30.38 ± 2.1 mg/kg), Zn (74.72 ± 1.13 mg/kg) and Cu (31.14 ± 1.4 mg/kg) in the sludge of all farms were higher than the recommended limit, whereas the concentrations of Pb (20.23 ± 1.9 mg/kg), Cd (0.09 ± 0.2 mg/kg), As (0.44 ± 0.34 mg/kg) and Hg (0.08 ± 0.02 mg/kg) in all sludge samples were lower than the threshold limits. However, the estimated daily intake (EDI), targeted hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (HI) assessed for potential human health risk implications suggested that Pb and Cr may pose non-carcinogenic health effects, although carcinogenic risks (CR) values were acceptable for consumers. However, the pollution load index (PLI) of the studied area was below 1, which indicates low deterioration of the area. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and contamination factor (CF) analyses revealed that study area is unpolluted and sludge is enriched with metals in the following order: Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Cd > Hg > Pb > As.
Study of Ultrastructural Abnormalities in the Renal Cells of Cyprinus carpio Induced by Toxicants
Authors: Nazir Sumayya , Ali Md. Niamat , Tantray Javeed Ahmad , Baba Irfan Akram , Jan Arizo , Popescu Simona Mariana , Paray Bilal Ahamad , Gulnaz Aneela
Published: April 2022

Transmission Electron Microscopic (TEM) assessments were performed on the renal cells of common carp Cyprinus carpio to observe the deleterious effects of two organophosphate insecticides, Phorate and Dimethoate. Pesticides such as Phorate and Dimethoate often pollute aquatic systems where they may negatively impact fish, but so far, the ultrastructural toxicity of these pesticides remains poorly understood. Here, we use Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to determine how acute exposure to sublethal concentrations of these two pesticides may affect the renal cells of common carp Cyprinus carpio. For each insecticide, the fish were divided in four experimental conditions: a control and three different exposure concentrations of the pesticide. The Phorate treated fish were exposed to three sublethal concentrations of 0.2 mg/L, 0.4 mg/L, 0.6 mg/L for a duration of 24, 48 & 72 h. The dimethoate treated fish were exposed to three sublethal concentrations of 0.005 mL/L, 0.01 mL/L, 0.015 mL/L for a duration of 24, 48 and 72 h. The two-dimensional transmission electron microscopy revealed ultrastructural abnormalities in the treated fish renal cells when exposed to two toxicants including deformation in the glomerulus, vacuolization of cytoplasm, degenerative nucleus and damaged mitochondria. Furthermore, the ultrastructural abnormalities were more prominent with the increase in the concentrations of both the insecticides and also with their exposure period. Overall, these results provide important baseline data on the ultrastructural toxicity of Phorate and Dimethoate and will allow important follow-up studies to further elucidate the underlying cellular mechanisms of pesticide toxicity in wildlife.
Baseline Susceptibility and Resistance Allele Frequency in Ostrinia furnacalis in Relation to Cry1Ab Toxins in China
Authors: Liu Xiaobei , Liu Shen , Long Ying , Wang Yueqin , Zhao Wenlu , Shwe Su Mon , Wang Zhenying , He Kanglai , Bai Shuxiong
Published: April 2022

Asian corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée) is a destructive pest of corn and major target of transgenic corn expressing Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxins in China. It is necessary to establish the baseline susceptibility of geographically distinct ACB populations to Cry1Ab protein and estimate the resistance alleles frequency. The median lethal concentration (LC50) and LC95 values of Bt toxin Cry1Ab for 25 geographically distinct populations collected in 2018–2019 ranged from 0.86 to 71.33, 18.58 to 5752.34 ng/cm2, respectively. The median effective concentration (EC50) and EC95 values ranged from 0.03 to 10.40 ng/cm2 and 3.75 to 172.86 ng/cm2, respectively. We used the F2 screening method for estimating the expected frequency of resistance alleles of the 13 ACB populations, to Bt corn (Bt11 × GA21) expressing the Cry1Ab toxin. The neonates could not survive on the leaves of transgenic maize Bt11 × GA21 with cry1Ab gene, the Cry1Ab resistance allele frequency was still low in each geographic population in the field, ranging from 0.0032–0.0048, indicating that the sensitivity of ACB to Cry1Ab was still at a high level, and there were no viable resistant individuals in the field at present. The susceptibility of 25 populations of ACB collected in China showed regional differences, although the Cry1Ab resistance allele frequency in these ACB populations is still at a low level. This provides essential knowledge for making the decision to commercialize Bt maize, and monitoring resistance development and evaluating resistance management strategies in the future in China.
Parental COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy for Children in Romania: National Survey
Authors: Mărcău Flavius Cristian , Peptan Cătălin , Nedelcuță Ramona Mihaela , Băleanu Vlad Dumitru , Băleanu Anca Roxana , Niculescu Bogdan
Published: April 2022

Purpose: Once vaccination against COVID-19 was also possible for children over 12 years of age, parents/legal guardians had to give their consent for their vaccination. It is a crucial moment, given the large number of infected people in Romania and the fact that these children are a source of transmission of the virus in the community. The refusal or hesitation of the parents/legal guardians, regarding the agreement for the vaccination of the children, determined us to focus on this subject, wishing, based on the questioning of as many parents as possible, to extract the reasons underlying these decisions. Methods: This study is designed to observe the attitudes of parents/legal guardians regarding the refusal, hesitation, or acceptance of vaccination of children. The persons targeted to answer the questionnaire had to meet three conditions: to be at least 21 years old, to have a stable residence in Romania, and to be parents/legal guardians of at least one child under 18 years of age. The questionnaire was applied online to a number of 581 parents/legal guardians, being structured to obtain socio-demographic data and other categories of data that allow us to analyze their views on vaccinating children. Results: Sociological data resulting from the application of the questionnaire on 581 parents/legal guardians show that 183 (31.5%) adults and 140 (24.1%) children got infected with COVID-19. The total number of respondents shows that only 411 (70.7%) adults and 185 (31.8%) children are vaccinated. Conclusions: From the analysis of the data obtained through the questionnaire, following the application of the Kendall and Spearman statistical analysis tests, it is found that there is a strong link between participants’ trust/distrust in “fake news” information and their decision to vaccinate their children.
Vaccine Hesitancy: Lessons Learned and Perspectives for a Post-Pandemic Tomorrow
Authors: Scognamiglio Francesca , Gori Davide , Montalti Marco
Published: April 2022

Infectious diseases have always posed a significant threat to mankind, resulting in high mortality and morbidity throughout history [...]
The Beneficial Effect of the COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose among Healthcare Workers in an Infectious Diseases Center
Authors: Skrzat-Klapaczyńska Agata , Bieńkowski Carlo , Kowalska Justyna , Paciorek Marcin , Puła Joanna , Krogulec Dominika , Stengiel Jarosław , Pawełczyk Agnieszka , Perlejewski Karol , Osuch Sylwia , Radkowski Marek , Horban Andrzej
Published: April 2022

Introduction: Healthcare workers in Poland received a booster dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech, Manufacturer: Pfizer, Inc., and BioNTech; Moguncja, Germany) at the beginning of October 2021. Here, we report on the preliminary results of an ongoing clinical study into the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 of healthcare workers previously exposed to the virus, with or without evidence of past infection, in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw before and after the vaccine booster dose. Methods: Blood samples were collected on the day the vaccine booster dose was administered and again 14 days later. The levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies (against the n-protein, indicative of disease) and S-RBD (indicative of a response to vaccination) were measured. Results: One hundred and ten health care workers from the Hospital for Infectious Diseases were included in the study. The percentage of subjects with a positive test for anti-n-protein IgG antibodies at both time points remained unchanged (16, 14%), while a statistically significant increase in the percentage of subjects producing high levels of S-RBD antibodies (i.e., >433 BAU/mL) was observed (from 23, 21% to 109, 99%; p = 0.00001). Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that the booster dose of the vaccine significantly increases the percentage of people with high levels of S-RBD antibodies, regardless of previous contact with the virus, which may indicate greater protection against both the disease and a severe course of COVID-19.
Visualization of Multi Scenario Water Resources Regulation Based on a Dualistic Water Cycle Framework
Authors: Liang Jichao , Xie Jiancang , Wang Xue , Wang Shaojiu , Yu Mengyu
Published: April 2022

Under the influences of global environmental change, the water cycle exhibits a characteristic “natural-social” duality. The theoretical framework of this dualistic water cycle model has become relatively mature and the frameworks for the natural and social water cycles of the process description are now relatively clear. Although many studies in this field focus on further improvement of the model, it is difficult to apply it to the multi-scenario regulation of water resources. To address this gap, based on the comprehensive integrated platform, this paper uses visual knowledge map technology and component technology to visualize the theoretical framework of the dualistic water cycle, and establishes a framework system for the visualization of the dualistic water cycle process. Three different water resource regulation scenarios were established in the system and example applications of water resources regulation using the system were realized. The simulation results of the system show that the system intends to assist the business function of water resources regulation, and it is able to set up a number of dynamic scenarios that can be controlled by users and assist the application of regional water resources regulation. The system’s regulatory process is visual, trustworthy, and operational, and it realizes the simulation application of water resources regulation under the framework of the dualistic water cycle.