bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Non-Furanic Humins-Based Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane (NIPU) Thermoset Wood Adhesives
Authors: Chen Xinyi , Pizzi Antonio , Essawy Hisham , Fredon Emmanuel , Gerardin Christine , Guigo Nathanael , Sbirrazzuoli Nicolas
Published: January 2021

Predominantly non-furanic commercial humins were used to prepare humin-based non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) resins for wood panel adhesives. Pure humin-based NIPU resins and tannin–humin NIPU resins were prepared, the latter to upgrade the humins’ performance. Species in the raw humins and species formed in the NIPU resins were identified by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI ToF) spectrometry and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Humins, fulvic acid and derivatives, humic acid and its fragments, some lignans present and furanic oligomers present formed NIPU linkages. Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) showed that as with other biomaterials-based NIPU resins, all these resins also showed two temperature peaks of curing, the first around 130 °C and the second around 220 °C. A decrease in the Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) between the two indicated that the first curing period corresponded to linear growth of the oligomers forming a physical entanglement network. This then disentangled, and the second corresponded to the formation of a chemical cross-linked network. This second peak was more evident for the tannin–humin NIPU resins. All the laboratory particleboard made and tested either bonded with pure humins or with tannin–humin NIPU adhesives satisfied well the internal bond strength requirements of the relevant standard for interior grade panels. The tannin–humin adhesives performed clearly better than the pure humins one.
Construction of an Artificial Cell Capable of Protein Expression at Low Temperatures Using a Cell Extract Derived from Pseudomonas fluorescens
Authors: Fukumoto Mana , Tonooka Taishi
Published: January 2021

A liposome-based artificial cell (LBAC) consists of a liposome encapsulating a cell-free protein expression system (CFPES) and protein-encoding DNA. It is surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane and synthesizes proteins that resemble actual cells. Hence, they have been one of the most studied artificial cells. According to recent studies, they have been able to sense bio-functional molecules by synthesizing fluorescent proteins in response to target molecules. Therefore, they are expected to be used as biosensors. However, previously reported LBACs encapsulated the CFPES derived from Escherichia coli, resulting in the most productive protein expression at 20–40 °C. To broaden the range of their working temperatures to lower temperatures, in this study, we constructed LBACs using a CFPES derived from Pseudomonas fluorescens that grows at a temperature range of 4 °C to 30 °C. We then demonstrated that the constructed LBAC expressed proteins at 8 °C and that, the protein expression capability of the LBAC derived from P. fluorescens was four-fold higher than that derived from E. coli at 8 °C. This study will pave the way for the development of artificial cell-based biosensors that work in cold environments or for the synthesis of heat-labile proteins in LBACs.
Preparation and Characterization of the Sulfur-Impregnated Natural Zeolite Clinoptilolite for Hg(II) Removal from Aqueous Solutions
Authors: Ugrina Marin , Gaberšek Martin , Daković Aleksandra , Nuić Ivona
Published: January 2021

Sulfur-impregnated zeolite has been obtained from the natural zeolite clinoptilolite by chemical modification with Na2S at 150 °C. The purpose of zeolite impregnation was to enhance the sorption of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions. Chemical analysis, acid and basic properties determined by Bohem’s method, chemical behavior at different pHo values, zeta potential, cation-exchange capacity (CEC), specific surface area, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), as well as thermogravimetry with derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG) were used for detailed comparative mineralogical and physico-chemical characterization of natural and sulfur-impregnated zeolites. Results revealed that the surface of the natural zeolite was successfully impregnated with sulfur species in the form of FeS and CaS. Chemical modification caused an increase in basicity and the net negative surface charge due to an increase in oxygen-containing functional groups as well as a decrease in specific surface area and crystallinity due to the formation of sulfur-containing clusters at the zeolite surface. The sorption of Hg(II) species onto the sulfur-impregnated zeolite was affected by the pH, solid/liquid ratio, initial Hg(II) concentration, and contact time. The optimal sorption conditions were determined as pH 2, a solid/liquid ratio of 10 g/L, and a contact time of 800 min. The maximum obtained sorption capacity of the sulfur-impregnated zeolite toward Hg(II) was 1.02 mmol/g. The sorption mechanism of Hg(II) onto the sulfur-impregnated zeolite involves electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, and surface complexation, accompanied by co-precipitation of Hg(II) in the form of HgS. It was found that sulfur-impregnation enhanced the sorption of Hg(II) by 3.6 times compared to the natural zeolite. The leaching test indicated the retention of Hg(II) in the zeolite structure over a wide pH range, making this sulfur-impregnated sorbent a promising material for the remediation of a mercury-polluted environment.
Multi-Enzyme Systems in Flow Chemistry
Authors: Fernandes Pedro , de Carvalho Carla C. C. R.
Published: January 2021

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the use of biocatalysts in flow reactors. This merging combines the high selectivity and mild operation conditions typical of biocatalysis with enhanced mass transfer and resource efficiency associated to flow chemistry. Additionally, it provides a sound environment to emulate Nature by mimicking metabolic pathways in living cells and to produce goods through the systematic organization of enzymes towards efficient cascade reactions. Moreover, by enabling the combination of enzymes from different hosts, this approach paves the way for novel pathways. The present review aims to present recent developments within the scope of flow chemistry involving multi-enzymatic cascade reactions. The types of reactors used are briefly addressed. Immobilization methodologies and strategies for the application of the immobilized biocatalysts are presented and discussed. Key aspects related to the use of whole cells in flow chemistry are presented. The combination of chemocatalysis and biocatalysis is also addressed and relevant aspects are highlighted. Challenges faced in the transition from microscale to industrial scale are presented and discussed.
Acknowledgment to Reviewers of Publications in 2020
Authors:   Publications Editorial Office
Published: January 2021

Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Publications maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers [...]
Winter Solstice Celebrations in Denmark: A Growing Non-Religious Ritualisation
Authors: Trolle Astrid Krabbe
Published: January 2021

During the last decade, local celebrations of winter solstice on the 21st of December have increased all over Denmark. These events refer to the Old Norse ritual of celebrating the return of the light, and their appeal is very broad on a local community level. By presenting two cases of Danish winter solstice celebrations, I aim to unfold how we can understand these new ritualisations as non-religious rituals simultaneously contesting and supplementing the overarching seasonal celebration of Christmas. My material for this study is local newspaper sources that convey the public sphere on a municipality level. I analyse the development in solstice ritualisations over time from 1990 to 2020. Although different in location and content, similarities unite the new solstice celebrations: they emphasise the local community and the natural surroundings. My argument is that the winter solstice celebrations have grown out of a religiously diversified public sphere and should be understood as non-religious rituals in a secular context.
Geodetic and UAV Monitoring in the Sustainable Management of Shallow Landslides and Erosion of a Susceptible Urban Environment
Authors: Sestras Paul , Bilașco Ștefan , Roșca Sanda , Dudic Branislav , Hysa Artan , Spalević Velibor
Published: January 2021

Landslides are a worldwide occurring hazard that can produce economic impact and even fatalities. The collection and monitoring of data regarding active landslides are important for predicting future landslides in that region, and is critical to minimize the losses caused. In the expanding metropolitan area of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, drastic changes of land use and increasement of construction zones represent a current evolution issue. The urban sprawl phenomenon imposed the expansion of the city limits and outside the old built-up area, and due to the hilly terrain and geomorphology, natural hazards such as landslides and erosion processes are susceptible to appearance or reactivation. The study incorporates interdisciplinary research composed of evaluation of a landslide susceptible hotspot located in an area of interest to the municipality by means of geodetic and topographic precise measurements, combined with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) monitoring of surface movement and GIS spatial analysis. The data obtained in a span of over two years reveal that the investigated slope is subjected to a shallow active landslide of a few centimeters per year, and based on the 64 individual placed landmarks the highest displacement value was 67 mm. Through geomatic tools the exchange rate of the slope surface was evaluated with comprehensive volume calculations, such as displacement, erosion, and accumulation that illustrate a volume of material displaced of 107.2 m3 and the accumulated one of 55.7 m3. The results provide valuable insight into the complex landslide and erosion dynamics that are crucial when predicting future movements and prevention measures.
Foliage Biophysical Trait Prediction from Laboratory Spectra in Norway Spruce Is More Affected by Needle Age Than by Site Soil Conditions
Authors: Lhotáková Zuzana , Kopačková-Strnadová Veronika , Oulehle Filip , Homolová Lucie , Neuwirthová Eva , Švik Marian , Janoutová Růžena , Albrechtová Jana
Published: January 2021

Scaling leaf-level optical signals to the canopy level is essential for airborne and satellite-based forest monitoring. In evergreen trees, biophysical and optical traits may change as foliage ages. This study aims to evaluate the effect of age in Norway spruce needle on biophysical trait-prediction based on laboratory leaf-level spectra. Mature Norway spruce trees were sampled at forest stands in ten headwater catchments with different soil properties. Foliage biophysical traits (pigments, phenolics, lignin, cellulose, leaf mass per area, water, and nitrogen content) were assessed for three needle-age classes. Complementary samples for needle reflectance and transmittance were measured using an integrating sphere. Partial least square regression (PLSR) models were constructed for predicting needle biophysical traits from reflectance—separating needle age classes and assessing all age classes together. The ten study sites differed in soil properties rather than in needle biophysical traits. Optical properties consistently varied among age classes; however, variation related to the soil conditions was less pronounced. The predictive power of PLSR models was needle-age dependent for all studied traits. The following traits were predicted with moderate accuracy: needle pigments, phenolics, leaf mass per area and water content. PLSR models always performed better if all needle age classes were included (rather than individual age classes separately). This also applied to needle-age independent traits (water and lignin). Thus, we recommend including not only current but also older needle traits as a ground truth for evergreen conifers with long needle lifespan.
Forest Road Detection Using LiDAR Data and Hybrid Classification
Authors: Buján Sandra , Guerra-Hernández Juan , González-Ferreiro Eduardo , Miranda David
Published: January 2021

Knowledge about forest road networks is essential for sustainable forest management and fire management. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a new hierarchical-hybrid classification tool (HyClass) for mapping paved and unpaved forest roads with LiDAR data. Bare-earth and low-lying vegetation were also identified. For this purpose, a rural landscape (area 70 ha) in northwestern Spain was selected for study, and a road network map was extracted from the cadastral maps as the ground truth data. The HyClass tool is based on a decision tree which integrates segmentation processes at local scale with decision rules. The proposed approach yielded an overall accuracy (OA) of 96.5%, with a confidence interval (CI) of 94.0–97.6%, representing an improvement over pixel-based classification (OA = 87.0%, CI = 83.7–89.8%) using Random Forest (RF). In addition, with the HyClass tool, the classification precision varied significantly after reducing the original point density from 8.7 to 1 point/m2. The proposed method can provide accurate road mapping to support forest management as an alternative to pixel-based RF classification when the LiDAR point density is higher than 1 point/m2.
Artificial Light at Night Advances Spring Phenology in the United States
Authors: Zheng Qiming , Teo Hoong Chen , Koh Lian Pin
Published: January 2021

Plant phenology is closely related to light availability as diurnal and seasonal cycles are essential environmental cues for organizing bio-ecological processes. The natural cycles of light, however, have been dramatically disrupted by artificial light at night (ALAN) due to recent urbanization. The influence on plant phenology of ALAN and its spatial variation remain largely unknown. By analyzing satellite data on ALAN intensity across the United States, here, we showed that ALAN tended to advance the start date of the growing season (SOS), although the overall response of SOS to ALAN was relatively weak compared with other potential factors (e.g., preseason temperature). The phenological impact of ALAN showed a spatially divergent pattern, whereby ALAN mainly advanced SOS at climatically moderate regions within the United States (e.g., Virginia), while its effect was insignificant or even reversed at very cold (e.g., Minnesota) and hot regions (e.g., Florida). Such a divergent pattern was mainly attributable to its high sensitivity to chilling insufficiency, where the advancing effect on SOS was only triggered on the premise that chilling days exceeded a certain threshold. Other mechanisms may also play a part, such as the interplay among chilling, forcing and photoperiod and the difference in species life strategies. Besides, urban areas and natural ecosystems were found to suffer from similar magnitudes of influence from ALAN, albeit with a much higher baseline ALAN intensity in urban areas. Our findings shed new light on the phenological impact of ALAN and its relation to space and other environmental cues, which is beneficial to a better understanding and projection of phenology changes under a warming and urbanizing future.
Hyperspectral Image Enhancement by Two Dimensional Quaternion Valued Singular Spectrum Analysis for Object Recognition
Authors: Lin Yuxin , Ling Bingo Wing-Kuen , Hu Lingyue , Zheng Yiting , Xu Nuo , Zhou Xueling , Wang Xinpeng
Published: January 2021

This paper proposes a two dimensional quaternion valued singular spectrum analysis based method for enhancing the hyperspectral image. Here, the enhancement is for performing the object recognition, but neither for improving the visual quality nor suppressing the artifacts. In particular, the two dimensional quaternion valued singular spectrum analysis components are selected in such a way that the ratio of the interclass separation to the intraclass separation of the pixel vectors is maximized. Next, the support vector machine is employed for performing the object recognition. Compared to the conventional two dimensional real valued singular spectrum analysis based method where only the pixels in a color plane is exploited, the two dimensional quaternion valued singular spectrum analysis based method fuses four color planes together for performing the enhancement. Hence, both the spatial information among the pixels in the same color plane and the spectral information among various color planes are exploited. The computer numerical simulation results show that the overall classification accuracy based on our proposed method is higher than the two dimensional real valued singular spectrum analysis based method, the three dimensional singular spectrum analysis based method, the multivariate two dimensional singular spectrum analysis based method, the median filtering based method, the principal component analysis based method, the Tucker decomposition based method and the hybrid spectral convolutional neural network (hybrid SN) based method.
Accuracy of a Model-Free Algorithm for Temporal InSAR Tropospheric Correction
Authors: Zebker Howard
Published: January 2021

Atmospheric propagational phase variations are the dominant source of error for InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) time series analysis, generally exceeding uncertainties from poor signal to noise ratio or signal correlation. The spatial properties of these errors have been well studied, but, to date, their temporal dependence and correction have received much less attention. Here, we present an evaluation of the magnitude of tropospheric artifacts in derived time series after compensation using an algorithm that requires only the InSAR data. The level of artifact reduction equals or exceeds that from many weather model-based methods, while avoiding the need to globally access fine-scale atmosphere parameters at all times. Our method consists of identifying all points in an InSAR stack with consistently high correlation and computing, and then removing, a fit of the phase at each of these points with respect to elevation. A comparison with GPS truth yields a reduction of three, from a rms misfit of 5–6 to ~2 cm over time. This algorithm can be readily incorporated into InSAR processing flows without the need for outside information.
Analysis of the Quality of SLR Station Coordinates Determined from Laser Ranging to the LARES Satellite
Authors: Schillak Stanisław , Lejba Paweł , Michałek Piotr
Published: January 2021

The LARES (LAser RElativity Satellite) was built by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and launched on 13 February 2012 by the European Space Agency. It is intended for studying the Lense–Thirring effect resulting from general relativity as well as for geodynamic studies and satellite geodesy. The satellite is observed by most ground laser stations. The task of this work is to determine the station coordinates and to assess the quality of their determination by comparison with the results from the LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 satellites. Observation results in the form of normal points (396,105 normal points in total) were downloaded from the EUROLAS Data Center for the period from 29 February 2012 to 31 December 2015. Seven-day orbital arcs were computed by the NASA GSFC GEODYN-II software, determining the coordinates of seventeen selected measuring stations. The average Root Mean Square (RMS) (15.1 mm) of the determined orbits is nearly the same as for LAGEOS (15.2 mm). The stability of the coordinates of each station (3DRMS) is from 9 mm to 46 mm (for LAGEOS, from 5 mm to 15 mm) with the uncertainty of determining the coordinates of 3–11 mm (LAGEOS 2–7 mm). The combined positioning for the LARES + LAGEOS-1 + LAGEOS-2 satellites allows for the stability of 5–18 mm with an uncertainty of 2–6 mm. For most stations, this solution is slightly better than the LAGEOS-only one.
A Low-Cost IoT Sensors Network for Monitoring Three-Phase Induction Motor Mechanical Power Adopting an Indirect Measuring Method
Authors: Ciancetta Fabrizio , Fiorucci Edoardo , Ometto Antonio , Fioravanti Andrea , Mari Simone , Segreto Maria-Anna
Published: January 2021

Three-phase induction motors are widely diffused in the industrial environment. Many times, the rated power of three-phase induction motors is not properly chosen causing incorrect operating conditions from an energetic point of view. Monitoring the mechanical dimension of a new motor is helpful, should an existing motor need to be replaced. This paper presents an IoT sensors network for monitoring the mechanical power produced by three-phase induction motors, adopting an indirect measuring method. The proposed technique can be easily adopted to monitor the mechanical power using only one line of current transducer, reducing the cost of the monitoring system. The proposed indirect measurement technique has been implemented on a low-cost IoT system, based on a Photon Particle SoC. The results show that the proposed IoT system can estimate the mechanical power with a relative error of within 8%.
A Portable Electromagnetic System Based on mm-Wave Radars and GNSS-RTK Solutions for 3D Scanning of Large Material Piles
Authors: Fernández Álvarez Humberto , Álvarez-Narciandi Guillermo , García-Fernández María , Laviada Jaime , Álvarez López Yuri , Las-Heras Andrés Fernando
Published: January 2021

In this paper, a portable three-dimensional (3D) scanning system for the accurate characterization of large raw material (e.g., cereal grain, coal, etc.) stockpiles is presented. The system comprises an array of high resolution millimeter-wave radars and a cm-level accuracy positioning system to accurately characterize large stockpiles by means of a high-resolution 3D map, making it suitable for automation purposes. A control unit manages the data received by the sensors, which are sent to a computer system for processing. As a proof of concept, the entire sensor system is evaluated in a real environment for electromagnetically scan a scaled stockpile of coal, used in the industry for handling raw materials. In addition, a highly efficient processing adaptive algorithm that may reconstruct the scanned structure in real-time has been introduced, enabling continuous dynamic updating of the information. Results are compared with those from a photogrammetry-like technique, revealing an excellent agreement.
A Multi Camera and Multi Laser Calibration Method for 3D Reconstruction of Revolution Parts
Authors: Álvarez Hugo , Alonso Marcos , Sánchez Jairo R. , Izaguirre Alberto
Published: January 2021

This paper describes a method for calibrating multi camera and multi laser 3D triangulation systems, particularly for those using Scheimpflug adapters. Under this configuration, the focus plane of the camera is located at the laser plane, making it difficult to use traditional calibration methods, such as chessboard pattern-based strategies. Our method uses a conical calibration object whose intersections with the laser planes generate stepped line patterns that can be used to calculate the camera-laser homographies. The calibration object has been designed to calibrate scanners for revolving surfaces, but it can be easily extended to linear setups. The experiments carried out show that the proposed system has a precision of 0.1 mm.
Recent Advances in Collaborative Scheduling of Computing Tasks in an Edge Computing Paradigm
Authors: Chen Shichao , Li Qijie , Zhou Mengchu , Abusorrah Abdullah
Published: January 2021

In edge computing, edge devices can offload their overloaded computing tasks to an edge server. This can give full play to an edge server’s advantages in computing and storage, and efficiently execute computing tasks. However, if they together offload all the overloaded computing tasks to an edge server, it can be overloaded, thereby resulting in the high processing delay of many computing tasks and unexpectedly high energy consumption. On the other hand, the resources in idle edge devices may be wasted and resource-rich cloud centers may be underutilized. Therefore, it is essential to explore a computing task collaborative scheduling mechanism with an edge server, a cloud center and edge devices according to task characteristics, optimization objectives and system status. It can help one realize efficient collaborative scheduling and precise execution of all computing tasks. This work analyzes and summarizes the edge computing scenarios in an edge computing paradigm. It then classifies the computing tasks in edge computing scenarios. Next, it formulates the optimization problem of computation offloading for an edge computing system. According to the problem formulation, the collaborative scheduling methods of computing tasks are then reviewed. Finally, future research issues for advanced collaborative scheduling in the context of edge computing are indicated.
A Local Oscillator Phase Compensation Technique for Ultra-Wideband Stepped-Frequency Continuous Wave Radar Based on a Low-Cost Software-Defined Radio
Authors: Takahashi Kazunori , Miwa Takashi
Published: January 2021

The paper discusses a way to configure a stepped-frequency continuous wave (SFCW) radar using a low-cost software-defined radio (SDR). The most of high-end SDRs offer multiple transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) channels, one of which can be used as the reference channel for compensating the initial phases of TX and RX local oscillator (LO) signals. It is same as how commercial vector network analyzers (VNAs) compensate for the LO initial phase. These SDRs can thus acquire phase-coherent in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) data without additional components and an SFCW radar can be easily configured. On the other hand, low-cost SDRs typically have only one transmitter and receiver. Therefore, the LO initial phase has to be compensated and the phases of the received I/Q signals have to be retrieved, preferably without employing an additional receiver and components to retain the system low-cost and simple. The present paper illustrates that the difference between the phases of TX and RX LO signals varies when the LO frequency is changed because of the timing of the commencement of the mixing. The paper then proposes a technique to compensate for the LO initial phases using the internal RF loopback of the transceiver chip and to reconstruct a pulse, which requires two streaming: one for the device under test (DUT) channel and the other for the internal RF loopback channel. The effect of the LO initial phase and the proposed method for the compensation are demonstrated by experiments at a single frequency and sweeping frequency, respectively. The results show that the proposed method can compensate for the LO initial phases and ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses can be reconstructed correctly from the data sampled by a low-cost SDR.
A Lightweight Exoskeleton-Based Portable Gait Data Collection System
Authors: Haque Md Rejwanul , Imtiaz Masudul H. , Kwak Samuel T. , Sazonov Edward , Chang Young-Hui , Shen Xiangrong
Published: January 2021

For the controller of wearable lower-limb assistive devices, quantitative understanding of human locomotion serves as the basis for human motion intent recognition and joint-level motion control. Traditionally, the required gait data are obtained in gait research laboratories, utilizing marker-based optical motion capture systems. Despite the high accuracy of measurement, marker-based systems are largely limited to laboratory environments, making it nearly impossible to collect the desired gait data in real-world daily-living scenarios. To address this problem, the authors propose a novel exoskeleton-based gait data collection system, which provides the capability of conducting independent measurement of lower limb movement without the need for stationary instrumentation. The basis of the system is a lightweight exoskeleton with articulated knee and ankle joints. To minimize the interference to a wearer’s natural lower-limb movement, a unique two-degrees-of-freedom joint design is incorporated, integrating a primary degree of freedom for joint motion measurement with a passive degree of freedom to allow natural joint movement and improve the comfort of use. In addition to the joint-embedded goniometers, the exoskeleton also features multiple positions for the mounting of inertia measurement units (IMUs) as well as foot-plate-embedded force sensing resistors to measure the foot plantar pressure. All sensor signals are routed to a microcontroller for data logging and storage. To validate the exoskeleton-provided joint angle measurement, a comparison study on three healthy participants was conducted, which involves locomotion experiments in various modes, including overground walking, treadmill walking, and sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit transitions. Joint angle trajectories measured with an eight-camera motion capture system served as the benchmark for comparison. Experimental results indicate that the exoskeleton-measured joint angle trajectories closely match those obtained through the optical motion capture system in all modes of locomotion (correlation coefficients of 0.97 and 0.96 for knee and ankle measurements, respectively), clearly demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of the proposed gait measurement system.
Self-Organizing IoT Device-Based Smart Diagnosing Assistance System for Activities of Daily Living
Authors: Park Yu Jin , Jung Seol Young , Son Tae Yong , Kang Soon Ju
Published: January 2021

Activity of daily living (ADL) is a criterion for evaluating the performance ability of daily life by recognizing various activity events occurring in real life. However, most of the data necessary for ADL evaluation are collected only through observation and questionnaire by the patient or the patient’s caregiver. Recently, Internet of Things (IoT) device studies using various environmental sensors are being used for ADL collection and analysis. In this paper, we propose an IoT Device Platform for ADL capability measurement. Wearable devices and stationary devices recognize activity events in real environments and perform user identification through various sensors. The user’s ADL data are sent to the network hub for analysis. The proposed IoT platform devices support many sensor devices such as acceleration, flame, temperature, and humidity in order to recognize various activities in real life. In addition, in this paper, using the implemented platform, ADL measurement test was performed on hospital patients. Through this test, the accuracy and reliability of the platform are analyzed.
Inter-Beam Co-Channel Downlink and Uplink Interference for 5G New Radio in mm-Wave Bands
Authors: Bechta Kamil , Kelner Jan M. , Ziółkowski Cezary , Nowosielski Leszek
Published: January 2021

This paper presents a methodology for assessing co-channel interference that arises in multi-beam transmitting and receiving antennas used in fifth-generation (5G) systems. This evaluation is essential for minimizing spectral resources, which allows for using the same frequency bands in angularly separated antenna beams of a 5G-based station (gNodeB). In the developed methodology, a multi-ellipsoidal propagation model (MPM) provides a mapping of the multipath propagation phenomenon and considers the directivity of antenna beams. To demonstrate the designation procedure of interference level we use simulation tests. For exemplary scenarios in downlink and uplink, we showed changes in a signal-to-interference ratio versus a separation angle between the serving (useful) and interfering beams and the distance between the gNodeB and user equipment. This evaluation is the basis for determining the minimum separation angle for which an acceptable interference level is ensured. The analysis was carried out for the lower millimeter-wave band, which is planned to use in 5G micro-cells base stations.
Genetically Encoded Biosensors Based on Fluorescent Proteins
Authors: Kim Hyunbin , Ju Jeongmin , Lee Hae Nim , Chun Hyeyeon , Seong Jihye
Published: January 2021

Genetically encoded biosensors based on fluorescent proteins (FPs) allow for the real-time monitoring of molecular dynamics in space and time, which are crucial for the proper functioning and regulation of complex cellular processes. Depending on the types of molecular events to be monitored, different sensing strategies need to be applied for the best design of FP-based biosensors. Here, we review genetically encoded biosensors based on FPs with various sensing strategies, for example, translocation, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), reconstitution of split FP, pH sensitivity, maturation speed, and so on. We introduce general principles of each sensing strategy and discuss critical factors to be considered if available, then provide representative examples of these FP-based biosensors. These will help in designing the best sensing strategy for the successful development of new genetically encoded biosensors based on FPs.
An HPLC-DAD Method to Quantify Flavonoids in Sonchus arvensis and Able to Classify the Plant Parts and Their Geographical Area through Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Khuluk Rifki Husnul , Yunita Amalia , Rohaeti Eti , Syafitri Utami Dyah , Linda Roza , Lim Lee Wah , Takeuchi Toyohide , Rafi Mohamad
Published: January 2021

A simple and efficient method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of eight flavonoids (orientin, hyperoside, rutin, myricetin, luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, and apigenin) in Sonchus arvensis by high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). This method was utilized to differentiate S. arvensis samples based on the plant parts (leaves, stems, and roots) and the plant’s geographical origin. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a reverse-phase C18 column by eluting at a flow rate of 1 mL/min using a gradient with methanol and 0.2% aqueous formic acid. In the optimum conditions, the developed method’s system suitability has met the criteria of good separation. The calibration curve shows a linear relationship between the peak area and analyte concentration with a correlation coefficient (r2) > 0.9990. The ranges for the analytes’ limits of detection and quantitation were 0.006–0.015 and 0.020–0.052 µg/mL, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day precision expressed in terms of RSD values were <2%, and the accuracy range based on recovery was 97–105%. The stability of all analytes within 48 h was about 2%. By combining HPLC-DAD fingerprint analysis with chemometrics, the developed method can classify S. arvensis samples based on the plant parts and geographical origin.
Acknowledgment to Reviewers of Sports in 2020
Authors:   Sports Editorial Office
Published: January 2021

Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Sports maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers [...]
Characterization of Environmental Education in Spanish Geography Textbooks
Authors: García-González Juan Antonio , García Palencia Saúl , Sánchez Ondoño Irene
Published: January 2021

Environmental problems endanger the sustainability and survival of our planet. A way to raise awareness of the seriousness of the current environmental situation among future citizens and instill proactive behaviors that place the environment at the center of decision-making is environmental education. This study analyzes nine primary and secondary education textbooks in order to see what environmental education students receive as part of the subject of geography across the years of compulsory education in Spain. These textbooks are published by three different and main companies, which are a good example of the adaptation of the official curriculum. The study was conducted using the design and development of a coding sheet combining analysis of format (quantitative) and content (qualitative). The results show much room for improvement there is in environmental education in Spain. This improvement should start from the organization of the curriculum and its subsequent transposition into the textbooks. Thus, many changes are needed if we wish to build a society capable of effectively solving the threat of the environmental problems that surround us.
Green Growth and Agriculture in Brazil
Authors: Souza Piao Roberta , Silva Vivian Lara , Navarro del Aguila Irene , de Burgos Jiménez Jerónimo
Published: January 2021

This paper addresses Green Growth and Agriculture in Brazil, analysing the National Plan for Low Carbon Emission in Agriculture (ABC Plan). The main focus is to detail the structure and actions proposed and implemented by the ABC Plan, and also to identify its economic, environmental and social effects. Using a qualitative research approach, desk research was conducted through reports, newspaper articles, and official documents from the Brazilian government and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). The outcomes indicated that the ABC Plan did not address the main components of the literature on green growth policies, such as proper training of human resources in sustainable agricultural techniques, and access to financial support for promoting the implementation of sustainable agriculture systems. The lack of participation of local institutions in the creation and implementation of the ABC Plan is also pointed out.
Teaching and Learning Styles on Moodle: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Using STEM and Non-STEM Qualifications from a Gender Perspective
Authors: Sáiz-Manzanares María , Marticorena-Sánchez Raúl , Muñoz-Rujas Natalia , Rodríguez-Arribas Sandra , Escolar-Llamazares María-Camino , Alonso-Santander Nuria , Martínez-Martín M. , Mercado-Val Elvira
Published: January 2021

Teaching in Higher Education is with increasing frequency completed within a Learning Management System (LMS) environment in the Blended Learning modality. The use of learning objects (activities and resources) offered by LMS means that both teachers and students require training. In addition, gender differences relating to the number of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Non-STEM courses might have some influence on the use of those learning objects. The study involves 13 teachers (6 experts in e-Learning and 7 non-experts) on 13 academic courses (4 STEM and 9 Non-STEM) and a detailed examination of the logs of 626 students downloaded from the Moodle platform. Our objectives are: (1) To confirm whether significant differences may be found in relation to the use of learning objects (resources and activities) on Moodle, depending on the expertise of the teacher (expert vs. non-expert in e-Learning); (2) To confirm whether there are significant differences between students regarding their use of learning objects, depending on the expertise of the teacher (expert vs. non-expert in e-Learning); (3) To confirm whether there are significant differences for the use of learning objects among students as a function of gender. Differences were found in the use of Moodle learning objects (resources and activities) for teachers and for students depending on the expertise of the teacher. Likewise, differences were found for the use of some learning objects as a function of gender and the degrees that the students were following. Increased technological training for both teachers and students is proposed, especially on Non-STEM qualifications, in order to mitigate the effects of the technological gap and its collateral relation with the gender gap and the digital divide.
Modeling of an Energy Hybrid System Integrating Several Storage Technologies: The DBS Technique in a Nanogrid Application
Authors: Ciavarella Roberto , Graditi Giorgio , Valenti Maria , Pinnarelli Anna , Barone Giuseppe , Vizza Maurizio , Menniti Daniele , Sorrentino Nicola , Brusco Giovanni
Published: January 2021

Hybrid Systems in microgrid applications have gained relevance in power flow management in the context of the worldwide power grids transformation. Successfully integrating several technologies of micro resources and storage systems is a key component of microgrid applications. To address this issue, dc-bus signaling (DBS) is proposed here and used as a distributed decentralized control strategy in which the control nodes, as the generation sources/storage interface converters, induce DC bus voltage-level changes to communicate with the other control nodes. The DC bus voltage thresholds are identified and assigned to each converter to trigger the point at which it begins discharging or charging for six different DC Nano Grid (DCNG) configurations, thereby integrating both conventional and unconventional storage systems. Several test cases have been analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control logic.
Digitalization in Just-In-Time Approach as a Sustainable Solution for Maritime Logistics in the Baltic Sea Region
Authors: de Andres Gonzalez Olena , Koivisto Heikki , Mustonen Jari M. , Keinänen-Toivola Minna M.
Published: January 2021

This research provides an overview of the process and results of the development and implementation of the Port Activity Application. The aim of the application is to improve the coordination and information exchange mechanisms between the existing systems of ports and ships during piloting ordering process to ensure their effective interoperability, giving a better understanding of the impact of digitalization on the sustainability of seaports and maritime transport. To implement this concept, a system of step-by-step actions was developed, including determining the current situation, developing a business model and business logic for implementing an appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) solution, analysing the local government structure, analysing intermodal information exchange between stakeholders, developing and testing a new ICT tool. The ports of Rauma, Finland, and Gävle, Sweden, were used as pilot ports. As a result of the study, the main bottlenecks in the process of information exchange in ordering pilotage were identified. An improved business model and business logic, that allows the rational use of resources and reduces CO2 emission and the pressure on the environment, was developed. The testbed was conducted in an environment of real port operations. Currently, the open access source code is available for use for maritime cluster actors.
Worldwide Research on Geoparks through Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Herrera-Franco Gricelda , Montalván-Burbano Néstor , Carrión-Mero Paúl , Jaya-Montalvo María , Gurumendi-Noriega Miguel
Published: January 2021

Since the Digne Convention in 1991, the literature related to Geoparks has gained a growing interest on the academy’s part, especially in achieving the preservation of geological interest sites through sustainable tourism. This article aims to provide an analysis of the academic research on Geoparks, based on publications in the Scopus database in the period 2002–2020. Bibliometric analysis methods and bibliographic display maps were examined using VOSviewer software. The bibliometric analysis process comprises three phases: (i) Search Criteria and Source Identification, (ii) software and data extraction, and (iii) data analysis and interpretation. The results show geoparks in full growth as a scientific discipline, thanks to the contribution of various authors, institutions, journals, and related topics that confirm the importance of this field of study. Additionally, bibliometric maps lead to an understanding of the intellectual structure of the subject, in which keyword co-occurrence analysis shows six main themes, ranging from ‘UNESCO Global Geoparks’ to ‘Geo-tourism-Sustainable Tourism’. this, combined with maps of co-citation, broadly exhibits this structure and development, showing areas of current interest and potential development, thus offering the latest knowledge on Geopark research worldwide. There is a growing concentration of research on geomorphological heritage and geo-tourism, focusing on methodologies to evaluate the specialities of this type of heritage and define the concept of geo-tourism; there is a great interest especially in the evaluation and identification of geo-site/geo-morphosites which try to eliminate subjectivity in methods and focus on sustainable development of the localities.
Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations
Authors: Droege Hinrika , Raggi Andrea , Ramos Tomás B.
Published: January 2021

Circular Economy (CE) is seen as a key strategy in achieving sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To seize the potential of CE, public and private organisations need to evaluate and communicate their progress moving away from the non-sustainable paradigm of “take–make–dispose” towards circularity. The literature and practitioners demonstrate a growing interest in CE assessment as a driver for this transition. Nevertheless, the majority of CE assessments are implemented in private companies and implementation in public sector organisations is low. This article presents the challenges that currently prevent public sector organisations from implementing CE assessment and derives strategies to overcome them. A total of 21 CE and assessment experts from the Portuguese public sector were interviewed, and the results were triangulated with an extensive policy document review. The findings show that cultural barriers, particularly a lack of public and political pressure as well as a resistance towards change, are considered the main challenges for CE assessment implementation. Cultural challenges drive structural ones such as a lack of leadership commitment, the voluntary nature, and a missing clear governance for CE assessment. Technical and financial challenges, contrary to previous findings of the literature, are not prioritised and are seen as a result of the cultural and structural challenges. Overall, the research suggests that CE assessment is often a discussion among academics and highly specialised practitioners. In order to drive its implementation, the debate has to involve stakeholders beyond expert circles to trigger awareness for its necessity and to facilitate usage for a broader audience.
Current Trends of Arsenic Adsorption in Continuous Mode: Literature Review and Future Perspectives
Authors: Carneiro Mariko A. , Pintor Ariana M. A. , Boaventura Rui A. R. , Botelho Cidália M. S.
Published: January 2021

Arsenic is a toxic element for humans and a major pollutant in drinking water. Natural and anthropogenic sources can release As into water bodies. The countries with the greatest arsenic contamination issues lack the affordable technology to attain the maximum permitted concentrations. Adsorption can be a highly efficient and low-cost option for advanced water treatment, and the development of new cheap adsorbents is essential to expand access to water with a safe concentration of arsenic. This paper aims to review the state of the art of arsenic adsorption from water in continuous mode and the latest progress in the regeneration and recovery of arsenic. The disposal of the exhausted bed is also discussed. Fixed-bed column tests conducted with novel adsorbents like binary metal oxides and biosorbents achieved the highest adsorption capacities of 28.95 mg/g and 74.8 mg/g, respectively. Iron-coated materials presented the best results compared to adsorbents under other treatments. High recovery rates of 99% and several cycles of bed regeneration were achieved, which can aggregate economic value for the process. Overall, further pilot-scale research is recommended to evaluate the feasibility of novel adsorbents for industrial purposes.