bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
HMT-Net: Transformer and MLP Hybrid Encoder for Skin Disease Segmentation
Authors: Yang Sen , Wang Liejun
Published: March 2023

At present, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely applied to the task of skin disease image segmentation due to the fact of their powerful information discrimination abilities and have achieved good results. However, it is difficult for CNNs to capture the connection between long-range contexts when extracting deep semantic features of lesion images, and the resulting semantic gap leads to the problem of segmentation blur in skin lesion image segmentation. In order to solve the above problems, we designed a hybrid encoder network based on transformer and fully connected neural network (MLP) architecture, and we call this approach HMT-Net. In the HMT-Net network, we use the attention mechanism of the CTrans module to learn the global relevance of the feature map to improve the network’s ability to understand the overall foreground information of the lesion. On the other hand, we use the TokMLP module to effectively enhance the network’s ability to learn the boundary features of lesion images. In the TokMLP module, the tokenized MLP axial displacement operation strengthens the connection between pixels to facilitate the extraction of local feature information by our network. In order to verify the superiority of our network in segmentation tasks, we conducted extensive experiments on the proposed HMT-Net network and several newly proposed Transformer and MLP networks on three public datasets (ISIC2018, ISBI2017, and ISBI2016) and obtained the following results. Our method achieves 82.39%, 75.53%, and 83.98% on the Dice index and 89.35%, 84.93%, and 91.33% on the IOU. Compared with the latest skin disease segmentation network, FAC-Net, our method improves the Dice index by 1.99%, 1.68%, and 1.6%, respectively. In addition, the IOU indicators have increased by 0.45%, 2.36%, and 1.13%, respectively. The experimental results show that our designed HMT-Net achieves state-of-the-art performance superior to other segmentation methods.
Building the Bridge to a Participatory Citizenship: Curricular Integration of Communal Environmental Issues in School Projects Supported by the Internet of Things
Authors: Santos Manuel J. S. , Carlos Vânia , Moreira António A.
Published: March 2023

Generally, there is much to praise about the rise in acknowledging the need for young citizens to exercise their rights and duties, but the belief remains that this is not yet entrenched in young citizens’ overall democratic involvement. A lack of citizenship and engagement in community issues was revealed by a recent study conducted by the authors in a secondary school from the outskirts of Aveiro, Portugal, during the 2019/2020 school year. Under the umbrella of a Design-Based Research methodological framework, citizen science strategies were implemented in the context of teaching, learning, and assessment, and at the service of the educational project of the target school, in a STEAM approach, and under Domains of Curricular Autonomy activities. The study’s findings suggest that to build the bridge for participatory citizenship, teachers should engage students in collecting and analyzing data regarding communal environmental issues in a Citizen Science approach supported by the Internet of Things. The new pedagogies addressing the lack of citizenship and engagement in community issues promoted students’ involvement at school and in the community, contributed to inform municipal education policies, and promoted dialogue and communication between local actors.
Smart Solutions for Municipal Flood Management: Overview of Literature, Trends, and Applications in German Cities
Authors: Josipovic Neven , Viergutz Kathrin
Published: March 2023

The paper outlines the challenges municipalities face when it comes to dealing with flood disasters and identifies general concepts for smart solutions that address the challenges and help cities to improve their flood resilience. It follows a unique and novel transdisciplinary approach in that it condenses the scientific literature to the most salient concepts in the fields of big data, digital twins, and remote sensing and support. As for big data applications, their main improvement to conventional flood management stems from the integration of different data streams to improve situational awareness. Digital twins not only help to improve the speed and quality of management decisions by visualizing complex data in a simple and accessible way during a disaster; they can also simulate the evolution of a disaster while taking into account the unique characteristics and conditions of a city, thereby acting as a critical element of an early warning system. Remote sensing and support with UAV solve the problem of physical and informational access to a disaster zone. In conclusion, the paper shows that smart solutions can be of great benefit for flood management, and that cities should strive to enhance existing infrastructure and processes with digital technologies.
Family–Teacher Relationships and Child Engagement in Early Care and Education
Authors: Lewis Hillary R. , Lipscomb Shannon T. , Hatfield Bridget E. , Weber Roberta , Green Beth , Patterson Lindsey
Published: March 2023

Young children’s positive interactions with teachers and peers in early care and education (ECE) settings support the development of their social and academic skills. Identifying malleable factors that contribute to children’s positive engagement in these interactions is important in supporting early development. The current study examines one potential malleable factor that could be bolstered through supports for families and teachers alike: family–teacher relationships. We investigate associations between three specific domains of family–teacher relationships and children’s engagement in ECE, so that findings are specific and relevant to intervention. We examine data from Oregon’s Quality Rating Improvement System Validation Study; a diverse sample of 492 preschool-aged children in center-based ECE participated. Children’s engagement was directly observed; parents reported their perception of family–teacher relationships. Multilevel models examined the associations between family–teacher relationships and children’s positive engagement with teachers and peers in ECE classrooms. Results indicate a positive significant relationship between practices and children’s positive engagement with teachers. Although this association was not causal, it suggests that teachers who collaborate and communicate with families, respond to family feedback and cultural values, and demonstrate a family-focused concern may help children engage more positively with teachers. Findings are discussed, limitations addressed, and future directions provided.
Governing Asylum without ‘‘Being There”: Ghost Bureaucracy, Outsourcing, and the Unreachability of the State
Authors: Borelli Caterina , Poy Arnau , Rué Alèxia
Published: March 2023

When, where, and how do asylum seekers encounter the state? Anyone seeking asylum in the Global North might meet state authorities of the country where they want to apply for international protection long before arriving at its borders. However, if the state often becomes “very present” by transcending its geopolitical margins in border control, once asylum seekers have managed to cross into national territory, the state frequently vanishes. Insufficient information, opaque proceedings, difficulties in reaching state agencies, which dramatically increased with the COVID pandemic, often translate into a denial of asylum seekers' rights and their exclusion from welfare programs. Moreover, following a widespread tendency to outsource public services, access to asylum and related welfare programmes are being increasingly mediated by a range of nonstate actors (such as NGOs, activist groups, companies, and individuals) acting as state agents. Drawing on the analysis of ethnographic results from Spain and Italy, this article proposes the concept of “ghost bureaucracy” to theorise the street-level bureaucrats from their absence and explore asylum seekers’ encounters with a seemingly powerful and omnipresent but unreachable state through closed offices, digital bureaucracy and third-party actors.
Clinical Supervision across Australia, Türkiye, Syria, and Bangladesh: From WEIRD to WONDERFUL
Authors: Lekkeh Salah Addin , Faruk Md. Omar , Jahan Sabiha , Beetar Ammar , Kurt Gülşah , Wells Ruth , Wong Scarlett
Published: March 2023

Background: Clinical supervision in providing mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSSs) is an ethical imperative and a key to ensuring quality of care in terms of service users’ skills enhancement, well-being, and satisfaction. However, humanitarian contexts in low-resource countries usually lack sufficient infrastructures to ensure staff have access to supervision. Against this backdrop, a pilot supervision program was introduced in Bangladesh and Syria to help MHPSS staff provide quality care. However, supervision provided by experts unfamiliar with these contexts decontextualizes the supervision process and hinders cultural relevance. The aim of this paper is to present a decolonial model of supervision called “WONDERFUL Supervision”. Methods: We provided fortnightly online supervision to a total of 32 MHPSS practitioners (seven in Bangladesh and twenty-five in Syria) working in humanitarian contexts in Bangladesh and Syria as well as their surrounding countries (such as Türkiye) between 2019 and 2021.The issues talked about were the skills needed for the practitioners to provide optimal levels of service, manage staff burnout, and present cases. Focus group discussions and reflective discussions included 19 participants, involving both practitioners and supervisors across sites. Results: Despite some notable effects, the supervision was obstructed due to being decontextualized, such as the supervisors not having adequate knowledge about the contexts and culture of beneficiaries, a perceived feeling of power imbalance, practitioners having limited access to resources (e.g., internet connection and technical support), and different time zones. This defect paves the way for a new mode of supervision, WONDERFUL, which takes into account contextual factors and other sociocultural aspects. Conclusions: WONDERFUL supervision has the potential to indigenize the concept of clinical supervision and thereby more sustainably and effectively ensure quality mental health care in resource-limited countries, especially in humanitarian contexts.
Willingness-to-Pay of Converting a Centralized Power Generation to a Distributed Power Generation: Estimating the Avoidance Benefits from Electric Power Transmission
Authors: Yoon Sungwook
Published: March 2023

Centralized power generation has been widely used for power generation due to its high efficiency, but its transmission and distribution facilities have caused a lot of economic and social costs. The distributed power generation, which produces electricity distributed around consumers without large transmission facilities, has emerged as an alternative. This study aims to derive the social costs and damage avoidance benefits of converting centralized into distributed power generation through willingness-to-pay (WTP) and find determinants that affect them. The economic and social damage caused by centralized power generation facilities is categorized into four types of damage, and the WTP for each type of damage is elicited using various types of quantitative, machine-learning models. Results show that people perceive health damage relief as the greatest benefit of the avoidance of centralized power generation facilities, and it accounted for 29~51% of the total WTP.
Effect of Modified Illite on Cd Immobilization and Fertility Enhancement of Acidic Soils
Authors: Huang Haoyong , Shi Lin , Chen Rui , Yuan Jie
Published: March 2023

Cadmium pollution in the soil induces significant hazards to agricultural growth and public health. Therefore, new routes are needed to develop low-cost soil amendments that can effectively stabilize cadmium and improve soil fertility. This study introduces modified illite (MIT) with the enhanced ability to stabilize heavy metal Cd through the mixing of illite with calcium carbonate, silicate and sulfate in specific proportions by using the well-known calcination-hydrothermal process. The characterization findings revealed that the modified MIT is predominantly composed of gehlenite and akermanite, with greatly improved specific surface area, pore structure and cation exchange capacity. The main purpose of the present study is to unravel a plausible mechanism on how MIT can stabilize Cd(II) in the soil and to investigate the effect of MIT on the fertility of the contaminated soil. Experiments on soil remediation revealed that MIT has a more profound stabilizing impact on Cd(II) compared to natural illite, resulting in a 22.84% reduction in acid-soluble Cd of the soil when MIT was dosed at 0.5%. The potential mechanism of Cd(II) immobilization by MIT involves the ionic exchange of Cd2+ with the exchangeable Ca2+ and Mg2+. In addition, the hydrolysis products of gehlenite and akermanite are prone to form silicate precipitates with free Cd, leading to soil pH increment. The pot experiments showed that MIT significantly reduces the cadmium content of soil and improves the growth of water spinach organs. Meanwhile, enhancement of the indicators in rhizosphere soil further proved that MIT effectively increases the nutrient content, improves the soil structure and promotes microorganism growth.
Experimental Study on Uniaxial Compression Mechanics and Failure Characteristics of Non-Through Fractured Rock
Authors: Yu Weijian , Guo Hanxiao , Li Ke , Pan Bao
Published: March 2023

The stability of damaged rock mass is a critical problem in the control of surrounding rock in underground engineering. As the main macroscopic defect of rock surrounding engineering, it is of great significance to study its propagation mechanism and the experimental characteristics of rock mechanics. Surface-fractured rock mass is a typical representative of three-dimensional fracture. To reveal the failure mechanism of surface-fractured rock mass, a three-dimensional mechanical failure model of a surface-fractured rock specimen was established, including the initiation, crack propagation, and cooperative deformation of the rock micro-element. Taking the depth of the surface horizontal fissure as a variable, standard rock specimens with surface horizontal fissures of different depths were prepared, and an experimental study of surface-fractured rock specimens was carried out. The RMT rock mechanics test system was used to perform uniaxial compression tests on standard specimens containing fractured rock specimens of different depths. The complete stress–strain curves of samples with different fracture depths were obtained, and the influence of different fracture depths on rock strength and deformation characteristics was analyzed. The crack initiation, propagation, and failure modes of the specimens under uniaxial compression were analyzed based on high-speed camera technology. Through the combination of 3D image processing and acoustic emission monitoring, differences between failure before and after the peak in both asymmetrically damaged rock specimens and symmetrically damaged rock specimens were found. The mechanism of weak strength and weak stability of asymmetrically damaged rock specimens after the peak was explained theoretically. The research results showed that the existence of the horizontal joint plane directly led to a significant reduction in the strength of the jointed rock sample, and the fracture depth played an important role in controlling the failure mode of the jointed rock specimens. The uniaxial compression of rock specimens with horizontal non-penetrating surface fissures produced three-dimensional failure modes, and the depth of surface fissures changed the failure mode of the specimens under uniaxial compression. As the crack depth increased, the failure mode of the specimen changed from tensile failure to shear failure. The surface crack sample showed regional asymmetric failure and poor structural stability.
Real-Time Location System (RTLS) Based on the Bluetooth Technology for Internal Logistics
Authors: Lorenc Augustyn , Szarata Jakub , Czuba Michał
Published: March 2023

The problem of object localization in indoor environments is very important in order to make a company effective and to detect disruption in the logistics system in real-time. Present research investigates how the IoT (Internet of Things) location system based on Bluetooth can be implemented for this solution. The location based on the Bluetooth is hard to predict. Radio wave interference in this frequency is affected by other devices, steel, vessels containing water, and more. However, proper data processing and signal stabilization can increase the accuracy of the location. To be sure that the location system based on the BT (Bluetooth) can be implemented for real cases, an analysis of signal strength amplitude and disruption was made. The paper presents R&D (Research and Development) works with a practical test in real cases. The signal strength fluctuation for the receiver is between 7 and 10 dBm for ESP32 device and between 13 and 14 dBm for Raspberry. For commercial implementation the number of devices scanned in the time window is also important. For Raspberry, the optimal time window is 5 s; in this time six transmitters can be detected. ESP32 has a problem with detecting devices in a short time, as just two transmitters can be detected in 4–8 s time window. Localisation precision depends on the distance between transmitter and receiver, and the angle from the axis of the directional antenna. For the distance of 10 m the measurement error is 1.2–6.1 m, whilst for the distance of 40 m the measurement error is 4.9 to 24.6 m. Using a Kalman filter can reduce the localization error to 1.5 m.
Potential of the Crypto Economy in Financial Management and Fundraising for Tourism
Authors: Prados-Castillo Juan F. , Solano-Sánchez Miguel Ángel , Guaita Fernández Pilar , Guaita Martínez José Manuel
Published: March 2023

This study aims to examine the potential of blockchain technology in the financing and financial management of entrepreneurial tourism projects. It highlights two objectives: how the technology can be used as an alternative financing tool and how it can improve efficiency and transparency in the financial management of tourism companies. This study shows that initial coin offerings are an effective way to finance innovative tourism projects and that blockchain technology can improve the competitiveness and efficiency of tourism companies. Due to the lack of empirical data on the actual implementation and impact of blockchain technology in the tourism industry, it is suggested that further research is needed to examine the practical application of blockchain technology in the tourism industry, its potential impact on tourism businesses and its implications for the regulatory framework. The proposed methodology includes a systematic literature review on the application of blockchain technology for the financing of tourism projects and the financial improvement of tourism business models. The results indicate that blockchain technology has the potential to transform the financing and financial management of the tourism industry and improve its efficiency and transparency. Furthermore, combining blockchain with other technologies can provide additional benefits in supply chain management and event automation.
The Role of E-Bike in Discovering Geodiversity and Geoheritage
Authors: Senese Antonella , Pelfini Manuela , Maragno Davide , Bollati Irene Maria , Fugazza Davide , Vaghi Luca , Federici Maurizio , Grimaldi Luca , Belotti Piera , Lauri Paola , Ferliga Carla , La Rocca Leonardo , Diolaiuti Guglielmina Adele
Published: March 2023

This study analyzed the challenges and benefits of the identification and promotion of a long-distance cycleway in high mountain areas with the aim of promoting Alpine eco- and geo-tourism. We also investigated the role of e-biking in discovering local geodiversity and geoheritage in a sustainable way. In particular, we focused on the path from Bormio to the Forni Glacier (Upper Valtellina, Italy), analyzed within the framework of the “E-bike” Interreg project. We performed a detailed analysis to select the points of environmental–geological interest (POIs), with a focus on geoheritage sites to increase the knowledge of the natural heritage of the area. Since these sites are widespread in the study area, within the frame of the “E-bike” project, we selected only the most exemplary ones, covering a wide spectrum of attractions, from a moving geosite (i.e., landslide) to a paradigmatic example of the effects of climate change (glacier). The “E-bike” path represents in its entirety a great opportunity to visit mountain and high-mountain landscapes, even for inexperienced mountain bikers, and to enjoy places rich in naturalistic and cultural values. Our interdisciplinary approach allows visitors to identify the sites of interest and export the structure of the project in different environmental and human contexts.
Collaboration Adrift: Factors for Anchoring into Governance Systems, Distilled from a Study of Three Regulated Rivers
Authors: Hedelin Beatrice , Alkan-Olsson Johanna , Greenberg Larry
Published: March 2023

Collaboration has the potential to aid the balancing of values and goals that belong to different, sometimes competing, policy fields, such as energy, climate adaptation and nature conservation—a key component of sustainable governance. However, we need to know more of how collaboration can function as integrating (and integrated) components of governance systems. Three regulated Swedish rivers are used here as examples to explore factors that influence this function. The following factors are identified: transparency of value trade-offs, understanding of collaboration and governance, interplay between public sectors, integrating funding mechanisms, clarity of mandate, strategic use of networks and consistency of the governance system. As a consequence of the poor management of these factors in our case, water quality and ecology values are not integrated in strategic decision making, e.g., regarding hydropower, urban development or climate adaptation. Instead, they are considered add-ons, or “decorations”. The Swedish case illustrates the meaning of the factors and their great importance for achieving sustainable governance.
Impact of Heat Pump and Cogeneration Integration on Power Distribution Grids Based on Transition Scenarios for Heating in Urban Areas
Authors: Fesefeldt Marten , Capezzali Massimiliano , Bozorg Mokhtar , Karjalainen Riina
Published: March 2023

Electrification of final use sectors such as heating and mobility is often proposed as an effective pathway towards decarbonization of urban areas. In this context, power-driven heat pumps (HP) are usually strongly fostered as alternatives to fossil-burning boilers in municipal planning processes. In continental climates, this leads to substantially increased electricity demand in winter months that, in turn may lead to stress situations on local power distribution grids. Hence, in parallel to the massive implementation of electric HP, strategies must be put in place to ensure the grid stability and operational security, notably in terms of voltage levels, as well as transformer and line’s capacity limits. In this paper, three such strategies are highlighted within the specific situation of a mid-sized Swiss city, potentially representative of many continental, central Europe urban zones as a test-case. The hourly-based power flow simulations of the medium- and low-voltage distribution grids show the impact of various future scenarios, inspired from typical territorial energy planning processes, implying various degrees of heat pumps penetration. The first strategy relies on the implementation of decentralized combined heat and power (CHP) units, fed by the existing natural gas network and is shown to provide an effective pathway to accommodate heat pump electricity demand on urban power distribution grids. Two alternative solutions based on grid reinforcements and controlled usage of reactive power from photovoltaic (PV) inverters are additionally considered to ensure security constraints of grid operation and compared with the scenario relying on CHP deployment.
Quantifying the Impact of Cascade Reservoirs on Streamflow, Drought, and Flood in the Jinsha River Basin
Authors: Zhang Keyao , Yuan Xu , Lu Ying , Guo Zipu , Wang Jiahong , Luo Hanmin
Published: March 2023

The Jinsha River Basin (JRB) is the largest hydropower base in China, serving as the main source of the Western Route of China’s South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Under the influence of the reservoirs operation and climate change, the general hydrological regime in the JRB has been altered. Although the change process can be determined through a runoff time-series analysis and hydrological simulation, the individual impacts of the reservoirs have not been quantified. This study aimed to clarify the impact of the reservoirs in the JRB on the runoff, flood, and drought processes using a framework coupling long short-term memory (LSTM) and flood drought assessment techniques. The results are as follows: (1) From 1998 to 2020, reservoirs in the JRB changed the average daily runoff at Pingshan Station by −5.64%, +10.95%, and −10.93% at the annual and seasonal (dry and rainy) scales, respectively. (2) The operation of dams reduces the risk of flood disasters effectively. Compared with the natural river flow, the flood frequency decreased by 7.69%, and the total flow over the threshold was reduced by 37.86%. (3) The operation of dams has changed the duration and severity of drought, reducing extreme drought and increasing moderate and severe drought. In conclusion, the reservoirs in the JRB have positive effects on water resource regulation, and their mitigation of floods and extreme drought provides security for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This study provides a reference for the LSTM modeling of reservoir basins, quantifying the impact of reservoirs on runoff, flood, and drought in the JRB.
Maritime Bilateral Connectivity Analysis for Sustainable Maritime Growth: Case of Morocco
Authors: Bouazza Samia , Benmamoun Zoubida , Hachimi Hanaa
Published: March 2023

On the African continent, Morocco is considered among the most connected countries, according to the liner shipping connectivity index. Since optimal shipping connectivity can reduce CO2 emissions and trade costs, through this paper we aimed to deepen the understanding of maritime connectivity based on the bilateral maritime connectivity index of Morocco and 138 of its economic partners. We first established an overview of the evolution of the bilateral maritime connectivity in Morocco and highlighted its main regional maritime partners, then defined through a statistical analysis the factors influencing the development of the bilateral maritime links of the country in order to strengthen sustainable maritime connectivity. The results of the descriptive analysis show that Morocco has developed strong maritime connections with Europe and the East of Asia and has an improved connectivity with East African countries (2006–2020). The statistical analysis of the selected factors using regression analysis combined with a gravity model shows that there has been a strong and positive impact of economic growth, logistics, linear connectivity and the maritime component, and bilateral connectivity. Moreover, economic trade and barriers have had no significant effects on bilateral connectivity.
Energy Charter Treaty: Towards a New Interpretation in the Light of Paris Agreement and Human Rights
Authors: Ekardt Felix , Roos Paula , Bärenwaldt Marie , Nesselhauf Lea
Published: March 2023

In addition to climate change, the current war in Ukraine has highlighted the urgency of a rapid transformation to post-fossility. This paper analyses the much-lamented negative climate policy and energy transition impacts of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in international law, a treaty that serves as a basis for the compensation claims of fossil fuel companies in response to losses incurred because of climate policy measures. Methodologically, a legal interpretation is conducted, i.e., the ECT is interpreted grammatically and systematically. It is shown that, with a revised legal interpretation of the ECT, such claims usually cannot be upheld at all, except in the case of direct expropriations. This is further underlined by a legal interpretation of the ECT based on the Paris Agreement and on international human rights law. The arbitral ECT tribunals would therefore have to dismiss claims and if they do not do so then, for example, EU member states could take action against such verdicts of the arbitral tribunals before the ECJ. Even if all of this was to be disputed, there are also considerable possibilities for the contracting states to subsequently exclude claims for compensation. Nevertheless, there are a lot of arguments in favour of a comprehensive reform of the treaty. However, to do so as currently planned, with transitional periods, is not sufficient.
A Decision-Making Method for Bridge Network Maintenance Based on Disease Transmission and NSGA-II
Authors: Shen Zhenlong , Liu Yongjian , Liu Jiang , Liu Zeyu , Han Shi , Lan Shiyong
Published: March 2023

Due to the unreasonable allocation method, the bridge maintenance funds in Shaanxi Province can not provide maximum value. In this study, we used different functions to fit the actual technical condition data of bridges in Shaanxi in recent years, and through comparison, the exponential model with the best fitting effect was selected as the deterioration model for the bridge and its parts. Based on this, the deterioration characteristics of the bridge and its parts were further analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, the deterioration coefficients (A) applicable to the bridge and its parts in Shaanxi Province, considering the ages and service environments of the bridges, are summarized. The concept of disease transmission is proposed based on the different deterioration characteristics of the bridge parts. The deck pavement, expansion joints, and bearings were identified as the key components of disease transmission, and the disease transmission paths were built with them as the center. Considering the technical benefits, economic benefits, and diseases of the key components of bridge maintenance, the second-generation nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was used to calculate the maintenance fund allocation scheme in the bridge network maintenance decision under different budget–demand ratios. The findings show that there are significant differences in the deterioration rates of the deck systems, superstructures, and substructures, as well as of the overall bridges, in Northern Shaanxi, Central Shaanxi (Guanzhong region), and Southern Shaanxi. Diseases of the bridge deck pavement, expansion joints, and bearings can lead to diseases of other elements. Compared with the traditional method of allocating maintenance funds based on the principle of prioritizing bridges with the worst technical conditions, the economic condition growth rates of the results of this study were 94.2%, 106.2%, 92.9%, and 62.8% for budget–demand ratios of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of the maintenance funds, respectively. The proposed method for allocating bridge maintenance funds provides a reference for the subsequent development of bridge maintenance decision specifications.
Standardization of Power-from-Shore Grid Connections for Offshore Oil & Gas Production
Authors: Antunes Tiago , Castro Rui , Santos Paulo , Pires Armando
Published: March 2023

Offshore oil and gas (O&G) production is typically powered by local diesel engines or gas turbines. Power-from-shore (PFS) is an alternative that takes advantage of onshore renewable production and reduces greenhouse emissions but is limited to bespoke projects that are tailored to the characteristics of each site. This lack of repetition leads to an increase in the construction risk, delivery time, and lifecycle costs, therefore limiting their large-scale deployment. Furthermore, the absence of standardized designs is also notorious in mature applications such as offshore wind farms (OWF) despite their long-standing track record, with the negative consequences extensively covered in the literature. This research paper addresses offshore transmission standardization in two parts. First, by providing the scientific community with a review of the existing offshore O&G production and substations and secondly, by outlining a lean optioneering algorithm for the cost-optimized and technically feasible selection of the key design criteria. The exercise is centred on the main limiting component of the transmission systems—the cables. As such, it addresses their operational range and the cost to calculate the most effective configuration in terms of voltage and rated power. The end goal, based on the spread of connection proposals, is to cluster the candidates to a limited set of grid connection options, the achievement of which the model has been shown to be adequate.
Use of Waste Building Materials in Architecture and Urban Planning—A Review of Selected Examples
Authors: Rybak-Niedziółka Kinga , Starzyk Agnieszka , Łacek Przemysław , Mazur Łukasz , Myszka Izabela , Stefańska Anna , Kurcjusz Małgorzata , Nowysz Aleksandra , Langie Karol
Published: March 2023

Modern environmental protection standards have a direct impact on the construction and shaping of public space. Designers are increasingly reaching for materials produced via recycling technologies. Waste materials are more readily adopted and used in urban planning and architecture. Current projects in this area are being increasingly designed to meet the requirements of the circular economy, which is facilitated by the reuse of once-used components. The aim of the study is to review research papers in the Scopus database (bibliometric analysis) and other selected materials applied in construction, which are recycled and used again in various ways in the construction of subsequent buildings. The results show various application possibilities of recycled materials in construction. The study draws attention to the fact that the use of recycled materials in modern construction is becoming more and more effective, which may contribute to increasing the share of the circular economy in the implementation process related to this subject.
Assessing the Built Environment’s Reflectivity, Flexibility, Resourcefulness, and Rapidity Resilience Qualities against Climate Change Impacts from the Perspective of Different Stakeholders
Authors: Al-Humaiqani Mohammed M. , Al-Ghamdi Sami G.
Published: March 2023

The frequency and severity of climate change are projected to increase, leading to more disasters, increased built environment system (BES) vulnerability, and decreased coping capacity. Achieving resilience objectives in the built environment is challenging and requires the collaboration of all relevant sectors and professionals. In this study, various stakeholders were engaged, including governmental authorities, regulatory bodies, engineering firms, professionals, contractors, and non-governmental and non-profit organizations (NGOs and NPOs, respectively). The engagement was carried out through the answering of a questionnaire survey that reflects their perceptions about climate change adaptation, the built environment resilience qualities (RQs), and the degree of resilience of the existing built environment and their perceived capacities. The results were analyzed using several statistical tests. The results revealed that advancing public understanding and management tools, reducing economic losses, and developing necessary plans still require improvement. Additionally, the BESs were ranked concerning accepting the change and uncertainty inherited from the past or generated over time. This study emphasized the perception that the decision-making domain is crucial for delivering a reflective built environment. Additionally, features such as advancing public understanding and management tools, reducing economic losses, and developing necessary plans still require improvement. Furthermore, there is a belief in the importance of the task forces within the community as part of an emergency response plan, and a less reflective system would have less recovery speed. Therefore, the rapidity characteristic of a built environmental system to accept the change and uncertainty inherited from the past or generated over time is correlated to the system’s reflectivity quality. This study emphasizes the significant correlation between the different RQ traits. It also encourages researchers to formulate more objective methods to reach a set form for measuring RQs as an engineering standard.
The Effect of Financial Digital Transformation on Financial Performance: The Intermediary Effect of Information Symmetry and Operating Costs
Authors: Liu Jiajia , Zhou Kexin , Zhang Ye , Tang Fangcheng
Published: March 2023

The ability of A-share listed companies to adhere to the digital economy and achieve long-term corporate benefits amidst an uncertain external environment through financial digital transformation remains a crucial concern for entrepreneurs and scholars. The objective of this study was to scrutinize the effect of financial digital transformation on financial performance among 2566 of China’s A-share listed companies in the hopes of providing informative recommendations for businesses that are currently undertaking or planning to undertake financial digital transformation. To investigate the mechanism by which financial performance among A-share listed companies was influenced by digital transformation, a panel data regression model was utilized. The findings suggest that, first and foremost, financial digital transformation significantly boosts corporate financial performance for A-share listed companies, and this enhancement is sustainable over time. For every 1% growth in financial digital transformation, corporate financial performance improves by 1.1%. Corporate financial performance is projected to improve by 29.8% during the next three financial years. Secondly, information symmetry and operational expenses function as intermediaries in the financial digital transformation process that affects firm financial performance. For every 1% increase in financial digital transformation, the information symmetry level of firms grows by 15.1%, while the operational cost rate declines by 0.8%. Thirdly, information disclosure and operating costs play a chained intermediary role. Every 1% increase in the level of information symmetry reduces the operating cost rate by 2.3%. Fourthly, in comparison to enterprises in eastern provinces, businesses located in central and western provinces are better positioned to improve their financial performance by undertaking a financial digital transformation.
Constant Time Calculation of the Metric Dimension of the Join of Path Graphs
Authors: Zhang Chuanjun , Haidar Ghulam , Khan Murad Ul Islam , Yousafzai Faisal , Hila Kostaq , Khan Asad Ul Islam
Published: March 2023

The distance between two vertices of a simple connected graph G, denoted as d(u,v), is the length of the shortest path from u to v and is always symmetrical. An ordered subset W=w1,w2,w3,⋯,wk of V(G) is a resolving set for G, if for ∀u,v∈V(G), there exists wi∈W ∋ d(u,wi)≠d(v,wi). A resolving set with minimal cardinality is called the metric basis. The metric dimension of G is the cardinality of metric basis of G and is denoted as dim(G). For the graph G1=(V1,E1,) and G2=(V2,E2), their join is denoted by G1+G2. The vertex set of G1+G2 is V1∪V2 and the edge set is E=E1∪E2∪uv,u∈V1,v∈V2. In this article, we show that the metric dimension of the join of two path graphs is unbounded because of its dependence on the size of the paths. We also provide a general formula to determine this metric dimension. We also develop algorithms to obtain metric dimensions and a metric basis for the join of path graphs, with respect to its symmetries.
On the Krýlov–Bogoliúbov-Mitropólsky and Multiple Scales Methods for Analyzing a Time Delay Duffing–Helmholtz Oscillator
Authors: Alhejaili Weaam , Salas Alvaro H. , El-Tantawy Samir A.
Published: March 2023

This study is divided into two important axes; for the first one, a new symmetric analytical (approximate) solution to the Duffing–Helmholtz oscillatory equation in terms of elementary functions is derived. The obtained solution is compared with the numerical solution using 4th Range–Kutta (RK4) approach and with the exact analytical solution that is obtained using elliptic functions. As for the second axis, we consider the time-delayed version for the same oscillator taking the impact of both forcing and damping terms into consideration. Some analytical approximations for the time delayed Duffing–Helmholtz oscillator are derived using two different perturbation techniques, known as Krylov–Bogoliubov–Mitropolsky method (KBMM) and the multiple scales method (MSM). Moreover, these perturbed approximations are analyzed numerically and compared with the RK4 approximations.
Analysis of Urban Electric Vehicle Adoption Based on Operating Costs in Urban Transportation Network
Authors: Ma Jie , Zhu Yu , Chen Dawei , Zhang Chenhao , Song Maocan , Zhang Honggang , Chen Jingxu , Zhang Kai
Published: March 2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the most promising applications that are reshaping the future urban mobility market and benefitting the urban environment. Analyzing the adoption of EVs helps both vehicle sales market management and urban transportation-related environmental cost estimation. Previous studies have shown that EV adoption is mostly affected by the economic environment and users’ psychological factors; however, both factors vary among specific urban transportation networks. This paper thus proposes network-related vehicle operating cost functions and a logit-based choice model, which considers both the economic environment and users’ psychological factors at a network level. The model can thus estimate the vehicle adoption for specific networks. Numerical experiments and sensitivity analyses were conducted to illustrate the proposed method and provide practical insights in estimating EV adoption, respectively. The results suggest that EV adoption greatly varies among different cities.
Efficient Inhibition of Aspergillus flavus to Reduce Aflatoxin Contamination on Peanuts over Ag-Loaded Titanium Dioxide
Authors: Yang Dandan , Wei Hailian , Yang Xianglong , Cheng Ling , Zhang Qi , Li Peiwu , Mao Jin
Published: March 2023

Peanuts are susceptible to aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus. Exploring green, efficient, and economical ways to inhibit Aspergillus flavus is conducive to controlling aflatoxin contamination from the source. In this study, Ag-loaded titanium dioxide composites showed more than 90% inhibition rate against Aspergillus flavus under visible light irradiation for 15 min. More importantly, this method could also reduce the contaminated level of Aspergillus flavus to prevent aflatoxins production in peanuts, and the concentrations of aflatoxin B1, B2, and G2 were decreased by 96.02 ± 0.19%, 92.50 ± 0.45%, and 89.81 ± 0.52%, respectively. It was found that there are no obvious effects on peanut quality by evaluating the changes in acid value, peroxide value, and the content of fat, protein, polyphenols, and resveratrol after inhibition treatment. The inhibition mechanism was that these reactive species (•O2−, •OH−, h+, and e−) generated from photoreaction destroyed cell structures, then led to the reduced viability of Aspergillus flavus spores. This study provides useful information for constructing a green and efficient inhibition method for Aspergillus flavus on peanuts to control aflatoxin contamination, which is potentially applied in the field of food and agri-food preservation.
Acontia, a Specialised Defensive Structure, Has Low Venom Complexity in Calliactis polypus
Authors: Smith Hayden L. , Prentis Peter J. , Bryan Scott E. , Norton Raymond S. , Broszczak Daniel A.
Published: March 2023

Phylum Cnidaria represents a unique group among venomous taxa, with its delivery system organised as individual organelles, known as nematocysts, heterogeneously distributed across morphological structures rather than packaged as a specialised organ. Acontia are packed with large nematocysts that are expelled from sea anemones during aggressive encounters with predatory species and are found in a limited number of species in the superfamily Metridioidea. Little is known about this specialised structure other than the commonly accepted hypothesis of its role in defence and a rudimentary understanding of its toxin content and activity. This study utilised previously published transcriptomic data and new proteomic analyses to expand this knowledge by identifying the venom profile of acontia in Calliactis polypus. Using mass spectrometry, we found limited toxin diversity in the proteome of acontia, with an abundance of a sodium channel toxin type I, and a novel toxin with two ShK-like domains. Additionally, genomic evidence suggests that the proposed novel toxin is ubiquitous across sea anemone lineages. Overall, the venom profile of acontia in Calliactis polypus and the novel toxin identified here provide the basis for future research to define the function of acontial toxins in sea anemones.
Use of a Preclinical Natural Transmission Model to Study Antiviral Effects of a Carbohydrate-Binding Module Therapy against SARS-CoV-2 in Hamsters
Authors: Knott Daniel , Fell Rachel , Potter Jane A. , Yuille Samantha , Salguero Franscisco J. , Graham Victoria A. , Hewson Roger , Howat David , Dowall Stuart D.
Published: March 2023

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its expansion to a worldwide pandemic resulted in efforts to assess and develop interventions to reduce the disease burden. Despite the introduction of vaccine programmes against SARS-CoV-2, global incidence levels in early 2022 remained high, demonstrating a need for the development of physiologically relevant models, which are essential for the identification of alternative antiviral strategies. The hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been widely adopted due to similarities with humans in terms of host cell entry mechanism (via ACE2), and aspects of symptomology and virus shedding. We have previously described a natural transmission hamster model that better represents the natural course of infection. In the present study, we have conducted further testing of the model using the first-in-class antiviral Neumifil, which has previously shown promise against SARS-CoV-2 after a direct intranasal challenge. Neumifil is an intranasally delivered carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) which reduces the binding of viruses to their cellular receptor. By targeting the host cell, Neumifil has the potential to provide broad protection against multiple pathogens and variants. This study demonstrates that using a combination of a prophylactic and therapeutic delivery of Neumifil significantly reduces the severity of clinical signs in animals infected via a natural route of transmission and indicates a reduction of viral loads in the upper respiratory tract. Further refinements of the model are required in order to ensure the adequate transmission of the virus. However, our results provide additional data to the evidence base of Neumifil efficacy against respiratory virus infection and demonstrate that the transmission model is a potentially valuable tool for testing antiviral compounds against SARS-CoV-2.