bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aviation activities in global perspective
Authors: Lukasiewicz J. , Studnicki-Gizbert K. W.
Published: March 2023

As the eighth decade of heavier-than-air flight comes to a close, it has become increasingly evident that the nature of progress in civil aviation is undergoing a significant change. The transition from an explosive growth to what has been referred to as maturity has been both swift and unexpected, and coincidentally enhanced by factors external to aeronautics. While the anticipation of timing of such a change usually calls for a predictive ability which borders on clairvoyance, the inevitabilty of occurrence of transition in the development of any technology should be clearly recognised. It should be thus neither surprising that the forecasts of the 1960s have badly missed the mark, nor that the period of transition has set in.

As civil aviation moves into a new phase of development, it is of interest to evaluate the status it has attained globally as a mature industry and service, and to consider the factors which could significantly influence its future. We shall preface the global assessment with a brief review of the major causes of spectacular growth of aviation since 1945—an exercise necessary to appreciate the basis of maturity and the constraints now evident.
Aircraft noise and other types of pollution
Authors: Hurtubise F. G. , McKay D. H. , Macenko F.
Published: March 2023

Increasing mechanisation and population densities in our society, coupled with higher standards of living and education, have in recent years resulted in a growing concern about pollution and its effects on the environment. The era of sporadic individual complaints to government is being rapidly superseded by one where strategic concerted action by irate citizens’ interest groups is becoming commonplace. As a result, governments are becoming increasingly involved with the problem of environmental pollution; in Canada, for example, the Environmental Protection Service of the Department of Fisheries and the Environment for fiscal year 1976–77 had a staff of approximately 800 and a total budget of $22 million.
A contribution to European engineering standardisation for the aerospace industry
Authors: White S. A.
Published: March 2023

Standardisation of hardware and procedures is not new to industry in general or the aerospace industry in particular. Sir Joseph Whitworth was a contributor with his thread form, as far back as 1841 and it is still used by industry today. Indeed, one of the major peripheral influences when designing a new product, or engineering it for manufacture, is the need for a logical application of a standardisation policy. This ranges from procedures, practices, materials, methods, treatments and finishes, to the use of hardware. To a very great extent the commercial success of our products in aerospace is dependent upon a sound basis of engineering standardisation, developed over many years with painstaking care.

Most of us engaged in the engineering aspect of our industry have probably had something to do with formulating a standard practice or method, without necessarily recognising it as such. But it is sometimes astonishing how few appreciate the depth to which those concerned with the preparation of a definitive standard need to research, in order to establish the required level of excellence to meet the designers’ specification or production engineers’ planned method for manufacture.
Runway water depth measurement—a simple accurate method
Authors: Barton I. J.
Published: March 2023

The dangers of using contaminated runways are a continuing concern in the aviation industry. A recent survey has reported on a total of 39 overrun and veer-off cases in the USA between 1962 and 1973 and in 26 of these cases the runway condition was cited as the major cause. The degradation of aircraft landing and take-off performance depends on the depth of water on the runway and thus an instrument is required that will give quick accurate remote estimates of runway water depth without hindering normal operational procedures. A suitable method, using a differential pressure transducer has undergone field tests and the instrument and preliminary results are discussed in this report.
The airline operator's view—British Caledonian Airways
Authors: Pugh Alistair
Published: March 2023

It would be amazing if everybody agreed with all of the contents of the White Paper—with the possible exception of its author!

A first reading of ‘Airports Policy’ brought to my mind a stage show, very popular some years ago, called ‘1066 And All That’. With satiric comment, the show traced key dates in British history from the landing of the Conqueror until what was then the present day. With a proper sense of chauvinism, it placarded 1776 and American independence in the dismissive comment: ‘1776—End of American History’.
The airport user's response
Authors: Hill Norman Ashton
Published: March 2023

These are personal views immediately following upon the publication of the White Paper on Airports Policy and not those of any organisation with which I am associated. They are, however, my views of the national interest.

I would expect there to be considerable disagreement with a White Paper which traverses so many areas where local conflicts abound. No policy could satisfy all on a subject which evokes so great an emotive response from many quarters, and in which even the smallest of pressure groups reacts with frenzied fury against any proposal with which it disagrees.
AIDS: The CAA requirement and its experience
Authors: Ashford R.
Published: March 2023

There is no general legal requirement in the UK for British civil aircraft to be fitted with an Airborne Integrated Data System. Although the Air Navigation Order requires all aircraft over 5700 kg maximum take-off weight with a Transport Category Certificate of Airworthiness to carry some form of crash recorder, this is not necessarily associated with an AIDS. However, in two areas AIDS have virtually been a requirement as part of the certification process. On Concorde the Anglo-French certification authorities produced a totally new set of airworthiness requirements to match the advanced and novel features of the aircraft. The several new and previously untried approaches to airworthiness, and the state-of-the-art of AIDS recording, caused the joint authorities specifically to require the analysis of in-service flight recorder data to validate certain certification assumptions. The Supersonic Transport Aircraft Requirements state ‘… it will be necessary … to gather, as far as possible, flight statistical data both before certification and in subsequent commercial operations. This information will be compared with the assumptions made for the application of the requirement (e.g. assumptions as regards system reliability, statistics of turbulence, etc).’
The importance of the weather in aerial spraying
Authors: Adams R. J.
Published: March 2023

The demand for aerial spraying is determined by agricultural needs and timing. The degree to which an aerially applied compound is effective is governed by many factors, which exercise their influence both at the time the compound is applied and for some time before and after this event. The impact of the weather and its interaction with other factors may be felt at all stages of relevance to an aerial spraying operation—these stages, which are of course also relevant to ground based spraying operations, may be categorised as follows:

(i) The long term pre-spraying environment (measured on a time scale of days or weeks).

(ii) The immediate pre-spraying environment (measured on a time scale of hours).

(iii) Conditions at the time of spraying.

(iv) The immediate post-spraying environment.

(v) The long term post-spraying environment.
The local buckling coefficient for orthotropic structural sections
Authors: Lee D. J.
Published: March 2023

The local buckling of structural sections composed of isotropic plate elements is well documented. It is the purpose of this paper to extend this work to include sections composed of orthotropic plates. It has been shown that the buckling behaviour of single orthotropic plates with certain boundary conditions can be related to that of an equivalent isotropic plate in terms of a single parameter involving the principal plate rigidities. It is proposed to investigate whether this principle may also be applied to the structural buckling problem.

It has been shown that simple approximations to the deflected form of buckled plates can be used to give fast and reasonably accurate results for the plate buckling problem using an energy method. If these simple deflection functions are used in an energy analysis for structural sections then large errors may be introduced.
In-flight refuelling and the world of the eighties
Authors: McCormick J. E.
Published: March 2023

The industrialised nations of the free world are generally committed to the preservation of the right of self-determination for the developing nations, the principle of free trade, and the maintenance of peace. In addition, the source of much of the world's raw materials exists within the national boundaries of the developing nations. As these nations seek independence, both economic and political, it is anticipated that many confrontations will occur, some of which will be military, aided and abetted by the Soviet Union and communist-aligned countries. In enlightened self-interest, it is expected that more and more of the free world industrialised nations will participate in assisting these non-aligned nations in the self-determination process by providing supplies or military equipment in a timely fashion as required. If these are reasonable assumptions, it follows that, during the eighties, there will be a need by many nations for airlift capability for which there is no precedent. Today’s airlift systems are not optimised for these conditions.
Gyros, powerful tools in aerospace technology
Authors: Magnus Kurt
Published: March 2023

It was a great pleasure for me to accept the invitation to give this lecture on European Pioneer’s Day and at the same time a great honour to be able to revive the memory of Max Schuler, an ingenious engineer and scientist, whose work in a most remarkable way influenced the development of aerospace technology. For many decades Schuler (Fig. 1) was actively working in the fascinating field of gyros and their numerous applications, especially on problems of navigation, stabilisation and attitude control. Schuler’s name is closely associated with the gyro—which the British astronomer Sir John Herschel once described as ‘a philosophical instrument’. But it had a long way to go before it became a useful technical device. I will try to cover this development and say some words on what the method of ‘Schuler-tuning’ means and how it was detected.

I am sure you will remember those days and weeks, more than five years ago, when we anxiously waited to hear news of the different Apollo missions to the moon. We were astonished at the scarcely believable precision of these flights and in my opinion technical outsiders were in a much better situation than specialists, for they were under more stress because of their knowledge about the function of the subsystems in the extremely complicated Apollo spaceship.
A design-orientated alternative to finding the initial buckling loads of prismatic plate assemblies
Authors: Williams F. W. , Wright C. J.
Published: March 2023

Many methods and computer programs, e.g. those listed in reference 1, give ‘exact’ initial buckling loads for prismatic structures which consist of thin, rectangular plates which are rigidly connected together along their longitudinal edges. The component plates can be flat or curved, isotropic or anisotropic and can carry any combination of longitudinally invariant in-plane stresses, i.e. longitudinal, transverse and shear stresses. The working which follows can be extended to cover all such plate assemblies, but for simplicity attention is confined to assemblies of uniformly longitudinally compressed, isotropic, flat plates with simply supported ends. The stiffened panel of Fig. 1 is typical of such assemblies, and hence is used to represent them below, because the extrapolation from this particular assembly to the general is obvious.
Separated and unsteady flows in aeronautics: Research at the University of Bristol
Authors: Flower J. W. , Simpson A.
Published: March 2023

The aerodynamics of aeronautics to most people is prob-ably synonymous with the aerodynamics of streamlined shapes. By contrast aerodynamics outside of aeronautics may well conjure up a picture of a non-uniform airstream approaching a building, creating an unsteady, separated flow. That these pictures are misleading would be known to most of those connected with aeronautics—aircraft do develop separated, unsteady flows, and outside of aero-nautics there is interest in aerodynamic efficiency and smooth attached flows. Until comparatively recently, however, the need in aeronautics has been to increase aerodynamic efficiency, and virtually all major research topics seem to have been related to steady, smooth flows; the problems connected with separated and unsteady flows (e.g. wing stall, or buffeting in bomb bays) have, by contrast, usually been tackled on an ad hocbasis, without very much emphasis being given to understanding whythe flow was as it was.
The market for small airliners to the early eighties
Authors: Foreman Philip F.
Published: March 2023

Shorts’ experience in the world of so-called small airliners began with the design, development and manufacture of Sky van (Fig. 1), a 12 500 lb STOL transport aimed particularly at the expanding market provided by the developing nations. To date some 120 have been sold. The disposition of these aircraft around the world is shown at Fig. 2. Two competitive aircraft of roughly the same size and developed at the same time are the Canadian de Havilland Twin Otter and the American Beech 99, the former having captured by far the largest slice of the market.

With this background the Company has naturally retained a keen interest in the business prospects afforded by the third level airline market. Indeed, the prospect of maximising the non-recurring investment already made in Skyvan provided a spur both to continued project design and to market studies in that segment of the airline industry bounded by the Islander at one end and the DC-3 at the other—say 10 to 30 seats capacity.
Supervision and workshop organisation; some Scandinavian, British and Japanese attempts to improve the supervisory function
Authors: Thurley Keith
Published: March 2023

The issue that I have been asked to deal with is the contribution that could be made to improving motivation and productivity in British industry by developing the quality and effectiveness of supervision. This seems to require four things: a general discussion of the ‘problem’ of supervision; an examination of the main characteristics of supervisory systems in British manufacturing; a review of some recent attempts to develop the supervisory function and a set of conclusions pointing out alternative policies which seem to be required.

The idea that supervision is ineffective and conservative was argued by Frederick Taylor and others some 70 years ago and has been repeated by management specialists ever since. His remedy in Shop Management was to propose greater specialisation of control functions at shop floor level and the abolition of ‘general foreman’ positions. Such an approach was built on the argument that supervision was too weak and could not cope with the number and range of problems encountered in running a workshop or production system. His ideas led to the development of specialist functional departments, particularly for planning, industrial engineering and quality control; they did not lead to the abolition of the foreman role, although the scope of responsibilities within that role was greatly reduced.
The use of modern quenchants in heat treatment of light alloy parts
Authors: Garrett Ken
Published: March 2023

In the production of aluminium alloy components, costs of rectification of distortion after heat treatment can become inordinately high, especially if those components are either large or of complex shape. With small parts of simple shape, the problem is avoided by forming in the solution-treated condition so that no further heat treatment is required, the principal limitation being that the forming must be completed within about two hours of heat treatment, otherwise the subsequent age-hardening process will be too far advanced. For more complex shapes, forming in the annealed condition is much easier, and indeed may be the only practicable procedure if a rubber press is to be used. Obviously pressing the components is generally quicker and more economical than manual forming. The problem that arises after forming—manual or press—in the annealed condition is that the components must then be solution treated, during which a water quenching operation can cause distortion, calling for the rectification previously mentioned.
The future of the European aerospace industry
Authors: Greenwood Allen
Published: March 2023

Everyone who has had the opportunity of speaking on this annual occasion when we remember Sir Richard Fairey, will have expressed their gratitude to the officers of this branch for their invitation to speak. Certainly for me this expression of thanks is no mere formality because for rather more than 30 years it has been my good fortune to have known most of the officers of the branch and, indeed, a number of the members of this audience.

Secondly, because it was my lot to have been serving with the British Admiralty delegation in Washington at the time when Sir Richard Fairey was leading the British Air Commission in the American capital as its director-general. His leadership was a memorable one, and typical of the man. Certainly he would have had no doubts about speaking on the subject which has been chosen for me tonight—that is, the future of the European Aerospace Industry.
Negotiations and Agreement
Authors: Shovelton W. P.
Published: March 2023

For several years before 1976 the United Kingdom had been increasingly dissatisfied with the working of the old Bermuda Agreement. That Treaty had been a landmark in its day and its authors can be—and must be —proud that it stood the test of time so long. It had a profound influence on the development of post-war civil aviation and was the guiding light for numerous bilateral Air Services Agreements the world over.

But by the early 1970s its wording—possibly intentionally imprecise in a number of places—had become increasingly out of date and the subject of contentious argument. The Tariffs Article in particular gave continuing cause for trouble and the UK had become disenchanted with the working of the capacity provisions and dissatisfied in particular with the general balance of the Agreement. US airlines earned in the year ending 31st March 1976 nearly £300m from the Agreement whereas the earnings of British airlines was only some £130m. Of this latter figure, £127m was earned on the North Atlantic where US airlines earned upwards of £180m. It was self-evident that the American airlines would always outfly and out-earn us across the Pacific on routes to and through Hong Kong, and on routes between the mainland of the USA and Bermuda as well as to British points in the Caribbean. But it was not so self-evident that American airlines should continue to have a wide range of valuable fifth freedom rights at London and Hong Kong when British airlines could make no practical use of the relatively few fifth freedom opportunities which they had from points in the United States onwards across the Pacific and into the Caribbean.
The views of British Caledonian Airways
Authors: Powell C. E.
Published: March 2023

British Caledonian is one of several British privately owned airlines that will be affected in some way or other by Bermuda 2. They will all be affected in different ways and will therefore have different views about the Agreement. This paper represents the views only of British Caledonian.

British Caledonian is the first airline to have taken up any wholly new opportunity offered by Bermuda 2 and has therefore been more affected more quickly by the Agreement than any other airline.

At the same time we have been strongly critical of Bermuda 2. We were opposed to the complete re-negotiation of the old Agreement although we did wish to see major changes, particularly to the route schedules. In general we think the results are disappointing. They fall far short of the British expectations on which the whole British decision to re-negotiate was based. In our view the new Agreement offers no solutions to the sort of problems that have afflicted most North Atlantic operations over a long period of time. Both the UK and the US now believe that many of the changes made to the route schedules could have been secured without renouncing the old Agreement.
Monitoring airline performance
Authors: Pearson Roy J.
Published: March 2023

There are two methodological approaches by which airline efficiency might be measured. One way is by using the concept of comparative airline efficiency. Using this concept, efficiency is measured with respect to typical, mean, or expected industrial average performances. The approach adopted in this paper is to measure airline efficiency by using the concept of monitored airline performances. In this kind of exercise efficiency is measured with respect to the airline's stated objectives. In using the. monitoring approach a consideration of general airline objectives is required. Typical airline objectives are discussed below, as are the expected repercussions on efficiency parameters. After discussing objectives in general, British Airways’ corporate objectives will be discussed in particular. Finally, whether British Airways has been successful or not in reaching its objectives will be investigated. But as a prerequisite to this investigation some discussion will be necessary of the most appropriate indicators to use for monitoring the objectives.
Static and dynamic stability
Authors: Babister A. W.
Published: March 2023

For most aircraft, longitudinal dynamic stability is assured if the static margin is positive. However, a statically stable aircraft is not necessarily dynamically stable. The problem of establishing under what conditions static stability is sufficient has recently been considered in Ref. I, by means of two-parameter stability diagrams. It seems to the present writer that a simpler approximate solution can be found by considering the factors of the characteristic equation.
Specificity in genetic and environmental risk for prescription opioid misuse and heroin use
Authors: Dash Genevieve F. , Gizer Ian R. , Martin Nicholas G. , Slutske Wendy S.
Published: March 2023

Background

Many studies aggregate prescription opioid misuse (POM) and heroin use into a single phenotype, but emerging evidence suggests that their genetic and environmental influences may be partially distinct.

Methods

In total, 7164 individual twins (84.12% complete pairs; 59.81% female; mean age = 30.58 years) from the Australian Twin Registry reported their lifetime misuse of prescription opioids, stimulants, and sedatives, and lifetime use of heroin, cannabis, cocaine/crack, illicit stimulants, hallucinogens, inhalants, solvents, and dissociatives via telephone interview. Independent pathway models (IPMs) and common pathway models (CPMs) partitioned the variance of drug use phenotypes into general and drug-specific genetic (a), common environmental (c), and unique environmental factors (e).

Results

An IPM with one general a and one general e factor and a one-factor CPM provided comparable fit to the data. General factors accounted for 55% (a = 14%, e = 41%) and 79% (a = 64%, e = 15%) of the respective variation in POM and heroin use in the IPM, and 25% (a = 12%, c = 8%, e = 5%) and 80% (a = 38%, c = 27%, e = 15%) of the respective variation in POM and heroin use in the CPM. Across both models, POM emerged with substantial drug-specific genetic influence (26–39% of total phenotypic variance; 69–74% of genetic variance); heroin use did not (0% of total phenotypic variance; 0% of genetic variance in both models). Prescription sedative misuse also demonstrated significant drug-specific genetic variance.

Conclusions

Genetic variation in POM, but not heroin use, is predominantly drug-specific. Misuse of prescription medications that reduce experiences of subjective distress may be partially influenced by sources of genetic variation separate from illicit drug use.
Low-temperature crystal structures of the solvent dimethyl carbonate
Authors: Whitfield Pamela S.
Published: March 2023

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is an important industrial solvent but is additionally a common component of liquid lithium-ion battery electrolytes. Pure DMC has a melting point of 277 K, so encountering solidification under outdoor climatic conditions is very likely in many locations around the globe. Even eutectic, ethylene carbonate:dimethyl carbonate commercial LiPF6 salt electrolyte formulations can start to solidify at temperatures around 260 K with obvious consequences for their performance. No structures for crystalline DMC are currently available which could be a hindrance for in situ battery studies at reduced temperatures. A time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction study of the phase behavior and crystal structures of deuterated DMC was undertaken to help fill this knowledge gap. Three different orthorhombic crystalline phases were found with a previously unreported low-temperature phase transition around 50–55 K. The progression of Pbca → Pbcm → Ibam space groups follow a sequence of group–subgroup relationships with the final Ibam structure being disordered around the central carbon atom.
On macrosegregation in a binary alloy undergoing solidification shrinkage
Authors: Assunção Milton , Vynnycky Michael
Published: March 2023

The one-dimensional transient solidification of a binary alloy undergoing shrinkage is well-known as an invaluable benchmark for the testing of numerical codes that model macrosegregation. Here, recent work that considered the small-time behaviour of this problem is extended until complete solidification, thereby determining the solute profile across the entire solidified domain. The small-time solution is used as the initial condition for the numerical integration of a problem having three moving boundaries. Of particular significance is the so-called inverse segregation that is observed at the start of solidification, and the extreme segregation that is observed at the end; in the case of the example presented, which is for the often-cited Al–Cu system, the macrosegregation is found to be positive or negative, depending on whether Scheil’s equation or the lever rule is assumed at the microscale, respectively. The relevance of these results for the modelling of steady-state continuous casting processes – in particular, the phenomenon of centreline segregation – is also discussed.
Solid grains ejected from terrestrial exoplanets as a probe of the abundance of life in the Milky Way
Authors: Totani Tomonori
Published: March 2023

Searching for extrasolar biosignatures is important to understand life on Earth and its origin. Astronomical observations of exoplanets may find such signatures, but it is difficult and may be impossible to claim unambiguous detection of life by remote sensing of exoplanet atmospheres. Here, another approach is considered: collecting grains ejected by asteroid impacts from exoplanets in the Milky Way and then travelling to the Solar System. The optimal grain size for this purpose is around 1 μm, and though uncertainty is large, about 105 such grains are expected to be accreting on Earth every year, which may contain biosignatures of life that existed on their home planets. These grains may be collected by detectors placed in space, or extracted from Antarctic ice or deep-sea sediments, depending on future technological developments.
Historical Records: Reissuing as Curatorial Practice in Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music
Authors: Blim Dan
Published: March 2023

Reissues of recordings are commonplace, yet rarely examined by scholars. This article considers how reissuing is a creative act akin to museum curation. Through this lens, reissuers emerge as crucial interpretive figures, making decisions that affect how music and music history are understood by listeners. I take as a case study the Anthology of American Folk Music (1952), one of the most canonic and widely praised reissues. Created by record collector and avant-garde artist Harry Smith and distributed by Folkways, the Anthology comprises eighty-four commercially released recordings made between 1926 and 1932, accompanied by an idiosyncratic set of liner notes. At the time, folk music was beset by various mythologies, notably an idealization of racial purity and an antithetical stance toward commercialism and modernity. When reissuing the material, Smith carefully selected, sequenced, and annotated the recordings in ways that unsettled these mythologies. In 1994, the Smithsonian reissued the Anthology on compact disc. Drawing on archival documents from the Smithsonian, I demonstrate how their decisions reframed the Anthology in various ways to fit their goals and concerns. Through marketing, reproduction, cover design, and the soliciting and editing of additional notes, the Smithsonian elevated Smith as a racially progressive auteur while navigating commercial concerns and historical preservation. In particular, the editing of notes avoided controversial statements during an era of politically contentious museum exhibitions. Nevertheless in doing so, the very myths that Smith unsettled in his reissuing were replaced by an idealized race-blindness, anti-commercialism, and historicism.
Response of Meteor Plasma Trails Observed by Meteor Radar to Geomagnetic Activity
Authors: Kam Hosik , Kwak Young‐Sil , Lee Changsup , Kim Jeong‐Heon , Hong Junseok , Kim Yong Ha , Kim Jeong‐Han
Published: March 2023

From meteor radar observations typically measuring neutral winds and temperatures in the upper atmosphere, we showed that under‐dense meteor plasma trails respond to geomagnetic activity. Depending on the geomagnetic activity conditions, the parameters of the under‐dense trail echoes show substantial anomalies, and their responses are immediate. As geomagnetic activity increases, the decay time decreases up to about 10% at Kp = 8, while both the returned signal power and radial velocity error increase. In addition, the types of diffuse evolution vary with geomagnetic activity, resulting in strong geomagnetic activity that immediately affects the trail. The evolution of the trail is affected not only by the ambient mesospheric neutral atmospheric properties but also by electromagnetic effects, such as strong electric fields inside meteor trails. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the geomagnetic effect should be considered when estimating atmospheric parameters from MR during a geomagnetically active period.
Exploiting High‐Density Zonal‐Sampling of HIRDLS Profiles Near 60°S to Investigate Missing Drag in Chemistry‐Climate Models
Authors: Holt Laura A. , Brabec Colby M. , Alexander M. Joan
Published: March 2023

This study exploits the high‐density zonal sampling at the turnaround latitude of the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) in the Southern Hemisphere to investigate the missing drag in chemistry‐climate models near 60°S. Gravity wave (GW) properties including amplitude, zonal wavenumber, vertical wavelength, and momentum flux are estimated with a wave analysis method based on the S‐transform. Monthly means of GW properties compare well with estimates from previous studies. We further investigate the contribution to GW momentum flux above orographic and nonorographic regions and find that while fluxes are much larger locally over orographic regions, the contribution to the zonal mean is roughly 3 times smaller than the contribution over nonorographic regions. We also investigate the relationship with the zonal wind and find that GW momentum flux is highly correlated with the near surface winds over orographic regions. In addition to momentum flux, we also provide estimates of the zonal drag and use these estimates to evaluate the current GW parameterizations and resolved wave forcing in models participating in phase 1 of the Chemistry‐Climate Model Initiative (CCMI‐1). The HIRDLS zonal drag estimates suggest that the CCMI‐1 models have insufficient zonal drag, especially in June, July, and August, and that the majority of the missing drag is over nonorographic regions. Our discussion includes implications for the Brewer‐Dobson Circulation and ozone hole.
Vitamin B12 supplementation and health behavior of Austrian vegans: a cross-sectional online survey
Authors: Fuschlberger Michelle , Putz Peter
Published: March 2023

The number of vegans is increasing and was estimated at 2.0% of the Austrian population. Austrian vegans were found to have lower intakes and levels of vitamin B12 compared to vegetarians and omnivores. Vegans are advised to consume reliable sources of vitamin B12, e.g., in the form of dietary supplements or fortified foods. This study aimed to investigate health and supplementation behavior, with special emphasis on the supplementation of vitamin B12, and to demographically characterize the community of Austrian adult vegans. A nonrandom, voluntary sample of adult vegans with a principal residence in Austria was recruited with an online cross-sectional survey via social media and messenger platforms. Associations between respondent characteristics (gender, education, nutritional advice by a dietitian or nutritionist) and health/supplementation behaviors were examined by cross-tabulation. The questionnaire was completed by 1565 vegans (completion rate 88%), of whom 86% were female, the median age was 29 years, 6% were obese, and 49% had completed an academic education. Ninety-two percent consumed vitamin B12 through supplements and/or fortified foods, and 76% had their vitamin B12 status checked. The prevalence of vitamin B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods was slightly (not statistically significant) higher among women vs. men (93% vs. 89%), those who were academically educated vs. those who were not (93% vs. 91%), and those who had taken nutritional advice vs. those who had not (97% vs. 92%). Professional nutritional advice had been taken by only 9.5% of female and 8.4% of male respondents. Those who had taken advice reported a lower smoking prevalence (p = 0.05, φ = 0.05), higher prevalence of checking vitamin B12 status (p < 0.01, φ = 0.10), vit B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods (p = 0.03, φ = 0.05), and taking supplements of omega-3 (p < 0.01, φ = 0.14), selenium (p = 0.02, φ = 0.06), and iodine (p = 0.02, φ = 0.06). Austrian vegans can be characterized as predominantly young, female, urban, highly educated, and nonobese. The rate of vitamin B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods is fairly high (92%), but should be further improved e.g., by increasing the share of vegans who follow professional nutritional advice (requiring a diploma in dietetics, nutritional science, or medicine in Austria).
Seasonal dependent suitability of physical parameterizations to simulate precipitation over the Himalayan headwater
Authors: Dixit Ankur , Sahany Sandeep , Mishra Saroj Kanta , Mesquita Michel D. S.
Published: March 2023

The Himalayan ecosystem is fragile and needs robust management strategies for sustainability of natural resources such as water and vegetation. Therefore, reliable precipitation estimation becomes quite important from operational and regulation standpoints. It is crucial for numerous activities including policy/planning, agriculture, reservoir operations, disaster management, and others. In addition, reliable information on temporal variability of precipitation is also crucial for various applications such as agricultural and hydrological. The western Himalaya receives two distinct weather systems during summer and winter. Summer is responsible (largely) for rainfall and winter is for snowfall. Therefore, we hypothesize that there may not be a single set of parameterization schemes that can represent well both the weather systems. To investigate, we set up the WRF modeling system and performed six experiments with a combination of three microphysics (MP3, MP3, and WSM6) and two cumulus schemes (KF, and BMJ). It was found that the precipitation along the Himalayan foothills (near to basin terminal) is underestimated in four out of six experiments. Only experiments with BMJ cumulus scheme along with WSM6 and MP8 microphysics were able to show a considerable amount of precipitation along these foothills. It was noted that all six experiments showed high precipitation in the upstream region and over the mountain peaks and ridges in North-Western Himalaya. For DJF, each experiment was found to have large biases and none of them represented the observation with high confidence. However, the selection of observation reference data itself is a challenging task because of data paucity in this region. Therefore, the closest experiment to the most appropriate observation was selected as the reliable configuration (MP8_KF: MP8 microphysics and KF cumulus scheme) for DJF precipitation simulation. In this study we have, for the first time, reported the role of seasonal sensitivity for the climate scale simulations as we found that different schemes were suitable for different weather systems.
Inter- and intra-rater reliability of new application software for computerised paediatric version of Wisconsin Gait Scale
Authors: Guzik Agnieszka , Wolan-Nieroda Andżelina , Drużbicki Mariusz
Published: March 2023

The paediatric version of Wisconsin Gait Scale (WGS) is a reliable tool for gait assessment in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP). We decided to develop a solution which will make it possible to objectify the descriptive paediatric version of the WGS, and which, consequently, will allow researchers/clinicians to more easily perform accurate assessment of gait patterns in patients. The aim of the study was to assess inter- and intra-rater reliability of new application software for computerised paediatric version of the WGS in children with hemiplegic CP. The study involved 31 children with hemiplegic CP. The app was designed using a model based on thematic categories of the paediatric WGS, and utilising auxiliary lines between specific points on the patient’s body, and taking into account angular values, duration and length of the specific gait phases, in order to enable acquisition of quantitative data corresponding to the components of the WGS. The gait of the study participants was recorded, in series of videos. These provided material for three independent raters who reviewed the recordings twice and assessed the participants’ gait using the app. After the evaluation was completed, the data were retrieved from the software. The new application software for the computerised paediatric WGS presents very good inter- and intra-rater reliability. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was very high in measurement 1 (ICC > 0.9) and 2 (ICC > 0.8), which reflects a very high degree of agreement between the three examiners; there was also high agreement for the specific examiners, between the two measurements (ICC > 0.9). The observational gait scale, objectified through the new software, and enabling computer-aided use of the paediatric WGS, presents practical advantages for examiners since it facilitates decisions taken in the process of WGS-based assessment in children with spastic hemiplegic CP.
Binding and inactivation of human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, onto purified clinoptilolite-tuff
Authors: Nizet S. , Rieger J. , Sarabi A. , Lajtai G. , Zatloukal K. , Tschegg C.
Published: March 2023

The current COVID19 pandemic is caused by a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, which presents high mutational rates. The development of effective therapeutics and mitigation strategies using vaccination or therapeutic antibodies faces serious challenges because of the regular emergence of immune escape variants of the virus. An efficient approach would involve the use of an agent to non-specifically limit or block viruses contacting the mucosae and therefore entering the body. Here, we investigated the ability of a micronized purified clinoptilolite-tuff to bind and neutralize different viruses from the Coronaviridae family. Using plaque assay, RT-qPCR and immunostaining, the adsorption and inactivation of the seasonal human coronavirus HCoV-229E and of 2 SARS-CoV-2 variants were demonstrated. The resulting data suggest that purified clinoptilolite-tuff could be used as an ingredient in new medical devices and/or pharmaceuticals to prevent or mitigate SARS-CoV-2 dissemination.
Unmasking pipefish otolith using synchrotron-based scanning X-ray fluorescence
Authors: Haÿ Vincent , Berland Sophie , Medjoubi Kadda , Somogyi Andrea , Mennesson Marion I. , Keith Philippe , Lord Clara
Published: March 2023

Scientists use otoliths to trace fish life history, especially fish migrations. Otoliths incorporate signatures of individual growth and environmental use. For many species, distinct increment patterns in the otolith are difficult to discern; thus, questions remain about crucial life history information. To unravel the history of such species, we use synchrotron-based scanning X-ray fluorescence. It allows the mapping of elements on the entire otolith at a high spatial resolution. It gives access to precise fish migration history by tagging landmark signature for environmental transition and it also characterises localised growth processes at a mineral level. Freshwater pipefish, which are of conservation concern, have otoliths that are small and fragile. Growth increments are impossible to identify and count; therefore, there is a major lack of knowledge about their life history. We confirm for the first time, by mapping strontium that the two tropical pipefish species studied are diadromous (transition freshwater/marine/freshwater). Mapping of other elements uncovered the existence of different migratory routes during the marine phase. Another major breakthrough is that we can chemically count growth increments solely based on sulphur signal as it is implicated in biomineralization processes. This novel method circumvents reader bias issues and enables age estimation even for otoliths with seemingly untraceable increments. The high spatial resolution elemental mapping methods push back limits of studies on life traits or stock characterisation.
Anti-thermal quenching phosphors based on the new phosphate host Ca3.6In3.6(PO4)6
Authors: Wang Rong-Rong , Zhang Jing , Liu Yi-Jia , Li Gui-Hua , Cai Ge-Mei
Published: March 2023

Taking CIP with inherent cationic vacancies as the host and using inequivalent substitution, ATQ phosphors have been developed. ATQ feature is mainly attributed to O′′i, which releases electrons with thermal stimulus, causing anomalous emission.
miR-6315 silencing protects against spinal cord injury through the Smo and anti-ferroptosis pathway
Authors: Ma Zheng , Fan Yan , Peng Yufang , Bian Ligong , Zhou Jianping , Wang Lijuan , Xia Yan , Zheng Sili , Ji Yanlian , Han Yanbing , Feng Chengan , Ba Yingchun
Published: March 2023

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes permanent damage and has a high disability rate. Currently, no efficient therapeutic strategy is available for SCI. The present study investigated the mechanisms of microRNAs (miRNAs) in rats with spinal cord injury. Whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) was used for analyzing miRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression patterns in rat spinal cord tissue at different time points after SCI. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathways were analyzed to obtain crucial functional pathways. miR-6315 was the most significantly up-regulated and differentially expressed miRNA after 24 h of SCI; the expression of miR-6315 gradually decreased after 3 and 7 days of SCI. Bioinformatics analysis was conducted to predict the targeting relation of miR-6315 with Smo, and qRT-PCR and dual-luciferase reporter assays were conducted for verification. The miR-6315 silencing (miR-6315-si) adenovirus was successfully constructed. miR-6315 knockdown treatment significantly promoted functional behavioral recovery in rats post-SCI through using Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale and the inclined plane test. The neuronal axon regeneration and neuronal migration were promoted, and cell apoptosis was attenuated in treated SCI rats and Glu-treated neurons after miR-6315 knockdown using immunofluorescence and scratch assays. We discovered that Smo and anti-ferroptosis pathway factors, xCT, GSH, and GPX4, may be involved in miR-6315-regulated SCI repair. The expression of miR-6315 was negatively correlated with Smo, xCT, GSH, and GPX4. In conclusion, miR-6315 may be a potential target in the treatment of SCI.
Examination of the role and challenges of natural catalysts in hydrogen and biohydrogen production
Authors: Suyitno Suyitno , Rosyadi Imron , Caroko Novi , Yusuf Mirza , Adriyanto Feri
Published: March 2023

The high demand for hydrogen has led to the development of various production methods. This study examines the use of synthetic and natural catalysts in the generation of hydrogen and biohydrogen. A bibliographic analysis was conducted using the VOSviewer and ScientoPy tools. The research focuses on hydrogen synthesis, purification, separation, and storage, based on the findings. Hydrogen and biohydrogen can be produced through processes such as reforming, decomposition, hydrolysis, gasification, photolysis, and fermentation. The most studied approach is natural gas steam reforming, using Ni and Ce as catalysts and Al₂O₃, Al₂O₄, and BaTiO₃ as support materials, resulting in a high turnover frequency (TOF) of 2880 h−1 and an average stability of 100 h. In contrast, ammonia borane (AB) hydrolysis with Pt/Co₃O₄ catalysts may achieve a high TOF of 15 times faster than steam methane reforming (SMR). Additionally, HY‐zeolite containing nickel has a maximum stability of 578 h. Enhancing hydrogen and biohydrogen generation could be achieved by incorporating two or more metals that work synergistically and by building hierarchical structures in zeolite. In photocatalysis, it is important to design catalysts that improve light absorption. Using activated natural zeolites in the gasification process (conventional, supercritical, or hydrothermal) requires various raw materials and advanced chemical processes, which poses challenges for future work.
The impact of homeworking on work efficiency
Authors: Kalinová Eva , Dolejší Lucie
Published: March 2023

The topic of homeworking has become very actual during the pandemic of covid-19. This pandemic showed the unpreparedness of companies for this modern way of working. At the same time, however, it contributed to rapid reaction and the introduction of homeworking into normal work processes. The aim of this paper is to find out to what extent and in which economic sectors the introduction of telecommuting has proved feasible. What benefits does it bring to employees and employers. And then to evaluate to what extent homeworking has an impact on the efficiency of employee performance. The analysis was based on data from the Czech Statistical Office’s statistical survey as well as a survey conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The data will be classified and evaluated using classification analysis. The results of this analysis have shown that the covid-19 pandemic has contributed to a faster uptake of home working even in organisations that did not use this way of working before. It also showed that the majority of employees interviewed would welcome a “hybrid” employment model in the future, where they would work from home 2-3 days a week and work in the office the remaining days. An evaluation of employee effectiveness yielded the finding that most managers were satisfied with the work-from-home arrangements in their organization. Based on this work, the use of homeworking can be recommended to some extent at some sectors in the future.