bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Mica Content on Shear Strength of the Yili Loess under the Dry-Wet Cycling Condition
Authors: Shi Guangming , Li Xinyu , Guo Zekun , Zhang Zizhao , Zhang Yanyang
Published: August 2022

Loess landslides caused by the dry-wet cycling processes are the most common geological disasters in the Yili region of China and have caused significant economic loss and casualties. Therefore, there is an urgency to study the mechanism of landslide disasters. However, research on loess landslide disasters under dry-wet cycling conditions in the Yili River Valley is still underdeveloped, and the research foundations are relatively weak. Based on the characteristics of high and stable mica content in Yili loess, this research probed the changes in shear strength and microstructure of loess with different mica contents (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) after different dry-wet cycles (0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20) using direct shear testing and a scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the mica content had a negative relationship with the shear strength of loess. For the same number of dry-wet cycles, the higher the mica content was, the lower the loess’ shear strength, especially in the first five dry-wet cycles. The influence of mica content on shear strength parameters was not similar. The impact was more significant for cohesion. With increased mica content, cohesion gradually decreased. The effect was minor with the internal friction angle. With the rise in mica content, the angle slightly increased with slight variations. Under certain dry-wet cycling conditions, micro-particle content in the loess decreased continuously, the average reduction can reach 11.25%, the content of small and medium particles tends to increase, the average increments were 6.21% and 3.1%, and volatility changes in large particle content. However, the overall increasing trend remains. Accordingly, the number of micropores and small pores decreased, the average reduction was 7.63% and 5.48%, the number of medium pores and large pores increased, and the average increments were 6.13% and 6.99%, respectively. All these changes were more evident in the first three dry-wet cycles and when the mica content increased from 0% to 5%. This study will be beneficial as a reference for the occurrence mechanisms of loess landslide under dry-wet cycling conditions in the Yili area.
Challenges in Micro and Small Food Enterprises during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador
Authors: Orellana-Rojas Clara , Chávez-Campuzano Carolina , Herrera-Cervantes Andrea , Guevara Yndira , Romero Yereth , Moyano Mariana , Rentería-Ramos Rafael , Chong Mario
Published: August 2022

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) play a significant role in developing countries such as Ecuador. The food and beverage industry is essential for Ecuador’s economy, contributing approximately 5% to its GDP. Focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, this mixed research takes a qualitative and quantitative approach involving four stages: foundation, prefield, field, and reporting. The fieldwork was carried out when Ecuador’s economy reopened in September 2020, which saw demand increase gradually, production capacity recovering, mobility return to normal levels, and curfew restrictions reduced. As far as biosecurity protocols were concerned, communities were allowed to resume pre-pandemic activities, provided they complied with social distancing, permanent mask wearing, and strict cleaning procedures. The effect on each company’s process depends on the activities they adopted to mitigate the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic risk, e.g., service companies experienced, on average, a 22% cost increase due to the purchase of cleaning supplies, while manufacturing companies were more likely to have related measures in place and so the effect on them was on a comparatively smaller scale.
The Evolution of the Spatial Patterns of Startup Firms in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China in the 21st Century
Authors: Xu Liang , Liu Zhigao
Published: August 2022

It is increasingly recognized by policymakers and the academic community that startup firms play an important role in enhancing national and regional economic competitiveness. Existing studies have focused mainly on developed countries and highly marketed city-regions in developing countries, lacking sufficient attention to underdeveloped regions. The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is the poorest province in post 1949 ‘New China’. In recent years, the TAR’s government has released a series of policies to encourage the establishment and development of startup firms, but understanding how to promote social development and economic growth through the creation and development of startup firms is still a significant issue for the TAR’s government. Therefore, taking Tibet as a case area, this article discusses the evolution of the spatial patterns of startup firms in underdeveloped regions in China. The findings include: ① The past two decades have witnessed tremendous growth in the number of startup firms; however, the number and rate of growth are not geographically even. ② In terms of geographical distribution, startup firms in the TAR have concentrated on or around key nodes along major transport corridors (place dependence); however, with the development of transportation infrastructure and development zones, they have also been established in new localities (place creation). ③ Although all subregions of the TAR have spatial agglomerations of startup firms, they are different in agglomeration characteristics. Finally, after acknowledging shortcomings in its research, this article calls for multi-sited research to investigate the diversity of the spatial patterns and dynamics of new firm formation in the underdeveloped regions of China.
Highlighting the Probabilistic Behavior of Occupants’ Preferences in Energy Consumption by Integrating a Thermal Comfort Controller in a Tropical Climate
Authors: Aversa Alejandra , Ballestero Luis , Chen Austin Miguel
Published: August 2022

The thermal comfort of an individual is known as the mental satisfaction they possess in a medium. This depends on several ambient factors such as air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, and personal factors such as cloth and metabolic activity. In buildings, occupants interact with different systems and equipment such as air conditioning, ventilation, lighting, and other appliances to influence these factors or demonstrate adaptive tendencies with the systems to reach comfort. Within the last two decades, preference-based occupant-centered control systems have been incorporated into buildings, generally validated with comfort indexes. A frequently found challenge is the formulation of the method used to create a system that considers the stochastic characteristics of the occupant’s portrait. Here, a method that links the advantages of both probabilistic and schedule-based methods and satisfactorily integrates it with comfort indexes through a controller is proposed. It is intended to compare the controller’s effect on thermal comfort through comfort indexes and energy consumption when implementing different occupant models applied in Panama. Sensibility analysis, gray-box building modeling, and thermal indexes were used in the controller’s design. Results showed that the best controller is the probability-based model providing low power consumption and PMV levels.
Evaluation Analysis and Recommendations for the Development of the Menda Railway Site Based on TOPSIS Model
Authors: Cao Ying , Li Mingrui , Zuo Jianping
Published: August 2022

In order to realize the goal of “building up mobile homestays among lucid waters and lush mountains”, the Mentougou District of Beijing wants to plan the surrounding area with the theme of “One Line and Four Mines” in the west of Beijing. In order to comply with the requirement of “one station, one scene”, 12 railway stations need to be planned and developed in different directions, So the station development needs to be evaluated and analyzed first. In this study, the entropy weight method and the TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution) method are comprehensively used to establish indicators from five aspects: natural potential, mining heritage potential, social potential, traffic potential and tourism potential, and to evaluate the development decision of 12 railway stations of the Menda Railway. The tourism development direction and development importance of abandoned railway stations are decided from the horizontal and vertical dimensions, and the results of the TOPSIS model are expanded beyond the numerical value itself. On this basis, this study also combined with the existing situation of each site, and gave suggestions on the development planning of each site.
Human Settlement Resilience Zoning and Optimizing Strategies for River-Network Cities under Flood Risk Management Objectives: Taking Yueyang City as an Example
Authors: Yang Fan , Xiong Suwen , Ou Jiangang , Zhao Ziyu , Lei Ting
Published: August 2022

The dense river network and large population in the southern region of China are vulnerable to flooding stress, which challenges the construction of human settlements. This paper analyzes the causes of flood risk and the dilemma of human settlement improvement in river-network cities, introduces the principle of resilience to human settlements, and conducts a quantitative study on the resilience of human settlements in river-network cities with the goal of flood risk management. Taking Yueyang city, a river-network city in the Yangtze River Basin, as the empirical research object, we conduct a flood resilience zoning of the human settlements based on the flood risk assessment model and use the GIS spatial overlay method to correct the resilience of the current human living space against the territorial spatial planning of Yueyang city. Ultimately, we propose a strategy for optimizing human settlements under flood risk management. The results show that (1) the highest-risk and high-risk areas of Yueyang city were mainly located in Dongting Lake and its interconnected water system, the southwest local area and the southeastern fringe, while the low-risk and lowest-risk areas were mainly located in the northeast local area and the northwestern fringe, with low flood stress risk. (2) The spatial system of human settlement resilience was constructed based on the flood risk assessment level. Among them, the human settlement flood resilience zoning of Yueyang city was divided into five categories from low to high: human settlement control zone, restriction zone, buffer zone, construction zone and expansion zone; the flood resilience zoning of Yueyang city’s current living space was divided into three categories from low to high: structure adjustment zone, flood restriction zone and development stability zone. (3) The specific control implementation and execution of the human settlements in Yueyang city mainly focus on the interrelationship between the risk of flooding in the watershed and the development of human activities through zoning regulation and collaborative management to optimize the human settlements. The study results can provide positive intervention and guidance for constructing urban and rural territorial spatial prevention planning and improving human living quality in river-network cities in China.
Coupling Mechanism of Coal Body Stress–Seepage around a Water Injection Borehole
Authors: Liu Zhen , Hu Peng , Yang He , Yang Wenzhi , Gu Qingbo
Published: August 2022

In China, coal seam water injection technology is widely used in the prevention and control of mine gas and dust disasters. The evolution law of stress–seepage field in the range of hydraulic influence in the process of coal seam water injection is the most basic theoretical problem in coal seam water injection technology. Therefore, this paper first uses the radial seepage experimental system to test the permeability of raw coal samples, and then numerically inverts the stress–seepage evolution law of the coal body around the water injection hole. The results show that the coal seam permeability decreases exponentially with the increase in the experimental overburden pressure. The dynamic water intrusion causes the pressure relief area and the stress concentration area to transfer to the deep part of the coal body, and abnormal stress occurs near the water injection hole wall. The composite stress area formed by the superposition of stress and pore water pressure reduces the permeability of the hole wall. During the radial development of water injection, the pore water pressure dropped sharply and eventually tended to zero, while Darcy’s velocity decreased significantly (within the pressure relief zone, it rapidly decreased from 7.26 × 10−3 m s−1 to 2.5 × 10−3 m s−1 (by 65.56%)). Near the initiation point, the maximum step-down height of Darcy’s velocity decreased from 6.73 × 10−3 m s−1 to 5.27 × 10−3 m s−1 (by 22.73%). This can make it clear that the seepage velocity presents a non-Darcy seepage phenomenon under the influence of pore pressure.
Reliability Assessment Method for Simply Supported Bridge Based on Structural Health Monitoring of Frequency with Temperature and Humidity Effect Eliminated
Authors: He Xin , Tan Guojin , Chu Wenchao , Zhang Sufeng , Wei Xueliang
Published: August 2022

Structural health monitoring (SHM) has been widely used for the performance assessment of bridges, especially the methods based on dynamic characteristics. Meanwhile, bridge modal frequency is influenced significantly by environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity. Combined with SHM, a reliability assessment of bridges with the temperature and humidity effects eliminated is proposed. Firstly, the bridge deflection verification coefficient is adopted as the evaluation indicator for bridge condition, which is the ratio of deflection-measured value to deflection-calculated value. It is obtained from the relationship between verification coefficient and modal frequency through theoretical derivation. Secondly, a back propagation (BP) neural network is improved by using an artificial bee colony algorithm and employed as a surrogate model to eliminate the effect of temperature and humidity on frequency. Thirdly, a dynamic Bayesian network is applied to establish the reliability analysis model combined with the monitoring results, so that the probability distribution of bridge parameters is updated to improve the accuracy of the reliability analysis. Finally, a simply supported bridge is used as the case study, based on the proposed method in this work. The results indicate that the proposed method can eliminate the temperature and humidity effect on frequency precisely and effectively. With the effect of temperature and humidity on frequency eliminated, the bridge condition assessment can be evaluated accurately through the reliability analysis based on SHM and the dynamic Bayesian network.
Sustainable Financing Efficiency and Environmental Value in China’s Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry under the Double Carbon Target
Authors: Li Baohong , Huo Yingdong , Yin Shi
Published: August 2022

Difficulty in financing and low financing efficiency is one of the bottlenecks that restrict the high-quality development of China’s energy-saving and environmental protection industry and economy. The key to improving financing efficiency is to understand its influencing factors. This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist index to measure the overall financing efficiency and the efficiency of different financing methods of 205 Chinese energy-saving and environmental protection industries from 2015 to 2020 from static and dynamic perspectives, respectively, as well as the Tobit model to estimate the impact of factors such as the digital transformation and green technological innovation of enterprises on financing efficiency. The study shows the following: (1) Static analysis shows that: the financing efficiency of the comprehensive technical efficiency of China’s energy conservation and environmental protection industry is less than one, 5.8% to 23.41% of enterprises have very effective comprehensive technical financing efficiency, and fewer than 9% enterprises have very effective scale efficiency levels. Enterprises may have more room for improving their financing efficiency in the future. The four types of financing are, namely, internal financing, equity financing, fiscal financing, and debt financing, in descending order of efficiency. (2) Dynamic analysis shows that the financing efficiencies of debt financing and fiscal financing are both on an upward trend, while internal and equity financing efficiencies are on a downward trend. Additionally, the technological progress change index and scale efficiency are two key factors affecting the financing efficiency of different financing methods. (3) In terms of financing methods, the comprehensive technical efficiency and scale efficiency of endogenous financing and equity financing are high, while the comprehensive technical efficiency and scale efficiency of debt financing and fiscal financing are low and flat. (4) Digital transformation, green technology innovation, the asset–liability ratio, profitability, and operational capability have a significant positive impact on the financing efficiency of energy-saving and environmental protection enterprises. This paper studies the financing efficiency of China’s energy conservation and environmental protection industry under different financing methods and the mechanism through which key factors affect the financing efficiency of enterprises. It aims to provide a theoretical basis for managing financing methods scientifically and rationally and improving the financing efficiency of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry, as well as to provide practical reference for the implementation of digital transformation, green technology innovation and diversified financing in China and other developing economies.
Experimental Study on the Mechanics and Impact Resistance of Multiphase Lightweight Aggregate Concrete
Authors: Meng Jian , Xu Ziling , Liu Zeli , Chen Song , Wang Chen , Zhao Ben , Zhou An
Published: August 2022

Multiphase lightweight aggregate concrete (MLAC) is a green composite building material prepared by replacing part of the crushed stone in concrete with other coarse aggregates to save construction ore resources. For the best MLAC performance in this paper, four kinds of coarse aggregate—coal gangue ceramsite, fly ash ceramsite, pumice and coral—were used in different dosages (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) of the total coarse aggregate replacement. Mechanical property and impact resistance tests on each MLAC group showed that, when coal gangue ceramsite was 20%, the mechanical properties and impact resistance of concrete were the best. The compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strength and impact energy dissipation increased by 29.25, 19.93, 13.89 and 8.2%, respectively, compared with benchmark concrete. The impact loss evolution equation established by the two-parameter Weibull distribution model effectively describes the damage evolution process of MLAC under dynamic loading. The results of a comprehensive performance evaluation of four multiphase light aggregate concretes are coal gangue ceramsite concrete (CGC) > fly ash ceramsite concrete (FAC) > coral aggregate concrete (CC) > pumice aggregate concrete (PC).
The Theoretical and Practical Evolution of Customer Journey and Its Significance in Services Sustainability
Authors: Pantouvakis Angelos , Gerou Anastasia
Published: August 2022

In the scientific literature, the concept of the “customer journey (CJ)” has only recently been introduced, and, accordingly, it lacks robust empirical evidence. Still, the number of papers concerning the CJ has increased exponentially in recent years. The aim of this paper is to fully represent the available CJ research in services and highlight its importance for service sustainability. Since the current CJ literature mainly includes qualitative data, this paper is a narrative review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis checklist. The systematic literature review conducted by the authors is based on peer-reviewed articles published up until 2019. The main findings mostly concern the conceptualization of the CJ at a theoretical and practical level—CJ definitions and evolution for the former and customer journey mapping for the latter—as well as to present new perspectives of the examined terms in the services peer-reviewed bibliography and verify their contribution to service sustainability. CJ monitoring helps the development of a more sustainable service because it advances service innovation and effective channel management. Furthermore, it leads managers to understand their customer decision-making process and better allocate their resources by establishing a sustainable service design throughout the various service phases.
Research Progress and Potential Functions of AMF and GRSP in the Ecological Remediation of Metal Tailings
Authors: Ai Yan-Jun , Li Fu-Ping , Yang Jia-Qing , Lu Sai , Gu Hai-Hong
Published: August 2022

Metal mining generates a considerable amount of tailings. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have potential value for the ecological remediation of tailings from metal mining, despite problems with these tailings, such as loose structure, high heavy-metal concentration and low organic matter and microbial diversity. This review summarizes both the application and physiological functions of AMF, and plant symbiotic systems, in the ecological remediation of tailings from metal mining. The review also includes an in-depth analysis of the characteristics, structural composition, and potential functions of glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), a release product of mycorrhizal fungi, in the ecological remediation of tailings from metal mining. This review is expected to provide a basis for the application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi remediation technology in the ecological remediation of tailings from metal mining.
The Feasibility Study, Exergy, and Exergoeconomic Analyses of a Novel Flare Gas Recovery System
Authors: Parivazh Mohammad Mehdi , Mousavi Milad , Naderi Mansoor , Rostami Amir , Dibaj Mahdieh , Akrami Mohammad
Published: August 2022

One of the challenging issues that has always attracted the attention of the experts is how to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions because of their overwhelming negative environmental impacts. Although burning the hazardous gaseous products in the flare systems boosts the safety of gas and oil fields and diminishes the internal pressure of the extraction systems, it has a catastrophic impact on the surrounding environment. In this study, a new system was designed to recover flare gas. In this system, ejectors and compressors are used in parallel to compress flare gas. One of the aims of this system is to minimize environmental disadvantages and prevent the waste of national capital. The described system is firstly simulated using the HYSYS software based on Peng–Robinson state equations. The efficiency and exergy destruction can be calculated through exergy analysis, which is the second step in the process. Finally, by considering investment and fuel cost to each exergy flow, exergoeconomic analysis was evaluated. From the exergy analysis results, it can be concluded that the ejectors have the highest exergy efficiency (99.87%) compared with other devices in the process, and their total exergy destruction rate is 8458.35 kW. Findings from exergoeconomic analysis suggest that the highest exergy destruction cost for flare system is associated with EJ-3 ejector which is 89.01 USD/h. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was applied to specify the dependency of the exergy and exergoeconomic results of this process on the flow rate of recovered gas and flare gas pressure as important input plant feed parameters. By this study, we aim to evaluate the feasibility of the implementation of this system in an industrial plant.
Understanding the Scientific Topics in the Chinese Government’s Communication about COVID-19: An LDA Approach
Authors: Xie Qihui , Xue Yanan , Zhao Zhuojun
Published: August 2022

The communication of scientific topics can play a key role in the fight against misinformation and has become an important component of governments’ communication regarding COVID-19. This study reviewed the Chinese government’s COVID-19 information sources and identified the patterns of science communication models within them. A corpus of science-related content was collected and coded from 1521 news briefings announced by the Chinese government. An LDA (latent Dirichlet allocation) topic model, correlation analysis, and ANOVA were used to analyze the framing of the scientific topics and their social environmental characteristics. The major findings showed the following: (1) The frames in the Chinese government’s communication of scientific topics about COVID-19 had three purposes—to disseminate knowledge about prevention and control, epidemiological investigations, and the public’s personal health; to make the public understand scientific R&D in Chinese medicine, enterprises, vaccines, treatment options, and medical resources; and to involve citizens, communities, and enterprises in scientific decision making. (2) The frames were correlated with the public and media concerns. (3) The frames varied with the different levels of officials, different types of government agencies, different income regional governments, and different severity levels of the epidemic. (4) The topics concerning sustainability science were more correlated with public and media concern. In addition, we propose several suggestions for building sustainable communication approaches during the pandemic.
Special Issue “Landscape Analysis, Planning and Regional Development”
Authors: Tassinari Patrizia , Torreggiani Daniele
Published: August 2022

Landscape analysis and planning have been facing more and more challenging goals with the rapid evolution of socioeconomic and environmental processes, the increasingly strict connections between urban and rural areas and the progressively multifaceted nature of many landscapes, the increasing need of activating virtuous circular processes among the various landscape resources, and the need of more and more integrated policies and plans at the various scales [...]
Abuse and Wellbeing of Long-Term Care Workers in the COVID-19 Era: Evidence from the UK
Authors: Saloniki Eirini-Christina , Turnpenny Agnes , Collins Grace , Marchand Catherine , Towers Ann-Marie , Hussein Shereen
Published: August 2022

The UK long-term care workforce has endured difficult working conditions for many years. During the pandemic, the sector faced unprecedented challenges, which further exacerbated these conditions and brought concerns about workplace abuse and violence. Such experiences can vary by personal and work characteristics, particularly affecting minority ethnic groups. They can subsequently impact workers’ wellbeing and the sector overall. Drawing on the first wave of a UK longitudinal workforce survey, this article examined the impact of COVID-19 on social care workers’ working conditions, general health and wellbeing, and intentions to leave the employer and sector altogether. The analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative responses 1037 valid responses received between April and June 2021. The respondents were predominantly female, working in direct care roles and mainly serving older adults (including those with dementia). The findings highlighted worrying experiences of abuse in relation to COVID-19, which differed significantly by nationality, ethnicity and care settings. The analysis further showcased the negative impact of experienced abuse on work-life balance and intentions to leave the current employer or the care sector altogether. The findings emphasise the need for targeted measures that promote workers’ physical, emotional and financial wellbeing.
Assessment of Struvite as an Alternative Sources of Fertilizer-Phosphorus for Flood-Irrigated Rice
Authors: Brye Kristofor R. , Omidire Niyi S. , English Leah , Parajuli Ranjan , Kekedy-Nagy Laszlo , Sultana Ruhi , Popp Jennie , Thoma Greg , Roberts Trenton L. , Greenlee Lauren F.
Published: August 2022

Phosphorus (P) recovery from wastewaters as struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) may be a viable alternative fertilizer-P source for agriculture. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic and environmental implications of struvite as a fertilizer-P source for flood-irrigated rice (Oryza sativa) relative to other commonly used commercially available fertilizer-P sources. A field study was conducted in 2019 and 2020 to evaluate the effects of wastewater-recovered struvite (chemically precipitated struvite (CPST) and electrochemically precipitated struvite (ECST)) on rice yield response in a P-deficient, silt–loam soil in eastern Arkansas relative to triple superphosphate, monoammonium and diammonium phosphate, and rock phosphate. A life cycle assessment methodology was used to estimate the global warming potentials associated with rice produced with the various fertilizer-P sources. Life cycle inventory data were based on the field trials conducted with and without struvite application for both years. A partial budget analysis showed that, across both years, net revenues for ECST and CPST were 1.4 to 26.8% lower than those associated with the other fertilizer-P sources. The estimated greenhouse gas emissions varied between 0.58 and 0.70 kg CO2 eq kg rice−1 from CPST and between 0.56 and 0.81 kg CO2 eq kg rice−1 from ECST in 2019 and 2020, respectively, which were numerically similar to those for the other fertilizer-P sources in 2019 and 2020. The similar rice responses compared to commercially available fertilizer-P sources suggest that wastewater-recovered struvite materials might be an alternative fertilizer-P-source option for flood-irrigated rice production if struvite can become price-competitive to other fertilizer-P sources.
Analysis of Factors Influencing Mining Damage Based on Engineering Detection and Machine Learning
Authors: Miao Lintian , Duan Zhonghui , Xia Yucheng , Du Rongjun , Lv Tingting , Sun Xueyang
Published: August 2022

The direct results of mining damage are overburden fracture and surface subsidence, which may induce groundwater seepage and surface vegetation degradation. Therefore, it is essential to research the factors and mechanisms influencing mining damage. Based on the geological characteristics of the Xiaobaodang minefield in the Yushen Mine area in China, the engineering detection of fractured zone height (FZH), sampling tests of rock mechanical properties, and field measurements of the surface settlement were carried out. Firstly, the factors influencing the FZH were screened by correlation analysis and partial correlation analysis. Next, a model for predicting the maximum height of the fracture zone with the BP neural network (BPNN) was established and trained with Python. Finally, the FLAC3D numerical simulation experiment was adopted to reveal the variation law of overburden stress during coal mining, and the relationship between stress and overburden fracture was analyzed. The results show the following: When the average mining thickness in the study area is 5.8 m, the maximum height of the fractured zone is 157.46 m, and the maximum surface subsidence is 3715 mm. Further, the mining thickness, mining depth, the compressive strength of overburden, the width of the working face, and the mining velocity are the main factors affecting the maximum height of the fractured zone. Additionally, the goodness of fit of the BPNN model can reach 97.22%, meaning that it can effectively predict the maximum height of the fractured zone caused by coal mining. Finally, the area where the stress changes markedly above the goaf is the area where the fractures develop rapidly. Meanwhile, there is a positive correlation between the surface subsidence and the FZH. The research results obtained provide new ideas for reducing mining damage and will be helpful for the green and sustainable development of the mine.
Network Structure Features and Influencing Factors of Tourism Flow in Rural Areas: Evidence from China
Authors: Li Yuzhen , Gong Guofang , Zhang Fengtai , Gao Lei , Xiao Yuedong , Yang Xingyu , Yu Pengzhen
Published: August 2022

Exploring the spatial network structure of tourism flow and its influencing factors is of great significance to the transmission of characteristic culture and the sustainable development of tourism in tourist destinations, especially in backward rural areas. Taking Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (hereinafter referred to as Qiandongnan Prefecture) as an example, this paper adopts social network analysis and Quadratic Assignment Procedure regression analysis to study the network structural characteristics and influencing factors of tourism flow using online travel blog data. The results show that: (1) There are seasonal changes in tourism flow, but the attractions that tourists pay attention to do not change with the seasons. (2) The tightness of the tourism flow network structure is poor. The core nodes are unevenly distributed, and there are obvious structural holes. (3) The density of the tourism flow network is low. There is a clear core–periphery structure in the network, and the core area has a weak driving effect on the periphery area. There are more cohesive subgroups in the network, but the degree of connectedness between the subgroups varies greatly. (4) Geographical adjacency, transportation accessibility, and tourism resource endowment influence tourism flow network structure. The study found that the influencing factors of tourism flow in rural areas are different from those in urban areas. These results provide useful information for the marketing and development of tourism management departments in rural areas.
The Characteristics of Soil Ca and Mg Leakage in a Karst Depression
Authors: Luo Ding
Published: August 2022

The soil leakage characteristics of depressions in karst areas should be explored by investigating their soil Ca and Mg contents. As a starting point, in a karst landform typical of Guizhou Huajiang dry valley karst watersheds, we selected surface depression and performed a field investigation, soil profile excavation, and soil sample collection. The soil samples were pretreated and taken to the laboratory for soil physical and chemical analysis. The data were processed, and the Ca and Mg contents of the soils were analyzed to determine the spatial variation characteristics of soil leakage in the depression. We found that in the depression watershed, the Ca and Mg contents in the 0–30 cm soil profile generally increased with increasing soil depth, and the Ca and Mg contents in the 30–150 cm soil profile exhibited more variability with increasing soil depth. The Ca and Mg in the soil surface profiles from the top of the slope, middle of the slope, base of the slope, bottom of the depression, and sinkhole showed obvious characteristics of a sedimentary soil leakage migration path. In combination with analyses of the soil K and N contents, the soil Ca and Mg contents can be used as an index of the likelihood of soil and water leakage in karst depressions.
Neurocartographer: CC-WGAN Based SSVEP Data Generation to Produce a Model toward Symmetrical Behaviour to the Human Brain
Authors: Karabulut Sefa E. , Khorasani Mohammad Mehdi , Pantanowitz Adam
Published: August 2022

Brain–computer interfaces are an emerging field of medical technology that enable users to control external digital devices via brain activity. Steady-state evoked potential is a type of electroencephalogram signal that is widely used for brain–computer interface applications. Collecting electroencephalogram data is an effort-intensive task that requires technical expertise, specialised equipment, and ethical considerations. This work proposes a class-conditioned Wasserstein generative adversarial network with a gradient penalty loss for electroencephalogram data generation. Electroencephalogram data were recorded via a g.tec HiAmp using 5, 6, 7.5, and 10 Hz flashing video stimuli. The resulting model replicates the key steady-state-evoked potential features after training for 100 epochs with 25 batches of 4 s steady-state-evoked potential data. This creates a model that mimics brain activity, producing a type of symmetry between the brain’s visual reaction to frequency-based stimuli as measured by electroencephalogram and the model output.
Dispersed Systems: Physics, Optics, Invariants, Symmetry
Authors: Kudryashova Olga B.
Published: August 2022

Disperse systems are widely used in technology (medicine, food science, oil refining, metallurgy, etc [...]
Motion along a Space Curve with a Quasi-Frame in Euclidean 3-Space: Acceleration and Jerk
Authors: Elshenhab Ahmed M. , Moaaz Osama , Dassios Ioannis , Elsharkawy Ayman
Published: August 2022

The resolution of the acceleration and jerk vectors of a particle moving on a space curve in the Euclidean 3-space is considered. By applying this resolution and Siacci’s theorem, alternative resolutions of acceleration and jerk vectors are derived based on the quasi-frame. In the osculating plane, the acceleration vector is resolved as the sum of its tangential and radial components. In addition, in the osculating and rectifying planes, the jerk vector is resolved along the tangential direction and two special radial directions. The maximum permissible speed on a space curve at all trajectory points is established via the jerk vector formula. Finally, some examples are presented to illustrate how the results work.
Using XAI for Deep Learning-Based Image Manipulation Detection with Shapley Additive Explanation
Authors: Walia Savita , Kumar Krishan , Agarwal Saurabh , Kim Hyunsung
Published: August 2022

In the arena of image forensics, detecting manipulations in an image is extremely significant because of the use of images in different fields. Various detection techniques have been suggested in the literature that are based on digging out the features from images to unveil the traces left by manipulation operations. In this paper, a deep learning-based approach is proposed in which a residual network is used to learn deep, complex features from preprocessed images for classification into authentic and forged images. There is statistical symmetry in similar types of images and asymmetry in different types of images. The proposed scheme can highlight the statistical asymmetry between authentic and forged images. In the proposed scheme, firstly, an RGB image is analyzed for different JPEG compression levels. The obtained difference between the error levels is used to extract enhanced LBP code. Then, the scale- and direction-invariant LBP (SD-LBP) code is transformed into SD-LBP feature maps to feed to a deep residual network. Next, the concept of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is used to help provide explanations and interpret the output, thereby raising the credibility of the proposed approach. The unique feature selection approach employed is the kernel SHAP method, which is focused on the Shapley values. This technique is used to pinpoint the specific characteristics that are responsible for the aberrant behavior of the forged images dataset. Later, the deep learning-based model is trained and validated using these feature sets. A pre-activation version of ResNet-50 architecture is used that achieved an accuracy of 99.31%, 99.52%, 98.05%, and 99.10% on CASIA v1, CASIA v2, IMD 2020, and DVMM datasets, respectively. The capability of the pretrained residual network and rich textural features, which are scale- and direction-invariant, helps to expand the detection accuracy of the proposed approach. The results confirmed that the method either produced competitive results or outperformed existing methods.
Triple-Band Implantable Antenna Design for Biotelemetry Applications in MICS/ISM/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Bands
Authors: Shahverdi Kaveh , Hashemi Soheil , Sarafan Sadaf , Cao Hung
Published: August 2022

Our objective is to design triple-band implantable antennas with wide bandwidths and appropriate sizes for biomedical applications. The targeted design frequencies are 400 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and the new Wi-Fi band of 5.7 GHz. Three triple-band antennas with bandwidth improvements are presented to insure all-time data connection. The proposed triple-band implantable antennas benefit from combining long-distance data transfer at lower frequency bands and a higher effective bandwidth, and high-speed communications at higher frequency bands, which will have flexibility for a variety of applications. A comprehensive explanation of the design procedure to achieve multiple-band implantable antennas is provided. Furthermore, miniaturization techniques are utilized to design antennas in compact sizes suitable for biomedical applications. In this paper, three-layer structures including skin, fat, and muscle are used for the designs, then antennas are placed in the chest, neck, head, and hand of different human voxels to compare antennas’ performance. Additionally, normal and overweight human effects on antenna performance were compared. Antennas have 2 to 6 dBi directivity for telemetry usage, and they are designed to satisfy the absorption limit for the human body to keep the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) averaged over 1 g of tissue less than 1.6 W/kg and over 10 g of tissue less than 2 W/kg, according to IEEE standard. The antennas include fractal, meandered, and comb types with sizes of 1.4 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm, 3.04 mm × 10 mm × 17.25 mm, and 1.4 mm × 12 mm × 12 mm, respectively. The designed antenna showed an impedance bandwidth of 53 MHz to 120 MHz, 90 MHz to 320 MHz, and 300 MHz to 1200 MHz at the three bands. The meandered antenna was selected for validation of simulations, and its S parameters were measured in the equivalent liquid phantom of body tissues.
Altered HIV-1 Viral Copy Number and Gene Expression Profiles of Peripheral (CEM CCR5+) and Mucosal (A3R5.7) T Cell Lines Co-Infected with HSV-2 In Vitro
Authors: Desai Dipen , Londhe Rajkumar , Chandane Madhuri , Kulkarni Smita
Published: August 2022

Co-infecting pathogens have been speculated to influence Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) disease progression. Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2), another sexually transmitted pathogen, is commonly observed in individuals with HIV-1. Some clinical studies have observed an increase in HIV-1 viral copy number in HSV-2 co-infected individuals. In vitro studies have also demonstrated an increase in the expression of HIV-1 co-receptors on immune cells infected with HSV-2. Although both the viruses show distinctive persistent infection, the influence of HSV-2 on HIV-1 is poorly understood. Here we present a comparative analysis of primary CD4+ T-cells and four different T-cell lines (PM-1, CEM CCR5+, MOLT4 CCR5+, and A3R5.7) to assess the influence of HSV-2 co-infection on HIV-1 replication in vitro. Cell lines indicating significant changes in HIV-1 viral copy number [CEM CCR5+ (0.61 Log10), A3R5.7 (0.78 Log10)] were further evaluated for the infectivity of HIV-1 virions and the changes in gene expression profiles of HSV-2/HIV-1 co-infected and mono-infected cells, which were further confirmed by qPCR. Significant changes in NUP, MED, and VPS mRNA expression were observed in the gene expression profiles in co-infected CEM CCR5+ and A3R5.7 cells. In both cell lines, it was observed that the WNT signaling, PI3 kinase, apoptosis, and T-cell activation pathways were negatively affected in co-infected cells. The data suggest that HSV-2 infection of T-cells may influence the expression of genes that have been previously shown to affect HIV-1 replication in vitro. This idea needs to be explored further to identify anti-viral targets for HSV-2 and HIV-1.
Lytic Reactivation of the Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) Is Accompanied by Major Nucleolar Alterations
Authors: Atari Nofar , Rajan K. Shanmugha , Chikne Vaibhav , Cohen-Chalamish Smadar , Doniger Tirza , Orbaum Odelia , Jacob Avi , Kalt Inna , Michaeli Shulamit , Sarid Ronit
Published: August 2022

The nucleolus is a subnuclear compartment whose primary function is the biogenesis of ribosomal subunits. Certain viral infections affect the morphology and composition of the nucleolar compartment and influence ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription and maturation. However, no description of nucleolar morphology and function during infection with Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is available to date. Using immunofluorescence microscopy, we documented extensive destruction of the nuclear and nucleolar architecture during the lytic reactivation of KSHV. This was manifested by the redistribution of key nucleolar proteins, including the rRNA transcription factor UBF. Distinct delocalization patterns were evident; certain nucleolar proteins remained together whereas others dissociated, implying that nucleolar proteins undergo nonrandom programmed dispersion. Significantly, the redistribution of UBF was dependent on viral DNA replication or late viral gene expression. No significant changes in pre-rRNA levels and no accumulation of pre-rRNA intermediates were found by RT-qPCR and Northern blot analysis. Furthermore, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), combined with immunofluorescence, revealed an overlap between Fibrillarin and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), which represents the primary product of the pre-rRNA, suggesting that the processing of rRNA proceeds during lytic reactivation. Finally, small changes in the levels of pseudouridylation (Ψ) and 2′-O-methylation (Nm) were documented across the rRNA; however, none were localized to the functional domain. Taken together, our results suggest that despite dramatic changes in the nucleolar organization, rRNA transcription and processing persist during lytic reactivation of KSHV. Whether the observed nucleolar alterations favor productive infection or signify cellular anti-viral responses remains to be determined.
A Transfectable Fusagravirus from a Japanese Strain of Cryphonectria carpinicola with Spherical Particles
Authors: Das Subha , Hisano Sakae , Eusebio-Cope Ana , Kondo Hideki , Suzuki Nobuhiro
Published: August 2022

A novel dsRNA virus (Cryphonectria carpinicola fusagravirus 1, CcFGV1), isolated from a Japanese strain (JS13) of Cryphonectria carpinicola, was thoroughly characterized. The biological comparison of a set of isogenic CcFGV1-infected and -free (JS13VF) strains indicated asymptomatic infection by CcFGV1. The sequence analysis showed that the virus has a two open reading frame (ORF) genome of 9.6 kbp with the RNA-directed RNA polymerase domain encoded by ORF2. The N-terminal sequencing and peptide mass fingerprinting showed an N-terminally processed or degraded product (150 kDa) of the 5′-proximal ORF1-encoded protein (1462 amino acids) to make up the CcFGV1 spherical particles of ~40 nm in diameter. Interestingly, a portion of CcFGV1 dsRNA co-fractionated with a host protein of 70 kDa. The purified CcFGV1 particles were used to transfect protoplasts of JS13VF as well as the standard strain of an experimental model filamentous fungal host Cryphonectria parasitica. CcFGV1 was confirmed to be associated with asymptomatic infection of both fungi. RNA silencing was shown to target the virus in C. parasitica, resulting in reduced CcFGV1 accumulation by comparing the CcFGV1 content between RNA silencing-competent and -deficient strains. These results indicate the transfectability of spherical particles of a fusagravirus associated with asymptomatic infection.