bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tertiary Music Teachers’ Best Practices in Utilizing Music Notation Software as an Aid to Musically Challenged Students
Authors: Mabini Jay P.
Published: March 2022

This study focused on the best practices of tertiary music teachers in utilizing music notation software as an aid to musically challenged students. The phenomenon refers to those who have the difficulty in music aptitude, rhythmic, tonal audiation, and music theory. With the use of purposive sampling, ten participants provided significant answers to the questions on the best practices in utilizing music notation software through an interview guide and was treated using thematic analysis. This is a single case study and is anchored on cognitive theory of multimedia learning of Richard Mayer where students learn more deeply through sounds, picture, and words. The results confirm that the best practices of the tertiary music teachers in utilizing music notation software even with no formal training, boil down to being efficient and effective by providing alternative means and navigation of its basic features, resourceful by adjusting to the underutilized features of the software to cater the needs of the musically challenged students, and making use of the opportunities brought by music notation software to aid the instruction of musical and non-musical students in the classroom.
A STUDY TO ASSESS THE ATTITUDE OF NURSING STUDENTS TOWARDS MENTAL SICKNESS
Authors: sharma Mrs. Neha , sharma Dr Santosh
Published: March 2022

A study to assess the attitude of the student nurses towards mental sickness was conducted in a nursing institute. It was a descriptive research study conducted on a sample of 100 student nurses with 25 students from each of the B.Sc. Nursing 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year & 4th year. National Mental Health Program was initiated in India because of the magnitude of the problem of mental sicknesses. Nurses play an important role in prevention, promotion and treatment of mental sicknesses. The attitude was assessed by questionnaire consists of 30 questions having 5-point Likert format from 1- 5. No student was found to be having negative attitude towards mental health. Whereas 90% students were found to be having positive attitude and rest 10% were found to be having neutral attitude towards mental health Significant association was found between the age of the students and attitude. It was revealed thatattitude turned more positive with age. Attitude had no relationship with any of the socio demographic variables. Key Words: mental sicknesses, attitude, questionnaire.
Satisfação e motivação no trabalho: uma análise dos servidores assistentes administrativos de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior
Authors:   , Diniz Alessandra Santos
Published: March 2022

Para que a administração pública possa avançar e alcançar suas metas institucionais, faz-se necessário um olhar mais atento àqueles que compõem seu quadro, uma vez que os servidores são o coração dessa máquina. Diante dessas novas transformações, este estudo buscou analisar a percepção dos assistentes administrativos quanto a motivação e satisfação dessa categoria dentro do seu ambiente de trabalho com o intuito de identificar pontos fortes e fracos que hoje podem estar comprometendo a forma como executam suas tarefas dentro do seu ambiente de trabalho. A metodologia utilizada para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa foi de natureza qualitativa, do tipo exploratória e descritiva. Ao todo, 25 assistentes administrativos foram submetidos a uma entrevista semiestruturada, que teve como apoio teórico a Teria Bifatorial de Frederick Herzberg. Para a análise dos dados, este estudo fez uso da análise de conteúdo de Bardin. Como forma de auxiliar na leitura dos dados, o software livre IRAMUTEQ também foi utilizado para gerar o gráfico de análise de similitude e a nuvem de palavras. Os resultados demonstram que apesar de existir alguns fatores que hoje interferem diretamente na motivação dos servidores, como a falta de reconhecimento e a ausência de uma política de crescimento profissional, existe pontos positivos que devem ser ressaltados como a realização profissional de fazerem parte da instituição e a responsabilidade advinda do cargo. A partir dos resultados, estruturou-se um relatório técnico com um plano de ação pensado para que a instituição possa ter acesso às informações encontradas nesta pesquisa e desenvolver uma política de gestão com foco em suprir hoje as lacunas aqui evidenciadas como a falta de reconhecimento por parte da instituição e a falta de treinamentos específicos para os servidores. Palavras-chave: Satisfação no trabalho. Motivação. Assistentes administrativos. Gestão Pública. Administração Pública.
CHALLENGES KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS FACE IN ADMINISTERING ASSESSMENT TOOLS TO CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS
Authors: Subbey Michael , Muhammed Nurudeen , Gyapong Mark
Published: March 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges kindergarten teachers face in administering assessment tools to children with intellectual disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis.

Methodology: Regarding the methodology, a descriptive survey design was adopted using a sample of 120 early childhood teachers from 22 public inclusive schools in the Kumasi Metro. Purposive sampling technique was used to select all 22 public inclusive schools, while convenience sampling technique was employed to select the actual respondents for the study. Questionnaire was used to gather the research data. Means (M) and Standard deviations (SD) were used as statistical tools to analyze the data.

Findings: The findings revealed that most public kindergartens teachers in the Kumasi metropolis admitted not being confident enough to try out authentic assessments like portfolios, learning logs, journals, projects graphic organizers, concept mapping and rubrics on children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive public schools (M=3.84, SD=.575, KS=.620) due to inadequate professional guidance. It was therefore recommended that teachers should be equipped with skills and morale in administering authentic assessment practices to learners with intellectual disabilities. The study would serve as an important reference source for inclusive public and private kindergarten teachers, headmasters/mistresses, Teacher Education Division (TED), Early Childhood Care and Development Division (ECCDD) and Special Education Division(SED) of the Ghana Education Service (GES),University of Education (UEW) and the Institute of Education, (IoE) of the University of Cape Coast, (UCC) and other private educational institutions that train teachers in their effort to improve the management of testing with the adequate information about what is actually involved in assessment practices in the Early Childhood Centres.

Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Besides, the study would contribute to the improvement of testing practices, specifically, on children with intellectual disabilities on construction, administration, and scoring of teacher-made tests in the inclusive early childhood centres. The constructivist learning theory by Lev Vygotsky, which was adopted for this study, postulated that children learn best when they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
EFFECT OF COMMUNITY –BASED PARTICIPATORY APPROACH ON RURAL COMMUNITIES ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA
Authors: Oyetunde Oyewale , Oyedele Oyediran
Published: March 2022

Purpose: This study, examined the effect of a Community-Based Participatory Approach (CBPA) on environmental knowledge, attitude and practices of rural communities’ inhabitants in Oyo State, Nigeria. It was embarked upon to reveal the desirability of involving people at the community level in the environmental management as a means of enhancing their environmental knowledge, attitudes and practices. It is well documented that inhabitants of rural communities often exhibit low knowledge of and poor attitude towards the environment, a situation that diminishes quality of human life.

Methodology: The pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design with 2x2x2 factorial matrix was adopted.  Four local government areas were purposively selected. Two rural communities were then selected from each local government areas, using stratified random sampling technique. Forty (40) members of Community Development Associations (CDAs) who reside in selected rural communities and whose age ranges between 25-55years were purposively selected from designed rural communities in four (04) local government areas of Oyo State.  The participants were randomly assigned to CBPA (experimental) and direct teaching method (control) groups. Treatment lasted eight weeks.

Findings: Treatment had a significant main effect on participants’ environmental knowledge (F(1.126) = 88.04; ŋ2 = 0.98) but none on attitude and practices. Participants in the CBPA group had a higher posttest environmental score ( = 23.58) than their counterparts in the control group ( = 10.57).  Participants with high level education had slightly higher environmental attitude  ( = 60.48) than those with low-level education ( = 59.34).  There was no significant main effect of gender on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practices.  Level of education was not significant on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practices.  The two-way interaction effects of treatment and gender on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practices were not significant.  The three-way interaction effect of treatment, gender and level of education was significant on participants’ environmental attitude (F(1.126) = 4.44; ŋ2 = 0.03). Higher attitude score was recorded for low-level education males ( = 62.72) compared with their high-level education counterparts ( = 62.00) while high-level education females had higher attitude ( = 65.09) than low-level education females   ( = 64.73).

Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that more health personnel should be recruited in the rural communities to monitor environmental sanitation with an enhanced communal effort in solving environmental problems. 

Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy:  The sudy provides empirical evidence on the impact of the Community-Based Paricipatory Approach on the people of rural communities towards maintenance and sustainance of healthy environment.
LOS ASUNTOS KADI, YUSUF Y CHAFIQ AYADI: CUESTIONES DE DERECHO INTERNACIONAL
Authors: RIPOL CARULLA SANTIAGO
Published: March 2022

Las Sentencias dictadas por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia en los asuntos Kadi, Yusuf y Chafiq Ayadi resuelven los recursos de anulación interpuestos contra las acciones emprendidas por la UE para dar ejecución a las resoluciones aprobadas por el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas, en la lucha contra el terrorismo. Consideraban los recurrentes, entre otras cosas, que estas normas y acciones vulneraban sus derechos fundamentales.
El examen de estas Sentencias permite advertir que el TPI realiza en uso poco preciso de la noción de ius cogens internacional, poniendo en evidencia las dificultades de los tribunales «constitucionales» cuando, para garantizar el respeto de los derechos fundamentales, recurren a textos también «constitucionales» ajenos al ordenamiento jurídico en cuyo marco ejercen jurisdicción.

Lehen Auzialdiko Epaitegiak Kadi, Yusuf eta Chafig Avadi auzietan emandako erabakiek honako hauek ebazten dituzte: NBEren Segurtasun Kontseiluak terrorismoaren aurkako borrokan onartutako ebazpenak betearazteko EBk abiarazitako ekintzen kontra ezarritako baliogabetze-errekurtsoak. Errekurtsoa aurkeztu zutenek uste zuten arau eta ekintza horiek beren oinarrizko eskubideak urratzen zituztela, besteak beste. Epai horiek aztertuz gero ikusiko dugu Lehen Auzialdiko Epaitegiak zehaztasunik gabe erabiltzen duela nazioarteko ius cogens adiera, eta agerian geratuko dira auzitegi «konstituzionalek» eurek kausitzen dituzten zailtasunak, beren jurisdikzio-esparruaz kanpoko testu «konstituzionaletara» jo behar izaten
dutenean oinarrizko eskubideak errespeta daitezen bermatzearren.

The judgments on Kadi, Yusuf and Chafiq Ayadi cases delivered by the Court of First Instance solved the annulment actions lodged against EU acts for the implementation of the Resolutions enacted the United Nations¿ Security Council in the fight against terrorism. The applicantss did consider, among other reasons, that these rules and acts infringed their fundamental rights. The analysis of these judgments enable us to notize that the Court of First
Instance makes a not very precise use of the international Ius cogens term showing up the difficulties Constitutional Courts come accross when with the purpose of protecting fundamental rights they turn to constitutional texts alien to their own legal orders.
Влияние регулирования экспорта на продовольственную безопасность (на примере рынка зерновых в России)
Authors: Хейфец Б.А. , Чернова В.Ю.
Published: March 2022

В статье рассматриваются вопросы стабилизации внутренних цен и укрепления продовольственной безопасности с помощью ограничения экспорта зерновых. Показано, что в последние годы валовый сбор зерновых превышает суммарный объем внутреннего потребления и экспорта. Россия неоднократно вводила меры ограничения экспорта зерна в связи с ростом цен на внутреннем рынке, однако данные меры часто только усугубляли проблемы. Сделан вывод, что меры, ограничивающие экспорт, не обладают значимым потенциалом сдерживания продовольственной инфляции, негативно отражаются на развитии зернового сектора. Предложено сосредоточить внимание на альтернативных методах стабилизации ситуации на продовольственном рынке, среди которых приоритетом является: обеспечение стабильного роста и повышение эффективности зернового сектора на основе его технологической модернизации, совершенствования институциональной структуры и повышения эффективности государственного регулирования. В качестве временных мер могут устанавливаться квоты для поставок на внутренний рынок и программы адресной продовольственной помощи для групп населения с низкими доходами.
Экономика Донбасса: состояние, тренды развития, прогнозы
Authors: Половян А.В. , Лепа Р.Н. , Гриневская С.Н.
Published: March 2022

В настоящей статье продолжено исследование проблем развития экономики в условиях ограниченных возможностей. Предложена интерпретация прогнозных сценариев развития автономного Донбасса. Приведена оценка общего состояния экономического развития ДНР в период 2014-2021 гг., определены предполагаемые тренды развития экономики, обозначены основные внутренние и внешние проблемы развития экономики, намечены перспективы роста в ключевых отраслях обрабатывающей промышленности, имеющих потенциал, способствующий достижению структурной оптимальности экономики.
The Effect of Pine Oil Emulsifier on Gasoline-Alcohol Blends in a Spark Ignition Engine with Multi-Point Fuel Injection
Authors: Kavati Venkateswarlu , Kavati Veladri , K.P.V. Krishna Varma
Published: March 2022

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to establish the effect of pine oil as an emulsifier on gasoline-alcohol blends in a twin cylinder spark ignition (SI) engine with multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) system. The test fuels were prepared by blending both ethanol and isopropanol with gasoline separately and pine oil was used as an emulsifier to either of the fuel blends. The 3 sets of fuel samples were used in which the concentration of pine oil was kept constant at 20 % by volume, while the concentration of both alcohols namely ethanol and isopropanol was varied from 5 to 15 % and the rest is gasoline. The experiments were conducted at different loads from 0 to 100 % in steps of 20 % at a constant speed of 2500 rpm. The results demonstrate that the use of gasoline-alcohol blends with pine oil in MPFI SI engine improved brake thermal efficiency (BTE) by 7.8 and 11.2 % with the higher proportions of ethanol and isopropanol in gasoline, i.e., E15 and IPA15, respectively when compared to neat gasoline. Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions reduce by 22.5 and 27.5 %, respectively while HC emissions reduce by 21.5 and 28.8 %, respectively with the E15 and IPA15, respectively. However, higher amounts of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions is the negative impact of the said blends. It was also observed that there is a reduction in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC).
The Application of Differential Equations to Industrial Mathematics
Authors: Dr. Shashi Bhushan Rai
Published: March 2022

The application of ordinary differential equations in the mathematical description of observable quantities (such as position, temperature, population, concentration, electrical current, etc.) underscores the significance of differential equations in science and engineering (ODEs). Using ordinary differential equations, we calculate the heat transported by convection in fluids. Consequently, we first explore the solution of ordinary homogeneous differential equations, followed by an application of first-order ODEs to heat transfer, specifically in fluid.
Trip Generation for shopping malls in Developing Cities
Authors: Meena Sanu
Published: March 2022

This study develops trip generation models for shopping malls in Mumbai, one of the fast-developing cities. A total of eighteen shopping malls are selected to develop trip generation models using regression analysis. The factors that found significant in weekdays and weekend trip attraction models include built-up area, number of screen and seats in multiplex, number of kiosk and stores, number of parking spaces and gross floor area. Based on the video data collected at two shopping malls, it was found that the peak period is from 6 PM to 9 PM. The findings of this study can be used analyze the impacts of newly constructed shopping malls and plan transportation infrastructure in and around a shopping mall.
Alcohol, Binge Sobriety and Exemplary Abstinence
Authors: Robert Julie
Published: March 2022

Where did Temporary Sobriety Initiatives (TSIs) such as Dry January, FebFast and Ocsober, come from? And what is their role, if any, in prompting people to revisit their relationship with alcohol?

These organized campaigns have flourished throughout the English-speaking world in the past decade. Collectively, they involve thousands of participants and raise substantial sums of money for medical research, as well as drug and alcohol related charities. Alcohol, Binge Sobriety and Exemplary Abstinence considers these campaigns as part of a lifestyle movement that transcends single events and even singular national contexts. It uses case studies from Australia, the USA and the UK to examine both the short history of TSIs as a response to problematic localized drinking cultures – including binge drinking – and their relationship to a much longer and transnational history of temperance activism.

In taking TSIs as a case study of both embodied philanthropy and participatory health promotion, this book considers how TSIs are structured, promoted and experienced as an embodied event to create imitable, and sometimes contradictory, examples to create a public pedagogy of ‘responsible drinking’.
Noël Coward
Authors: Jackson Russell
Published: March 2022

This is the first book-length work to draw extensively on unpublished archive material to document the composition and reception of some of Noël Coward’s most significant plays. It examines his working practices as a playwright, from manuscript to performance. This study argues that, while he did not embrace any of the more radical theatrical ‘isms’ of his time, Coward experimented with both form and content. He adapted the familiar ‘well-made’ formulas, while also emphasizing theatrical self-consciousness and an exploration of radical social and sexual relationships.

After an overview of Coward’s career and the reception of his plays, the work discusses selected texts from successive phases of Coward’s career, including some unproduced or uncompleted work and perennially popular plays such as The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Blithe Spirit and Present Laughter. This study also explores how, in the aftermaths of two world wars, as major changes in social and political circumstances suggested new approaches to dramaturgy, Coward’s post-1945 work failed to achieve the same success he had enjoyed in earlier periods. The final chapter examines Coward’s approach to his craft in response to the new theatrical and cultural environment, and the new freedom in the treatment of homosexuality represented by Suite in Three Keys and his final, uncompleted play, Age Cannot Wither.
Understanding the Effect of IoT Adoption on the Behavior of Firms: An Agent-based Model
Authors: Occa Riccardo , Bertolotti Francesco
Published: March 2022

In the context of increasing diffusion of technologies related to Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things in particular, we have developed an agent-based model to simulate the effect of IoT diffusion in companies and verify potential benefits and risks. The model analyses how firms react to the spread of IoT in the market by analysing its effects on firms' pricing and quality strategies, its impact on variable production costs, and the long-term survival rate of firms. The model shows how IoT diffusion has the potential to influence the market by supporting both quality and cost improvements. The results of the model also confirm the potential for significant benefits for businesses, suggesting the opportunity to support the introduction and application of IoT, and clearly show how the use of IoT can be a key strategic choice in competitive market contexts focused on cost strategies to increase business performance and prospects.
Trust for Big Data Usage in Cloud
Authors: Yusof Ali Hazirah Bee , Abdullah Lili Marziana
Published: March 2022

Integrating big data with an agile cloud platform can significantly affect how businesses achieve their objectives. Many companies are moving to the cloud, but the trust issue seemed to make a move to the cloud slower. This paper investigated the factors that affect Service Satisfaction that led to Trust. Since the sample was not normally distributed, the researchers used the PLS-SEM tool to analyse the relationship of the variables. The variables are Data Security, Data Privacy, Cloud Benefits, Reputation, Service Level Agreement (SLA), Risk Management, Service Satisfaction and Trust. The variables were linked together based on the analysis from qualitative research supported by theories, and the linkages were being validated through quantitative data analysis. The quantitative data analysis found that Data Security, Cloud Benefits, Reputation and SLA influence Service Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction influences trust.
An Object-Driven Collision Detection with 2D Cameras using Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision
Authors: Liu Yang , Gunnell Evan , Sun Yu , Zheng Hao
Published: March 2022

Autonomous driving is one of the most popular technologies in artificial intelligence. Collision detection is an important issue in automatic driving, which is related to the safety of automatic driving. Many collision detection methods have been proposed, but they all have certain limitations and cannot meet the requirements for automatic driving. Camera is one of the most popular methods to detect objects. The obstacle detection of the current camera is mostly completed by two or more cameras (binocular technology) or used in conjunction with other sensors (such as a depth camera) to achieve the purpose of distance detection. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to detect obstacle distances from photos or videos of a single camera.
Variations of Anterior Cerebral Artery (ACA) on CT Angiography (CTA)
Authors: Asad Fiza , Neelam Raheel  , Saira Bilal  , Nighat Haroon
Published: March 2022

Introduction: The variations in anterior cerebral artery (ACA) has high clinical significance for surgeons

Aim: This study aims to assess the variations of ACA with the help of CT angiography (CTA)

Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted from Nov 2019 to Feb 2020 at Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. In total, 150 patients went under detailed analysis. The demographic data such as age and gender were noted for each patient. The CTA was performed with the help of 128-slice CT scanner. The reports were assessed by an experienced radiologist. Anatomic variations were noted and presented as frequencies and percentages.

Results: The study included 92 (61.33%) were females and 58 (38.66%) were males with mean age 50.2 ± 3.7 years. Azygos anterior cerebral artery was present in 14 patients (9%), hypoplasia of anterior cerebral artery A1 segment in 43 (35.66%) patients,11 (7.33%) patients showed bi-hemispheric anterior cerebral artery, right anterior cerebral artery dominance in  2 (1.33%) patients, 8 (4.33 %) were detected with congenital absence of A1 segment. Anterior cerebral artery trifurcation had prevalence of 6(3.2%).

Conclusion: It can be concluded that anterior cerebral artery variations have low prevalence and CT angiography is a gold method for detecting them.
PREVALENCE OF DYSFUNCTIONAL UTERINE BLEEDING IN PATIENTS WITH SUB FERTILITY
Authors: Rizwana Tariq  , Al-Fareed Zafar  , Ilyas Mehvish , Maryam Javed  , Usmani Saima Saeed
Published: March 2022

Background: Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is the idiopathic complication in premenopausal females or females that have chance to get pregnancy. It can have significant impact on quality-of-life of female and also lead to several complications including subfertility.

Objective: To determine the frequency of dysfunctional uterine bleeding in patients presenting with problem of sub-fertility.

Study design: Cross sectional study.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. Duration: 3 months (July to October 2020).

Method: Sample size of 150 patients were enrolled in the study through Non Probability, Consecutive Sampling. Patients of age 20-40 years, presented with diagnosis of subfertility were included. Then females were evaluated for presence of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Data was recorded on proforma and analyzed by using SPSS version 22.

Results: The mean age of females was 32.56 ± 8.93 years. The mean BMI of females was 29.61 ± 12.43 kg/m2. The mean duration of marriage was 8.94 ± 3.47 years. There were 97 (65%) females with primary subfertility while 53 (35%) females had secondary subfertility. Out of 150 females, dysfunctional uterine bleeding was noted in 69 (46%) females while 81 (54%) females did not had dysfunctional uterine bleeding. In females with primary subfertility, dysfunctional uterine bleeding was observed in 38 (39.2%) females. In females with secondary subfertility, dysfunctional uterine bleeding was observed in 31 (58.5%) females. The difference was significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Though this study, we found significantly high frequency of dysfunctional uterine bleeding in females with subfertility. Also the frequency of dysfunctional uterine bleeding was significantly higher in females with secondary subfertility as compared to primary subfertility.
ATTITUDE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AND PAKISTANI PHYSICIANS TOWARDS EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE: A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Authors: Saira Naz  , Arif Rasheed
Published: March 2022

Objective: To Determine Attitude Of Medical Students and Pakistani Physicians towards Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.

Study Design: Descriptive Cross -sectional Study

Place and Duration of Study: The Study was carried out at King Edward Medical University, Lahore from 24th August to 24th September, 2020

Methodology:  After taking ethical Approval from Institutional Review Board a questionnaire recording the respondent’s email address was distributed in King Edward Medical University and affiliated Mayo Hospital, Lahore and responses to questionnaire were recorded with informed consent.

Result: Male to Female ratio of respondents was 2:3 and almost 83.74% of the respondents believed that euthanasia may be against their religious commands and 49.4% of the respondents agreed that euthanasia with  necessary safeguards and restrictions should be legalized.

The characteristics of respondents are given in the Table-1

Conclusion: Almost half of the health care workers and medical students in Pakistan support judicial practice of Euthanasia.
METHODOLOGICAL FEATURES OF PROFESSIONALLY ORIENTED EDUCATION OF PHYSICAL ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES BASED ON STEM TECHNOLOGIES: ASPECT OF ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH
Authors: Kuzmenko O. S. , Demianenko V. B. , Savchenko I. M. , Demianenko V. M.
Published: March 2022

The article considers the urgency of the problem of interrelation of teaching physics and professionally-oriented disciplines based on STEM-technologies in the conditions of ontological approach in the process of training students in engineering and technical education according to the educational-professional program of speciality 272 “Air Transport”. Developed and proposed methods of teaching physics based on STEM-technologies, taking into account the definition of ontology aimed at forming STEM skills in subjects, due to the statement before educational institutions significantly improve the quality of students’ knowledge, the role of learning in shaping student’s thinking and cognitive abilities development of STEM education. It is determined that one of the innovative directions of modern education is the introduction of STEM education, which involves the integration of sciences aimed at the development of STEM technologies, innovative thinking and meeting the need for well-trained engineering and technical specialists. The methodical features of professionally-oriented teaching of physical engineering disciplines based on STEM technologies taking into account the ontological approach are substantiated. In the process of conducting a pedagogical experiment, theoretical and empirical research methods were used. In particular, the analysis of philosophical, psychological-pedagogical, educational-methodical literature, recommended textbooks and manuals on methods of teaching physics in the context of the development of STEM education was carried out. Observations, questionnaires, testing, surveys, interviews with scientists and students were conducted. These experimental results were comprehensively analyzed and processed, quantitative data using the methods of mathematical statistics. The results of a comparative experiment to identify the effectiveness of the proposed method of teaching physics in the context of STEM education showed that the level of physical knowledge, skills and abilities of students in control groups is lower than the corresponding level in experimental groups.
Scaling and performance assessment of TSMP under CPU-only and CPU-GPU configurations
Authors: Caviedes-Voullième Daniel , Benke Jörg , Tashakor Ghazal , Poll Stefan , Zhukov Ilya
Published: March 2022

Multiphysics Earth system models are potentially good candidates for progressive porting of modules to run on accelerator hardware. Typically, these models have an inherently modular design to cope with the variety of numerical formulations and computational implementations required for the range of physical processes they represent. Progressively porting modules or submodels to accelerators such as GPUs implies that models must run on heterogeneous hardware. Foreseeably, exascale systems will make use of heterogeneous hardware, and therefore, exploring early on such heterogeneous configurations is of importance and a challenge.

The Terrestrial Systems Modelling Platform (TSMP) is a scale-consistent, highly modular, massively parallel, fully integrated soil-vegetation-atmosphere modelling system. Currently, TSMP is based on the COSMO atmospheric model, the CLM land surface model, and the ParFlow hydrological model, linked together by means of the OASIS3-MCT library.

Recently, ParFlow was ported to GPU, therefore enabling the possibility of running TSMP under a heterogeneous configuration, that is COSMO and CLM running on CPUs, and ParFlow running on GPUs. The different computational demands of each submodel inherently result in non-trivial load balancing across the submodels. This has been addressed by studying the performance and scaling properties of the system for specific problems of interest. The new heterogeneous configurations prompts a re-assessment of load balancing, performance and scaling, in order to identify optimal computational resource configurations, and re-evaluate the bottlenecks and inefficiencies that the heterogeneous model system can have.

In this contribution, we present first results on performance and scaling assessment of the heterogeneous TSMP, compared to its performance under homogeneous (CPU-only) configurations. We study strong and weak scaling, for different problem sizes, and evaluate parallel efficiency and power consumption, for homogeneous and heterogeneous jobs on the JUWELS supercomputer, and on the experimental DEEP-Cluster, both at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. Additionally, we explore profiles and traces of selected cases, both on homogeneous and heterogeneous runs, to identify MPI communication bottlenecks and root causes of the load balancing issue.  
Towards the improvement of the representation of the Paris urban heat island in ERA5 using offline SURFEX-TEB (v8.1) simulations and the METEOSAT land surface temperature product
Authors: Soares Pedro M M , Nogueira Miguel , Johannsen Frederico , Hurduc Alexandra , Ermida Sofia , Lima Daniela , Dutra Emanuel
Published: March 2022

Urban areas concentrate population, wealth, infrastructures, and emissions thus playing a major role on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Therefore, an urgent need for city future climate projections exists to assist stakeholders, organizations and individuals promoting climate mitigation and adaptation measures. Nevertheless, most of the state-of-the-art global and regional climate models have a simplified representation of (or completely neglect) urban climate processes. In the current work, the city of Paris is used as a case study to reveal the shortcomings of the fifth-generation reanalysis from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA5) and of simulations employing the widely used bulk bare rock approach to urban climate simulation. Afterwards, based on the hourly resolution output of ERA5 and on the Satellite Application Facility Land Surface Analysis (LSA-SAF) land surface temperature product, we show the added value of employing the SURFEX land-surface model coupled to Town Energy Balance (TEB) urban canopy model in simulating the Parisian Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) during daytime and the urban heat island during both daytime and night-time. The results display significant the SURFEX-TEB gains in representing the observed daytime and night-time urban heat island effect. SURFEX-TEB diminishes the annual average bias magnitude in 0.5ºC for daytime and 1.5ºC for night-time, when compared to ERA5 and to bare rock approach. Also, SURFEX-TEB revealed an overall better performance in reproducing the observed daytime SUHI. Finally, the offline SURFEX-TEB framework applied here reveals its improved adequacy to simulate the city climate, which is crucial to build city climate future projections and efficient mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 – Instituto Dom Luiz.
Heritage hydrology: A conceptual framework for understanding water fluxes and storage in built and rock-hewn heritage 
Authors: Sass Oliver , Viles Heather
Published: March 2022

Water plays a vital role in the deterioration and conservation of built heritage and management problems might be aggravated by climate change. However, there is as yet no overarching framework for understanding the processes and impacts of water interacting with building materials. The term 'Heritage Hydrology' is a holistic way of conceptualising the flows and stores of water involved in deterioration of built and rock-hewn heritage. We distinguish the following basic types: (a) stone-built buildings, (b) ruins and free-standing walls, and (c) rock-hewn sites which include carved rock art and large rock sculptures. We focus on a key knowledge gap: The spatial and temporal characteristics of water flows/stores and the challenges of using currently available techniques to provide information on these characteristics.

In our selective review we provide examples of spatio-temporal patterns of moisture in stonework at different scales. We raise six key points about the state of research on heritage hydrology, from which we develop a future research agenda. (1) Three characteristics of moisture regimes are important to deterioration, i.e. presence, fluctuations and saturation thresholds. (2) There is a wide range of different heritage hydrological settings ranging from masonry building walls to natural rock slopes, and as yet no clear understanding of the commonalities vs specificities of these different settings. (3) While there is now a wide array of techniques available to measure and monitor moisture regimes in lab and field settings, the understanding of how comparable different measurement approaches are is still lacking. (4) There are now many measurements of the spatial patterning of moisture, but lack of clarity about the causes of these patterns. (5) There has been less research focusing on the temporal dynamics of moisture on heritage walls than on spatial patterns. (6) Studies combining measurement and modelling have proved particularly useful.

A research agenda for the future for heritage hydrology should focus on addressing the following broad questions: What are the best combinations of methods available to measure and model spatio-temporal patterns in moisture on built and rock-hewn heritage? What are the major factors controlling spatio-temporal patterns in moisture, also considering climatic changes? Which spatio-temporal patterns in moisture are most important for driving deterioration, and how do their respective scales interact? Tackling these research questions requires a coordinated approach, linking different research teams and methodologies. It should be based on a combination of data collected through laboratory experiments, detailed studies of test walls, and instrumented sections of walls at heritage sites. It should explore the causes and consequences of moisture regimes which provide fundamental links between climate and the deterioration of built and rock-hewn heritage.
Analysis and comparison of the composition, functional groups, sorption characteristics and surface structure of biochar affected by biomass feedstock 
Authors: Lobzenko Ilia , Bauer Tatiana , Burachevskaya Marina , Minkina Tatiana , Fedorenko Alexey , Mazarji Mahmoud , Sushkova Svetlana , Mandzhieva Saglara , Rajput Vishnu , Zamulina Inna , Scherbakov Alexey , Severina Viktoria
Published: March 2022

Biochar is the perfect solution to reduce the adverse effects of climate change by adopting viable solutions inspired by nature. Since biochar can be made from a variety of different sources, the paper aims to compare the properties of biochar made from different sources, including wood, sunflower, and rice husk. The results obtained from the elemental analysis showed that there are no exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of trace elements in any of the samples. Moreover, it was found silicon oxide is presented in rice husk. IR spectroscopy of wood biochar and sunflower husk biochar showed the presence of hydroxyl functional groups and aliphatic C-H groups of cellulose, as well as phenolic functional groups and esters. In addition, the total surface area of the wood biochar and rice husk biochar is found to be highest and lowest, respectively. It was found that the total volume of pores in the following descending order rice husk>wood>sunflower. The SEM and 3D confocal microscopy results indicate that wood biochar contains the surface with the most upside-down as compared to other samples. The XRD demonstrated that wood and sunflower husk biochar samples take crystallinity from cellulose compared to rice husk biochar. TGA results manifested that the wood biochar is more stable, and the new step as the decomposition of lignin part results by increasing the temperature up to 500 °C. The addition of all the biochars to the soil (Сalcaric Fluvic Arenosols) increases the sorption capacity of the soil under mono- and polyelement contamination by copper, zinc, and lead.

This study was supported by RFBR project no. 19-05-50097, Grant of the President of Russian Federation project no. МК-6137.2021.1.5 and by the Strategic Academic Leadership Program of the Southern Federal University ("Priority 2030").
Estimate of canopy bulk density through clip-on fisheye lens: an easy fix to forest fires simulations
Authors: Taccaliti Flavio , Marchi Niccolò , Lingua Emanuele
Published: March 2022

Forest fires are a natural disturbance largely affected by global changes, especially by anthropic pressure. At the same time, forest fires can be a menace to human lives and activities, and the phenomenon needs control in the most critical areas. One of the tools available to land managers to assess forest fire risk is fire simulation.

Forest fire simulators can highlight the most critical sectors of a landscape, but they need several input information, some of which is not routinely collected. In addition, for some information expensive procedures or dedicated instruments are required. One example is the value of canopy bulk density (CBD), a parameter often assumed as constant because its direct measurement requires destructive sampling of trees.

Alternatives to direct sampling of CBD have been found, with satisfactory results. One of the best proxies is the leaf are index (LAI), a common parameter collected in agricultural and ecological research. Nonetheless, its use outside academia is not common, often due to the need of specific tools and dedicated software to analyse the data.

In this study, a smartphone with a clip-on fisheye lens, and a free software have been used to overcome the aforementioned limitations. LAI has been sampled in 6 Pinus spp. forests in North-East Italy in the context of the EU Interreg Project CROSSIT SAFER, and the results have been compared to values from other studies. Despite the lack of destructive sampling in the same forest plots, the methodology seems promising, providing more reliable values compared to constant values often used in simulations.

With this affordable equipment it was possible to give a more detailed figure of CBD over a landscape, consequently giving more detailed input for forest fire simulators. Although results are not conclusive, the procedure can be easily implemented by land managers when assessing the forest fires risk of their territories.
The role of ecohydrological patch types in carbon sequestration and nutrient uptake rate in a lake estuarine wetland experiencing rapid water-level rise
Authors: Bohrer Gil , Ju Yang , Villa Jorge
Published: March 2022

Coastal wetlands are intrinsically heterogeneous and typically composed of a mosaic of ecosystem patches with different vegetation types. The patch type and vegetation density affect hydraulics, nutrient processing, and greenhouse-gases budgets. We studied carbon sequestration and nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation rates in a lake-estuarine wetland at different patch types across a microtopographic gradient and levels of influence from the main channel. Rapid lake level rise (~1 m/decade) at our field site, OWC, an estuarine marsh by Lake Erie shore in OH, USA, led to rapid increase in wetland water elevation. These were followed by changes in the patch types at each location within the wetland. We developed an approach to classify vegetation patch types from seasonal timeseries of NDVI from the HLS (harmonized Landsat-Sentinel) remote sensing dataset. We classify the location and extent of vegetation patches over the last decade and found rapid transition from cattail to floating-leaf vegetation. And while the bathymetry (the topography of the wetland bottom) was relatively constant, the rapid changes to water elevation and vegetation meant that the current patch-type identity did not provide a consistent indication of the local ecosystem characteristics over a timeframe of several years.

 

Using a microtopographic (hydrological) rather than vegetation-type (ecological) characterization of our soil core locations, we found that nitrogen accumulation mirrored carbon relative distribution, with larger rates at the shallow and deep locations than at the intermediate-depth ones. Both carbon sequestration and nitrogen accumulation rates were greater the farther they were from the main channel. Phosphorus accumulation rates were larger at the deeper microtopographic level than in the intermediate and shallow ones. Phosphorus accumulation did not vary in response to the influence of the main channel. Our results highlight the relevance of watershed-level management practices of phosphorus and nitrogen runoff to control carbon sequestration and nutrient accumulation in wetlands. Climate-change-induced water-elevation changes emphasize the relevance of microtopographic considerations in wetland-related projects, such as maximizing deep pools to enhance phosphorus accumulation. 
Robust River Basin planning under extreme climate events and socio-economic changes: the Red River Basin in China-Vietnam
Authors: Costa Anna , Giuliani Matteo , Sinclair Scott , Peleg Nadav , van der Linden Roderick , Truong Van Anh , Fink Andreas H. , Castelletti Andrea , Burlando Paolo
Published: March 2022

Climate and socio-economic changes bring multiple challenges to river basin development worldwide. The large uncertainty characterizing future conditions requires robust and adaptive planning and management solutions capable of handling uncertain future changes. This is particularly true in monsoonal Southeast Asian catchments, where large multipurpose reservoir systems play a crucial role in flood protection and providing water, energy, and food to a rapidly changing society. In such river basins, high intra-annual and inter-annual hydroclimatic variability, as well as increasing frequency of extreme events, further challenge the management of multi-sector water demands across multiple time scales.

In this context, we develop a robust decision-analytic framework for supporting the strategic planning of river basins in monsoonal areas with respect to future changes in water availability and demands. The framework integrates future climate scenarios, including a catalogue of extreme climate events, future water demand scenarios, a high-resolution infrastructure-accounting hydrological model, Topkapi-ETH, and a strategic, operational model to design multiobjective optimal water management policies. We first build climate change driven projections of water availability; second, we apply the optimization engine to select a subset of operation policies optimized based on key selected indicators; and third, we use the spatially distributed hydrological model to evaluate the impact of the chosen policies on a broader set of indicators capturing the spatially distributed impact of dam operations.

We focus here on the Red River Basin, a large transboundary river basin in China and Vietnam. In the basin, conflicts among different water uses, such as flood control, hydropower production, agriculture and aquaculture, are expected to increase under the combined pressure of increasing water and energy demands and climate change. A specific focus is given to extreme rainfall events, expected to increase their frequency and magnitude. The framework proposed will allow us to assess the vulnerability of the basin under future scenarios as well as the sustainability and robustness of future river basin development plans in the context of the water-energy-food-environment nexus.