bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A modified grain size distributed model for kinetic study of non‐catalytic gas‐solid reactions in presence of solid structural changes
Authors: Sedghkerdar Mohammad Hashem , Mahinpey Nader 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis study investigated the carbonation behaviour of a calcium‐based sorbent in the calcium‐looping CO2 capture process as a non‐catalytic gas‐solid reaction using a modified grain size distributed (GSD) model. In GSD model, the calcium‐based particle consisted of numerous spherical grains with variable size distribution. The GSD model was modified by considering a variable diffusion coefficient of the gaseous reactant through the development of the product layer. The overall conversion over the reaction time was calculated by a mathematical modelling. The overall sorbent conversion obtained by using the modified GSD model showed better agreement with the experimental data with the average absolute deviation of 4.2 % than the results obtained using the grain model with the average absolute deviation 9.4 %. In the modified GSD model, the physical microstructure of the sorbent particle changes due to the molar volume expansion during the carbonation reaction. The model also predicted accurately the change of particle structural properties such as porosity, molar density, and specific surface area during the carbonation reaction.
Online operating performance evaluation for the plant‐wide industrial process based on a three‐level and multi‐block method
Authors: Chang Yuqing , Ma Ruxue , Zhao Luping , Wang Fuli , Wang Shu 
Published: December 2018

AbstractProcess operating performance evaluation is of great significance both in theoretical research and practical application. Process operating performance evaluation is used to determine whether or not a production process is running in excellent operating conditions. When the production process is running in a non‐optimal state, non‐optimal reason tracing will be performed to find the reasons causing the non‐optimal running state of the process so that the process can quickly return to the optimal operating state. In this article, multiple working modes and plant‐wide industrial process characteristics are considered. To solve the above problems, a novel multiple three‐level multi‐block hybrid model based online operating performance evaluation approach is proposed. Under each working condition, a three‐level multi‐block model is established. Under the corresponding working mode, each block at the bottom level is evaluated first. Second, the blocks in the middle level are evaluated according to the evaluation results of the bottom level blocks. Finally, according to the evaluation results of the middle level blocks, the operating performance of the top level can be achieved. When non‐optimal operating performance occurs, a variable contribution‐based cause identification technique is developed to locate the variables leading to non‐optimal performance and provide operation strategies to bring the process back to optimal performance. At the end of the paper, the developed evaluation and non‐optimal cause identification approaches are explored in a gold hydrometallurgy process.
Rationally Designed Copper‐Modified Polymeric Carbon Nitride as a Photocathode for Solar Water Splitting
Authors: Wang Zhonghao , Jin Bingjun , Zou Guojun , Zhang Kan , Hu Xun , Park Jong Hyeok 
Published: December 2018

AbstractPolymeric carbon nitride has been considered to be an active photocathode for catalyzing the generation of H2 through water splitting. However, the application of this material in photoelectrochemical cells remains a challenge owing to the intrinsically sluggish kinetics of charge separation. Herein, a facile salt‐melt method is developed for fabricating Cu‐modified polymeric carbon nitride as an effective photocathode material for solar water splitting. Various characterization data confirm that Cu‐modified polymeric carbon nitride contains both free CuCl, derived from precursors, and coordinated Cu species incorporated into the polymeric carbon nitride, which can generate type‐II heterojunctions. This special heterojunction energy structure contributes to a significantly enhanced photocurrent density for hydrogen evolution. The proposed strategy for synthesizing the Cu‐modified polymeric carbon nitride can stimulate research for the development of highly efficient visible‐light‐active photocathodes.
Urban forest fragmentation impoverishes native mammalian biodiversity in the tropics
Authors: Tee Sze Ling , Samantha Liza D. , Kamarudin Norizah , Akbar Zubaid , Lechner Alex M. , Ashton‐Butt Adham , Azhar Badrul 
Published: December 2018

AbstractUrban expansion has caused major deforestation and forest fragmentation in the tropics. The impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity are understudied in urban forest patches, especially in the tropics and little is known on the conservation value of the patches for maintaining mammalian biodiversity. In this study, camera trapping was used to determine the species composition and species richness of medium‐ and large‐sized mammals in three urban forest patches and a contiguous forest in Peninsular Malaysia. We identified the key vegetation attributes that predicted mammal species richness and occurrence of herbivores and omnivores in urban forest patches. A total number of 19 mammal species from 120 sampling points were recorded. Contiguous forest had the highest number of species compared to the urban forest patches. Sunda Pangolin and Asian Tapir were the only conservation priority species recorded in the urban forest patches and contiguous forest, respectively. Top predators such as Malayan Tiger and Melanistic Leopard were completely absent from the forest patches as well as the contiguous forest. This was reflected by the abundance of wild boars. We found that mammal species richness increased with the number of trees with DBH less than 5 cm, trees with DBH more than 50 cm, and dead standing trees. In the future, the remaining mammal species in the urban forest patches are expected to be locally extinct as connecting the urban forest patches may be infeasible due to land scarcity. Hence, to maintain the ecological integrity of urban forest patches, we recommend that stakeholders take intervention measures such as reintroduction of selected species and restocking of wild populations in the urban forest patches to regenerate the forest ecosystems.
Post‐fire forest regeneration shows limited climate tracking and potential for drought‐induced type conversion
Authors: Young Derek J. N. , Werner Chhaya M. , Welch Kevin R. , Young Truman P. , Safford Hugh D. , Latimer Andrew M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractDisturbance such as wildfire may create opportunities for plant communities to reorganize in response to climate change. The interaction between climate change and disturbance may be particularly important in forests, where many of the foundational plant species (trees) are long‐lived and where poor initial tree establishment can result in conversion to shrub‐ or graminoid‐dominated systems. The response of post‐disturbance vegetation establishment to post‐disturbance weather conditions, particularly to extreme weather, could therefore provide useful information about how forest communities will respond to climate change. We examined the effect of post‐fire weather conditions on post‐fire tree, shrub, and graminoid recruitment in fire‐adapted forests in northern California, USA, by surveying regenerating vegetation in severely burned areas 4–5 yr after 14 different wildfires that burned between 2004 and 2012. This time period (2004–2016) encompassed a wide range of post‐fire weather conditions, including a period of extreme drought. For the most common tree species, we observed little evidence of disturbance‐mediated community reorganization or range shifts but instead either (1) low sensitivity of recruitment to post‐fire weather or (2) weak but widespread decreases in recruitment under unusually dry post‐fire conditions, depending on the species. The occurrence of a single strong drought year following fire was more important than a series of moderately dry years in explaining tree recruitment declines. Overall, however, post‐fire tree recruitment patterns were explained more strongly by long‐term climate and topography and local adult tree species abundance than by post‐fire weather conditions. This observation suggests that surviving adult trees can contribute to a “biological inertia” that restricts the extent to which tree community composition will track changes in climate through post‐disturbance recruitment. In contrast to our observations in trees, we observed substantial increases in shrub and graminoid establishment under post‐fire drought, suggesting that shifts in dominance between functional groups may become more likely in a future with more frequent and intense drought.
Spatial scale modulates the inference of metacommunity assembly processes
Authors: Viana Duarte S. , Chase Jonathan M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe abundance and distribution of species across the landscape depend on the interaction between local, spatial, and stochastic processes. However, empirical syntheses relating these processes to spatiotemporal patterns of structure in metacommunities remain elusive. One important reason for this lack of synthesis is that the relative importance of the core assembly processes (dispersal, selection, and drift) critically depends on the spatial grain and extent over which communities are studied. To illustrate this, we simulated different aspects of community assembly on heterogeneous landscapes, including the strength of response to environmental heterogeneity (inherent to niche theory) vs. dispersal and stochastic drift (inherent to neutral theory). We show that increasing spatial extent leads to increasing importance of niche selection, whereas increasing spatial grain leads to decreasing importance of niche selection. The strength of these scaling effects depended on environment configuration, dispersal capacity, and niche breadth. By mapping the variation observed from the scaling effects in simulations, we could recreate the entire range of variation observed within and among empirical studies. This means that variation in the relative importance of assembly processes among empirical studies is largely scale dependent and cannot be directly compared. The scaling coefficient of the relative contribution of assembly processes, however, can be interpreted as a scale‐integrative estimate to compare assembly processes across different regions and ecosystems. This emphasizes the necessity to consider spatial scaling as an explicit component of studies intended to infer the importance of community assembly processes.
Synthesis of Platinum and Tin Oxide Co‐functionalized Single‐walled Carbon Nanotubes (Pt/SnO2/SWNTs) and their Sensing Properties toward Carbon Monoxide
Authors: Su Heng C. , Myung Nosang V. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractPt and SnO2 were co‐functionalized on single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) assembled on microelectrodes by electrochemical deposition where Pt nanoparticle's morphology, size, and density were tuned by controlling the applied potential and time. The systematic study to obtain the optimum condition for Pt‐decorated SnO2/SWNTs (Pt/SnO2/SWNTs) were performed and also correlate with its CO sensing performance. Illumination‐dependent sensing performance was examined using red, green and UV LED as light sources at room temperature. Under UV illumination, the sensitivity of Pt/SnO2/SWNTs was enhanced to 2.1 %/ppmV of CO with the lower detection limit of 0.05 ppmV.
Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse by fed‐batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation at high solids loading
Authors: Gao Yueshu , Xu Jingliang , Yuan Zhenhong , Jiang Jianchun , Zhang Zhenjia , Li Chunjie 
Published: December 2018

AbstractTo make the bioethanol conversion process economically viable, improving solids loading (>15% [w/v]) in different unit operations is crucial. In this study, alkali pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse was carried out at high solids loading. Temperature and pH were optimised via batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) experiments using Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y‐2034 or Kluyveromyces marxianus NCYC‐587. The effects of enzyme addition mode and solids loading on ethanol production were studied in fed‐batch SSF experiments. It was demonstrated that the optimised pH and temperature for both S. cerevisiae Y‐2034 and K. marxianus NCYC‐587 were 5.2 and 37°C. The mode of enzyme addition “one‐time dose” improved ethanol productivity better than the “batch addition” mode. With fresh substrates added, solids loading strongly increased from 19% to 33% (w/v), corresponded to a small decline in the ethanol yield. At the final solids loading of 33% (w/v), the highest ethanol concentration of 75.57 ± 2.14 g/L was obtained, with ethanol productivity of 0.63 ± 0.02 g/(L h) and a yield of 66.17 ± 1.87%.
Guidelines for health and safety and fire safety on underground construction sites
Authors: Halwachs Michael 
Published: December 2018

AbstractUnderground construction sites represent a complex challenge for all project participants. Precisely in the area of health and safety as well as fire safety, therefore, good coordination is necessary in order to successfully counteract the increased accident and health risks. Clear definition of tasks and responsibilities is therefore essential. Through a continuous risk management process, it is possible to ensure from the design phase to the construction phase that risks can be minimized in advance and that the best risk reduction measures can be derived. The Guideline and Regulation for the Planning, Construction and Maintenance of Roadways (RVS) 09.01.51 ”Health and Safety on underground construction sites“ provides the necessary basis for this and thus represents an essential tool for all project participants to improve the level of safety.
In‐situ assessment of strain behaviour inside tunnel linings using distributed fibre optic sensors
Authors: Monsberger Christoph M. , Lienhart Werner , Moritz Bernd 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn modern tunnelling, deformation monitoring is an important component to ensure a safe construction. It is state of the art to measure displacements at the inner side of the tunnel lining using total stations. In addition, pointwise geotechnical sensors, e.g. electric strain gauges, may be installed in geological fault zones, which, however, do not deliver a complete picture of the internal deformations. The Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems (Graz University of Technology) supported by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB‐Infrastruktur AG, SAE Fachbereich Bautechnik/Tunnelbau) developed a fibre optic sensing system, which realizes thousands of measurement points inside the tunnel lining. The distributed measurements can be used to assess the in‐situ strain behaviour as well as to localize failures (e.g. cracks) in the lining. This paper reports about the calibration of the fibre optic system under well‐known laboratory conditions and the practical utilization of the system in mechanized and conventional tunnelling. The results demonstrate the high potential of distributed fibre optic systems and their capability especially in the operational phase to extend classical measurement methods in tunnelling projects.
Application of the ÖGG guideline for cost estimates on international megaprojects
Authors: Spiegl Markus , Galler Robert , Sander Philip 
Published: December 2018

AbstractTransportation infrastructure projects are characterised by long project phases, a high number of project participants, hard‐to‐predict influences and their uniqueness. The new version of the ÖGG ”Guideline for the Cost Determination for Transportation Infrastructure Projects“ builds on experience of the previous version and sets new accents in practical applicability, e.g. through the use of risk fact sheets. Structured cost and risk management is no longer conceivable without adequate software. The integral cost and schedule analysis is a further step towards improved cost and project schedule stability. The guideline was published in English at the same time, which supports its use in international consulting.
Tunnelling 4.0 – Construction‐related future trends
Authors: Goger Gerald , Bisenberger Tobias 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe digitalisation of construction‐related processes will increasingly penetrate the individual development phases of tunnel construction projects (design, construction and operation). The digital transformation will affect all tunnelling processes through its four key levers: ”digital data, automation, networks and digital access“. Topics such as Industry 4.0, digital twins, Building Information Modelling or Lean Management will lead to a rethink in the construction industry. The constant use of data sources and the storage of data in independent databases is already possible. This makes it possible for the project participants to analyse collected construction‐related data, to process it and to make it available through an online portal. This results in the possibility to evaluate, optimize and document construction processes on a well‐founded data base. Complex construction management systems will be described with digital models, and the use of digital knowledge systems will support the decision‐making process for stakeholders. The fundamental philosophy of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method should not be called into question by standardised calculation algorithms and tunnelling software. In this contribution, visionary future trends are outlined for cyclical and continuous tunnelling methods, which should stimulate a controversial discussion.
Gallstone Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Risk: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Authors: Wang Fei , Wang Jing , Li Yaru , Yuan Jing , Yao Ping , Wei Sheng , Guo Huan , Zhang Xiaomin , Yang Handong , Wu Tangchun , He Meian 
Published: December 2018

The presence of gallstone disease (GSD) was reported to be positively associated with diabetes risk. Whether the association is causal remains unclear. We aim to examine the potential causal association between GSD and type 2 diabetes risk using a Mendelian randomization analysis. Observational study was conducted among 16,299 participants who were free of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes at baseline in the Dongfeng‐Tongji cohort study. GSD was diagnosed by experienced physicians by abdominal B‐type ultrasound inspection and type 2 diabetes was defined according to the criteria of the American Diabetes Association. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to examine the association of GSD with type 2 diabetes risk. A genetic risk score (GRS) for GSD was constructed with eight single nucleotide polymorphisms that were derived from the previous genome‐wide association studies. The causal associations of the score for GSD with type 2 diabetes were tested among 7,000 participants in Mendelian randomization analysis. We documented 1,110 incident type 2 diabetes cases during 73,895 person‐years of follow‐up from 2008 to 2013 (median 4.6 years). Compared with participants without GSD, the multivariate‐adjusted hazard ratio of type 2 diabetes risk in those with GSD was 1.22 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03‐1.45, P = 0.02). Each 1 SD (0.23) increment in the weighted GRS was associated with a 17% increment of type 2 diabetes risk (odds ratio = 1.17, 95% CI, 0.90‐1.52) without statistical significance (P = 0.25). Conclusion: The present study supported a positive but not a causal association of GSD with type 2 diabetes risk. More studies are needed to verify our findings.
Testing of observation operators designed to estimate profile soil moisture from surface measurements
Authors: Gao Xiaodong , Zhao Xining , Brocca Luca , Pan Daili , Wu Pute 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe accurate estimation of profile soil moisture is usually difficult due to the associated costs, strong spatiotemporal variability, and nonlinear relationship between surface and profile moisture. Here, we used data sets from the Soil and Climate Analysis Network to test how reliably observation operators developed based on the cumulative distribution function matching method can predict profile soil moisture from surface measurements. We first analysed how temporal resolution (hourly, daily, and weekly) and data length (half year, 1 year, 2 years, and 4 years) affected the performance of observation operators. The results showed that temporal resolution had a negligible influence on the performance of observation operators. However, a leave‐one‐year‐out cross‐validation showed that data length affected the performance of observation operators; a 2‐year interval was identified as the most suitable duration due to its low uncertainty in prediction accuracy. The robustness of the observation operators was then tested in three primary climates (humid continental, humid subtropical, and semiarid) of the continental United States, with the exponential filter employed as an independent method. The results indicated that observation operators reliably predicted profile soil moisture for most of the tested stations and performed almost equally well as the exponential filter method. The presented results verified the feasibility of using the cumulative distribution function matching method to predict profile soil moisture from surface measurements.
A Threat or Just a Book? Analyzing Responses toThirteen Reasons Whyin a Discourse Community
Authors: Walter Brooklyn , Boyd Ashley S. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn this study, the authors examined how parents, preservice teachers, and teens responded to their reading of one controversial young adult novel. Analyzing the discourse of participants through the lens of positioning theory, the authors found that student readers approached the book as a story, examining its various literary elements. Youths also noted the reality of the text and drew personal connections to plot elements. Parents, however, considered the book as a tool and expressed concerns over the text's message and potentially negative influence. The authors also discuss conflicts that arose in the dialogue and conclude with implications for teachers and teacher educators.