bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Seismic hazard study for the duration of ground-motions triggered by intraslab earthquakes
Authors: López-Castañeda Alhelí S. , Martín del Campo Osvaldo , Reinoso Eduardo 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThis paper presents a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for the duration of ground motions in Mexico City caused by intraslab earthquakes. The study implies establishing criteria to measure the duration of ground motions and developing predictive equations (GMPEs) for its estimation. Focus is placed on the relative significant duration, $$D_{Sr}$$

D

Sr

, which is based on the accumulation of energy of ground motions. The study extends to the development of hazard curves that allow estimating the annual probability of exceedance of said parameter. The scope is limited to ground motions caused by intraslab earthquakes occurring in Mexico and that engineeringly affect its capital, Mexico City, which is in a geographical region where the effects of soil-dynamic amplification are manifested considerably. A strong-motion database that includes 1517 horizontal accelerograms, with peak ground acceleration, $$PGA$$

PGA

, greater than or equal to 3 cm/s2, recorded during 21 earthquakes from 1994 to 2023 were used to develop the GMPEs. The quantitative description of the time, size, and spatial distribution of the seismic-activity occurrence was defined using a catalog of 46 earthquakes that occurred from 1900 to 2023. The earthquakes have moment magnitude, $$M_{w}$$

M
w

, greater than or equal to 6. With the tools developed, amplitude- and duration-based hazard-consistent accelerograms can be simulated and used in nonlinear dynamic analyses (NDAs) of structures. This study includes an application example where three sites in Mexico City are selected to compute inelastic response spectra. Hysteretic-energy demands up to 5 times higher are found after a comparison between the inelastic-response spectra from hazard-consistent accelerograms and those provided by current Mexican regulations.
Perceptions and knowledge of ecosystem services in urban river systems, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Authors: Mack Elizabeth A. , Akamagwuna Frank C. , Murata Chenai , Materechera-Mitochi Fenji , Nnadozie Chika Felicitas , Odume Oghenekaro Nelson 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe ecosystem services concept has been studied in rural contexts but not as much in urban landscapes, particularly for aquatic ecosystems in Africa. There is little knowledge of how people perceive ecosystem services (ES) supplied by rivers in urban centres and the factors influencing their perceptions. To fill this gap, the research presented here addresses two objectives: 1) to assess local communities’ perception and knowledge of different types of ecosystem services of an urban river in South Africa, 2) to assess the influence of particular demographic characteristics (age and gender), socio-economic characteristics (education, housing type, income, and years of residence), and prior knowledge of the ecosystem services concept on people’s perception of the ecosystem services provided by the Swartkops River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. To address these objectives, a team of ten trained field staff collected 181 surveys between May–June 2021 in communities within the river catchment. We used multinomial logit models to analyse the relationships between demographic and socio-economic variables, and people’s perception of ecosystem services. For the majority of the ecosystem services, there was almost an equal split between the perception “sometimes” and “never” that the river provides a particular ecosystem service, and people were less likely to say that the river always provide a particular service. Prior knowledge of the ecosystem services concept, years of residence, age, income and housing type significantly influence people’s perception of ecosystem services. Prior knowledge, was important for the intangible services, whereas years of residence was more important for tangible services with direct use value. Level of formal education was not a significant variable. An important implication of this study is that ecological interventions can be designed through an understanding of factors influencing people’s perceptions of ecosystem services.
Seasonal toxicity of urban road dust in runoff process-studies in Poland
Authors: Rybak Justyna , Ziembik Zbigniew , Wróbel Magdalena , Bihałowicz Jan Stefan , Rogula-Kozłowska Wioletta , Mudiyanselage Niranjala Dissanayake , Majewski Grzegorz 
Published: May 2024

AbstractUrban road dust (URD) is one of the most important non-point sources of pollution in agglomerations. The aim of this study was to assess the seasonal toxic effects of URD runoff in two regions of Poland. The concentrations of elements in URD and leachate were studied. The impact of pollutants in URD runoff on water organisms was evaluated using Daphtoxkit F and Rotoxkit F (LC50). The acute toxicity tests for crustaceans and rotifers were selected as the response of these taxa reflects the impact on zooplankton, a key component of aquatic ecosystem and the basis of most food webs. The concentrations of elements were found to vary depending on the site, although URD samples collected in Katowice agglomeration (Upper Silesia) had higher values of elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, As) compared to Wrocław (Lower Silesia). The concentrations of Mn, Zn, As, Cr, and Mg in water-soluble fraction of URD were higher in summer and winter in the Upper Silesia region due to rainwater runoff resulting from traffic, industries, post-industrial waste, and the presence of old heating systems. When comparing the content of elements in the water-soluble fraction between seasons, Zn, As, Cr, and Al concentrations were slightly higher in winter. The highest mortality of Daphnia magna and Brachiouns calyciflorus was observed in URD from both agglomerations in winter. However, the mortality is likely due to the concentration of elements or/and the coexistence of an unknown compound or a synergistic effect of the studied elements. This study highlights the alarming seasonal sources of elements in URD runoff, which will directly enter the food chain and affect the entire ecosystem, and human health.
Solidification/stabilization of lead-contaminated soil using alkali-activated volcanic ash
Authors: Molaei Mohammad Amin , Miraki Hania , Morovati Mohsen , Ghadir Pooria , Javadi Akbar A. 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe bioaccumulation of lead in soil poses a significant human health risk. The solidification/stabilization (S/S) technique, employing binders like Portland cement or lime, is a common method for remediating lead-contaminated soil. However, cement production has adverse environmental impacts, prompting the exploration of eco-friendly alternatives like alkali-activated materials (AAMs). This study assesses AAM efficacy in the S/S of lead-contaminated soil. The effects of several factors, including varying amounts of volcanic ash (VA), lead concentration, curing temperatures, and curing times are investigated. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS), toxicity characteristic leaching procedure test (TCLP), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscope-energy-dispersive spectroscopy-mapping analyses (FESEM/EDS/mapping) analyses are used to study the specimens. The findings indicated a substantial increase in the UCS of lead-contaminated soil treated with 15% VA (under oven curing (OC) conditions), and 10% VA (under ambient curing (AC) conditions) exhibited remarkable increases of up to 600% and 458%, respectively. Moreover, the leaching of Pb2+ ions from samples contaminated with 10,000 mg/kg (under OC conditions) and 2500 mg/kg (under AC conditions) experienced significant reductions of 87% (from 135.14 to 13.36 ppm) and 91% (from 26.32 to 2.21 ppm), respectively. The S/S process in these samples operated through three primary mechanisms of chemical bonding, physical encapsulation, and the formation of insoluble silicate. The formation of N-A-S–H and hydroxy sodalite structures played a vital role in facilitating these mechanisms. Therefore, alkali-activated VA demonstrated excellent performance in the remediation of lead-contaminated soil.
Graphical Abstract
Optimized Deep Learning for Potato Blight Detection Using the Waterwheel Plant Algorithm and Sine Cosine Algorithm
Authors: Elshewey Ahmed M. , Tawfeek Sayed M. , Alhussan Amel Ali , Radwan Marwa , Abed Amira Hassan 
Published: May 2024

AbstractPotato blight, sometimes referred to as late blight, is a deadly disease that affects Solanaceae plants, including potato. The oomycete Phytophthora infestansis causal agent, and it may seriously damage potato crops, lowering yields and causing financial losses. To ensure food security and reduce economic losses in agriculture, potato diseases must be identified. The approach we have proposed in our study may provide a reliable and efficient solution to improve potato late blight classification accuracy. For this purpose, we used the ResNet-50, GoogLeNet, AlexNet, and VGG19Net pre-trained models. We used the AlexNet model for feature extraction, which produced the best results. After extraction, we selected features using ten optimization algorithms in their binary format. The Binary Waterwheel Plant Algorithm Sine Cosine (WWPASC) achieved the best results amongst the ten algorithms, and we performed statistical analysis on the selected features. Five machine learning models—Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), andK-Nearest Neighbour (KNN)—were used to train the chosen features. The most accurate model was the MLP model. The hyperparameters of the MLP model were optimized using the Waterwheel Plant Algorithm Sine Cosine (WWPASC). The results indicate that the suggested methodology (WWPASC-MLP) outperforms four other optimization techniques, with a classification accuracy of 99.5%.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped behavior in crowdsourcing? The role of online labor market training
Authors: Mourelatos Evangelos , Simonen Jaakko , Hosio Simo , Likhobaba Daniil , Ustalov Dmitry 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown measures have been a shock to market systems worldwide, affecting both the supply and demand of labor. Intensified by this pandemic-driven recession, online labor markets are in many ways at the core of the economic and policy debates about their technological innovation, which could be used as a way of economic reform and recovery. In this work, we focus on crowdsourcing, which is a specific type of online labor. We apply a unique dataset of labor data to investigate the effects of online training, a policy that was provided to requesters by the platform during the COVID-19 period. Our findings suggest that workers indirectly finance on-the-job online training by accepting lower wages during the pandemic. By utilizing a difference-in-difference research design, we also provide causal evidence that online training results in lower job completion time and the probability of being discontinued. Our findings show that both employers and employees in our online labor context reacted to the pandemic by participating in online labor procedures with different risk strategies and labor approaches. Our findings provide key insights for several groups of crowdsourcing stakeholders, including policy-makers, platform owners, hiring managers, and workers. Managerial and practical implications in relation to how online labor markets react to external shocks are discussed.
Valorization of waste glycerol into value-added dihydroxyacetone via microbial fermentation: feasibility study
Authors: Tiong Angnes Ngieng Tze , Cheonh Priscilla Yi Yun , Chua Wi Fern , Kolloju Nikhita , Ting Jia Min , Thian Jia Jia 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe waste glycerol generated during biodiesel production can be converted into a value-added product like dihydroxyacetone (DHA). DHA is widely applied in the cosmetic industry as a color additive in sunless tanning products. There is a market demand for DHA as the revenue for sunless tanning products is growing. Study on reviewing the viability of an industry-scaled DHA production plant is scarce. Therefore, it is the aim of this study to examine and evaluate the feasibility of the DHA production plant in terms of technical, economical, and safety aspects. In this present study, the DHA is synthesized from glycerol via microbial fermentation using Gluconobacter oxydans. The production process is designed and simulated using Aspen Plus software. Preliminary process hazards and safety reviews are conducted using HAZOP and process material risk assessment. Techno-economic and sensitivity analyses are also performed. The simulation results indicate that with 6266 tons of crude glycerol, 3871 tons of DHA can be generated annually. The DHA production from crude glycerol is found to be technically and economically viable. The DHA plant is able to retain profitability at ± 25% fluctuation of the DHA selling price, with a payback period of less than 5 years. The findings from this work provide insight into the feasibility of the valorization of waste crude glycerol from biodiesel synthesis into DHA.
Graphical abstract
Smoothed particle hydrodynamics based numerical study of hydroplaning considering permeability characteristics of runway surface
Authors: Yang Yang , Zhu Xingyi , Jelagin Denis , Guarin Alvaro 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe presence of water films on a runway surface presents a risk to the landing of aircraft. The tire of the aircraft is separated from the runway due to a hydrodynamic force exerted through the water film, a phenomenon called hydroplaning. Although a lot of numerical investigations into hydroplaning have been conducted, only a few have considered the impact of the runway permeability. Hence, computational problems, such as excessive distortion and computing efficiency decay, may arise with such numerical models when dealing with the thin water film. This paper presents a numerical model comprising of the tire, water film, and the interaction with the runway, applying a mathematical model using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics and finite element (SPH-FE) algorithm. The material properties and geometric features of the tire model were included in the model framework and water film thicknesses from 0.75 mm to 7.5 mm were used in the numerical simulation. Furthermore, this work investigated the impacts of both surface texture and the runway permeability. The interaction between tire rubber and the rough runway was analyzed in terms of frictional force between the two bodies. The SPH-FE model was validated with an empirical equation proposed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Then the computational efficiency of the model was compared with the traditional coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) algorithm. Based on the SPH-FE model, four types of the runway (Flat, SMA-13, AC-13, and OGFC-13) were discussed. The simulation of the asphalt runway shows that the SMA-13, AC-13, and OGFC-13 do not present a hydroplaning risk when the runway permeability coefficient exceeds 6%.
Impact of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) and heat-not-burn/heated tobacco products (HnB/HTP) on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a viewpoint of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine
Authors: Andreozzi Paola , Gussoni Gualberto , Sesti Giorgio , Montano Nicola , Pietrangelo Antonello ,   the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) Council Member Group, Basili Stefania , Bracco Christian , Cittadini Antonio , Desideri Giovambattista , Mancuso Gerardo , Persico Marcello , Petrolani Stafano , Pirisi Mario , Sechi Leonardo Alberto , Suppressa Patrizia , Vacca Angelo , Zaccone Vincenzo 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe association of cigarette smoking with several severe and very severe diseases (oncological, cardiovascular, respiratory) which have dramatic epidemiological, medical, and financial impact, is a well-known public threat. Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are highly prevalent diseases in Italy, posing significant public health challenges. Tobacco smoking, a primary risk factor for COPD and a common asthma trigger, remains a critical preventable public health issue. While universally acknowledged that quitting smoking drastically reduces the risk of smoking-related health issues, a significant portion of smokers and patients find quitting challenging or undesirable, hence a need for new ways to deal with it. A worth considering alternative might be the switch to electronic cigarettes (e-cig), and heat-not-burn/heated tobacco products (HnB/HTP). Emerging evidence suggests potential benefits in asthma and COPD management when transitioning from traditional smoking to e-cigs or HnB devices. However, the effectiveness of these products in facilitating smoking cessation is still debated, alongside concerns about their role in promoting smoking initiation among non-smokers. Internists are among the physicians who most frequently assist patients with smoking-related diseases, and in this perspective they cannot avoid paying attention to the progressive diffusion of smoking products alternative to the traditional cigarette, and to the controversies with respect to their use. In this context, the Italian Society of Internal Medicine, also recognizing a growing need for clarity for healthcare providers, has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of existing literature to offer an informed perspective on the health impact of e-cigs and HnB/HTP on asthma and COPD.
Open-set marine object instance segmentation with prototype learning
Authors: Hu Xing , Li Panlong , Karimi Hamid Reza , Jiang Linhua , Zhang Dawei 
Published: May 2024

AbstractThe ocean world is full of Unknown Marine Objects (UMOs), making it difficult to deal with unknown ocean targets using the traditional instance segmentation model. This is because the traditional instance segmentation networks are trained on a closed dataset, assuming that all detected objects are Known Marine Objects (KMOs). Consequently, traditional closed-set networks often misclassify UMOs as KMOs. To address this problem, this paper proposes a new open-set instance segmentation model for object instance segmentation in marine environments with UMOs. Specifically, we integrate two learning modules in the model, namely a prototype module and an unknown learning module. Through the learnable prototype, the prototype module improves the class’s compactness and boundary detection capabilities while also increasing the classification accuracy. Through the uncertainty of low probability samples, the unknown learning module forecasts the unknown probability. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed method has competitive known class recognition accuracy compared to existing instance segmentation models, and can accurately distinguish unknown targets.
Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk Among Children with Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Larkins Nicholas G. , Craig Jonathan C. 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Purpose of Review
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of mortality across the lifespan of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hypertension is a common and important contributor, but other factors such as obesity, dyslipidemia and mineral bone disease play a role. This narrative review focusses on studies published in the past five years that have investigated hypertension and cardiovascular risk among children with CKD.

Recent Findings
Cohort studies such as Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) and Cardiovascular Comorbidity in Children with CKD (4C) have continued to develop our understanding of blood pressure (BP) phenotypes, and of progressive changes in the structure and function of the heart and blood vessels occurring in children with CKD. Metabolic risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, may represent an under-recognized component of care. Trial data are less common than observational evidence, but support lifestyle interventions currently used, mainly the low sodium dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet. The findings of the recently reported Hypertension Optimal Treatment in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease trial (HOT-KID) are described in relation to the use of office BP treatment targets.

Summary
Cardiovascular health is critical to the long-term outcomes of children with CKD. Recognizing and treating hypertension remains a critical component to improving outcomes, along with measures to improve concurrent cardiovascular risk factors. Some cardiovascular changes may not be reversible with transplantation and further research is needed for children at all stages of CKD.
Predicting the Prognosis of Bladder Cancer Patients Through Integrated Multi-omics Exploration of Chemotherapy-Related Hypoxia Genes
Authors: Shi Wensheng , Dong Jiaming , Zhong Bowen , Hu Xiheng , Zhao Chunguang 
Published: May 2024

AbstractBladder cancer is a prevalent malignancy with high mortality rates worldwide. Hypoxia is a critical factor in the development and progression of cancers. However, whether and how hypoxia-related genes (HRGs) could affect the development and the chemotherapy response of bladder cancer is still largely unexplored. This study comprehensively explored the complex molecular landscape associated with hypoxia in bladder cancer by analyzing 260 hypoxia genes based on transcriptomic and genomic data in 411 samples. Employing the 109 dysregulated hypoxia genes for consensus clustering, we delineated two distinct bladder cancer clusters characterized by disparate survival outcomes and distinct oncogenic roles. We defined a HPscore that was correlated with a variety of clinical features, including TNM stages and pathologic grades. Tumor immune landscape analysis identified three immune clusters and close interactions between hypoxia genes and the various immune cells. Utilizing a network-based method, we defined 129 HRGs exerting influence on apoptotic processes and critical signaling pathways in cancer. Further analysis of chemotherapy drug sensitivity identified potential drug–target HRGs. We developed a Risk Score model that was related to the overall survival of bladder cancer patients based on doxorubicin-target HRGs: ACTG2, MYC, PDGFRB, DHRS2, and KLRD1. This study not only enhanced our understanding of bladder cancer at the molecular level but also provided promising avenues for the development of targeted therapies, representing a significant step toward the identification of effective treatments and addressing the urgent need for advancements in bladder cancer management.