bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A new model to predict soil thermal conductivity
Authors: Xiong Kun , Feng Yuqing , Jin Hua , Liang Sihai , Yu Kaining , Kuang Xingxing , Wan Li 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThermal conductivity is a basic parameter of soil heat transferring, playing an important role in many fields including groundwater withdrawal, ground source heat pump, and heat storage in soils. However, it usually requires a lot of time and efforts to obtain soil thermal conductivity. To conveniently obtain accurate soil thermal conductivity, a new model describes the relationship between soil thermal conductivity (λ) and degree of saturation (Sr) was proposed in this study. Dry soil thermal conductivity (λdry) and saturated soil thermal conductivity (λsat) were described using a linear expression and a geometric mean model, respectively. A quadratic function with one constant was added to calculate λ beyond the lower λdry and upper λsat limit conditions. The proposed model is compared with five other frequently used models and measured data for 51 soil samples ranging from sand to silty clay loam. Results show that the proposed model match the measured data well. The proposed model can be used to determine soil thermal conductivity of a variety of soil textures over a wide range of water content.
Release performance and kinetic behavior of volatile products from controlled pressure pyrolysis of oil shale in nitrogen atmosphere
Authors: Zhao Shuai , Su Jianzheng , Wu Junwen 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe gas injection parameters such as temperature, pressure and duration during the in-situ pyrolysis of oil shale are important factors that affect the pore evolution and product release characteristics of oil shale. This paper takes Huadian oil shale as a sample, uses pressurized thermogravimetry and pressurized fluidized bed experimental device to explore the influence of temperature, pressure and time on the evolution of pore structure under high-pressure nitrogen injection conditions, and analyzes the influence mechanism of pore structure evolution on the release and kinetic behavior of volatile products. The results show that in the range of 623–673 K, the effective oil recovery of oil shale pyrolysis under high pressure increases from 30.5 to 96.0% with the extension of temperature and pyrolysis time, and the average activation energy is 346.8 kJ/mol, which is higher than the activation energy of 306.6 kJ/mol under normal pressure pyrolysis. Under high pressure, the release process of volatile products is inhibited, resulting in the intensification of the secondary reaction of products and the reduction of olefin content. In addition, the primary pores of kerogen are prone to coking reaction and collapse of plastic structure, so that some large pores become microporous structure, and the average pore size and specific surface area are reduced.
Summer and winter variations of BTEX concentrations in an oil refinery complex and health risk assessment based on Monte-Carlo simulations
Authors: Khoshakhlagh Amir Hossein , Yazdanirad Saeid , Mousavi Mahdi , Gruszecka-Kosowska Agnieszka , Shahriyari Mehran , Rajabi-Vardanjani Hassan 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe summer and winter concentrations of BTEX pollutants were investigated in various workplaces of an oil Refinery, Iran. In total 252 air samples from the breathing zones of the following employees were collected: supervisors, safetymen, repairmen, site men, and all workers. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk values were calculated based on the USEPA methodology using Monte Carlo simulations. BTEX concentrations were higher in the summer than in the winter season for all workstations, especially for toluene and ethylbenzene. The mean values of exposure to benzene for repairmen and site men were higher than threshold limit value of 1.60 mg/m3 for both seasons. Non-carcinogenic risk (HQ) values calculated for summer season for benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene in all workstations, as well as for toluene for repairmen and site men exceeded acceptable level of 1. In winter season the mean HQ values for benzene and xylene in all workstations, for toluene for repairmen and site men, and for ethylbenzene for supervisors, repairmen, and site men were also > 1. For all workstations definite carcinogenic risk was indicated as calculated LCR values for benzene and ethylbenzene exposure were higher than 1 × 10–4 in both summer and winter seasons.
The impact of health policies and the COVID-19 pandemic on exclusive breastfeeding in Chile during 2009–2020
Authors: Navarro-Rosenblatt Deborah , Benmarhnia Tarik , Bedregal Paula , Lopez-Arana Sandra , Rodriguez-Osiac Lorena , Garmendia Maria Luisa 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn 2011, Chile added 12 mandatory extra weeks of maternity leave (ML). In January 2015, a pay-for-performance (P4P) strategy was included in the primary healthcare system, incorporating exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) promotion actions. The COVID-19 pandemic led to healthcare access difficulties and augmented household workloads. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of a 24-week ML, the P4P strategy, and COVID-19 on EBF prevalence, at 3 and 6 months in Chile. Aggregated EBF prevalence data from public healthcare users nationwide (80% of the Chilean population) was collected by month. Interrupted time series analyses were used to quantify changes in EBF trends from 2009 to 2020. The heterogeneity of EBF changes was assessed by urban/setting and across geographic settings. We found no effect of ML on EBF; the P4P strategy increased EBF at 3 months by 3.1% and 5.7% at 6 months. COVID-19 reduced EBF at 3 months by  − 4.5%. Geographical heterogeneity in the impact of the two policies and COVID-19 on EBF was identified. The null effect of ML on EBF in the public healthcare system could be explained by low access from public healthcare users to ML (20% had access to ML) and by an insufficient ML duration (five and a half months). The negative impact of COVID-19 on EBF should alert policy makers about the crisis's effect on health promotion activities.
Historical information sheds new light on the intensification of flooding in the Central Mediterranean
Authors: Diodato Nazzareno , Ljungqvist Fredrik Charpentier , Bellocchi Gianni 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHydrological disasters, such as floods, can have dire consequences for human societies. Historical information plays a key role in detecting whether particular types of hydrological disasters have increased in frequency and/or magnitude and, if so, they are more likely attributable to natural or human-induced climatic and other environmental changes. The identification of regions with similar flood conditions is essential for the analysis of regional flooding regimes. To this end, we here present the longest existing flood reconstruction for the Eastern Liguria Area (ELA) in northwestern Italy, covering 1582 to 2022 CE, which offers a case study representative of the central Mediterranean region. An Annual Flood Intensification Index was developed to transform the historical data into a continuous annual hydrological time-series contained by a homogeneous data structure for the study-area. We found two change-points (trend breaks) in the reconstructed time-series, in 1787 and 1967, with only occasional heavy floods comparable to present-day disasters occurring before the first change-point, and an increasing intensification of floods after the second change-point up to the present day. The recent intensification of flooding in the ELA, associated with changes in land use and land cover, also appears to coincide with phases in which hydrological hazards have become more changeable and extreme in disaster-affected areas. This is evidenced by river basin responses to human-induced disturbances.
System based greenhouse emission analysis of off-site prefabrication: a comparative study of residential projects
Authors: Guo Yuliang , Shi Enhui , Yan Rui , Wei Wenchao 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHigh-story residential structures and off-site prefabrication have been dominant choices in the construction industry. There is a substantial quantity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by the construction industry. In fact, the construction industry is responsible for 30 percent of all GHG emissions. In this study, we analyse the differences between the conventional technique of building and the off-site prefabricating construction method. First, we evaluate the emissions emitted from key processes during the off-site prefabricating construction. In addition, we analyse the qualitative and quantitative differences between two prefabrication structural systems, namely concrete and steel, which are the two most common structural systems utilised in residential construction projects in China. We examine and analyse four different case studies in order to exemplify the proposed methodology and offer managerial insights.
Influence of CoFeB layer thickness on elastic parameters in CoFeB/MgO heterostructures
Authors: Shekhar S. , Mielcarek S. , Otani Y. , Rana B. , Trzaskowska A. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe surface acoustic waves, i.e., surface phonons may have huge potential for future spintronic devices, if coupled to other waves (e.g., spin waves) or quasiparticles. In order to understand the coupling of acoustic phonons with the spin degree of freedom, especially in magnetic thin film-based heterostructures, one needs to investigate the properties of phonons in those heterostructures. This also allows us to determine the elastic properties of individual magnetic layers and the effective elastic parameters of the whole stacks. Here, we study frequency versus wavevector dispersion of thermally excited SAWs in CoFeB/MgO heterostructures with varying CoFeB thickness by employing Brillouin light spectroscopy. The experimental results are corroborated by finite element method-based simulations. From the best agreement of simulation results with the experiments, we find out the elastic tensor parameters for CoFeB layer. Additionally, we estimate the effective elastic parameters (elastic tensors, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio) of the whole stacks for varying CoFeB thickness. Interestingly, the simulation results, either considering elastic parameters of individual layers or considering effective elastic parameters of whole stacks, show good agreement with the experimental results. These extracted elastic parameters will be very useful to understand the interaction of phonons with other quasiparticles.
Prevalence and epidemiological investigation of mgrB-dependent colistin resistance in extensively drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Iran
Authors: Zahedi Bialvaei Abed , Eslami Parisa , Ganji Leila , Dolatyar Dehkharghani Alireza , Asgari Farhad , Koupahi Hossein , Barzegarian Pashacolaei Hamid Reza , Rahbar Mohammad 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCarbapenemases-producing K. pneumoniae are challenging antimicrobial therapy of hospitalised patients, which is further complicated by colistin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular epidemiological insights into carbapenemases-producing and colistin-resistant clinical K. pneumoniaeA total of 162 colistin resistant clinical strains of K. pneumoniae were collected during 2017–2019. Antimicrobial susceptibility and the colistin minimum inhibitory concentration were determined. Using PCR assay, the prevalence of resistance-associated genes including blaKPC, blaIMP, blaVIM, blaOXA-48, blaNDM-1 and mcr-1 to -9 was examined. Additionally, a PCR assay was used to examine the mgrB gene in colistin-resistant bacteria. 94.4% of the tested strains were resistant to imipenem and 96.3% were resistant to meropenem. Colistin resistance (MIC > 4 µg/L) was observed in 161 isolates (99.4%) by Colistin Broth Disk Elution method. The KPC enzyme was the most common carbapenemase and was identified in 95 strains (58.6%), followed by the IMP, VIM and OXA-48 detected in 47 (29%), 23 (14.2%) and 12 (7.4%) isolates, respectively. However, no NDM-1 gene was detected. Additionally, none of the studied isolates harbored mcr variants, while mgrB gene was observed in 152 (92.6%) isolates. Colistin resistance of K. pneumoniae isolates may be associated with mgrB gene mutation. To stop the spread of resistant K. pneumoniae, surveillance must be improved, infection prevention protocols must be followed, and antibiotic stewardship must be practised.
Effects of shear stress path and roughness on shear creep behavior of marine clay-concrete interface
Authors: Yao Wangjing , Zhang Tao , Chen Qianshen , Sun Jiuchun , Xu Sifa , Ding Zhouxiang , Wang Zhe 
Published: July 2023

AbstractFloating piles have been widely employed as foundations in coastal regions abounding with marine clay. A growing concern for these floating piles is their long-term performance of bearing capacity. To better understand the time-dependent mechanisms behind the bearing capacity, in this paper a series of shear creep tests was conducted to study the effects of load paths/steps and roughness on shear strain of the marine clay-concrete interface. Four main empirical features were observed from the experimental results. First, the creep process of the marine clay-concrete interface can be largely decomposed into the instantaneous creep stage, the attenuation creep stage and the uniform creep stage. Second, the creep stability time and the shear creep displacement generally increase as the shear stress level increases. Third, the shear displacement rises as the number of loading steps drops under the same shear stress. The fourth feature is that under the shear stress condition, the rougher the interface is, the smaller the shear displacement is. Besides, the load-unloading shear creep tests suggest that: (a) shear creep displacement typically contains both viscoelastic and viscoplastic deformation; and (b) the proportion of unrecoverable plastic deformation increases with increasing shear stress. These tests confirm that the Nishihara model can provide a well-defined description of the shear creep behavior of marine clay-concrete interfaces.
Increased risk of incident diabetes in patients with MAFLD not meeting the criteria for NAFLD
Authors: Park So Hee , Park Jiyun , Kwon So Yoon , Lee You-Bin , Kim Gyuri , Hur Kyu Yeon , Koh Janghyun , Jee Jae Hwan , Kim Jae Hyeon , Kang Mira , Jin Sang-Man 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe aimed to compare the risk of incident diabetes according to fatty liver disease (FLD) definition, focusing on the comparison between those who met criteria for either metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) but not the other. This was a 5.0-year (interquartile range, 2.4–8.2) retrospective longitudinal cohort study of 21,178 adults who underwent at least two serial health checkup examinations. The presence of hepatic steatosis was determined by abdominal ultrasonography at the first health examination. Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to compare the risk of incident diabetes among five groups. Incident diabetes cases occurred in 1296 participants (6.1%). When non-FLD without metabolic dysfunction (MD) group was set as a reference, the risk of incident diabetes increased in the order of NAFLD-only, non-FLD with MD, both FLD, and MAFLD-only groups. The presence of excessive alcohol consumption and/or hepatitis B virus (HBV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, FLD, and MD synergistically increased the risk of incident diabetes. MAFLD-only group showed a greater increase in incidence of diabetes than non-FLD with MD and NAFLD-only groups. The interaction among excessive alcohol consumption, HBV/HCV infection, MD, and hepatic steatosis on the development of diabetes should not be overlooked.
Association of visceral and subcutaneous fat with bone mineral density in US adults: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Lin Yanze , Zhong Xugang , Lu Dongning , Yao Wenchao , Zhou Jinlei , Wu Ruiji , Feng Fabo 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe relationship between the accumulation of fat in visceral or subcutaneous tissue and bone mineral density (BMD) remains unclear. Our primary objective in this study was to illuminate this relationship by conducting an investigation on a vast scale, encompassing a nationally representative population in the United States. A weighted multiple linear regression model was established to evaluate the relationship between visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, and BMD. Additionally, the exploration of the potential nonlinear relationship was conducted employing the methodology of smooth curve fitting. In order to determine potential inflection points, a two-stage linear regression model was utilized. A total of 10,455 participants between the ages of 20 and 59 were included in this study. Various weighted multiple linear regression models revealed a negative correlation between lumbar BMD and visceral mass index (VMI) and subcutaneous mass index (SMI). However, the association between VMI and lumbar BMD displayed a U-shaped pattern upon employing the smooth curve fitting, and the inflection point of 0.304 kg/m2was determined using a two-stage linear regression model. Our findings indicated a negative association between subcutaneous fat and BMD. A U-shaped relationship was observed between visceral fat and BMD.
Feasibility of orbital friction stir welding on clad pipes of API X65 steel and Inconel 625
Authors: Amavisca C. V. , Bergmann L. , Lessa C. R. de L. , Schroeder J. G. , Ramos F. D. , Lemos G. V. B. , Reguly A. , Klusemann B. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractOrbital friction stir welding (FSW) has been applied to clad pipes, which is certainly of interest to the oil and gas industry. In this context, an FSW system capable of performing sound joints in one pass with full tool penetration was developed. Orbital FSW was executed in 6 mm thick API X65 PSL2 steel clad pipes with 3 mm thick Inconel 625 using a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (pcBN) tool. The metallurgical and mechanical properties of the joints were investigated. Sound joints with axial forces of 45–50 kN, tool rotational speeds of 400–500 rpm, and a welding speed of 2 mm/s were obtained, illustrating that the developed system can perform FSW joints without volumetric defects.
An efficient deep learning model for brain tumour detection with privacy preservation
Authors: Rehman Mujeeb Ur , Shafique Arslan , Khan Imdad Ullah , Ghadi Yazeed Yasin , Ahmad Jawad , Alshehri Mohammed S. , Al Qathrady Mimonah , Alhaisoni Majed , Zayyan Muhammad H. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractInternet of medical things (IoMT) is becoming more prevalent in healthcare applications as a result of current AI advancements, helping to improve our quality of life and ensure a sustainable health system. IoMT systems with cutting‐edge scientific capabilities are capable of detecting, transmitting, learning and reasoning. As a result, these systems proved tremendously useful in a range of healthcare applications, including brain tumour detection. A deep learning‐based approach for identifying MRI images of brain tumour patients and normal patients is suggested. The morphological‐based segmentation method is applied in this approach to separate tumour areas in MRI images. Convolutional neural networks, such as LeNET, MobileNetV2, Densenet and ResNet, are tested to be the most efficient ones in terms of detection performance. The suggested approach is applied to a dataset gathered from several hospitals. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is assessed using a variety of metrics, including accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, recall and F‐score. According to the performance evaluation, the accuracy of LeNET, MobileNetV2, Densenet, ResNet and EfficientNet is 98.7%, 93.6%, 92.8%, 91.6% and 91.9%, respectively. When compared to the existing approaches, LeNET has the best performance, with an average of 98.7% accuracy.
Judgement of error frames using frozen bits and its applications in decoding of polar codes
Authors: Yang Dong , Mao Yinyou , Liu Xingcheng 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPolar codes have received widespread attention because of their excellent performance. However, although successive cancellation (SC)‐based decoding algorithms have achieved excellent error correction performance, they still encounter large time delays in decoding because a serial decoding structure is employed. At present, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is used to judge whether the decoding result of a frame is erroneous. To obtain such a result, the decoder has to wait until the end of decoding. In this work, a judgement strategy for error frames using frozen bits is proposed. With the proposed strategy, the recognition of erroneously decoded frames can be achieved based on the error state of the frozen bits in this frame. Accordingly, early termination of decoding can be realized. By using this mechanism, the strategy can also be applied in the SC List algorithm to prune the path. In addition, the SC Flip decoding algorithm can also use the proposed strategy to help find the first error message bit. The experimental results show that at least 85% of the frames decoded erroneously can be recognized by the proposed strategy so that decoding can be terminated in advance and computational resources can be saved.
ELM‐based timing synchronization for OFDM systems by exploiting computer‐aided training strategy
Authors: Zhang Mintao , Tang Shuhai , Qing Chaojin , Yang Na , Cai Xi , Wang Jiafan 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDue to the implementation bottleneck of training data collection in realistic wireless communications systems, supervised learning‐based timing synchronization (TS) is challenged by the incompleteness of training data. To tackle this bottleneck, the computer‐aided approach is extended, with which the local device can generate the training data instead of generating learning labels from the received samples collected in realistic systems, and then construct an extreme learning machine (ELM)‐based TS network in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Specifically, by leveraging the rough information of channel impulse responses (CIRs), i.e. root‐mean‐square (r.m.s) delay, the loose constraint‐based and flexible constraint‐based training strategies are proposed for the learning‐label design against the maximum multi‐path delay. The underlying mechanism is to improve the completeness of multi‐path delays that may appear in the realistic wireless channels and thus increase the statistical efficiency of the designed TS learner. By this means, the proposed ELM‐based TS network can alleviate the degradation of generalization performance. Numerical results reveal the robustness and generalization of the proposed scheme against varying parameters.
Observer‐based sliding mode H∞$H_\infty$ control for offshore structures with nonlinear energy sink mechanisms
Authors: Chen Wei , Du Xing‐Yu , Zhang Bao‐Lin , Zheng Zhongqiang , Cai Zhihui 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIt is significant to reduce the wave‐induced vibration and ensure the safety of the offshore structure. This paper deals with the observer‐based sliding mode vibration control problem of offshore structures with nonlinear energy sink (NES) mechanisms. By considering the coupled nonlinear characteristics of unmodelled dynamics, system uncertainty, and external wave force, a more general nonlinear system model of the offshore structure equipped with an NES mechanism is presented. Then, an observer‐based sliding mode control scheme for the nonlinear structure‐NES system is developed. The existence condition and the design algorithm of the observer‐based sliding mode controller are provided. Simulation results show that the observer‐based sliding mode controller is capable of reducing the wave‐induced vibration amplitude of offshore structures effectively. Compared with the NES‐based passive control, the observer‐based sliding mode controller can further reduce the response amplitudes of the offshore structure remarkably. In addition, the designed observer‐based sliding mode controller is robust the variations of structure parameters and the external wave loads, thereby presenting potential advantages of the active damping control of the offshore structure.