bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Application of organic wastes to soils and legislative intricacies in a circular economy context
Authors: Arias O. , Pulgar J. A. , Soto M. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractCurrently, the absence of specific regulations on soil fertilization gives rise to sectorial normative with different regional approaches regarding application conditions, quality and other conditions that reused materials must meet. The purpose of this case study in Galicia (NW Spain) is to analyse the coherence of legal texts in the application of organic waste in soils regarding a more circular economy. The context of the case study is characterized by several Directives such as the Nitrates Directive or the "out of date" Directive on sewage sludge, among others, the lack of soil quality protection regulations and the existence of different administrative levels (European Union, Member State and Region). Manures and other agriculture wastes represent the main source of wastes being vastly applied to soils without previous treatment. Other waste streams (i.e. industrial biowaste, municipal biowaste and sewage sludge) undergo treatment generating commercial fertilizers, biostabilized wastes, technosols and waste-treated products that are subject to different standards. The screening of regulations and scientific literature detected limiting situations in the recycling of organic wastes due to natural or legal issues. On the other hand, risky applications are identified due to the lack of quality requirements for waste-treated products under regional legislation, or no mandatory compliance with codes of good agricultural practices for manures and waste-treated products. Contradictory situations of legal regulations and other issues were outlined and discussed. Final considerations were outlined to promote a more effective recycling of organic wastes and the design of a suitable legislation adapted to the natural conditions of the region.
Graphical abstract
A rank-size approach to analyse soccer competitions and teams: the case of the Italian football league “Serie A"
Authors: Ficcadenti Valerio , Cerqueti Roy , Varde’i Ciro Hosseini 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn this paper, we present a data-analysis rank-size approach to assess the features of soccer competitions and competitors. We investigate the championships rankings and the teams’ final scores in the most relevant Italian league, the “Serie A”, between 1930 and 2020. We use the final rankings and the teams’ scores to explore the presence of rank-size regimes in the various yearly championships. Besides, we analyse the teams one by one, ranking their performance over the years and using the rank-size law’s parameters to compare their performances across the tournaments. We chose to do so via the Discrete Generalised Beta Distribution, a three-parameter rank-size function. We offer a cluster analysis of the rank-size law parameters based on a k-means algorithm to provide additional insights and capture similarities and deviations among championships and teams. Concluding, we propose a measure of competitiveness within championships and per team. The best fit results are statistically outstanding, and the cluster analysis presents two main clusters capturing teams’ performances and years in which they have competed in the “Serie A”. The competitiveness analysis shows that the teams at the bottom of the championships ranking have obtained decreasing scores in recent years.
A deep reinforcement learning assisted simulated annealing algorithm for a maintenance planning problem
Authors: Kosanoglu Fuat , Atmis Mahir , Turan Hasan Hüseyin 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMaintenance planning aims to improve the reliability of assets, prevent the occurrence of asset failures, and reduce maintenance costs associated with downtime of assets and maintenance resources (such as spare parts and workforce). Thus, effective maintenance planning is instrumental in ensuring high asset availability with the minimum cost. Nevertheless, to find such optimal planning is a nontrivial task due to the (i) complex and usually nonlinear inter-relationship between different planning decisions (e.g., inventory level and workforce capacity), and (ii) stochastic nature of the system (e.g., random failures of parts installed in assets). To alleviate these challenges, we study a joint maintenance planning problem by considering several decisions simultaneously, including workforce planning, workforce training, and spare parts inventory management. We develop a hybrid solution algorithm ($$\mathcal {DRLSA}$$
DRLSA
) that is a combination of Double Deep Q-Network based Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) and Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithms. In each episode of the proposed algorithm, the best solution found by DRL is delivered to SA to be used as an initial solution, and the best solution of SA is delivered to DRL to be used as the initial state. Different from the traditional SA algorithms where neighborhood structures are selected only randomly, the DRL part of $$\mathcal {DRLSA}$$
DRLSA
learns to choose the best neighborhood structure to use based on experience gained from previous episodes. We compare the performance of the proposed solution algorithm with several well-known meta-heuristic algorithms, including Simulated Annealing, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS). Further, we also develop a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm (i.e., K-Median) as another benchmark in which different properties of spare parts (e.g., failure rates, holding costs, and repair rates) are used as clustering features for the ML algorithm. Our study reveals that the $$\mathcal {DRLSA}$$
DRLSA
finds the optimal solutions for relatively small-size instances, and it has the potential to outperform traditional meta-heuristic and ML algorithms.
Being Silent About the Truth: Narrative Ethics in Mats Wahl’s I ballong över Stilla havet
Authors: Meibauer Jörg , Kümmerling-Meibauer Bettina 
Published: March 2022

AbstractLying and deceiving are prominent topics in ethical narration. This has to do with an often absolutist stance against lying that shapes a large part of philosophical, religious, and political discourses. At the same time, lying and deceiving are topics in the field of moral education in which moral values such as honesty, sincerity, and truthfulness are propagated. Bringing these issues together, this article demonstrates how reflection about honesty and autonomy is narrated in Mats Wahl’s young adult novel I ballong över Stilla havet (In a Balloon over the Pacific Ocean). This novel shows that, while lying and deceiving undermine trust and can lead to harmful results, there are ways to fight against the moral destruction. This fight involves not only prosocial (versus mendacious) lying but also acknowledging individual motives for the lying behavior of others. Thus, while hating adults’ lies and deceptive actions as well as learning to lie himself, the male protagonist matures and takes on responsibility for his actions. We contend that this protagonist may constitute a moral exemplar that invites moral learning.
Parameterized verification of leader/follower systems via first-order temporal logic
Authors: Kourtis G. , Dixon C. , Fisher M. , Lisitsa A. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWe introduce a framework for the verification of protocols involving a distinguished machine (referred to as a leader) orchestrating the operation of an arbitrary number of identical machines (referred to as followers) in a network. At the core of our framework is a high-level formalism capturing the operation of these types of machines together with their network interactions. We show that this formalism automatically translates to a tractable form of first-order temporal logic. Checking whether a protocol specified in our formalism satisfies a desired property (expressible in temporal logic) then amounts to checking whether the protocol’s translation in first-order temporal logic entails that property. Many different types of protocols used in practice, such as cache coherence, atomic commitment, consensus, and synchronization protocols, fit within our framework. First-order temporal logic also facilitates parameterized verification by enabling us to model such protocols abstractly without referring to individual machines.
Interparental Conflict Appraisals and Adolescents’ Maladaptation in Siblings: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model
Authors: Merino Laura , Herrero Marta , Martínez-Pampliega Ana 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate dyadic effects among siblings by testing an actor–partner interdependence model of associations between interparental conflict perceptions and children maladjustment. In particular, associations between siblings’ perceptions of interparental conflict properties, threat, and self-blame, and general, personal, school, and social maladjustment and adolescents’ family and sibling dissatisfaction were examined. The hypotheses of the study were analyzed through an Actor-Partner Interdependent Model. The sample was made up of 50 pairs of siblings recruited in Spain; older siblings’ mean age was 13.3 years (SD = 2.51) and younger siblings’ mean age was 10.4 years (SD = 2.33). The results emphasize the association between children’s and adolescents’ perception of interparental conflict and their own maladjustment (actor effect). However, the main novel contribution of this study is the analysis of partner effects for siblings in interparental conflict situations and the results highlight that they are greater for older siblings compared to younger siblings. Also, the results confirm the interdependency of siblings’ perceptions of interparental conflict properties, but also the independency of threat and self-blame feelings experienced by each sibling. Results and limitations of the study are discussed.
Mechanical, viscoelastic and gas transport behaviour of rotationally molded polyethylene composites with hard- and soft-wood natural fibres
Authors: Prasad K. , Nikzad M. , Sbarski I. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractRotomolded uncompatibilized composites of LLDPE with softwood and hardwood flour dispersed phases are compared and contrasted with respect to their static (tensile, flexural and impact) and dynamic (creep modelling, storage and loss moduli) mechanical properties and transport (oxygen permeability). The static and dynamic mechanical properties are analysed as a function of dispersed phase weight fraction and pre and post ethanol sorption. Vital structural properties such as the equilibrium modulus, Kelvin Voigt modulus, Kelvin Voigt viscosity and relaxation times along with creep compliance trends are analysed. The interfacial porosity generated is then correlated to the overall gas transport using oxygen as the probe molecule. Two models are compared and it is found that the model of Alter which uses overall density as the modelling parameter, is able to predict composite gas permeability with high accuracy. Overall, owing to the uncompatibilized nature, most mechanical properties reduce with wood flour incorporation independent of the type of dispersed phase. However, these properties remain consistent pre and post ethanol sorption as long as the dispersed phase weight fraction is around 5%. This indicates that with some external scaffolding type support structures, the rotomolded composites have potential for use as storage units for liquid materials.Graphical abstract
Effect of different digestates derived from anaerobic co-digestion of olive mill solid waste (omsw) and various microalgae as fertilizers for the cultivation of ryegrass
Authors: Fernández-Rodríguez M. J. , Palenzuela M. V. , Ballesteros M. , Mancilla-Leytón J. M. , Borja R. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract

Aims
The aim of this work was to evaluate the fertilizing effect of three anaerobic co-digestates on the growth of the herbaceous plant Lolium rigidum.

Methods
Nine treatments, combining different nutritional solutions (organic and inorganic) and number of fertilizations (one or two) were evaluated. Organic nutritive solution: plants grown with different olive mill solid waste (OMSW) -microalgae co-digestates: 75% OMSW-25% Raphidocelis subcapitata, volatile solids (VS) basis (OMSW-Rs); 50% OMSW- 50% Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, VS basis (OMSW-Chl); and 75% OMSW-25% Secenedesmus quadricauda, VS basis (OMSW-Sq). Inorganic nutritive solution (INS): plants grown with inorganic Hoagland nutrient solution at 50%. After 60 days of experimentation, biometric and nutritional characteristics and photosynthetic activity were measured.

Results
The results showed a favourable growth, development and nutritional quality of L. rigidum plants when digestates obtained from the anaerobic co-digestion of OMSW-microalgae are used as organic nutritional solutions as opposed to INS ones. The highest total biomass of L. rigidum was obtained with the treatments that involved two fertilizations. No inhibition due to excess nutrients was observed. A higher root/shoot ratio was achieved with the digestates of OMSW-Rs and OMSW-Ch as compared to that obtained with OMSW-Sq (F = 17.23 p ≤ 0.001). The nitrogen shoot biomass obtained after the organic treatments with the above-mentioned co-digestates was higher than that obtained after the inorganic treatment. Net photosynthesis rates did not present differences in the co-digestates treatments, being equal or superior to the INS treatments.

Conclusions
The use of the anaerobic co-digestates from OMSW-microalgae can be considered a viable and promising alternative to inorganic fertilization.
Latent structure blockmodels for Bayesian spectral graph clustering
Authors: Sanna Passino Francesco , Heard Nicholas A. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractSpectral embedding of network adjacency matrices often produces node representations living approximately around low-dimensional submanifold structures. In particular, hidden substructure is expected to arise when the graph is generated from a latent position model. Furthermore, the presence of communities within the network might generate community-specific submanifold structures in the embedding, but this is not explicitly accounted for in most statistical models for networks. In this article, a class of models called latent structure block models (LSBM) is proposed to address such scenarios, allowing for graph clustering when community-specific one-dimensional manifold structure is present. LSBMs focus on a specific class of latent space model, the random dot product graph (RDPG), and assign a latent submanifold to the latent positions of each community. A Bayesian model for the embeddings arising from LSBMs is discussed, and shown to have a good performance on simulated and real-world network data. The model is able to correctly recover the underlying communities living in a one-dimensional manifold, even when the parametric form of the underlying curves is unknown, achieving remarkable results on a variety of real data.
Low-rank tensor reconstruction of concentrated densities with application to Bayesian inversion
Authors: Eigel Martin , Gruhlke Robert , Marschall Manuel 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThis paper presents a novel method for the accurate functional approximation of possibly highly concentrated probability densities. It is based on the combination of several modern techniques such as transport maps and low-rank approximations via a nonintrusive tensor train reconstruction. The central idea is to carry out computations for statistical quantities of interest such as moments based on a convenient representation of a reference density for which accurate numerical methods can be employed. Since the transport from target to reference can usually not be determined exactly, one has to cope with a perturbed reference density due to a numerically approximated transport map. By the introduction of a layered approximation and appropriate coordinate transformations, the problem is split into a set of independent approximations in seperately chosen orthonormal basis functions, combining the notions h- and p-refinement (i.e. “mesh size” and polynomial degree). An efficient low-rank representation of the perturbed reference density is achieved via the Variational Monte Carlo method. This nonintrusive regression technique reconstructs the map in the tensor train format. An a priori convergence analysis with respect to the error terms introduced by the different (deterministic and statistical) approximations in the Hellinger distance and the Kullback–Leibler divergence is derived. Important applications are presented and in particular the context of Bayesian inverse problems is illuminated which is a main motivation for the developed approach. Several numerical examples illustrate the efficacy with densities of different complexity and degrees of perturbation of the transport to the reference density. The (superior) convergence is demonstrated in comparison to Monte Carlo and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods.
Rescue data as an alternative for assessing trends and phenological changes in two invasive parakeet species
Authors: Ciprari Eleonora , Ancillotto Leonardo , Mori Emiliano , Studer Valentina , Chessa Chiara 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMonitoring population trends of alien species is pivotal to design effective management plans to preserve native biodiversity, particularly urban areas, where most populations of alien birds are established. Urban wildlife rescue centers, with personnel trained to record species, age and sex of each individual brought by the public, may represent a reliable citizen-science based method to estimate both local changes in alien species phenology and population trends. In this work, we analysed records of monk and ring-necked parakeets by comparing rescue records in the urban area of Rome from the last 15 years. We also tested whether breeding phenology of alien parakeets showed any changes since the start of the invasion processes.We recorded a strong correlation between the number of rescued parakeets and their population trends, thus confirming the importance of wildlife rescue centers in monitoring populations of alien species in urban areas. We also observed a shift in the breeding phenology of these parakeet species. The hatching peak for ring-necked parakeet occurred in early spring, in line with previous studies on the reproduction of this species, but with a slight increase in the number of months with evidence of breeding in the last years. As to the monk parakeet, our findings support the expansion of its reproductive season between 2006 and 2020 in Rome, with chicks currently being observed for seven months a year. Therefore, data collected through wildlife rescue centers may help improving models of population growth of alien species established in urban areas.
Per aspera ad astra – Eine politikwissenschaftliche Analyse der Akzeptanz des Gendersterns in der deutschen Bevölkerung auf Basis einer Online-Umfrage
Authors: Jäckle Sebastian 
Published: March 2022

ZusammenfassungDieser Artikel zeigt zunächst allgemein, welche Relevanz das identitätspolitisch aufgeladene Thema Gender in jüngster Zeit in der deutschen Politik gewonnen hat, sowie konkret, wie das Thema der sprachlichen Sichtbarmachung sämtlicher Geschlechter im Wahlkampf zur Bundestagswahl 2021 insbesondere von der AfD aktiv genutzt wurde, indem sie es als „Kulturkampf“ gegen eine fehlgeleitete Ideologie präsentierte. Die Hauptanalyse fokussiert auf die Akzeptanz des Gendersterns. Mehr als 10.000 Befragte eines Online-Surveys konnten, bevor die eigentliche Umfrage startete, auswählen, ob sie den Fragebogen mit Genderstern oder mit generischem Maskulinum präsentiert bekommen wollen. Diese Form der vergleichsweise unbewussten Abfrage der interessierenden Eigenschaft minimiert die Gefahr von Priming-Effekten und sozialer Erwünschtheit. Insgesamt wählten etwa 21 % der Befragten die geschlechtergerechte Version, 75 % die mit generischem Maskulinum (4 % trafen keine Auswahl). Die statistische Analyse zeigt, dass die Bereitschaft, die Variante mit Genderstern zu lesen, eng mit politischen Einstellungsmustern zusammenhängt: Personen, die generell eher staatlichen Eingriffen zustimmen, wählen diese häufiger, genauso wie eher linke und eher ökologisch-alternativ ausgerichtete Menschen. Diese Effekte überlagern auch größtenteils die Unterschiede in Bezug auf die Wahlabsicht. So lässt sich nach Kontrolle auf diese grundlegenden politischen Einstellungen beispielsweise kein Unterschied mehr zwischen Personen mit CDU- und AfD-Wahlabsicht feststellen. Ebenfalls eine höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit die Gendersternvariante zu wählen, haben Frauen, jüngere, höher gebildete und wohlhabendere Befragte sowie Personen aus Großstädten. Die politischen Einstellungseffekte sind allerdings stärker als diese Kontrollfaktoren. Das spricht dafür, dass das Thema Gendern tief liegende identitätspolitische Einstellungsmuster aktiviert und es damit auch in Zukunft ein großes politisches Konfliktpotenzial besitzen wird.
How to Unleash the Remarkable Potential of Cold Spray: A Perspective
Authors: Irissou Eric , Poirier Dominique , Vo Phuong , Cojocaru Cristian V. , Aghasibeig Maniya , Yue Stephen 
Published: March 2022

AbstractCold spray is a solid-state, powder-based consolidation technique for deposition of coatings, component repair and near-net-shape additive manufacturing. Its unique attributes have propelled the development and commercialization, yet cold spray has only experienced limited deployment. In fact, cold spray technology could be extended to a considerably broader range of applications and achieve a much higher level of industry adoption by focusing on innovative ways to unlock current roadblocks that prevent it from reaching its full potential. Cold spray R&D efforts have doubled during the last decade and along with new industry applications and novel demands provide both a strong body of knowledge and market pull to identify and address these roadblocks. This paper offers the authors’ perspective on what are the next steps to be taken in cold spray R&D to unleash its remarkable potential.
An update on excess mortality in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
Authors: De Nicola Giacomo , Kauermann Göran 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn this short note, we apply the method of De Nicola et al. (2022) to the most recent available data, thereby providing up-to-date estimates of all-cause excess mortality in Germany for 2021. The analysis reveals a preliminary excess mortality of approximately 2.3% for the calendar year considered. The excess is mainly driven by significantly higher excess mortality in the 60-79 age group.