ALBERT

Description: Dramatic urban land expansion and its internal sub-fraction change during 2000–2020 have taken place in Africa; however, the investigation of their spatial heterogeneity and dynamic change monitoring at the continental scale are rarely reported. Taking the whole of Africa as a study area, the synergic approach of normalized settlement density index and random forest was applied to assess urban land and its sub-land fractions (i.e., impervious surface area and vegetation space) in Africa, through time series of remotely sensed images on a cloud computing platform. The generated 30-m resolution urban land/sub-land products displayed good accuracy, with comprehensive accuracy of over 90%. During 2000–2020, the evaluated urban land throughout Africa increased from 1.93 × 104 km2 to 4.18 × 104 km2, with a total expansion rate of 116.49%, and the expanded urban area of the top six countries accounted for more than half of the total increments, meaning that the urban expansion was concentrated in several major countries. A turning green Africa was observed, with a continuously increasing ratio of vegetation space to built-up area and a faster increment of vegetation space than impervious surface area (i.e., 134.43% vs., 108.88%) within urban regions. A better living environment was also found in different urbanized regions, as the newly expanded urban area was characterized by lower impervious surface area fraction and higher vegetation fraction compared with the original urban area. Similarly, the humid/semi-humid regions also displayed a better living environment than arid/semi-arid regions. The relationship between socioeconomic development factors (i.e., gross domestic product and urban population) and impervious surface area was investigated and both passed the significance test (p 〈 0.05), with a higher fit value in the former than the latter. Overall, urban land and its fractional land cover change in Africa during 2000–2020 promoted the well-being of human settlements, indicating the positive effect on environments.

Description: This paper considers a variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows, with site dependencies, multiple depots and outsourcing costs. This problem is the basis for many technician routing problems. Having both site-dependency and time window constraints lresults in difficulties in finding feasible solutions and induces highly constrained instances. Matheuristics based on Mixed Integer Linear Programming compact formulations are firstly designed. Column Generation matheuristics are then described by using previous matheuristics and machine learning techniques to stabilize and speed up the convergence of the Column Generation algorithm. The computational experiments are analyzed on public instances with graduated difficulties in order to analyze the accuracy of algorithms for ensuring feasibility and the quality of solutions for weakly to highly constrained instances. The results emphasize the interest of the multiple types of hybridization between mathematical programming, machine learning and heuristics inside the Column Generation framework. This work offers perspectives for many extensions of technician routing problems.

Description: New technologies have allowed traditional map production criteria to be modified or even subverted. Starting from the communication sciences—journalism in particular—and digital humanities via the history of communication, we show how to use interactive digital maps for the production and publication of knowledge through and/or for participation. Firstly, we establish the theoretical-conceptual framework necessary to base the practices, dividing the elements into three areas: interactive maps and knowledge production (decentralization, pluralization, reticularization, and humanization), maps as instruments to promote political and social participation (egalitarianism, horizontality, and criticism), and maps as instruments for the visualization of data that favors the user experience (interactivity, multimediality, reticularity of reading, and participation). Next, we present two cases that we developed to put into practice the theoretical concepts that we established: the Mapa Infoparticipa (Infoparticipa Map), which shows the results of the evaluation of the transparency of public administrations, and the Ciutadania Plural (Plural Citizenship) web platform for the production of social knowledge about the past and the present. This theoretical and practical model shows the possibilities of interactive maps as tools to promote political participation and as instruments for the construction of social knowledge in a collaborative, participatory, networked way.

Description: Aquaculture has grown rapidly in the field of food industry in recent years; however, it brought many environmental problems, such as water pollution and reclamations of lakes and coastal wetland areas. Thus, the evaluation and management of aquaculture industry are needed, in which accurate aquaculture mapping is an essential prerequisite. Due to the difference between inland and marine aquaculture areas and the difficulty in processing large amounts of remote sensing images, the accurate mapping of different aquaculture types is still challenging. In this study, a novel approach based on multi-source spectral and texture features was proposed to map simultaneously inland and marine aquaculture areas. Time series optical Sentinel-2 images were first employed to derive spectral indices for obtaining texture features. The backscattering and texture features derived from the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of Sentinel-1A were then used to distinguish aquaculture areas from other geographical entities. Finally, a supervised Random Forest classifier was applied for large scale aquaculture area mapping. To address the low efficiency in processing large amounts of remote sensing images, the proposed approach was implemented on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. A case study in the Pearl River Basin (Guangdong Province) of China showed that the proposed approach obtained aquaculture map with an overall accuracy of 89.5%, and the implementation of proposed approach on GEE platform greatly improved the efficiency for large scale aquaculture area mapping. The derived aquaculture map may support decision-making services for the sustainable development of aquaculture areas and ecological protection in the study area, and the proposed approach holds great potential for mapping aquacultures on both national and global scales.

Description: Wine batch distillation in a copper pot still heated directly by combustion is unusual. It is a niche sector. Few studies are available on the subject and even fewer have studied it from a thermal point of view. In a context of ecology awareness and regularly increasing gas taxes, finding less energy consuming and more performing solutions has become necessary. Two methods already exist to recover energy for such pot stills, however improvements could be made. The present study focuses on the heating zone of an experimental pot still. First, a thermal diagnosis based on a nodal model is conducted in transient regime. The major sites of energy expenditure and waste are thus identified and quantified. Results highlight significant losses both in combustion smoke and by conduction to the environment resulting from a limited thermal performance of the system. Proposals are then made to enhance it. For instance, the preheating could be optimized and more thermal waste could be recovered.

Description: We explored gender differences in sexual behavior, and their relevance to mental health among high school students in South Korea. This study was based on data from the 14th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2018). The subjects were 2460 high school students who reported sexual experiences. Student′s t-test, ANOVA, and Rao-Scott chi-squared test were performed to identify the significance of the differences. Boys had earlier sexual debuts (Rao-Scott χ2 = 53.55, p 〈 0.001), a lower frequency of using contraceptives (Rao-Scott χ2 = 26.57, p 〈 0.001), and lower rates of sex education in school (Rao-Scott χ2 = 11.20, p = 0.004). With respect to mental health factors, there was a difference in suicidality according to sexual risk behaviors, with a stronger association found in boys. In girls, there was an association between pregnancy experiences and suicidal ideation (Rao-Scott χ2 = 9.90, p = 0.003), plans (Rao-Scott χ2 = 17.25, p 〈 0.001), and attempts (Rao-Scott χ2 = 23.11, p 〈 0.001). Our findings suggest differences by gender and age group in the association between sexual behavior and mental health. It is necessary to devise a sex education strategy for adolescents considering gender and early versus late adolescent development period.

Description: Cholera remains a heavy burden worldwide, especially in Sub-Saharan African countries, which account for the majority of the reported cases on the continent. In this study, a 27-year retrospective analysis of cholera epidemics in Guinea-Bissau was performed in order to highlight major stressors fueling the trigger and dissemination of the disease. Although the role of environmental factors did not always have the same degree of importance for the onset of epidemics, a cholera seasonal pattern was clearly perceived, with most of the reported cases occurring during the wet season. The generated theoretical hypothesis indicated rainfall above climatological average, associated with a lack of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) infrastructure, and the occurrence of concomitant epidemics in neighboring countries as the key indicators for optimal conditions for cholera to thrive in Guinea-Bissau. Warmer air temperature, the increase in sea surface temperature, and the decrease in salinity in the coastal areas may also contribute to the emergence and/or aggravation of cholera events. Prediction of the conditions favorable for cholera growth and identification of risk pathways will allow the timely allocation of resources, and support the development of alert tools and mitigation strategies.

Description: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Entrepreneurial Education (EE) are quite abstract and demanding concepts for teacher students. Yet, Key Sustainability Competences and Entrepreneurial Competences entail important qualities of future citizens and workers, and teacher students should become prepared to accommodate education for these competencies in their teaching practice. This paper explores teacher students’ process of sense-making of sustainable development and how becoming a teacher who practices ESD connects with entrepreneurship. EE serves as a good mirroring surface to ESD as they both have their roots in Transformative Learning (TL) but pursue transformation towards different goals. The case study follows the vocational teacher education (VTE) students’ sensemaking of Sustainable Development as a part of teacher’s work during one semester which included integrated Thematic Studies of Sustainable Development. The qualitative content analysis of students’ texts focused on signs of transformative learning and was guided by the dimensions of sustainable development and learning goals set for teacher’s sustainability competences in the VTE curriculum. The results indicate that transformative learning is possible. Furthermore, they address the importance of certain entrepreneurial capabilities in the actualization of change agency.

Description: Floods are a known natural hazard in Germany, but the amount of precipitation and ensuing high death toll and damages after the events especially from 14 to 15 July 2021 came as a surprise. Almost immediately questions about failure in the early warning chains and the effectiveness of the German response emerged, also internationally. This article presents lessons to learn and argues against a blame culture. The findings are based on comparisons with findings from previous research projects carried out in the Rhein-Erft Kreis and the city of Cologne, as well as on discussions with operational relief forces after the 2021 events. The main disaster aspects of the 2021 flood are related to issuing and understanding warnings, a lack of information and data exchange, unfolding upon a situation of an ongoing pandemic and aggravated further by critical infrastructure failure. Increasing frequencies of flash floods and other extremes due to climate change are just one side of the transformation and challenge, Germany and neighbouring countries are facing. The vulnerability paradox also heavily contributes to it; German society became increasingly vulnerable to failure due to an increased dependency on its infrastructure and emergency system, and the ensuing expectations of the public for a perfect system.

Description: This article aims to assess how fiscal and financial incentives and government support conditioned the profitability of Portuguese SMEs between 2010 and 2019. The high tax and financial burdens on SMEs have consequences for sustainability and business development. Thus, the study analyzes different incentives provided by the Portuguese government to ease this burden and improve business profitability. The study uses panel data with fixed effects using five different sources of information from five internal tax grant types, three different European Union program financial subventions, and three national budget-specific expenses. The results obtained suggest that tax incentives influence the profitability of SMEs; however, government incentives do not have any impact. The QREN (financial) incentives positively decide the ROA and negatively impact the ROE, contributing to sustainable performance. Portugal 2020 incentives have a weak effect on the first years, improving in the following years. However, the incentive related to R&D is not relevant. This work aims to contribute to decision making for managers, shareholders, and government entities, allowing them to choose those measures that could increase the company’s added value, and for governments, as a tool to select incentives that will most benefit SMEs’’ profitability. This work identifies the key incentives that impact companies’ profitability.

Description: Metabolic and hormonal outcomes of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have implications on telomere biology and physical activity may prevent telomere erosion. We sought to observe the effects of continuous (CAT) and intermittent (IAT) aerobic training on telomere length, inflammatory biomarkers, and its correlation with metabolic, hormonal, and anthropometric parameters of PCOS. This randomized controlled clinical trial study included 87 PCOS randomly stratified according to body mass index (BMI) in CAT (n = 28), IAT (n = 29) and non-training control group (CG, n = 30). The exercises were carried out on a treadmill, three times per week for 16 weeks. The participants’ anthropometric characteristics and biochemical and hormonal concentrations were measured before and after aerobic training or observation period, as the telomere length that was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. Four months of aerobic exercises (CAT or IAT) did not alter telomere length and inflammatory biomarkers in PCOS women. Obesity index as BMI and waist circumference (WC), and inflammatory biomarkers negatively affect telomeres. The hyper-andro-genism measured by testosterone levels was reduced after both exercises (CAT, p ≤ 0.001; IAT, p = 0.019). In particular, the CAT reduced WC (p = 0.045), hip circumference (p = 0.032), serum cholesterol (p ≤ 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein (p = 0.030). Whereas, the IAT decreased WC (p = 0.014), waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.012), free androgen index (FAI) (p = 0.037). WC (p = 0.049) and body fat (p = 0.015) increased in the non-training group while total cholesterol was reduced (p = 0.010). Booth exercises reduced obesity indices and hyperandrogenism on PCOS women without changes in telomere length or inflammatory biomarkers.

Description: Gait and physical fitness are related to cognitive function. A decrease in motor function and physical fitness can serve as an indicator of declining global cognitive function in older adults. This study aims to use machine learning (ML) to identify important features of gait and physical fitness to predict a decline in global cognitive function in older adults. A total of three hundred and six participants aged seventy-five years or older were included in the study, and their gait performance at various speeds and physical fitness were evaluated. Eight ML models were applied to data ranked by the p-value (LP) of linear regression and the importance gain (XI) of XGboost. Five optimal features were selected using elastic net on the LP data for men, and twenty optimal features were selected using support vector machine on the XI data for women. Thus, the important features for predicting a potential decline in global cognitive function in older adults were successfully identified herein. The proposed ML approach could inspire future studies on the early detection and prevention of cognitive function decline in older adults.

Description: According to the current European scenario, cultural, creative, and community-led policies play an increasingly important role in influencing local resources, systems, and infrastructures management and demand a novel approach in governing, financing, and monitoring urban regeneration processes. Therefore, cities become contexts where cultural and creative practices can be implemented, integrating social cohesion principles based on communities, shared values, and collaborative decision-making approaches, with particular attention to enhancing cultural heritage, mainly unused or underutilised. The purpose of this research is to explore how the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (CCCM) methodological framework, developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, can be integrated at the local scale to assess the impacts of urban regeneration processes in an interactive and dynamic way, through the data emerging from the monitoring of urban regeneration experiences activated with the communities. The paper describes the “Play ReCH (Re-use Cultural Heritage)” approach, that promotes a process of collaboration, gamification, and innovation in cultural heritage reuse, as an opportunity to test how cultural, creative, and community-led urban strategies can support the enhancement of heritage generating enabling environments and culturally vibrant contexts. The Play ReCH approach and the “Hack the City Salerno” mission, activated in the Salerno historic centre (Italy), open the reflection on some relevant issues related to how citizens become makers of cultural and creative cities’ policies, and contribute to evaluating and monitoring their implementation at diverse urban scales. The Play ReCH mission underlines how new evidence suggests declining the CCCM conceptual framework and related urban policies assessment, co-defining suitable community-based indicators.

Description: To evaluate the stability of bridge piers affected by the local scouring, the existing formulas for estimating the maximum local scour depth have been developed based on the results of experiments conducted under a constant water level. However, the applicability of these formulas to the cases where the water level rises and falls, such as a water level change in a real river, is not clear. In this study, water flow experiments were conducted on cylindrical and oval bridge pier models to investigate the effect of iterated water level change on the progression of local scour around piers. Results of experiments with cylindrical and oval pier showed that the local scour depth and length increased by an iterated action of the water level change; however, these values converged after the number of iterated actions reached a certain time. The local scour length at upstream of the bridge pier was approximately 1.8 times larger than the theoretical value, which was calculated through the local scour depth and angle of repose in water. The local scour length is an important parameter for defining the streambed protection zone, which is one of the measures against local scour, and we showed that the streambed protection zone needs to be defined more widely.

Description: Breakfast is considered an important meal, especially for people who are about to commence a long or demanding workday, and for roles that may involve physical tasks and a requirement to remain alert and vigilant in potentially high-risk situations. This study looks at breakfast consumption influences within two workplace institutional settings, namely military and mining. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with military personnel (n = 12) and mining employees (n = 12) to understand their breakfast consumption behaviour at work and at home, and the associated behavioural influences. The interview questions were framed by social cognitive theory. Overall, cognitive and environmental influences were the most prominent influences on breakfast consumption, less evident were behavioural influences. A negative stereotype of workplace institutional food services emerged as one of the most significant barriers to breakfast consumption for those already at work. Considerations of environmental influences on behaviour may need to be broadened beyond physical barriers and social influences, to include perceptions of the behavioural environment. Programs that aim to increase breakfast consumption must create areas where their employees want to go. Food systems need to ensure nutritious, quality, and appealing food is available. Interventions need to increase participants’ knowledge, improve their attitudes, and create positive expectations for breakfast.

Description: To respond to global climate change and achieve a “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” as soon as possible has become a common goal around the world. Economic growth relies heavily on financial development; indeed, low-carbon economic development is inseparable from financial support. This paper studies the impact of financial development on carbon emission intensity and its mechanism from both theoretical and empirical aspects. Based on the 2005–2018 data on Chinese cities and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) research results, this paper finds that: (1) Financial development has significantly reduced China’s carbon emission intensity overall. After considering spatial effects, financial development increases local carbon emission intensity, although it may lead to a more significant decrease in the surrounding area. (2) The analysis of heterogeneity shows that only the financial development in the eastern region has a substantial detrimental impact on total carbon emission intensity and the carbon emission intensity of neighboring cities. The financial development in the central and western regions has no significant effect on carbon emission intensity. (3) The mechanism test shows that financial development mainly reduces carbon emission intensity through technological innovation and structural optimization, with the effect of technological innovation being 9.5%, and the effect of structural optimization being 12.15%. The expansion of the consumption effects of financial development has no significant impact on carbon emission intensity. Accordingly, this article believes that it is necessary to further support financial development, build large-scale financial centers, continue to optimize the structure of financial products, and encourage the development of green finance.

Description: Governments formulate different subsidy policies to incentivize manufacturers to produce green products, and these policies may have different subsidy effects. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the dynamic effects of different subsidy policies to the manufacturer in a green supply chain composed of a manufacturer and a retailer. Three differential game models, considering the consumers preference, are established under three subsidy policies, and the corresponding optimal equilibrium strategies of the supply chain members are analyzed. An example is used to compare the effects of the three policies under the equal government subsidy expenditure. The study finds that the rankings of indexes to evaluate steady-state subsidy effects under the different subsidy policies are time invariant, and the government can preliminarily evaluate these policies according to different subsidy goals. The rankings of indexes to evaluate phased subsidy effects under these policies are time varying. If both subsidy effects and subsidy efficiencies in steady state are taken into account, the optimal selection paths of subsidy policies in the whole period can be obtained. The subsidy effects of the same policy are amplified under the condition of equal steady-state subsidy expenditure, but the rankings of effect indexes under the different subsidy policies are not affected.

Description: Shared mobility based on cars refers to a transportation mode in which travelers/drivers share vehicles to reduce the cost of the journey, emissions, air pollution and parking demands. Cost savings provide a strong incentive for the shared mobility mode. As cost savings are due to cooperation of the stakeholders in shared mobility systems, they should be properly divided and allocated to relevant participants. Improper allocation of cost savings will lead to dissatisfaction of drivers/passengers and hinder acceptance of the shared mobility mode. In practice, several schemes based on proportional methods to allocate cost savings have been proposed in shared mobility systems. However, there is neither a guideline for selecting these proportional methods nor a comparative study on effectiveness of these proportional methods. Although shared mobility has attracted much attention in the research community, there is still a lack of study of the influence of cost saving allocation schemes on performance of shared mobility systems. Motivated by deficiencies of existing studies, this paper aims to compare three proportional cost savings allocation schemes by analyzing their performance in terms of the numbers of acceptable rides under different schemes. We focus on ridesharing based on cars in this study. The main contribution is to develop theory based on our analysis to characterize the performance under different schemes to provide a guideline for selecting these proportional methods. The theory developed is verified by conducting experiments based on real geographical data.

Description: Numerous studies have shown that ERP systems can improve organizational performance and efficiency. Thus, the main concepts addressed in the paper are ERP systems, their performance and the manner in which they improve financial and non-financial reporting. The purpose of this paper is to observe the relationship between ERP systems and financial reporting. The role of these systems is to ensure transparency over the financial and non-financial reporting process of an organization. The research method is represented by an archival analysis (organization’s annual reports) to highlight the relationship between ERP systems and financial and non-financial reporting, given the impact of ERP systems on the information used to prepare financial and non-financial reports and how the organization changes after implementing these systems. The results highlight the significant role of ERP systems within an organization, in terms of performance and improvements in financial and non-financial reporting.

Description: Economic crises cause significant shortages in disposable income and a sharp decline in the living conditions, affecting healthcare sector, hitting the profitability and sustainability of companies leading to raises in unemployment. At micro level, these sharp decreases in earnings associated with unemployment and furthermore with the lack of social protection will impact the quality of life and finally the health of individuals. In time of crisis, it becomes vital to support not only the critical sectors of the economy, the assets, technology, and infrastructure, but to protect jobs and workers. This health crisis has hit hard the jobs dynamics through unemployment and underemployment, the quality of work (through wages, or access to social protection), and through the effects on specific groups, with a higher degree of vulnerability to unfavorable labor market outcomes. In this context, providing forecasts as recent as possible for the unemployment rate, a core indicator of the Romanian labor market that could include the effects of the market shocks it becomes fundamental. Thus, the paper aims to offer valuable forecasts for the Romanian unemployment rate using univariate vs. multivariate time series models for the period 2021–2022, highlighting the main patterns of evolution. Based on the univariate time series models, the paper predict the future values of unemployment rate based on its own past using self-forecasting and implementing ARFIMA and SETAR models using monthly data for the period January 2000–April 2021. From the perspective of multivariate time series models, the paper uses VAR/VECM models, analyzing the temporal interdependencies between variables using quarterly data for the period 2000Q1–2020Q4. The empirical results pointed out that both SETAR and VECM provide very similar results in terms of accuracy replicating very well the pre-pandemic period, 2018Q2–2020Q1, reaching the value of 4.1% at the beginning of 2020, with a decreasing trend reaching the value of 3.9%, respectively, 3.6% at the end of 2022.

Description: This article introduces an application of the recently developed hunger games search (HGS) optimization algorithm. The HGS is combined with chaotic maps to propose a new Chaotic Hunger Games search (CHGS). It is applied to solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem. The OPF is solved to minimize the generation costs while satisfying the systems’ constraints. Moreover, the article presents optimal siting for mixed renewable energy sources, photovoltaics, and wind farms. Furthermore, the effect of adding renewable energy sources on the overall generation costs value is investigated. The exploration field of the optimization problem is the active output power of each generator in each studied system. The CHGS also obtains the best candidate design variables, which corresponds to the minimum possible cost function value. The robustness of the introduced CHGS algorithm is verified by performing the simulation 20 independent times for two standard IEEE systems—IEEE 57-bus and 118-bus systems. The results obtained are presented and analyzed. The CHGS-based OPF was found to be competitive and superior to other optimization algorithms applied to solve the same optimization problem in the literature. The contribution of this article is to test the improvement done to the proposed method when applied to the OPF problem, as well as the study of the addition of renewable energy sources on the introduced objective function.

Description: The current study site of the project Inform@Risk is located at a landslide prone area at the eastern slopes of the city of Medellín, Colombia, which are composed of the deeply weathered Medellín Dunite, an ultramafic Triassic rock. The dunite rock mass can be characterized by small-scale changes, which influence the landslide exposition to a major extent. Due to the main aim of the project, to establish a low-cost landslide early warning system (EWS) in this area, detailed field studies, drillings, laboratory and mineralogical tests were conducted. The results suggest that the dunite rock mass shows a high degree of serpentinization and is heavily weathered up to 50 m depth. The rock is permeated by pseudokarst, which was already found in other regions of this unit. Within the actual project, a hypothesis has for the first time been established, explaining the generation of the pseudokarst features caused by weathering and dissolution processes. These parameters result in a highly inhomogeneous rock mass and nearly no direct correlation of weathering with depth. In addition, the theory of a secondary, weathering serpentinization was established, explaining the solution weathering creating the pseudokarst structures. This contribution aims to emphasize the role of detailed geological data evaluation in the context of hazard analysis as an indispensable data basis for landslide early warning systems.

Description: Performance in wheelchair basketball is determined by capabilities, such as strength and power. The study has two aims: first, to analyze the association between speed and acceleration variables (collected in the bench press (BP) exercise) and the distinct percentages of one-repetition maximum (1RM); second, to analyze the effect of a strength training protocol on wheelchair basketball (WB) players according to their functional impairments. Ten Spanish male WB players volunteered to participate in the study. The players did a pretest and posttest (1RM in bench press) with 6-week muscle strength intervention program. The results showed a high association between the %1RM and the mean propulsive velocity (MPV) and the maximum velocity (Vmax), both in the total of the participants, and in each separate group of athletes. After implementing the strength training program, both the players of the IWBF (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation) 〈 2.5 group and those of IWBF 〉 2.5 group improved their 1RM (p 〈 0.01, ES = 0.20 to 0.23). However, the program produced positive effects at submaximal intensities in the MPV reached with 30, 40, 70, and 80 kg and in time to maximum velocity (TVmax) with 30, 40, and 70 kg (ES = −3.24 to 1.32) only in players with greater functional impairments. The high association between %1RM and MPV and Vmax can allow for determination the %1RM of the WB players in the BP using the MPV and the Vmax. The training program was effective in improving 1RM in both groups, while improvements in submaximal values only occurred in the IWBF 〈 2.5 group.

Description: Secondary cities are rapidly growing areas in low- and middle-income countries that lack data, planning, and essential services for sustainable development. Their rapid, informal growth patterns mean secondary cities are often data-poor and under-resourced, impacting the ability of governments to target development efforts, respond to emergencies, and design sustainable futures. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 focuses on inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. SDG Indicator (SDGI) 11.3.1 calculates the ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate to enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization. Our paper compares three cities—Denpasar, Indonesia; Kharkiv, Ukraine; and Mekelle, Ethiopia—that were part of the Secondary Cities (2C) Initiative of the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues to assess SDGI 11.3.1. The 2C Initiative focused on field-based participatory mapping for data generation to assist city planning. Urban form and population data are critical for calculating and visually representing this ratio. We examine the spatial extent of each city to assess land use efficiency (LUE) and track changes in urban form over time. With limited demographic and spatial data for secondary cities, we speculate whether SDGI 11.3.1 is useful for small- and medium-sized cities.

Description: Aiming at the GNSS receiver vulnerability in challenging urban environments and low power consumption of integrated navigation systems, an improved robust adaptive Kalman filter (IRAKF) algorithm with real-time performance and low computation complexity for single-frequency GNSS/MEMS-IMU/odometer integrated navigation module is proposed. The algorithm obtains the scale factor by the prediction residual, and uses it to adjust the artificially set covariance matrix of the observation vector under different GNSS solution states, so that the covariance matrix of the observation vector changes continuously with the complex scene. Then, the adaptive factor is calculated by the Mahalanobis distance to inflate the state prediction covariance matrix. In addition, the one-step prediction Kalman filter is introduced to reduce the computational complexity of the algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is verified by vehicle experiments in the challenging urban environments. Experiments show that the algorithm can effectively weaken the effects of abnormal model deviations and outliers in the measurements and improve the positioning accuracy of real-time integrated navigation. It can meet the requirements of low power consumption real-time vehicle navigation applications in the complex urban environment.

Description: Water Use Efficiency (WUE) is an important indicator of the carbon cycle in the hydrological and ecological system. It is of great significance to study the response of different hydrological processes to climate and to understand ecosystem carbon sink. However, little is known about the effects and mechanisms of precipitation and temperature on the WUE of different hydrological processes. Thus, three kinds of WUEs (GPP/E (eWUE), GPP/Et (tWUE), and GPP/P (pWUE)) are defined for three different hydrological indicators in semi-arid areas in this study in order to reveal the variation pattern of WUEs based on hydrological indicators and their response to climate. We found that in the past 15 years, the seasonal fluctuation of evapotranspiration in arid areas was large, and the spatial difference of WUE of different hydrological processes was obvious. In semi-arid areas, temperature had a significant effect on WUE (about 68–81%). However, precipitation had a lag effect on WUEs, and the negative impact of precipitation has a great influence (about 84–100%). Secondly, the threshold values of precipitation to WUEs (200 or 300 mm) and temperature to WUEs (2 or 7 °C) are also different from previous studies. This study advances our understanding of the influence of different hydrological processes on ecosystem carbon and climate.

Description: The analysis of the impact of shift work on occupational health still needs further contributions. Therefore, we developed this research with the purpose of assessing the impact of shift work on occupational health indicators, namely burnout, work-engagement, occupational self-efficacy, and mental health functioning (symptoms of depression and anxiety), by comparing workers who did shift work (44.2% of participants) with workers who did not (55.8% of participants). A total of 695 Portuguese professionally active adults between 18 and 73 years of age (Mage = 37.71; SD = 12.64) participated in this study and completed a survey containing a sociodemographic questionnaire and four occupational health measures: The Burnout Assessment Tool, The Work-Engagement questionnaire (UWES), The Occupational Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the BSI-18 for mental health symptoms. Results showed statistically significant differences (p 〈 0.05) for all indicators, demonstrating that participants who worked shifts presented lower scores of work-engagement and occupational self-efficacy, and higher scores of burnout, depression, and anxiety when compared to participants who did not work shifts. Linear regressions showed that shift work explained significant but low percentages of anxiety symptoms, low work-engagement, depression symptoms, low occupational self-efficacy, and burnout. We concluded that non-standard working hours (by shifts) are detrimental to employee occupational health, by increasing the risk of anxiety and depression levels, and burnout, and by reducing work-engagement (as a well-being indicator) and occupational self-efficacy perceptions.

Description: Although researchers expect the valuation of ecosystems and their services to be used in various decision-making processes, some studies have insisted that the valuation results cannot be fully used in the real world. The so-called “information gap” was highlighted, and some reasons for the gap were raised by researchers. One of them is the lack of local-specific and demand-side information, such as who receives the benefits and to what extent. This study proposes a valuation that includes demand-side information for it to be practically useful for policy decision making, especially for local policymakers. We focus on the headwater conservation service of the forest ecosystem by referring to the case of constructing solar power plants in the Satetsu-gawa river basin in Ichinoseki, Japan. We estimate the size of the area and the number of households affected by deforestation caused by the construction of the plants. Furthermore, the lost value of ecosystem services is assessed in monetary terms to reflect information on the demand side. Based on the results, we present multiple indicators for assessing the impact of constructing the plants and discuss how the valuation can be used by local policymakers as well as how it can close the information gap.

Description: The present study investigates the issue of computer-aided daylight evaluation in an office room with a light shelf and dropped translucent ceiling. In this type of room, daylight is admitted from two sources: (i) a standard window in the wall and (ii) via a light shelf and clerestory window, which illuminate the plenum located above the working space. The light from the plenum is transmitted through the translucent ceiling into the office room. The present study is based on data obtained through a computer-aided daylight simulation by DeLuminæ (DL-Light, ver. 11.0.9, and DL-Instant, ver. 6.1.4) software using the Radiance engine and real weather data for Wroclaw, Poland, at 51st lat. N. An office room of 12 × 6 m with different shading and daylight distribution scenarios was simulated (Variants 1–5). Next, the useful daylight illuminance (UDI (%)) for the range of 300–3000 lx and daylight glare probability (DGP) were calculated. To further optimize the daylighting scenarios, an adaptive shading system was simulated, which was activated when the illuminance value dropped below 300 lx. In the final variant, Variant 6, mean UDI300–3000 values were recorded to be above 80% for 95% of the area of the work plane. This allows the conclusion that a light shelf and translucent ceiling guide daylight deep into the room, improving uniformity and reducing glare when the standard window is covered by an adaptive shading system.

Description: The main objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of LGBTQIA+ students regarding sexual and gender diversity in the university context by (1) identifying conceptions about a being LGBTQIA+ student in the higher education context, (2) researching perceptions of the stigma and discrimination against, and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ students and (3) to recognize discourses and scenarios identified by students in the university context regarding sexual diversity and gender diversity, distinguishing their experiences in the classroom as well as in the university, with their peers and with their professors. This research was based on a quantitative method, the sample consisted of 171 students from the School of Medicine of a public university in the United States in the state of Texas. The results showed that there is currently a greater knowledge of the subject of sexual and gender diversity and of the spaces and resources offered by the university on the subject compared to previous years, however, it is found that knowledge is still limited and that this knowledge may possibly be due to the faculty in which they study.

Description: Due to the clime change scenario, severe hydro-meteorological phenomena are having a high impact on the ecosystems of the earth. Some strategies based on the use of natural communities associated with geomorphological changes that restore the natural landscape are gaining success due the resistance and resilience against damages. All of these strategies are known as nature-based solutions (NBS). Soil and water bioengineering techniques are one of the most appreciated tools to reach effectiveness for slope stabilization. They are based on the capacity of some plants to consolidate the soil with his rooting system in special conditions (high slope, flooding impact). Slope stabilization solutions with soil and water bioengineering techniques need to be adapted to this new scenario. Crib wall is one of the most complete soil and water bioengineering technique for structural slope stabilization. It is based on a wooden box full of live plants that in the future will grow and gain stability at the same time that wood decays. The crib wall box is full of soil, and the front area is traditionally stabilized with some branches of fascines to let plants grow, maintaining the structure. Fascines are made of branches of riparian species with the capacity for vegetative propagation. Their diameter can change due to the humidity variation, so the stiffness of the system is at risk against severe hydro-meteorological phenomena. This study aims to assess that the introduction of HDCL in crib walls improves planting success and makes them more resistant to adverse weather events in Mediterranean areas. Four experiments were performed in controlled and natural conditions with this proposal. The results show that the use of natural fibers instead of branch fascine helps to maintain the humidity conditions and increase the resistance capacity. High-density coir logs (HDCL) are not affected by volume changes for humidity conditions. HDCL maintains the plant’s humidity conditions longer and makes plants grow faster, bigger and increase their survival. This method of Crib wall construction increases the associated biodiversity. The most important results are that the use of HDCL in crib walls has an effect on the growth of planted shrub, the development of roots, the colonization of native vegetation and ultimately, the resistance of the structure to the floods. The results also show that crib walls are a good technique for the stabilization of slopes with considerable gradients and high hydraulic impacts. HDCL can reduce the water stress of plantations, and they can be a good system to retain runoff and provide it to the plants. Finally, the HDCL allows the revegetation of a crib wall 30% faster than with branch fascine.

Description: Energy Transition (ET) needs actors to perform independent actions on multiple levels of governance. These actors may need to write and read their data, and at the same time they want to protect their data from unauthorized access. This is particularly the case for positive energy districts (PED), a growing trend in the EU that requires actors to perform, write and read operations on a neighborhood scale where governance competences are typically absent. This paper presents a decentralized privacy-aware data management framework that enables actors to store, read, and modify data in PEDs. Our framework design integrates blockchain with a Distributed Hash Table (DHT), role-based access control, ring signature, and different encryption techniques. The proposed framework stores encrypted data on the DHT, and metadata and hash key are sent to the blockchain, which allows the data owner to keep track of their data. The proposed framework components handle multi-level data access in PEDs and enable data security at run-time. Moreover, we show security and privacy analysis and performance evaluation in time overhead. The results show that the proposed solution is effective, secure, and scalable.

Description: Physical activity is associated with enhanced sleep quality and optimal body composition, as well as a reduction in cardiovascular risk factors in the general population. Although earlier research has established a link between physical exercise and excellent sleep quality as well as an optimum BMI in adults, little is known about the relationship in the young adult populations. The purpose of this study is to discover if there is a relationship between sleep quality, blood pressure, waist circumference, socio-demographic variables with physical activity among young adult in Kuala Lumpur. A cross-sectional sample of 120 university students was recruited for this study. Physical activity and sleep quality were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, respectively. Blood pressure, Body mass index, and waist circumference were also measured. Approximately 36% of university students engage in moderate to vigorous physical exercise. The average physical activity was 2430.37 ± 2509.16 MET-minutes each week, which meets the minimal need. The median difference in MET-minutes per week between gender was not significant, with males having greater MET than females (p 〉 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant variation in MET-minutes each week between study year and mode of transportation. (p 〉 0.05). Approximately 40.3% of university students were classified as having good sleep quality. The average sleep quality is 5.37 ± 2.38, indicating that the students have slightly a poor sleep quality. There was no statistically significant variation in sleep score between gender, year of study, and mode of transportation (p 〉 0.05). The waist circumference (WC) has a significant relationship with body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). According to multinomial logistic regression, there was a significant association between level of physical activity (PA) and BMI and year of study when comparing moderate and low PA. Physical activity is essential because it may alter a young adult’s lifestyle, encouraging active commuting to work or other short-distance destinations. Attention must be given to this particular population to encourage regular and sustainable participation in physical activity to achieve lifelong health benefits. Other variables, such as body fat, energy intake, stress level and muscle mass, can also be examined for future research.

Description: Overweight can be an additional problem in patients admitted to hospital. Objective: To analyze gender differences in pre-admission dietary habits and physical exercise and in HRQoL at hospital discharge among hospitalized adults with overweight. Methods: Cross-sectional study in non-diabetic patients enrolled in a clinical trial with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 Kg/m2 at admission. Bivariate analyses used Pearson’s chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test for qualitative variables and the Mann–Whitney test for numerical variables. Results: The study included 148 males and 127 females. At admission, women had higher BMI (p = 0.016) than men and a larger percentage consumed drugs for depression (p = 0.030) and anxiety (p = 0.049), and followed a religion-based diet (p = 0.022). Pre-admission, women had healthier habits related to dietary caloric intake (p = 0.009) and greater adherence to recommendations for a healthy diet (p = 0.001). At discharge, women described worse self-perceived health (p = 0.044) and greater pain/discomfort (p = 0.004) in comparison to men. Conclusions: Pre-admission, women had better habits related to a healthy diet and did not differ from men in habits related to physical exercise but had a higher BMI. At discharge, women reported worse self-perceived health and greater pain/discomfort. These differences should be considered for the adequate clinical management of patients with overweight.

Description: Background/Purpose: Over the last two decades, malaria has remained a major public health concern worldwide, especially in developing countries leading to high morbidity and mortality among children. Nigeria is the world most burdened malaria endemic nation, contributing more than a quarter of global malaria cases. This study determined the prevalence of malaria among children at 6–59 months in Nigeria, and the effects of individual and contextual factors. Methods: This study utilized data from 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) involving a weighted sample size of 10,185 children who were tested for malaria using rapid diagnostic test (RDT). Given the hierarchical structure of the data set, such that children at Level-1 were nested in communities at Level-2, and nested in states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at Level-3, multilevel mixed effect logistic regression models were used for the analysis. Results: The proportion of children 6–59 months of age in Nigeria that had malaria fever positive as assessed by RDTs was 35.5% (3418/10,185), (CI: 33.9–37.1). Kebbi State had 77.7%, (CI: 70.2–83.5), which was the highest proportion of 6–59 months who were malaria positive, next in line was Katsina State with 55.5%, (CI: 47.7–63.1). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja had the proportion of 29.6%, (CI: 21.6–39.0), malaria positive children of 6–59 months of age. Children between the age of 48 and 59 months were 2.68 times more likely to have malaria fever than children of ages 6–11 months (AOR = 2.68, 95% CI: 2.03–3.54). In addition, children from the rural area (AOR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.75–2.57), were more likely to suffer from malaria infection compared to children from urban area. Conclusion: The study identified some individual and contextual predictors of malaria among children in Nigeria. These factors identified in this study are potential areas that need to be considered for policy designs and implementations toward control and total elimination of malaria-related morbidity and mortality among children in Nigeria.

Description: With the rapid development in the global economy and technology, urbanization has accelerated. It is important to characterize the urban expansion and determine its driving force. In this study, we used the Xiaonan District in Hubei Province, China, as an example to map and quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion from the two perspectives of built-up area and urban land in 1990–2020 by using remote sensing images. The location of rivers was found to be a primary limiting factor for spatial patterns and expansion of the built-up area. The transfer of the city center and the main direction of expansion generally corresponded well to the topography, policies, and development strategies. The built-up area expanded faster than the urban population in 1995–2020, which caused a waste in land resources. The results showed that the urban expansion first decreased and then increased during the research period. The increase in the proportion of the secondary industry was the main driving force of the urban expansion. Based on the characteristics of urban expansion in the past three decades, we conclude that the urban land of Xiaonan District will expand quickly in the future and will occupy vast agricultural land. The government must deploy control measures to balance the benefits and costs of urban expansion.

Description: Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a multi-sectorial community strategy for guaranteeing that people with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all other community members. CBR is organized in a five-component matrix—namely, health, education, social, livelihood, and empowerment. To measure the effectiveness of CBR, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed standardized indicators. The objective of the present study is to translate and validate the CBR indicators (CBR-Is), providing preliminary evidence of their use for disability in Italy. After obtaining permission from the WHO, the CBR-Is followed a process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation according to international guidelines. An examination of internal consistency and reliability was than performed. The intra-rater reliability was estimated using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient with a 95% confidence interval. In order to measures the differences between people with and without disabilities, an independent sample t-test was used for quantitative indicators. The Italian version of the CBR-Is (IT-CBR-Is) was administered to 234 people. The internal consistency showed a good value, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.862, and the intra-rater reliability analysis showed solid values for each domain (range: 0.723–0.882). Statistically significant differences between people with and without disabilities were found for each domain of the CBR matrix—namely, health, social, education, livelihood, and empowerment. The IT-CBR-Is are consistent and reliable measures when used to investigate disability in a community-based inclusive development perspective. National stakeholders can now have specific indicators to implement services and actions for people with disabilities.

Description: Extended reality (XR) technology is increasingly often considered in practical applications related to urban planning and smart city management. It offers many advantages as a new visualization technique that gives its users access to places that are not available in material space and a unique perspective on existing objects. It can provide immersive multi-sensory experience that can induce emotional response in participatory planning. However, standard mode of implementation that relies on mobile phone applications and VR headsets has a disadvantage when it comes to availability and accessibility. Here we test the WebXR solution that can mitigate those problems. We have created six AR and VR environments that resembled common urban planning scenarios and conducted usability tests with people having planning and GIS background. Results indicate that WebXR can provide useful solution in urban planning when the interface and environment resemble common practices and situations encountered in real life. Environments that have introduced new digital affordances like AR measurements or semi-transparent walkable scale models were rated lower. Users evaluated presented environment as having high usability and expressed their positive attitude toward using XR in their professional practice mainly as a participatory and visualization tool.

Description: The results of long-term satellite monitoring of oil pollution of the sea surface in the southeastern Baltic Sea (SEB) are discussed in this paper. From June 2004 to December 2020, in total, 2780 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from different satellites were received and analyzed. There were 788 oil spills detected in the study area. The oil spills were concentrated along the main shipping routes in the SEB. The volume of the detected oil spills was estimated. The average size of the spill was about 2 km2 or 0.8 m3. Seasonal variability of oil pollution shows a decrease in the number of oil detections in the autumn–winter period, which is associated with the prevalence of unfavorable wind conditions that limit the use of SAR technology for oil spill detection and navigation for small ships. In situ measurements show that seasonal variation in the concentration of oil products in seawater is characterized by a maximum in April and a minimum in July. Since 2007, a decrease in oil detections has been observed for the entire Baltic Sea, including the study area. The interannual variability also shows a decrease in the concentration of oil products in the water column. In the southeastern Baltic Sea, the volume of oil products released yearly to the sea surface from ships does not exceed 0.1% of the average instantaneous presence of oil products in the water column.

Description: Smoke-free pregnancies have long-term health benefits for mothers and babies. This paper quantitatively examines factors associated with smoke-free pregnancies among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (hereafter Aboriginal women) and qualitatively explores their smoking cessation (SC) experiences during pregnancy. An Aboriginal-led online cross-sectional study on SC was conducted with Aboriginal women and in partnership with Aboriginal communities, between July and October 2020. The present analysis includes participants who made a pregnancy-related quit attempt (N = 103). Chi-squared tests, logistic regression models, and thematic analysis of free-form text responses were performed. The adjusted odds of having smoke-free pregnancies were 4.54 times higher among participants who used Aboriginal Health Services (AHS) (AOR = 4.54, p-value 0.018). Participants living in urban settings had 67% lower odds of having smoke-free pregnancies compared to their regional/remote counterparts (AOR = 0.33, p-value 0.020). Qualitative data revealed strong motivations to reduce tobacco-related harms to the fetus and variability in quitting experiences at different stages of and across pregnancies. Smoking cessation care (SCC) can support Aboriginal women meaningfully if their quitting experiences are considered in SCC development and implementation. Consistent funding for AHS-led SCC is needed to garner health benefits for Aboriginal peoples. More research into urban versus regional/remote differences in maternal SC is recommended.

Description: The spatiotemporal evolution of vegetation and its influencing factors can be used to explore the relationships among vegetation, climate change, and human activities, which are of great importance for guiding scientific management of regional ecological environments. In recent years, remote sensing technology has been widely used in dynamic monitoring of vegetation. In this study, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and standardized precipitation–evapotranspiration index (SPEI) from 1998 to 2017 were used to study the spatiotemporal variation of NDVI in China. The influences of climate change and human activities on NDVI variation were investigated based on the Mann–Kendall test, correlation analysis, and other methods. The results show that the growth rate of NDVI in China was 0.003 year−1. Regions with improved and degraded vegetation accounted for 71.02% and 22.97% of the national territorial area, respectively. The SPEI decreased in 60.08% of the area and exhibited an insignificant drought trend overall. Human activities affected the vegetation cover in the directions of both destruction and restoration. As the elevation and slope increased, the correlation between NDVI and SPEI gradually increased, whereas the impact of human activities on vegetation decreased. Further studies should focus on vegetation changes in the Continental Basin, Southwest Rivers, and Liaohe River Basin.

Description: During the last few years, attention has overwhelmingly focused on the integrated management of urban services and the demand of customers for locally-based supply. The rapid growth in developing smart measuring devices has made the underlying systems more observable and controllable. This exclusive feature has led the system designers to pursue the implementation of complex protocols to provide faster services based on data exchanges. On the other hand, the demands of consumers for locally-based supply could cause a disjunction and islanding behavior that demands to be dealt with by precise action. At first, keeping a centralization scheme was the main priority. However, the advent of distributed systems opened up new solutions. The operation of distributed systems requires the implementation of strong communication links to boost the existing infrastructure via smart control and supervision, which requires a foundation and effective investigations. Hence, necessary actions need to be taken to frustrate any disruptive penetrations into the system while simultaneously benefiting from the advantages of the proposed smart platform. This research addresses the detection of false data injection attacks (FDIA) in energy hub systems. Initially, a multi-hub system both in the presence of a microgrid (the interconnected smart energy hub-based microgrid system) and without it has been modeled for energy management in a way that allows them to cooperate toward providing energy with each other. Afterward, an FDIA is separately exerted to all three parts of the energy carrier including the thermal, water, and electric systems. In the absence of FDIA detection, the impact of FDIA is thoroughly illustrated on energy management, which considerably contributes to non-optimal operation. In the same vein, the intelligent priority selection based reinforcement learning (IPS-RL) method is proposed for FDIA detection. In order to model the uncertainty effects, the unscented transformation (UT) is applied in a stochastic framework. The results on the IEEE standard test system validate the system’s performance.

Description: Remotely sensed vegetation indices (VIs) have been widely used to estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB) carbon stock of coastal wetlands by establishing Vis-related linear models. However, these models always have high uncertainties due to the large spatial variation and fragmentation of coastal wetlands. In this paper, an efficient coastal wetland AGB model for the Bohami Rim coastal wetlands was presented based on multiple data sets. The model was developed statistically with 7 independent variables from 23 metrics derived from remote sensing, topography, and climate data. Compared to previous models, it had better performance, with a root mean square error and r value of 188.32 g m−2 and 0.74, respectively. Using the model, we firstly generated a regional coastal wetland AGB map with a 10 m spatial resolution. Based on the AGB map, the AGB carbon stock of the Bohai Rim coastal wetland was 2.11 Tg C in 2019. The study demonstrated that integrating emerging high spatial resolution multi-remote sensing data and several auxiliary metrics can effectively improve VIs-based coastal wetland AGB models. Such models with emerging freely available data sets will allow for the rapid monitoring and better understanding of the special role that “blue carbon” plays in global carbon cycle.

Description: Rising sea levels pose one of the greatest threats to coastal zones. However, sea-level changes near the coast, particularly absolute sea-level changes, have been less well monitored than those in the open ocean. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential of Global Navigation Satellite Systems Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) to measure coastal absolute sea-level changes and tie on-land (coastal GNSS) and offshore (satellite altimetry) observations into the same framework. We choose three coastal GNSS stations, one each in regions of subsidence, uplift and stable vertical land motions, to derive both relative sea levels and sea surface heights (SSH) above the satellite altimetry reference ellipsoid from 2008 to 2020. Our results show that the accuracy of daily mean sea levels from GNSS-IR is

Description: In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a faceless, non-adversarial threat that endangered Israelis and Palestinians with the same ferocity. However, the capacities of the health systems to address it were not equal, with Israel more equipped for the outbreak with infrastructure, resources, manpower and later, vaccines. The pandemic demonstrated the life-saving benefits of cooperation and the self-defeating harms brought by non-cooperation. These trends are explored here by an international team of public health and environmental scholars, including those from different sides of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This article explores the importance of recognizing the Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions as a single epidemiological unit, and illustrates how doing so is a pragmatic positioning that can serve self-interest. We demonstrate how despite political shocks precipitating non-cooperation, there has been a recurrent tendency towards limited cooperation. The paper concludes with lessons over the need for reframing public health as a potential bridge, the need for structural changes creating sustainable platforms for accelerated transboundary cooperation to enable the steady management of current and future public and environmental health crises regardless of dynamic political crises, and the importance of civil society and international organizations in forging collaboration in advance of governmental engagement.

Description: With a growing global population and energy demand, there is increasing concern about the world’s reliance on fossil fuels, which have a negative impact on the climate, necessitating the immediate transition to a cleaner energy resource. This effort can be initiated in the rural areas of developing countries for a sustainable, efficient and affordable energy source. This study evaluated four types of renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, and mini-hydro energy) using the integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approaches to select the best renewable energy source in Tatau, Sarawak. The criteria under consideration in this study included the environment, engineering and economics. The LCA was used to assess the environmental impact of renewable energies from gate-to-grave boundaries based on 50 MJ/day of electricity generation. The AHP results showed that solar energy received the highest score of 0.299 in terms of the evaluated criteria, followed by mini-hydro, biomass and wind energy, which received scores of 0.271, 0.230 and 0.200, respectively. These findings can be used to develop a systematic procedure for determining the best form of renewable energy for rural areas. This approach could be vital for the authorities that are responsible for breaking down multi-perspective criteria for future decision making in the transition into renewable energy.

Description: Throughout the 21st century, urban reports demand solutions to the obsolescence and aging process suffered by the existing buildings, due to the growth and expansion of cities that took place in the second half of the 20th century [...]

Description: Disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSW) remains a challenge to minimize its impacts on the environment and human health. Landfilling, currently the most common method used for MSW disposal, occupies land space and leads to soil and air emissions. Gasification, an alternative MSW disposal method, can convert waste to energy, but can also lead to soil and air emissions and is a more extensive operation. In this study, life cycle assessments (LCA) of the two disposal methods (landfilling without energy recovery and gasification) were compared to understand impacts on environment and health. The LCA was conducted following the ISO 14040 standards with one ton of MSW as the functional unit. The life cycle inventory was obtained from published journals, technical reports, LandGEM, HELP and GREET database. The impact assessment was done using TRACI 2.1 and categorized into eight groups. The LCA revealed that landfilling is a higher contributor in global warming, acidification, smog formation, eutrophication, ecotoxicity and human health cancer and non-cancer categories. The negative environmental impacts of MSW landfilling can be primarily attributed to the fate of leachate loss and landfill gas, while those of the MSW gasification can be attributed to the disposal of its solid residues.

Description: Carbon neutrality has positive impacts on people, nature and the economy, and buildings represent the “last mile” sector in the transition to carbon neutrality. Carbon neutrality is characterized by the decarbonization of operations and maintenance, in addition to zero emissions in electricity and other industry sectors. Taking China’s commercial buildings as an example, this study is the first to perform an extensive data analysis for a step-wise carbon neutral roadmap of building operations via the analysis of a dynamic emission scenario. The results reveal that the carbon emissions abatement of commercial building operations from 2001 to 2018 was 1460.85 (±574.61) mega-tons of carbon dioxide (Mt CO2). The carbon emissions of commercial building operations will peak in the year 2039 (±5) at 1364.31 (±258.70) Mt, with emission factors and energy intensity being the main factors influencing the carbon peak. To move toward carbon neutral status, an additional 169.73 Mt CO2 needs to be cut by 2060, and the low emission path toward carbon neutrality will lead to the realization of the carbon peak of commercial buildings in 2024, with total emissions of 921.71 Mt. It is believed that cutting emissions from the operation of buildings in China will require a multi-sectoral synergistic strategy. It is suggested that government, residents, enterprises, and other stakeholders must better appreciate the challenges to achieve a substantial carbon reduction and the need for urgent action in the building sector in order to achieve carbon neutrality.

Description: The construction sector is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and consumers of energy, making it one of the most relevant sectors when planning reduction strategies and policies. The use of timber in the built environment has been identified as a key strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction sector. In this paper, we use the concept of policy gap analysis to identified underlying challenges in the implementation of timber construction on three Nordic countries, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. We carried out a series of semi-structured interviews with experts from the countries of study. The interviews came from industry, government, and construction companies. The use of the gap analysis approach was useful not only to identify areas that are being targeted but also those areas that were not covered by any programme at the time of study. The results showed that the studied programmes have a large level of coverage and congruence with the identified challenges. Moreover, they also showed that challenges related to fire safety regulations and insurance policies for timber buildings still need to be addressed, whereas the challenges of high price variability and lack of promotion are being addressed by multiple programmes. With this work, we have seen how timber construction is gaining momentum and how the challenges have been addressed systematically.

Description: COVID-19 has brought serious challenges to education and many other sectors. Within the educational context, the main difficulties experienced have been reported as challenges related to not only mechanical impediments—such as technology or infrastructure—but also to methodological and personal features, such as lack of motivation or online learning/teaching experiences. The abrupt transition from face-to-face to online education has created the need for some specific abilities, such as digital literacy on the side of the learners at all educational levels. In this context, this mixed-method study aims to determine the digital literacy levels of learners belonging to different school levels and whether age, gender and school degree were significant variables. This study also investigates the technology-related challenges students experienced during COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 510 participants representing different school levels, age groups, and genders; in addition, a smaller representative group (n = 30) revealed their own evaluations related to their levels of digital literacy and the technology-related challenges they had about online learning. The findings suggest that there is a statistically significant relationship between students’ digital literacy and their gender and school degree, while age was not found to be a statistically significant variable. The qualitative self-reported data suggested that learners have sufficient levels of digital literacy, and that the major technology-related challenges were reported to be lack of the necessary technologies and difficulties in adapting to a new approach to learning.

Description: Despite a keen interest in clinical research, most paramedical professionals are unwilling to play an active role. Our objective was to explore paramedical professionals’ representations of research. Using an existing database of final year paramedical students (speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychomotricity, audiometry, physiotherapy, orthoptics), we deployed a qualitative approach composed of two successive steps: (1) a free word association task, and (2) semi-structured individual interviews. Out of the 54 students who agreed to be contacted, we received 21 responses to the free word association questionnaire, and 11 interviews were conducted. The hierarchical evocation matrix revealed that the scientific representation of research is based on words defining the research and the purpose of the research. “Collaboration” was identified as being an essential part of the research process. The central core of the representation is coherent with all its components perceived as positive. The content analysis of the interviews showed a polarization around two key points: (1) participants are interested in accessing and using evidence in their practice (2) but feel less confident about and/or motivated to generate evidence themselves. This study highlights the need to develop more research-friendly environments, especially in training institutions.

Description: Optimization and sensitivity analysis of the kinetic parameters of the catalytic ozonation process is crucial to improve water treatment, reactor design, and construction. This study evaluated the optimization of the kinetic constants for Diclofenac (DCF) degradation during catalytic ozonation with Goethite (FeOOH, as a catalyst) through different kinetic modeling approaches. A central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of ozone dose and catalyst loading. The results showed that FeOOH did not significantly influence the degradation of DCF, while the reactivity of DCF with ozone was high (with 〉90% degradations in 20 min). However, the variation in catalyst loading significantly affected TOC removal (〉10%) and ozone use, with ozone efficiency in ozone transfer (RU) 5% higher than ozonation. After evaluating the different kinetic models of reaction speed by optimizing kinetic parameters and performing sensitivity analysis for the treatment of DCF by catalytic ozonation, it can be concluded that the addition of FeOOH improved the kinetics of the decomposition of ozone and the yield in the production of hydroxyl radicals.

Description: Wastewaters from the olive oil industry are a regional environmental problem. Their phenolic content provides inherent toxicity, which reduces the treatment potential of conventional biological systems. In this study, Sulfate Radical based Advanced Oxidation Processes (SRbAOPs) are compared with advanced oxidation processes (namely Fenton’s peroxidation) as a depuration alternative. Synthetic olive mill wastewaters were submitted to homogeneous and heterogeneous SRbAOPs using iron sulfate and solid catalysts (red mud and Fe-Ce-O) as the source of iron (II). The homogenous process was optimized by testing different pH values, as well as iron and persulfate loads. At the best conditions (pH 5, 300 mg/L of iron and 600 mg/L of persulfate), it was possible to achieve 39%, 63% and 37% COD, phenolic compounds and TOC removal, respectively. The catalytic potential of a waste (red mud) and a laboratory material (Fe-Ce-O) was tested using heterogenous SRbAOPs. The best performance was achieved by Fe-Ce-O, with an optimal load of 1600 mg/L. At these conditions, 27%, 55% and 5% COD, phenolic compounds and TOC removal were obtained, respectively. Toxicity tests on A. fischeri and L. sativum showed no improvements in toxicity from the treated solutions when compared with the original one. Thus, SRbAOPs use a suitable technology for synthetic OMW.

Description: In this study, microbial community dynamics were explored during biological degradation of azo dyes with different chemical structures. The effect of the different molecular structures of the azo dyes was also assessed against the simultaneous removal of color and the bacterial community. Winogradsky columns were inoculated with dewatered sludge and separately fed with six different azo dyes to conduct the sludge acclimatization process, and nine bacterial decolorizing strains were isolated and identified. The decolorization and biodegradation performances of the acclimated system and isolated strains were also determined. Results showed that the bacterial isolates involved in decolorization and the degradation of the azo dyes were mainly associated with the azo dye structure. After 24 h acclimatization at room temperature without specific illumination, immediate decolorization of methyl red (89%) and methyl orange (78%) was observed, due to their simple structure compared to tartrazine (73%). However, after 8 days of acclimatization, methyl red was easily decolorized up to 99%, and about 87% decolorization was observed for orange G (87%), due to its complex chemical structure. Higher degrees of degradation and decolorization were achieved with Pseudomonas geniculate strain Ka38 (Proteobacteria), Bacillus cereus strain 1FFF (Firmicutes) and Klebsiella variicola strain RVEV3 (Proteobacteria) with continuous shaking at 30 °C. The azo dyes with benzene rings were found to be easier to decolorize and degrade with similar microbial communities. Moreover, it seems that the chemical structures of the azo dyes, in a sense, drove the divergent succession of the bacterial community while reducing the diversity. This study gives a deep insight into the feasible structure-based artificial manipulation of bacterial communities and offers theoretical guidance for decolorizing azo dyes with mixed bacteria cultures.

Description: Internet service providers are offering shared data plans where multiple users may buy and sell their overage data in a secondary market managed by the ISP. We propose a game-theoretic approach to a software-defined network for modeling this wireless data exchange market: a fully connected, non-cooperative network. We identify and define the rules for the underlying progressive second price (PSP) auction for the respective network and market structure. We allow for a single degree of statistical freedom—the reserve price—and show that the secondary data exchange market allows for greater flexibility in the acquisition decision making of mechanism design. We have designed a framework to optimize the strategy space using the elasticity of supply and demand. Wireless users are modeled as a distribution of buyers and sellers with normal incentives. Our derivation of a buyer-response strategy for wireless users based on second price market dynamics leads us to prove the existence of a balanced pricing scheme. We examine shifts in the market price function and prove that our network upholds the desired properties for optimization with respect to software-defined networks and prove the existence of a Nash equilibrium in the overlying non-cooperative game.

Description: The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has triggered a series of responses worldwide ranging from traveling restrictions and shelter-in-place orders to lockdowns, contact tracing, social distancing, and other mitigation measures. To assist with contact tracing and ensure the safety of citizens, a significant number of mobile applications has been developed, utilizing geospatial information and proximity sensing. We perform a thorough research on seven digital databases (Appbrain, e-Health Hub, GDPRhub, “fs0c131y”, News Sites, Appstore, and Google Play), identifying a total of 160 apps regarding COVID-19 related to our research questions. The aim of this research is to identify the main categories of apps and analyze their functions based on a proposed framework of by mapping aspects that affect their functionalities regarding Services, Technology, Societal & Business, and Legal aspects. As the world comes to the new normal, the utilization of these apps might become more essential for more mobile users and developers. The new encryption protocols that are established are also in favor of this argument. Future work can utilize our framework to further examine the development, design, and adoption of such mobile applications.

Description: A basic assumption of many scientific theories on the topic of decision making is rational behaviour. However, previous authors assume the existence of behavioural biases in freight transport which impede rational decision making. Hardly any research exists on behavioural biases in freight transport. To address this gap, we carry out a systematic literature review on the influencing factors of freight mode choice and provide empirical evidence for the occurrence of behavioural biases in the logistics sector. Fifteen logistics service providers and six shippers are involved in interviews and a focus group to understand their mode choice process and derive information on the existence of behavioural biases. Several biases showed to exist in the practical decision-making process. For example, decision makers tend to avoid complex options (principle of least effort), they stick to already tried and tested options (status quo bias, zero-risk bias) and they tend to make decisions based on immediate and easily accessible information (availability bias). These biases distort the demand for sustainable freight transport. We therefore conclude with several motivational, cognitive and technological debiasing strategies to reduce the negative impact of behavioural biases in freight transport.

Description: For an industry to succeed in a competitive market, it should continuously take care of not only its stakeholders but also its technical efficiency and productivity. In this paper, data envelopment analysis was combined with Malmquist productivity analysis to investigate the pattern of multifactor productivity changes in the European energy industry over the period from 2005–2016. The results showed that the whole industry was technically inefficient and had large potential for improvement. A slight average increase in productivity that was observed over the studied period proved to be sensitive to the financial and economic situation and equally sensitive to technological and efficiency advances. As for efficiency gains, they reflected the nature of the energy industry, implying that they were due to scale efficiencies rather than human resource improvements. Although technological innovation and the optimal scale of production increased productivity, the slow pace at which this occurred and the negative outlook highlighted by the observed trends call for more serious consideration of the future productivity deployment of the European energy industry, particularly in the context of its decarbonisation, diversification, and modernisation.

Description: This paper analyzes the impact of the managerial ability and level of compensation on firm value in small and medium enterprises. The ability of managers is important for the sustainability and growth of small and medium enterprises because they lack awareness of resources, technology, and reputation compared to large enterprises. The managerial ability is the ability to efficiently utilize resources and choose the investment plan with the highest future net cash flows. Managerial ability is also an indicator of the level of compensation for executives. Therefore, the level of executive compensation can help a firm value or growth if it is based on managerial abilities. In addition, high executive compensation standards can be an opportunity or motivation to work hard for the wealth of companies and shareholders. We analyzed 1872 small and medium-sized companies listed on the Korean stock market to achieve the purpose of the research. We analyzed the accounting period of 6 years from 2012 to 2017. Our results have had a positive impact on firm value with executive compensation. In groups with excellent managerial skills, executive compensation has had a positive (+) impact on firm value. However, executive compensation did not have a significant impact on firm value in groups with poor managerial skills. These results validate that the CEO’s role in small and medium enterprise is important and that the level of compensation for executives is important to motivate. It also suggests that executive compensation cannot affect the firm value in groups with low managerial abilities.

Description: Background: In this study, we aimed to identify factors correlating with satisfaction with orthognathic surgery in order to improve its outcome. Methods: We recruited 77 participants who had received orthognathic surgery and 32 age- and gender-matched normal-controls. Questionnaires that included devised questions for family support, Big Five Inventory, Derriford Appearance Score, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and a visual analogy scale for satisfaction, were completed before and one month and nine months after the surgery. The statistical analysis methods included descriptive statistics, t-test, and Pearson correlation. Results: All participants received the preoperative and one-month follow-up, while 28 also completed the nine-month follow-up. Satisfaction was not significantly related to demographic data, but long-term satisfaction was related to an extraverted personality. The preoperative and postoperative results of the Derriford Appearance Scale were related to short-term and long-term satisfaction. Furthermore, both the preoperative and one-month postoperative Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index findings were significantly related to short-term satisfaction. The postoperative 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey was significantly related to short-term and long-term satisfaction. Conclusions: Not only subjective distress and dysfunction of appearance but also sleep problems and quality of life were correlated to satisfaction with orthognathic surgery. In the future, relevant interventions can be developed to further improve patient’s satisfaction and their physical and mental health.

Description: Mastering the lodging risk of planting environment is of great significance to the optimal layout of maize varieties and the breeding of lodging resistant varieties. However, the existing lodging risk models are still at the stage of single or multi-factors independent analysis, and lack of assessment for different lodging types. To address this issue, based on the mechanism of different lodging types, the Archimedean copula function was used to describe the joint probability distribution of wind speed and precipitation, and the lodging risk assessment model of maize was established. By comparing the goodness of fit, when the rank correlation coefficient of these two is positive and negative, the corresponding optimal joint probability distribution functions are the Gumbel copula and Frank copula. According to the spatial distribution of lodging risk, the area from Liaodong Bay northward to Tongyu, Jilin province in the Northeast and the North China Plain has a high frequency of lodging, in which the probability of stalk lodging is two to four times that of root lodging. Finally, we discussed how to apply the lodging risk distribution results to optimize the maize variety test sites to improve the efficiency and reliability of the existing test system. The method proposed in this paper comprehensively considers the synergistic effect of multiple factors and can provide technical support for other risk assessment.

Description: Business organizations all around the globe are looking to expand circular models into their supply chains to harness economic and environmental benefits. Moreover, the act of giving incentives to retailers by the manufacturer is also quite prevalent in the present business environment. These incentives are offered to promote the sales of products of a manufacturer. Therefore, this paper examines the optimal decisions for a dual-retailer closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) in which the manufacturer bestows the credit period to the one retailer (a firm that possesses shallow market penetration and has a higher insistence on the usage of the capital venture), and cash discount to the next retailer (a firm that occupies the market to a greater extent and receives lower thrust on the usage of invested capital) under a non-coordinated system and coordinated systems. This study proposes the mathematical model to determine the optimal decisions of the manufacturer in terms of credit period and cash discount and also compute the optimal decisions of the retailers for their retail prices and order quantities to maximize individual’s profit in the CLSC. Moreover, numerical analysis and sensitivity analysis is performed to get insights into the optimal decisions of the manufacturer and retailers. The results of sensitivity analysis show that credit period and cash discount increases with the rise in price elasticity, and decreases with an increase in cross-price elasticity. The findings also confirm that members of dual-retailer CLSC under coordination and manufacture’s incentive scenario generate higher environmental and economic benefits required to attain sustainability in production and consumption.

Description: Over the last decades, growing interest has been devoted to employees’ perceptions of Human Resource Management Practices because of their positive influence on individual attitudes and behaviors as well as on organizational performance. Furthermore, assuming the mutual benefits coming from a people-based management of the human capital in organizations, both in terms of employees’ increased motivation, engagement and commitment, and consequently enhanced performance and competitive advantage, recent research in the field concentrated on the impact of HRM practices perceptions on some distinctive individual attitudes and behaviors driving the success of organizations especially in times of radical change like the present ones. Moving from these assumptions, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between HRM practices perception and objective career success, considering the mediating role played by employability and extra-role behaviors. Participants were 960 Italian employees who filled an online self-report questionnaire available through the web platform Google Forms. The questionnaire encompassed socio-demographic information and self-report scales assessing the study variables. Results showed that HRM practices perception was positively related to employability, objective career success, and extra-role behaviors. Implications for theory and practice, limitations, and future research directions were also discussed.

Description: In China, ground-level ozone has shown an increasing trend and has become a serious ambient pollutant. An accurate spatiotemporal distribution of ground-level ozone concentrations (GOCs) is urgently needed. Generalized linear models (GLMs) and Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) models are practical for predicting GOCs. However, GLMs have limited capacity to capture temporal variations and can miss some short-term and regional patterns, while the performance of BME models may degrade in cases of sparse or imperfect monitoring networks. Thus, to predict nationwide 1 km monthly average GOCs for China, we designed a novel hybrid model containing three modules. (1) A GLM was established to accurately describe the variability in GOCs in the space domain. (2) A BME model incorporating GLM residuals was employed to capture the temporal variability of GOCs in detail. (3) A combination of GLM and BME models was developed based on the specific broad range of each submodel. According to the cross-validation results, the hybrid model exhibited superior performance, with coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.67. The predictive performance of the large-scale and high-resolution hybrid model is superior to that in previous studies. The nationwide spatiotemporal variability of the GOCs derived from the hybrid model shows that they are valuable indicators for ground-level ozone pollution control and prevention in China.

Description: Climate change-related natural disasters, including wildfires and extreme weather events, such as intense storms, floods, and heatwaves, are increasing in frequency and intensity. These events are already profoundly affecting human health in the United States and globally, challenging the ability of communities to prepare, respond, and recover. The purpose of this research was to examine the peer-reviewed literature on community resilience initiatives in one of the most densely populated and economically important regions, the Northeastern United States, and to identify evidence-based interventions and metrics that had been field-tested and evaluated. This paper addresses two critical gaps in the literature: (1) what strategies or interventions have been implemented to build or enhance community resilience against climate change-related natural disasters; and (2) what metrics were used to measure community resilience as an outcome of those strategies or interventions? This review provides a succinct list of effective interventions with specific health outcomes. Community or state-level health officials can use the results to prioritize public health interventions. This review used existing database search tools to discover 205 studies related to community resilience and health outcomes. Methods set criteria to assess if interventions were able to measure and change levels of community resilience to the health impacts associated with a changing climate. Criteria included: (a) alignment with the United States’ National Preparedness Goal for reducing risks to human health and for recovering quickly from disasters; (b) derived from publicly available data sources; (c) developed for use by communities at a local scale; and (d) accessible to modestly resourced municipalities and county health agencies. Five (5) peer-reviewed, evidence-based studies met all of the selection criteria. Three of these articles described intervention frameworks and two reported on the use of standardized tools. Health-related outcomes included mental health impacts (PTSD/depression), mental stress, emergency preparedness knowledge, social capital skills, and emergency planning skills. The paper recommends the COAST project, COPEWELL Rubric for self-assessment, and Ready CDC intervention as examples of strategies that could be adapted by any community engaged in building community resilience.

Description: Although remote sensors have been increasingly providing dense data and deriving reanalysis data for inversion of particulate matters, the use of these data is considerably limited by the ground monitoring samples and conventional machine learning models. As regional criteria air pollutants, particulate matters present a strong spatial correlation of long range. Conventional machine learning cannot or can only model such spatial pattern in a limited way. Here, we propose a method of a geographic graph hybrid network to encode a spatial neighborhood feature to make robust estimation of coarse and fine particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5). Based on Tobler’s First Law of Geography and graph convolutions, we constructed the architecture of a geographic graph hybrid network, in which full residual deep layers were connected with graph convolutions to reduce over-smoothing, subject to the PM10–PM2.5 relationship constraint. In the site-based independent test in mainland China (2015–2018), our method achieved much better generalization than typical state-of-the-art methods (improvement in R2: 8–78%, decrease in RMSE: 14–48%). This study shows that the proposed method can encode the neighborhood information and can make an important contribution to improvement in generalization and extrapolation of geo-features with strong spatial correlation, such as PM2.5 and PM10.

Description: The research presented in this paper examines the experiences of Poles traveling for leisure purposes in the summer season of 2020, taking into account the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved the analysis of source data, including statistical data, and a survey administered via the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method. The survey questionnaire was created on the Google platform. The link to the questionnaire was provided via social media to participants of travel groups in the period from 30 November 2020 to 15 February 2021. The sampling was purposive (included only travelers) despite efforts to maintain the gender balance; the proportion of women was higher. Therefore, caution must be applied when interpreting the results which may not be transferable. The survey included questions regarding the respondents’ travel behavior and risk perceptions. 433 correctly completed questionnaires were collected. The dataset was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Descriptive statistics measures and correlation coefficients were used in the analysis of the results. The study shows that some respondents decided against traveling because of the pandemic situation, while those who decided to travel adjusted their behavior by avoiding crowded places and resigning from traveling abroad. Compliance with hygiene standards in the area of tourism services varied, and was the highest in the case of accommodation services. Women rated hygiene standards in chain cafes statistically higher than men and younger people rated hygiene on public transport, trains, air transport and in fast food services higher than older people. The higher the tourism expenditure, the lower the assessment of sanitary standards in tour guide services, air transport and chain cafes decreased.

Description: The use of intelligent compaction (IC) in asphalt overlay includes the use of double-drum IC rollers, a roller measurement system, global position system (GPS) radio/receiver/base station, infrared temperature sensors, and an onboard computer reporting system. GPS based mapping and optional feedback control help to overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional compaction such as identifying soft spots, achieving consistent roller patterns, and monitoring asphalt surface temperature and levels of compaction with adequate quality control or quality assurance (QC/QA). Cost-effectiveness of both compaction types was measured in terms of initial and roadway lifecycle cost based on the cost inputs received from South Korea and other published literatures. Roadway lifecycle cost was reported based on the improvement in in-place density, smoothness, and fatigue life. The results of this study showed that: (1) with IC an approximate 4.1% initial cost reduction can be achieved compared to conventional compaction; (2) QC/QA cost is found to have the most significant effect on the higher initial cost of conventional compaction compared to other associated costs whereas intelligent roller cost is the vital cost category for IC; (3) improvement of in-place air voids and density due to the IC has shown that at 97% field density (or at 3% air void content) the State Highway Agency can save approximately 44% over a 20-year service period; and (4) agency cost is observed to be reduced by approximately 62% with the IC method based on the 25-year analysis period due to the increase in fatigue life.

Description: In the first quarter of 2020, Italy became one of the earliest hotspots of COVID-19 infection, and the government imposed a lockdown. During the lockdown, an online survey of 2053 adults was conducted that asked about health behaviors and about the psychological and overall impact of COVID-19. The present study is a secondary analysis of that data. We hypothesized that self-control, higher socio-economic status, existing health conditions, and fear of infection were all inversely related to actions (or intentions) that violated the lockdown (i.e., infractions). Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we found that only the fear of infection significantly dissuaded people from violating lockdown rules. Since it is not practical or ethical to sow a fear of infection, our study indicates that enacting rules and enforcing them firmly and fairly are important tools for containing the infection. This may become more important as vaccines become more widely available and people lose their fear of infection.

Description: Physical processes play important roles in controlling eutrophication and oligotrophication. In stratified lakes, internal waves can cause vertical transport of heat and nutrients without breaking the stratification, through boundary mixing events. Such is the case in tropical Valle de Bravo (VB) reservoir lake, where strong diurnal winds drive internal waves, boundary mixing, and hypolimnetic warming during stratification periods. We monitored VB during 21 years (2001–2021) when important water-level fluctuations occurred, affecting mixing and nutrient flux. Stability also varied as a function of water level. Hypolimnetic warming (0.009–0.028 °C day−1) occurred in all the stratifications monitored. We analyzed temperature distributions and modeled the hypolimnion heat budget to assess vertical mixing between layers (0.639–3.515 × 10−6 m3 day−1), vertical diffusivity coefficient KZ (2.5 × 10−6–13.6 × 10−6 m2 s−1), and vertical nutrient transport to the epilimnion. Nutrient flux from the metalimnion to the epilimnion ranged 0.42–5.99 mg P m−2day−1 for soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and 5.8–101.7 mg N m−2day−1 for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). Vertical mixing and the associated nutrient fluxes increase evidently as the water level decreases 8 m below capacity, and they can increase up to fivefold if the water level drops over 12 m. The observed changes related to water level affect nutrient recycling, ecosystemic metabolic balance, and planktonic composition of VB.

Description: Copper (Cu) has a narrow range between optimal concentrations as a micronutrient critical for phytoplankton growth and concentrations potentially toxic to living organisms. This sensitivity indicates an ecosystem vulnerability that threatens not only nature but also human health due to bioaccumulation. An important source of elevated Cu concentrations in coastal environments are biocides used as antifouling protection on ships. A pilot study conducted in the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of the Krka Estuary (Croatia) over a period of 16 months investigated the relationship between ship traffic and Cu concentrations. The aim was to contribute to more informed environmental management by assessing the associated risks. In the study presented here, Cu concentrations were monitored, analyzed, and correlated with vessel traffic. Observations revealed that the seasonal increase in maritime traffic caused by nautical tourism was associated with an increase in Cu concentrations of more than five times, posing a toxicity risk to the environment. In order to understand the distribution of copper emissions, a mapping of maritime traffic was carried out by counting transits, radar imagery, and drone photography. This approach has proven sufficient to identify the potential risks to the marine environment and human health, thus providing an effective assessment tool for marine stakeholders.

Description: “Clean water and sanitation” is listed as one of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implementing circular economy principles in the water sector has been widely regarded as an important approach in achieving this goal. In the era of Industry 4.0, research and practice in the digitalisation of the water sector to create a smart water system have attracted increasing attention. Despite the growing interest, limited research has been devoted to how digital technologies might enhance circularity. In practice, smart water systems often fail to promote circularity in such aspects as water reuse and resources recovery. This paper aims to identify the main barriers to implementing circularity in the smart water management system in Zhejiang, China. The research adopts a mixed research method that includes a literature review to identify the potential barriers from the existing studies, a case study to determine the most critical barriers in practice, and a fuzzy Delphi method to reach a consensus on the crucial barriers. The research identified 22 main barriers to implementing circular economy in smart water management. The barriers are divided into three categories: infrastructure and economic, technology, and institution and governance. The results show that the barriers related to recycling technologies, digital technology know-how, and the lack of CE awareness raise the most concern. Our findings also indicate that experts are interested in the decentralized wastewater treatment system. This research provides significant insights that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can use in developing and implementing digital-based CE strategies to reduce water scarcity and pollution.

Description: The aim of this meta-analysis was to quantify the change in sedentary time during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on health outcomes in the general population. One thousand six hundred and one articles published after 2019 were retrieved from five databases, of which 64 and 40 were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively. Studies were grouped according to population: children (65 years). Average sedentary time was calculated, with sub-analyses performed by country, behaviour type and health outcomes. Children were most affected, increasing their sedentary time by 159.5 ± 142.6 min day−1, followed by adults (+126.9 ± 42.2 min day−1) and older adults (+46.9 ± 22.0 min day−1). There were no sex differences in any age group. Screen time was the only consistently measured behaviour and accounted for 46.8% and 57.2% of total sedentary time in children and adults, respectively. Increases in sedentary time were negatively correlated with global mental health, depression, anxiety and quality of life, irrespective of age. Whilst lockdown negatively affected all age groups, children were more negatively affected than adults or older adults, highlighting this population as a key intervention target. As lockdowns ease worldwide, strategies should be employed to reduce time spent sedentary. Trial registration: PROSPERO (CRD42020208909).

Description: The distribution characteristics, environmental contamination states, and potential ecological risks of chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) in seawater, sediment and breeding feed were studied in a typical mariculture area in western Guangdong of China. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine metal homology, and the single-factor index, potential ecological risk index, hazard quotient (HQ), and joint probability curve (JPC) were used to evaluate pollution states and ecological risk of metals. Four main statements can be concluded from the results: (1) Pb and Cu showed a similar distribution pattern in the seawater and sediment and their contents in the breeding wastewater exceeded the standard limits in several stations. (2) Cr, Cu, and As have similar sources in the feeds, which may be an important source of metals in water. (3) The risk assessment revealed that the sediment from the studied areas was at a low ecological risk of heavy metal, whereas, water in the pond and outfall was slightly polluted by Pb, and water in the cages and outfall were slightly polluted by Cu. (4) Both the hazard quotient (HQ) and joint probability curve showed the overall risk probabilities (ORPs) in the waters ranked as Cu 〉 Cr 〉 Pb 〉 Cd 〉 As. Although Pb and Cd had HQ values greater than 1, their ORPs were acceptable. This study highlights that multiple evaluation models are more reliable than the single ecological risk assessment for evaluating heavy metal pollution risks in the mariculture area.

Description: Regardless of the efforts of the European Union, freshwaters are in a state of environmental crisis. The Water Framework Directive has established a basis for the protection and restoration of European inland and coastal waters. In parallel, the Birds and Habitats Directives protect, maintain or restore, at favourable conservation status, selected species and habitats under a representative network of protected areas. Hence, the interplay between the EU regulations is of high scientific interest and practical relevance. In this article, Greece is used as a case study to explore whether anticipated synergies between the Water Framework Directive and the Nature Directives result in a better ecological status in the protected areas than in the non-protected ones. We investigated whether the ecological qualities that are defined by three biological quality elements (BQEs) differ between the WFD monitoring sites that are located within the Natura 2000 protected areas and those that are not. We identified a total of 148 river monitoring sites that are located within the Natura 2000 network, which corresponds to 30% of the WFD monitoring network. By employing ordered logit models for each BQE, we found that the ecological quality has the same likelihood to fail the WFD target of “good” quality for sites that are located within and outside the Natura 2000 protected areas. Our results confirmed our hypothesis that the EU directives have little synergy when it comes to restoration of ecological status of Greek running waters, according to the WFD.

Description: Port resilience has become a crucial topic to achieve port sustainability. To assist ports to successfully develop policies to improve resilience, this study aims to develop a framework for measuring port resilience. This paper conceptualizes the framework to assess port resilience based on relevant literature by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using 199 samples collected from port stakeholders in South Korea. As a result, it is validated that the framework is a multi-hierarchical structure based on nine factors, i.e., robustness, redundancy, visibility, flexibility, collaboration, agility, information sharing, response, and recovery. Our findings would serve as a theoretical footstep for further studies on the relations between port resilience and sustainability and also contribute to implement policies to strengthen port resilience.

Description: Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has shown to be an effective tool for epidemiological surveillance. More specifically, RNA levels determined with RT-qPCR have been shown to track with the infection dynamics within the population. However, the surveillance of individual lineages circulating in the population based on genomic sequencing of wastewater samples is challenging, as the genetic material constitutes a mixture of different viral haplotypes. Here, we identify specific signature mutations from individual SARS-CoV-2 lineages in wastewater samples to estimate lineages circulating in Luxembourg. We compare circulating lineages and mutations to those detected in clinical samples amongst infected individuals. We show that especially for dominant lineages, the allele frequencies of signature mutations correspond to the occurrence of particular lineages in the population. In addition, we provide evidence that regional clusters can also be discerned. We focused on the time period between November 2020 and March 2021 in which several variants of concern emerged and specifically traced the lineage B.1.1.7, which became dominant in Luxembourg during that time. During the subsequent time points, we were able to reconstruct short haplotypes, highlighting the co-occurrence of several signature mutations. Our results highlight the potential of genomic surveillance in wastewater samples based on amplicon short-read data. By extension, our work provides the basis for the early detection of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Description: The function and necessity of water resources make them an important factor affecting economic and social development. To explore various water security issues impacting water use, the pressure-state-response model was applied in this study to construct a water security evaluation indexing system for the Circum-Bohai Sea Region (CBSR) in China. In this study, the game method was used to balance the two weighting methods, and the water security grades were calculated by the forward cloud model. Compared with the previous work, this study tried to analyze the simulated scenarios using the ELECTRE III method, determined the optimal development scenario mode based on the water security grade, and put forward water security measures and suggestions based on the results. This study put forward three scenarios of development models. Under the scenario of “pressure reduction”, it can be proposed to build suburbs and transfer urban functional areas to relieve the pressure of urban population. Under the “ideal state” scenario, water diversion projects and water storage projects can be proposed to relieve the regional water shortage. Under the scenario of “efficient response”, strengthening ecological environment construction and improving sewage treatment capacity can be proposed.

Description: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of high levels of knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice on evidence-based medicine (EBM) and identify the associated factors for practice score on EBM among emergency medicine doctors in Kelantan, Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted in government hospitals in Kelantan. The data were collected from 200 emergency physicians and medical officers in the emergency department using the Noor Evidence-Based Medicine Questionnaire. Simple and general linear regressions analyses using SPSS were performed. A total of 183 responded, making a response rate of 91.5%. Of them, 49.7% had a high level of knowledge, 39.9% had a positive attitude and 2.1% had good practice. Sex, race, the average number of patients seen per day, internet access in workplace, having online quick reference application, and attitude towards EBM were significantly associated with EBM practice scores. It is recommended that appropriate authorities provide emergency doctors with broader access to evidence resources. EBM skill training should be enhanced in the current medical school curriculums.

Description: The present study aimed at assessing the consequences of prolonged exposure to COVID-19 distress on mental health in non-frontline health care workers. For this purpose, we have conducted a survey on 425 Italian dermatologists, in the period February–March 2021. The psychopathological symptoms, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD), as well as resilience, have been evaluated. The main factors that influence the physician’s psychological health have been also investigated. Our study showed that the physicians older than 40 years, as well as those who lived this period in company, reported more personal resources, better managing the distress. Resilience, COVID-19 belief, COVID-19 working difficulties, and age were the common predictors of the severe psychopathological symptoms. An interesting result is that the lower level of resilience was the most powerful predictor of a more severe depression, as well as of a higher severity of generalized anxiety disorder, but not of COVID-19 PTSD. The fear of COVID-19 was the most powerful predictor of COVID-19 PTSD. Home conditions and previous SARS-CoV2 infection constituted significant predictors of severe depressive symptoms, but not of anxiety and COVID-19 PTSD. These results are useful in a better understanding of protective and risk factors involved in COVID-19 long-term distress exposure.

Description: This article analyses the role of intermediaries’ engagements to bridge the gaps between research, education and practice in the processes of knowledge production needed for the shift to sustainable agri-food systems. It is based on an immersive study of an intermediary organization in the USA, including comprehensive interviews with the staff of the organization about their professional activities, their career paths, their close and longstanding professional relationships, and their values. Three characteristics of engaged intermediaries are identified, which can be positive add-ons for bridging activities: they consider farmers and scientists as equal contributors to the production of knowledge; they are involved in multiple life-worlds: for instance, being both a farmer and an outreach specialist or scientist; and they are closely associated with movements furthering the development of local and sustainable agri-food systems and an equitable sharing of knowledge. The article addresses topics often neglected in the innovation systems literature: the experience, social relations and political engagement of intermediary actors.

Description: Background: Hemodialysis patients are suffering from depressive symptoms. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels are negatively associated with depressive symptoms and decrease during a single hemodialysis session. Resistance training (RT) might be an additional non-pharmacological tool to increase BDNF and promote mental health. Methods: Two randomized groups of hemodialysis patients: control (CTL, n = 76/F36; 66.33 ± 3.88 years) and RT (n = 81/F35; 67.27 ± 3.24 years). RT completed six months of training thrice a week under the supervision of strength and conditioning professional immediately before the dialysis session. Training loads were adjusted using the OMNI rating of perceived exertion. The total antioxidant capacity (TROLOX), glutathione (GSH), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), and BDNF levels were analyzed in serum samples. Quality of life (assessed through Medical Outcomes—SF36), and Beck Depression Inventory was applied. Results: RT improved handgrip strength (21.17 ± 4.38 vs. 27.17 ± 4.34; p = 0.001) but not for CTL (20.09 ± 5.19 vs. 19.75 ± 5.54; p = 0.001). Post-training, RT group had higher values as compared to CTL related to TROLOX (RT,680.8 ± 225.2 vs. CTL,589.5 ± 195.9; p = 0.001) and GSH (RT, 9.33 ± 2.09 vs. CTL,5.00 ± 2.96; p = 0.001). RT group had lower values of TBARS as compared to CTL at post-training (RT, 11.06 ± 2.95 vs. CTL, 13.66 ± 2.62; p = 0.001). BDNF increased for RT (11.66 ± 5.20 vs. 19.60 ± 7.23; p = 0.001), but decreased for CTL (14.40 ± 4.99 vs. 10.84 ± 5.94; p = 0.001). Quality of life and mental health increased (p = 0.001) for RT, but did not change for CTL (p = 0.001). BDNF levels were associated with emotional dimensions of SF36, depressive symptoms, and handgrip (p = 0.001). Conclusions: RT was effective as a non-pharmacological tool to increased BDNF levels, quality of life, temper the redox balance and decrease depressive symptoms intensity in hemodialysis patients.

Description: In this paper, a new methodology for the assessment of the so-called “acoustic capacity” of a road infrastructure is proposed. This aspect is very important in the field of transportation planning as, currently, road infrastructures are verified only in terms of physical capacity; at most, the environmental capacity due to atmospheric pollutants is taken into account, while the acoustic capacity is completely neglected. The acoustic capacity is assessed based on the Harmonoise model, which is widely recognized at the European level. The Harmonoise model, starting from traffic data, such as traffic flows, average speed, and typologies of vehicles, provides the levels of noise emissions and immissions, which can be compared to the noise limit levels established by law. The validity of the proposed methodology was assessed on a test network. The results of this analysis show that, generally, the acoustic capacity is actually a capacity constraint, which involves several traffic flows: this occurs in particular in the case of an intersection, but also in the case of a bi-directional road. Furthermore, the acoustic capacity of a road infrastructure is generally lower than its physical capacity.

Description: Despite the existence of a vast scientific literature on the subject of hydraulic energy recovery from water pipelines by means of micro- and pico-hydropower using pumps as turbines (PAT), such technology has found a very limited application thus far in practice. In fact, the selection of a pump as turbine for a specific site is a matter of nontrivial trade-offs between a variety of technical and economic parameters and this aspect has not been sufficiently captured and integrated into a reliable, proven, and practical selection methodology available to designers and practitioners. Hence, a multi-objective PAT selection software was developed and utilized to design a 3 kW energy recovery installation at a rural Irish water network. The performance of the scheme was monitored over 13 consecutive months, resulting in the generation of nearly 16,000 kWh of electricity and validating the output from the PAT selection software.

Description: Despite its severe adverse effects, such as agranulocytosis, clozapine is the primary treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The established clozapine monitoring system has contributed to reducing agranulocytosis incidence and mortality rates. However, the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused changes in the monitoring system. This review aimed to assess the current evidence on the neutrophil changes in the patient on clozapine treatment and infected with COVID-19. Individual cases reported various absolute neutrophil count (ANC) levels, normal, reduced, or elevated. No agranulocytosis case was reported. One case had a borderline moderate-severe ANC level, but the patient was in the 18-week period of clozapine treatment. A cumulative analysis of case the series initially reported inconclusive results. However, a more recent study with a larger sample size reported a significant reduction in the ANC during COVID-19 infection. Nevertheless, this effect is transient as no significant difference was found between the baseline and the post-infection period in ANC levels. In conclusion, COVID-19 is associated with a temporary reduction in ANC levels. The results supported the recommendation to reduce the frequency of clozapine monitoring in the eligible candidates. However, more data are required to confirm the current findings given the limitations, including study design, sample size, and statistical analysis.

Description: In the last two decades, school coexistence in Spain has suffered an important deterioration with consequences in the quality of working life and the health of teachers, as well as in the academic performance of students. Educational administrations have promoted actions to improve it; however, the results have not been positive. To give a more adequate answer we must know in depth the scope of the problem. The objective of this study was to analyze the most common types of conflicts, the degree of incidence of each one and how they are distributed among students, as well as to determine the most important underlying cause according to the teachers. The field work was carried out during the 2018/2019 academic year, in a Secondary School located in the south of the Valencian Community (Spain). The student population was 1040, 532 women and 508 men. The research followed a mixed, qualitative, and quantitative methodology, making use of in-depth interviews with the teaching staff, participant observation and a quantitative analysis of 1501 incidents that were reported throughout the academic year. The results show us differences by sex: 84% of the incidents are produced by male students and 16% by female students. Incident distribution is very uneven among the different courses. Of the center’s problems, 88.14% are concentrated in the first two years of Compulsory Secondary Education. It is remarkable that 51% of the problems are generated by only 3% of the students, mostly men and with a significant academic disinterest; therefore, it is a very small number of students, but with a great impact on coexistence.

Description: The United Nations 2030 Agenda has emphasized the potential of digital technology to enhance sustainability performance, assuming that digital transformation can enable firms’ convergence toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite this, the literature is unclear regarding whether there is a positive relationship between digitalization and sustainability, as the effects of digital transformation are controversial. The main goal of this study was to assess the hypothesis that digital technology contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals within the UN 2030 Agenda. To test this hypothesis, a textual analysis was performed to assess Italian firms’ digitalization efforts; the obtained results were then related to the selected firms’ ESG scores using a regression analysis. The analysis focused on Italian FTSE MIB listed firms for the period 2016–2019. The findings show a positive relation between digitalization and Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the relevance of digital technology in implementing the sustainability agenda.

Description: The rapid growth of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector requires additional infrastructure, such as more micro-datacenters and telecom stations, to support the higher internet speeds and low latency requirements of 5G networks. The increased power requirements of the new ICT technologies necessitate the proposal of new power supplies, in an attempt to support the increase in energy demand and running costs. This work provides an in-depth theoretical analysis on the losses of the individual stages of commercially available PSU and proposes a new multicell PSU, the buck PFC converter, which offers a higher overall efficiency at varying load levels. The theoretical results are verified using simulation results, via a PSIM Thermal Module, and using experimental data. The results indicate that multicell structures can improve the overall PSU efficiency by 1.2% at 50% rated power and more than 2.1% at full power. Finally, taking into consideration the economic implications of this study, it is shown that the proposed multicell structure may increase the PSU costs by 10.78%, but the payback period is in the order of just 3.3 years.

Description: (1) Background: Physical restraint in psychiatric settings must be determined by health care professionals for ensuring their patients’ safety. However, when a patient cannot participate in the process of deciding what occurs in their own body, can they even be considered as a personal self who lives in and experiences the lifeworld? The purpose of this study is to review the existential capability of the body from Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology to explore ways of promoting human rights in physical restraint. (2) Methods: A philosophical reflection was contemplated regarding notions of the body’s phenomenology. (3) Results: Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology can explain bodily phenomena as a source of the personal subject, who perceives and acts in the world, and not as a body alienated from the subject in health and illness. Patients, when they are physically restrained, cannot be the self as a subject because their body loses its subjecthood. They are entirely objectified, becoming objects of diagnosis, protection, and control, according to the treatment principles of health care professionals. (4) Conclusions: The foundation of human rights, human being’s dignity lies in the health professionals’ genuine understanding and response to the existential crisis of the patient’s body in relation to its surrounding environment.

Description: Publicly available optical remote sensing images from platforms such as Sentinel-2 satellites contribute much to the Earth observation and research tasks. However, information loss caused by clouds largely decreases the availability of usable optical images so reconstructing the missing information is important. Existing reconstruction methods can hardly reflect the real-time information because they mainly make use of multitemporal optical images as reference. To capture the real-time information in the cloud removal process, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images can serve as the reference images due to the cloud penetrability of SAR imaging. Nevertheless, large datasets are necessary because existing SAR-based cloud removal methods depend on network training. In this paper, we integrate the merits of multitemporal optical images and SAR images to the cloud removal process, the results of which can reflect the ground information change, in a simple convolution neural network. Although the proposed method is based on deep neural network, it can directly operate on the target image without training datasets. We conduct several simulation and real data experiments of cloud removal in Sentinel-2 images with multitemporal Sentinel-1 SAR images and Sentinel-2 optical images. Experiment results show that the proposed method outperforms those state-of-the-art multitemporal-based methods and overcomes the constraint of datasets of those SAR-based methods.

Description: During the past year, health care environments have struggled to cope with the various impacts of COVID-19 around the world. Health care facilities need to help strengthen resistance to pathogen threats and provide care for patients and health workers in the safest possible way. Architectural design strategies can play a significant role in infection prevention and control. The current study aims to examine the experiences of health workers with hospital spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying the difficulties they face, the present study attempts to shed light on the role of the health care layout configuration in combating pandemics. The authors conducted observations at four hospitals and a series of online semi-structured interviews with 162 health care staff from March to May 2020. The study indicated that space configuration and the hospitalization of patients, layout and circulation of the environment, operation services such as indoor environment conditions, maintenance of health care system, and organizational support for health care staff were the most critical factors affecting infection control in health care environments. The initial zoning and separation of patients were the most effective methods of controlling infection. Hospitals with clustered plan layouts were found to be the most effective buildings for the zoning of COVID-19 patients during the pandemic and for infection control.

Description: E-cigarettes utilize a wide range of flavoring chemicals with respiratory health effects that are not well understood. In this study, we used pulmonary-associated cell lines to assess the in vitro cytotoxic effects of 30 flavoring chemicals. Human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and both naïve and activated macrophages (THP-1) were treated with 10, 100, and 1000 µM of flavoring chemicals and analyzed for changes in viability, cell membrane damage, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and inflammatory cytokine release. Viability was unaffected for all chemicals at the 10 and 100 µM concentrations. At 1000 µM, the greatest reductions in viability were seen with decanal, hexanal, nonanal, cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, vanillin, alpha-pinene, and limonene. High amounts of ROS were elicited by vanillin, ethyl maltol, and the diketones (2,3-pentanedione, 2,3-heptanedione, and 2,3-hexanedione) from both cell lines. Naïve THP-1 cells produced significantly elevated levels of IL-1β, IL-8, and TNF-α when exposed to ethyl maltol and hexanal. Activated THP-1 cells released increased IL-1β and TNF-α when exposed to ethyl maltol, but many flavoring chemicals had an apparent suppressive effect on inflammatory cytokines released by activated macrophages, some with varying degrees of accompanying cytotoxicity. The diketones, L-carvone, and linalool suppressed cytokine release in the absence of cytotoxicity. These findings provide insight into lung cell cytotoxicity and inflammatory cytokine release in response to flavorings commonly used in e-cigarettes.

Description: Wood has been gaining popularity as a building material over the last few decades. There has been significant progress in technology during this period to push the limits of wood construction. At the same time, it has become more economically competitive to build with wood beyond low-rises. As a result, there has been a noteworthy shift in public perception in terms of acceptance of wood as a material for high-rise buildings. There is a growing list of tall wood buildings that have been constructed in different continents over the last decade. With worldwide population growth and increased urbanization, the trend is expected to continue. Considerable urgency for using sustainable resources to tackle the threat of climate change has resulted in a surge in demand as well as applications in recent decades. This paper reviews the significant technical advances that have contributed to those achievements and are expected to facilitate further developments.

Description: Gas engine-driven heat pumps are an interesting option to satisfy space heating and cooling demands aiming at energy saving, environmental impact and operating costs’ reduction. This work presents (i) a comprehensive review updated on gas engine-driven heat pumps research activities, (ii) the investigation of the central role of this technology in the air conditioning sector and (iii) the future perspectives regarding gas engine heat pumps’ diffusion in the context of the energy sector decarbonisation. The outcomes highlight that gas engine heat pumps could have better environmental performance compared to electric heat pumps both in heating and cooling operations. Moreover, they could play a pivotal role in the fight against climate change and energy security since they can guarantee an energy mix differentiation moving from electricity to natural gas and renewable gases’ usage. Indeed, by 2030, a lower-carbon gas grid could be supported by renewable gases. A further investigation has concerned diffusion of gas heat pumps activated from biofuels produced by local biomass in an energy community scenario based on a low-temperature energy district network. A novel biomass-based GEHP interacting with a low-temperature district heating network is proposed here. This system could save more than 30% of primary energy compared to biomass-fuelled boilers.

Description: Two design flows of the Petri net-based cyber-physical systems oriented towards implementation in an FPGA are presented in the paper. The first method is based on the behavioural description of the system. The control part of the cyber-physical system is specified by an interpreted Petri net, and is described directly in the synthesisable Verilog hardware language for further implementation in the programmable device. The second technique involves splitting the design into sequential modules. In particular, adequate decomposition and synchronisation algorithms are proposed. The resulting modules are further modelled within the Verilog language as the composition of sequential automata. The presented design flows are supported by theoretical background, and templates of Verilog codes. The proposed techniques are illustrated by a real-life example of a multi-robot cyber-physical system, where each step of the proposed flows is explained in detail, including modelling, description of the system in the Verilog language, and final implementation within the FPGA device. The results obtained during the verification and validation confirm the proper functionality of the system designed by both design flows.

Description: Gunung Dahu Research Forest (GDRF) is a 250 ha tropical degraded land reforested by native dipterocarps species. The reforestation success was valued by evaluating the planted trees’ growth performance, their potential timber stock, natural regeneration capacity, soil improvement, biological interdependence, and environmental services. This scientific report used a combination of literature review and also primary data processing to describe the reforestation success within the area. A hilly species of Shorea platyclados showed the best growth performance with its average diameter and height of 43 cm and 23 m, respectively, with its mean diameter annual increment of 2.1 cm/year and the predicted standing stock at 220 m3/ha. Six Shorea species were identified to show their natural regeneration capacity and the occurrence of ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies, predominantly by the genus Rusula, determined the establishment of biological interdependency at the site. Reforestation improved soil organic matters as revealed by high soil porosity (51,06%–52,32%) and infiltration rate (120–155,33 mm/hr). The reforested landscape also ensures a continuous water supply and provides an economic benefit for the community. Thus, planting native trees for reforesting degraded tropical landscapes is prospective and may deliver multiple benefits in an ecological and economic view.