List of Titles

Machine learning techniques for relating liquid limit obtained by Casagrande cup and fall cone test in low-medium plasticity fine grained soils

- O'Kelly, Brendan, Soltani, Amin

Authors: O'Kelly, Brendan , Soltani, Amin
Date: 2022
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Engineering geology Vol. 306, no. (2022), p. 106746
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Description: he paper under discussion (Díaz et al., 2021) investigated the application of machine learning techniques to relate the Casagrande percussion-cup liquid limit (LLCUP) with the fall-cone liquid limit (LLCONE) determined using the 30°–80 g British Standard (BS) fall-cone device (BSI, 2018) for low–medium plasticity fine-grained soils (having plasticity index values of <30% and which mostly classify as CL–ML and CL) sampled from a specific site in SE Spain. As reported in their paper, the experimental LLCUP data were obtained in accordance with the UNE 103103:94 standard (AENOR, 1994), which employs a percussion-cup device having ‘hard’ base material satisfying the same hardness and resilience specification ranges as those of the ASTM percussion-cup device (ASTM, 2017). The clay mineralogy of the investigated fine-grained soils was not reported in Díaz et al. (2021); however, as explained in Haigh (2012) and O'Kelly et al. (2020a), clay mineralogy does not majorly account for dissimilarities in LLCUP and LLCONE measurements for a given fine-grained soil; rather they largely arise due to the different mechanics of the percussion-cup and fall-cone test devices (O'Kelly et al., 2018; O'Kelly, 2021; O’Kelly et al., 2022), and also due to variations in the hardness/resilience of the cup base-material (being ‘soft’ or ‘hard’) (Haigh, 2012, Haigh, 2016). The LLCUP water content is associated with the soil's specific strength (i.e., ratio of remolded undrained shear strength su to saturated bulk density

Estimation of vineyard soil structure and preferential flow using dye tracer, X-ray tomography, and numerical simulations

- Filipović, Vilim, Defterdarović, Jasmina, Šimůnek, Jiří, Filipović, Lana, Ondrašek, Gabrijel, Romić, Davor, Bogunović, Igor, Mustać, Ivan, Ćurić, Josip, Kodešová, Radka

Authors: Filipović, Vilim , Defterdarović, Jasmina , Šimůnek, Jiří , Filipović, Lana , Ondrašek, Gabrijel , Romić, Davor , Bogunović, Igor , Mustać, Ivan , Ćurić, Josip , Kodešová, Radka
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Geoderma Vol. 380, no. (2020), p. 114699
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Description: •Proper assessment of the soil structure of arable soils requires a combination of various methods.•Results of evaporation and leaching experiments were fitted using a single-porosity flow model.•Data collected during flow experiments did not provide evidence of non-equilibrium flow.•Additional dye-staining and X-ray imaging revealed a complex biopore network.•The bi-modal flow behavior was revealed using the dual-permeability modeling of dye transport. The appearance and distribution of soil pores have a significant influence on water flow and solute transport in the soil vadose zone. The pore system is highly variable in arable soils where crop rotation, tillage, trafficking, soil amendments, and various management practices are commonly implemented. The aim of this study was to assess the porous system and preferential flow pathways in a vineyard soil using undisturbed soil columns, and by combining laboratory and numerical methods with dye staining and X-ray imaging. It was hypothesized that the integration of various methods could reveal more information about soil structure, and flow and transport behavior of structured arable soil. Soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves were obtained using the evaporation method, while water flow was assessed using intermittent leaching experiments. Water flow and the transport of Brilliant Blue were simulated using HYDRUS-1D. A single-porosity model of soil hydraulic properties provided a good description of data collected during the evaporation experiments. Data collected during leaching experiments did not provide enough experimental evidence for the occurrence of nonequilibrium flow patterns and the differentiation between the single- and dual-permeability models of soil hydraulic properties. However, dye staining and X-ray imaging revealed a complex pore-architecture network with large vertical and horizontal biopores. The staining patterns (Brilliant Blue FCF) within the vertical column sections documented the extent of preferential flow. The study showed that the bi-modal character of pore structure could often be hidden when a limited number or non-adequate methods are applied for its quantification from water flow behavior. The impact of preferential pathways on dye transport can be investigated with observations and simulations. A combination of various methods enabled us to adequately assess vineyard soil structure and fine-tune the description and extent of preferential water flow.

A Sprayable biodegradable polymer membrane (SBPM) technology: Effect of band width and application rate on water conservation and seedling emergence

- Braunack, Michael, Zaja, Adriana, Tam, Kang, Filipović, Lana, Filipović, Vilim, Wang, Yusong, Bristow, Keith

Authors: Braunack, Michael , Zaja, Adriana , Tam, Kang , Filipović, Lana , Filipović, Vilim , Wang, Yusong , Bristow, Keith
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Agricultural water management Vol. 230, no. (2020), p. 105900
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Description: •Glasshouse experiments on Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane (SBPM) Technology.•Water conservation using SBPM increased with increasing application rate.•Crop emergence decreased with increasing application rate.•The 150 mm width and 0.5 kg m-2 SBPM rate was most effective in reducing weeds.•SBPM band application had positive effects on soil water potential. With a rapidly growing global population, increased agricultural productivity is required to achieve future food security. Efficient use of water and other agricultural inputs such as nutrients and pesticides must underpin agronomic practices to improve crop establishment and increase crop yields. A glasshouse study was conducted to explore the potential of a newly developed sprayable biodegradable polymer membrane (SBPM) applied in bands to reduce soil evaporation and increase soil temperature, thus improving germination, emergence and crop establishment. The aims were two-fold: (i) to evaluate the effectiveness of the SBPM in reducing seedbed water loss and its effect on seedling emergence and (ii) to determine an effective band width (100 vs 150 mm) and application rate of SBPM to conserve seedbed water. Our study demonstrated that a high application rate (1 kg m-2) is effective at reducing soil water loss, but it reduces crop emergence (cotton, sunflower, sorghum, mung bean, carrot, capsicum and rockmelon). All three SBPM application rates (1, 0.5 and 0.25 kg m-2) showed increased soil water content compared to the control plot (bare soil surface). The applied bands, 100 and 150 mm width, limit evaporation and increased soil water potential and temperature compared to the control, however with no significant differences between the two treatments. Crop emergence was proportional to the application rate and decreased with increasing application rate (i.e., control < 0.25 kg m-2 < 0.5 kg m-2 < 1 kg m-2). The SBPM suppressed weed growth similar to conventional mulch film and was most effective at 0.5 kg m-2 and 150 mm width. Future research should focus on the field SBPM application management with an emphasis on crop emergence zones, biodegradability and comparing its effectiveness with other conventional mulches.

Deadline-based dynamic resource allocation and provisioning algorithms in Fog-Cloud environment

- Naha, Ranesh, Garg, Saurabh, Chan, Andrew, Battula, Sudheer

Authors: Naha, Ranesh , Garg, Saurabh , Chan, Andrew , Battula, Sudheer
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Future generation computer systems Vol. 104, no. (2020), p. 131-141
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Description: The Fog computing paradigm is becoming prominent in supporting time-sensitive applications that are related to the smart Internet of Things (IoT) services, such as smart city and smart healthcare. Although Cloud computing is a promising paradigm for IoT in data processing, due to the high latency limitation of the Cloud, it is unable to satisfy the requirements for time-sensitive applications. Resource allocation and provisioning in the Fog-Cloud environment, considering dynamic changes in user requirements and limited available resources in Fog devices, is a challenging task. Among dynamic changes in the parameters of user requirements, the deadline is the most important challenge in the Fog computing environment. Current works on Fog computing address the resource provisioning without considering the dynamic changes in users’ requirements. To address the problem of satisfying deadline-based dynamic user requirements, we propose resource allocation and provisioning algorithms by using resource ranking and provision of resources in a hybrid and hierarchical fashion. The proposed algorithms are evaluated in a simulation environment by extending the CloudSim toolkit to simulate a realistic Fog environment. The experimental results indicate that the performance of the proposed algorithms is better compared with existing algorithms in terms of overall data processing time, instance cost and network delay, with the increasing number of application submissions. The average processing time and cost are decreased by 12% and 15% respectively, compared with existing solutions. •A novel resource allocation method by ranking the resources based on their constraints.•A new resource provisioning algorithm for the Fog-Cloud environment.•A resource provisioning method to satisfy the user dynamic requirements.

Does cerebellar non-invasive brain stimulation affect corticospinal excitability in healthy individuals? A systematic review of literature and meta-analysis

- Behrangrad, Shabnam, Zoghi, Maryam, Kidgell, Dawson, Jaberzadeh, Shapour

Authors: Behrangrad, Shabnam , Zoghi, Maryam , Kidgell, Dawson , Jaberzadeh, Shapour
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Neuroscience Letters Vol. 706, no. (2019), p. 128-139
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Description: •This systematic review indicates that the effects of different type of cerebellar noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) on the Corticospinal Excitability (CSE) is different.•This review showed cerebellar PAS 6, a-tDCS + PAS25, and cTBS decrease the CSE level.•This review showed there is an increase in the CSE after using cerebellar PAS 2, PAS 21.5 + a-tDCS, and 1 Hz rTMS.•This review gives a good understanding of the effects of different cerebellar NIBS techniques affect the CSE, and help us to select the best NIBS technique for researches in cerebellar stimulation field, based on the effects that we need. Numerous studies have indicated that non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) of the cerebellum could modulate corticospinal excitability (CSE) in young healthy individuals. However, there is no systematic review and meta-analysis that clarifies the effects of cerebellar NIBS on CSE. The aim of this study was to provide a meta-analytic summary of the effects of cerebellar NIBS on CSE. Seven search engines were used to identify any trial evaluating CSE before and after one session of cerebellar NIBS in healthy individuals up to June 2018. Twenty-six studies investigating the corticospinal responses following cerebellar NIBS were included. Meta-analysis was used to pool the findings from included studies. Effects were expressed as mean differences (MD) and the standard deviation (SD). Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane tool. Meta-analysis found that paired associative stimulation (PAS) with 2 ms interval, a combination of PAS with 21.5 ms interval and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation, and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation with a frequency of < 5 Hz increase CSE (P PAS2 < 0.00001, P PAS21.5 +a-tDCS = 0.02, P rTMS = 0.04). However, continuous theta burst stimulation, a combination of PAS with 25 ms interval and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation, and PAS with a 6 ms interval decreased CSE (P PAS6 < 0.00001, P cTBS < 0.00001, P PAS25 +a-tDCS = 0.003). The results of this review show that cerebellar NIBS techniques are a promising tool for increasing CSE.

Reintegration-based controlled islanding considering fast and slow active/reactive corrective actions to enhance frequency and transient voltage stabilities

- Ghamsari-Yazdel, Mohammad, Amjady, Nima, Reza Najafi, Hamid

Authors: Ghamsari-Yazdel, Mohammad , Amjady, Nima , Reza Najafi, Hamid
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Electric power systems research Vol. 193, no. (2021), p. 107018
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Description: •A new reintegration-driven ICI framework, called R-ICI, is proposed.•The proposed R-ICI model improves frequency stability of islands using ESSs.•Transient voltage stability of islands is improved using ESSs and SVCs.•The interaction between frequency and voltage is considered by a linear IFR model.•An active/reactive charging and discharging scheme is introduced for ESSs. In this paper, a reintegration-based multi-objective intentional controlled islanding (ICI) model is proposed to enhance resiliency of electrical power systems under catastrophic events. This remedial measure plan relies on a mixed-integer linear programming model with two objective functions including reintegration risk and total load shedding value. While ensuring that each island includes only coherent generators, the proposed multi-objective model solves the controlled islanding problem using lexicographic optimization approach. To ease the islands’ reintegration, charging reactive power, reliability, capacity, and power flow disruption of transmission lines are considered in the model. After implementation of controlled islanding, each resulted island may face temporary active/reactive load-generation imbalance, which may put the islands at the risk of frequency instability, transient voltage instability or a combination of both. The proposed model reduces these risks by modeling energy storage systems (ESSs) and static VAR compensators (SVCs) as fast corrective control actions. In addition to modeling voltage dependent loads in the controlled islanding problem, a linear island frequency response (IFR) model is proposed for frequency stability assessment. The test results of the proposed ICI model on the IEEE 39-bus and IEEE 118-bus test systems demonstrate its performance.

The impact of political connections on the efficiency of China's renewable energy firms

- Li, Mingshan, Sun, Xiaohua, Wang, Yun, Song-Turner, Helen

Authors: Li, Mingshan , Sun, Xiaohua , Wang, Yun , Song-Turner, Helen
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Energy economics Vol. 83, no. (2019), p. 467-474
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Description: This study investigates the impact of political connections on firm efficiency as well as its mechanisms in Chinese renewable energy firms. The empirical results reveal a direct negative association between political connections and firm efficiency and an indirect correlation through political resources. The results indicate that the higher the level of political connections, the stronger the relationship between political connections and firm efficiency. Our findings also indicate that the impact of political connections is different between state-owned and non-state-owned firms. For state-owned firms, political connections are negatively correlated with firm efficiency and government subsidies are not beneficial for state-owned firms in promoting productivity. As for non-state-owned firms, there is a ‘double-edged sword’ effect of political connections on firm efficiency. On the one hand, political connections are associated with lower firm efficiency, but on the other hand, political connections can alleviate the adverse effects of financing constraints on non-state-owned firms. •Political connections and firm efficiency are negatively correlated.•Firms can benefit from political connections by obtaining more political resources.•Political connections decrease the efficiency by over-exploiting political resources.•The impacts of political connections are different between state-owned and non state-owned firms.

The effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation test intensity on the amplitude, variability and reliability of motor evoked potentials

- Pellegrini, Michael, Zoghi, Maryam, Jaberzadeh, Shapour

Authors: Pellegrini, Michael , Zoghi, Maryam , Jaberzadeh, Shapour
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Brain Research Vol. 1700, no. (2018), p. 190-198
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Description: •Reliability of TMS-induced MEPs is greater at higher test intensities.•Variability of TMS-induced MEPs decreases as test intensity increases.•Greatest significant changes in MEP amplitude and variability occur between same test intensities. High degrees of variability reported in Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) assessment of corticospinal excitability (CSE) highlight the need to investigate its reliability as an assessment tool. This study investigated the effect of TMS test intensity on the amplitude, variability and test-retest reliability of motor evoked potentials (MEP). Twenty-five MEPs were recorded at 105%, 120%, 135%, 150% and 165% of resting motor threshold across three sessions in twelve participants. Repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA), recruitment curve gradients and standardised z-value SDs were utilized to investigate the effect of TMS test intensity on MEP amplitude and variability. Test-retest reliability of MEP amplitude was assessed using RM-ANOVA and intraclass correlations (ICC). RM-ANOVA reported MEP amplitude significantly increased between 105–120% and 120–135% with non-significant increases thereafter. Recruitment curve gradients reduced as TMS test intensity increased. Standardised z-value SDs reported MEP amplitude variability reduced as TMS test intensity increased with the only significant reduction occurring between 120% and 135%. RM-ANOVA reported no significant effect of time on MEP amplitude, indicating agreement between sessions. ICCs indicated significant intra- and inter-session reliability for all TMS test intensities except for 105%. The only significant reduction in variability and final significant increase in MEP amplitude occurred between the same TMS test intensities. Reduced variability and increased reliability at higher TMS test intensities validate the use of higher TMS test intensities to assess changes in CSE in future research. To increase accuracy in capturing true changes in CSE we recommend assessing changes in CSE across a range of TMS test intensities.

Estimating the extent of fire induced soil water repellency in Mediterranean environment

- Weninger, Thomas, Filipović, Vilim, Mešić, Mirel, Clothier, Brent, Filipović, Lana

Authors: Weninger, Thomas , Filipović, Vilim , Mešić, Mirel , Clothier, Brent , Filipović, Lana
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Geoderma Vol. 338, no. (2019), p. 187-196
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Description: The fire occurrence in Mediterranean climate regions and the area affected by fire in general are rising due to prolonged drought periods and redistribution of rainfall. This can have effect on soil properties and local scale hydrology by increasing fire induced soil water repellency (SWR). The main objective of our research was to assess the degree of fire induced SWR in the Mediterranean karst area using multiple easy-to-perform field and laboratory methods. The field infiltration measurements were performed with a tension disc infiltrometer (TI) and a minidisc tension infiltrometer (MD) using water and ethanol as an infiltrating liquid on two locations: burnt (B) and control (C, unaffected by fire). Additionally, water drop penetration time test (WDPT), and molarity of ethanol droplet time test (MED) were applied at the laboratory on disturbed and undisturbed soil samples at various depths. All measurements revealed significant differences between burnt and control plots. Infiltration and hydraulic conductivity were reduced and repellency index (RI) was increased at the fire affected sites. The SWR decreased with depth which can be associated with decreasing organic matter and fire burning effect. The WDPT and MED methods in combination with mini disc tension infiltrometer measurements were found useful for the determination of sub-critical SWR. Further research is needed to develop a framework for the quantitative SWR classification, as well as subsequent estimation of the relevance of SWR on critical hydrological processes such as infiltration, runoff, and preferential flow. •Fire affected plots revealed SWR with significant change in infiltration patterns.•SWR decreased with increasing depth and decreasing organic matter content.•The combination of applied methods is useful in determination of sub-critical SWR.•Hydraulic conductivities decreased with increasing repellency indexes (RI).•All methods confirm SWR at burnt sites, but with some discrepancies between them.

Maternal social support, depression and emotional availability in early mother-infant interaction: Findings from a pregnancy cohort

- MacMillan, Kelli, Lewis, Andrew, Watson, Stuart, Bourke, Declan, Galbally, Megan

Authors: MacMillan, Kelli , Lewis, Andrew , Watson, Stuart , Bourke, Declan , Galbally, Megan
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 292, no. (2021), p. 757-765
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Description: •Maternal depression in pregnancy was not predictive of postpartum maternal emotional availability (EA).•Maternal depression in pregnancy was not associated with perceived social support.•Depressive symptoms negatively predict maternal EA when partner support is low.•Depressive symptoms negatively predict maternal EA when family support is low.•Support from friends is not a moderator between depressive symptoms and maternal EA. Social support theory suggests that parental social support may influence the nature of early parenting behaviours and specifically the mother-infant relationship. This study examines whether support from a partner, friends or family is associated with differences in quality of mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal depression. 210 women were followed from early pregnancy to six months postpartum within Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS). Mother-infant interactions within a standardised observation at six months postpartum were measured by the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales using total scores of the parental scales. In early and late pregnancy and at six months postpartum, mothers rated perceived maternal social support from a partner, family and friends using subscales of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Depression was measured in early pregnancy and at six months postpartum using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR, with repeated measurement of depressive symptoms by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Data was analysed using structural equation models. There were significant interactions between depressive symptoms in early pregnancy and perceived maternal support from a partner (B = .18, 95% CI = 03, .31) and separately from family (B = .12, 95% CI = .03, .32) in predicting maternal emotional availability. No such interaction was found for support from friends. While partner and family support moderated the association between early depressive symptoms and emotional availability, there were no direct associations between maternal depressive disorder in early pregnancy and perceived support, and further, maternal depression was not a significant predictor of emotional availability. Future studies should consider extending measurement of the mother-infant relationship beyond the EA Scales, inclusion of a measure of maternal childhood trauma, and replicating our findings. Maternal perception of partner and family support in the postpartum is a predictor of the association between early pregnancy depressive symptoms and maternal emotional availability.

Evaluating resiliency of electric power generators against earthquake to maintain synchronism

- Sayarshad, Hamid R., Sabarshad, Omid, Amjady, Nima

Authors: Sayarshad, Hamid R. , Sabarshad, Omid , Amjady, Nima
Date: 2022
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Electric power systems research Vol. 210, no. (2022), p. 108127
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Description: •A new dynamic generator resiliency model against earthquake is presented.•Nonlinear and time-variant behavior of earthquake disturbance is modeled.•Energy transfer of earthquake to mechanical input power of generator is modeled.•Synchronism status of generators impacted by an earthquake is determined.•The proposed model is tested using real-world data. Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, can cause significant disruptions in power systems, such as loss of generations and loads. To evaluate the behavior of a generator to remain in synchronism, subjected to the large disturbance of an earthquake, we propose a dynamic generator resiliency model. The proposed approach models the effects of earthquake energy transfer to a generator considering the time-variant behavior of earthquake disturbance. In addition, the proposed model analyzes the transient behavior of generators impacted by an earthquake considering earthquake ground acceleration and generators’ dynamic characteristics. Using this model, we can determine synchronism status of impacted generators and transient stability status of a power system in response to an earthquake. The proposed approach is tested using real-world data including the data of a real earthquake occurred on a real power plant. The obtained results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model to correctly predict the impact of an earthquake on a power plant, and to determine the effects of earthquake magnitude and generator robustness (in terms of generator inertia and damping torque) on the response of a generator to an earthquake.

Spatiotemporal water dynamic modelling of Ramsar-listed lakes on the Victorian volcanic plains using Landsat, ICESat-2 and airborne LiDAR data

- Zhang, Zhenyu, Liu, Xiaoye, Wright, Wendy

Authors: Zhang, Zhenyu , Liu, Xiaoye , Wright, Wendy
Date: 2022
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Ecological informatics Vol. 71, no. (2022), p. 101789
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Description: Spatiotemporal dynamic information on surface water area and level is a prerequisite for effective wetland conservation and management. However, such information is either unavailable or difficult to obtain. In this study, for the first time, we leverage Landsat imagery, ICESat-2 and airborne LiDAR data to develop time series of water body dynamics over the last 35 years (1987–2021) using machine learning method on a cloud computing platform for lakes identified as international importance in the Western District Lakes Ramsar site in Victoria, Australia. Our results reveal distinct seasonal (dry and wet) variation patterns and long-term changes in trends of lake water areas and levels in response to seasonal rainfall variations and regional climate changes for the periods of before, during and after the Millennium Drought when southeast Australia experienced unprecedented dry conditions. Lake water bodies have not recovered to the status of pre-Millennium Drought, and many permanent Ramsar-listed lakes in the region have become to ephemeral lakes due to climate change. The outcome of this study provides a baseline to help understand the historical and ongoing status of the Ramsar-listed lakes in a warming and drying climate in support of the development of strategic plan to implement international obligations for wetlands protection under the Ramsar Convention. •Leverage Landsat, ICESat-2 and LiDAR data for time series of lake water variations.•For the first time, long-term lake water dynamics on a Ramsar site were developed.•Distinct variation patterns of water bodies caused by climate change were observed.•Most of the Ramsar-listed lakes are no longer permanent, but now ephemeral.•Lake water bodies have not recovered back to the status of pre-Millennium Drought.

A-CAFDSP: An Adaptive-congestion aware Fibonacci sequence based data scheduling policy

- Sharma, Varun, Verma, Lal, Kumar, Mahesh, Naha, Ranesh, Mahanti, Aniket

Authors: Sharma, Varun , Verma, Lal , Kumar, Mahesh , Naha, Ranesh , Mahanti, Aniket
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Computer communications Vol. 158, no. (2020), p. 141-165
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Description: In today’s modern era, the multi-path communication paradigm is becoming prominent in supporting multi-media applications due to its dazzling features of improved network’s resilience, reliability, and performance. Specifically, wireless (environments) networks are intended to become typically reliant on the idea of multi-pathing for efficient traffic balancing which ultimately helps in achieving good performance. Although single-path communication is a promising paradigm for supporting multi-media applications but because of its incompetence in providing significant fault-tolerance demands, it is unable to satisfy the good Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements for such applications. Hence, traffic allocation and provisioning in the Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) environment, considering the dynamic and dissimilar wireless channel characteristics of paths’ and inadequate offered resources (i.e., buffer) in nodes over those paths’, is a challenging job. Nevertheless, current works on traffic allocation addresses the data scheduling provision without considering the dissimilar wireless channel characteristics and background traffic of paths’ respectively. To address the problem of abrupt data scheduling policy, we propose, a novel Adaptive-Congestion Aware Fibonacci Sequence based Data Scheduling Policy (A-CAFDSP) which takes care of each path’s data carrying capacity, dissimilar characteristics and background traffic intensity respectively and ultimately makes data scheduling adaptation decisions to select the efficient paths for concurrent transmissions. Indeed, A-CAFDSP includes the paradigm to concurrently distribute the data packets over multiple available network paths using Fibonacci sequence wisely and regulate the traffic of each available network path individually. Moreover, current works simply adopts and have evaluated their approach on the idealized propagation (radio) prototype without considering fading effects. However, we have evaluated our proposed method in fading environment and all the competent multiple available paths are within the interference ranges of each other hence, the inter-flow interference does exist in our simulation, which certainly gives us the correct idea that how our proposed method works in realistic wireless environment. The simulation results indicate that the performance of A-CAFDSP is better than existing conventional (single-path) and multi-path approaches in terms of average throughput, packet delivery ratio (PDR) and normalized load.

Enhanced goal attainment method for solving multi-objective security-constrained optimal power flow considering dynamic thermal rating of lines

- Rahmani, Shima, Amjady, Nima

Authors: Rahmani, Shima , Amjady, Nima
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Applied soft computing Vol. 77, no. (2019), p. 41-49
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Description: Security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) is an important problem in power system operation. Dynamic thermal rating (DTR), as an effective method to increase transmission capacity of power systems, has been recently considered in some optimal power flow (OPF) and SCOPF models. Additionally, in today power systems, OPF problem involves various objectives leading to multi-objective OPF models. In this paper, a new multi-objective SCOPF model considering DTR of transmission lines is presented. In addition, a new multi-objective solution method is proposed to solve the multi-objective SCOPF problem. The proposed method is an enhanced version of goal attainment technique in which the search capability of this technique to cover borders of the Pareto frontier is enhanced. The proposed multi-objective DTR-included SCOPF model as well as the proposed multi-objective solution method are tested on the IEEE 118-bus test system and the obtained results are compared with the results of other alternatives. •A new multi-objective DTR-included SCOPF model is presented.•A new multi-objective solution method is proposed.•Proposed method can search the beyond-utopia-hyperplane parts of Pareto frontier.•Effectiveness of the proposed model and proposed method is extensively evaluated.

FogAuthChain: A secure location-based authentication scheme in fog computing environments using Blockchain

- Patwary, Abdullah Al-Noman, Fu, Anmin, Battula, Sudheer, Naha, Ranesh, Garg, Saurabh, Mahanti, Aniket

Authors: Patwary, Abdullah Al-Noman , Fu, Anmin , Battula, Sudheer , Naha, Ranesh , Garg, Saurabh , Mahanti, Aniket
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Computer communications Vol. 162, no. (2020), p. 212-224
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Description: Fog computing is an emerging computing paradigm which expands cloud-based computing services near the network edge. With this new computing paradigm, new challenges arise in terms of security and privacy. These concerns are due to the distributed ownership of Fog devices. Because of the large scale distributed nature of devices at the Fog layer, secure authentication for communication among these devices is a major challenge. The traditional authentication methods (password-based, certificate-based and biometric-based) are not directly applicable due to the unique architecture and characteristics of the Fog. Moreover, the traditional authentication methods consume significantly more computation power and incur high latency, and this does not meet the key requirements of the Fog. To fill this gap, this article proposes a secure decentralised location-based device to device (D2D) authentication model in which Fog devices can mutually authenticate each other at the Fog layer by using Blockchain. We considered an Ethereum Blockchain platform for the Fog device registration, authentication, attestation and data storage. We presented the overall system architecture, various participants and their transactions and message interaction between the participants. We validated the proposed model by comparing it with the existing method results showed that the proposed authentication mechanism was efficient and secure. From the performance evaluation, it was found that the proposed method is computationally efficient and secure in a highly distributed Fog network.

Evaluation of a sprayable biodegradable polymer membrane (SBPM) Technology for soil water conservation in tomato and watermelon production systems

- Braunack, Michael, Filipović, Vilim, Adhikari, Raju, Freischmidt, George, Johnston, Priscilla, Casey, Phil, Wang, Yusong, Šimůnek, Jiří, Filipović, Lana, Bristow, Keith

Authors: Braunack, Michael , Filipović, Vilim , Adhikari, Raju , Freischmidt, George , Johnston, Priscilla , Casey, Phil , Wang, Yusong , Šimůnek, Jiří , Filipović, Lana , Bristow, Keith
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Agricultural water management Vol. 243, no. (2021), p. 106446
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Description: •Field scale experiments on Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane (SBPM) Technology.•SBPM application rate of 1 and 3 kg m−2 showed significant soil water conservation.•Soil temperature increase was significant in 3 kg m−2 and under 55 cm width SBPM.•SBPM outperformed plastic mulch film (PMF) treatment in the absence of crop.•Results proved effectiveness of SBPM technology under field conditions. Reducing soil evaporation, especially in temperate climate zones, increases crop production. Plastic mulch films (PMFs) are very efficient in conserving soil water conservation however, plastic pollution is raising environmental and human health concerns. Therefore, a newly developed Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane (SBPM) Technology was tested for its ability to conserve soil water, suppress weeds, modify soil temperature, and improve crop yields. Two-year field experiments were performed in tomato and watermelon cropping systems, where SBPM was compared to no mulch and PMF controls. SBPM loadings were 3.0, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 kg m−2, with fumigation (F) and without fumigation (NF) in tomato, and 1.5, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 kg m−2 in watermelon. In tomato, the soil volumetric water content (VWC) in the topsoil was significantly higher for all treatments compared to the control, in the following order: 1 kg m−2 F > 0.5 kg m−2 NF > 1 kg m−2 NF > 0.5 kg m−2 F > Control in 2016/17 and 3 kg m-2 NF > Control > 0.5 kg m−2 F > 3 kg m−2 F > 0.5 kg m−2 NF in 2018. With watermelon in 2017, VWC was lower in the topsoil of the SBPM treatments than with PMF, but higher during the 2018 trial when no crop was grown. The amount of conserved soil water appeared to be determined by the physical integrity (unevenness/holes/tears) of the SBPM and PMFs. Soil salinity increase/decrease was associated with the volume of infiltrating water in the different treatments. Soil temperature increased significantly under the highest SBPM loading of 3 kg m−2 NF, using a 55 cm width of polymer coverage. The yield responses across treatments were not significant. Field experiments proved the effectiveness of the SBPM technology, but also highlighted some limitations of it when compared with conventional PMFs. The SBPM technology needs ongoing refinement to improve its sprayability, durability, biodegradability, and cost-effectiveness.

Novel notions of zero injection property of buses in optimal PMU location with efficient observability enhancement focusing on security concepts

- Ghamsari-Yazdel, Mohammad, Najafi, Hamid reza, Amjady, Nima

Authors: Ghamsari-Yazdel, Mohammad , Najafi, Hamid reza , Amjady, Nima
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Electric power systems research Vol. 169, no. (2019), p. 24-34
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Description: •Novel concepts in zero-injection buses (ZIBs) are introduced.•The reliability of fragile areas monitoring from overvoltage viewpoint is enhanced.•PMUs/redundant measurements are optimally located based on overvoltage risk sensitivity of buses.•New security concepts are introduced to model channel failure, PMU loss, and branch outage.•In the case of branch outage, selective security criteria are considered so as to enhance security of network observability against cascading failures. In this paper, a new method is proposed for security-oriented, optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) incorporating efficient observability redundancy. In this way, novel concepts in zero-injection buses (ZIBs) are introduced. The proposed concepts regard aspects of the ZIBs effect that have not yet been studied thus, by applying this concept, maximum possible capacity of the ZIBs will be available for use. Therefore, the proposed method is capable of producing optimum possible results with tangibly higher ZIBs capacity usage and measurement redundancy levels than those reached in preceding works. In addition, the reliability of fragile areas monitoring from overvoltage viewpoint is enhanced. Considering the fact that complete synchronized network observability is undeniably significant for making control decision in critical conditions to avoid brownouts or blackouts, a novel practical framework is proposed based on backup observability concept in order to model branch outage in addition to PMU loss and channel failure. All proposed security models can be tested by practical, large-scale test systems such as Polish 2383- and 3375-bus. Also, in the case of branch outage, selective security criteria are considered so as to enhance security of network observability against cascading failures in electric power systems.

Maternal depression and the emotional availability of mothers at six months postpartum: Findings from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS) pregnancy cohort

- MacMillan, Kelli, Lewis, Andrew, Watson, Stuart, Galbally, Megan

Authors: MacMillan, Kelli , Lewis, Andrew , Watson, Stuart , Galbally, Megan
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Journal of Affective Disorders Vol. 266, no. (2020), p. 678-685
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Description: •Perinatal depression has been associated with poorer quality mother-infant interaction.•Emotional availability (EA) is an observable aspect of the mother-infant interaction.•Of the maternal depression and EA studies, few utilise both symptomatic and diagnostic measures.•Symptoms but not diagnosis of depression in early pregnancy were associated with lower EA.•Neither diagnosis of depression or late pregnancy or postnatal symptoms were linked to reduced EA. Existing research suggests maternal depression may reduce the quality of early mother-infant interaction and this might increase our understanding of how maternal mental health impacts on child development outcomes. However, most studies recruit from community samples and few include both a diagnostic measure of maternal depression together with an observational measure of the quality of the mother-infant relationship. Data was drawn from 210 women recruited in early pregnancy until 6 months postpartum within an Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study. Those women who at six months postpartum were video recorded interacting with their infant for at least 40-minutes were included in this study, with the quality of those interactions assessed using the Emotional Availability Scales coding system. Depression was measured using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR Clinician Version and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and covariates included maternal age and education. Whilst results showed a small negative association between antenatal depressive symptoms in trimester one of pregnancy and maternal EA, there was no effect of maternal depression diagnosis or of maternal depressive symptoms in later pregnancy or postpartum. This study focuses exclusively on mothers and does not account for the role of partners. Maternal depression might have a smaller effect on maternal EA then some existing research implies, with that effect most prevalent in early pregnancy. Clinical intervention might not be necessary for all mother-infant dyads experiencing depressive symptomology, but instead be directed to those with additional risk factors.

The minimal number of TMS trials required for the reliable assessment of corticospinal excitability, short interval intracortical inhibition, and intracortical facilitation

- Biabani, Mana, Farrell, Michael, Zoghi, Maryam, Egan, Gary, Jaberzadeh, Shapour

Authors: Biabani, Mana , Farrell, Michael , Zoghi, Maryam , Egan, Gary , Jaberzadeh, Shapour
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Neuroscience Letters Vol. 674, no. (2018), p. 94-100
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Description: •Averaging less than 20 consecutive TMS-evoked MEPs gives highly variable results.•More than 25 paired-pulse stimuli are required for highly reliable SICI estimates.•After 30 successive pulses, ICF measures stabilize with low inter-session reliability. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-induced motor evoked potentials (MEPs) are frequently used to assess corticospinal and intercortical activities. Trial to trial variance of the potentials is commonly observed, and averages of multiple MEPs are usually reported. Multiple trials have resources implications and are not compatible with some experimental protocols. This study investigated the minimum number of MEPs required to reliably assess corticospinal excitability (CSE), short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intercortical facilitation (ICF), within and between sessions. Fifteen healthy volunteers received 35 single-pulse TMS for CSE assessments and 35 paired-pulse TMS for SICI and ICF measurements. Intra- and intersession reliability were examined using intra-class correlation coefficient tests, and stability of the measures was assessed using a general equation estimation analysis. Coefficients of variation were used to probe the effects of inter-individual variability on reliability results. All analyses were carried out on cumulative averages. The optimal number of trials to ensure “excellent” intra and inter-session reliability with low inter-individual variability and the highest level of stability was found to be 20 for CSE and 26 for SICI assessments. Although 30 consecutive trials produced highly reliable ICF measures within a session, inter-session reliability was not significant across 35 trials. These findings have significant implications for improving time efficiency of TMS experiments without compromising intra- or intersession reliability.

Biomass bottom ash & dolomite similarly ameliorate an acidic low-nutrient soil, improve phytonutrition and growth, but increase Cd accumulation in radish

- Ondrasek, Gabrijel, Kranjčec, Filip, Filipović, Lana, Filipović, Vilim, Bubalo Kovačić, Marina, Badovinac, Ivana Jelovica, Peter, Robert, Petravić, Mladen, Macan, Jelena, Rengel, Zed

Authors: Ondrasek, Gabrijel , Kranjčec, Filip , Filipović, Lana , Filipović, Vilim , Bubalo Kovačić, Marina , Badovinac, Ivana Jelovica , Peter, Robert , Petravić, Mladen , Macan, Jelena , Rengel, Zed
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: The Science of the total environment Vol. 753, no. (2021), p. 141902-141902
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Description: One of negative side-effects of usage of bio-renewables might be generation of mineral (ash) material, potential source of environmental pollution. A hypothesis was that bottom ash (BA from biomass cogeneration facility) could be efficiently (re) used in soil chemical conditioning similarly to widely-used dolomite-based soil conditioner (DO from Croatian Dinaric-coastal region) which we tested by: i) physicochemical characterisation of BA and DO, and ii) bioassay with Raphanus sativus cultivated in acidic soil amended with BA or DO. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) confirmed complex chemical/physical structures and morphology between amendments, X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed their distinctive mineralogy with predominantly dolomite (in DO) vs. quartz and calcite (in BA), while secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) revealed their diverse elemental/isotopic composition. The BA or DO amendments ameliorated soil acidity, increased available P, K and most other nutrients, but not Cd. The BA or DO amendments improved vegetative growth and edible hypocotyl yield. However, both amendments also increased Cd accumulation in all radish tissues, which was unexpected given the alkaline matrix of bio-ash and dolomite that would be likely to facilitate retention and immobilisation of toxic Cd. Thus, thorough characterisation and evaluation of BA- and/or DO-based materials and relevant soils (with an emphasis on metal sorption/immobilisation) prior to application in (agro) ecosystems is crucial for producing food clean of toxic metals. [Display omitted] •Biomass bottom ash (BA) & dolomite (DO) are very alkaline (pHKCl = 10.2–11.2) matrices.•BA & DO ameliorated soil acidity quickly (by >1.5 pH units) & nutrient availability.•BA & DO improved radish vegetative growth & nutrition accumulation.•BA & DO increased Cd uptake and accumulation in all radish tissues.

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