Technical Specifics Research Articles

Environmental Levels of PCDD/Fs near Cement Plants in Catalonia, Spain. An Update of Human Health Risks

Cement production is an important industrial activity that generates large amounts of pollutants, including, among others, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). These environmental contaminants are persistent and bioaccumulative, potentially causing serious adverse effects on human health, including cancer. The present paper was aimed at providing an update of the environmental concentrations of PCDD/Fs around various cement plants located in Catalonia, Spain. The non-carcinogenic and the carcinogenic risks associated to PCDD/Fs exposure were also assessed for the population living near the facilities. According to the present results, the environmental burdens of PCDD/Fs were highly dependent on the surroundings, rather than the technical specifics characteristics of each facility. Thus, higher concentrations were found near cement plants located in urban areas, where other emission sources (e.g., heavy traffic, domestic heating, etc.) may be present. The surveillance studies showed long-term stable concentrations in air, while PCDD/Fs levels in soil and vegetation were more variable. Although inhalation was the most relevant pathway of environmental exposure, the main uptake of PCDD/Fs occurs -in general- via dietary intake. Cancer risks were higher for people living near cement plants in urban areas than in rural environments, but at levels that are considered as acceptable by international regulations. In turn, the non-carcinogenic risks suggest a low concern, as the hazard quotient was <1. Long-term surveys conducted in Catalan cement plants indicate that these facilities, which are periodically (every two years) monitored, should not be of concern for human health, in terms of PCDD/F exposure.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ БЛОКЧЕЙН У СФЕРІ УПРАВЛІННЯ ІНТЕЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЮ ВЛАСНІСТЮ

The article discusses the current view on the use of blockchain technology in the field of intellectual property management. Today, blockchain is actively used in various business areas, mainly to improve business processes and reduce costs. The main advantages of blockchain are related to the elimination of intermediaries, data reliability, trust and transparency. Storing transaction information without the need for third-party involvement allows transactions to be completed faster and at lower costs. In today's intellectual property system, licensing, identification of the right holder, investigation of intellectual property rights infringements, and other actions related to the management of intellectual property rights are mostly performed by third parties. Blockchain eliminates the need for such intermediaries, which reduces the cost of managing intellectual property rights. In addition to all of the above, there are a number of potential problems associated with the technical specifics of the blockchain: immutability of the entered data; blockchain is the subject of controversy due to high energy consumption associated with "mining"; most of the existing publicly available consensus mechanisms in blockchain systems rely on the presence of cryptocurrency in the system, which makes it difficult to develop applications not related to the concept of cryptocurrency; the lack of cryptocurrency-independent consensus mechanisms for public blockchains makes it difficult to separate them from "digital coins". There are also problems with using blockchain that are not specific to the intellectual property sector: the speed of processing blockchain transactions is significantly slower than traditional transaction platforms such as VISA or PayPal); lack of proper regulatory support in the blockchain sector; lack of planning for legal requirements on early blockchain platforms.

Методичні аспекти ціноутворення на ринках теплової енергії за аукціонного підходу

The development of competition in the heat energy markets with main heating networks is possible on the basis of the organization of unilateral heat auctions between heat producers. A prerequisite for opening competition in the heat energy markets is the separation of heat generation and heat networks, as well as the provision of regulated access to heat networks for independent producers. In terms of time segmentation, it is advisable to introduce: annual auctions, where basic heat needs are being contracted; monthly auctions – for peak needs, and daily auctions – for hourly imbalances. The article proposes organizational and technological regulations for conducting annual heat auctions, which should cover 80–90% of heat needs. Heat auctions should function according to the declared pricing method, where the producers who are the auction winners receive income for the contracted volumes of heat generation at a given price, while consumers pay a single weighted average price. Heat auctions operate under centralized dispatching, which provides for the coordination of physical and commercial heat energy flows, taking into account the technical specifics of heat networks. The article substantiates variants of economic and mathematical models of auction pricing in the heat energy market with different configurations of heat networks. As such a configuration, are considered heating networks with: 1) unlimited flow connections; 2) insulated heat producers; 3) system restrictions on throughput capacities within the heating area; 4) one-way and 5) two-way flows between adjacent heating areas. Establishment of a fair price for heat energy is reduced to solving the function of minimizing the weighted average price of heat energy for consumers under the following conditions: a) full satisfaction of consumer demand for thermal energy; b) technical capabilities of heat generation; c) connections and throughput capacities of heating networks within the heating area; d) directions of flows and capacity between adjacent heating areas. Each heat network represents a unique configuration of these conditions, therefore, the solution of the economic and mathematical problem of setting the auction price for heat energy will be different in each local heat market. Approbation of the proposed approach proves that with a large number of regulatory and systemic restrictions within the heating area, the price of thermal energy will increase, while bilateral flows of thermal energy between adjacent heating areas lead to a decrease in the price of thermal energy. The proposed methodological aspects of auction pricing for thermal energy should be introduced in large and medium-sized settlements with trunk networks, which will allow independent heat producers who work on renewable energy sources or have excess and waste heat to integrate into the market, contributing to the decarbonization of the city and the country as a whole.

Exact Methodological Basis for Determining The Specifics of The Estate of Ten Letters to The Technique of Writing Anonymous Letters By Personality

When performing manual recording in different age categories, you have your own recording technique. Modern technologies will help determine the main formative features of phonographic means. However, the relationship between recording and content, psychological, physiological, genderological and age specifics of a person, influence on the writing technique are discussed. Typically, graphological studies focus on personality and record character. Unlike graphology, the author justifies in linguistic examination not only the reflection, but also the content of the text, as well as the possibility of expressing and technical specifics of the record in three age groups.

Assessing User Privacy Concerns in the Wearable Tech Industry

Wearable technologies, such as smart watches and fitness trackers, are devices worn on the body that connect to the internet and gather data. They provide valuable real-time insights into an individual’s health and lifestyle, which highlights the importance of data security and ownership. This study examines how much trust users have in the privacy aspects of wearable technology and what data security concerns they have. The study began with a detailed examination of the market for wearables, e-textiles, and smart textiles, explaining their technical specifics and differences. The research findings showed that data security is a significant consideration for at least 25% of wearables users when making a purchase. Furthermore, a comparison of perceptions across countries revealed that Hungarians are at least 10% more likely than the Swiss to believe that data collected by wearables is stored securely.

Smart Street Light Control: A Review on Methods, Innovations, and Extended Applications

As urbanization increases, streetlights have become significant consumers of electrical power, making it imperative to develop effective control methods for sustainability. This paper offers a comprehensive review on control methods of smart streetlight systems, setting itself apart by introducing a novel light scheme framework that provides a structured classification of various light control patterns, thus filling an existing gap in the literature. Unlike previous studies, this work dives into the technical specifics of individual research papers and methodologies, ranging from basic to advanced control methods like computer vision and deep learning, while also assessing the energy consumption associated with each approach. Additionally, the paper expands the discussion to explore alternative functionalities for streetlights, such as serving as communication networks, environmental monitors, and electric vehicle charging stations. This multidisciplinary research aims to be a pivotal resource for both academics and industry professionals, laying the groundwork for future innovation and sustainable solutions in urban lighting.

The Age of Information in Wireless Cellular Systems: Gaps, Open Problems, and Research Challenges.

One of the critical use cases for prospective fifth generation (5G) cellular systems is the delivery of the state of the remote systems to the control center. Such services are relevant for both massive machine-type communications (mMTC) and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) services that need to be supported by 5G systems. The recently introduced the age of information (AoI) metric representing the timeliness of the reception of the update at the receiver is nowadays commonly utilized to quantify the performance of such services. However, the metric itself is closely related to the queueing theory, which conventionally requires strict assumptions for analytical tractability. This review paper aims to: (i) identify the gaps between technical wireless systems and queueing models utilized for analysis of the AoI metric; (ii) provide a detailed review of studies that have addressed the AoI metric; and (iii) establish future research challenges in this area. Our major outcome is that the models proposed to date for the AoI performance evaluation and optimization deviate drastically from the technical specifics of modern and future wireless cellular systems, including those proposed for URLLC and mMTC services. Specifically, we identify that the majority of the models considered to date: (i) do not account for service processes of wireless channel that utilize orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology and are able to serve more than a single packet in a time slot; (ii) neglect the specifics of the multiple access schemes utilized for mMTC communications, specifically, multi-channel random access followed by data transmission; (iii) do not consider special and temporal correlation properties in the set of end systems that may arise naturally in state monitoring applications; and finally, (iv) only few studies have assessed those practical use cases where queuing may happen at more than a single node along the route. Each of these areas requires further advances for performance optimization and integration of modern and future wireless provisioning technologies with mMTC and URLLC services.

IoT-based data quality and data preprocessing of multinational corporations

Increasing numbers of devices that output large amounts of geographically referenced data are being deployed as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand. Partly as a result of the IoT's dynamic, decentralized, and heterogeneous architecture. These are all examples of the Internet of items (IoT), despite the fact that we might be thinking that one of these items is different from the others. The physical and digital worlds are connected by the Internet of Things (IoT). Nowadays, one of the key goals of the Internet is its own development. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of IoT-based data quality and data preparation strategies developed with multinational corporations in mind. The goal is to make IoT data more trustworthy and practical so that MNCs may use it to their advantage in making educated business decisions. The proposed structure consists of three distinct actions: gathering data, evaluating data quality, and cleaning up raw data. Data preprocessing research is essential since it decides and significantly affects the accuracy of predictions made in later stages. Thus, the recommendation for a special and useful combination in the framework of different data preprocessing task types, which includes the following four technical elements and is briefly justified, is made. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a design pattern in which commonplace items can be equipped with classification, sensing, networking, and processing capabilities that will enable them to communicate with one another over the Internet to fulfill a specific function. The Internet of Things will eventually change physical objects into virtual objects with intelligence. In addition to a detailed analysis of the IoT layer, this article gives an overview of the existing Internet of Things (IoT), technical specifics, and applications in this recently growing field. However, this publication will provide future scholars who desire to conduct study in this area of Internet of Things with a better knowledge.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Power Converter Topologies and Control Methods for Extremely Fast Charging of Electric Vehicles

Power electronic converters must be researched and developed to offer high-power, low-cost, and reliable contributions to solving the electric vehicle battery problem in light of the widespread usage and expected rise of EVs. An adequate charging infrastructure is required to accommodate the growing number of electric cars (EVs). Off-board chargers for electric vehicles (EVs) are talked about here, along with their alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power stages. Concerns that may arise during the design process of an XFC station are addressed, as are the common topologies for power electronics converters that are efficient for XFC. Electric cars can be charged inside or outside the car, but for fast charging, the shorter, lighter outlets outside the car are the best choice. Focusing on technical specifics, ongoing research, and difficulties, we analyze the most up-to-date topologies and control strategies for AC-DC and dc-DC power stages in off-board chargers. And most of the newest multi-port charging stations that combine photovoltaics (PV), energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), and the power grid are shown as well. By contrasting the AC-DC rectifier, dc-dc converter, and multiport converter in respect of their architecture, voltage and power ranges, efficiency, and the ways in which they impact workability, future research on EV charging solutions may be guided.

Methodological aspects of angio- and bronchoplastic lobectomies for lung cancer in patients of elderly and old age

The purpose of a study: to study the immediate results and surgical aspects of angio- and bronchoplastic lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer in elderly and senile patients, as well as to identify the features of their perioperative support.Material and methods. The results of treatment of 63 patients with non-small cell lung cancer older than 60 years after angio- and/or bronchoplastic lobectomy were analyzed. The average age of the patients was (71.4 ± 5.1) years old. The oldest patient at the time of surgery was 82 years old. The majority (93.6%) of patients had one or more concomitant diseases, among them bronchopulmonary and cardiovascular pathologies were most often detected.Results. Postoperative complications were recorded in 22 (34.9%) patients, mortality was 6.35%. The incidence of complications that did not require surgical correction was 6.3%. Prolonged air discharge through the drainage was registered in 11.1% of patients. In 2 cases (3.2%), prolonged air release and delayed expansion of the lung led to the formation of residual pleural cavity with infection. Critical complications were recorded in 4 cases (6.3%), and in 4 (6.3%) patients they caused a lethal outcome. Among them, the leading place is occupied by the failure of the bronchial suture and cardiac arrhythmias.Conclusion. Angio- and bronchoplastic anatomical resections in patients of the older age group are accompanied by a number of technical features and specifics of perioperative curation due to age-related changes and comorbidities.

When a Series’ Main Protagonist Gets Stolen and Sold – A Study of NFTs and Their Approaches to Copyright Licensing

Abstract Over the past two years non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have become a highly popular, though extremely volatile trade asset. As mere data sets on the blockchain, NFTs are challenging the law to define the legal positions they entail. This article examines NFTs from the angle of copyright licensing, looking at it from a European perspective with the main focus on German law. Based on the technical specifics of NFTs, the paper evaluates the relevant legal position required for a permitted use of tokenized copyrighted content and how such a position may be obtained in the context of NFT trading. A review of the copyright schemes of 21 of the most sought-after NFT collections sets out the current state of licensing and identifies the prevailing legal uncertainties. The fact that these are not merely theoretical is then shown by the turbulent case of a ‘stolen’ ape avatar, tokenized by an NFT, that was set to star in a live-action animated series.

Barriers and beliefs: a comparative case study of how university educators understand the datafication of higher education systems

In recent decades, higher education institutions around the world have come to depend on complex digital infrastructures. In addition to registration, financial, and other operations platforms, digital classroom tools with built-in learning analytics capacities underpin many course delivery options. Taken together, these intersecting digital systems collect vast amounts of data from students, staff, and faculty. Educators’ work environments—and knowledge about their work environments—have been shifted by this rise in pervasive datafication. In this paper, we overview the ways faculty in a variety of institutional status positions and geographic locales understand this shift and make sense of the datafied infrastructures of their institutions. We present findings from a comparative case study (CCS) of university educators in six countries, examining participants’ knowledge, practices, experiences, and perspectives in relation to datafication, while tracing patterns across contexts. We draw on individual, systemic, and historical axes of comparison to demonstrate that in spite of structural barriers to educator data literacy, professionals teaching in higher education do have strong and informed ethical and pedagogical perspectives on datafication that warrant greater attention. Our study suggests a distinction between the understandings educators have of data processes, or technical specifics of datafication on campuses, and their understanding of big picture data paradigms and ethical implications. Educators were found to be far more knowledgeable and comfortable in paradigm discussions than they were in process ones, partly due to structural barriers that limit their involvement at the process level.Graphical

A Consensus Approach for Targeted Muscle Reinnervation in Amputees

Amputations have been performed with few modifications since the dawn of surgery. Blood vessels are ligated, bones are shortened, and nerves are cut. In a percentage of people, this can result in severe neuropathic, residual limb, and phantom limb pain. Targeted muscle reinnervation is a surgical procedure initially conceived to optimize function for myoelectric prostheses in amputees. Recently, it has been adopted more widely by surgeons for the prevention and treatment of neuropathic pain. Perhaps as a function of its relatively recent development, many authors perform this operation differently, and there has been no overall agreement regarding the principles, indications, technical specifics, and postoperative management guidelines. This article is written as a consensus statement by surgeons focused on the treatment of neuropathic pain and those with extensive experience performing targeted muscle reinnervation. It is designed to serve as a roadmap and template for extremity surgeons to consider when performing targeted muscle reinnervation.

Recent Advancements in Deep Learning Frameworks for Precision Fish Farming Opportunities, Challenges, and Applications

The growth of the fish is influenced by a variety of scientific factors. So, profit can be easily achieved by using some clever techniques, for example, maintaining the correct pH level along with the dissolved oxygen (DO) level and temperature, as well as turbidity for good growth of fish. Fully grown fish are generally sold at a good price because price of fish in the market is governed by weight as well as size of nurtured fish. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems may be created to regulate key water quality factors including salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature. The software programme operates on an application server and is connected to multiparameter water quality meters in this system. This study examines smart fish farming methods that show how complicated science and technology may be simplified for use in seafood production. This research focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in fish culture in this setting. The technical specifics of DL approaches used in smart fish farming which includes data and algorithms as well as performance was also examined. In a nutshell, our goal is to provide academics and practitioners with a better understanding of the current state of the art in DL implementation in aquaculture, which will help them deploy smart fish farming applications as well their benefits.

Proposals of Processes and Organizational Preventive Measures against Malfunctioning of Drones and User Negligence

Drones have been included in more and more activities in various domains, such as military, commercial and personal use. The existing legislative framework insufficiently addresses the responsibility and preventive measures angles in case of vulnerability exploitation and negligence in drone usage. Such aspects can be addressed by the industry in technological processes and standardization. These are especially important aspects given the high impact that misuse of drones can have on individuals, property and buildings within the flight zone when the drone is misused. The aim of this research paper is to investigate how these elements are viewed in existing legislation and by individuals, while taking into account the technical specifics and the stakeholder ecosystem of drone usage. In this respect, we use a complex questionnaire which was sent to a final number of 233 respondents pertaining to firms specialized in IT, legal and cybersecurity. The responses have been analyzed from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Our results highlight the areas of improvement in the existing standardization and find the followings: (1) stakeholders across the drone ecosystem are viewed as having a shared liability in certain use cases, (2) preventive measure implementation should be dispersed across the stakeholders of drone usage and (3) automation of prevention measures is considered more useful in case of malfunctioning or misuse of drones rather than user manual intervention. In addition, we make proposals to accommodate new policy requirements for the above use cases. The results of this research paper assist policy makers in improving existing standardization framework and technological processes concerning drone usage, but also stakeholders of the drone ecosystem in generating increased trust of the drone users. Further, this research paper can also assist drone software and hardware producers in calibrating their products to ensure trust of the users. In addition, trust in the use of drones for commercial and personal purposes is increased through standardization and proper approaches for situations that may cause damages to drones and to third parties.

Predatory Journals: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Literature Published between 2012 and 2021

The main purpose of this study is to identify the trends in predatory publishing and to compile a core reading list of documents on the topic of ‘predatory journals.’ The study examined 541 documents on the topic of ‘predatory journals’ indexed in the Web of Science database published between 2012 and 2021. The data set was analyzed quantitatively (bibliometric study) and qualitatively (document classification). For bibliometric analysis, parameters like year, disciplines, number of citations, countries, document types, and journals were used. The documents were classified into four groups, namely, General (326), Empirical Studies (89), Technical Specifics (71), and Cautionary Texts (55). The results of the analysis and co-relation between quantitative and qualitative parameters reveal that publications in medical sciences (221) form the majority in almost all groups. There is a steady growth in publications in all groups during 2018 and 2019. Research papers and editorial materials are greater in number. The largest number of documents are from the United States (163 documents). A large number of papers have been published in the journals Scientometrics (22) and Learned Publishing (28). The most highly cited (17) papers have been published in Nature. The core reading list of forty documents on predatory journals is the outcome of the study after examining the co-relationship between the two methods. The core reading list may assist new researchers in comprehending the various aspects of predatory journals. The article concludes with suggestions for further research.

Image denoising in the deep learning era

Over the last decade, the number of digital images captured per day has increased exponentially, due to the accessibility of imaging devices. The visual quality of photographs captured by low cost or miniaturized imaging devices is often degraded by noise during image acquisition and data transmission. With the re-emergence of deep neural networks, the performance of image denoising techniques has been substantially improved in recent years. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive survey of recent advances in image denoising techniques based on deep neural networks. We begin with a thorough description of the fundamental preliminaries of the image denoising problem, followed by an overview of the benchmark datasets and commonly used metrics for objective assessment of denoising algorithms. We study the existing deep denoisers in the supervised and unsupervised training paradigms and review the technical specifics of some representative methods within each category. We conclude the survey by remarking on trends and challenges in the development of state-of-the-art algorithms and future research.

Beauty- и fashion-блоги: трудности перевода

Fashion and beauty blogs appeared as a result of the globalization of the fashion and beauty industry, as well as the virtualization of popular fashion magazines. They introduce a new type of discourse that attracts both marketers and translation theorists, because the Russian Internet badly needs prompt and high-quality translation of huge volumes of such content. Typical problems of audiovisual translation (compression, synchronization) are superimposed on the abundance of constantly growing terms. Beauty/fashion blogs are a kind of visual-verbal unity, where the visual demonstration of a product is accompanied by a verbal component, i.e., description, instructions, etc. This article introduces an analysis of Vogue video blogs, which confirmed other scientific publications on this topic: language economy and technical specifics of audiovisual translation make loan translation, transcription, and transliteration the most popular translation methods in this type of discourse. The translator must have a certain erudition in fashion and beauty industry, since specialized glossaries on these topics do not have time to record new terms and professionalisms that constantly emerge within this rapidly developing area.

Heat transient processes identification of the elements of internal environment system

Introduction. The study of heat exchange transients in the climate system “Heater-Ventilator-Room”, when ventilator capacity varies step-wise, is presented. The construction of functional relations between inputs and outputs of the system is the object of special attention. This allows for a non-parametric identification of impulse responses in the system for simulation and control. Materials and methods. The climate system is represented by a combination of several different-type elements with step inputs and experimental data as outputs. Mathematical models of the elements are governed by Volterra integral equation of the 2nd kind. Solution of this equation is an ill-posed problem, and specifics of identification experiments do not allow applying computational methods of classical regularization algorithms. A non-parametric identification of impulse responses for the elements is performed by the authors’ stable algorithm with due regard for real technical systems specifics. The algorithm is founded on stable differentiation by smoothing cubic splines with optimal smoothing parameter estimation and special type boundary conditions. Results. Non-parametric identification algorithm is adapted for the investigated climate system. The inverse problems of impulse responses identification and the direct problems of heat flux reactions prediction are solved. A high convergence of theoretical and experimental data is shown. Conclusions. The behavior of the transients is predictable for the climate system under the particular operation mode. The algorithm proposed takes proper account of practical problems specifics. The results obtained suggest the efficiency of the algorithm for applied identification problems solutions in real complex technical systems.

Energy scenarios for the Faroe Islands: A MCDA methodology including local social perspectives

• Five energy scenarios decarbonising the Faroe Islands’ energy system are generated • Two MCDA methods are used to assess the scenarios • Partial agreement between the two MCDA methods • A combined social scoring is determined for different technologies • Inclusion of local social perspectives shifted preferences to offshore scenarios Planning for the decarbonisation of island energy systems is both crucial and fraught with complexities. The process to develop and evaluate these plans needs to encompass not only technical and economic specifics but each plan's impacts on the environment and local inhabitants must also be considered. This inclusive planning involves multiple criteria and requires a means of handling them. In this paper a series of potential future energy systems are generated with the EnergyPlan software for the Faroe Islands before these systems are assessed using a set of criteria covering their environmental, social, technical and economic aspects. These criteria are used by two multi-criteria approaches, along with actual weights obtained from local stakeholders, to rank the energy systems. It is found that there is a clear shift in rankings towards systems employing offshore technologies due to the inclusion of social criteria specifically fitted to the Islands’ resident's preferences. This shift, however, was not sufficient for these offshore scenarios to outperform other scenarios that performed well on the other criteria. These findings indicate there is likely value in terms of local acceptance for transition planning on the Islands in adjusting to include greater quantities of offshore technologies in future energy strategies.