An Overview of Nano Multilayers as Model Systems for Developing Nanoscale Microstructures

The microstructural transformations of binary nanometallic multilayers (NMMs) to equiaxed nanostructured materials were explored by characterizing a variety of nanoscale multilayer films. Four material systems of multilayer films, Hf-Ti, Ta-Hf, W-Cr, and Mo-Au, were synthesized by magnetron sputtering, heat treated at 1000 °C, and subsequently characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Binary systems were selected based on thermodynamic models predicting stable nanograin formation with similar global compositions around 20–30 at.%. All NMMs maintained nanocrystalline grain sizes after evolution into an equiaxed structure, where the systems with highly mobile incoherent interfaces or higher energy interfaces showed a more significant increase in grain size. Furthermore, varying segregation behaviors were observed, including grain boundary (GB) segregation, precipitation, and intermetallic formation depending on the material system selected. The pathway to tailored microstructures was found to be governed by key mechanisms and factors as determined by a film’s initial characteristics, including global and local composition, interface energy, layer structure, and material selection. This work presents a global evaluation of NMM systems and demonstrates their utility as foundation materials to promote tailored nanomaterials.

A comparison on the evaluation standards of sustainable campus between China and America

Purpose This paper aims to make a comparative study on the latest version of green campus evaluation standard between China and America: Green Campus Evaluation Standard (GB/T51356-2019) and the sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS 2.2). The differences of evaluation methods and contents are analyzed and their respective characteristics and advantages are sorted out, so as to promote the development of sustainable campus evaluation standards. Design/methodology/approach The research mainly adopts the method of comparative study, which is carried out from three dimensions, namely, the related policies development of campus construction and world university sustainable rankings; the content of evaluation standards (including evaluation methods and evaluation categories and scores); the characteristics and current application of standards. Findings There are great differences between the evaluation standards of China and America in organization and participation mode, evaluation method and content. Public engagement, energy and campus engagement are the hot spots. Buildings, energy, food and dining and investment and finance will become the focus of sustainable campus in the future. Specific optimization strategies of key points, evaluation method and content and organization and participation mode of Chinese standard are put forward. Practical implications This paper clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of the current global sustainable campus, and provides the basis for the next stage of construction policy. At the same time, it is helpful for all countries, especially China, to formulate construction guidelines that not only meet their own actual needs but also conform to the trend of global sustainable campus development. Social implications The connotation of sustainable campus is enriched, and the evaluation standards of sustainable campus are improved. The development of sustainable campus is promoted, so as to realize the sustainable development goals. Originality/value This research expands the scope of the study to the whole campus, rather than just one aspect of campus buildings. It compares the evaluation standard of green campus in China with STARS in the USA, and no longer compares leadership in energy and environmental design for schools. It discusses the campus building’s energy conservation while paying attention to the campus green consciousness, green management and green planning. Based on the relevant data currently used by STARS in the global evaluation, this paper analyzes the hot spots and shortcomings of the current global sustainable campus construction and puts forward some optimization suggestions for China’s green campus evaluation system.

Perceiver Effects in First Impressions Reflect Generalized Stereotypes: Evidence of Consistency Across Time, Groups, and Contexts

In interpersonal perception, perceivers’ tendencies for judging the average target (perceiver effects) are commonly assumed to reflect generalized stereotypes about “the other.” This is empirically supported by findings of consistent rank-orders of perceiver effects across measurement occasions, but previous studies could not rule out important alternative explanations for consistency. Here, we present a strict test of the generalized stereotype account in two studies ( ns 146 and 295) in which participants provided mutual impressions in distinct, uniquely composed groups. Results reveal that perceiver effects are quite consistent on the level of global evaluation and acquiescence but less consistent on the level of specific trait- or item-content. The finding that perceivers who saw others in globally positive or negative ways in one situation also saw other targets in similar ways in entirely different situations across time, groups, and contexts is strong evidence for the generalized stereotype account and has vital implications.

New Multipath OLSR Protocol Version for Heterogeneous Ad Hoc Networks

From a basic refrigerator to a self-driving car, emerging technologies are increasingly involving various facets of our daily lives. These bring together many regularly used devices, each with its own characteristics, to communicate and collaborate within the same system. Computer network experts regard this so-called structure as a heterogeneous network made up of several connected objects that do not speak the same language. Communication is therefore ensured by additional types of nodes, such as gateways or converters. In this case, we can detect an increased complexity and a decreased level of security. And thus, the need to adopt a common slang for these kinds of networks has been brought to life. In this work, we compare two different routing protocols: optimized link-state routing (OLSR) and the multipath heterogeneous ad hoc network OLSR (MHAR-OLSR). The latter is an OLSR extension with new functionalities: nodes identification, paths calculation, paths classification, and paths choice that we designed for heterogeneous ad hoc networks composed of MANET, VANET, and FANET devices; it ensures direct communication between these diverse components. We verify and explain all the elements of our solution using colored Petri nets. We also present a global evaluation of Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), End-To-End Delay, and energy consumption as QoS measures with different numbers of nodes in a heterogeneous scenario. To do this, we use NS-3 and BonnMotion as a tool-set of simulation. Experimental results show improvement in performance when compared to the classical routing protocol.

Enhancing Route lifetime in Vehicular Ad Hoc ‎Networks Based on Skellam Distribution Model

The emergence of smart cities and the need to use intelligent transportation systems has led to an increased reliance on vehicle ad hoc networks (VANET). The topology of VANET is highly dynamic, which results in a short effective routing time. This paper presents a two-stage algorithm to select a route that can sustain communication between vehicles for as long as possible while taking into account the variables that affect the VANET topology. The first stage uses Skellam distribution model to assess the connectivity probability of paths in ‎a 2d road network based on traffic-flow and the number of vehicles ‎joining and leaving the ‎network, accordingly, the path with the highest connectivity is chosen. In the second stage, the control packets sent only to vehicles on the selected path to detect routes between source and destination, thus reducing the overhead of control packets and increasing network stability. ‎ the algorithm adopts the principle of global evaluation to ‎estimate the lifetime ‎of the ‎detected ‎routes within the chosen path. ‎the route with the ‎best estimated ‎lifetime ‎is ‎chosen to be ‎the active route. ‎in the event of route failure, the validity of the next route in lifetime is confirmed to be adopted as the alternate route. The proposed algorithm was compared with both on-‎demand distance ‎vector routing protocol (AODV) protocol and the modified location-aided routing ‎‎(LAR) ‎protocol. The proposed algorithm showed greater network stability, higher performance in terms of longer lifetime route detection, less energy consumption and higher throughput.

Air to Water Generator Integrated Systems: The Proposal of a Global Evaluation Index—GEI Formulation and Application Examples

Due to water scarcity, in the last few decades, air-to-water generator (AWG) technology, whose useful effect is the extraction of water from air, has been improved. In particular, in the last few years, advanced AWG integrated systems have been developed. Such systems permit, not only to condense water from air, but also the smart use of the by-side effects of the process in order to partially or totally cover the heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) needs of a building. Presently, there are no evaluation tools that permit a complete comparison among AWG machines, taking into account all the useful effects that can be obtained at the same time and with the same energy input. The current work, starting from the need for such a tool, proposes a global index whose formulation considers all useful effects of an integrated system, the energy required to obtain them, and the integration degree of the machine. The index translates into a single number the system global efficiency, by means of a particular combination of existing efficiency indicators. In its extended formulation, it can be applied, not only to AWGs, but also to other HVAC integrated systems, as well as to combinations of non-integrated and integrated solutions. In addition to equations, the paper provides calculation examples and a case study in order to show the practical application and advantages of GEI.

A global evaluation of IMERG precipitation occurrence using SMAP detected soil moisture change

A globally consistent ground validation method for remotely sensed precipitation products is crucial for building confidence in these products. This study develops a new methodology to validate the IMERG precipitation products through the use of SMAP soil moisture changes as a proxy for precipitation occurrence. Using a standard 2x2 contingency table method, preliminary results provide confidence in SMAP’s ability to be utilized as a validation tool for IMERG as results are comparable to previous validation studies. However, the method allows for an overestimate of false alarm frequency due to light precipitation events that can evaporate before the subsequent SMAP overpass and changes in overpass-to-overpass SMAP soil moisture that are within the range of SMAP uncertainty. To counter these issues, a 3x3 contingency table is used to reduce noise and extract more signal from the detection method. Through the use of this novel approach, the validation method produces a global mean POD of 0.64 and global mean FAR of 0.40, the first global-scale ground validation skill scores for the IMERG products. Advancing the method to validate precipitation quantity and the development of a real-time validation for the IMERG Early product are the crucial next developments.

Global evaluation of the precipitable-water-vapor product from MERSI-II (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) on board the Fengyun-3D satellite

Atmospheric water vapor plays a key role in Earth's radiation balance and hydrological cycle, and the precipitable-water-vapor (PWV) product under clear-sky conditions has been routinely provided by the advanced Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI-II) on board Fengyun-3D since 2018. The global evaluation of the PWV product derived from MERSI-II is performed herein by comparing it with PWV from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) based on a total of 462 sites (57 219 matchups) during 2018–2021. The monthly averaged PWV from MERSI-II presents a decreasing distribution of PWV from the tropics to the polar regions. In general, a sound consistency exists between PWV values of MERSI-II and IGRA; their correlation coefficient is 0.951, and their root mean squared error (RMSE) is 0.36 cm. The histogram of mean bias (MB) shows that the MB is concentrated around zero and mostly located within the range from −1.00 cm to 0.50 cm. For most sites, PWV is underestimated with the MB between −0.41 and 0.05 cm. However, there is also an overestimated PWV, which is mostly distributed in the area surrounding the Black Sea and the middle of South America. There is a slight underestimation of MERSI-II PWV for all seasons with the MB value below −0.18 cm, with the bias being the largest magnitude in summer. This is probably due to the presence of thin clouds, which weaken the radiation signal observed by the satellite. We also find that there is a larger bias in the Southern Hemisphere, with a large value and significant variation in PWV. The binned error analysis revealed that the MB and RMSE increased with the increasing value of PWV, but there is an overestimation for PWV smaller than 1.0 cm. In addition, there is a higher MB and RMSE with a larger spatial distance between the footprint of the satellite and the IGRA station, and the RMSE ranged from 0.33 to 0.47 cm. There is a notable dependency on solar zenith angle of the deviations between MERSI-II and IGRA PWV products.

Young and emerging African evaluators’ need for gender responsive evaluation training

Background: The Global Evaluation Agenda 2020 calls for evaluation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within an equity-focused and gender-responsive lens. Most of the methodologies and materials come from the Global North. However, gender issues and evaluation capacity in the Global North do not necessarily match with those in the Global South. The Global South has rich experiences related to equity and gender. An important group to target to build capacity is young and emerging evaluators (YEEs).Objectives: This study investigated the gender responsive evaluation training experiences and needs of YEEs in Africa.Method: A total of 72 respondents completed an online survey that was administered over a 7-day period. The quantitative survey was self-administered in French and English, and was distributed through existing Voluntary Organisation for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs) and youth evaluators forums.Results: Respondents were from 23 African countries. Most of the respondents were YEEs, although many of the respondents did not self-identify as an YEE. One-third of respondents have participated in training programmes on gender responsive evaluation or a gender focus on evaluation. Virtual trainings have not been used. Topics included evaluating gender focussed interventions and gender responsive aspects of evaluation studies in general (including applying gender perspective to all types of policies, and participatory approaches to ensure gender equity).Conclusion: This study has practical value for training and mentoring of YEEs in gender focused evaluations in Africa. It will contribute to efforts of the South-to-South project and global efforts that ensure that ‘no one is left behind’ from a gender lens.