Remanufacturing end-of-life passenger car waste sheet steel into mesh sheet: A sustainability assessment

This study analysed the business sustainability of remanufacturing waste steel sheet from the shells of end-of-life vehicles into mesh steel sheet for manufacturing sheet-metal products. Hybrid statistical, fuzzy, and overall sustainability-index curve-fitting models were used to analyse the technical, economic, environmental, management, and social feasibility of remanufacturing, where the sales price, eco-cost savings, and CO2 emission reductions were used as typical statistical indicators. The remanufacturing process was optimised to allocate hardware for a plant recovering 480 m2/shift of waste sheet steel and producing 2851–5520 m2/shift of mesh sheet steel. Six scenarios were used to model the sustainability parameters to normalise the sustainability index values. The sustainability index of each parameter was calculated by multiplying its weight of importance by its weight of satisfaction. The highest sustainability index of 0.95 was calculated for the economic feasibility index, while the lowest sustainability index of 0.4 was calculated for the management feasibility. Remanufacturing of waste sheet steel into mesh sheet steel can be applied with an estimated overall sustainability index of 0.88.

Characterising West Nile virus epidemiology in Israel using a transmission suitability index

Background Climate is a major factor in the epidemiology of West Nile virus (WNV), a pathogen increasingly pervasive worldwide. Cases increased during 2018 in Israel, the United States and Europe. Aim We set to retrospectively understand the spatial and temporal determinants of WNV transmission in Israel, as a case study for the possible effects of climate on virus spread. Methods We employed a suitability index to WNV, parameterising it with prior knowledge pertaining to a bird reservoir and Culex species, using local time series of temperature and humidity as inputs. The predicted suitability index was compared with confirmed WNV cases in Israel (2016–2018). Results The suitability index was highly associated with WNV cases in Israel, with correlation coefficients of 0.91 (p value = 4 × 10− 5), 0.68 (p = 0.016) and 0.9 (p = 2 × 10− 4) in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. The fluctuations in the number of WNV cases between the years were explained by higher area under the index curve. A new WNV seasonal mode was identified in the south-east of Israel, along the Great Rift Valley, characterised by two yearly peaks (spring and autumn), distinct from the already known single summer peak in the rest of Israel. Conclusions By producing a detailed geotemporal estimate of transmission potential and its determinants in Israel, our study promotes a better understanding of WNV epidemiology and has the potential to inform future public health responses. The proposed approach further provides opportunities for retrospective and prospective mechanistic modelling of WNV epidemiology and its associated climatic drivers.

Revised energy efficiency design index parameters for inland cargo ships of Bangladesh

A generalized CO2 emission benchmark (energy efficiency design index) cannot be established for inland ships in a similar fashion like the one established by International Maritime Organization for seagoing vessels. Difference in environmental, geographical and economic conditions, for example, shallow and restricted water effects, different fuel quality (to reduce operational cost), reduction in speed, increase in engine power, reduction in carrying capacity and cargo availability, forbids the direct use of energy efficiency design index as formulated by International Maritime Organization. These conditions have been addressed at first in this research, and revision of some parameters is presented for calculating energy efficiency design index for inland cargo ships of Bangladesh. Moreover, the ship data stored at different organizations of Bangladesh deviate from the existing ship data. As a result, the collected data have undergone through several verification processes. Based on the verified real data, CO2 emission benchmark for inland cargo ships of Bangladesh was established. This benchmark is one of the world’s first CO2 emission benchmark for inland cargo shipping. This benchmark will force ship designers of Bangladesh to design more energy efficient ships that will consume less energy per ton-mile. It is interesting to note that the energy efficiency design index curve for inland cargo ships using revised energy efficiency design index parameters is below the energy efficiency design index curve using International Maritime Organization formulation. The prime reasons behind this fact have also been explained in this research.

Critical Analysis of the Snow Survey Network According to the Spatial Variability of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) on Eastern Mainland Canada

In Eastern Canada, the snow survey network is highly optimized at the operational scale. However, it is commonly accepted that the network is limited when it comes to studying the spatial variability of the snow water equivalent (SWE), which forms different spatial structures that are active at multiple scales—from local to regional. The main objective of this study was to conduct a critical analysis of the existing snow survey network, based on the spatial variability of the existing SWE structures. To do so, we must (1) assess the snow survey network’s capacity to model spatial variability structures of SWE, and (2) study the spatial distribution based on the spatial variability structures of SWE. Initially, the snow survey network’s capacity to model the spatial variability structures of the SWE was evaluated by a variogram analysis. Second, the spatial distribution of the snow survey network’s data was analyzed through the Lorenz index curve and by measuring the spatial distribution using the Gini index. The results showed that, at a regional scale, the snow survey stations were evenly distributed within the spatial structures. However, at the local scale, the snow survey network was inadequate to model the spatial variability of SWE due to the reduced and uneven number of snow survey stations.

Research on Age Estimation Algorithm Based on Structured Sparsity

In order to solve the inaccuracy of age estimation dataset and the imbalance of age distribution, this paper proposes an age estimation model based on the structured sparse learning. Firstly, the Multi-label representation of facial images is performed by age, and the age estimation model is trained by solving the model matrix. Finally, the correlation with all age labels is calculated according to the facial images and age estimation model to be tested, and the most correlated age is taken as the predicted age. This paper sets up a series of verification experiments, and analyzes the structured sparse age estimation model from several perspectives. The proposed algorithm has achieved good results in the evaluation of indexes such as the mean absolute error, accumulation index curve and convergence rate, and has designed the demo system to put the model into use. Facts prove that the age estimation model proposed in this paper may achieve a good estimation effect.

Damage Identification in Structures Based on Energy Curvature Difference of Wavelet Packet Transform

Damage identification is of tremendous significance in engineering structures. One key issue in damage identification is to determine an index that is sensitive to the structural damage. Current damage identification indices are generally focused on dynamic characteristics such as the natural frequencies, modal shapes, frequency responses, or their mathematical combinations. In this study, based on the wavelet packet transform, we propose a novel index, the energy curvature difference (ECD) index, to identify the damage in structures. The ECD index is the summation of component energy curvature differences after a signal is decomposed using WPT. Moreover, two numerical examples are used to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed ECD index for damage identification. Stiffness reduction is employed to simulate the structural damage. The damage can be identified by the ECD index curve plot. The results of the examples indicate that the proposed ECD index is sensitive to low damage levels because even 5% stiffness reduction can be apparently identified. The proposed ECD index can be employed to effectively identify structural damage.

Information-entropic method for studying the stability bound of nonrelativistic polytropic stars within modified gravity theories

We study the stability of nonrelativistic polytropic stars within two modified gravity theories, i.e. beyond Horndeski gravity and Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld theories, using the configuration entropy method. We use the spatially localized bounded function of energy density as solutions from stellar effective equations to construct the corresponding configuration entropy. We use the same argument as the one used by Gleiser and coworkers [M. Gleiser and D. Sowinski, Phys. Lett. B 727 (2013) 272; M. Gleiser and N. Jiang, Phys. Rev. D 92 (2015) 044046] that the stars are stable if there is a peak in configuration entropy as a function of adiabatic index curve. Specifically, the boundary between stable and unstable regions which corresponds to Chandrasekhar stability bound is indicated from the existence of the maximum peak while the most stable polytropic stars are indicated by the minimum peak in the corresponding curve. We have found that the values of critical adiabatic indexes of Chandrasekhar stability bound and the most stable polytropic stars predicted by the nonrelativistic limits of beyond Horndeski gravity and Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld theories are different to those predicted by general relativity where the corresponding differences depend on the free parameters of both theories.