Astrophysics publications on arXiv,Scopus and Mendeley: a case study

In this study we examined a sample of 100 European astrophysicists and their publications indexed by the citation database Scopus, submitted to the arXiv repository and bookmarked by readers in the reference manager Mendeley. Although it is believed that astrophysicists use arXiv widely and extensively, the results show that on average more items are indexed by Scopus than submitted to arXiv. A considerable proportion of the items indexed by Scopus appear also on Mendeley, but on average the number of readers who bookmarked the item on Mendeley is much lower than the number of citations reported in Scopus. The comparisons between the data sources were done based on the authors and the titles of the publications.     

Analysis of the interaction between polymer and surfactant in aqueous solutions for chemical-enhanced oil recovery

Most petroleum reservoirs are subjected to Improved and Enhanced Oil Recovery (IOR and EOR) processes following secondary recovery. EOR involves the application of external forces and substances to improve the chemical and physical interactions in hydrocarbon reservoirs in order to improve preferable recovery conditions. The process of chemical flooding with solutions of polymers and surfactants can be used for developing oil exploitation. Studying the interaction between surfactants and polymers is indispensable for successful oil recovery. The interaction between non-ionic and anionic surfactants and polymers in ternary mixtures was examined at different concentrations and temperatures by dynamic light scattering and gel permeation chromatography. The hydrodynamic size of surfactant-polymer composites was higher than the particle size of individual components indicating a formation of associates. The size of associates was increased by increasing the concentration of the surfactants and the temperature. It could be supposed that the polymer formed a mixed micelle with the surfactants. Gel permeation chromatography has confirmed the increase in molecular weight of the associate formed by surfactants and polymers.     

Corrective factors for author- and journal-based metrics impacted by citations to accommodate for retractions

Scientometrics - Citation-based metrics are frequently used to evaluate the level, or quality, of a researcher, or their work, often as a function of the ranking of the journal in which they...     

The main features of suburbanization in the Great Hungarian Plain

Suburbanization, which took place through different mechanisms, and occured earlier in western European countries, is a relatively new phenomenon in Hungary. The Great Plain was only affected by industrial decentralization in the 1960s.The housing shortage is a serious problem in Hungary, thus the cheaper sites for sale in the suburds are especially attractive. Moreover, demands for space in the Great Plain compared with other regions of the country are greater here for people used to living in the large agrarian towns. The fact that they can do household and supplementary farming around their homes is an important incentive. This only means self-provision for many of them, but others carry out market gardening. Agriculture is the only survival strategy for numbers of people in the Great Plain, given the present dismal state of the Hungarian economy. Therefore, suburbs here are of unmistakably rural character and their population is not homogenous. Infrastructural investment has not kept up with the increase in population. Very often it is the commuting villages which have turned into suburbs, and with spatial relationships becoming more intense, they generally lose their administrative independence.     

Ventilation system design for a church pipe organ using numerical simulation and on-site measurement

Since old churches have had heating installed, more complaints have arisen of organs sounding out of tune. Sound frequency of organ pipes is dependent on air temperature. Old churches tend to have very large volumes, so are typically heated just before and during services in wintertime, in order to reduce energy usage. Warm air plumes rise at radiators and spread out into the room, finally reaching the cold organ casing where they cause a non-uniform temperature distribution within. If pipes standing in different temperature zones are played at the same time the organ sounds out of tune due to clearly audible beats (interference between two slightly different frequencies). The purpose of this study was to design a ventilation system inside the organ casing, able to create a uniform temperature distribution around the pipes. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was developed for the St. Martin church in Oberesslingen, Germany. It was validated by on-site measurements that had been carried out in the organ casing of the church. Four organ divisions containing 300–500 pipes were represented by equivalent porous material zones. Their properties were determined using an auxiliary two-dimensional model of a staggered array consisting of 392 pipes. The effect of different ventilation system settings on the temperature field in the organ casing was examined. Best results were achieved by a system consisting of two ventilation lines together with a thin, synthetic net placed at the open interface between church and organ casing in order to reduce warm air inflow.     

Charting a path for innovative toilet technology using multicriteria decision analysis

Practical and theoretically sound methods for analyzing innovative environmental technologies are needed to inform public and private decisions regarding research and development, risk management, and stakeholder communication. By integrating scientific assessments with a characterization of values, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) supports the ranking of alternative technology pathways on the basis of technical, financial, and social concerns. We applied MCDAto evaluate the use of NoMix urine separating toilets for managing environmental risk and postponing expensive upgrades to a large wastewater treatment plant near Zürich, Switzerland. Results indicate that, given current priorities, no single, fixed course of action (including the status quo) will be desirable to all stakeholders over the considered time horizon. However, a path forward is suggested that is not significantly disadvantageous to any stakeholder now and leaves open future options, allowing society to achieve overall greater benefits if priorities change, new environmental risks are revealed, or technology improves. While our analysis focuses on a particular catchment in Switzerland, many communities worldwide are faced with an aging and inefficient wastewater treatment infrastructure while also experiencing growth and development. Our framework can help these communities balance the conflicting objectives of diverse stakeholders and gain insight into the role that urine separation can play in transitioning to a more comprehensive and sustainable urban water management system.     

Analysis of Molecular Networks in the Cerebellum in Chronic Schizophrenia: Modulation by Early Postnatal Life Stressors in Murine Models

Despite the growing importance of the cerebellum as a region highly vulnerable to accumulating molecular errors in schizophrenia, limited information is available regarding altered molecular networks with potential therapeutic targets. To identify altered networks, we conducted one-shot liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in postmortem cerebellar cortex in schizophrenia and healthy individuals followed by bioinformatic analysis (PXD024937 identifier in ProteomeXchange repository). A total of 108 up-regulated proteins were enriched in stress-related proteins, half of which were also enriched in axonal cytoskeletal organization and vesicle-mediated transport. A total of 142 down-regulated proteins showed an enrichment in proteins involved in mitochondrial disease, most of which were also enriched in energy-related biological functions. Network analysis identified a mixed module of mainly axonal-related pathways for up-regulated proteins with a high number of interactions for stress-related proteins. Energy metabolism and neutrophil degranulation modules were found for down-regulated proteins. Further, two double-hit postnatal stress murine models based on maternal deprivation combined with social isolation or chronic restraint stress were used to investigate the most robust candidates of generated networks. CLASP1 from the axonal module in the model of maternal deprivation was combined with social isolation, while YWHAZ was not altered in either model. METTL7A from the degranulation pathway was reduced in both models and was identified as altered also in previous gene expression studies, while NDUFB9 from the energy network was reduced only in the model of maternal deprivation combined with social isolation. This work provides altered stress- and mitochondrial disease-related proteins involved in energy, immune and axonal networks in the cerebellum in schizophrenia as possible novel targets for therapeutic interventions and suggests that METTL7A is a possible relevant altered stress-related protein in this context.