Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making in Romania

This article researches the manner in which the participation pillar from the Aarhus Convention was transposed into Romanian legislation and how its provisions were applied to a highly controversial case. Thus, the paper will firstly address the general legal framework concerning participation in environmental matters as well as the challenges for the implementation of Aarhus Convention, followed by requirements for effective participation and NGOs involvement in the process. The main conclusion drawn is that public participation is generally seen only as a bureaucratic requirement that both authorities and the developer must meet before the project is adopted. In this context, the NGOs play a crucial role by acting as a real watchdog in identifying deficiencies in the application of the Convention. In order for enhancing implementation the authors emphasize the more proactive role that public authorities should have both with regard to the quality of environmental reports and with applying sanctions coupled with a stronger cooperation with the NGOs in the field.    

Interactive time series analytics powered by ONEX

Modern applications in this digital age collect a staggering amount of time series data from economic growth rates to electrical household consumption habits. To make sense of it, domain analysts interactively sift through these time series collections in search of critical relationships between and recurring patterns within these time series. The ONEX (Online Exploration of Time Series) system supports effective exploratory analysis of time series collections composed of heterogeneous, variable-length and misaligned time series using robust alignment dynamic time warping (DTW) methods. To assure real-time responsiveness even for these complex and compute-intensive analytics, ONEX precomputes and then encodes time series relationships based on the inexpensive-to-compute Euclidean distance into the ONEX base. Thereafter, based on a solid formal foundation, ONEX uses DTW-enhanced analytics to correctly extract relevant time series matches on this Euclidean-prepared ONEX base. Our live interactive demonstration shows how our ONEX exploratory tool, supported by a rich array of visual interactions and expressive visualizations, enables efficient mining and interpretation of the MATTERS real data collection composed of economic, social, and education data trends across the fifty American states. © 2017 ACM

Complex Risks from Old Urban Waste Landfills: Sustainability Perspective from Iasi, Romania

Landfills continue to represent the most frequent managerial practice for municipal solid wastes and an increasing and complex problem globally. In certain countries, a transition to an open society and free market is superimposed on the transition to sustainability, resulting in even higher complexity of management. This paper proposes an approach for problem-structuring of landfills in complex transitions: sustainability or unsustainability of a management approach is determined by a set of sustainability filters that are defined by sets of indicators and prioritized according the systemic concept of sustainability, which says that economy is embedded in society, which is embedded in nature. The writers exercise this approach with an old landfill in Iasi, Romania, and conclude for unsustainability, because the ecological sustainability filter is not successfully passed. Social and economic sustainability filters are also discussed in relation with the ecological sustainability indicators. The described approach allows a coherent, transdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge scattered across various disciplines, a pervasive problem in landfill management. The case study helps distinguish between generally true and context-dependent aspects.Peer reviewe

SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections: Incidence and Risk Factors in a Large European Multicentric Cohort of Health Workers.

Background: The research aimed to investigate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections and their determinants in a large European cohort of more than 60,000 health workers. Methods: A multicentric retrospective cohort study, involving 12 European centers, was carried out within the ORCHESTRA project, collecting data up to 18 November 2021 on fully vaccinated health workers. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections was investigated with its association with occupational and social-demographic characteristics (age, sex, job title, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, antibody titer levels, and time from the vaccination course completion). Results: Among 64,172 health workers from 12 European health centers, 797 breakthrough infections were observed (cumulative incidence of 1.2%). The primary analysis using individual data on 8 out of 12 centers showed that age and previous infection significantly modified breakthrough infection rates. In the meta-analysis of aggregated data from all centers, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and the standardized antibody titer were inversely related to the risk of breakthrough infection (p = 0.008 and p = 0.007, respectively). Conclusion: The inverse correlation of antibody titer with the risk of breakthrough infection supports the evidence that vaccination plays a primary role in infection prevention, especially in health workers. Cellular immunity, previous clinical conditions, and vaccination timing should be further investigated

Rotor dynamics of turbocompressor based on the finite element analysis and parameter identification approach

The article is devoted to improving methods for designing a finite element model of rotor dynamics. For this purpose, numerical implementation of the authors’ computer program “Critical frequencies of the rotor” was developed based on the computer algebra system MathCAD. As a result of the scientific work, a refined mathematical model of rotor dynamics using finite beam elements was created. This model considers the dependence of the radial stiffness characteristics of the bearing supports on the values of the critical frequencies. The reliability of the mathematical model was justified by the permissible differences of the obtained results within 2% compared with the results of finite element analysis using the ANSYS software. The theorem was also proven by the mutual location of the spectra of the natural and critical frequencies. Overall, the proposed scientific approach reduces preparation and machine time compared to numerical modeling using the ANSYS software without losing the accuracy of the calculations

Parameter identification of nonlinear bearing stiffness for turbopump units of liquid rocket engines considering initial gaps and axial preloading

This article is devoted to developing a mathematical model of nonlinear bearing supports for turbopump units of liquid rocket engines considering initial gaps and axial preloading. In addition to the radial stiffness of the bearing support, this model also considers the stiffness of the bearing cage, the rotational speed of the rotor, axial preloading of the rotor (due to which the inner cage shifts relative to the outer, changing the radial stiffness of the support), as well as radial gaps between contact elements of the bearings. This model makesit possible to calculate the stiffness of the bearing supports more accurately. The proposed model is realized using both the linear regression procedure and artificial neural networks. The model’s reliability is substantiated by the relatively small discrepancy of the obtained evaluation results with the experimental data. As a result, this model will allow determining the critical frequencies of the rotor with greater accuracy. The results have been implemented within the experience of designing turbopump units for State Company “Yuzhnoye Design Office”