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Investigation of the Geometrical Deterioration of Paved Superstructure Tramway Tracks in Budapest (Hungary)

Szabolcs Fischer Zoltán Major Mykola Sysyn Attila Németh Dmytro Kurhan Vivien Jóvér

Publication Name: Infrastructures

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 8

Issue: 8

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

In the 21st century, one of the key requirements is to develop and maintain our infrastructure facilities most efficiently using the available resources. Tramways are of significant national economic importance and represent an important national asset. There are currently seven different types of superstructure systems in Hungary, based on the national regulations and the related requirements currently in force. This paper compares the paved tramway superstructure systems in the context of track geometry, through-rolled axle tons of track, and the age of track sections. Paved tracks have many benefits, but the main ones are easier maintenance and road traffic use. Elastically supported continuous rail bedding (ESCRB; in Hungary, this is known as “RAFS”) and “large” slab superstructure systems are used to create paved superstructure systems. Road crossings use the latter systems, while heavily loaded lines use several ESCRB systems. This article examines the geometrical changes in several ESCRB superstructure systems. A TrackScan 4.01 instrument was used to take measurements in June and September 2021 and in April 2022, September 2022, and May 2023. Track gauge, alignment, and longitudinal level are examined. Regardless of the ESCRB superstructure system or age, a medium-loaded line’s track gauge trendline increases, which means that the track gauge is widening and, regardless of traffic load or age, the average longitudinal level is constantly increasing from year to year. When it is a medium-loaded line, the average value of alignment increases slightly, and the trendline is almost straight, but it decreases when it is an extremely heavily loaded line. The authors will analyze how the reference track section will change in the future. Based on the results, it is important to assess how subsequent measurements affect the trend lines. Because the data evaluations show similar results, comparing open tramway tracks to paved ones is crucial.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/infrastructures8080126

First Report of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris' Associated with Cyclamen Little Leaf in Hungary

János Ágoston Orsolya Viczián Emese Mergenthaler József Fodor

Publication Name: Plant Disease

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 107

Issue: 8

Page Range: 2515

Description:

No description provided

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-12-22-2870-PDN

A Novel Gradient-Weighted Voting Approach for Classical and Fuzzy Circular Hough Transforms and Their Application in Medical Image Analysis—Case Study: Colonoscopy

Raneem Ismail Szilvia Nagy

Publication Name: Applied Sciences Switzerland

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 13

Issue: 16

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Featured Application: The circular fuzzy Hough transform with gradient-weighted voting can be used for finding the contours of circle-like shapes, such as colorectal polyps on colonoscopy images, as well as other cases that require a given relative gradient edge around the circle-like objects. Classical circular Hough transform was proven to be effective for some types of colorectal polyps. However, the polyps are very rarely perfectly circular, so some tolerance is needed, that can be ensured by applying fuzzy Hough transform instead of the classical one. In addition, the edge detection method, which is used as a preprocessing step of the Hough transforms, was changed from the generally used Canny method to Prewitt that detects fewer edge points outside of the polyp contours and also a smaller number of points to be transformed based on statistical data from three colonoscopy databases. According to the statistical study we performed, in the colonoscopy images the polyp contours usually belong to gradient domain of neither too large, nor too small gradients, though they can also have stronger or weaker segments. In order to prioritize the gradient domain typical for the polyps, a relative gradient-based thresholding as well as a gradient-weighted voting was introduced in this paper. For evaluating the improvement of the shape deviation tolerance of the classical and fuzzy Hough transforms, the maximum radial displacement and the average radius were used to characterize the roundness of the objects to be detected. The gradient thresholding proved to decrease the calculation time to less than 50% of the full Hough transforms, and the number of the resulting circles outside the polyp’s environment also decreased, especially for low resolution images.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/app13169066

Tracing Knowledge Diffusion Trajectories in Scholarly Bitcoin Research: Co-Word and Main Path Analyses

Suhaiza Zailani Abderahman Rejeb Karim Rejeb Khalil Alnabulsi

Publication Name: Journal of Risk and Financial Management

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 16

Issue: 8

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

In the burgeoning field of bitcoin research, a cohesive understanding of how knowledge and insights have evolved over time is lacking. This study aims to address this gap through an exploration of 4123 academic articles pertaining to bitcoin. Utilizing co-word analysis and main path analysis (MPA), it uncovers key themes and seminal works that have substantially influenced the field’s progression. The identified clusters, including safe haven, internet of things (IoT), proof of work (PoW), market efficiency, sentiment analysis, digital currency, and privacy, shed light on the multifaceted discourse surrounding bitcoin. The MPA, incorporating both forward and backward local paths, traces an evolving narrative, starting from an in-depth exploration of bitcoin’s structure, anonymity, and contrasts against traditional financial assets. It tracks the shift in focus to broader market dynamics, volatility, speculative nature, and reactions to economic policy fluctuations. The analysis underscores the transformation of bitcoin research, from its beginnings as a decentralized, privacy-oriented currency to its role in global economics and green financing, revealing a complex narrative of an innovative financial instrument to a multifaceted entity. Implications drawn from this analysis include the need for further research on the potential integration of bitcoin within emerging technologies like AI and cybersecurity, the implications of bitcoin’s interplay with traditional financial systems, and the environmental impacts of bitcoin and blockchain utilization. Overall, the current study not only enhances our understanding of the bitcoin field but also charts its dynamic evolution and stimulates further academic inquiry.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/jrfm16080355

Face Detection Using a Capsule Network for Driver Monitoring Application

Áron Ballagi Szabolcs Fischer János Hollósi Gabor Kovacs Viktor Nagy

Publication Name: Computers

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 12

Issue: 8

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Bus driver distraction and cognitive load lead to higher accident risk. Driver distraction sources and complex physical and psychological effects must be recognized and analyzed in real-world driving conditions to reduce risk and enhance overall road safety. The implementation of a camera-based system utilizing computer vision for face recognition emerges as a highly viable and effective driver monitoring approach applicable in public transport. Reliable, accurate, and unnoticeable software solutions need to be developed to reach the appropriate robustness of the system. The reliability of data recording depends mainly on external factors, such as vibration, camera lens contamination, lighting conditions, and other optical performance degradations. The current study introduces Capsule Networks (CapsNets) for image processing and face detection tasks. The authors’ goal is to create a fast and accurate system compared to state-of-the-art Neural Network (NN) algorithms. Based on the seven tests completed, the authors’ solution outperformed the other networks in terms of performance degradation in six out of seven cases. The results show that the applied capsule-based solution performs well, and the degradation in efficiency is noticeably smaller than for the presented convolutional neural networks when adversarial attack methods are used. From an application standpoint, ensuring the security and effectiveness of an image-based driver monitoring system relies heavily on the mitigation of disruptive occurrences, commonly referred to as “image distractions,” which represent attacks on the neural network.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/computers12080161

Approximation of the stiffness of laminate stacks of electric motors subjected to cyclic loads

Dániel Feszty Balázs Pere Viktor Szabó

Publication Name: Materialpruefung Materials Testing

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 65

Issue: 8

Page Range: 1202-1208

Description:

Electric motors in automotive applications are subjected to high thermal and structural loads, while having strict requirements regarding dimensions, mass, and costs. The design of such motors requires sophisticated simulation models. The laminate stack in the rotor of such a motor is made of steel sheets and behaves transversally isotropic: the radial stiffness is equivalent to steel, and in the axial direction, it has a highly progressive nonlinear stiffness characteristic. The loading and unloading stiffness curves change from cycle to cycle when subjected to repetitive loads. In this paper, the usage of a single approximating curve to describe the longitudinal stiffness of the laminate stack is proposed. This approximation can be used in FEM models to reproduce the structural nonlinear behavior of such a laminate stack using a simpler approach than implementing the full loading and unloading curves in a material model, at a price of negligible loss of precision.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1515/mt-2022-0382

The Effects of a Cyberbullying Intervention Programme Among Primary School Students

Helga Judit Feith Máté Kapitány-Fövény Johanna Takács Ágnes Lukács J András Falus Zsuzsanna Soósné Kiss

Publication Name: Child and Youth Care Forum

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 52

Issue: 4

Page Range: 893-911

Description:

Background: With the increase of cyberbullying, several intervention programmes have been created that aim at reducing cyber-victimisation and perpetration. Objective: Our study presents the effects of the STAnD anti-cyberbullying programme with peer-education both on the short and the long run among lower and upper primary school students, with a focus on the participants’ cyberbullying roles. Method: The sample comprised of 536 students who participated in the intervention programme, involving 36% lower and 64% upper primary school students. Participants were measured by a self-reported questionnaire before and right after the programme, then six months later. Results: The main effect of the STAnD programme was a positive change in the participants’ willingness to engage in help-seeking and their active-defending reaction, although this effect decreased after six months. The changes were larger among lower primary school students compared to upper primary school participants. Conclusion: Our results imply that long-lasting and intensive health promotion programmes are necessary to reach a long-term intervention effect. Anti-cyberbullying programmes should take into consideration participants’ involvement and roles in cyberbullying. As our study was a non-randomised uncontrolled study design, thus interpretation of the effectiveness of the programme is limited.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1007/s10566-022-09714-9

SISTER CITY NETWORK’S DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPEAN REGIONAL CENTRES

Ádám Páthy Petra Kinga Kézai

Publication Name: Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 18

Issue: 3

Page Range: 5-26

Description:

In recent years, the analysis of contact networks has become increasingly popular in academia. Originally built on cultural understanding and peace through civil diplomacy, twinning, however, is in a state of flux in today's society. This study aims to analyse the network of sister cities in the Central and Eastern European region. This co-operation emerged in Europe in the early 1900s and spread worldwide after the Second World War. The research seeks to answer the question: what kind of sister city networks have developed between Central and Eastern European cities in contemporary times? The analysis focuses on regional centres with spatial functions at NUTS2 level in ten regional countries, with a total of 95 cities with a population of between 100,000 and 1 million inhabitants. The research is based on the Eurostat Urban Audit and the database on twinning and partnership published on the official websites of the cities. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software and the network relationships were examined using the network graphing software Gephi 0.9.5. The research results revealed that twinning partnerships are concentrated mainly in small towns in the Central European geographical region of the continent, and within this region between Hungarian, Polish and Romanian cities. The development of twinning relations is seen as a major opportunity for cities of international importance and macro-regional centres to maintain their competitiveness.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

Effect of azadirachtin applied as seed dressing on the larval density of and root injury caused by the western corn rootworm/Diabrotica virgifera virgifera

Rita Abrahám Levente Vörös

Publication Name: Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection

Publication Date: 2023-08-01

Volume: 130

Issue: 4

Page Range: 757-767

Description:

The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is one of the most important pests of maize in Hungary. As both larvae and imagoes are capable of causing major economic losses, their control in continuous maize cropping systems is essential. The control of larvae is costly and the related use of large doses of soil disinfectants places an increased burden on the environment. In recent years, several chemical products used as soil insecticides and seed dressings have been phased out, thus increasing the value of environmentally friendly biological products that provide effective protection against the pest. The active ingredient azadirachtin, the extract of the seeds of Azadirachta indica is one of such biological agents. In our experiments, we studied the efficacy of two azadirachtin products, Neemazal T/S (1% azadirachtin; 10 g/l) and Neemazal F (5% azadirachtin; 50 g/l) used as seed dressing against western corn rootworm larvae. The products were used in different concentrations (10–150%) in different regions and on various soil-types in Hungary. The active ingredient could effectively control the pest in its larval stage. Treatments with concentrations exceeding 50% were effective in all the replications.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1007/s41348-023-00763-3