It Is Me, Chatbot: Working to Address the COVID-19 Outbreak-Related Mental Health Issues in China. User Experience, Satisfaction, and Influencing Factors

The global spread of COVID-19 has caused a huge number of confirmed cases and deaths, which in return leads to a plethora of mental disorders across the world. In order to address citizens’ psychological problems, government agencies in many countries have employed AI-based chatbots to provide mental health services. However, there is a...

Cyber-Physical System Security of Distribution Systems

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for control and monitoring of power systems is a layer on top of the physical power system infrastructure. The cyber system and physical power system components form a tightly coupled Cyber-Physical System (CPS). Sources of vulnerabilities arise from the computing and communication systems...

Effect of ethanol concentration on methane hydrate decomposition: MD simulation insights

The controllability of mining is a key factor affecting the commercial application of methane hydrates, and the addition of chemical additives can significantly accelerate the mining process. However, the effect of additive concentration on hydrate decomposition is not yet well understood. In this study, we systematically investigate the...

The role of thermodynamics and kinetics in rubber–bitumen systems: a theoretical overview

Waste tire rubber has been incorporated into asphalt modification for decades due to its various benefits. There are two main mechanisms during bitumen–rubber interaction: rubber swelling and chemical degradation. This study surveys these two processes from the viewpoint of polymer science. The kinetics of rubber dissolution and...

Numerical investigation on the surface crack growth in FRP-reinforced steel plates subjected to tension

In this paper, we analyse the surface crack growth in the Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) reinforced steel plates subjected to tension by means of the finite element (FE) method. Following the experimental study, a three-dimensional FE model is developed to evaluate the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) of the surface crack, and the crack growth...

Experimental investigation on FRP-reinforced surface cracked steel plates subjected to cyclic tension

Surface cracked steel plates reinforced with single-side Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) subjected to cyclic tension are experimental studied. The main purpose is to analyze the effect of FRP reinforcement on the crack growth. The failure modes and their effects are analyzed as well. Given the single-side reinforcement, reinforcing the cracked...

External surface cracked offshore steel pipes reinforced with composite repair system subjected to cyclic bending: An experimental investigation

In this paper, we experimentally studied the external surface crack growth in steel pipes reinforced with Composite System Repaired (CRS). CRS reinforced surface cracked API 5L X65 pipes were tested, containing three initial notch sizes and four reinforcement schemes. During the tests, the crack growth results, as well as the strain on the...

An investigation on the circumferential surface crack growth in steel pipes subjected to fatigue bending

In the present paper, we propose an analytical method to calculate the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) of circumferential surface cracks in steel pipes subjected to bending. In light of pipe geometry and bending load case, the analytical formula is raised by introducing new bending correction factors and new geometry correction factors on the...

Coupling dynamics of epidemic spreading and information diffusion on complex networks

The interaction between disease and disease information on complex networks has facilitated an interdisciplinary research area. When a disease begins to spread in the population, the corresponding information would also be transmitted among individuals, which in turn influence the spreading pattern of the disease. In this paper, firstly, we...

Simultaneous photocatalytic and microbial degradation of dye-containing wastewater by a novel g-C₃ N₄ -P₂₅ /photosynthetic bacteria composite

Azo dyes are very resistant to light-induced fading and biodegradation. Existing advanced oxidative pre-treatment methods based on the generation of non-selective radicals cannot efficiently remove these dyes from wastewater streams, and post-treatment oxidative dye removal is problematic because it may leave many byproducts with unknown...

Towards the integration of indoorGML and indoorlocationGML for indoor applications

This paper introduces and compares two types of GML-based data standards for indoor location-based services, i.e., iIndoorGML and iIndoorLocationGML. By elaborating the advantages of the both standards and their data models, we conclude that the two data standards are complementary to each other. A jointed data model is presented to show the...

Evaluation of three satellite precipitation products TRMM 3B42, CMORPH, and PERSIANN over a subtropical watershed in China

This study conducted a comprehensive evaluation of three satellite precipitation products (TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) 3B42, CMORPH (the Climate Prediction Center (CPC)Morphing algorithm), and PERSIANN (Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks)) using data from 52 rain gauge...

The Influence of a Eutrophic Lake to the River Downstream: Spatiotemporal Algal Composition Changes and the Driving Factors

Algal blooms have been frequently found at the upper reaches of the Tanglang River, which is downstream from the eutrophic Dianchi Lake. The eutrophic lake upstream is considered to be a potential source of phytoplankton, which contributes to the development of harmful algal blooms in the river downstream and can cause many serious problems for...

Tunable polaritons from plasmon-phonon coupling in hyperbolic media