Recycling of Aluminosilicate-Based Solid Wastes through Alkali-Activation: Preparation, Characterization, and Challenges

Recycling aluminosilicate-based solid wastes is imperative to realize the sustainable development of constructions. By using alkali activation technology, aluminosilicate-based solid wastes, such as furnace slag, fly ash, red mud, and most of the bio-ashes, can be turned into alternative binder materials to Portland cement to reduce the carbon...

Unveiling the bent-jet structure and polarization of OJ 287 at 1.7 GHz with space VLBI

We present total intensity and linear polarization images of OJ 287 at 1.68 GHz, obtained through space-based very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations with RadioAstron on April 16, 2016. The observations were conducted using a ground array consisting of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the European VLBI Network (EVN)....

Motility of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at different temperatures: The universe in a droplet

Algae remains a focal point of scientific inquiry with its wide-ranging environmental, health, and energy applications. Among model organisms, the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii holds significance, particularly in light of its responsiveness to temperature alterations impacting swimming velocity. Notably, this study...

Angle-insensitive Human Motion and Posture Recognition Based on 2D FMCW MIMO Radar and Deep Learning Classifiers

Nowadays, the aging problem is shaking the root of the healthcare system in many countries, an automatic human activity recognition (HAR) is seen as a promising solution to that problem. In particular, radar-based HAR attracts people’s attention thanks to its respect for privacy and functionality in poor lighting conditions. With a lot of...

Showcase of Active Learning and Teaching Practices in Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Education

The new concept of Open Spatial Data Infrastructures (Open SDIs) has emerged from an increased interest in open data initiatives together with national and international directives, such as the EU Open Data Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1024), and the large investment of European public authorities in developing SDIs for sharing spatial data...

Effect of rice straw powder on properties of one-part alkali-activated slag

One-part alkali-activated slag (AAS) as a binder material has a promising application in the construction industry. The properties of one-part AAS incorporating agricultural wastes have been seldom studied. In this paper, the fresh and hardened properties of one-part AAS with the addition of rice straw powder (RSP) were investigated. The...

Angle-insensitive Human Motion and Posture Recognition Based on 4D imaging Radar and Deep Learning Classifiers

The need for technologies for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) in home environments is becoming more and more urgent because of the aging population worldwide. Radar-based HAR is typically using micro-Doppler signatures as one of the main data representations, in conjunction with classification algorithms often inspired from deep learning...

How do new transit stations affect people's sentiment and activity? A case study based on social media data in Hong Kong

Urban rail development can increase land value, reduce commute time, and increase accessibility, as reported in the literature. However, little is known about the impact of opening urban rail transit stations on people's sentiment, particularly in the context of large metropolises where population density is significantly high. This paper...

Methodology on Active Teaching and Learning on Open SDI

This report looks at different methods of active teaching and learning and the application of these methods at the partner universities of the SPIDER project. Different methods of on-campus and online teaching are presented and reports on experiences in their application at the partner universities are discussed. In combination with the results...

Showcase of Existing Active Teaching Practices

This report presents showcases of active teaching and learning in spatial data infrastructure education in the SPIDER partner universities. It includes detailed descriptions of the practices that have been implemented, as well as the results of the evaluation of the practices from an active teaching learning perspective.

Design and optimization of hole collectors based on nc-SiO_x:H for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells

Low activation energy (E_a) and wide bandgap (E_g) are essential for (p)-contacts to achieve effective hole collection in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. In this work, we study Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition p-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide, (p)nc-SiO_x:H, combined with (p)nc...

A fast nonlinear conjugate gradient based method for 3D frictional contact problems

This paper presents a fast numerical solver for a nonlinear constrained optimization problem, arising from a 3D frictional contact problem. It incorporates an active set strategy with a nonlinear conjugate gradient method. One novelty is to consider the tractions of each slip element in a polar coordinate system, and use azimuth angles as...